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crescencestudio · 3 months ago

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๋࣭⭑ Devlog #44 | 8.29.24 ๋࣭⭑

why did august feel so long and so short at the same time

And hot girl summer finally comes to an end! Can you all believe we're already getting into September? That's..... crazy.

Before I get into the devlog this month, I want to make a small announcement! It's a bittersweet one, but overall, I do think it's more exciting than anything.

Crescence is FINALLY CLOSE TO GRADUATING!!!!

It's crazy to be able to say this. For anyone who's an OG fan of Alaris, you'll know I basically started game development at the same time I started my Ph.D. program. It's been a wild ride having to balance game development throughout this entire journey. Funnily enough, when I started Alaris, I saw many game developers say a game that was around the same length as Alaris would take about 4-5 years. So at the beginning of my program, I remember thinking, "Ahh... So even though it sounds so intimidating to work on something for 4-5 years, that basically means by the time I finish my Ph.D., I'll be done with Alaris, right? Might as well start then! If I'm going to spend those 4-5 years getting a degree, might as well also use that time to make a game :D"

*Graduates before I finish Alaris alosjdfliasdifj*

inserts a little fanart montage of recent fanart players have made to break up the text

Anyways, it's crazy that I've been on this journey for both parts of my life as long as I have. Both my dissertation and Alaris have equally tested my sanity, but words can't describe how rewarding it is to see the finish line finally in sight for both projects.

The thing is...

If I want to graduate this semester (which I so, so, so, so, SO desperately do), I have to write my entire dissertation (about 60k words) in about..... a 1-1.5 months, haha.....

On the bright side, it's feasible (Crescence says delusionally). On the not-so-bright side, it's going to test my sanity. And if there's a 5% chance I'll be able to make those deadlines and graduate this semester, that chance goes to 0% if I try to balance Alaris on top of that.

Which means...

I'll be taking a two month break from Alaris development, which is the first time in all of development that I'll be taking a break that long. For those who have followed me on this journey, you may know I've worked on my firstborn baby almost continuously since I first started this project. While I've balanced other games during development and sometimes taken short breaks where I don't make as much progress, I've never just Not Worked on Alaris. So it's a bit terrifying to imagine two months not working on Alaris at all.

But graduating this semester is important to me, and at the end of the day, as much as I love game development, it's very much my hobby. I don't talk about my IRL obligations on here too much, but I do have them, and finally getting my Ph.D. degree is one of my biggest IRL obligations and priorities.

So it's with tears in my eyes that I say Alaris will be on a break until the end of October. I'll still be around to answer questions (thank you to everyone who has been sending them in and showing sm curiosity and love for the cast!), and the Patreon will still be up for those who want to play Druk's beta. But aside from that, I'm taking a Full Break on Alaris so that I can buckle down and focus on the final stage of my degree :')

I know this may come as a disappointment to some of you, especially those who have followed me for a while and/or are eager to see the full game release. It pains me to have to step away from Alaris for such an extended time, especially since the weight of full game release does weigh on me with each day lmfao. I want this game out just as badly as the rest of you, and especially because so many of you have trusted me with your money, time, and support, please rest assured that this decision didn't come easy. It's my biggest hope that when I return to game development after finishing dissertation matters, it will be full steam ahead now that I'll no longer have degree obligations hanging over my head.

With that out of the way, let's go into this month's devlog! I'll try to make it as juicy as possible for you all as a thank you for your patience and support while I Get That Degree <3

Thankfully, this past month was much more focused in the writing department! While there was some small editing happening in Fenir and Druk's routes, it was minor changes compared to July. Most of my attention was on Kuna'a, and I'm very excited to say that the first draft of his route is OFFICIALLY FINISHED!!!

THAT MEANS ONLY ONE ROUTE IS LEFT FOR ALARIS TO BE WRITTEN!!!!!! It is so crazy to finally reach the last stretch of script writing. While I'm sure there's much editing to be done, the idea of having the base drafts finished is honestly hard to believe considering how endless script writing has felt.

A sneak peek of Kuna'a's route to celebrate

With how plot-centric the last three routes feel, it's also rewarding in a different way to officially write out a lot of the main plot details into the script, instead of just dropping bits and pieces here and there.

It makes me sad to pause Alaris development right when we're getting into the last meaty bits and pieces, but hopefully this just means when I return to development, I'll be hitting the ground running after missing working on the game ^^

Art has also been making lots of nice progress this month! I finished about half of Druk's CGs and our current CG counter is.... 25 out of 54! Which means we're just about reaching the halfway mark with CGs as well ^^

One of the CGs was so hot, it broke my iPad and almost lost ALL MY ALARIS ART ASSETS!! ha!! ha!! ha!! That was a fun part of this month!!!! Anyways, this isn't the CG in question (that one would be too spoilery to show, though it is on my Patreon for those who want to see it, heh), but this is a CG that I'm particularly fond of that I finished recently---Sneak Peek!

What lipgloss do you use, my man

CGs, aside from sprites, are the last main art assets that need to be done for the game. So knowing that they're just about at the halfway mark really shows that we're getting into the last stretch of the game's development!!

Finally, in extremely exciting news, we launched Druk's beta recently! WHICH MEANS..... HALF of the routes are beta coded for the game!!! WHAAAAT!!!!

Obviously, I'll be going in later to fix up some things, add in more sprite expressions, the CGs, etc. at a later time for these routes. But the fact half of the game is basically coded is so surreal...... I remember when these updates were just me telling you I was still writing and that was literally it LFJALSDJF.

Now, we're here on our third route to be beta tested!!!

everyone thank @minthe-drawings for drawing our beefy boy in all his beefy glory

Druk's beta will be up for a while since I'll be on break from development, but if you'd like to play his beta, sign up for Hydra on my Patreon!

This month, we've also started including drabbles to the Patreon for free members. So if you don't have funds to support through paid tiers but would still like some extra content, I've started writing drabbles that are free for anyone following my Patreon to read ^^

Finally, as one last thank you before I go on my break, we recently reached this milestone on itch.io!!! Y'all have downloaded Crescence games 100k times and played my games over 200k TIMES.... (we technically reached 200k plays a while ago, but I wanted to wait until the downloads number was a pretty 100k).

not to mention the other milestones we've hit. thank you all for your support ;_;

It's crazy to even see this kind of number on my page.... I remember I used to see other amazing devs post these kinds of numbers and I could only dream that one day I'd be able to experience that kind of engagement. And so seeing that number for myself.... it's just really humbling to know you've all supported me for this long and to know I've reached the amount of players that I have <3 Thank you as always for the support and love you've all given my games. One day I will reward you all in kind and release Alaris....LFMALSDIJF

For market research this month, I have been trying to play Fields of Mistria in the small pockets of free time that I have. March and Eiland my beloved. But what I really want to highlight this month is...

No one is surprised that I am, once again, telling you to support @ravenstargames

Lost in Limbo is a phenomenal dark fantasy VN that just released their demo and went live with their Kickstarter. The team is made up of some of the kindest, funniest, most hardworking, and talented people that I know, and I can't recommend the demo enough. The cast is diverse and has so much character (I literally love every character). The writing is beautiful, and the art is absolutely stunning. It's the team's first game, but you wouldn't know it from how polished, immersive, and breathtaking the demo is! Please consider supporting the team, whether it's playing the game or backing the Kickstarter. They deserve every ounce of success they get, and if you're a fan of fantasy and stunning storytelling, you will LOVE THIS GAME!!! Envy stans RISE!!!!

That's all for this month (and for the next two months.... wah.... don't forget about me everyone...)! Hope everyone stays well and warm as we enter fall, and I'll see you all in November <3 I'll miss you all dearly (I say this as if I won't still be around to answer asks), and hopefully when I return, I'll be making my debut as DR. CRESCENCE!!!! \o/

#alaris #devlog

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absolutebl · 6 months ago

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This Week in BL - Well... at lease we have Wandee & Stand-in?

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

May 2024 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Godday (Sat YT) ep 4 of 12 - The geept is strong with this one AKA Yak CAN flirt. Wandee now knows he isn’t the only one with a crush on someone else. AND YET they are SO DAMN CUTE together. I do wonder sometime if Yak is running a counter con with Dee pretending to have a crush on Taem. Meanwhile, mad props on the HPV vax public service! Good for them!!! Now that's my kind of product placement. I do have a feeling the sad bit with these two is gonna be VERY sad and last longer than we like.

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 5 of 12 eps - It’s a riveting show. Pleasant? No. Riveting? Yes. Tiny crumbs for Ming’s assistant. Joe is best boy. That is all. I LOVE this show.

