#someone is probably going to make art based on this I am not ready for that lol

[dreamy-baku]

Okay so I made some things

Ignore the quality ahahahahaa…! I found these and decided to do them with a few Puyo Characters I like.

[zara-renata]

Creature Feature with Sylus Qin | ao3 | lads fic masterlist

Summary: You and Sylus dress up for a Halloween gala. This is a short little Sylus series interlude, occurring after these idiots finally get together. Can be read as a standalone.

Notes: Sylus x gn reader, Sylus x mc, second person POV Established relationship This story contains: fluff, banter, two utterly infatuated fools, mentions of alcohol use, smooches

You stand in front of Sylus’s ornately framed, three-paneled mirror in his disgustingly large dressing room, turning your body this way, and then that way, admiring the silver and gold sheen of the full set of plate armor you’re wearing from every angle.

The whole thing fits you perfectly, from the greaves covering your feet with their wicked points, perfect for kicking an enemy while they’re down, to the strangely sexy cuisses encasing your strong thighs, up to the cuirass, the breastplate shining brightly under Sylus’s tasteful spotlights. The pauldrons soaring from your shoulders are huge, imposing, probably designed more for intimidation than for use, but you feel like a badass as you flex your arms. The whole suit is made from what seems to be super lightweight plates, but underneath is a form fitting, incredibly soft leather bodysuit. It fits you like a glove—like the gloves currently on your hands, underneath elaborate gauntlets with built-in brass knuckles. They don’t look brass, but you can imagine punching the living daylights out of someone with these bad boys, even so.

At the edge of each piece of armor, where one plate ends and is layered over another, the silver bleeds into gold. Intricate, savagely flowing designs are engraved into the silver from your greaves to the bevor protecting your neck, and each gleams as if carved and then filled with liquid gold. The engraving of an anatomically correct diagram of a heart, gripped by the uncanny hand of some humanoid monster with sharp claws instead of nails, shines like the sun over your own heart. You stare at the design for a while, in awe of the delicate yet vicious design of the hand, the details of the heart’s chambers, its arteries, its meat gripped by the sharp, sharp claws.

You shake yourself out of your trance and gently touch the hilt of your greatsword. The plate armor is not real; it can’t be, with how light it is. You suspect carbon fiber, or some other strong yet lightweight material that mimics the shine and strength of real metal plate, but without the weight. But this sword… it’s real. Forged from carbon steel, sharp enough to slice paper. The hilt is intricate, encrusted with rubies but not in such a way as to affect the comfort of the grip. You could kill a very large wanderer with this as your weapon, if you could lodge it at the base of its skull or through its heart. You heft the sword with both hands, swinging it through the air experimentally. It feels fucking good .

You hear Sylus’s voice drifting from outside the dressing room.

“Are you ready, darling? May I finally gaze upon your wondrous, surprising form, oh conquering knight of my heart?”

You scowl. Sylus had balked at your insistence that the two of you put on your Halloween costumes in separate rooms, so that you could surprise each other. Well, so that you could surprise Sylus at least a little bit, since he had picked both his and your costume out, while you had no idea what either looked like before he presented you with the elaborate black box, as large as a coffin, tied with a red ribbon and giant bow. The two of you had agreed to go as a dragon-slaying knight and the dragon-to-be-slayed, but you had expected to go to one of those temporary pop-up Halloween stores to get your costume before Sylus surprised you with the coffin containing this exquisite work of art. He has been making petulant, snarky comments ever since you pushed him out of the dressing room and slammed the door.

“It’s not like I am going to actually be surprised, beloved. I did design the thing, after all,” he grumbled. ��I’d much rather watch you put it on.”

“Think of it as a test of patience. You like challenges, right?” You twirled your finger, as if to say turn around and go on, now, shoo.

He frowned. “It’s not fun if it means you’re far away.”

“I’m literally right in the next room,” you laughed. “Now, out!” You planted your shoulder against his back and pushed as he planted his feet and leaned back against you with equal force, refusing to budge.

The tendrils of his evol drifted from your ankles, slithering up your legs, winding around your waist—up, up, up, until they brushed against your lips in an insubstantial, shiver-inducing kiss.

“Using your evol to distract me is not going to work,” you gritted out, blowing a raspberry at the tendrils. They dissipated where your breath blew through them, but reformed almost instantly. You decided to switch tactics.

“If you concede, and allow me to put on the costume by myself, I’ll let you take it off me after we get tonight over with,” you offered as you step aside so quickly that Sylus, who was leaning so much of his weight on you that your sudden move sent him stumbling backward with a huff before catching himself gracefully—a falling cat spinning in mid-air to land on its feet. He immediately tucked one thumb into his trouser pocket, the picture of studied casualness after almost falling on his big, fat, sexy ass.

“Fine. But only if I decide which parts I get to take off… while you keep the rest on for me, until I’m satisfied,” he counter-offered, the tip of his tongue sweeping out to lick his lower lip as his eyes raked you from your toes to your eyes.

Eyes which you rolled at him. “Yes, if you’re a good boy for me right now, and get the fuck out so I can pretend that you’re stunned to see me in the whole getup.”

“I can’t believe I let you kiss me with that mouth,” he laughed softly. “Deal, but you won’t have to pretend.” He then disappeared in a whoosh of air, ink and scarlet tendrils, and a puff of feathers. You ran to the dressing room door and slammed it shut before he could change his mind.

And now here you are, dressed as a knight in shining armor. You feel like a real knight, capable of slaying the largest of predators, impervious to fire and claws. You bare your teeth in the mirror and then grin in satisfaction. This costume is so cool that it almost makes up for the fact that you have to wear it to a Halloween masquerade gala hosted by one of Sylus’s business rivals, where Sylus hopes to conduct some shady deal that you asked he not discuss with you in case things go south and you need plausible deniability regarding the aftermath. You grip the sword a little tighter. At least you’ll be armed.

You’d much rather stay at home tonight on one of his big couches in the theater room, stuffing yourself with Halloween candy (full sized candy bars, thank you very much, because your boyfriend is fucking rich and can afford to give away the good stuff), watching horror film after horror film until you’re too sleepy to keep your eyes open. You don’t care what you watch, really, as long as it’s scary. Sylus prefers the classics—films shot in black and white, filled with the golden age of cinema ingenues and actually scary looking vampires. You snort, remembering his reaction to the Twilight vampires after he agreed to watch the entire quadrilogy with you. He promptly got bored, asked if you’d like to play a drinking game with soju shots where you had to take a shot every time Bella bit her lip or Edward stared menacingly. You one-upped him, adding a shot for every time Edward acted like a red flag and every time Jasper looked like he was in pain. You were both quickly tipsy, and the rest of the movie was ignored while he argued with you about what behavior, exactly, qualifies as a red flag, until he gave up in the face of your tirade, nodded until you seemed to run out of steam, and leaned in, licking up your neck, licking into your mouth, and kissed you breathless. You never made it to the second film. 

Tonight, however, you’d just be happy watching the Alien series, or a bunch of indie horror films that you haven’t managed to watch this year. Sylus likes to lie on you, crushing you into the couch underneath him, as he rests his cheek on your stomach, insisting that you pet his hair through the whole movie. If you’re watching something scary and he senses you tensing at a particularly suspenseful part, he’ll gently lift the hem of your shirt and press soft kisses into your abdomen, nosing along your skin. If he is ever frightened by anything you watch, you’ve never been able to tell.

“Are you so desensitized to real life fear and violence that movies do nothing for you?” you asked him once.

He just stared steadily back at you, eyes glowing like fire-lit gems, until he drew you into his arms and kissed the top of your head. “Only one thing scares me, darling.” He breathed deeply. “And when you’re in my arms, I don’t need to fear it.”

You didn’t ask what scares him, and he didn’t tell.

But no. No scary movies for you tonight. No eating snickers until you could burst and tossing almond joys at him for having the audacity to include such inferior candy bars on your Halloween menu. You have to go to a fancy-ass gala full of rich criminal bastards because you love Sylus more than you hate being at large public events and the underworld in general.

You bare your teeth in the mirror again, and then yelp as a whoosh of air, black and red mist, and your beautiful boyfriend materialize at your back, scaring the shit out of you.

You gape at his reflection behind you in the mirror, feeling your heart begin to gallop. His soft silver hair is swept up and back from his high forehead, from which sprout two large … horns? Black, smooth and shiny like obsidian, spiraling up and back, ending in sharp, wicked points. His cheeks are layered with gorgeous jewel-like scales, red and black, slowly blending into the pale cream of his skin. He’s wearing a black leather collar, and a large ruby rests in the hollow of his throat. A black leather harness is strapped over his torso, but it doesn’t do much to cover him except to frame his tits in the most delicious of ways, because most of his chest and stomach is bare. The same pretty scales cover his big shoulders, the thick biceps of his arms, his pecs, his 8-million pack. He’s wearing tight black leather pants and knee high black leather boots. But the showstopper of his costume is the long tail, fully covered in those jewel-like scales, thicker the closer it gets to his ass, thinning towards the tip, which ends in a beautiful, sharp-looking blade the shape of a feather. It’s crimson, edged in black, like the rest of his costume’s color scheme. The tail flicks back and forth, like a cat’s, in a motion that seems completely organic, even though you know that’s not possible. This is just a costume, after all. Right?

“My eyes are up here, kitten,” he teases, and you have a really hard time tearing your eyes away from that swishing tail.

You try to cover your utter fascination with his tail by scoffing. “If you wanted my eyes on yours, you wouldn’t be wearing that harness with your big tits out.” You let your eyes drift to said pillow pectorals. You want to put your face in them, but you’re worried you’ll mess up the.. Make-up? Stick-ons? of the scales. They look so real.

His response is to hunch a little and then flex one pec, sending it bouncing, and then repeat on the other side. “It’s one way to ensure that your eyes are on me all night, instead of wandering,” he says smugly.

You laugh. “As if my eyes aren’t always on you, no matter how you’re dressed,” you murmur, the affection for this man swelling inside you.

“Yes, but tonight there will be lots of interesting costumes, and I know you’ll be fascinated with them, and insist on asking their owners why they chose them, and if they made them by hand or had them ordered, and they’ll be so captivated by your charming interest that I’ll have to interrupt business in order to remind them that you came with a date,” he says fondly. “You look magnificent, by the way. Just as I knew you would when I had this costume made for you.” He sounds satisfied, in the way an artisan is satisfied with his masterpiece.

