#one more chapter uploaded before 2023!!

[flightyalrighty]

FIRST | PREVIOUS | NEXT CH 1 PG 36

Infested will return on June 27th. --- Thank you to the following Ascended supporters: @chaogongoozles, @fiiresiidefrfr, @elizard4227, @grogar, Ezzoh, @susivoi, @calculuscacophony, Eros, @ivycorp, @summersdale @borrelia, @mizukiz, @sanicdetails, @combinegrunt-echo-1, Pica, @veeceear, @quackenburt, ItsmeMonarch, @memendoemori, @trans-girl-sonic, & savarsenic

Content Warnings | Store | Ko-Fi (Discord!) | Read On Comic Fury! DISCLAIMER: "Infested" is a horror comic ft. content not suitable for those under the age of 17.

A long-winded looking back on things below the cut:

The first few pages of Infested were uploaded to this blog on March 2nd, 2023 -- Over a whole year ago! I was so busy, too, that I completely missed its birthday (Sorry Infested). Looking even further back than that, the original story was was something I began writing on December 25th, 2022 (Merry Christmas).

It took two years to get to this point.

And hey, not to toot my own horn about it, but completing even one chapter of a webcomic is a big deal. Especially for me. My first webcomic, Fight/Flight, didn't get very far. I completed the prologue, started Chapter 1, and then had to drop it for a number of reasons (I didn't really agree with what baby-me had to say, politically, anymore).

This comic was born from a lot of intense feelings. The story, itself, too. Some good. Some bad.

I had been forced to move away from my hometown, and with that move, I lost the physical connection that I had to all of my friends. I lost the familiarity of a place I'd known for most of my life. I'm now stuck somewhere... Worse. It felt like a cage. Still does. Disconnected from the life I thought I would be living after college. I didn't have health insurance, either -- Got kicked off of it because of the move -- And as a result, I was off my antidepressants.

So there I was, at a pretty low point in my life. I miserable and lonely and every single day dragged on. And on. And on. And I felt so disappointed in myself. That disappointment became self-loathing, and it all kinda spiraled.

Have I mentioned that I'm a huge Sonic fan? I don't think I need to. I'd say it's pretty obvious. But for the sake of this story, I'll say it again: I'm a HUGE Sonic fan. I've been that way since 2003 with Sonic Heroes. The franchise has been in my life for over two decades. I had a monthly mail subscription to Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog was something that I truly loved more than any other piece of media. It brought me endless joy. Until I didn't.

I had dropped Sonic after Lost World was... Itself. I had already felt pretty irritated with the Meta Era, and Lost World was the final straw. The last bit of hope that the series could recover was snuffed out when Forces was released. It was over. I was done. If Sonic was truly that embarrassed by itself, if they had truly lost touch with what made the series so great, then I wouldn't waste my time any longer. I was so sure that I had to just... Grieve and move on. My beloved childhood game series was dead. Long live the king or whatever. I'd just bitterly read IDW Sonic and think about what could've been. I was lucky to have that comic, at least. Archie had been canceled, too, after all. I was lucky to have my scraps.

Then Sonic Frontiers came out. And it changed everything.

And my god, it was everything. It was everything to me. Flaws be damned, it was everything. To. Me. The spectacle. The serious tone. The vastly improved writing. Kellin Fucking Quinn. It was FUN! It was actually FUN to PLAY. He was back. I was back. Sonic pulled me by my hand out of the ocean of misery I'd fallen into, and he looked me in my eye and he said;

"Hey. You're gonna be alright."

Metaphorically speaking. Sonic The Hedgehog didn't actually literally speak to me -- And sure, okay, maybe it's a little dramatic to describe a game as this great Depression Annihilator but I'm dead serious when I say that, for that time, before I was able to get back on my meds, I was self-medicating with Sonic.

Sonic was all I was thinking about. I reread the Unleashed arc in Archie Sonic, which got me sorta realizing something, and which led to my post where I said something along the lines of "Sonic would hide a zombie bite."

Archie Sonic would, at least. Because he basically did do that in the Unleashed arc of that comic. He let that problem fester until it became an even bigger problem because, ironically, he didn't want to be a problem.

So one thing led to another. I thought more about Sonic becoming a zombie. Bada-bing, bada-boom, Infested was born.

I didn't expect it to get the attention that it did. I felt lucky when the first page I drew Rouge on (Page 6 I think?) blew up. The right people saw it at the right time. I'm extremely grateful for that.

I'm extremely grateful for all of you.

So yeah, one chapter. Woo! Here's to many more.

[morbethgames]

THE FIRST HALF OF CHAPTER 4 IS NOW LIVE!

Everyone, I’ve been working on this for months now, and the impressive and also sad part is; it’s only halfway done! But it’s also 60k words and brings the average playthrough of the demo to 65k words long, so I figured it was worth uploading. Can’t go too long without an update, right?

In this update, pair with Lance and Alvarez as you infiltrate the abandoned warehouse with the S.W.A.T. team on a mission to take down the suspects and end put a close on this case once and for all! There are a lot of different branches to this one. Like… maybe more than I realistically needed. But, I wanted people to be able to craft their own story and make sure they had something to come back to a second time around if they were so inclined. I may even go back and add a little more to parts of this scene before the official release, but that’s a discussion for another day.

Thank you all so much for supporting me, whether you’re a paid member or a free member, and I hope you all continue to enjoy the story I’m crafting!

You can check out my Patreon here for side stories, original short stories, audiobook readings and more! Morbeth Games | Creating Interactive Fiction | Patreon

You can play the demo here! https://dashingdon.com/play/morbethgames/the-bureau-wip/mygame/

You can talk about the game here! https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/wip-the-bureau-chapters-1-3-600k-words-updated-12-22-2023/99993

Stay Brilliant,

-Vi

[ikeoji-subs]

Zettai BL Ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL Ni Naritakunai Otoko 2024 - Episode 5 Eng Sub

VS THE START OF A ROMANCE and VS HELPING

For downloading instructions and where to find the raw files, please check our masterpost.

[Subs link]

We ask that you not upload our subs to streaming sites.

Sharing with friends is fine. We’re also OK with folks sharing them in other ways as long as they aren’t public. Please use discretion when talking about the fansub outside of tumblr, but don’t hesitate to get the word out in other ways, and feel free to promote it here. Please credit ikeoji-subs whenever possible—we put a lot of time and effort into this.

Feel free to use the fansub for fandom purposes. Gif-making, meta-writing, and other fandom-related creative endeavors made using our fansub are not only welcome but encouraged.

Thank you so much, as always, to everyone who has left nice comments in the tags and such. Y'all really make the hard work we put into this worthwhile!

And big big thanks to @my-rose-tinted-glasses for gifs and spreading the word about the fansub.

translation notes:

About “naresome”

As tends to happen when translating Japanese, this is one of those words that don’t exist in English. Its literal translation is “the start of a romance.” So, while we’ve chosen to translate it as “get together,” it would be more accurate to give a more extensive explanation. It is a noun that specifically refers to the moment that love begins. So when we’re talking about “naresome” we’re talking about the thing or situation that triggered the romantic relationship or romantic feelings.–Snow

about casting Tominaga Yuya as a guy who gets busy when it rains

I think this is another tokusatsu Easter egg. Tominaga Yuya, who plays Jouji in the “Vs. The Start of a Relationship” chapter, was also on Avataro Sentai DonBrothers, a Super Sentai series that ran from 2022 to 2023. His character, Sonoi, was the agent of a culture from another plane of existence whose members feed off of the brainwaves of human beings. At first, he and his associates Sonoza and Sononi were enemies of the DonBrothers, but they eventually joined forces with the Sentai. A big reason this happened was that Sonoi had a special connection to the leader of the DonBrothers, Momoi Tarou. Their relationship reads as pretty darned queer to a lot of viewers, myself included.

