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kayawolfhorse · 4 months ago

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Once Upon a Player’s Dream

My piece for @hermitseasonzine! Check out the full zine here.

—☾—

Chaos has already broken loose by the time Gem and Oli round the bend of the path. Across the way, the evening sun illuminates Gem’s fellow hermits as they leap between the broken planks of the shattered bridge in front of the rift-less fort. Shrouded in the shadow of the cliff the fort is built into, her fellow emperors try to stop them.

Maybe this wasn’t the best time to take the long route, Gem thinks, giving Oli a shrug before spreading her wings and soaring over the water, landing in the center of the fray.

The mayhem in the fort surrounds Gem from all sides. To Gem’s left, Pearl thrusts her sword toward Lizzie, who jumps back with the distinct non-reaction of every self-respecting cat, and to her right, Oli swoops in and immediately goes after Jevin with a yell. fWhip and Jimmy stand side-by-side in front of the stone facade they’d erected in front of the rift, swatting away any hermit that comes close enough.

“Let us leave!” Grian shouts, swerving to avoid Shubble, who holds her staff outstretched at her side to block as much of the way as she can.

“We don’t want you to leave!” Oli says, leveling his guitar at a rapidly approaching False, before thinking better of it and scampering closer to fWhip.

Not wanting to be left out of the action, Gem whacks a few hermits and emperors alike with the flat of her blade, earning yelps of surprise, but no one really fights back against her. Gem’s sword meets Grian’s when she swipes at him, and confusion plays across his face when he looks up to see her at the end of it. Remembering the character she’s currently playing, Gem backs off with a cheeky grin.

Seemingly as quickly as it started, the skirmish ends. The hermits retreat back to the bridge, a potion thrown in their wake—weakness, by the smell of it—and the emperors gather along the top of the fort, Gem perching on the corner of the wall.

Grian holds his hands up in front of him, dropping his shoulders. “Let’s open the dialogue first. Guys, I can’t stress how much we need to leave.”

Oli’s melodramatic wail is drowned out by fWhip exclaiming, “You built a thing that’s trying to blow up the world! You gotta get rid of the thing that’s trying to blow up the world!”

“No, it’s not going to blow up the world,” Grian attempts to placate, with little success.

“You can’t leave that here!” Shubble protests.

“It’ll kill us all!” Sausage says.

“Grumbot didn’t say anything about blowing anything up,” Grian says.

Hand against his forehead, Oli cries out, “He said he hated the arts!”

“He said he had no money for the arts, which is different,” Grian says, lifting a brow.

With a huff, Oli says, “Well, that’s also bad.” Giggles break out on both sides.

Sobering up, Grian tries again. “If you could just remove a couple blocks of stone, we’ll go on through and be out of your hair!”

From where he’s stood on one of the deepslate supports, Jimmy shakes his head and clicks his tongue, hat slung low over his eyes. Gem supposes the look is meant to come across as intimidating, but the shiny leather of the brim just makes him appear all the more toy-like.

“Jimmy,” Grian warns as Jimmy glides down to the bridge, stopping blocks away from where Grian stands.

Turning back to the emperors, Jimmy says, “Guys, just let me get up on their level.”

“Get up on their level, yeah,” Joel repeats in a mutter around barely suppressed laughter, placing a block of quartz between Jimmy and Grian. Jimmy hops up on it with the solemnity of someone in a far less ridiculous position.

“There we go, okay.” Grian shrugs and nods, crouching slightly to be eye-level with Jimmy.

“You, my friends, are not going anywhere,” Jimmy declares in a low tone. “Stayin’ right here. Havin’ fun with us. Look at us fun people!”

The hermits’ protests overlap in a symphony of tumult. Jimmy turns to Scar, and though Gem can’t see his face, she can imagine the pleading on it as he says, “Right, Scar? You think we’re fun?”

“Right, yeah, I’ve had an enjoyable time!” Scar says with a tilt of his chin. “But I’m ready to go home now.” Grian snorts and Jimmy sputters something unintelligible, and Gem tunes out the conversation with a hum as the argument continues.

Something shiny catches the corner of Gem’s eye. Glancing down, she spots Bdubs’ gleaming glowstone cloak, its owner quietly scaffolding up the side of the cliff the fort sits upon. Scanning the crowd on the bridge, it seems only Pearl has noticed Bdubs, and when Pearl’s eyes lift to meet Gem’s, Gem gives her a wink.

When Bdubs is close enough that Gem can make out the individual fragments of glowstone on his cloak, Grian shouts, “Break in Bdubs, break in!”

Leaping over the space between his scaffold tower and the wall, Bdubs charges into the fort, the rest of the hermits quick to pour in through the gates. Mayhem erupts once more; someone clangs the bell hanging outside of the gate in repeated, rapid succession. With ringing ears and amused curiosity, Gem watches as the fight unfolds.

“We’re a team! I’m a part of your church!” Oli persuades Bdubs, even as he chases after him with a sword. Bdubs runs into Joel, and Oli is able to get a hit on him, Bdubs’ inventory exploding onto the floor as Oli gasps, then cheers, “I killed a god! I killed a god!”

Someone manages to carve a person-sized gap through the back wall, the shimmering purple of the rift spilling out from within. A pitfall activates in front of it, and both several hermits and emperors fall in, but it acts merely as a deterrent, and it isn’t long until all but a couple hermits are through.

The chaos settles like dust in a windstorm, which is to say, not at all.

