#she has the best sprite in the game hands down

[petpetpinixy]

whens the last time you think she had a hug ☹️

misc stuff

[gremlinmodetweeker]

A Question Best Left Unanswered

Okay so this one kinda got away from me and I had a grand old time with it. It's so silly and stupid but it brought me joy.

Anyways, have some more Summoned!König. This time featuring relationship angst and questions about anatomy.

TWs: discussion of sexual activity, NSFW content

Wordcount: 4.2K (it's a whopper here)

Story below the cut

Images courtesy of this post

A Question Best Left Unanswered

You hung your head in shame as you hung up the phone. What a disaster that last call had been.

The entire hour-long phonecall you’d just had with your parents had just ended up with them berating you for a good forty-five minutes before they gave up on trying to reach you. First your father had shamed you for ruining the family name, then your mother cried that she didn’t know where she went wrong with you. All those years of preparing you to be a summoner, only for you to turn out to be a miserable failure.

By the end, you’d just barely been able to hold back your tears. Once you hung up the phone, they fell freely down your cheeks as you hurriedly scurried to your room.

Of course, it couldn’t be so simple because your friend had just turned the corner as you reached your door.

“Hey!” she called with a wave, only to retract it nervously when you turned to face her, “woah. Are you okay?”

You nodded but before you could leave, your friend clasped a hand on your shoulder.

“You’re not okay,” she said grimly, “do you want to get something from the caf?”

You hesitated. Normally, you wouldn’t be willing to eat anything until dinner came around, but the call with your parents sat wrong in your stomach. It wasn’t much, but maybe a bite to eat would help.

“Sure,” you conceded, “let’s go.”

---

With a plate of crackers and fruit in front of you, the most the chefs on base would give you, you broke down and told your friend about the call.

“Your parents suck,” your friend spat, “like, who does that? I just can’t believe anyone would say that, especially not to their own kid.”

“They’re not usually that bad,” you weakly tried to defend them, but today your heart just wasn’t in it.

“Are you sure?” your friend asked as they took a bite of their veggie sandwich.

You sighed heavily.

“I just wish they would as least pretend to be proud of me,” you stirred your drink with your straw slowly, “I mean, I didn’t ask to be born like this. Why is it my fault that I can’t control my summon? He’s literally an avatar. An avatar. Those are like, the hardest summons to try to control.”

“Actually I think a legend might be,” your friend interjected, food spitting out their mouth as they spoke, “or maybe an immortal. I don’t think anyone’s managed to control a god before…”

“Okay yeah sure but it doesn't change the fact that he’s an avatar. Of chaos,” you wiped the chewed up spittle off your sleeves with a brush of your hand, “and I’m, well, you know, me. There’s no way I can handle König.”

“His name is König?” your friend asked.

“Yeah,” you took a sip of your drink, “he’s pretty nice honestly. Last week he got me my stuffed animals and the game boy I lost from my old home.”

Your friend looked at you with wide, unblinking eyes. Their jaw dropped to their chest for a moment before they were able to gather their composure.

“No fucking way,” she muttered.

“What?” you snorted, “aren’t all summons like that?”

Your friend shook her head hard enough to make you worry her neck would snap.

“No? I don’t even know my fire imp’s name, or my water sprite. They’re just my summons,” your friend explained, “most of the time they just tolerate me because they can’t kill me.”

“Don’t you form bonds with them?” you asked, now curious.

“Nope,” your friend snorted, “my water imp sprite tried to drown me when I first summoned it. Most summons try to kill their summoners as soon as they figure out that they’re not in the other realm.”

“König’s never hurt me,” you admitted.

“Never? Has he ever tried to?” your friend leaned back with an awestruck expression.

“Not once,” you confided.

“So you’re not the one that made König your mate?” your friend put together slowly, “König made you his mate!?”

You grimaced and leaned back from her, “Pretty much.”

Your friend whistled, “No fuckin’ shot. I can’t believe you bagged an avatar of chaos. Like, you realize how insane that sounds, right?”

You blinked. You hadn’t really thought about it that way. You’d always just seen it as König sparing your life, but the thought that somehow you were the one to seduce an avatar of chaos brought you a spark of joy.

“I guess you’re right,” you agreed timidly, “I just thought that he was lonely.”

Your friend snorted, “I mean probably, yeah, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he chose you as a mate,” she thought for a moment, took a bite of her sandwich and then asked, “wait, so if you’re a human and he’s an avatar, what will your kids look like?”

You flushed and turned to hide your face, but your friend was quicker.

“Wait, have you actually thought about that?” she teased you lightly.

“I mean, we’ve never actually… You know… We’re not really a couple,” you admitted.

“So you’re not banging him?” your friend raised an eyebrow.

“No?” you gasped, horrified by your friend’s suggestions, “I barely even know him!”

“But like,” your friend pressed their lips into a line. She studied you carefully before she finally asked, “Aren’t you curious?”

“About what? Fucking him?” you raised your eyebrows at the suggestion.

“I mean yeah, but like…” your friend leaned in close again, “what does he even look like?”

“I…” you paused, “I actually don’t know.”

Your friend took a bite of her salad before pointing her fork at you, “We need to fix that.”

“We!?”

“Well now I’m curious,” your friend shrugged, “so now it’s not an ish-you kind of problem, it’s an ish-us.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” you sputtered.

“Point is that I-sorry we need to figure this out. I mean,” your friend tossed you a sly look, “if you’re gonna have his kids you’re gonna have to find out one way or another.”

You were at a loss for words. All you could do was stare at the woman who sat across the table from you, almost as though she herself were an avatar of chaos.

Your friend scowled, “What?”

—

You slowed your pace to a crawl as you approached your dorm. It wasn’t that you weren’t eager to go to bed, rather the contrary, but the thought of facing König tonight made your cheeks burn bright red.

Ever since your conversation with your friend, you hadn’t been able to stop thinking about König. You already thought about König a bit too much for your own comfort, but you’d never thought about König like this before. It wasn’t like you were a prude by any means, but you’d never actually considered being with König like that before.

It’s not that it had never come up, you still remembered König trying to take you almost immediately after claiming you as his mate, but ever since he’d been nothing but respectful of the boundaries you'd since put up If anything, he was sometimes more respectful of your own boundaries than you were. Maybe he read your mind more than he let on, but you liked to think he was just thoughtful. After all, if you’d been around since the beginning of time, wouldn’t you be considerate and patient? You liked to think you’d be, but you had your doubts.

Thinking about König had you blushing as you walked down the hallway to your dorm. You could see the door all the way from here, only occasionally being obscured by a summoner retreating into their dorm for the evening. Occasionally, you could see a summon tagging behind them, most often looking rather irritated or depressed, something you’d never really noticed before.

Most summons were kept in the other realm unless they were actively being called upon. Some summoners like to keep their summons by their side, almost as though they were a beloved pet. You thought to your meditation teacher with his summon. Other times, you saw summoners struggling to manage their summons. In fact, the one class you excelled in was protecting yourself against your summon. Of course, the only reason you did so well was because König never tried to attack you in the first place. Your sergeant had been frustrated at first, but after further consideration decided to take it as your summon being too attached to you to consider attacking you. With this in mind, she gave you a bright and shining report. She then promptly told you to never take her class again. You were more than happy to comply.

Of course, König didn’t always help during your training. In fact, he seemed to prefer leaving you to your own devices whenever possible. He’d once explained that he gave you minimal support to encourage you to train harder to keep up with your peers, but you decidedly figured it was because he was too lazy to help. König only rolled his eyes when you told him that and decidedly vanished to the other realm for the rest of the night.

Your doorway grew closer and closer with each step you took. You wished that you could find a way to avoid going back to your dorm, but lights out drew nearer and nearer the longer your tried to put off entering your one personal area.

Finally, you reached your dorm. With a heavy sigh, you opened the door and stepped inside.

Surprisingly, König wasn’t there to greet you.

“König?” you called out carefully, but no reply came back to you.

You walked towards your desk.

“König?” you called again, but again there was no response.

Maybe he was occupied for the evening.

A sudden rush of relief overcame you. The absolute last thing you wanted to do was face König while your conversation with your friend was still fresh on your mind. That said, you had the strong suspicion that a night of good rest wouldn’t be enough to shake the thoughts from your head. With the way the question had fixed itself to your mind, you had the dreadful feeling that the only way to find some sort of satisfactory answer was to progress your relationship with König.

But were you ready to go that far? You’d shared a kiss, but since then, König had kept his distance. He was strangely considerate of the trepidation you felt whenever the thought of being in a romantic relationship with König crossed your mind. How would that even work? You were a mortal. Your life was but a blink of his eyes. And yet, despite your limited lifespan, he chose to spend this fraction of his life by your side. Was he amused by the whims of his new plaything? Was he simply toying with you until he chose to rend the soul from your mortal flesh? The thought made you nauseous.

But why did it make you nauseous? Why did the thought of König’s ultimate betrayal feel like a stone in the pit of your stomach? Why did your eyes sting and your throat clench when you thought of how little you matter to a being as grand and powerful as König?

You had an idea of what was behind the feelings, but you daren’t give it any room to breath, never mind grow within your mind’s garden. You’d instead stamp it out, coat it in salt and rip it from the earth like a weed. Of course, the roots went deeper than you could imagine.

You slumped into the plushest chair your company could buy in the corner of your room. It was worn, tired; it had seen many generations of new and upcoming summoners such as yourself. The thought gave way to an ache deep inside your chest.

You wiped your sleeves over the tears that flowed from your eyes. You didn’t consider yourself to be of the weeping sort, but since König had entered your life, he’d seemingly turned everything upside down, including how you operated in your day-to-day life. A part of you hated it, a louder part wished to take it all with open arms. You despised both parts for their respective tenacity. 

You allowed yourself to curl up for what felt like forever before you managed to come to terms with your fears.

You would be nothing to him. You were a speck in his eye, if anything. You were naught but dust, and you would have to content yourself with such an existence. Now as to why König had taken such a shining to you, that was beyond your comprehension. If you had the mind of Aristotle, Diogenes, or Plato maybe you could have come to terms with your existence in relation to the greater world. Had you a mind of Camus, Cant or Descarte maybe you could content yourself with the meaning of your existence itself. But you had no such mind, now did you? You were weak and feeble, a summoner with all the potential one could hope for at your fingertips yet hindered by your own inability to understand the ethos of methods that had been passed on like the summoners passed before them.

You felt the tears subside briefly to allow you a moment to recover from the throes of your emotions. Unfortunately, just as you felt yourself wrangling your emotions back under your control, the pot lights flickered.

“No not now…” you groaned and curled further into the safety of the chair.

“Did I come at a bad time?” König crossed his arms as he stared at you from the centre of the room.

“Can you please go away?” you sighed as you turned away from him.

König hummed before stalking to your side, “I think that it would be wrong of me to abandon my mate when they’re in such a state.”

At the mention of ‘mate’, you groaned and ducked your head between your knees.

König paused, then drew away. He came back moments later to swath you in a warm blanket before he crouched in front of you.

“It seems something troubles you, summoner,” König droned as you drew the blankets around your form.

“I’m fine,” you spat bitterly.

König barked out a laugh before ruffling your hair affectionately, “You certainly are in quite a mood, aren’t you?”

“Just go away,” you grumbled.

König drummed his claws over his knee. His scales rippled in the crepuscular light that shone into your room, his onyx scales shining almost iridescent in the warm dying rays of sun.

“Must I read my mate’s mind to understand what troubles them so?”

You grumbled and ducked your head under the blanket.

König sighed. He stretched up with cracking joints, and you’d hoped he’d left until you felt him pull your blankets from your head. You tried to struggle against him, but he didn’t so much as budge while you writhed. With a sigh, you conceded and allowed him to pull the blankets to the side to see you properly.

“Well, summoner?”

“I just was thinking about us…” you admitted.

“Us? In what sense?” König asked, already fully aware of your answer.

“Like, we’re mates, right?” you tucked your nose to your knees, “but I don’t know why.”

König hummed, then drew you up into his arms. You struggled and spat, but he held you before he sat down on the sofa with a loud poomf as the air was punched out from the pillows.

“You don’t understand why I chose you,” König surmised quickly.

You didn’t dare meet his eyes as you nodded.

“Well,” König adjusted you so you sat upright in his lap, “I’d say it makes perfect sense.”

You stared at him blankly.

“That reaction of yours is exactly why it makes sense,” König explained, “a being of chaos is likely to tear you asunder. Maybe enslave you, maybe curse you for thousands of generations to come. It’s expected that something horrible would happen.”

“So you chose me because it was the random choice?” you asked.

“I chose you because I saw your potential,” König explained, “and, of course, you're right as what greater delight is there than to choose the opposite of the expected outcome? Why follow your expected order when I can tie you to my side for millennia to come?”

You scowled, “So you chose to be my mate because you thought it would be funny.”

König shook his head, “You could take it that way, but that would be unwise. Rather, I chose you as a mate because I saw your potential and wanted to see it through.

“You were set up to fail, you realize this?" König stared deep into your eyes, "the chalk you used to summon me was imbued to ensure that whatever was summoned would be more than you could ever hope to control. The patterns they gave you were far too complex for a beginner summoner. You were supposed to be torn apart.”

You froze in König’s arms.

“Yes, you were meant to die. But when I looked at you, marked for death by those envious of your potential,” König’s smirk was woven into his words, “I saw that potential of yours and I saw an opportunity. I saw a way to usurp the delicate balance of power this world has.”

“So I’m a pawn to you,” you felt the tears stinging behind your eyes again.

“Not in the slightest,” König chided you patiently, “I saw you for your potential and I saw someone who just needed a push. Someone who just needed someone to help them see their own worth. And that someone, dear summoner, was none other than myself.”

“That still makes me sound like a pawn,” you complained.

“Then I’ll tell you this: I chose you because I saw what we could become together,” König whispered into your ear, “I see you now, mind you. I see you and I am enthralled by you in all your strange and truly wonderful ways.

“I want you to listen carefully summoner, as this is a lesson that will be tattooed into your veins: I love you for you. I love you for who you’ve been, who you are, who you will be. I love you for all of you, completely and forever.”

You flushed brightly. Instead of replying, you simply tucked your face into yourself to avoid having to meet his eyes. Of course, the joy of being loved could only last so long in the shadow of a more pressing problem.

“I’m assuming forever is until I die,” you sighed.

“Yes? That’s what will happen, yes,” König told you plainly, “as it will happen to myself. We will die together.”

Your eyes snapped wide open as you whirled around to look him in the eyes.

“Calm yourself, summoner,” König huffed, “what makes you think that will be soon?”

“I mean, soon for you,” you muttered bitterly.

“Soon for me?” König chortled, “I don’t think that day will come anytime soon. You’re my mate summoner, you’ll be with me until we die.”

You stared at him, “So, in seventy years?”

König reeled back in shock, “Seventy years? That’s nothing! You’ll be with me for the rest of my natural life!”

You blinked.

“But…” you glared at him, “but that’s like… I’ll never get that old.”

“Summoner,” König drawled, "have you not considered that when mated to me, certain aspects of your life will change?”