Momoi Tarou and Sonoi bonding, before they found out they were nemeses

Many JBL fans know Higuchi Kouhei from My Personal Weatherman/Taikan Yoho, in which he played the titular meteorologist, Segasaki. Part of the premise of that series is that at the start of the story, Higuchi’s character only has sex with his partner on sunny days. Jouji, Tominaga’s Zettai BL character, does the opposite: he and his “sex friend” only do it on rainy days. 

Basically, the writers of Zettai BL 3 have made Higuchi’s toku boyfriend’s story into a reverse Taikan Yoho situation. What are the odds that’s just a coincidence?–Towel

Also, he gets his own “Zettai BL” title card moment (and he’s the only one out of the secondary cast who get to have that).–Snow

That’s right!

I’m going to put this in context a little because I’ve given a lot of thought (probably too much) to who’s been featured in the opening credits of the different Zettai BL seasons. For every season of the show so far, Inukai Atsuhiro has had four other actors perform with him in the opening theme dance number. (All of whom also get a crack at some of those title card moments.) For two seasons, three of the four spots were taken up by Yutaro (Ayato), Shiono Akihisa (Toujou), and Itou Asahi (Kikuchi). The fourth spot was taken up by different actors in the first two seasons. It was the guy who played the attractive dude from the goukon in the first season, and it was Izuka Kenta, who played Kikuchi’s ex Igarashi, in the second. 

This time around, I had hoped that Sekoguchi Ryo would take the fourth spot, because he’s my blorbo and of course I wanted to see him in a retro dance number (boy was that wish ever granted!). But I hadn’t expected Shiono not to appear this time. Maybe there were specific reasons for this, like a scheduling conflict or an injury. It’s not like Shiono appears less in season 3 than he did in the others, so that’s not the reason. It’s hard to say. But in that context, it seems even more significant that they gave a spot to Tominaga Yuya. We don’t know the reasons for this. But it’s possible they featured him more heavily in this way because of his tokusatsu backstory and the inside joke it allowed them to make.–Towel

about “pudding relationship” and “prince and princess”

This part was tricky to translate. As you might have noticed by this point, Mob likes to make puns. In Japanese, pudding is written as “purin” and it is used to refer to pudding as well as custard. Mob goes on to follow with “prince and princess”, which in Japanese are pronounced as “purinsu” and “purinsesu”. In here, there’s wordplay with these similar sounding words and the image of the ToujouAyato couple.–Snow  

about “cuteness overload”

Japanese is a language that uses a lot of onomatopoeia. There’s 4 types, iirc: animal sounds, object sounds (like rain, creaking and the like), things that don’t make noise (smiles, stares, silence, etc), verbs turned onomatopoeia (I unfortunately cannot remember this properly but it was something like that). In this case, Mob says “Kyun ga tomaranai” (which literally means “the kyun can’t be stopped”). “Kyun” is an onomatopoeic word to refer to a “momentary tightening of one's chest caused by powerful feelings,” usually tied to a romantic context but not exclusively. Taking this into account, we thought “cuteness overload” might be the closest expression in English.–Snow

It’s worth noting that Mob is also saying “kyun” right after the “cuteness overload” line. I really thought at first that he was saying “cute,” since it sounds so similar, it would make a lot of sense contextually, and English loan words are so common in Japanese. But no, it was “kyun.” There was no way we could get across the meaning of “kyun” in one or two syllables of English, so we went with “adorbs,” which is just another word for “cute,” but at least it has a cutesy pronunciation that steps it up a notch.–Towel

about bouhan buzzers (16:06)

The translation note shown onscreen during this scene reads: “a bouhan buzzer is a security gadget carried by Japanese schoolchildren.” We did our best to summarize the meaning of this term briefly, so that it would be readable in the amount of time it was possible for us to keep that caption onscreen. But here’s a longer explanation for those who might be curious. 

It took a while for me to understand what these things were. At first I pictured something like a hand buzzer–the kind that people used to use to prank people. But it’s nothing like that. They’re sometimes referred to as “personal security alarms.” They’re little doodads that you can clip onto a backpack or carry in your pocket, and if you activate them (the most common mechanism for which seems to be pulling some kind of tab or string), they make some form of alarm-type sound. I found a video, below, that shows someone activating two different types of buzzers, showing the sound they make. 

These two make the same sort of beeping/chirping noises you’d associate with an alarm protecting a car or the entrance to a building–not really a “buzzing” sound, or anything that resembles the sound Mr. Cheerleader makes in this scene. But maybe there are other types that are more buzz-like, or sound more like the sound our buddy is imitating. 

According to some things I read when I looked these up, children often play with their bouhan buzzers, making it somewhat less likely that people will be on alert when they hear them go off. I don’t think I could have resisted setting off a gadget like this if I’d had one as a child. They seem to be available with all sorts of characters on them and in all sorts of colors and shapes, which is cool but might make them seem even more toy-like. 

From what I’ve seen, these things are most commonly used by children, but adults sometimes use them too. If you look for them for sale online, there are more adult-looking versions available (say, a rose-gold blob instead of something with cute characters on it–though of course, adults might want those too). One listing I saw advertised that they’re useful for kids, women, and the elderly.–Towel

Tag list: @absolutebl @bengiyo @c1nto @come-back-serotonin @lurkingshan @my-rose-tinted-glasses @porridgefeast @sorry-bonebag @twig-tea @wen-kexing-apologist

[demphix]

Fuck it we ball: Charif Master Post

So a little while ago I made a Deltarune secret boss based on this dialogue from Rudy in Chapter 1

So I took this design I originally posted on December 24th, 2023 that I wasn't using at all and reworked her to fit the new idea

And here's the first sketch dump I did of her to get my ideas a little more ordered (originally posted June 6th, 2024)

Most of what I could say is already just kinda said in the sketch dump (though I'll admit it is kinda badly organized), but I should say the two defeat quotes near the bottom right aren't too in line with what I wanna do with her now so uhhh Ignore Them. And ignore the original music titles those also got changed

Speaking of the music, after posting that art I started working on her songs and their cover arts for YouTube and Bandlab. (All uploaded on June 11th, 2024)

Edit (August 7th, 2024): THESE ARE BEING REMASTERED. THE NEW VERSIONS WILL BE ADDED BELOW AS THEY ARE FINISHED.

(As stated before these are also on my YouTube channel in a playlist. Here's the link to it: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWcBEk8qiFhUEMeydinegtXnklzvRqYfg&si=ZzYex2g-dzL-qeDv)

And after all that there was one other sketch dump I've done, which was posted on June 14th, 2024.

Once again, most of the stuff I could say is already in the sketch dump (though there's a lot more joke drawings than the first), but if there are any questions feel free to send an ask my way

Edit (July 15, 2024): I ended up changing Charif's boss arena to something in line with the carnival theming of Spamton and Jevil and designing a main boss for the chapter, so I felt I should add that here.

Another Charif Sketch Dump with a whole Two important things. This was originally posted on July 7th.

Edit (July 29th, 2024): I made an additional theme for Vesper. Felt it should be here too since she's so tied to Charif.

Here have this too since I haven't drawn her much

Edit (August 7th, 2024): I made a plot guide for her! I could've conveyed some things better, but I hope it works for what it is.

Edit (August 17th, 2024): plot guide part 3.

