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delphi-dreamin · 2 years ago

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Pact Marks

A/N: Oh my god, y'all. I can't believe this is finally done. I straight up was not having a good time trying for the past like two weeks to finish this chapter! But I kicked my executive dysfunction's ass today and pounded the last bit out! (Pun intended)

Word count: 4.2k (I don't have a favorite or anything...)

NSFW 🔞

Pairing: Lucifer x Delphi

Warnings: breeding(?), fem!MC, biting, so much game dialogue

Please let me know if I need to tag something else! I'm new to this game.

Pt 1: Mammon | Pt 2: Levi | Pt 3: Beel | Pt 4: Asmo

Pt 5: Satan | Pt 6: Belphie

Part 7: Lucifer

Delphi wanders the halls of the House of Lamentation, taking in the warmth of the hardwood beneath her bare feet, the stillness of the air in the deserted corridors, and the weight of hundreds of years of history seeping through the walls. She’ll miss this place when she’s back in the human world. Honestly, she doesn’t want to go back. She went from having a few acquaintances she kept at arm’s length to having a family in just one short year.

She runs her fingertips along the wainscoting in the stairwell, the cool stone as familiar as her own skin now. She looks up at the paintings on the walls with a sad smile; even after a year, she still hasn’t seen them all. The stone beneath her feet sucks the warmth out of her, causing her to shiver. This is why she doesn’t usually take this staircase barefoot, but tonight it was unavoidable.

Making her way to the first floor, she frowns. Music floats through the air from somewhere nearby, but it’s muffled enough that she can’t quite place the melody. At this hour, there’s two rooms in the house it could be coming from. She sets off in the direction of the library, her feet carrying her there without her realizing she’d made a decision as to which room she’d try first.

As she steps inside, she realizes her subconscious was correct. The door to Lucifer’s study is ajar, and the melody she'd heard in the entrance hall is coming from inside. She wants to investigate, to see what exactly the music is, but she realizes as she approaches the door exactly who would be listening to music from the study. Still, her feet carry her almost against her will to the open door, pausing just at the threshold.

“The door’s open,” a deep voice that she knows all too well calls from within.

Delphi enters the study, stopping just inside the door to await further invitation.

“It sounds like quite the party up in the attic,” Lucifer says from one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace. He looks more relaxed than Delphi’s ever seen him, glass of what she can only assume is Demonus in hand, a light pink blush dusting his cheeks.

“And thanks to the fact that everyone else is busy up there,” he continues,” I get to stay here and enjoy my music in peace.”

He gestures for her to come in, so Delphi does, approaching the other chair and leaning on the arm. The melody is gorgeous, a full orchestra lilting and wandering through some far-off land. It seems so familiar.

“What is this you’re listening to?” Delphi asks, still unable to quite place where she knows the music from.

“It’s nice, don’t you think?” Lucifer asks with a rare smile. “This is cursed vinyl edition of The Tale of the Seven Lords soundtrack, which you managed to borrow from Levi for me.”

Delphi nods, understanding now where she’d heard the music before. It had been during her TSL marathon with Mammon that she’d first heard it.

“Is it okay if I listen to it with you?” she asks.

Lucifer smirks. “You already are. But if you mean that you’d like to stay here with me longer, then of course, you’re welcome to.”

Delphi rolls her eyes, but moves around the armchair to sit, curling up with her legs underneath her. She watches the fire crackling away in the fireplace, every now and then popping and throwing embers into the air. As the music washes over her, she finds her mind wandering. It’s her last night in the Devildom. She’d said her goodbyes to everyone, spending as much time with them all individually as she could. All but the eldest. She turns her gaze away from the fire to look at him, only to find his eyes already on her.

“It was in this very room that I selected you for our exchange program,” he muses before taking another sip from his glass. “When I first welcomed you here, I was only doing it for Diavolo. I figured that if you managed to survive a year here without incidents, that was really all I could ask for. And even if things didn’t go as planned, as long as I could keep you from getting eaten by any of the lower-level demons, everything would be all right.”

Delphi turns to him fully, resting her elbows on the arm of the chair and her chin in her hands. She wouldn’t dare say it aloud, but she loves listening to Lucifer talk. When his voice is soft like this, she can almost imagine he actually likes her.

