#guess who is playing the demo........ again....

[bread--hood]

Clive || Final Fantasy XVI

[beanmaster-pika]

A sizeable chunk of the fanbase (especially those who read the webtoon) seeing Collei in 3.0: aw thank goodness she’s doing well and even has two dads who are in love :)

Hoyoverse half a year later, writing Cyno and Tighnari into an event that in-game half of Mondstadt considers a lovers’ festival: shit shit shit shit shit we have to no-homo this

[tumpadumpling]

gosh just.. kirby offering to help magolor the *exact* same way he offered to help ribbon, the last poor alien who landed on his planet and desperately needed help. it makes. me feel emotions. like the little pat he does. the PARALLELS

[solid-white]

Engineer's theme song is one of the few songs WITHOUT any backup. Obviously right? Because Engineer is the one playing the song.

Out of all the 33 tracks, just Engineer's theme has no backup. Only his, and when there is backup, it's an bass guitar.

But, here's the thing, all the songs are jazz, with the added instruments to go with the characters (Scout has bongos, Demo's bagpipes, Soldier's trumpet, etc)

But Sniper's? His is only saxophone. The saxophone is present in EVERY single song, in EVERY single one of the tracks. Including Engineer's.

MEANING, THIS MOTHERFUCKER MADE ALL THE SONGS:

I actually lied about everything I just said.

But now that you're here, lemme tell you about what all the instruments each merc plays (FYI, I won't be mentioning taunts used twice, like the guitar, cymbals and drums. I'm only using ones unique to their characters):

Obviously Sniper and Engineer play the guitar and saxophone, as you can see. I think Sniper was also playing the saxophone in Expiration Date? But don't quote me on that.

Soldier plays the trombone, which is funny considering his theme songs are usually accompanies by trumpets. But the more you know.

Pyro has a taunt where they use their axe like a guitar, so we can assume they can play the guitar too.

Scout plays the bongos. Since almost everyone on the TF2 team can play an instrument, he for sure was playing the bongos in his own theme song:

Medic has a taunt where he plays his bonesaw like a violin, so we can assume he plays the violin.

Heavy doesn't play any instruments. I'm somewhat disappointed he doesn't have a taunt where he plays Sasha like a cello, since he would've matched with Medic's taunt. But it also makes sense with his backstory and personality, he's more of a listener then anything else.

Spy doesn't play an instrument either, but something I heard was that Spy's voice actor copies Scout's voice to make Meet The Spy more authentic, since Spy's disguise (nudge nudge wink wink to anyone who gets that reference) doesn't mimic the mercs voices. Though I'm not too sure if that's true, so don't quote me. I'm guessing Spy has a sickass singing voice considering he can voice act really well.

And finally, Demo. He plays the piano and bagpipes as seen in his taunts and probably Expiration Date. Again, for the third time, don't quote me because I couldn't find the original scene this was in.

[lovecla]

IF YOU LOVE ME, LET ME KNOW | jack hughes.

chapter two:

<last chapter> <next chapter>

➴ warnings: none <3

➴ word count: 2.5k

➴ author’s note: this is pure fluffiness, the calm before the storm, the hughes being the best family in the world and jack making my heart MELT (i literally wrote him). i hope u guys enjoy this too. let me know what u think of this one:))

“AND that, my loves, it’s a wrap on ‘rip to my feelings’!” Grace yelled, and everyone yelled too.

You were in your studio with all of your producers and song-writers, plus Grace, and you had just finished recording the last song on your album.

You were beyond happy. Finishing this meant getting over everything Harris did to you. It was like closure. It was like restarting again.

“Guys, I’m so fucking happy, I love you all so much I could kiss you on the mouth right now,” you said, hugging John— the main producer.

“Don’t think Jack would appreciate that,” Grace mumbled when you hugged her, and you smacked her butt.

Jack.

You had sent him the demo of the album as soon as it was sent to your phone, not really sure why. You just wanted his opinion, that’s all.

Not much fuck buddy of you but whatever!

“Fuck off, Grace Morgan,” you fake whispered, laughing.

You all celebrated and laughed for hours, the time passing quickly whenever you spent it with the people you loved. You were grateful for having so many amazing people in your life, helping you to make your dreams come true.

Your phone rang, and you picked it up, unlocking it and smiling when you saw who had texted: Jack.

It was funny seeing how he complimented you in his own little, weird way. It made your heart beat in the wrong— right— way all over again.

“Did he just ask you on a date?” Grace whispered, probably reading your texts over your shoulder. Everyone else had already left— it was late, after all— and only Grace was left. You were sure she was probably going to sleep at your place anyway.

“I guess? We never just ‘hanged out’ before.” You sighed, replying to Jack’s texts.

“Woah,” she whistled, sitting back on the couch, looking at you funny. “Are you in love?”

“What?” You laughed, locking your phone. “What do you mean, we’ve been fucking for six months only. Chill.”

“Girl, like time matters to you!” She raised her arms. “You fell in love with that piece of shit in like three weeks, imagine with Jack, who fucks you every other week and treats you like you’re the most precious thing ever.”

“Excuse me? Are we talking about the same Jack?” You scoffed, crossing your arms. “Jack doesn’t treat anyone differently. Besides his family, that is.”

“Like the shit he does for you isn’t anything special, right? Like knowing your Five Guys order, or your favorite movies, or how you eat apple pie before your concerts,” she started listing those things on her fingers.

“He doesn’t know those things!” You raised your voice, trying to convince both you and her.

“Girl, I love you but stop playing dumb. He knows and you know he does! Why are you pretending that he doesn’t care about you? He just asked you on a date, for fuck’s sake.” She rolled her eyes.

“First of all,” you started, mentally listing your reasons. “We don’t know if it’s a date. He just said: dinner. He didn’t say ‘I wanna take you out on a date’. Second of all, I’m not denying anything, but I think I would know if I was in love with him, wouldn’t I?”

Actually. The answer was probably no. Harris fucked up your perception of love, and even though it’s been more than a year that you broke up with him, you still feel like you can’t really trust anyone anymore.

So you wouldn’t exactly be able to tell if you are in love or not. At least, you don’t think so.

But talking about love with your fuck buddy? Hell. No.

“You piss me off.” Grace bickered, turning the TV on. “Go change to your little date. I’ll be here, all alone and sad.”

“Pff, shut up. You’re just alone because you and Nico are dumbasses.” You said like it was a matter of fact and left the leaving room, leaving a very pink Grace behind.

Changing didn’t take long, and applying a light makeup didn’t either. You weren’t going to do anything special because, let’s be real, if you and Jack decided to be reckless and fuck somewhere, that makeup wouldn’t last long. So, why bother?

You left your house, saying goodbye to Grace and kissing her cheek. Jack’s fancy ass car was in front of your garage and you smiled, entering it.

“Hi, Jackie boy,” you greeted him, noticing how fucking good he looked, wearing his burgundy suit. Thank god to whoever created the suit rule in hockey. You’ll forever be grateful.

“Hey.” He greeted back, and did something surprising. He kissed you. Softly, and not like any other kiss you’ve shared in the past.

And that didn’t do anything to help the little cardiac arrest you had every time you were around him.

“Are we ready to rock our lasagna?” You asked, half embarrassed and half confused with what you were feeling. Food always made it better though.

“We sure are.” He smiled before starting the car again.

