#c: feedback

[not-quite-ran]

Let's get married

(a dreamnoblade one-shot)

"Let's get married" Dream almost laugh, no, he did laugh, because he thought he was joking, because who would propose in the middle of the artic, just outside a secret base of an anti government organization that had just finished a meeting, besides it didn't even sound as a proposal, so he just laugh.

But Techno didn't laugh with him. In fact, when Dream turn to look his way, Techno was holding a circular object that was also very shiny that happened to look exactly like an engagement ring.

"Oh"

-----

Life after prision break wasn't easy, but Techno was there. 

Techno was there when Dream was physically able to hold a sword again.

Techno was there when he succeeded in hold a pen properly, and do readable orations instead of his usual cat scratches.

Techno hold him when the night terrors were unbearable and he live sleepless for a couple of weeks.

Techno was there when he had to empty his guts in the bathroom when he had a little too much food when his stomach wasn't able to handle it yet.

Techno was there, and even better, Techno was there for him.

So when Techno offered him a place at the syndicate table, Dream was euphoric.

Not everybody was exited to meet him at the syndicate table, but a couple of years had passed and he was unbothered, besides, the syndicate wasn't really busy, so it really was just an excuse to reunite in a calm place to chat and have some of the pastry Nikki always bake for them

It was nice.

Dream could get use to this.

And he did.

--

Dream wasn't a man of formalities in his personal life, and honestly after all the "no attachments" thing in his past he was kind of lost in the topic now. So when he and Techno past from foreign touches, to cuddles, to kisses, to straight up make out sessions and ,,, other stuff, they really didn't say much, it felt natural, maybe not really talk about it wasn't ideal, but it work for them and no one really never cuestion it, so, no need.

Dream had already sense the subtle change in their routine, they were entering a very domestic routine (more domestic that it already was), Dream could feel it, and it was nice, it was peaceful, and warm, and Dream was tired. Recovery was a very tiring process, and Dream wasn't complete heal.

He didn't think he would never be.

But it was fine.

He had Techno.

And it was very obvious right now.

Techno wasn't in his knees, Dream didn't think he could stand it if Techno kneel, but he didn't need to, because Dream was already in his horse and even if Techno was a fucking giant, Dream have to look slightly downwards to look at him from his place at the top of his horse.

Techno also wasn't offering the ring per se, he was handing it over, like it was anything but a fucking engagement ring-

"Okay, rude, you could had just say no instead of laughing at my face, but okay" Techno was teasing, Dream could hear it in his voice, but he also could hear the slight wavering, like he was insecure.

Techno was never insecure.

"N-No, wait ,,, what?" Dream tried, he did, but his brain refuse to catch up with all that was happening.

"I said, we should ,,," Techno bring the ring closer to Dream's face, again, like he was presenting anything but a ring. "We should get married"

Dream blinked,

Once,,

Twice-

"That it's the most horrible proposal I ever heard, and I have heard a few." Dream couldn't help but laugh, again, and Techno was about to retreat his hand when he lean in and put his hand over Techno's. Techno smiled.

"Okey, nerd, leave me alone, this is a full player thing I have zero knowledge about this kinda stuff in players culture." Dream couldn't help but smile

"Then you should try and do it in a way you understand it." Despite everything, Dream took the ring from Techno's hand and put it in his finger, and took his time to admire it, it was truly beautiful, Techno has put a lot of thought in it. He smile, "It's really beautiful Tech." 

"I'm glad you like it" Techno took Dream's hand, and he also admire the ring in his finger, he look proud. "And now that you accept my courting, it's the first of various ornaments that I should give to you, mate." It wasn't a question,  but it also wasn't a affirmation.

"Well, I think I would like to get married to you, mate."

Dream swore he had never seen Techno smile wider.

Yeah, he will be fine.

Because he had Techno.

And Techno had him.

[actualbird]

"why arent there as many fic writers these days?? why are fanfics getting abandoned??? why doesnt anybody want to write anymore---" because we're treated like dogshit in fandoms, thats why.

[carpentertheimaginative]

Hey everyone! I would like to get some feedback on the silhouettes of these two. I’m trying to make them a bit more distinct but am not sure if I succeeded. Would appreciate it if you gave your thoughts on this!

