#the tumblr page will be updated as regularly as possible

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

FYI artists and writers: some info regarding tumblr's new "third-party sharing" (aka selling your content to OpenAI and Midjourney)

You may have already seen the post by @staff regarding third-party sharing and how to opt out. You may have also already seen various news articles discussing the matter.

But here's a little further clarity re some questions I had, and you may too. Caveat: Not all of this is on official tumblr pages, so it's possible things may change.

(1) "I heard they already have access to my data and it doesn't really matter if I opt out"

From the 404 article:

A new FAQ section we reviewed is titled “What happens when you opt out?” states “If you opt out from the start, we will block crawlers from accessing your content by adding your site on a disallowed list. If you change your mind later, we also plan to update any partners about people who newly opt-out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.”

So please, go click that opt-out button.

(2) Some future user: "I've been away from tumblr for months, and I just heard about all this. I didn't opt out before, so does it make a difference anymore?"

Another internal document shows that, on February 23, an employee asked in a staff-only thread, “Do we have assurances that if a user opts out of their data being shared with third parties that our existing data partners will be notified of such a change and remove their data?” Andrew Spittle, Automattic’s head of AI replied: “We will notify existing partners on a regular basis about anyone who's opted out since the last time we provided a list. I want this to be an ongoing process where we regularly advocate for past content to be excluded based on current preferences. We will ask that content be deleted and removed from any future training runs. I believe partners will honor this based on our conversations with them to this point. I don't think they gain much overall by retaining it.”

It should make a difference! Go click that button.

(3) "I opted out, but my art posts have been reblogged by so many people, and I don't know if they all opted out. What does that mean for my stuff?"

This answer is actually on the support page for the toggle:

This option will prevent your blog's content, even when reblogged, from being shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models.

And some further clarification by the COO and a product manager:

zingring: A couple people from work have reached out to let me know that yes, it applies to reblogs of "don't scrape" content. If you opt out, your content is opted out, even in reblog form. cyle: yep, for reblogs, we're taking it so far as "if anybody in the reblog trail has opted out, all of the content in that reblog will be opted out", when a reblog could be scraped/shared.

So not only your reblogged posts, but anyone who contributed in a reblog (such as posts where someone has been inspired to draw fanart of the OP) will presumably be protected by your opt-out. (A good reason to opt out even if you yourself are not a creator.)

Furthermore, if you the OP were offline and didn't know about the opt-out, if someone contributed to a reblog and they are opted out, then your original work is also protected. (Which makes it very tempting to contribute "scrapeable content" now whenever I reblog from an abandoned/disused blog...)

(4) "What about deleted blogs? They can't opt out!"

I was told by someone (not official) that he read "deleted blogs are all opted-out by default". However, he didn't recall the source, and I can't find it, so I can't guarantee that info. If I get more details - like if/when tumblr puts up that FAQ as reported in the 404 article - I will add it here as soon as I can.

Edit, tumblr has updated their help page for the option to opt-out of third-party sharing! It now states:

The content which will not be shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models, includes: • Posts and reblogs of posts from blogs who have enabled the "Prevent third-party sharing" option. • Posts and reblogs of posts from deleted blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from password-protected blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from explicit blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from suspended/deactivated blogs. • Private posts. • Drafts. • Messages. • Asks and submissions which have not been publicly posted. • Post+ subscriber-only posts. • Explicit posts.

So no need to worry about your old deleted blogs that still have reblogs floating around. *\o/*

But for your existing blogs, please use the opt out option. And a reminder of how to opt out, under the cut:

The opt-out toggle is in Blog Settings, and please note you need to do it for each one of your blogs / sideblogs.

On dashboard, the toggle is at https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/blogname [replace "blogname" as applicable] down by Visibility:

For mobile, you need the most recent update of the app. (Android version 33.4.1.100, iOs version 33.4.) Then go to your blog tab (the little person icon), and then the gear icon for Settings, then click Visibility.

Again, if you have a sideblog, go back to the blog tab, switch to it, and go to settings again. Repeat as necessary.

If you do not have access to the newest version of the app for whatever reason, you can also log into tumblr in your mobile browser. Same URL as per desktop above, same location.

Note you do not need to change settings in both desktop and the app, just one is fine.

I hope this helps!

[bogleech]

Also going to finally make a pinned post for all my stuff:

BOGLEECH - my tumblr blog is named after this website I created around 2002 and still update. Thousands of pages worth of content focusing on creature design as well as real biology. My review of the original Legend of Zelda monsters might be the most straightforward example of my articles. Links to some of the most popular content:

POKEMON REVIEW ARCHIVE: - I rate and review each and every single Pokemon, in Pokedex order, on its merits as a creature design. I also do so as someone whose favorite animals are all parasites.

DIGIMON REVIEW ARCHIVE - same, but more chaotic.

CREEPYPASTA COOKOFF ARCHIVE - for several years I hosted a yearly writing contest before it grew too big for me to keep up with. There are over a thousand user submitted horror, fantasy, sci fi and surrealist stories here emphasizing unconventional, original ideas you seldom see from the "creepypasta" community!

The original "MORTASHEEN" Monster Archive - since the early 2000's I've created and illustrated more than 800 creatures and counting for my own monster-catching world, now set for release as a tabletop RPG setting.

AWFUL HOSPITAL: SERIOUSLY THE WORST EVER (page one): an interactive comedy-horror-sci-fi webcomic I started in 2014 about a medical facility that could maybe be better.

Some of my other internet stuff:

PATREON - constant work makes my patreon updates inconsistent, but the content backlog goes back years with a huge amount of exclusive art and writing. I try to put up new exclusive stuff whenever I can.

ETSY - I design all sorts of original enamel pins like these, plus I sell zero-maintenance terrarium plants (just leave them in a jar!), original books and other things!

COLOR THE ABYSS (available on the above etsy!) - a 30 page educational deep sea coloring book! Includes a few famous favorites like giant isopods and hagfish, but mostly focuses on less popular, often much weirder animals.

UNBELIEVABLE BUGS - also regularly restocked in the etsy store, 30 of the strangest and most surprising arthropods most people have likely never heard of, illustrated by myself and @revretch, written for even the youngest kids to understand (but will likely teach you something new at any age)

My Itch.io and Ko-fi - both sell digital versions of my books, including some creepypasta collections and my first novel, "Return of the Living," about a world of entirely ghosts suddenly dealing with the appearance of ghost-hunting monsters.

TWITCH CHANNEL - I now try to stream something at least monthly, sometimes weekly when possible, from horror games to books and art.

YOUTUBE CHANNEL - archives my twitch streams and other little things.

INSTAGRAM - look at pictures of my huge weird collection of toys and Halloween collectibles

BLUESKY - I'm going to put mainly just updates to my stuff on here. SEE ALSO:

HUMANS-B-GONE - a science fiction animated series by my partner @revretch, about a world of kaiju-size, technologically advanced insects and arachnids to whom vertebrates like us are just pesky little "gubs." Also has a tumblr account @humansbgone FINALLY, HERE'S MY GUIDE AND RESOURCE TO MAKING YOUR OWN INTERNET WEBSITE IN A FEW MINUTES WITH NO KNOWLEDGE OF CODING

[starstrider-productions]

LOOKING FOR SENSITIVITY READERS (PAID!)

I am looking for two sensitivity readers for my next audio drama project from the following backgrounds: Jewish and Hindu. I am very committed to making my portrayal of these religions as accurate and respectful as possible, so would love to hear from readers with lived experiences.

Both readers will be asked to read 5 scripts. Each script is between 15-20 pages long. I will also give background information on the project to give you contextual knowledge of the over-arching themes/ideas of the plot.

If you are interested, please email starstriderproductions@gmail.com with your rates/experience, or any questions you might have! You are also welcome to reblog/comment with questions.

(Just a heads up - I am very bad at checking Tumblr messages, so I am MUCH more likely to see an email than an ask/message.)

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Francesca (Audio fiction writer - previous credits include The Pilgrimage Saga and H.G. Wells Has His Regrets)

EDIT:

I have been advised to be a little more specific in my post regarding the characters! Here are some additional details:

Character 1: Female, 20s, British Asian, practising Hindu. She celebrates Diwali in one of the episodes.

Character 2: Female, 70s, Dutch, Jewish. She regularly attends the synagogue, celebrates Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and her faith is an important part of the story. This podcast is set in 2004, and this character is a Holocaust survivor (imprisoned in Dachau as a child).

FURTHER UPDATE: Thank you to those of you who have emailed me so far - a reader has been found for Character 2! Still looking for a Hindu reader :)

FINAL UPDATE: Thank you everyone who has contacted me - I have found readers for both characters! I hope you all enjoy the final product :)

[sovonight]

hey! been an enjoyer of your art for a while now (been offline Tumblr for a sec) and noticed you do BG art!