Honestly, the thought hadn’t crossed your mind.

“No, you didn’t think that,” König concluded after looking into your eyes, “well let me be the one to inform you that your natural life has been extended exponentially to match mine. You’ll be with me until the bitter end, I’m afraid. Or at least, for as long as you’ll take me as your mate.”

“I mean, I’m pretty happy with you,” you admitted.

“I’d hope so,” König sniffed.

“Don’t be like that,” you huffed.

“Be like what, upset that you’d be anything other than infatuated with me?” König retorted.

“Infatuated?” you laughed, “that’s a lot to ask for, isn’t it?”

“Not when it’s already provided,” König booped your nose, much to your dismay.

“I’m not infatuated-what? Where are you getting that from!?” you snapped as König threw his head back with a gurgling laugh.

“I jest, summoner,” König gave you a light kiss from beneath his mask, feeling more like being pinched by something sharp than being kissed on the cheek. You pushed his face away which he only just allowed before hugging you close.

“Now, summoner,” König rubbed his cheek against yours, leaving behind a thin sheen of something that smelled strongly of König, “I can tell there is more on your mind.”

“No there isn’t,” you lied weakly.

“No? There’s nothing I can answer for you?” König trilled.

“Nope,” you turned your face away from him, “I know everything.”

“Not yet, summoner,” König laughed.

“And who are you to question my endless knowledge?” you huffed haughtily as you cast him a downright scathing side-eye.

“Oh, nobody important,” König lay back in the seat, “only the being that saw the creation of your universe and will live to see its death.”

You rolled your eyes, already over his ‘holier than thou’, or rather, ‘more worldly than thou’ attitude.

“So tell me summoner,” König’s hand wandered down your torso, “isn’t there more on your mind?”

You flushed scarlet. He really was determined to get to the bottom of this, wasn’t he? A part of you felt that he was only pushing you this way to further tease you, but you couldn’t help the genuine curiosity bubbling forth.

“I mean, maybe,” you conceded, “but it’s nothing important.”

“I would say otherwise,” König tucked your face into his clavicle.

“Well,” you started, emboldened now that you didn’t have to look your mate in the eyes, “I was talking with a friend about you.”

“Were you now?” König drawled.

“And uh, we were talking about how you chose to be my mate, not the other way around. So, we got to talking about it, and…” you trailed off shamefully.

“Talking about us being mates? I can imagine a great myriad of topics can come forth from such a nebulous beginning,” König brushed his claws through your hair with surprisingly tender care.

“Well, we were kinda talking about what it would be like for you to fuck me?” you squeaked out.

König paused in his ministrations, seemingly shocked by your forwardness.

“I’d hope it would be pleasurable for both of us,” König stated, still befuddled by your answer.

“Well that’s what we started talking about, and then it went on to what your dick looked like?” if you didn’t think your voice could go any higher, you’d be poorly mistaken.

König slowly leaned back to be able to look you in the eyes.

His voice sounded like it was coming from deep under the ocean, “Excuse me?”

If you weren’t so embarrassed you might have laughed at your ability to shock a being older than time itself. Evidently, though König could see the ways time shifted and cross, was able to see all the possible outcomes of an event, even he couldn’t predict just how horny you were.

“I mean, it’s just like,” you shrugged, “if I wanna have your kid I’d probably have to figure it out at some point, right?”

König nodded mutely.

“Do you…” you looked him dead in the eyes, “do you even have a dick?”

König blinked.

“Yes?” he stared back at you, “I mean, what did you expect?”

You shrugged, “Maybe a cloaca?”

You could see the furious horror that washed over König’s face despite the mask.

“I do not have a cloaca and whoever told you that is a cheat, a fiend and a liar!”

Evidently someone had history.

“It’s a reasonable thing to think!” you protested, “I mean, you’ve got this whole bird-y ocean thing going on with you? It’s a vibe, sure, but it doesn’t give me much room to work with.”

"I have a what-You know what, nevermind, I don’t want to hear it,” König groaned as he rolled his eyes, “but yes I do in fact have a ‘dick’ as you refer to it. I don’t know why you’d think-”

“It was the water bird thing!”

“Why you’d think my 'vibe' might change that. I am… Wait, I don’t actually know what your species looks like,” König dropped his hands, “one moment please summoner,” he placed a thumb against your forehead, and immediately you felt your entire body go numb. After only a minute had passed, König withdrew his thumb, and with it came the return of your senses.

“Well that was informative,” König grumbled, “but not particularly helpful. I am realizing that I’m… Different from your species. Significantly so.”

“That’s really not helpful,” you flushed, “I mean, you could just show me…”

König pressed another pinching kiss to your forehead, “My mate, I think we should wait until you’re ready to go that far.”

You squirmed in his lap, “I mean, it can’t be that bad…”

“You can wait,” König tucked you back to his chest, “I assure you it won’t change for another thousand years.”

“Wait, it changes?” you spluttered.

“I reserve my right to remain silent,” König replied.

“You sure don’t use it often,” you grumbled only to find your lips pressed firmly together into a line. Despite your best efforts, your lips remained stuck in place.

König sighed and settled back into the sofa, “Much better.”

You were going to kill him, you swore by it.

AU Masterlist

[lovelytsunoda]

uptown girl // mickey "fanboy" garcia

soft kisses shared in the bar light after a game of pool

she would do anything for her nerd boy. except maybe meet his friends in a crowded bar with a pool table where she can make a fool of herself in front of all of her boyfriend's friends. it's a good thing that mickey is a good teacher.

pairing: mickey "fanboy" garcia x female! reader

author's note: he had like four lines and i was prepared to go to war for this man.

the hard deck hummed with activity as she parked her car, flicking off the manual headlights before glancing at her phone, which was pinned to it's magnetic holder on the dashboard.

it wasn't too late to text mickey and tell him something had come up, was it?

as she was thinking it, as if mickey could hear her, her phone buzzed, the screen lighting up with a text message from her beloved.

mickey: hey sweet girl, are you almost here? everyone is so excited to meet you!

she sighed, switching the music off and cutting the engine, sitting in the dark car and waiting for the heated seat to lose its warmth. her relationship with mickey garcia was still very new.

they had only been together for a few months, having met at an eighties rock-and-glow dance night. she was standing by the stage, dressed in skinny jeans and a white t-shirt that glowed fluorescent in the blacklight, an old-timey glass sprite bottle in her hands as she sang bonnie tyler at the top of her lungs. he was the best dancer there, with a goofy personality that captivated her from the moment he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a slow dance to 'heaven in your eyes'.

deciding to rip the band-aid off, she grabbed her tote bag from the passenger seat and slipped out of the car, sea breeze cutting deep and sending a chill down her spine as she walked up the weathered steps to fightertown's navy bar.

her sweet boy was impossible to miss, his smile lighting up the whole bar as he stood next to the pool table, his short-sleeved button shirt untucked from his crisp blue jeans.

as nervous as she was, it was hard not to smile when she saw him, watching as he leaned over the table to delicately knock a striped ball into one of the pockets in the corner of the table. after the shot, he looked up, and infectious grin breaking out over his face when he saw her.

"hey, pretty girl." he beamed, passing his pool cue to a woman in a black turtleneck and jeans before he sidestepped the table and pulled his lover into an embrace. "i'm glad you came."

"hi, mickey." she smiled, kissing him softly. "i've missed you."

"are you ready to meet everyone? or do you want something to eat first? i can order you a plate of onion rings-"

she laughed softly, taking his hand in hers. she loved how attentive and sweet he was, always trying to dote on her whenever he could. when they were together, he hated letting her pay for things, even if it meant dipping into his not-enormous navy salary "mickey, it's okay. i have time to meet your friends before i order."

with a soft kiss to the side of her head, mickey looped his arm around her shoulders and they headed towards the pool table. "guys, this is y/n. my girlfriend."

she underestimated how much her heart would swell at hearing mickey say those words. hearing someone declare to the world that they had chosen her.

"y/n, this is natasha, jake, robert, bradley, hallie and javy."

"hello!" she squeaked, waving at the group. "nice to finally meet you guys, mickey has told me so much about you guys."

robert laughed, reaching out to shake her hand. "and mickey has told us even more about you. fanboy loves to talk."

she never though she'd meet someone who talked as much as she did until she met mickey. they could talk for hours, about anything and everything. when they were together, she suspected it would drive the people around them insane. except she didn't know how his friends would react, what they would think of her.

they made small talk for a little, while some of the guys and natasha all took their turns at the pool table. it was team game, although the teams seemed to be a little unbalanced in terms of skill level. mickey had pulled her into his lap, gently rubbing circles on the skin underneath her peasant top.

jake leaned over the table, his pool cue hitting the white ball, white harmlessly dusted the side of the ball he was aiming for, plunking down in the basket.

"god damn it, hangman!" javy groaned

natasha laughed, high-fiving bradley. "sucks to suck, bagman!"

mickey shifted in his chair, hands running up her sides. "our turn, pretty girl. do you want to try?"

she turned back to him, a small glint of panic in her eyes as she took his hand in hers. "i'm not very good."

bradley snorted, taking a sip of his budweiser. "we're miles ahead of hangman, you could break the table and we'd still be ahead of them."

"go on." mickey encouraged, pressing a soft kiss to her shoulder blade. "i'll guide you."

she stood up, still clutching his hand in hers as she moved towards the pool table. hallie passed her a pool cue, and she stood nervously by the table until mickey came up behind her. his hands were warm through her jeans, his back against hers as he guided her into the correct position.

"you got this, sweet girl." he said quietly, kissing the side of her head gently, his hands over hers on the cue. "it's a straight shot into the basket."

mickey stepped back, his hands still on her waist as she took the shot, hitting with just enough force for the white ball to send the orange solid ball into the basket.

one fell swoop.

mickey's side of the pool table started to cheer, and her cheeks flushed pink as she turned around to wrap her arms around mickey, hiding her face from the crowd.

"great job, my darling girl." mickey laughed, kissing her softly. "are you sure you haven't played pool before."

"my grandfather had a table in his basement." she said sheepishly, leaning the cue against the table to she could slip her hands into mickey's back pockets. "but i haven't played a proper game since I was twelve. he sold the table when they sold the house."

"maybe you'll have to play more often." mickey said, leaning in to kiss her softly. "i love you."

"i love you too."

@magnummagnussen @libraryofloveletters @thatsdemko @lorarri @sidcrosbyspuck @cartierre @httpiastri

[hischierdevils]

Tequila Girl | J.H.

note: this was inspired by my night out in jersey after the devils clinched

summary: you and your friends go out to a bar to celebrate the devils and act a little devilish yourselves

warnings: alcohol consumption, slight violence, mentions of blood

wc: 2.5K

“The Devils clinched, baby!” You announce excitedly as you walk into the bar in Hoboken with your two best friends behind you. The people standing near you start cheering and hollering with excitement as you make your way to the bar.

The three of you sat on the glass behind the Devils’ net during the game against the Senators and you’ll never forget the way The Rock exploded when they announced that the Devil’s had clinched a playoff spot.

“I’m paying, I'm paying!” Your friend Sam pushes you out of the way as the bartender comes up to you to take your order. She tries handing the bartender her card and he looks at the three of you confused.

Your other friend, Elle, pats Sam on the back. “You have to order our drinks first, babe.”

Sam looks at you wide eyed. “Tequila time?”

“Tequila time.” You confirm with a grin. They both hate tequila but agreed to do a shot with you if the Devils won. The three of you went to Redd’s before to pre-game and do a few green tea shots. Each of you had three high noons during the game as well and Sam is already drunk. Elle is close behind her but you’re barely feeling a buzz. “Four shots of tequila, two vodka crans and a vodka sprite.” You tell the bartender.

“Four!?” Elle holds up four fingers as she looks at you in shock. “Who’s the fourth one for?”

“Me.” You laugh as Sam rests her head on your shoulder. “I need to catch up to you two.”

“Y/n getting drunk? This isn’t going to end well.” Sam murmurs. Having the highest tolerance, you’re usually the one taking care of everyone else at the end of the night but you want to celebrate tonight. Your boys clinched a playoff spot. That’s something to drink to.

The bartender pours your shots and hands you your drinks before taking Sam’s card to pay. “To the Devils!” Elle announces as you all cheer with your shots. You down your first one before reaching for your second one.

“Let’s go baby!” You pick up your drink and start dancing in your little area as the song changes. Man! I Feel Like a Woman starts playing and the three of you dance around the bar in your own little world.

The tequila works its magic and hits you quickly, you can feel yourself relaxing as you dance around with your friends. After four songs, you finish your vodka cran and place your empty cup on a random table. “I have to go to the bathroom.” Sam announces, grabbing your hand and handing her drink to Elle.

“I’ll be right here.” Elle tells you as you begin to lead Sam to the bathroom. You nod to her in acknowledgement. You all have unspoken rules in your friend group, Elle watches the drinks, you take care of Sam when she has to go pee every five minutes and Sam is the one that carries the purse with everyone’s things in it.

When you and Sam reach the bathroom, she has to wait in line to get into a stall. You stand in the corner by the sinks, waiting for her. As you adjust the Jack Hughes jersey on your body, a girl walks out of a bathroom stall and sneers at you.

“He’s so overrated.” She says as she goes up to the sink and begins to wash her hands. Ignoring her, you turn and look at yourself in the mirror to make sure your makeup still looks good. You’re properly tipsy now so it takes all of your concentration to fix your hair. “I bet you he gets injured the first or second game in the playoffs. He’s too small and not a very physical player he’s going to-”

“He’s 5’11.” You growl without looking at her.

She stops washing her hands and turns her body so she’s facing you. “What did you just say to me?”

You look at her in the mirror. “I said he’s 5 '11. He’s not that small. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sam comes out of her stall the same time this girl reaches over and rips your hoop earring right out of your ear. She smirks as she holds your earring in her hand. Sam’s eyes widen. “Y/n, no-“

Sam’s pleas fall on deaf ears because you’re already swinging your non-dominant hand toward the girl's face. Your fist connects with her brow bone, your finger slicing open from her eyebrow piercing. She drops your earring in surprise and you pick it up before turning to Sam. “Go ahead and wash your hands. She’s done.”

The girl runs out of the bathroom as you put your earring back in your ear. “Did that really just happen?” Sam asks as she begins to wash her hands. You shrug, a little unsure yourself.

Elle is in the same spot she was when the two of you left her, swaying back and forth holding both drinks in her hand. “Y/n got in a fight!” Sam tells her excitedly.

“With who?” Elle’s mouth falls open as she hands Sam her drink back.

“Some girl in the bathroom.” You shrug, looking over at the bar. “I need another drink.”

“Y/n, wait! Is that why you’re bleeding?” You ignore Elle and walk up to the bar, squeezing between two different groups of guys.

“Can I get a shot of tequila and another vodka cran?” You ask the bartender when he walks up to you. You pull your phone out of your pocket, intending to go on it while you wait but you get distracted by the picture of Jack on your lock screen and stare at it instead.

The bartender hands you your drink and pours your shot for you. “It’s all set.” The bartender tells you as you try to hand him money.

