#AND THEN i was like 'i could start doing different stories per chapter like game of thrones does (i think - never acc read it lol)

[anim-ttrpgs]

Wait does Eureka have its own established lore for how different supernatural creatures work?

Yes, it does!

(I’m going to preface this post by saying that just about everything I’m talking about here, and more, is available FOR FREE for you to read in the free pre-release version of the Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy rulebook that you can download from our website. Go to Chapter 8 to start reading about the supernatural lore. The rulebook itself will do a lot better job of explaining all this than I will, because it has the exact details of how each one works, and I’m just hitting the highlights and going over what those details mean.)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is a game about very human and believable investigators digging into dangerous (often supernatural) mysteries way over their heads, and sometimes those very human and believable investigators will be supernatural creatures themselves.

These supernatural creatures are every bit as human and “normal” as their mundane investigators counterparts, they have jobs, friends, families, hobbies, etc. They live among mundane society, not outside of it.

Most modern fantasy settings have some kind of separation between normal society and magical society, like you see in Harry Potter where there is normal society, and then a separate, secret magical society hidden away from it, or Vampire: The Masquerade, where vampires all have an agreement to keep themselves a secret from normal society despite acting within it.

In Eureka’s world, there is no “masquerade,” but that doesn’t mean that magic and monsters are well-known and well-documented phenomenons. Supernatural creatures such as vampires, wolfmen, etc. are exceptionally rare. Don’t take this as an exact number, but you can probably assume there’s about one of these per every 3.3 million normal people.

This rarity, as well as the fact that each individual has little to gain and everything to lose by revealing themselves (try “coming out” as a person who regularly assaults people and drains their blood), has led to them going largely undocumented in the modern day. Sure, this is the digital age, there are videos, but viral videos are not exactly scientific evidence. For every real vampire caught on camera, there are a thousand hoaxes and horror short films.

There is no secret vampire government controlling things from the shadows—most vampires don’t even know any other vampires, let alone enough to form a secret society with any effect on national politics.

As for how they work, well, that’s one of my favorite parts to talk about.

There are five playable monster types in Eureka (The Vampire, The Wolfman, The Fairy, The Witch, and The Thing From Beyond) plus two extras that are Kickstarter stretch goals (The Dullahan and The Gorgon), but in the interest of time, I’m only going to really go into detail with one of them.

Most playable monster types in Eureka are very, very old-school, with an emphasis on actual historical folklore over just making up all our own lore. That doesn’t mean Eureka doesn’t have a unique approach to the supernatural, though. Little of it is “new,” but it is certainly unique, because to my knowledge no other RPG has ever taken the old stuff this far before. A PC being a monster in Eureka isn’t just a few +1s here and there and maybe a little extra damage from silver weapons, it means playing by an entirely different set of rules from fellow investigators.

The vampires and vampire lore you see in movies are not folkloric vampires, they are mostly a 20th and 21st century pop-culture creation. Eureka’s vampire abilities, weaknesses, and other traits are based on pre-1900 vampire legends, with older traits usually taking precedent over newer ones. Thus, a lot of assumptions you might have about vampires going in could end up being very wrong. For instance, in movies, vampires instantly die when exposed to sunlight, but the first ever instance of a vampire in a story being killed by sunlight was in the 1922 film Nosferatu. In Eureka, sunlight is still awful for vampires, it strips them of their vampiric powers, but it doesn’t do any real damage to them. Sunlight is an issue vampires have to deal with, but it is far from instant death. That doesn’t mean being a vampire is inherently easy though, because in addition to having all the powers that folkloric vampires have (which is a TON), they also have all the weaknesses, and it is the emphasis on weaknesses that really makes the moment-to-moment playing of a monster PC in Eureka the most interesting. A few of my favorites for vampires are the refusal to enter homes without a direct invitation, and the compulsion to count large numbers of small objects. I think most vampire media these days considers these to be “silly” weaknesses and don’t want to acknowledge them in the lore of their “serious” scary horror vampires, but honestly I think that the “sillier” vampire stuff can still be used to great effect in horror. Imagine knowing that the only reason a vicious killer at your door hasn’t stormed in to rip your throat out is because they’re being polite.

A vampiric investigator will need to work around these weaknesses, and more, in their daily life, all while being sure not to reveal their true nature to their more mortal friends. It’s something that really changes how a character behaves and goes about problem-solving.

For instance, the rest of the party may be able to break into a house no-problem, but the vampire cannot. They need a invitation. That’s a problem. That’s a puzzle. It makes me excited just thinking about it.

This was originally going to be a much longer post where I went into more of the themes of monsters in Eureka, but I have decided that that would be most cohesive as its own post, an upcoming essay titled "How Eureka Handles Disability." So stay tuned for that.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

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

#eureka: investigative urban fantasy #ttrpg #rpg #roleplaying #eureka #monsters #tabletop #coc #vampires #vampire the requiem #vampire #vampire core #vampiric #vampire art #vampire girl #vampirism #vampiress #ttrpg art #ttrpg community #ttrpg tumblr #indie ttrpg #ttrpg character #dungeons and dragons #roleplaying games #pathfinder #werewolf #werewolves #lycan #shapeshifter #lycanthropy

[barcalover86]

The unheard story.

A never-ending friendship.

Chapter One

"Sweet 18, love!" your mom smiled at you seeing the clock hitting midnight.

"Thank you."

You went to hug your parents and little sister tight, feeling more emotional than you would have wanted to.

You couldn't lie, you were scared.. really scared to turn this age. It wasn't much different than 5 minutes ago when you were still 17, but it felt like right now it was more pressure on your shoulders.

You weren't a kid anymore.

You are now an adult who has to manage things on her own and be able to overcome any challenge life will subject you to.

You were an independent girl even since you were little, so having to do things alone wasn't a big problem for you. It's just the pressure to disappoint your family that affects you badly.

On the other side, turning 18 had its goods.

Tomorrow you'll travel with your best friend, Bia, to your most beloved city. Barcelona.

Since you were kids, you two were big fans of football, going to every game you could attend to. Of course, it wasn't the same to be on a small stadion like the one from your town, or to be on Camp Nou.

You could imagine how much of a big difference it would be.

And you couldn't be more excited that now you will be able to make a dream come true. Just like you and Bia planed for years.

Travelling to Barcelona.. just the two of you.

..................................................................................

You absolutely hated to wake up early in the morning, especially when last night you didn't have a great sleep.

All kinds of nerves were starting to be fueled in your body because of how nervous you were.

But before you entered the plane, you promised yourself that this journey would have to be memorable.

"Are you ready to begin a new chapter, birthday girl?" Bia asked you with the biggest smile on her face.

"I think I am." you replied, taking her hand in yours.

Now.. let's be for real. Summer in Barcelona doesn't sound that bad. Right?

..................................................................................

The day you arrived in Spain was a really hot one, so you couldn't do much, but to stay inside your hotel room until the night will come.

Now come one, you expected to have a hot summer in Barcelona, but you didn't imagine that 45° C were even possible.

And of course, you didn't check the weather before. You always forget to do that.

You were chatting in your hotel room until you started to be hungry. You couldn't eat in the building, because you decided to book something that had no lunch, so that you could enjoy your visiting more, but now all you could do was go outside to grab something, because you were starving.

After minutes of choosing an outfit, you and Bia arrived into the new world.

A lot of people were walking outside like the weather was perfect, and you were so shocked by that. They must really hate cold, then.

After walking for some minutes, you decided to go to a terrace to eat a pizza.

"So, it's still available that tomorrow we go watch the game?" Bia asked you, and you instantly nodded.

"Where do you want to book the tickets? Sector A, or no. I've heard that many people recommend Sector H."

"Bia.. what about we go to the VIP Section?"

"What? Do you know how expansive it is? 1200-1300 euros per person! We will go outside of our budget, y/n!"

You look down.

"Look, it's our first game at Camp Nou. Let's make it special. Money come and go, but experiencing a Barca game for the first time right at the vip section is unforgettable. We'll manage to get the money back, but please, Bia.."

She thinks for a second, before she agrees.

"Ok, maybe you're right."

"Thank you!!" you hugged her, being really excited. "You won't regret it."

..................................................................................

The day has come, and even if there were 7 more hours until the game begins, you two started to get ready.

Taking a shower, doing your hair and makeup, and, of course, choosing the best outfit.

You didn't have an original Barca jersey, but when you were 15, your best friend made two white hoodies with a big Barca sign on its left.

Maybe it was cheap, but you loved it!

So, as an outfit, you chose the hoodie, with nothing underneath because it was really hot outside, and some black jeans.

As shoose, your favourite white nikes.

With a simple makeup and your natural straight hair, you were ready to attempt the game.

"I'm so excited, you have no idea."

"Me too, I can't believe that- wait."

She looks at you confused.

"What?"

"If we're standing at the vip section, it means that cameras will also be on us."

"Oh. We'll be famous then!" Bia laughs.

..................................................................................

Everyone was pushing everyone, and it was really hard to walk through the crowd, so you had to take your best friend's hand so you could stay together.

As a vip culer, you could enter camp nou more easily, but of course, you had to take a lot of pictures, especially since the sunset was luminating your faces so well. You were truly beautiful.

When you stepped into the stadium.. man.. it was more beautiful than you ever dreamed of.

"Bia, we have to take a lot of photos!!!! It's so pretty out here!"

Your best friend was out of words. Finally, you got to see Barca play live together. It was all you ever wished for.

You were so happy that you started to jump around and to sing the anthem, without realising that the players were coming to warm up already.

All of them looked at how happy you were, and even some of them chuckled at your excitement.

"We have to enjoy our time here, y/n. Who knows when we'll be here again."

You started to laugh hard at how silly you two were acting.

"Look, that's Fermin!!!! Sexy boy!"

"Shhh, someone might hear you, Bia!!"

"Who cares??"

"Me?? You're embarrassing ourselves!" you started to laugh again.

"Look, y/n!! Your boy, Gavi." she said like she didn't listen to me at all.

"Where?"

"Right next to Lewandowski, at his right. He has the ball on his head."

You look carefully, searching for the footballers, and when you see Pablo Gavi, you immediately blush.

"Look who's got all red." she started to tease you, which she loved to do so.

When the players went off the field, you looked at Gavi to see that he was having some nerves.

When they came back 5 minutes later, you shouted loudly, "Good luck, boys. I know you can do it!"

Every player looked up to see you, and they all smiled at you and some of them like Balde and Araujo, even waved at you.

But your eyes were only fixed on Gavi's. And not to be delusional, but you kinda saw that he smiled at you.

The game versus Mallorca began and you all sat down to watch the boys play.

The atmosphere was purely amazing, and you felt like you belonged there. People cheering on Barca affected your mood a lot, and you started to feel much better and alive.

At first, you thought that Mallorca wasn't a big 'enemy' for Barcelona, but the game was so intense that you just couldn't get bored.

A lot of yellow cards were given to players from both teams, and even a player from Mallorca got a red one.

It was minute 90+3 when Cancelo scored the winning goal, and everyone was standing up, shouting happily.

"No way, I love you, Cancelo!!! My boyyy!" Bia started to laugh hard.

Oh, how happy everyone was.

In the end, the anthem began again, and now you started to sing like it was no tomorrow.

The players came close to you to sign people's jearsies and to take as well some photos for the fans.

"C'mon, let's go, y/n. I want a picture with Fermin too."

You laughed, but inside, you felt really nervous.

When Lewandowski came to you two, he smiled and took a picture.

"Thank you so much. Congratulations on the win." Bia said.

"Thank you for being here, culers. Do you want me to sign something for you? A jersey?"

"We don't have a jersey, but thank you." Bia also replied, because you were really shy now.

Lewa took his off and gave it to your best friend, which she happily accepted, before he asked for Gavi.

"Gavi, come here quick."

After signing some last shirts, the boy came to where you were standing, confused.

"Do you want a photo? Let me finish there first and I'll come, ok?"

"No, no, Gavi. Can you please give this girl your jersey. She doesn't have one, and I already gifted mine."

He looks at you and smiled.

"What's your name?"

"Y/n."

"Ok, y/n. I remember you from the beginning of the game when you wished us good luck, so I hope this will also bring you luck." he said before taking his jersey off to give it to you.

You couldn't not stare at his beautiful body, and he saw that, asking you if you wanna take a photo together.

After you three took it, he signed his jersey, before freezing.

"Oh, wait. You'll have to wash it because it's all sweaty so I can't sign it for you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's ok."

"No, no. The next game will be on Wednesday. Wash it, and we'll meet here so that I can sign it for you. I'm suspended because of my yellow card today, so I will be just here. Is it ok for you?" he asked.

"Yes, it's ok." you replied too quick and he went back to sign some other shirts.

"Y/n!! Look, I'm really happy that you got his jersey, but we don't have the money to come here next game too!"

Bia was really frustrated, and you understood her. But it was your chance to talk again with Gavi.

"I know, Bia, but please! Just this time, and then we'll get the cheapest tickets after."

"Y/n, with this vip ticket we already spend the money for 1 week!"

"I am capable of no eating for 4 days.. please.."

She takes a second before she replies.

"Just because I love you."

You smile and hug her.

"Thank you so much, Bia. It means the world to me!"

#fc barca #fc barcelona #football #pablo gavi #pablo gavira #pablo martín páez gavira #gavi #gavi imagine #gavi x reader #gavi x yn #gavi x you #pablo gavi x reader #pablo gavi imagine #boy pablo #pablo gavi x y/n #pablo gavi x you

[thesamoanqueen]

Blackwater XVI

Raiting: 18+

Warnings: drama cause this story would be nothing without it

A/N: first chapter of the year and we're getting close to the end, so I've left a few little hints here and there

A couple of years ago him and Jey had bought a house by pooling their savings. It was one of those semi-detached houses sell for a few bucks, with few rooms and zero comforts, covered in faded wood slats, paper-thin walls and a single walled backyard without green. For them it had been a victory, they had a party too, one of those goals that their parents had dreamed of achieving for years when they were in their place. Jey had already started a family, Roman was trying to do the same with different results, but he had thought to be happy at that time. Struggling night and day to fill the fridge, he sold himself to the highest bidder, aiming to move forward at any cost, with his head down, without asking questions, open ears, so they had taught him and his cousin did the same. When they weren't working outside the city, they sat in the backyard together, on too small chairs ruined by the sun, telling how it was going and how long it took to reach the top.

They had carried on like dogs, for years, until Roman had realized that the pats on the head he kept down weren't enough to fill a wolf. Their paths had not always been side by side beyond the backyard of that house, life had pushed him with other challenges, other trials, disappointments, pain, lessons. What had happened next, what had led them to bite each other's throats and then be together and separate again, had been the result of all of that.

That warmth in the bottom of his stomach Roman had felt it again, months and months before, the illusion of being happy with little things in another backyard - his - in another house - his - and just as it had happened then, it was gone. He was not meant to live like that.

We eat first. It's all ours. The beginning and the end.

Sitting at the head of the table, with Y/N beside him finishing her breakfast, he stared at the plates still full, enough to feed an entire family, at the padded chairs just waiting to be occupied by someone of their blood, the well-kept backyard where not a single blade of grass grew out of place.