I low-key wanna get into BG but I don't know where to start or even what to expect. Do you have any tips for anyone wanting to get into the og BG games? (I don't wanna play BG3 rn I wanna start with the OG games)

sure! i wrote up a quick rundown here of the series + dlc + the enhanced editions. as for tips:

play the tutorial! don't skip this, bg's gameplay is not as self-explanatory as it is for modern games. xan also shows up here to teach you how to cast spells, so it's just nice to bother him

play on pc, not on an app (if for whatever reason you were considering the app version). not only is it really annoying playing on the app with a touchscreen, but you can't install any significant mods either, and it's a pain to even access the files in the first place

holding tab highlights all the interactable objects on the screen, like loot on the ground & chests you can open. there's also a magnifying glass button that does the same thing (in the ee version only, i believe)

in the main gameplay screen, hovering over icons brings up a quick tooltip that tells you what the icon is, but for full info on item/spell descriptions you'll have to click into the character's inventory/spellbook/etc and right click on them there

i regularly look things up on the wiki, because one of the things you'll probably be wondering once you enter combat is "how do i get rid of this negative status effect?!" status effects show up as tiny icons on the character portraits, and you'll have to click into the character page to see the actual name of the status effect, at which point you can drop it into the wiki search bar and find out how to get rid of it

another reason to keep the wiki open is to find out your enemies' weaknesses, so that when your companions are like "my weapon/spell has no effect!" you can change tactics

keep an eye on the log (that text box at the bottom of the screen)! i know, it fills up with a lot of information during combat, but you should keep an eye on how much damage you're doing, especially if you find out you're doing no damage at all

i regularly play with a walkthrough (bg1, bg1, bg2) because i hate backtracking and never want to miss a thing (you don't have to use the walkthroughs i linked, they're just what i have on hand). they are filled with spoilers, so i'd recommend trying your first playthrough without a walkthrough, but if you get stuck they're helpful for telling you what you need to do to get back on track with the main quest. bg doesn't have quest markers or individual quest trackers or anything, just one journal that every single quest update gets piled into (wow, just like real life!) so it's definitely possible to lose track of where you are if you're too deep in side quests or if you stop playing for a week

[erzvolnes]

also! collection of my observations on the various enemies in Dredge! for people who are cowards like me and want to know the mechanics of these Guys!

It's as spoiler-free as possible, but I do have to reference the creatures and the area they appear in, so bear that in mind! JSYK I've been uploading this as a steam guide and have been updating that regularly with new info, so this tumblr guide is extremely outdated! Please check out steam for an updated list! (it should be one of the first guides on the page!)

ANGLERFISH

The 'ghost ship' you will see on the water at night. It seems to spawn around midnight, at some distance from your current location, so it's pretty easy to avoid if you're careful. (Sometimes when sleeping at Greater Marrow or Steel Point, you can see it spawn on the horizon - I assume it spawns a set distance from your location, regardless of where you are, but I have no way to confirm this.)

If it catches sight/starts pursuing you, it'll make a very distinct blaring foghorn noise. Sneaking around it isn't much use, but's not especially fast, so it's possible to outrun it if you want to. It can be easy to get lost in the fog while being chased, so it's safest to try and keep an idea of your nearest dock's location if you're out late at night.

If it catches up to you, it will attack you once (causing hull damage similar to crashing into an object) and then swim away. I assume it despawns at this point, as I haven't been attacked by it more than once in the same night.

Overall, it's more scary than it is dangerous.

GALE ROCKS LEVIATHAN

The large, eel-like creature that lives inside the cliff caves at Gale Rocks. It first appeared for me upon entering the cliff caves for the first time, from the large 'archway' nearest the village dock. It seems to always cross across the 'path' between the cliffs in the same spot, rising out of the water once to attack you before swimming away. Once you know this spot, it's easy to just wait for it to swim by and avoid the hit entirely.

After a time (it may be following completion of some story quests in the area) the creature will begin to swim around the bay at Gale Rocks regardless of time of day/night. It's quite slow, so you can avoid it if you like, but it does make it hard to get to fishing/dredging spots, and it will attack you even if you're idling (ie., not passing time by sailing.)

Like the Anglerfish, it will attack once, doing hull damage similar to crashing into an object, and then swim away. After this, it seems to despawn for a few in-game hours. Letting it attack you so you can explore the area more freely is a valid option, especially since navigating the tight areas can be a bit of a pain.

Again, more scary/intimidating than it is dangerous. Not completely avoidable like the Anglerfish, but pretty easy to deal with.

THE KRAKEN

The giant octopus at Stellar Basin. It lives inside the deep pit at the centre of the ring of islands. The spot is easily identifiable as it's surrounded by glowing blue plants/coral during the day, and bright pink jellyfish at night. The Kraken has large, harmless tentacles that rest around the edge of the pit, and several smaller, moving tentacles within.

It doesn't leave the pit at any time, and will not attack you if you don't stray into the water above the pit. If you do approach it, it will make a rumbling sound for a few seconds, and then quickly hit you with a tentacle. This attack, like the others, causes hull damage similar to crashing into an object. This creature is probably the easiest to avoid, as it doesn't pursue or seek you out in any way, and is only a danger if you deliberately cross above it.

At a certain point in the story, you will gain access to the ability to activate a device that a character claims will either scare the Kraken off for a while, or enrage it. The device will always scare it off, and you'll be safe to explore the entire area for as long as the device is running (which seems to be significantly long enough to check all the fishing/dredging spots you might need to.) When the device turns off, you will get a few seconds of warning as the Kraken climbs back up into the pit (via a rumbling sound).

Even less dangerous than the previous two, just visually intimidating.

MIND SUCKERS

These are (relatively) small, worm-like creatures that hide in the water at set locations within Twisted Strand. They are easy to see if you're vigilant, as they have bright yellow glowing orbs/eyes on their heads. They are initially invisible under the surface, but will slowly peer out of the water as you approach, giving you time to spot them, before emerging fully.

Mind Suckers are sensitive to movement, so when you see one emerge, just hold completely still for a few seconds until it sinks into the water again. In my experience, once they've disappeared into the water, they won't respawn for a while, similar to the other creatures. (Note that there are several of these creatures, and having one despawn won't despawn the rest of them - you'll need to repeat for each one.)

They're very easy to avoid if you're cautious, but if one does spot you moving, its yellow eyes will turn red and it will begin pursuing you. They're not especially fast or nimble, so you can outrun them, but the tight spaces can make it difficult to navigate, so the 'Banish' spell is a pretty safe way to get rid of them.

If they get within range of you, they will begin to cause the fisherman significant panic, similar to the whispering fog that spawns late at night. After a few seconds of this, they will lash out with a set of small tentacles, which I believe can cause hull damage (I managed to avoid being hit by/crashing into these tentacles, so I'm not 100% sure.)

As the story progresses, you will gain access to traps that can permanently remove the Mind Suckers from at least three key locations - I didn't explore enough following this to know if it removes all of them from the area, but I doubt it.

FIRE FISH & MAMA FISH

Fire Fish are small, orange/red fish that live in small groups around the ruins in Devil's Spine. They're pretty harmless on their own - they have a fairly small detection radius and will begin to chase you if you get too close. If they reach your boat, they'll begin making a lot of noise, but won't do any damage. They will, however, slow down your boat, which is very noticable if you have a large crowd on you. They're nimble, but not particularly fast, so you should be able to outrun them if you have a decently upgraded boat.

They're easy to see due to their bright colours, but they can look similar to the lava veins that also occur in the area. You can fairly easily avoid them by being very cautious and vigilant, so as to avoid getting too close to them.

The area has lots of barriers that you can destroy with bombs in order to reach places without disturbing the Fire Fish, but banish is also quite effective. They're also afraid of the hot vents scattered around the area, and will flee if you cross over one, so try to plan your routes if need-be.

Mama Fish is a much larger, paler version of the Fire Fish. She's still relatively small (about half the size of your boat.) She slowly patrols the area, and won't pay much attention to your comings and goings. You can hear her from pretty much anywhere in the Devil's Spines, and her 'roars' will get deeper and louder the closer she is (and be especially loud when she is actively chasing you - see below.)

Mama Fish is blind, so relies on the sound of her babies (Fire Fish) to target you. If her babies reach your boat and start making noise, Mama will start to head towards you. She's pretty slow and easy to avoid, so out-running her is a good solution. Banish will also cause the Fire Fish to disappear, and Mama will lose interest in you and back away.

I haven't been attacked by Mama, so I don't know exactly what she does, but I assume it's similar to every other creature (ie., hull damage.) I'll update when I have a clearer idea!

Fire Fish & Mama were the most frustrating enemy for me to get used to, but they're fairly easy to deal with if you're cautious!

OTHER:

WATER RUMBLES

The deep, roaring noises that you'll sometimes hear when crossing the ocean. Almost always completely harmless - just audio design that makes you nervous. The one exception I know of below.

SPINED LEVIATHAN

A large creature that will occasionally spawn following a 'water rumble' in the deep water nearby Twisted Strand. I've only seen it once, and it didn't attack me, but other players report being attacked (and instakilled) by it. This could be a result of lingering nearby for too long (I immediately moved away from it 'til I reached a dock) or a result of high panic levels.

If you spot it, just keep moving and you should be fine.

(Note: this is the same creature you'll see if you stray too far out-of-bounds from the edge of the map, as well as one other story-related appearance!)

SHIPWRECK CRABS

Giant crabs that disguise themselves as regular shipwrecks in set positions around the map. I found three of them during regular play. They will look exactly like a normal shoreline shipwreck, even having scrap dredging spots nearby, but will become active when you approach. They'll quickly stand up and lash out with their claws, but won't pursue you, and are easy to avoid as long as you don't get too close. If you do get hit, they do minor hull damage.

WHISPERING FOG

Not a creature so much, but it can pose a threat. This is the red/pink/purple patches of fog that appear late at night. They cause significant panic, but don't damage your boat at all. They're fairly easy to avoid, but you can run into them if you're already fleeing from another creature, like the Angler Fish. They're more of an annoyance than a real danger, imo!

BONUS: DOLPHINS AND WHALES

Completely harmless! They can bump your boat a little but won't cause damage and won't actively pursue you in any way. They're just normal little guys (:

If you have any other questions about the game, shoot me a message and I'll do my best to let you know!

[lady-bess]

Fallout - Chapter 8 "Back to Basics"

Jack Daniels x F!Reader Explicit/18+ (Minors DNI please) Chapter Word Count: 6.4k Chapter Tags: Trauma response, description of training, description of weaponry, use of a gun, PTSD/Trauma flashbacks, traumatic reaction, grounding, slight intimacy, description of wounds/scars, beginning of a friendship, drinking, eluding to being drunk at times (sensibly).