“What?” You look at him in confusion but he just points to the group of guys to the right of you before walking away. You don’t even glance at the men as you make your way back to your friends. You find Elle leaning up against the wall vibing to the music with her eyes closed. “Some guy bought me a drink.”

“Slay bestie queen.” Elle opens her eyes and gives you a lazy smile.

You giggle and take a sip of your drink. “Where’s Sam?”

Elle points to a table a few feet away. A man wearing a blue sweatshirt, jeans, and a white backwards hat is sitting on a stool. He looks vaguely familiar to you but you can’t really make out who he is because Sam is standing between his legs, kissing him.

“I need another drink.” Elle announces. “Let’s do shots too.” She drags you over to the bar and orders you both another drink and green tea shots.

“I have a drink.” You hold up your nearly full vodka cran.

“Chug it.” Elle shrugs.

You sigh, pulling the straw out of your drink and setting it on the bar. “Fuck it.” Bringing the glass to your lips, you start to gulp it down.

“Y/n!” someone yells your name and you jump in surprise, causing cranberry juice to drip on your white air force ones. You shake your head before continuing. Elle cheers you on as you finish the rest of the drink and set the empty glass on the bar.

“Your man bought us drinks again.” Elle giggles as she hands you your green tea shot.

“Cheers to that.” You both do your shots and then move away from the bar so you can dance. After a couple songs, Sam runs up to you.

“Pee time!” You hand your drink to Elle and lead Sam to the bathroom. There’s no one else in there so you both take a stall before meeting again at the sinks. “I made out with a hot man!” Sam tells you excitedly as you make eye contact with her in the mirror.

“I love that for you.” You giggle. “Where’s the jersey you were wearing?” You ask her once you realize she’s only wearing a red t-shirt and the large 91 is missing from her back.

Sam looks down at her outfit and then looks at you. “I asked him to hold it so I didn’t ruin it.”

“You gave a random man your jersey?” You look down at your own jersey in shock. You’d never give yours up.

“He’s not random, y/n.” Sam rolls her eyes at you, attempts to at least. She ends up moving her head in a circle. “He kissed me!”

“Are you gonna go kiss him again?” You ask her as the two of you make your way out of the bathroom.

“Heck yes I am!” she charges ahead of you into the crowd of people and you lose her as you weave in between people.

“There you are.” A man stops you, placing his hand on your arm to keep you still. “I was getting worried about you.” He’s wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, a black hat pulled low over his eyes. He leans into you to talk directly in your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

“You’re pretty.” You respond as you look up into his blue eyes. His cologne smells amazing and you take a deep breath so you can breathe him in.

He chuckles and brings his hand up to brush a stray lock of hair out of your face. “Thanks, gorgeous.”

Your cheeks flush as excitement bubbles up inside of you. “I’ll be right back.” You tell the cute guy before running over to Elle and Sam. “He called me gorgeous!” You tell them excitedly.

“Who did!? Tell me now!!” Sam starts jumping up and down, waiting for your answer.

“That guy!” You point to the pretty man who is standing with his friends a few feet away. All of them are clearly looking at you so you wave to them. The pretty man waves back. “Isn’t he cute?”

“Oh bestie boo.” Elle sighs and hands you your drink back. “Take this and go flirt with your man.”

“Flirt with him?” You shake your head. “No I can't, he's too pretty.”

“Go stick your tongue down his throat.” Sam gives you a little shove, pushing you toward the man.

You tumble into him but he quickly wraps an arm around your waist to keep you steady. “You okay, baby?”

“I’m good.” You say as you lean into his warm chest. “My name is y/n.”

He laughs before taking a sip of his beer. “I’ve been waiting for you to come say hi since I got here.”

You look up at him, still too mesmerized by his eyes to figure out what he means. “What’s your name?”

He blinks at you a couple times. “Are you messing with me? Or are you that drunk?”

“I’m not drunk.” You insist as you try to stand straight up. “I’m moderately functional.”

He chuckles and looks over at Elle. “How much has she had?”

Elle bites her lip as she leans against the wall. “I have no idea. More than us.”

He squeezes your hip and you lean fully into him, allowing him to hold you upright. “You’re very cuddly.” Your murmur into the skin on his neck. He places a kiss on your forehead and before you can react, Sam is in your face.

“You two are so cute together! Oh my gosh. Aren’t they cute Dawson?” Sam turns to look at the guy she’s been making out with all night.

“Very cute.” Dawson confirms as he wraps his arms around Sam’s waist and squeezes her.

Pretty boy laughs. “It’s about time you two got together.”

“Shut it, Hughesy.” Dawson shoves the guy you’re leaning on, sending you both back into the bar.

“You’re all adorable.” Elle speaks up. “I love you guys so much.”

“I went to a hockey game tonight.” You say, more to yourself than anyone else. The events of the night are starting to slip away from you and you want to remember everything.

“Oh, yeah?” Pretty boy asks. “Was it a good game?”

“The best game.” You smile widely as you think about it. Pretty boy bends down and rushes your nose with his.

“I scored for you baby.”

Before his words can even sink in, Sam is yelling. “Someone hit Shara and he has a baby at home!”

“Jack, can you close my tab?” Dawson asks as he tries to get Sam to calm down.

“Jack?” You whip your head up to look at the guy that’s holding you up. “You’re Jack? I punched a girl for you!”

The smile drops from his face. “You what?” You hold up your hand with the cut on it to show him. He kisses the cut gently before kissing your cheek. “You’re a menace but I love you.”

Butterflies erupt in your stomach. “You love me?”

“How’s it feel when your girlfriend gets so drunk she forgets that she’s your girlfriend?” A man that’s suddenly holding Elle up laughs.

“It’s kind of cute that I get to flirt with her all over again.” Jack laughs as he signals the bartender to close the tabs. “She’s coming home with me either way.”

You look over at your friends who are both being supported by Jack’s friends. “I’m so sleepy.” You announce.

“We’re going to go home, baby.” Jack assures you as he starts handing out receipts to the correct people. “Sam, do you want to go home with Daws or stay with Y/n and I?” He asks.

“I’m staying with him.” Sam, who’s clinging to Dawson like he’s a life preserver, says with her eyes closed.

Jack kisses the top of your head before looking at your other friend. “Elle, Mike is going to help you to the car okay?”

“Okay.” She smiles dreamily at Mikey as he pushes them both off the wall.

The six of you are a sight to behold as you leave the bar a little after one am. Jack makes sure all of your friends get home safely before he takes the two of you back to his apartment. “Are you going to have sex with me?” You ask him hopefully as he helps you undress.

“Not tonight baby.” He kisses your bare shoulder before sliding one of his t-shirts over your head.

You pout as you turn to face him. “Why not?”

He laughs and pulls you in for a hug. “An hour ago you didn’t remember we were dating. You’re drunk, y/n. You need to go to sleep.”

“It’s the tequila's fault.” You insist. “Can we cuddle at least?”

“Of course we can my tequila girl.” He chuckles as you both climb into bed. You settle with your head on his chest and he kisses you softly before making sure you’re covered up. “I love you.” You’d respond but you’re already asleep.

Tag list: @mikayladavis @cammie1634

[stellastra-scribbles]

Finally completed the outfit reference for Jayna Stiles, a half-elven NPC follower from Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.

Outfit breakdown (or "outfit onions" as I like to call them lol~)

I really like Jayna Stiles and her backstory + goals of becoming a technological healer. I'm also a sucker for 19th-century fashion and I have an unhealthily large collection of reference books and a bunch of files saved from online museum collections (I've got about 22+ gigabytes of refs downloaded from the Library of Congress alone haha I need more hobbies).

More unrestrained detailed design ramblings below the cut~

Back on track, I really just wanted to design Jayna an outfit that suited her character more than her in-game sprites while also being practical for travel/adventuring.

Individual layers. I pulled most of her colors from her default outfit.

Since Arcanum's starting year is 1885, I usually picture the "modern" sense of fashion in big cities like Tarant and Caladon taking cues from real life 1885-1890s western fashions (to give myself some leeway with references). Smaller towns can be a bit more dated, but I try not to go back further than the 1870s in most cases.

However, for a character like Jayna, who hails from Dernholm, I gave her clothing from references dating back to the 1850-1860s. I did this because Jayna says in her recruitment dialogue that "[her] parents weren't wealthy people, and [she doesn't] make much money here in Dernholm," so I took this to mean that she likely wears clothing to last, wearing hand-me-downs, makes her own clothes, and mending it over the years rather than buying new clothes.

Given that Dernholm (+ the Kingdom of Cumbria in general) isn't in the best state when the game starts, they may be behind the times and the latest fashions take longer to reach Dernholm.

Gar: “Alas, poor Dernholm! Once home to the legendary Dragon Knights, it has fallen on hard times since Praetor became king some 60 odd years ago. He despises all technology, and I think he's recently become sour on magick as well.”

Herkemer Oggdoddler: “For two generations Cumbria languished as an economically abused and technologically impaired backwater in the shadow of Tarant. Its once fine capital, Dernholm, has become a ruin.”

Layer 1 - Chemise + Open Drawers. I deliberately drew the drawers as fairly loose so as to not expose her without having to redraw the pose or resort to "Barbie doll anatomy."

Various resources demonstrated the chemise being tucked into the drawers or worn fully untucked/loose, but I drew it as tucked-in for the sake of reference visibility, so perhaps either one works in practice.

Layer 2 - Corset + Socks/Stockings. I picked a more "contemporary" (1880s) design for the corset as I imagine it would be a more custom-fitted garment. Plus, anyone who has ever worn bras will attest that a bra that properly fits is comparable to a good pair of shoes: never cheap out on it because if you take care of it, it will take care of you. Perhaps that same logic can be applied to corsets in ye olden days and historically-inspired fantasy settings.

For Jayna, despite the simplistic design, it might be one of the few luxuries she can afford for herself given the necessity of the garment for bust support.

Layer 3 - Trousers + Shoes. I was inspired by vivandières and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, who typically wore trousers beneath their skirts. Dr. Walker was a "surgeon, women’s rights advocate, abolitionist, and spy, [and] the first female U.S. Army surgeon during the Civil War." Since Jayna is an aspiring technological healer, I feel like an allusion to Dr. Walker and her practicality was appropriate.

Layer 4 - Petticoat. It's just something to fill out the skirt volume a tad. I considered adding a corset cover in this layer but I did like having the upper outline of the corset somewhat visible in the shirtwaist layer to illustrate her living situation (aka she doesn't have one or just has a poor-quality one). As a modern-age woman, I think this this all already looks like a laundering nightmare to wash by hand.

Layer 5 - Shirtwaist + Outer Skirt. I really like the shape of the 1860s Garibaldi blouse's sleeves (I think these are bishop sleeves? correct me if I'm wrong...) and the stripes allude to some 19th century nurse uniforms. I initially went for a plaid pattern but that was a pain to draw and using a pre-existing plaid brush/pattern just didn't look as good as I wanted it to be.

Layer 6 - Sash + Pistol Holster + Bag. Given Jayna's goals of becoming a tech healer, I took design cues from vivandières, who were 19th-century women attached to military regiments, with a few known vivandières being nurses (like Anna Etheridge).

However, rather than lifting the vivandière look completely, I imagine Jayna would attempt to replicate the silhouette with her own clothes. The bag is a bit of an amalgamation of various 18th-19th century hunting/frontier bags, so I apologize that I don't have a direct reference image.

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

Of course, in the end, I did take some liberties with the outfit so it's not completely historically-accurate, but that's okay since Arcanum is a fictional universe.

I guess I should've prefaced that I'm no expert on historical fashion, just a casual enthusiast who thinks "ooh old dress is pretty!"

I just wanted to see how far I could go before I had to make some concessions, such as:

Jayna's hair is short and worn loose while irl Victorian women typically had long hair and wore them up (there were documented exceptions of course). Many portraits for both female player characters and female NPCs across all in-game races show short hair and loose long hair, so let's just assume that 19th-century Arcanum has more relaxed feminine hair standards compared to the real-life 19th century western world. Also, irl 19th-century rural women did sell their hair for money, so maybe there's something to apply to the world of Arcanum with that. Or maybe the short-hair craze just hit Arcanum a few decades early *shrug*.

I initially planned to give her gloves, but many resources show vivandières not really wearing them, preferring to go barehanded.

The clothing colors may be a bit too saturated for the era I took inspiration from, but I wanted to stay somewhat faithful to Jayna's original sprite colors.

I did simplify some garments down for the sake of me having to draw enough layers as it is lol. Sorry if the lace wasn't fancy enough or that she doesn't have headwear. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sometimes you just wanna finish a project and be done with it.

hoo boy, that was a lot

Thank You For Coming to My TED Talk :)

Now go play Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura~

[nintendowife]

I completed Hanaemu Kare to & Bloom (Him, the Smile & Bloom) on Nintendo Switch a couple of weeks ago. "Hanakare" is an otome visual novel with a small twist - there are four female protagonists and they each have their own love interest. Flowers are the central theme of the game and they are incorporated in each of the stories.

The presentation of Hanakare is very nice. Art, music and professional voice acting form a holy trinity of pleasantness. Too bad the four female protagonists aren't voiced and they don't get their own sprite in dialogue boxes. The background art looks detailed and inviting. The CGs are high in quality and there's a good amount of them on each route.

The UI looks good and sophisticated, with soothing earthy tones. I've developed some presbyopia in recent years and it occasionally causes me problems trying to read in games, mostly when playing handheld on Switch. In Hanakare I found the dialogue font easy to read and the text was not too tiny. The only text I had trouble reading was the smaller print in the flower book entries.

The characters are nice, they have good interaction and I like how they're all working adults. Ami is an interior designer, Serina works in a flower shop, Fuuka is an office worker in a trading company and Miku works in a botanical garden. Each of the love interests work in Fill Flower, a popular chain of flower shops. There's a handful of side characters as well who all were a nice addition to the cast. Store manager Kozue Arisawa was my fave.

My favorite protagonist was maybe Ami, I liked her looks, sophisticated style and her confidence in her own abilities. Determined and somewhat selfish Fuuka was a close second. My favorite love interest was the energetic, devoted and sincere part-time worker Wataru, very likeable character. Ginnosuke's cheeky attitude made him another favorite of mine. I'm not sure which would have been my top favorite route.

Hanakare is a truly perfect specimen of slice-of-life. No teleporting into fantasy worlds, solving crimes or getting abducted by aliens - just nice down-to-earth stories about daily life of people and their relationships. There's no common route so don't go expecting some grand storyline. There's some humorous events in the game too but I would have welcomed more of them.

Each route has three different outcomes which represent best, normal and bad end: Glow end, Bloom end and Wither end. The overall vibe is cozy and relaxing but some conflicts arise in the bad ends. One of the bad ends was true red flag material, but at the same time it was also the most interesting ending.

The post-game Special stories don't have their own CGs which is fine, but what bothered me is that they ended very abruptly. Finishing all the routes and special stories unlocked 2 completion CGs to the gallery. There's a Halloween themed DLC story available as well. I didn't play it as I couldn't be bothered to create a Japanese eShop account to purchase it.