- How you feelin- sitting to his left, the wiseman asked in an attempt at conversation, but it was enough for Roman to put down the coffee he was holding in his hand to silence him.

He was fine, he had recovered his strength, there was nothing wrong. It had been enough sleep next to his mate to restore order in his life and home, to regain full control. He had lost yes, but it hadn't depended on him, it hadn't been a weakness of his and whoever was no longer sitting at his table was a loss he could afford. He had everything needed and more, he was still the undisputed alpha. The attack he had suffered had not left a scratch on him and would have been forgotten. He still had everything he needed to avoid falling back into that misery.

Y/N on his right, took a sip of her smoothie, her sharp eyes focused on Heyman who was already arranging his tie to give himself a tone.

- While you were taking your well-deserved break, my tribal chief, I figured you still wanted to know how business is going and I checked on our members personally for you. A couple of them had heard some silly rumours, some really bad ideas that sleep or a heart attack should have taken out of their heads if you ask me – bad ideas, rumours, opinions, just hearing those words was ruining his breakfast.

Impatient, he dropped the fork onto his plate of eggs and the wise man fell silent for a second, his eyes scanning him as the smell of anxiety increased.

- I made it clear... that they cannot change partners if they don't want to pay for the exit, as per the initial stable agreements. Someone has persisted in starting some… incorrect practices, they are finding allies, but we can appeal, extort what is owed. They're playing a game beyond their capabilities, they don't know how it works – he tried again, making his lip twitch.

Allies, partners, power games. He knew his opponents, men who pretended to be alphas and who he had kicked one after the other, exposing them for the nobodies they were. Now they were running their mouths, they plotted, raising their heads again and showing their dog teeth trying to scare him. He knew what they had in mind, he knew who would try to step forward and who was working to ruin what he had built to take his place or presume justice. The previous night had been a gift for them, the moment they had been waiting for to step forward.

- And even though the border has been temporarily moved a little further south, I have already made it clear that we officially have the right to-

My packland.

- How far south? – he stopped him, his attention suddenly high and focused on him.

He heard the wiseman swallow, trying to take time now that it was too late to take back his words, his eyes fixed on his figure like a prey that feels is being hunted. A moment of silence and then the voice that came out already in pain.

- The border state – he admitted with a grimace and Roman couldn't help the tic that made his head bob – we-we can negotiate though, I'll point out that there has been some interference and that it's clearly not done, they won't take real calls if-

Cutting out whatever the wiseman was raving about, he clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, his lip curling in annoyance, a growl in his throat growing menacing.

Our home. They are close.

He still had his land, the one he had conquered, but the stain with which they had soiled him was spreading, threatening even what he could not afford to lose. He could do without some north land that he wouldn't have taken advantage of in any case, remote areas that he had never visited, that had never interested him. It was a loss he shouldn't have suffered, but he could bear it. What he couldn't tolerate was everything else, because the state border was south, too south for his liking and there were only two people, out of all the dogs that would be around his neck, who deserved to be blamed for that public execution.

- My cousins. Where are them? – he asked in a low growl and felt Y/N's eyes immediately on him, in silence.

- My Tribal chief -

- I asked you where are em, answer me – he snapped and so did her hand, invisible, under the table, resting on his thigh as if wanting to keep him anchored to the ground, blocked from smashing everything and exploding.

Heyman swallowed heavily, his attention now for a second on Y/N as if looking for an ally and Roman physically felt his eyes on her, immediately lifting his head to glare at him and make him press against the chair in a futile attempt to escape his fury.

- They came back with us yesterday morning, someone saw them on secondary roads to the west. I don't know where they are now, I've tried to contact them several times, still no answer... I'm sorry... - he said and Roman smelled what he too had felt in the bottom of his stomach the entire night, turning over in Y/N's arms: grief.

They had hit him from behind once more, using informations he had given them with trust, to get around him and go around his territory undisturbed. They knew everything, they had access to everything, there were only a few things that Roman had cut them off from in those years of success, the rest had always been there, served on a silver platter at their disposal. In the last period he had closed some doors, not given too many privileges, but there was no inch of that land where they had not spoken for him at least once or acted in his name. They could do anything, go where no other enemy could without attracting attention and this put him on the defensive more than he could tolerate. They were a danger on the loose and Roman couldn't allow them to keep doing what they wanted, how and when they wanted if he didn't want to find himself in an even worse situation than now.

They're our shadows.

He wasn't dumb to hope to physically block them from doing more or wandering around, he had once again shared the backyard and his land had been their home for too long, but he could find a way to remind them who owned the empire on which them and their families walked.

- Stop looking for them – he ordered seriously, his hand tightened around Y/N's now.

- My Tribal chief? – the wiseman whispered uncertainly, his expression at least as confused as Y/N’s.

His wiseman was right, anyone who tried to go against him made the same mistake: they were playing a game beyond their capabilities. For Roman it had never been just a game, everything for him had always been personal, inevitable, necessary. Those two, Jey especially as his right-hand man – and brother – knew everything about him, but he also knew everything about them and it wasn't what they knew about each other that would make the difference in the war they had threatened to wage against him. It was how they would use it and he had always been better at hitting to make his mark.

- Cut them out. From everything. All of em. The Bloodline is no longer their business – he announced without regrets, intending to finish his breakfast in peace.

They had decided to stab him and leave him after his attempt to fix the mess they had made. Now they would have to deal with it on their own, them and their families, filling the empty tables and starting to pay again for the air they breathed, everyone, from first to last without exception.

Starve them.

***

Y/N had seen him arrive from afar after hours, with his hands hidden in his pockets and that typical heavy gait. She had had the impression of watching a kid coming back home after a bad day and had stayed on the threshold of the entrance, waiting for him. Solo was not a kid, Roman and Paul called him the enforcer for good reasons, but the omega part of her, empathetic and protective, that sometimes couldn't stay in its place, had taken control of her that time. By tenaciously refusing, she ended up occupying that role within the new family, as if it had always been hers, as if she had always had it in her blood. She wasn't so sure if there was still a family anymore, but whatever shape it had now or how many people it was made up of, Y/N couldn't move from the entrance.

Solo opened and closed the door in silence, his head low, eyes resting on her only for a moment to acknowledge she was there, before walking straight on, slouching with his shoulders down. His round face, usually threatening, was swollen and his forehead marked by the thoughts that crowded his mind.

- Solo – she called him and even if he gave no sign of having heard, Y/N knew that it wasn't like that – it wasn't necessary for you to come – she pointed out, trying to say more, to make him understand and his voice came out quick, refusing.

-It's up to me – he announced seriously, heavy, time necessary to allow Roman to call him from outside after smelling him.

Y/N saw him staying there just for a minute before disappearing outside without further explanation and joining the empty table where Roman insisted on planning in Paul's company. From afar, she observed them together, in that new strange rigid balance and let herself breathe heavily.

Roman was ready to move on and Y/N knew that he would do everything in his power – and it was a lot – to regain control, but she wasn't so sure that that kind of approach was right. After what had happened to her as a child, she too had left everything behind able to move forward, until he made her understand that no matter what she thought, something would always be missing without a family with her.

That thought made her suddenly turn to go upstairs and try to do something, even if Roman didn't want to, even if he made her promise to let it go. She had avoided talking to Naomi after those messages, but it was time to do so, because she was perhaps the only one who in some way could understand and maybe help her. She could make Roman reason, she had already done it once, but if she needed to do it one more time she would have needed something more on her pocket and having someone willing to help ease the tension on the other side would have been useful. When she finally called her, she waited a couple of minute, but the chaos that reached her after waiting left no doubt. She knew that chaos.

- Y/N! How you doing? Ya good? – she asked immediately and as soon as she did so there was silence.

Her voice was a little too loud, a sign that she was probably joining that chaos before, but the apprehension inside made her realize that she wasn't the only one in that state of mind.

- I've had better days, it doesn't matter, im good.

- I'm sorry Y/N… believe me, im so sorry – she heard her admit too seriously and Y/N nodded even though she couldn't see it.

Naomi was the friend and sister she never had growing up, as were the twins. The bond they had made was a kind of connection that Y/N had discovered without looking for it, it had been natural, simple and now she had the impression of feeling it tremble for a stupid piece of land that had no value for her.

- I know, but it will be better when things calm down. That's why I called Nao - she said, hoping to hear from the other side the same intentions she had.

Naomi didn't answer, not right away, at least not to her, because Y/N clearly heard someone else making noise and her moving to silence him, before talking in a completely different tone.

- Listen... the boys want me to talk you, they say I have to make you reason about things before it's too late, explain to you how things are rightnow... - Did they want to make her reason about things? – I won't do it though, it's not on me. I just want you to know that even though it may seem that way there, it doesn't have to be like this, you don't have to end up in the middle. You don't deserve this, not after what you've already been through.

She hadn't expected to hear that when she decided to call Nao. They wanted to make her reason? What did they mean by not wanting her to end up in the middle with everything?! They were all in the middle, it was a family business, they had told her to the point of exhaustion what they were, for months, when she was still struggling to get used to Roman and now they wanted to keep her out? She was the only one who would listen to them, the only one who would defend them despite what had happened, but suddenly they kept their guard up, they didn't even try to explain to her why they acted the way they did and Naomi refused too. Did they just want her out or what?

- And what im suppose to do? Should I sit back and watch how will it end? – she asked in disbelief, confusion slowly turning into tension along her spine.

How could they have thought of suggesting something like that to her?

- It's this reaction that I worry about. None of us are asking you to choose and act, I'm just saying that we don't want this kind of pressure on you. Me, Jimmy and Jey, Im sure that no matter what, Roman also doesn't want to put you in such a bad position.

A noise, loud, like a sarcastic laugh, from the other side reached her despite everything and Y/N imperceptibly tightened her grip on her phone, trying to ignore that just mentioning him was enough to provoke them.

- A good way would be to resolve and make things the way they were, for everyone. It's not late if the guys- she tried, but Naomi stopped her before she could even try.

- We all hoped it would go differently Y/N. We all wanted things to change. It didn't happen and I'm not going to start talking about what has to be done or what will happen like Jimmy wants too, sorry, that's out of the question, I'm worrying about you and that you're there alone with him hearing all those stories.

Mate!

- What? – she snapped, her gaze suddenly directed at the wall as if she was in front of her.

Her she-wolf reacted even before her head, high attention, tense body.

Naomi wasn't the kind of person who ran her mouth about anything, she always said what she meant and what she was saying at that moment Y/N didn't like it at all. She herself had told Y/N almost a year earlier that she had to see beyond, that she had to give Roman an opportunity and she had seen beyond, she had tried hard and was doing so even at that moment. She was trying hard to understand and sort things out for everyone despite everything, but as things were at that moment, it seemed like she was really the only one who wanted it and she wasn't willing to hear unhappy hypotheses about what she was being told when just the day before she was kneeling to wipe blood from her mate’s body.

- I just want to make sure you're okay and you don't get any bad ideas, I love you – she listened to her add after a few moments, as if she had given her time to cool down knowing and Y/N closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.

She believed in Naomi's good intentions, however she didn't want to upset her, they didn't want her to end up in the middle, but it was her who put Roman back on his feet after they had knocked him down, her who listened to him struggle to fall asleep with his arms almost crushing her, her who tried to keep them together despite their hard heads refused.

- I love you too, but I'm good like this. I’ll be okay. Thanks for checking on me. Give a kiss to the guys.

She hung up before hearing her answer, putting the phone away with the real intention of not using it again for who knows how long. With her head resting against the wall, hands frozen and an unpleasant shiver down her spine, she realized that it was becoming too much, too quickly and her eyes instinctively shot towards the walk-in closet where, lost in a corner, she had hidden the suitcase she had arrived with there in Florida. Roman hated seeing it and would have hated it twice as much if he had known she still had the suppressants inside, but she needed to be clear-headed, now more than ever.

***

Someone else in his place would have stayed in their own home, safe, away from prying eyes and the dangers that rumors can create. In other circumstances he would have done it too, because now he had a very valid reason to stay within the walls of his house. It had no longer attracted him for a while to be always on the road, to grace people's gazes, the desire, envy, admiration that he read in their faces, he had distanced himself more and more. Their attentions didn't even interest him, he didn’t care, but he needed them, because once he had them they would reach the right ears and it was necessary for others to know that he was on his feet, back in strength after just a day. They had hit him, but not knocked him down and him leaving his personal reserve must have been a statement, together with the agreement he had planned that afternoon, for the future of his legacy. A statement that he had hoped would also improve Y/N's mood, at his side since the previous day and with a face that Roman had learned to know and avoid.

- I thought you would agree – he reflected, interrupting the silence inside the big black suv speeding along the coastal road that would take them to the city.

Perfect and composed in her red dress, Y/N turned to look at him, leaving the intensive study of the road, her hand clasped in his, her look confused for a moment. However, he knew what was buzzing in her beautiful head even if she hadn't said it, even if she had avoided any scene with a coldblood that would have made anyone envious, she wasn't the kind of woman you could tell a story and move on. And he wasn't willing to play that game, not with her, not after what had happened, not at risk of losing her too after what they had been through to be together. He had learned from the trial, he knew what to do now.

- I made that decision thinking about you too and you're not happy – he added, already feeling words weighing in his throat.

- Me? How would I have influenced your choice? – he heard her ask and slightly tightened his grip on her fingers, his tongue sliding over teeth to banish the tic that threatened to make his lip curl.

Mate must be on our side. Mine mate.

- I should go and get’em inside their homes, make em beg. I'm controlling myself, you don't like arguments. I'm doing it for you, it's what you wanted. No fights.

What his cousins had done deserved more than a lesson, but going against them, smashing, punishing them as they deserved, leaving them floundering in their misery would have been a dangerous move. The family balance was built on strength, however it was not only with that Roman had managed to obtain what he had now, what others before him had failed to secure. He knew that he had to beat them with the head they lacked first and then with strength, if he wanted to keep everything and re-establish order, jumping to the last step was too high a risk. Y/N also wouldn't have taken it well, she had already tried to keep them together once and even if she hadn't said anything yet, if she didn’t asked it again, Roman knew that it would be difficult for her to leave everything behind. He had promised to keep her out of business, away from that kind of thing, his cousins had ruined every plan and it was enough having to drag her around with him so as not to lose sight of her, making the wrong move could ruin everything .

Her hand moved without force in his grip, but enough to allow her to free her thumb and rub it over the back of Roman’s hand, one of her many ways to calm him when anger began to rise.

- What I wanted was to see yall together – she clarified and Roman nodded, without thinking twice.

- We will do it again, when they will come and apologize. Door is always open for those who are family – he added raw, the skyline of the city now running beyond the window.

His dynasty was made up of men and women with thick blood and hot heads. He had to have an iron fist to prove himself worthy of the title he had, of the ulafala that the Elders had put around his neck, weaknesses were not welcomed and mercy even less so. He hadn't forgotten who Jey and Jimmy were, their blood would remain like his even in the grave, but Roman wasn't willing to pretend nothing had happened just because of that, not after yet another attempt, not after losing. He demanded something in exchange for his forgiveness, he wanted them to remember why he was on top, they had to pay. Only then would he hold out his hand again, not a second sooner.

- And do you think that will happen? That they will apologize?! You can't really think that – Y/N replied with a short sarcastic laugh, a curl swinging next to her gorgeous face.

