#virtues end if

[nemotoself]

You thought you heard the last of me about raffle prizes but guess what, I got another one! 🙆

The very talented artist-faur was so kind to draw Ash, my helvling from the interactive fiction Virtue’s End in a magnificent coat.

Isn't she grand? Not the usual kind of slaying she does...

(the other prize is a writer's snippet, check it out)

[aroaceleovaldez]

the dynamic of demigods thinking which other demigod is the most powerful is always amusing to me because. like, we know the big 3 kids are all the most powerful. That's just a fact of their universe. And then we know nearly every character views Percy as the strongest demigod, and most people are very rightfully intimidated by him.

and you look at the powers of the Big 3 kids and there's Percy, but then you realize Nico is just kind of objectively more powerful than him but simply chooses to hang out in Percy's shadow like he's Percy's scary dog privileges. Like, the two of them are pretty equally capable of causing multiple different apocalypses. Nico just also has like four different instakill powers and it's not like he doesn't use them. He very much uses them! Not infrequently, even! And they don't seem to take a significant amount of energy from him! And other demigods are pretty intimidated by both of them! But Nico makes a conscious point to keep his cards close to his chest and not let on exactly how dangerous and scary he can be if he wants to. People are already scared enough of him without knowing anything about him and he doesn't like that. Percy doesn't think about that nearly as much, and so usually just goes in guns blazing and that's part of why he's considered a wildcard. And then Nico himself puts Percy on a pedestal, so those who do know more about Nico's abilities then presume Nico knows something they don't about Percy that implies Percy is even stronger than him.

And even on a meta level Nico's narrative role requires him to be functionally more powerful than Percy, because he very often serves the purpose of getting Percy out of situations he can't handle on his own. That's just part of his function as a character! But also narratively he can't overshadow Percy so he just takes a backseat of his own accord and that's very amusing to me.

[virtues-end]

✦ virtue’s end — public demo update october 15th 2024

the start (and a whole chunk) of chapter 2! including...

travel to weynvordan, capital of burnesse

spend some time with your (new) companions

pick a pastime

get under shea's skin

have an unexpected meeting with someone from the past

receive your next job at the sanctum

and more....

check below the cut for more notes! and I do recommend restarting the game fully to avoid any errors. hope you all enjoy. :-)

virtue's end is an 18+ interactive dark fantasy novel set in a sunless, medieval world struck by catastrophe. you play as a helvling, a cursed monster hunter with a (barely) suppressed monstrous side, bound to serve a human Keeper as you travel through broken lands teeming with danger.

✦ play virtue's end

update notes:

added a toggle for relationship hints (can be changed in the menu)

added a toggle for explicit scenes (can be changed in the menu)

added relationship icons to the companion page

penrose can now be set to female or male

added convictions to chapter 1

changed the personality stat from 'kind' to 'amiable'

added nokken variation text to elexis' kiss

shea should no longer comment on penrose’s healing if the MC was the one to patch them up

updated the glossary/bestiary

plus a whole bunch of other stuff I probably forgot about!

[bet-on-me-13]

Ghostly Host AU

So! Ghosts need a physical Anchor in the living world, or they are liable to fall apart and fade away if they stay for too long.

In Amity Park, this usually isn't too much of a problem. Sure most Ghosts can't stay for a week without a Host, but the ambient Ecto-Levels in Amity Park are enough that they can stay for a few days or so at a time with little worry.

This changes however, during Reign Storm.

When Pariah Dark awakens, Tens of Thousands of Ghosts use the Fenton Portal to escape the Rule of Pariah Dark, running away into the Human Realm.

If Amity Park had stayed where it was, this would have been fine. They could have stayed in the Living Realm for a few days, and maybe the Weaker ones would need to find a temporary Host, but that was fine since Amity was filled with thousands of Liminals.

Unfortunately, Pariah Darks first move was to suck Amity Park into the Ghost Zone, alongside all of the Ecto-Energy that had accumulated there.

Now left trapped in the Living Realm with no way back to the Zone, thousands of Ghosts suddenly needed Hosts or they would start dying off by the Hundreds. In a Panic, they spread out across the Planet in search of viable Hosts.

Any normal Person wouldn't do, they needed a Living Being that could actually handle their Power, or someone who matched their Soul. Preferably both. Liminals were the best since they had a durable Body and a Malleable Soul, so any Ghost could use any of them as a Host.

But outside of Amity Liminals were very rare, and finding someone who matched their Soul was time-consuming and hard. Thankfully, in recent years the population of Aliens, Metahumans, Enhanced Soldiers, and even extra durable baseline Humans had spiked across the world.

All across the planet, People suddenly found themselves stuck with a new Passenger in their Bodies.