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 8 of 16 - TOO MANY SOUND EFFECTS. Omg get your fingers off those buttons you computer wanking sound dude (you know it’s a dude) what tf do you think this is? Lovely Writer? Also, they left ALL their drinks! Can you not walk and drink at the same time in a BL? Meanwhile not much happened that hadn’t already happened AKA bit of a filler ep. That said, the friendship group stuff is glorious!!! Also this brand of super gentle flirting suits PondPhuwin better than any of their prior rolls. It reminds me of how much I think they suit a historical. There is a gentle dignity to these two.

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 7 of 12 - I love how kindly the turn down was. But most of the dancing stuff was dull. I don’t know I just find the actor playing Kang pretty vacant of appeal I guess.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - As is not uncommon with JBL I’m being to get frustrated with Yuki the Uke. Sigh. I’m probably gonna stay that way for several episodes given the pacing of this show.

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - Also frustrating. Willful misunderstanding. We got us some running of the gays but boy is this drawn out.

Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 3-4 of 6 - The puppy is a bit too much sunshine innocent for me. And the professor is a bit creepy. I don't know, I'm not loving this one like I want to.

It's airing but...

You Made My Day (Thai YT) ep 1 of 5 - mini series staring the I Will Knock You couple Tar & Bom, started but I couldn't find it. I also didn't try very hard.

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer released to Korean theaters 5/25. HoTae & DongHee, side couple from Unintentional Love Story are back! Same actors, same character names. I love them. I NEED TO SEE THIS. How?

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ????) ep 2 of 10 - yeah I can't find it.

In case you missed it

Crossing my fandoms moment, major Kpop blog ran the following: OMEGA X Hangyeom Talks Jazz For Two, Brotherhood, And More With KpopStarz

Tis the season of remakes? Both Addicted Heroin (August, my love!) and My Love Mix-Up (G4!) are coming from Thailand. I am very excited to see both. I love a Thai remake, often more than the original.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

May Releases

VBL (Taiwan) is releasing 4 'Special Episode' epilogues to their 4 2023 shows every Friday this month on Gagaoolala, Viki & Viu. Not sure on search terms or how to find these. (Or, frankly, if we need them.)

5/10 – You Are Mine

5/17 – VIP Only

5/24 – Stay By My Side

5/31 – Anti Reset

5/28 My Biker 2 (Thai movie YT?) - trailer

5/30 Knock Knock Boys (Thai Thurs WeTV & Gaga) - I do love Best and I'm interested in seeing him in a new pairing. That said, I'm not wild about Seng. Still, this looks like a chaotic pulpy mess, I'm looking forward to wallowing in it one way or another.

5/31 The Time of Huannan (Taiwan movie) - May not be BL

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

All Wandee Gooday.

Icky no longer allows screen shots or there would have been a bunch from Stand-in.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity

@rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in it's infinate wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember:

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cybercitycomix · 3 months ago

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Top New DC Comic Releases for the Week of August 21st, 2024.

Batman Superman Worlds Finest #30,

Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 Facsimile,

Dark Knights of Steel Allwinter #2,

Gotham City Sirens #3,

Green Lantern War Journal #12,

Jenny Sparks #1,

Nightwing #117,

Superman #17,

Titans #14,

Wonder Woman #12.

#comics #comic books #dc comics #batman #comicbooks

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intersex-support · 1 year ago

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hello! i newly figured out i am intersex, however i haven't been able to find much content talking about intersex experience, history or community, when i first realized i was queer originally i found a lot of content like that and found it helpful, and i was wondering if there's any recommendations you might be willing to give about any content on being intersex or intersex creators who you think people should know about!

Hey!

This ask honestly made me really happy, because when I was searching for people and resources to share with you, I realized how much stuff has been created in the past 5 years. When I was diagnosed as intersex, I felt like there was so much less stuff than there even is now, so it makes me really happy to know there is more stuff, even if it's still hard to find.

Some of the things I've put on this list are outdated or might include perspectives that I don't completely love, but might include important historical context. It is also a very US centric and English language centric resource, although I have linked to organizations in other countries and would love if people added on recommendations to intersex resources in a variety of languages. As always, take what resonates with you and leave behind the rest!

Books:

Cripping Intersex by Celeste E Orr

Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex by Elizabeth Reis

XOXY: A Memoir by Kimberly Zieselman

Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word) by Thea Hillman

In September, Alicia Weigel is releasing her memoir Inverse Cowgirl.

In August, Pidgeon Pagonis is releasing their memoir, Nobody Needs to Know.

Fiction books:

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Intersex #ownvoices books, collated by Bogi Takács

Films:

Every Body directed by Julie Cohen is in theaters right now, and will eventually be on streaming services.

Ponyboi directed by River Gallo

Intersexion directed by Grant Lahood

Articles + misc:

Hermaphrodites with Attitude newsletter-content note for h slur and some other outdated language. Very important history though <3

Jazz Legend Little Jimmy Scott Is a Cornerstone of Black Intersex History by Sean Saifa Wall

What it's like to be a Black intersex woman by Tatenda Ngwaru

9 Young People on How They Found Out They Are Intersex by Hans Lindhal

Teen Vogue's series of intersex interviews

After years of protest, a top hospital ended intersex surgeries. For activists, it took a deep toll by Kate Sosin

Intersex Awareness Day: A Demonstration that Inspired a Movement

Normalizing intersex: Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics

Music-Ana Roxanne

Youth&I-intersex youth zine

Juliana Huxtable-Visual Art

Youtube channels:

Emilord-videos about AIS and surgery.

Jubilee Intersex video

Hans Lindhal-videos on a wide variety of intersex topics.

What's It Like To Be Intersex? | Minutes With | UNILAD

What It's Like To Be Intersex As/Is

Pass the Mic: Intercepting Injustice with Sean Saifa Wall

Intersex Organizations:

Link to org list

People/orgs to follow:

Sean Saifa Wall

Alicia Weigel

River Gallo

Hans Lindhal

Fàájì/funk

Jahni

Justin Tsang

Intersex Awareness (fabulous direct action organizing in the US-keep an eye out cause we're gonna do more this year!)

Liat Feller

Jubilee

Crystal Hendricks

Mari Wrobi

Intersex people, please feel free to add on more resources, art, writing, and people that you like!!

#actuallyintersex #intersex #intersex resources #intersex positivity #intersex history #intersex books

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bitterbutblue · 1 month ago

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september 1998

episode 1: august 1998

chat i know i said its academia!reader and trust me it IS this is just one part of the PROCESS just TRUST ME we r not making this just a romance series this is exploring friendships, self identity, familial matters and more too!! this is a very ambitious work and i hope itll be completed fully ~

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────

Draw, hold, release.

Each motion is practically engrained in your head, a fluid movement more rather than each individual step. The arrow flies faster than you can register, hitting the centre of the yellow target. This is the only thing that can occupy your mind now, and you have to stay focused. If you keep getting distracted, you know the worst will happen.

It's been hell trying to keep yourself focused when you see her every morning, and in 5 out of your 8 classes. You watch her as she almost immediately makes new friends, talking to them lightly as if it's second nature. She talks so lightly with such an airiness in her voice, with that smile of hers that ended up on local billboards for local advertisements before she left.

That smile that resulted in your first ever crush.

Feelings have long faded now, but you find her staring at you from across the classroom that has you feeling so terribly awkward. You avoid her as much as you can in class and after the first day you've never found yourself needing to talk to her again. You want it to stay that way. She was almost immediately surrounded by people who wanted to talk to the new girl, meet the new girl, date the new girl. You saw this as an excuse to leave her.

You walked away.

"God, Y/n, you keep this up and you'll be taking my name as top archer."

That familiar, whiny voice snaps you out of your thoughts.

"You were never the top archer to begin with, March."

March pouts, the end of summer's sun shining the soccer field with this low shade of orange that embraces you every summer evening. March wipes the sweat from under her bangs, putting her bow down with a sigh.

"Just let me dream of being in your position one day."

"Dreams are all they are." You stick your tongue out childishly as the coach shouts whatever about packing up and debriefing. You put your bow back onto your stand, sighing as you look at your target, walking towards it after the three beeps. "I'm one off from 360."

"Bitch, I was not even close to 320. Shut up."

You shrug, pulling out the arrows before moving to help March move the stands back to where they were normally stored. You grunt as you begin to push against the large wooden frame, feeling the splintery wood against your shoulder.

"My mom would kill me if she saw the scores."

"Yukong. She was a famous archer wasn't she?"

"Literally got gold in the Luofu 1982 championship." You mumble as March moves to open the shed door so you can roll the stand inside. "Won't stop bugging me about attending Penacony 2000 championships."

"Will you go?" March tilts her head to the side, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Not even good enough to."