“That’s what I thought,” he chuckles. “But I somehow managed to choose a human who’s such a magnet for trouble that it almost defies belief, wouldn’t you say?”

She feels her face heat up, sure that her cheeks are cherry red. She wasn’t that much of a troublemaker, was she?

“There were times I thought that I’d made a mistake by choosing you.”

“How about now?” Delphi asks, her voice smaller than she’d like. After a year of living with him, surely she shouldn’t be getting this nervous? Her mouth goes dry and her heart pounds in her chest. What would she do if his answer was yes, he did make a mistake by bringing her here? Would it even matter? She’s leaving the next day.

And why does that thought hurt so badly?

“What do you think? I’d say you know the answer.” Lucifer replies with a smirk. He pauses, gazing at the fire. “I made the right choice in selecting you for the program. You’ve kept me quite entertained over the past year. In fact, I think it’s probably the most entertained I’ve been in my whole life.”

“Well, I’m glad I kept you entertained,” Delphi mumbles, attempting to hide her blush in the sleeve of her hoodie. She turns back to the fireplace, hoping that watching the dancing flames will calm her racing heart.

They sit in silence for a while, listening to the crackling flames and the cursed vinyl. Delphi’s racing heart does calm as she watches the flames behind their grate, occasionally spitting sprays of embers into the flue. Eventually, she finds her gaze wandering back to her right, where Lucifer sits observing her.

“So, Delphi,” he begins, standing up to fetch another bottle of Demonus from his impressively full shelf, “have you done all you set out to do here in the Devildom? No unfinished business? No loose ends?”

Delphi swallows hard. This is her chance. She says in as steady a voice as she can muster, “I haven’t made a pact with you, Lucifer.”

He stills, one hand on the bottle he’d chosen. Delphi slowly unfolds herself and rises from her chair, suddenly very aware that this is one of the strongest demons in the Devildom and he doesn’t obey orders from anyone but the demon prince himself. Why would he make a pact with her?

“A pact, you say?” he repeats, voice dangerously low. “I see. You’ve made pacts with all of my brothers, which just leaves me.”

He turns around to face her, eyes glowing red and lips curled in a sadistic smile. Delphi feels like a deer that’s just met face-to-face with the predator that would make it its meal. She’s frozen to the spot as he rounds on her, looking down his perfectly straight nose at her.

“Do you really want to make a pact with me? Truly?” he murmurs, grabbing her chin between his thumb and index finger and forcing her face upwards to look in his eyes. “I don’t know how my brothers felt about making a pact with you, but I am more than a name to be crossed off of your list. I can’t have you lumping me together with everyone else. That won’t do.”

Before she can comprehend what’s happening, her field of vision is completely filled with night-black wings. Something in her abdomen twists seeing Lucifer’s demon form once more, maybe for the last time. She’s always found him dangerously beautiful in this form, even after he tried to kill her twice. Even now, though she can tell he’s trying to intimidate her, she can’t help wanting to stare. Instead she holds his gaze, not even flinching.

“You aren’t going to run?” he asks, eyes wide. “You’ve certainly got guts, don’t you? I’ve always found that aspect of you irritating.”

Delphi’s gaze falls, her heart dropping into her stomach. Irritating.

He takes her chin in his grasp once more, lifting her face up to meet his gaze. With a warm smile, he continues, “But as irritating as it is, it’s even more endearing.”

Her heart skips, heat rising in her cheeks once more. He finds her endearing?

“Now listen, and listen well,” Lucifer says, gripping her chin tighter. “I will not be your possession. I won’t belong to you. You will belong to me.”

Delphi shifts in his grasp, her heart racing and breathing going shallow. With no choice but to stare up into his beautiful ruby eyes, she feels as though she might burst into flames. How long has she been secretly wanting this? To be completely and utterly under the first born’s control? To give herself over to him without reservation and lose herself in him? Her knees go weak at the thought.

“So, what will it be?” he breathes. “Will you make a pact with me, Delphi?”

She takes in a ragged breath and responds, “Yes, Lucifer. I’ll make a pact with you.”

Lucifer smirks, releasing the human from his grasp. “Good. Then it’s done. As of this moment, Delphi, you are mine. I assume that takes care of all your loose ends?”

