#tumblr messed up so I had to make a new post to update the list

[fuckyeahmhawkefenris]

MAJOR update

So I don't know if anyone else even cares about this stuff, but I made some huge progress with tagging/retagging things here. For some time I haven't been tagging any posts at all lacking motivation because, seriously, does anyone even look at tags these days?

Still, my love for this ship keeps me going. Maker, I'd forgotten how therapeutic the process is. For a few days I almost stopped dwelling on my own personal issues.

Anyway

Allow me to remind y'all that this blog has a list of TAGS, a rather extensive one. I shudder to think how much time I spent compiling it all, but it does make me happier somehow

We have an impressive collection of fanart, so many comic bits they had to be separated into their own category to make it possible to navigate through all the artwork, writings that I don't think can be found anywhere else. In the beginning this fandom also used to produce a lot of memes and jokes, not so much of it now, but we don't forget our history! There is so much to uncover and rediscover.

I guess that canoodling/hugging/cuddling/snuggling tags are still a mess (always have been) despite my best efforts, but I genuinely tried to make it make sense somewhat. Having 8000+ pieces of art for your ship gets you there. Hard to believe it used to be almost nonexisistent in the beginning. It was so easy to navigate in 2012...

I didn't even try to sort out the comics, and fiction is not tagged either, except for the most basic basics.

Well, if anyone has any better ideas/suggestions don't be shy about @ ing me. Hell, if you can think of any new tags worth adding, let me know. And if you could reply to the relevant posts with it, it'd be fantastic.

If you're bored and don't mind spending some time with Fenris and Hawke, observing them love each other, please take a look at the list. There are also separate pages for the people who make fanart and write stuff for us, so you can always find more of their works by looking up the artists name in the tags. Though this page is forever in progress.

There's always room for improvement, so if you have anything to say, PLEASE SAY IT.

Also, the pornstash is up again, and now there is some semblance of a system.

It is a members-only blog, since almost all of its content is flagged and can only be viewed by members. So you need to become one. Everyone is welcome to join, but please don't follow it. All you need to do is like this post. I'll see your username and send you an invite. After that you'll need to check your e-mail (NOT tumblr inbox!) and follow the link you'll find there. And please read the post i linked carefully, there's vital information in it.

I'm just really tired

I'd really like to sort this place out completely so that when I retire, and someone is willing to take it off my hands, I could be at peace.

[heartfulselkie]

WIP Game

Thanks @coffeebanana and @rosie-b for the tag, and thank you @kasienda for coming up with this new game!

List the titles your top five priorities for WIP updates (link your fics for new readers!)

An upcoming scene, event, or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing

Bonus: make a poll for your followers to vote on which top 5 WIP they are most excited to see an update on!

Then tag 10 writer friends!

WIP TITLES

So I'm kind of cheating a bit with my choices here I guess since I have a lot of ideas but not so many actual active WiPs. So some of these aren't actually stuff that has been posted (or not posted in fic form) but they're all what my rodent brain is rotating right now.

Bell the Cat - Ladyblanc Knight AU. Enemies to Reluctant Allies to Lovers. Plenty of angst and trauma to be had in this one!

2. Sad Machine - Not currently available. I'm attempting aiming to have the fic more or less completed before I start posting. Futurist/Cyberpunk-type AU. No Miraculous but there's a dash of vigilantism and mysterious happenings to solve. And some questionable ethics (thanks Gabe).

3. Porceline Girl - Emonette and Badrien (post Paris Special) Oneshot that I'm hoping to finish soon. They're just angsty teens trying to figure out what is love how to be around each other.

4. Kaleidoscope - (not currently a posted fic so link leads to my tumblr tag) Kwami Swap AU with a dose of amnesia! Love Square is a mess in this with a Reunioned Ghostbug trying to solve all the problems. Adrien needs a coffee and a nap. Tikki needs a drink.

5. Citrus and Lavender - Enemies to Lovers AU with Chat Noir being deceived into being on Hawk Moth's side from the very beginning. The kids need therapy and Gabriel needs jail.

UPCOMING

There's is so much I'm looking forward to with Bell the Cat, but with the upcoming chapters I'm excited about introducing some more characters into this world! And of course all the Ladyblanc banter to be had!

2. This is my little pet project at the moment that I am slow roasting in the microwave. There are so many things that I am foaming at the mouth for that I want to just spit the fic out onto ao3 already but I'm trying to go slow with this one.

3. I'm just excited to feed myself more Toxigriffe, even if its in Adrinette form. I have so many ideas for these two but this oneshot is the closest to being finished. I'm excited to have it done (soon! hopefully!)!

4. Another one that's been slow roasting for a bit. I'll admit I'm still undecided with how I want to post this - do I go full fanfic on ao3 with it? Or a webcomic-style on tumblr? Perhaps a hybrid of both? I normally go with writing for longer stories, but this AU really got its interest and following through my random comics of it. It's exciting to think about my options as I could really challenge myself with it (even if opting for a more webcomic style is terrifying in its own way).

5. We're finally reaching the point in the story where Ladynoir are trying to transition from stalwart enemies to shy and unsure partners. All sides of the love square are standing on bambi legs right now as things are very new and scary - but at least they'll slowly learn they have each other to lean on!

I think most of my usual victims have been tagged already - so consider this an open invitation to anyone who wants to do it! I'm tagging you! Yes, you!

[nerdieforpedro]

20 Questions of Writers 📑

I was tagged by @frenchiereading @avastrasposts and @maggiemayhemnj (Bless the three of you. You know a dissertation is coming 🤣🤣🤣) 💜

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 81 works on AO3. There are some that are there and not on Tumblr yet. As to why, some of them are other series I haven’t finished or I’m not sure if I should post them here.

2. What is your total AO3 word count?

As of today: 351,908 words (updated for a new chapter of one of my works)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently: Pedro Pascal, Oscar Issac, Garrett Hedlund and might dabble in Call of Duty (maybe)

No longer writing: Marvel

4. Top Five fics by kudos: (some of these were written long ago, when Nerdie was a wee one in fandom)

Sard’ika Sessions (the most in kudos and hits- it tells me ya’ll like Din being a soft dom and using several different tools, maybe at the same time?)

Our Journey Across the Star Ocean (people enjoy the way I write Din maybe?)

The Viper Longs for Foliage (the one fic I have about Oberyn Martell - I don’t feel I write him well but people feel differently I suppose 🤔)

The Best and the Worst Day (AO3 only - Chris Evans fix it was a phase 🫣)

I want him to see me (AO3 only - I had to look up what this was lol Sebastian Stan fic)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I make sure to go through my inbox to reply to anyone who was nice enough to leave me one. ☺️

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

Bold of you to assume I finish fics regularly 👀

Scarlet Stains and their Echoes Such angst with a Backstreet Boys joke thrown in. 😆

7. What is the fic you wrote that has the happiest ending?

This is a three way tie (cheating because Nerdie is not above it) between Sard’ika Sessions, The Lake Between Us and Parts of you Mr. Morales. Each fic has a different Pedro character - Din, Ezra (I had to give him something happy 😭) and Frankie.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not that I’ve seen. I totally thought I would and that’s why something stay on AO3 or in the WIP folder but so far I have not. It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

9. Do you write smut?

I used to. I used to write a lot and enjoyed it. I find now that when I write smut it’s awkward and takes me at least a month to finish a smut scene because despite watching and reading reference materials (porn and other awesome smut fanfic here and on AO3) I don’t have the same mojo when writing it any more. I feel a bit sad about it, but there’s nothing that’s worked. It’s not like I don’t have thots. I just can’t get them in a fic. 😭😭

10. Craziest Crossover?

I haven’t really done many. One m/m fic where Din and Poe crossed blasters (pun fully intended), one sandwich with a female reader, Lucian Flores and Benny Miller, My Tim Rockford series where Dieter is his brother and that’s about it I think 🧐

11. Have you ever have a fic stolen? Not that I know of. So happy I’m in my small weird little box 📦

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I know of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic? Nope I would be open to it but I dunno how the process would work.

14. All time favorite ship? The Razor Crest, it has room for passengers. 😆

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

Such heart ache 😣 My first series that I started was with Dave York (he was done so dirty dammit!) and it was pretty smut filled. Felt with him and the OFC’s messed up dynamic as well but because of all the smut and how I can’t seem to write smut to save my neck now, it will likely go unfinished. 😭

16. What are your writing strengths?

Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe just the weird plot ideas I can make and dialogue. That’s about it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing a fic, SMUT, weak comedy (I can’t resist it though), fixating on small details that don’t matter and everything that wasn’t listed as a strength. What is writing really? Can I make the words go together? 😨

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Pretty cool, just make sure you ask a native speaker in that language to look over things before posting. I have found that some of my Spanish is too literal and no native Spanish speaker is actually going to say that. Plus each language always has little nuances you need to take into account.

19. First Fandom you wrote in? Marvel 👀 Look it was a phase dammit! 🫣 Leave me alone. 😭

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Nerdie will cheat again, because this is her post! 😆 I enjoy all my fics. Otherwise, why would I write them? But one stands above the rest. It gives me all the feels, giggles, some funny banter, smut that took a damn month to write and inspired @soft-persephone to tag me in a meme that @boliv-jenta made, Weddings 101 with Dieter.

If there’s one fic that I feel has the majority of my writing (all styles and facets) in it, Weddings 101 would be it. My humor, agnst, attempt at making a villain and sub-plots, slow burn romance with a goat as Dieter’s ride or die. 🤗 That trash panda gave me a lot so I wrote him a wild ass series. 😋

NPT: @tinytinymenace @megamindsecretlair @perotovar @pedroshotwifey @lady-bess

@djarinmuse @alltheglitterandtheroar @inept-the-magnificent @lotusbxtch

@jeewrites @rosecentaur1916 @westside-rot @jessthebaker @trulybetty

@rhoorl @musings-of-a-rose @saturn-rings-writes @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @magpiepills

@secretelephanttattoo @morallyinept @goodwithcheese

[midethefangirl]

surrender - hopeless (i'm falling down)

tags: angst, seriously y'all are going to hate me for the three chapters of this fic, pregnancy (unplanned but not unwanted), quan chi is a douchebag here, warning for attempt at forced abortion (i'm about to trigger my own filtering system), hurt no comfort, pre-MK1, and of course it is bireena centered but bi-han makes not physical appearance in this fic.

summary:

notes: continuation of @ladybug023 's spy!sareena headcanons inspiring my writing. I decided to splice this into three chapters because the word count went beyond 3k words and I hate writing super long stories when it comes to platforms like Tumblr. the chapter title is gotten from the lyrics of 'Hopeless' by Breaking Benjamin. also, if you want to join a tagging list for updates, please, let me know and i'll add you 😁❤️

word count: 1.6k words

also cross posted on ao3

part one of surrender; part three of i'm weak so what is wrong with that (i added a new tag for this)

The deepest circle of the Netherrealm was one of the most dreaded locations in the Netherrealm and for a damn good reason. 

It was the place where previous overlords of the Netherrealm banished offending denizens to be tortured by the onis. 

This was the last place Sareena wanted to find herself in but what had she expected the moment she found Quan Chi at the Lin Kuei foregrounds? 

Regret ran through her mind as she awaited her judgment, her palm flat against her lower abdomen, the recent news bringing mixed feelings. 

She and Bi Han had always been so careful… but it is not 100% safe , came that little voice in her head. 

She had lost focus of why she was in the Lin Kuei and now, she was paying severely. Here she was awaiting Quan Chi’s arrival while in Bi Han’s mind, she was as good as dead. 

The last thing that the cryomancer would remember was how she betrayed his clan, how she betrayed him . How she lied to him. 

How could she have deluded herself into thinking she could keep up with the lie she had allowed to fester? How could she have believed that she could stall her day of reckoning? 

Her wishful thinking had done nothing but land her in this mess where her fate and that of her child was dependent on the whims of a dangerous sorcerer. 

