#the hostage

You woke slowly, the heavy fog of unconsciousness lifting like smoke. Your head throbbed with a dull, persistent ache, the kind that lingered after a blow or a spell gone wrong. Your arms ached, wrists bound above your head by something cold and metallic… chains, heavy and unyielding. When you instinctively tried to shift your legs, the same biting pressure greeted your ankles. A blindfold covered your eyes, the fabric soft but knotted tightly enough that not even a little bit of light pierced through. The world was nothing but darkness and the faint, musty scent of old stone and candle wax. Nothing felt familiar. Fragments of memory flickered like hands… rough, desperate hands… grabbing at your clothes, a sharp pain blooming at the back of your skull. Then… nothing. A void. How had you ended up here? Where even was “here”? Footsteps echoed softly on the stone floor. Slow. Deliberate. Unhurried. Each one sent a chill racing down your spine, despite the warm air.

“Who the hell is there?” you snarled, your voice rough and raw. You yanked hard against the chains, metal rattling loudly in the silence. “Show yourself, you coward!”

A soft chuckle answered you. It was warm, almost affectionate, and horribly familiar. It made your stomach twist with a confusing mix of recognition and dread. “Ah… my dear… I was starting to worry you might never wake up. You were quite unconscious when I found you, bleeding and broken. Such a pitiful sight.”

That gentle, teasing tone, light yet sharp enough to cut, could belong to no one else. It was familiar but it was hard to remember.

“Let me go. Right now!” you demanded, yanking harder against the restraints. The chains held firm, biting into your skin.

Another chuckle, closer this time. You could almost feel the shift in the air as he approached. “Why would I do that? After I finally got my fingers on you again?” His voice dropped into something darker, sweeter, laced with a velvet edge that sent unwelcome heat curling through your veins. “You should be grateful you’re still alive, dearest. Those peasants nearly finished what they started.”

The footsteps stopped right in front of you. The air grew warmer, charged. Warm fingertips brushed your cheek, gentle, almost reverent, tracing the line of your jaw with feather light precision.

“I almost lost you….” Lilia murmured, his breath ghosting over your ear. “Seeing those filthy, unworthy hands on you… it was unbearable. I could never let you go. Never let you leave me again. Not after everything.”

You twisted your face away from his touch, heart hammering wildly against your ribs. The blindfold made everything worse, the vulnerability, the inability to read his expression. “Who are you?” you growled, even though the answer already burned in your mind.

He gasped dramatically, the sound echoing off the stone walls. “How cruel! Have you already forgotten me? After I betrayed my own church for you? My image must still be somewhere in that pretty head of yours, buried beneath all that demonic stubbornness.”

As he spoke, fragments flickered through your mind more vividly now. Crimson eyes glowing with forbidden hunger. Priest’s robes…once pristine white and gold…stained with something far darker than wine. A smile that promised both salvation and damnation, fangs flashing in the shadows. Lilia, the priest who had turned his back on centuries of holy vows the moment your paths crossed.

“Take the blindfold off…” you growled.

“No, no. There’s no point in that” he replied lightly, almost singsong. You could hear the smile in his voice. “Not yet. I quite like you like this… helpless, blind, entirely at my mercy. It suits a demon so well.”

Frustration boiled over, hot and sharp. “Did you save me out of love or something? Is that what this twisted little game is? Some sick fucked up desire of yours?!”

Lilia laughed then, bright, delighted, and utterly unhinged. “Love? Oh, how delightfully silly you are, my dear… but you’re wrong…I despise you my beloved. You are the sin that captured me, the temptation I could never resist no matter how many prayers I offered. It was so very hard to hold myself back when I found you bleeding and broken. Those pathetic humans dared to lay hands on what is mine.”

He paused, voice dropping to a dangerous purr. “You can’t die in such a pathetic way. No… you don’t deserve that. You must die by my hand and no one else’s. Slowly. Intimately. So I can savor every last moment. So I can hear every little broken pleading and crying of yours.”

You spat out a string of insults, calling him every name in every language you knew… human, fae, demonic. “You’re a traitor to your god, a hypocrite in holy robes, a pathetic old man hiding behind pretty words! You more of a monster than I am… you are nothing but a joke!”

None of them landed. He only hummed in amusement, the sound vibrating with genuine delight. “Such a sharp tongue. I do adore it when you get feisty. But…you should be careful with that mouth, though… or you’ll regret it.”

He stepped even closer. You felt the brush of fabric against you. His hands cupped your face, thumbs stroking your cheekbones almost tenderly, like a lover admiring his beloved. Then his grip tightened, fingers digging in just enough to sting. “You’re too weak to harm me now.” he whispered, voice velvet and venom intertwined. “My pretty little prey. All chained up and helpless… just for me. How exquisite.”