Delphi shakes her head, saying, “There’s still one more thing I have to do.”

“There is?” Delphi almost giggles at the surprise and confusion written on Lucifer’s face.

She takes a deep breath to steady herself, then grabs the demon by his lapels, pulling him down to press her lips to his. Lucifer briefly stiffens before wrapping his arms around her, holding her close. The kiss only lasts for a moment, soft and chaste, but it’s enough to send her head spinning.

She pulls away, eyes wide and cheeks flushed, covering her mouth with her hand. It’s impossible to decide exactly what she’s feeling. She feels slightly queasy, the dread of realization dropping into her stomach like a sack of rocks. What had she just done?

Her anxiety spiral is cut short as Lucifer cups her cheek in his hand, whispering her name. Then, before she can comprehend what’s happening, he crashes his lips into hers with enough force and ferocity that she feels his fangs cut into her bottom lip. The coppery taste of blood is heavy on her tongue as he parts her lips, his tongue sliding over her own.

Delphi moans into the kiss, reaching up to grab a fistful of his gray-tipped hair. Lucifer responds by picking her up by the backs of her thighs, wrapping her legs around his waist and thrilling in the startled yelp she lets out.

“We’re heading straight to my room,” he growls against her lips. “You’re going to spend your last night in the Devildom there, together with me…all night long, until the break of dawn.”

Delphi whines as he presses hot kisses along her jaw to her ear, warm breath sending shivers down her spine as he hisses into her ear, “I’m not letting anyone else have you now. You’re mine.”

---

As soon as the door to his room is closed, Lucifer has her pinned against it, lips finding hers once more. His gloved hands roam everywhere they can reach, massaging her thighs, gripping her hips under her hoodie, and even sneaking upward to squeeze and massage her breasts, letting out a low growl as she tries to arch into him. Lucifer breaks the kiss to look at her, her pupils blown, cheeks a beautiful dusty rose, and lower lip held firmly between her teeth.

As she catches her breath, Delphi whispers, “Are you going to give me a pact mark?”

“Where would you like it?” Lucifer responds, one arm snaking back under her thighs.

Delphi grins, grabbing his free hand and taking the tip of his middle finger between her teeth. She gently pulls off his red glove, discarding it on the floor. She says, still grinning, “I want to be able to see it every time I look in the mirror.”

The smirk that Lucifer’s lips curl into makes heat pool in her lower abdomen. And a shiver runs down her spine when he asks, “Do you trust me?”

She nods almost too quickly, her heart hammering in anticipation. Exactly how long has she been craving his touch? Since Diavolo’s birthday party? Since the night Belphie broke free? Since the retreat? Or even before? She takes a breath to steady herself, placing her hands on his shoulders.

“Do you have a safe word?” Lucifer brushes a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Delphi’s stomach twists at the gentle gesture.

“Rosebud,” she replies.

The Avatar of Pride nods. “I want you to use it if I’m ever hurting you, if I ever cross a line, if I do anything to make you uncomfortable in the least. Do you understand?”

Delphi nods, not missing the irony of one of the most powerful demons in the Devildom insisting she use her safe word when even her human partners wouldn’t. She finds her voice, whispering, “I understand.”

Lucifer nods, his ruby eyes smoldering. His gaze sends warmth coursing through Delphi’s veins, her cheeks, neck, and ears heating. She feels herself beginning to tremble, the need running through her almost unbearable.

With his bare hand, Lucifer traces down the line of her jaw and the tendons in her neck, fingertips ghosting over her skin to rest over the veins on either side. Delphi lifts her chin ever so slightly, and he presses his palm firmly against the tender skin of her throat, capturing her lips with his at the same time. She moans into his kiss, eyes rolling back as his grip on either side of her neck tightens and she feels her head getting lighter. The searing heat of the pact burning into her skin brings tears to her eyes, but Lucifer’s mouth moving against hers, his tongue parting her lips and exploring every bit of her he can reach, sets her throbbing.

It feels like days before the burning at her throat subsides. When it does, and Lucifer’s grasp on her neck loosens, she lets her head fall against his shoulder, breathing heavily and swallowing hard. “That one hurt,” she rasps.

“And yet, you’re hopelessly aroused,” Lucifer chuckles as she rolls her hips, attempting to gain any friction at all.