You feel yourself glowing under his praise. “It’s so badass, Sylus. Thank you.” 

His tail flicks faster. You want to ask him how it works, but he distracts you. “Does the badass costume make up for the fact that I’m dragging you to a gala instead of letting you laze around, intent on giving yourself diabetes and a heart attack?”

“Candy and a scary movie do not automatically lead to diabetes and heart attacks, you big drama queen.” You turn around so you can see him in real life, and not just in the reflection. Your costume is silent as you move, unlike a real suit of armor, and so comfortable and easy to move in. It’s truly a work of functional art.

He opens his arms, and you go to him. He wraps his arms around you, despite your oversized pauldrons. He kisses the top of your head. “I know you’re disappointed though. I will make it up to you, when we get back tonight,” he murmurs.

You look up, luxuriating in the softness of his eyes, the fond smile on his beautiful, and now slightly foreign face. The scales glitter under the dressing room lights. You notice now, from this close, that he must be wearing contacts. His pupils, instead of the usual round shape like any human’s, are now slit like a cat’s or a reptile’s. You admire them for a moment—he really paid attention to the details of his slutty dragon costume, just as he cared for the details of your dragonslayer knight costume.

“Sylus,” you breathe his name. Being able to say it—to roll it around your mouth, the name of this man you love so much—is a joy for you, every single time you say it, and every time he looks at you in response. “I don’t care what we do, or where we are. Tonight, or any night. I just like being with you.”

Sylus’s tail whips back and forth so fast that it knocks over one of the dressing room benches before it wraps around your armored leg and curls round and round, the flat of that blade-like end patting your plated ass in a sharp little rhythm, like it can hardly contain itself.

“How does that thing work—” you try to ask, but suddenly Sylus’s lips are on yours, and he’s kissing you softly, slowly. One big hand drifts up the back of your neck, cups the back of your head as the other drifts along your jaw. As he licks your lower lip, he thumbs it to open your mouth—you part your lips, bare your teeth, and bite his thumb.

“My fearsome dragonslayer,” he says softly on an exhale. You close your lips around his thumb and suck, never taking your eyes off his. “We’re going to be late,” he sighs, not sounding upset at all. You just nod.

He lifts you, armor and all, and in a poof of feathers, a whoosh of air, and the dissipation of black and red mist, he transports you to his big bed, where you make each other very, very late for the Halloween gala.

[faeruy]

Tarot Time - Agatha All Along, Episode 7 - "Death's Hand in Mine" Part 1

HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS EPISODE. There's so much to talk about with regards to the Tarot used in this episode. I had to take a couple of days and watch it a couple of times to catch everything. First off, all of the kudos to the writers - their use of tarot is inspired, the way they connected it throughout the show was BRILLIANT, and I honestly didn't see the reveal that Lilia was seeing her final reading coming. I am legitimately in awe of these writers.

So lets talk about it, as this is mostly going to be me trying to wrap my head around everything that happened. As always, I'm an amateur, so I may get things wrong. I'm also splitting this up into two parts because there's A LOT. First part is Lilia's Reading, the Second part is going to be all of the other cards drawn in the episode.

First up; Lilia's True Reading. I'm starting with this one because I've already talked about a number of the cards and what they mean, although even they take on some new aspects now that they are revealed to be part of the final draw. If you haven't read my earlier posts, there's links at the bottom of this one. This is also going to be tough for me, because while I have a decent familiarity with what each card symbolizes, I've never been particularly strong when it comes to layouts, and how to take in the cards as a whole reading instead of individual pieces. But also, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, "Safe Passage" is a layout that - while visually is based on the Celtic Cross - is made up for the show.

The Traveler is The Queen of Cups - Lilia. She described this card in the show - Full of intuition, but also calm, compassionate and nurturing. Warm hearted in tune with those around her - though in this case not consciously, since earlier callouts of the cards were done involuntarily and out of time. She has some aspects of a Reversed reading; her gaps and out-of-time phasings indicate a bit of emotional insecurity, and by her own admission she's bottled things up so she doesn't have to deal with the pain of seeing the future. But the Upright has been stronger with her by far. The fact that she put a sigil on Billy to give him time to come to terms with who he is speaks volumes about her compassion. It's a card that fits her to a T. I also love the modified card - for the most part, they're using a bog-standard Rider-Waite Deck, but most of the cards are in this drawing are modified. The Queen is usually depicted sitting in a throne, but this deck has her in front of a table - ready to divine and interpret and intuit. Less above her people than the normal card, and more of an equal.

What's Missing - Three of Pentacles - The Coven. I talked in depth about this one before. The only thing that changed is who the reading is for - in the first episode it showed up, the reading was for Agatha. But she wasn't the only one who lost her original coven, Lilia lost hers too. She needed them as much as Agatha did; after all, what is a witch without her coven? And as much as they bicker and lack trust in each other, they have become what they've been missing. This card is modified by making the figures standing in a group look like the Coven - Lilia, Agatha, Jen, Billy, Alice, and yes, even Rio. Oddly enough, not Sharon, suggesting either a) the art department didn't have enough room to fit her in, b)she was never a true witch, therefore not part of the Coven, or c) she was close enough to death even before the Road that Rio was essentially following her - metaphorically.

Path Behind - Knight of Wands - Alice. I talked a lot about this card in episode 5, and I don't know that there's a lot to add here. Lilia goes for the simple definition; a knight full of fire and energy. She leaves out the impulsiveness, but probably has to do with sentimentality and choosing to remembering her heroism. Path behind is obvious; her death was significant, and affected the Coven strongly. Since this is Lilia's reading, I think Alice's death is maybe the catalyst for her to start really confronting her own mortality, and her own Path. Again, the card is modified, depicting a knight holding a staff (interchangeable name for Wands) in the same stance Alice was using to save Agatha. Normally it's a knight on a reared-up horse, with the staff held upright. Both versions of the card indicate a very aggressive, action-oriented person, which Alice very much is.

Path Ahead - The High Priestess - Jen. This one is making me FERAL. So the card here is barely modified - the only difference is the High Priestess looks like Jen. And I've talked about what that means in the first post I made about tarot in this show. What it means HERE, however, is super interesting. First of all, Lilia uses the phrase "unwilling or unable to use it" which specifically refers to a Reversed reading, even though the card itself was drawn Upright. And we know that while Jen succeeded in her Trial, all it really did was help her feel confident in her knowledge of the craft; her origins as a root-worker. It didn't remove her bindings. So in some ways, she's not yet the High Priestess Upright, But given that this is the Path Ahead, I think it means she will be. But what does it mean that she is the Path Ahead? I have a guess, but stick with me here. First of all, The High Priestess is the master of the unconscious and spirituality. Secondly, the Path Ahead is for the Traveler, meaning it's specifically LILIA'S Path Ahead. Also, There's a line in the Ballad about "Spirits as our Guide." So my guess, is at some point, Jen is going to be unblocked, and when she is, she's gonna call on the spirits of those who died on the Road - including Lilia. There's a reason Lilia was okay making the sacrifice she did, and why she was so insistent on Jen specifically getting out of there. I could be wrong, but I think the signs are there, and I cannot wait to see if I'm right.

Obstacles - Three of Swords - Agatha. Interesting, this one probably has several implications. Three of Swords represents heartache and grief. For Lilia specifically, one of her biggest obstacles has been her grief over seeing everyone she knows and loves die well before they do, and being unable to stop it. It's stopped her from using her power to it's full potential and kept her from connecting with and caring about people. She's needed to let that go, accept that Death comes for everyone, and that her visions having meaning and purpose, even if she can't change them. The card is mostly the same, they've just put a figure in the foreground that doesn't normally exist, aka Agatha. So it also kind of implies that Agatha, specifically Agatha's own heartache, has also been a giant obstacle to Lilia, and probably the coven as a whole - continuing the theme that actually, Agatha is her own worst enemy, which tracks.

Windfall - Tower Reversed - William/Billy/Teen. I've already talked about how this relates to Billy, but this reading is for Lilia. So the personal transformation is HERS. Violent and disruptive, but she'll become something new. What will she become? A spirit, maybe? Something else, something more? Or is it that in her final moments, she becomes the strongest, most complete version of herself? I'm inclined towards something beyond - she looks almost ecstatic when she draws it, and tied together with her Path Ahead being The High Priestess, I think she realizes while she may die, she's not done, and she's gonna be GLORIOUS. The card here isn't significantly modified, I believe it might be, but it was so quick I couldn't catch exactly how.

Destination - Death - Rio. And we get the (highly telegraphed) reveal that Rio is Death. Normally the card is Black Knight on a White Horse, but here it's just Rio in Grim Reaper guise. Makes sense, given that in this universe she predates Tarot, so in this deck, the card is based on her. Reading superficially, it's just that all roads lead to Death. But the card is more complicated than that and Lilia knows it. Because the Death card isn't just about physical death. It's about embracing the endings and accepting fate so that something new can begin. The personal transformation promised as the Windfall cannot happen unless one is willing to let the old self end. And Rio is the original Green Witch. A flower cannot grow without nutrients, and soil is enriched by what dies in it. So Lilia knows at this point she has to die. But it's okay now, because it's not an end, it's a new beginning. And I'm crying as I'm writing this. And I think the writers were SO CLEVER that the last shot we see of Lilia is of her as young girl, with her mentor saying "Let's Begin".

I think overall the writers have been very good with their use of tarot, and their layout is very cool. I also think it's very smart that they've associated certain cards with certain witches, and that the words Lilia was using in association with the cards were their basic definitions only. It makes sense; we're talking about a visual medium, and the way she did it was punchier, and more dynamic than doing an in depth interpretation of the cards. But what it didn't do was give us the reading as a whole, and almost tricked the audience into forgetting or dismissing the idea that the reading was for Lilia alone instead of the coven, and that the cards are working together to paint a fuller picture. But this episode has also shown that somebody on the writing staff knows their tarot, or at the very least did a lot of research. And I think there's a deeper interpretation to be had; Lilia's died, but she is not done.

I'm so excited for the last two episodes. I don't know if we'll see more cards after this, but I'm not ruling it out as a possibility. I also have the rest of the cards that were drawn this episode, which I'll go into in Part 2 of this (maybe 3, who knows, there were a LOT of cards). It should be up soon, but I need a bit of a break after writing this one. hope you all enjoyed it!

Here's the Links to Past Episodes

Episode 1-3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Part 2

[mtkay13]

Gonna post TWO hoboxus today because I CAN! (still desperately trying to catch up with my twitter posts LOL help I'm terrible at this)

From a meme based on art by KOTTERI, the author of Veil (among amazing other things). Find them on twitter @_K0TTERl_!

More musing below, as per usual! (Be ready it's a LONG one again)

I really hesitated with how I wanted to do this. The original had this gorgeous red poster that seemed like a perfect fit for WKX:

(@_K0TTERl_)

Either I went for the imagery of ZZS wistfully gazing upon the mysterious and eccentric WKX, which would definitely have been more aesthetic and undeniably fitting, or I went the semi-humorous route of channelling the "WKX fell for that ugly hobo and his gorgeous shoulder blades" meme-ified side of their dynamic.

Well, clearly that's where I ended up going, but I feel like explaining a bit.

For me, this picture was three-folds:

First part is the meme; it's kind of funny, kind of ridiculous, and sets the tone of what TYK starts off as; rather absurd, with its reasonable dose of dark humor, and the (at first seemingly improbable) meeting and love story between a silly dying hobo and a strange, suspicious, hedonistic gentleman. It felt thematically appropriate for TYK to twist the original image and put the obviously uglier one on the poster since TYK relies heavily on genre subversion to begin with.

Secondly, there is WKX. So, controversial opinion (/jk) but I don't think WKX was necessarily convinced or even really thought that ZZS was "a beauty" underneath his alleged mask. It was probably a mix of various feelings and teasing/provoking which lead to this joke. First, everything he expresses throughout the book and in extra 4; the fascination for this man who seemed too hide great strength and was of no known identity--who was probably more than what he seemed.

(I'm gonna push it just a little bit ((but isn't that the fun of literary interpretation)), but the "beauty under the mask" is not only physical. It could be a way to say, I think that beneath your raunchy, ridiculous attitude, beneath your gross appearance, beneath the pretense that you're a nobody, that you're a peasant, you're probably someone of great importance and great accomplishments, someone much stronger than you pretend to be--someone like me, perhaps, even. The shoulder blades references are, besides of course WKX *actually* noticing them, the observation of how ZZS moves, of how agile his body is, etc...)

Anyway-- the entire point of this intro is to say that to me, this isn't actually referring to that whole side of their dynamic (or not entirely), but rather to that passage that I am STILL OBSESSED WITH where Wen Kexing recognizes ZZS just from the way he's sitting in a restaurant, and that makes him feel things not entirely positive:

Zhou Zishu stepped into an inn alone. He chose a seat by a window, ordered a few side dishes and a jug of mulled rice wine, and drank it slowly while soaking in the sunshine. As soon as Wen Kexing walked in, he saw Zhou Zishu from behind. He didn’t know why, but he thought that this view was quite special—he could always pick it out of a crowd. Zhou Zishu did not sit with his back straight. Most of the time, he lounged indolently at an angle that looked exceptionally comfortable. Wen Kexing thought that it seemed as though nothing weighed on him; seeing him was enough to ease the heart. Wen Kexing unconsciously halted his steps. He stared at Zhou Zishu’s relaxed silhouette for a while, with no trace of an expression in his face or eyes. His heart swelled with some strange feeling—strange, in that it was no feeling at all. He felt as though this man was mocking him with this wordless posture; he who rushed around for one thing or another, who was burdened with so many cares, yet obstinately put on a devil-may-care persona. Zhou Xu—as carefree as duckweed, he thought, with a body like willow catkins. In all the world, with its boundless perspectives, where could you find someone who walked their path alone and never allowed anything to trouble them? Yet he was not apathetic—he had his joy, his anger, his sorrow—and they came in a flash as quickly as they went. Within the blink of an eye, he had forgotten it already.

(Tian Ya Ke, chapter 18, TL by Lianzi) (have I quoted this already??? If not I should have I love this passage so much)

AND THEN QUOTING ANOTHER PASSAGE (LOL), TL by me this time:

From the moment he'd noticed his shoulderblades, felt this rush of excitement, to when he'd started liking who Zhou Zishu was, when he'd thought——so this is the Commander of Tian Chuang. Suddenly, he'd felt as if he'd met his other self. Both of them, lone wolves caught in a hunter's trap, struggling for freedom to no avail, until they had resolved to coldly gnawing off their own legs in the end. He'd felt compelled to follow him around, watched him, until he suddenly realised—if Zhou Zishu could live like this, then surely, so could he?

(Full passage in this other post LOL)

So yes, THIS. Those two things. That's it. Need I say more? HAH OF COURSE I DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO (help)

More seriously--the way WKX is captivated by ZZS' apparent carefreeness and freedom, all the different feelings (or absence thereof, as he puts it, which I interpret as so distant from what he's used to feel that it almost feels like nothing at all) is what I was going for here.... By not showing his face at all LMAO

The envy, the frustration--the impression of being mocked, but also the longing, how it inspired him to follow along and try to be free like he was.

-cough- yes, so that was point 2 out of 3.

Now lastly, about ZZS himself and my representation of him as hoboxu. I think (?) I've written enough about him that I think I can keep this succint. I love how priest often makes a point of expliciting, in the book, how he's so often smiling, and how he's always incredibly energetic in the morning, as if the night of pain had never happened. I like to think that hoboxu is both a carricature of a ridiculous character that ZZS has fun embodying---but also a liberated expression of his deeper self.

WKX feels like he's mocking him, but ZZS is also mocking himself relentlessly, when he feels like the outside resembles the inside finally, when he feels ridiculous in these new robes, when he allows himself the most outrageous behavior---and then there's mocking life itself, mocking jianghu, mocking everything that he nonetheless deeply cherishes. It's almost... gently mocking, affectionate mocking of everything because his own life has become a joke yet he's still going to enjoy it to the fullest--drinking to his heart's content, rolling in the mud and visiting touristy sites (or so he intended).

In the end... the world is still in his own hands. He chose everything, chose the way he lived, the way he (would have) died and still has the power to dissappear at will--but he stays. Stays and endures what he pretends annoys him, because he can't help himself, because he's ridiculous and is aware of it and may as well have some fun while being so.

I can't seem to ever have enough of this, of this vibe. I wanted to have him laugh at and with WKX, at and with the people seeing him, at and with himself, at and with the narrative.

SO YEAH HAH THATS HUM THAT'S IT. You know what they say, it's only a fun meme if there's an essay behind it (noone says that help 😭😭😭😭)

I hope you had fun reading it and have a nice weeked 🤪

[yannaryartside]

SYD DEREVES AN ACTUAL MENTOR

One of the funniest excuses Sydcarmy deniers use to say the relationship will not make sense is because Carmy is supposed to be a "mentor" for Syd. The reason why I think that is funny is because Carmy has not been her mentor for a whole second in the series. I speak about this as someone who had art mentors and teachers:

A mentor is supposed to be able to see the raw talent in their students and guide them to polish it and discover their artistic voices. The key to the whole situation is the word "guide." They are an external observer, providing clues, instruction, and evaluation but not pushing their voices so the students will become like them instead of following their own artistic impulses

Now, if I am honest, I don't think Carmy has been a mentor for a single character in the show. Maybe he recognized Tina and Richie's potential by sending them to places where they could learn new skills based on their previously displayed talents. But the only one actually supporting Marcus in his journey is Sydney, it is not like Carmy ever stopped to ask Marcus if he had any doubts about the fancy pastries he was making. Sending Marcus to Coppenage was Sydney's idea, which makes me wonder if he ever thought Marcus was ready for an experience like that or if he just approved it because he trusted Sydney's judgment. Besides recipe overview and leader of the kitchen flow, Carmy is not a teacher, and certainly not someone who has invested time in guiding people through individual creative processes.

Carmy has acted more as a counselor/motivator. He comforted Marcus on his mistakes. He has encouraged Sydney on her menu ideas (s2 only, we will talk about that later). He showed his belief in Tina's talent by gifting her the knife.

But he has not been a mentor, in the sense that Sydney's artistic voice is forever silenced by his lack of interest in deep collaboration or exploration of Sydney's unique talents. She provided a couple of recipes of her own creation, with some of his suggestions. But all of it has more the tone of a partnership than an actual mentorship. They were supposed to have equal weight on the menu before Carmy called it quits; he even let her suggest ingredients and finishes. He values her opinion. He is not trying to teach her things, if anything, he hired Sydney with a solid idea of her talents and used them to put keep his shaky shop afloat.

In season 1, she had to put all of her energy into guiding a staff that Carmy had previously failed to dominate, and it is not like it was easy, but she managed to put everyone on the same page. When it was time for her to show her skills in providing a simple and efficient menu idea, Carmy made a whole effort to introduce a complicated plate to the staff. It is almost like he is competing with her, but again, we will talk about that later. Needless to say, nothing in s1 was mentorship at all in my opinion. She managed with all the skills she already had. Even Carmy mentioned that managing the staff was something she had previously done but didn't like to do, and Carmy never provided them with support or advice, is almost laughable. The story repeats itself in 2 when he ignores how much she needs her presence at the restaurant; he was supposed to be a leader, and he wasn't.

Probably the thing that Carmy has taught Sydney the most is how much he believes in her, wich helps her to belief in hersef, even if his behavior rarely provides her with support for her to flourish as an artist. In 2, she picked up Carmy's work like crazy, which is not a space to create; she was merely surviving and going through a real creativity crisis.

All of this to say is that I really hope she gets the opportunity to shine in another place, even for just a bit, and maybe get another mentor, someone who recognizes her knowledge of chemistry and encourages her to explore her voice, a resolution to her creative block in s2. This is not something bad or something to think Carmy failed Syd; artists and mentors can be a rare match, and maybe because Carmy never wanted a student, he wanted a friend/partner, and ironically, he is not very good at that dynamic either. God, when defining their relationship, Syd is the first to say "partnership," I don't think she expects him to "molde" her or mentor her. Equal creative weight.

They have introduced other chefs that I think could be the mentor Syd actually needs. I am partial to Olivia Coleman's character because I think they have a lot in common. But these other two will be cool, too. Or any other chef they could introduce.

To finish here, I will say the only type of "teaching" I will like Carmy to give Sydney, will be of this nature:

Anyhow, thank you for reading. Nor credited gifs in order: @chefkids, @songkangsbottomteethcirca2020

[trashboatprince]

Here we go again, another one-shot of Fourteen in retirement!

And this time it's about them and their retirement squish~

Warning: anxiety issue for the Doctor that makes them too nauseous to eat (Don't worry, this isn't going in a specific direction, this is just general anxiety making someone feel sick)

As always, I use they/them for Fourteen. Also, at this point, I'd like to think that Fourteen is keeping in contact with some of the companions, like Tegan, Ace, Martha, the Fam, so if you're wondering about the mention of Ace or their friends, it's that.

Also, the art is mine. I know I've posted it before, but this fic is based on the doodles.

On with the fic!

--

"Oi! Spaceman!" Donna's voice carried from somewhere beyond the bathroom door. "Hurry up! Breakfast is almost ready and I am not saving you a plate!"

The Doctor scoffed, shouting back that they were finishing up with getting dressed.

"Yeah, yeah, just make it quick!"

They rolled their eyes, smiling as they grabbed for the button up hanging from a knob on a cabinet in their personal bathroom. Ah, it was such a nice thing to have now that they owned their own home, not having to share a bathroom with Rose like at the temporary home UNIT gave them.

They hadn't expected to meet someone as high maintenance as themself when it came to getting ready in the morning, but Rose was a worthy opponent for races to the bathroom.

They hummed to themself as they got the buttons done up on the shirt with an unconscious ease, their attention mainly on their reflection in the mirror. Did they need to shave, they thought as they grabbed for their favorite vest.

Hmm... probably not, it wasn't anything serious. In fact, they thought they looked rather-

Huh?

The Doctor frowned, tugging at the vest, trying to get the button into its hole, but noticing that it... wasn't quite making it. That's odd. Had this shrunk in the wash? Oh, they told Sylvia how to wash it specifically, she better not have just tossed it in!

This is why the Doctor usually just did their laundry in the TARDIS, she always did their clothing perfectly in her machines. For the most part. Sometimes there was a hiccup or two.

Looking down, the Doctor struggled to get it through the hole before finally succeeding. But it wasn't a perfect victory, it was... it was a really tight fit.

"This is... tighter." They frowned, tugging on the vest, and noticing something else.

It wasn't the only thing that felt a bit tight.

The button up fit fine enough, not yet tucked into their pants, but the pants themselves? Well, they felt a tad bit tighter around their waist, and the Doctor wasn't exactly liking that. They tried to adjust them, but it wasn't much.

"Did you shrink in the wash too?" They asked their clothes before lifting up the shirt, eyes widening a little.

Oh, that's new.

There was a slight difference to their waist, a bit more to it than they really remembered. Actually, when was the last time they really checked out this new-old body? Hmm... probably not since their first week of retirement, when they finally sat down and did a self-check over all of their body.

Same face and teeth, same eye issue which required the glasses to be worn a bit more often because it was slightly more annoying now, same minor issues that the old face had. Except there wasn't a mole on their back, it was actually up on their left hip, which was interesting.

There was also the fact that they were much thinner and a bit more worn down this time around, which Donna have pointed out a few times.

Oh, and more freckles, but that was more for the Doctor to be excited over, they liked the freckles. Freckles were cool.

Uhg, Chinny was still an influence, wasn't he?

Still, this was different. The Doctor poked at their stomach, feeling the softness when it had been a bit harder before. What was going on?

How had they not noticed this before? Had it happened overnight? Was it something they ate? Had it happened when they got into that drinking challenge on Sebvie 4 with Ace last week? They hadn't been sure of some of the drinks the Sebv had challenged them with...

Or was it from eating that biscuit they found in the TARDIS library yesterday?

"DOCTOR! Hurry your arse up!" Donna's shout snapped the Doctor from their worried thoughts and they quickly bolted from the bathroom, tossing off the tight vest. They'd deal with it later, best not to keep the family waiting.

"What took you so long?" Donna huffed as the Doctor rushed to the table, jumping into their favorite chair at it.

"Oh, you know." They grinned, gesturing at themself. "Takes a lot of work to be this beautiful."

Donna scoffed, then handed them a cup of coffee, perfectly measured to allow them to pour as much flavored creamer and sugar into it as they'd like.

Breakfast was a full spread, as it always was on Sundays, and the family tucked in. The Doctor decided to distract himself with conversation and tasty food, ignoring the slight, unexpected weight gain.

However, while they were washing dishes, it came back to them as they shifted where they stood. The pants were still tight, and it was bothering them. They felt tighter.

They'd need to run some tests, look into whatever this was. If it was dangerous, it could affect his family! Can't have that! Maybe it was a strange side effect of being on Earth this long?

No, no, they'd been on Earth for ages before, several times. They never had this issue.

But then again, the Doctor had been quite active. Running about, solving problems, not staying in one place like this. Even working in the Black Archives now wasn't anything like working as the Chief Science Officer before.

"Somethin' on your mind, son?" Wilf asked and the Doctor turned to look at him, as he pulled the milk from the fridge. The Doctor held out the mug they had been washing, might as well let him use that if he was getting himself tea.

"Oh, it's... nothing. Just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Wilf took the mug and grabbed for the kettle that had been on the stove, pouring himself hot water for his tea. "Work stuff? Aliens?"

"Uhhh..." The Doctor didn't want to trouble him with this issue. "Thinking about this video that Rose showed me the other day. Really interesting stuff, it was this guy playing video games and talking over them. She said I should do it, would be really funny."

"Oh yes." Wilf laughed. "I don't understand any of that nonsense."

"Yeah, neither do I." The Doctor grinned, once more distracted, probably for the best.

--

"This might be a problem." The Doctor muttered to themself as they stood in their bedroom, looking at the mirror before them.

It was Thursday now, just days after the discovery on Sunday, and the Doctor hadn't done much to look into what could have caused the softness around their middle.

But it seemed to be in other places as well.

They knew their body well, it was Time Lord nature to do so. They could tell that there was more of this softness in other places. Just barely there, nothing to be noticed by anyone else but themself. A tiny bit in the arms, the thighs, and maybe just the slightest bit in the chest and face, but it was mainly there in the small pudge around their middle.

They stood in front of the mirror in their boxers, and watched as their reflection pinched the squish. They wracked their brain over what caused it, but nothing came to mind.

Well, except for one thing. Which should have been obvious from the start, but their instincts didn't really... click for that.

It was just weight gain. Perfectly, ordinary weight gain. A normal thing for normal species, right? Well, not for the Doctor. Because the Doctor always ran, always forgot to eat, always did this and that and didn't eat much except for nibbles and such.

But being with the Noble-Temple family meant living by their schedules. Three meals a day, Donna made sure of it. With tea (or in the Doctor's case, coffee) time, and some snacking through the day as they worked on projects at home, in the TARDIS, or on the days they went to work.

Was this normal?

To gain weight like this?

They'd been retired for about six or so months now, was this supposed to happen? Were they doing this thing right? Or was this a bad sign, that they were not doing this correctly, that this was a step in the wrong direction?

The Doctor turned away from the mirror, they needed to stop looking and get back to getting dressed. They grabbed a t-shirt from the closet and some jeans. No work today, they were going to fix the old box TV in Wilf's sunroom so he could watch programs from another galaxy.

They smoothed their shirt down and bit their lip, an uncomfortable feeling was in the pit of their stomach, twisting itself in knots. Uhg, they hated when they got themself so worked up like this. Maybe fixing the TV would help with anxiety.

--

Donna watched her best friend at the dinner table. They had spent most of the meal chatting with Wilf and Rose about the TV in the sunroom, and how it could get access to over nine thousand channels.

She had noticed that the Doctor hadn't really touched much of their dinner. When dinner was done, she helped them with the dishes, where she washed and they put away. "So, not hungry tonight?" She asked as casually as possible.

The Doctor paused while drying off a bowl. "Huh?"

"You hardly touched your dinner tonight. You like curry, you told me my mom makes delicious curry, you typically ate two helpings."

They looked at her, frowning just a little, before putting the bowl in the cabinet. "Just... not hungry tonight."

She pulled the plug from the sink and turned to face them completely. "Bull, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Don't tell me that nonsense, Doctor. I know you." She jabbed a wet finger against their chest. "You have been troubled by something lately. You think you're so good at hiding that, but you're not. I'm your best friend, I know you inside and out. Literally. Your mind was my mind for a while."

The Doctor squirmed where they stood and they looked a bit pink in the cheeks as they glanced around. Then they sighed, leaning in close. "I... I think I'm failing this retirement thing..."

Donna raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I just... I noticed something. On Sunday. And I think it's a sign that I'm doing bad at this, that the calm life isn't working for me."

She felt the pricklings of worry as she listened, and she touched their arm. "Go sit down, we're gonna talk about this."

"Do we have to?" They asked, a whine in their voice.

"Yes, you knob. If it makes you feel better, we're do this in your weird study." The Doctor nodded and left the kitchen for said study, which was more of just a room full of weird books and things they had collected over the years, and a couch that looked uncomfortable but was the complete opposite.

That's where she found them sitting when she entered the room, two mugs in her hands. One with coffee with just a dash of milk, the other one mainly that nasty candy bar creamer with a dash of coffee, just as the two of them liked their drinks.

The Doctor took the offered mug, looking at it with a complicated stare. Donna rolled her eyes and sat down on the other side of the couch, taking a long drink from her mug. "Start talking."

"About?"

"What you think is the matter."

With a small, weird noise from their throat, they set the mug aside to adjust how they were seated on the couch. They leaned back and grabbed at the hem of their shirt and slowly pulled it up. "I've gained weight."

Donna stared at their torso, where there was a bit of pudge there, nothing to really write home about. "Really? That's it?"

The Doctor looked at her, confused. "What do you mean 'that's it'? Is this not... I dunno, a bad sign or something?"

"How?"

"I-" And then they stopped, giving this some thought. "I don't know. I mean, is it normal to gain weight when recovering and taking the slow path?"

Donna groaned, slapping her forehead. "You're the smartest person on Earth, and yet you are a great, big doof! Of course it's normal!"

"It is?"

"Yes! It's a perfectly good sign, actually! Lots of people gain weight when recovering from stress, trauma, and PTSD! My granddad did after the war, told me so himself. Said he came back a scrawny thing and had felt bad about things, but when he started to get better, he ate right and put on weight. It's perfectly normal, and it means you're adapting to a calm life."

The Doctor looked at their stomach, poking it. "So... this is a sign I'm recovering?"

Donna nodded. "Yep! Just like how you look less exhausted. I know the nightmares still come and go, but you've been sleeping better, right?"

"Of course! I've been able to sleep for several hours without a single nightmare waking me up for the past two weeks!" The Doctor stated, waving their hands.

"There you go, this is working. You just being here, not running around, trying to ignore your problems like you had been doing. You've got your friends hanging out with you, you have a job that you actually like, and you still run around, but without having to save the day all the time cause the beautiful Doctor is out there doing it for you."

"Oi! I'm beautiful too!"

"I'm not going to call my pseudo-brother beautiful." Donna made a face and they laughed. "You're starting to enjoy the slow, Doctor. And there's nothing wrong with this." She leaned over and tapped at the softness they had gained. "In fact, it's nice to see you with some meat on your bone."

The Doctor nodded, taking this in. "So, retirement squish is perfectly normal?"

Donna wanted to question the Doctor on their choice of describing this as that, but decided not to. "Yep. Means you're relaxing and doing well."

They perked up a bit. "Oh! Brilliant!"

The Doctor grabbed their coffee mug, taking a long drink. "That's good, cause I was worried and kinda freaking out about it. A lot."

"Please don't tell me you didn't eat dinner because of this..." She winced.

"What?" The Doctor blinked. "Oh! No, no! I actually got myself so worked up with worry that it made me nauseous. Actually, now that I feel better about this, I could do with a nibble. I didn't have my afternoon snack today for that reason too."

"Oi, go make a sandwich or something then!" She shooed the Doctor off the couch as they laughed, getting up and fixing their shirt.

They turned to look at her, smiling. "Thanks, Donna. Sorry about this, I didn't know what to make of it, I'm not... I'm not used to taking it slow. I don't know what to expect, what's a good sign or a bad sign."

She stood up and looked at her best friend, smiling just a bit. "I get it. Trust me, I do. After losing my memories, it was hard to get back on track. After Rose came out, it was an adjustment to knowing if I was doing the right thing or the wrong thing. I'm here to help you along this one, spaceman. Don't ever forget that."

The Doctor grinned and gave her a hug. "Thank you. I'll come to you for things like this, I promise." They pulled back. "You really think it's a good look for me though? The retirement squish?"

"Oh yeah." Donna grinned back. "Also, are you really going to call it that?"

"Of course! That's what it is!" That's one way to call it that.

--

I hope I wrote this right, I have my own issues with weight that I'm working on, but I felt like the Doctor did when I was younger after I had lost a lot of weight due to medical stuff and started gaining it back when I was healing. I hadn't been sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a good thing.

[imthepunchlord]

So how do you feel about the winners of the last 5 bugettes polls?

Over all good and happy. Some I'm not surprised and some I am happy to see they won.

Like, that first poll, while I was most intrigued with Ladybug!Kagami, I was getting ready for the real possibility that it was going to be more Ladybug!Marinette, which I wasn't thrilled to do more of Tikki and Marinette's dynamic and was starting to think on how I was going to address the big issues of Marinette and Tikki.

Thankfully, Kagami won.

I don't have to get myself ready to do more Marinette-Tikki working off each other, I got something fresh to do. I actually started to do some doodles exploring ideas for Suzaku, with the initial idea of maybe doing a kendo based attire.

But I'll be looking up some other attire for Japanese martial arts and see what else stands out to me. Initially I do like the idea of basing her attire around what they wear for kendo, but I should give it some more looking into.

Alya having Firefly I am not surprised. Between Alya or Lila, Alya's going to be the preferred. Lila could be fun, but for an idea of the Bugettes being a hero team all working together and being more harmonious vs the discord of Calamitous users, Lila does have that option to become a villain, and is more set up to go the villain route by default of how she is.

So Alya makes the most sense, though I will say, given that sometimes orange can be close to yellow and Lucee has some yellow on her, I kinda wonder if I should've included Chloe and Zoe on the Firefly poll, but I thought it best to stick to the most orange coded characters.

Either way, with Alya, it'll be interesting. From what I see of her, she is someone who naturally takes up a position of leadership, when she's with friends, she's the one who calls the shots. And she's someone who is pushy with her agenda, and she is eager to enjoy the merits of being a hero and having the limelight, and this sets her up to be in conflict with half the team so far, though some of this can vary depending on how I go about identities and secrecy, especially as there's a lot of strong personalities so far that don't easily make compromises.

Aurore was a delightful surprise as I was expecting it to be Chloe in full swing. So I am happy to do more Miss Sting.

Alix I am not surprised. She does have a good design to work off of with Greenhopper, and probably was the biggest stand out for plausible Grasshopper. I also think her and Clovrr could be really funny to explore given the Clovrr is chill and lazy but Alix is high strung and leaps into action.

Sabrina I am also not surprised. The few times she came up in topic, she seemed the most popular for Dragonfly, and she does have the diamond theme, and was originally the Dragonfly. So I am intrigued to make plans and see how its going to go. I think the most intriguing is that, depending on how dynamics go, initially I think her and Alya will be tight but could also feed into each other growing and how they work off others, as I think Sabrina's dynamic with Chloe would manifests here, given that Alya aims to be the leader and Sabrina is a quick yesman and servant. It just kinda adds onto Alya and Chloe has foils to each other.

And tomorrow we'll start the Mantis poll. I know Mantis!Marinette comes up quite a bit in my asks and comments and tags in reblogs, so we'll see if it comes into fruition.

[bretongirlwrites]

‘You have not wasted your time, I see,’ said Caius looking me up and down.

I wondered what he saw, and what he had heard: knew I’d made waves, in some circles: but knew not that it had surged up to my very face: wondered if I was blushing; wondered if I’d paled for lack of sun, in Vivec’s damnable indoor cantons; wondered if I was cockier, more confident, more Hlaalu; until at last, I remembered my ruffled dress and my heavy satchel, and setting the latter down, followed it into a chair. 

‘You were right,’ said I, ‘that Vivec is where things happen.’

‘Well, just make sure it is not too many things,’ said Caius: ‘you have proven yourself in the art of speechcraft, and in a good many other things which I did not require of you; but now it is time to get out that tuppence dagger.’

‘Already!’ said I: ‘am I to kill the midges hatching from all the marshes?’

Caius grimaced. ‘I will see what I can do about an upgrade. In the meantime, I want you to read this. Mission report from Buckmoth, – by Ald’ruhn, you know.’

The thing was very Legion: which is to say, it was all figures and half-sentences, weather reports on a par with injury reports. There had been a patrol out by Gnaar Mok, a routine sort of thing redoubled with reports of suspicious activity near a cave to the north. The locals reported smugglers, it read: no smugglers were found. Activity found to be corprus monsters, cultists and Sixth House priests. 

‘The stories of the bases are true, then?’ said I: ‘Gods help Gnaar Mok.’

He only went for his reading-glasses and invited me to turn the report over.

Three men in; one man out. Instructions from Dagoth Gares, the High Priest, requesting the audience of someone called Lunette. Further enquiries needed. Two men dead on-site; one later, of the blight.

‘This is terribly flippant,’ said I shrinking in my seat.

‘They have asked for you by name,’ said Caius: ‘proof if proof were needed. Probably. Anyway it would be unwise, I think, to keep Dagoth Gares waiting.’

‘You’re sending me in!’ I cried: and threw the papers down on the table. 

Vivec seemed so airy in comparison, that I was stifled; that I must shuffle in my dress and wish layers were not all the rage; Vivec after all, had been my field, – but this! – in all the time I’d spent there, in all the time I’d spent cultivating renown and infamy both, I’d forgotten this, the mission: in all the time I’d spent being my someone else, I’d forgotten the other someone else that Caius expected me to be. I’d forgotten, – in short, – that I was a damn Blade.

‘Not alone,’ said Caius sighing: ‘Buckmoth will be ready this time. But you need to go with them.’

Three men in; one man out. 

‘Is this all you have to show for yourself,’ said I: ‘after a month! is this all your research, – is there no better way, –’

I had been enraged at his flippancy to match the report: but found in looking up, that I’d quite misjudged it. That the house was filled with papers; that there were letters still unread in the rack; that the bed was unmade and hardly slept in. That Caius himself, – had procured himself a new pair of reading-glasses; that beneath their rims, was a deepened frown on his brow; that his eyes were bloodshot and rubbed, – that there was a fading red line at his collarbone, and to hide it, he’d put on a shirt. The shirt threw me so wholly, that I must bend towards him and apologise. 

‘You must realise,’ said he tiredly, ‘that I have not wasted my time, either.’

‘I trust you,’ said I at last: took up the papers, from where I’d thrown them: and feeling the tip of my scabbard ever-present at my thigh, leaned over frowning likewise, to read them, again.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week ?

Action Comics #1076 - I’m out. I can’t justify buying a weekly series that I’m not enjoying, the cost is too high. Waid delivers at least one good character beat an issue, for Clark anyway, but his plots are terrible. Henry simply doesn’t have enough time to make the art look good. Waid’s Kenan/Kon voices are seriously off-kilter, although Kon becoming Space Emperor of the Khunds is the first interesting direction for him since his return. I continue to enjoy the Kara backup but hopefully I can get a trade of it somewhere. What a disappointment this turned out to be from Waid, serious possibility that LDoLL is the final Superman story from him I buy. I genuinely believe that the election shredding his belief in Silver Age storytelling conventions might be the best thing that has ever happened to him as a writer. It’s time for him to evolve or retire.

World’s Finest #33 - Almost dropped this too but I’m holding off to see if that Jimmy story next issue can hold my interest.

Jenny Sparks #4 - I liked it. Glad Jenny got shocked when Carla actually killed Ronald, she’s been fairly smug and cynical about everything and that can get annoying if it’s never undermined. I’d say contrasting Obama bragging about how killing Bin Laden makes Western civilization safer with Jenny setting up one of the CEOs responsible for causing the Great Recession which basically destroyed millennials chances of upward mobility and revealed the hollowness of American capitalism is pretty heavy handed… except people seem to think King is writing an America Fuck Yeah story so maybe it’s not heavy handed ENOUGH. The point being that the methods of Obama, and Jenny who previously shared them, wherein you kill the “bastards” and use violence to make the world better is completely worthless when the world you’re aiming to protect is rotting from within.

Wonder Woman #15 - For a run that didn’t plan to use the WGs at all initially, King has done more than anyone else in recent memory to make me like them. Diana trusting Cheetah enough to interrogate someone did feel like a stretch, I dunno if I buy that she’d be that quick to trust Barbara to hold back. Great issue, and I loved the backup with Steve. I really am eager to see more of a deep dive into him as a character.

Ultimate Spider-Man #11 - Read this first and it’s probably why I’m harsh on Waid because this might be the platonic ideal of a Spider-Man issue. Perfect mix of superhero action and organic drama. Spidey gets to snark back at the civs who give him grief, show how much he’s grown as a hero via taking down a bunch of henchmen single-handedly, and when he loses it’s not because of incompetence or “Parker Luck”, but because Peter is too compassionate for his own good and doesn’t want to hurt the brainwashed people. Even gets some respect from the villains with Negative immediately recognizing that Spidey is someone he can’t control.

Meanwhile on the drama side, MJ reveals she’s freaking out beneath her mask of calm because seeing Peter arrive home all beaten and bloody hammers how serious the stakes are. Peter and MJ get a heart to heart conversation where they talk about their concerns like adults, and then they get horny because they love each other! With Ben at the end we get the reveal that he knows Peter is Spider-Man, and Ben again drives home how serious the danger is by asking Peter if he’s ready to die, which Peter answers in the negative. It’s great stuff! It’s Hickman deftly predicting every complaint people might have about this slow burn and responding accordingly! The first year of USM has been “the good times”, but now as we enter the second year the story is setting up Spidey for a fall. Someone is going to die, that much is clear, only question is who. Ben is the obvious choice, he even thinks it will be himself based on his talk with Peter, but right now I think it’s going to be Jonah who bites it.

[ocean-lilypad]

I wish to know your ideas for Ancient Mekhanite foos customs. I am curious.

YAYYAY!

Oki, so, before I start this I want to say I AM NOT VERY SMART!!! I don’t read a lot of old Mekhanite stuff, and I will probably redo a LOT of this once I know more. I don’t know a whole lot about cooking, I took two culinary art classes, and that’s about it. I also remember nothing from those. I also don’t know a lot about Ancient Greece in general!!! I will research more, and probably improve these head cannons, but this is just what I have for now. Please correct me (politely) if I get anything wrong, and if anyone knows any sources I should look at pls let me know! (Or any Mekhanite tales/SCPs :D) I want to learn!!!

Also, these head cannons are based around the Broken god cults in Mycenaean Greece, not the Xia Dynasty ones.

SO:

Food was not necessary that big of a deal in the church, however, the Mekhanites had to make their food a little bit different than typical Ancient Greek food due to the need to avoid liquids or small bits of food getting in those with partial mechanical parts that still needed to eat. So, they used methods to avoid runny liquid in the final product, and avoided using recipes that would make food that crumbled while eating. Typically, in the kitchen, there would be either someone without adjustments, or someone wearing special equipment and coverings so they could still work with ground food and liquids before it was fully ready for the table. Meats were typically avoided, but still eaten. If they were eaten, they were paired with several other things. I have a few ideas for possible dishes, but not that many:

A loaf of bread specifically designed to not crumble easy, top cut off, and inside hollowed into a space that is filled with a few different pastes, made to be dipped without any crumbs or liquids getting into machinery. A very typical meal, and very common.

A mixed combination of cut up and dried root vegetables stored in little bags that could be taken for travel because it wouldn’t really go bad that fast (a few months from my understanding). Salt could be added as a preservative, but would make the taste less pleasant. The vegetables were not cut into very small pieces so they couldn’t get stuck in parts easy. It was just kinda a snack food. Like trail mix to us.

There was also a nut and seed equivalent. It was like the vegetable one, but more so JUST a snack and not a travel food. Nuts go bad quicker because of natural oils I think.

Small balls of goat cheese. These were used with bread mostly, but could be eaten alone. Sometimes rolled in nuts or seeds, but not often. I like to think that the kids would make these because they, from my understanding, didn’t have as much or any metal, so the parents would instruct them while the child felt helpful. Of course, cheese takes a while to turn from milk, so I imagine kids got impatient and sometimes ruined it while checking the containers left in the sun.

Pastes were common, made with a variety of things, and kinda like soup. Not in texture, but in variety. They weren’t as runny, obviously, so they weren’t as messy. Families had recipes, people would try making new combinations, it would be paired with bread for a full meal, etc..

Again, if I got anything wrong, let me know. And I would love to hear if anybody else has other ideas. 

[turtledotjpeg]

(chapter 400 spoilers)

i have been fed and i must make stupid internet doodles about it

my wife is so successful and popular (said with distress) and she is doing her best and she just wanted to do healing and said 'noooo' to murders and she cried about kacho and hates being called old and kurapika is the only one she can rely on and i'm gonna cry

more thoughts (not interesting) under the cut because this is an art blog but I am compelled to yell into the void about this chapter

man I was ready to be happy just to see Melody for one panel, but there was So Much in this chapter 🥺 feels like we're getting to see some new facets of her personality (see: Old Maid Melody lmaoo) and it's so fun

it was nice to see her and Kacho getting to interact a bit more openly - for some reason I was expecting nen-Kacho to be more of a separate entity, rather than the "brought back to life" kind of deal where she basically feels and acts like she's the same person? I like it though, I want to see her messing with Melody some more lol

I was wondering if Kurapika's goal might come up re: the fourth prince's invitation, but it seems like the immediate concern with Fugetsu takes priority, which makes sense Zhang Lei also wanting a private audience is interesting, I wonder if that could give her and Kurapika an opportunity to meet up and plan things out before she visits terrorsandwich? Before all that, though, they'd have to deal with Benjamin (assuming it's a first-rank-first-served kind of deal), no idea how that's gonna work out unless they actually pull off the Just Murder Everyone plan

also lmaooo the love confession 😂 one the one hand I feel like all her initial suspicion and mistrust towards glasses guy has to be a setup for him to actually be more honest than she expects, but I still can't help being a bit skeptical of him... both because there has to be something going on with the heartbeat thing, right?

and also, even if it is probably what's most practical for the situation, I'm not toootally sure if I love this "stop being sad and go use your powers to help us do murders" thing lol (granted kacho was very on board with both of those, too, but. idk man, maybe at least try to comfort her a little or something? xD)

that said, he is kind of risking his neck to help them, and i Am extremely in favor of anyone and everyone being in love with melody, so i appreciate him for that haha

okay, totally baseless "theory" #1: he's melody's dead sonata friend possessing the body (& therefore lying about the not believing in ghosts thing) - probably unlikely given Fugetsu is also said to be "possessed" and that looks very different, plus it sounds like that's something Melody should be able to notice? but it'd give him a genuine motive to help her out while lying through his teeth about all the details

or totally baseless theory #2: he's literally just a normal guy with a medical condition

melody: but I just don't get it, HOW can your heartbeat be so calm and steady all the time?!? kaiser: oh, cause of the pacemaker you mean? melody:

(**based on about 2 minutes of research I don't think that's quite how pacemakers work, but it's hxh universe, there could be Something)

(on an unrelated note, I also really liked Tyson in this chapter…sounds like she was basically pressured into a death battle she assumes she won't win, but she's still just out here baking birthday cakes and trying to have a good time :( rootin for her)

...and finally can I just say, even if there was a good reason for it, I think it's hilarious that Melody's reaction to someone liking her is just "hmm... 🤔 kinda sus" alternative responses to "i love you": "with a heart rhythm as precise as an atomic clock?! yeah right!"

[helloceci]

So like side rant: it’s my birthday (I want a bunch of Lasko fans lol) and like it’s 4:00 AM and now I’m thinking

Actual rant:

I’m like looking at the timeline and everything and just following order but like I have done Jack shit recently… but might I digress I keep going back to the idea of what if Gavin didn’t get freelancer… cause (I saw from another post) if Freelancer was initially supposed to be with Damien… would Gavin end up with Lasko? I mean I see it then what would happen with Dear? Like no way they would end up with Huxley?? Cause like how though? I mean I feel like Lasko and Dear would be friends and then they’d find out Lasko is with someone else and would like Dear be single at that rate?

ALSO INVERSION I FEEL LIKE DAMIEN AND HUXLEY WOULDNT CHANGE! But Gavin and Freelancer?! I feel like they would but my mind is making up that Lasko would help him and freelancer made the speech… but like idk

Ngl I want Ivan back like he was interesting like I was in a similar situation and like ever since I watched his first couple audios and then slowly I was like “Oh god… Oh god!… OH GOD!”

I don’t know about you… but like I want to know more about Dear ngl… like like who would dare say that just because they are a water elemental they have to be strong?! Like nah man I feel you but like no don’t believe them. I’m wondering why move to Dahlia is it like JUST for business or is there a deeper reason? Or are they a latent or empowered human or human born? What is their family like do they have siblings? Like I have too many questions!!!

Also I want to just ask for personal opinions on if IF The redacted universe wasn’t magic and like all college based: what would the boys majors be?? I am in college I study Kinesiology with a minor in Nutrition For me it would be:

Huxley: Architecture and Design (I don’t know if there’s a major in construction) that or something plat science and he got scouted for a D1 team

Damien: Something that involves Social Justice since like he stands up for a lot of people

Gavin: PSYCHOLOGY!! Demons and Daemons know how to feel peoples emotions! I like see Gavin having notes only on specific things. He’s also the type that’ll hardly go to the lectures

Lasko: He’d be an undeclared but he’s do something in Education… he’d also be a TA

David: Idk I am getting stumped but something in Culinary or like some criminology major

Asher: Criminology with probably a minor in some form of Art

Milo: Another Criminology lol but like he won’t do what his dad does

Sam: Probably a form of health sciences. Either something in like lab pharmacy or like rehabilitation. Probably started his career early

Vincent: I am ngl I’m stumped on Vincent… he’d probably use to be undeclared in like a Liberal arts but he’d then switch to Culinary

Caelum: NO BABES YOU ARENT READY! He’d definitely do a psychology and because he has to do something fun do some art

Elliot: He’d be Psychology based with a minor in Visual Computer Art or something along the lines of that

I know Ollie and Guy has a degree. Guy having a degree in creative writing but I don’t remember what Ollie’s degree was… I’m pretty sure Aaron and Ivan have some degree

Anywas sorry for the long ass rant that I have a 4 in the morning have a good day yall

[adiduck]

Stairs? (Adi, I love every little snippet of this. I am so ready.)

...Okay. I've got stairs, but the context of this is VERY LONG. So, Bea, you get an EXTRA LONG snippet! <3

-

“You can use my phone to call Ice,” he said, defeated. “It should go through to his personal cell, which will be quicker.”

“Thank you, Captain,” she said, and waited as Maverick pulled out his phone, opened it, hit the correct contact, and selected speaker.

Maverick had a short, hopeful tenish seconds when he thought maybe nobody would pick up.

“Mav?” came Bradley’s voice. Maverick winced.

“Good afternoon, sir,” the doctor said calmly. “I’m Dr. Oliean, calling from Naval Medical Center San Diego on behalf of Captain Pete Mitchell. I was hoping I could speak to Admiral Kazansky?”

“They’re in the building,” Maverick said again. “Really, this is unnecessary, you could probably just wheel me down there—”

“Wheel?” Bradley interrupted. Maverick snapped his mouth shut, wincing.

“May I ask who I am speaking with?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw,” Bradley said. “I’m in the room with Admiral Kazansky, but unfortunately he’s on mandatory vocal rest at the moment. I could… Captain Mitchell was my legal guardian until I turned eighteen. You could tell me?”

Maverick winced hard enough that it sent a jolt of pain straight up and down his spine.

“I don’t see you on the emergency contact list, Lieutenant Bradshaw,” the doctor said. “Is there a way we could get in visual contact with Admiral Kazansky?”

“...He, ah,” Bradley said, sounding a little strangled. “He says that—if it’s alright, he’ll type and I’ll read out what he’s saying.”

The doctor sighed. “Captain?”

“Fine,” Maverick said. “Bradley—for the record, that’s just because you were deployed around the world a lot of the time and I needed to add a couple people who’d be able to text Ice—”

“It’s—It’s okay, Mav,” Bradley said. “I get it. Ice—Admiral Kazansky wants to know what the damage is, doctor?”

The doctor went into the laundry list again, looking just as harassed about it this time as she was when she told Maverick about it.

“Frankly, sir, if it were something I was allowed to prescribe, I’d suggest kintsugi,” she finished, glaring at Maverick like this was somehow his fault again. Maverick didn’t even know what that was.

“Kintsugi?” Bradley said after a beat—read, probably. He sounded a bit distracted. “Oh. Ice, yeah, that’s a Japanese art thing—they take broken or cracked porcelain and pour molten gold in—ah. He says he knows what kintsugi is.” Typical, Maverick thought. Bradley continued, sounding a little sheepish. “He asks that you refrain from referring to Captain Mitchell’s bones as cracked porcelain.” Maverick kind of suspected Ice had said that less politely. Still.

“I’d appreciate that, personally,” Maverick drawled.

“He says you no longer get an opinion, Mav,” Bradley reported. That was probably verbatim.

“As it stands, Captain Mitchell has about three months of recovery and rehabilitation ahead of him,” the doctor interrupted. “Due to the fact that he will be in six separate braces and unable to drive, hospital policy is that someone else will have to sign him out. Due to the limited motion and the fact that he will be in a chair until the braces on his arms and shoulder are removed and he can use other tools to assist with walking, we also recommend he have someone around to assist him during recovery.”

There was a much longer pause, and some muffled talking and shifting on the other side of the phone line. “Apologies,” Bradley said finally. “Admiral Kazansky says that all makes sense, but that he’ll be in hospital for another couple days, and Captain Mitchell currently lives alone on base in North Island in temporarily assigned housing that will have to be extended, as he was only here on special assignment.”

“Or I can just head back to mine in China Lake,” Maverick said, trying for light. “At least I live all on one level.”

“He says he h—oh, that one was just for me,” Bradley said. Maverick smiled. That was definitely I hate the hangar. If Maverick knew Ice, and he did, it was I hate that stupid fucking hangar. If he was really on a tear—and he might be, considering how long Bradley was being quiet—he was adding turning himself into a hermit in the desert, and god forbid he spend time around real humans apart from his team, and if China Lake were closer I’d force him to just stay in my guest room.

“That one? Alright. Mav, he says you should just stay with him.” Maverick snorted.

“Your guest rooms all have stairs, Ice.”

“He says he’ll call someone to flip the second office downstairs.”

Maverick shook his head. “Come on, that’s too much work.”

“He says he’ll make it an order if he has to. Captain. He says he’ll make it an order if he has to, Captain.” Bradley was starting to sound kind of amused, which was an improvement on ‘worried’ or ‘trying not to sound hurt’. Maverick grinned, and winked at the doc. She rolled her eyes, but let him continue to negotiate.

“Sounds like an abuse of your position, sir,” Maverick fired back.

“He says he could come up with a reason and you won’t like it.” Maverick cracked, laughing and then wincing as his everything protested, the doctor’s hands flying out to brace him.

[oscconfessions]

Feels a bit odd to be told to 'enter' someone, makes me think of Cars universe logic, etc.

Speaking of, would objects based on buildings/structures have their own etiquette/culture from other objects? At this point, I'm just expressing my need for an object show that's mundane day to day, where it's an exploration of normal object lives.

Whenever I say that, I think of the possibility of objects having some kind of racism lol.

Uhm, that's not what I'm here to confess, though, so here goes. When I first watched ONE, I shipped a not so good ship that you probably know, and I still sometimes think about a redemption for one of those two and then a romance. If I ever say I ship it again; firstly, tell me to touch grass or shoe store myself, and secondly, I mean it in a post-redemption way, not a dead dove way. Generally, I enjoy ships with complex/unhealthy dynamics (stares at my Batjokes Board), but I'm very conflicted about it. I DON'T SUPPORT RELATIONSHIPS LIKE THAT IRL!!!!!

This is turning into a bit of a personal ramble, I do apologize for that. Back to the topic of confessing object show things!!

I'm very close to 1,000 pins on my 4x board (Pinterest), and generally, I love shipping algebraliens sm!! If the earlier stuff I said taints your opinions on ships like that, remember a broken clock is right twice a day.

I still don't know what the creator of CFMOT did to make people hate him, so keep that in mind, but I can't wait for the release of the final episode.

I am not ready for post fixation clarity once I get over the OSC. I am going insane. At the same time, being in the OSC is stopping me from actual art pieces. All I can draw rn is silly household items kissing.

I was going to ask this un-anon, but I don't want this on my main blog, and I can't figure out how to make it my priv AUGH.

Love you and many hugs to anyone reading, remember to drink water, 'n if you're feeling bad, take a break 'n shower !!!!

That's it. Sorry!

.

[rainbowninja00]

title pending!

so there's this idea that's been bonking around my mind for... years? I'm not sure how many but it's been a while. so, it started with the idea of characters based on the 7 deadly sins (original I know) and grew into a whole false tv show in my brain. first off, LONG POST WARNING!!!!!!! just letting yall know. second, there is some inspiration from Ready Player One here, if you haven't seen it, dw you dont need the context of the story, just the idea of a VR kinda thing for the internet, EXCEPT your body ceases to exist outside of it when you arent in the internet (tm) so no bullshit someone's gonna get you while you're in there! I can and will go into the intricusies of how the internet (tm) works but there are other things I wanna expand on. mainly, our main characters!!! there are 8 main characters: one for every sin and the protagonist. (some images included to show off the general vibe/colour palette of the characters all from pinterest) starting with our main character, she doesn't really have a name cause i cant think of a good one, but she's 14-16, new to high school and experiencing the internet (tm) for the first time, she's been online, but never in the actual world before. I like to think she wears mainly black and white with hints of red or other colours in the beginning and gains more colours as time goes on and she learns more about herself and the world around her. she is heavily inspired by moon girl from marvel's moon girl and devil dinosaur

next, Pride! she is the general leader of the group since she's the most commanding and takes no shit. she tries to keep the kid safe and out of trouble, she has her own in securities and such that I can go over in a stand alone post about the specific characters. she is kinda inspired by garnet from steven universe but only in a design way.

then we have the most developed and a literal self insert: lust! he's the resident "heart throb" of the group and is probably the silliest of the group, also the one the protag meets first. he is the insighting incident in many a misadventure cause its easy to use him for that. I will go into this more later, but he's lust cause he lusts for a relationship, he's a sad boy (like me) inspiration is angel dust from hazbin but only in personality.

envy and greed are twins, identical within the internet (tm) and fraternal outside of it cause oh yeah, the 7 are all real people too. they work together very well and put on a show of wanting what the other has to outside observers. the only inspo I can think of is the general aesthetic of grossology and mammon from helluva from a design stand point.

(pretend there's an image of a big ol oversized hoodie here, almost all those photos have people in them and I dont feel comfortable with that) wrath was one of the hardest for me to pinpoint initially, his thing isn't being angry, he makes others angry by being goofy and messing with them. Like kel from omori, also his design SOMEHOW ended up being cowboy esque in my head??? so like clover from undertale yellow.

sloth is actually my favourite, she loves hyperpop, all things pink and pastel, loves performing songs with lust, but she's sloth because she doesn't do anything unless it interests her, no chores, no responsibilities, she leaves the internet(tm) the least out of them all. I saw an artist on twitter once and was like YEAH THATS THE VIBE but I forgot who they are TwT. she is also based on moon girl design wise. BEE AND PUPPYCAT AESTHETIC MY GOAT!!!

(idk if this is fan art, if it is and someone knows who made it lmk)

last and sadly least is gluttony, I don't really have them super developed, and if anyone has any ideas for them I would love to hear it!

If anyone wants to see or hear more I will happily yap about it for hours, PLEASE I AM BEGGING ON MY HANDS AND KNEES FOR PEOPLE TO REBLOG THIS I just wanna know if anyone would be interested on hearing more so I know if I should bother typing up more posts on these guys! (also id appriciate help w/ the title)

[amadeusgame]

The World's Longest And Most Sentimental Development Log (Marketing Retrospective)

It's been a month since the demo release, and Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~  Episode 1 ~ Waltz has just reached 100 wishlists on Steam. I'm incredibly grateful for the support and interest.

Because this has been the month following a major release, most of my efforts have been focused on communications as opposed to development. I still want to discuss these efforts, both as a retrospective for my own reference, and in case anyone else finds it enlightening. This was meant to be a short and to-the-point marketing discussion, but it accidentally... and inevitably... transformed into something incredibly long and sentimental.

The long and short of it is that I've had an overwhelmingly successful month by my standards. Discussing marketing means I have been analyzing why that is. In doing so, I slowly became aware of just how much of my entire life has been building up to this.

I originally planned to mention other things in this update... discuss the recent demo livestream, announce an upcoming "100 wishlists" celebration... but those no longer really suit the tone of this update. I will post about them another time. I wasn't prepared to celebrate 100 wishlists this quickly, anyway! I had no idea I would get that much in the first month! I'm not ready to make that announcement! I would like to do something appropriate for this milestone, so please give me some more time to put proper thought into it.