- No, not now. Their stupid heads will think they can do it, that they can teach me a lesson, they will try to prove that they don't need me.

They would have accomplished nothing without him, just as they had never accomplished anything before he lifted them out of the ground where they were eating and took them with him to the top. The only advantage they had was that there were two of them and even that was worth little since both of them didn't make a full thought. They would carry on stubbornly, trying to challenge his influence, trying to move with the knowledge they had and when they realized that they were in hot water, that they could not do a damn without his approval, they would start to growl. And even then it would only be a growl because he was already two steps ahead.

With an annoyed grin, he turned just in time to see her frowning, lips pouting slightly in that little grimace she always made before talking back.

- And maybe they'll try to get you on their side. Somehow, at some point – he stopped her, running his gaze over her figure, feeling her freeze.

Mark her. We need to mark her.

That one was more than a possibility, much more than a possibility.

Y/N was his future, his legacy, as much as the land he defended. Before her he had done the impossible to secure as much as he could, trying to please everyone, without knowing what would happen after, but with her everything had changed. She was his centerpoint, she was made to be next to him and build a new bloodline with him and for this reason she was also his weak point. His cousins would never dare to hurt her, none of them were savages, but they would try to convince her to side with them somehow and he couldn't let her hear a single word.

-Ro – she called him as if trying to bring him back from wherever his head was going.

-I know Jey... he'll try. He’ll do anything to be the good guy, to justify himself, he can't handle the pressure, he never has. He needs an excuse to look himself in the mirror at night and say he's not doing this to take my place. He'll try it with you and Jimmy will try with Solo.

Jey was an hothead, looking at him from the outside he seemed a rabid animal, he had always struggled to open up to those who weren't family, but he had a soft heart, more than anyone else. Roman had seen him do unthinkable things, many times he himself had ordered them and Jey had never backed down, but he needed a reason, a trigger that meant something to him. He wouldn’t have come forward without seeking support, without he was just a kid watching something he was scared of. Jimmy on the other hand didn't have those problems, he was the other side of the coin, the trigger without reasons. It didn't take much for him to sprint and was used to truly believing himself the big brother of the litter, he wouldn't have let go of the chance to keep that title knowing in his heart that he couldn't have any others.

- Well, maybe it's not a bad idea to convince each other and find a common point - Y/N tried to suggest next to him and just the idea that it could happen or her even thinking about it again, made him snap.

- Like me going to the border to help em, finding myself with ma head half open?! This kind of common point?! I didn't start this, I won't let them finish it until I say so now! – he growled, voice too loud in the limited space of the suv.

He saw Y/N eyes widen and reflexively free his hand, to pass it over the face, torturing his beard, gaze going quickly somewhere else, outside, to the window and to the driver who, beyond the divider, was tenaciously looking ahead at the streets to not get involved. He inhaled deeply, pushing away the anger and then looking back at her, fingers reaching for contact again.

It wasn't her he was mad with, was them. They were ruining everything even now, even when they weren't around. He wouldn’t have let them be near her.

- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…- he apologized immediately, placing a kiss on her temple with caution – I know what you think… but it was you who cleaned the blood off me, you saw what they tried to do. It's not a game babygirl, it's not an argument. Ima doing this for us, I have to do it, that's what I meant when I told you it's just me and you

Y/N didn't move, but seeing her staying silent kept him with his gaze trained on her, fingers stroking her face now, trying to urge her to say something, react, nod, her hot spot on her neck still free from his mark, calling him louder and louder until it creeps into his head.

- ... have you thought about it again? You don’t want to be by my side? – he asked, unable to hold back the thought, atmosphere suddenly heavy and he saw her lower her tense shoulders. Walls down again.

One breath, her eyes closing before a hand found him, reassuring him, letting him keep his fingers where his scent should have been, the imprint of his teeth to make her forever untouchable to anyone other than him. She was made for him. The call, the impulse, became stronger with each passing day, after what had happened even more than before and Roman rested his forehead against hers, inhaling deeply to control the need to mark her there without no more waiting.

-If I had I wouldn't be here – Y/N whispered and he pulled her against him, burying his nose in her curls, grip becoming more possessive on her.

- I gave you my word I would take care of everything, I will do it – he stammered, looking distractedly through the window, while the Y/N nodded and the suv finally stopped in the building's parking lot.

Mine.

His, it was all his and would remain his forever. Y/N, the Bloodline, its territory and title. He wasn't a player like his cousins, he cleared the way when he went onto the field and made sure no one set foot there again without first asking permission. He was the alpha and would remain so until his last days.

***

Shaking his head, he went out into the backyard to see what had happened to his brother, who had disappeared into thin air as soon as Naomi had threatened a scene at Jimmy’s umpteenth attempt to convince her to talk some sense to Y/N.

Their call hadn't gone as they'd hoped, she'd refused to try and Y/N had hung up not in the best way. The last one hadn't been said, they could still make an attempt, Y/N was less unapproachable than she seemed at first glance, in a right way she would have listened and deep down Jimmy really wanted her to understand what she had ended up in. Naomi said they couldn't do it, that it was unfair and they should leave her alone living her life, he saw it another way.

Big uce wouldn't have put her in danger, him who didn't even look people in their faces when them spoke to him had lost his mind the first second he saw her, man was fucked, but he would have used her. He was already doing it, as he did with everyone, as he had been used to do all his life just for that place at the head of the table and she would realize it too late for her heart. It was up to them to make her understand how Roman’s head worked, what levels of manipulation he could reach to get what he wanted and it would be better for everyone.

Jimmy joined him as he paced back and forth along one side of the fence, like a caged animal, his face turned towards the neighbors house, his shoulders tense.

He didn't like that story, Jimmy wasn't even sure Jey could handle the stress. Roman had gotten inside his head so much that he changed his way of seeing things, taking advantage of the affection he felt for him, of his dedication to his family to keep him where he wanted, Roman had managed to manipulate him for years. He kept saying that they had to figure it out how to make peace, that he couldn't do it without all of them and Jimmy knew, he could already feel it through the bond, he was on the verge of exploding.

- Nao will try to talk her again, but not about this, she doesn't feel it right, she says is not good for Y/N and doesn't want to know about it, that we should stop... at this point we should try with Solo, he's eating trash from Uce’s hand and... hey? What’s wrong? – he stopped suddenly, when he was close enough watching Jey shake the fence in rage and immediately march towards the street.

- School called– he said in a hurry and Jimmy stiffened, going after him.

- Are the kids okay?

-They wants to throw them out. They say that they are not in order with documents, some checks, now they say that regulations have changed, we have to adapt or move them from there. They were rushing them, they tried to call him, Kecia is going to get them.

Documents, regulation changes, checks?! Without warning, from one day to the next and threatening to kick them out?! They were kids good God!

- Hey, hey, slow down, was it him? Do you think- he tried to ask and his brother snapped.

- Who do you think it was?! OG blocking everything, he wants to cut us off, he’s coming for our throats! Kids have nothing to do with this! – he growled mad, head down, teeth clenched.

It was unthinkable that he had actually done it, but more he remembered what kind of man his cousin had become over the years, more he knew that he had done it with a specific reason. The boys loved him, he was the uncle who solved their family problems, the one who spoiled them and who they could ask anything, they trusted that bastard, they were kids and he had used them as leverage to hit Jey again. Just as he had used him and Jey for years to take care of his business, Y/N to get out of the trial and as he would have done with anyone else at his disposal. He knew he couldn't go against both of them and tried to push things like this, with low blows and no morals, but he had gone too far that time.

He's coming for him. Get him.

Somewhere behind him he heard Naomi calling them, while Jey reached the car and he pulled his arm, trying to slow down what was now a hunt.

- Uce! Uce where-

- I have to talk to the elders, move.

It wasn't a request, it wasn't even an invitation. Jimmy knew that face and he also knew how it would go from here on out.

***

She had heard of a couple of those men names while listening to some conversation, one or two were faces she recognized, like that Pearce she had met some time ago with Solo during a tour of the city. They discussed balances, that silly border that started the war and Roman wasn't thrilled, even though his expression hadn't changed at all, even though he was sitting there with his back leaning against the chair like he was in full control. But he wasn't the one she was focused on, not now, not after seeing Paul reluctantly pull his phone out of his pocket to check on whoever was persistently calling.

His face had gone paler than usual and his eyes had rushed to Roman, as if seeking reassurance or terrified of his reaction. Y/N knew that face, it smelled of fear.

Something wrong, again.

Tag squad: @sunnyfleur23 @racerchix21 @alyyaanna @reignsangel444 @romanreignsdefencesquad @romanstheory @claymorexpunisher @keybladeofsteel @msbigredmachine @nayys-world @gobbersworld @utika151209 @cumxxslutt @civildawn @romanmydaddy @triscillal @papireigns-05 @helensanders92 @love-islike-abomb @darqchilddaydreamz @meggylynnloves @unfriendly--blvck--hottie @nicolewoo @reignsx @reigns-central-blog @kianaleani @daguenoire @extra-11 @thedonsfactory @snowpanda18 @brattyfics @mzv11 @romanreignseater @tribalchiefdaily @2baddies2furious @vebner37 @depressedneedingrevenge @cyberdejos2 @usosthetics @mahi-wayy @jxtina-86 @harmshake @harlem11680 @southerngirl41 @blkbutterfly816 @spritelucozade @smile1318 @joannasteez

#roman reigns fanfiction #roman reigns smut #roman reigns x black reader #roman reigns x female reader #roman reigns x reader #roman reigns x oc #roman reigns x y/n #wwe fanfiction #wwe fic #roman reigns fanfic #roman reigns one shot

[magical-regical]

Y'all okay,

I started playing 'What in Hell is Bad', it's basically an 18+ version of 'Obey Me' and yea this game is spicy.

Anyway, big surprise, out of all the sexy demons I've interacted with so far, two of them I've done the sideways tango with, my favorite character is this guy

Who's not even a demon. He's the childhood best friend character.

But plot wise he takes care of the MC before the whole demon thing, knows how to cook, and I'm pretty sure was ready to search through the entire world to find them when they had to take and extended visit to Hell.

What more could you want in a man? A decent dic— according to MC he has that too so check mate.

More thoughts about the game itself under the cut if you're interested.

I just finished chapter one, and can I just say this game is hard, in every sense of the word.

It's a new game by a smaller developer so it's full of bugs but I've heard the devs do try their best to patch them ASAP so I don't hold that against them. Aside from my boy Satan not hitting water enemies, even though devs said they patched that a few updates ago, it's mostly QoL improvements that can be made to make the game just overall more enjoyable including but not limited to:

A pity system? Maybe? I don't know if this game has pity or not on their gacha machines and if they do I'd like to know how screwed I am because I have no self-control and have been doing single pulls on the hot boy gacha instead of saving up and doing 10-pulls so I wanna know if it's better to do 10-pulls or if it literally makes no difference because I just go until I hit pity like in arknights.

Skipping the cut scene that plays when you gacha because I swear that's one of the main reasons you can't play this game in public no matter how discreet you try to be lmao

Opening multiple chests at once and levelling up multiple times in one go because as far as I know, right now you need to click one by one for both of these.

Maybe a thing where it just takes you to the part of the story you're currently in instead of making you click through chapter select and scrolling to it.

A shortcut button to the gacha screen, secret club, and dark sanctuary (resource grind stages). They're core aspects of the game yet you can't get to them without going through the home screen.

Auto deploy and auto play for the resource grinding stages

Setting an L-rank character (side note, it's really funny that the highest rank of cards is rank 'L') as your homescreen boi is really awkward because it always ends up zoomed in on one part so you can't actually see the full boi.

This last one I feel like is just a personal thing but why is it three red keys per single pull for the hot boy gacha? Three just feels like such a random number lmao. Ig they mostly want you to use the red gems, which are grind-able to some extent, to buy the keys from the store.

Overall tho, I enjoy it. I like the tower defense like combat system and being able to move units around is actually pretty fun. So yea give it a try, see if it's your cup of tea.

#whb #what in hell is bad #whb minhyeok #whb satan

[project-sekai-facts]

VBS event teaser commentary

Sorry for not doing this last month. Again. Yeah I know I'm doing it just before the actual preview drops who even cares.

As per the norm, the teaser is just based on the jacket art so there's not a whole lot we can learn there. We know that cards are sometimes based on the song though, so maybe we can guess something there. Personally this gives me a retro nightclub sort of feel, and I'm kinda surprised they haven't done something like that with VBS yet, doubly so when you consider the Gekkou teaser had a very retro feel (I'm grasping at straws atp I've wanted this for two years lol).

Okay, so actual plot predictions time. I reckon this will be another POU or LUTF situation where the event focuses somewhat heavily on a side character. Ah, well, less so "I reckon" and more "Break Down the Wall foreshadows that this event will focus quite a bit on Arata and Souma". Based on bdtw, I think the event is going to focus on two things which heavily overlap with Toya's arc: Toya's feelings towards music, and getting Arata to rejoin the group.

The game has drawn parallels to the relationships between Akito & Toya and Arata & Souma since POU, with Toya outright quoting Kaito's statement from pou about their similarities in bdtw. Toya is able to relate to how Arata feels because their experiences with their partners are very similar. Akito and Souma are the ones who got Toya and Arata into the street music scene and shared their dreams with the other. Because of this similarity, Toya is able to put himself in Arata's shoes somewhat. I'm writing this very late so this is not clear what I'm getting at at all. Basically it's about partners. Toya is the best one to try and reason with Arata, and it's probably why this was his job given to him by Ken. R Sound Design says the song has a focus on relationships between the characters, so to say this will be a big part of the event is not a stretch at all.

(TL by pjsekai_eng)

And connecting to that: Toya (and Arata's) feelings about music. Toya's bdtw chapter also focused a lot on his feelings towards music, and how he'd grown to love it again thanks to Akito and VBS after his bad experiences with classical music as a child. Once again we're right back to the partners thing. Toya talks about his feelings towards music in woao as well, which also happens to be the event where Souma explains the story behind Gurney Flap's formation, and how he was able to get Arata to love music as much as he does. The key difference between Toya and Arata's stories though, is that Toya was able to move on from the past and his trauma. Toya seems to realise that Arata's past is affecting him in bdtw, and Taiga also pointed this out in lutf. While his relationship with his family is by no means mended, Toya was at least able to start healing with the help of his love of street music. On the other hand, Arata is very clearly still grieving the loss of Souma as his partner, and it's what's been holding him back this entire time. I could easily see Toya having a heart to heart with Arata in regards to their feelings towards music and their friends/partners. In a perfect world they do what they did in lutf where they explained a lot of the RADder backstory but for Gurney Flap this time, but I don't want to get attached to that idea. I think at the very least explaning what exactly happened to Souma could happen though.

Oh and on the off chance this ends up being An5, it'll be about her feelings towards Kohane. As in, her insecurities that have been showing up since Bout for Beside You about Kohane essentially becoming too good for her. Like with Toya this was heavily foreshadowed in her bdtw chapter and cards, as well as at the end of kiuan over a year ago. Combine An's grief over Nagi with her insecurities over Kohane and Kohane carrying Nagi's spirit in the sense of her singing, and you have an event story.

