#i'll make another post sometime in the next couple of weeks with info about how the readings will work

[chattercap]

Future Plans for Actala

Sorry for the kind of sporadic updates, I do need to be better about posting here! I post devlogs on my itch page monthly, and I've decided to crosspost the latest one here since it has some important info about Actala's future development! A copy of my latest itch devlog is under the cut!

Hello, happy June!

It's been another month (time really does fly)! 

No Actala updates this time, as I ended up increasing the scope a bit on my Otome Jam project so I had to divert my attention to that (please look forward to some EXCELLENT voice acting)! Karamu will release sometime in the next couple of weeks!

But although I don't have any updates for Actala, I do have a bit of an announcement. As you might know if you played through the demo, I originally planned to illustrate the story 100% with CGs and mini-CGs. This was...unrealistic (as basically anyone with half a brain could have told you, I imagine). 

This was something that became EXTREMELY apparent as I worked on Karamu. I thought I scoped very realistically (a simple scene with 2 characters and only 10k words), and I hoped to finish the game within a month. However, while I finished the script in a week, I've spent almost 2 months on the illustrations. (If I extrapolate that out for Actala, where the current script is 250,000 words...I won't finish the thing for another 4-5 years...)

Part of that is that I've been experimenting with more complex/highly rendered CGs, and taking more care with the color and compositions (you can see a sample below). For Actala, I adopted a more simple coloring style because of the high volume of illustrations, but I was never really happy with them. Rather than putting out a ton of illustrations that I'm not happy with, I'd prefer to put out a smaller number that I'm more satisfied with.

If I'm being honest, I didn't adopt the "CG only" strategy for any deep reason in particular. It was mainly a snap decision based on insecurities with my own art, as I felt like my art couldn't really stand on par with other VNs (so I decided to create value with quantity over quality). However, ultimately I think it's detrimental to the project. The amount of work required for the art just dwarfs everything else, to the point where I put off the other tasks to make a SMALL dent in the art (for instance, I really want to improve the GUI, which looks a bit clunky and not super elegant...) 

So from now on, I will most likely adopt the sprite format for Actala, instead of utilizing exclusively CGs. Those sprites may or may not be animated; I'll try it out and see how I feel about them. You can still expect a lot of CGs from me, but not exclusive! Interestingly, I actually planned to do sprites in the early stages of development, and I finished almost all of them. These are over a year old at this point, so they will be completely redone, though! 

I hope that this isn't disappointing to anyone (it probably isn't; I'm just stubborn as an ox when it comes to my impulse decisions...) But from a projection perspective, it's just 100% impossible to get Actala out on any reasonable timeline with the approach that I was taking. This way, I'll be able to get the game out a bit faster (with nicer illustrations, just fewer of them)! And it will give me a little more time to polish other aspects of the game, and perhaps work on a few more side projects ;)

For the rest of this month, I'll be finishing out Karamu. Then at the start of July, I'll take a bit of a game dev break before tackling the sprites! Expect to see some sketches in the next devlog~

If you read this far, thank you! See you next month :)

Chattercap

[mmx-code-crimpphire]

Brief Post on the AU's Origins

This isn't really a headcanon, but a post about how the AU came to life. How I just wanted a short little comic, to making this into a full blown AU.

NEW CHAPTER ON AO3!!

I believe some of you are wondering how that progressed. I’m sure I covered this before, albeit briefly, but if I haven’t, I’m happy to bring it out. I've only told a few people about how it came into existence and I did write it at least once in the info box on a sprite animation I made back in 2018. And, that's where it starts, and that's also when I barely joined the fandom.

I wanted to have a crossover made for Classic and X, considering, at the time, I had the information of the two not being so directly connected to each other, and I was ALL OVER THE PLACE for the ship at the time (who am I kidding, I still kinda am lmao). I am one of those who headcanon they definitely are connected directly, and it should be that way imo. Since, in the classic games, at least some of them, Zero was in the process of being made. Especially Megaman 2: The Power Fighters. It may or may not be canon to the timeline. I say it does but idk how other people feel about it.

Though, I consider that canon, so- take that with what you will.

Anyway, ever since I knew of this happening, I wanted a crossover between the two games so bad. See how Rock and Roll react to X and Zero being from the future. How X and Zero's love influenced other., That kind of thing. Especially considering how that's also how Rock and Bass became shipped in my little circle lmao. I think I'll post another headcanon soon, possibly.