The silence was comfortable but your thoughts were too loud so you took the liberty of turning the radio on, scaring yourself with how loud the music playing was. And, shockingly, your music. Already Over was blasting through the speakers.

You looked at him, and he just shrugged, cheeks red.

“Were you listening to my music on the way to my place?”

“Yeah, why not? It’s good,” he blushes so cutely you find yourself wanting to chomp a piece of his cheek.

“You’re so cute, Jackie. Thanks, means a lot,” you had a feeling you were blushing too, and you thanked God he wasn’t looking at you. “I’m excited to release it.”

“When are you doing it?” He asked, making a U turn.

“Beginning of the next month. Now I have to take pictures and set up the concept for it. It’s my favourite part.”

“Are you doing any music videos with a guy dying?” He asked and you stared at him, once again surprised. Had he been watching your music videos? All of them? “What?”

“Are you a fan?” You giggled, genuinely happy. Harris hated to talk about your work, and he never listened to your songs for more than ten minutes.

“Nico forces us to listen to your songs and watch your music videos,” he answered, nonchalantly. You smiled, nodding your head. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” You played dumb.

“Like that. You have this little minx stare that you do whenever you’re plotting something.” He smiled this time, and God if the sight didn’t make you feel full.

“You’re no fun,” you sighed, looking at the view. “Also, where is this restaurant? We’ve been driving for at least twenty minutes and nothing in Jersey takes more than that.”

“The restaurant is actually my parents’ house.” He says, like it’s nothing.

“What?!” You yelled, turning your head in his direction. “What do you mean you’re taking me to your fucking parents’?”

“Yeah. Ma’s making lasagna for you.”

Your cheeks were burning hot and you had this bubbly feeling inside of you. You were feeling something really weird and you started to wonder if Grace was right and—

“Soph?” You heard his voice, gentle and soft. You looked at him, noticing that he wasn’t driving anymore, and that the car was now parked in front of a big, beautiful, colonial house. His parents’ house. “We can go back if you want to, baby. Ma won’t be angry or anything like that.”

Stop making me want to trust you, Jack.

He caressed your cheek, and you snapped out of it. “No, it’s fine. I just… you could’ve said something, y’know? I’m wearing sweatpants.” You tried to make a joke, smiling. He smiled too.

“I’ll put on some sweatpants too, so we’re matching,”

“Right.”

You left the car, taking a deep breath. It was just his parents. You weren’t even dating so it would be fine.

Wait.

“What did you tell them? That you’re bringing one of the girls you’re fucking home?” You asked just before you walked in their property.

He raised an eyebrow at you, scowling. “First of all, I’m not fucking anyone else. It’s just you. Second of all, I told them I’m bringing a friend.”

You nodded, not trusting yourself to do anything else.

He’s not fucking anyone else? Jack Hughes? The man whore of the NJ Devils?

Yikes, sure.

You both walked into the house, Jack not bothering knocking before entering it. A delicious smell of fresh tomato sauce and herbs reached your nose and you could swear your mouth was watering.

“Ma, we’re here!” Jack yelled, making you jump a little bit. You eyed him before facing the woman in front of you, who was absolutely gorgeous. She looked so fucking young and pretty, and you were biting your tongue, trying not to say something stupid. “Hi, Ma, this is Soph. Soph, that’s Ellen, Ma Hughes,”

“Hi, Mrs. Hughes. Nice to meet you.” You said, certain that your cheeks were on flame.

Ellen took a step closer, smiling. “Hi, darlin’. No need for formalities, dear, it’s just Ellen. I would hug you but,” she pointed at her apron and shrugged. “A bit dirty.”

“Thank you for having me.”

“No, thank you for making this guy over here visit me,” she slapped Jack’s shoulder, both of them smiling together. “He only called because he said you wanted to eat lasagna and he loves mine so that’s why he’s here.”

If your face wasn’t going to melt before, it definitely was now. You were going to kill Jack. For real this time.

“Come on, Ma, I can’t be worse than Luke and Quinn. They don’t even remember your address anymore,” was Jack actually pouting? Jesus. Your heart was not ready to see that.

“Stop throwing us under the bus, dickhead.” Luke’s voice was heard and you and Jack both watched as both Quinn and Luke entered the room. “‘Sup, Soph.”

“Hi, Luke. Hi, Quinn,” you greeted them with cheek kisses, not even wanting to acknowledge that you had actually missed them. “Long time no see.”

“Hey, Soph,” Quinn quietly answered, not a single thought behind those eyes. “Great to see you.”

“I hope you’re all hungry because your mom outdid herself tonight,” Jim, the dad, said, smiling when he noticed you. “Hello there. I’m Jim.”

“Hi,” you whispered, mortified with all the attention you were getting. Some would think that performing for big crowds would make you less anxious to meet people. Nope. “I’m Sophia. Thank you for having me.”

“It’s fine, as my baby was saying, we do need our son to visit more.”

As they discussed why Jack didn’t visit them more frequently, you felt Jack’s arms around your waist and his mouth on the tip of your ear. You froze. “Yeah, they call each other baby and honey. Sorry about that.”

You managed to smile, trying not to get his family’s attention. They certainly wouldn’t understand why he was this close to a friend.

“I think it’s cute.”

The dinner went awesomely well. The lasagna was amazing and Ellen and Jim were the cutest couple ever, you could see how they’ve raised three amazing men.

They asked questions about what being a postar meant nowadays, and what was it like during your tours, and how could someone sing and dance at the same time, and have you ever met Adele?

They’re great people. Even Quinn and Luke, who had talked to you before on different occasions, made sure you were included in every topic, and Luke even asked for a signed cap so he could wear it at UMich.

“Do you guys know what we should definitely do?” Ellen started, after forcing all of the boys to organize the kitchen and do the dishes, while you sat with her drinking wine. Yeah, you loved her. “Karaoke. Let Soph here show us how good she is.”

“Maa,” you could hear Luke whining, while running his hands through his beautiful curls. “You do this every time.”

“You’ll make her work on her day off? That’s wild, Ma.” Jack joked, putting his arms around your shoulder. You froze again, looking at the expressions of his family, trying to picture anything out of place.

No one was looking at you weirdly, besides Ellen who plastered the most gorgeous smile you’ve ever seen, which made you smile too.

“I don’t mind singing…” you said, softly.

“Perfect!” Ellen stood up from her seat, pouring more wine on her glass. “Jim, set the karaoke thing on.”

“It’s called YouTube, Ma.” Jack rolled his eyes.

“Leave your mom alone, ugly face,” Jim called him out, on his way to do exactly what Ellen asked. “Sophia, can you sing some Elvis?”

“Yes, ‘course.” You also got up, discussing with Jim which song he wanted you to sing.

“Tell her to sing our song, honey!” Ellen yelled from the dinner table.

“Ah, yes, yes.”

Turns out that their song is Can’t Help Falling in Love, which was so freaking sweet. You sang the romantic lyrics while Jim and Ellen danced with each other, swinging slowly and delicately.

Quinn and Luke were recording themselves with you singing in the background, while you waved happily to the camera.

Jack was sitting on the couch, watching you sing. You could feel his eyes on you, observing your every move, smiling whenever you’d hit a high note or change the song’s rhythm.