His hands slid lower, deliberate and slow, wrapping around your throat. Not crushing, but firm enough to remind you exactly how easily he could. His thumbs pressed lightly against your pulse points, feeling the frantic beat there. His breath ghosted over your lips, warm and sweet with the faint scent of something like blackberries and old blood.

“How rude you are…” he murmured, tone dripping with mock disappointment. “But I can’t deny… you look rather sweet like this. So helpless under my hands… under my power. It makes an old priest’s heart race in the most sinful ways.”

He leaned in until you could feel the heat of his mouth hovering just above yours. Your pulse thundered beneath his fingers, a wild rhythm that betrayed the fear and something far more dangerous coursing through you. The anticipation hung thick in the air, electric and forbidden.

Then….

“Lilia-sama!”

Sebek’s voice boomed from somewhere, loud and frantic, echoing like thunder. “Lilia-sama! Where are you?! I’ve been searching everywhere for you! This is most unbecoming of your station! Our training started 10 minutes ago!”

Both of you froze mid breath. You let out a long, disappointed sigh that seemed to come from the depths of your soul. Lilia echoed it almost perfectly, the sound comically synchronized.

“The mood…” you muttered, “is thoroughly killed...”

Lilia’s hands slipped away from your throat with obvious reluctance. You heard the faint clink of keys, then the blindfold was gently untied and pulled away. Soft candlelight flooded your vision, warm and golden after the total blackness. You blinked rapidly, adjusting to the dim glow, candles casting shadows. The “chains” were theatrical props, sturdy looking but cleverly designed with quick release mechanisms. A quick twist of your wrists and they loosened enough for you to lower your arms with a dramatic groan.You rubbed your wrists anyway, more for theatrical effect than any real discomfort. The faint red marks would fade soon enough.

“Ugh…” you groaned, rolling your shoulders. “The mood is completely dead now. I was really feeling it! The tension, the threat, the whole ‘helpless demon at the mercy of a fallen priest’ vibe.”

Lilia pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. His signature mischievous smile played on his lips, fangs peeking out just enough to remind you of his true nature. “Tell me about it.” he sighed dramatically, flipping a lock of his black and pink hair. “We can’t even do a proper ‘demon x priest’ roleplay anymore without someone killing the mood. Sebek has the absolute worst timing. That boy is louder than a dragon.”

From somewhere far above, Sebek’s voice echoed again, still calling out. “Lilia-sama! If this is another one of your games, I must insist you reveal yourself! Waka-sama would be most displeased if anything happened to you!”

You stretched your legs, the fake ankle chains clinking harmlessly against the stone. A grin tugged at your lips despite the ruined scene. “I was so into it too. The blindfold made everything more intense. The choking was perfect, not too hard, just enough pressure to make my heart race. And that line about dying by your hand only? Chills~ Absolute chills. You really nailed the ‘I hate you but I’m obsessed with you’ energy.”

Lilia eyes sparkled with amusement and genuine affection as he stepped forward. He cupped your face again, this time with no roleplay pretense, just warm, familiar touch. His thumbs brushed your cheeks tenderly.

“We’ll try it again next time we finally get some real alone time.” he promised, voice warm and playful, laced with that timeless fae mischief. “I’ll even prepare better props. Maybe add some ‘holy water’. Or perhaps enchanted ropes that tighten only when you struggle… just enough to make it interesting.”

You grinned wider, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him closer until your foreheads touched. “Deal. But next time, maybe we should lock Sebek away somewhere. Or tell him you’re ‘busy with important religious duties’ for at least three hours. Better yet, send him on a wild goose chase to find some rare ingredient for one of your ‘special’ pies.”

Lilia laughed softly against your mouth, the sound light and genuine. His fangs grazed your lower lip in a teasing nip that sent a pleasant shiver down your spine. “As my favorite sin commands. Though I must say, your acting was excellent today. That angry snarl when you first woke up? Masterful. I almost believed you were truly terrified.”

You pulled back just enough to smirk at him. “Your ‘I despise you’ monologue was top tier too. The way your voice dropped when you talked about my ‘pathetic death’… I got actual goosebumps. We make a great team for this stuff.”

He hummed in agreement, pressing a series of light kisses along your jawline. “We do, don’t we? Who knew sin could be so entertaining?”

You chuckled, running your fingers through his hair.“Just don’t get too carried away next time. The choking was hot, but if Sebek burst in we might have had some explaining to do.”

Lilia’s eyes twinkled with wicked delight. “Imagine his face. ‘Lilia-sama! What is the meaning of this?!’” He imitated Sebek’s loud, formal tone perfectly. You both dissolved into quiet laughter, the sound echoing softly.