Bi Han would never know that she was carrying his child - not that she was aware herself until the onis Quan Chi had assigned as her torturers - Drahmin and Moloch - had somehow detected it. 

The Netherrealm was basically hell, where demons, onis, tortured souls and every possible personification of evil walked about but they had a few rules they followed. 

One of them which was her saving grace, at least, in this moment - a person with child was off-limits. Harming a person with child was seen as a death sentence, enough to have the perpetrator in the deepest circle of the Netherrealm. 

It could be her saving grace but knowing Quan Chi, any assurance dwindled by a great percentage. The sorcerer was from Outworld, not a native of the infernal realm. Sareena doubted he’d respect this rule. 

Ha , Quan Chi respecting the rules of the Netherrealm? That was as laughable as the many dreams of liberating the realm from his hands. After overthrowing Lucifer with the help of the Sisterhood of Shadows, the sorcerer had made himself a tyrant, keeping denizen under his thumb. 

Anyone who dares to defy his dictatorship ended up in the position she was currently in. Either that or on the run like Ashrah, which did not seem so bad right now. 

Quan Chi had gained unilateral control over the Netherrealm and he showed great disdain towards its rules. This one would be no different. 

Hell, he’d torture her himself, unborn child be damned. The thought of that had the demon clutching her abdomen protectively, if she had to fight to her last breath to protect herself for the sake of her child, she’d gladly do that. 

The heavy sound of boots against the stone pavement had her alert, her eyes looking up to see Quan Chi flanked on his sides by Drahmin and Moloch. 

She sat up straight, her back against the wall as she finally came face-to-face with the brown-skinned sorcerer who stared at her venomously. 

“Why is she still here, unscathed?!” He turned towards the onis, his tone miffed as he spoke like she was not right in front of him. 

The onis exchanged looks, obviously displaying their fear of the sorcerer who impatiently expected their answers. 

“L-Lord Quan Chi- we- w-we thought,” Drahmin started, stumbling over his words as he struggled to get his words through. 

Sareena could tell this was the moment where the sorcerer was so close to losing his shit. He rarely expressed his anger in outbursts which was terrifying in this scenario. 

“Speak up you imbecile!”

“She is with child,” Moloch blurted and Quan Chi let out a mirthless chuckle which chilled Sareena to the bones. 

“That should not stop you.”

“We cannot-. It is forbidden,” Drahmin interjected. 

He knows that , Sareena wanted to add but at this moment, her silence was more golden than whatever comeback she had on the tip of her tongue

The room fell silent as Quan Chi crouched down to her level. The demon attempted to keep as much distance as she could but she could only go so far when her back was against the wall. 

The sorcerer pressed a hand against her abdomen, chanting some incantations under his breath. Then, he jerked his hand away, recoiling as if he was shocked by electric current. 

He was on his feet now and his eyes widened, time standing still as he looked down at her. It was like the dreaded calm before the storm and Sareena could not afford to trust this silence, her eyes looking cautiously at him. 

A myriad of emotions flitted across the sorcerer’s face before settling for rage and disdain. Quan Chi’s lips curled into a sneer as he seemed to put two and two together. 

“You whore!” He spat venom. 

He knew, there was no way he would not know. 

“It is that pathetic Earthrealmer, isn’t it? He sired this bastard, didn’t he?” He jeered. “It is not enough that you failed your mission but you had to let that Earthrealmer bed you and put his seed inside you.”

Sareena could almost feel herself let out a sob. Quan Chi’s face was too calm, way too calm for the venomous words he tossed her. It was a moment of when he’d strike at her. 

And her fear was about to come true. 

“Seize her!”

No, no, no.

“No!” She yelled, the moment Drahmin and Moloch were at her sides, their hands pulllng her up. She struggled against the iron-cladded grip of the onis who dragged her out of her cell. 

“Please! Please, don’t do this!”

“I’ll get rid of that bastard if I have to. Shang Tsung would have a field day helping me,” a smug look fell upon the sorcerer’s face. 

It felt like a century had passed when she found herself in a room she was unfamiliar with. Her face was stricken with tears, her voice hoarse from her cries. 

“Quan Chi!” A voice broke through and everyone’s attention was focused on a new presence. A pair of amethyst eyes fell upon her still in the rough grips of the onis. 

The dark-skinned demon pushed through Quan Chi before reaching for Sareena. Drahmin and Moloch had released her instantly, making her fall into Jataaka’s arms. 

“What in Lucifer’s name is going on?!” Jataaka demanded, her eyes glaring fiercely at Quan Chi who was now displeased that the demon had dared meddle in his affairs. 

“Stay out of this, Jataaka,” Quan Chi shot back. 

Sareena found herself shaking, her hand instinctively on her abdomen as she shrunk into Jataaka’s protective hold.

Jataaka stood her ground, her hold firm around Sareena. The demon had a fierce look in her eyes, the kind that had even Quan Chi and his two henchmen pause.

“You would really protect a traitor? Someone who tried to leave the Sisterhood for a pathetic Earthrealmer?” The sorcerer scoffed, his question aimed at the demon who still had her arms around Sareena.

“Still a sister nonetheless. I am not going to let you hurt her, sorcerer,” the demon hissed.

This seemed to have struck a nerve as Quan Chi stepped up to her, his face dangerously close.

“She is pregnant with an Earthrealmer’s spawn. If I have to rip that abomination out of her, then so be it,” he spat.

Jataaka remained unfazed, her gaze piercing as her arms tightened around the demon.

Then, it seemed as though the demon had thought of something.

"You are not going to harm a fellow member of the Sisterhood," she reminded. “Neither are you going to lay your filthy hands on her offspring.”

Sareena wondered if the other demon had gone mad, taunting Quan Chi the way she was. The sorcerer had no qualms about ending her life or that of her unborn child.

"Are you forgetting who rules the Netherrealm, Jataaka?" The sorcerer questioned, a hint of a smirk forming on his face.

Jataaka stood her ground, her grip tightening, “You are an outsider who managed to best us, it would do you some good to know your place and remember the rules of the realm you reside in.”

It may have sounded like an empty threat but it was anything but. The Sisterhood of Shadows have helped overthrow previous overlords, they would not give up on overthrowing Quan Chi either.

"What are you trying to get at?" The sorcerer questioned.

"If you touch a single hair on her head, her unborn child or her, you will have the wrath of the Sisterhood and Lucifer upon you. You think we will tolerate you harming a member of the Sisterhood?" Jataaka said.

Quan Chi narrowed his eyes at her, a scowl forming on his face, "Very well, then. Have it your way.”

His gaze was now on Sareena and the demon felt a chill running down her spine.

"But I will be back. Soon," the sorcerer spat before taking his leave.

Drahmin and Moloch trailed behind him like two lost puppies, leaving Sareena and Jataaka alone in the room.

The demon could feel herself shaking, she was not in the clear just yet. Her child was still in danger and Quan Chi would make sure to get rid of them.

Jataaka had noticed her distraught, the demon holding her in a reassuring embrace, "Don't worry, he will not touch you. We won't let him."

She could only hope so.

tagging: @livingdeadgirly

[smallraindrops-blog]

Wake Me From This Dreaming is currently one of my top 3 fanfics to re-read. I love the story and conflict written in it, and you write the hades characters super well! I do have 2 questions.

Do you plan on updating your ao3 with the new chapters (along with the .5 chapters and oneshots related) for WMFTD sometime soon? Tumblr loves to be a pain in the ass when going through masterlists, sadly.

And um... do you, by chance, have any plan for more stories revolving around Hypnos and Y/N family? Or Y/N relationship with Melionë?

Again, thank you for writing such a masterpiece, and I hope the rest of your days are well!

(P.S. your Pyrrhus x reader is also delightful to re-read. We love toxic yaoi in this household.)

Oh anon, thank you so much! I love to hear that. It completely makes my whole year to know ppl are enjoying my works so much that they will reread it.

Also lol toxic is the polite way to describe that whole hot mess.

Regarding your questions:

Yes I do. I have just realized not too long ago how tumblr can be with master lists. I will setting time aside to post them on A03, expect to see some chapters and hopefully one-shots posted by tonight.

As for more stories with the family, I do actually! I enjoy writing them as parents along with my plans to explore my own lore behind Y/N’s family history. I just have a lot on my plate atm.

And for y/n and Melionë, I will likely wait until the full game is out before writing anything in-depth but I will post an noncanon short for you under the readmore.

If it helps, I kinda see them having the same vibe as Zagreus and Patroclus.

~~

The shade never smiled.

Odysseus always seemed to have a smile for Melionë, even when she had misplaced his maps once.(Although he did looked ready to cry when she confessed to it. Not even getting shot by an arrow did that to him.)

Melionë inhaled, her small hand tightened determinedly around her gift, red flowers she picked for the sleeping one that never woke. No matter what they did.

The red flowers reminded her of his cloak, bright red and soft.

She marched right up to the where Hypnos and his stoic guardian always were. He was sitting down, his arm resting on a bent knee, his other hand close to his spear.

Melionë couldn’t help but admire the type of love it must took to wait endlessly by someone’s side. She hoped she would know such things one day.

The shade’s sharp eyes locked on her immediately as he stood up, his expression unreadable to her. In that moment, He seemed taller than anything else in the whole world. And she was so very small.

It took her a moment to find the words.

“Good day, Sir Y/N. I brought a gift for Hypnos.” Melionë told him, showing him the flowers, wishing that she didn’t sound so young and childish.

His eyes flickered to her hand then back to her face. “Thank you.” He said, his voice low as he moved aside. His head bow as a show of respect. “He would enjoy those. Red is his favorite color after all.”

It was the most he ever spoke in a single sentence. Melionë blinked at him in surprise.

She nodded slowly then after her decision made, she handed one to him. “For you, my good shade.”

His face broke in surprise, “For me?”

She nodded, all but shoving the single red flower at him. He eyed it like it was a weapon but took the flower, staring down at it.

“Thank you, Princess Melionë.” He said in quiet confusion. She gave what she hoped passed as a regal nod and curtsy before walking past.

When Melionë went up to Hypnos, she could had swore she saw a faint smile on his face.

[thralloftimegaming]

July Game Dev Progress

Buildings

Pretty big addition was making it so you can add and remove things to NPC buildings!

I'm thinking Goblins with different Jobs will have different likes, so you can improve their happiness by putting those things in their House!

1547

Pretty chuffed I was able to reuse the existing Build code for this, just with a modified to check if a Building was being interacted with!

Also they now save too! This initially didn't work because I had no lookup data for the House Objects Build List, it was trying to use the Normal Object Build List.

1566

I thought this was going to be a total pain since the Lookup Code takes the objects name and grabs the list slot from a map and I already had those values being used for the non-house versions. BUT since it's a string I just inject and "h" beforehand in the load code, so now house and non-house objects have separate values even though the only difference is if the need a house to be placed!

Completely remade the Refund System for selling Buildings!

1567

It even works with the things placed in NPC Buildings!

Animals

I updated the sprites for Animals to be adjusted when moving on Flooring or in Water like the Goblins, but because I do some Squash and Stretching with their sprites things got messed up.

1548

Seems using draw_sprite_part or draw_sprite_general scripts resets the x/y origin point to the top left corner, so I had to adjust that manually by adding these to the x value.

var _xO = (-sprite_width/2); ///Puts us back to the middle) var _xSq = ((1-xSc)*(sprite_width/2));///Increases from 0 as we squish, keeping us centre

1551

Saw a tumblr post with a picture from SNES Harvest Moon where the character was fascinated by a mysterious Chicken Statue...

1553

So now my game has Frog and Wildboar statues. Might not always spawn animals...I'll probably just have them as decorations, but maybe I could set it up so you can donate something to them to increase that animals spawn rate?

Also lol, I forgot to disable the hat code. X'D

Items

Added a new Item, Rainmaker. The Goblins have figured out how to Cloud Seed using a modify firework!