It was nice. So, so nice. The Hughes were such nice people and you felt so safe and adored around them. They asked you to sing more songs and when you noticed, you were singing an upbeat song with Jim and dancing between Quinn and Luke while Ellen filmed everything. Until Jack grabbed you again and made you sing in front of him, for him. And boy, how you wanted to kiss him. His blue eyes were shining brightly and he looked just as happy as you felt.

You ended the singing when it was around midnight, everyone exhausted and sweaty— even if it was winter.

You started saying your goodbyes and thanking Ellen and Jim for the best lasagna you’ve ever eaten and for the hospitality too.

“I hope you come back soon.” Ellen whispered in your ear when you were hugging her, and you held her slightly tighter.

When you left the house with Jack, you couldn’t contain your happiness inside you. Grabbing his arm, you pulled him until you were near his car, and standing on your tiptoes, you kissed him.

He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer, both of you moaning inside each other’s mouth. His tongue made its way inside your mouth, pillowy and so soft. You were finally melting into Jack’s arms and nothing could be better.

Until you realized what was going on.

You had just had dinner with Jack’s family, sang and danced with them, and now you were in the middle of the street of a fancy neighborhood, with Jack Hughes holding you close to his chest, while devouring your mouth.

And instead of not feeling anything, instead of keeping things casual, you were feeling everything. Each tiny part of every emotion there is in this world were making their way into your heart and, unfortunately, you didn’t want to take them out.

Because for the first time in more than one year, you wanted to feel.

[evertidings]

I'm always surprised when you say people didn't like Blane or K at first because of their personalities considering characters like them - antagonistic towards the MC at first and who warm up with time - are usually pretty popular in IF.

I guess your playerbase is a bit less into it than others I've seen?

Regardless, anything that has to do with one-sided rivalry / enmity or "hurt and forgiveness" or stuff like that is something I will always love, so Blane is so perfect for me. I don't know if I ever mentionned it, but I'm extremely grateful that you allowed players to have a MC who doesn't hate Blane and don't consider them a rival. I really hate it when a game forces players to have a MC who hates someone or considers them a rival - in some cases, it's a deal breaker for me, even! As in, something that bothers me too much to even play the game, let alone romance that character.

And on that note, I'm very excited for the next update as I miss the little gang so much - not only Blane!

i remember when i first released the demo (ages ago!!) i had many many complaints about how Blane was harassing the hunter. someone even asked why the hunter doesn’t go to HR. not a completely invalid point, but also, they never take it that far.

i was also a bit surprised though, because i personally love colder characters that eventually warm up to the mc. the development is so satisfying to me (and rewarding!).

but i’m happy that you’re pleased with the options!! i try my best to allow players to have a variety of personality options and relationships with the ros, and while, of course, it’s not possible to do everything and please everyone, i’ve mostly gotten positive feedback which is a huge relief.

i’m excited for you all to see the gang again!

[bubblyshortie]

while playing the demo i experienced lots of dialogues like this 🥹 i guess it's because i chose crushes during step 1

i love child crushes, so innocent and clumsy, it's fun to play as a kid who gets flustered easily because the kid can't process those feelings very well kakskdkskf makes me giggle every time, reminds me of my childhood so bad

isn't she the best friend a kid can ever have?? love the "i saw a cool rock so i brought it for you" love language uwuwuwuwuwuwuwu

and i knew choosing him as a crush would be right on point... like, my younger-self would've FALLEN for qiu SO bad irl —I'm one of those who have self-insert MC, what about it

omg, i wish parents were real

qiu when he founds out about my pronouns 🥹🥹🥹

i love how the lil details really make you feel like youre 10 again and chatting with your 10 yo pals

[vaccariia]

Omgg I love your keyframes fanart, your mc is sooo pretty <333. I need to hear your thoughts on Elio !! (If you feel like sharing ofc, I've been obsessed with him and i wanna know what other people think lol)

M.....MY FIRST ANON ASK????!?!? MY MC IS PRETTY?? AND A FELLOW ELIO FAN????? THANK U!!!!!

anon, you are opening the metaphorical pandora's box in me. i played the extended demo a few more times because i wanted to see elio again FOR RESEARCH so i think i'm ready to put my thoughts into paper

(Uhhh disclaimer, this is my first time doing something like this, normally i just keep my thoughts to myself. So everything under here is merely speculative and things i made up LOL)

(Also I took some screenshots and used them to reinforce some of my statements. Game and characters are not mine, they belong to blank house, etc. etc. please do let me know if screenshots are not allowed, i'd be more than willing to remove them from this post!)

______________________________________________________________

I want to begin by citing a post from the devs . Said post contains an ask summarizing the LI's into three words. For Elio, he's given the following descriptors:

Sweet, sensitive, wild Determined, hopeful, friendly

(First line is how the devs would describe Elio, second line would be how Elio probably sees himself)

And for the most part, the traits DO check out!! He's sweet, especially when he's with his boys <3 We've also seen him be considerate with the MC and others (i.e carrying groceries for mc and refilling bottles, among other instances)

But I do want to say that despite his wild and impulsive tendencies, he does have a more delicate side to him

When MC tags along with Percy and Elio for a snack run, they have the option to check out a plant stall manned by the horticulture club. It's in this part where he reveals to MC that he knows a lot about ferns, but there's a particular set of lines that made me feel that there's something more to Elio than he lets on

His reaction to seeing the staghorn fern and recounting his childhood tells me that Elio had some rather fond memories from his youth.

i'm probably projecting here, but he can also get a bit homesick because of it. (imagine being in Hawai'i your whole life and then having to move to NY for school. Guy probably had a hard time adjusting at first. I mean granted it's the same country, but different states still have different norms and values to go by)

Additionally, I find it quite interesting that Elio doesn't give himself credit (Or downplays himself) sometimes. Like, man was fighting for his life when he was being stickered by Rory. Ooor the part where he says that the gang doesn't have to celebrate his birthday

This leads me to assume that he's the type to look out for others and has the tendency of putting himself second...

I'm guessing Elio is also a big family man, judging by how fondly he speaks of his siblings. Aaaaaand he could also potentially be a bit of a hopeless romantic because he's hopeful about wanting to experience a love that's similar to his parents someday <3 <3 <3

So yeah, there! Elio is true to his name; a jovial man who embodies the light of the sun. He is loved by all, (except for most animals, i'm sorry </3) and he reciprocates that love tenfold. He's competitive and lively, but he can also show a softer side if he wants to hehe

Tl;dr: I LOVE ELIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[greetingfromthedead]

Perfect Morning (Vash x GN!Reader)

Plot: You and an exhausted Vash spend your day in the hotel after saving the town and Vash gets a bit handsy.

Series: Tempest Wind

Pairing: Vash x GN!Reader

Raiting: Kinda mature, but not too spicy, sexual themes without actual smut, some kisses and tender touches.

Tags: Pre-Canon, Established Relationship, Intimacy, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Shy Vash, very light smut

Word count: 1.8k

Author's Note: It has been a very long time since I wrote anything at all, but like two months ago I got some Trigun related brainrot that wouldn't let me function anymore and I needed to write it down. It's a long story and I intend to publish it for all to read, but I do kinda want to finish writing it first and then release all of it all at once for bingereading. I have currently finished 23 chapters (~1.9k words each) and am running out of motivation eventhough I haven't even gotten to the truly juicy parts that have caused the main brainrot problems. So I am trying to motivate myself by publishing a demo here of a chapter in the story.