Delphi turns toward his neck, pressing a kiss against his pulse. She breathes into his skin, “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”

Before she knows exactly what happened, Delphi is falling into the cloud-like sheets and blankets of Lucifer’s massive bed. She watches in awe as the first born shift back into his more human form, taking off his coat and tossing it onto the nearby sofa, then removing his tie and doing the same. She sits up on her elbows to watch as he reveals his neck and chest, mouth watering with every inch of skin revealed.

“Lucifer…” she breathes. He kneels at the foot of the bed, pressing a kiss to the inside of her ankle. Delphi shivers, goosebumps erupting everywhere his lips touch as he trails kisses up her leg to her inner thigh. He skips over her shorts, kissing and biting his way up her stomach as he slides her top up and off. And then he’s at her neck and her back is arching off the bed, her moans echoing through the quiet room.

He chuckles into her ear, relishing the hitch in her breath and the roll of her hips as he whispers, “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to come to me? How desperately I’ve wanted to hear your beautiful voice moaning my name?”

“Lucifer, please,” Delphi whines, bringing a hand up to fist in his hair.

“Please what, love?” Lucifer taunts, breathing heavily into her ear.

His breath, hot in her ear and fanning to her neck, and the way he called her “love” has Delphi arching into him once more. She moans, “Please touch me, fuck me, something!”

With a growl, the Avatar of Pride yanks her shorts and underwear off, smirking at her yelp of surprise. Looking down at her with a dark grin, Lucifer asks, “So, which is it? Will you be satisfied if I only touch you? Or do you want me to fuck you?"

Squirming under his gaze, Delphi whimpers, “Fuck me, please.”

She watches, squeezing her thighs together, as he undoes his belt. His pants drop and her mouth begins to water. Lucifer's black boxer briefs leave nothing to the imagination. He’s big. Not as big as Beelzebub, but still above average for a demon and massive for a human.

Lord, I don’t normally pray, but you did a fine job making this one, she thinks to herself as he removes his underwear as well.

Spreading her knees apart, Lucifer settles between her legs. He runs his hands up her thighs, watching with amusement as she quivers under his touch, her violet eyes fixed on him. He slips one long finger between her folds, smirking at the sheer amount of slick arousal he finds. He leans over her, bringing his lips to her ear once more and teases, “All of this for me?”

Delphi gasps as he slips a single finger into her warmth, hips jerking up to meet him. It’s good, wonderful even, feeling his slim finger gliding inside of her, his mouth on her neck nipping at the sensitive skin beneath her ear. But it isn’t enough.

“More,” she breathes, gripping his shoulders tightly. She whines as he inserts a second finger, the small increase in friction still not enough. She grinds her hips down on his hand desperately, whimpering, “Not enough-!”

“Tell me what you need, love,” Lucifer murmurs into her collarbone. Finding her clit with his thumb, he rubs circles around the sensitive bundle of nerves.

“I need you,” Delphi mewls. “I need you inside me-!”

Lucifer chuckles darkly, withdrawing his fingers slowly. He lines himself up with her entrance, waiting just long enough for Delphi to whisper, “Don’t be gentle. I can take it.”

Raising an eyebrow, Lucifer asks, “Are you sure?”

Cheeks flushed red and eyes glassy, her lips curling into a mischievous grin, Delphi nods. “I like a little pleasure with my pain.”

“If you insist,” Lucifer replies, lifting one of her legs up over his shoulder.

He lines back up with her entrance, teasing it with the tip of his cock before pushing all the way in. He watches with fascination as her back arches off the bed and she cries out, fisting her hands in the sheets. He pauses for a moment, letting her adjust, before withdrawing nearly all the way and crashing back into her. Each time, she lets out a beautiful half-cry, half-moan, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

He thinks for a moment that he should ask if she’s all right, but before he can, Delphi cries, “Faster!”

With an amused huff, Lucifer obliges.

The sound of skin slapping wetly against skin mixes with the moans and whimpers of pleasure, creating the most beautiful symphony Lucifer thinks he’s ever heard. Beneath him, Delphi reaches behind her to grip the headboard, a string of curses falling from her lips as she does.