Series Masterlist | A03 Link | Tumblr Masterlist

<- Previous Chapter (Ch. 7 - "An Encounter")

Training Jack proved to be somewhat difficult - especially when he finally had a weapon placed back in his hands.

A/N: Thinking of changing the artwork for this series...thoughts? Also I'm officially scrapping an upload schedule. I started this as an every Wednesday idea, but I've found it too restrictive. I'm now just going to upload whenever I had a chapter ready! It'll still be regularly that this series gets updated, but that just gives me a bit more freedom!

Your time spent in the bar after work was somewhat different to how you first imagined it to be. Rather than the tipsy affair you had in your head, instead you opted for nursing a whiskey while plotting what training you could offer Jack. You swilled the contents of the glass around briefly as you contemplated what you had planned, your eyes scanning over scrawled notes littering the book you’d been using, before you were joined by a familiar southern drawl. 

“How’s it coming along?” Tequila had asked as he slid into the booth with you, a cold beer in hand. He took a swig of the drink as he got himself settled in next to you as you both awaited the rest of your party to join.

“I think I’ve got it nailed down. Here,” you pushed your notepad over towards Tequila, “have a look and see what you think?”. 

Tequila took another swig from his bottle before setting it down on a coaster and turning his attention to the book you’d been jotting down notes in all evening. Although your meeting with Jack was brief, combined with what Tequila had already told you about his rehabilitation after Jack had left had given you a good framework to start plotting with. You knew before Tex had given you more information that this would have to be a very different training plan, but you hadn’t anticipated just how different. 

Time. That was going to be the main difference - even in spite of the fact Jack had been a very well respected, and highly trained, agent for so many years, there was not an element of this that you could rush. Normally your goal was to get recruits to a high standard as fast as possible, and as you only ever dealt with the weapons training it was simple for you to streamline the process. All your training could be simplified as the more you practise, the better you get.

But Jack would have to be different. The kind of trauma he had faced over his life, totally unchecked too, made you take a different approach. You wouldn’t even dare put a weapon in his hands for a few weeks at least, and only would on the advice of Loretta. 

Tequila nodded slowly as he read over your notes, following the words with his finger - an endearing trait about Tex you’d picked up on when he told you about his dyslexia, and the struggles he sometimes had when it came to the admin side of his job. He’d found ways to make it work for him, and never didn’t turn in his reports, but there were still times you’d see him struggle. Your handwriting probably didn’t help, either…

“Looks good, London,” he said, smiling as he handed you the book back, “are you gonna start training him right away?” he asked. You nodded, placing your ribbon page marker into the book before closing the cover and tucking the book back in your bag. 

“No point delaying things. I imagine Jack’ll want to get going soon anyway. Sounds like he’s been itching to get back out there,” you said, returning to nursing your drink. Tequila chuckled as he took a sip of his drink. 

“You’re not wrong there. For months he was fine, and didn’t want to really think about it. But these last few weeks he’s turned a corner and there’s been a huge shift in him - and for the better, too. He’ll be pleased to know you’ll want to start immediately.” 

You smiled at Tex, finishing the last of your drink. 

“It’s good to have you back. I missed you; we all did,” you said. He pulled you in for a side hug, squeezing you tight into his solid frame. He planted a soft kiss in your hair, then released you. 

“I missed you too, kid.”

You’d spent the rest of that evening catching up with Tequila, finding out about his life in the UK with Astrid, who when she joined the table the two of you both almost broke down in tears after finally being reunited. She coddled you in her arms and it was like no time had passed at all - suddenly it was over two years ago,  the night before you found out where you were being stationed, and the two of you were drunkenly hugging like your lives depended on it. 

Tequila and Astrid would be staying States-side for a while, but that didn’t stop the two of you treating that night like you’d never see each other again. By the time the morning rolled around, and you peeled yourself off your bed, you cursed the fact you’d let Astrid talk you into three rounds of shots to finish the night off. Getting up to brew a pot of coffee, you thanked your lucky stars you’d told Jack to not meet you until the afternoon, and opted to type up his training plan from your work laptop at home so you could at the very least nurse your hangover in the comfort of your sweatpants and no bra. 

Jack’s training plan was a solid one, and this was probably the most thought you’d ever put into a recruit’s programme. Which sounded bad, given that for over a year it had been your job to train the next generation of recruits - but Jack was complicated, he wasn’t a fresh slate like so many who walked in through the doors of your office. There were so many adjustments you needed to make before you could confidently loosen the reins with him like your other students, even if he did technically have more experience than you in this line of work. 

The major adjustment you’d had to make with him was significantly dialling back on the combat and weapons side of things. Having spoken to both Tex and Loretta to get an idea of the kind of rehab programme he’d been undertaking, it was clear that the very last thing you should consider was putting a weapon in his hand. Which was something you knew anyway, but after re-reading his therapy notes once the caffeine hit your system that morning, you thought twice about also getting him involved in physical combat. 

That afternoon, once you’d made yourself look somewhat presentable, you’d started at ground level with Jack, and so began the next two months of you being his 1-on-1 trainer. Meeting at your office, he’d then been given a tour to the site as if he were a fresh-faced twenty-something who had been poached by Statesman, with no prior secret service training under his belt. He’d met all his new colleagues, some of whom he already knew , and learnt about all the recent developments that had happened since he’d been taken off active duty. 

Then, the admin work. How you didn’t pull your hair out with him you’d never quite understand - for a man who had been in a job literally engulfed with technology for the best part of two decades, it was like watching a fawn how to walk on ice when it came to him getting to grips with the new system and the way in which things were filed. Long gone were the days of brown envelopes containing classified information, a system he was so comfortable with, and in with digital. 

After the twelfth consecutive training day of getting him used to the system, you almost lost your rag at him. You were behind on your own paperwork now, with Jack’s training slowly becoming to the detriment of your own cases. At just turned four o’clock one afternoon, with your head in your hands, you grumbled at him. 

“How did you manage before?” you’d asked, genuinely curious how he’d gotten by if he was this shit with technology. He’d just shrugged, wiping his hands across his face in equal frustration at the fact he couldn’t grasp it. 

“I’d had assistants for years! I never needed to worry about any of this shit,” he’d said, which suddenly answered a lot of your questions. 

Jack was the biggest pain in your ass you’d ever known. You thought that for someone who had been given a second chance at life that he might be a little more grateful to the training you were giving him – and in the discreet manner in which you were giving it. Jack didn’t make it easy for you; for as much as you were happy with the cover story that he was brand new to Statesman, the former senior agent spent a fair bit of his time out chatting to other colleagues in a way where it was very obvious he clearly had a past with the company.

But still, you persevered. Sticking to your word, you didn’t tell anyone who he really was, even when you were asked about it. Schmidt had enquired about him on a few occasions.

“Tex says he’s new, but I’m not convinced y’know. Is there more to it?” he’d asked one afternoon you’d gone to get coffees. You’d just shrugged it off, answering with a non-committal, “Not that I’ve been told”.

But in spite of how much you wanted to ring his fucking neck some days, Jack gradually got the hand of it. He saw how much effort you’d put in, and when he’d noticed you not leaving your office one night just to catch up on your own work, he’d seen the sacrifice you were making to your own caseload just to make sure that he was getting the training he’d needed. 

Filled with guilt, he’d brought you a latte that next morning ( with an extra shot of espresso) , and had started pulling extra hours himself to make sure he had it nailed. He would repeat anything he didn’t understand time and time again until he cracked it. You found him one night cooped up in the library by himself in the corner, desperately typing away on a laptop. The smallest quip of a grin could be seen on his face, and you slinked away that evening with a sense of pride that he’d finally started getting it. 

After that night, spending time with Jack slowly got more tolerable. You’d be lying if you said that the two of you hadn’t got off to a rocky start - he was someone who had been so used to getting any privileges handed to him on a silver platter, and now for the first time in years he was actually having to work for it. It had obviously ground his gears, and he’d resented you somewhat while he was getting to grips with everything anew. As his training officer, you became the face of all his misfortune, in his mind you were the reason that he wasn’t progressing faster. 

But once he got over himself and let his ego calm down, he started to see that none of this was your fault, and instead you were doing everything in your power to help speed this along. In a way he started to admire you - how you held yourself, how kind you were, and how far you had come with Statesman in such a short amount of time. The two of you might have still butted heads from time to time, but on the whole it was getting to be a much more amicable relationship the two of you had. 

Finally, Jack started making progress in leaps and bounds. Not only was he finally getting the hand of filing the paperwork, and making record time for some of it now after hours of practice, but Loretta had finally cleared him for using firearms. 

“There ain’t a guarantee he’s totally ready. There never will be, child. But his sessions have been the most positive since I met the guy. I’d say it’s worth a try ,” she’d said. 

You were nervous about the prospect of Jack handling a weapon - you’d read his file and knew what a marksman he used to be, and how he could handle himself in seemingly any situation. Of all the agents who were serving with the organisation at the time of his accident, Jack had suffered the fewest injuries across the entire team, even in spite of how long he had worked here. There was a part of you who worried that he’d try and relive his glory days, and go too far too soon, and you wouldn’t be able to stop him. 

But you trusted Loretta, and if she said his sessions were becoming more positive, and that this was worth trialling, you had no reason to not believe her. She was an honest woman, worth her weight in salt, and would never suggest Jack do something if she didn’t think he was ready to take on the challenge from a mental standpoint. 