You wake up nearly completely on your back, a heavy weight on you, soft hair tickling your cheek. As your brain clears you realize Vash's head is resting on your chest, close to your shoulder, your arms around his neck. His arms are around you, one of your legs thrown over his hip as he sleeps on yours. His breathing calm and slow, face turned away from you. Leaving one of your arms resting on his back, the other hand gently strokes up, fingers finding his hair. He doesn't wake up to that and you close your eyes again, cheek against his head, fingers playing with the blond locks.

Warmth filling your chest as you stay like this for quite a while longer. The sunlight finds its way into the room despite the curtains and you hear people talking in the streets. Seems like some of them haven't stopped celebrating yet and the good news spreads from mouth to mouth that the town is saved. Some people are wondering who they have to thank, nobody actually having Vash's name.

You focus on Vash's breathing as he lays on you so you notice the change in his breathing, but keep running your fingers through his hair, nails running over his skin where the hair is shortest. Your other hand still rests on his back as you keep going. The snoring is gone, occasionally replaced by barely audible low moans.

"How long are you going to pretend to be asleep for?" you ask with a smile on your lips.

"Guess you found me out, huh?" a mumble reaches your ears. "But can I pretend a while longer?"

He nuzzles his face more into you, giving you access to more of the side of his head closest to you. He rolls even more onto you, his knee pushing your leg that is over his hip. His hands move down to either side of your waist, touching your skin where the shirt has been pushed up. His face and chest dig more into you as his weight shifts.

Both of your hands move onto the back of his neck, your thumbs feeling for the knots in his muscles and gently starting to rub them out. He lets out a relieved sigh, you can feel his hot breath through the fabric. He is not wearing a turtleneck, just a high neckline shirt so your fingers travel slightly underneath the collar to massage away more tight spots before moving up again, nails trailing over his skin into his hair, rubbing the sides of his head, pinching his ears lightly, thumbs playing with his earlobes, especially the one with the earring. You hear and feel him breathe heavy as he enjoys your touch.

His hands grab you tighter and trail upwards, fingers pushing under your shirt, over your skin. He feels the twitch in your body as he trails over your ribs. His head turns even more and his face moves closer till his lips touch your neck and start to leave burning kisses. His body shifts further so he lays between both your legs, his flesh hand moving down your side again, over to your butt, pulling your leg up to be over his hip, your feet locking on his ass as you enjoy his lips and touch, quiet and breathy moans escaping your throat, his heavy breathing pressing his chest into yours. Vash's kisses move down and brush over your collarbone, his metal hand has pushed your shirt as far up as it will go without exposing your chest. His lips skip over the fabric and land on your ribs, you feel his body brushing over yours. The hands that have been gripping his hair move to his back, griping his shirt as the kisses move over your stomach to the other side.

As your hands start to bunch up the cloth of his shirt to pull it up and over his head the weight of his body is suddenly gone. Both his hands moving over your sides to your arms making you let to go  and in a lightning fast move he has your arms pinned to the bed over your head, his fingers intertwined with yours. His body has moved up again and he gently presses his forehead to yours, supporting his body with his hands either side of you, still holding tight.

Your wide eyes look up at him, for a moment Vash avoids your gaze, mumbling "Sorry." But his eyes find yours regardless, your mouth still slightly open as you stare back.

"Why are you sorry?" you finally manage to speak out after gathering yourself enough to catch up with what just happened.

"I... I don't think I'm ready." he says, avoiding you again and you put your feet back onto the mattress, knees still bent to give him room.

"That's okay." you assure him gently and smile, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Red."

His body that you only just now realized was tense like a drawn bow relaxes and gently slumps onto you again, his grip lightening  as you pull out your hands to wrap your arms around him again for a hug and to stroke his back while he hides his face. Vash's ear is against your chest, listening to the racing of your heart. His arms move down again, taking some of his weight off of you as he supports himself on his elbows, his hands slipping between the mattress and your shoulders. His body on yours feels comforting.

"Room service!" you hear a muffled voice behind your door after a few nervous knocks that both of you had ignored. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

The two of you are still in bed, it feels like hours of blissfully laying in each other's arms, but in reality you don't know how long it has been. Long enough for Vash's stomach to start growling.

"Maybe they brought food?" you suggest while you still play with Vash's hair.

"Mmmm, maybe." he answers with a pout as his stomach voices its displeasure. "But then I have to get up."

"Don't worry, I'll take you back." you joke with a light laugh.

"But it won't be the same, " he whines. "It feels like I found something profound! If I move it will slip away!"

"It will slip away if you starve to death." you tug on his hair lightly.

"Helllooo?" the insistent voice still continuing between knocks.

Vash lets out a deep sigh and pushes himself up, looking at you with grumpiness for a moment and then staggers out of bed.

"Sorry! I'm coming!" he calls out towards the door. 

You sit up and see the door opening, a boy stands there with a large tray. He gives a wide smile, but you doubt it's genuine.

"Here you are, good sir! Our deluxe breakfast! It might be late afternoon already, but since we didn't see you at breakfast we assumed you sleep in! The chef cooked it all up especially for you! It's on the house as a thank you!"

The boy holds up the tray for Vash and he looked pleased with himself.  Vash takes the food and gives a kind smile back.

"Oh, tell everyone involved that we're very grateful for everything! It's so wonderful!" his left hand manages to balance the whole tray by itself and Vash ruffles the boy's hair.

"Will do, sir!" the lad turns around and runs off down the hall.

"It smells nice!" Vash exclaims as he closes the door. He walks over to the table in the corner and sets the tray down. He inspects everything closely, "There's pancakes! And eggs and sausages!"

You listen to him listing all the toppings and extras as he identifies them, eyes wide like an excited child. Seems like his pouty mood is completely gone. He puts down the dishes that were included, setting the table for two and starts pouring two cups of coffee.

"Come, come! They brought food for two!" he smiles at you.

"And you eat enough for two people!" you tease him, but Vash is not having any of it as he comes to stand by the bed with mischief in his eyes.

"Come, have breakfast with me." he says and offers you a hand.

"I'm not hungry." you say matter-of-factly, tone light and pretending to be serious.

"You never are." he takes both your hands and pulls lightly.

"See? Go eat by yourself! You already chose to abandon me to go open that door." you look him square in the eye pretending to be hurt by what he'd done.

"You vixen!" he laughs and pulls harder, trying to pry you up from the bed, but instead of giving in you brace yourself and pull back, trying to get him to bed. This tug-of-war takes Vash by surprise, but not enough to throw him off balance. You are strong, amazingly so, Vash has to struggle a bit to overpower you and manages to get you to your feet, but as you still refuse to budge he changes strategy and instead of pulling you by your hands, he switches gears and bows down a bit, places his hands on your waist and lifts you up onto his shoulder.

"That's not fair!" you exclaim and playfully slap him on the back.

He simply laughs and takes the few steps to the table, kicks out a chair and sits you down into it before pushing it to the table and almost falling into his own chair. The wide smile on his face lights up his eyes with joy and it warms your heart.

"At least have a taste! They cooked it all up especially for us!" he cheers you with his coffee cup and you can't help but smile and follow his lead.

"Oh, Red, you are ridiculous!"  you lightly clink your cups together.

"Not at all, Sweet Pea!" his eyes scan the room and seem to stop at something behind you. "Hold on, just one more finishing touch!"