The ability to jump into any character's route from title screen without a common route is a welcome feature. Unfortunately the chapter select is limited to viewing just the selected chapter at a time, then returning back to menu, meaning you can't use it for achieving different endings. There's also a baffling choice of making it impossible to rewind and replay scenes from the dialogue log.

I played the Japanese release and the English translation of the game was ok. There were some minor typos and grammar errors (as in most otomes I've played). Worst issues were occasional mixed pronouns (referring to a male but using she/her) which was confusing. That said, the translation was better than I had initially anticipated. It wasn't perfect or even very good but I enjoyed my time with it. Note however that English is not my first language and I probably don't have particularly high standards for translations.

Hanakare is on the shorter side, I completed all content in 25 hours according to Switch. It didn't overstay its welcome and didn't inconvenience player by having to repeat a common route multiple times. I thought it was a refreshing change to the typical otome formula. With some better UI features, better localization and a little more emphasis on humor the game would have improved its standing on my otome ranking list. It still gets my recommendation as a game well worth looking into if you have a hankering for some slice-of-life.

[laugtherhyena]

Every time I see your sprite work, it just makes me want to make a sprite edit of Akane with the design I made for her in my "She Was Saved" AU (An AU based on the idea of Akane surviving the events of DRA), but I've never done any sprite work so, do you have any tips?

Ok ok so, first things first, i wanna make it clear that none of my sprites are made from scratch, they're sprite edits, hence why i always tag them as such. Every single one of them used some canon character as a base for the base sprite (that one fitst sprite where the character is just standing there with a simple expression) and a handful even have canon sprites uses as bases for poses. Just figured i should make that clear so there's no confusion here.

While I'm not sure if I'm the best at giving tips n stuff, here's what i could think off;

I think the most important tip i can give anyone who wants to get into sprite editing is MAKE A BUNCH OF LAYERS‼️Save things separately just to be sure rather than merging them because that almost always leads to more time spent later down the line. While the amount of separate things certainly varies from artists to artists here's the one i use for my edits.

The app i use (Ibis paintX) allows me to make folders with a bunch of layers to them so i use them to keep stuff more organized.

On the first pic well have a folder with the base sprite, one for the different poses and in Beni's case two for the different eyes she has (one for the normal eyes and one for the ones that are part of the glasses, normally i only have one layer with all the eye variants)

On the second image I've opened the folder that holds the base sprite, or should i say just sprite since it's in this folder that i organize everything that belongs to one specific sprite when I'm making them as to not get myself confused. Anyways, you can't see in the screenshots but the first layer has her glasses, second has her eyebrows and mouth and the third has the eyes.

Fourth has the main body lineart and fifth has the main body colors, please keep those separated as by doing so you make it easier to add those lil effects onto the character's faces on certain expressions + having the lineart of the main body always helps when sketching and connecting the different arms to the main body.

Lastly you got the arms, but ideally you should make the arms/poses in a way they can be placed over the body layers since that just makes things easier to put together, i just have this habit of placing the no pose arms under everything else.

When editing i make the different arms and eyes in advance so that when i start making the different sprites i can just duplicate the canva with the first one a thousand times and everything will carry along with those. Saves time in the long-run + you don't need to separate all layers on them (lineart, colors, shading) since they're just parts there's no problem in just merging them together.

A very important thing to note tho i that if the character has glasses or any accessories that you plan on removing or moving around in some pose/sprite this accessory should be made in a different layer from the main body, this makes editing easier than if you had to just erase and refill the part where the accessory was in the sprite you don't want it to be in.

A similar rule should be applied to the character's hair, if they have short or mid length hair you can just add the whole thing to the main body sprite, but if the character's hair is long you should make this bluk/back part of the hair in a separate layer placed under the main body layers. This also apllies to any back accessories.

Here's Akira as an example; she has one layer for her glasses, one for the back/bulk of her hair and one for the guitar case she carries.

These are essentially the basics of if, so let's go over to some actual tips.

Make the sprites on a small canvas.

Since the Danganronpa another games are made on game maker the size of the character sprites is surprisingly small, while I don't think you should just do it on the same canvas size as the actual sprite, it's good to have a smaller canvas so that the lower amount of pixels gives it a look similar to the in-game sprites + as you can see by mine, they don't actually look low quality at all.

(if curious, the go-to canvas size i use for most of my edits is 773x1020)

Use other sprites as references/bases

Especially if you're just starting on making sprites, use the canon ones for bases, references or even just straight up trace them. This will make the sprite look closer to canon and will start making you undertand the elements that make up the style of the sprite, do it enough times and soon enough you'll be able to make poses on your own without needing a sprite from the game as a base.

Remember! What's wrong about tracing is not the act of tracing itself, as the act of doing so is a great exercise to help you learn, the problem is when you do it and claim you made it 100% on your own. Since these are sprite edits, there's not a problem in doing so.

Observe and learn what makes up the style you're trying to replicate

This is hard to talk about since it really is something that comes with practice, I've been making sprite edits for like 5 years now so this stuff is like written on the walls of my brain by now. Just try to look and analyse the sprites and slowly you'll start seeing patterns and small onto them that you didn't noitce before, like how Linuj's sprites have a bit if line weight to them but are still on the thinner side, how he tends to make the hands a bit on the smaller side, how when he color the character's skins he makes the area near the top of the head a lighter shade than the rest of the skintone, the way he usually makes the character's mouths, and even some more complex things like how the male characters will have very little to no eyelashes while the female characters tend to have a whole lot of them, etc.

At the same time, there's no shame in deliberately ignoring some of these things. Personality the small hands REALLY bother me in a few cases and i tend to just make mouth shapes on a whim instead of trying to stay 100% close to the style. It's just a question of messing around and figuring stuff out, it won't look perfect on the first go, but overtime you'll start to get the hang of it.

[2manyturbos]

Hey kids, who wants to see my old Turbotime world building?

Note that this is not likely to rollover into my current canon. Might keep the tracks, but I’ll probably reimagine the rival racers.

Characters

Turbo

Our plucky and innovative young hero. Turbo comes from a family of prestigious racers and has recently become of age. He has made it his lifetime goal to compete and be better than all the rest, until he has earned the coveted title of “Greatest Racer Ever”. Turbo lives in a small and simple shack that overlooks the green field where he constructed his own track from scratch. He frequently hosts friendly races between himself and his neighbors.

The Twins (Nil and Null)

The Twins live in the massive kart graveyard near Turbo’s shack. They are scruffy and crude, but don’t underestimate them, as the pair are dangerous tricksters of the track, frequently working together to best Turbo. They have been rivals of Turbo ever since they were young. Nil, the elder twin, is the wily leader, and Null is the stubborn muscle.

Set

Set makes his home in a long abandoned and overgrown racetrack. Set was formerly a much beloved commentator before his racetrack stopped making money. Remaining at the abandoned track for years, honing his skills as a racer, Set has gone insane. This green racer’s chaotic antics are unpredictable.

Jet

A tenacious new upstart who lives high in the mountains. Jet favors speed and shortcuts. This young racer has always had it out for Turbo and his entire family. The red racer is jealous and bitter toward Turbo. He is determined to prove he is the fastest racer around, even if he has to be aggressive.

Rev

The light blue racer is not only the owner of Turbotime Speedway, but also a frequent competitor in the races held there. She hand-picks who will be allowed to race on her speedway and go up against her. Rev doesn’t race for glory or trophies, but because she wants to have fun. This good sportsman has proven time and time again that you can play fair and win.

Burnout

A veteran racer with gold stripes, Burnout only races on the most dangerous tracks. She is quiet and stern: an intimidating force to all who face her. Burnout is highly experienced and has a way of dodging obstacles that would slow anyone else down. If you want to be the Greatest Racer Ever, you will have to get past her.

Jinx

A legendary ghost story of a shadowy racer who only appears to those who have proven themselves worthy has been circulating around the racing scene for decades, but no one has ever really seen Jinx.

~

Tracks

Track 0: The Emptiness

Racers: All

Items/Obstacles: None

Difficulty: n/a

The gate into Turbotime leads to an open, black void. There is no gravity in this area and a given sprite may “swim” in order to control their direction. This is the area sprites occupy during gaming hours while the game is not being played. Turbo and the other racer’s karts are able to drive on a faint light track that leads to the “world” of Turbotime. This track is the only place in the Emptiness that has gravity. Once one reaches the main world, gravity will behave as normal.

Track 1: Dirt Track

Racers: Turbo, the Twins

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad

Difficulty: Very Easy

The first stage in the game is a simple, circular dirt track. Because it is the first stage, it has no hazards and the AI on the Twins is set extremely low. This track belongs to Turbo and was built by him as a means of practicing his skills. This track sits in the middle of a large field, and on a large overlook is Turbo’s dwelling. Turbo’s house is a small shack and his red racing kart sits on the edge of the overlook. On the inside of his house is a nest constructed by his numerous trophies and a collection of plush blankets that Turbo sleeps in. Unlike much of the rest of Turbotime, the air here is clean and the atmosphere is inviting, therefore, this is Turbo’s favorite area in the game.

Track 2: Junkyard

Racers: Turbo, the Twins

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick

Difficulty: Easy

Not far from the field where the Dirt Track sits is a large junkyard. A simple, elliptical track is in the middle, although it is a deal longer than the first stage’s track. The first hazards in the game are introduced here – oil slicks will appear at random spots on the course, causing the kart to lose steering for a few seconds. This cemetery for broken karts is where the Twins scrape out a living. They reside within the wreckage of a giant 18-wheeler that sits in the center of the track. The Twins are most protective of the Junkyard and know the layout better than Turbo does.

Track 3: Abandoned Track

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set (intro)

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Road Spikes/Thorns, Cracks

Difficulty: Medium-Easy

Beyond the Junkyard is an overgrown and long-disused cement racetrack. This is where Set is introduced. Set lives inside the commentator’s stand, as he was once a commentator. This is the first non-circular track and features small twists and turns. The Abandoned Track sits close to a forest. More obstacles and hazards are brought into this stage. In addition to the oil slicks, which aren’t as common in this track, there are also road spikes that must be avoided. If one were to collide with the road spikes, their kart would come to a dead halt for several seconds before control was returned. There is one large crack in the track that must be steered around: falling in results in the loss of a life.

Track 4: Thorn Valley

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Road Spikes/Thorns

Difficulty: Medium-Easy

The Thorn Valley track is inside the forest near the Abandoned Track. This dankly-lit track sits in the middle of a patch of giant thorns. Road spikes, recolored to resemble thorns, are most prominent in this area and will “grow” in random areas. This is the first track that splits and features a shortcut. It is possible to cross a bridge over a bend in the track. This bridge is a large vine and is covered with spike hazards. If one falls off the bridge and into the swamp below, it results in the loss of a life.

Track 5: Rocky Road

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set, Jet (intro)

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Falling Rocks/Tires, Cracks

Difficulty: Medium

The Rocky Road is at the top of a mountain. This is where Jet appears, challenging Turbo and the other racers to see how they fare against the skills he perfected in his mountain home. This track features sharp turns and two possible short cuts. There are several cracks to be wary of as well as areas where rocks will fall, bringing your racer to a dead stop. If one falls of the track, it results in the loss of a life.

Track 6: Tire Canyon

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set, Jet

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Road Spikes/Thorns, Falling Rocks/Tires, Cracks

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

The Tire Canyon is where all the used tires are thrown away. The walls of rubber are high and treacherous. This track features narrow passages, forcing racers who go single file. Hitting a wall results in being bounced backwards. The three shortcuts are narrow and must be navigated with precision.

Track 7: Turbotime Speedway

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set, Jet, Rev (intro)

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Road Spikes/Thorns

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

The famous speedway owned by Rev, the friendly racer. She invites only the most skilled racers to her track. This race is watched by an adoring crowd of fans. You have almost made it, but more treacherous tracks await. There is a jump over a gap, falling in results in the loss of a life.

Track 8: Figure 8

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set, Jet, Rev

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Falling Rocks/Tires, Reverse Pads

Difficulty: Hard

An extremely dangerous track. There is only one path on the Figure 8 and no way to avoid the narrow intersection. This track was designed to make karts crash. Will you sacrifice your speed, or will you risk collision? Collisions results in the loss of a life.

Track 9: Geyser Fields

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set, Jet, Rev, Burnout (intro)

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Falling Rocks/Tires, Geysers, Cracks

Difficulty: Hard

A rough road sitting on unstable ground. The veteran racer Burnout awaits for those brave or crazy enough to face her. This track is riddled with obstacles, especially on the three shortcuts. Be vigilant, as the ground may crack and erupt steam, costing you precious speed.

Track 10: Death Track

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set, Jet, Rev, Burnout, Cracks

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Road Spikes/Thorns, Falling Rocks/Tires, Reverse Pads, Geysers, Flamethrowers

Difficulty: Very Hard

An insidious track supposedly invented by Jinx, the ghost racer. Those who set foot on this track are said to be cursed with bad luck. This track features shortcuts filled with timed jets of flame that only the bravest may enter. Falling off the track results in the loss of a life. If you complete this trial of fire, you will be deemed the Greatest Racer ever.

* Track 11: Bonus Track 1

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set, Jet, Rev, Burnout

Items/Obstacles: Speed Pad, Oil Slick, Road Spikes/Thorns, Falling Rocks/Tires, Reverse Pads, Geysers, Flamethrowers

Difficulty: Very Hard

By completing a flawless run of the original tracks (winning all of them without losing a life) the first Bonus Track is unlocked. This track is a double figure 8, with two intersections and more obstacles. Falling off the track results in the loss of a life.

* Track 12: Bonus Track 2

Racers: Turbo, the Twins, Set, Jet, Rev, Burnout, Jinx (intro)

Items/Obstacles: Oil Slick, Road Spikes/Thorns, Falling Rocks/Tires, Reverse Pads, Geysers, Flamethrowers, Blackout Pads

Difficulty: Near Impossible

By completing the first bonus track without losing a life, the second bonus track is unlocked. This is the hardest and largest track in the game and the appearance of the legendary racer Jinx. Jinx is the fastest racer in the game and immune to all obstacles. This is a dark track with treacherous shortcuts and sharp turns. Falling off the track results in the loss of a life. This track has a unique obstacle, the Blackout Pads, which cause the screen to go black for a few seconds.

* Track 13: Kill Screen

Racers: Turbo, Jinx

Items/Obstacles: None

Difficulty: Impossible

A glitched, only partially programmed track that can only appear if the second bonus track is completed without hitting any obstacles. A simple circular track is loaded on one half of the screen, whereas the other half is full of glitched graphics and symbols. Jinx is the only other racer. When the race starts, Jinx will go to the other half of the screen before vanishing. If Turbo is driven to the glitched half of the track, his sprite will corrupt and the game will reset to the start screen.

[yomigaere]

I just finished Virche Evermore about a week ago, and because I loved it so much, I thought I'd do a personal ranking of the characters and throw down my thoughts on all of them.

To be honest, I'm partly inspired to do this because I heard Mathis is the least popular love interest to the point where he even got rated beneath a few side characters in the Japanese official popularity poll, which I think is absolutely criminal.