So, just over two months after your formal introduction, you were finally in the weapons department. Jack marvelled at how the room had changed since his time in here last - even though this is where the two of you had met, he hadn’t really paid much attention to what this room was like. His focus had more so been pinned on the woman in a waistcoat who was to be his training officer for the foreseeable future… 

There were so many safety features installed here in comparison to when he was last in here for official training duties. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he took in the dozens of additional locks and biometric keypads that now covered the cases of weapons and internal doors to the weapons room, a clear indicator of what went wrong with him. 

You let him have a session just getting used to the feel of the weapons room now - even if Loretta had said he could try the weapons, you were in no hurry to put a gun in his hand on the first day. You’d been strict about it, locking away all bullets and magazines behind a biometric lock tailored to you before his session had even begun, just to make sure that he couldn’t suddenly flip a switch and go all trigger-happy. 

But to your great relief, he didn’t. He happily took in his new surroundings, made notes as to the newer weapons that had come in since his time, as well as just get a feel for what a gun felt like again. 

Jack smiled taut down at the small silver revolver, engraved with Statesman’s ‘S’ on the leather handle. It was not all too dissimilar to the kind of pistols he once carried. It was almost bittersweet to handle them once again, and you stood back and watched how he reacted to having them in his grasp once more. 

“You alright?” you’d asked him. Jack had simply nodded, caressing the metal with his thumb gently, before putting them back in their allocated holder. 

“Yes, ma’am. With your permission, I think I’d be ready for us to start using them in training, if you saw fit,” he’d said. 

Truthfully, you no longer had a reason to say no. Loretta had cleared him, and after a couple of sessions where any and all ammunition had been under lock and key, you were satisfied that he was as ready as he could be to start that part of the training now. 

So, you agreed. 

But when it came to those sessions, you were instantly regretting your decisions. For the first time in weeks you were seeing the cockier side of Jack again, the side you’d come to learn  would come out in a situation when he thought he was the only person who could know the answer. It wasn’t very often he would drag up his prior stint with the agency in a session with you, mainly due to the risk of someone overhearing who was not meant to know anything about his former moniker. But also because he’d agreed, along with yourself, Champ, and Loretta, that he’d likely fare better if he didn’t focus on what once was, and instead only looked forward to what would be. 

You weren’t sure what exactly got into him this morning to make him such a colossal ass , but you had no fucking patience for it anymore. You were almost ready to call the session to an early close, but after making him wait for so long to give this a go, you figured you owed it to your student to at least let him have a go. 

That didn’t mean he remotely appreciated your generosity. 

“I know how to hold a fuckin’ gun, Mimosa,” Jack said, anger evident in his tone and an annoyance seeping in. You rolled your eyes ( for the fifteenth time this session, you might add ) and sighed as Jack gripped the handle on the pistol. 

“You used to know, Seltzer,” you said, earning you a disapproving grunt from the former senior agent. You knew it pissed him off no end to be called by anything other than Jack, or Whiskey, but that was a title his own stupidity has forfeited. You’d happily remind him of that whenever he so needed it - it helped to bring him down a little bit, you found. Normally you’d call him Jack, but today you couldn’t be fucking bothered with his childish attitude. 

“Stop callin’ me that,” Jack murmured under his breath as he started loading the pistol for the first round of shots. He had hoped you wouldn’t notice, but unfortunately for him your hearing was significantly sharper than what he gave you credit for.

“Seltzer, I’ll have less of that,” you said. Jack’s eyes darted up to meet yours, a flush creeping up his neck and onto his cheeks as he realised he’d been made. You couldn’t help but chuckle under your breath as you caught the agent, virtually red handed, embarrassed that he’d been found out. 

Or slightly angry. You weren’t sure. 

“Sorry,” he said coyly, breaking eye contact. He rolled his shoulders back, warming up his muscles to get into position and start firing the pistol at the target.

You furrowed your brow as you watched how he held himself, lining his body up for the shot. The muscles in his shoulders tensed all wrong, his arms weren’t bent properly, and his feet were far too close together. You leant back against the bench at the back of the room, lined with weapons and ammunition, and crossed your arms across your chest. Jack wouldn’t hurt himself if he took a shot like this, so you didn’t need to intervene from a health and safety point of view. But you wondered if he took a shot like this, which would inevitably be off-target, it might make him realise he needed more help than he imagined. 

Jack got into position, albeit the wrong one, and inhaled sharply. He knew something wasn’t right, he could feel it. The gun felt too heavy, his arms were locked up, and his body felt like it was twisting in a manner that was now foreign to him. This was something he’d done day in, day out, for over two decades. He plainly refused to accept that he’d forgotten this ability, and instead of doing the sensible thing and asking for a correction, he carried on.

Like an angry bull going after a bull rider.  

He inhaled sharply and squeezed the trigger, releasing a bullet from the barrel, his breath never exhaling as he took the shot. The sensation of the bullet flying out the barrel careered up Jack’s arms and left a shaking feeling coursing round his body, his muscles still locked up and not releasing even once the bullet was out from the barrel. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the bullet fly out across the room, and avoid the target completely. 

Jack sighed at the miss, but what frightened him more than the disappointment that he’d failed was the feeling he was left with after. Not anger, not frustration - but anxiety. Even long after the sound from the shot firing had ceased ricocheting around the bunker the two of you were in, the noise continued to ring in his ear. 

The pitch of the bullet ringing around in his head got louder and more high pitched with every passing moment, and he screwed up his eyes to try and make it go away. It felt like the beginning of a sharp migraine piercing through his skull, and he’d not felt pain like this in a long time. It all concentrated near his temple, where the scar from his accident stood prevalent. 

A few seconds after the failed shot, you looked to Jack and saw that he wasn’t making any effort to move. Not just to get into a better position, but to do anything. He wasn’t reloading the gun, he looked as though he was barely breathing; the only thing that was moving was his face, which was painted with a pained expression. 

“Seltzer?” you said, pushing off the bench to step closer to him. He still held his position, but you could see that something else was taking over control over his body. 

He didn’t respond to your voice. Truthfully, he didn’t hear it. The ringing of the gunshot ran around his head, bouncing off the sides of his mind and sending a piercing shriek through him. Jack grunted, faltering on his stance, and fumbled with his weapon slightly as he tried not to drop it from the pain the noise brought him. He panted, quickly flicking the gun to have its safety mechanism on, before dropping it to the ground in a panic. 

“ Jack ?!” you said, now actually worried. At the use of his real name he seemed to snap out of whatever haze he was in, and his eyes darted around to meet yours. Your heart shattered as you looked in them, and all you could see reflected back was fear. 

“I- that’s never- I don’t know-,” he stammered, his mouth dry and making it almost impossible for him to form a coherent sentence. You unfurled your arms from across your chest and went up to him, reaching out and gently placing your hands around his trigger hand to comfort him. 

Jack shook throughout his body, and beneath your palms you felt every nervous quake which ran down through to his fingers. You gently applied some pressure, trying your best to ground him, employing techniques you’d picked up at MI5 for trauma responses within your colleagues. You’d all seen some shit in your time, and it had become rather useful you’d found. 

Jack closed his eyes, his ears still ringing and the world around him spinning while he stood in place. His heart thudded in his chest and he could hear every beat as blood rushed through his ears. He found himself clinging to you like a lifeline, finding that your touch was the only thing keeping him from completely spiralling. 

With your other hand, you softly interlocked your fingers with his which rested by his side. His hand gripped yours tighter and you watched as he screwed up his eyes to try and calm himself, his breaths deep and steady. With a gentle voice, and getting closer so that you could speak in just a whisper, you spoke. 

“You’re alright, Jack. I’ve got you,” you said. He had no reason to trust you yet on a deeper level, aside from the fact you’d kept the secret about his identity for over two years. But in this one act alone he learned more about you than he perhaps knew about some of his colleagues whom he’d been working with for several years. He’d spiralled a few times over these last two years, and had to learn on his own how best to bring himself back to square one - but perhaps with you by his side, that might be easier. He never imagined that somebody else might be able to quell his troubled mind in any way, let alone how he so desperately needed. 

Slowly, the grip Jack had on you began to loosen, and his eyes opened. You smiled softly up at him, never once letting go of him as he regulated his breathing and began to calm down. He shot you a watery smile once he was calm anew, and you felt him trying to retract from your grip. You let him, pulling your hands away. 

“You alright?” you asked, letting his hands slide out from yours. Jack nodded. 

“Yeah, I- I think so. I’m sorry, ‘bout that…,” he said, looking almost perplexed as to what had just happened. You smiled softly and tipped your head towards a bench at the side of the training room, notioning for him to join you. He followed you to the bench and watched you remove your Stetson, setting it down on the seat to your left, before beckoning for him to take the one on your left. 

“When did you last fire a gun, Jack?” you asked. He shrugged, then sighed. He took his own hat off now, revealing the head of thick brown hair beneath it - albeit slightly more grey at the roots than what you recall from seeing in that photograph of him just over a decade ago. 

“On the day I got injured. One of the last things I heard was gunfire, before I-,” he sighed, again, “-yeah…”. 

“I’m sorry, Jack. Tequila eventually gave me the details of what happened that day,” you said, looking up at him. It was then, without his hat on and so close to you, that you saw the scar on his temple. You gently raised your hand and brushed your fingertips over the scar, and Jack grimaced as you did. Deep down he didn’t hate how the feeling of your soft touch was on his skin, but he couldn’t show such weakness. Not when he was trying all he could to appear tough. 

He sighed solemnly, letting his tough facade slowly fade from view. Of all people, there was no point hiding this side of himself from you - you needed to know as much about how he was doing in order to help him, and he’d be damned if he was about to face setbacks all because he didn’t want his pride to get damaged. 

You retracted your hand from his scar, not wanting to draw too much attention to the area, and instead reached over to take Jack’s hand in yours. Your fingers softly slid between his, but it was Jack who responded with a tightening grip. 