“Fuck, Lucifer! Just like that!” she cries. Tension coils within her as her mind goes blank, the only coherent thought running through her head: Lucifer!

She releases her grip on the headboard as he lifts her into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. He holds her tightly, the burn in the backs of her thighs secondary to the heat pulsing through her with every drag of his cock against every sweet spot she has. She’s trembling but holding on for dear life as he continues to pound into her, every thrust winding the coil tighter and tighter until she feels almost like she’ll burst.

“I’m so close-!” she whines gripping him tighter and burying her face in his neck.

Lucifer grins, bringing his lips to her ear and whispering, “Then come for me, darling. Let me feel you.”

As he sinks his teeth into her neck, the coil snaps and Delphi cries out, riding wave after wave of white hot ecstasy as Lucifer continues to thrust into her. She grips him tightly, digging her nails into his back as her hips roll against him and her body shudders.

Lucifer follows shortly behind, filling her with his seed. He captures her lips in a kiss as he gently lays her down on the bed and withdraws from her warmth, swallowing her weak groan from the sudden absence. Breaking the kiss, he carefully removes her legs from his shoulders and watches with a smile and she curls onto her side, looking for all the world like she could be sleeping.

He brushes a strand of hair away from her face, asking, “Are you all right?”

Delphi’s eyes remain closed, but she smiles. “I am amazing,” she replies. “You were amazing. We’re doing that again, right?”

Lucifer chuckles, running a hand up the back of her thigh. “I have all night to savor you, love. We’re nowhere near done.”

---

Dawn comes entirely too quickly.

Delphi never wants to leave Lucifer’s bed. She wants to remain there for the rest of eternity, relishing in the softness of the sheets and the warmth of his wings wrapped around her like a cocoon. She could stay there forever if not for the tiny detail that she’s leaving in just a few short hours.

---

Her new pact mark is impossible to miss, as are the dozens of hickeys dotting her neck, chest, and shoulders. Every demon, angel, and human in the council chamber stares openly as she arrives. She thought she’d be more self-conscious, walking in with most of the evidence of last night on full display. But instead of embarrassment, Delphi feels two pact marks begin to tingle: Lucifer's and Asmo’s.

Just as she’s thinking that maybe she’ll get away without anything being said, she receives a text from Asmo:

Boo 💋

>Delphi dear, kitten, just what exactly were you doing last night?

>That’s a secret, Asmo.

Boo 💋

>Oh, there’s nothing secret about it, hon. The evidence is all over your neck and shoulders.

>Fine, fine.

>When I left the attic last night, I was just gonna get some water. But I heard Lucifer listening to music in his study.

>I found him in his study, we talked a bit, I asked him to make a pact with me, and then things moved to his bedroom.

Boo 💋

>Wait, is that it? That’s all you’re going to tell me?

>You’re so mean, Delphi!!

Delphi chuckles, slipping her D.D.D. into her back pocket. She turns just in time to say goodbye to Simeon, Solomon, and Luke. After giving them each a hug, she watches as each of them walks through the portal Barbatos holds open for them. And then she’s alone with the demons.

Everyone says their goodbyes, Diavolo and Barbatos, then all of the brothers until she’s left with one last demon to say goodbye to.

Lucifer steps in front of her, arms crossed. He gives her a smile and says, “I’ll never forget this year I’ve spent with you. You’ll always be welcome here in the Devildom anytime you’d like to return.”

Tears stinging in her eyes, Delphi throws her arms around his waist and buries her face in his chest. Lucifer freezes for a moment, eyes wide, but relaxes into the hug, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and leaning his head down to her ear.

“When you do visit again,” he murmurs into the shell of her ear, “we’ll have to pick back up where we left off last night. Because there’s still so much you could learn from me, so much I’d like to reveal.”

The shiver that runs through her at his words is absolutely wonderful, leaving her knees weak and her heart racing. She looks up at him, pouting. “Can I have another hour?”

Lucifer releases her, chuckling, “Not today. But one day soon.”

“Yo, Lucifer!” Mammon yells, noticing as Lucifer strokes Delphi’s cheek with his knuckles. “What’s the big deal whisperin’ to Delphi like that, huh?! And back off, you’re too close!”

“It’s time,” Diavolo announces as Barbatos opens up another portal.