Edit (August 28th, 2024): plot guide part 4: the one where I'm worried I was too mean to her

Edit (September 2nd, 2024): I remastered her themes! All tracks but "PRAYERS & PLEAS" (V2) were posted on September 2nd, with "PRAYERS & PLEAS" (V2) originally being posted August 7th.

You can find a post with all of them here, because I can't fit them all in one post. I may just make a new master post when the cover art is done tbh.

And here's the cover art for PRAYERS & PLEAS V2! I'll add the rest as they're made.

[madrone33]

I don't know what to say. Thank you. Thank you Jorge. Thank you everyone who sung, and drew, and edited, and worked on EPIC: The Musical because you have all given me something that I will always - ALWAYS - remember and cherish.

I've been on this journey for over a year now, since Halloween 2023 when WolfyTheWitch posted a random short of Poseidon with the coldest musical lyrics I've ever heard. Ruthlessness brought me to this project, to this fandom. I was in all the events my timezone could reach, posted and messaged and freaked out with fellow fans on discord and tumblr and youtube and tiktok and twitch. I scoured the whole internet to find every piece of music, read the interviews, watched every livestream - most notably of which were the Ocean Crowdcast stream, the Circe Stream Crash of 2024, the Policy Violation Stream, and the IRL Odyssey streams XD

I got my family into it and was able to gush and rant and ramble to them about it; I've made so many friends because of this, and entered so many other fandoms too: MHSG, Udad, PJO, Hadestown, JCS, Lucids, DEH, and so many, many more; I've made essays and graphs and spreadsheets and analysis, discussing and picking apart the themes, characters, music details, motifs, lyrics; My voice has grown leaps and bounds because of how much I sing out loud now, I learned the songs on the piano, I started drawing?? I've written almost 112k words of fanfic for Epic, it's insane (and also not written down so much more LMAO). I even went out of my comfort zone and posted some of my writing and my covers which is CRAZY and nerve wracking and really fun!

Each saga I was left completely stunned and awestruck. Each saga I thought "surely, nothing can top this" and yet EVERY TIME I was blown away again the next time. The writing, the singing, the voice acting, the visuals, the orchestration, the lyrics, everything is just- !!!

Jorge. Miguel. Rivera-Herrans. HOW?? It's so good! It's SO GOOD!! And everyone's voices?? Everyone, just everyone is just talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same- THIS MUSICAL IS PURE ART, A MASTERPIECE OF A LEVEL HITHERTO UNKNOWN, THE LIKES OF WHICH MAY NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN. The fact that I was born in this spot in time, able to experience and appreciate and bask in the light of this glorious concept musical?? I am unfathomably lucky, and I thank the musical gods that it is so.

This past year has been one hell of a journey. I laughed a lot, I wrote lmao while actually only internally laughing a lot, I was tired and comforted and excited and anxious, I cried which I'm almost never able to do with media; Every day I would wake up and immediately check my phone for an upload notification, which is how I caught the Livestream today instead of missing it, so phew; I felt burned out sometimes, but managed to catch it and diversify my activities a bit, sinking into something else for a while before coming back refreshed and even more excited; My entire music wrapped this year was Jorge, Epic cast members' independent music, and greek mythology musicals; I watched the fandom grow even more, all the art, the fanfic, the theories, the memes, the friends.

I still don't think it's fully sunk in yet, but the entire musical is out now. It's done. I'm watched from saga three to nine, from Ocean to Ithaca. I've been here, every day, for a year. This is something that I don't think I'll ever experience again. I am so so thankful.

Thank you, Jorge, for bringing this into the world. What would it be, five and a half years now that he's been creating EPIC? He should be so proud, because I'm sure as hell proud. Odysseus finally made it home. The story is over.

But still, as Jorge said - This not the end of the journey, this is just the end of a chapter; the journey goes on!!

And I'll be here, taking that journey with you.

[simmerianne93]

[Simmerianne93]Solo_poses_06

Hello everyone!!!

I'm here today with some solo poses I made a while ago for one of my stories. I improved all of them from the time i made them and add some more (they were 6 before) to have more range on expressions and situations.

I made them for a "next day" situation after transforming for the first time into a werewolf, but for the cover I dressed my character to avoid nudity haha. I guess they can be used for any "waking up" moment in an unpleasant situation, so hope you enjoy them.... 

You can see more preview pics here in my story. It is on spanish but you don't need to read to see the pics haha. [It is a +18 chapter with a lot of sex, violence and sadness so, you are warned].

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What is on it?

16 solo poses for a sim + 1 all in one.

What do you need?

Andrew's poses player 

Teleport any sim by Scumbumbo or Mccc by deaderpool.

Instructions on the original post.

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TOU

Do not claim my creations as your own.

Do not re-upload or modify my creations.

Do not make money of my creations.

Do not include my creations in Mods folders to download.

Please follow my Term Of Use.

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Download it now here — [EARLY ACCESS UNTIL October 3rd, 2023]

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If you want to support me:  Patreon | Ko-fi

For more poses: Pinterest |  Wix

My socials: Twitter | Instagram

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I really hope you like them and I will say on advance: Thank you so much for use them.

@ts4-poses

[junkyarddawgz]

I'd love to know which of my fics (only one is currently up on ao3) I should prioritize based on what people like most, so I thought I'd leave it up to you guys here! Full descs are under the poll and cut.

Mortalizer: This fic gets deep but when things start to get chaotic outside of Kenny's own crisis, the action really picks up. I have so much plot going for this story and I'm really excited about it lol. Apart from dying, there will be lots of Crenny and Style, lots of character development, interactions with the Goth Kids, interesting disguises, hero-Cartman, friendly kidnapping, climbing through bedroom windows, etc. Currently there are nine chapters up on my AO3 (junkyarddawgz)

Heres the AO3 Desc

Kenny McCormick discovers he's been rejected by death. As denial drives him mad, he begins to toy with his own life- until a series of horrifying crimes remind him that not everyone comes back from the grave. Or... One year ago, Kenny's entire life fell apart, and the new version of it is not worth living. Every time he tries to end it, though, he only wakes up again; alive and with a beating heart. No one even remembers he was ever dead... that he knows of. After weeks of dying almost every day, two new things happen too close together to be coincidence; someone else is dead, and another anonymous someone seems to know Kenny has been too. He hardly even gets a chance to panic before things start to get way worse, and Kenny realizes he might be the only person who can stop whoever is behind it all. (Mysterion vs Serial killer)

Creek Fic (Untitled): When something goes way wrong with young NASA astronaut Craig Tucker's mission Feldspar, he finds himself trapped in an endless solo mission that should only have lasted 28 days. With NASA refusing to keep him in the loop about what the hell is even going on, he is surprised to discover he actually looks forward to those informationless ground-control calls each day. Maybe he just misses human contact, or maybe there really is something more behind his infatuation with that one twitchy, blond ground-control agent.

I wrote that desc just now, but it probably won't be the same one I write in for the eventual AO3 upload. No I don't have an outline or even really a full plot going for this one yet, but I do have a general idea of what it might be. Soooo.... slowburn, angsty, trapped in space Creek fic, anyone?

Children on the Edge of Forever: A tragic spin on the season 2 episode "City on the Edge of Forever" (which is itself titled after a Star Trek episode) in which instead of telling silly stories while they sit in the bus hanging off the edge of a cliff and wait for Miss Crabtree's return, the kids find themselves confessing deep honesties in their last moments before the bus finally gives in to the temptation of gravity. Confessions range from those of love- requited or not, personal identities, crimes, and final forgivenesses. Each chapter is written in the POV of one kid on the bus (I'll be doing about 12 of them) with a final chapter detailing their shared ending.