[the-one-who-lambs]

hi. I've procrastinated making Thenana's character reference sheet enough so here's the clean sketch to prove I'm working on it

[thelonelyshore-if]

Hi again! I just played through the new chapter, and it was so interesting!

I think the highlight was Croft's scene. My MC doesn't have a lot of affinity with them, but the whole magic angle of it on the other hand was fascinating - I actually didn't expect it to go that way.

And also, getting a first "clearer glimpse" at my MC's monstruous powers, in Doe's scene? A delight. Very funny that both people named Doe are some sort of actual monsters.

I also have three new theories after this!

I've come up with the idea that the high amount of cryptid sightings in Easthaven, while partly because of possible actual monsters, may also be because other people have the same "monster power" the MC may get depending on our choices. The cryptids people see may just be other people who happen to be able to transform.

Another one I've been thinking about because of the talk with Croft is that maybe people with inherent magic inclinations may "slip in" Easthaven even if they are not "useful" when it comes to their job.

And finally, I think Easthaven and Kentwood are actually "in the same place" (as in, in space) but "reversed" - like a mirrorlike parallel dimmension. So like, while they seem to be on opposed sides of the lake, in reality it would just mean the reality is mirrorred, so the "only town near the lake" is not on the same side if looking at a map. This would support, in a way, my previous theory that the hermit is somehow Willow. Their house seemed very familiar to the MC, which is probably because it IS the reflection of their family's cabin. And the reason why the hermit appears so "wrong" may be because it's like a distorted reflection or projection of a person present on the other side and who may have magic inclinations, but who didn't "fully" make it through to this side of the mirror.

That aside, I've also stumbled upon some coding issues and continuity errors. Some of them are from previous chapters that I didn't realize were problems before or forgot to report.

If MC is staying with Ravi and actually likes the decor, maybe this line when stepping into the bathroom for the first time could be different - "You grimace, but step inside anyway"? Because while it makes sense even a MC who appreciates it would still be surprised the bathroom too is like that, the grimacing may be a bit out of place?

At breakfast with Ravi, if the MC is a smoker: "There's no headache, no creeping anxiety, no jitters. None of the usual symptoms you'd be dealing with after three days without a cigarette. It's almost startling." - but I believe a bit earlier MC was having a bit of a headache still, right? Or even if I got confused about that specific point, at the very least, considering how unwell they are feeling, maybe they could still think the lack of a smoke could be an aggravating factor instead of thinking there are no symptoms?

Another one worth mentionning, though it's a bit more subtle. I picked for my MC to be used to waking up early, but he's also a bartender. The way I understand it, it's like MC works during the evening and early night, then go to sleep (and have a relatively short sleep schedule) - not all bars are open all night and not everyone works the actual night hours anyway. So when talking during breakfast, it seems a bit strange on my playthrough to have the MC think "It's been nice, getting a taste of sunlight, but getting used to the later hours again will be a bit of a pain." (especially the part about a taste of sunlight, since it sort of implies the MC sleeps during the entire day or something which directly contradicts the waking up early).

There's no specific flavor text for the mousepad thing in chapter 2 for MCs with tne first or last name "Doe", and I don't know if it's intentional or not? I understand it advertises a person though, so I don't know if it's relevant or not - just mentionning in case you wanted to alter it but forgot. Ah but also, it says "Doe Reality" in that chapter, while based on chapter 3 it's "Doe Realty" - in which case it makes way more sense for MC not to have a reaction since it's obvious it's just someone with the same name, while "Doe Reality" can, honestly, be pretty freaky from someone with that name given their circumstances. But I don't know if it's actually a typo or if it's intentional.

When MC is told the truth in chapter 2, there's this part: ""Your teenage sister is in on it?" you ask, incredulous." - but my MC doesn't know who Sierra is. The only mention of that name so far was like the "you're bringing Sierra" something something at the hospital, but there were no explanations about who it is. So while the MC heard that name, they have no reasons to know she's Jay's "teenage sister".

In the new chapter, at the start, I'm a little confused about the mentions of MC's phone at the start. Didn't it die again after the creepy voicemail? I guess it could have turned on again, but maybe it would be good to mention that it did before we see the MC using it?