A TNT rocket is fired at Grumbot and fails to go off, and Pix flies up to manually light it, all while Grian fruitlessly tries to stop the whole endeavor, before Scar drags him through the rift. As it turns out, destroying Grumbot doesn’t close the portal, and the emperors promptly decide to jump in, whoops of anticipation following them through and disappearing as they do.

When it’s finally, finally quiet, Gem chuckles to herself. The server is empty, save for Joey, who’s run off to probably blow something up (and possibly False. Gem can’t quite tell what’s up with False, whether her fellow hermit is roleplaying like her or if there’s two of them entirely.) Taking flight, Gem sets off for Dawn.

The moon has just started its ascent when Gem reaches her kingdom. Touching down, Gem goes straight for her sunset-roofed house, stripping off her armor and crown before settling into bed.

“Chaos and happiness, chaos and happiness,” she murmurs to herself as her eyes drift shut, sinking into a player’s dream of chaos, happiness, and mega builds. Stars twinkle against the void behind Gem’s eyelids. Reaching out, she touches the light she knows will bring her home.

When she wakes, Gem’s vision is filled by the prismarine ceiling of her Hermitcraft storage room. Kicking back the covers and giving a quick stretch, Gem swaps her princess dress for her elven attire, straps on an elytra, and soars into the new day to find her friends.

#the last of my zines… i’m free…..#maybe for my first ever time zining six all at once was a bit ridiculous #this one was fun to work on! shout out to the crossover team #my writing #hermitcraft #empires smp #geminitay #theorionsound #grian #zines #hermitcraft season nine zine

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aleoramus · 1 year ago

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here are some pieces i did for the ms paint zine for @d20zinejam!

[ID: First rendered pixel art is of Suntar from A Court of Fey and Flowers, glaring at the viewer, with a clenched fist. A speech bubble next to her head: "He was mine to control."

The second rendered pixel art is of Pinnochio, Gerard, and Ylfa from Neverafter. Pinnochio, holding his wooden nose staff, and Ylfa are happily playing with wooden toy makers. Ylfa is holding two. Gerard is crouching in the middle, angrily staring at the ground, covering his frog ears. In the background is the letter 'R' being repeated. End ID]

#d20 zine jam #dimension 20 #ms paint #suntar #a court of fey and flowers #neverafter #ylfa snorgelsson #pinocchio #gerard of greenleigh #allo arts

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bleongambetta · 1 year ago

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A singular rite in the life of a tabletop designer is the creation of their D&D heartbreaker. I’ve held off on it personally, in part by making near-misses like RADCrawl, but the siren song has proven to be a little too powerful and thus I’ve started on extremely temporarily named BL-G Hack. It is just coincidence that I’m additionally trying out blogging at the same time, after reading a Twitter (X?) thread with discussion of how much in the indie space is lost to Discord.

I’m starting from a framework of what I want the game to feel like and how I want to work on the game.

What I Want The Game To Feel Like

In terms of the table experience, I want the game to feel like playing a mostly theater of the mind D&D. I’m a huge 4e apologist, but for this I want to try to capture what it felt like to play D&D as a kid and we goofed around with world and city maps, but didn’t usually get out the grid for combat. I want to evoke some of the Catalogue TTRPG feeling, but ideally with choosing things pretty quickly. I want for characters to feel powerful and be able to do cool things, without feeling like bags of HP.

There’s definitely some merging of PbtA and D&D that I’m aiming for; but I don’t want it to feel like PbtA. I’m aiming for resolution systems that give interesting results, not full on Moves. You roll d20s.

I want to have players battling monsters and feeling like badasses. I want the game to feel ‘gamey.’ I’m developing a set of toys that tell a fantasy story.

I want to simultaneously have the joy and excitement of playing a West Marches game while avoiding the feeling of ‘go out and conquer.’ I love looking at a map, exploring it, battling things, and grabbing riches… but I don’t want to casually recreate the same approach of D&D of ‘orcs are evil, we are allowed to take their stuff.’ Balancing that is a little fiddly, but I think I have a solution that I am comfortable with.

How I Want To Build This Game

I want to approach this game in the style of blogs, Dragon magazine, and tiny splat books of the 3.5 era. Scenarios, skills, abilities, classes, monsters, etc should be able to be relatively stand alone; the kind of thing that I can sit down and crunch something out over the span of a lunch break or two. I think I’m going to try to keep barrier to entry on this low, the intent is to let people explore what kind of D&D I like to play.

That said, I’m aiming to be able to after initial release have some fun with zine-size releases that give some locations, some monsters, class options, etc. I’m actually truly hoping to get a group together to actually PLAY this game and have that playing inform design… but, let’s stay realistic here.

Core Systems

So, without further delay�� the first bites of The BL-G Hack.

Characters have stats, probably six of them, probably the same D&D stats. When a roll is called for, the player rolls at least a d20 and tries to get under their stat for a hit. A basic roll is d20, a proficient roll is 2d20, and there may be higher bonus dice than that.

One hit (rolling under your stat) gives you a partial, marginal, or barely managed success. Two hits (rolling twice under your stat or your stat exactly) is a full hit, a heroic hit. Three or more hits (rolling thrice under your stat or an exact roll plus an under) is a truly superheroic hit.

Characters have classes, which give them proficiency in some scenarios which allows them to roll two d20s instead of one. They also give them a couple of Abilities that allow them to do cool things and a table for starting equipment. When characters level up, they’ll get new abilities which can come from any class or situational ones. Character classes will be specific (think prestige classes from 3.5 rather than base classes), but hopefully pretty mix and match.