Needless to say, major spoilers for the entire game below the readmore!

Mathis became an instant fave for me as soon as he was first properly introduced in the common route. He's so, so cute. I pretty much lost my mind from sheer cuteness at the CG of him being flustered when Ceres walked in on him writing his novel. His romance is sweet and I feel like he and Ceres go well together. His actual situation is tragic. Since he was my first route, I was so glad when I unlocked the salvation ends and could finally get a happy ending (by Virche standards) for him; he deserves a million times better than the death of personality he suffered in his main bad end, and his salvation end, while bittersweet, was beautiful.

Lucas is my poor little meowmeow. I feel so sorry for him, even when he's at his worst, not least because he's been dealt such a shitty hand in life. His route might be the biggest pain train of them all, especially given that even his salvation end is tragic as all hell; he and Nadia and Ceres deserve so much better. (It sure was a narrative choice to have the branching point for his endings be after Nadia's turned into a monster and he's been drugged into going on a murderous rampage, though...) I was a little bit skeeved by his romance at first when it was initially revealed that he'd been in love with Ceres for years, but it became more understandable when the circumstances behind it came out (guy was 15 at the time and in a very bad place) and by the time Ceres got to see the full truth of Lucas's situation I'd become way more invested in their relationship. The "goodnight kiss" CG in his salvation end absolutely broke me.

Yves is very cute and very sweet and has the best romance with Ceres and deserves so much better than he's gotten from shitty randos. The scene with Ceres kissing his facial scars while he's crying is my favourite romantic moment in the whole game. I like that he cries a lot, even if it puts me through the emotional wringer as much as he goes through it in his route. (This game's great for crying vulnerable long-haired pretty boys. I swear this isn't me being a sadist.)

Ankou is evidently the top husbando in this game's fandom, and besides his looks and voice, Le Salut certainly let me see why. He has one of the cutest blushing sprites, and after 600+ years of misery I really think he deserves way more happiness than he can get in any of the canon routes; he's a big reason why I'm hoping the fandisc will get licensed for an English release. His death in Le Salut's salvation end is the other most heartrending moment in the game for me.

Ceres isn't my favourite otome heroine ever, but I do like her quite a bit. It's easy to feel for her when everything she's been through has taken such a toll on her self-esteem, yet I love how her resolve to be less resigned and more proactive gets reflected in most of the right choices in the common route. She has nice moments of strength beyond that, too; I particularly enjoyed how indignant she could get at Capucine, and her defiance in the face of Jean hoping to capture her despair on camera was metal coming from someone like her.

Hugo is my favourite side character, regardless of how controversial he apparently was with the Japanese fanbase when the game originally came out there. (Heaven forbid that a gay character exists in an otome game, amirite? Especially one who happens to have feelings for one of the love interests...) The "Resemblence" bad ending with him is my favourite game-over, heartwrenching though it may be. I do wish his death on Yves's route didn't come immediately after my favourite romantic moment, though; that was a bit too on-the-nose for my comfort. I liked what Le Salut did with him towards the end, including him deciding to join Yves on his journey to Japan and the possibility being left open that maybe, just maybe, if Yves doesn't remain stuck on Ceres forever, Hugo's feelings for him could have a chance of eventually being reciprocated. (Yes, I ship this too even though I love Yves/Ceres. I feel like the part of the fandom Hugo was so controversial with might tear me apart for this, but I don't even care.)

Nadia is the sweetest little cinnamon roll who's too good for this world, too pure, and she deserves only good things and no bad things... which is a major reason why Lucas's route is such a pain train. Still, I'm glad that at least in Le Salut's salvation end she and her brother get to live and be happy. ;.;

Adolphe's okay; I like him well enough. In fact, I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense for an Ankou fan to dislike Adolphe too much, considering that Ankou is Adolphe from another timeline, even if Ankou has been through more than enough of his own experiences that he 100% qualifies as his own person. I don't think his angst over being "normal" is that hard to get behind in the context of this kind of story; he's the one "normal" person in a place like Arpéchéle, which from their point of view would make him the oddity if they knew, so I can't blame him for being afraid of what might happen if the truth about him got out (with Ankou's backstory being proof of the possible consequences).

Salome turned out to be a very interesting and complex character, and she looks so lovely without her habit, though I also can't help feeling like her writing was a little bit untidy in places. That said, the fact she got rated the second-least-popular character on the official poll, even below Jean of all people, is criminal.

Scien is my least favourite love interest by a big margin, and his route was also my least favourite by far. I realise that this is an extremely unpopular opinion, given that he's one of this fandom's biggest darlings, so I can't say I'm not wary of potentially getting some backlash for this. =/ I'm not opposed to asshole characters in the slightest, and Scien has his enjoyable moments, but he just doesn't do it for me on the whole. Furthermore, I tend to dislike characters who come across as "creator's pets", and Scien definitely feels like one to me between the favouritism he gets from the narrative and how his route acts like he can do no wrong to the point of bordering on double standards. I'll spare anyone reading this too much more crankiness from me, but I do want to add that it was super satisfying when he got called out for a change in Yves's route.

Dahut gave me very mixed feelings in the end. On one hand, he's a pretty good "final boss" and I have no issue with how he's written. On the other hand, his hypocrisy drove me up a bloody wall and I wish he was more sorry for his role in screwing up the Proust siblings' lives. Good character, but too frustrating as a person for me to really enjoy.

Jean is a scumbag, and as a Mathis fan I feel no remorse in hating him for the lies and abuse and other bullshit he put my boy through. Also as a Mathis fan, I felt enormously frustrated by how Le Salut was way too forgiving towards him and basically gave him a slap on the wrist for everything he did, even to the point where it felt like Mathis was being made to pander to his abuser; it's my one big complaint about that route, which I otherwise enjoyed. I was much more okay with how Jean was handled in Mathis's own salvation end; it wasn't perfect, but at least he wasn't a karma houdini there.

Capucine is an even bigger scumbag and thoroughly deserves his place as the most hated character. I lost count of how many times I went "fuck you" at him for his treatment of Lucas and Nadia. Every death he can get, whether it's being blown up offscreen or being butchered by Lucas offscreen or being mauled by Nadia onscreen, is cathartic and very well-deserved.

[danganronpafan777]

Rei x Reader (Part 1?) I’m in Love with the Antagonist!

A/n - Life’s been kinda rough, and I don’t think I’ll go back to writing requests just yet. I just felt inspired by the latest episode of I’m in Love with the Villianness (Hated the Lene and Lambert plot tho). Idk if I’ll make this a series.

DISCLAIMER - This story is heavily inspired by the anime/manga, I’m in Love with the Villianess. Literally the same kinda plot with diff characters, but no knowledge of the series is needed to read this.

“Incompetent! Are you dosing off right now? Honestly, I can’t believe a prestigious school like Hope’s Peak doesn’t give out entrance exams to be rid of nitwits like yourself.”

Rei’s harsh words echoed through your mind as you read them off her text window. Her dialogue wasn’t spoken aloud, only a single “Hmph!” voice bit accompanying her written speech. You liked to imagine her voice as stern and demeaning, adding a few of your own headcannons to it.

 Rei Mekaru was a girl who worked her way to the top, and looked down on you, someone she thought was nothing but useless and spoiled.

This girl was your escape from reality. The daily pressures of work and school, trying to socialize but not having anyone who shares your interests, and parents who only demand more and more. With life’s chains wrapped around your body, straining your every movement, your sole outlet of freedom was this silly otome game.

Funny enough, Rei Mekaru was not a love interest, but the antagonist of the story. In this game you could ramble about for hours, the MC was a student of Hope’s Peak’s 79th class, the Ultimate Baker. It may have been a choose-your-own-path type of game, but when your favorite character wasn’t a love interest, it felt a bit limiting. The love interests consisted of the nine boys in your class: Utsuro Maeda, his twin Yuki Maeda, Tsurugi Kinjo, Kinji Uehara, Yamato Kisaragi, Mitsuhiro Higa, Teruya Otori, Haruhiko Kobashikawa, and Kakeru Yamaguchi with specific events, affection levels, and cgs for each character. 

You had your favorites, but weren’t really interested in any of them. Instead, you’d comb through their routes to explore new dialogue and cgs with Rei Mekaru, who over the course of the game, ignores, humiliates, and tries to best the MC in every way. 

She was just so cute!! Rei may seem cruel, but she has a distorted view of the world, sorting people as competent and incompetent, thanks to her backstory of being abandoned by her parents and studying to keep herself off the streets. It was a shame for it all to be sidelined in favor of the love interests. 

Your eyes drooped, and you began to fall asleep to your favorite game for perhaps the hundredth time. But that was okay, the game’s background music and annoyed sprite of your favorite character was enough to keep you content, even after a rough day of being worked to exhaustion.

…

…

You were jolted awake by the sound of a hand pounding on the school desk you had been resting your head on. 

“Incompetent! Wake up! Have you not heard a word I was saying!?”

Rei looked pissed, now straightening her posture and glaring down at you.

“…Oh my god….”

You weren’t in your bedroom anymore. Hell, you weren’t even in your world anymore. You didn’t need to look at the classroom scenery twice to know you were in Hope’s Peak. And you wouldn’t, as the beautiful and familiar girl in front of you captured your complete attention.

Rei Mekaru was here in front of you. This wasn’t a cosplay or just a dream. The girl whose design, backstory, and character you loved so much was standing right in front of you, with her classic annoyed expression and her voice as irritated and angelic as you imagined. 

“…Do I have to repeat myself again?” She sighed, “You-...?”

Were your eyes sparkling? Maybe, you resembled your designable avatar, and was basically an anime character now. Were you shaking? Not a bone in your body could remain still, and you fought the urge to hug her right there. 

“You are amazing…” You breathed. 

“Wh-What..!? D-Don’t speak such nonsense!” Rei looked completely taken aback. 

You still couldn’t believe it. Not only were you in your favorite game, but you could do and say whatever you wanted! You could spend time with Rei! You could get close to her! And maybe even…!

You took a breath. She is a person, not an object. You couldn’t force herself into anything. Plus, this game is supposed to be centered around boys.

But with your knowledge of her future, her past, and her character…

You may be able to forge your own path.

[fantasies-fairytales-n-fics]

Thranduil and Josie Pt. 146- Man or Monster

Summary: Thranduil is surprised to see an old foe who no longer fears the Elvenking. Words of contempt are tossed about. Elrond makes a demand. The two elf lord's share wine and words until Thranduil reaches his breaking point. So does Legolas. A long, impetuous journey begins. Josie has another revealing dream and a vision. Haldir is jealous. Court is in session. Let the games begin.

*Warnings* language, angst, mentions of death

NOTES: More collaboration in this chapter with the so very talented @redeemer46 on the Thranduil and Elrond conversation! She also aided in a name for Thranduil's mother which you will see the one I chose during that conversation(it means red head, for in my fic, his mother has red hair) and also a new nickname per se will be given to Josie(meaning shield, which is how her powers began), also credited to @redeemer46 . Again, please check out her fic on AO3 titled "Because The King Says". It is...to put it simply...brilliant and beautiful!

Stories Stories Stories Masterlist

On his way to find some wine, Thranduil was able to lose Elrond's tail and crossed paths with a very familiar face. One he was in no way pleased to see. The elf who was formerly of his guard, Gausyr.

He had been banished from Thranduil's kingdom into the evil elf lord Malsin's dark forest for his use of black magic, just as he had done to Morwen, Legolas's mother, and both had become elves of darkness, both inside an out. Of course Morwen did much more than use the dark magic to justify her punishment. Her treatment of Thranduil and Legolas, along with her affair with Malsin took great precedence in the Elvenking's decision.

You had met Gausyr many years later in Rivendell when he had boldly tried to sneak in to speak with you about Malsha's lie, claiming Thranduil and she had been intimate while he was married to you, which in turn had led you into Haldir's arms. All Gausyr wanted in return was for you to put in a good word with Thranduil for revealing the scam that was meant to divide you and the King, for Thranduil was tricked by Malsha's magic into believing he had slept with her.

Gausyr wanted out of the darkness, for after the brothers Malsin and Maldyr's reign, Malsha, Maldyr's daughter, was the worst he had suffered and Legolas had promised him he would put that word in to Thranduil for his information about what happened to Haldir when he was believed to be dead...but the Prince did not keep his word to the desperate elf.

The frightened and deformed sprite had knelt before you, Elrond and Haldir, pleading with sincere tears for your help in freeing him and it is then when you first learned of your healing powers. The empath in you felt deeply sympathetic to Gausyr and you felt he deserved a second chance for the risk he took to inform you of the truth. The risk of Malsha's wrath and Elrond's for daring to enter his realm.

You had assured Gausyr you would do your best at convincing Thranduil to free him as you knelt down and compassionately placed your hands upon his face. It was then that Thranduil's assistance was not needed, for your light surfaced and healed the dark elf back to his previous beautiful image....and shockingly, Elrond took the transformed elf into his realm to become one of them for his remorse, determination and bravery.

It would not have mattered if you had asked your King to aid him, for Thranduil was beyond livid when he had found out what you had done, feeling it was an act of betrayal to his command and authority...and Thranduil had not forgotten that.

"You.." Thranduil snarled with snake like eyes as he towered over the dark haired, blue eyed Gausyr.

Gausyr's stance stiffened up as his brows furrowed and eyes narrowed at the King of Mirkwood, for he had not forgotten his treatment by Thranduil the last time he saw him there in Rivendell.

"You..." Gausyr retorted with lack of respect, for he had none for his former King. "I would say it is a pleasure to see you are alive but, that would be a lie."

"You dare speak to me with such immodesty, lowly elf? I may no longer be your King, but a King I remain."

"A self-righteous one at that. You are not the King of this realm, for the one here bears a heart."

Thranduil's teeth gritted as he took a step forward, his dilated eyes fixated on Gausyr like a cat on a bird, without a blink to be witnessed.

"Your transgressions may have been forgiven here, maybe even forgotten, but they have not in my eyes. The snake inside of you still slithers about as your forked tongue proves it."

"I am well aware of my past sins and I have greatly paid for them. Your condescending judgmental words do not affect me and your forgiveness is not needed, for I have that of your wife's, who unlike you, knows of compassion and understanding. The word about is that you now regard her as nothing and desire that of a filthy dhampir. Josephine is far too exemplary for what you have become, even so before as you were. Ironic, is it not? That you and I seemed to have exchanged places."

"Do not speak to me of my wife or it will be the last words you speak!!" The Elvenking raged as he lunged his head down to Gausyr's face, merely inches from it. Thranduil did not even realize he referred to you as his wife in that moment, but soon would as Legolas and Elrond came rushing up.

"Adar!" Legolas shouted as he stood right next to him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Elrond snapped at Thranduil's other side.

Thranduil slowly straightened up with his nose high and lips pursed as his eyes slitted down at a glaring Gausyr.

"My Lord Elrond." Gausyr greeted with a head bow. "I was simply upholding my right to be here to the King's venomous vindications that I am unworthy."

