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This was amazing...

I don't even know where to start listing off all the things that I loved about this. So let me just go with the order my brain comes up with.

First of all, *the research*. My goodness, you did such an amazing job. The various latin phrases, the way time is being told, even the characters' world views checking out. Just amazing. It really gave this work a level of authenticity that is pretty rare to read about.

Which makes it even funnier when the characters do drift off into modern colloquial phrases. Seriously, this made me laugh so much. ("Petros Two" got a particular loud snort from me, my goodness. And also whenever Laurent brings up dogs, or his theory that perhaps there are very small animals that can make you sick. Preposterous! Also also: the bathwater. Man, did I have a good time reading this.)

The grossness factor makes this story extremely intriguing to read. It's masterfully done, often obfuscated within the language used, but being able to read between some blurred, and some perhaps not-so-blurred lines, you can get a good sense of Basilius's freakiness. He was just really really hungry, okay?

All that to say, this was a FEAST. I LOVED this FEAST. Thank you for writing this for my jam!!!

Hey there, I know this post was not made on the Queer Medieval Jam page, but I thought I'd (preemptively) weigh in on this here as well: NxT Maru, I just removed both of your submissions, Behind the Smile, and Let's Talk Until Dawn. For the former it should be obvious why: It's not medieval at all. For the latter: Since I just found this thread of yours saying your submission does not contain any queer elements, and that is a requirement for my jam as well, I feel it's best to remove it. Additionally, since you seem to be submitting stuff that doesn't fit to other jams as well (like this one!), I have gotten just slightly sussed out.

Delicious! While I am way more of a long-story-enjoyer, I can appreciate short and to the point stories like this one as well. The mixed media aspect is what immediately drew me in, and it was executed so so well. The triptych scene! It's very apparent you put a lot of effort into the visuals alone (the way the antlers look already foreshadows where this is probably going to go). When Aubade appeared I went "WOW" because it looks so good.

SPOILERS

The story and its outcome were so tragic, though ... Man, Otmar and Hermann could have spent a whole life together!!! I mean on the one hand it's good that the sun has come out once more -- eternal rain seems like a terrible state to live in -- but was there really no other way?

I do think it's interesting Aubade tells Hermann that this is his fate. I take this to mean that Aubade's initial plan to have Hermann kill Otmar was a ruse all along to make Hermann offer up himself. So Hermann's inner narration about being constantly plagued by doubt, and him later finding out Aubade can read minds, should have tipped me off right off the bat, then. If Aubade truly is an angel under God's wing then I guess God doesn't shy away from deceit either.

All that to say: AWESOME!!! Loved it. Thank you for submitting it to my jam.

This will stick with me forever. And boy, that ending ... Amazing. 10/10 no notes

SPOILERS BELOW

I just finished reading this. It's hard to put into words how this made me feel. I'll try anyway.

One thing I loved was the Angel telling Harmonica that no matter what, she will never even get close to Sicil. I find that deeply sad for her. It's like no matter how much good she does, and how much she cleans up after herself, a vital part of her will never live up to "true goodness", if that makes sense. Both Sicil and Harmonica are doomed from the start, and there is absolutely nothing that can be done to change that.

That Harmonica's desire to kill Sicil stems from such simple frustration is genius. There was no big falling-out; they didn't even know each other. Sicil doesn't even recognize Harmonica when they meet again on the bridge, either. That's the whole crux, isn't it? Harmonica put so much value in a person she thought was below her that she thought killing her would be fine.

Everyone is truly normal in this VN. Loved it, and was close to tears by the end. (And I will also be thinking about the significance of the woman who sometimes appears in flashbacks and at the end ... In fact, this entire story will stay in my head for a long time.)

This was made for me ... I've always loved depictions of unicorns from a medieval perspective like this. Purity, and maidens, and what the defiling of such a creature would do to everyone involved.

My favorite part of the VN was definitely when Aldith shows the unicorn her secret "lab", so to speak. And when she talks about the hypocrisy of human society when it comes to purity. It added so much nuance to her, in such a short amount of time. And in addition to that, it also comments on things that have very well been true a thousand years ago and still are now. That was quite masterfully done.

My only complaint is that the scene transitions were not shown for a long enough amount of time! These collages were so beautiful, I really wanted to soak them in for longer.

All in all, this was great! Thanks for making this.

I can only mirror what others have said about this. Absolutely vile and appalling and so damn good. Genuinely, this is a really important piece of art. I was able to relate a lot and it tore me apart inside in a way I can only call ... cathartic? Like my soul was put through the wringer and came out bruised but stronger.

Thanks for making this! 

Now that the full book is out, it is my greatest pleasure to write another comment.