He takes a quick sip and places the cup down, standing up from his seat and walking off. You follow him with your gaze, but you don't see what caught his attention. He fiddles with something on the commode and after a quiet click the room is filled with music. Vash turns to face you again and you see the little radio.

"I will dance with you after breakfast! Even if you are kicking and screaming on my shoulder again!" he laughs as he returns to you.

"As I said: absolutely ridiculous!" you roll your eyes and sip on your coffee. Vash starts piling food on his plate, making sure you take at least one bite of everything.

Read more Tempest Wind HERE.

Did you like this? Go check out my MASTERLIST and drop a follow for any and all future projects!

[loveandleases]

I really liked the demo (It was surprisingly long, but it makes sense given that you wanted to introduce all the RO's and the breakup on the first release). But I've been debating a lot about who to the romance.

Mostly because I really like Ardent. It's just I'm not that fond of the brat kind of behavior. I'm a very boring kind of guy who always plays sunny, kind goodie two shoes type of protagonist. If available. So, that doesn't go that well with Ardent's type. I was okay with just going with the flow, but maybe considering another RO if it didn't work out for me.

Then I considered Cam... But I just see him as my little brother (this would hurt him, I'm sorry). And I'm not that into his style, since, as I said, I'm very boring.

So I was sure I would go for Ardent. Then I played the demo and was hit by the angst of Gage. I knew the relationship was going to be angsty, but my goodness. I just never expected it was going to be like this.

And it doesn't help that I'm a sucker for exes who were the right person, but in the wrong time, who get to be together once more. I just love stories about people who reunite after being separated, while their feelings remained even if both tried to move on.

Which then gets worse by how the relationship with Gage is. It feels like there are still so many feelings, as if not a day has passed. Even though it has been years. So many resentment and regret. Worse, it feels it all was a huge misunderstanding, that if only MC and Gage sat and spoke, maybe it could be solved. Except that Gage is so hurt, so betrayed, so guarded... It may not work.

So now I'm obsessed with the both of them. Ardent and Gage. Ardent because he is ridiculously hot, and I love the idea of being a pathetic little guy (my MC being as tall and muscular as the game allows, funnily enough) who is in the wrong about the cake situation but is so pathetic Ardent cannot even get mad. Only then to get stuck together as landlord and tenant. Yet Gage has all the angst and then some. The feeling of an injustice that has to be solved, and yet it may be too late to do so...

So many decisions to make... So many... I guess I'll need two saves, it seems.

Anyway, congratulations on the release. I was going to write before, but I'm rather shy so I was unsure about doing it without being able to do so anonymously.

Have a nice day!

Lol Ardent can be hot. The cake situation will still be a sore subject in Ch. 2. I feel like Gage's route has the ability to be the most angst filled. There's years of catch up for G and MC. So many things to be solved, and there is the whole getting to know one another again. I'm glad you enjoyed your playthrough thus far and the characters! Thanks for reaching out. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the characters and your MC.

[dailydemonspotlight]

dude i fucking love your series so much, every time you post i get so excited i love learning even more about the demons in smt rahhhhh. anyways can you do lilith? i love like loveeeee her new design in vengeance and think she looks so cool :3.

Lilith - Day 76

Race: Night/Qadištu

Arcana: Devil

Alignment: Neutral-Chaos

July 22nd, 2024

Abrahamic mythology has a lot of rather infamous figures who lay on the more... 'evil' side of things, so to speak. Of course, we have demons like none other than Lucifer himself, to the demons of the Ars Goetia, to even more morally gray figures like Mastema. However, a character that is among the most interesting (and confusing) in the several variations of Abrahamic myth has to be Adam's first wife, a woman who refused to be subservient to her husband- the powerful turned-demon, Lilith.

First off, I just wanna say that I ADORE her redesign as a Qadištu in Vengeance. As someone who just started playing Vengeance for the first time, I love all of the Qadištu almost equally, but Lilith's redesign hits incredibly hard for someone who was already a massive fan of her original design. Her joining this quartet of demonesses is an incredibly nice idea, and I'm, again, a major fan of her redesign. Even though all of the Qadištu originate from Abrahamic mythology, Lilith is a notably obvious example, though of course, this isn't the only design she's had throughout the series. She's had several redesigns, being one of the most recurring demons throughout the series- whether it be her full tits-out design in SMT I, to the most recurring design, her classic look originating from the Playstation port of SMT I, to even her incredibly alien design in SMT IV. Of course, like a lot of recurring demons, she's also one of the most iconic figures in Abrahamic mythology, so why don't we get into that?

Lilith's existence is somewhat contested in scholarly circles, being never actually mentioned in most translations of the Bible- in the original text, Lilith is used as a word for 'creature of the night,' literally translated to 'Night Monster,' though some translations also translate it as screech owl. Most knowledge of her as Adam's first wife appears to be based on extrapolations, as well as what can be seen almost as a plot hole in the Book of Genesis, as two differing creation myths seem to connect back to the idea that there was an 'Eve before Eve,' or 'first Eve.' In the story, while God was presenting animals to Adam, it's said that he may have presented another human to him due to contradictory accounts of the biblical text. This seems to be where Lilith comes into the Bible, being commonly believed to be a woman who refused to submit to Adam, and as such, left the Garden of Eden after failing to satisfy Adam and believing herself to be equal to him. This led to Eve coming into being, a subservient being to Adam. Don't look at me, sexism was just... a thing back in the day.

After her escape, Lilith bore several children, though she was threatened by an angel that they would kill those children. After said children were, well, slaughtered, she grew furious and began to birth demon children known as Lilim... who probably deserve their own spotlight somewhere down the line. It turns out that the demons who began to replace her children were powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with the angels, and joined the demonic ranks somewhere down the line... I think. As revenge on top of this, Lilith also began to ruthlessly target children, apparently being responsible for stillbirths, and if one wasn't to circumcise their child if they were born a boy, she would invoke her wrath unto them as well. How? I dunno! But I guess that's why people are circumcised. How do these always eventually come back to screwing with the genitals? Whatever.

However, where Lilith herself came from is actually an ancient Sumerian text, where she's depicted as a succubus and demoness who first appears in the text 'Gilgamesh and the Huluppu Tree.' In the text, she appears as a demon who builds a house in the domain of a goddess of eroticism, right under the titular Huluppu tree. Gilgamesh, a grand hero depicted in many Abrahamic texts, appears and strikes down the house and Lilith herself for sullying the garden. This story paints her as a sort-of symbol of feminine rebellion, something which would be convenient and easy to extrapolate into being Adam's first wife. Given the connections between Sumer and most Abrahamic religions, it was easy to see the purported first wife of Adam before Eve being, well, Lilith! Recently, the few sources we have on Lilith, however, have been heavily disputed, but as one of the only origins I can work off of, I have to take what I can get.

Her scant references as 'Lilit' in the original Hebrew bible seem to have been what gave her life in the extrapolations, as even though she was referred to exactly once, her role in Sumerian mythology seemed to make a perfect connection to make her into Adam's first wife. Another source we can work off of for Lilith, past the Mesopotamian text, however, is that of an indisputable reference to her in none other than the Dead Sea Scrolls, being as follows.