Between adventures, are Map Phase and Company Phase. The GM will run the Map Phase where dark forces move, quests and landmarks are added, and the map is revealed by the player’s actions. Additionally, some player abilities will allow them to be invited to Map Phase or give input into Map Phase. Company Phase is run by the players, where they can share equipment, spend gold to roll for purchases, and take downtime activities.

Call to Adventure

The world is misted in a choking miasma; remnants from the Shattering when the death of gods sent magic running wild, slaughtering and corrupting all it burned over. In few seats of power the mages who did not succumb to the falling produced the Dimlight crystals that hold back the corruption and prevented all life from being burned out. The spells that produce these Dimlight artifacts destroyed the mages who cast them, turning their bodies into haunting, crystaline statues that radiate safety. In larger cities, where mages worked in circles, the protection may extend over neighborhoods. In rural areas, where only a single adept worked the protection may be as little as a room.

The world in miasma is dangerous; elemental monsters and corrupted humanity feeds on all who dare delve into the mist. The very air stings to breathe where Dimlight doesn’t clarify it and can have worse effects. There are refugees in the miasma and small enclaves that have gained access to Dimlight, but most are clinging to a solitary existance separate from the world. Those who live in cities where Dimlight is more plentiful have can live more normal lives, though communication with other cities and wealth remain exclusive to the hands of nobles and the wealthiest merchants.

The world just changed; Dimlight has been miniaturized. A new generation of Dimlight spells can be created without killing it’s user and requiring significantly less space for the artificial crystal. Dimlight torches offer the greatest possibility, an opportunity for adventurers to delve into the miasma and destroy the godsplinters that corrupt the land. The world is still dangerous, even when the miasma pulls back the monsters remain. But there is no end to the treasures that could be gained; abandoned riches, incredible power, and reclaiming homes long lost.

Roadmap

Currently I've got this, four out of five starting character classes, and some ideas that I've got to get into paper. The actual PDF of it is probably a little bit off, but I'm hoping to have an accessible, playable version available soon.

If you'd like to get it as soon as possible, consider backing my Patreon where I'll be doing an announcement post with a link soon! There'll be an itch page too, but it'll need to be more final before that.

So what do you think? Wanna play some BL-G Hack?

#ttrpg design #ttrpg #game design #blghack #dnd #osr #ttrpgdesigntwitter #ttrpgs

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vintagelacerosette · 2 months ago

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Art Tag 🖼🎨💕

I was tagged by these talented magnificent artist thanksss 💕

Molly @deathclassic Julissa @heymrspatel Deanna @deedala Ice @spookygingerr Ling @lingy910y

Have you always been interested in creating art? Yes, I was that kid in high school doodling anime girls throughout class lol

What's your favourite medium to use? I really like digital for the infinite undo button with my perfectionist ass lmao & I'm using Clip Studio. Paper art has been quite therapeutic for me too

Do you create outside of fandom? Yes

Share something you haven't finished and/or never got around to posting

I made a tribute to our Gallacrafts zine, but at the time, the mods had changed, so I was gonna create a companion piece. I didn't get around to it & then the mods had changed again 😅

Some OG crafting overlords Rhys @smokey-mickey Leah @whatwouldmickeydo Donna @sleepyfacetoughguy

I also have gallacrafts I haven't completed for really old themes, but I do still wanna post lol

Favourite piece you've made? Toss up between my gallacrafts Pride 2 piece (see piece that has most notes question) or my 2024 gallavich valentines/my icon

Draw your icon in a minute or less

You get the gist lmao

An underrated piece you've made in your opinion

A little bit to thus This collection of missing posters with the mixed media.

Do you do art in a professional setting? No, but I wanted to. I studied Visual Arts with a major in screen arts in university tho. Uni wasn't what I wanted my plan was to do animation, but, plans fell through

A piece you don't like but did really well on social media

This. The portions are wack basic background, Ian's face feels off & I rushed this

Post an old piece and compare it to your most recent, what are the similarites?

Wow pretty good that I get to compare these two lol. Still got the star motif & the way I'm drawing bodies is has improved yay! Look at that looooong squiggly pointing arm

Have you ever collaborated with another artist/s? Yes, with the lovely & super talented Ling @lingy910y I couldn't have as for a better first time collab partner 🫶🏼 Would love to collab more 🥰

What piece has the most notes? Are you surprised?

This one has the most notes for hand drawn art & the other is my most notes for art/crafts in general. I'm pretty proud these are top dogs & pleasantly surprised with the Deleted scenes one 😄

Who/What is your favourite subject matter? Our boys but also when I'm acrylic painting I'm loving painting clouds & sunset/sunrise skies hues

Show us something not from fandom you've made

I've been experimenting with acrylic paints after getting inspired by a sparkling water painting I saw on tumblr & here are some cute cows I drew for Leah

Where do you like to create? There's a table in the lounge room that's very spacious, has good light & a cart with a stash of my art supplies. But I wanna migrate back to my room bc I got a new big desk there to keep my mess away lol

Do you have a tag that you use to group your creations? Tell us so people can follow it. It's under Myn's art

Give yourself a shoutout, where can we commission/buy/follow you for more pieces? I don't sell my art or do commissions, but I kinda have some drawings I do love & toy with the idea of making postcards or have it on a mug

I'll tag sensational & inspiring artist if they wanna play 💖

@suzy-queued @tsuga-of-mars @samantitheos @burninface @darthvaders-wife @psychicskulldamage @michellemisfit @sgtmickeyslaughter @mickittotheman @y0itsbri @friend-bear @matt404b @takeyourpillsbitchh @michellemisfit @mikhailoisbaby @mikcrymilkovich