Meanwhile Sebek’s voice had grown fainter, still booming as he continued his search. “I shall not rest until I locate Lilia-sama!”

Long story made short, I am back here cause I discovered that it was way more pleasant to share art here than on other plateforms (Instagram sucks). Since I am no longer pursuing a career in the arts, I want to work more on drawing for fun rather than feeling forced to do so and, let's be honest, Instagram is NOT the place if you don't want to feel pressured to do something.

So! I will now only be sharing my art here (cause after a month of not sharing art, I've found out it was rather unhealthy to keep my hardwork for me lol) and some pieces some of you have already seen, I am sorry for that. I hope you'll enjoy my past work and my few future pieces!

Thank you!

Chilling Devotion

A demo in development where you get caught in a hell blizzard and shack up in a stranger’s cabin. Honestly, if we were supposed to be wary of him, its failing spectacularly because he’s honestly the most innocuous, chill-ass-lookin fella I don’t mind spending the rest of winter with. That’s prolly the metalhead in me saying that (I cannot read what that “bunch of dry sticks arranged in the vague representation of the band name” is on his sweater). He’s also super shy and I think that’s fucking adorable. There isn’t much, but there is a weird situation where you dream of a nightmare wolf and everything is too profound to speculate atm (though I’m digging the suggestion that he could possibly be a werewolf). Looking forward to more of the story!

The Winter Wedding

I’m still working on trying to get other routes, though the one I completed was a bit…bland? There just seems to be a lack of…atmosphere, or immersion that couldn’t stop me from laughing at the characters just scooting across the screen. Maybe its because the sprites are kind of small and trying to look like pose-able dolls whenever a situation happens (I.e. they make the sprite dip low on the screen during a bath scene). I understand its still in development so I’m thinking everything is just placeholder. The story was apparently about you and a wedding, though I couldn’t really tell if it was a wedding my character was looking forward to or trying to survive until. I did get a few endings, with one concluding “Wedding is cancelled” very abruptly so I’m assuming she wants the wedding even though her and her beloved has expressed growing disinterest. This was also the first time I felt absolutely cockblocked by a character (You’re going to help me sleep by…reading a book. You absolute mfing tease.) I’m lowkey wondering what the significance of it being set in the Omegaverse is (besides possible sexual connotations).

Trapped with Jester

A very short but very quirky game which really stuck with me. I’m not really super into clowns. I do find horror clowns interesting though, so this was up my ally. There’s a bit of simple dialogue, and your partner was very charming. You can get all 6 endings in less than 30 minutes, with some time to spare to explore some additional dialogue from your choices, but otherwise it was fun. VA also made the whole thing special, 12/10 evil clowns.

The Hostage

I guess the best description for this is “Abduction ASMR”. You’re basically implied to be in a dark room with your captor dropping sick lore on your confused ass. I was kinda…’meh’ on it at first, but after the first scene, it actually started getting interesting, and you learn just a bit more, enough to get you speculating on what the hell was going on (cause of course they’ll never straight-up tell you). The atmosphere and music is really the highlight of the game, so give yourself a nice quiet place with earphones for the maximum experience. Try to get the special ending for a nice conclusion. Also, VAs were absolutely phenomenal (the male and female captor), 12/10 dangeros.

Teachers. With love and passion

They have a sale currently until June 30th EXTENDED TO JULY 6 GOGOGO. Hopefully you’ll get it before then.

Besides Your Boyfriend, this was the first visual novel that was lengthy enough to span hours worth of gamplay (I PLAYED IT FOR HOURS). Visually, it’s the kind of game I wouldn’t go near because its, again, anime, super bright, and I guess kind of gives you that childish ‘young love’ vibe that I’m too old to care about anymore. Except the protagonist is a 30 year old woman and the LIs are guys in their 30s-40s. So I tried it out of curiosity, and I admit getting through the first scenes was hell (I had major attention deficit, and I really tried not to let the art bother me even when the critic in me wanted to go over all the improvements they could do). BUT…when I got over that, and maybe after a bit of playing, the story opened up to be really good- good enough to grab my interest, good enough to keep playing. There’s honestly some good humor and realistic characterization here that makes it worth exploring the different routes you can get, with the boys having diverse-enough personalities that will make your approach to them wildly different from one to the other. Plus I love how they all interconnect in an overarching storyline leading to a grand finale that makes it worth going through all the routes, the good and the bad. I honestly think its worth the $10 price. Definitely recommend!

P.S: I recommend following the order of which boys to rizz up stated by the walkthrough guide for the maximum experience, just because they all seem to follow a somewhat chronological story beat. Plus, don't be deceived by the innocent atmosphere cause it definitely earns its 17+ warning much later.

Next review here