#sorry this is long i like arata but you already knew that #mod talks #speculation #vbs grief event 2 electric boogaloo

[ownworldresident]

Side by Side Chapter 6: Parent or Guardian

Book: The Royal Romance. Premise: With new additions to their family, King Liam and Rayne are forced to re-evaluate their relationship dynamic. Themes: Found family, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, family. Word Count: 3.2k (ish) per chapter, 18 chapters. 57k. Note: This story started just after TRR3 ended, and has no association with TRH. Side by Side Masterlist Link and Master Masterlist Link

Rayne

Rayne tensed as cold swelled at her core, knuckles whitening on the doorknob she still clutched. Her mind raced with questions but for now only one applied.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she spat, surprise giving way to anger. Genevieve had the gall to look affronted.

“It was a long flight, Ray.” She made as if to enter the room. Rayne stood firm, feet apart, blocking the way.

“No one asked you to come.”

“But I haven’t met your family. Is that your partner?” She looked over Rayne’s shoulder toward Drake.

“Kham, what..?” Drake asked, confused, as Rayne glanced briefly at him.

“He isn’t my partner, and if you cared you would know that.”

“I know about your children,” she said, “don’t I at least get to see them?”

Rayne scoffed, unmoving. “I thought they were just pawns in your game.” Her voice was cold. “I don’t care what you claim, you haven’t earned that right.”

Genevieve frowned, but didn’t protest again. Rayne could feel Drake’s discomfort. She recomposed herself, reminded her instinct driven self that there was no real threat, and stood aside. Immediately the woman came into the suite, and Rayne eyed her coldly.

“And who is this gentleman, then?” It was just like her to fawn over younger men. Taking a deep breath, Rayne reminded herself that even though there was nothing there now, she had loved her once.

“This is my friend, Drake. Drake, this is Genevieve O’Mara. My mother.”

Drake knew who her mother was, everyone did, but he hid his shock well and extended a hand.

“Nice to meet you, Ms O’Mara.” He glanced at Rayne for some indication of how he should react and she nodded slightly. Her mother had caused a lot of grief for Rayne and Cordonia, much of it recently, but hostility wouldn’t get answers.

“So wonderful to meet you,” Genevieve said. “And call me Gen, please. I’ve heard such good things about Rayne’s new friends.” She turned back to Rayne, who betrayed none of the bitterness she felt. Most of her efforts in concealing anger were reserved for Madeleine and her ploys, but she could spare some for this monster.

“So when do I get to meet my beautiful little grandchildren?”

“You don’t, and you haven’t answered my question. Why are you here?”

Genevieve looked almost believably hurt as she removed her coat and placed it over the back of one of the lounge chairs.

“Well, I never received an invitation from my daughter. I had thought you would wish me to meet your new family, especially considering you named one after me.”

Rayne stared at her. “I did invite you” she said, incredulous, “months ago. I invited you by email, message, and letter, to visit so I could show you my home. You never responded, but I know that you got that correspondence, because you used it to stab me in the back.”

The room quieted. That had been the end of her relationship with her mother. Nothing could repair that public damage. Genevieve bit her lip and tried a different tact.

“Baby I was so busy. I wanted to come but I couldn’t afford to leave work at that time and—”

“Drake can you leave us please?” Rayne cut her off, looking to her friend. She tried to communicate without words that she could handle her mother alone. A few moments later, though clearly uncertain, he nodded.

“Of course.” He smiled at Genevieve, then started toward the door, pausing beside Rayne. “Call me if you need.” He muttered, then squeezed her shoulder gently and left.

As soon as Drake was gone and the door was closed her mother’s smile vanished, and she looked Rayne straight in the eyes. This was the mother who had missed her own son’s funeral and ignored every attempt to contact her. Had ignored Rayne since she left for Cordonia, had publicly disapproved of her remaining here, had damaged Liam’s reputation for weeks and almost driven Rayne out of the country as a result. It had been one of the hardest things she and Liam had been through.

This was the woman who, despite everything, she wanted to trust.

“We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you, mother.” But she did. As irrational as it seemed, Rayne still wanted to forgive her for everything she had, and hadn’t, done. She wanted her mother in her life, but Genevieve was a stranger to her now. Naming her daughter after her had been one way to hold on to the memory of a time when her mother had been there for her and Warner. Evelyn’s name along with Leo’s had been publicly displayed in newspapers all over the world, along with a picture of the four of them outside the hospital. Still, her mother had done nothing.

“You need to hear this.”

“Unless it is an apology for twenty years of neglect and injury, you need to leave.”

They stared at each other, but no apology was forthcoming.

“I think you are in danger, Ray.”

She laughed. “Wrong answer.”

Genevieve sighed. “I only ever wanted what is best for you.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it You only ever wanted what was best for you.” She took a step forward. “You have done an excellent job of losing your credibility and my trust. If you wanted what was best for me, then you would respect my decisions, and would try to show you cared.” Her voice shook, and her hands trembled, and she hated it.

“I do care.” Genevieve’s voice quieted. “You are my only daughter. My only child.”

“Because you weren’t there for him!” Rayne shouted, tears suddenly stinging her eyes. That hole in her heart was old, but it was still raw. “You have no one to blame but your own inaction.”

“And I will regret that for the rest of my life.” Genevieve said with halting breaths. The expression might be construed as remorse, but Rayne knew her better than that. Her career revolved around lies and manipulation, and Rayne wouldn’t be fooled by acting. “I will not lose my daughter, too. I came to warn you.”

“To threaten me you mean? To take advantage of me? To use my position to one for yourself? To say again, what was it, that I must be embarrassed to be having the king’s child, and that would be the only reason I was confined to the palace. To avoid scrutiny from Cordonians? There is nothing you can say that isn’t for your own advantage, Genevieve, so take your warning and leave. Leave the palace, leave Cordonia, go home, and don’t come back.”

Even as she said it, her whole body shaking, she wished she hadn’t. If there were some way for Genevieve to redeem herself, she would have to be here to do so.

“You need to listen to me. I think your life is in danger. I can help you, if you listen to me. We can work together.”

“Get out,” she said, voice venomous.

“Rayne, you—”

“Get out!” she yelled, breathing hard, and regretting her volume. Sure enough, the baby monitor on the coffee table started up, and she recognised Evelyn’s cry. Genevieve’s expression softened.

“Is… is that…”

“Nothing to you,” Rayne stated coldly, moving between her mother and the hall leading to the nursery.

“I can help.”

Rayne nearly laughed. “In no way have you the right to presume I would want or need your help.” She stepped forward, not taking her eyes off the woman. “And you have no right to intrude on my life after years and assume you’re forgiven.”

Genevieve glanced at the door to the hall, where Evelyn’s cries continued. When she said nothing, Rayne spoke again.

“You will leave, you will stay away from my family, and you will never come back. Do you understand me?” The last words caught in her throat but she didn’t falter in her resolve. Genevieve watched her for a time, with Rayne wanting desperately to go to her daughter before Leo was roused.

“Yes.” Visibly Genevieve deflated, looking years older than when she had arrived, and collected her things. “I raised my daughter to be strong,” she said as she reached the door and turned back. There was sorrow in her eyes, but also pride, and Rayne hated that.

“I am not your daughter,” she said, a slight tremble in her voice. They locked eyes for one tense moment, then Genevieve nodded, and left. Gone, but still much too close.

Rayne made it to the hall but fell, shaking, back against the wall, cheeks hot and wet as she slid to the ground and tried to steady her breathing.

Leo started crying, adding to the calls of his sister. She pulled herself up, breathed deep, wiped away her tears, and went to them.

Liam

Taking a break from his workload, Liam opened a bookmarked folder on his laptop and pulled a different notebook from a drawer in his desk. The following Monday marked one month since Evie and Leo were born, and though Rayne might not think it significant, he wanted to do something nice for her. It was something he had been thinking about for a while.

His assistant delivered a fresh cup of coffee like clockwork, but his current task had him so excited that the fatigue barely registered.

The palace, though accommodating and grand, held some danger of interruption and some less than wonderful memories. It was home to him and his family, but for Rayne he wanted to go somewhere new. Hopefully she would be as enthused as he was to take a few hours for themselves, even though it would be the first time she had left the children. Already he had asked Drake and Olivia to look after them while, Drake’s sister was several years younger than him and he had cared for Savannah before. At some point Liam hoped to get his old nanny to look after the twins occasionally to give Rayne a little more freedom. That would take some time to warm her up to the idea.

When someone knocked on the door he put his notepad away quickly, anticipating Madeline. He called for the visitor to enter and Drake walked in, scowling.

“Drake?”

“You need to go to Rayne,” he said after a few moments of apparent indecision, running his fingers through his hair. Liam stood.

“Is something wrong?”

Nothing in Drake’s body language suggested disaster, but Liam’s chest tightened anyway and he moved around the desk.

“She said she would be fine… I should have stayed anyway.”

“What are you talking about?” Liam’s heart beat a little faster. “What happened?”

Drake looked up darkly.

“Genevieve is here.”

No further explanation was necessary. Liam sprinted from his office to Rayne’s apartments and burst in, heart racing, to find the front room empty.

“Rayne?” he ventured cautiously, with no answer. It appeared Genevieve was gone, unless she had forced through somehow. At this point Liam didn’t doubt what that woman was capable of. Closing the door, he moved further into the room, but still made out no sound even as his heart stopped pounding in his ears. No one was in the hall, or in the nursery when he peeked inside save for his children. When he approached the main bedroom, her heard her, and his heart sank. He stepped inside.

She sat on the chest at the end of the bed with her body curled forward and trembling with soft tears. Despite her height, only in these moments, with her face in her hands and shoulders slumped, did Rayne seem small.

“Rayne?” he asked as he stepped in and closed the door. She flinched and looked up, sniffing and wiping tears from red eyes.

“Li-“ she sniffed, “Liam.” Even as he watched, Rayne tried to mask her pain with a long perfected stoicism.

“Don’t,” Liam said, coming forward to kneel before her and taking her hand. He pushed loosed hair out of her eyes. “Please don’t,” his words became a plea, and after a moment meeting his gaze, she nodded.

As soon as he sat beside her she collapsed into his embrace, shaking as she cried fresh tears. Liam felt a deep ache in his chest to see and feel her in pain, but as hard as it was to see, he new this was only a much needed expression of Rayne’s internalised pain.

“I’m - so - sorry - Liam,” she choked, voice muffled against him.

“No,” he said firmly, “never apologise.” He held her closer, a lump rising painfully in his throat. “Never apologise for anything,” his voice cracked, and hot tears tracked from his own eyes. He had so much to apologise to Rayne for, so many times he should have done better, had failed her, and was still failing her.

Liam ran his fingers through Rayne’s hair, holding her secure against him and rocking gently. He wanted so badly for her to stop hurting, but until she let him in, he didn’t know how. And that tore at him.

“I love you so much, Rayne.” His voice shook as he whispered, resting his cheek against the top of her head and closing his eyes. “So, so much…”

Drake

“Fuck!” Drake slammed the door behind him and drove his foot against the bedpost and that hurt. Good. He should hurt. Two years now he had stood by and watched two of the best people he knew breaking piece by piece by the situation they refused to rectify, until he could hardly recognise the Liam and Rayne the day they met each other.

He knew Rayne too well to be fooled by the mask over her pain, and Liam expressed his pain openly to Drake, for all the good that did. There had to be something…

“If you’re planning on breaking something, do it in Maxwell’s room.” A bemused voice came from his now open door and he spun, still scowling, to face the intruder.

“What do you want,” he growled, running his fingers through his hair. He did want to break something - it was one of the only outlets he had for this frustration.

“Our appointment?” She raised a brow, leaning on the door frame.

“Sorry.”

“Mm. Who is it this time?” she asked, coming inside and closing the door before. “Liam or Rayne?”

“What?” His anger began to subside as he watched her take up one of her stiletto knives stored last time she was here.

“Please, Drake, use some sense. Those two idiots are the only ones who can get this reaction from you.” She leant back against the dresser, twirling her favourite knife and watching the light reflect on the blade. “So which is it?”

Drake breathed a long sigh, feeling the initial rush of frustration slowly leaving him. He collapsed on his bed and ran a hand over his mouth.

“Both.”

“Mhm.” Olivia nodded. “So are you going to do anything this time? Or just mope about like their stupidity is a personal attack on you?”

“What am I supposed to do, Liv?” Drake stared at her, at a loss. “I had another discussion with Rayne an hour ago and again she told me she was fine. It’s fucking ridiculous.”

“Mhm.” She tapped her knife against her palm, then rested it back on the dresser and folded her arms. “Maybe you shouldn’t be the one talking to her.”

“What? She won’t hear you, or Max or Leo. She’s on permanent defence mode. No one can break it.”

“For christ’s sake, Walker. You’ve been moaning for months and we’ve been over this. Liam refuses to do anything, Rayne refuses to even listen. No one is considering poor Drake Walker’s precious feelings.” She rolled her eyes as he frowned. “I’m saying it’s past time you put aside your ego and actually called someone else to help.”

“I can’t go behind her back, Liv… she’d never forgive me.”

Olivia scowled, stepped forward and hit the back of his head before he could react.

“Hey!” He rubbed his head as she returned to the dresser. “What was that for?”

“This isn’t about you, Walker! You found her details weeks ago so grow a fucking pair and call her. Get backup. Use your brain for once in your life.”

He considered her words, grinding his teeth and rubbing the back of his head. Her points were difficult to argue with.

“Fine. I’ll send her a ticket.”

---- ----

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#choices the royal romance #trr liam #the royal romance #choices trr #trr fanfic #trr mc #liam x mc #trr

[danganronpa96]

So is the hypothetical 3rd kg more like YTTD rather than Danganronpa. If so, how would you make it work? Also, idk if you know but are you aware of Danganronpa Fictional Quadrilogy series, as from what I’ve seen, it’s pretty good so I thought you want to check it out. Also, another fanfic that I’ve read isn’t related to Danganronpa but a YTTD with crossover characters is Your Turn to Cross Over by Caitemis, thought you might check that one out.

I always had the idea I wanted to do this one as a YTTD death game with a main game rather than a DanganRonpa murder mystery honestly.

I don’t think the format has been very tried and tested yet in a purely written way like fangans have, but I think it would be possible. Just like YTTD, I was thinking there could be some type of sub game before the main game where someone may die, and then during the main game itself, about two more would die (going by the rules of the original card game of course, I was sort of thinking of spicing it up to make it a bit different). So that’s about 2-3 (or potentially more) deaths per chapter.

I feel like each chapter would only be split up into two parts, the ‘daily life/sub game’ and the ‘main game’. It’d be kinda fun to see different scenarios of what sub games and hurdles the death game throws at the cast.

As for executions however, since YTTD’s aren’t as flashy and long as DanganRonpa’s, I’m not sure what route I would go for. I would rather stick to DR’s executions to be honest, but I guess it all depends on how it’ll fit with the mood. Also I feel like I’d want to keep ultimate titles, or I could just replace them with occupations like with YTTD.

Moving onto your recommendations, I can’t seem to find that fictional quadrilogy series when I search it up. Can I find it on a particular website?