I drew a couple pieces pertaining to this, planning out how some scenarios could go, including a cover to the comic. Which I haven't posted anywhere, unfortunately, and I thought I did. But I didn’t. I also did a redraw, which I might also post but I'm not sure where I put it or the og, as it's all drawn traditionally.

Though, after all of that, this was also before I made the blog in November 2018. And the name was gonna be "The Love and Loveless". Yeah. Doesn't sound like a fitting title at all, does it? As a romantic writer and illustrator, if the story has romance at least half predominantly in the story, I naturally make a romantic title to it. And I didn't like it. I'm also one of those artists that come up with things on the spot and I usually like them. They mostly stay as they are, but sometimes, even after I like the first idea to come to mind, I'll change it eventually. And this was one of thoses things where I didn't like the first thing AT ALL and needed to change it.

So, for the next couple weeks after the title was first thought of, I thought about what the better title could be, and then my thought process went like this as I stimmed: "Hmmm… X is blue, Zero is red.. though mine is black armored. Hmmmmmm. Maybe something with 'Code' in it. Since the story does revolve around them more heavily in it. Ruby and Sapphire, maybe. Nah, too long. Crimson and Sapphire is definitely too long… …Waaait- Crimson. Sapphire. Crimpphire. Code: Crimpphire!! That's it!!"

And that's how the title became as it is now! Not only does it revolve them as a pair, but also as individuals and how their connection made them feel as one. How they supported each other as well as took care of themselves. They indirectly taught each other to do what they can to fight the evil in the world, albeit it was mostly Mavericks for a time. They became each other's heart and soul.

Though- back on topic, sorry lol you get the idea

I loved the title then so I decided to change it to that when I made more fan stuff to accommodate the comic. Though, as the month progressed (this is from September to October btw, right around the start of being in the fandom still), I thought about what X and Zero could do with the Command Mission crew at that point, then it escalated what could happen if they had a beach trip and then took the train home (you can thank the "Spirited Away" track "The Sixth Stop" for this lmao, along with a fanart of X and Zero resting on a train by themselves IT'S SO CUTE!! If I find the link I will put it here), and my mind just went BRRRR and made a little script out of it.

And it.. well - progressed into something way more than just a Classic/X crossover comic. I thought about what other scenarios can happen, especially during X5, so I started making the script for Zero and Dr Light's Deep Conversation. And it became the demo for this AU.

Then it escalated into what if I made this entire thing into an audio drama??? And that idea seemed to work- except I was dealing with a lot of problems behind the scenes, that I felt overwhelmed, and from then on by this post here, I decided to not make it into a full on audio drama anymore. But it's still been a huge process but I think I finally found an outlet that can work for this.

Especially since I haven't done it in literally over 15 years.

I DECIDED TO MAKE A FANFIC OUT OF IT!! And then audio dramas, comics and a few tidbits of art are gonna come out of that!! It took me this long to consider it but I think I'm finally doing it!!

Sorry this also turned into a full on announcement on what the AU's direction is gonna be, but I'm just excited to bring it out!!

That's how the AU became a thing and I'm glad it has with the friends I've gained over the years and it's great to have them!!

I'm glad you all came to see this and it has fed you well so far and I hope I can FINALLY give you a cohesive story I wanted to share since day 1!!

Hope you enjoyed reading!!

[softlittleheartsandsparkles]