"It would appear to me from what my ears could not help to overhear, that it was you speaking a venomous tongue to my father." Legolas riposted.

"Well if it isn't Prince Legolas, one who also lacks all honor of keeping his word." Gausyr quipped.

"You now dare to insult my son in my presence?!"

"Is it an insult if it is the truth?"

"Gausyr...leave us. Assist Lindir with the task he is tending to in the main hall."

"Yes, my Lord."

Gausyr gave another head bow to the Rivendell King and went on his way as Thranduil's sinister stare followed him.

"King Thranduil...a word in private." Elrond firmly said with a grimace.

"I will have to pass on your request for I have no desire for any more words this day."

"It is not a request..." Elrond bluntly replied and walked away.

"You and I will also speak soon." Thranduil scoffed at Legolas and then departed to go and drink his way though Elrond's intervention.

Thranduil made his way right to the wine table as he reluctantly entered into Elrond's chambers that felt more like a cage to him.

"Tell me, old friend, why is it that you boldly command me to this undesired meeting as if I am a child??" Thranduil promptly stated with annoyance as he poured his wine.

"Ahh, my old friend Thranduil, you were once a child here under my watch."

"Do I appear as a child to you now?"

Thranduil's sarcasm was quite obvious as he glanced at Elrond.

Elrond smiled as he went to pour his own glass of wine.

"Visually, no, but your soul still holds that part of the young Thranduil I once knew before the darkness, loss and pain all those years ago shaped you into what you had become since. I once saw that young elf again, full of life and light when you met Josephine. Having known your mother, one of which your wife so very much reminds me of and in which you yourself addressed Josephine as only moments ago, I would have to wonder what Carandolel might speak of the son that stands before me now."

Thranduil's disheartened eyes turned away from Elrond's as he heavily sighed and poured another drink.

"You speak to me as if I am a friend and yet you speak of my mother in comparison of a such a woman, and one whom I do not love. What is it that you think you know so well of me to do so?"

Elrond sipped his wine, then gave a quirked smile and a raised brow that severed the natural frown of his eyes.

"I know that you do indeed love Josephine. All know it except you. I also know the will of the line of Oropher. It is the same that has brought you back to the living and it is the same that will bring you to salvation."

"It has already brought me to such, for I am now free."

"Are you? For your heart remains a prisoner of your mind. And others still remain a prisoner of your death. Those of us that know you live have mourned your passing and there are those that still mourn. Perhaps an apology could be offered to bring you some peace of the guilt you conceal?"

"I conceal nothing and apologize to no one. If you recall, it was not of my doing nor choice."

"You are right, it was not. It was though, of Raven's doing that caused so many such undeserving pain. Your choice to keep her at your side still inflicts great pain upon all. What will Josephine think when she learns of this? She will be one you will find yourself apologetic to, should she continue to believe in you after all of this."

Thranduil saw it Elrond's eyes that it was a foreseen event but he also knew that the future could be changed.

"As I have already relayed, no apologies will be given...to anyone, especially not to that woman."

"That woman, who's name you refuse to speak, is the mother of your child. Is that of no matter to you?"

"Morwen is the mother of Legolas. Should that have mattered as well?" Thranduil riposted.

"Morwen and Josephine are none in the same. Now Raven on the other hand...."

"Oh but they are." Thranduil interrupted and poured another drink. "Both found pleasure in the arms of another while in union with me. It has also come to my attention that the witch has found added pleasure with my nemesis, the vampire Garrett."

"And you have not done the same with the dhampir? Josephine believes you are dead or she would be right here at your side. But you, Thranduil, choose to carry on with Raven instead of reclaiming your wife. All of your memories of her are very much in tact. How do you explain your sudden hatred of a woman you would have once died for? You are well aware of what Jareth and Harker have done to you. Surely you must realize you were governed to feel this way? This is not who you are."

"I will not reclaim what is not mine and what I do not desire. I know what they have done to me in order to constrain me as an ally in Jareth's diabolical devise, but what I feel is of my own will that you have spoken of. You also speak to me as if you do not know me."

"It is because I know you that I point out what your soul speaks but your mind refuses to believe."

"This again. I will not continue to entertain any more of this unremitting discussion. I have come here, after an ordeal I would much rather soon forget, to find a moment of solace before the coming storm. Do you refuse me that??"

"The storm is yours and yours alone to weather, old friend. I will fight by your side as I always will, but the true battle you face.. is within."

"Sometimes a storm is just a storm." Thranduil retorted and poured another drink, finishing off the carafe all by himself.

"Not the one that will come with Raven at your side, especially now with the new revelation of the child she carries. Set her free before it is too late and take your Thannith by your side Thranduil. Your combined power and love is beyond measure and you will go undefeated with it's protection." Elrond paused in the momentous moment as the two Kings' eyes were locked, and then he adamantly continued with his frowned brows back in place. "The dhampir cannot stay here."

"So be it. I have heard enough. We will depart at first light for Mirkwood."

Off Thranduil marched to go find the peace and quiet he craved in his own special place...Moonlight.

Legolas was not looking forward to the conversation with his father and planned to avoid it at all costs for as long as he could. He could not stay one more minute in the same space as Raven and watch his father continue on with the charade of his new life without you or listen to him speak of you with such repugnance anymore.

The Prince decided it was time you knew the truth, no matter the pain it was going to cause you. At least that was his plan, for he felt he may fall weak on bringing himself to speak the words when he saw you face to face. Maybe you were better off to still believe him dead than to have his father's hatred unleashed upon you...but Legolas knew it would extremely difficult to look you in the eyes and withhold such vital information. He then decided he would burn that bridge when he crossed it for he would have many days to think it through.

Legolas went to find Boromir, Gimli and Aragorn and told him of his plan, with none of them knowing his father also had plans on departing the next day for Mirkwood. He knew that Boromir and Aragorn would head to Dorwinion at some point to inform you about Faramir, so he figured he would tag along and that there was no time like the present.

They all agreed and began packing up their things with Aragorn saying his goodbyes to Arwen when they were busted by Tauriel.

"Legolas?? Where are you going?"

"Tauriel, now that you will be returning to my father's kingdom, you will not question me, for I am now your Prince."

"Legolas Greenleaf, King Thranduil has not formalized anything. I will be surprised if he keeps his word."

"Oh he will. He has a point to prove."

"What does that mean?"

"None of your concern, just like my business is not."

"You..you are going to Dorwinion aren't you?? To see her! Does your father know of this?? For I would not see him in agreement with this at all."

"Josie must know the truth before this gets any worse, and it will, with both my father and Jareth. She may be the only one who can bring him back."

"Well, I do not want to stay here with that wretched witch. I want to come too."

"You will not! I have endured your presence long enough! Josie will not want to see you and you know that, so the point is moot. And if you wish to have the chance at returning to Mirkwood, then I would suggest you do as my father has ordered by tending to Raven and be wise. Stay away from Josie. My guess is she will want to kill you... and as far as my father, well...you know of his wrath upon Raven just for wearing her robe. You are best to not even mention her name."

"I...I suppose you are right." she sadly said.

"Look, if you want to help, then keep my father safe as a captain of the guard would do. He will need it now that his judgments are based solely off of dark emotions. And for your own well being, do not be insolent as Raven has."

"Point taken. Be safe on your travels. Jareth's orcs are not beyond following you and you know this journey will take at least 14 days, if not more."

"That is why it is better to leave now, to get to Josie sooner than later. She's waited long enough."

The ensemble left with Legolas feeling so incredibly guilty for leaving you and hoped you were not angry with him, but he knew better. Of course you were angry...probably more so hurt than anything else and he needed to apologize....and he also missed you and his sister like crazy. The only thing left plaguing him was his feelings for you. What was he to do with them now that his father was back? and then there was the mind thing. He still wondered if he imagined the whole thing of hearing you speak his name, as if the evil effects of Jareth's realm were using his weaknesses against him.

Sarah was back in your morning dream, at her house next door, but this time in a different room you didn't recognize. The basement maybe? for it was all black around her except for the light of the candles on the floor circling her inside them. She wore the large amethyst pendant that Harker stole from her the night she died. In the vision of her death, she had reached for it to fend him off, but he already had it and taunted her as he held it up with her own hair wrapped around it. You didn't know of it's power but believed if Harker felt the need to take it, then it must have been a threat to him.

She held a bowl, but you couldn't make out the contents as she placed them around her in the unknown ritual she was doing, but her words told you it was of protection.

"Everything above here is sacred. Everything below here is sacred. Everything East of here is sacred. Everything West of here is sacred."

Then the candles blew out and she was gone. An evil laugh echoed through the darkness and a fiendish face appeared, smiling at you. His voice, it was dark and deep, almost a growl...and you knew it from the vision of Sarah. It was Harker...only he wasn't a wolf. Selene was wrong. He was a vampire-warlock hybrid.

"Josephine. I will see you soon. After all, you love vampires."

You screamed and went running through Sarah's house, shouting for her, but couldn't find her. As you turned the corner, you ran into her mother, Jocelyn, who was frantic.

"Jo...how..how did you find me?"

"What? I...I don't know, find you? What is happening? Where is Sarah?"

"He...he took her and won't give her back."

"Wh..why, who took her? She...she died...I...I saw it??"

"Sarah is alive...Harker has her in another realm...just like his brother did to...."

She gasped and spun you around. "He's coming! Here, take this."

Jocelyn quickly put Sarah's amethyst pendant around your neck and suddenly, the door behind you opened and glowed of a violet fog.

'"W...w...what do I do with it? I...I don't know to use it...How do I find her???"

"You have to go now!! He must never have that gem! You'll know what to do..."

"Go where???!!!"

She turned you around and shoved you into the purple light as you screamed. It was like some vortex and within seconds, you were in your old house in your bedroom, watching yourself sleep...and there sat Harker, perched on the end of your bed like a gargoyle, watching you too.

You began screaming at yourself to wake up but you couldn't hear yourself. You watched helplessly as Harker climbed onto the bed and laid beside you. The room began to smell of lilacs.

"Thranduil? Where have you been? I have missed you so much." you said with a smile as you rolled over on top of him with your eyes closed.

You began to hover your mouth over his, wanting him desperately. His tongue then shot into your mouth like a snakes. It didn't feel right nor taste right. You opened your eyes to see that it was Harker and screamed as you jumped off of him.

You gasped awake in a sweat calling for Thranduil.

"Josie...it's alright. I think you were dreaming." Lola said as she came to your side.

"L...Lola?" you asked in a dazed state, then panicked. "Where is Leean??!!"

"Shhh my lady...she's right there, asleep. Look."

Your frightened eyes followed her pointing finger to the large sofa across the room to see the sweetest vision of Haldir asleep with Leean laying beside him, secured by his arm and Merlin, Narcisse's cat curled up asleep at his feet.

You closed your eyes and sighed heavily in relief as you held your chest. "W..where is Stephane...and...oh my god...Selene???"

"You told Haldir she left this morning when you arrived back at the castle, remember?"

"O...oh...yes I. Now I do. Narcisse...he wouldn't allow her inside."

It angered you, just as you now remembered it all, but you really couldn't hold it against him, for he was only protecting his people since Selene was a vampire. She was well enough from your healing to leave and you also remembered she was anxious to hunt Harker down, but before she had left, you had asked her about Garrett once more. She still swore she did not know where he was and that he had made her promise to watch over you for him, just as she had told you when you found her.

Why was Garrett doing this? All because you had seen him in his attack mode? He did it to protect you and the warlock he killed was evil....but still, he was so ashamed of what you saw, more so of what he was. You knew it was partly because of that but you also knew it was because of Narcisse, for you recalled Garrett's last words before he vanished into thin air. "Happy birthday. Enjoy your date with Narcisse."

What a mess you had made. What a mess you were period. Maybe it was a good thing that your time with Stephane was interrupted. Sure, you wanted to sleep with him that night and were certainly going to...but now...you were a bit relieved that you hadn't. Narcisse was right. You weren't sure what you wanted even when you told him you were and you began to believe you may have did it to get back at Garrett for leaving you. Partly anyways, for you did feel something for Stephane...but you felt so much more for Garrett...and...now you had went and told Stephane you would stay with him. Haldir was going to come unglued when he found out.

How you just wanted all of this to be a fucking nightmare like you just had and wake up for real in the comfort of Thranduil's arms back in Mirkwood. You so missed his butterfly kisses all over your face, waking you in the mornings and his special endearing touch of your face. No one had ever touched you the way he had or said your name the way that he had...and how you longed to see him hold his daughter, but that would never happen now. The vision you had saw of him with her in the fountain was erased with his death. It was all over. Just like that, the book of love, the only book you gave a shit about, was now merely a fairytale with a tragic ending.

A knock upon the door startled you into a standing position as Haldir awoke.

"Stay where you are. I will answer it. Narcisse's guard has proven nothing but incompetence since the day we arrived here." He scoffed.

Haldir took Leean to you and then cautiously opened the door. There stood a very visibly nervous Charles with a bouquet of red roses.

"It's alright Haldir, he can come in." you assured him. "Charles, what brings you by...and with such lovely flowers? I know you are not responsible for your father finding out about the guards that were holding Arion, so you really didn't have to bring me these."

"Oh...no my lady. These are actually for....Lola...but...but here."

Your eyes widened as you turned with a smirk to a flushed face Lola.

Charles pulled out one rose from the dozen and handed it to you. "You still deserve one...for being so kind to me and...for making my father smile again. Would you mind if I took Lola to breakfast? We won't be long."

You could feel Haldir's eyes upon you and you just wanted to crawl under a rock somewhere to avoid the conversation or attitude that would soon entail thanks to Charles's comment.

"Ohhh, well...now I feel like a total asshat for assuming they were for me, but thank you Charles. It is lovely.....of course, Lola can go with you." you said as you raised your brow at her with another grin in which she bashfully looked down, turning a raspberry shade. You had no idea that the two were into each other but you thought it was adorable and you were happy for Lola.

"But Lola, where is Narcisse. I reeeeallly need to speak to him." you continued.

"He had business to take care of regarding my sister and the things found in her room." Charles answered for Lola.

"Alright...well have fun kids." you giggled.

They left and you immediately shut the door and spun around to Haldir to tell him of your dream.

"He's not a wolf!! Harker is a vampire!!"

"What do you mean Jo?"

"I mean, I saw him in my dream just now...he appeared to me as this ugly ass blueish vampire, but Selene said he was a wolf."

"He is Jo...Harker has both a wolf and vampire form and he chose to show you that one, for you clearly would relate to it since you are...friends... with many."

His sarcasm didn't go unnoticed but you let it slide for the moment.

"Oh god, maybe that's why he....uh never mind. But...Haldir, I dreamt Sarah was alive and that Harker had her somewhere all this time...and there was this necklace...." You paused and quickly felt your empty neck. "I...It was so real, I could feel it on my skin. It was purple and Haldir, it...it made some kind of portal and I...I could travel through it and...."

"Jo, I hope your friend is truly alive but...I hope you realize this does not clear Garrett just because you believe he has changed. Once a vampire, always a vampire and that is what is believed to have attacked that guard and woman. Narcisse...he will not just let that go."