#tag game #Art tag #Myn's art #gallavich fanart

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johnnyutah · 1 month ago

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happy mandy monday yall. i’m relationally challenged and i wrote a bad poem about it last night after performing at a pride event and making a gay zine for my partner and then going home and still feeling insane and comparing poems written by all the poet lovers i’ve ever had. i then had a minor medical emergency (easy to remedy in the moment, will take a LOT of $ to fix) and i couldn’t even really bring myself to care. i brought out all my childhood toys and organized and sorted them and couldn’t bring myself to throw even one of them away. i woke up at 5 am and reached for the glass of water on the nightstand and i realized it was actually clear coconut alcohol mixed with watermelon seltzer (remaining half of a drink i made myself on friday night) and i drank it anyway for breakfast. i went into work and there was a dead mouse that my coworkers were too scared to clean up so they left it for me which i thought was kind of funny in a fucked up way because i love mice and am a bleeding heart animal lover vegetarian. it’s snowing everywhere in the city rn btw. traffic is fucked and everyone is walking and driving slowly, bundled up in puffy snow suits. tonight fearing my house i braved the snow, i took myself out for a drink and read a pretty good chainshipping time loop fic and im drinking an amaretto caramel red ale and breaking dishes by rihanna is playing. my self imposed isolation is going bad still but soon i’ll be on the most expensive vacation i’ve ever taken for free. by THE OCEAN. and soon i hope to return to sawposting 24/7 and being available on discord (vital and crucial for mental health lol). i prommy. everything is going to turn around or else im gonna die. and if i die then i wont get to see my chemical romance next year and i will have made friendship bracelets for nothing. also i have been writing fanfiction for my bloody valentine (1981) to cope which im not gonna lie i know nobody is gonna read any of it but it slaps and they should. okay now they’re playing omg by usher and the bartender is singing along which is cute. did anyone else memorize this when they were a child

#gonna start posting like i’m on deviant art again

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sixgills · 3 months ago

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2. Unico and Chirin 🦄🐏

#indie zine #unico #osamu tezuka #ringing bell #chirins bell #illustration #playing toys zine

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ovwechoes · 1 month ago

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Historical AU with Gency/Mercy x Genji IB: Rennaisance (Blake 7's Zine) & 'Interior with a Man Reading a Letter and a Woman Sewing' by Pieter de Hooch Themes: historical, renaissance era, unofficial relationship, valet/second-hand genji, servant/seamstress angela, mutual pining, flirting, dialogue heavy. Word count: 2277

It was late at night, with Angela's ears filled with the muffled music that played above her. Regardless of the Archdutchess O'Deorian's nightly festivities, she knew she had a job to do, and was intent on completing it without distractions. So, she continued focusing on her stitches, as she held the fabric on her lap and tuned into the melodic synthonies and the crackling of the fireplace that warmed her just enough.

Her hair was tied back into a hair nest, with a taped method keeping it together using a golden ribbon. Angela's hair was slightly frayed, with small pieces falling from it and emphasising truly how long she had already worked that night. And yet, she continued to as the orchestra began to play one of her favourite pieces - The Shoemaker's Wife, A Toy, P 58.

Angela continued working as the dampened music played on, with her hums in line with the melody. Something about this tune always made her mind race with fascination, and she couldn't stop herself from letting herself enjoy it to fulfilment. She was alone in this room right now, and her confidence had soared enough to indulge in this sweet, small pleasure.

Her hums slowly filled her mind and the room, with her shamelessly finding herself working at a faster and more focused pace. Angela's eyes were fixated on the piece, as her hair sculpted her face perfectly in the dim lighting of the fireplace. It crackled along with her, as the wooden slabs burned with what could be described as only delight. It was a breathtaking scene for her, as she found herself relaxing and easing more into her work. Once Angela was in the zone, it was almost impossible to bring her out of it or notice her surroundings - something the Archduke had scolded her for countless times, and yet never changed.

That's why, when the second hand for the Viscount stood in the doorway of the room, Angela never noticed. He had grown accustomed to her attention being needle point and slim - one task at a time was enough to enamour her with delight, he found out quickly through their friendship. But he just had to let her continue, and drink the view he was blessed with in this moment. The orange lighting hitting her pale skin, with her slender hands working attentively at the fabric in her lap; it was all so beautiful to him, and yet he would never tell her this. Simply, he thought it would be better to let her continue, and let himself photograph this moment in his mind for the future. So, he stood there with a smile on his face, until he determined enough time had passed.

‘Ahem’ he exclaimed, clearing his throat and grabbing the attention of the unexpecting woman infront of him. He was leaned against the doorframe now, with his arms crossed against his chest. Angela was left in a state of panic for a moment, her mind scattered as her body jumped at his sudden action. She should be used to this by now, and yet she wasn't. She never truly hated this, though, and found herself growing more fond of his antic with time.

Angela's eyes scattered across the room, before meeting his whilst she remained on her stool. All she could focus on was her beathing right now, as she calculated exactly what to say to the man infront of her, who had tormented her poor heart. A smile had started to stain her cheeks, as her free hand held her chest lightly.

“Pray, how many times must I bid thee cease this mischief, for thou dost startle me too much?” Angela stated, her humour sprinkled through each sentance. Her gaze was attentive on the man infront of her, who now was stood chuckling at her words with delight.

"Ah, but where would the fun be, sweet friend, if I did not give thee a little fright now and then?" He responded, his throat raspy and with a giggle interlaced with every other word. How he loved moments like this - simple in nature, and yet naturally easy to navigate with Angela. That's something he silently adored about her, and yet would never utter to her directly. For him, this was something to keep close to his heart. To quietly feel his heart grow more fond over.