1562

Needs some work, but the basics are set up. The first batch of rain stopped because the hour ended. I've only got weather set to start on the hour, so I need to update that!

What if...Seedbomb???

1565

They plant random seeds in valid Poil/Plant Pots, I think I'll make them weighted towards being just Flowers with Crops being rare.

Minor Fixes/Updates;

-Updated a bunch of Item sprites to look better.

-When I made Roofing require a Wall/Floor/Door to be placed it broke with Loading Save files, so added a fix for that.

-Fixed the sprite offset when spawning Beds, so they no longer look like they're being formed from parts being brought together. X'D

-Fixed Watering Can always using charged mode even when just tapping the button.

-Fixed Plant Pots not resetting properly on Plant death.

-Added Apiary and Plant Pots to the Save file so they now persist between games.

-Made Apiary and Plant Pots work CORRECTLY when culled, previously they worked inconsistently and at the wrong rate.

-Plants now continue to grow/dryout/wither when Culled as they do when not Culled.

-Fixed Not being able to plant fully grown Flowers in Plant Pots.

-Updated how Weather effects the ground, made it do more at once with a random 1/3 chance.

-Updated Parade code, breaking it into parts so there's more variety for the Goblins.

--Goblins can choose to Spin Left or Right or not at all.

--Added randomness to Spin speed and wait, changes on reset.

--Split Jumping into it's own part and added a Jump strength modifier so they don't always jump the same height!

--Split Arm action into it's own part and made arms go up when Jumping.

--Split Emote into it's own part and made it happen on Jump and arm up.

Small thing just for myself really...

Updated the way Goblin names are chosen, this is just for testing purposes, but I thought it would be nice to have the people who've supported and believed in me hanging around while I test stuff.

Thank you all so much for everything, it really means the world to me.

Please make sure you're all looking after yourselves, and keep being awesome! <3 <3 <3

Cross-posted from Patreon, please support me with as little as $1 if you can, it really helps me out a lot!

[sonickinhelp]

Happy New Year! Updates and housekeeping

Everyone who is still here, thank you for your support through the radio silence as this blog has been going through all the difficulty we've all come to expect from the 2020s.

I am still the only active mod. I didn't actually realize how long it had been since anyone else posted -- two years now. I have finally lost contact with Mods Silver and Whisper and their system. Don't worry, I know they're okay, and I'm glad they've gotten comfortable living openly and authentically as a system and are doing what makes them happy.

The main blog they used to create this blog has been abandoned for two years, and even back then it was clear that they were abandoning it permanently. So even though their account is still an admin on this blog, they don't actually have access to it anymore. At some point they deleted the discord server. I'm not sure when that was.

Besides them, there are still three other admins on this blog. I'm pretty sure none of them are ever going to post here again.

So, I'm doing something I didn't want to do, because I kept hoping that I wasn't really the last one left here. I'm going to consider myself as the primary owner of this blog from here on out and do a reboot. If former admins (especially Silver) come back and get upset at me for this, I'm truly sorry. I just can't bear to see this blog gasp and die like this anymore.

What this reboot entails

Immediately after posting this, I'm going to start fiddling with the blog layout. I'm not as good with tumblr themes as the one who set the blog up, and I don't want to break anything, so I'm probably not going to mess with it much. But I'm going to clean out all the old outdated information. I might also delete a nav page or two that don't make sense to have anymore.

I'm going to clean out the askbox and trigger-tag list. I hate to do it, but it's time to start fresh. If you have a request that hasn't been done and you still want it, send it in again. If you have a trigger you still need tagged, send it in again. (The old trigger-tag list was stored on the discord, so I don't have access to it anymore anyway.)

I'm going to rewrite the rules, FAQ, and pinned post. There's a good chance I won't change them much, but I just want to make sure they're accurate to the limitations and boundaries that exist now, and that's gonna be different from when the blog was created.

And, most importantly, I'm going to take on some new mods. I'll have to figure out a way for us to communicate besides a discord server (I'm over the 100-server limit and I don't have money for Nitro anymore) but this was never a blog I could effectively manage completely on my own. I want to have a team again, so everyone can have their requests done in days instead of months.

Thank you all again for your support. I'm glad that, despite everything, this blog is still here.

[northadawn]

NorthaDawn's October 2024 Update

Hello everyone, NorthaDawn here, and it's now October! 2024 is almost over, and it's been ages since you last heard of a comprehensive update from me, so I think it's important to let you all know how I've been doing, and what I've been up to.

1) LONG TIME NO SEA

I've been very in-and-out of the community for a while, and only came back to post Crown Jewel, mainly because I've wanted to take time to really think on what I want to give you guys and what direction I want to be going with my art. I've had many nights where I doubted if I still can continue to improve the quality of my art while trying to bring full commitment to my game design degree in university (relevant later), alongside giving you guys more content that you've all waited ages for from me. In addition, I was beginning to have severe panic attacks while trying to get over my social anxiety and the personal weight of wanting to give you all better content than before.

After a few conflicts here and there on top of meeting several new people that I've come to grow close with, I decided that it's about high time that I come back to being active around here again.

Why did I decide that I come back to being active after all that happened? Something funny happened; I did indeed get better, so much better that I thought I can do this again. I'll be sure to comment around on stuff I missed, reply, and make new stuff again!

[ // ]

2) GIJINKACORD TURNS 1! + APOLOGIES FOR THE MESS

Gijinkacord (fka RMS Ship Nerds), my community Discord server, has just celebrated its first anniversary! Over the course of the year, we have had 100+ people come join along with the plethora of activities held in the place such as roleplaying and game nights. I want to thank you all for being a part of my little community within the Titanic space. If you're not a part of the Discord server yet, why not join? There's plenty of us who enjoy a plethora of different things in the community, on top of our favourite ships and gijinkas, of course!

In other news, because I plan on coming back to being active around art communities again, I decided to refresh my theme a little bit. The changes aren't too drastic, only intended to freshen up things. Besides, I was kind of proud of what I got going initially, just sad that I couldn't make the most out of it then.

Alongside that, I'll also update the look of my other socials in the coming future, so don't mind me while I'm still rearranging the house decor a little :)

To give you all a quick refresher on all of my official social media handles, you can view my Linktree or this list below:

DeviantArt: NorthaDawn

Instagram: northadawn

Twitter: northadawn

Cara: northadawn

Tumblr: northadawn (you're in it right now!)

Gumroad Shop: northadawn

[ // ]

3) I'M MAKING A GAME!

I've just announced recently that I'm making a game based around my ship gijinkas known as Waking The Distant Sea! You can check the announcement journal for more information, but basically, Waking The Distant Sea is a game where you form relationships with the shipgirls before your luxury ship reaches its destination. You can have casual and deep conversations with the girls, give them gifts, and even go out with them! It's my homage to the dating sims of the past, and my love letter/stark warning towards everything I've come to know through my years in the Titanic community.

There will be more information in the coming future, and I'll put up a more detailed page about the game soon, including FAQ.

Just one thing to remember though: this isn't a game about ships.

[ // ]

FINAL REMARKS

Thanks for your continued support, and I hope to see and speak with you all frequently once more! I also hope that you can enjoy my new art once they come out. See you soon!

-Northa

THERE IS STILL A VOYAGE TO EMBARK ON

[random-mailbox]

Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - Week 38 - What If

This week’s stories are all around “what if” theme as suggested by @areptiledysfunction1107. Even though technically all fanfictions can be classified as that, these take an extra step making that part of their plot. Also, don't forget about @usamamoweek2023!

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

What if - @idesofnovember

I could not have had a “What If” list without this story. Usagi canonically always wants Mamoru (and everyone else around her) to have a chance at making their own choices and not be bound by destiny. One day she bring it up with Setsuna, who makes her learn her lesson the hard way that the timeline should not be messed with. 

Fantasy - Lois Fogg

This one was recommended to me by Beej88 and is a fun AU that has magic, parallel worlds and constant questioning of what would happen with every decision. One thing to note, this story was almost sold to a publisher with changed names, so you may notice a few stray “May”s for “Minako” here and that's the reason why. Totally worth checking out though!

Space Bar - Beej88, @smokingbomber

In this short story, mostly told from Joey (Jadeite)’s perspective, readers get to see the dynamics get tested for Shittenou to come back into the fold of the guard. I love the fact that we get Kunzoi and Kunzite x Venus possibilities all in one story. 

[side note: make sure you are logged into your AO3 account to access this story, it has been locked down with all the scraping and reposting on other platforms without writer consent]

The Chances We Don't Take - @floraone

The entire one-shot is Mamoru thinking about things he should have done differently when it came to his and Usagi's relationship and past interactions. All the points where if had said something or done something, where it could have led.

To Save a Light - @queenrisa14

Little Mamoru had basically given up. He knows that he is all alone and that there is no one waiting for him to get better and out of the hospital. Except that one special nurse explains that every person has a light inside of them, and that letting it shine brightly will help him find a new family and someone very special, whose light will make his shine even brighter.

---

That's it for this week and the month of May! Here is the schedule for upcoming posts for June:

June 5 - Missing Scenes

June 12 - Green Jacket

June 19 - Dr Chiba

June 26 - Birthdays

Here are the links to the previous Tumblr posts in these series to explore more amazing works based on different themes - make sure to check them out if you haven't had a chance! (Click on title name to go to the post) - I will keep updating the list every week as new posts come up:

Week 1 - Groundhog Day

Week 2 - Established Relationships

Week 3 - Sex Positivity

Week 4 - Unfinished Stories

Week 5 - Darker Stories

Week 6 - Potions 🧪

Week 7 - Reveals

Week 8 - 👻Halloween🎃

Week 9 - Wrong Perceptions

Week 10 - Non-Senshi AU

Week 11 - In-Progress Fics

Week 12 - Mutual Pining

Week 13 - Enemies to Lovers

Week 14 - Slow Burn

Week 15 - Christmas Part 1 - Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Santa!

Week 16 - Christmas Part 2

Week 17 - New Years

Week 18 - High School AU

Week 19 - Slice of Life

Week 20 - Coffee shop AU

Week 21 - Huddle for Warmth

Week 22 - Friends to Lovers

Week 23 - ❤️Valentines Day❤️

Week 24 - Do a Grouch a Favour Day (or Cheer Up Fics)

Week 25 - Soulmate AU

Week 26 - Amnesia Fics (and resources)

Week 27 - ��St Patrick's Day🍀

Week 28 - Fix it Fics

Week 29 - Prompt: Mug

Week 30 - Flowers

Week 31 - Traditions

Week 32 - Dreams

Week 33 - Friends

Week 34 - Body-Swap

Week 35 - Medical Assistance

Week 36 - Sex Pollen

Week 37 - Psychometry

[charmac]

helllooooo i am absolutely obsessed with your macden sugar daddy fic. i’m not kidding when i say it has become a household name for me (in the dms with my poor, dear friend who does not even watch sunny. i have, and will continue to, bombard her with messages such as: “the macdennis fic i’ve been creaming over hasn’t been updated i’m in shambles” and thankfully you did update after that).

i went through your tumblr for a bit and saw in one of your responses you mentioned feeling a lack of encouragement to write when it feels like no one is actively requesting so i suppose this is my formal request. i am quite literally so emotionally invested in this fic. this is my high class literature (as a lit major). this is my magnum opus and i’m talking about the experience of READING it, not trying to imply this work is in any way mine.

i have sooo much i’d like to say about it but i get so scatterbrained when i think about it. i read the entire thing in one sitting and was in agony when i finished. then you updated on christmas and i read the entire thing AGAIN and i keep going back to that most recent chapter where (spoilers ig!) mac calls dennis daddy because it simply /felt right/. because he felt /safe/? oh i’m on the floor and begging for mercy. you’re brilliant. this story is brilliant. i’m a mess.

if you ever feel like people might not be interested: listen to me when i say your writing has permanently altered the chemistry of my dna and has conditioned me to check ao3 every single day with bated breath HOPING there’s an update. i love it. that’s an understatement. i LOVE IT.

i would also like to clarify that if you ever run into issues with writer’s block or even simply losing the excitement over this specific story, pls don’t feel obligated to write something you don’t want to. it’s your life!! i saw your 2023 update post and it seems like a fucking fantastic one at that, so live it to the fullest and do what you want!!

i think you’re neat. i think your writing is what leads good men to ruin (like me. i’m supposed to be reading jane eyre rn and all i can think of is your fic) /pos. truly my favorite source of sunny content across all your sunny social media.

question that i do apologize for asking if you’ve answered: the title is a fall out boy reference, right? big fan of that band. if it is, can i ask for details on the inspo?

thank u for your service solider o7

p.s. this was so needlessly long so sorry for bothering lmfaoooo but i had to say this somewhere and i think my friend is tired of hearing about the fanfic on a ship for a show she doesn’t even watch

First off, thank you so much for this, and second off don’t apologise for writing too much to me after you’ve seen the word count I spew out at random. I really appreciate your words, and I’ll tell you I’ve been in so many similar positions where I’ve been obsessed with a fic and had no one in it to relate to and have just ended up spamming a close friend instead, so to hear that’s done about my fic is really, really cool.