"Well Selene said her attacker was a wolf and she knows it was Harker so you can stop blaming Garrett for everything and Narcisse, he gave me his word he would back off of him and let me find him."

"I suppose your date with him persuaded your thoughts, maybe even more it would seem since you were gone all day into the late evening. You are a fool to put any trust in Stephane Narcisse! I am going to the cellar for the solace of some ale."

Off Haldir stormed, leaving you with your mouth hung open at his implication that you slept with Narcisse, even if he was almost right...and for him to call you a fool really hurt.

As you now sat alone, not having a clue what to do about finding Garrett, you noticed his record laying in the corner from when you whisked it across the room. You immediately went to retrieve it, hoping it wasn't broken and luckily...it was not.

You held it and stared at your reflection in the vinyl, which quickly turned into a vision. First, you saw Amara watching you from afar in the forest and then it jumped to you walking onto the porch of...Peter's cabin...and just like that, it vanished, leaving you gasping and now knowing where to get your answers.

Claude's trial took place in the court hall, for she was now well enough after giving birth, to withstand questioning about her mother's and her involvement of Haldir's poisoning and much more. What Claude didn't know is that Narcisse held the trump card that would put the final nail in both her and Catherine's coffins if she chose to lie.

"We are here today to determine whether you, Claude, aided your mother, Catherine De Medici, in the poisoning of Haldir of Lorien and the use of black magic upon myself and the vampire King Garrett Lee, and also the imprisonment of my horse, Arion, by bribery of my guards. Last but not at all in the least, the attempted murder of the Queen by releasing a prisoner, my former deputy, Asher. Upon a search of your quarters, this was found, your diary, among other items such as the black magic spell book that was stolen from the Queen of Mirkwood's chambers, which that in itself is another crime. Also found was the evidence two voodoo dolls, one in the fireplace, being that of myself that was not fully destroyed and the other being that of my horse, Arion. Were you a part of these crimes?"

"You searched my chambers??!"

"Answer the question."

Claude began to tear up and remained silent.

"Your silence will not help you. Need I remind you, if you are found guilty, your punishment will be no less severe than Catherine's. If you tell the truth, things will go much easier for you. Let us try this again. I will start with the first question. Is this your diary and do you have knowledge that your mother, Catherine De Medici, poisoned Haldir of Lorien?"

"It..it is. If you're asking me if she poisoned the Marchwarden of Lothlorien, she did not."

Narcisse sighed in frustration and opened the diary to read aloud from it.

"Since you want to do this the hard way, I will then read your own writing to this court, dated November of 2023, which, by the way, answers all of my questions that I have given you the chance to be forthcoming about."

"November 30th, I confronted my mother over the poisonous soup she had served to the elf and asked her why he deserved to die."

"Those are my personal thoughts, you have no right to..."

"Continuing on..."

Narcisse skimmed through the pages and then read about Asher.

"I don't know why my mother would free Asher. He was a monster that deserved the wrath of Narcisse, even if I believed his actions to be quite monstrous in itself. Her jealousy of the Mirkwood Queen has consumed her. That woman has a child, yet that did not stop my mother from trying to have her killed. If that was not horrific enough, she had me use his blood to cast a deadly spell of some vampire, all the more to hurt Josephine. I did not want to do it but I was frightened, for my own mother warned she would punish me somehow if I did not comply. I told myself that it was just a filthy vampire that is hated in these lands, but I knew that would not matter, for the use of black magic was not permitted for the intent to harm, or even really at all. It is such torment to have all these secrets locked inside of me, for I can never tell anyone. I even feel she is responsible for my father's death, but I have no proof. She even went as far as to torture poor Arion, having him locked in some far away desolate dungeon and made Narcisse believe he was dead and that she had served the horse to him for his dinner. I wanted to vomit with just the thought of it and if Narcisse ever found out what she had done to his beloved horse...well, I do not want to be there if he does. I just hope someday she can see the excruciating pain she has caused me my whole life."

"Stop!" Claude cried.

"These words hold true!" Narcisse barked as he snapped the diary shut.

"Now..I know you have just given birth and I will not pass down your judgment this day and toss you out on your ass where I feel it belongs because that is my anger speaking, but mark my words, no one, not even a young mother, crosses me. The only thing that may help you is if you verbally admit to these crimes and the fact that it is obvious you were coerced into assisting with two of them. With that said, you still had a choice and you chose the wrong one, then and today. I will now give you a choice. You can remain here until I make a definitive decision of your fate, or you can willingly remove yourself and your child from my realm, never to return because I can not guarantee you I will not soon make the same decision. Now, leave my sight, for I cannot stand to look at you."

After Claude had left, Narcisse also left on another mission that involved his revenge on Catherine.

He met with one of his guards in at the dungeon where Catherine had Arion held, as he had plans for the place.

"I need you to complete a small task. Take this payment to the ringmaster. I am sure you are aware of his carnival's location just outside the city."

"I am my lord. May I ask what this entails?"

"You may. Catherine enjoys playing games and we all know I enjoy them more and am much better at them. Offer this payment for the use of the ringmaster's prize possession. If he agrees, in which I know he will for this more than generous compensation in his times of struggle, bring me Blaze, for I have more than one use for that tiger."

"Interesting. Catherine won't see you coming." the guard smiled and so did Narcisse.

"Not this time."

@redeemer46

[flowersforjoy]

Rectifier Devlog #1 (March)

Guess who's back, back again- devlogs are back, tell a friend!

Hey hey, it's Joy! I've been taking a break finally-mostly just streaming while waiting for Otome Jam 2024. I've known I was going to participate in Otome Jam since this time last year LOL. (I've had to keep it's existence as mostly a secret for an entire year, which was difficult since it's probably my favorite project I've ever worked on, and has a cast of the best characters like ever.)

THIS PROJECT- "Rectifier" has been a WILD ADVENTURE. Fitting since it's an epic high fantasy adventure dating sim, where you play as an alien angel with 3 different personalities, traveling with your SEVEN super distinct love interests.

Each guy is based off of one of 7 deadly sins. Which means they alone, and in a group are a handful. 

I want to just talk about a handful of things about the project as a whole, and what you can expect if you are interested.

For those that have played my most recent game "Lord of Lies" you won't feel so out of the loop. Though playing Lord of Lies before Rectifier is by no means a requirement. They just take place in the same universe. So the magic, world, and art is the same. Yes, same sprite artist! GET HYPED!

Rectifier is a special project as it is the exact dating sim I want to play. You step into the role of an Angel or more specifically a Nephelim, a celestial race of aliens who can shapeshift at will, have a great deal of magic at their disposal, and work to save humanity for themselves. 

The project's mood is the most similar to "One Piece", "Avatar the Last Airbender", and many other action/adventures with a diverse cast of whacky characters- but if you could date them all.

The MC will have 2 appearances- masculine and feminine leaning, but you can be: she/her, he/him, or they/them. 

What affects the game and your MC mostly is one of their 3 distinct personalities- Red, Green, and Blue respectively.

Red- dominant, confident, aggressive, and decisive.

Green- neutral, alien, observant, and intelligent.

Blue- submissive, diplomatic, understanding, and altruistic .

This personality system is one of the most unique aspects about Rectifier- you have 7 love interests and can romance them 3 different ways. So in a way, you've got 21 unique story experiences. Regardless of your choices/personality you can't get a bad end, and you and your chosen guy will fall in love in their own specific way.

Neat huh?

Although your choices don't lead to a bad end, that doesn't mean they don't have any impact in the story. Your personality/choices will affect specific story events, how characters react to and speak about you. Especially your love interest.

What's important to me was that players could sit down with the story and feel stress free. Though this doesn't mean the story won't have twists and turns.

Something special as well, is that no matter which love interest you choose, you still spend a huge amount of time with the other guys as they are your party members no matter what. Meaning you can get to know them again as friends. All the guys have complex relationships with one another, and maybe chemistry..? Who knows...hehe.

This is also the first project of Meant to Bee where I am working with multiple writers. This has been a wonderful decision as with such a large project, I worried I wouldn't be able to make each guy feel unique and interesting by myself lol. I will be writing one route all by myself. (Greed's route).

Regardless, I am creative director, lead writer, and programmer for this project- among many other things. I have a hand in every part of production, so it will still have my scent all over it...could have phrased that better LOL.

It's important I note one thing. Our submission to otome jam will actually be a spin off game.

*record scratch*

WAIT WHAT?

Yeah, so... the project is quite large as you may have already guessed. I planned for a long time to release a huge demo showcasing the world and characters, covering the first couple chapters of each route, however...I didn't feel all that confident in that idea.

There's a lot of groundwork necessary for this project

So suffice it to say, I felt OVERWHELMED. And if I someone whose been sitting with this project since it was a spark of an idea felt that way. I knew for a fact my audience would also feel that way.

I needed more time, and otome jam was only getting closer everyday. I thought about compressing it, cutting corners here, simplifying concepts I loved, etc... but none of it sat right with me.

I was at a loss, and even went into a period of burn out/creator's block as a result. I've loved and I mean, adored, worshiped this project since the moment I decided I wanted to work on it. (that's a story for a whole other devlog) It's the kind of project where I HAD to show it to friends, months before it was ever meant to be announced.

I worried I would be doing the story, my team, and myself a disservice if I released it feeling the way I was. So much behind the scenes work has been made for this game. 

I didn't want to release it and it be info dump-y, take too long to get to the hot boys, or cut short before it gets into the meat of the story. You only get one chance to make a good first impression. I want my readers to be interested, invested, clawing for more.

The demo focuses on setting up a lot of LORE, which can be interesting if we have enough time to make it interesting. It has to be strategic, it needed more time.

But otome jam is the best chance for this project to gain the attention it deserves. I didn't want to miss the window. So I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

UNTIL- I had a eureka moment...a side game.

But Joy (I can hear you asking yourself) a side game for a game that doesn't exist???

Yes.

I know why people play dating sims- for the boyssss, sure an interesting story is great- but ultimately it is background dressing. The story will be deep and detailed, but that's for the main game to worry about balancing the rich story with dating sim mechanics and conventions.

The side game, just fun dating sim, with little hints to a bigger picture.

You'll meet our boys in media res. You'll be thrown into what the heart of the game is. If you like where you land, then I'm sure you'll love the demo when it's released at a later date.

The Rectifier main game is VERY MUCH still a priority for me. But for now, for my team and I's first ever otome jam we are going to have fun and show you what we've been working so hard on.

So let me reintroduce you to our newest project...

"Rectifier: In Bloom"

The game will center around you/the MC receiving a flower from all your love interests in their very specific way. (This is a very rough concept sketch, but by the time all the love interests are revealed we will have an itch page.)

"Rectifier: In Bloom" will be a complete game! Each route will be anywhere from 5k-10k words, so you can get a good sense of each guy, and pursue them fully in the main game, as well as get a taste of the world, personality system, and feeling of the Rectifier world.

It's the best choice for my team and I to test the waters for both us and our player base. So I hope you'll enjoy this side game when it releases. We will make it so you can go in blind and still enjoy your time.

There's so many wonderful things I want to show. And I am so glad I am finally getting the chance to bring this story to life.

Please stay tuned for more, either here on itch, Twitter, and Tumblr!

I'll be yapping about this project from now until July 1st.

This is also the first monthly devlog for all things Rectifier related.

[miyakuli]

Flowers - Le volume sur printemps

Amour et les fleurs ne durent qu'un printemps

Flowers is a series of visual novels immersing us in the daily lives of young female students at a Catholic school where friendship and love collide. We follow the shy Suoh, freshly arrived in this new school, whose objective is to make friends and try to detach herself from her traumatic childhood. This springtime introduction is full of sweetness and poetry, but I still felt that certain aspects were still a bit in the bud state.

❤ The aesthetic of the game is really well done, whether for the menu, the illustrations, the sprites or even the text window. It's flowery, soft and cute, and totally in tune with the calm and romantic atmosphere of the story. ❤ Beneath its air of innocence and purity, the game tackles some fairly sensitive subjects, such as psychological abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and neglect… but remains very modest in its approach. Also, in terms of its girl's love theme, I liked the fact that the character asked herself questions about her sexuality and that it wasn't something she immediately assumed. Her reflections on the fine line that can exist between love between friends or a deeper love were, in my opinion, very relatable subjects, especially for a character of that age. ❤ I think the development of the main character is very well carried out. She gradually opens up to the world around her, her dialogues become less indecisive and we gradually feel her more relaxed in her relationships with others. We don't get rid of her shyness, which is an integral part of her personality, but we do see Suoh gain in confidence and self-assurance. I've seen far too many media where the shy side of a character's character was quickly erased in favor of their development, as if it were something to be ‘’fixed‘’, so I was reassured that this wasn't the case here. ❤ The secondary characters are all very engaging (more so than the love interests, which is a bit of a shame) and add a lot of dynamism to the life of this school. A special mention goes to Erika (who's supposed to be the focus of another episode, bless), who has the best affinity with the heroine, and who clearly should have been a love interest (or at least earned the status of best friend, because frankly, she's the best).

+/- The music played by the strings and piano is perfect for accompanying the scenes, but there isn't much of it. One particular piece of music takes up 80% of the sound space and although it is long and beautiful to the ear, the musical redundancy is often felt. I also think there's a problem with the sound balance, as I had to turn the volume of the soundtrack down as low as possible to get the best out of the voices of the dubbing actresses, who interpret their roles very well, and it would have been a shame not to appreciate them more. +/- The story is easy to follow and plays out like a slice of life, with little episodes from the daily lives of these teenagers. Personally, I liked this approach, but some might criticise the lack of more intimate moments with the LIs. On the other hand, I found the last 2 chapters almost inconsistent; relationships suddenly rush in, and the attitude of one of the main characters changes drastically to the point of becoming toxic, with no real transition and no consequences at the end. It's quite confusing, and I was even put off playing this character's route after those events (because, on top of that, the route only unlocks after you've finished the ‘true end’, something that's never made clear). You should also bear in mind that the ‘true end’ is not really a happy ending either which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth once you've finished the whole game. It's a daring decision but one I didn't really like.

✖ At times, Suoh lends herself to games of deduction in which you have to pay attention to small details to solve enigmatic situations (otherwise, it's game over). The problem is that these ‘investigations’ are extremely difficult, as they either involve word games based on kanji that are not translated, or require highly specialized knowledge that is never mentioned in the story. So it's almost essential to take a guide with you… ✖ I don't usually pay too much attention to the cliché of femininity in Japanese games (which doesn't necessarily bother me) but here, it was over-emphasized at times with some rather embarrassing remarks; girls outside the norm of gentleness/politeness are called tomboys, the emphasis is often on the heroine's larger breasts, which make her seem more ‘feminine’ than the others, and too many categories are put on what it means to be a ‘real girl’. The game isn't that old (2014), but it feels that way :/ ✖ There's a lot of typo in the English translation, with mixed-up letters and repeated lines of dialogue. I was even given white text on a white background - genius!

It's a pretty good first part, in my opinion, although it's a bit frustrating in terms of its conclusion, which I think will encourage us to get on with the sequel. I've also heard that the following games are much better and focus more on the secondary characters, which makes me all the more intrigued. In any case, if you like your romances flourishing against a backdrop of slices of life, your spring will surely be more radiant.