This isn't a happy/positive post, but I wanted to give a health/tmi update. So please don't read if topics of tumours makes you uncomfortable. - - - A couple weeks back, I went to the medical imaging place because I found another big lump in my breast. (This has actually been going on for a long time, and i've struggled to find gp.) I've talked about this on my main, but I know not everyone follows me there, and I just wanted to share/update. I've had a previous tumour before removed, and I noticed this new 'lump' is in the same area my previous one was. (which was removed by particle mastectomy). Which is worrying because the one I had removed prior was growing fast. (borderline) So I went in for breast imaging, ultrasound and a mammogram. The scans found a large mass, and yesterday I got a call, telling me I will be going in sometime next week. (I know the day I just don't feel safe sharing online) I will be going in for a biospy, I was told the needle will be in a couple places to get enough samples, and i'll be frozen. (yay!) and after this I already have an appointment booked with the breast cancer clinic in my current city. To put it bluntly I'm scared/worried. This current mass feels bigger then the last one was removed, and I'm worried/nervous they are going to do a full mastectomy of my breast tissues for the one breast. I'm also worried it could be cancer, because I have cancer in my family. My grandma had cancer, and my mum had cancer - along with another family member who's privacy I wanna respect and not share about. I have/had phyolldoes tumours (the one prior that was removed was phyollodes tumours which are "rare" and can be classed as either: Begin = not worrying. These don't grow. They are small. Borderline = slightly worrying due to growth, and could have characterises of cancer, etc and these are removed. And lastly: Malignant = cancer.) obviously if I get more info I'll probably post about it on pumpkinsae and I most likely will just reblog to here. Rather then doing another long write-up. But I suppose I wanted to mention it so that if people also see it later they don't get scared. I do want to keep this space happy/positive but I also am going through something scary & I also want to share because I think too a lot of people find mammograms and stuff are scary. (they aren't scary. uncomfortable, yes. But they aren't scary. mine hurt due to how big my mass is. But I didn't find it scary. Biopsy needles scare me more.... as there painful. But I'm being frozen so yay! small things. ) & so I want to share. I'm also struggling with other health issues right now. (GI/stomach/bowel issues which are slowly getting sorted) But yeah. I'm anxious/worried & I feel like I just needed to share so people are aware/and don't get frightened or confused if I bring up stuff later/reblog stuff from my main.

[loafbreadcake]

Small ideas

Sometimes I get dumb little ideas for stories and I write them down in my notes app. Idk

Here are some of them. This isn't all of them. Maybe I'll post more sometime _____

a character is talented at ALL musical instruments. They go on a field trip to a museum and find some kind of ancient musical instrument - "I haven't played this one in years!" then they take it and play perfectly

plushies fueled by love. If loved enough will become op weapons

a story about a guy listening in on a conversation from a table next to him at a restaurant

A rich kid who listens to their parents

a very unlikable character is bragging about a murder. Turns out they were protecting the real murderer

a camera that takes photos but the photos come out showing a few moments into the future

a censored date xx/xx/98 turns out it's not 1998 but 2098

a fake cop puts people in handcuffs and steals their wallets

a murder mystery the murderer changed all the clocks in the house to be an hour earlier for his plan to work

a smart therapist trying to get info from a smart criminal who tries to hide it

a divorced couple help each other find new partners

parents keep making arranged marriages to their son/daughter but the son/daughter keeps outsmarting everyone

you need to sign documents to commit suicide

an extremely complicated multiple season series of how to tie a tie

>85% >and the other 25? >...

same events different days

the episodes of the show are going backwards or a show that can be watched chronologically and backwards

character's arms are so long they can physically stretch into the next week

a character broke the other end of a headphone so that no one can listen along

mc's brother possessing a teddy bear the teddy bear has to be sacrificed

you have to create a torture machine to kill other contestants to survive Plot twist - youre the one whos going in your torture machine

a killer who has no idea what theyre doing and learns stuff from cliche horror movies, tries to recreate horror tropes

a trial where the accused is said to be in love with someone and theyre pleading not guilty

deja vu but from the future

a nice person but in another universe this person would dominate the world

short stories of people you never think about

person goes to bed on a sunday, wakes up on a tuesday. Tries to figure out what happened on monday

Meanings and life goals are assigned to people at birth, but none of the people actually like them

a person who is dying wants to experience all sort of things they havent yet but theyre on a budget

____

all of these are a bit dumb idk but eh

[illfoandillfie]

so i figured i’d do a lil round up of my current tarot/oracle decks since i’m thinking about setting up a regular time to do readings for anyone who’s interested. I’ll update this if/when I get more decks.

I also filmed a flipthrough video of my collection as of June 23, 2020 which you can find HERE.

TAROTS:

Tattoo Tarot by Diana McMahon-Collis

Welcome To Night Vale Tarot by Jay Holloway

Gravity Falls Major Arcana Tarot Deck by Katelyn Roland and Meg Omac

The Rider-Waite Tarot (Pocket Edition) by Pamela Colman Smith

Cat Tarot by Megan Lynn Kott 

Tarot of Sexual Magic by Lo Scarabeo

Erotic Fantasy Tarot by Joseph Viglioglia

Jane Austen Tarot Deck by Jacqui Oakley

Golden Art Nouveau Tarot by Giulia F Massaglia

Trippin’ Waite Tarot by Christine Aguiar 

Movie Tarot by Diana McMahon Collis

Friends Tarot by Chantel de Sousa

Anecdotes Tarot by Yve Lepkowski 

The Housewife Tarot by Paul Kepple and Jude Buffum

Supernatural Tarot

Alleyman Tarot

The Literary Tarot

PLAYING CARDS 

Greek Lovers Playing Cards which I can’t link to because I bought them in Athens like ten years ago and have lost the box lmao but all the art comes from greek pottery.