And I, the Instructor, proclaim His glorious splendour so as to frighten and to te[rrify] all the spirits of the destroying angels, spirits of the bastards, demons, Lilith, howlers, and [desert dwellers] ... and those which fall upon men without warning to lead them astray from a spirit of understanding and to make their heart and their ... desolate during the present dominion of wickedness and predetermined time of humiliations for the sons of lig[ht], by the guilt of the ages of [those] smitten by iniquity – not for eternal destruction, [bu]t for an era of humiliation for transgression.

This does seem to show that Lilith is a part of Abrahamic mythology, though some sources, such as several Rabbi, claim her not to be. It's a very complicated topic overall, as almost everything around Lilith tends to be- her murky stories seem to be based primarily off of educated guesses, unfortunately. However, with her being mentioned in one of the oldest surviving sources for Biblical study, she does appear to be, well, around, so to speak. While still vague and obscure, she's definitely a force that appears to exist.

Now, with all of that out of the way, her depictions in SMT are incredibly varied, but I'd like to specifically point to her in SMT IV, being a tempter who brings Walter to her side. A lot more can be said of her depictions, but this DDS is growing rather long, so I'll have to cut it short. However, given her calling to Flynn and Walter to partake in the apple of knowledge, I love the allusion she gives to her role as Adam's first wife, and perhaps even being the tempter of Adam himself to eat the apple.

[theredtours]

Pls spill the tea this is my new niche rabbit hole of knowledge

Anonymous: GIVE ME THE DETAILS BESTIE

Okay, so here's how it all went down, below the cut, because it's a lot:

A couple weeks ago, someone (assuming hiloy, as they're like the main character for the rest of this stuff) had played both All of the Girls and Need over a discord call. A sneaky second person then recorded said discord call and leaked bits of the songs to Twitter.

Cue the insanity. The leaks sent some people into a blind fury trying to find the rest of the song, while also simultaneously upsetting those who had been vaulting it. One such vaulter was, as previously mentioned, hiloy. They then took to a site for leaks and started trying to get a sale going.

Initially, they were trying to get an individual person to buy, but when the price was too astronomical, and after several days of back and forth, hiloy finally settled on allowing a group buy to happen. Now, I've never been part of a group buy before, so naturally, when I was sent a link to the discord server where it was all happening, I was intrigued. Here was my first glimpse at how the trading/selling world works. To stay in the server, everyone had to donate at least $5. The set goal was $2600, and that was going to purchase both "All of the Girls" and "Drama Queen."

Easy peasy, I thought. Man, I was wrong. The server blew up almost immediately, with people threatening the seller, demanding they leak other songs or get reported. Within a matter of hours, people had donated over $1k, and with that, hiloy leaked a small snippet of "Forever Winter," as a treat. Then, the server got nuked.

Thankfully, they had a backup. As soon as the back up was, well, back up, everyone was re-invited and the madness continued. In the middle of it all, "Forever Winter" leaked. While it wasn't true that it was hiloy who had leaked it, the person who did so did it under that name, so HUNDREDS of people flocked to the server to donate. The rest of us just ran with it, saying things like, "Yeah, they leaked it to prove that they have the goods." Was it dishonest? Yeah. But did it work?

Well, we hit the goal within I think like, 10-ish hours? So I'd say so. Everyone was cheering and partying it up in the group chat and then... right afterward, the server was nuked again. And so was the backup. And the backup backup. I then took to the leak site, and tried to get re-entry. I even messaged hiloy on twitter. Everyone just told me to wait for the leak. So overall, I was not impressed and felt pretty scammed. In all honesty though, I felt worse for the big donators. Someone had dropped almost $300 and then lost all access.

Fast forward to today, after a few days' silence (which I am told is pretty normal; transactions apparently usually get converted from funds to crypto), they just... Showed up on the leaks site. But the problem was, "All of the Girls" was not HQ, like it was promised. The backlash was almost immediate, with people calling out hiloy left and right for misinforming the server and trying to scam everyone out of their money. Hiloy then had the nerve to turn around and tell some of the donators that they should be grateful to have even received what they did.

And then all hell broke loose, again. See, the part I didn't tell you was that, provided all went well with this first group buy, hiloy was going to be selling off "Need" and "This is What You Came For (Demo)" to another group buy next. I guess this really unnerved someone else who had them, because basically right afterward, we got the second leak out of nowhere. My best guess was that they leaked "Need" and "TIWYCF" to keep hiloy from being able to make any more profit off those who just want the songs.

I'm sure I missed some of the drama, but that's honestly like the shortest summary I could give of it. It was absolute chaos. Wouldn't have missed it for the world, though.

[catslvrr]

heaven sent — 09. beach

previous | next

You woke up the next morning just before your cursed alarm, your body now accustomed to your new sleeping schedule. There was still no Danielle. You went back to sleep.

You woke up around eight hours later to the sound of music. To your horror, Danielle was sitting in your chair, listening to the demo. You rushed towards her and slammed your laptop down so hard you almost took her fingers off.

“Don’t listen to that!”

“Did you finish the song last night?” She frowned, reading the lyrics you scribbled on a piece of scrap paper.

“Just needed a way to pass the time,” you muttered, snatching the paper from her. “Nothing else to it.”

There was an awkward silence.

“Look,” you cleared your throat. “About that night-”

She cut you off. “How far is the nearest beach?”

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, but answered anyway. “It’s about an hour's drive from here. Why?”

“Let’s go,” she said. “Bring your guitar too.”

You looked out the window. It wasn’t a particularly sunny day. The skies were gray, mostly filled with clouds. And it was four in the afternoon. But who were you to say no to spending time with Danielle?

The car ride to the beach was awkward. Danielle was busy playing Subway Surfers on your phone, and you didn’t know how to exactly start a conversation.

Does she want to talk about the kiss? Or should I just pretend it never happened?

Her sudden question caught you off-guard. “Does it ever get easier?”

“Huh?”

“Losing someone, I mean.”

“Oh.” You tapped the steering wheel. “In a sense, yeah.”

She turned off your phone as Jake ran into a train and slid down the screen, before turning to face you. “How so?”

“At first, it’s suffocating. It kinda swallows you whole and spits out just a shell of what you once were.” You kept your eyes trained on your road.

“But I guess as time goes on, you kind of learn to live with it. I mean, the pain is still there — it resurfaces when you see bits of them in the most random things. But you grow numb, and you eventually realize that all you can do is reminisce about the memories that you have with them.”

“I see,” she murmured, turning back to play Subway Surfers again. It was silent for the rest of the ride.

You were immediately hit with the strong smell of salt when you exited the car. The two of you made your way closer to the shore, and you lugged the guitar along.

Danielle sat down, and you followed her. It was quiet for a few minutes as both of you listened to the waves crashing against the shore.

She then spoke, still staring at the horizon. “Were the lyrics about me?”

“Yeah,” you answered honestly. “Who else would it be about?”

A pause. You bit your lip.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?” Her head whipped to yours. “No, I’m the one that should be sorry. I’m meant to make you happy, but I didn’t even show up yesterday.”

You chuckled bitterly, absentmindedly tracing patterns in the sand. “So, this is about your job, then.”

“Yes,” she nodded slowly. “It is.”

“I thought you liked me too,” you whispered after a moment’s breath, tearing your eyes away from her as you felt a lump in your throat.

“You don’t get it,” she balled up a fist full of sand. “I can’t.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“Everything’s stopping me!” Danielle raised her voice as she sat up, but quickly slumped back down, muttering an apology.

“Y/n,” she breathed out. “We’re running out of time.”