About prior asks, etc. I think I get down on myself a little, when I say I don’t get why people are reading or what they like and it’s hard to find motivation, it’s really just kinda my own internal struggle with all of that. (Also, I keep answering those when I'm drunk, my bad.) I get what I’m doing and what I’m writing, but I wanna make sure the audience does too. But you’re reading my words, so you must, even if you can’t (or just, don’t want to) sit down and go line-by-line of a 23k word chapter and tell me what’s going on.

Cause, I couldn’t sit down and write a full detailed list of every new episode of Sunny like that. Like, I just straight up couldn’t when they dropped. My reviews were like ‘5 stars, keysmash’ So I think there is something to be said about people really liking something, really wanting more, but maybe not having the words to vocalise or not having the time to vocalise why that is.

About wait times, updates, etc.. It is mainly about motivation, and like you’ve said I would never put out something just to put it out if it’s not reflective of what I want it to be (and know it can be). I mean, I’m not on a real deadline and I’m not getting paid, I'm writing this first and foremost for myself, so why would I rush it? Sometimes I can write thousands of words in a day, if the spark hits, but sometimes it can take months to fully form when it’s just me in my head and I still have to do shit in my daily life. And maybe I could do something to speed up that process, but I think my best work forms this way. But it does make updates painfully slow for you guys, and I apologise, cos I get that sucks.

Though, it is also spurred by external motivation: people pointing specific things out, telling me why they like something or what they see under the surface here, that stuff actually gets the gears in my head turning, back in focus. The ‘waiting for an update’ ‘pls write more’ isn’t motivation, it’s demand. (And understanding there is demand is definitely a motivator, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not a spark, it’s a push.) So the balance there is sometimes hard to match, I understand there is demand (though after Ch 7 or 8 whatever it was I genuinely thought maybe there wasn’t), and I appreciate being told that, but it can only go insofar as I have the motivation to bounce off of it. Sometimes, that’s literally just my own issue and no one can help me. You (not you, specifically, anon) just gotta trust an update will come... and if you fall out of care for Sunny in the meantime, oh well. Know I won't, lmfao.

About the Title, well, no one actually has asked me... I don't think (maybe 'cause it seems obvious?). I guess the answer is.. kind of? It is a lyric pulled from the Fall Out Boy song, but, well, a meme says it best:

The inspo is kinda what's written on the tin, wanted a title that makes it clear what it is. Don't read too much into the baseball metaphor though, it might hurt you a little in the spoilers department, if you think we're just purely having fun here...

Thanks for the ask, really really appreciate it, and knowing people like you are reading and enjoying my fic is awesome :)

[zuzsenpai]

Little delights from my day

that post I reblogged yesterday (4/9/24) where you tagged the little positive delights from your day.... I feel like that might be a fun challenge to do every day, or as many days as I can remember. I almost never stop to think about those things, and I do think it might be nice to look back on and read every once in a while. So that I don't bother everyone with this daily quest, I'm going to just update this post every day with a new bullet point (under a cut), and I'll link this post in my pinned post. If that makes sense.

List of daily positive delights under the cut:

4/9/24: My pomegranate arils were NOT expired. Someone spilled maple syrup in the microwave at work and now it smells really good every time someone uses it

4/10/24: Was able to pre-order the new Apollo Justice Trilogy plushes

4/11/24: Found a cute, nice-looking font to write fanfic with. Hoping that using a fun font will motivate my writing. UPDATE: I wrote close to 1,500 words with the new font today!

4/12/24: My manager took the day off so I got burritos with my coworkers. The chicken wasn't too spicy this time, so I enjoyed it a lot

4/13/24: I saw a lot of Homestar Runner posts on my dash because it’s Homestuck day. Can’t find this shit on any other webbed site.

4/14/24: It was 72 and sunny so I spent some time writing outside

4/15/24: Got a nice comment on a fic I never get comments on

4/16/24: Sweet potato tempura roll my beloved. Oh okay also that post on tumblr with the map of all the locations those idiots on Supernatural went and they literally went to my city

4/17/24: My own writing made me cry, in a good way

4/18/24: Saw a really interesting lost media video on YouTube

4/19/24: Cute spider on the wall in the hallway at work

4/20/24: Decided not to skip this day after all. I played some Animal Crossing Wild World

4/21/24: I really am lucky to have caring friends. Also kittens in the discord!

4/22/24: My friend made a fun picrew

4/23/24: I set up a humidifier and an air purifier in my office to help with my dry/itchy/red/painful eyes. I think it might be working already????? My eyes feel good today

4/24/24: I did a request for an isolated Digimon BGM and it came out really good!

4/25/24: Made a neocities page and messed around with templates

4/26/24: Had a yummy impossible burger

4/27/24: Went to a craft fair and found a necklace that goes really nicely with the shirt I'm wearing today. Also pad see ew with beef happened

4/28/24: Went bowling and got some writing done

4/29/24:

4/30/24: It’s gonna be May!

5/1/24: Working on Digimon BGM again!

5/2/24: Some ship pins I ordered on Etsy arrived

5/3/24: Not to be repetitive, but Digimon BGM work is very delightful!

5/4/24: idk crispy chicken blt wrap

5/5/24: Whole pomegranates at my grocery store

5/6/24: Had a really productive writing sprint

5/7/24: Told my boss about my Digimon isolated BGM project and she seemed proud that I was able to master some audio editing skills

5/8/24: Been doing this for 30 days and only missed one! Proud of myself

5/9/24: Got through a stressful doctor’s appointment with composure and bravery

5/10/24: My friend and I bought friendship earrings in the shape of Ty Beanie Baby tags

5/11/24: Went to a local hockey game and there was an AMAZING parody video they played on the jumbotron.

5/12/24: Got some good writing done.

5/13/24:

5/14/24: Got some phonecalls done that I had been putting off. I know this isn't really a little delight, but I'm proud of myself.

5/15/24: Received a really kind and detailed comment on a fic that I wasn't confident in when I published it

[manonamora-if]

Weekly check in. Some little stuff, some bigger stuff.

Current word count: 23.323 (Ch.5), >8k (Ch.6)

And we're finally back on track with Harcourt, babyyyy. After a month of eh from both me (with the editing) and MelS (writing the next chapter), we both managed to break through our respective blocks.

As of a few days ago, I sent back the edited Chapter 5 to MelS, so he could answer my comments and check the changes. I finally got to read the missing bits (and they are creepy and yucky)... Can't wait to code all of that when it is ready. We definitely need another round of MelS editing the text and me checking it, before I can add that to the file.

Until I get the file back, I'll focus on other projects.

Like...

Yerup... I ended up finishing it. A little binksi with more vibes than story. Click if you dare :P

Making a binksi (or a bitsy/bipsi) had been something on my bucket list for a while now (almost a year actually), and I finally got to make one for realsies!

Honestly, the hardest part in all of this... was making the tiles/sprites in 8x8 pixels ;-; Anyway, the code is freely available on itch and my GitHub.

Fixed some accessibility issues yesterday:

textbox not getting in focus properly

links/buttons not changing state when in focus but not hovered

added image descriptions to pictures in French/English

Also added the logos of Twine and SugarCube when the game loads. Those are clickable too.

I have worked a tad more on the UI/missing elements. But not as much as I should have.

Next week, the final update should be out.

This is what I'll be fixing this month. Officially reopened the code files, stared at it, and cried. It's so bad. It's such a mess...

Not looking forward to it, but it needs fixing! (I've asked the Forum for help too in the commands...)

ALSO, I've decided there will be a hyperlink version of this game. Instead of the commands, click on words. It will be in the same file, and you get to choose at the start.

I’ve finished reviewing the EctoComp entries (except the Spanish-only ones because I suck at Spanish...) and have started reviewing the Bare-Bones Jam entry. An updated version of the reviews have been queues on the IFDB and @manonamora-if-reviews. I will probably go back to the IFComp entries after that (probably after the voting deadline... I've done 40 already...).

-_-

I've made a completely new intro post with all of the place I'm at (if you'd rather not be on Tumblr). It was a long time coming, and now I have clear channels of where I'm posting about stuff. Just need to be consistent...

I've also started migrating old dev logs and posts to my blog, especially the longer ones where I have a lot to say. Since the search function and archive on Tumblr is eh, I get to keep the important ones (not all of them are) in a more organised place. They are still on Tumblr, btw. It's not gone, just copied. It's been nice to revisit old dev logs, and see how far I've come (it's been a long way). It's pretty humbling (especially the typos, omg... I fixed so many of those).

-_-

The IFComp and EctoComp, are always looking for players/voters. If you want to play a few short-ish games, take advantage of that! There is only a few days left for the IFComp and a few weeks for the EctoComp.

The @seedcomp-if is always looking for inspiration (text, images, code, etc…) in this current first round. If you have half-baked ideas or anything, really, come submit something!

Over @neointeractives, ShuffleComp! is looking for playlists and participats :)

-_-

And that's it I think...

[lancestrollsgf]

NEW KIDS IN TOWN ! WELCOME

introduction master list series master list

— summary ! a new family was coming to the small town called stars hollow. they were moving into a new house. it was rumored they have four kids and filthy rich. victoria still going to stars hollow, she saw them moving in and saw their older kids moving boxes. she passed their house and waved. victoria became friends with them, because it was a small town.

— authors note ! change of pov (not often) ill try working on the next chapter as soon as possible... i probably won’t be able to get one out for a while since i just finished my spring break and won’t have a break until summer, but i’ll try my best to update. english is not my first language, i’m using grammarly. i don’t know how pagers work and if they’re the same thing as a phone so don’t get confused if i describe the electronics badly, this is a long author note sorry. rory won’t be mentioned as much, since you’re (the reader) the main character she’ll be envious though. and she doesn’t go to chilton. pretend that aonoung would go to chilton. this is a long chapter. sorry i haven’t posted in awhile, my tumblr was messed up i couldn’t see what i was writing. anyways this is probs the last post for awhile since i have state testing soon. links applied are optional.