For the second one, however, I managed to find it, and it’s an interesting start to see how we could potentially format a YTTD-esque story! (And they were inspired by DR69 which is sweet hehe)

#Alex picks up the sacrifice card and screams WHAT THE HELL IS THIS #I also had another small but interesting idea about betting #where anyone can bet on who they think will die in the next main game #and will receive a sum of currency to use to purchase goods #cue trust issues like hell #3rd kg hypothetical

[lyrakanefanaticwriting]

The Grandest Game

Chapter 3

———————————————————

GRAYSON:

Everybody was at the island, waiting for the contestants to arrive. Everything had already been set up, but there was still an anxious energy around just having to wait for them. Even I had to admit that the wait was killing me as well. Suddenly, I feel my phone ring in my pocket, and immediately feel a jolt just from the thought of it being that girl. Getting my phone out of my pocket, I answered quickly.

“Hello?” I ask, expecting to hear the girls addicting voice. But I don’t.

“Look who’s finally started to say hello.” Eve says. My jaw clenched just from the sound of her voice.

“What do you want?” I say, not even bothering to sugar coat it. She tuts.

“Well, you seem to be making everybody upset lately.” She says, mockingly. I swallow.

“What do you mean?” I say, my voice low. There’s a pause, almost as if she wants me to sit with my lack of information, before she speaks.

“You know, like your sister.” I freeze. Gigi was obviously upset with me about what happened to her father, but me and her are forgiven now. But Savannah…

“What did you do?” There’s silence on the other end, and I could picture her deathly smile even now.

“I told her the truth.” I go silent. The truth was, Sheffield Grayson kidnapped Avery, expecting Toby to show up. Then, Mellie shot him. That was the truth. But I wondered how easy it would be to twist that story into something much, much more different. My heart sank, but I didn’t allow any of that emotion to transfer into my voice.

“What did you tell her, exactly?”

“You’ll just have to wait to find out. Although, I doubt it will take long for your dear sister to confront you.” Then she hangs up. My teeth hurt from how hard I was clenching my jaw, and my hands were folded into fists as well. What did Eve tell Savannah? It didn’t take very long for my thoughts to get interrupted.

“Grayson?” Libby says, knocking before coming into my room. I turn to face her, making my expression neutral.

“Yes?” I ask, my voice curt.

“You have a visitor. She says she’s your sister?” She replies. This time, I couldn’t stop my eyes from widening. Eve had definitely told Savannah some tarnished version of the truth. And knowing Savannah, she was pissed.

——————————————————————————

LYRA KANE:

I was still packing my bags to leave for The Game, when my little brother walks into my room.

“Do you really have to leave already?” He asks, whining. I smile at him.

“Do you want me to be late? Besides Gabriel, family’s are allowed to visit on weekends, and tomorrow’s Saturday. Why aren’t you getting ready for school?” I ask him. He sighs and goes to get ready, leaving me to continue packing. I honestly didn’t expect Eve’s plan to work out, but it did. I was a contestant in The Game, and if Eve’s cards play right, she’ll get the “Hawthorne Legacy”. The truth was, I wasn’t as invested in this as Eve was, I just wanted to get my closure, and money, and leave. But the only reason that I’m even packing for this is because of Eve, so I guess I should cut her some slack. Zipping my luggage up, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and carried my suitcase to the living room. My mom was in the kitchen, cooking, and Gabriel was building legos on the carpet. Seeing me walk out of my room, my mom races over to me.

“You’re all packed?” She says, grabbing me and hugging me.

“Yup. I got everything I need and more, as per your requests.” I reply. My mom stops hugging me to study my face.

“Remember Lyra, you belong there. Even if you feel out of place, just remember that they’re just rich people living their rich lives, and they’re really not that special.” She says. Her soft tone makes me snort.

“That’s brutal, Mama. I’m gonna tell them you said that.” I say, jokingly. I see her eyes go wide as she berates me in Spanish for saying something like that. Rolling my eyes with amusement, I walk over to the kitchen to get a quick snack before leaving. Grabbing a banana, I go over to hug my mom again.

“I need to go now if I’m gonna catch the train. Bye Mama, te amo.” I say, hugging her before giving her a kiss on the cheek. She hugs me back.

“Bye Lyra, I love you more.” She says, hugging me back. Gabriel, who sees me leaving, jumps up and runs over to give me a hug.

“Bye Lyra! Tomorrow, can I bring my project for the science fair so you can help me please?” He asks. I laugh.

“Sure, we can do that. Bye Gabriel, I love you!” I say, waving. He and my mom wave back, and I grab my things to go walk over to the train station, which was only really a five minute walk from here. Although I couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread on the way there, as well as the feeling that Eve had gotten me into something way larger than I had imagined.

——————————————————————————

GRAYSON:

I walk over to the foyer, and see Savannah standing there. Her face looked perfectly pleasant, but she had a dark look in her eyes that Grayson couldn’t shake.

“Hello, Grayson. Do you mind if we could go someplace to talk?” She asks, her voice curt with a sharp edge. I nod.

“Of course. We could talk in my room?” I offer, turning around and walking there. I caught Jameson’s eye as I was walking, and saw the look on his face. Something was wrong, and even he knew it. Whatever Eve said, I’m sure most of it wasn’t true. But no matter what Eve said, it’s still my fault that I hurt Savannah by not telling her the truth. And now, it was going to have to come out. The walk there was excruciatingly silent, until I opened the door to my room and gestured for her to walk in. She didn’t. Instead, she turns to me, a flame glowing in her eyes.

“I don’t care who you are. I don’t care if you’re my brother, or my family, because after what you did to my father, you don’t deserve to carry even a drop of my blood.” She spat, her voice venomous. I resisted the urge to flinch, and noticed how Savannah referred to Sheffield as her father, not mine.

“What did Eve tell you?” My voice was completely neutral, and I tried to be as calm as possible.

“She told me what you already know. That one of your people shot Dad and then left him there to die. She told me that you did it all for Avery. Well, was it worth it, Grayson? I bet it wasn’t, because in the end, she didn’t even end up choosing you.” She shot back. I didn’t show it on my face, but still, the insult hurt more than she could ever imagine. Me and Avery were family now, that was something that I could admit, but back then it killed me that she chose Jameson. I sucked in a quick breath.

“Savannah, that isn’t the whole story. I’m sure Eve didn’t tell you about why Avery was there-“ She cuts me off before I can explain.

“I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear more of your lies. You knew what happened to my father, but still you said nothing. Me and Gigi were looking for him, looking for any trace of him, and yet here you were, knowing the entire time that he was-“ Dead, I finished for her in my head, my heart sinking. She breathes in through her nose, and out through her mouth.

“I just don’t get it. She trusted you Grayson,” She said, tears shining her eyes, but the only emotion on her face was anger. “I was starting to trust you too.” My chest heaved. I wished that I could fix this entire situation, but I couldn’t. I’m sorry Savannah, I thought, I’m so, so sorry.

“I’m not going to reason with you on this anymore. But I mean it Grayson, when I say that I don’t want you talking to me or my sister anymore. Just stay away from us. Do you understand?” She asks me, her voice dangerous. I wanted to say something, anything, but what was done was done, and I couldn’t fix it. Instead I just nod, and she quickly wipes her tears until any traces of her crying were gone, and walks away, her heels clicking as she does.

“Grayson?” Xander says, awkwardly walking out from around the corner once Savannah had passed. Something in his expression told me that he had definitely been eavesdropping.

“Yes?” I say, trying not to show any sign of sadness from the past conversation on my face.

“The first contestants have arrived.”

——————————————————————————

OKAY THIS IS KIND OF A BORING CHAPTER SINCE ITS RIGHT BEFORE THE GAME STARTS BUT ALSO I WANTED TO FOCUS ON THE WHOLE SAVANNAH THING SO YEAH 😭😭

#the grandest game #lyra kane #grayson hawthorne #avery kylie grambs #lyra x grayson #the inheritance games #jameson hawthorne #libby grambs #nash hawthorne #the brothers hawthorne #xander hawthorne #savannah grayson #gigi grayson

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia. Not sure if this has been asked before but what makes you decide how long a chapter is going to be? I noticed that the chapters in your stories like FFS and TIP have really long chapters whilst stories like the current UtB have shorter chapters, and I was wondering why that was.

Hi anon,

So... it's mostly down to two things:

First -> Engagement. People just generally comment a lot less on longer chapters. The longer the chapter, the less comments it gets. I don't know if it's reading fatigue or what, but The Ice Plague taught me a lot of hard lessons and longer chapters do not get the engagement to justify that level of effort (I love love love the comments I get, don't get me wrong, but I also make money off this writing to live, I do have to think 'longer chapters mean I eat less and can't see all my medical specialists' - that's not nothing). People might say they love them, but they don't show the authors love for them in the same way, and that's the only way I can justify doing them.

Second -> From a labour perspective, I can release more chapters for different stories if the chapters are shorter. There was a time when the average length of my chapters was around 6-8k per chapter. That works out to maybe five chapters for like, possible one or two stories at once per month. The editing took longer and was harder to do, and it was also more laboursome for my beta as well. Shorter chapters are easier to edit, even if you're doing two and a half in the same amount of time. Stories like Palmarosa, A Stain that Won't Dissolve, probably most of the Underline stories like Gold and Red and Blue would not exist at all if I was still writing longer chapters. Because I could never justify the time it took simply to write a single chapter, and it would be - like so many of my story ideas - just a pipe dream that I sometimes talked about.

So if you like some of those stories, they are literally in existence in part because I went to shorter chapter lengths, which allows me to be more experimental with different story ideas to see what ones I really enjoy, without impacting my monthly wordcount and schedule too severely.

There's other factors too. But engagement was a huge, huge part of it. These days my chapter length ranges from around 2.5-4.5k which seems to be the sweet spot (it's also still about 2-3 times as long as what's recommended in serials, which sadly is like 500 words to 2k, which to me is like, damn, I can't live like that). And a lot of later FFS chapters are actually around this length as well. In fact I think at least one chapter in FFS is 2500 words. So I was already experimenting then with shorter chapters and was already finding that the shorter chapters had more engagement. I think one of the chapters that had the most comments of all of them, was actually one of the shortest chapters.

There's a time and place for really short chapters so I don't like to do them too much, so instead I'm around the 3-4k mark.

There's also the fact that when it really suits, I will write longer chapters. Though I don't ever want to write chapters over 6-7k again outside of epilogues, simply because of the sheer amount of labour that goes into them, and the fact that they seem to fatigue readers a lot more overall.

The other thing is, anon, I used to be very ashamed of how long my stories were, so I used to prefer - out of shame - shorter chapter numbers but longer chapters so it 'felt' like the story was shorter to me even though it wasn't. Realistically, Game Theory should - pacing wise - have 100 shorter chapters. But this embarrassed me so much I shoved a lot of different things into chapters that would have made more sense broken up. When I gave up that shame, I could pace the stories better in a way that made more sense to me. In longer chapters, you'll see a lot more chapter breaks (the asterisks), and some of those are where many writers would logically just have started a new chapter.

#asks and answers #pia on writing #i've come a long way actually #shame was definitely the third biggest factor in this #shame and then engagement and then finally just labour #i just prefer this way of doing things at the moment sdalkfjads #there will be stories where longer chapters make sense #but fdlskafds yeah i've definitely changed #even the published version of Game Theory when i finally release it #will have more chapters! #because the longer chaptesr will be broken up into a better flow #not all of them #but definitely some of them

[purity-town]

No update today -- next chapter's cover has had a good chunk of progress made on it, but I'm too busy tomorrow to get it finished up to post at a reasonable time. (This works out well anyhow, as I'll be moving back down for college next week, so if the current page wasn't partially finished already I may have not had the time to complete an update.) In the meantime, finally getting around to posting ask responses (below the cut)!

I'm really glad to hear you're liking it! Life's been a little crazy lately, so updates have been more scattered than I'd like, but I'm still thoroughly enjoying making this comic, so I'm you're enjoying reading it!

Looking at the timestamps, the first page was released on December 12th, 2020. So we’re just past 2 and a half years now!

The actual “development” of the story technically goes a bit further back to the time around the 1.4 update release, as I was getting really into the game lore and wrote up some worldbuilding ideas. Then in late November of 2020 I started planning a fanfic based on that, did a short 2-page comic set in that AU for fun, and then ended up expanding that original fanfic into the current, longer comic!

I’m gonna tentatively say yes! At least, one per Andrew and the Clothier each. There wouldn’t really have been a reason to make more than one of Andrew. There technically could’ve been more made of the Clothier, but one was all that was really needed.

Fortunately this current set of backgrounds outside of the dungeon is relatively simple, as I reuse the base coloring for the columns and adjust the perspective/lighting as necessary (each column is actually two pieces -- one “flat” side and one “angled” side).

I have a pretty limited capacity for doing backgrounds, so I tend to use tricks like this to reuse them where I can, haha. The first few backgrounds for an area tend to be harder, as I need to make assets and figure out how I want lighting and so on to work, but from there it usually gets easier.

It's still dependent on the background's design, of course -- backgrounds that are painted (usually outdoors) are a much different experience to work with than areas with detailed lineart and textured surfaces, such as the tavern and Andrew's kitchen. I'm slowly getting used to the perspective tools in Clip Studio Paint, though, which is helping a lot with drawing indoor spaces!

In all honesty, I was mostly focused on making it immediately recognizable even in silhouette, and that it fit well on the page, rather than focusing on making it perfectly to scale or the likes, haha.

Design-wise I find the Wall of Flesh to be super interesting -- it visually ties the “first” boss of progression (EoC) in with the last boss (Moonlord). And it’s overall very jarring, in that it’s easy to accidentally summon and turns the Underworld into an inescapable auto scroller in a way none of the other bosses do. And of course the story/lore significance, etc. etc. etc.

So when the time comes, I hope I can do it justice!

Honestly, I’m not sure! I still haven’t totally decided how that whole sequence of events will go -- some parts of it are very clearly planned out, others not so much. In a general sense, I do think that Chris’ reaction could vary significantly with the circumstances -- how much of a shock it is, and if he understands the significance of it -- but generally wouldn’t be good, in a horrified/panicking sense. 

At the current point in the comic, Chris *does* have a general idea that something weird is up with Andrew, just based on what Heather/Malik/Becca were saying (including Heather’s mention of “burns”), plus Andrew leaving in a hurry that morning and brushing it off when asked about it. He doesn’t believe that Andrew is evil, of course, just that he’s dealing with some things, and Chris is appropriately concerned.

So- yeah, finding a doll of Andrew in the Underworld- honestly, there are a lot of ways for him to take it badly.

But hey, once he has the doll, Hardmode won’t be far away, and that’ll bring a whole new host of problems for him to focus on instead!

#purity town #not an update #pt asks

[creativecuteness]

Total Slaughter Island (Rescue Rangers) Chapter 1: One Month Earlier

Alright the official chapter one, I actually had a lot of fun writing this one. Back stories and different POV's are always so much fun to write. I don't really have much to say other than thanks to all the people who are reading this story I hope you'll like the chapter and more insight on Dakota's relationship with Chris.

Dakota Natalie was a kindhearted, gentle, quiet, but compassionate young girl. Her long brown hair and trustworthy eyes made her more approachable than the busy, stressed-out, and, at times, cold and distant members of Fresh TV. Who were scrambling to make deadlines and get the live feed up and running for what is hoped to be the hottest new teenage reality show, Total Drama Island.