"You are literally one of the top archers of the country! You haven't ever tried qualifying-"

You don't say anything as you wheel the stand inside, parking it next to the fencing team's equipment. March's voice dies in her throat as you stand still, taking a deep breath in.

"Don't ask me about qualifying."

The room is filled with sudden silence as you swallow down your thoughts, just standing there and picking at the stray splinters sticking out from the stand.

"Let's not think too far ahead." You whisper with an awkward smile that doesn't meet your eyes. "It's in two years. I just wanna go to school now and be a kid."

March nods.

"Okay. Let's go now. Stelle and Dan Heng wanna meet us for dinner."

The grassy fields span on forever as you make your way down the fields to the road up ahead. You shift the bag to your other hand when something catches your eye. The same lilac hair that you see almost every morning now, where she lingers for just a second too long outside your house. And you see her lingering outside now again, staring at you from across the fields and her eyes don't leave yours after they meet. You stop walking, March coming to a halt next to you.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

You keep your eyes on Robin as she darts her eyes between you and March.

"Is it the new girl?"

"She's not new. I mean, well- yes she is. She's also like, well-"

"You're not making sense." March shifts her bodyweight as she lets out a loud sigh "Can we go get some food now? Please?"

"Yeah." You tear your eyes away from the girl "Let's-"

"Y/N!"

You freeze when she calls out your name, and you're scared to turn around beacuse you know she'll be closer now.

"March, I'll come find you later? We're meeting at Tseng's right?"

"Yeah." She nods uncertainly "Are you sure?"

You just nod, heaving your bag onto your shoulder as you turn around. Robin stands there with her school bag in her hands, slightly out of breath as she had run half-way across the field calling after your name. You can't fully understand the feeling in your chest, slightly bitter and definitely not a nice feeling. Like butterflies that are desperate to break out of the cavity in your chest.

"Can we talk?"

"Robin, I really don't think it matters that much-"

"Please?"

Her hand jerks slightly, as if she wanted to reach out to hold your hand but then had second thoughts about it almost immediately. You wished you didn't even see the way her hand moved.

"You just stopped."

She looks down.

"I know."

"You didn't even tell me what happened. Out of nowhere one day, just gone. I kept texting you, I kept mailing you. You never responded."

She swallows, still not making eye contact.

"You come back and you expected everything to be fine? I don't even know what happened, you started ghosting me for years. The only way I knew you were still alive was seeing your dad on the news."

You didn't expect yourself to get so emotional, especially when confronting a friend you hadn't seen since you were nine years old, who you hadn't talked to since you were fifteen. It really shouldn't be that big of a deal.

It really shouldn't have been.

"I had stuff going on too, you can't expect me to just-"

"At least shoot me an email! You could've done so much instead of fucking disappearing like that when you know I have no way of contacting you if you don't reach out."

Robin just stares at you and you hate the way tears well up in her eyes.

"I need to go. Let's just leave things the way they were." You mumble, looking down before lifting the bag onto your shoulder again.

"Wait, please-"

You turn around, not even wanting to look at her stupid face anymore.

Robin just stares after you, clenching her bag tightly.

"Youngest archer to qualify for the War Dance."

The feeling in her chest tightens as she watches you lift up your bow in the air, large grin on your face as your coach lifts you up. Fifteen years old and already achieving more than she could probably ever dream of achieving and it leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. Jealousy, envy, the reason why humans strive to do better. The reason why we end up turning against each other.

Your text message stares back at her, and she can't find it in her to type. She can't find it in her to say 'Congratulations!' or 'I saw the news, I saw you on television' I saw you on television where I wanted to see myself. I saw you achieving what I could never do.

She turns of the computer shakily, a sick feeling to her stomach because why did she feel so upset? You were her best friend, her everything. You were finally achieving the dreams you told her about in the depths of the nights and now that it's happened, she finds herself upset. Envious. She tries to push down the monster that is eating her up but she can't.

"Robin, have you seen? Y/n just won the War Dance!"

She grips her fork tightly as her mother speaks and she can only nod stiffly.

"Robin, Y/n just competed in the international world cup, have you seen?"

She just nods.

She hasn't spoken to you since the night you made a name for yourself, and she feels terrible about it in so many ways she can't fully express it in words. She wants to support you so badly, but she wants to be you. She hates seeing you on television, but she finds herself watching every one of your competitions with a heart so heavy it anchors her down to the base of the earth. She hates you because you have everything she wants, she hates you so much she prints out all your articles and keeps it in a little box in her room.

She wanted to hate you when she saw you again for the first time across the street, but she felt drawn to you again, the need to approach you being too strong.

Now she doesn't know what to do.

By the time you sit down, they've all already ordered their meals (Stelle remembered your favourite, and you had to force yourself to stop from grinning like a fool). Dan Heng, who almost never shows up, sits with a wide smile and March leans into him, laughing.

"Come sit."

You move to quickly take a seat next to Stelle, dropping your bag onto the ground as you pick up the chopsticks, stomach practically growling at this point.

"What have you been up to while I was gone?"

"Nothing, Dan Heng was being boring." Stelle grins as she takes a whole dumpling into her mouth "Besides, update us. What's going on between you and Robin?"

You tense up

"March, you bitch."

"That's not very nice!"

She pouts at you, and you fake gag as you begin to eat.

"Nothing happened. She just wanted to talk to me for no reason."

"What's your history? She left to the states, so what?"

"It's more than just that." You grumble "She just ghosted me one day. After I got into the War Dance she just stopped messaging or emailing. We stayed in contact for five years after she left, and then she disappeared. Never even talked to me."

"Jesus." Dan Heng sighs "Maybe if you actually asked her why, you'd feel better about it."

"I spent years getting over losing her. Seeing her come back has made things exponentially worse."

A sinking feeling in your gut, after the first day you've just not been able to look her in the eyes again. She still is the same girl with the same naivety in her eyes.

“I think you’re both immature.” Dan Heng shrugs, and you drop your mouth open in shock

“Excuse me?”

“She was immature because she got jealous. You’re immature because you refuse to talk to her.”

“I think Y/n has the right to not need to talk to her especially after all this time.”

Stelle’s serious voice actually has your throat going dry, looking to her with a thankful look as March just picks at her food.

“Would you regret it?” Dan Heng asks, a serious look on his face “Not talking to her now?”

The idea of regret has long followed you. Regret isn’t exactly a discernible feeling, it’s not something you can pinpoint easily or just brush aside. It eats you up along with guilt at times, it feeds into your worst thoughts. You wonder if Robin still tosses in her bed late at night with a churning feeling in her stomach, a sinking heart as the past solidifies into the present. You wonder if you’d end up like that too.

“I don’t know.”

The playful mood has long faded now, Dan Heng just pushing food on his plate around as Stelle shoots side glances at you.

“I think it’s not a big deal.” You say finally “I’ll do whatever feels right for me. Don’t worry.”

You shoot what you hope is a reassuring smile at them.

“C’mon, eat up. I’m treating you guys this time.”

Robin stops trying to approach you, not even looking at you anymore and some part of you feels grateful but you also wonder why it feels slightly disappointing. She is off with another group- Acheron, Boothill, Aventurine, the rather intimidating, typically popular group. She stops glancing at you in class, she stops lingering outside your house in the mornings. She stops trying to make small talk and maybe that part you’re more thankful for because every time she tried talking to you, it was just impossible for you to say anything back. Every time you did talk, it was just awkward exchanges where your body was in fight or flight mode.

Every time you think too hard about it, or whatever it was that had happened, you find yourself spiralling. Seeing her brings you back to the place you were, the place you worked so hard to get out of. You can feel your hand trembling as push the bow out, the string digging into your fingers as the sight wavers in and out of the yellow zone.

You really wanted to forget about her, you really wanted her to be nothing but a memory of the past but now you stand face to face practically. Your unanswered history only one conversation away from being told. Everything you convinced yourself of, a new reality you had fabricated for yourself, now falling apart in front of your eyes.

Seeing lilac down the hallways results in a sharp jab to your side. Hearing her speak in class results in your brain rattling for answers.

You want her to stay away from you.

"Y/n. Hey, Y/n!"

Thwip.

You watch as the arrow lands, and March lets out a groan, looking up from the binoculars.

"6! Come on, what's going on with you recently?"

"Shut up." You said through gritted teeth, putting your bow down. "I haven't been able to focus."

Robin being back has affected you in ways you didn't realise would affect you.

"I can tell."

The new voice causes both of you to look up, the expression on your face darkening when you see your mom standing next to your coach.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" You snap, and March steps back- clearly not wanting to be involved in whatever's going on.

"Your coach has been worried about your performance and called me."