Yes, they do all die in the end, but that doesn't mean we can't have Style, Creek and Bendy fluff before their final demise lol. I haven't written an official desc yet, but the first chapter should be up before the end of December regardless of poll results (simply because it's already mostly written).

Totally Killer AU (Untitled): This one is based on the 2023 slasher film Totally Killer, which was ALMOST a good movie lol. I decided to make it actually good. Heres the AO3 desc:

When the decade of materialism and Madonna finally began to draw the curtains of a close, three teenagers at South Park high had their lives brought to their own abrupt ends. The face of their killer is never unmasked, slipping away through the cracks of passing time. 35 years later, as the third decade of the century hits a halfway point, a fourth victim is claimed to mark the killer's return. Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski find themselves thrown not only in the middle of it all (and maybe even at each other), but also back in time- to the point just before everything first began.

TIME TRAVEL STYLE!!! This one is going to be so good because I'll be writing their parents as teenagers and showing so much background. I feel like fresh characters (or fresh versions of them at least) in a South Park fic is something you rarely see, so I think it will be fun to try and pull off.

Anyway, this fic involves Stan and Kyle working together to try and prevent the first murders from ever happening so as to save the fourth victim from dying in the future. Theres angst and fluff to come no matter who dies lol.

[pigeonflavouredcake]

How to reference in your grimoire

If you intend on sharing your grimoire with the public or you're a fan of a more academic style of writing then you're gonna want to reference your sources to avoid any kind of plagiarism.

You may have already learned how to reference at your college/uni, in which case follow that method, but if you haven't let me show you what i've been doing in my grimoire.

The referencing style I was taught in my degree is a form of APA 7th edition. This style is best for essays and small research papers and since my grimoire is essentially a bunch of mini contextual essays stuck together I thought it was appropriate.

Here's the format:

Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication/release). Title of source: sub-heading/title of chapter. Publishing company/website. Place of publication/website link. [Format]

So for example, the book I'm currently reading is Buried by Professor Alice Roberts. If I were to reference this book in this format it would look something like this:

Roberts, A. (2023). Buried, An Alternative History of The First Millennium in Britain: Water and Wine. Simon and Schuster. London. [Book]

(Its up to you whether you decide to put the chapter before the book title, it doesn't make a difference, but I prefer doing it this way.)

This reference will need to follow an in-text citation. You can do that by adding a little number in parentheses next to your quote or paraphrase that corresponds to the number on your list of references OR you can make a mini reference following this method:

(Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication). Page number if required)

So following this method an in-text citation would look like this:

(Roberts, A. (2023). p1)

Tips

If you are citing a source with multiple authors, organised them alphabetically by surname, your in text citation only needs to include the first one.

If you're referencing an online upload of an old source like Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg, include the original authors name first, uploaders name/ID second and mark which is which in parenthesis, then the date of original publication if you can find it, followed by the date it was uploaded to the site.

If you are referencing a film/TV episode, use the name of the director and include (Dir) next to their name.

If you can't find a date of publication/upload then write DNA instead.

Always put your references at the back of your grimoire. If your grimoire contains multiple chapters, group them by each chapter and then organise either alphabetically or chronologically. If your in-text citation uses numbers, organise your reference list chronologically. If you're using a mini reference, organise your reference list alphabetically.

This last bit is especially important for practitioners who intend to publish their work. Please please please do not skip referencing! I've read so many traditionally published witchcraft books who's authors don't do this or do it half-assed and I can't stand it.

Readers deserve to know where your information is coming from so they can be the judge on whether or not it's appropriate for them to practice themselves. Not doing so creates a cycle of ignorance among readers and new practitioners that encourages the spread of cultural appropriation, poor media literacy and poor historical and scientific understanding. Always cite your sources.

[stevie-petey]

chapter 6 update soon 👀🫶

my beloved ,,, i uploaded chapter 5 barely two days ago !!!

i know yall get excited and want more, im always so floored by the responses i get to my story, but writing takes time ! i also really want yall to recognize that i update moderately fast, all around.

to really emphasize this point: i uploaded chapter 1 of season 3 on april 13th, and i recently uploaded chapter 5 june 4th. within almost two months (not even a full two months) ive uploaded 44k words of come home !!

to REALLY bring my point home: i uploaded the very first chapter of come home on october 26th, 2023. within less than a year ive written and published 221k words. this doesnt even include my blurbs, which i would say are roughly another 20k words or so.

all this is to say is that i think its evident i write whenever i can and that im just as eager to update as much as yall are, but pleaaaase give me time. im an active college student, i work part time when im on breaks, i go on dates and see friends. its a lot !!

its okay to ask about when a chapter is coming next, but two days after one has been uploaded is just a smidge too soon. gimme like a week to breathe and recover before assuming ive started the next chapter pls <3

[metakazkz]

(2023-11-11 ) I know I said I was going to turn the comic into manga style. But I think it will be better as a color because it look more like an animation style just like other comics I made. However, I can always use manga art style for a flashback or story telling. So I get the opportunity to update the town call Serenity town. ( it was suppose the name Serenity city because they live in the city. Originally it was suppose to be call Serenity Town. So I change the city to town. Because I wasn't satisfied  the way I drawing the big city. So I decided to make it an town instead.

The pages of Comet of Evermore comic was done a few months ago. I wanted to completed all pages of Chapter 1 before uploading here. But it seem it going to take way too long or feel I didn't make much of a progress. So I decide that  when I done enough pages. it will be good to go. also welcome to help me corrected my misspell for the comic ( since writing isn't my strength but I try the best as I can.)

 So this is the beginning of comic in manga style. Comet of Evermore.

reminder: This comic is a crossover of all of my favorite video game  into one world. It's like another version of the video game character's counterpart but with different life. Also note that Comet of Evermore is not connected to any video games.

Cover ( Not yet )

Next

Comet of Evermore, Donovan (me) Metakazkz

Galacta knight, Meta Knight (Kirby ) Nintendo HAL laboratory 

Asgore (Undertale ) Toby fox

X (Megaman X ) Capcom

King Pridemoor, Donovan (Shovel Knight ) Yacht club game

Artwork by me Metakazkz

[thewatcher727]

Writing Tip: Upload Schedules

More writing tips

This one is a bit controversial. Do you need to stick to an upload schedule? There's no right or wrong answer to that. Truthfully, I find it's down to the individual and whether or not they feel like they can. I sometimes get asked how I manage to stick to a weekly schedule. The truth is a lot of stuff you see was actually written long before I published. For example, I had the prologue to this story I wrote last ready two months before I even published. There was this one scene with Shadow and Tails after fighting a rock monster. I had that written in December 2022, whereas the actual story wasn't released until March 2023. In the weeks leading up to the story being published, I just wrote small parts for several different moments here and there. Sometimes I am further than I expected, hence why I occasional published two chapters instead of one a week.

Basically, most of the content I already have ready. I just spend a couple of hours on the update date or the day before just to add in the last details. That's it, that's how I do it. I have stuff ready in advance. But again, like my tip about unique styles, just because that works for me doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you.

So, if you think you can maintain an upload schedule, go ahead. But don't feel like you have to stress yourself out sticking to it. If there's problems or you decide along the way it might not be ideal, that's absolutely fine. The point I want you all to take from this is don't force yourself to decide when you need to update. Find what you're comfortable with.