She unfurled her fingers to let the sand pass through, feeling as though each grain of sand falling through her fingers was the seconds you had left together fading away. 

You froze, the past week running through your mind. Fuck. I forgot about the whole ‘two weeks to fulfill your wish’ thing.

“Danielle.” You were terrified of the answer, but you had to know. “What happens after our two weeks are over?”

She turned her face away from you.

“I’ll disappear,” she said, choking up. “And your memories will be altered, as if I was never here. As if I was nothing.”

But you aren’t nothing, is what you wanted to say, you’re everything to me.

“Fuck,” you exhaled deeply. “I didn’t know.”

You mentally counted how many days you had spent together. Only 6 days left.

“I like you, Y/n. I really do.” She sniffled. “But I don’t know if I can be with you for this week, knowing that I’ll lose you, and you won’t even remember me.”

You grabbed her hand gently, squeezing it. “I understand. We can stay as we were before.”

For a while, the two of you said nothing. She was still playing with the sand, watching the sunset. 

“Play me the song.”

So that’s what the guitar’s for.

You propped the guitar on your lap, beginning to strum the chords. She closed her eyes, softly humming to the words you wrote for her.

As you listened to Danielle, you knew that regardless of whatever happens next, even if your memories were wiped clean, she would be your first and last love. The feelings that bloomed for her would never leave — they had grown roots that wrapped around your ribs and found a home in your chest.

After you strummed the ending chord, Danielle spoke again.

“I’m so scared,” she admitted quietly, shuffling closer to you, “But I think I’d rather be with you now and live through the pain than live with regret and what-ifs.”

You knitted your eyebrows, staring at her. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, then cracked a small smile. “A certain love expert spoke to me while you were asleep.”

Oh my god.

“Minji,” you scowled. “What did that little rat say?”

“You tell me,” she bumped your shoulder with hers. “Something about me moving in?”

You covered your face with your hands to hide a blush. “I’m never sharing my noodles with her again.”

“So the lyrics were about me, huh?” Danielle wiggled her eyebrows. “Didn’t know you were so romantic.”

“Shut it,” you muttered, as you let go of her hand to fish the apartment keys out of your pocket. “It was a moment of weakness.”

She cooed, pinching your cheeks. “You’re so sweet.”

Before you turned the doorknob, you turned around, biting your lip. “Are you gonna stay the night?”

“If you want me to,” she smiled.

You mirrored her smile. “I always do.”

You opened the door to see Minji lazing on the couch while hugging the bear plushie you gave her, snacking on some Pringles as she scrolled on her phone.

“Hey, lovebirds,” she smirked, looking up from her phone. “I see you two have kissed and made up.”

You rolled your eyes, throwing a takeaway bag at her as Danielle waved. “Got you some fish and chips, asshole.”

“I love you, bro!” She called out as you two made your way into your room. “And leave the door open!”

You splayed yourself on the bed, offering your laptop to Danielle after opening it.

She gasped, jumping on the bed to cuddle. You hoped she didn’t notice how fast your heart was beating. “Let’s watch Moana!”

previous | next

[heartsbind]

❤️ + ✈️ + 🧶 !!

shannon yaps about themself time!

❤️ — what are some of your best qualities?

i see you making me be positive about myself -- DKJFSNKJSD 🥺 anyway okay so i would say... my sense of humor and i am good at making myself look physically calm under pressure and organized (at work) even though i never feel that way DKFDSFDSF like at my mother's wedding this weekend. like... ok story time DKJFNDSF so i have three sisters, all younger, the youngest two are twins and the one in the middle is the one who just had a baby. the older twin is engaged and the younger twin has a bf. so older twin's fiance was standing by my brother-in-law and the baby and when he saw us starting to file out for like the procession or whatever the walk to the altar is, he starts like gesticulating and pointing at the baby and giving a thumbs up, but my sister could not tell what he was doing and was like starting to get anxious and asking us like "what's he saying, what about the baby-" and i, who had just been in a 2 hour long car ride with him and just know what he's generally like, could calm her down bc i knew they were positive gestures like "hey i see your baby! she's all good!" and then at the exact same time my mom was getting nervous bc the youngest twin was singing and we'd rehearsed walking according to what verse she was on and like nobody in our lineup could hear her from the building we were coming from EXCEPT i guess another good quality is that i have good hearing (my husband also can't hear for shit so i'm always hearing shit for him me vc oh that car is playing seven nation army i can hear the bass / him vc WHAT are you talking about / ANYWAY--) bc i could be like "ok she's on first verse. ok she's on the chorus. ok second verse is coming up. ok time to go" so anyway i hadn't considered much about any of it until the hostess that was helping us run the event that night came up to me later and was like you did really great!!! and all that and i was like oh! i did nothing!

i am also very humble and yap a very normal amount ---

✈️ — ever traveled anywhere interesting?

ok i can keep this one short bc i haven't gone too many places! i cannot drive and am broke and rarely have the chance to take more than a few days off at once so i've never left the country nor traveled very far across the country. i've pretty much stayed on the east coast u.s. but!! i got lucky enough to go to savannah georgia for a couple days for my sister's bachelorette party a few years ago and that was really fun! they had this place where they did brunch and they would put rubber ducks in your drinks. i think i still have mine somewhere

🧶 — any non-writing hobbies/interests?

video gaming primarily! beyond the games that i have muses for i really like all kinds of different sims. all sorts of farming sims that i just keep collecting, i have like gas station sim and powerwashing sim, supermarket sim, house flipper, pool-cleaning, crime scene washing... i'm currently juggling two/three bg3 runs, early access fields of mistria, just completed the demo of metaphor re:fantazio last night (the gameplay was so fun and it looked so incredible oh my gosh!)

i am god awful at watching things, tv shows i'm the worst at and movies i'm hit or miss - i just have soooo many things i want to do that it's hard to pick what to do next haha! but i have a background in scriptwriting and media studies so i really enjoy watching movies when i have the time!

i used to play the alto saxophone for a symphonic band at a local college that was open to community members! i miss it, but the last place i moved to it was just too far of a drive to justify doing it, plus covid put them in limbo for a bit and i don't think i ever got an email when they started in-person up again, probably because i wasn't in a position to do online meetings with everyone and practice at the time. i'm hoping to move back into the city next year, and maybe i can try to go again!

anything else... i like doing puzzles with my husband, we love tabletop mystery games (we used to have a hunt a killer subscription), and i love collecting even though i am too broke to really do it DKFSDJFDSFS and have no space to put anything. oh and i did start to practice drawing but i haven't done that in a while DFJDSFDSF

[zombeebunnie]

Trembling Essence:💙Script progress + Updates💙

Hello and welcome new followers, long time no see! I was very busy most of this month, but I am back and ready to continue from where I left off on the game! This game development post might be a bit long but I tried to condense everything! :]

"How are things going so far?":

It's going slow and steady! I haven't been able to do too much these past few weeks, however, I wrote a few parts out before I got too busy and couldn't do anything else.