Delphi sighs, stepping back from her newest pact mate and toward the portal. She stops just short of the doorway, turning back to wave to everyone. She’ll miss them, but it won’t be forever. She’ll be back.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me lucifer smut #lucifer x oc #lucifer x mc #mc!delphi #y'all this is my biggest project since like 2015 #and i finished it???#what???#so what do i write next??

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yaldev · 4 years ago

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As of today, we’re celebrating: 365 Yaldev posts, 4 years of this nonsense, and being exactly 7 years behind Beeple!

CELEBRATION:

365 posts! That’s one year of Yaldev! Well, if I had been writing one every day, which I absolutely haven’t.

It continues to be the case that looking back on posts even from less than a year ago, I think “man this sucks,” and I either know how to improve it at least a little bit while I’m there, or I can’t stand to even look at it and I just have to escape from it. I don’t feel too much pressure to fix the bad posts at this point; as of today, Yaldev’s been going for exactly four years now (if you skip leap days :thonk:), and in a sense it’s chronicled my progress as a writer during that time. Some entries have been modified since them, some changed entirely except for the name and art chosen. I think it only makes sense that reading through it in storyline order will be like traveling through different points of my creative skill, in much the same way as it means traveling through different points of Beeple’s art quality.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL UPDATES:

People I know in real life are bugging me to start a Patreon. It’d certainly be reasonable to start one now that I’m four years in, but I can’t justify setting one up without:

A more consistent creative output than I’m currently hammering out, so I’m not taking your money for less utility than I’m giving you

Something to offer patrons without compromising the project for non-patrons

Existing interest from some of my audience in throwing cash at me (dance, monkey!)

A possible solution to the first one is setting myself a bar: if I don’t write at least X words by the end of the month, I don’t receive anyone’s money for that month. Hopefully that makes people feel more comfortable backing someone inconsistent, since they’ll still receive their benefits during the down periods but not have to spend anything. For the second, I have ideas for what to offer, but they’d have to be on top of my current output rather than replacing it, so at present I can’t really work ahead on them without detracting from the main project. It’s hard juggling part-time school, full-time job, getting enough sleep, Yaldev, another creative project I have a stronger obligation to, a paper I’m writing for a conference, relaxation, and generic life stuff. That said, I could be happily coerced into making a Yaldev a higher priority if I have a financial obligation to a couple supporters. The real question is whether there’s any interest in that. I worry that when the project has gone on as long as it has, interest actually decreases over time if it’s seen as old news. On the other hand, maybe older followers have a sense of being with me since the early days, like they’re invested in this ride as well. I have little clue.

In any event, if a Patreon goes up, I absolutely won’t be shoving it in people’s faces at every opportunity, since I’m not in a position of financial need and money was never the point of this. The main project would continue to be 100% free, and benefits would only be for additional goodies; nothing you can currently see would be moved behind a paywall.

STATISTICS:

This is the fun part, lads! Get ready for some stats and some commentary!

Total Stories: 365

As should be obvious, all numbers are only for the point at which I'm writing this post. These only include the posts that are canon and which I wrote.

Project Age: 1460 Days

Exactly four years! I think it’s a fun coincidence that it lined up with the 365th entry.

How Long You Have to Wait, on Average, For the Next Post: Approximately 4 Days

My output has slowed down since the last update. Feelsbad, but I don’t hear much complaining and I hope that higher quality makes up for lower quantity. Even still, I’m trying to blitz through my to-do list and speedrun my coursework to make more time for this. I hope to eventually bring that down to 3.5, for an average of two posts per week across the project's history.

Readers Across All Platforms: 536 (107 on Tumblr, 135 on Facebook, 140 on Instagram, 154 on Reddit)

Howdy y'all! Thanks for being here and reading my steadily-improving crap. I really struggle with talking about my creative projects in real life, including Yaldev, primarily out of a self-trained instinct to shut myself up about it on the understanding that nobody cares—especially not other creative types, since we're all too invested in our own creation to pay much attention to others. I've been trying to overcome that, and you're helping me just by being here to read. That tells me there's potential in this and that it's something that at least some people genuinely want to see. Artists shouldn't attach their sense of self to their creations, but I can't help but feel validated through that.