"Snitch!"

You shoot a glare at Jingliu, who just crosses her arms tightly.

"Your scores have worsened. At this rate, you won't be able to attend nationals, even." Your mother seethes, and you step back from her, knocking into your bow. The archery team has stopped shooting, all of them turning to look at not just you, but also your mother.

The legendary archer, the face of Luofu archery. The pride of their nation.

"Do you know how much I pay for you and your equipment?"

You look down, swallowing the growing lump in your throat. The world caves in in that moment.

"Do you know everything I've put down so you can succeed as well?"

The school coach urges the rest of the team to go back to doing their training.

The school coach shoots you a look of pity.

"What are you doing if not wasting my resources?"

You don't realise you're crying until let out a sob, a sharp breath of air stabbing your gut sharply and you hear a long sigh drag out.

"God. What have you been doing the past month?"

You hang your head, biting your lip to hold in another sob. You take a shaky breath in, holding your voice steady as you wipe away a stray tear.

"I'm sorry."

The sound that leaves you is hoarse, shaky and nothing like what you normally sound like. It's rough, sandpaper against skin and breaking underneath for blood to leak. Except what leaks is more than just blood, it's all of who you were.

Yukong lets out a deep sigh, hesitating slightly as grips her purse tightly.

"I'll see you later tonight."

You don't see her leave, only hearing her footsteps retreat. You can feel too many eyes on you, despite there being none at all. You can feel the world caving in on you, despite standing on what is still a solid and whole piece of land. What you can't feel is Robin's eyes on you, watching the scene unfold with an unreadable expression, before walking off quickly- fading into the sunset behind you.

#honkai star rail #hsr #hsr x reader #honkai star rail x reader #hsr robin #robin x reader #hsr robin x reader #remember me #1999 #honkai star rail fanfic #hsr fanfic

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doyoulikethissong-poll · 21 days ago

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Andrew Gold - Spooky, Scary Skeletons 1996

Andrew Maurice Gold was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold performed on scores of records by other artists, especially Linda Ronstadt, and had his own success with the US top 40 hits "Lonely Boy" (1977) and "Thank You for Being a Friend" (1978) (which was later used as the opening theme for The Golden Girls), as well as the UK top five hit "Never Let Her Slip Away" (1978). In the 1980s, he had further international chart success as one half of the new wave duo Wax. During the 1990s, Gold produced, composed, performed on and wrote tracks for films, commercials, and television soundtracks.

"Spooky, Scary Skeletons" is a Halloween song, first released on Gold's 1996 album Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music. It was one of nine original songs on the album, released to fill a void of availability of fun and scary Halloween original songs according to Gold on his 1996 liner notes. He produced, mixed, sang and played all the instruments on the track. It prominently features a xylophone to represent the sound of skeletal bones rattling.

In 1998, Disney included the song on their VHS tape Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Happy Haunting: Party at Disneyland! (which was released on DVD as Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Happy Haunting in 2006). They paired the song with the 1929 animated short film The Skeleton Dance by Ub Iwerks. The video has garnered over 31 million views since it was recreated and uploaded by a Youtube user. On October 31, 2013, the Youtube band The Living Tombstone created an electronic dance-like remix of the song with a faster tempo than the original. Their upload of the remix to YouTube has garnered over 102 million views. By 2022, there were over 5 million TikTok videos featuring the song. “Spooky, Scary Skeletons” was adapted into a children's picture book by Random House Children's Books featuring the lyrics to the song on August 27, 2024.

"Spooky, Scary Skeletons" received a total of 90% yes votes!

youtube

#finished #high yes #high reblog #low no #90s #o1 #o1 sweep #lo2 #lo4 #popular #andrew gold #english

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thesiltverses · 1 year ago

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Hey, amazing people - hope you're well!

A quick heads-up: we've made the decision to factor an additional week-long quarter-season break into our release schedule (so this week's intended episode won't launch until next Thursday 19th with the early release coming next Wednesday 18th, and we'll insert a corresponding break into the second half of the season as well).

As you've probably already gathered from the first four episodes, Season 3 of TSV is big, and ambitious at around 50-60 minutes per episode, and our next four episodes are particularly chunky and action-filled - we've also had some bad luck over the past few weeks (our own fault, tbh) with missing/corrupted audio, so we've been playing catch-up to recover since then.

That extra week will give us the time we need to get back on top of production and take a much-needed breath.

As ever, thank you so much for your patience - really hope you've all been enjoying the season so far and can't wait for you to hear everything that's coming next.

Keep safe and have a great week,

Jon

17th August: Episode 1

31st August: Episode 2

14th September: Episode 3

28th September: Episode 4

19th October: Episode 5

2nd November: Episode 6

16th November: Episode 7

30th November: Episode 8

December 2023: Mid-season break. (Terror, exhaustion, panic. But maybe a little less of it?)

11th January 2024: Episode 9

25th January: Episode 10

8th February: Episode 11

22nd February: Episode 12

14th March: Episode 13

28th March: Episode 14

11th April: Episode 15

25th April: Episode 16. Season Finale

#silt verses #tsv

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dreamings-free · 13 hours ago

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about the artist

Louis Tomlinson is a singer and songwriter from Doncaster, UK. As a member of One Direction, Louis was a part of one of the biggest musical groups of all time. Now solo, Louis is following his heart musically. Louis' debut solo album 'Walls,' released in 2020, saw huge international success and sold over 1.5 million copies. In 2022, Louis went onto release his second solo album 'Faith In The Future' which saw continued success achieving #1 in the U.K, Spain and Belgium along with Top 5 in the U.S, Germany and Australia which was followed by the announcement of a global tour spanning 98 stadiums and arenas.

2023 saw the release of Louis' highly anticipated documentary film 'All Of Those Voices,' a film that documented his transition from a member of One Direction to a solo stadium artist, capturing the challenges and triumphs that were defining his new musical path. The film had a series of global premieres across London, Mexico City, Tokyo and L.A, along with a cinematic release, seeing it air in 2,500 cinemas across 65 countries.

Upon the completion of the 'Faith In The Future' World Tour, Louis kicked the 2024 summer off with the return of his highly successful self-curated event, The Away From Home Festival. The one-day multi-act festival was staged this year in Merida, Mexico, having previously been hosted in England, Spain and Italy. This year's Away From Home festival saw an incredible line up take to the stage with the likes of DMA's, Dylan, Reverend & The Makers, BBC Radio 1's Abbie McCarthy and local hero Kevin Kaarl. Now heading into its 5th year, Louis aims to take the festival to a new country again for 2025.

As well as a summer run of festivals, including Lollapalooza Berlin, Sziget, Superbloom, Victorious, Frequency, Untold, Pinkpop and Cabaret Vert, Louis unveiled a surprise live album, LIVE, released in August, with the digital version comprising a collection of 15 songs, all released live for the very first time. Each song was recorded in a different city, at a different show, spanning the past 3 years across Louis' two global world tours which have seen him perform over 170 shows to date.

Louis’ biography with his booking agency Wasserman Music, 2024

#love this #he did that #he wasn’t sure he’d get to tour again.. and now he’s done 170+ shows!#louis #biography #wasserman music #about louis #nov 2024 #lt team #m

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jadeazora · 3 months ago

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A new message from the Masters team is out! This is a long read, so I'll try to divide by sections for y'all😵‍💫:

Chapter 1 of the Main Story's Arceus arc releases on Aug28! In the Arceus Arc, Sync Pairs who have shown that their bonds have reached new heights awaken the power of Arc Suits. (Oh grand. They also announced that there will be more. I'm probably going to stop pursuing the Master scouts then. Save my free gems for exclusively these. 🤷‍♀️)

Arc Suit Sync Pairs are powerful Sync Pairs that have capabilities specializing in certain types, and are comparable to Master Sync Pairs. Their major trait is that they have two Arc Suit Passive Skills in addition to their three regular Passive Skills (for a total of up to five Passive Skills).

One Arc Suit Passive Skill will strengthen all allies (with the effect being greater the more Sync Pairs of a certain type there are on the team), and the other will raise all allies' Type Rebuff of a particular type and lower all opponents' Type Rebuff of a particular type under certain circumstances.

On top of that, each Arc Suit Sync Pair's Sync Move will have some kind of additional effect, and tiles on their Sync Grid that can be activated for zero Energy will be added every time their move level is increased.

Additionally, Arc Suit Sync Pairs have a special Role called Multi. Once a Sync Pair with the Multi Role is raised to 6 EX, they'll be able to lower the opponent's Type Rebuff of a particular type the first time they use their Sync Move each battle. Please note the following: items based on their EX Role and type will be needed when unlocking the level cap, and the number and kinds of items required will be different than for other Roles. The overall capabilities of a Sync Pair will depend on their EX Role. Multi Sync Pairs will receive a bonus for all battles in the Battle Rally (the multiplier will be a little lower than for other Roles).