You have created a fantastic beginning to a story that will leave people speechless. Obviously I will not discuss any spoilers whatsoever, but I can say this much: Paying attention to what the book tells you is very rewarding and it will stay that way for future volumes. Digging deeper, and trying to truly ponder certain implications is not time wasted; caede knew what they were doing here. Not a single word in this book is in vain.

I love Eric. He may be a little ??? in the head, but he ultimately just wants a good life for himself and his (found) family, and that makes him so so sweet to me. Certain scenes brought tears to my eyes, because Eric’s sincerity really got to me. So, no matter what: I will root for him until the end.

Additionally, I love magic, and I love how it works here. I suppose one could categorize it as a pretty soft magic system – you don’t have to fully grasp its entire ins and outs, but thinking about it is fun as heck. Knowing that nothing is left up to chance in your work, the thinking and the pondering and the interpreting lends the book an additional layer of fun.

There was also a part of the book that made me actually screech like a harpy. :) :) :)LOVE!!!

This comic is impressive on both a technical and story-telling level. You said so yourself in your afterword of the artbook, and I must agree: I too love stories that leave things open to interpretation. The way everything is presented here definitely does leave things open enough in a way that the story will keep floating through my brain for a whole lot longer.

Also Demeter's hair vents are awesome.

--Extremely mild spoilers in this comment--

Wow! Oh wow! What can I say. The prose in this is so … palpable (?) for the lack of a better word. It’s like the oppressiveness of the town descended upon me, too.

Loved your descriptions of Vincent. He is just such a miserable guy. I especially loved the scene where (MILD SPOILER) Vincent gets Milo’s age wrong. Really says a lot about him. Wanna strangle him so bad!

Despite this being a novella, i.e. not very long, the complexities of the characters really shone through. Just excellently written, and hot too.

I got this comic from a certain Dead Market, and it's the first thing I decided to check out! Incredible. The BG art alone is exquisite! Not to mention the character art. I loved certain stylistic choices, like how the scene in the confession booth was staged. Very atmospheric. Oh and the end part, too. (Father Dominic is such a hottie)!!!

I read this on a whim and I'm glad I did. It's a well-written story that my brain is still gnawing on. For one, I think the setting is very interesting. I don't want to say there's "untapped potential" because that makes it sound like you left money on the table, so to speak (in my mind there is a lot said with few words, which is quite a feat!). What I'm saying is that this setting is great. It speaks to me in a way that makes my brain tingle with a certain kind of dread that is difficult to parse.

And man, the characters are great too. They make up the soul of this story, so I will not go into too much detail here for the sake of anyone who doesn't want spoilers, but I sure enjoyed the changes within the both of them.

This was quite a delicious read! The tag "improper use of a sword" had me hooked. >:)

I devoured this in just one sitting, glued to my screen. The prose is beautiful. You managed to convey the time period perfectly, especially in the dialogue. And I love myself a world-weary vampyre. Especially when said world-weary vampyre learns to love surrendering himself to a puny human. :D

Wow! I haven't seen collages used like this before. Very evocative and unsettling. The formatting of the text at the end gave me chills.

A very well-executed idea, for sure. I was intrigued by the phrase "There are no endings." and now I see what that meant. It's honestly a genius idea! Hits home, too.

Wow? Omg? I stumbled upon this comic via your Bluesky post about it and it's so cute ... I really love your artstyle and how you're basically only using three colors here. It's super stylish looking. The big panel with the tree (a willow?) had me going "Wow..." to myself. The texture you managed to imbue with your brush gives everything this super unique charm. 
I also love Malady and Lapis?? I've only known them for, what, 12 pages and I am already charmed by them. I could gush about this all day tbh. THIS IS PEAK.

How have I not commented already?

I have told you this before. The humor in this is sublime -- so many moments where I genuinely laughed out loud! -- and your character work is so so good. I feel so seen by Lulu in particular. The queen of pickles on pizza.

And because I'm me I also got to crafting many little theories on what is going on. I love when stories invite the reader to really dig deep into the material, and think about it. You manage to do this every time! I am waiting patiently for the second Volume and will support all your other endeavors as well.

When it's your writing, it's so verily yummy every time.

This first chapter rings in a whole new wonderfully atmospheric story.  As Eric might say, this is a "Schmankerl". This yummy morsel truly makes me hungry for the whole banquet of freaky flavors you have in store. May Bianka live off of this comment of mine. :3

I-I... I read this comment and almost cried myself. Oh my goodness. I'm glad I could move you and you liked it and ... Aaaah!! I'm so happy! I will now commence squealing mode for three days straight. <3

I really liked this. The ending shattered me ... T_T thank you for making this.