[evertidings]

— MARCH 2023.

accomplishments.

it's safe to say that a lot happened in february—just as a lot didn't happen. let me break it down. first, i got the first part of chapter nine up. for those of you that have played the first part, i thoroughly hope you enjoyed it. it's short and only a tiny taste of what's to come, but i was particularly proud of the introduction. though ominous isn't my first choice of tone when writing, it was a lot of fun.

second? well, if you count getting K's and Rylan's branch done as an accomplishment, there's that. i don't see why it wouldn't count, but as one out of the three branches available, it definitely looks less impressive. still this branch was even more difficult than Blane's, which, if you could have seen me writing that, you'd know i was nearly pulling my hair out. glad that's done with. i adore my warlock and half-vampire, but they were not giving me an easy time. i can't imagine the editing process.

now, what didn't i do? as you might be able to guess, i didn't finish chapter nine. it was never going to happen, but a girl can dream. with the sudden decision to upload half of chapter nine for my anniversary, i spent a good week editing and coding. this somewhat explains the low word count, but truly, the main reason for it is a lack of motivation. as i've said before, this chapter has been kicking my ass. sometimes i feel like it has more control over me than i do it, which is ridiculous, of course, but it's true. i'm getting there though. slowly but surely, i am making my way through it. if you hear me screaming when i finally type that final sentence, you'll know why. i think because chapter nine is so absolutely vital to the story and a bit of a tone switch from previous chapters, i'm having a bit of a hard time. but i am taking breaks and taking care of myself, so to anyone who's reached out to me about this, thank you <3

stats.

382,025 words (+7.8k)

[pickledpascal]

Hold Me Like Water

Chapter Nine: Last Time She Called Me "Baby"

Warnings: WHUMP ! mixed with fluff and, oops, is hugh attracted to maya?

Word Count: 2k

A/N: this is where tumblr catches up to ao3 so uploads will be coming out at the same time as ao3 updates !!! happy reading!!!

Hold Me Like Water Masterlist

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

October 2023, 

Hugh went through with it. He and Deborah were officially divorced about a month ago. 

Of course, everyone on set knew. More or less. The people that were important knew. Maya heard Ryan put a joke about it in the film with Hugh’s permission. She wasn't a part of that scene so she wouldn't know what it was until the movie was finished and in theaters. 

Now, though, it was Hugh’s birthday. Maya had learned it was also Wolverine’s birthday quite a while ago and wanted to celebrate both but she knew that's not exactly what Hugh would want after such a big change. 

She settled on just getting some takeout and making martinis. For Hugh. She didn't like martinis. And she thought he deserved a cheat day since he's been fairly strict on his regime for the film. It was nice to not care about things like that for a while. 

During filming, she shared an apartment with Hugh and Sakari in London. She wasn't needed for the entire duration of production so it didn't make sense to get an entire new apartment for just a month or so. The close proximity made it a lot easier to see how he was doing rather than just how he said he was doing. It helped that it would hide her role in the film, that was one of the excuses she used, anyway.

Before Hugh came home, Maya grabbed plates and everything, unpacking the takeout from the bags. She ordered from his favorite Chinese place and got a range of different things—skewers, egg rolls, dumplings, fried rice. 

 Hugh stepped through the apartment door and was hit with the swirling, unmistakable smell of Chinese food. “Maya?” He blinked slightly, adjusting his glasses as he realized she was in the middle of shaking a martini for him. “Oh my god…”

It was such a domestic scene. Sakari was nibbling on some broccoli and beef with rice already. Maya who really tried to make this temporary apartment feel like home. Maya who just wanted to make him feel happy and she never failed to do so with simple, thoughtful things like this.

“Hey!” Sakari swallowed quickly once she noticed Hugh was back. “Happy birthday!” 

A soft smile broke out on his face as he hugged Sakari. He wished he could celebrate with his kids but they were both busy with their own lives now and being with Maya and Sakari was the next best thing. 

Hugh turned to Maya who offered him a martini. He opted to hug her tight instead. As she promised, she had been his support for everything since he decided he wanted to divorce Deborah. He and his now ex didn't argue over anything like custody or who'd get the house but it was still hard for him to say goodbye to a partner he's had for most of his life. Maya lessened the pain. 

She hugged him tightly in return. “Happy birthday, Hugh.” She whispered, breath warm against his ear. It sent a shiver down his spine. He hadn't expected that.

Lately, things have been happening. Things that haven't happened before to Hugh. He'd been noticing just how beautiful Maya is. Of course he always thought she was beautiful, she was strong and captivated any room she walked into but he always thought of it as a friendly appreciation. 

But working out together, training together felt more charged than he could remember. Maya had the type of muscle that one couldn’t quite tell was muscle at first. However, when she was lifting weights or boxing, he could see the muscle tighten and flex in real time and it made his brain go in a hundred and ten different directions which were not friendly. 

She was so strong, she could probably lift Hugh without much trouble, and she always had been so he wasn’t sure where this newfound attraction came from. He blamed it on the loneliness he felt and how Maya was trying her best to rid him of it. She was loyal to a fault, he found but he admired it about her because he was like that too. 

And her height. Sometimes he would forget how tall she was in comparison to most people. He had gotten used to not needing to bend down so much to hug her or kiss her cheek. It was nice, far more convenient for him. Then he would see her from a few feet away and be hit with just how tall she was in actuality. Six-feet-two, maybe more with the right shoe, and she owned it. 

Her eyes were the most interesting part to him. She had heterochromia which resulted in two different colored eyes. Her right eye was a deep, rich chocolate brown that almost looked black under certain lighting. Her left eye was a bright, amber color that looked like raw honey in bright light. He could stare at them forever and never get tired of it. 

Hugh was trying to ignore his growing feelings for Maya. He had just gotten divorced and didn’t need to dive head first into a new relationship, that is, if she liked him back. He doubted she would. 

They ate their dinner and talked. They mostly talked about the film and what they would be doing next week since they had the weekend off. Maya was going to be doing her fight scenes with the rest of the “forgotten heroes” in the Ant-Man arena. She had been practicing the fight choreography a month in advance so she felt ready. 

“Maybe we should go to the gym one last time together.” Maya hummed as she took a bite from her cashew chicken. “I’m sure anything would help.” She teased lightly. 

Hugh was nearly done with his noodles and nearly choked on them at the suggestion. Sakari laughed but covered it up with a cough. She was far more observant than anyone gave her credit for. 

“That–That would be nice.” Hugh finally responded, wiping his mouth with a napkin. 

Once dinner was done, Maya refilled hers and Hugh’s cocktails. Sakari opted for a seltzer since she was still a lightweight, somehow, and hated the taste of alcohol. They settled on the couch. The alcohol was making them open up a little more, especially Hugh. He was feeling a soft, stinging buzz. 

“I don’t really miss Deb,” Hugh breathed, running a hand through his hair as he rambled. “But I don’t have a life partner anymore. I miss that. Someone I could talk to about anything and everything and I don’t see how I’m gonna get that now.” He let out a breathy laugh. “I’m entering my later fifties and I just… I have kids.” 

Sakari looked at Maya who was listening, nodding along to his words but she didn’t offer anything. Her eyes were fixated on the floor, likely formulating something to say but there wasn’t anything she could say to change the way he felt. 

Sakari said something instead. “If someone likes you, loves you, your age and you having kids shouldn’t change that. You just have to look in the right places.” 

Hugh looked from Sakari to Maya. Both girls have become close to him in the last decade or so. Like family. Though, he thought of them differently. Sakari was an annoying little sister who loved to make fun of him and play harmless pranks on him. 