Those new passengers thankfully weren't malicious, for the most part, but it was still annoying. The only good thing was that they now had new Powers, which neat.

They could summon the Ghosts in their Body outwardly, and then command the Ghost to use their Powers in whatever way they wanted. Only other Hosts could see another person's Ghost, which meant they looked very awkward to normal people when they fought. Generally, Hosts seemed to act more strangely after getting a Ghost, as if they lost a few of their Inhibitions.

Why did they feel the sudden need to strike a flamboyant Pose? Or over dramatically scream?

[turtleblogatlast]

Every day I’m haunted by the fact the boys happily swim in sewer water

Even if it’s filtered somehow there’s no way it’s not still nasty 😭 Bet they can defeat any of their villains just by accidentally giving them diseases I swear

[naamahdarling]

Labor, on its own, has no inherent value. The willingness or ability to labor does not translate to virtue. It can confer financial value, since everyone should be compensated for their labor, but it absolutely does not have inherent moral value.

Disabled people are not obligated to perform for you. They are not required, morally, to break themselves in order to earn some sort of personal value and prove their "worth" to society. They do not need to exhaust every possible means of survival to warrant aid, or spend the entirety of their existence pursuing the same amount of production as others even though it takes everything they have and leaves no room for anything else. They are not obligated to push their limits.

If that pisses you off because YOU have to work to the limit, or beyond, your problem is that you are not being paid enough or you are being asked to do the work of more than one person. Not that disabled people get help for "nothing".

You deserve better, too, you lovable dingus! Every single thing that benefits disabled people will benefit you and the ones you love, either immediately, or eventually. All of it!

[the-paris-of-people]

Also it's fucked up to yell at members of marginalized communities for acting within the two party system and not burning it all down when you don't have a plan. People are not your fucking sacrificial lambs to skewer and roast on a stick

[shy-sapphic-ace]

List of queer books I read, loved & recommend!

(There isn't any particular order, I wrote these as I remembered them)

Master Of One - Jaida Jones & Dani Bennett (mlm, fantasy, very cool worldbuilding and magic system, funny, cool characters)

Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree (wlw, fantasy, very soft & chill vibes)

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon (wlw, high fantasy, cool worldbuilding, kinda reminds me of LOTR but with more dragons and feminism and lesbians)

Even Though I Knew The End - C.L. Polk (wlw, supernatural noir, cool 1930s detective story with angels & demons, I loved this one!)

The Love Interest - Cale Dietrich (mlm, science fiction, very cool concept)

The Darkest Part Of The Forest - Holly Black (side mlm, fantasy, cool fae lore)

The Weight Of The Stars - K. Ancrum (wlw, not quite science fiction but space stuff is involved, lovely and complex characters)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz (mlm, fiction, very nice in general, there is also a sequel)

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee (mlm, historical and vaguely fantasy, nice story but I preferred the sequel honestly)

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy - Mackenzi Lee (wlw, the sequel to the one before, more fantasy elements than the first, asexual main character!!)

Gallant - V.E. Schwab (no romance, but in the background one of the characters(?) uses they/them pronouns, very cool dark fantasy vibe)

Stranger Than Fanfiction - Chris Colfer (gay main character, trans main character, coming-of-age, nice book)

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (yes it's the Love, Simon book, mlm, fiction, pretty nice)

They Both Die At The End - Adam Silvera (mlm, sci-fi ish but mostly fiction, cool ideas, but the ending is sad! Very amazing book though, I haven't read the prequel yet)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (wlw, bi main character, historical fiction, cool story, just a neat book in general)

This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (wlw, sci-fi, very cool time travel stuff!! and very beautiful, it felt like reading poetry most of the time)

One Last Stop - Casey McQuinston (wlw, background trans & pan & queer characters, sci-fi or fantasy idk, but time travel, I loooved this book, great)

The House In The Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune (mlm, fantasy, THIS BOOK oh my gosh you should read it!!, just cute and lovely and good)

Under The Whispering Door - TJ Klune (mlm, fantasy, this book is also sooo amazing, great character development and awesome relationships and stuff, it's been a while since I read it but it was so good)

In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Klune (mlm, ace main character!!, sci-fi, now THIS is found family, oughh feelings. argh, tj klune you’ve done it again, a human and his family of funky robots… I love them)

And They Lived... - Steven Salvatore (nblm, fiction, about gender identity and learning to love yourself, read it a while ago but it was very nice)

I Wish You All The Best - Mason Deaver (nblm, fiction, about finding your identity and people who care about you, very cute and sweet)

The Song Of Achilles - Madeleine Miller (mlm, historical, very good in general)

Carry On - Rainbow Rowell (mlm, background wlw in the third book, fantasy, it's a trilogy, basically Harry Potter if it was gay and also better)