Angela shook her head with a smile in response, before moving her attention back to her work. As much as she would love to indulge in this conversation, she knew she couldn't. He wasn't worth the wrath of her Archdutches.

"I would dearly love to engage in further conversation," she began, her smile remaining and her tone sarcastic to the man's ears, “but at this time, I must attend to other matters.” Angela sighed as she spoke, her tone disappating slightly the more her words fell from her lips. She felt herself sit there for a moment, her needle steady and yet motionless. It was as though her body was subconsciously waiting for a response from him, as though she couldn't continue in good faith without his reassurance. It was dreadful to her, but her heart wouldn't have it either way.

"Yet, if thou wishest, thou mayst take a seat and wait—my work shall not detain me for much longer, I hope." Angela found herself saying, her eyes drifting towards the second hand's shoes. Silence surrounded them as she began analysing his outfit more, waiting for his response.

His shoes were neat, polished, pristine. As always, she had noticed. As her eyes drifted upwards, she noticed his attire was… more formal than usual. Angela had seen him in every outfit by now - he often visited her when he could, with his Viscount and her Archdutchess having connections to one another. She had seen him in his farming, coach and travel, and butler attire. But never had she seen him so proper. It was jarring for her, as she sat on her stool in her ordinary clothes - a simple dress that covered her almost completely, with an apron that had now become stained with dyes from fabrics, with her basket of tools sat beside her. It was as though they were opposites right now, and she felt herself shrink into her appearance at that realisation.

As she watched him, he began to move from his position and bring himself closer, as he breathed softly in tune with the fireplace that continued to crack.

"Ha! Those words I've heard before, good friend. But while thou workest, pray look upon what I've brought..." He responded, with Angela's eyes shooting him daggers as he moved. She was used to his biting tongue, and always made sure to match it perfectly in these moments.

"Peace, peace! Show me this treasure before thy tongue runs further, Shimada."

As her mind stirred for a response, she watched him begin to move quicker to his ‘claimed’ seat - a stool that rests beside the fireplace, in safe keepings for him to use when he visits. Angela had managed to convince one of the butlers to let her use it, as a spare, ‘just incase’. Though, she refuses to admit this to the man that now found himself sat infront of her, rummaging through his pockets.

Angela would've used this time wisely; to continue her work without his interuptions. But, her curiosity was eating at her mind. It was as though it had infected her, and she couldn't bring herself away from the man sat infront of her right now. How easily she could be brought to this point was worthy of being studied, she thought, as she watched him continue looking for this something with her hands idle.

It was as though a bulb had lit in his mind, as his hands stopped frantically searching and finally found the piece of paper he desperately wanted for this moment. A smile grew on his face, as he positioned himself forward and brought out what appeared to be a piece of paper that had been folded over, and over again. Angela's eyes were fixated on it, as Shimada unwrapped it in his hands, smile remaining and his eyes glinting with something.

"'Tis Master Shimada now, mark thee!" he began, as his hands had finally unfolded the paper fully. Angela noticed it was a letter, and her eyes remained attentive to him as he breathed in deeply, preparing to read it. Confusion had began to unwind in her at his words, but by the look on the second hand's face, her questions would soon be answered now.

“To my most trusted servant and steadfast companion, Genji Shimada,” he began, briefly looking up to Angela to make sure she was paying attention, before carrying on.

“It is with great pleasure and deepest consideration that I, Viscount Jack Morrison of Watchsworth, do hereby elevate thee to the position of Master Steward of mine household and estates.” he continued, his excitement shining through his words as he spoke. Angela gasped, her hands moving to her mouth and holding herself in that moment. They concealed a bright smile underneath, with her eyes wide and pressing to learn more from Genji. It took all her strength not to interrupt him, and to let him continue reading this bountiful letter.

“Thy years of unwavering loyalty, keen wit, and distinguished service have proven thee worthy beyond measure. Not only hast thou shown exceptional skill in matters of estate management and accounts, but thy swift thinking saved our household from ruin during last autumn's grain shortage. Thy diplomatic handling of the merchant guilds' disputes hath brought honor to our name, and thy discretion in all matters, both great and small, hath earned thee this title ten times over.”

“My heart soars to see thy worth so rightly acknowledged at last-”

"Oh, come now! Just a moment of hush, if you please! I promise the best part is still to come!" he hushed, as he let the moment stir a moment. His heart raced at her quick appreciation and admiration for him, but he had to continue. There was more to share, and he was sure she would be shocked to hear everything else in this letter.

"Therefore, from this day forth, thou shalt be known as Master Shimada, with all rights and privileges thereof. Thy new chambers shall be prepared in the east wing, and thy yearly stipend shall be increased accordingly.I trust thou shalt continue to serve with the same excellence that hath marked thy tenure thus far.

Given under mine own hand and seal, This twenty-fifth day of April, in the Year of Our Lord 1678.Jack Morrison Viscount of Watchsworth

Post scriptum: Genji, my friend, I expect thou art reading this with that subtle smile of thine. Come see me in my study when thou art done showing off to whoever thou art reading this to – we have much to discuss over that bottle of French wine thou art so fond of."

He carefully read the rest, and finally lowered the letter and looked back up to Angela. Her hands were laid across her chest now, with her smile beaming across from him. How her happiness was emphasised by the glow from the fireplace had Genji in a trance, as he observed her reaction completely.