Maya… he couldn’t begin to describe how he thought of Maya. She was generous, always offering her time and a listening ear. When his kids were younger, she would offer to take care of them while he and Deb went on a date and needed some alone time. Ava always loved having sleepovers at her apartment. 

“I don’t think it’s a matter of looking,” Maya finally interjected. “Love can come when you least expect it to. Or least want it to. Life is funny that way.” She offered a soft smile to Hugh, hoping he could find some solace in her words.

“It’s always the thing you don’t expect, isn’t it?”

Hugh could hear his own words, said when they first met, echoing in his head. He had meant jobs, roles, not relationships but he had realized those words could be applicable to anything in life. And then a bittersweet feeling washed over him. Maybe he had felt this way for Maya for years, he just didn’t allow himself to feel it until after divorcing Deborah. It was hard to look back and see if or when anything changed to make him feel so strongly for her. 

The next day, Hugh and Maya went to the hotel gym while Sakari practiced some FX makeup on herself. Maya opted for the punching bag in the corner of the room while he went to lift weights. The problem was that he couldn’t focus, especially since she had her headphones in and wasn’t paying attention. It gave him free reign to admire her power with each punch she threw at the bag. 

Since Maya had a unique build, being tall, broad, and Inuit, they couldn’t find a stunt double that matched her well enough so she had to do all of her own fight sequences. Hugh might have been excited to see it on set. He heard from Ryan that she had been rehearsing quite a lot with the stunt coordinators to get everything right. 

As she went for different jabs, quicker ones, he could hear her breathing get a bit louder and he could see sweat glistening in the valleys of her shoulders. She wore a sports bra and leggings and properly wrapped her hands and everything to box. She looked wonderful, even if she was disheveled and slick with sweat. 

It was a bit difficult to think. Hugh put down his weights and took a long sip of water, dragging his eyes away from Maya. Maybe trying to work out with her was a bad idea but he didn’t have the heart to tell her ‘no.’ She would think something was wrong. He didn’t want her to worry. That was the last thing he wanted. 

“You alright?” Maya set a hand on Hugh’s shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts. It was a gentle, soft touch. Hugh knew she was capable of so much more but she always chose to be soft. 

Hugh gave her a light smile. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just a bit winded I suppose.” He joked slightly, taking a deep breath. 

“You’ve been working hard, maybe we give you some time to take a break, yeah?” Maya suggested, eyebrows furrowed as she sat next to Hugh.

He sighed as he leaned his head against the wall. “I’m old now, can’t keep up with you.” His voice was light but there was an underlying insecurity she picked up on.

She began to unwrap her hands. “We both know you could barely keep up with me ten years ago.” She looked up at Hugh, empathetic eyes focused on his face. “Aging is a beautiful thing, Hugh. A privilege most take for granted. It’s alright to be feeling your years.”

“I kind of wished you said, ‘oh, Hugh, you’re not old! You’re only fifty-five!’” Hugh pouted but he was grateful for her words. She was always a wise young woman. 

Maya chuckled, “You are only fifty-five. You have much more life to live.” She nudged his shoulder with hers. “I can only hope I’ll be a part of it.”

“You will be.” Hugh said in a soft, but firm voice. 

He didn’t want to imagine a future where Maya was not in his life. She was such a bright presence that he knew he would regret letting go if he ever did. He would compare her to the sun but that didn’t quite encompass his feelings for her. 

She was the moon. He may not see her all the time but she was always there, no matter what. She could move tides and travel oceans just to see him. Her skin was cold but, somehow, she managed to make him feel warm. The moon saw everything, the good and the bad, and didn’t judge unlike the sun. 

Without the moon, who would light up the night sky? Who else would capture the attention of millions yet still only want the affection of one?

[suguaotruther]

A Reflection: One Year of Writing Azure Dive, One Year of Writing Almost Nonstop

To think, it really has been one whole year since I posted the very first chapter of Azure Dive on AO3. My thoughts at that time when I started planning the entire thing and typing up the first chapter was how excited I was to share my ideas and thoughts about a possible way for Indigo Disk's story to go.

My attention span can get pretty terrible at times to the point I'm considering I have undiagnosed ADHD. I do have that surge of wanting to write a fic from time to time, but my desire to write fades away within the first month and I move on to playing video games again.

With Scarlet & Violet, this was the same except I couldn't find it in me to write anything despite loving the games so much. Until the first half of the "Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" dropped and took me in for one hell of a ride. I barely read and saw any info on it before playing it. I didn't buy it at launch until a few friends recommended me it. Again, I loved the base games, but I didn't know if the $35 price point was worth it or not compared to SWSH's $25 DLC.

But man, was I wrong. That $35 dollars was WORTH IT.

It's still strange knowing how the DLC's story, lore, and cast hit something for me that heavily driven me to write fanfictions about them when nothing else really did that to me. My mind was particularly honed in on Kieran's interesting relationship with Juliana that developed over time, seeing as that is one of the main points in the DLC.

I've been an avid shipper since I was a kid when I first watch Hinata get all blushy with Naruto back during the days of that show being on Toonami. When it comes to shipping in Pokémon it wasn't new to me, I almost consider myself a veteran at this point haha. I remember the early days of myself loving Soulsilvershipping (Silver x Lyra) and Oldrivalshipping (Green x Blue from PokeSpe).

Suguao, before it was now referred to as Dipplinshipping was hitting all of my favorite things I like when shipping characters. You have your Rivals/Enemies to Lovers (or vice versa), you have possible Sun and Moon symbolism with them (because Juliana usually represents Scarlet), you have that early young love aspect about them you see in a lot of coming-of-age anime, and more.

Suguao is HUGE in the Japanese community, I saw so much good fanart and works by talented creators who adore their bond as much as I have. I actually think it's currently both Kieran's and Juliana's most popular ship there at the moment (Which is impressive for the latter since it's barely been one whole year since the DLC first dropped).

But when I turned to see if that kind of hype was in my side of the world, it was pretty much Kricketunes. (I will admit I looked on Twitter/X & AO3 mainly, not on Tumblr to check)

And you know what? That also drove me to write fanfictions about them. Because if no one else was going to do it then I will! My passion for writing was at an all-time high! Might as well use that energy for it!

I got to work and uploaded the very first Suguao fanfiction on AO3 on September 18th, 2023. "Take My Crown and You're Dead" was quickly positively received and seeing that made me drove myself to upload a second one in a short amount of time between the two. September 20th, I uploaded "Firefiles". A much more wholesome tone compared to my previous work.

Okay, so two oneshots down the bag! I was already feeling happy and content writing oneshots but I wanted more. I wanted to go a multi-chapter fic, a big one to be precise. It was ambitious because I've attempted those before, but I lost interest in them working on them after a month.

But I was so excited for Indigo Disk after that cliffhanger of Kieran saying "Just you wait, Juliana." ominously combined with the music for the scene. That violin coming into play as he snapped with a dark smile on his face in the midst of a sinister sounding theme. That gave me chills over how this teen was going to potentially become our character's worst nightmare. Or in this case, Juliana's. (That's still one of my favorite tracks out of the entire OST for the game, it's so, so good and underrated.)

It was that and the accumulation of their relationship that gave me the push to start planning Azure Dive. I went with Azure Dive as the name because I took one look at Blueberry Academy and went for something that you could describe the location. While also giving it a sinking like feeling if that makes sense.

On September 27th, 2023, I uploaded the first chapter of Azure Dive. And it blew up like I never thought it would.

I remember looking at official Pokémon media such as the manga and Masters EX and going "Huh. I wrote that in before it was confirmed." quite a few times. I even almost got Lacey's connection with Clay right!