There's a Special Battle Event scheduled to celebrate the arrival of the Arceus Arc. You can get exclusive Medals from this event and take on Cynthia, Steven, and Lance in their Arc Suits in battles.

The Arc Suit Fair is a Sync Pair Scout where the offering rate is 1% for the featured Arc Suit Sync Pair, and 12% for 5 Sync Pairs (including the Arc Suit Sync Pair). Pity is available at 500 Scout Points, unlike the typical 400 of other banners.

Like the Master Fair, there are two kinds of Arc Suit Fair: a regular one, and the Special Present Arc Suit Fair, which can only be used with Paid Gems. In the Special Present Fair, you can get a present up to 10 times after using the Sync Pair Scout x11! You can receive a featured present on your fifth and tenth scouts: one Move Candy exclusively for the featured Arc Suit Sync Pair. You can also get up to 10 Move Candy Coins and Roll Cake Coins of each kind (for a total of 20 of these coins), so we hope you check out these presents. Please note that the presents you can obtain after using the Sync Pair Scout x11 in the regular Arc Suit Fair are different from what is described above.

Lance will be added as a guest in the Trainer's Lodge on Sept1.

Starting August 28, two 5⭐ Sync Pairs and four 4⭐ Sync Pairs will be added to the BP item exchange! To celebrate the five-year anniversary, one BP Sync Pair Voucher, which can be exchanged for a 4⭐ Sync Pair, and one BP Sync Pair Super Voucher, which can be exchanged for a 5⭐ Sync Pair, will be sent to your Present Box.

6EX available will be available for Morgan & Virizion, who are being added, as well as for her sisters!

The Daily Scout will be revamped starting Sept1. Following this revamp, the Daily Scout will only offer Sync Pairs, and can be used one time from 2am to 1:59am on the next day. (It's apparently one random Sync Pair a Day? Typical 5⭐ odds, I assume?)

Story Event Festive Sun and Moon will begin on August 28. Lear holds a grand festival celebrating the development of Pasio! But something strange happens when Lillie and the others put on new outfits and go all out to enjoy themselves... (You can team up with the debuting Lillie & Solgaleo by playing this event, and get the "Full-Powered Lillie!" Title, which is exclusive to this event, by completing Missions.)

In addition to the above, they've got tons of Rallies and events planned, including a special Log-in Bonus where you can get up to 3,000 Gems, co-op battles where you can earn a Strike Move Candy Coin every day, and an Extreme Battle Event.

They're bringing back the Daily 5⭐-Guaranteed Scout x11 from last year, which you can use for 10 paid Gems. In addition, three kinds of 5-Select Poké Fair Scout x15 will begin, as well as two kinds of 5-Select Costume Scout ×11.

Sync Pair Overviews:

Arc Suit Cynthia & Garchomp arrive as the first-ever Arc Suit Sync Pair! They're a Ground-type Multi Sync Pair whose EX Role is Strike. When they cause a sandstorm, a Passive Skill of theirs can create a Ground Zone! One of their Arc Suit Passive Skills, Ground Judgment, can lower all opponents' Ground Type Rebuff, letting them give Ground-type teams a big boost.

Also, their Almighty Rending Earthquake Buddy Move attacks all opponents, and can increase their own Sync Move↑ Next effect by one rank for each trapped opponent that they attacked (if all opponents are trapped, it will increase by three ranks). This is the first appearance of the Sync Move ↑ Next effect, which increases the power of a Sync Move the next time it's used by 10% for each rank (up to 10 ranks total). Their Greatest Battle! Move can apply the Supereffective ↑ Next effect to themselves and increase their Sync Move ↑ Next effect by five ranks, making them a Sync Pair that can unleash an extremely powerful Sync Move!

Arc Suit Steven & Metagross are a Steel-type Multi Sync Pair. Their EX Role is Support. They're just as durable as a typical Support Sync Pair. Not only do they have Potion, but they can restore all allies' HP by approximately 20% of their maximum HP when Arc Suit Steven & Metagross use their Sync Move, and one of their Passive Skills can restore their own HP after they get hit by an attack move, making them a Sync Pair that excels at healing.

Also, their We're the Strongest! Trainer Move can raise all allies' Attack by six stat ranks, increase all allies' Sync Move ↑ Next effect by three ranks, and raise all allies' critical-hit rate by up to three stat ranks based on how many slots of the Move Gauge were used. Plus, when their attack move is successful, one of their Passive Skills can increase the Physical Moves ↑ Next effect of all allies by one rank, meaning they can also support their team's attacking capabilities.

In addition, their Almighty Flash Bullet Punch Buddy Move lowers all opponents' Defense and Sp. Def by two stat ranks and raises all allies' Defense and Sp. Def by two stat ranks. Another Passive Skill of theirs applies the Enduring effect to all allies the first time

Arc Suit Steven & Metagross enter each battle, and also applies the Free Move Next effect to themselves when their attack move is successful. Also, when one of their stats gets lowered, another one of their Passive Skills raises that stat the same amount it was lowered, making them a Sync Pair that's productive in a wide variety of ways.

Arc Suit Lance & Dragonite are a Dragon-type Multi Sync Pair. Their EX Role is Tech! One of their Passive Skills makes their Hyper Beam and Giga Impact, both of which normally use four slots of the Move Gauge, use only two slots of the Move Gauge, and also turns them into Dragon-type Moves! Plus, another Passive Skill of theirs lowers the target's Defense by six stat ranks when their physical attack move is successful, and can also lower the target's Sp. Def by six stat ranks when their special attack move is successful. (Ofc he has Hyper Beam. At this point I'm pretty sure they'll acknowledge it in his Lodge date.)

Their Almighty Roar Hyper Beam Buddy Move gets more powerful the more the target's Defense and Sp. Def are lowered, and their Heroic Ascension Divine Outrage Sync Move gets more powerful the more the target's Sp. Def is lowered, so try to use these attacks once the opponent's Defense and Sp. Def have dropped!

By teaming up with Arc Suit Lance & Dragonite, you can get a special Friend Snapshot that will be viewable in the Trainer Lodge, so be sure to check it out.

Future Plans:

The development team has two major updates planned for the next six months or so.

The first is the addition of a feature that will allow players to interact and cooperate with each other. We'll provide more details later, but for now we can say that we're considering adding elements that will be enjoyable for casual players as well.

The second is the addition of an event themed around a completely new approach to lore and storytelling. We'll have further information on this as well, but until then, various happenings in the game will gradually reveal what the theme of this event will be, so please be on the lookout for clues. It'll further expand the world of Pasio, so we hope you look forward to it!

Also, they're planning on making more improvements, like the PML Arc revisions we made recently. These will mainly aim to make the game easier to enjoy for new players and those who are returning after a while. For veteran players, we plan to add new training elements.

The next message comes in late September.

#pokemon masters #pokemas #champion lance #champion cynthia #steven stone #champion steven #pokemon lillie #pokemon hgss #pokemon dppt #pokemon oras #pokemon sun and moon

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anim-ttrpgs · 3 months ago

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Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy August 1st 2024 Patreon Update.

First Thursday of the month so it’s time for another patreon update.

This time we have a variety of small but impactful changes to show off in the change log below, including a nearly complete ruleset for gorgon investigators!

Don’t forget, for a limited time, you can pick up a pdf copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy for free by joining the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club!

CHANGE LOG

Copy-editing Progress: Thoroughly copy-edited up to p. 118.

WHOLE BOOK

We changed the top and bottom margins on each page to be smaller. Need to get fan feedback over whether this improves readability or not.

CHAPTER 1

Copy-editing and cleanup, rearranged the order of many sections and changed some heading names. Overall huge improvements to the clarity and readability of the whole chapter.

Added important sidebar about the intent of some of the chapter 1 sections

Fixed massive oversight/outdated text/miscommunication on how Base modifiers interact with Penalties and Composure. If you reread any section, reread “Rolls, Modifiers, and Consequences” as well as “Composure.” The short version is that even while being capped by Composure, Base modifiers are supposed to be able to negate penalties. So even at Composure 0, a total modifier of -2 penalty + +3 Base would total to 0, not -2. All traits and modifiers in Eureka were written with this interaction in mind, but it was communicated very poorly up until now. Thank God we caught that before the final release.

Gave the defining of Investigative Rolls vs Non-Investigative Rolls its own section

Changed the term “Investigation Roll” to “Investigative Roll” due to “Investigation Roll” sounding too much like it was its own skill instead of a category of roll.

Changed the title of the “Flat Composure Damage” section to “Meeting Basic Needs”

Added a new way for investigators to take flat Composure damage: Going a full day without shelter.

Added a new section called “What Does a Session Look Like?”

Codified retroactive Investigative Rolls and gave them a -3 penalty.

Slight changes to Jumping during Jumpscares

Moved Jumpscares to Chapter 3

Changed the Tick Modifier for traveling by Flying to -5 instead of -4

Moved all the information from “Effective Use of the Ticking Clock” to just be under the “Ticking Clock” heading, it did not need to be a separate heading.

Added bullet points to the entire chapter.

Made tiny fixes to Third-Person Verbiage section

CHAPTER 2

Changed “Inventory in Eureka” to just “Inventory”

Started copy-editing Chapter 2. Did lots of cleanup, rearranged the order of many sections and changed some heading names. Overall huge improvements to the clarity and readability of the chapter, but the copy-editing of Chapter 2 is still a work-in-progress.

Arranged the sections in step-by-step character creation order.

Started putting example skill ratings underneath each skill.

CHAPTER 3

Better clarified rules for equipping weapons.

Moved Jumpscares to Chapter 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

Fixed a sentence that was unfinished.

Made it so the venom from venomous animals counting as chase obstacles does not kick in for 1D6 Ticks.

CHAPTER 7

Added that NPCs can also have the Comfort and Medicine skills

Added “Torture” section

CHAPTER 8

Fixed some typos in thing from beyond sections

Made a few small clarifications in thing from beyond section, such that their “chewing” replaces the usual Submission Hold.

Minor fairy clarifications

Added ability to influence weather to fairies

Added ability to cause poltergeist activity to fairies

Added Changeling to Misc. Supernatural Creatures

Got rid of How Monsters Can Regain Composure section. Moved some of it to Chapter 7 as homebrewing advice, and instead put the amount of Composure restored by preying on people and how the monster interacts with normal means of restoring Composure like eating and sleep at the top of each True Nature. How many Composure Points a monster gets back for preying on victim will now be unique to each monster type.

Updated how much composure wolfmen get for hunting. It is 1 Composure to eat a human, and 2 Composure to eat a human alive.

Better codified fairytale witch true nature.

Added Changeling Misc. Supernatural Trait

Added two new pieces of art

Minor vampire clarifications

Several thing from beyond clarifications.

Made it so monsters require 21 Investigation Points for a Eureka! instead of 18.

As a temporary fix, since monsters are getting reworked as a whole (their actual abilities are not changing much, just how we format and structure them in the text), we have made it so that every Monster investigator gets one extra free Mundane Trait.

Made major progress on the gorgon playable monster. It is still a work-in-progress, but should be mostly playable in this draft of the rulebook.

Elegantly designed and thoroughly playtested, Eureka represents the culmination of three years of near-daily work from our team, as well as a lot of our own money. If you’re just now reading this and learning about Eureka for the first time, you missed the crowdfunding window unfortunately, but our Kickstarter page is still the best place to learn more about what Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy actually is, as that is where we have all the fancy art assets, the animated trailer, links to video reviews by podcasts and youtubers, and where we post regular updates on the status of our progress finishing the game and getting it ready for final release.

Beta Copies through the Patreon

If you want more than just status updates, going forward you can download regularly updated playable beta versions of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy and it’s adventure modules by subscribing to our Patreon at the $5 tier or higher. Subscribing to our patreon also grants you access to our patreon discord server where you can talk to us directly and offer valuable feedback on our progress and projects.

The A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club

If you would like to meet the A.N.I.M. team and even have a chance to play Eureka with us, you can join the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server. It’s also just a great place to talk and discuss TTRPGs, so there is no schedule obligation, but the main purpose of it is to nominate, vote on, then read, discuss, and play different indie TTRPGs. We put playgroups together based on scheduling compatibility, so it’s all extremely flexible. This is a free discord server, separate from our patreon exclusive one. https://discord.gg/7jdP8FBPes

Other Stuff

We also have a ko-fi and merchandise if you just wanna give us more money for any reason.

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

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hesbuckcompton-baby · 5 months ago

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I'm Your Man - Robert 'Rosie' Rosenthal x OFC - Chapter 14

AO3

Summary: Time passes...

Warnings: None I think???

Word Count: 4.4k

Tags: @mads-weasley @xxluckystrike @curaheehee @footprintsinthesxnd @dcyllom @storysimp @latibvles @love-studying58 @justheretoreadthxxs

August, 1944

Amber sparks floated through the breezeless air, the flickering flames that stretched upwards from the hardstand tarmac turning the dark sky brown with its orange glow. The stench of burning oil was almost suffocating, exacerbated by the sweltering summer heat until the atmosphere itself felt as if it were pressing down against the earth.

Skin sticky with sweat, droplets running down her forehead, Frankie stood back and watched the flames. She had unbuttoned her coveralls, shrugging off the top half and tying her sleeves around her waist to stop her trousers from falling down, nothing underneath but a sweat-soaked vest as she waited for a single, cool breeze to soothe her. Ken lay flat on his back beside her, hands folded behind his head, eyes closed against the firelight. It may have been the middle of the night now, but the sun's rays had been steadily baking the tarmac all day long, and the dark patch spreading across his back became visible whenever he sat up.

"I hate the summer," Frankie groaned, head upturned towards the heavens as if venting her frustration to God himself.

"I miss my wife," Ken complained, cross-legged on the ground as he frowned at the flames.

"Ooh, look at you, all bloody married," She teased, nudging him with the toe of her book, and wobbling off-balance as he grabbed her by the ankle.

"You would be too - whose fault is that?" He raised a knowing brow, only releasing her leg once it became apparent she was about to fall over. Frankie stumbled for a second as she caught her balance, folding her arms across her chest.

"Shut up," She muttered, ruffling his hair, cringing at its sweat-soaked dampness. "It's not the time for it - you get married before the war, like you, or you wait for after. Besides, we've only been together for - what, eight months? That's not that long."

"But he's it for you, ain't he? Rosie?" Lemmons asked. Frankie had been about to tease him for his romanticism, but hell - the guy had gotten married at nineteen. It shouldn't have surprised her. But before she could respond, a shout of greeting sounded from the darkness at the end of the runway, an involuntary smile spreading across her cheeks at the familiar voice.

"Evening!" Rosie called, half jogging towards them, his grin growing visible as he neared the blaze. He'd unbuttoned his shirt below the collar, tie long discarded, sleeves rolled up past his elbows. The humidity had unstuck his curls, the gel he religiously applied each morning all but useless - although, she'd always preferred it this way.

"It's midnight, honey," Frankie pointed out, squinting in the light of the fire as she grinned, digging the toe of her boot into the ground.

"Yeah - 's why I brought water instead of coffee," He nodded, raising his canteen, its contents so fresh and cold that a layer of condensation had begun forming around the outside. She let out a gasp, bounding the last couple of steps to close the gap between them as she snatched the bottle from him, letting out a groan of relief as the cool liquid poured down her throat.

The moment she stopped for breath, Ken had ripped the canteen from her grip, downing a huge gulp for himself. Frankie let out a pant, wiping a stray droplet from her chin. "I swear to god, if we were near a church right now, I'd marry you," She shook her head slightly in earnest, mopping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

"Well, if I'd known it was that easy," Rosie chuckled, wrapping an arm around her neck and pulling her sideways towards him, pressing a kiss to her cheek. The salty taste of sweat lined his lips, and he let out a laugh as Frankie squirmed out of grip, yelling at Ken as she tried to wrestle the canteen from his hands before he could drink all of the water, their shadows ever-flickering in the changing light of the fire.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

October, 1944

A bubble of chatter filled the pub, jolly patrons talking and laughing over their pints as someone banged out a tune on the piano in the corner. Frankie slipped through the crowd, the wall of customers thinner than usual as she reached the bar, leaning against it with both elbows as she craned forward to catch the bartender's attention.

"Pint o' Guinness, please? Thanks, love," She grinned, nodding to the man behind the bar as he grabbed a glass, practically knowing her order before she'd even had to ask.

"Her drink's on me," An unfamiliar voice spoke up, and Frankie turned her head as one of the replacements sidled in beside her, a confident smirk creasing his cheek. She fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Her drink's on her. Thanks, though," She chuckled, flashing the bartender a grateful grin as he passed her pint over. Raising it to her lips, she took a sip, waiting for the awkward silence to send him off. It didn't.

"Aw, c'mon. Pretty gal like you shouldn't be buyin' her own beer - whaddya say?"

"No, no. I just said it," Frankie shook her head, still frankly amused at such a clumsy attempt at flirting. "Besides, I'm on my husband's dime... You have met the Major, right?"

A spark of panic flashed behind the pilot's eyes, and he was gone as quickly as he'd appeared, retreating back through the crowds. She let out a snort of amusement, lifting her glass slightly in a mini-toast to herself before turning back towards her table. Rosie was patiently awaiting her return, brow furrowed, frown tugging at his features as he craned his neck, watching the spot in the crowd where her unwanted admirer had disappeared.

"You alright?" He asked looking up at her as she sat down. "That guy wasn't bothering you, was he?"

Frankie let out a huff of laughter, nodding slightly. "Oh, god no. Only if you count the most embarrassing attempt at a pick-up I've ever seen as 'bothering'."

"Seriously?" Rosie's frown deepened, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as if about to stand, still peering in search of the pilot.

"Oh, sit down," She scoffed, batting at his arm with the back of her hand. "Thank you for the concern, but I'm really not bothered."

He did as she asked, but still seemed unsettled, brow pinched above his nose as he lifted his glass to his lips, sitting in silence. Frankie stared sideways at him, taking in his appearance. His jaw was clenched, and even beneath his jacket, she could tell his shoulders had gone stiff. Rosie sat quietly in an awkward state of tension, attention seemingly caught by any man who seemed to stray too close to their table on their way past. He was... oh.

"Oh my God," She breathed, wide-eyed and smiling.

"...What?"

"You're jealous!" Frankie grinned, noting the sudden flush that coloured his cheeks at this observation.

"What?! No! No," Rosie shook his head firmly, lifting his glass to his lips as he took a long sip. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him jealous before - all flustered and defensive. It was certainly amusing.

"Oh, sweetheart," She tutted, patting a hand on his thigh. "I mean, I get it - I'm one-hundred-per-cent a catch, you probably should be worried," She teased, nodding along until he began to smile.

"Stop it," He chuckled.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I invoked your rank and pretended you were my husband to scare him off," Frankie shrugged. Something flickered in Rosie's expression - something she couldn't quite interpret, but definitely enjoyed.

"... You did?"

"Mhm."

It was silent for a long moment. She took a calm sip of her beer, wiping the residual foam from her lip, feeling his eyes on her the whole time. Resisting the urge to smirk, she spoke. "... Hey honey, d'you wanna step outside for a sec-"

"Yep," Rosie was on his feet before she'd even finished her sentence and she let out a guffaw, abandoning her not-even-half-empty beer upon the table as she got up to follow, trailing behind him as they made their way towards the door.

They rounded the side of the building, stepping into the side alley where no one would walk past, and the moment they reached it his hands were on her, cupping her face as he brought their lips together, their teeth grazing against each other's as they tried not to laugh. She had a hand on his chest, then her arms were wrapping around the back of his neck, holding him as close as she could as she kissed him back, the smell of beer thick on their breath. His hands moved to her waist, squeezing slightly as she stepped back against the side wall, feeling his moustache tickly against her lip slightly as he let out a long sigh, the tension melting from his shoulders. She'd lost count of how many times they'd stood here, doing this, and yet every time it felt exciting - like they were teenagers trying not to get caught, as if anything they had between them remained even remotely secret. It had been a tiresome facade to keep up - even more so when it became apparent how bad of a job they'd been doing of it - so it felt wonderful to simply exist together out in the open.

Rosie's breath fanned her cheek as he broke the kiss for a moment, eyes still closed. "I love you."

Frankie's smile widened into a grin, tapping the tip of her nose against his. "I love you too. But not jealous, yeah?"

He lifted his hand back to her face, looking down at her with warm eyes as his thumb skimmed back and forth across her cheek. "Well, not anymore," He shrugged, beaming as she laughed.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

December, 1944

"Wa-hey!" Frankie cheered as she waddled sideways in through the front door of her father's house, a bag full of boxes held up in each hand as Rosie shuffled in behind her, reaching out to pluck a few stray snowflakes from her hair. "Presents, presents, presents! We're working with a Major's salary this year, people, so get ready."

Her father stood to the side, taking the suitcases from Rosie's hands and piling them at the bottom of the stairs as the couple weaved their way further inside, hurrying to shut the door behind them before the snow could blow in too. Alice and Jill waited grinning the the doorway to the kitchen, wrangling the dog between them to stop it from darting beneath anyone's feet. Frankie had received several letters from her father about the new canine, and they'd already taken to jokingly calling it her replacement. Tugging against its collar, Jill let out a faint shriek as the dog escaped her grip, scrambling down the hall and darting beneath Rosie's feet, almost tripping him.

"Oh, hey!" He smiled, crouching down to scratch beneath its chin. "What's this guy's name, huh?"

Frankie had already disappeared to unload the presents, but a guffaw of laughter emerged from the living room as she returned, leaning against the doorway. "Yeah, go on girls. Tell 'im what the dog's called."

Alice's face turned red with embarrassment, but Jill simply bounced on the balls of her feet, practically giddy with excitement at the prospect of breaking the news. "He's called Rosie!"

Clamping a hand over her mouth, Rosie could tell Frankie was fighting the urge to laugh again, her cheeks growing pinker by the second with the effort. The dog was a scrappy little terrier, with wiry, brow fur poking out at every angle and a rather prominent under-bite. "... Wowww," He nodded, smiling back at Jill. "Yeah, I... I see it!" Frankie ducked into the kitchen, and he heard her let out a snort, earning her a glare from the younger of the two girls.

"Alright girls, leave Rosie - and... Rosie - alone," Mr Bevan boomed, face reddened with amusement as he herded the children into the kitchen. Standing up to follow, Rosie stepped cautiously around the dog, whose stare remained fixed on him as he passed, claws skittering against the floor as he followed him into the next room.

Sitting down to their Christmas dinner, it was as if he had been transported back in time to the year before, crowded around the tiny kitchen table, the clinks of silverware and glasses echoing incessantly as they passed plates of food and refilled cups of wine. He had spent the last year carefully curating a slew of flying stories for just this occasion, and the girls spent the meal on the edge of their seats, listening with pricked ears to everything he had to say. Frankie's father had never appeared to take much interest in his job - nor the war in general - and Frankie was well-versed enough in his escapades to tune them out, the pair communicating with mouthed words and vague gestures across the table, which seemed to serve them just fine.

"I'm gonna be a pilot," Jill declared, passing her plate across the table so that Frankie could cut her ham into bite-sized pieces.

"Your feet won't reach the pedals," Alice teased, rather pleased with herself. Jill looked absolutely outraged, and the pair appeared poised to fight until Frankie's voice came from the other end of the table.

"Girls," She warned, firm tone working like a sedative as they immediately shrank back into their seats. "Alice, if you've finished eating go take the vegetable scraps out to the compost, yeah?"

"But I wanted to do that," Jill whined.

"Then go help, and come finish your dinner when you're done."

Both satisfied with the compromise, the girls clambered out of their seats, arguing beneath their breaths as they fought to decide who got to carry the potato peelings, voices never raising above a mutter to avoid another scolding. Frankie let out a huff of amusement, turning back to her dinner as she poked at her pile of carrots with her fork.

"You're good with 'em," Her father pointed out. "They listen to you - I swear they bicker constantly otherwise, don't listen to a word I say."

"Think that's par for the course when there's two of 'em," Rosie smiled.

"You got siblings, Rosie?"

He hummed, nodding as he raised a hand to his mouth. "Two sisters. But I'm the youngest, so growing up it was mostly just me watching them argue."

Once dinner was over and everything had been tidied away, they hurried into the living room to let the children open the presents they'd brought, watching from the sofa as they tore at the paper with ruthless precision. Jill received a toy biplane, fashioned from tin and painted bright red, as well as the view-master she'd spent the last year begging for, and for Alice, they'd supplied a hefty stack of mystery novels. Frankie watched with a smile, a fresh glass of wine in hand as she sat sideways, legs stretched out across Rosie's lap.

And as he sat there, hand resting on her knee, he struggled to fathom how any Christmas had ever felt adequate before he'd met her. With the children at their feet, stuffing their faces with mince pies, and the blinking lights across the street casting the room in various shades of green and red, it was hard not to imagine the scene as the rest of their lives. It was hard not to wish it - so dearly that something ached within his chest.

As afternoon gave way to evening, daylight slowly dissipating, a calm fell over the house, descending into quiet. Alice had sat curled up in an armchair with one of her books until she could scarcely keep her eyes open, wandering off to bed, and after a tiring afternoon of playing fighter planes with Rosie, Jill was almost comatose, curled up at one end of the sofa as she struggled to remain conscious.

"Alright, sweetheart," Frankie cooed, crouching down to the child's level as she stroked a soft hand through her hair, gently rousing her. "Time for bed, I think."

She had expected an excuse - some poor demonstration of how she was definitely still awake and definitely didn't need to go to bed. What she was met with was a wide-eyed smile as Jill clambered down from the sofa, already padding towards the stairs on tiny feet. As she passed Rosie, she caught the cuff of his sleeve between her fingers, tugging at him until he followed. He grinned at this, turning his head back to face Frankie. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Mhm," Frankie nodded, mirroring his smile as she pressed a quick peck to his lips. "Goodnight, honey," She called after Jill, who barely seemed to notice as she hiked up the stairs.

"I've been practising the Winnie the Pooh voices," Rosie whispered quickly, stepping out of the room to follow. Frankie laughed.

"I bet you have."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

January, 1945

The officers' club was heaving with crowds, conversing in tense anticipation as the clock ticked steadily towards midnight, mere minutes left until the dawn of 1945. George's brow furrowed, a drink in each hand as she looked around, one almost finished, the other entirely untouched. It seemed almost all of Thorpe Abbotts was here somewhere, from the commanding officers to the local Land Army girls, and yet Frankie did not appear to be among them, the sound of her voice suspiciously absent.

"Where is she?" She demanded firmly, cornering Lemmons and interrupting him mid-story as his fellow mechanics backed off.

"She's not here?" He frowned, immediately catching on without even having to ask who they were talking about.

George let out a groan, rolling her eyes as she turned to walk away. If Frankie wasn't going to make it on time, she wasn't saving her drink. "Here you go, free beer - Happy New Year," She drawled, passing it off to the first stranger she passed as she shouldered her way back through the crowds.

Rosie was standing at the other end of the bar with his crew, and their gazes met, exchanging a look of resignation as they attempted to gesticulate that neither knew where Frankie had gotten to. Throwing up her hands in irritation, George downed the last of her drink, weaving her way towards the door and out into the night, a saddening departure from a party she'd otherwise been very much enjoying. Really, she just hoped she wasn't gone long enough for Blakely to notice - he'd been looking forward to a midnight kiss all week.

She made it most of the way back to the huts before noticing the light was still on inside her own. Clenching her jaw, George resisted the urge to groan aloud once more as she marched towards the door, practically throwing it open. Frankie poked her head around the doorway to the bathroom, a streak of grease still staining her cheek.

"Oh!" She smiled. "I was wondering where everyone had got to."

"Frankie," George spoke through gritted teeth. "Get your ass in the officers' club right now."

There was a pause, Frankie's brow furrowing slightly. "...Why?"

"It's fucking New Years!"

Her eyes widened. "I thought that was tomorrow!"

"It is literally the thirty-first of December - when else was it going to be?"

"I don't really look at the calendar, I just-"

"Get out here!" George yelled, voice echoing against the curved, metal roof.

"Jesus Christ, I'm coming," Frankie's brow raised as she hurried across the hut to the door. "I'm still covered in oil, though, so-"

"I really don't care," Shaking her head, George seized her by the wrist, practically dragging her back towards the club. She could almost hear the clock ticking in her mind, a constant reminder that they were running out of time, her pace quickening by the second until they were almost jogging. Frankie had begun to smile, holding back a laugh at her panicked state so as not to rile her further.

The pair were barely ten metres away from the door to the club when an uproarious cheer blared from inside, the sound of champagne corks popping a clear sign that they'd just managed to narrowly miss it. Stopping dead in their tracks, Frankie's eyes widened, turning slowly to look at George, who was already glaring daggers into the side of her head.

"George, I'm really sor-"

She was cut off as George seized her by the cheeks, leaning forward to plant a firm kiss on her forehead. Frankie frowned in confusion as the blonde pulled away, shrugging despairingly. "Right. There you go. Happy New Year, Frank, love you." Turning on her heel, she made a beeline for the door, utterly focused on whatever her remaining mission was.

"... Where are you going?"

George looked back one last time, wide-eyed and slightly crazed. "I am going to snog my fucking boyfriend!" She all but shrieked, and Frankie chuckled as she disappeared inside. Suddenly, the image of Rosie standing alone at the bar came to mind, a jolt of panic filling her with energy as she burst into motion.

"Oh, shit - wait for me!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

February, 1945

A layer of frost coated the tarmac, dozens of tyre tracks marking imperfect black streaks in the white blanket of ice as trucks rolled back and forth, crews waiting to board beside their forts as the final checks were carried out. Frankie's breath formed a frozen cloud in front of her face with each exhale, clouding her vision slightly as she stomped along the runway, fists shoved into the pockets of Egan's old sheepskin. It was a bitter morning, and she'd put on one of George's turtlenecks underneath her coveralls for the warmth, scarf wrapped tightly beneath her chin. As she approached the Riveters' fort, noticing Rosie waiting on the tarmac for her, she let her frozen scowl give way to a smile, a puff of breath materialising as he noticed her arrival.

"There she is," Rosie grinned, turning to face her as she closed the gap between them, pushing herself up on the balls of her feet in a small jump as she threw her arms around his shoulders. A laugh vibrated from his chest as he enveloped her in an embrace, rubbing his hands back and forth across her back, the action equal parts affectionate and an attempt to warm her up.

"Fifty-second mission. Jesus Christ," Frankie huffed, a distinct note of admiration in her voice.

"Let's make it a round sixty, then I'll retire," He chuckled, pressing his cheek against the side of her head.

"... You're joking though, right?"

Her question gave him pause. Was he? He supposed he had never given it much thought. But how long could he really keep pushing it before his luck ran out - before it was cruel to make her wait?

"I don't... I don't think so."

Frankie's sleeves brushed against his neck as she pulled back, just far enough to look him in the eye, a faint expression of disbelief holding back the hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth. The cold had mottled her cheeks, a red flush colouring the tip of her nose, and he wasn't sure he'd ever wanted to kiss her so badly.

"Are you serious?" She asked, tilting her head to look at him from an angle, as if assessing him for cracks in his facade.

"Yeah," Rosie breathed. "Yeah. We hit sixty, n' I'm done. I'll go back to America, or I'll find somewhere to stay here - I don't care, I just-" He was cut off as her lips collided with his, eyes screwed tightly shut, her face cold against his as she pulled her arms back to hold his face in her hands, gloved palms warming his cheeks. Smiling against her lips, he brought one hand to her waist, the other to the back of her head, and dipped her backwards as if they were dancing. The sudden movement made her laugh, the kiss broken for only a second before he pulled her back in.

They stayed like that for a moment, until Frankie came up for air, their clouds of breath mingling into one as they stood with their foreheads pressed together, gazes fixed on one another. "In that case," She spoke, barely more than a whisper, something glinting in her eye. "I have an idea, too."

"Oh yeah?" He grinned, arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders, not quite catching on. "What's that, then?"

"Robert Rosenthal," Frankie began, hands on either side of his face once more. "When you get back, I'm gonna marry you."

Rosie swore his heart stopped beating in his chest for a moment, gaping slightly, utterly unable to form a thought let alone a coherent word. His entire face must have flushed bright red, for she had started to laugh, and he wasn't sure he'd ever heard anything more wonderful. Except, perhaps, for the words she'd just uttered.

"... Yeah?" He asked, expression suddenly distorted by a lopsided grin that made him look like an overexcited puppy. Frankie nodded, beaming back up at him.

"Mhm."

Before he could stop it, a burst of ecstatic laughter escaped his throat, and he stumbled slightly, passing his weight from one foot to the other as he fought to regain his balance, Frankie's grip on him perhaps the only thing keeping him upright. "Well... In that case, maybe we'll make it fifty-five, huh?"

It had seemed impossible for her to smile wider, and yet she did, tears welling in her eyes as she fought to blink them away. But before she could reply, there came the creak of the plane hatch being wrenched open, and Pappy's voice sounded, yelling from the Riveter's belly.

"Hey, Rosie! Should I let Hitler know we're gonna be late, or what?!" He called, impatience thick in his tone. Frankie snorted, covering her face with her hands to stop herself from laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'!" Rosie exclaimed, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly as he stepped backwards out of their embrace, the flush in his cheeks still yet to dispel itself. He shot Frankie a wink, and she mirrored it in return, shoving her hands back into her pockets.

"Guess I'll see ya round," He shrugged.

She grinned, and for a split second, he would have given anything for just five more minutes out on the freezing tarmac.

"Not if I see you first."

#fic | i'm your man #rosie rosenthal x oc #rosie rosenthal #masters of the air #mota #mota oc #mota fic #oc: frankie #frankie x rosie #oc: george #ken lemmons #everett blakely #AND THE CROWD GOES WILD #YOU'RE WELCOME FOLKS

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