At the same time, I do often fear that mine is the sort of content that just gets a like tossed at it for the pretty visuals on the way down the endless content scroll, without having made a real impression on anyone or created a lasting memory. I'll probably always have that worry, which comes as much from a disdain for general Internet culture as anything else. Late in 2020 I took a step away from social media, and I’ve only partially returned, with the result that scrolling through newsfeeds takes up much less of my time than it used to. Feels good. I’d encourage you to do the same, but then you wouldn’t be seeing my own crap as often. :^)

Stories Per Reader: Approximately 0.68

Makes it sound like a decent growth rate, if on average I'm getting one new follower per story half the time, and two new followers the other half of the time. I guess "good growth rate" is somewhat subjective and depends on your goal, but for me, having a tangible unit of increase for each feels good.

It’s actually a lot more variable than that, of course. Usually a given entry will either attract no new followers because I only put it up in my own spaces, or it’ll draw in a few if I post it to a space for content like mine.

Total Word Count: 89,721

I typically operate under the assumption that most novels are about 75k, while sci-fi and fantasy novels tend to be longer since their authors are physically incapable of shutting up, putting them at around 100k. We’ll definitely reach that, and it probably won’t even take that long.

Average Story Length: Approximately 246 words

The 245-255 range is what feels good to me. Part of Yaldev’s appeal compared to books, in theory, is that if you’re consuming it the normal way, you’re getting it in bite-sized chunks as part of your scrolling experience. So I theoretically prefer to keep them on the short side, even if in practice I actually go ham and write stuff that’s quite long. The average here is really being dragged by 100-word posts previously being a lot more common than they are now.

STORY PLANS GOING FORWARD:

So the most recent entry, Gemstones as Mana Sources, was Beeple’s art from February 15, 2014. Today’s exactly 7 years from then, so I actually have an easy bar now for whether I’m catching up to the dude or not.

When I started this project, I began with his art from July of 2014 and then started moving forward. I got to about September 2015 before I decided that I wanted to go hardcore and go through all his art from the very beginning, at which point I warped back to his art from the very beginning in 2008, and started going through it in chronological order. I think I made that shift back in 2019, and now we’re getting back to the era of his art that I actually started this project with. All of this is to say that soon you’re probably going to notice an uptick in the art quality, either to something new if you’re new, or to what it was like in the Good Ol’ Days™ if you’ve been following this for a long time. As mentioned earlier, I no longer feel super bound to what I’ve written before: I prefer maintaining consistency, but some threads not being tied up and some contradictions are fine. I think the biggest one is that the state of magic’s legality in the Ascended Empire has never been made super clear, but I’m actually okay with that. I know that in the Imperiomancy entry I mentioned how its use by officials varied depending on who held power in government, and magic as a whole could be an even more complex issue that varies by time as well as region. I unironically think that Yaldev is the kind of world that has room for headcanon, so while I’ll try to fix egregious errors, you’re also quite justified in having your own handwaves for my screwups.

I don’t have any updates for any of the storylines really, except for the stuff with Inzohm and the Lone Traveller, for anyone keeping up with that: consider all of it to be in rough-draft at the moment. It’s the kind of long-con story that I really can’t coherently tell the way I do with the rest of Yaldev, so everything I write for it is more like notes that I can later on collect, shuffle, remix and rewrite until it’s semi-coherent. Turns out that Yaldev has helped me develop a number of skills as a writer, but telling better character-driven narratives isn’t one of them—partially because my chosen process, medium and inspiration-artist doesn’t lend itself too well to such stories.

Thanks for being here. What I always wanted as a kid was for other people to be as excited about my worldbuilding as I was, and while I doubt I've hit that extent with Yaldev, I hope my work's had some impact on you, or that it has parts you remember and enjoy. If you have any questions or comments you’ve been too shy to put elsewhere, feel free to drop them here! If not, just stick around and I’ll see you again at post number 400!