— word count ! 6449

you woke up to your alarm clock yelling at you. you groaned and decided to stretch before actually getting ready. staring at yourself in the mirror before exiting your room. heading to the kitchen with pajamas still on. you started making some coffee and realized there was nothing in the fridge, as always. you groaned and turned off the coffee maker, not wanting to make coffee if there was no food. you grabbed a sticky note from the junk drawer and wrote. “luke’s?” you jogged upstairs and decided to get ready. you put on the slightest amount of makeup your mom let you borrow. you smiled and put on some lip gloss. you headed to your small wardrobe and got a simple outfit. you finished getting changed and looked over at the alarm clock.

you called tsiyera wanting to see if she was awake this early. she didn’t answer. you groaned not wanting to wait for your mother and twin to wake up. you decided to fix your hair. putting it into a hair clip. you decided you’d just walk around town until 8 am which is usually when your sister and mother woke up. you were also waiting for tsiyera to wake up.

you headed out the door and just walked around town. you got to the front of the newspaper stand. seeing babette and miss patty. “did you hear? there’s a new family in town.” babette said and you walked up to them. “victoria, oh my goodness. you get prettier by the day!” miss patty said holding your face in her hands adoring your features. “how do you not have a boyfriend? when i was your age i had too many to count,” miss patty smiled. you smiled as well. “do you want me to set you up with someone? there are some fine young boys for you at my studio,” miss patty let out. you shook your head. “i’ll find the right one soon,” you replied. they both beamed. “i have to go to luke’s, i’ll see you both later,” you spoke up.

you waved at them and walked away but stared at the new house for a little bit longer. you saw three older kids and a smaller girl walking around whining. you smiled and saw a what looked like the oldest sibling looking around and caught sight of you. you both waved at each other. you smiled and walked to luke’s.

neteyam’s point of view;

we arrived at our new house after traveling for an extended duration. i exited the truck and grabbed the two boxes i had from our previous house. “neteyam you get the second biggest room, loak your room is next to his. kiri and tuk you can decide.” my dad said while gathering other boxes. i nodded and headed inside the house. i looked around and immediately headed up stairs to see my new room. i smiled seeing the view and how spacious it was. i placed my two boxes down smiling.

i headed back outside to help my siblings inside. i help loak move his boxes even though he had more than me. “how do you have this much stuff.” i said, placing the boxes onto the cement. tuktirey started to whine. “mom!! these boxes are too heavy.” she whine and sat down on the cement drive way. “tuk, go inside. we’ll care your box.” i said. she smiled, skipping along, walking inside. i started look around the town. wanting to see the people. i saw a beautiful girl walking on the sidewalk. i smiled and waved, not wanting to just say stare at her. she waved back and smiled. she continued walking. i smiled and loak snickered. i rolled my eyes. “she was cute,” loak commented. i again roll my eyes. “i’m not gonna help you with your boxes,” i said and walked into the house with tuk’s boxes instead of loak’s. i could hear loak yelling my name but i continued walking where tuk was staying.

back to your point of view:

lorelai gasps as you and rory walk in. “my two favorite people in the world!” you smiled. “hey. it’s freezing.” rory said and you both sat down, in front of two coffee mugs. “oh, what do you need? hot tea, coffee?” lorelai said with a smile looking at you and rory. “lip gloss.” “aha! i have vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and toasted marshmallow.” lorelai said placing down the makeup bag. “anything in there not resembling a breakfast cereal?” you asked and rory smiled knowing she was about to say the same thing. “yes. it has no smell but it changes with your mood.” lorelai said and placed another bag of makeup down. “god. RuPaul doesn’t need this much makeup.” you remarked, while rory got a lip gloss. “you both are crabby this morning?” “i’m sorry i woke up early and found out we didn’t have food in the fridge at all.” you said with a frown. “well im sorry, i lost my macy gray cd and i need caffeine.” rory said finishing up the lipgloss. “oo i have your cd. we never have food vick.” lorelai said and gave rory the cd while smiling at you. “thief.” rory sounded. “sorry, i’ll get you both some coffee.” lorelai said and grabbed the mugs. she stood up and went up to luke.

a guy that once sitting at the counter came up to you and rory. you frowned wondering what the older man wanted from you and rory. he chatted with us for a bit until lorelai came to the table. “yeah, i’ve never been through here before.” he said mostly looking at rory. “oh, you have, too.” lorelai said with a tone and he turned around slowly. “oh, hi.” he said. “oh, hi. you really like my table, don’t you?” lorelai asked, you looked at rory laughing together. “i was just, uh..” he spoke trying to make an excuse. “getting to know my daughters.” lorelai said and placed her hand on your shoulder, standing next to me. “your..” he said not finishing his sentence. “are you my new daddy?” you asked with a grin. “wow. you do not look old enough to have a daughter. no, i mean it. and you do not look like a daughter.” he said directing the last part to you. “that’s possibly very sweet of you. thanks.” lorelai said with a mocking tone. “so…daughter? daughters.” he said correcting him self at the last second, lorelai nodded. “you know, i am traveling with two friends.” he said pointing behind him at the two guys at the counter where he was sitting previously, they turned around and waved. “they’re both sixteen.” lorelai said with a grin. “bye.” the guy standing up say and left with his friends follwing behind him. “drive safe.” lorelai spoke. once they left she bent down and laughed with you and rory.

your point of view, at the inn

you entered the inn with papers in hand. you walked up the counter where michel and your mother were, your mother being on a call. “kiss.” she whispered as she was on the phone with marco the plumber. “uh-huh? i thought you replaced that already. well, because you told me you did and i never forget anything.” she spoke at marco. you looked into one of the drawers at the counter, with michel peeking at you. “what is your offspring doing?” michel asked annoyingly. “i need stamps. can i have these?” you asked taking stamps out of the drawer. michel disagreed. “take them. what’s with the muumuu?” lorelai said pointing at your white sweater. “stop,” you muttered. “i’m just saying, you couldn’t find one made of metal in case anyone has x-ray eyes?” lorelai asked joking. “and now we say goodbye.” you said tilting your head and going around to the front of the counter. “hey, have michel look at your french paper before you go.” lorelai said since you talked about your french paper the night before. “excuse me?” michel asked looking at other papers. “that’d be great.” you said with a smile. he shook his head. “come on, michel. i’ll tell all the ladies what a stud you are.” you said holding onto your paper. “hm. i believe that memo had already been sent.” he said tilting his head. “oh, please, michel. pretty please with sucre on top. i will stop talking like this.” lorelai said trying to convice him with an annoying french accent. “leave it. i’ll look at it if i get a chance.” he said not looking up from his other pile of papers. “it’s due tomorrow. and pay special attention to the grammar.” you said pointing at the paper leaving it near his pile of papers. you walked away smiling at your mother.

you were nearing the school when someone jumped on your back. you immediately knew it was tsiyera, and you groaned. “tsiyera, ima flip you over.” you threatened and she smiled, getting off, and walking beside you. “you didn’t answer my call nor texts in the morning.” you frowned. “sorry, aonoung woke up early for practice and i woke up as well but ended up falling back asleep. you wake up too early either way, i do not want to be waking up at the crack of dawn.” tisyera complained. you frowned. we passed by the “teen hayride 9:00 pm thursday” sign. “my mom is forcing me to go to the hayride” she said and looks at the sign. “the hayride? you’re kidding.” you asked. “my parents want me to get with someone, so they set me up with my mom's best friend's son.” tsiyera complained. “you’re only sixteen?” you replied and you both started walking across the street. “well, my parents like to plan ahead.” tsiyera replied. “god, you have to go to the hayride with him?” you said slightly laughing. “and his older brother.” “oh, now you’re kidding.” “my parents said they don’t want me to end up alone, which frankly is kind of sad.” tsiyera spoke. “so, i guess you’re not going, huh?” tsiyera assumed, we walked by the cheerleaders. “no, i’m still fuzzy on what’s fun about sitting in the cold for two hours with some sticks up your butt,” you replied laughing. you both went up the steps and into the school, passing by two new boys you assumed. “don’t expect me to clear it up for you.” tsiyera spoke.

“for those of you who have not finished the final chapters of huckleberry finn ‘you may use this time do so. for those of you who have, you can start on your essay now. whichever task you choose, do it silently..” your teacher spoke out, sitting down at her desk at the front of the class. you started to write onto your paper while the girls in-front of you painted their nails, passing the nail polish around the four of them. they made a gesture towards you among them and three of them looked at you while you were still writing. “maybe it’s a love letter.” “or her diary.” “could be a slam book.” the whispered among themselves. the closet one to you peeked over, putting pressure on the seat making it noisy. you continued writing. she sat back down. “it’s the assignment.” she whispered with a disappointed tone. they frowned and continued to pass around the nail polish. you smiled, aware of what they were saying.

you and tsiyera starting walking towards her house. tsiyera’s mother, ronal owns a small flower shop near luke’s. but she’s only open in the mornings. you and tsiyera were talking about school and the subjects you both dislike. you even told her about what happened in english. “really? that makes sense, amelia is always in everyone’s business.” tsiyera spoke. you nodded. you both entered the home. “mother! i’m home, i’m with victoria.” tsiyera said and took off her shoes and changed into her slippers. you also did the same, since you have came over to her house for many years, but you only took of your shoes, leaving your pink socks, not putting on your sandals. ronal came out of the kitchen with her navy apron with a pleated puffed ruffled skirt and lace detail. “so how was school? none of the girls get pregnant, drop out?” she asked curious. “not that we know of.” “come to think of it, joanna ponser was glowing a little.” you teased. “what?” ronal asked confused. “nothing mama, she’s just kidding.” tsiyera quickly defended you in a teasing manner. ronal shook her head slightly smiling.

“mom?” you and rory spoke out entering the kitchen. the both gasped. you both walked up to them, confused. “you’re happy.” rory said. “yeah.” lorelai said smiling and nodded her head. “did you do something slutty?” you asked teasing. “i’m not that happy.” lorelai said and she chuckled. “here.” she said and passed you the bag. “what’s going on?” rory asked and peeked over at the bag. “open it.” lorelai said enthusiastically. you looked into the bag. it was a skirt, blue squared pattern. “i’m gonna be in a britney spears video?” you asked confused. “you’re going to chilton! oh sorry.” sookie said unexpectedly, lorelai hit her shoulder. “mom?” you asked. “you did it, babe. you got in.” lorelai said with the biggest smile on her face. “how did this happen? you didn’t, with the principal, did you?” you asked worried almost. “no, honey. that was a joke. the have an open spot. you’re gonna start on monday.” lorelai enunciates still smiling. “really?” “really.” lorelai said. “i don’t believe this. oh my god, im going to chilton!” you said enthusiastically and hugged your mother. “yeah.” lorelai said hugging you back. “sookie, im going to chilton.” you said and hugged her as well. “i’ll make cookies.” sookie said. “protestants love oatmeal.” sookie let out. “i have to call tsiyera.” you said and walked away but immediately turned back around and looked at rory and lorelai. you smiled and hugged them both. “i love you.” you spoke softly at them both. “i love you.” they both said. your headed outside of the kitchen. “my daughter is going to chilton.” lorelai said. “yeah. victoria is going to chilton!” sookie said.

time skip, the next day, your point of view

you got home from school and decided to be on call with tsiyera just for a bit and you wanted to try on your skirt. tsiyera had to hang up because of aonoung bothering her. you went downstairs and outside where lorelai and sookie were. “mom?” you said and walked out and showcased your skirt. “so what do you think?” you asked. “wow, it makes you look smart.” sookie speaking one's mind. “okay, no more wine for you. mom?” you asked smiling. “you look like you were swallowed by a kilt.” lorelai teased. “fine, you can hem it. a little. only a little.” you said, not wanting to ruin the skirt. lorelai ‘ooh’ed. “or i could hem it a lot.” she said trying to convince you. “no. i don’t want it to be too short.” you let out, and your mother put her arm around your shoulder, walking into the house with sookie falling behind. “i can’t believe tomorrow’s my last day at stars hollow high.” you said not even believing yourself. “i know.” lorelai said enthusiastically. “today i was so excited, i dressed up for gym.” you said surprised. “you’re kidding!” “and i played volleyball.” “with other people?”lorelai asked surprised. rory was sitting on the couch reading a book kind of listening to the conversation you were having with your mother. you stepped onto the stool and let lorelai hem your skirt. “and i learned all this time, i was avoiding group sports.” “yeah?” “was very smart ‘cause i suck.” you said slightly proud. “well, yeah, you and your twin got that from me.” lorelai said smiling at you and then at rory. “where’s your pate?” sookie asked coming from the kitchen. “at zsa zsa gabor’s house.” lorelai said continuing with your skirt. “right. i’m going to the store because you have nothing. you feel like a duck?” sookie asks and puts on her purse. if it’s made with chicken, absolutely.” “i’ll be back.” “bye.” lorelai said and finished with your skirt. “alright. this will give you an idea,” she said looking closely and patting your knees where your skirt ended making sure it would be even. “go see how you like it.” “okay.” you said and smiled stepping off the stool. you swung on the staircase. “i love being a private school girl.” you said and turned around to head to your room to check out your outfit, your hair flipping from behind you. lorelai smiled but her smile faded, she stared at the photos of you with rory and pictures of the three of you.