Before he could respond though, she began to place her work to the side, and moved her hands ontop of his. Angela rested them there for a moment, bringing Genji closer to her physically in that moment. Her heart raced at the contact, with her mind clouding and her judgement telling her to do more, show how pleased she is further. And yet, she could only bring herself this far, with Genji's cheeks deepening into a shade of crimson at her actions. Finally, the outfit made sense, and his intrusion at this late hour when the Archdutchess' party carried on upstairs was justified.

Genji's heart thumped with delight, as his mind wandered through the possibilities of what she could say. When he received this letter, all he wanted to do was show her, see her reaction, and engulf himself in the warmth of her praise. Throughout all of his endevours with the Viscount, he had always brought himself back to her comforting, accepting and helpful presence. It finally paid off, and he wanted nothing more but to stay in this moment with her and let himself imagine what could be…

"Thou hast earned this triumph, and I am filled with joy at thy success!" she began, as she watched the blush continue to grow on Genji's cheeks.

"Truly, thou art most deserving of this honor. My heart doth rejoice to share in this blessed moment with thee—thank thee for letting me partake in thy happiness." she smiled as she spoke, the hands holding his squeezing them gently with her words. It was grounding for Genji, and brought him back from his imagination and straight to her. The emotions were overwhelming in this moment, as he felt his eyes water slightly, and his heart pound ferociously in his chest.

He smiled warmly back to her, moving his hands to hold hers in return and squeezing them just as much. Even though they were calloused, Angela found herself desperate to keep his hands there, to refuse to let them leave for a reason unbeknownst to her. And Genji found himself thankful he had chosen her as the first person to share the good news with, as they lingered in this moment of joy with their feelings growing slowly, steadily and silently for one another.

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librarylexicon · 5 months ago

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20 Questions for Writers

EDIT: Now with question 17!

Tagged by @cuephrase (ty bb!!)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

32 (that are attached to my account).

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

283,405. I very nearly posted 100,000 of them last year, and only noticed when I looked at my stats in January. If I'd known, I would have posted something else to get it over that line!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, just Batman, but in the past I've written for Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, Little Men, Tintin and a handful of other fandoms. I have a Road to Avonlea fic tentatively in the works, and might return to any of these fandoms if inspiration strikes.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

All the Corners That Are Left is an outlier in my stats because it has more than three times as many kudos as the runner-up. It's an exchange fic that was my first foray into posting Batfam fics, and I liked writing it so much that it actually sparked a loose series of Post-Crisis oneshots, currently called Corners.

Family Crisis is my beloved canon divergence AU of War Games. It's the first fic I started writing for Batman, and I'm so happy that people are reading it. It's very comics-oriented, but still easy to follow without having touched a comic (imo).

Harry Potter and the Time-Turner is the first multichapter fic I ever wrote and completed, back when I was in my early teens. I won't reread it, lest I die of cringe, but I'm bemusedly grateful that it still gets hits and kudos.

Home Assignment is a Dick whump fic I drafted quite a while ago, and finally had an opportunity to finish and publish when I signed up for a Dick Grayson event. I had fun playing around with unreliable narration in this one!

In Retrospect is a HP fic that was written for a challenge where I was given five prompts and a week to produce five one-shots. I chose to make mine interconnected missing scenes set during and after Deathly Hallows, and particularly like how Painfully Abnormal turned out.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! It's a habit that's carried over from my fanfiction.net days, and I receive a manageable amount of comments, so I try to respond to every one. (The only reason I might not is when someone leaves a string of comments that are all very brief. In that instance, I tend to reply to the final comment only.) I adore reading and replying to comments! 🫶

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I've always been an angst lover. The Last Enemy, one of my oldest fics, ends with (canonical) apparent character death, and For the Sake of Our Son ends with both main characters (canonically) dying. How fun!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Other than a shipfic that's now anonymous, I don't know! I tend to go for uplifting or satisfying endings without necessarily aiming for happy ones (although I rarely have unhappy endings). Maybe You Know I Love You? I do also have a handful of Batman ficlets that I recently wrote for a zine, and there's definitely fluff among them.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think I got some on fanfiction.net back in the day, but the most hate I've received that I can remember is people being salty about a couple of fics I began when I was a teenager and never finished. I'm sorry, but it's been almost a decade! Yes, you can and should resist the urge to tell me that you don't respect authors who abandon fics!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope!

10. Do you write crossovers?

While I've toyed with quite a few crossover ideas over the years, I've only published one, which is a Rise of the Guardians and Peter Pan one-shot called Lost Boy.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I can't recall any specific instances, but many of my fics have been on the internet for a long time, so they've definitely been scraped for knockoff sites, if nothing else.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, three times! Harry Potter and the Time-Turner has been translated into French, Shirley Not has been translated into German and At Home, They Call Me Tintin has been translated into Chinese. (Links to these translations are in my fanfic masterlist on Dreamwidth.)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I'm open to the idea! I'd have to really know the other author and get over my control freak tendencies, though...

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I don't ship much (to the point where I have plenty of NOTPs), but I do love TimSteph, and I have soft spots for DickBabs and BatCat (Bruce/Selina) as well. All-time favourite, though? That would have to be Anne and Gilbert from the Anne of Green Gables series.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

Before the War(drobe). Narnia fandom, I really want to return to you someday, but I have a couple things to do first!