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yoongishandholder · 7 years ago

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IDKHBTFM is more than a band to Dallon (a conspiracy theory)

This is a more comprehensible format of the theory I posted a few days ago. It's a bit of an odd theory but it's my personal favorite. (!!! I didn't come up with this; @/wethervanes on Twitter did) Let's do this. •Okay. So, we all know Dallon's been doing some things outside of Panic!, right? (idkhbtfm) That's what this theory is about, so buckle up bc it's wild. Also, forgive me for randomly jumping around in this. I usually lose points on my essays for subpar topic organization. •So, it's kind of odd that Dallon always denies that he went to Emo Nite, and even denies IDK's existence. (ex: "that's not me", "i don't know what you're talking about", etc. you've seen the screenshots.) •Relevant sidenote: Both Dallon and Breezy have tweeted about IDK as far back as 2009. A lot of artists plan out/tease "eras" ahead of time, like how Halsey was posting about HFK in 2015, but it was released this year. •Different, but still relevant, sidenote: Dallon has said that after the Brobecks "plateaued", Panic! was the last thing he'd pursue in music, because he wasn't going as far as he (deserved) needed to and it was hurting him & his family. This was also around 2009. (gasp !!!) •This is the part where the two sidenotes become something of a keynote (bigger gasp !!!) : if he had been planning IDK since 2009, he probably planned on pursuing it anyway, right? So, why is this all happening now? Pun fully intended, idk, but there are some ideas. (!!!) •Y'all know Dallon's being really weird when it comes to IDK, and he's denying everything that has anything to do with it. The show on the 12th, Emo Nite/what he wore at Emo Nite, new music, etc. •Obviously, he knows. It's his own damn project. He can't be clueless as to what's going on. So, why does he act like it's not him? Aunty Beth's got an answer for you !!! •Maybe, IDK is just something he doesn't wanna acknowledge. And by IDK, I don't mean the band (biggest gasp !!!) (fr follow me here) because Breezy has tweeted about IDK, so she knows about it (although even if she hadn't tweeted about it she's probably know bc like,,, that's her husband but anyway). And Ryan Seaman obviously knows about it, because he's in IDK, and had "I don't know how, but they found me" as his bio on Instagram & Twitter and stuff like that. •There's allegedly an empty Soundcloud under IDK's name, which, obviously, would be used for music. If it's up now, that means there's probably something coming soon. (Also there's that video Dallon posted but that wasn't a thing at the time this theory was created so it's irrelevant to this) •There's also the small pieces of IDK songs we've heard. There's a particular chunk that has people a little confused. •"Stop, drop, drag me into place/Block (lock? idrk man) your fire escapes/I'll break your fucking face" -That's pretty violent, obviously. •So, what if IDK isn't a band? What if it's a character, a manifestation off all of the violent things Dallon thinks about ?(pun intended part 2) •A lot of artists have personas/characters onstage and in their music. Melanie Martinez has Crybaby, Twenty One Pilots have [had (rip)] Blurryface, Beyoncé has Sasha Fierce (had? is she still doing Sasha Fierce?) etc. •So, what if that's what IDK is? •We know that Dallon usually only swears (irrelevant sidenote: do y'all say curses or swears?) when he's angry. In songs, sure, he's sworn a few times, but usually he's a very proper, generally inoffensive guy. •He's had violent lyrics before (Goodnight Socialite, Small Cuts, etc. The man has an album called "Violent Things".) •So basically, what if IDK is a character he uses to manifest all the bad shit he feels? Almost like a coping method for the violent, angry feelings most people hide? •That's why he "forgets" everything IDK does, and sweeps them under the rug. We all try to forget when we say or do something uncharacteristic of ourselves,!right? •So, maybe IDK is the part of Dallon that no one "gets", because it's so complex and unlike himself. The side of him that's angry and improper, unlike the chill, collected guy he generally is. •IDK is his bad thoughts, the regrettable things he's done, said, thought, etc. It's his outlet for the negative things he feels. It's an alter ego, for lack of a better term, that's been growing for years, and he chooses to manifest it in music, because he can't just do the shit he's singing about. He wants to be blocking fire escapes and breaking faces. That's Not Good™. •Therefore, Dallon hides IDK as much as possible. He denies all of the pictures and videos because he doesn't want people to know. He doesn't want to be Exposed. So, when Dallon's denying the silver jacket, he knows about it, he just doesn't want us to. ((again: this isn't my original theory !! it's the brainchild of actual genius, @/wethervanes on Twitter !!!))

#idk #idkhbtfm #I don't know how but they found me #dallon #Dallon Weekes #Ryan Seaman #lomls

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