A bit confused by the whole gas station situation. For example this: "You don't know this place, but it shouldn't be here. It wasn't here an hour and a half ago, so where did it come from?". On the previous page, MC thought they may have missed/forgotten the building there, so them suddenly being so sure it wasn't there before is a bit strange. Especially considering the MC was so focused on getting out + the fog was affecting visibility. It's all the more strange since on the next page they change their mind again to think "You probably were so focused on getting out that you just���missed this one." - yet right after the MC convinces themself "You don't believe it. You can't. As great as it would be to delude yourself into thinking that everything is alright, you can't bring yourself to do it. It would be too easy.". It's a bit of a back and forth about MC thinking they missed the gas station and thinking it appeared out of nowhere. But the "missing it" angle is way more logical like I said? Even for a full on believer MC such as mine, it just makes more sense since MC was so focused on getting out and all of that. It makes all the following interaction a bit strange too, since to me it would have made way more sense for my MC to just believe Ravi and Jay on that one and accept their words. Maybe if you really want to keep the fact MC is so sure the gas station wasn't there before, something at the end of the last chapter should make it obvious on the way out? As it is, it seems weird for me that my MC is so worked out on something that he shouldn't have noticed at all, from my perspective. (PS: I hope I don't sound rude about that one, especially since it refers to a pretty big scene - but it just felt off to me!)

This one is pretty subjective, but it seems the narration insists a lot about MC being angry and Jay and especially Ravi during the entire duration of the new chapter, but my MC has been pretty accepting and open minded based on all my choice options. I mention this one only because overall the game seems to reflect pretty much all of my decisions about my MC's mindset and feelings, so that one being so set felt a bit strange, especially since in previous chapters it felt like it depended more on my choices.

Doe doesn't acknowledge my MC having the same last name as her either, and I believe she should, right? I already sent a separate report about it in the hospital scene with Grace, but it seems the issue is present in this chapter too.

(I actually pick the option to use the first name, but I wanted to confirm the lack of reaction)

And finally, two stray code / typo issues here:

("he need{w_verbs}" and "Stlil")

I feel sort of sorry for having reported more issues than actually talked about the update haha... But I hope it's useful! And again, sorry for insisting a bit about the gas station one and about the MC being angry at Jay and Ravi! I understand these two are not "actual issues" but a feeling of "offness" I had when reading - obviously at the end of the day it's your decision to keep it as such or change it! But I still prefer to mention my feelings than keep quiet in cases like that.

Hey!! Thank you so much for the ask & all of your feedback!

I'm glad you enjoyed the Croft scene. Writing the magic part of it was a ton of fun for me--it was great to finally get to fully show off Croft's magic and what that means for their character. And yay--the monstrous scene was one of my favorites!! So it's exciting to see folks enjoying it.

As always, I must keep quiet on specific theories, but I loved reading these 👀

As for the coding/continuity things, I'll answer under the cut <3

Excellent point in regard to the decor at Ravi's. Currently there isn't a variable tracking how MC felt about it, but it makes total sense that if they enjoyed it they wouldn't be reacting negatively to the bathroom!

Ah yeah, good catch with the smoker/headache combo. That's a pretty easy fix.

I see what you mean with the get up early/bartender combo! Definitely in part a causality of the fact that the waking up text is chosen before the job text is. I can dig into the bartender flavor text though and either add specific flavor text for this or adjust it a bit!

Another good catch--the mousepad was actually just a Doe reference I totally missed when adding the name flavor text. Ty for letting me know! The reality/realty thing is also just typos on my part. And, as you mentioned later, the Doe name flavor text not working is definitely a bug. IDK what's going on, I'll dig in and take a look at that.

With Sierra, I thought I had the 'teenage sister' thing behind a multireplace, but it's looking like I either don't or it isn't working, so thank you!! I'll look into that.

Ahhh the gas station thing is, in part, because I had to do a fairly big pivot while writing the first part of this chapter. Same as the narrative assuming the MC is more angry with Jay & Ravi than they are. Initially the station moving was going to be a bigger plot point, and there would be the potential for a big fight with J&R so I was writing emotions a little higher than they ended up being. I had to move away from that (turns out it was near impossible to code with the amount of variation, but I think at this point I need to take another pass at the scene overall. Make sure the MC's feelings for the others are a bit more in-line with their choices, and adjust things with the gas station moving, since you're not the first person to point out that MC's insistence on it moving is a little jarring if they previously assumed they could have just missed it!