I also never thought my work would actually inspire others to start writing their own fanfics, and that's the best feeling in the world to me right now. It makes me incredibly happy to see the one tiny community grow and continue growing to the point we have at least 214 (at the time of this post) stories to tell about this pairing.

When writing Azure Dive, my mindset also goes into "This is the Violet Universe. I gotta show that." Which is why aside from a few lines that might need changing. You could say, replace Sada with Turo and it would work out the same way if this were the Scarlet Universe instead.

Apart from Azure Dive, I did take breaks in between to write other fanfics on the pairing and also took part in Dipplinshipping week to show my love for them. It was interesting and refreshing to work in a different setting from time to time, and I think I needed that after working on Azure Dive for so long.

Unfortunately, my attention span is once again being difficult, and that's why I enforce myself a deadline to work on this fanfic to its completion. And no, I'm not burnt out or anything and I still do incredibly love writing chapters for Azure Dive. As a matter of fact, my brain continues to FLOOD itself with ideas for that fanfic in particular of different scenarios I could put them through in the future.

But it's also why I don't really work on anything else besides Azure Dive aside from special occasions to maintain my focus and diligence towards it. I have so many ideas for other fics, but I put them off for my own sanity when managing my own schedule.

Which brings to my final bit. Finishing the first arc of Azure Dive. It's no secret that it's finally nearing the end with what's left. Drayton and Carmine are working on creating the talisman needed, Juliana needs to do Drayton's trial and she'll finally be able to formally challenge Kieran for that fight they both been wanting. Oh! And they're now in a relationship where surely nothing bad will happen!

Chapter 28 will be delayed for a bit but, I promise it will be worth it! There will be some cool lore bits in there that I think you might like.

Again, I can't thank you guys enough for the support and seeing you like my work so much. The engagement from the comments in particular are what really help me fuel motivation on continuing Azure Dive. It lets me know "Oh they're still reading Azure Dive? That's great to know!" and gives me a nice feeling that my work still brings enjoyment for others.

I suppose I can give a bit of a teaser for future chapters since you've read up this point! These are out of context, but I think they'll keep you on your toes for the upcoming chapters.

[breachverse]

Breach: Chicago War Zone - WIP Update 14 - 10th of February 2023

I didn't think I'd be able to finish it this month considering my hard drive decided to corrupt itself, but, goddamn, I did it.

WIP Update 14 has been released! Chapter 2 Part 2 for both routes have started all the way up to the first chance of a downtime. Though you can't hangout with anyone, except for Hayne, you can now enjoy the limited shop for both the Archangel AND the FBI route, as well as the completed skill training feature.

Breach: Chicago War Zone (Updated)

DEVELOPMENT LOG#14 (10-February-2023)

(B2.1.1.22.12.20)

Alpha - 14

Tons of bug fixes typos and grammar fixes

Added the ability to buy plasma cutter pre-hangout

Added ARC skills training and store (limited)

Added FBI skills training and store (very limited)

Fixed FBI armory not being free. (Everything should now be free)

Tweaked a few of the weapon's descriptions to be available for both routes

Tweaked several weapon accessories token modifiers

Tweaked available accessories for the UTS-15

Added Flash Grenades

Added AR-10 Battle rifle (I know, I'm calling it one)

Added KSG-12 Shotgun

Added RPD Machine gun

Added AK-12 Assault rifle

Alpha - 14

Added Chapter Part restart feature to Show Stats screen (Testing)

Added Settings tab to the Show Stats screen (Testing)

Added Cheats tab to the Show Stats screen (Testing)

Added Hayne's 1st hangout

W.I.P.: Chapter 2 Part 2 of The AA branch (23%) W.I.P.: Chapter 2 Part 2 of The FBI branch (23%) W.I.P.: AA Hangout (9%) W.I.P.: AA Store system (60%) W.I.P.: FBI Hangout (9%) W.I.P.: FBI Store system (50%) W.I.P.: Stat screen upgrade (30%) COMPLETED: Chapter 2 Part 1 of The AA branch (100%) COMPLETED: Chapter 2 Part 1 of The FBI branch (100%)

Word Count: 656,856 words including codes (Last update was 637,822)

The private testing for this was uploaded last month so technically I managed to get an update out once month but still… it was quite a delay and I'm terribly sorry.

For those who don't know, I had a horrible setback in which my computer's hard drive decided to bork itself and I had to reinstall windows. I lost a small number of data but it took me some time to rebuild my database and retrieve data from my corrupted hard drive. Thankfully, Breach itself is saved due to the number of backups I've made and the precaution of having multiple copies on different hard drives.

More detail on the situation on this post if you want to see the exact problem I was having.

But, all of that is past now and though I am still building up everything again, I was able to get my workspace back in order and thankfully, I've managed to finish this damn update before the end of the month for private testing, and added a few things for the public update.

The update also consists some scenes for the ARC route where if you choose to do the prep work for the grate work or wall work in the tunnels under the bank, as well as some new scenes for the FBI route where [spoiler]if you let Greg escape during the raid, he'll want to meet with you and he'll give you some secrets about the trio.[/spoiler]

I'm sorry it's taken so long, and thank you for being so patient. It's not a huge update, but it features the shop and the skill training system in-game where you can buy and change your gear however you wish, though the FBI armoury is quite limited for now.

Thank you all for your patience.

Much love! ❤️

-------------------------------------

Link to the CoG Forums post

I also have a Discord server!

As always feel free to drop however many screenshot feedbacks you'd like, either in the forums or in our Discord channel!

[shadowthestoryteller]

Health Hiatus Announcement

This is gonna be a long post, but a necessary one that has quite a bit of important info relating to the future of my creative works concerning the Adventures!AU series. First, look at this lovely new cover art for Off to a Great Start I had done by my bud Arven92 on DA. The title has changed to The Adventure Begins, but the main story within is the same. 

The light reveals their true Alphian form (symbolic only, not a lore aspect) while their shadow shows their ultimate fate as a member of Clone Force 99/Bad Batch. The bookshelves are a key location (library), but the merge into woods represents how they're entering into a very real adventure that isn't just a fantasy they write into books. Really happy how it turned out ^^

Onto the main post! 

TLDR: Adventures!AU is being drastically shortened for my sanity and physical health into two arcs (six books each) but most likely will cease full chapter uploads after arc one as I am tired af, I don’t want to be doing this series into my 50s, and I want to turn my focus back to my originals eventually. Next year will see postings of the series prologue, Anachronism, as well as hopefully the Remaster of Off to a Great Start/The Adventure Begins. I will still be very active on my discord, where some chapters of next year's stories have already been posted. But for my other story posting sites (aka Wattpad) all new Star Wars content is on hiatus until 2026.

Been wanting to make a big post for a while for the people who aren’t a part of the discord, especially since I’ve more or less dropped off the face of tumblr after it became unhealthy due to comparison eating me alive. If you like my work, you’re welcome to join the server which is dedicated to my works. I’m active in there a few times a week, and even post bi-weekly updates as to what I’ve been working on. And I’ve posted six chapters of remastered Off to a Great Start/The Adventure Begins complete with new scenes, new povs, and even more snark! Just message me for the link, I'm still wary of a stalker finding me again.

Now, for the meat of this update. 

Y’all. I am just… dog dead tired. And stressed beyond belief. Some of it isn’t related to the Adventures!AU itself (job hunt, burnout from completing my Masters in May, ect), but a lot of it admittedly is. Considering I’ve written almost 500k words in just under 5 years, it’s no surprise. Some people don’t write that in a lifetime, and I’m out here doing that on top of college. Proud of myself for that. 