➡ My personal VN ranking (in french) ➡ My Steam page

[spaceless-vacuum]

Greetings, introductions aside, may i please request a yandere Courage and Koridai?

Gender neutral reader please, I'm actually not sure if you write for any of them because I'm quite new to your blog.

But hopefully you do because i don't see a lot of Yandere Koridai and Courage, the only blog owner i know that does that is Cloudninetonine, but aside from that, that's all I'm seeing.

Perhaps the reader is done with both of their crap, always arguing and such that instead of stopping them both like the reader always does, they just let both of them do whatever argument, because they always get roped in it in the end and instead of stopping they just find a new thing to argue on, and it's always about the reader.

The two yanderes notice this, of course.

I mean, who wouldn't notice the change in behavior of their beloved? Who wouldn't notice the tiredness of the love of their life's voices whenever they try to start a conversation? Who wouldn't notice the short replies that their obsession gives them?

Nobody, of course!

Koridai is smug and plays dumb to everything while Courage is unashamed and presses you for attention by just being clingy in a way that doesn't come off as clingy. Koridai is a stalker who uses emotions over facts and will often play you like a fiddle for what he wants. Playing dumb isn't too bad for his reputation because at heart he's a master at deception. Courage will fight dirty and collect research prior to his attempts to court you, and no one really has any idea how events transpire around him; they just give him the benefit of the doubt because he can easily play the sympathy card and have people falling for his stories. Why was he in your room? Looking to sprite his fairy, why was she there well you see- and his story will just have everything swept under the rug.

The way the two show up in whatever room you're in can be ignored at first but eventually people start to notice- especially you. Both of them specialise in one thing, seeing who can trap you in their arms first. Which is negotiated and they settle on sharing you in the end but never giving up on their rivalry. You start to get annoyed as the challenges rise and they start treating you in a strange almost biblical sense.

You can't ever seem to catch a break from either of them but with Koridai? It's just the worst! He never leaves your sides and they bicker about the most useless things. From the colour that best suits you to what they should do first today. The way they talk about you is annoying and makes you blush from embarrassment, but now you'd wish they'd find other hobbies. And the way they both seem to plan out every aspect of your day while you're right there just standing there and they don't seem to include you at all is so outrageous.

God forbid anything happen to you, because the rumours of what Koridai did in the town are only overshadowed by the ear talking off that Courage gave you. Why you can't do that again, why you shouldn't go out, why you need him or Koridai with you at all times, and why you have to trust them. There are several people who know more than you and who can help you, and how he just has to go on and on!

When you do stand up and storm off when they bicker as they always do, and they dont realise you left while the two were goofing off until it was too late. Suddenly it's no longer time for games and it's time for them to figure out who is going to hunt you down first.

Courage is bold and brash while koridai is deceptive and uses his charm to decide. They're almost polar opposites which is why they work so well together. They cover all the bases and while Courage enjoys being there for you he's more of a tough adventure turned knight while Koridai enjoys going out and getting his hands dirty and is better at playing the role of a chivalrous knight. He was trained in a Hyrule that really did have knights after all. He's never travelled and may have less on the road experience but he is a lady's man at heart and loves to do small things like hold open all your doors. He is also the one to clean up the messes while Courage takes care of the social aspect. The people here trust him more and he knows his way around. They both get the job done but do it so well together it's hard to see where one influence ends and the other begins.

The other Links can work together but no one has a dynamic quite like theirs in my head. They're the best pair only to be rivalled by some yandere zeldas/Link pairs.

so when you go quiet it's all hands on deck. as the silent treatment continues and the replies only turn out to be short they turn up their next tactic; who can charm your pants off first! not literally of course (Koridai smacked Courage over the head for that comment) rather who can charm you out of your shell. Korida goes for gifts and follows you until you're too far from town to turn for help and he'll corner you and ask what's wrong in a sweet, low tone. “It's been several days love- are you ok?” He knows what he did wrong but he refuses to admit it and will ask about things that happened throughout the week that are all unrelated to the issue at hand but seem to- from an outsider -be the cause of your short temper. He waits until you talk about it and lays it on sweet.

Courage will go all in on the “I know what I did was wrong but here's why it’s ok” as he spends the next twenty minutes explaining how he really isn't wrong. Look he gets his talking from the princess and is on good terms with ehr even despite how much he goofs off. He knows how to talk and sound pretty convincing in that sweet and rugged boyish charm sort of way. Of course that's not all he can do, he gets his kicks out of keeping you entertained with the facade but really he wants to take themask off and just lock you away somewhere. He doesn't because he knows that won't help anyone (just yet) but he gets close and will only get closer if you keep ignoring him.

The trick is to keep them both bothering each other rather than you, which will backfire if they decide to share all the way.

. . .

This has been sitting there for so long thank you for the wait. I still have a two chapter fic planned for these two and I will work on it later tonight (hopefully). I just have to clear requests out and so I finally got to this. Thank you for waiting! I love these two so much and I need to write for them more. I have long formed content planned with them as well but I'm waiting until I finish a few more requests so that way I don't make people wait for too long.

[ari-zonia]

My Time At Orange Juice: A Modder's Perspective

Since I had put out a mod for 100% Orange Juice that replaces two of the units with Logan and Haru, I thought I'd go a bit into my though process for them for those that aren't familiar with OJ. Note: by default neither boy has their masks, but they can have them on if you use a specific accessory in the game, so the spritesheet will also not show them. Spoilers, since it dives a bit into their story roles.

I will mention for those unfamiliar, 100% OJ is a dice-based board game with the ability to get into short turn-based battles with other players and generic enemies. This is where the cards and stats come in. You win the game by either getting enough Stars (basically coins) or Wins (from battle) and returning to a Home space five times. All explanations will be an "in general"/normal circumstances. This is since there's a lot of cards and characters that can change the outcome of any given turn.

Under the cut for convenience

Haru:

Originally, Haru was going to replace either the characters Star Breaker or Mimyuu, as they are characters who's Hypers/specials focus on covertly trapping the board/deck with explosives. However, I eventually decided against these for a couple reasons.

Namely, playstyle. Star Breaker is an attack oriented character, who MUST KO enough enemies/players to raise her Wins to actually win the game, she cannot win by Stars. Meanwhile, Mimyuu is incredibly squishy, and swaps out with an almost equally weak character on KO. I didn't feel that Logan and Haru sharing a single unit would do them justice, and Andy didn't feel like an apt replacement for Mimyuu's partner.

Instead, Haru replaces Saki, who is generally more "passive" for playstyle. Her only good stat is evasion, meaning she's simply more likely to avoid getting hit during battle (basically running away). In addition, her Hyper places down a bomb trap that grows more powerful the longer it goes untripped. Unlike the other two, all players are aware of the presence of the trap (not necessarily what the trap is, unless under a specific circumstance), which seems pretty in line with Haru's nature. (Star Breaker's bombs are invisible to all players except the one who set them, and Mimyuu's are hidden randomly in the deck until they are drawn. So you know WHAT their trap is, but no idea where/when they'll be tripped, rather than Saki who you can attempt to avoid).

Meanwhile, for Haru's "animations"/sprites, I tried to reference as much as possible from the game. His neutral is obviously taken from his character portrait, and this is why a Bomble-dee and the matryoshka-like hand grenade are present for Attack and Win. Interestingly, even his Win and Lose sprites are references to the game.

In Multiplayer, Haru does not leave town, rather he "joins" town as a permanent resident, allowing you to befriend and even spar him. A weird quirk of this is that his battle animations are all from his boss fight, but as he was never intended to be sparred with, his Win and Lose animations are actually borrowed from Nia. (Even weirder, his voice clips are taken from Ernest, but that's unrelated).

Logan:

Logan also was going to be a different character entirely named Peat. His playstyle is very battle heavy, and his Hyper makes him more powerful in battle depending on how many cards he has in his hand (aka ammo/an aresenal). I went against that idea as Peat is actually very squishy and it's easy to KO him in one hit, and I wanted Logan to feel like the brick wall of a man he's built like.

Instead, Logan replaces Malt, namely for his passive. He cannot challenge anyone to battle on the field. Rather he has to be hunted down and challenged, meaning he's always on the defensive in normal circumstances. Even with is own Hyper he is never on offense. I felt this was the best way to reference how you deal with him in Sandrock. In addition, he's worth 3 Wins rather than the standard 2 of other player characters, in fact that's as many wins as a Boss KO. Basically he has a higher "bounty" compared to every other character in the game.

The part of his passive where he can put down traps also works fairly well to his character. Yes, he puts down a trap, but if it's a Battle card, the card effects him as well, making the playing field fairly level, instead of making it one sided. He's looking for as fair a fight he can get.

Finally, the Hyper works out very well, as Encounters are always against low-power (relatively) monsters, and he forces his enemies to step on his traps. He literally turns himself into the board's nightmare scenario. He becomes the enemy you're forced to deal with.

His stats also lend very well to how Logan actually is in game. He's fairly strong, and very well able to hold his own both offensively and defensively, but is also able to run away if he needs to.

Obviously the card art for his Hyper is to reference why he "went bandit"/why he makes himself the enemy.

Now, his sprites don't have quite as many overt references like Haru's does, but he also lends himself to being much more dynamic since we get more of his personality. Again, his Neutral is just a reference to his character portrait, while his Attack and Roll are simply to show off both his gun and dagger that he uses throughout the game.

I specifically made his KO sprite what it is since his lose animation for sparring isn't really anything interesting, especially not for a static sprite, since he just stares down at the ground. There's plenty of OJ sprites that are simple like that in game, but I thought it would be fun for Rambo to show up. That, and this is a "casual game of dice" we're playing, Logan could chill out.

I hope you enjoyed my explanation. I've considered updating the mod with more characters, like Owen, since there's a few other units in the game that would fit the "playstyle"/personality of certain Sandrockers, but haven't decided.

[miloscat]

[Review] Sonic Battle (GBA)

Easily the best Sonic-themed arena fighter/RPG on the GBA.

As one of the more notable and novel spinoffs in the Sonic series I was interested to play Battle. 1996's Sonic the Fighters was a Virtua Fighter-style traditional 3D fighting game [which I bounced off hard], whereas in 2003 Sonic Team looked to Capcom's Power Stone for a more free-roaming arena fighter with a simple control scheme. The main surprise for me with this one though was its heavy story focus.

Sonic is chilling out in Emerald City, you know that place that he's always lived in with all his friends, that city that has existed before and will continue to exist. Anyway he meets some robot who he names Emerl, a learning machine that takes on the traits of others. Emerl bounces between his friends, getting into trouble with Eggman and growing all the way. Yada yada yada, ancient superweapon, the destruction of the planet, etc etc. It's a plot rich with incident, full of roadblocks and cheap excuses for fights, where the strength is in the little character moments along the way.

Some characters come off better than others. Emerl has a fun dynamic with Knuckles while he still has a childlike mindset, and there are nice bits with Cream and Rouge. Shadow really shines as Emerl's final mentor and arguably the heart of the whole story despite his scarce screentime, managing to not come off as an utterly boring character to me for the first time ever (now granted I haven't played his game or SA2). Amy on the other hand is at the peak of her "weirdo stalker" characterisation that it seems she was stuck in for, what, at least 15 years? The way she's written is godawful, a real embarrassment. So it's highs and lows, aka your typical Sonic product.

Another high is the art design. The Sonic Advance-style sprites have a lot of personality and animation to them, which helps convey the fight moves. The map is lovely isometric pixel art, while battles play out in little arenas modelled in full 3D with some nice varied textures. Sure the layouts are very simple, with just two levels of elevation and mostly cube-shaped platforms around but they manage some variety within that. You'll see the character portraits a lot during dialogue, so luckily they're fantastic, with a distinctive style that pops despite some slight GBA crunchiness.

The events play out over the course of eight character-centric plotlines that follow each other chronologically. There's a fair bit of repetition and what often feels like padding to stretch this into an 8-hour game over the course of all the campaigns. Don't expect any to tell a complete story, but each shapes Emerl in some way. This plays into the game design too, as Emerl is a customisable character. You'll play as him a bit less than half the time, so it's important to update his moveset with new actions won from your battles. Unfortunately Emerl's skill points increase slowly, and new moves are randomly dropped, to encourage link cable trading and grinding on optional battles or story replays. With the uneven difficulty this can create some unpleasant scenarios, but I got by using emulator features and some potent cheese strats.

So we come to the battle gameplay. I really like the platform fighter-esque simplicity of the control scheme, with complexity arising from the free movement in the arenas and strategising with your special moves. Aside from basic attacks, air attacks, and two directional strong attacks, which aren't hugely different between characters, you have your special moves on R. Each time you spawn in, you pick between projectile, power, and trap for your specials: one for grounded use, one for air use, and one that your character will automatically block against for the duration of that life. In this way you can choose your favourite variation, or react to an opponent's style or their guard choice.

It's an ingenious little system, but the battling is let down by ruthless AI and a dodgy camera. Like in a belt-scrolling beat-em-up, depth perception can be an issue as you often whiff attacks if you're not lined up just right, and opponents can escape offscreen. Try to engage them with normal attacks and you (or at least I) will be relentlessly countered and full-comboed to oblivion. Luckily, there are many ways to manipulate the engine and your foes, and finding the right one becomes a new kind of gameplay, if not the intended way to play.

For example, Rouge can maintain repeated airdrop combos, and with the right timing and spacing other characters can infinitely knock an opponent into a wall with a strong attack, then hit them again on the rebound. Emerl's basic ground shot can easily be repeated on any enemy even if they are blocking shots for cheap kills. The L button briefly blocks, then turns into a heal that also charges a special meter which when full turns specials into one-hit KO moves; any character with a fast charge (Knuckles, Cream, Emerl when properly equipped) can frequently get distance, charge up an OHKO, nail one or even two approaching enemies, rinse and repeat. Even spamming projectiles and traps can get you through in the right circumstances.

And that's why I love this system. It's broken, but you can work the jank in your favour and find many ways to exploit the game. It feels good! At first I was very frustrated but with a few pointers from friends and some goblin ingenuity I relished mastering this new style of play. The enemy's not fighting fair so why should I? Mwa ha ha!

It's worth noting that there's a few extra characters that are fought in the story that you can unlock for "free battle" or multiplayer, like a Gamma that isn't actually Gamma for lore reasons, or the slow but powerful Chaos. There's also a handful of minigames, but sadly most are locked to link cable play only. They look kinda cool but I'll never know. All I got was a lazy Knuckles-themed reskin of Windows 95 classic Minesweeper. Wahey.

Sonic Battle fits right in with some other Sonic games I've played recently: a heady mix of coolness, stupidity, great artistic choices, utter jank, some truly wrongheaded decisions, and gameplay that's a mess. In this case an endearing mess, so it comes out as a win. It's an easy must-play for Sonic fans. Especially for the story that feeds into Advance 3, Shadow the Hedgehog, and apparently Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. And speaking of, I wonder what's next on my checklist...?