Ever since last year, Chris has been planning his show with crazy challenges, high stacks, and, of course, drama-filled rivalries. (And maybe a hint of romance if sparks flow.)

But the real kicker was the one million buckeroos (in Canadian currency, of course) that were offered to the contestant that lasted the longest. (In other words, the person who avoids elimination in a pool of twenty-one other teenagers.)

Dakota expected that money to not even last a week. No kid, no matter how responsible, should have that much money without a little supervision. If she won that prize, her father would store the money away for both a rainy day and college funds. (Not that she even planned to go to college.)

Even though she’s been working for Chris for about six months, she couldn’t say she truly enjoyed it. Sure, the job paid well, and she got to work alongside her dad; however, it was just too overwhelming; the constant hustle and bustle left her physical, social, and mental batteries drained.

It was just too much for her introverted personality; she couldn’t handle high-stress and high-pressure jobs. She desperately needed some quiet time to recharge and had been contemplating quitting for a while. However, it was a stable income most kids her age didn’t have, not to mention she’d have to find a new job to replace this one, and she had no idea what she even wanted to do for a living. So, until she got her life figured out, she'll hold her tongue and exhaustion and went back to work. If she could even call it that since things have been very slow today, it was meant to be the series premiere of Total Drama, and yet she hasn’t been called down for coffee requests, to take notes on viewer opinions, or to watch the live feed to make sure everything was in working order.

Heck, she hadn’t heard from Chris since yesterday, which wasn’t a call for concern in itself per se. Her relationship with her boss has soured a bit ever since he started working on this project. Cutting corners by finding the cheapest island money could buy and lying to everyone, stating the game show took place in a five-star resort. Heck, even the food Chef was cooking broke every health code imaginable.

To say the show was created by a mentally stable individual was the understatement of the century. The way the contents were treated seemed like Chris thought they were cartoon characters doomed to be thrust into slapstick gag after violent slapstick gag. And to Dakota, that mindset was a lawsuit waiting to happen, not that she was surprised.

She always had a sneaking suspicion that Chris was masking his true personality, and Dakota was pretty sure he didn’t notice these observations the young girl took note of. Whether Chris was consciously aware of these patterns of behavior did matter, as it just proved her point that Chris was not what he seemed. In fact, Dakota brought up the behavior to her friend Amy, who was studying to become a therapist, and she agreed that Chris may be a sociopath. Or was it Psychopath? Dakota could never remember the differences.

She glanced at the clock hanging overhead; it was almost midday, meaning the contestants should be participating in their first challenge already, but the cameras were still down. Where was Chris? Why did it seem the show had gone radio silent? And more importantly, what was going on?

She was tempted to call someone and ask if everything was alright when, speak of the devil, she heard panicked whispers and peeked out the door frame to see numerus cameramen, producers, interns, and Chris and Chef themselves. They were back eight weeks early. no campers in sight, and no prize money was distributed. (Or at least not to her knowledge.)

She strained to hear what they were discussing, praying they came back cause of camera failure, but what she was able to make out shook her to the core.

“That was a close one; I thought I was going to be next.” An intern breathed in relief but seemed pretty shaken.

“Yeah, forget that stupid island; I’d rather make it big in the city than stay on a floating death trap.” Another staff member chuckled uneasily; the air felt tense with fear, whatever happened seemed to give everyone a fright.

“What happened down there?” Dakota questioned, “And where’s the campers?” She continued listening, and what she heard next made her heart drop.

“Good job, everyone! phew, we just avoided certain disaster. Now, how about you wash up? I’ll make some calls and see if we can rangel a new setting some more teens and forget the whole murderer on the island thing ever happened.

Dakota’s eyes widened, murderer?! Was someone murdered while filming? She feared something like this would happen considering the challenges Chris laid out weren’t safety-inspected.

“Please don’t let it be a camper; please don’t let it be a camper.” She prayed, hoping it was just an intern and not one of the contestants. Speaking of which, where were they? The young girl hoped Chris wasn’t heartless enough to just leave without them, but of course, asking Chris to be selfless in a situation like that is wishful thinking.

"Uh, Chris, are you sure it was a good idea to leave the rest of the kids on the island? For all we know, the killer could still be there.” Chef spoke his concern,

“Nonsense, they should be fine." He brushed off with a giggle, “I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the campers had a secret bloodlust and took it out on poor Zeke. If the killer doesn’t kill them, starvation and a harsh winter will. Now, I don’t want a word of this getting out to the public if anyone asks; the show ran into technical difficulties and will no longer be filmed live. Understand?” He glared, to which everyone agreed, not wanting to lose their job.

“Good, now if we..." Dakota listened until Chris got out of earshot, unable to believe her ears. A murderer on Camp Wawanakwa? And someone named Zeke was killed?!

“Wait, who was Zeke again?” She thought, she never got the chance to meet the campers in person.

She was startled out of her thoughts when a fellow co-worker eating some chips spoke up, “What’s up, girl? You seem like you’ve seen a ghost."

Dakota looked at her friend, Emily Jones. She had dark brown hair, two strands tied into small pigtails, brown eyes, wore a pink striped shirt, black jeans, ankle-high boots, and a black jacket tied around her waist.

“Yeah, just surprised to see Chris back so soon.” She spoke, feeling uneasy about the whole thing: “I thought the show lasted eight weeks?”

“Oh, you didn’t get the memo?” Emily spoke up, sitting upright.

“What memo?”

“The show’s been canceled; apparently some kid named Ezekiel Miller kicked the bucket. I guess the real world was too much for a sheltered homeschooler.” She revealed it a bit too nonchalantly for her friend’s liking.

“Wait, what happened?!”

“Some surfer dude found his severed head under his bunk late last night, and his legs were found not long after. The network was so freaked out they pulled the show off the air before any damage could be done.”

“Did they see who killed him?”

“Nope, Homeschooler was last seen heading to the confessional when some maniac grabbed him by the scruff of his hoodie and dragged him deeper into the forest. When Zeke didn’t return, Chris sent someone to search for him and found his legs and a threatening message in the outhouse. Yeah, they ran off like a bunch of animals with their tails between their legs and hightailed it out of there.”

“Did they get that all on camera?”

“Most of it, thankfully, it wasn’t shown on air. They were more concerned with scenes that showed the whole group than one lowly, sexist teenager raised by misogynistic parents in the prairies. Oh, did I mention he’s been homeschooled his whole life?”

“Yeah, once or twice.” Dakota muttered, surprised by how Emily wasn’t bothered by this. “What about the other campers? Please tell me they’re  safe."She hoped, but the next words her friend spoke shattered them immediately.

“Nope, those kids are dead meat. Chris and the crew bailed shortly after Zeke was found and left everyone else behind. Assuming the killer isn’t one of them, those campers are as good as dead.”

“No, they can’t be dead!” She yelled, feeling angry tears well up inside of her. “We can’t just sit back and let them die; we have to call the police, the coast guard, any..." Dakota abruptly stopped the last bit of Emily’s sentience, registering, “Wait, what do you mean assuming the killer isn’t one of them?”

“Exactly what I said.” She replied, “Isn’t it obvious? Someone must’ve gotten fed up with Ezekiel’s sexist remarks and confronted him about it. Being the socially oblivious person he is, he continued running his mouth, causing the blackened to become even more fed up until... She paused for dramatic effect, Dakota on the edge of her seat, as Emily explained her theory: “Wham! The murderer pulls out a weapon, and Homeschooler is no more. My money is on the delinquent; he’s been to juvie, ya know, and had a switchblade on him. I wouldn't put it past him to steal a meat cleaver from the kitchen.”

Emily returned to snacking, leaving her friend stunned silent. Was it possible? Could one of the campers be capable of doing this? To an innocent teenager who, yes, had backward views on society, but it wasn’t his fault, his parents filled his brain with misinformation.

“What are we going to do?” She asked quietly,

Emily turned to her friend and sighed sadly for once, showing empathy for the situation: "Nothing; the network doesn’t want to risk any more casualties, and getting authorities is out of the question. The island is undisclosed, and revealing that information will make us prime suspects, and according to the network and Chris, we can’t risk that. We spent a lot of money on this show’s success, and now that it’s canned, they don’t want to waste any more resources on some flimsy rescue mission. Their words not mine. Wait, where are you going?!”

Dakota got out of her seat, emotionally driven and demanding, answers, “I’m paying Chris a visit.” She spoke, straightening her denim jacket and pink dress. Fellow workers bid her good afternoon as she walked past, but they were ignored as she stormed down the halls until she reached a door with a large star-shaped dressing room sticker that read Chris McLean in black cursive letters. Dakota didn’t bother to knock as she barged in.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!" She exclaimed and automatically regretted not knocking. “Oh god! Ewgh! fluff!” She cursed, shielding her eyes, seeing Chris not only shirtless but fully orange.

“Oooo, someone used your tanning bed again?” She asked, the initial disgust fading away, seeing a bit of humor in the tanning incident. “Ha, that’s called Karma Bud." She thought smugly,

“Yep, and I have a pretty good idea who.” He said, “Also, I don’t remember giving you bragging privileges. What’s with the sudden outburst?"

Fully remembering why she came, Dakota put on her best defensive stance and confronted her boss. “Chris, I know what you did; you left twenty-one teenagers to die on a deserted island with no way out.”

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there. First of all, I didn’t abandon them; I just took a minor detour. Second of all, I didn’t leave anyone for dead. I have full intention on returning to rescue them.”

“Oh yeah, when?” She inquired, not convinced in the slightest,

Chris winced, knowing that lie wasn’t going to work. “Well, aren’t you just on a roll? Okay, yes, I’ll admit maybe I ran off when I saw that message and Ezekiel’s legs; maybe I should’ve warned the campers and got us all out of there. But I freaked out. Could you blame me?! The last thing I needed was my head on a platter, not to mention the time it’d take to get everyone out could’ve meant someone else’s life.”

"Yeah, well, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!” Dakota snapped, “Now those teens are really gonna die and...! Have you no soul?!”

Chris winced again, trying to console an angry and emotional girl. “If this is what raising kids is like, I’m gonna rethink my answer on adopting.”

"Look, I know this is hard for you to understand. But sometimes you need to make sacrifices. Sure, a few people may get a bit ticked off, but one day they’ll get over it.”

“Not if it’s one of their children dying! Those kids had families, Chris; they’re the same age as me, and they could be dead in a week's time! Career or no career, they will never forgive you for this; you’re a coward, Chris! You saw danger and ran the moment it peaked its ugly head. You just cost innocent lives their whole future!” She yelled, fully crying now.

“Dakota, you know the network doesn’t want us...

"No, save it! I don’t care what the network wants; I want them home safe and sound and the killer brought to justice. I don’t want to be mixed up in your mistakes, and if you won’t rescue them, so help me, I will!” She yelled, slamming the door, leaving Chris dumbfounded. “Well, she took that just about as well as I expected.” He chuckled to himself. He underestimated Dakota’s kind heart; she felt sympathy and empathy extremely well, way better than most people here. It allowed her to connect with people’s issues and, at times, helped them relate. And considering the situation, she understood how everyone must be feeling. Scared, alone, and probably sacred for life.

“Ugh, what have I gotten myself into?” He groaned, knowing Dakota was going to be fighting tooth and nail to get those kids home. However, the network’s mind was set; they've convinced themselves that one of the campers killed Ezekiel, and while Chris would rather believe it himself, to believe the campers have a better chance at survival. Deep down, he knew he did a horrible, criminal, and overall unforgivable thing. And yet he did nothing to change it as Dakota desperately tried to get someone to rescue the remaining twenty-one campers. God, he didn’t want to think about how those numbers could be dwindling by the day.

It wasn’t long before word got out, and missing person reports were filed. In hindsight, they should have seen this coming. Word spread pretty quickly in this day and age. All it took was one loose-lipped employee, and the rest was history; the public outcry was overwhelmingly negative. People rallying together, demanding answers, and pressuring the network to fire Chris and save the teens, or at least reveal the information needed so authorities can handle it.

Sadly, the studio stayed tight-lipped, deciding not to get involved, much to everyone’s dismay.

Dakota walked into the office with a heavy heart. It has been one month since Ezekiel’s murder, and calls from distressed parents have become daily. Dakota lost count of how many times a parent or relative would call, asking for updates or a tiny sliver of information on the filming location. Unfortunately, not even Dakota or any employee knew the location of Camp Wawanakwa; only Chris, Chef, and a few higher-ups knew where the island was and didn’t want that information to get out of fear of being prime suspects.

“Ugh, they’re just a bunch of cowards—the whole lot of them.” Dakota thought bitterly, head down, and letting her muscle memory drag her to her office. “I can’t believe any of them; children are dying on a deserted island, and they don’t even have the decency to give the public peace of mind.”

The crestfallen girl moped into the room as Emily was reassuring another parent.

“Mrs. Anderson You have every right to be concerned for your son. No, worrying doesn't make you a bad mother; it’s completely normal in situations like these. Just know that we are doing everything we can to ensure he and everyone else comes back safely.” She reassured, “Yes, Mrs. Anderson? Yes, hello, yes, it appears you are going through a tunnel; I’m gonna have to let you go. Okay bye.” She sighed as she hung up.

“Who was that?”

Cody’s mother: She called me on her way to work, and it's the third time this week too.” Emily answered, resting her head in her arms, “We can’t keep living like this; we need to do something now before we get sued!”

“Oh, so now you're taking this seriously?"

The other glared, "Oh, don’t give me that look. You know I brush things off and use sarcasm to deal with stressful things; it’s my way of coping. Believe me when I say I am on your side."

The other didn’t speak; she just glared at her friend as an employee peeked inside. “Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but there’s a meeting starting. I wouldn’t skip this if I were you.” She spoke simply and left.

The two looked at each other and silently agreed, rushing to the meeting room praying for good news. Walking inside, it was deadly quiet; tensions were high as whispers were exchanged and concerns were expressed. Dakota locked eyes with Chris, who for once seemed remorseful. She quickly looked away, setting her gaze on the head C.E.O., who sighed deeply.

“It appears our decision to stay silent was a mistake.” He started, which many agreed with: “It has come to my attention that many parents have called out of both worry and dead set on finding their kids themselves through private investigators; some have even threatened legal action, which is something becoming increasingly harder to ignore. I have called you all here today because we need ideas. We are slowly running out of time, and staying silent is just making things worse. I believe it is time that we

“I know who the killer is!” Chef screamed bargaining into the room, much to everyone’s surprise and shock.

Honestly, I made Emily way too nonchalant about the whole killer on the island thing, but this is how she copes deep inside she's probably freaking out like everyone else, and I know Danganronpa came out in 2010 but Island of the Slaughter has some Danganronpa vibes, so I had to throw in the blackened reference. Also seems like Chef may have an idea who the killer of Wawanakwa is. But the question is does he? Find out next week when I post the last written chapter that I have backlogged. See ya on the flip side ;)

#total drama #total drama fanfiction #island of the slaughtered #Total Slaughter Island (Rescue Rangers) Chapter 1 #chris mclean #dakota natalie #emily jones #chef hatchet #td ezekiel #writeblr #ao3fic #fanfiction writer #fanfiction chapter #ao3 author #ao3 #fanfiction.net #td chris #td chef #ao3 writer #ao3 works #fanfic

[acourtofserpents]

This is such a fascinating game - I wish the demo was longer, it's very immersive and intriguing!