16. What are your writing strengths?

My most positive comments almost always mention characterisation. I also think I write dialogue pretty well. In my mind, well-written dialogue is essential to good characterisation.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Even though I write about characters who are superheroes, I rarely write about them BEING superheroes, because I struggle with action scenes. Also description, but I like to think I've grown better at it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I don't like to use non-Latin characters in my fics for readability reasons, and I don't like to include dialogue in another language if I don't know the language. So, when my characters speak a language other than English, I either just use an English translation with a dialogue attribution (e.g. She said in Spanish) or just use the attribution without the dialogue, depending on whether or not the POV character understands the language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter! I wrote for it before I knew what fanfic was. I also joined the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges forum on fanfiction.net back in the day, which led to my most prolific ficwriting period.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

My favourite fics tend to be my most recent ones, because they're the ones I've spent the most time on and am most proud of. I can never pick one of anything (as you've probably noticed), so my current favourites are:

Family Crisis – longtime labour of love and Bruce character study

All the Corners That Are Left – Dick character study feat. Jason

Flight Mode – Tim character study feat. Bruce

Phew, that was a lot of questions! I think a lot of people have already been tagged 😅

Scrolling through my mutuals and no-pressure tagging @silverwhittlingknife @geevesthevieve @batrachised @freyafrida and @silent-silver-slip and any other fic writers who see this! 🫶

#mine #tag game #bants and fanfic #fanfiction

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warmbloodedzines · 4 months ago

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Here's another zine by Xalli—this one's called Folk Punk Inauguration.

[Image Description: The cover page of this eight-page mini zine has a little cut out bat drawing from the Trader Joe's newsletters in the top/middle right area and an entry band for a show at a venue called The Smell along the bottom of it. To the left of the bat are the words 'FOLK PUNK' and between that and the entry band is the word 'INAUGURATION'. Thus, the name of this zine: Folk Punk Inauguration.

The first page has half of a hot pink entry band for The Smell on it. Above it, the page reads “I've gotta say, I've been skeptical of folk punk for a while, now. I feel pretty strongly that the culture of folk punk now is what traditional punk wished it was, but I was never too sure of the music. It felt a little too weird, and I'm a bit of a snob about voices sometimes (not on purpose, I promise) so I was just unsure. It’s been growing on me slowly, though – especially after a show this Tuesday.”

The second page starts “To be honest, the night started out sort of shit. I took the train and got harassed, and got there almost half an hour late, too. The energy inside changed everything right away, though. The crowd threw a billionaire skull piñata around and beat it up for toys, and everyone looked trans as fuck, and I knew I was in a good place. Moon Bandits, Rent Strike, and (of course) Sister Wife Sex Strike all played and fucked it up!” Below that, there's the text “(I can totally draw)” and, below that, an incredibly rudimentary stick figure drawing of a crowd of people looking up at two people on stage.

Page three starts with the phrase “Some HIGHLIGHTS”-- the 'Some' made out of two cut up words ('So' and 'me') from some book and 'HIGHLIGHTS' written in black Sharpie and highlighted with yellow highlighter. Below it is a bullet point list, which is also continue onto page four, that lists that “the pit was so fucking cool! great energy... so much joy and lots of two-stepping”, “the outfits... holy shit, do people know how to dress! so cool + creative”, “the aforementioned piñata - so silly + fun”, “when SWSS come down into the pit for ‘Electricity’”, “when the pit turned into a lot of people (including me) dancing with our partners during ‘Gentleness’”, “Rent Strike's song about hydraulic press videos”, and “the way the bands talked to us: so friendly & funny & felt like family (will come back to this one). Across the bottom of both pages is a sticker for Unity Skate Co. of two naked people, one colored in orange on the other's shoulders (and the other is colored in pink). Underneath the sticker across the right side of page four is a strip of Washi tape in dark blue, red, and black colors, with eyes and lips.

Page five has the word 'MERCH' written across the top left side of it with a squiggly line drawn underneath it. Next to it, starting on the right side of page five and going all through the top of page six is an orange sticker with the word 'QUEERS' in a black bold font with underlining. Page five starts out saying “A lot of the merch was sliding scale, and the vendors were so cool! I had to get stuff!” and then leads into a list of things I bought, including “Sister Wives Strike Back (Deluxe) CD”, “Rent Strike fox (?) on fire shirt”, “Moon Bandits ‘Squash Cops’ patch”, “Moon Bandits ‘Crocs not Cops’ sticker”, and “Moon Bandits 'Protect Trans Kids' Raccoon-filled sticker”. Under the 'QUEERS' sticker, page six simply states “Anyway, the show was amazing if you can’t tell. But there’s something more there, too. Getting to mosh + sing + scream and be happy + sad with other trans people – other nonwhite people too, oh my God – was so new + beautiful. It felt like family + home in such an unmistakable + necessary way. I’m so grateful.”

The back cover has a sharpie drawing in the top left of a weird fidget toy I got from the billionaire skull piñata that got thrown around during Moon Bandits' set, which is sort of a little orange handle and two (yellow and pink) weird extensions that are made of a ball and plastic legs that attach to the handle. The little extensions swing 360 degrees around the handle and can hit each other and make noise. Next to it is a little note that says “a weird fidget toy from the piñata” and has an arrow pointing to it. Underneath it is a drawn on dashed line and then text that says “by Xalli”, “apr 19, 2023”, and then notes that my social medias are “insta: desertfirelight”, “tumblr: canineical”, and “neocities: tehuan”. At the bottom of the page is a continuation of the entry wrist band that's on the cover and first page of the zine for The Smell. This part of the band mainly says 'EXIT' on it. /End ID]

#zines #submissions #art #zine #baringteeth

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k00320518 · 3 months ago

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assemble project - zine making workshop

I used the word assemble like an acrostic poem to title each of the pages. Here is each of those sections explained:

Assemble

I have an interest in typography and wanted the cover of my zine to be titled to our brief as this would be my visual mindmap. In my plan I trialled different styles of writing assemble, focusing on using pieces and shapes to make up the letters, mimicking the assembly of the letters and the word itself.