What I’m not proud of, however, is ignoring my body’s warning signals and pushing myself past my limits not once, but twice. Once in 2022, and now again in 2024. Nothing major or genuinely life-altering, but when I say my health anxiety went off the rails. Been a rough few weeks lol. 

But that leads me to now. 

Adventures!AU. My series following the adventures of my self-insert as they become a member of Clone Force 99 back when it was just four members, with the added twist of it being in an alternate universe where the Star Wars universe has crossed over with my original stories. It’s not as big as non-self insert series, but Over the River and Through the Woods (which sits at a whopping 66 chapters and 200k+ words) once got #19 out of 60k in the ocs tag. The series has been going since April 2020, seeing four completed stories of various lengths and one WIP that sits at 21 chapters and 93k words. 

Aside from the recently completed Fallen Not Forgotten, it’s been on hiatus since Dec of 2023. At least as far as chapter uploads go. It’s certainly not been collecting dust. To say it underwent some intense restructuring in July is an understatement. A big understatement. 

I originally had seventeen books planned for the series as of three months ago, sectioned into four arcs with Anachronism kinda being a “prologue” to the main Adventures!AU series. Before this timeline is banished to the dream graveyard, I’m sharing it so y’all can at least see where it was gonna go. The four arcs would have had four books each, and were structured thus:

Bonds Forged Through Fire and Storm

Off to a Great Start (25 chapters)

Over the River and Through the Woods (66 chapters)

To the Far Reaches (66 chapters)

Welcome to War Games (25 chapters)

Into the Light Through Acts in the Dark

Commander, Meet the Cat (Remastered, 20 chapters)

Fallen Not Forgotten (Remastered, 20 chapters)

Risk vs Reward (20 chapters)

Bane of My Existence (20 chapters)

Wars of the Realms

Call of the Wild (20 chapters)

Convergence Hijinks (20 chapters)

Let’s See What You’re Really Made Of (20 chapters)

Anachronistic Adventures (20 chapters)

Decaying Dreams and Deadly Dances

Shadow in the Dark (40 chapters)

Murder Uncle Mayhem (40 chapters)

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (40 chapters)

A Legacy in Question(40 chapters)

The plans I had for this series were intricate, deep, and would push many characters to their limits. 

But turns out, it wasn’t just the characters pushed to their breaking point. 

I got sick. A rather severe case of acid reflux that landed me in the docs office for the second time in two years. That started in mid-July, and I’m still dealing with it. Will probably be dealing with the sickness afterward for another month at least. But leading up to all that, I’ve been reflecting on the series as a whole and where exactly I want it to go, how I want it to end, and all that jazz. 

Then I did a scheduling test in Excel using the above chapter load plus the 30 I had planned for Anachronism. Assuming two chapters a month with minimal breaks here and there, this series would finally end in 2050. That is by no means sustainable, and while I have had a lot of fun with this series and daydreaming about the different plotlines is a comfort activity, I can’t see myself writing these books for that long. I really want to publish my original stories some day, but I also won’t pretend that I’m not a bit tired of the series. At least, tired of pushing myself to work on stories that just don’t give the same rush of dopamine they used to. It’s almost a chore now to work on them, at least in the case of FNF. 

Full disclosure, that story has been a problem child since day one. Actually, I’m pretty sure the stress of that story is what pushed me over the edge and caused the health issues in 2022 that sent me to the doc with acid reflux the first time. Messing with canon and trying to keep the timeline continuous (with timetravel in the mix too) was nothing short of infuriating. The trajectory changed so many times as I wrote it, which I sadly feel is evident in the story. It really seems like a disjointed mess. I’m just so disappointed how it turned out, but I was determined to at least finish it and not leave everyone on a cliffhanger. And I’m proud of myself for at least finishing it, even if I cut out at least four threads from the ending. It just wasn’t healthy to keep going. 

Nor was it going to be healthy if I kept the series structured like I had it. 

So, I took the steps to fix that. 

Seventeen stories became twelve, four arcs became two. Some storylines were combined into one book (ex: Risk vs Reward and Bane of My Existence) while others (ex: Adventures!AU Batch meeting canon batch in Convergence Hijinks) were cut completely. I hated to lose some, but I’ve always been one to appreciate quality over quantity. Combining books and plotlines will help streamline things and make it more manageable. Some books also get new titles.

Arc one keeps its name, and will cover six books; Four main books then a prologue and epilogue of sorts. Anachronism, The Adventure Begins, Over the River and Through the Woods, To the Far Reaches, Welcome to War Games, and Moving Back to Look Forward. This arc covers Shadow’s initial fandom jump into the Tintin 2011 movie, their first mission with the Bad Batch, and them meeting the sailors again this time with the Batchers. Arc two will also keep its name and cover the entirety of the group’s interference of Star Wars the Clone Wars canon (rescuing Domino to taking down Palps), with a similar set up to arc one. Fallen Not Forgotten, Risk vs Reward, Level Up, Shadow in the Dark, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, and A Legacy in Question. 

But I know that even the shortening isn’t drastic enough. I feel only dread thinking about the series now, and that won’t do. So, though it kills me, Arc One will probably be the only arc that gets an official posting. Once Moving Back to Look Forward ends in 2030 (barring any major complications), that will be it for official full length postings of Adventures!AU. I’ll still post snippets and segments from arc two on Discord (like I do now occasionally), but MBtLF will end in a way that wraps everything up nicely. I’ll be sure to craft it so it can remain open ended to their adventures, but the current trajectory will see the “main” storyline with Shadow and the Batch, plus the Tintin sailors, close in arc one. 

That’s the long term goal. So what’s short term? 

Next year I plan to at least partially post Anachronism. That story has remained in the drafts for long enough. Yes, that means To the Far Reaches is backed up another year for posting (2026). That story has a lot of emotional moments, a lot of dealing with past trauma and relationship issues, and I just don’t have the spoons for that right now. For those intense moments, I have to crack myself open a bit and let my heart bleed onto the page. I’m not in a position to do that right now. Anachronism lacked that depth, being a bit more surface level than the stories with the Batchers. It’s got its own emotional moments, but it’s not nearly as taxing. Additionally, I’m going back through what was Off to a Great Start (now The Adventure Begins) and bringing it up to the standards I try to hold OtRaTtW and TtFR to. But I learned my lesson posting stories out of order so I’m going to get Anachronism finished so there’s no continuity issues. 

That brings me to my next point; Adventures!AU canon. 

I’ve already announced that the posted C,MtC and FNF are both non-canon and should not be taken as fact. You can still enjoy them (best you can with the crack-writing) but any continuity issues should be ignored as they are from an earlier draft of the Adventures!AU. Well, that decanonization treatment is extending beyond those two. The Adventure Begins, Over the River and Through the Woods, and To the Far Reaches aren’t non-canon per se, but rather some elements of the remastered versions may contradict the original postings. Going forward, the “truest” version will be those depicted in the works posted to Adventures!AU Remastered on Wattpad. The first story (The Adventure Begins) won’t drop there until at least November 2025 but you’re free to watch it in the meantime. It’ll sit dormant for quite a bit longer though. Nothing major will change in the stories, but I plan to add some extra scenes and tweak some minor details (the Batchers time in the galaxy is one big thing I’m looking at tweaking). 

Let’s see. checks notes Yep, I think that covers everything! At least for now lol. I always have stuff to say, but this will probably be the last long update post for quite some time. 

Thanks for hanging around, and for reading this long post lol.