Harry Potter

Friends

TV Shows

Shakespeare

ORACLES:

Literary Witches Oracle by Taisia Kitaiskaia

Moonology Oracle by Yasmin Boland

Homemade Queen song oracle deck

Romance Angels Oracle by Doreen Virtue

Hedgewitch Botanical Oracle by Siolo Thompson

Inspired By Frida by Akal Pritam

The Language of Flowers by Cheralyn Darcey

Making Magick by Priestess Moon

Numerology Guidance Cards by Michelle Buchanan

Divine Animals Oracle by Stacey Demarco 

The Crystal Spirits Oracle by Colette Baron-Reid

Between The Sheets by Fire Witch Tarot

Lovers Oracle by Toni Carmine Salerno

Secret Garden by Jessica Le

Sea Melodies by Jessica Le

Spellcasting by Flavia Kate Peters and Barbara Meiklejohn-Free

Cat Gurus by Mister Peebles

Music Oracles by Stephen Ellcock

Love Oracles by Anna Higgie

Channelled Messages Oracle by The Hermit Tarot

Divine Doors by Andres Engracia

Believe In Your Own Magic Oracle by Amanda Lovelace

Destiny Cards

The Arcana of Astrology by Claire Goodchild

Archetype Cards by Caroline Myss

The Sacred Self Care Oracle by Jill Pyle

Oracle of the Fairies by Karen Kay

Dragon Path by Caroline Mitchell

The Elemental Oracle by Stacey Demarco 

Art Oracles by Katya Tylevich

The Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris Anne

The Green Witch Oracle by Cheralyn Darcey

Prism Oracle by Nicole Pivirotto 

Earth Power Oracle by Stacey Demarco

Ice Cream Oracle by Mysti

Publishing Goblin’s Oracle Dice

Mushroom Spirit Oracle

[alizardjae]

@xadhoom-xado

(Give me a dexholder and one other character and I'll swap their places in their stories)

OOPS ACCIDENTALLY WROTE A FIC OUTLINE

I'm gonna go with Yellow and Red, but keeping their ages and Yellow as the one with powers!

This got... long. Turns out Yellow as Red makes a lot of changes. Gonna just do RGB for now and continue on in another post!

We'll just say Red went straight home after catching Nidorino. He's gonna stay in Pallet Town for the next couple years, battling trainers that come through and impressing the other local kids.

Meanwhile, little nine year old Yellow has made another one of her excursions into the forest, and has wandered farther than usual when she stumbles into the Green vs Mew fight. She's full of questions, but Green hasn't started his character development yet and gets irritated after a bit, but mentions that if she really wants to know more about Pokemon she should see his grandfather in Pallet Town. So she does.

Oak is happy to answer her questions and, seeing how good she is with the lab Pokemon, gives her a Pokedex and suggests she take a look at the local Pokemon (he thinks she's a bit too young to go on a journey yet). She wanders home and her Uncle, after realizing he's not gonna be able to dissuade her from doing it again, gives her Dody for protection and transportation. She and Saur (probably named Bulby/Fushisuke this time) bond, and start wandering further afield in search of Pokemon.

In this time, Green catches Kangaskhan and realizes the baby is sick, his journey into dadhood is kickstarted early.

She catches Pika in Pewter City (Chuey/Pikasuke), who has been wreaking havoc for a few weeks longer than originally. When Green (delayed by the Kangaskhan thing) scolds her about being unable to train it, she again asks him for help. He's reluctant, but at some point Yellow notices the Kangaskan and is super worried about it. She keeps visiting and eventually Green slowly starts giving her tips on training her Pokemon. Sometime during training, Saur evolves and Green tells Yellow about the cancel button for evolutions. During this time, the first hint of Yellow's powers show, as once when she's taking care of the baby in an emergency while Green goes to the PokeMart for more medicine because of the PokeCenter vandalism, she tries to comfort it and it ends up fully healed by the time he gets back. Green gives Kagaskhan to Yellow (Kangy and Khankhan/Garuko and Garugaru, maybe?).