“and we get to wear uniforms. no more having people check you out to see what jeans you’re wearing ‘cause everyone’s dressed alike in boring clothes and just there to learn.” you said excited and finished putting things into your box, closing your locker. “okay, there’s academic-minded and then there’s amish.” tsiyera stated. “funny.” “thank you! so, i told my mom you’re changing schools.” “was she thrilled?” you asked teasing. “the party’s on friday. i go to go. i have to have a pre-hayride cup of tea with my ‘future husband’. how do i look? presentable?” tsiyera said and placed the book she was holding previously onto your box, you nodded. “good, bye.” tsiyera said and basically jogged outside of the school. your book fell, while you were looking at her. you squated down placing your box onto the floor and grabbing the book, there was some other small things that fell out as well, while turning you saw long legs and shoes. “god! you’re like ruth gordon just standing there with a tannis root. make a noise.” you let out, finished picking up the things. “rosemary’s baby.” the long legged boy said. you lifted your head and saw the boy, you stood up. “yeah.” you said still staring at his face. “well, that’s a great movie.” he says. “you’ve got good taste.” he continued. you smiled and looked down for a second. “are you moving?” he asked. “no, just my books are.” you replied. “well my family just moved here from chicago.” he said. “chicago. windy. oprah.” you let out of what you remembered of chicago. “yeah. yeah, that’s the place. i’m neteyam.” he said and leaned down a bit. “hi.” you said smiling, didn’t reply though. he made a gesture for you to say your name. “oh, tori. me. that’s-that’s me.” you said. “tori,” he repeated your name. “well, victoria technically. i have a lot of nicknames.” you replied. “victoria, i like that.” he sounded. “it’s my mothers middle name. my twin took her first name.” you said. “she was lying in the hospital bed, thinking about how men name boys after themselves. so why couldn’t woman? so she used both of her names on my twin and i. she says her feminism just kind of took over. though personally, i think a lot of demerol also went into that decision.” you let out. “i never talk this much.” you said in a panicked way for a moment, looking up at him. he smiled and turned his head to the side for a moment. “well, i better go.” “oh, sure.” you replied realizing he probably has things to do, better than hearing you babble about useless things. “i have to go look for a job.” “okay, good.” you said, a bit too loud. he said and laughed a bit. he started walking away. “you should check with miss patty.” you said suddenly, turned around facing his back. he turned around. “what?” “about the job. you should check with miss patty. she teaches dance. she was actually on broadway once.” you said. “i-i don’t really dance much.” he said and gestured with his hand while speaking. “no, no, she just kind of knows everything that is going on in this town. she’ll know if someone’s looking.” you replied. “oh, great. uh, thanks.” he said with one hand in his pocket, shrugging a bit with a laugh. you looked down at your books. “hey, what are you doing now?” neteyam said and walked closer to you. “nothing…much” you said. “i should throw this away at some point.” you said and held on the yellow lined paper. “well maybe you could show me where this miss patty’s place is.” he said, asking. “yeah, i guess so. i really don’t have anything important to— let’s go.” you said not wanting to speak more than you already did. he picked up your box. you both walked out of the school. “so, have you lived here all your life?” he asked. “yes. well, pretty much. i was actually born in hartford.” you stated. “well that’s not far.” he said. “thirty minutes with no traffic.” you stated. “really?” “i timed it.” you said, he laughed. “okay, then.” he said.

“so, do you like cake?” you asked while you both were passing by stores. “what?” he asked, confused why you were asking. “they make really good cakes here. they’re very… round.” you said and pointed at the store. “okay. i’ll remember that.” he spoke. “good, make a note. you wouldn’t want to forget where the round cakes are.” you said, slightly embarrassed. “so, how are you liking moby dick?” he asked and looked at you. “oh it’s really good.” you said with a grin. “yeah?” “yeah, it’s my first melville.” you said. “cool,” he spoke out. “i mean, i know it’s kind of cliche to pick moby dick as your first melville but… hey, how did you know i was reading moby dick?” you asked and you both stopped. “uh- well i’ve been watching you.” he uttered. “watching me?” “i mean; not in a creepy, like, “i’m watching you” sort of way. i just, I’ve noticed you,” he let out. “me?” you said and looked at yourself for a second. he nodded. “when?” you asked. “every day. well since i’ve moved here. after school you come or and sit under that tree there and you read. last week it was madame bovary.” he said and slighly gestured his head to the tree. “this week it’s moby dick.” he said. “but why would you-” you said and he interrupted you. “because you’re nice to look at.” he said slightly shrugging. “and because you’ve got unbelievable concentration.” he let out. “what?” you asked clearly confused about what he’s talking about. “last friday these two guys were tossing around a ball and one guy nailed the other in the face. i mean, it was a mess, blood everywhere, the nurse came out. the place was on chaos, his girlfriend was all freaking out and you just sat there and read. i mean, you never even looked up. i thought, i have never seen anyone read so intensely before in my life. i have to meet that girl.” he finished speaking. “maybe, i just didn’t look up because i’m unbelievably self-centered.” you said trying to reason. “maybe, but i doubt it.” he said. you smiled and he smiled. you both started walking. “so, did i ask if you like cake?” “yeah, you did.” “oh, ‘cause they have really good cake back there.” you said once again, he laughed.

the three of you just stared at the plates, not speaking. “uh, i forgot to tell you were having dinner with your grandparents tomorrow night.” your mother spoke quickly and took a sip of coffee from her light green mug. “we are?” you and rory asked. “mm-hmm.” she said still drinking her coffee. “but it’s september?” rory asked. “so?” your mother asked, oblivious almost. “so what holiday’s in september?” you asked. “oh look, it’s not a holiday thing. it’s just dinner, okay?” your mother spoke sternly. you and rory glanced at each other, confused almost why she spoke like that. “fine, sorry,” you said and continued eating, so did rory. luke came up to the table. he placed down the food. “red meat can kill you. enjoy.” he said and ripped the check off of his checkbook. lorelai laughed, but the two of you didn’t react. she quietly cleared her throat, swapping her salad with her food. “so, i finished hemming your skirt today.” your mother spoke and smiled at you. you were about to speak but didn’t and just looked at your food again. “a grunt of acknowledgment might be nice. “i don’t understand why we’re going to dinner tomorrow night. i mean, what if i had plans? you didn’t even ask me.” you uttered. “well, if you had plans, i would’ve known.” she spoke out. “how?” you asked genuinely. “well, you would have told me.” she said. “i don’t tell you everything. neither does rory. i have my own things.” you said with a tone almost. “fine, you have things” “that’s right. i have things.” you said sternly. “hey, i had dibs on being the bitch tonight,” she said. you looked at your salad again, rory felt uncomfortable, but knowing how you felt. “just tonight?” you uttered. “what’s wrong with you?” your mother asked. you sighed. “i’m not sure i want to go to chilton.” you spoke out all of a sudden. “what?” your mother and twin asked, knowing you’ve been wanting to get into chilton, forever. “the timing is just really bad.” you spoke. “the timing is bad?” your mother asked genuinely confused. “and the bus ride to and from hartford it’s like thirty minutes each way.” you complained. “i can’t believe what i’m hearing.” your mother said shocked. “plus, i don’t think we should be spending that money right now. i mean, i know chilton’e got to be costing you a lot. all of that money should be going towards to you buying an inn with sookie,” you tried to reason with her. rory was eating her burger listening into the conversation, making sure nothing would get bad. “what about college? what about harvard?” you mother asked knowing since you were a baby you’ve wanted to go to havard. “we dunno that i can’t get into harvard if i stay where i am.” you said. “okay, enough. enough of the crazy talk, okay? i appreciate your concern but i have this covered.” your mother spoke. “i still don’t want to go.” “why?” “because i don’t.” you said. “i have to get out of here.” your mother said, picking up her bag and getting off of her seat. you and rory stared. “we have to pay first.” rory said. your mother took out some cash she had in her back pocket, placing them onto the table. you and rory stood up. your mother opened the door first, leaving you and your sister behind. you caught up to her and walked beside your mother, with your twin on the opposite side. horses passed by, with music playing. at the back of the hayride was tsiyera with her so called date and her date’s brother. the three of you walking by miss patty’s dance studio. “one, two, three. it’s a waltz, ladies. susie, do you have to tinkle? then uncross your legs, darling. oh, tori, good. i think i found a job for your male friend.” miss patty said stepping a step down the steps. the three of you stopped infront of her. “what male friend?” your mother asked. “they need a stock boy at the supermarket. i already talked to taylor doode about him. you just send him around tomorrow.” miss patty said and smoked her cigar. “okay, thanks.” you said. “what male friend?” your mother asked once again. “oh, he’s very cute. you have good taste. you got yourself a good one, maybe he’s the one you need.”

“hands in the air, not in the nose. ‘one, two, three, one, two, three.’ “ miss patty said to her students. you started walking away, heading home with your mother and twin following behind you. your mother laughed. “oh ho. you’re gonna have to walk faster than that. you’re gonna have to turn into flo-jo to get away from me.” she said and followed behind you. rory was sprinting behind the two of you not wanting to be left behind. you quickly opened the door, almost closing it behind you but your mother caught it, she made sure rory go in as well though. “this is about a boy. of course, can’t believe, i didn’t see it. all this talk about money and bus rides, you got a thing going on with a guy, you don’t wanna leave school.” your mother said. rory entered her room already heading to bed. “i’m going to bed.” you said and placed things onto the table near the couch. “god, i’m so dense. that should’ve been my first thought. after all, you’re me.” your mother let out. you grabbed your backpack. “i’m not you.” you said. “really? someone willing to throw important life experiences outta the window to be with a guy. it sounds like me to me.” she said sternly. “whatever.” you said and headed upstairs. “so, who is he?” she asked. “there’s no guy.” you said, starting to get upset. “dark hair, tan skin, romantic guy, looks a little dangerous.” she said. “this conversation is over.” you spoke out. “tattoos are good too.” she said while you both started getting up the stairs. you turned around holding onto your school supplies, your backpack hanging on one shoulder. “i don’t wanna change schools because of all the reasons i’ve told you a thousand times. if you don’t wanna believe me, that’s fine. goodnight.” you said going fully upstairs. lorelai stood at the same step. “does he have a motorcycle? ‘cause if you’re gonna throw your life away, he better have a motorcycle.” she said and you slammed your door. silence, is what the house was filled with. she sighed. she opened your door, while you were taking off your sweater with your backpack on your bed. “i think that went pretty well, don’t you?” lorelai asked. you threw your sweater on the bed. “thanks for the knock.” you said, sarcastically. “listen, can we just start all over? ‘kay? you tell me about the guy, i promise i not to let my head explode, huh?” your mother asked trying to convince you. “tori. please talk to me. okay, i’ll talk.” your mother sighed. “don’t get me wrong. guys are great. i am a huge fan of guys. you don’t get knocked up at sixteen with twins being indifferent to guys. babes guys are always going to be there. this school isn’t. it’s more important. it has to be more important.” lorelai states. “i’m going to sleep,” you said and reached over at your nightstand to get a book. you sighed and fixed your hair. “tori. you’ve always been the sensible one in this house, huh? i need you to remember that feeling now. you will kick your butt later if you blow this.” lorelai says still trying to convince you. you closed your book, still keeping the bookmark inside. you fixed your pillows leaning more into them. “well, it’s my butt.” you said. “good comeback.” your mother said. “thank you,” “you’re welcome. vick, come on.” “i don’t wanna talk about this. could you please, please just leave me alone?” you asked. your mother stared. “okay, fine. we always had a democracy in this house. we never did anything unless the three of us agreed. but now i’m going to have to play the mom card. you’re going to chilton whether you want to or not. monday morning, you will be there, end of story.” your mother said and started walking to the door. “we’ll see.” you said and your mother slammed your bedroom door. “yeah, we will.” your mom yelled. you sighed, turning on your radio. ‘i try’ by macy gray played in your room. you fell asleep with the song playing, filling the emptiness of your room.