He smiled faintly down at your intertwined hands, the feeling now so foreign to him. It had been a long time since anyone had shown Jack physical affection, and even longer since that affection felt like it came from a place of love and care. After his wife passed he’d not wanted anything with women beyond meaningless hookups, and the second things began to feel more intimate, he’d shut things down. On a couple of occasions he’d entertained the idea, but those relationships never lasted longer than a few months, and as soon as he felt as though she cared more for him than he felt he deserved , he ended things. 

So something as simple as having his hand held, while completely clothed, was almost bizarre. But he noted, as he watched your fingers softly curl around his, and your thumb caress the back of his, that he didn’t hate the way this felt. 

“Thank you, Mimosa,” he said softly, “You’re a credit to this organisation, you know?”.

“Yeah?” you asked, turning to now look at Jack. He turned his head and smiled at you, a pair of deep brown eyes boring into you and making you feel warm and comforted from the inside. Even though it was you who was helping him right now, you yourself took comfort in the gentleness that was reflected back at you. 

“Yes. Tequila really undersold you,” he chuckled. You rolled your eyes, not remotely surprised. 

“Oh jeez, do I want to know what he said about me though?” you giggled, and Jack laughed with you now. 

“Only good things, Mimosa. I promise!” he explained. 

“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” you snorted. 

“Oh, stop,” Jack chuckled, his hand gripping yours tighter, “I very much got the impression that the two of you enjoy winding each other up. So for him to still be able to sing your praises? Yeah, I trusted that he meant every word. And he wasn’t wrong; not about a single thing.” 

“Thank you, Jack. That means a lot to hear,” you smiled. 

Jack nodded, then cleared his throat and loosened his grip on your hand. He’d calmed down enough now that he felt as though he could clear up in here for the day, and didn’t want to burden you any longer with his feeling of not being alright. He’d make a point to go and see Loretta after your session, he thought, and as you let him retract his hand from yours, both of you grabbed your stetsons and stood up. 

“You feelin’ better?” you asked, and Jack nodded, putting his hat back on his head. 

“Yes, ma’am. I’m gonna head and see Loretta before our next session, just to go over today. But I think for now I’m gonna have to throw the towel in,” he smiled. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologise,” you said, shaking your head. “This was always going to be a strange adjustment, and a big step to take. See Loretta, and perhaps next session we’ll do more work in weapons that don’t involve guns.” 

“Sounds like a plan. Got anything in mind?” he asked. You grinned, looking over to one of the wall panels which was filled with ropes and lassos. 

“I might have some ideas cooking up, yeah,” you chuckled. 

Jack followed your gaze to the cabinet, and he would be lying if he said he didn’t get a twinge of excitement at the thought of gripping a lasso again. It was one of the parts of his job that he missed the most, the power that came from being so nimble with a whip or lasso. 

He noticed, as he turned back to look at you, the way your fingers danced over the handle of your own whip. He’d seen it before, but he grinned as he watched you fiddle with it, he noticed it was a very similar model to the one he once owned. The way the small switch stood out on the end, signifying yours would turn electric at a moment’s notice, had a buzz go through Jack at the thought of you using it. 

He’d been wanting to ask for a few weeks why you chose that weapon - it wasn’t exactly conventional when he made the choice, and with the amount of technological advancements that had come along since his time he very much doubted that it was any more preferable now. You turned back to look at him and were greeted with a cheeky grin, a far cry to the face of the man who you had just seen almost broken not ten minutes before you. You furrowed your eyebrows in curiosity, and folded your arms across your chest in defence.

“What made you decide to have a whip as your signature weapon, by the way?” he asked, that playful smirk never diminishing. 

Ah, fuck. Busted. 

You cleared your throat, a warmth dancing across your cheeks at the reality you were now faced with. You knew that your decision to carry this weapon out of slight admiration was bound to come up one day, but you had hoped it would be much further down the line than this. You began trying to pace away from Jack, your feet moving towards the door. 

But something stopped you. 

Jack reached out and placed his hand on your arm, effectively stopping you in your tracks. Now you were really done for. You dared to make eye contact with the cowboy again, and butterflies swirled in your stomach as you did. 

“Well? Come on, don’t keep me waitin’. I don’t know many that would choose such a weapon. Colour me intrigued!” he said. 

You rolled your eyes, but chuckled to yourself. You figured there was no better time than the present to rip this bandaid off, anyway…

“Fine, fine! Twist my arm, why don’t you,” you began, clearing your throat and inhaling sharply before continuing. 

“I read your file before I knew about you from Tequila, and your stats impressed me immensely. Your success rate, how little you got injured, and the kind of missions you were involved with. From a professional standpoint, I admired the work you did,” you said. “And then I finally got the chance to speak to Tex about you. He told me so much about you, but one detail that always stood out was your choice of weapon. I’ll admit, I was intrigued.”

“Really?!” Jack said, dropping his hand from your arm and replacing playful smirk for a smile of genuine joy. You chuckled as you watched him, slightly giddy, at the prospect that you might have for a second been inspired by him.  

“Yes, really . I couldn’t get my head around the benefit of a weapon like this,” you gestured to the whip by tapping the handle that was hooked to your hip, “But I was interested in finding out. So, on the downlow, I had my training officer show me the way with one”. 

“Who was your T.O?” Jack asked, the two of you now heading towards the exit. 

“Eve. She’s just got back from a prolonged, and well deserved, break. Have you ever worked with her?” you asked. Jack smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I’ve had the pleasure. Does explain a whole lot about you and your training style though, given she shaped you into an agent.”

“She’s the best. I’ve missed her these last couple of months, but it’s been nice to not be worried about her getting injured recently,” you said. Jack shrugged before opening the door for you, allowing you to step out of the weapons room, then followed by him. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure. From what I recall Eve seemed to have a knack for getting herself into a pickle even when she wasn’t working!”. 

You laughed to yourself as you locked the weapons room door behind the two of you, turning the key in the lock and then entering the code 719002 into the door. He wasn’t wrong about Eve - even if he hadn’t worked with her for a couple of years, his assessment was alarmingly accurate. She was the best agent you’d ever worked with, but her ability to get caught up in minor self-inflicted accidents was almost comical. 

“You’re not wrong, I’ve seen her trip over thin air before,” you said, still giggling. Jack laughed with you, and then softened as you turned to look at him. 

“Thank you, for today. And for your patience in general. I know I haven’t been the easiest agent to train,” Jack said. You chuckled. 

“You can say that again,” you told him, winking playfully as you tucked the key to the weapons room in the inner pocket of your jacket. 

“Sorry,” he winced. 

“It’s nothing, Jack. You’re a pain in my ass, but… I’m coming to like having to deal with your… quirks ,” you chuckled. 

“ Quirks ?!” he said, not able to hold back a laugh. 

“Yes, quirks! You’re bloody impossible sometimes!”. 

Jack laughed with you, then shook his head in amusement. He knew you weren’t wrong, and that he had been reluctant to some of the changes which had been made recently, but every day he was grateful for the attention and devotion you showed him. 

“Okay, okay, fine . I’ll admit it!” he said, raising his hands as though he was in surrender. You giggled, playfully patting the side of his right rib cage gently as a physical way of telling him to knock it off. 

Jack smiled down at you, feeling totally relaxed in your presence. There hadn’t been many instances in the last two years where he’d felt like he was genuinely calm, or at peace. But something about this friendship that was blossoming between the two of you made him feel like nothing had ever gone awry, and that life wasn’t perfect. 

He had to drop his arms down to his sides fairly quickly, as he found the longer he stayed fooling around with you like this, the more he had the urge to pull you in for a huge hug. Something told him that you might not be totally against that, given the fact you’d already not shied away from using physical touch with him where needed, but that was a line he knew he shouldn’t cross. 

“Go see Loretta, Jack. And have tomorrow off, or use it for database study. I don’t want to overwhelm you given today,” you said. Jack nodded. 

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll let you know when I’ve had my session,” he said. 

“Thank you. I’ll liaise with Champ and Tequila, and let them know about this too. You just get yourself some rest,” you insisted. 

“Thank you, Mimosa. I’ll see you soon,” he smiled, and then the two of you parted ways, heading off into respective parts of the building for the rest of the afternoon.

Even in spite of the drawback Jack had faced today, he was able to walk away optimistic, and with a spring in his step. He knew he still had a long way to go, and the hours he’d need to put into it would be nothing short of monumental. But with you as his T.O, he could actually begin to imagine his life after this was over. 

A second chance. Not one he ever thought he’d deserved, but one he was slowly beginning to earn. 

Series Masterlist | A03 Link | Tumblr Masterlist

Next Chapter (Ch. 9 - "Collision") ->

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[idrellegames]

Wayfarer Dev Log 2023.03.06

Hi friends!

It’s been a while since my last proper update in January. I am recovered from illness and mostly back to normal; with the days getting longer and actually having sunlight now, it’s easier to stay focused than it was in the winter. A lot of developments have happened in the interim, so I’m hoping this dev log will serve to get you caught up on things I’ve been keeping under wraps until now.

✦ New Blog Reveal

My blog’s desktop theme has been redesigned and updated! Huge thank you to @ethereal-themes for taking this on, I am in love with the new look.

Desktop theme

About

Navigation (with updated tags!)

FAQ

Character Roster (updated with Episode 2 characters + sortable, including by romance type)

These pages cannot be viewed in the tumblr mobile app, but they can be viewed by inputting the link into your mobile browser. Mobile versions of the updated FAQ information and tag list are forthcoming.

Many thanks to @memaidraws for my new blog portrait of Alexia. 💕

Additionally, I am no longer tracking the tag "wayfarer" for community content. The tag has become overrun with bots that makes it very difficult to filter. If you've created something you'd like me to see, please use the "wayfarer if" tag or tag my blog!