Yellow's delay means that she misses the Misty vs Gyarados fight seen in the original. Gyarados has caused much more destruction by the time Yellow comes across it, and Misty is pretty roughed up by then. Yellow's powers start to kick in again and she feels Gyarados' pain. With the skills she honed with Green and her defensive battle style, she manages to calm Gyarados down and return him to Misty. They make their way through Mt. Moon with little trouble, though it's a bit rubbly, since Team Rocket already came through and got the Moon Stone. Yellow does not stay in Cerulean City, putting the timeline back on track.

Bill and Lt. Surge aren't changed much, Yellow does not participate in the cycle race because she has Dody. Dody's whirlwind is used to blow away the Ghastly in the tower.

Yellow doesn't have any badges, so Blue just takes her money and runs. She would absolutely steal from a nine year old and don't tell me she wouldn't. Yellow does not dress up as a Team Rocket grunt, but has Pika sneak in and spy for her, trying out her powers again to get a bit of info from him, which is where she learns about Mewtwo. Because she never entered, Blaine does not leave Team Rocket at this time. She follows Team Rocket when they go after Blue and does leap in to try and rescue her when they corner her, leading to the vs Jynx fight and Mew's interference.

The Pokemon swap with Green occurs more or less the same, except that Yellow does not try to capture Ninetales. The Eevee (Veevy/Isuke) incident is about the same, Yellow gets her first badge from Erika. Yellow does not get lost in the Safari Zone; meeting Giovanni in the caves is more or less the same, just with her own tactics vs the Magmar rather than Red's. Yellow doesn't have a huge Pokemon like Snorlax for the Dragonite fight, so she and Pika make up the Substitute-Surf technique to escape, she didn't watch Green surfing, so there's more of a learning curve. Yellow does not get Gyara from Misty.

Because she doesn't have Gyara, Yellow is not delayed from saving Articuno. However, Blaine has not left Team Rocket yet, so when she gets to Cinnabar Island she ends up fighting him and Moltres. Her determination and kindness kindles his doubts.

The sealing of Saffron City and Pallet Town's mass kidnapping is about the same, but when Green arrives at the lab, because he doesn't have the same rivalry with Yellow as he did with Red, they cooperate much better.

Vs Surge and Zapdos is about the same. Vs Koga is the same up until he would've summoned Articuno, which instead flies in dramatically to help Yellow at the last minute. Blue vs Sabrina is unchanged. Because Yellow never got the Boulder, Cascade, or Volcano badges, the bird fusion cannot happen. However, Sabrina is able to instead summon the completed Mewtwo. Because Yellow does not have the Moon Stone, Blue's Clefairy does not evolve at this time. Blue instead takes the amplifier, and she, Green, and Yellow team up to take down Mewtwo, Yellow finally allows Dody and Saur to finish evolving for this. Silph Co. collapses from the battle damage and Green's setting it on fire. Mewtwo escapes in the chaos.

Yellow chases after Mewtwo and comes across Blaine, who has finally defected from Team Rocket and manages to calm it. It agrees to go with Blaine as its family of sorts.

Red has decided to leave Pallet Town and try his hand at the championship, but is attacked by the experimental Pokemon of Viridian Forest and is rescued by Yellow, who is very concerned, given her connection to the place. Red decides to fight the Gym Leader, since he's in town, but Yellow tells him the Gym Leader hasn't been around in a long time. Red decides to check it out and Yellow follows him. Red is thoroughly crushed by Giovanni, having only Poli and his Nidorino (Nido), so Yellow steps up to fight him. She eventually succeeds in defeating him, and when they both recover, Red vows to train and go on a journey once he's more prepared, so he can catch up with Yellow in terms of strength.

Yellow has no interest in participating in the championship tournament, but goes to watch Green. Blue vs Oak is the same. Green defeats his opponent and becomes Champion, but is somewhat dissatisfied by its ease. He and Yellow have a friendly match after, which ends in a tie. End arc.

Yellow's final team for this arc: Pika (named Chuey), Dody, Saur (named Bulby), Kangaskhan (named Kangy and Khankhan), and Vee (named Veevy).

Join me next time for the Yellow arc (and possibly beyond?) with Yellow and Red swapped!