you sat down on michel’s chair, while he left to go tell your mother about you being here. “hey, no muumuu today? you know what’s weird, i know of miss it.” she said tilting her head, coming up to you and standing next to you behind the counter. “you left a note to meet here.” you stated, holding onto your book. she walked to the other side of the register desk. “yeah. thought you might wanna work a couple hours. make a little extra cash.” she said and grabbed a notebook. “fine.” you said and looked at you book once again. “aww. you’re not giving the ‘mommy dearest’ treatment forever, are ya?” she asked. “you wanted me here, i’m here. should i do something or what?” you asked. “yeah, go home. dinners at seven. be ready to go.” she said and slammed her binder onto her desk. “fine.” “fine.” your mother sighed. you walked out of the inn.

the three of you stood outside the grand doors, staring at the doors. your mother holding onto her coffee cup, you and rory glancing at each other. “so, do we go in or do we just stand here reenacting ‘the little match girl’?” you asked, your mother sighed, she turned her head towards you. “okay, look, i know you and me are having a thing here and i know you hate me but i need you to be civil. at least through dinner, on the way home you can menendez. deal?” your mother said sternly. “fine.” you said and turned to look at her too, rory just stood behind you knowing what happened between you two. the three of you stepped up more closer to the door, your mother rang the door bell dramatically with her heels clicking obnoxiously. your grandmother opened the door. “hi, grandma.” you and rory uttered. “well? you’re right on time.” your grandmother spoke. “yeah, yeah no traffic at all.” your mother said and the three of you walked in. you and rory took of your coats. “i can’t tell you what a treat it is to have you girls here,” your grandmother said, taking the coats and hanging them on the dark rack. “oh, well, we’re excited, too.” lorelai said, still holding onto her cup. “is that a collector’s cup or can i throw it away for you?” emily asked. your mother uttered an apology, heading to the small trash can next to the door. “in the kitchen, the please.” emily stated. “sorry,” lorelai said, walking back. “so, i want to hear all about chilton.” emily said and grabbed her hands into hers and walked with you to the living room. “well, i haven’t actually started yet. your mother and rory stood near the coat rack, and glanced at each other before walking behind the two of you. “richard, look who’s here.” your grandmother said, showing you off to your grandfather. “victoria. you’re tall.” your grandfather said, looking at you closely. “i guess.” you uttered. “what’s your height?” he asked. “five-seven.” you stated. “that’s tall. she’s tall.” he said and glanced behind him at your grandmother. “hi dad.” your mother said walking into the room with your twin sister following behind closely. “lorelai, victoria is tall.” lorelai spoke. “oh, i know. it’s freakish. we’re thinking of having her studied at m.i.t .” lorelai spoke, joking. “huh.” your grandfather spoke, putting his glasses back on, looking at his newspaper. “champagne, anyone?” emily asked. the three of you grabbed one. “oh that’s fancy.” lorelai stated. “well, it’s not everyday that i have my girls here for the dinner on a day the banks are open.” emily said and placed down the champagne. lorelai hummed. “a toast. to victoria entering chilton and an exciting new phase in her life.” emily said and raised her glass. “here, here.” richard said, though not raising his head up from the newspaper. the five you drank the champagne. emily hummed. “mmm. well, let’s sit everyone.” emily said and sat down. rory sat in between your grandmother and mother though your mother hadn’t quite sat down yet. you sat next to your grandfather. “this is just wonderful. and education is the most important thing, next to family.” emily spoke out. “and pie.” your mother added, you stifled a laugh, though everyone was awkwardly quite. your mother sat down, emily glanced at her, her body facing the opposite direction. “joke, joke.” your mother spoke awkwardly, crossing her legs. “ah.” your grandmother let out. the two sipped on their champagne. rory awkwardly sitting there. your grandfather subtly gave you a newspaper he had next to him. you glanced at him and opened the newspaper, quite intrigued.

everyone was sitting in their designated spots. lorelai and you sitting next to each other with rory on the opposite side and your grandfather and grandmother at opposite sides of each other. “victoria, rory, how do you like the lamb?” your grandmother spoke. “it’s good,” you and rory spoke. “too dry?” your grandmother asked. “no, it’s perfect,” you both voiced, your grandmother continued eating until lorelai spoke up. “potatoes could use a little salt, though.” lorelai said with a quite laugh. “excuse me?” your grandmother asked. “so, grandpa, how’s the insurance biz?” you asked, trying to get away from the awkward conversation. “oh, people die, we pay. people crash cars, we pay. people lose a foot, we pay.” your grandfather said before stuffing his face. “well, at least you have your new slogan.” lorelai voiced, you glanced at her. “and how are things at the motel?” your grandfather asked. “the inn? they’re great.” lorelai said before sipping on her wine. “lorelai’s the executive manager now. isn’t that wonderful?” your grandmother said. “speaking of which, christopher called yesterday.” your grandfather spoke. “speaking of which? how is that a speaking of which?” lorelai asked, almost in a mocking tone. “he’s doing very well in california. his internet start-up goes public next month. this could mean big things. very talented man, your father.” you grandfather added, speaking to you. lorelai looked at you. “she knows.” your mother spoke. “he always was a smart one, that boy. you must take after him.” you grandpa said. “speaking of which, i’m gonna get a coke. or a knife.” your mother said, speaking higher at the last sentence. your eyes wandered to your grandpa and grandma. rory looked at you, you shrugged. a while has passed by, just looking at your food. “i think i’m gonna go talk—“ you spoke but got interrupted. “no, i’ll go. you stay and keep your grandfather company.” your grandmother said and rubbed her hand and your shoulder passing by. ‘keep your voice down.’ ‘no, i can’t take it anymore.’ ‘tonight just seems like a nightmare’ ‘you’re dripping all over the floor.’ ‘why do you pounce on every single thing i say?’ mutters were spoken from the kitchen. the three of you at the table glanced at each other for a second, but continued to eat. ‘well, i wasn’t too proud to come here to you two begging for money for my daughter’s school, was i?’ your mother spoke from the kitchen, you glanced at the kitchen door, confused. ‘no! you certainly weren’t.—’ you heard from the kitchen. you looked at your plate, confused. you heard snoring from next to you and it was your grandfather.

the three of you exited the house, coats on. you closed the door behind you. lorelai leaned against the wall, sighing with her hands in her pockets. “mom?” you asked. “i’m okay. i just… do i look shorter? ‘cause i feel shorter.” lorelai said, with a tone almost. “hey, how about i buy you and rory a cup of coffee?” you convinced them. “aw. yeah.” she said and got up from leaning against the wall to wrapping her hand around you and your sisters shoulder. “vic, you drive, though, ‘cause i don’t think my feet will reach the pedals.” your mother jokingly complained. the three of you laughed.

“so, nice dinner at the grandparents’ house,” rory spoke one's mind. the three of you stepped onto the steps of luke’s.“oh yeah, her dishes have never been cleaner.” lorelai complained. “you and grandma seemed to have a nice talk.” you let out. “how much did you hear?” lorelai asked. “not much. you know, snippets.” you replied. “snippets?” lorelai raised a question. “little snippets?” you answered back quickly. “so basically everything?” lorelai requested. “basically, yes.” you replied. “well, the best-laid plans.” lorelai said and opened the diner door to luke’s. lorelai sighs and sets her bag down at the designated spot in the diner. the three of you sit down, setting your coats down. “i think it was really brave of you to ask them for money.” you spoke up. “oh, i so do not want to talk about it.” lorelai utters. “so, how many meals is it gonna take till we’re off the hook?” rory questioned. “i think the deli spread at my funeral will be the last one. hey.” lorelai said, looking at your face. “wait does that mean?” lorelai asked. you smiled. “can’t let a perfectly plaid skirt go to waste.” you said smiling. “aww, honey. you won’t be sorry.” lorelai said. luke came up to the table. wearing light blue button up dress shirt, with dress pants, and his hair-styled. he had his note pad ready and a pen. “wow! you-you look nice. really nice.” lorelai noted and smiled. “i… had a meeting earlier at the bank. they-they like collars. you look nice, too.” luke replied. you and rory look at each other smiling. “i had a event to go to,” lorelai replied. “so, what will you have?” luke asked. “coffee, in a vat.” lorelai replied, luke looked over at you and rory. “we’ll both have coffee also. and chili fries.” you answered. “that’s quite a refined palate you got there.” luke said and sighed, writing down the orders and walking away. lorelai looked at him walking away and turned back. “behold the healing powers of a bath. so, tell me about the guy.” lorelai let out. rory nodded at the last thing lorelai said, wanting to know about ‘the guy’ as well. “you know what’s really special about our relationship? the total understanding about the need for one’s privacy. i mean, you really understand boundaries.” you declared. “so tell us about the guy.” lorelai said and rory smiled. “mom!” you quitely yelled out. “is he dreamy?” she asked. “ugh that’s so ‘nick at night’. ” you groaned. “i’m gonna find out anyway.” lorelai said “really? how?” you genuinely asked. “uh, i’ll spy.” lorelai said with a sarcastic tone. luke came to the table with the food. “coffee, fries.” luke said placing down the food. you grabbed your coffee and about to take a sip until luke speaks up. “i can’t stand it. this is so unhealthy. victoria, rory ‘please, put down that cup of coffee. you do not wanna grow up to be like your mom.” luke spoke up. “sorry, too late.” you said and smiled at your mom. lorelai smiled at luke. he shook his head and walked away. lorelai looked at you and rory and had the biggest smile on her face.

[sylviegunpla]

Gunpla: Completed Collection of Minis Part 1: EFSF Alliance

Here's all the minis i've painted over the past few months!! They are as complete as they're gonna get and also top-coated and everything now. Let's run down the list under the cut! I've also rephotographed them on a matt that has scale, and using a ringlight. Each square on the matte is half-centimeter square, to appreciate the tiny scale of these guys. You'll notice that i have some duplicate figures above. Various people have gifted me some figs, so you can also see the evolution of my mini painting techniques in some of them. Because of tumblr post image limits, i'm splitting this up into multiple galleries. I will start with a gallery of minis associated with the "EFSF" (Earth Federation Space Force) group from the Gundam series.

PG Unleashed RX-78-2: Amuro Ray and Sayla Mass

I've already posted these guys but let's ass some scale, for fun.

I don't have much new to say about these guys, except that they were the first figures i painted in my "second run" of figure painting. I'll go into more detail about this later. I painted them and the others according to the color guide provided in the manual, as best i could. I think Sayla's collar badges could be done better and tbh, i can still fix that. I'll give an update if i do. Anyway, this kit came with TWO pilot figurines that sit inside the core fighter / cockpit. I present to you images of them in their homes:

This also serves as a preview for some parts of the PGU! I don't believe i made a post yet about the final build. I still need to do that, as well as edit the VODs of the build (the painting was also done on camera! ... mostly. I did some touchups off camera). This is the core fighter, and if you want you can put it inside the mobile suit, but there's no reason to. So i prefer to have it displayed outside, because there's a separate "core block" that you can also put inside the gundam, and it also has its own pilot!