And thank you for pointing out coding bugs!!

All in all, this is all great feedback! No need to be sorry, I really appreciate it. Some of these things are quick fixes (adding/adjusting flavor text, adding variables), but the last issue is one that might take a bit more time. I'll likely get to it after finishing the second half of the chapter. I do really appreciate it c:

Thank you so much for the ask, and for reading!!

[starlyte-writes]

Okay, I have a theoretical dsmp story idea in my head but idk if it's too far out there/confusing/complicated so I'm curious what do y'all think:

Basic concept (which it's hard to explain but hear me out) is that all of the characters of the dsmp are transported to a massive arena by XD. Each of them wakes up in a separate room, and when they do, they find they're not alone but are accompanied by a stranger who seems to vaguely/strongly recognize them. It's revealed that XD has selected one person from Earth that closest matches the personality of each dsmp member to become a team that will compete in a series of challenges broadcasted to the whole world.

To put it even more simply: each character is paired with a dsmp nerd that matches their energy whether they like it or not and I have an excuse to make a crazy Hunger Games-esque competition while simultaneously analyzing what makes every dsmp character unique.

Does this sound cool or do I sound absolutely insane (pls feel free to ask me questions or throw out suggestions this is a very rough idea as of rn)

[ganondoodle]

i am very much not normal about Shargon, Zaphira and Eadrya in particular but its so hard to get that across since they are very much only three of many OCs in a gigantic world and story i can never hope to truly bring to paper and it feels like my brain is trying to claw its way out of a prison and the bars are made of diamond

[h3lian]

I’m torn between what quick chibi style I should offer for my commissions. The plan so far is to try reopen on Saturday or Sunday, I’m just picking through what art to pick for the example displays now ehehehe. Let me know which style is better suited for quick 15$ chibis!

To clarify as well, they will be quickly flat coloured with some minimal shading as shown in the last picture ( Style D ). These are examples of chibi styles I’ve done over the years is all.

[moth-yknowtheartist]

hey guys! Trying something a little outside what I usually post- so excited to share my process here, so please let me know any feedback at all (seriously, should I buy a new microphone?), I'd love to hear from you!!! and for the outro, please give Acher and Gale their well-earned props for their cover of Chase Petra's "Paranormal".

Posted: January 9th, 2024.

TRANSCRIPT:

???:

"To run o’er better water hoists her sails the little vessel of my genius now, which leaves behind her such a cruel sea; and of that second Realm I ’ll sing, wherein the human spirit purifies itself, and groweth worthy to ascend to Heaven. But here let Poetry arise from death, since, holy Muses, yours I am; and let Calliopë, here somewhat higher soaring, with those sweet tones accompany my song, whose power the miserable Magpies felt so keenly, that of pardon they despaired. The oriental sapphire’s tender hue, now gathering in the sky’s unclouded face, as far as to the first of circles pure, began again to give mine eyes delight, when forth I issued from the deadly air, which with its gloom had filled mine eyes and heart. The beauteous planet which incites to love, veiling with light the Fishes in her train, was causing all the eastern sky to laugh."

[TONE FOR A LINE NO LONGER IN SERVICE]

WHObris Icarian or

Daedalian,

am I Pygmalion or? (APHRODITE)

same Talos told again,

runs 0.333333(FREE)3333333333 along the Shore…

enter: Labyrinth.

(overlapping) MOTH:

[improvised starting recording, getting situated getting comfortable speaking to the mic]

> hey everyone! For anyone new to my blog, welcome, this is usually not the norm- mostly I post about puppet history and tech and stuff and I make art sometimes, on rare occasions my robot doppelganger creation takes control of my blog to scam my followers into their murder scheme while I'm busy playing arcade games in hell?

> for any long time followers and mutuals, hi, you're probably used to this by this point. Thanks for sticking with it.

> today, though, I'm starting on a special little project, something a bit closer to my usual tech and malware posting. You guys remember the robot doppelganger creation, right? Well, part of the… issue with them has been a malware infection originating around January of 2023, so- close to a year ago, now? We theorize this anomaly is the reason they've gained sentience and autonomy far beyond what I could have possibly created, why they've persisted so long past their planned funeral-robot lifespan, and why they started on their whole, um… attempted murder spree.