✦ The Public Build

A new patch should be coming sometime in March to fix lingering bugs and issues in Episode 2. This patch will require a full restart of the game. Once it releases, you should not use old saves otherwise you may encounter continuity errors and bugs in later episodes.

✦ The Alpha Build

Work on the next alpha update is progressing. I am still writing slower than I usually do, but I am coming up on the end of a major branch. There should be a new alpha release later in March that will cover one half of Episode 3 Part 1.

Even though not all possible routes will be included, the update will add over 300,000 words of new playable content to the game.

✦ Development Changes

Until recently, Wayfarer was planned to be a free game. This is no longer the case. Though I am not ready to announce the full details yet, the game will be eventually be moving to a free demo + paid full game model later in its development cycle.

Act 1 (which includes the Prologue and Episodes 1-3) will remain free to play. Future pricing for non-Patreon early access to later episodes while the game is in development is TBD.

Because this change impacts some behind-the-scenes things, I am need to gauge how much of Wayfarer’s playerbase plays the game on their phone versus a computer.

If you would like to help me out, check out this poll here and let me know what device you regularly play on!

✦ Wayfarer 2023 Pin-Up Calendar

The Wayfarer Calendar is now closed! A huge thank you to our contributing artists and everyone who donated. Altogether, we raised $1094.54 USD. These proceeds were donated today to the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.

I am so honoured that the calendar was a huge hit. On behalf of our organizers, I would like to thank everyone for their passion and excitement for this project. It’s too soon to announce whether we will do something like this again for next year, but there may be another calendar on the horizon…

If you’ve enjoyed Wayfarer, used my tutorials, or would like to support my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon. Patrons receive access to the alpha build, a private Discord server, exclusive previews, bonus content, side stories, and other benefits.

(Please note that if you are pledging solely for access to the alpha build, the alpha and the public build currently contain the same content.)

Wayfarer is a passion project and creating it is a full-time commitment. Any little bit goes a long way to help me bring it to fruition.

If you aren’t in a position to support financially, reblogs, shares, ratings and comments, and spreading the word about the game are much appreciated and do a lot to help me out! 💕

[lediableblancdotcom]

It is long...but read it....

Future of LeDiableBlanc.com

Here is the lowdown on what is going to happen with LeDiableblanc.com. Over the last month or so I have been playing around with new ideas for the site. The reasoning behind this mucking about is nothing short of I am getting old and so is the site and it needs to slow down along with me. I have been running this website alone for almost 30 years now, and I am approaching the big 50 myself, and we are in need of a smaller workload. It has been a labor of love and still will remain one, just a little slimmer, just cutting the fat. Here are the changes that I know are going to happen moving forward in the streamlining of the site:

Appearance Database:

The Appearance Database is the heart and soul of the site, so it is going nowhere. It will change (hopefully for the good), but will remain housing the same idea of collecting all of Gambit’s comic appearances. I did a quick rehaul of the “A” section in the Appearance Database, that shows how the new database will be absorbing the other information from the site. The main page of the Appearance Database will stay the same, cover and basic stats of the comic for quick reference, but by clicking on the cover you will get not only the variant images as before, you will also get any other Gambit related information from the comic as well. The database will absorb the information normally found in: Friends & Foes, Family Tree, Uniforms, Charged Items, Stolen Items, Quotes, Crossovers, Major Reads, and even some sections that never made it to the site itself and these stand alone sections will be removed from the main menu. I feel this will be be an easier way to keep that information available, but less workload on getting this information up on the site. I will also keep the Printable Master List updated regularly and available.

Sections getting the Ax:

Some areas of the website will be getting the ax all together. Most of the these sections are now redundant or out of date. Getting the ax will be Bang your Dead, Fashion Police, Wolverine Gallery, Wallpaper, and Ads. I will also be taking down Fanart, due to art theft and the AI issues of today, it is not a mess I want to step into anymore. With artists having their own social medias and websites, I feel there will be no great loss to this area leaving from the my site. The merchandise database will be coming down too, it is out of date and impossible to keep updated. Disney is very loose with their licensing, so the amount of goods coming out is too large to keep housed. Also, most new merchandise is immediately posted on the Facebook Groups much faster. I will make sure to post some of the older, more unknown goods to the Tumblr “Obscure Gambit” page, so that older stuff doesn’t disappear completely.

Sections on the Fence:

I will be keeping the Non-Sport and Game Card databases. They are relative to Appearance, in my opinion, and will remain and updated as much as possible. Saying that, I am on the fence with the Sketch Card database. It is technically an appearance, but the cards are not available to everyone and the database can never be completed because the actual amount of cards are unknown and are constantly being made. I am also on the fence about keeping the media outside of comics, like movies, animated tv, and video games. They are technically not anything I have to update a lot, because the information is complete for now, but eventually new episodes/games will be made, and I am not really into the other media, so I usually am unaware. So I may leave them for now and decide later on those. I am really debating on taking the site back to it’s comic only roots and removing those sections.

I would really like any feedback, for or against these leaving the site. So please let me know your opinions.

Galleries: As I said above, the Fanart, Wallpaper, and Wolverine galleries are being axed. I am going to keep the Edits, Original Pages, and the Cover galleries on the site. They may not get as many updates as usual, but they are not time sensitive, so it should be fine. Those are highly used galleries, so I don’t want to take them away for now.

Social Media/Domains:

The LeDiableBlanc.com Facebook Group and the two Tumblr (lediableblanc.com and Obscure Gambit) pages will remain and operate as usual. I will not be using Reddit (why so much hate for Reddit?), Instagram never got used much anyway, and will be discontinued. I will never open a Twitter/X, so don’t ask. I am willing to take any suggestions on other social media, but no promises. I will not be renewing some of the domain names that mirror the site. I will always keep lediableblanc.com and remylebeau.com, but iheartgambit.com, xmengambit.com, xmenlebeau.com will most likely not be renewed as site mirrors. They are rarely used and the money spent on their renewal can go towards the annual server fees.

Patreon, I am going to remove at the end of the rehaul. I thank everyone who donated, it helped more than you know. If you want to donate one last time, I will be forever grateful, server fees are not cheap, but with the downgrade of the site I don’t expect anyone to do any kind of monthly support. I may go back to the annual begging, so prepare for that, but I don’t expect anything from anyone but enjoying the site.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback of any kind, PLEASE let me know. Reply to this message or email me at remylebeau@yahoo.com. You can message me through the Facebook group or on Tumblr as well.

It will probably take me a few months to get the Appearance Database up to date and the other information added, so not many changes or updates may happen until that is completed. So the soon to be removed areas will remain until it is done and uploaded.

Thanks, everyone for your support and I hope it will continue through the mess to come.

[proofwhisky]

regarding the post i made earlier; i was told that cillian murphy is a problematic face claim to use as he himself is a white man and not romani in any way, and i said i would be removing all content involving him from my page. this is an update on that. please read it so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not you continue to follow or interact with me.

i completely agree with the sentiment that tommy was miscast and agree with the fact that romani people are regularly pushed out of media spaces and misrepresented when they are included. i agree that peaky blinders is not at all an accurate source of roma culture or people and, in fact, i think the show is blatantly harmful in many aspects when it comes to romani representation. i agree that all representation is important and i agree that i, as someone writing a fake british man for free on the internet, do have some degree of responsibility when it comes to accurately portraying a roma character.

i have done, and will continue to do, as much research as possible when it comes to even the smallest details of tommy's roma heritage and culture. i have always, since the beginning of this blog, included the fact that tommy is roma and all that it entails in his own life as often as possible in every thread, headcanon and verse. i have never dismissed, denied or even downplayed his being romani. there has always been a section in my rules about roma culture and my portrayal of it, which i have recently updated to include my opinion of the way peaky blinders treats roma culture and people. i do not use slurs and only reference prejudice or racism as a necessary part of tommy's story, not as some arbitrary plot point or source of conflict.

that said: i will not be remaking my blog or discontinuing my use of cillian murphy as a face claim for thomas shelby.

i recognize that, when confronted with an opinion from a member of a culture about something in my portrayal that is wrong, it is my duty to fix it and continue on, not repeating the mistake. i have done this and will continue to do this. i also recognize that, due to the context and culture here on tumblr regarding things like callouts and cancellation, anything other than complete and utter obedience to any demand or accusation from a member of a marginalized group will be met with some kind of blowback. i recognize that many will assume that this is me desperately clinging to or defending a conventionally attractive white man even though this post is not about the face claim, it's about the culture that has even made this an issue in the first place. i also recognize that it will likely be considered as me dismissing or ignoring the voice of said marginalized group of people when i say, emphatically, that i have not made any sort of harmful mistake.

the person who approached me about this is roma and stated extremely valid facts about (and their issues with) media representation as a whole. i agree with their grievances about this whole heartedly. this person has also stated that they are an avid supporter of only necessary callout posts, not the airing of personal opinions. i hope that my response will not be considered fodder for any kind of callout.

i have been on tumblr under the same pseudonym, gami, for over 14 years, and have never once been involved, even passively, with any sort of drama or problematic behavior. unfortunately for all of us, i have as much a right to be here as anyone else. i will not hold it against you if you cut ties for your own health and safety in the event that a callout or some such involving me does happen, but i will not be going anywhere either way.

the single issue with which i was confronted lies with the fact that a white man was cast for a romani part. the fact that he was cast was and is wrong. i acknowledge and agree. the fact that his entire family was cast with white actors for romani people is wrong. i acknowledge and agree.

that does not change the fact that they were, unfortunately and wrongfully, cast. it also does not change the fact that i did not cast them. i did not produce or write peaky blinders. cillian murphy has never said anything harmful regarding romani culture or people. he is not profiting financially from this blog. i am also not profiting financially from this blog. i am not officially affiliated with peaky blinders in any way. i have always done, and will continue to do, my absolute best to respectfully portray tommy's race and culture and to do better than the source material did.

i do not personally believe that using the only content available to me, through no fault of my own, while frequently and vocally disagreeing with much of the source material's content here and on discord is wrong. i am not any kind of influencer, i have never claimed to be someone who is a source of romani culture, nor do i claim to be an authority on anything, including what is and is not problematic.

if my reaction or this post has made you feel as though you would rather not be seen interacting with me, i understand completely and i wish you the best. do whatever you need to do to keep yourself comfortable and safe. all i ask is that you block me on everything and do your best to tell people the truth about me if they ask.

happy holidays.