I need to thank you dearly for one thing, too. I love all sorts of isekai / "transported to another world" stories, but my biggest trigger in fiction ever (to the point of having panic attacks if that happens) are stories of that kind where the protagonist goes back to their birth world at the end. The fact the very intro post mentions that "(...) shall you decide to stay or escape." is so nice to me. That means I can actually read this story without freaking out. Usually I have to ask the author if they are planning for a route where the MC stays in the other world, but some authors see it as fishing for spoilers and don't answer, sadly. Yes, I know it's a weird thing to thank you about, but I'm very grateful! I do have a small question about that, if you're willing to answer. Will this be a story where we're able to decide early on if the MC wants to stay or try to escape, or will the MC be "undecided by default". I tend to prefer to be able to make a choice fast of course, but I'm sure it'll be well written regardless! Or well, maybe the situation would not really lead to any of these alternatives at all... That aside, for the ROs, I'm most interested in the prince (though of course, I have to exclude the human RO anyway considering the direction I want to take my MC in), but I think it's interesting... I somehow consider the prince to be less awful than the other fae ROs? Well, he's a jerk, but he's a jerk to everyone, clearly. It doesn't seem like his behavior is focused only on the MC - he just has an awful personality (and I'm saying that lovingly) overall.

Oh and a question about Caerus. Again, this might be spoilery so feel free to ignore it. I'm assuming we WILL get opportunities to get closer to him and what not... But what will dad think about MC's relationship with (insert chosen RO), once the relationship actually starts or well, once it becomes clear there is something between the two? Because I feel like he may have strong opinions, like wondering if MC, as a human, will do the same their mother did and "betray" their fae partner after a while, or would he on the other hand have more trust in the MC since he raised them? And if the RO is human, would he on the other hand be judgmental of that thinking the child he raised has bad taste haha? An well, does his opinion depend on his relationship with the MC, too?

Sorry for the long ask and multiple questions! Thanks for indulging me, and have a great day!

hi hi lovely!! first, thank you so so much for all the love and kind words!! i’m so extremely happy you’re enjoying the story, these kind of messages are really my biggest motivators <33

now, to answer your questions,, i’m not too sure about when the final and ultimate decision will take place, as i’m planning quite a few different routes that MC could take. so far, i don’t see that decision being made anytime soon, as i’m not planning to add it to chapter 2. MC will have to start thinking about it, but a permanent decision won’t be made so early, sorry!!

hehe, you can say Ryzan has an awful personality unlovingly (that’s definitely not a word, oopsie) too, i don’t mind!! i think it all depends on how you perceive all of them, they all have their faults, some of them maybe more than others.

about Caerus, it’s not spoilers, don’t worry!! if MC’s careful, Caerus won’t know about the relationship until much later. that also depends on who MC chooses to romance. i think he’ll be very VERY very surprised to know that MC is involved with a Fae. he doesn’t have a problem with them, per se, but it’ll just be very surprising to see MC kissing someone they claimed to hate for their whole life, and vice versa. now, with Silos, Caerus almost expects some kind of relationship (even if it’s just platonic friendship) to bloom between them and MC. the way he’ll treat MC and their relationship with anyone definitely depends a lot on their own relationship!!

#and there’s no need to apologies for asking questions!! #i LOVE questions!! #makes me feel like people are genuinely interested in the story and characters :33 #thank you for the ask <3 #asks #a court of serpents #acos #ryzan #zale #nailea #silos #caerus my man

[felikatze]

Do you feel Awakening's plot was let down by the need to be a male power fantasy, IE: kill lots of ugly people without remorse, get praised by everyone, all the woman want the avatar, ETC?

hmmmmm. good question. I don't think it's a power fantasy, per se - FE heavily ascribes to the design philosophy of "only beautiful people can be good", which is horrible for a lot of reasons, but I feel in this aspect it's plot structure is more hampered by the fact that it is a video game, and every chapter needs a Battle.

That's how you get basically every single generic brigand. There's a lull in the action, as characters talk, get to know each other, travel to the next relevant location. But you can't put any important battles inbetween, because those moments need to be slow - thus, an enemy who could just as easily be removed from the story without changing it.

In another game I like, Lord of Heroes, it's almost a running gag - the protagonist sees someone important, and wonders when they'll have to fight the next new guy, cuz We Need Boss Battles, even when the characters have no real need to fight each other. This is how you get comical misunderstandings only resolved after trashing each other, or your typical "I need to test your strength first" shtick.

These characters are engineered to be unimportant, for their deaths to mean nothing except some extra exp. It's just a problem baked into every FE game's chapter structure.

To compare to another SRPG, Triangle Strategy - you don't have plot unimportant combat in the story, ever. It's all optinal. Like yeah, there's bandits now and again, but the bandits are actually reoccuring characters, one of whom you can recruit, so they are made to be enjoyed as characters and sympathized with. The bandit characters even make good points sometimes! There's a part in the game where the main characters are involved in a black market smuggling deal, and bandits catch them transporting illegal goods. So, the bandit questions, what makes you rightous in this situation? Why is it right when you're doing it, but wrong when she does? What, because your goal is noble? What does it matter when you've sunk to the rock bottom of morality already?

However, Tristrat has an entirely different plot structure to FE. It also has a chapter system, but not every chapter includes combat. Some chapters only feature cutscenes, or exploration segments.

The game is just set up differently in a way that lets the plot breathe without forcing conflict. Combat gameplay isn't the main draw or a necessity. I'd fucking adore Tristrat if it had no combat whatsoever - It's the opposite of FE. Plot doesn't exist because combat needs to happen, no, combat only exists because the plot occasionally necessitates it.

Okay, this has been my triade on the disposable enemy archetype of Generic Brigand. To the next point - well, is Awakening a male power fantasy?

From the main plot? Not really. Like, yeah, sure, the avatar is the only person who can marry whoever. That's to give the player the opportunity to romance their favorite, I won't deny it. But the main plot itself doesn't have anyone fawn over Robin (besides Chrom). Hell, you could even go without finding out about Tharja's devotion to them if you benched her and never read her supports. Since her whole thing with Robin isn't included in her recruitment chapter at all. That utterly blindsided me when I played, cuz all I knew about her was "Robin simp." and then she didn't even simp robin in her first appearance.

If we're talking "recruiting lots of girls to your army constitutes a harem" then like, every FE game would be a harem. They're not. The game even forces you to be monogamous. I'd argue Fates is worse in this, because characters start falling in love and blushing profusely by A-support, even when they're already married, so everyone is Schrödinger's Cheating. In Awakening support chains, there's never really any romance outside of the sudden S support marriage proposal. I'll admit S-supports are well put together in recontextualizing the previous supports as falling in love, but all of them can also be left at A for a perfectly fine platonic dynamic between all characters.

Robin themself doesn't emphasize their own strength and intellect much, even if it is impressive in the world of the game. It's all about their bonds with others, how others give them strength and hope and all that good stuff. Robin is a well-developed character with positives and negatives. They're not just a blank slate. Hell, man, there's a whopping three choices you can make in the plot, and only one of them actually changes anything, and the first one is actually a choice for Chrom instead. Robin has their own thoughts and feelings and a great arc and if you ignore that in favor of "they're just me fr" then that's a you problem tbh.

You can argue till the cows come home about beauty standards and colorism in FE enemy design, fuck knows that I can freely admit a lot of Awakening enemy designs are racist as all hell, but that's sadly not unique to Awakening. Generic Brigands are ugly to signal that they're unimportant and morally corrupt and it's fine to kill them because only pretty people have morals. The only black people in Awakening are the shadowy desert cultists and the leaders of the "barbaric meathead" nation, so go figure what the game was trying to signal on that front. It's just shit design.

Awakening's finale actually makes me think of your typical fairytale hero story, and it's a great subversion of "the knight in shining armor kills the evil dragon to save the land." In that way, it's also a great subversion of other FE stories, since that summary is a lot of them in a nutshell.

Binding Blade did the subversion first though. Grima is just Idunn 2 (actual bastard edition) and I adore them for it (that much is obvious).

So like TLDR no, I don't think Awakening is a male power fantasy, because the main plot itself doesn't focus on romance or how awesome the main character is whatsoever. Less power fantasy, more "power of friendship" fantasy.

#Feli gets asked #do i dare give this main tags #it's gonna show up in search anyway. eh.

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Author Ask Tag Game

Thank you to @janec23 for tagging me to do this one. Never done it before, but I've seen others do it, and I'm excited to try it myself!

I think I'll do this for my main WIP (as per usual lol) - Steph's Crew.

Gently tagging these guys: @jessicawestonauthor. @winterandwords, @mysticstarlightduck, @tea-and-mercury, @mjparkerwriting

Here are the questions:

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, and help readers grow as a person?

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

When and why did you start writing?

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers on Tumblr do you follow?

Let's do this thing!

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

I don't know if there's a single main lesson to my story. The characters go through a ton of things, and they learn a lot of different lessons throughout. I will say that they all kind of fall under the same theme/idea... A lot of them learn family and relationship lessons, especially to do with communication and being open to listening to the other person. These lessons also apply to the romantic relationships and the friendship dynamics as well in the story... as well as coming-of-age, high school messages of being true to yourself, peer pressure, sticking up for yourself, standing up for what's right, teamwork, friendship, and blah blah blah etc. You get the gist.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

Tons of stuff... it's a YA/teen drama, and a lot of it takes place in high school. And I've watched a lot of stuff similar to this... I also started writing this while I was in my final year of sixth form, similar to my characters. I also decided to have it set in North London (and I included a real place - Hampstead Heath. It's a large park, and it's where the characters occasionally meet up). I made up a few places that are inspired by real places, too... or things that I've seen on TV. Like Stevie's and Dave's. Stevie's is a small restaurant/cafe place where Bret sometimes works after school, and it's right next to Dave's - a record store where he also spends a ton of time at (usually with Elise). These two places came from this show that I used to watch all the time growing up - The Next Step. It's about a team of dancers that compete in competitions. But when they aren't dancing, they usually hang out at the cafe/juice bar venue downstairs, which changes every season. Each season's cafe has a completely different vibe... I think Dave's fits the Culture Shock vibe (season 2), since there's a lot more going on, and you could buy records and other cool stuff there as well as snacks and drinks, while Stevie's is more of a Hidalgo's type of place (season 3). And I'm not necessarily inspired by this show (since I only just found it recently) but I thought I'd mention this because I find it cool. I like looking for stuff that fits the vibe of my story, whether that's music, aesthetic mood boards, TV shows, movies, etc. One show that I've found is an old BBC show called "Waterloo Road." It's crazy... it's all about a struggling school in the UK that's full of rebel kids. It focuses a lot of the teachers and staff as well, which is an interesting direction to go. Aside from that, though, it feels similar to the story I'm trying to write myself... well, maybe not as crazy as that (people are dying and getting arrested constantly on that show), but still. Could explain why I've gotten so invested in the show already!

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, and help readers grow as a person?

This is an interesting question... mostly because I don't know if I consciously thought of this while writing my main characters. My main character tends to go with the flow, you know? And so does the rest of her group, to an extent. That being said, they all clearly want something out of life, and they strive towards whatever that is (they're all really different and want different things). They are all students in their final year of high school, so one main goal is to get through the year and achieve the qualifications they need and prepare themselves for the next stage of life (whether that's university, getting a job/apprenticeship or whatever else). But they also want to be happy and have their lives figured out. At the stage of life that they are in, I feel like it's a common goal to kind of find yourself, you know? Learn who you are. In the first instalment of the series, that is the common goal for all the characters in the main crew. But there's also an underlying goal for Steph in particular... her storyline revolves around her former foster family conflict, particularly where it involves her late foster sister Melanie, and her tragic (and somewhat mysterious) death. I don't want to say what the goal is, because it's a huge spoiler. But it's a big deal, and it's an ongoing storyline throughout the series.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

I have no idea. I planned for it to have 20 chapters... it exceeded that limit ages ago. It'll take as long as it'll take.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

It is original! I don't know how I'm going to put it out, though. I've already posted some of it here (the series of dialogue that I've been doing. Almost done with that btw). I was planning to post some chapters/extracts of it here as well, just to get some feedback from my fellow writers/friends. But I was debating putting the full story either on Wattpad or self-publishing it. 'Cause I feel like I never use my Wattpad account... but I also want to make a real book out of this. I don't know what I'll do just yet.

When and why did you start writing?

I've been writing and making up stories forever, pretty much. I just like getting lost in a made-up world (which is probably why I love to read, too). If we're talking about this story, though - just over a year. I started when I was in a similar stage of life as the characters I was writing (sixth form, last years of secondary school education, sitting mock exams and feeling a ton of pressure), and it was a great way to relax and just de-stress and unwind.

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers on Tumblr do you follow?

Ooh, I follow a ton of great people... I was actually planning to post a proper list of recommendations. But here are some of my fave writers/mutuals on Tumblr (check these folks out if you haven't already!): @exquisitecrow - one of my first-ever followers! A really talented and underrated writer @thelavenderwriter - full of fun posts and prompts @gummybugg - one of my fave mutuals! Great writer, and a really cool person @jessicawestonauthor - another underrated person @clairelsonao3 - soooo good. Recently started getting into this person's work on ao3! @winterandwords - yet another cool person! Writes a lot of great stuff @jojomills - a really skilled poet @toribookworm22 - another really cool person... they always ask a lot of cool questions for writerblr asks, too @soph1333 - just a fun person. Posts prompts and stuff like that @mysticstarlightduck - ok everyone on this list is just a really cool person lol. This person is no exception. They write a lot of great stuff as well!

There we go! This took me so long to finish lol

I hope you guys enjoy this! This was really fun and interesting to do.

#rickie-the-storyteller #writerblr #writing #steph's crew #writeblr tag games #author asks

[walkawaytall]

For the fic ask game:

16. Is there a commonly held misconception about one of your stories that you’d like to correct for the masses? (I know of one and thought you might want an excuse to say it. 😎)

17. What does your editing process look like?

16. So, I think I actually may have touched on this answering number 20 (at least if I'm thinking of the same conversation that you are about Han's motivations in Purpose of Heritage thus far)? And, aside from that, I don't think there have been many widely-held misconceptions -- though there have definitely been different responses to certain things than I expected (like, more than one person saw Reconstitution as a bit of a downer and that was...the exact opposite of my intent with that story...but we all bring our own experiences to the stories we read, so I'm not going to say their reading is wrong per se, just that I intended for the ending of that rather melancholy fic to have a hopeful slant to it, even in the midst of life's imperfections).

Oh! Actually, I though of another one: there are moments in Purpose of Heritage specifically where Leia's straight-up wrong. Like, she is our heroine, our main character, our beloved space princes, but she's also 19/20/21 years old and traumatized and very specifically not dealing with said trauma in healthy ways at least 50% of the time (her eschewing therapy repeatedly is not supposed to be viewed as a super-great alternative to, you know, going to therapy), and there have been moments that people have clocked as Leia being a badass -- and they aren't wrong -- but I also see them as Leia's cool, together facade cracking in a way that isn't good technically.