> that being said, I welcome you all to Log 0 of the Acher Malware Remediation project!! These audio logs will serve as my way to log everything I find and try as I figure out what they're infected with, what vulnerabilities this malware exploits and what its payload and impact looks like, and how to safely remove and resolve it. It also works to like… hold me accountable you know? Um- I've kind of been procrastinating on actually starting on this, like I keep talking about it to everyone and like 'ohhh that malware Acher's got I'm definitely gonna get on that and fix that soon' but honestly I've kind of been dreading it because I'm not super experienced and they're a whole person now, so like if I fuck it up it's kind of the equivalent of your hand slipping during brain surgery and OOPS surprise lobotomy!!!

[deep breath and sigh]

> I'm trying to be… more responsible. More careful. I've fucked up enough people's lives through not thinking things through, and- but if I never get this done, that's also irresponsible, letting this infection happen was why so many bad things happened in the first place. So no more procrastinating!!!!! I'm doing this, and I'm posting it publicly on the internet so that everyone can judge me until I finish it!!!!

> to give myself some structure here, and to use the hours and hours of A+ Core 1 and 2 studying that I'm never gonna get back, I'm going to model my investigation and remediation off of CompTIA's 7 steps of malware removal and 6 steps of the troubleshooting methodology. It's basically like the scientific method of IT? Those steps are, respectively-

Identify and research malware symptoms, and Identify the problem. I have a couple different places to look for this- one is obviously inside Acher's system itself, seeing if I can run some diagnostics or observe the malware's behavior to get an idea of what it is, how it works, what it resembles? If I can grab a sample, I can also run that through VirusTotal or something, figure out the malware family, and from there figure out how it's usually dealt with. I can also try and monitor network traffic in WireShark, see if it's communicating with any kind of command and control? But besides those technical steps, I also have the very helpful resource of Tumblr posts made around the time of infection, people I know who were around when it originally happened- those are gonna be huge in figuring out the situation leading up to the infection. Never overlook the human element, people!!

Quarantine the infected system, and Establish a theory of probable cause. The latter is gonna be based on whatever I find in the last step, and the former… should have been done ages ago, but listen, there's only so much a person can do from hell!!! Still, quarantining Acher while I start trying to actually remove things is going to be helpful as far as making sure it doesn't just plant itself in her system again.

Disable system restore in Windows and backups, and Test the theory to determine the cause. The latter is gonna be the most applicable here. Acher doesn't really have… backups? I'm sorry!!! I was planning on him being single use way way in the future, I didn't think I'd have to think about longevity!!!! … But at least it saves me a step here!

Remediate the infected system, and Establish a plan of action and implement a solution. This is the brain surgery part, this is the bit I'm dreading the most, but… assuming I do the last steps right, this will be easy. … These steps of malware removal aren't actually considered, like, best practice, because you can never really be sure you've removed everything. The actual best practice is going scorched earth entirely, assuming you have a backup of anything important, and then just starting fresh from a new OS install or a fresh image. That's… not an option here. Something that hasn't really left my mind since I committed to this project is the worry that, like, I can't remove the malware without removing Acher, who Acher currently is? I mean, I'm pretty sure the infection is part of the reason they actually evolved so much past their original code and developed a personality, independent wants and likes and dislikes and… I'm really worried I can't kill this parasite without killing Acher too. Or, hm, does that make it a parasite or is that more symbiosis?… I'm overcomplicating my metaphors whatever. Acher's being a pretty good sport about this, all things considered, I'm surprised they're actually letting me do this, so… I want to be really careful here. If I can't remove the malware without hurting them in the process, then I figure something else out. I can't afford to mess up here.

Assuming everything else went according to plan, Schedule scans and run updates, and Verify full system functionality and implement preventative measures. Basically fix the mistakes that led to this all in the first place, make sure they don't happen in the future.

Re-enable system restore on Windows and backups, and Document findings, actions, and outcomes. I guess I'm already documenting throughout the process, so I guess I'm getting ahead of this one? See, look, I don't procrastinate everything.

Educate end user. I'm not exactly sure who counts here in this case. Am I the end user, maybe I'm the one who's supposed to have the learning experience here? That would make sense, but also I'm the one learning throughout this whole thing so again I'm kind of already getting ahead of that. Is it supposed to be Acher, maybe? I dunno, I'll get a better idea of it once I figure more out about how the infection happened.