Let's move on. I have many more Amuros for you. But first, a diversion! (EDIT: Turns out tumblr posts can only have 30 images at once. I was originally going to put Tobia Arronax here, but then i wouldn't be able to include the full set of EFSF characters here. So go check out the first entry of the part 2 post here: https://www.tumblr.com/sylviegunpla/753409506351939584/gunpla-completed-collection-of-minis-part-2 and then come back to this post)

MG 2.0 RX-78-2: Amuro Ray

This is the civilian outfit Amuro from the MG 2.0 kit. This was one of the "first runs" of minis i painted, i think in Fall 2023. I was convinced i could panel line it and make it look good. Honestly it looks fine at a distance but with the details blown up... well you can see it's a mess. Still, not bad for an early work. The rightmost image is when it was WIP, before being panel lined. TBH that might have looked better if i kept it that way, but you live and learn! This kit also had a pilot outfit figure:

This was also one of my early paints. Here you can see the panel line colors just running wild. I think the civilian outfit has less bleed at least. The helmet is also messy as hell. And as for the pilot that sits in the core fighter... well the actual model kit is currently disassembled for painting, but i can show you the pilot figurine.

Once i finish the MG 2.0 RX-78-2, i'll include an additional picture here. {NOTE TO SELF: INCLUDE PILOT IN COCKPIT PHOTO LATER}

I still have yet more Amuros though! At a local build jam, i've been gifted some minis that people don't want to paint. I got two extra figures of Amuro Ray, that match the sculpt above. I'm not sure if they're from the MG 2.0 or the MG 3.0 RX-78-2, but i referenced the color guide specifically from MG 3.0 for these. I also painted them this year, so you can begin to see the difference. Why not get the extra practice in, ya know? The biggest differences between my old minis and the more recently painted ones are two fold: 1) I started properly thinning my paints (which i did for the PGU figures, they were the first of the "new" line). 2) Eventually, i began using a pair of binocular magnifying goggles i could wear on my head, giving me a better ability to see mini details. I think the difference speaks for themselves:

For the one on top, i did a basic paint with flat coat, no panel lining or anything. Since i had two, why not experiment a bit. THe second one, i coated it in Mr Super Clear Gloss and then used some Citadel Paints Nuln Oil (gifted from a friend who's into warhammer) to achieve the "panel lining" / "shading". I think it turned out okay ultimately. I think the nuln oil works as a better panel liner over the super clear than some other pigments i've used, but it depends on the technique and precision involved. Oh yeah, and all these based were also custom made. Here's all 3 standing together!

Lookit those boys!!

MG Hi-ν (Hi-Nu) Ver. Ka: Amuro Ray

I think he's supposed to be older than in the previous kits here? You can see i opted NOT to panel line this boy... well except the line down his back which imo kinda turned out not that great looking. I probably could have used some nuln oil to highlight some of his facial details and give the impression of having eyes. ANd then here is the pilot figurine:

I'll get pictures of this kit entirely in a separate post, too. Right now the kit is disassembled and i need to re-assemble it. It's not a "WIP" kit, the kit itself is all done, got water slide decals, even has the "Heavy Weapons System" setup. Here, i DID use nuln oil, to try to highlight some of the suit details. I'm not sure if the lighting is blown out here, but it's also accurate to say that the suit details didn't come out as nicely highlighted as i'd wanted them to. Still, he's gonna live inside a clear green plastic sphere once he goes inside, so it won't be easy to see anyway.

BONUS: Watch this boy get Cask of Amontillado'd (and additional pics) I have to admit, sometimes when painting i'm having trouble finding the actual details through a layer of paint. I suspect the Mr. Hobby Aqueous Line may not be as useful for hand painting tiny boys like this, but it's also the set of paints i decided to slowly acquire over multiple years, so it's what i'm using. The Citadel acrylic paints seem to not glob up as much.

MG RB-79 "Ball" Ver. Ka: EFSF Workers

These boys were also among some of my earlier paints in 2023. You can see i globbed up some paint on one of the faces and kinda ruined it. I think the panel lining is mostly okay, but yeah. This kit also didn't have a color guide, so i basically eyeballed the colors. This kit is also one of the ones i have fully disassembled in the process of painting, so the whole build will eventually be its own post too. This thing also has a pilot figurine that lives inside the ball. I took some pictures highlighting the pilot, but i haven't applied decals to the inner ball yet.

However, i did get some duplicates of the standing workers from someone at one of the first build jams i went to! Which i used as an opportunity to just... get more practice, and try to paint these guys again.

Here, i used slightly different shades of yellow and orange. I think the details stand out a lot more. I also used nuln oil here for the shading. I think overall these look a lot better than my first attempt, and i'm rather proud of them. I'll have four workers able to hang out with the Ball once it's completed! This concludes Part 1 of my minis gallery. Continue to Part 2 by Clicking This Link!

[farfromstrange]

Hello everyone,

Putting a read more for those who are not interested and just want to stop scrolling. This is a life update from me to you.

But I’d be happy if you read it because you’ve been a part of my life and this journey into becoming an adult in my early twenties with me and I just want you to know what’s been going on. Don’t worry, it’s not a goodbye.

I’m so sorry for being MIA. Life’s been a mess. But I got the apartment I took a look at last week and I’m about to sign the lease, which means I’m going to move out of my childhood home in the next six weeks. It’s three hours away in a different State, and I’m starting college in October too, so now I have to figure out how to actually be an adult. I need to organize the move, get all the paperwork done and find a job while also figuring out how college is gonna work. I’m a bit stressed and slightly emotional, but I’m hanging in there.

I haven’t had the time to properly write, but I have some drafts I finished before the stress started and I will take some time to reread and maybe post before I disappear from view completely.

I saw how active you all were, interacting with my posts and stories even though I was gone for almost two weeks there and didn’t put anything new out, so thank you all for that. It makes me feel so appreciated, you have no idea. And those who checked up on me, I love you more than I can express.

I just came home from watching Barbie and decided to take some time to go through Tumblr now because I’m a writer Barbie and I can do anything I set my mind to. I’m powerful. I feel like what’s about to come for me is going to change everything, but in a good way, and I can’t wait to finally set a foot out into the real world and just be me. Live life by my own rules, you know. It’s what I’ve wanted for so long. And I can finally do what I want and study what I want. I can do what I’m good at. And I’ll find a way to give writing a bigger role in my life as soon as I’ve moved out because I’ve also dreamed of this day for a long time now, even though it’s still a little scary, but as Taylor Swift once said “You’re on your own, kid. You can face this.” And I strongly believe I can, even while doubting myself sometimes.

Honestly, Barbie was so inspiring to me, someone who’s been told I can’t live my dreams because they’re stupid dreams and I have to be like everyone else, make money without being happy, please my family and everyone around me, and fit into the shoe box, which isn’t true.

This movie healed my inner child and it gave me a good smack over the head. I’m going to struggle before fully realizing that my independent Barbie girl era starts now, but I think I’m ready and I think I can do it well. I hope so. And I can live my dreams. I don’t have to be what everyone else wants me to be. Playing it safe is so boring.

Thank you all!

I love you 🩷

(Also, I’ve packed a few boxes already, and three of them are just books and Funkos. That’s so funny to me. But it’s also kind of hard to say goodbye to this room, you know?)

Next on the list is my wall, and it’s gonna be painful to take it all off and transport it without destroying any of the pictures.

(Thank you to everyone who gave me ideas for prints I can hang in my new apartment, I’ve found a few already.)

Now this is all. Thank you! Sending hugs and kisses your way. I’m gonna try to post something (probably Mikey content because that’s what I’ve got stashed away) tonight or tomorrow, and then I’m gonna get back into writing as soon as I’ve got my life organized.

Yours,

Lizzi 🩷

[thralloftimegaming]

November Gamedev Progress

AHhhhhhh! Another month over!? I have no idea where it went :(

I hope you're all doing great! (Cross posted from Patreon; https://www.patreon.com/posts/74059613 please go there if you want to see all the images without clickign, tumblr doesn’t like the size :’( )

Calander

Changed the total number of Months from 13 to 12, added Seasons which last 3 Months. Seasons have weighted Weather so more Snow in the last one (Winter?), more Rain in the second one! (Spring?). Trying to come up with some other Weather events that wont be too disruptive. It was really foggy a few days ago so now I wanna try and code that X'D

Saving/Loading

This is the big one, what I spent most of this month working on;

I've set up a Save/Load system! I'll slowly give all the different major objects their own part but currently I've got Trees/Grass/Rocks/some system stuff all being recreated correctly in a loaded world!

So in this gif I start a game, save (note the debug come up), quit to title (lacking a title XD), then start a new game; it's a different map! Then I quit again and load the saved world! <3 <3 <3

Got the first batch of Buildings stored! Buildings that Craft Items and those that Convert them all set!

And also Benches and their tops work! This was an extra bit of challenge, since instead of just replacing a Bench with say the Distiller, I update it with a SubType, so I've added a check and a loop to the load code. If it creates a building with a SubType it will do a second go of the Creation code and it gets upgraded to a Distiller!

There's still more to do with the Save system, I've been taking it slow to ensure that I don't mess anything up. Saving the customisation of Buildings that are made out of multiple parts like Houses is gonna be a challenge. I have an idea of how to do it, it's just getting it to work will be a pain.

Also saving the ownership data, say for a Goblin and it's Home/Work, or a Pet and it's Nest. I can't save the object ID between games so I'll have to use the object type and it's coordinates.

LAST MINUTE ADDITION!

Got Buildings Saving their Carpets/Rugs, should be able to store the Wall/Floor colours and Building Part placements (like Beds) the same way! But I am tired, and hungry, so maybe for next months update? :S

Bugs

LOADS of little fixes here and there, such as;

Fixed a bug were Item shadow's were clipping underneath flooring and snow.

Snow and Flooring now use the -bbox_top so they have a lower depth priority, and I added an offset to Item's depth (forgot I had to add it to the bounce code!)

Fixed a bug where Dry Grass wouldn't be recreated when Loading a game.

Fixed a bug where Dry Grass wouldn't spawn on Beaches.

Fixed a bug where loading a game would make fully grown trees sprout a new one each time you loaded.

Fixed Tall Grass not spawning in Swamp Biomes.

Updated the Culling System to properly cull Buildings that are made out of multiple parts, previously it just didn't cull them. Now when the main part gets culled all the other parts get culled into a part list that later gets checked when the master is unculled. Getting this to work with the Save/Load system though is gonna be a PAIN!

Fixed a bug where Houses would move when you saved and loaded :S

Visuals

Set up Flooring to give you a slight visible y offset, so it's like you're actually standing on something higher!

[gif wont post] https://i.imgur.com/87neQlA.mp4

Makes it more distinctive to Paving!

OOoo! This is better!

[gif wont post] https://i.imgur.com/UOUdl8B.gif

Swapped the offset on Paving for one on Flooring, and adjusted the Depth on JUST Flooring, so now you can stand behind the raised floor! :D

Got Snow set up for working on Roofing, noticed some issues with my Roofing autotiling, so I think I need to remake that from scrap. :(

OK! Scrapped that Roofing because the thinner sections were giving me a massive headache trying to autotile. Made a much simpler one which was about all I could draw without tearing my hear out or the mouse out of the computer.

and it also works with snow! https://i.imgur.com/xiVyvDM.mp4

Might need to adjust the height a bit more, so trees and the statue don't clip through?

Adjusted the offset for drawing roofing, and changed the Create/Destroy selector to more accurately show that you are over roofing, looks better to me.

I also extended the height of the extra bit of Roof drawn on lowest so it connects with Walls, I might change that and instead put it as part of the Wall itself so it's like the wall is taller?

Lighting

I keep messing with them, I think this is better? Did some rework with how darkness works and layered up all lights so there's three levels of brightness from each source.

https://i.imgur.com/wFejNV4.mp4

All in all not a bad months work!! XDXDXD

(apparently the feet should be here by the 4th?)

Thanks as always to my supporters and to you all reading this.

I hope you all had a great month, keep being awesome everyone!! <3 <3 <3