Like, we love Leia, so the scene at the shooting range where she uses Varner Coy's blaster to shoot a line of bullseyes does feel badass and empowering and a little cathartic because that guy has been a jerk, but it's also Leia losing her cool entirely and giving into an impulsivity that I don't see as a good thing for someone in leadership to do. I didn't stick immediate consequences in there because I'm not writing an after-school special, but...just because Leia doesn't always have negative consequences for a thing doesn't mean that I included it with the intent that it was supposed to be seen as totally awesome, full-stop. Sometimes it's partially awesome, and partially a big red flag. And maybe I should be more obvious about this; I don't know. I just am not writing a morality tale exactly, so I don't want to steer the narrative into an area that makes it feel clunky or preachy.

17. For normal-length things like one-shots or Collateral, a multichapter with chapters that are a sane length (4K-6K words): I write the thing, I read the thing and edit as I read. I may or may not edit while I write; it depends on how long it is, how long it takes me to write, if any parts are giving me issues. (Like, if I get really, really stuck, I'll start on a fresh document and copy/paste different sentences and paragraphs until I can get back into a good rhythm, and in the midst of all of that, editing happens as well). I basically read and edit things several times until I'm either 1. Entirely happy with it (rare) or 2. Tired of looking at it and no longer debating about changing anything (more common).

For Purpose of Heritage, I did an unhinged and probably short-sighted thing where I wrote what was originally two chapters, decided I preferred them together, and combined them, setting a precedent for myself to write chapters that are 8K-10K words long (and that is legitimately where I've felt each chapter has a natural stopping point -- like, I'm not padding stuff to get to a certain word count. Most of the chapters, I suppose, could be split in half, but we're so far beyond that at this point, I'm just resigned to writing giant-ass chapters until this project is complete). I used to reread everything every time I set out to write a new chapter to try to ensure I didn't go off-the-rails tonally, but when that became too cumbersome, I think you were the one that mentioned having your phone read what you'd written aloud, and I use that not just to review past chapters, but also to edit (so, thank you for that suggestion if that was you, DP!). It helps me identify clunky wording and sometimes straight-up inconsistencies.

So, I usually write and edit as I write, then reread the whole chapter and edit, have my phone read it and mentally dogear what needs to be looked at and edit those pieces when I can, and then read it another time and occasionally have a beta reader (thanks for the times you've helped with this, by the way!) assure me that I haven't gone off the rails entirely if I keep worrying about one particular aspect, edit again with any beta reader suggestions in mind, and finally publish when I'm either as pleased as I'm going to be with it or I can't bring myself to read it again. I do usually try to make sure there is at least a night where I ignore the chapter entirely before doing one final editing pass-through before I post. Giving my brain a chance to not think about it helps me catch errors I missed on earlier read-throughs, and also usually helps me realize that I haven't, in fact, written a pile of garbage.

Thanks for the questions! Sorry these answers are so dang long!

fanfic writer asks

#my asks #fic writer asks #fanfic writer ask game #fanfic writer asks #fanfic writer ask #ask away

[scalproie]

FINAL(?) THOUGHTS ON MK12

the story in general: enjoyable if you take it as face-value and dont dig deeper than the surface level, also if you dont have any passionate attachments to what came before.

the earthrealm champions storyline: genuinely liked it. Kung Lao/Raiden/Johnny/Kenshi's introduction and characterization were strong enough to carry them through the story. It was pretty easy to fill the gaps between timeskips and the dynamics were enjoyable

the outworld storyline: lots of players in this one but having a clear villain (shang) that ties everyone's motivation together makes it easy to follow. Overall I did like it.

the lin kuei storyline: as per usual, its isolated from everything else, but it's given NO screentime to actually develop, and even seem like an afterthought. I'd even dare say that with a little tweaking, you could remove them completely and the story would be no different. The only thing accomplished here is making explaining who the characters are harder than necessary, and I swear if I see one more person with vague knowledge of what theyre talking about trying to explain them to people who know even less and getting it absurdly wrong because of this game, I'm going to lose it. By far my biggest disappointment.

The timelines shenanigans: in a weird limbo where it's simultaneously too much focused on and not touched on enough. It felt like it was here for spectacle rather than smth they genuinely wanted to explore, but then again we have one interactions thats kinda sweet and satisfying. Overall, the entire story revolves around this so its pretty solid? but I also did not quite like it on a fundamental level. So it was... whatever.

INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS:

Liu Kang: the closest thing we have to a clear protagonist, as he ties everyone together, which is fitting for his role both out and in-universe. I dont mind him even tho he is definitely flawed as its impossible to write a character with that much control as 100% good (we wouldnt have a game otherwise). Think he shouldve kept the white god hair tho.

Raiden: his role being switched with liu kang's was expected and the logical following of their storyline in mk11, I am more than fine with that. Raiden feels like himself in a different circumstance. I sure do wish his electricity was inherent to him and not the product of an amulet tho, I have no idea why this change was made. I did like him overall.

Kung Lao: Kung Lao is consistent in his characterization and this familiarity made me like him even more than usual. He gets really sidelined early on but I know the chapter system is to blame for that. There is a lot of cute moments involving him.

Johnny Cage: god, the writers fucking ADORE him do they? As one of mk's sole comic relief characters, I get he is the only one able to deliver a bit of comedy to the mix but fucking hell they almost abuse him in that regard. BUT they also give him a shocking lot of nuance too? The scene with his future ex-wife and everything involving kenshi? He gets a LOT of screentime and development and he is nothing BUT characterization, hence why, as someone who doesnt care that much about him, at one point it starts to feel really fucking unfair. Johnny is fine but I have to check myself because if I get too much exposure to him (which is inevitable) he genuinely starts to piss me off so fucking bad

Kenshi: he's fine. Kenshi here, like Johnny, is a character that isnt tied to anyone else, so the both of them having a joined development thats resolved in this very game is pretty good. I dont have a lot of things to say about Kenshi, he complete his arc and gets his job done in the narrative.

Geras: Geras has only been in one game prior so he does not have overwhelming expectations weighing him down. I really liked him here, his relationship with Liu Kang really does both of them favor.

Sub Zero: Bi-han fit the antagonistic role he was given well enough. Sadly it comes at the price of his already feeble reputation of an originally neutral character. But even when I lower my expectations, here he is given no nuance and no room for growth, not in a satisfying way anyway, as things are right now. The "depth" (read: one or two lines) he is given feels more like inconsistence on the writers' part than him having complex feelings. As usual, he COULD have been great, but he isnt. I'm really disappointed.

Scorpion: Utterly Unrecognizable. He is not fully Kuai Liang on account of being Scorpion, and he is not fully Scorpion on account of being Kuai Liang. This isnt a character, this is a checklist: 1) get the scar (Kuai Liang part) ✅️ 2) be shirai ryu (Scorpion part) ✅️. He is the only character to be given this treatment, or at the very least, the only one where its THAT noticeable because he is made of arguably the most popular characters of mk. We are missing CRITICAL parts of his and his brother's characters to make us care (his motivation comes from an unknown and unseen dead father that never existed before and such a massive big deal is never given development or focus, despite being all they're talking about), their entire storyline rely on nothing other than the HIGHLY popular rivalry between "Scorpion" and "Sub zero". No love and care was brought to his character, nor his brothers', nor his storyline.

Smoke: Smoke... sure as hell was there. Personal thoughts: but the more time passes the more I Do Not Like his characterization. He is written no longer as an equal to Kuai Liang but as what I can best describe as a sidekick, even moreso than usual thanks to him being written and played as younger than the brothers. Yet another thing I dont like about the Lin Kuei storylike. Literally miss (bi-han) after miss (kuai liang) after miss (smoke) for me. They're out.

Hanzo: genuinely ask yourself. Are you happy that hanzo is here? His presence in mk12 is the same as nrs holding up a cardboard picture of him so people wont be mad that he's absent. Everything that he had has been given to "scorpion" aka kuai. He cannot be important because he is young. And when we get a timeskip of him being finally being older then what? The only thing people want of him is dying and coming back as an angry wraith? That's all he is and will be? I'd rather have no Hanzo at all rather than him being stripped of what made him him and used in an unsatisfying way.

Harumi: Harumi went from being the wife of Hanzo Hasashi that dies to being the prize of Scorpion's character. She is finally given development but said development is so confined to the game she's in that it doesnt even matter to me, adding to the fact that they're going in a direction I find boring (to my tastes) with her.

Kitana: she was also there. Which is surprising because kitana always felt like... the protagonist when outworld was involved? While I understand her role, I personally am not that fond of her being relegated to a supporting character.

Mileena: she is an entirely new character with mileena as a basis. I think her story has holes but on the surface it gets the job done. She is definitely one of the more focused on character all the way til she gets her own chapter to conclude her arc, and she has plenty of relationships to bounce off of, so she's definitely one of the more rounded characters here. I dont mind her, but I cant hide personal pettiness that her popularity mightve been the reason why she's so important.

Sindel: I genuinely DID like sindel but I look at her and in the back of my mind there is always the devs' voices going "sorry sorry sorry". Still, I liked her. I liked her death also! It made sense and, while I think it couldve been done MUCH MORE EMOTIONALLY, Im fairly okay with the way it was done. Idk if her being a flawed leader is completely a feature or a bug but I did like it!

Li Mei: I literally did not care that much about li mei until the revelation that she and sindel used to be friends, and then a lot of things clicked together, so I would say THIS was good. Other than that, li mei is whatever to me.

Reptile: one of my main issue with him just boils down to him being hot. I do not mind him having one big monstery form and one human form, but the two are clearly not treated equally, and yeah yeah I know its easier with a human model or whatever BUT LITERALLY BARAKA EXIST. So him being "good looking" 75% of the time with sad backstory and an IMMEDIATE nice an easy going personality (even tho imo he should maybe be a bit angry and grieving that his fucking family died in the living forest until at least his own chapter) = the writers trying too hard for me to give him my sympathy. And I dont like being forced. Aka reptile lost most of his edge with me, it's like hes trying so hard to be likable he has no flaws and so he annoys me a bit in return. But I still like him. I SHOULD love him, so much even, but when I try there is always smth bugging me. I want him to be more fucked up, and no, eating a bug once (1) doesnt count, its what should be NORMAL for him.

Tanya: she's so weird to me. Tanya is mk12 is like, if she was from a mirror universe where she was the good version of an evil jade, if you get what I mean? She's not tanya in almost every way, yknow? Also, usually if you think the writing staff do anything with shipping in mind, you're reading too much into it, and shipping itself is not smth that's seen with respect... BUT THAT BEING SAID I genuinely wonder: if tanya/mileena had never been a thing, would they still had picked tanya for this role, or would they simply just have picked jade.

Rain: to fully appreciate rain you have to hunt down everything involving him in mk12, cutscenes in storymode, endings, intros... my man literally has SO little. But. What he has is literally so inoffensive to me, I actually quite like this rain a lot. He has his own thing going on and I like the direction it took!

Baraka: his inclusion feels like mileena's story was thought of first, and baraka's was built all around it to support it. No, I still dont like the tarkatans being a leprosy allegory now, and no, the new identity Baraka has doesnt do anything for me even if (or because) it was made completely out of nowhere for the purpose of mk12. People dont want SOME characters to suffer (even tho it makes for an interesting story), but when baraka is reworked into doing nothing but suffering, nobody bat an eye because he is no one's favorite. Also he is severely underused in story mode, where he could give us more insight on tarkat and the flaws of the regime, but doesnt. He also helps the earthrealmers out of the kindness of his heart but it really does feel a bit forced, especially when intros show he is not actually that kind in general. Still, just like reptile, I liked baraka.

Shao: funnily enough shao is given interesting depths in this story, but because shao has been an absolute fucking bastard in his 30 years of existence, nobody seems to notice or care. But I Do, despite myself I notice and care about whatever weird thing shao has got going on this time around. I know he has to be a lil bit problematic in there if I dig a little but nothing BIG on the surface so far??? And its the addition of MISGUIDED BUT NOBLE GOALS in shao that were previously non-existent thats so fucking weird to me. I'm literally looking at him under the microscope.

Reiko: Jobber Supreme. Reiko was funny. He is carried by his relationship to shao but it could legit be interesting so yknow what Im gonna let this silly fucking guy entertain me. What can I say, I like when villains have positive interactions and relationships.

Shang Tsung: Shang Tsung (both of them) was funny af. 10/10 no notes. Extremely entertaining. No fucking redeeming qualities. Critical amount of Kunt being served here. Evil and having fun about it. Caught being stupid in 4k by his own self. His plan(s) was pretty straightforward and I can appreciate that. I have nothing bad to say about Shang.

Quan chi: Quan chi was there to make funny faces and be mean gays with Shang Tsung. I dont mind him. Him being an outworlder and "turning white" is not smth I enjoy much tho, whats wrong with him being tied completely to the netherrealm?

Ermac: his design is something you eventually get used to. But as soon as you do he fucking get That Face. I swear I almost end up hating Jerrod in spite because of how they used Ermac. I cant deny it technically makes sense why they wouldve used him like that but I cant help it, I Did Not Like It. didnt liked it in mk9, dont like it now. I think I wouldve liked more the idea of Ermac being influenced by Jerrod rather than him being downright possessed by him. My opinion was much more scathing before the leaks but I have since calmed down a bit. But Ermac gets treated so badly in this game, he actually gets all my sympathy and more, compared to other characters.

Ashrah: Ashrah is okay. I like what she adds to the earthrealm team (and god know they needed her bc damn this was the no girls allowed club before she showed up) but I'm not sure I would enjoy her on her own without someone to bounce off of. Because she also was a character whole neutrality got removed to make her a fully good-aligned character. One thing that really endeared me to her tho was her "I've never had a home before!" line and the genuine happiness she showed there, I wish this part of her had been more explored. And she is also one of the characters that gets a lot more fleshed out in the intros to me. But still, like I said, Ashrah was okay.

Nitara: yeah the megan fox voice acting is objectively bad but it could also be way worse. I know its different bc this one is just an optional skin and not the character's actual voice but fucking listen to JCVD's voice acting. As for nitara, Im really sorry but it feels like she is just here to fill a niche, and said niche being "fanservice". So i'm really sorry for people who like her but yeah she is outshined by her VA and the "well she is a 3d era character that hasnt been shown for awhile so lets bring her back for the people" sentiment. As for her role in the story, I know we need jobbers but she is so isolated from everything they could remove her and it wouldnt change anything. Her personal motivation is not even given the time of day even tho it's the ONLY thing she has, so yeah Im having a hard time to care. Which is sad.

Havik: as soon as I saw his bio I knew he was going to be done dirty, the trailer he showed up in implied it but him having such a sympathetic backstory all but confirmed they were gonna go the "guy with good reasons to change the system fucking take it too far so you cant endorse him" trope with him. Everything with him seems a bit random (which is ironic considering he is mr. chaos) like, why is scorpion the one to give him his iconic open jaw look? (It also cements scorpion as the checklist character ngl). Anyway I do understand the reason for his inclusion as well as the story needing jobbers, doesnt change that I still think he's whatever tho.

#there. now I never want to hear about mortal kombat ever again <- will relapse so fucking quickly #tagging later #long post #mortal kombat #mk spoilers