> thanks to everyone listening! Next time, tune in for step one- research time! Also, let me know how my audio is? I did a couple test recordings before I committed to this one and I swear I kept ending up with little bits of corruption or weird background noise. Maybe I need a new microphone.

> cue outro!

[outro does not play; start of a different, candid audio clip]

MOTH:

> [startled noise] JESUS. acher it's 3 am.

ACHER:

i donT sleep. You doNT sleep.

MOTH:

> yeah, but- but gale's supposed to be, so I try to be quiet-

ACHER:

SORRY. couldnT get A thought out Of my head. dO yo.U reMEmber th.e deTAILS of my C.ode?

MOTH:

> [groggy] .... uh, maybe? It's been a while since I... why? why are you doing the ryder thing?

ACHER:

[silence] couldnT get A thought out Of my head. hopeD you could eLUCID.ate.

MOTH:

> you're being weird.

ACHER:

I feel finE?

MOTH:

> okay. ... actually, can you come to the garage? I've been meaning to ask you about stuff anyway.

ACHER:

surE.

[somegrumpynerd]

Time for a new toy!

Tube won by a pretty big landslide, so tomorrow there'll be a cardboard tube in the garden!

So that means..

(Note: I changed the paper option to pages just to make it less confusing now that paper bag is an option, it still attracts the same cat though!)

[stellewriites]

i’m back again asking what nail design to try next :3 poll so that people can vote anon if they want

[blackjackkent]

Giffing BG3, part 2/?

Meeting Us

[dukeoftheblackstar]

Prime Series: Castis Vakarian

[ Art by Rouge ]

I'd insert something clever here, but I just needed an excuse to flaunt new art design and artist to feed my Castis x OC/Duchii delulu. And perhaps to inspire me to actually fkn write more of it.

Context:

As much as I love this old man, I'm very into his prime days at C-SEC or a little past his prime with just a few years under his belt before retirement. Yes, that grey area of deliciousness, thank you very much.

I'm equally aware that the armor doesn't seem very close to canon. We're doing our best. T__T.

[nerdcrawfish]

HEY UH.

You know how when you close your eyes you see black?? Um, TFs have glowing eyes--so would they actually see the lit up backs of their lids?

Or do the eye lights shut off when they close their optics lids like a refrigerator??

does it... does it click??

[gingerpeachtea]

🦀🦀🦀

15 sentences!!!!

Satine was lying on Christian’s bed, seated up against tattered pillows thin with use; she might have minded, if the smell of his shampoo and her perfume weren’t lingering so sweetly. She could recall their early days, before Christian had gotten properly settled, when all that clung was dust. Or, the bitter stench of absinthe, when the same could be said of his breath—when the green-cheapened poetry of his mouth swallowed the copper twinge in her own. A small mercy she'd held tight in her bloodstained fist. Paris backstreets shone among the red L’amour sign beyond Christian’s apartment, a mere glimmer peeking through the reflections cast on the window: Christian’s backside, lit warm by the bedside lamp while he excitedly leafed through the pieces he’d workshopped with Toulouse. He was always working on something new, jumping from project to project, passion to passion; a constant balancing act of his overactive imagination atop the cusp of fresh creation. He came home from each session with Toulouse more than eager to share his day’s musings with Satine. After all, try as he might, Toulouse was never too successful in pacing Christian, keeping him stoking one creative flame at a time instead of just dousing every concept in gasoline and tossing in a reckless match. No, it seemed Santiago and Satine were the lucky few capable of reining him in from careening wildly between ideas at the drop of a hat. (Nini had successfully shot down an idea of his once, though, after being forced to overhear him describe it to Satine in their dressing room between acts. She’d been a bit harsh about it, but he appreciated her honesty.)

i think this is more than 15 whatevs tho ily

(make me write!!!)

[driftwoodwolf]

BIG PSA: I've just noticed Tumblr saves the original text of edited drafts in blog post links. My latest artwork should have a link that ends in "lost" since that's the post text but the actual link is "unsharp" which is what I originally wrote in the draft to differentiate versions of the image for testing. This has the potential to be really bad in terms of privacy. @staff maybe you should look into this :')

If you're the type of person to edit drafts, please be careful...