[anyhs-themes]

HIATUS (en)

What about my themes? I'm not taking commissions anymore, but all my themes will continue to be available for now, however I'm no longer updating them, so use them at your own risk!

Where to find me? You can still find me on my personal blog (@anyhsalinas). And if you have a theme/HTML/CSS/JavaScript related question for me, as long as it's a simple question I might have time to help you, so send it to my personal blog (here) ONLY. Don't even try to ask about these things on my other social medias where the focus is not coding, please, otherwise I'll block you (I had people doing this before and I get very annoyed by that, respect my spaces, please).

Why I'm quitting?

One of the biggest reasons why I loved Tumblr was the ability to customize our blogs however we wanted and turn it into our own space with our own style. And that's why I started making themes for myself and for other people. But over the last years Tumblr has kinda neglected this feature of the platform:

Clicking on a blog through the dashboard now takes you to a default dashboard-like page (this) and not to the customized version of the blog (this), which turned customizing your blog into something pointless because we take a long time customizing our theme only so that it might never even be seen by anyone;

This change also made it possible for people to send me messages without even seeing the rules for messaging me first;

And let's not forget the fact that now we need to contact Tumblr's staff to ask and wait for their permission in order to use JavaScript in custom pages, which makes things so unnecessarily more difficult for people who want to use our custom pages (they say it's for safety reasons, but it's still possible to use scripts on the main theme, so what's the point?).

Let's talk about writing posts as well:

We can no longer use basic HTML codes on posts which made it impossible for me to post tutorials (since it blocks the codes I'm trying to teach) -- which made me need to create a blog on Blogger to post my tutorials there, and have to simultaneously take care of two blogs on the exact same topics, which is kind of annoying;

Also the new post editor has been very buggy for me. Sometimes when I try to copy a portion of the text I'm writting it just won't copy no matter what. Sometimes it will duplicate paragraphs on its own for no reason...

Tumblr has also made some bad decisions (in my opinion at least) over the years of what kind of content to allow in the platform which caused serious problems to the platform itself (as you might have seen in the news around that time), but even before that also caused a big change in its community and the majority of the blogs I loved (the meme, poetry and fandom blogs of shows and bands I like) moved to Twitter (I still refuse to call it "X", lol) and other social medias. So most of what I loved about this platform is gone forever and the only things still keeping me here are the things I have saved in my blogs, my liked posts and drafts (mostly custom content and mods that I found here for The Sims, lol).

I haven't been using Tumblr regularly in... years, actually. Only sometimes I pass by. And I no longer enjoy developing themes for this platform because now, after all these changes, it has turned into something kinda pointless. Also, I've been busy with other projects that are bringing me more joy at the moment, such as my Youtube channels and crafting. So I'm leaving behind this part of my life... I don't like saying this is an end because I can always change my mind. But unless Tumblr goes back to making our custom theme as the main page of our blogs (instead of that default dashboard-like boring page), I don't think I'll go back to making themes for this platform.

But thank you all for your support in this blog and for using my codes through all of these years! Wish you all the best. 💕

— Anyh's Themes (2013 - 2024)

[whotfelsewantedtobelynnyx]

Where I’ve been, and my plans moving forward.

Hey Tumblr (and hopefully my AO3 readers)…it’s been a minute. And I’m sorry for that, I really am. I wanted to pop on here and give y’all an explanation as to what’s been going on with me and where I’ve been…but for a writer, I’m surprisingly short on stuff to say. So I’m just going to start.

Where I’ve been

It’s been at least a month since I’ve posted (and over a year since I’ve updated my most popular series, The Raven House). And…yeah, I feel bad about that. The short version is, I completely changed my lifestyle. The long version is that I finished my semester of school at the end of May last year and just…didn’t go back. Initially, I decided to work full time for awhile to give myself some time to recover after a bad mental break. But I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t want it to be temporary. I have severe ADHD and anxiety, as well as some health issues that just overall made school miserable for me. At least right now, I’m much more fulfilled and happy with my work. I’m lucky enough to have gotten a good job (really good for someone my age) in an AMAZING work environment and I’m just much happier there.

So what does this have to do with my fics and my blog?

Well, two things. One- I have less time overall. To be honest, a LOT of my works were written while I was spacing out in class. With my job, I don’t have the time or really any reason to space out at my desk- and that really is a good thing! Because secondly, writing was as much a coping mechanism as it was a hobby. When I was posting and writing regularly, a lot of it was pure avoidance. I could stave off my stress by pretending I was being productive when I wrote a new chapter, and I could avoid paying attention to class by researching for my character’s outfits, you know? It made it easier. It was also (depressingly) one of the few places where I could get real positive feedback and praise, which I DESPERATELY needed, but never got (as I was admittedly a terrible student). So I did as much as possible in order to garner pretty much any positive attention. And I am grateful that in those times, I had writing to cope- but I’m also glad that I don’t have to rely on it as much anymore, because it ultimately wasn’t healthy.

Where does this leave me?

I don’t write all this to announce the closing of my account. I promise, this is not me saying goodbye. However, I’m going to be learning how to truly embrace writing as a hobby and how to fit it into my new lifestyle. With that, I’ll be trying to work on more of my original content, which I post separately. I'll also be adjusting my plans for some of my fics. Here’s the list of what I’m planning on going forward.

The Raven House

The Raven House is my most popular work and absolutely one of my favorites. It also takes AGES to write, especially with me having shifted hyper fixations. I won't be pausing or stopping work on it all, but it will continue to take ages. TL;DR: It's not going away, but it'll continue to take a long time and have a very uneven upload schedule. I hope y'all will understand and keep going.

Multimedia

This piece will be discontinued. Honestly, I just have no idea where to go with it and there's not much point in me keeping it going. I think it's a fun concept, but I don't really want to continue it at this time.

Insomnia

Similar to Multimedia, it's a fun concept, but I don't have any ideas or motivation to push forward with it.

Blank Space

This will stay as a one-shot for now. I originally wrote this with plans to have it as a three chapter story, but I'd rather focus my motivation on The Raven House.

Shades Of Lavender

For lack of a better word, I'm considering this piece to be on hiatus. I don't want to say goodbye to this piece or these characters by any means- however it's another that will continue to take AGES. I'll work on it on the side, but I won't be posting it for the foreseeable future.

Purgatory

I'm wrapping up the last pages of this fic! However I'm still deciding if I can really wrap this up with one more chapter.

That's...pretty much all I had to say. I feel like I'm forgetting something. I'll remember later.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to my readers who see this. I understand if you left, but I'm doubly grateful for the ones who stuck around <3

[the-story-keeper]

Hello and welcome to my shop

It is a pleasure for any and all of you who come here, be you seeking or simply browsing

I am the beast and you may call me what you will

It is a pleasure all the same

Who’s running this thing?

another blog by me, bunny, the person who came out of nowhere swinging SEMI-LUKEWARM

the beast will randomly blip out of existence with my motivation and energy levels!

ill be sure to tag “gif” for all gifs and the queue tag will be “supes cute” because i am far too lazy to change it at this point, we all suffer together now

since mobile is a fuck, heres the ooc page info put here

my name is bunny, im 25+, i do not want to be addressed

you may know me from honey @jujulebee!

id like to avoid the tumblr chat “function” as much as possible, especially ic, i do not receive any kind of notification that i have a new message and it will not update with new messages unless i manually refresh the page. it leads to miscommunication and me missing things frequently and i dont like that.

additionally, i am no longer given activity notifications, so communicating through replies on a post is a good way to have me not see it! please reblog whenever possible if you want to have a conversation

if you interact regularly and we are mutuals you can talk to me ooc/ask for my discord,, if i draw you things i am trying to be friends, but i am not very good at it and do not have much to offer

im not Extremely picky with who i follow, but i have people whos judgement i trust and will block freely and without hesitation. im here to curate my ideal experience, not save the feelings of a stranger. 

while i understand that ic=/=ooc if your character spews blatant bigotry of any kind please dont interact, actually

this page tentatively accepts magic anons

no godmodding, you are powerless in it’s domain

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

------ The Beast ------

my beast stands at 8 feet and has soft, light grey fur

it has no mouth, but you can hear its voice in your head when it speaks to you

it has a soft voice

my beast has a shop

its a very small shop, very long and narrow

with shelves very high and rolling ladders along the sides

my beast takes and gives memories

do you have a memory you want to get rid of? they will take it

they offer you a memory in turn

all memories become little trinkets

so all the shelves in their shop 

look like

ispy books

they will take whatever memories you do not want to have anymore

they will offer you a trade for something else

the beast does not have a name or a gender and accepts any pronouns or titles

titles so far: Larry, Dreamkeeper, Beast, Simply A Beast, Chronicler, Minstrel, Storykeep, Story Keeper, Story