I want to be very careful when it comes to spoilers but, based on your choices, some of these areas will give off immersive cozy/homelike vibes that really express Noah and the player(Y/N)'s view towards each other. In the old 2023 script I was very new to writing so the small semi-hints of romance weren't the entire focus compared to the horror aspect but there's a better balance between both genres now and I'm still aiming for a meaningful slow burn versus it just being all over the place. :] I liked writing them a whole bunch which lead to a lot of these taking place in the mid/end of Day 4+, they just need to be placed in specific areas that call for it. With that being said, it felt really comfy adding key details about Noah and creating meaningful sections in the game. I was even going to draw out some of the unseen script/scenes but I believe the best thing to do is give deeper lore from the [Extended Demo] first. Even though my writing style has improved I still have to fix the multiple pacing issues I wrote last year.

"Playtester's advice":

I wanted to continue working through Noah's backstory but I kept having moments where I'd get sidetracked into wanting to fix up the start of the game again. Eventually, I talked to my play testers about it and they gave me a few encouraging pointers.

To help keep my process at ease, I will fix the beginning of the game when I take breaks from writing up Noah's backstory. :]

I talked about this during early 2024 but the start of the game that leads up to the cabin is still getting reworked. I was able to get some of it fixed for the [Extended Demo] but I wasn't done. Things are still up in the air but, I will say that I have a better view of everything than I did before. :] Another priority that needs fixing are the backgrounds! I've improved a lot on drawing and they need to be optimized. When you first start up the game, you wake up in a holed out tree in the swamp with the choice to leave this area and possibly end up in the forest. I was going for a very immersive form of symbolism that only a few noticed but, I believe I can do a better job about this. Unfortunately I don't have any new backgrounds to show right now but maybe next week I'll have some finished up! :]

"Art process/Noah's sprite sheets":

As far as Noah sprite sheet goes, it's still in sketch mode.

I didn't draw anything since I was gone so I need to do a few warm ups before I get to them. There are some old drawing prompts I wrote down and old sketches that I never got a chance to doodle so hopefully I can get to them at some point with some attached lore. :,]

My Q&A / Ask box has been reset!

Thank you to those who have sent in asks in the past, unfortunately they all disappeared except for 1 while I was gone. I have no idea what happened but I can only guess it just got reset.

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask or resend them in here please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I would really like to hear from you guys!

This is all I have to share so far, Thank you to everyone for the continued support and patience while I was gone! I was ready to accept the interest for this game to fade out and coming back to see that it didn't happen makes me happy, I really appreciate it. :,]

[coyotejone-s]

i'm insane. rubber rats and such. here's my thoughts on who the reds and blues would main in tf2 vs whose place they would take in a potential au. spoiler: they ARE different. and also i'm not making the au, but if you wanna do it feel free to use this as a guideline.

disclaimer: i'm a walking tf2 encyclopedia... for the lore and comics. i HAVE played it of course, but i'm by no means an expert on strategy and such, so contesting my knowledge on that end is more than welcome.

RED TEAM

Grif

Main: jumps around a bit, but always comes back to heavy because he's got high health and decent damage rates. mostly follows simmons around because no one wants to fuck with the battle medic. that being said, he CAN hold his own (he's actually REALLY good at the game) and watches simmons' back like a hawk. and his other teammates' too i guess (silly).

Place: heavy. big dude, cares for his family, wouldn't be doing this in an ideal world. also he deserves a big gun. RIP the grifshot.

Simmons

Main: as mentioned, he'd be a battle medic, and a fucking TERRIFYING one at that. definitely puts a lot of time into it, and it absolutely pays off. has one of the best k/d ratios purely because he's just fucking going for it. it looks like luck but every second is strategized to an embarrassing degree. this makes him feel powerful. god forbid someone kill grif, because he'll hunt them down for the rest of the match.

Place: medic. he deserves to be unhinged. we've all seen how he is on the warthog turret.

Sarge

Main: soldier. he's got rocket jumping down to a perfect science. he is defying gravity. he has discovered some sort of secret technique to perfectly optimize speed and distance while minimizing damage. he will never tell anyone what it is and he will show it off at any chance for the rest of time. thus, he never fucking plays any other class.

Place: soldier. there is nothing to be said that hasn't been said already.

Donut

Main: this one's tough actually. i think he'd flip between pyro, demo, scout, and soldier. he likes the fast-paced gameplay, and is pretty decent at all of them.

Place: scout! he's got a hell of a throwing arm! i'd be willing to bet he was in little league as a kid. i could have better reasoning but i had to switch him when i switched tucker.

Lopez

Main: engineer. it's familiar, trying to keep things fixed and running while a bunch of idiots run around and fuck things up. can often be seen rancho relaxing next to at least 2 fully-upgraded sentries like 30 seconds into the match.

Place: engineer. same reasons, same play style.

BLUE TEAM

Church

Main: good god, he tries to main sniper, but he's so fucking bad at it. gets backstabbed all the fucking time. he's too stubborn to stop. to his credit, though, he's pretty damn good with the melee and smg.

Place: sniper. again, he's not GOOD at sniping, but he's good enough with the subweapons that he qualifies.

Tucker

Main: probably scout. he likes being fast and annoying. it's not really that deep LMAO. i think he plays like me: running directly into the line of fire and just trying to hit as many people as possible before dying. a tried and true strategy. unfortunately, as such, his k/d ratio is impressively terrible.

Place: demoman. initially i wanted to place him as scout, but then i thought about eyelander and the energy sword and it won me over because i love eyelander. i think he'd try to demoknight and be really bad at it GHSJASKHGSA.

Caboose

Main: listen to me. you can put him in any class and he'll kick fucking ass. he has every perfect strategy mapped to muscle memory or something. he's a fucking enigma. no one can beat him. if caboose is on your team, you are almost guaranteed a win.

Place: pyro. it's the whimsy.

Kai

Main: i think she'd main spy purely so she can cloak and watch everyone else run around like idiots. occasionally she gets a kill in, but that's mostly when they stumble close enough to her. she can be very efficient when she wants to be, but mostly she's here for the drama. she has a screenshot folder of grif and simmons doing gay shit. it's... massive.

Place: spy. she gets to serve cunt, be bisexual, and kill people. what more could a girl want???

MISC

Disclaimer: Locus and Felix do not have a place to take due to a lack of main-enough characters. Sorry!

Wash

Main: look at me. i think wash is exceptionally bad at most of the classes. he does his best, but they just escape him. he's pretty good with pyro, but he sees pyro as overly easy with little challenge (no offense to caboose). against all odds, i think he's best at engineer, and surprisingly good at it! usually he follows lopez around (because lopez knows what he's doing), but about half the time he'll be on his own and tentatively killing it.

Place: ms pauling. in season 10, he mostly follows carolina around, dragging the reds and blues with him and following the majority of her orders. remind you of someone?

Carolina

Main: also tends to jump around, but prefers support classes. she'll join whichever team she thinks needs the most support at the time. half the time she'll be on the sidelines, cloaked and watching her idiots fuck around.

Place: the administrator! she's the most properly take-charge of all of them. i'd imagine she inherited the position from the director.

Doc

Main: medic, what did you expect? he's surprisingly good at offense, but prefers to stick to healing. in the event of an o'malley switch, he battle medics. he's not good at it.

Place: merasmus. he deserves wizard powers.

Locus

Main: spy. suits his style PERFECTLY. will occasionally play sniper if needed. absolutely cracked at both even though he says he doesn't play video games (this is a lie).

Felix

Main: he doesn't play tf2 because he thinks the people who play it are annoying nerds. this being said: probably either scout or sniper. scout when he feels like being an asshole, sniper when he feels like actually being efficient. either way he gets to show off.