Soldiers

The toy soldiers represent real armies that are assembled impersonally, symbolising the inhumanity of war and how real human lives can turn into a political plaything.

Scissors

This is symbolising the tools we use in the process of assembly, and also how the process of creating and assembling can be destructive. I'm interested in the cycles of creation and destruction and how assembling and disassembling mirror each other. On this page I also traced glue sticks for their shape, another tool for creation

Etymology

Partially in order for my poem to work and partially to explore language and communication I looked into the etymology of the word assemble. I wanted to explore how language in letters, words, characters, sounds and gestures are assembled together to communicate. In my finished design I included Korean in the Hangul script as an alternate to Latin script, I wrote three words aligned with the meaning 'assemble'. Similarly I wrote words meaning assemble in Gaeilge, the Irish language too.

Music

I have a big interest in music and found creating music by bringing notes, lyrics and soundwaves together would be highly fitting for the assemble brief. I used pictures of myself playing guitar alongside the waveforms of my own voice recordings to visualise this. Something else I could possibly explore is how music brings people together.

Lego

As mentioned by design in our brief seminar Lego is a good starting point for assembly as it is a simple, tangible and popular building block. I own several lego flower sets so I focused on drawing the ones I own as they are formed differently to regular organic flowers yet both can be arranged into bouquets. Real flowers decay, showing the destruction of creation and it's temporary manor, while lego flowers can be assembled and disassembled in a mirrored fashion, something else I'm interested in.

Everything

Finally, another concept I am interested in exploring is how everything is created and assembled in one sense or another. Alongside this I recently have been thinking of the idea that everything created by humans is inherently art, including ourselves, this is a bit of a humanistic belief but interesting for exploring the beauty of ordinary objects. I was stumped on what to draw to visualise this, deciding to simple write assemble backwards with the font somewhat disassembling and continue with my idea of mirroring.

#assemble project #zine #zine making #risograph #riso print

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theresattrpgforthat · 1 year ago

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Afternoon!

You might already be aware of these TTRPG designers, but I figured I'd pass them on if they might add to the knowledge pool for recommendations!

Will Uhl: https://willuhl.itch.io/ Just an absurdly prolific games designer, with a grounding in rules-light action-y games but has a wide range of tones and genres in their work. Mystic Lilies comes strongly recommended, their most famous game, Netbattlers, isn't on itch.io as it's a fangame that uses the Megaman IP (and is also excellent if you like games with in-depth character building)

Nathan Blades: https://sixofspades.itch.io/ More of a performer than a designer but has written a number of games, generally focused on upbeat anime action with queer community subtext. Heartbeats in Perfect Sync is probably their best known; they also have a one-pager in The Ultimate One-Page RPG Book.

Farmer Gadda: https://farmergadda.itch.io/ Explores a lot of system kits (CaltropCore, Lasers & Feelings, etc) to make games that reference specific game series and the like. The energy of picking up your favourite toy and moving it around the room with whoosh noises.

Rook/RJK Games: https://rjkgames.itch.io/ Prime itchio game zine production; passionate, feelings-first releases that each put a spin of a different indie game or system kit. A transformation of the orginal tone of a game to something else, like a magic trick.

Thanks for the recs! I've heard of some of these designers, and some I haven't. Let's look at a highlight of theirs that stands out for each one!

Mystic Lilies, by Will Uhl.

In a sealed-off region full of fantastical phenomena, the land is falling out of balance. You will play to find what people take and what people lose to regain that balance.

It looks like it's a card-based roleplaying game about witches fighting to get what they want. I'm interested in the character abilities, and curious about how the PvP interacts with different player styles. I'd assume that safety tools are a given at this table, and I'm definitely drawn in by the art.

Heartbeats in Perfect Sync, by Nathan Blades. (@theneoncaster)

Heartbeats in Perfect Sync is a tabletop RPG inspired by the shounen battle aesthetic. Play as a group of ordinary people who fight monsters with ridiculously over-the-top weapons.

I have heard of Nathan Blades before! I can see how this game would appeal to folks who love TWEWY, or Persona 5. I'm curious about what kind of dice this system uses - is it safe to assume that you need d6's for this game if the page doesn't specify? Also, folks should check out Iera Entera, a game by the same designer about killing, butchering, and eating gods. I think the concept is amazing.

SW//NG, by Farmer Gadda. (@farmergadda)

Because you have Power, you have Responsibility. Because of your Responsibility, you have to face your Past. And your Past? That's the one thing your Power can never fix.

I love complicated superheroes! I love emotional superheroes! This game gives you complicated and emotional superheroes! It also has some lovely GM advice and I always always appreciate good GM advice.

Our Love Will Destroy Us, by RJK Games.

You did it, exactly what the old fools of the Hunters’ Guild warned you against. Fell in love with your target, the both of you. One of you was barely trained, untested, didn’t know any better; the Guild might forgive you, but the other? You were meant to know better.

I'm pretty sure I've talked about this one before when I covered Tragic Games, so that might be why this game stands out to me. I think the use of Tarot Cards to reveal what the Hunger does to hurt the Vampire Hunter who has fallen in love with a Vampire, is really emotionally fitting.

#game recommendations #indie ttrpgs #tabletop games #dnd #asks

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