----- The Shop -----

you can simply Arrive at the shop,

it exists just outside of reality

but no matter where you Try to arive In shop

it will not work

you will only arrive just outside the door

the world outside is Nice, but its hard to focus on

like a dream that keeps changing

going in its a very warmly colored place

like the i spy books in its ecclectic nature

its a very long, narrow shop with shelves as high as the very high ceiling

and the beast stands stooped in textiles not too disimilar to what the withers family owns

theres a feeling of overwhelming Nostalgia

the kind that makes you feel Happy but Ache

and most importantly

while in the shop

you have no powers

you are just a person

------ The World(?) ------

there exists a place just outside of reality

between Life and what lies beyond death (known as the Vast Nothing)

it goes by many names: the Unknown, Traverse, Ephemeral, Expanse, Penumbra

this space can be visited in the Dreaming and is what awaits after Life

the landscape of the Expanse is different for the Visiting (Dreaming) versus the Resting (Leaving)

the Dreaming experience a landscape that is ever changing and dreamlike

the Leaving experience a softer, grey landscape, liminal in feeling

it is a place for the Resting to mourn their lives and find solace and peace before moving on to the Vast Nothing

[neechees]

So Laura's handbag business changed names, contact emails, & possibly facebook pages but still while using one of Laura's aliases that she regularly used here on tumblr and on paypal & with an update as early as a couple hours ago despite her allegedly being dead

Like I find it weird that Laura is allegedly dead, but her family nor any of her facebook friends never publicly mentioned anything about her alleged death, nobody updated the page to say the ownership had shifted to someone else, and apparently if she was "dead" I guess her family is still using her name on the page and either made a new email or is using a different one while pretending to be her instead of just transferring the contact info to Louthes or whoever else

[tank-and-tiny]

Heya! Nice to be here and meet folks. Been told by a couple'a people that this is a good place for supernaturals to get to know each other.

Name's Rory Walsh and here in my picture is my lovely itty bitty named Stella!

((OOC info under the cut, pinned post))

another blog by me, bunny, the person who came out of nowhere swinging SEMI-LUKEWARM

rory will randomly blip out of existence with my motivation and energy levels!

i tag the following:

blood // gif needles anatomical hearts bats deep ocean

since mobile is a fuck, heres the ooc page info put here

my name is bunny, im 25+, i do not want to be addressed

im also over on crow, honey, the beast, who else do i have uhhh null? and julia’s blogs

id like to avoid the tumblr chat “function” as much as possible, especially ic, i do not receive any kind of notification that i have a new message and it will not update with new messages unless i manually refresh the page. it leads to miscommunication and me missing things frequently and i dont like that. 

additionally, i am no longer given activity notifications, so communicating through replies on a post is a good way to have me not see it! please reblog whenever possible if you want to have a conversation

if you talk regularly with honey or null and we are mutuals you can talk to me ooc/ask for my discord,, if i draw you things i am trying to be friends, but i am not very good at being friends and do not have much to offer

im not Extremely picky with who i follow, but i have people whos judgement i trust and will block freely and without hesitation. im here to curate my ideal experience, not save the feelings of a stranger. 

while i understand that ic=/=ooc if your character spews blatant bigotry of any kind please dont interact, actually

this page does not accept magic anons

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rory Walsh was born in Ireland and moved to Texas at the age of 13

he is 37 years old, 6'2”, approx 265 lbs

he is a werewolf and i will not read pretty much anything about wod garou actually, you cannot make me read, that being said osmosis works and so does polite conversation

age 13 rory moves to america age 20 rory meets saffron juniper age 22 rory and sj start dating age 32 rory and sj get married age 33 sj becomes pregante/stella is born age 34 sj is diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer age 35 sj passes away

rory is a football coach for tykes and teaches PE at an elementary school

stella is 4 years old and does not speak! she will make sounds, like barking and awoooing, but she does speak very well with American and Irish sign language which rory is also fluent in

her favourite bedtime story is goodnight moon

will add more if i can think of anything

[dellamortethelesser]

Fic Recs

Hi! I finally updated my fanfic recommendation page on my blog (which you can view here)! This will be updated regularly, but I will copy and paste it as is so you can take a look at what I'm reading!

Here are a list of the fanfictions that I have either read or are currently reading and think that should get more attention!

“Not Another Dragon Age Fanfic (The Lone Wolf Cries)” by dork_trash94 Kieran finds himself suddenly transported to Thedas, and vows to keep a close eye on the Dread Wolf to stop him from betraying them once again. As he finds out, a ‘close eye’ unfortunately means actually being close - and it doesn’t help that the game’s timeline is changing, either. Lots of pining, sprinkle of yearning, some funky Time-bending, and a frequently flustered Solas. (via @fenharel-apologist94 on tumblr)

They’ve also just released the first chapter of their newest fanfic!

“Tea Leaves and Sweet Dreams” by dork_trash94 Kieran was not prepared to meet Solas - the infamous and reclusive TA for Professor Flemeth’s Magic Theory and Application class - in person, in his tea shop. Much less the same academic program.

I am currently in the midst of reading this next fanfic but I positively adore the author’s use of language! Dwarves are not usually my favorite fantasy culture but I have so grown to love the Aeducan and Brosca storytelling here. It is the first part of a four part series so we are all in for a treat!

“Of Diamonds and Dust” by @dragonologist-phd Marja Aeducan and Darvis Brosca lead lives as different as one could possibly imagine. Marja Aeducan, a member of the nobility and second in line for the throne, has spent her life maneuvering the dangerous political machinations of the Diamond Quarter. Meanwhile, Darvis Brosca, a Casteless dwarf rejected by society, does whatever it takes to survive on the streets of Dust Town. When a Grey Warden arrives in Orzammar, the lives of Marja and Darvis are forever changed. Driven from the city by misfortune and betrayal, the two must join the ranks of the Wardens in order to save their own lives. But the surface has far greater dangers than they realize. The noble and the thief will need to stand together if they’re going to fight against the oncoming Blight, the brewing civil war, and the strange surface malady called “sunburn”. Also, the contemporary fic to read alongside it: “And So They Burned”

I have been reading “South” for over a year now and I need it to get widespread to a wider audience. His use of imagery and their idea of Tolkien’s world is so refreshing. They also have a lot of other LoTR fanfics that you should check out, too!

“South” by oxbridge The Grey Company rides south: Through Eregion, Dunland, and beyond.

Other fics that I’m currently reading and think should be shared!

“Dead Pasts and Dread Futures” by youworeblue The Inquisitor’s heart broke after the Exalted Council when her family of friends scattered to the winds. She was emptied of hope as Solas’s power and reach grew. Left with a dead past and dreading the future, Ixchel Lavellan lay down and chose not to wake up. As the Veil began to unravel, and the fabric of reality tore apart at the seams, a desperate ally sacrificed everything to give her a second chance. And Ixchel will never forgive him. (via @dreadfutures on tumblr)

“Keepers” by AkbalKiin A necromage in the plains causes a stir to the local folk. The Inquisition investigates and recruits an elf, a former Keeper, into their rank for his knowledge on Dalish archaeology and his stealth abilities. The Inquisition tests his skills as they close in on Red Templars as part of a plan to thwart Samson and Corypheus. (via @nightmarist on tumblr)

“Une Autre Histoire D'amour” (series) by fondofthehowes Exploring the relationship between Étienne Montmartre, an Orlesian warden better suited to be a bard, and Cassandra Pentaghast. For a woman that long pined for the concept of a man that would sweep her off her feet, she never anticipated that she would not only find it, but that he would be far more than that too.

“Would That I (O Unrepentant, Faithless, Treacherous)” by @thiefbird Saved from Alistair’s vengeance to presumably die to the Archdemon, Loghain Mac Tir is at a loss to find himself alive after the end of the Blight.

[diablo-that-first-spark]

Important news! - chapter, comic and blogging

Why hello there, cupcakes! I hope you are all having a wonderful May so far! After a bit of a break away from all Diablo-related things, to preserve my motivation for the long run, I am coming back with some important news, so please read through! Thank you!

For one, I am slowly but surely chipping away at Ch72! :) Our two favorite mega nerds are back and they have their own much smaller but no less important challenge to tackle with the help of Lyndon and co.! I can't entirely say when it will be ready, but it is coming, fear not!

For two, after finishing some other smaller work, I have decided to tackle the fancomic, Then There Were Five in full force and hopefully finish it in its entirety before the summer vacations kick in. This is the single longest comic project I have ever done (that has an actual end point hammered down), so it will take a while, but I will post regularly about the progress. First you can expect practice sketches and drawings of the High Heavens itself while I familiarize myself with the architecture of that place for the backgrounds (good thing I am an practicing architect in real life, hahahaaaa). The pages are sketched out very roughly, the text is all done, so minus some minor changes in composition, the entire comic has its foundation. All that remains is the actual presentation.

For three, and probably the biggest news, I am planning to leave Tumblr behind entirely, once Act III is truly done in TFS (and possibly the fancomic as well). This decision has entirely personal reasons behind it, and while I am not getting into details, let's just say this site and the... cultures found here have been a detrament to my personal life. However, I do want to keep a background site for TFS, and all future Diablo-related blurbs of mine, so that will not be lost entirely. :) Currently it appears that a simple Wordpress blog would be the fitting choice to move to, but of course this is still under planning. I would like to make a blog where you do not need to sign up for the website in order to leave comments, that is one of the main decisive factors. I hope to see you all there in the future!

I am also thinking about making that new blog a bit more than just TFS-related stuff. Some of my ideas include deep dives into the Diablo lore with a focus on mostly angels, and advices, tips and tricks, methods for fanfiction-writing and writing in general, sharing my processes, all that good jazz. If you have an opinion or have other ideas, feel free to share them with me via a message (the askbox is always open!) or a reply on this post! Thank you! ^^

I will keep you all updated on progression on all of these three fronts, so keep an eye out! Don't worry, you will get plenty a heads-up before I entirely pull the plug on Tumblr. Thank you for reading, and keep being awesome! Auriel be with us!

2023.05.17.