You can reference here for the livestream video and other resources: https://linktr.ee/amadeusgame

I don't expect very many people to read the rest of this. But I am writing it anyway because it's important for me to express. And if you got anything out of the Amadeus demo, you probably got the fact that I am a bit of a long-winded and sentimental person. Bearing that in mind...

On Marketing Amadeus

Overall, I tried a lot of different things—many of which flopped—based on the question "what kind of communications would I like to see, as an audience?" Some combination of all of these somehow worked. I don't think it is particularly useful to try and pinpoint what specific individual things made Number Go Up the most, because the real takeaway was that I put enough messages out in enough places that over 100 real actual human beings came across them and were interested in what I am making. That number is probably tiny to people trying to earn a living in games, but as someone just hoping to get my art out there... the number 100 is significant and motivating.

I am happy to share the things that I've tried, and my impressions of how well they worked for my situation and purposes. Before that, though, I must stress that having assets to share in these communications in the first place was an invaluable step, especially since visuals and aesthetics are a very core part of my game.

Creating Marketing Assets

(When uploading a game to Steam, there are approximately 8 million different aspect ratios and dimensions you need to create branding assets for, so I chopped that source poster up into different pieces and spent about a week just making different combinations of them to suit various needs.)

Again: I was not thinking ahead to the Steam page when I drew this in October, not really. I was just drawing something that I wanted to draw, inspired by art that inspired me. If I hadn't indulged that desire and "procrastinated" a bit, I wouldn't have the assets to advertise the game when it came time for launch! This is something that I've experienced again and again throughout the process of development: making things for fun, doing things on impulse, taking breaks and indulging whims... many of these activities somehow end up being essential for the game. If I had refused that self-indulgence to focus on Important Development Stuff, I wouldn't have the cool piece of art I needed to successfully advertise the finished game on launch. Moreover, the final art in the game would not be as good, because I wouldn't have gotten ideas about art direction from making this poster.

(Also... I wouldn't have had as much fun making the game. Since this game's budget is $0 and all of my free time, it REALLY matters that I am having fun while making it.)

Even more important than these visual assets, though, was the trailer. How many games have I checked out just based on the trailer? I recently purchased Raging Loop on Steam, a game I have been considering for months, because I finally watched the trailer and realized "okay, this game is me-core." The trailer is so important. It's not about how pretty the trailer is; it's about whether the trailer shows me a game that I, in particular, want to play. I don't know who my audience is, but considering my goals and inspirations, I think it is something along the lines of "hipsters who love some combination of Umineko, werewolves, and unique aesthetics." So I needed a trailer that would connect with those people. A trailer that, if I watched it, would make me realize hey, this game is me-core.

Making a trailer is its own skillset, though! Completely separate from game development. Communicating something in video form is different than communicating it in another medium.

Fortunately... I have actually done a lot of just-for-fun video editing projects very recently! I edited together a "trilogy" out of roadtrip camcorder footage I took, and also put together the video for an audio-visual collab album. I already have tools and a workflow that I like to use.

I am developing a game, but it has helped me so much to have experience making a stupid trilogy of camcorder footage roadtrip videos.

I worked on those video editing projects because they were fun. I had absolutely no ulterior motive. In doing so, I still gained an important skill that transferred directly to marketing Amadeus. As someone who has always struggled to focus on just One Thing, it's incredibly affirming to realize that having done a lot of random stuff is actually really helping me as a solo game developer. I feel like I've finally found an art form where this is an important skill, and not a hindrance or distraction.

So... well, I suppose this means that I have no useful advice for other developers. I want to be honest about my experiences, and my experiences are that I only was able to prepare good marketing assets for Amadeus because I did a lot of for-fun art projects outside of game development. From my perspective, this is amazing news: it tells me that allowing myself space to be an artist and a person outside of this project has actually helped make the project itself better. It tells me that there are no downsides to being experimental and giving time to other projects too. But to anyone reading this hoping for some advice on putting together marketing assets, I'm sure it's the least helpful or relatable thing in the world. I'm sorry about that.

Getting the Word Out

Once the demo released, it became a matter of presenting the materials I had in the right ways, and in the right places. This is what I have been spending most of my waking hours doing this month. A non-exhaustive list of everything I've tried:

E-mailed all of my professors from grad school whose courses influenced my compositions for the game in some way. (This wasn't so much about the numbers, it was just motivating to get nice comments back. :D)

Joined a few Discord servers for communities dedicated to indie game developent; tried to engage in meaningful conversations there and check out other games while also sharing my own work. (I'm asking others for a favor, to take a look at my work, so I try to check out theirs too in return.)

Posted the trailer on the Visual Novels subreddit. (This flopped.)

Posted weekly* on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and a few other places. (This has been the bulk of my ongoing communications; see below!)

Posted on a forum I joined last year to discuss music composition.

Found and followed a lot of other indie game devs making things that interested or excited me.

Shared it in a Discord server I moderate** as a "creative mod." (I host monthly art-focused events, curate spaces for sharing art, etc.; see below.)

Shared it with basically all of my friends! Especially friends who are also artists and creators!

To sum, I used every single available avenue to talk about it. But I really need to expand on the two points bolded and asterisked above. I have something additional to say about them, and I cannot overstate how much it matters.

*Weekly Posts

As indicated, ongoing weekly posts on various platforms are the meat of my marketing. I post regularly, but it's really important to me to not just post the same stuff all the time and annoy everybody. I try to highlight different aspects of the game each time, use different framing, and do a variety of weird and silly stuff. Some things perform unexpectedly well and others are complete flops. But I think it's been key to not be afraid of failure and just try things. That way it's still interesting to the people who already checked out the game, while hopefully reaching new eyes too!

(Full disclosure, however: sometimes I will do something that has 0 chance of doing numbers, just because I think it would be a fun thing to post. Since I am completely self-motivating on this project, I have to do things that are self-indulgent, or I will burn out. So, hypothetically, I might be compelled to, say, post a photo taken on an Instax analog camera of the game hooked up to a CRT TV.)

(Step 1 of marketing is to have fun and be yourself?)

BUT ALSO!

AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS POST!!

I only have any sort of audience on these platforms because of other, unrelated things I've been doing for years. I met a LOT of people on Twitter and Instagram through cosplay and Tales of Symphonia speedrunning, who stuck around somehow. I met some people on Tumblr from recent Ghost Trick ROMhacking, and others from Homestuck meetups in 2012. I met people on Discord from a forum about video games I joined in 2006. I was already connected with a lot of like-minded people to share my game with! I know—I KNOW—that this is something that is only easy to say in retrospect, but: doing stuff and meeting people over the course of a lifetime has added up. I hope that this will continue to be true, and maybe some people who find me through Amadeus will stick around for whatever comes after, once I've fully completed the 5-episode story I have to tell here. And I will see it through.

So, please bear this in mind when reading about how I promote my self-indulgent game every week on Instagram. I did not attend Anime Expo 2015 in order to build an audience for the visual novel I would make 9 years later. I was just meeting and connecting with other cosplayers, because I thought I would still be doing cosplay indefinitely. But many of those connections have persisted over the years, and some of those people are interested in my game. None of this seemingly-unrelated life experience is wasted. In the words of one of my teachers from grad school, "it's an accumulated life." I have ended up somewhere unexpected, and I did not plan to end up here, but all of those past experiences were still a part of getting me to where I currently am.

**Discord Server Mod

I want to highlight this particular place where I've promoted my game, because it's important in a way that connects with basically all of my rambling above. I want to make it clear that absolutely everything that went well this past month started so much longer ago than that.

In this point, I am not saying "step 1 of indie game promotion: simply have been a creative events moderator on a Discord server for years first!" as this is incredibly useless advice. Hear me out for a moment.

About 2 years ago, there was no "creative events" moderator on this particular Discord server. It was mostly a space to talk about video games with friends. You could also post art there if you wanted, and you might have gleaned a react or two.

Also about 2 years ago, I began to think very deeply about my relationship with art and the internet. When I was a tweenager, there was this video game forum—a forum that migrated to the Discord server in question recently—where you could post your art (usually video game fanart, but could be anything), and the moderator would always engage with it and provide meaningful, thoughtful feedback. That space is one of the biggest reasons I drew so much when I was younger, and worked so hard trying to learn how to draw and shade and color better, because I wanted to have my efforts praised, and I knew they would be.

2 years ago, I desperately needed a space like that again. Lacking one, I decided to pick up the torch left behind by the moderator from my tweenage years, and become the person who would always, always provide thoughtful engaging feedback when people posted their work there. Literally some "be the change you want to see in the world" shit. I knew that someone else doing that for me fundamentally altered the course of my life, so I wanted to try and be that for others if possible. More selfishly, I hoped that this would also create the much-needed space for me to share my work and get feedback and responses, too.

Now, about 2 years later, that channel is pretty active. People regularly share their creative works, and it is one of my favorite places to post my own stuff because people are really good about engaging with each other's stuff there. It's been one of the most important places for me to share progress on Amadeus, because that external motivation helps a lot. And once the demo came out, I have absolutely no doubt that this server was a significant proportion of the initial support and momentum it received on launch.

I did not even have so much as a delusion of being a game developer when I made these changes in the Discord server. I was working in IT and considering applying to music school. I just wanted to build a community around art.

So, why am I writing about my 2-year journey as a Discord mod in my development update about marketing? Hopefully it makes a bit more sense now. I'm really trying to emphasize that the marketing I did this past month didn't start last month. It started 2 years ago on this Discord server, it started in 2006 when I joined that video game forum. Really, my marketing efforts have gone as well as they have because—whoops, I am tearing up writing this—I have made a lot of incredible connections in a lot of communities over the years, and now that I have something very important to me that I want to share, they have really helped support it. I've had some friends go so far above and beyond what I would ever ask them to do in sharing my game, and that kind of support just... I can't put a number on it; it's invaluable.

In Conclusion

Go to conventions and meet cosplayers. Speedrun a 6-and-a-half-hour-long JRPG from 2003 on Twitch. Join a forum and when it migrates to Discord, organize art events and comment on other people's work. Draw self-indulgent stuff and make silly roadtrip videos scored with Logic Loops. Make 90% of a ROMhack of a Nintendo DS game. Get completely obsessed with other visual novels on itch.io and write essays in their comments.

My name is Leo, and my marketing advice is You Only Live Once. I hope this helps. Have a wonderful evening and I look forward to presenting you with a more coherent update next month.