Silver In The Wood - Emily Tesh (mlm, fantasy, very pretty, lots of fae stuff and lovely descriptions, it has a really good sequel too)

Pretty much anything by Alice Oseman (all cute and lovely and great, though I've only read Radio Silence so far I hear only good things, Solitaire is on my to-read list)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuinston (wlw, fiction, it's been a while but I liked this book)

The Falling In Love Montage - Ciara Smyth (wlw, fiction, this book was so cute and funny and deeply emotional it made me Feel way too many things, I'd definitely recommend it)

What Big Teeth - Rose Szabo (a bit of queerness all around, fantasy, werewolves and monsters, this one was pretty cool!, lots of original ideas for the world/character building)

His Quiet Agent - Ada Maria Soto (mlm, asexual, fiction, about like spies but this book was so gentle and sweet I wanted to cry in the best way possible)

Some By Virtue Fall - Alexandra Rowland (wlw, historical fiction(?), theatre drama!! rival romance!! duels!!, a very good read in general)

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend - Emma R. Alban (wlw, historical fiction, I’m not usually one for regency romances, but I really liked this!!, very cute and lots of drama, and there’s a sequel coming out soon!)

[ronanlynchbf]

[oatmealcrisp-freak]

"shipping saiki is aphobic because he's aroace!"

stares at you with my demiromantic asexual in a committed relationship eyes then looks at the camera like im in the office

[peacockrulz]

its my birthday i get to decide what ship i post (spoiler alert its VHAD)

(bonus under cut)

its 4am so heres them eeping :3

[virtues-end]

✦ virtue’s end — game update 24 june 2024

word count: ~51k (excl. code)

this update marks the completion of chapter one! 🥳 so far, in this chapter, you can:

learn about the world, and your place in it as a helvling.

establish your relationship with your Keeper, Shea.

fight against a many-limbed helspawn.

save a child (or not).

customise your helvling, including skin, hair, and eye colour, hair texture and length, facial hair, body type, unique features, etc.

spend time with either shea, penrose or elexis. pet a horse, eat some treats, play a card game, or go lick your wounds (or shea's).

the length of your playthrough will vary depending on your choices. please let me know if you come across any continuity errors or other bugs! 💜

virtue's end is an 18+ interactive dark fantasy novel set in a sunless, medieval world struck by catastrophe. you play as a helvling, a cursed monster hunter with a (barely) suppressed monstrous side, bound to serve a human Keeper as you travel through broken lands teeming with danger.

✦ play virtue's end

[harbingersecho]

in-story drawings i love youuuuu anyway shea now why would you draw a lovingly rendered portrait of the helvling and also a sketch of their monster form? 🤨 gay ass.

[hecksupremechips]

Something to be said about how much more fucked up the nonary game that Sigma and Akane made is compared to the one that Akane and Aoi made. Like the experiences of the 999 cast were fucked up and traumatic and they did suffer nine hours all genuinely believing they were on a sinking ship with bombs planted in their bodies, but the game didn’t put them in any actual danger. There were no bombs, they were in a normal building, the nine door was modified to let everyone escape, they were given a car to drive home with. There was the risk of Ace killing them if the wrong path was taken (or clover), but the only actual danger from the game itself was the incinerator and idk the water at the beginning. They were still kidnapped and went through some terrifying shit but measures were taken to make sure they people being used for Zero’s gain would get to return to normalcy afterwards

In vlr though it’s completely different. The threat of penalty is very much real, it’s less of a fucked up death than bombs but it’s still a real thing that will happen if the rules are broken or if someone’s bp is 0. They’re also infected with the deadly disease that caused the literal fucking apocalypse. The number 9 door can be opened by anyone with 9 bp and everyone else will just be trapped for the rest of their lives. But those are all bad ending ass scenarios, everyone can make it out if you get the good ending, right? Except no actually, these bitches are on the moon. Luna and K were specifically made for this purpose. Alice, Clover and Phi have to discover they’ve been trapped in deep sleep for 45 years and are incapable of ever getting their lives back. Tenmyouji and Quark were tricked and have nothing to gain from this experience except for more trauma. Everyone was just a pawn used to make Sigma go create the magical happy timeline that they will never see. They don’t get to return to normalcy, Zero doesn’t give a single shit about what happens to them, they’re just disposable objects. Just termites incapable of understanding the beauty they helped create

[xxplastic-cubexx]

WAIT WAIT WAIT CHERIK MPREG IS CANON

i cannot stress enough how canon cherik mpreg is, yes my friend

[tbcanary]

Lian Harper + her various caretakers in Green Arrow Vol. 7 (2023)

Bonus: