#and maybe just share some fun snippets with you XD

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer In The Dark: A...Gratitude...Carol?

Hi, I know I just posted a whole long-ass write-up on stories and scores I adapted from other media for this verse yesterday, but this is an idea I almost literally just came up with, and it's delightful seasonal nonsense, so I figured that it deserved its own post. XD What happened is this: during a boring moment at work last week, I found myself thinking about my old "Scenes From A Multiverse Christmas Carol" fic (featuring Edna Strickland from BTTF: The Game as Scrooge; Victor, Alice, and all the various OC children I've given them over the years as the Cratchits; and young Emmett Brown (also from BTTF: The Game) and Bonejangles and Barkis Bittern (in the "shadow puppet" form from the "Remains of the Day" sequence) from Corpse Bride as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet To Come respectively). Specifically, I found myself thinking, "If I was writing that fic today, I'd probably make Smiler the Ghost of Christmas Present -- they totally fit the brief for that spirit! Almost aggressively cheerful, has a magic liquid they can use on people to make them happier, has some secret darkness hidden away under the clothes...

"...Actually, thinking about it, I could turn the whole Valicer trio into the Ghosts of Christmas, couldn't I? Alice suits Past because her whole plotline in A:MR revolves around her rummaging through her past and using those memories to make herself a better person in the present (via Bumby-murder, granted), and Victor suits Yet To Come because he's very closely tied to death thanks to, you know, marrying a corpse in his movie. Plus he's pale enough for the role...it could totally work!

"...oh shit now I want to do a Christmas Carol parody with the Valicer In The Dark version of the trio and Lord Rowan."

Aaaand cue me pretty much losing the rest of the day to coming up with ways on how to make that work. XD Now, the traditional plotline of the Scrooge character being visited by three actual ghosts looking to help them change their ways wouldn't work in the world of Duskwall and the Shattered Isles, simply because, in that universe, ghosts are pretty much always very bad news. If a ghost ends up in your room while you're sleeping, it's pretty much guaranteed it's there to possess you and suck away your life essence, not help you become a better person. Not to mention, I wasn't about to kill off my trio to do this, even if I made it a one-off non-canon story. So my initial thought was that the whole thing would have to be a weird dream Lord Rowan had for some reason, with the three in the right roles doing their supernatural thing while he fought them at every turn. And then end it with him waking up the next morning and tracking down the Three Pillars to accuse them of breaking into his house again, only for them to be like "...we have no idea what you're talking about, are you feeling okay?" Which was -- all right, but wasn't really gelling with me --

And then -- I came up with something MUCH FUNNIER.

Allow me to set the scene for you -- the story would open on the eve of Gratitude (a Duskwallian holiday all about giving thanks to the Immortal Emperor for ascending to the throne and saving the Shattered Isles during the cataclysm way back in the day; it's a bit more "Thanksgiving" than "Christmas" but it's the closest analogue we've got in the main rulebook), with Lord Rowan throwing a party for all his family and friends and whatnot. Things are going pretty well for old Nathaniel --

Up until he's informed that there's a disturbance in the kitchens. And when he goes to investigate, he finds himself blinded by a shockingly bright light. Scrambling around, he manages to seize hold of an arm (or is it a leg? Or a head?) --

And finds himself holding a flour-covered Alice Liddell. Turns out that she and her compatriots broke into the house to steal any scraps and leftovers from his fancy party that they could find to distribute to the residents of Six Towers. The "disturbance" was her accidentally upending a bag of flour onto herself, and the flash was her using Smiler's "Flasher" device to try and cover a getaway. Lord Rowan is naturally pissed off and demands to know where the others are, but she says they split up a while back and she's not sure. So he drags her off to try and find them, complaining all the while about how hard they make his life and how dare they steal his food to give to those "leeches" outside. Alice is annoyed by all this and essentially goes "What the hell happened in your past to make you such a jerk?"

And cue them running first into Lord Rowan's father, Elder Gregorious Rowan, City Council member and high-ranking leader in the Church of the Ecstasy of the Flesh, and then into his older brother Graham, a decorated and important leviathan hunter with a wife and three children. Both of whom end up talking about Nathaniel's past and how they'd hoped he'd live up to his potential better. Alice is like "ah, second son syndrome." XD Lord Rowan is like "oh screw you" and continues his search --

And happens upon his study -- which has light coming out from under the door. And when he throws open said door, he finds Smiler sitting his chair at his desk, wrapped in stolen Gratitude decorations (including a wreath of moss and greens upon their head) and eating some food they got at the party (not even stolen, the waiters just gave them some canapes). Lord Rowan is even more annoyed now (while even Alice is like "Smiler, you took a snack break?" -- Smiler protests they were going to share) and starts going on about how they're ruining his Gratitude --

And Smiler responds with "oh, we're ruining your Gratitude? What about all your tenants whose Gratitudes you've ruined?" and drags him out onto a nearby balcony to show him Six Towers and have a little rant about how the people down there have almost nothing thanks to him, but they still do their best to be thankful and share the spirit of the holiday with each other. "And you can't even spare the scraps from your kitchen to help them? Tell me, if things had gone according to plan, would you have even known we were here? Or would you have not even noticed the missing food?" Lord Rowan protests he's not running a charity and if people want meals they can go to the Arms of the Weeping Lady, but Smiler shoots back that the soup kitchen can't do everything and that regular people have to help increase happiness too. Lord Rowan dismisses that as "Advocate nonsense" and heads back inside, intending to raise the alarm and call the Bluecoats on them. Alice and Smiler are like "oh come on, can you not be a dick for one day, we don't even want to ruin your party, we just want the stuff you'd throw away anyway," but Lord Rowan says he's had enough of their shenanigans. Alice threatens to hurt him, but Lord Rowan is like "oh, you wouldn't dare, not in my own house. You lot shan't summon the specter of death upon me!"

And then he turns around and finds himself face-to-hood with a tall figure in a black cloak with one skinny pale hand reaching out of it. He naturally screams like a little girl at this --

Causing the figure to recoil and trip over its own cloak, falling down and revealing it's Victor. (Or "Vincent," as Lord Rowan initially calls him -- Victor is like "Lord Everglot made the same mistake -- why can you rich people never remember my name?!") Turns out he's wearing the cloak because his usual coat is in the wash and he needed something to protect against the chill ("We told him it was too big," Alice says, prompting Victor to retort "I'm not used to things being TOO BIG on me"). Lord Rowan recovers quickly from nearly having had a heart attack and sarcastically asks Victor if he has anything to say about his lack of care about the "peasants" and their "pathetic Gratitude celebrations" -- turns out Victor does, saying that if he doesn't care how he's regarded in the present, perhaps he could care about how he's regarded in the future? After all, he's not leaving a particularly nice legacy behind him at the moment -- the people in Six Towers hate the Rowan name, associating it with fear and want and misery. "When you die, do you think anyone would come to your marker in the great mausoleum by the crematory and mourn? Or do you think there will be celebrating in the streets?" Lord Rowan is a little shaken by that thought, but manages to dismiss it, pointing out he'll be dead and his soul burnt away, so what does it matter? Victor starts to bring up the idea of his descendants suffering for his sins instead --

And then stops, because, uh-oh. There's a ghost in the house. And it seems to be right in the middle of the ballroom -- aka in the middle of Lord Rowan's party. The four rush there, to find the guests being terrorized by someone Lord Rowan recognizes as the ghost of one Ebenezer Marley -- an old school friend of his who became a solicitor and helped him occasionally with matters of property law. Apparently the dude was murdered recently, and decided to take out his spectral rage on the celebrants. Marley spots Lord Rowan and rushes to take him over --

Only to be caught by Victor, who just so happens to have his ghost-hunting kit on him. After a brief struggle, he, Alice, and Smiler manage to wrangle the ghost into a spirit bottle and save the party. The guests are all very impressed, going "bravo" and "thank you for helping us" --

And Lord Rowan realizes that turning them over to the Bluecoats now would make him look extremely bad. So, very reluctantly, he summons his butler and asks him to take them to the kitchen so they can collect the food they wanted before escorting them off the property. The Three Pillars are thrilled, but he makes it very clear to them that this is not him being nice -- this is payment for services rendered. And that he wants the decorations Smiler stole back, thank you. Smiler obligingly drapes it all on Lord Rowan instead, and the trio head off happily to collect their spoils. Lord Rowan watches them go, quietly steaming about them winning --

And then another one of his rich acquaintances (which I am so tempted to make Barnaby from Oxventure Presents: Blades In The Dark) drapes an arm around him and goes, "Oh, relax, Nate, it's Gratitude! You can go back to trying to kill them the next day!" Lord Rowan starts to protest that he hasn't been trying to kill them --

And then he stops. Thinks. And then smiles and goes, "why, you're absolutely right." Cue him returning to the party in much better spirits, thinking about how there must be someone willing to, ah, "take care of" the Three Pillars --

Aaand end of story. XD Yeah, a traditional Christmas Carol this ain't. But hey, at least this allows me to establish Lord Rowan's more murderous tendencies towards the trio in future stories! Hell, it might be good to follow this story with the Taskmaster-based one, since part of the joke in that one is Alex deliberately misinterpreting Lord Rowan's request to "take care of" the three, and the show is known for its "New Year's Treat" one-off episodes...

[banana-pancake5]

You mentioned in your initial Trinna post that her haircut had some lore… would you care to share :3

Also I offer Beatrix to Trinna as a potential friend and here are my official reasons :D

1) she too dislikes the attention from her wings

2) she wouldn’t get her own cabin till after the war assuredly so she would be chilling in Hermes, so they could know each other from that

3) they just have very similar vibes like idk every angy girl that feels the stuff needs her chill friend that struggles to feel the stuff you know???

4) They both have more experience than usual with the Greek side of the family so bondingggg

5) idk if Trinna like to do deadpan humor stuff but bea would probably find that hilarious

(This is all no pressure and just for fun btw XD)

DUHHDHUNDUHNSHUNS THIS HAS TAKING ME TOO LONG SO IM JUST GOING FOR IT NOW

Haircut lore: sooooo I just have a basic idea for this, but she cut it for practicality. When she was probably around 12 (when she had long hair) she was given a quest. She was SO excited for the quest since it was her first one, buuuuut it didn’t go too well. She still managed to complete it, but at one point she was losing a fight and the monster was able to grab her by the hair, which hurt a TON and left her in a very bad situation. Someone (maybe an oc I could make??) intervened and saved her. That same day she ran to her mom’s house and cut all her hair so it would never happen again.

Hm interesting idea… however, May I offer a counter point?

THEY WOULD BE THE BESTIES EVER.

(Little snippet of what Trinna is doing there and her initial reaction. I also didn’t know how exactly Bea would respond …..)

Trin & Bea’s First Meeting:

Trinna sat atop a high cliff within the camp’s boarders. She hid herself in the shadow of her wings, attempting to separate herself from the world around her. Camp had always been her home, the only one she ever really knew, but now it felt so foreign. It was like she was in another’s skin. Everything felt wrong. Whether she was training or sitting with her half siblings as they all laughed until it hurt, she was tense. She couldn’t laugh with them. She couldn’t focus on her training. She couldn’t do anything, and she knew the reason. The one person who knew her, the one person who understood her, the one person who truly felt like family, left her behind. Those words rang in her head, “The gods don’t care about us, Trin! Can’t you see that!?” It was uncanny seeing Luke act with such anger toward the gods, and what made it worse is that Trinna sat on the cliff side, wishing she could see what Luke did. She wanted to say yes to his absurd idea. To join Luke in “dethroning the gods.” It was an idiotic plan; she knew that, but if she knew how camp would be after he left, she might have just accepted. And that’s what she hated. She would’ve accepted. She knew she had no reason to and maybe it was dumb to think it would fix her, but maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad. Maybe Luke was right, the gods didn’t actually care. Maybe her father was just toying with her when he responded to her letters, but… it never felt like it. And if that was the case, if Hermes really didn’t ever care about her, then she would really have no one. That could’ve been the real reason she denied Luke’s idea. If she had joined him, she would have been accepting that her whole life was a lie, that everything that happened was a facade. She couldn’t accept that, but it doesn’t change how awful camp had become. Not only did everything feel wrong, but everyone acted like she was just about to snap at any moment. The camp knew Trinna hung around her brother a lot, they must’ve suspected that she was still in contact with him. Maybe they even thought she was a spy of some sort. It just made the whole “you’re the new counselor” idea a living nightmare. How could she be a counselor? Sure, everyone always thought she was anyway, but that was Luke’s job! He was better with people, Trinna was better at being annoyed by people. That whole problem was pretty easy to sort out though, she just told the Stoll brothers they were in charge. Of course, she had to get involved if they ever went too far, but that was nearly never the case because half the time it was too entertaining not to allow.

These thoughts went on and on as she waited for the day to pass— until she was interrupted. A strange sound and a gust of wind caught her attention. She lowered her wing and peered at whoever made the sound, unrealistically hoping to see Luke coming to cheer her up, but expecting the Stoll brothers coming to pester her with her own responsibilities. She stared at the shadow underneath a pair of purple sneakers hovering a foot off the ground without processing how it defied the laws of physics. Then the sneakers landed in the grass, and the initial thought “wait, that’s not how that works” hit her like a truck, immediately followed with, “whose shoes are those?????” She looked up to see the person who had interrupted her thoughts and leaped to her feet with her wings fully spread out in excitement. “NO WAY!?!???!!!” Trinna exclaimed, she stared in utter shock at the large, raven-like wings attached to the girl in front of her. The excitement overshadowed the off-putting aura and mystery of the stranger. Trinna stammered for a moment, then just pointed at the girl and managed the word, “WINGS?!”

——

YESYESYESYESYES THEY WOULD GE GREAT FRIENDS. AND TRIN DEFINITELY LOVES MAKING DEADPAN JOKES THATS PERFECT

I can imagine both of them chilling in the Hermes cabin talking about their Greek parents (Trinna would be so jelly that Bea has actually been able to meet with and talk with her’s)

[ririchanva]

How do you feel about the Love Square? If you could rank form worst to best, what would be the ranking?

//-taps chin- Well...canon wise? I feel indifferent to them tbh? But if I had to rank up from worst to best?

Adrienette -> 4th place

Not that I don't like them, it's just the fact that...no matter how cute it has become in Season 6, I will never forget the moments on how we got here. Specifically with Marinette's...well, Marinette-ness. And the fact I can't get over how QUICKLY they both gotten over their first significant others before this. RIP Lukanette and Adrigami, you shall be missed.

Ladynoir -> 3rd place

It's the same reason I have for Adrienette, but maybe with some key differences. I don't have a problem Chat having a crush, even if sometimes it does get in the way of the missions. However, my problem is Ladybug giving these subtle mixed signals despite saying she's in love with someone else. I dunno, never been a huge fan. Although I like when they work together as a team, no romance. Hmm...maybe I should've made this 4th place...but then again, Andre the Ice Cream man shoving LadyNoir in my face every five minutes he's on screen sorta killed it for me like -sighs- Either way, this stays at third place.

Marichat -> 2nd place

The buildup for this ship was natural and cute, and I adored at first that they were just that goofy pair that shared their pining trouble. Although Weredad sorta made me wince because of...ehhhh but the ending was cute! Like, I'm a sucker for that 'Aw damn it, I fell in love with them!' and...I wished it lasted for a good while. But ANDRE THE DAMN ICE CREAM MAN JUST RUINS A GOOD THING THAT COULD'VE FLOURISHED BUT KILLED IT IN ONE EPISODE LIKE ARGGHHH--

Ladrien -> 1st place

A rare ship that...doesn't have any problems. Maybe that's probably why I sorta love those little rare moments they are on screen, because they are their softest and sweetest with each other. It is the opposite of Marichat where they are pretty chaotic and fun, Ladrien brings out those first love vibes that bring all them butterflies and those damn old Taylor Swift songs xD Too bad we ain't seeing this now with Adrienette currently being a thing, but I do enjoy seeing fanart and little snippets of them in the fandom.

[allmightskitten]

WIP Tagging Game 🙏🌟💞🌟

Thank you for the tag @physics-of-one-piece !!!! Wah, this is going to be fun, although this is seriously encouraging me to start new WIPs when I have so many I should be working on currently XD

Rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Tag as many people as you have wips. People send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

I'll only include One Piece WIPs on this list because that's the only fandom I use tumblr for!!Some of these are...certainly choices, but you know, I write for myself and anyone that will read it so here goes, from most normal to freakiest /but I won't be explaining the Freak in much detail xx

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1. 'Franky Is An Educated Man Who Knows How to Read' - T, Franky/Robin

this is part of my Strawhat-centric series luffy's band of shared braincells! So far the series only includes two Zolu works, but I always intended to expand it to cover a lot of different Strawhat dynamics, some platonic and some shippy. In that vein, this one is set immediately post Enies Lobby in a filler-epiosde style, featuring a newly-ordained-Strawhat Franky sort of finding his place in the crew and getting along with everyone. The 'plot' involves Franky getting off at an island they stopped at with Robin and Chopper who want to check out the famous library there for books on their specific fields. He thinks maybe he could learn something too so he joins them only to find himself getting irrationally jealous of how nice and cosy Robin is with Chopper to the point where she notices he hasn't flipped a single damn page in a long time and asks him if he can't read XD it's pretty much silly fluff like the two Zolu fics in the series, a genre I don't write unless I'm in the very specific mood for it which is why this is still sitting in the WIPs folder....

2. 'the future king of the pirates rides a water cow and other toursit-y scams' - G, Luffy & Zoro & Nami

This one's also set in Water 7 and in the same series! Water 7 is such a fun location, this fic is pure shits and giggles comedy and it centers around the romance dawn trio, because I love them. Like everything in this series it's a filler-style fic where not a whole lot of plot happens because the vibe here is just spending time with the Straw Hats! (still debating if I should sneak in some subtle romance dawn trioshipping...the live action made me ship it even though I didn't before...😭🫣 would be extremely subtle blink and you miss it type stuff, though!)

Ok now let's get a little freakier don't say I didn't warn you

3. 'journalistic integrity' - E, Sabo/Koala

I think I'm a bit obvious in corazon's flower shop diary that I ship these two but they're extremely background (like, 2 short appearances in all of 14 chapters so far??) in that story, I wanted to give them their own little spinoff :3 this fic is totally independent of the main story and pretty much stands alone. It's cliche romance spy thriller trope hell, here's what the summary reads, straight from the ao3 drafts:

4. 'I am not calling you a good boy doflamingo that Warlord meeting was shit' - E, Doffy/Tsuru

will this actually be the title when I post it? most likely yes unless I come up with an even more absurd one uhhh

Nothing to see here, just a strict Marine Vice Admiral putting a misbehaving annoying Warlord in his place!!! WELL deserved, if you ask me. Doffy is extra pathetic in this one I can't wait to post it 💞💖

freakiness level significantly up in this one

5. Zombie Apocalypse AU - Strawhats, Doffy/Rosi & Law

I honestly don't know if I'll ever pick this WIP up again, but I love zombie apocalypse settings so much I've written one in pretty much every fandom I've been in XD there's already a snippet of one of the dofcora segments in this series on my tumblr if anyone would like to read it!

definitely classifies as freaky because doffy has some weird mental cannibalism ķink and is constantly thinking shit like man I'd let rosi eat me if he turned tho among other questionable ideas

6. 'darling, dearest, heart' - E, Doffy/Rosi

Not revealing much about this one except that it's a little treat for when the reincarnation AU ends ;)

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I have a bunch of other WIPs but they're nowhere near being actually written so I left them out of the list, I've got some snippets up under the tag Abandoned WIP Graveyard on my blog for a few, though!

Thank you again for tagging me! I'm gonna tag @sugarpsalms @saraptor-art @heliostears @addict-with-a-unicorn @tavsianus @kookoofufu if they'd like to do this!! (No pressure though, only if you want to – hope you don't mind the tag!)

[twodiamondhoes]

heyy!! just wanna give more love to only silver :> pretty sure i started reading it around when chapter 2 was posted, and kept rereading it after chapter 5 because i loved the world building you've created and the lore build-up !! pretty sure this fic was one of the ones that got me back into writing, so thank you so much :')

sooo glad i found your tumblr too because i get updates for the fic here now too :D it's surprising for me to see that the fic's kinda at the halfway point (assuming,, it stays 17 chapters long lmao -), doesn't really feel like time's flying this much

ANYWAYS also in love with the newest chapter, do know i am continiously clicking the kudos button after every chapter despite giving it wayyy long ago,,, hopefully this serves as extra kudos <3

~ ree

OMG Hi!! <33 thank you so much 😭 I am so glad that you've been sticking with me and my sporadic update schedule since the beginning, haha!! and thank you so much!! My partner and I have gone a bit crazy on the lore for this world and it's been SO fun, I'm so excited that I get to drag people along for the ride!!

and omg!! That's such an honor <33 I am so happy to hear it! The world can always do with more writers, and if you're ever comfortable sharing, I'd love to see your writing! (obviously no pressure though :3)

I'm so glad you found it too! haha I was just talking to Mel about this, I do think some people don't know what I write/don't connect my tumblr and AO3 because my UNs are so different. Maybe it's time to make a pinned post or something! but I love giving fic updates and snippets here whenever I can :D

Oop thank you for uhh reminding me. to update the chapter count to 18. the Autumn Court Interlude was only supposed to be two chapters including this last chapter, and I'm being honest with myself and adding an extra chapter. maybe two but gosh! This year really is going by so fast!! I'm going to try and make the most of the summer months and write whenever I have the opportunity, so hopefully I'll have this fic done before its birthday XD

AHHHHHH <3333 I'm so glad to hear it!!! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it if you ever feel like sharing!

:D thank you so much for the extra kudos haha, this definitely counts!!! <33

[tuulikannel]

I was watching some RE4 playtroughs and ended up writing such a long comment about the og and the remake (as the player asked for the watchers' opinions) that I figured I could as well share it here too.

I came to this game (the remake) completely blind. It was the first Resi game I’ve either seen or played, and I love it to pieces. Now, don’t get me wrong, the original is an amazing game and I do get what you and some others mean when you say the remake doesn’t have its charm or soul. The funny thing is… even though I love the og for that charm, at the same time I prefer the remake just because it’s not like that. Does that even make sense? ^^;;

The original game is so fun. I think I was constantly grinning, watching it. The remake takes things more seriously (while keeping some of the goofiness), and ultimately, I do prefer that. It’s just my opinion, of course, but to me it kinda fits better the rest of the Resident Evil universe… the Leon of the remake is definitely the same person who went through all the shit of RE2. The og Leon feels at times a bit too untraumatized and trusting to me. Like, people complain that the remake Leon is rude to Luis when they meet. I wouldn’t say so… he’s just being extremely cautious. Why would he trust this complete stranger, right away? Just because they seem to have a common enemy doesn’t mean they’re on the same side. (He learned his lesson in RE2 with Ada…)

And the thing is, more often than not when people complain about something in the remake, my reaction is, well, yes… but this makes more sense to me. Like for example Saddler not running all around the place doing stuff in person. Why would he, when he has all his henchmen and literal mind slaves? Maybe he could have appeared a bit more during the game, but those short snippets we get of him in the visions were enough for me when I first time went through the game. The one thing where I do agree the remake could be improved is if they added those boss transformations in the cutscenes (but even that was something I’m thinking of only after other people have mentioned it. Having no expectations, I had no disappointments either, and Mendez was plenty terrifying for me as it was XD)

As for the characters, I prefer possibly all of them in the remake. Definitely Luis. I genuinely do not like him in the og… that ballistic comment dropped him very low in my eyes (that’s how you greet a girl you meet for the first time?) and he didn’t have enough screentime to fix things later. Let me tell you, revenging him would not have been high on my to-do list. As he’s around so much more in the remake he really becomes a character to care about, and the dlc just adds to that. And Ashley too… I would like her way more in the og if she was 5 years younger but for a 20-y-o college student she has some moments that are just kind of ugh. (“I’m fine, leave me alone!” For real, girl?) She also has more development in the remake and can even be useful at times.

But yes, overall, I do love both games, for different reasons. And it might just be my opinion (as I prefer the remake, and maybe those who prefer the og don’t agree) but I think it’d be a bit sad if a remake completely replaced the original. Now we’ve got two games that are both great and have such a different take on the same story, and people can play either they want to, or both. (I’m tempted to play the og too, really, I’m just scared of how bad I’d suck with the controls XD)

[yobotica]

Ooh, I HAVE to ask about the Ghost sequel! 👀👀

And/or the historian Shaun cook Desmond youtube thing xD

I had a feeling the Ghost sequel would be the one to pique your interest! :3c I'm happy to talk about both!

Unfortunately, full disclosure, neither have actual writing for such rather than notes and vibes so far, so I can't provide snippets. :sadcowboy: Long answer is long so it's all below the cut:

Ghost sequel I had so many things I wanted to explore and felt weren't finished yet. For one, I still want Desmond and Shaun to get together and explore the relationship they could have. I definitely want to see what Desmond can do with his new skills - in this digital age, that kind of access would be a huge advantage to the Assassins, and if he gets back on the Templars' radar, make him a huge target.

There's also the Juno angle. She may be gone (Or is she? 👀 (she is)) but there is still her cult and the Sages and there could be interesting things to do there since they are a not-insignificant piece on the board in the invisible struggle between the Assassins and the Templars and their fight for control over the Isu artifacts (and the world).

I also wanted to just explore Desmond's experience more. He's in a new body, one which no longer bears the scars telling the story of his life. He's got a new determination on what it means to be both himself and an Assassin, and how that defines his relationships with his friends and family. A renewed appreciation of his senses, maybe mourning the fact that he'll never find out if he was functionally immortal in his data form.

Ghost was written during a time when I had a daily commute and often while doing daily sprints, so progress was pretty steady. I did feel I had more to write, but I'd worked on it for almost a year pretty steadily in 2017, less steadily in 2018 and 2019 before I finally reached a point where even if I didn't feel I was completely done with it, perhaps, I needed to work on other projects and felt I'd reached a conclusion that I was pretty satisfied with.

But I never truly got started on the sequel yet - I still want to, but my job and life circumstances have changed, and my creative energy hasn't been there to put towards a big project like that, one that's really special to me; I want it to be right, I want it to be my best, you know? It's still a concept that's tumbling around in my brain and something I don't consider abandoned because I do have scenes that I visualize often!

~

As for the shared youtube channel, it's an idea I adore, one that I think would be so, so easy to write… but would be exhausting for me to research! ^.^;

The youtube channel "Tasting Hisotry with Max Miller" directly inspired this, because it's a neat channel showing off historical recipes, talking about them in their context, often with some funny jokes, then makes those recipes.

And Shaun's a historian, which slots in well enough, so the idea is they were friends, Desmond's probably a chef or culinary student, and it starts off because Shaun pines over a dish he'd read about while researching, Desmond decides to try to recreate it, friends get involved because it sounds fun, and eventually the two start a youtube channel about it. Or one of them had an existing channel and it starts with a 'guest appearance' by the other for the segment and that, of course, turns out to be the most popular video so far by a LOT.

It's gonna be full of pining, fond glances, funny banter, and of course, youtube comment debates. I hadn't decided who is editing the videos - if it's Shaun who's convinced that the glances and smiles Desmond sends his way while prepping in the background are just normal friend expressions :tm: or if it's Desmond who's editing and keeps those shots in because maybe Shaun will see them and ask. Or maybe he keeps them because Shaun's never asked. Maybe Rebecca is their editor and she leaves them in, along with Shaun's frequent compliments to Desmond's food (and hands) in hopes that these boneheads will talk.

I can see it so clearly even now, but the hold up is that I can't write this without doing research into dishes and stuff and I just do not have the energy for that now - haven't since I had the idea, at least. But it's an idea I'd love to finally get written down one day!

[loutao]

Hello there ! Welcome to my blog ^^

You can call me Lou, im a French amateur writer with big dreams and too many projects (sorry haha)

I always wanted to open a blog for some time, and i believe today is the day, i hope you will welcome me kindly, because this space is probably just going to be me crying over fictional characters at 2am.

This blog is gonna be a bit of everything, but mostly a place for me to share snippets + lore from the original novel I’m working on, yell about my favorite fandoms and post fanfics when inspiration hits, scream into the void about writing in general lol and maybe ask for help or suggestions.

As i said before, i am currently working on my own original story. A Fantasy novel. I’ll be posting bits of lore, character concepts, worldbuilding rambles, and maybe some drafts (be gentle pls). Feedback and ideas are always welcome, I love chatting about storytelling!

On top of that, I write fanfics when inspiration strikes. My main fandoms right now are:

• Demon Slayer

• To Be Hero X

• Academy Undercover Professor

• Genshin Impact

• Honkai: Star Rail

But I follow my heart, so expect spontaneous content switches when hyperfixations hit xD

I’ll be posting in a mix of English and French (French is my first language so, sorry for any mistakes) sometimes because that’s just how my brain works. Feel free to vibe with me or drop in my ask box to talk writing, fandoms, or just say hi!

Thanks for stopping by, I’m excited (and a little nervous) to finally share my writing here!

Lets have fun together and lets create and scream about characters together !

— Lou Tao

[chornayadrakoshig]

I’m pretty sure you can guess which WIP I want to hear about 😜 (Strixhaven)💕

It's kinda embarrassing but I haven't written any more for this WIP besides that piece I've posted in November (there were only very minor edits) xD

But I'm going to share a semblance of an outline that I have because I actually updated it last week (previously it was just the piece I've written and some vibes without any specific scene ideas lol)

Well, it will be a bit more coherent and translated version of outline because, with me being multilingual, my background notes turn into ungodly mess of 2 languages at minimum. But first, a few notes about this AU since I've realized I barely shared any info on what it's about.

So the reasoning behind the current working title "The weave keeps bringing us together" is El's powers in this setting. I decided to make her a Wild Magic Sorcerer, with basically means that her spellcasting can have unexpected effects due to wild magic (the effects are vary from tame but funny like "your skin turns blue" to a few actually dangerous "you cast fireball on yourself"). I'm still thinking on what approach El would have to her spellcasting and what Strixhaven college she would choose based on that. I'm thinking between controlled&calculated (Quandrix college, kinda math-focused) or more artistic&expressive (Prismari, elemental magic and performance). Tbh recently I gravitate more to the option of controlled first, then she changes the college, which is rare but is mentioned in Strixhaven playbook, and goes for more expressive one.

And the weave, in DnD terms, is kinda like a flow/source of magic in the world, that magic users can manipulate to actually cast spells. So the idea of the story (which I plan to structure kinda like a chronological oneshot collection with long-ish timeskips) is that El's magic (or more specifically, the wild magic surges it causes) results in some interactions with Gareth and they eventually become closer! ✨

Now, the very small and messy outline (it's bad bad. like not enough details to start writing bad xD) with additional notes and explanations because some details are just in my head and the actual outline is 141 words long:

(El is year 1, Gareth is year 2) Gareth & the guys perform in Bow's End tavern, El and Max are dancing and having fun. That's the first time they see arch other but they don't interact much.

"In the Infirmary" - the existing snippet. El's magic causes an issue when she was practicing before the class and Max brings her to the infirmary. Gareth is on kind of a practice course/apprenticeship there, helping Eddie. The current snippet stops at Max & El entering the infirmary and I still need to write the actual interaction lol.

(El is year 2, Gareth is year 3). They meet somewhere on the central campus or on Quandrix campus - there are a lot of fountains on both and El as a sorcerer gets Water walk spell at that time. Something goes wrong and someone falls into the fountain. Haven't decided who.

this is a very undetailed point of the outline where they actually become friends but I don't have enough ideas for their interaction (especially since they don't share classes unless I say fuck the original playbook and the details about university life it gives). As I mentioned, I'm thinking about college transfer for El: she tries to overcontrol her magic but maybe some potentially dangerous situation happen where it's spontaneous nature actually helps. Gareth is in a LARP club and since in the playbook that club gives  Animal Handling skills I imagine they get into semi-dangerous with animals. Also there is a literal forest and a bog on Strixhaven grounds. And a desert (the landscape of it is pretty weird because magic). We have options!

>>> they start to date somewhere here <<<

I plan to make Max either a Warrior or a Barbarian and Gareth a Paladin so I want to write some kind of sword-practice sessions/classes even though there is nothing like that in the playbook (personally, there is many many things lacking in the playbook I can talk about it all day). Max is giving Gareth "if you make my bestie sad you'll pay for it" kind of talk (not too threatening, she thinks Gareth is okay, but I'm convinced that Max will threaten a dude with a sword just because she can).

(El is year 3, Gareth is year 4 - the end of the year). In the playbook 3rd year students attend a masquerade and they can't invite younger students (but they can invite someone older). Here is the illustration from the Strixhaven playbook for you to get the vibes (it's not just a masquerade it's a magical one!!)

8. maybe something for last El's year or postgrad I don't know yet

I hope it wasn't disappointing xDDD

[hirazuki]

Hiii Justshipsandstuff here! bugging you with some new year asks! 🐛

👻 Is there a new genre you'd like to write?

🦄 Is there a new POV you'd like to try writing?

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it! (It’s okay if you’d rather not share and keep it a surprise)

🛏 Is there a new trope you'd like to write this year?

👾 Do you have any "bad" writing habits you want to break?

🪩 Do you have any "good" writing habits you want to cultivate?

Hiiii!!

👻 Is there a new genre you'd like to write?

Not really! I'm pretty happy in my little corner of... whatever you want to call the stuff I write. Canon-adjacent oddly wholesome enemies to friends/lovers slice of life?? It's kind of like my trademark at this point, and I have so many characters from so many fandoms to subject to this treatment that are still in my drafts, you have no idea XD

🦄 Is there a new POV you'd like to try writing?

If we're talking POV as in first person/second person/third person/omniscient? Then no, there isn't -- I've written a fair bit in each of those categories over the years, and third person limited POV is my favorite by far. There's nothing quite as fun for me as a writer than getting into a specific character's head and limiting myself to writing from their perspective, sticking only to the things that they would know or say or think -- it allows me to not only present their inner thoughts, but also to show the world/other characters through their eyes, which can do a lot in terms of characterization for that character in a way that the other POVs don't have the capacity for.

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it! (It’s okay if you’d rather not share and keep it a surprise)

☽༓☾ Kakashi, of course, has looked into Sakura’s friend, who turned up at the village one day and shows no signs of leaving. He didn’t find anything, and Sasuke has relayed enough to him to keep immediate concern at bay, and, truly, after the war, there have been countless cases like this; of people needing to find new homes, of former shinobi not wanting to have anything to do with their old lives – not going rogue, exactly, but going silent. The alarm in his stomach, though, starts waking up again, when he sees this man produce several chakra threads to attach to Tenzō’s exposed nerve endings, making his fingers twitch – presumably to assist Sakura in reconnecting them to the correct corresponding nerves in Tenzō’s shoulder – the way one would, say, a puppet. He reassesses the red of his hair, the age on his face, and tries to recall any details from the war, from when he might have seen Kankurō using his new favorite weapon, and from old, outdated bingo book photographs that are no longer in circulation. Once the operation is over, the man in question goes to leave. “Sasori of the Red Sand,” Kakashi states. He feels more than sees Sakura freeze up, and notices Sai’s shoulders getting stiff.  Does he know, too? “Who’s that?” the red-haired man asks lazily, over his shoulder. “Someone who died four years ago,” Kakashi answers. “Well then,” the man replies, “he’s probably still dead.” ☽༓☾ 😘

🛏 Is there a new trope you'd like to write this year?

Hmmmmm, I feel like I already incorporate most of my favorite tropes in my fics already, but maybe fake dating/fake relationship? Like, where it's explicitly an arrangement, not just Sasori freeloading at Sakura's place the unspoken developing/changing nature of a relationship. Problem is, I can't think of who I'd stick in that scenario, while keeping things as close to canon as I like to do; Phobos and Will, maybe?

👾 Do you have any "bad" writing habits you want to break?

Yeeeeeees 😭 Feeling that crazy obsession with a character or pairing and starting to write something about it and then just... leaving it unfinished in my drafts for years 😭😭😭

🪩 Do you have any "good" writing habits you want to cultivate?

I guess writing down spur of the moment scenes/ideas/dialogues as they come to me, so that I have something to work with at a later date when I actually have the time in my day to sit and write properly? I just need to be more detailed and consistent about it lmao.

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer In The Dark Snippet: Blessing

Hey everyone -- after yesterday's reblog of "Eating Gods" by @caffeinewitchcraft, and the thoughts it inspired in me regarding Smiler's relationship with the eldritch god of happiness Mar-Mal in AUs like Valicer In The Dark, I decided I might as well share with you all a snippet that's been sitting in my VITD Master Doc for a while: "Blessing!" AKA, Smiler's reaction to waking up with glowing yellow eyes one day after a surprise blessing from Mar-Mal in the wake of their creation of Joy Serum. Because even they were like ?! when they first saw them. XD Hope you enjoy!

--

“Mmmmm…”

Smiler blinked, then blinked again, sleep stubbornly clinging to their eyelashes. Ooof – slow start this morning, they noted, sitting up and shaking their head to knock some of the drowsiness out of it. Not used to that. Then again, that was a long party last night. Fun, though! Definitely worth getting to bed late...speaking of which, what time is it? They rubbed their eyes and checked their little clock, ticking away on the bedside table. Let’s see –

Huh. Halfway through the second hour already? That’s not like me. Mum and Dad are probably wondering why I’m not already in the kitchen getting the tea on. They stretched, pulling their arms back behind their head. Of course, they were there at the party too – they know how busy I was showing off my Joy Serum to everyone! I’m so glad that Dr. Gertslauer approved it for general sale as well as marmalisation – I can’t wait to share it with the whole city! Hopefully I’ve got enough syringes for my first sales day – and even if I don’t, I’m sure Dr. Gladwell would be happy to give me some. Maybe I can ask him after breakfast… They shook their head again. If I ever wake up! All right, why am I having such trouble getting going this morning? So I went to bed a little later than normal – I’ve done that before, and usually I pop awake no problem! And I don’t feel like I slept bad –

Though...I – I do kind of remember having a weird dream. Think it was about my – marmalisation? There were definitely spirals, I know that much...and something warm wrapped around me...and this oddly-pleasant buzzing, crackling noise in my ears...and someone – something talking to me? Something – something about –

You brilliant, beautiful little thing! The happiness you’re going to bring the world – you deserve the absolute best I can give you! Everyone should know how marvelous you are! Now don’t wiggle, I’ve got you, I’ve got you...there. You know my spirals, don’t you? Of course you do… Just let the joy fill you up...that’s right, just as bright and wonderful as you are...

A smile spread across their face practically of its own volition. Yeah – whatever that was, it was really nice, they thought, tossing their covers back and swinging their legs over the side of the bed. Worth feeling a little groggy this morning. But it’s definitely time to get up and start the day properly! Happiness waits for no man! Or no woman, or whatever the hell it is I am. Point is, no waiting! They thrust their feet into their waiting slippers, then hopped up and headed for the bathroom, humming a jaunty little tune to themselves.

The bathroom was, happily, unoccupied when they arrived – Smiler lit the lamp on the counter, then shut the door behind them and went straight for the toilet to take care of the usual morning business. Once that was done, they flushed, washed their hands, glanced at themselves in the mirror, then leaned down to wash their face –

Then snapped their head back up again because what in Mar-Mal’s name are my eyes yellow?!

Staring at their reflection quickly made it obvious that the answer to that question was “yes.” Smiler gawped at themselves, blinking rapidly in case that did anything to change what they were seeing. It did not – their eyes, formerly a perfectly ordinary green, remained a bright, vibrant yellow. What the – cheese and crust, they’re actually glowing, Smiler realized, leaning forward for a better look. That’s – odd. When did this happen? My eyes were the same as they always were when I went to bed last night! I mean, I think they were, don’t recall the last time I looked in a mirror – but Mum and Dad would have told me if they’d suddenly changed color! They lightly poked at the corner of their left eye. Is – is this a weird side effect of all the glow orb juice I’ve been working with lately? I did go through quite a lot, given how many times I had to test the Joy Serum...but that would have affected my hands first, right? Shouldn’t the rest of me be glowing too? They held up their hands, studying them in the mirror. No, everything else seems normal...so what’s going on here?

“Smiler? Honey, are you up? We have breakfast!”

“Ah – yes! Just a minute!” Smiler called back, eyes still locked onto their own reflection. This is really bizarre...I guess I should just be grateful it doesn’t hurt or anything? And I can still see fine...I might even see better in darkness now, given I’ve got my own personal light shining out of my face. Bright side! Literally! They snorted at their own joke, then shook their head one last time before leaning over and splashing their face with some water. All right – let’s see what Mum and Dad make of this, and if they think it’s cause to worry. At least I know that, even if it is something bad, we have plenty of Leeches around here that could take a look at me. Not that I’m sure what they could do, but – still.

They finished washing up, then – after one final baffled glance in the mirror – headed to the breakfast table, figuring that getting dressed could wait this morning. Mum was setting out the plates when they arrived, with Dad nearby finishing up the morning toast. “Well, you’re a bit of a sleepy-head today, aren’t you?” Mum gently teased, looking up at them as she put down the last plate. “It’s not like you to sleep – in…”

She trailed off, her own eyes going wide as she clocked what was different about her adopted child’s face. “Happy Numbers,” Smiler greeted her with an awkward smile and a wave. “I – uh – woke up like this?”

“What’s going on?” Dad asked, taking the toast off the flame and dropping it onto the serving platter next to him. He turned and took in his wife’s stunned face with a raised eyebrow. “Darling?”

“Matt,” Mum squeaked, pointing at Smiler’s face. “Look.”

Dad came over and looked – and froze, staring at Smiler with the same wide-eyed gape. For a split second, Smiler began to wonder if they’d caught some horrible disease at the party and needed to go back to their room –

And then Dad’s face lit up with the biggest smile Smiler had seen on him yet (and Dad was capable of some big smiles). “My my – this is brilliant!” he declared, swooping in and seizing Smiler in a bone-crushing hug. “What an honor!”

“Our own child!” Mum agreed, grabbing them around the middle and squeezing. “Oh, honey, I knew you’d earned Mar-Mal’s favor with that Joy Serum recipe, but I never thought they’d go ahead and touch you!”

“Touch – what?” Smiler blurted, returning the hugs on automatic as they tried to make sense of what their parents were saying.

“You know, sweetie – like when you were marmalised!” Mum explained, beaming at them. “Mar-Mal reaching into your mind to let you know how much they love you!”

Just let the joy fill you up… And they had, letting their mind get lost in the spirals as an intense, bone-deep happiness consumed their entire body – just like it had when they’d been sitting in that seat inside the altar, high on glow fruit juice and deep in trance. But – but this had been Mar-Mal themselves marmalising them – wrapping their very soul up in their eternal bliss. And a god marmalising you directly would definitely be more powerful than their Advocates doing it, wouldn’t it? Be more likely to leave a permanent mark of their favor, letting the world know that – that – I’ve been blessed, Smiler realized, their face splitting in a grin so wide it hurt. They actually blessed me last night! I’m one of their chosen – their favorites, their beloved! Oh gods, this is – this is fantastic! I never thought – oh, thank you, thank you! they thought, clinging to their parents all the tighter as they imagined embracing their god in all their hypnotic glory. I love you too – and I’ll do my best to make you proud, I promise!

Dad gave them another squeeze, then pulled back, gaze warm as he took in Smiler’s face. “Well – what an incredible thing to wake up to,” he declared. “We’re going to have to tell everyone – set up a proper celebration, right after breakfast!”

And then – just for a moment – his and Mum’s smiles faltered. “Ah – you do still want breakfast, right?”

Oh – right. There were reasons Mar-Mal didn’t usually contact their worshipers so directly – and most of them were sitting in rooms deep in the Ministry, giggling mindlessly to themselves as they gazed out at the world through spiral eyes. “I’m fine, Dad,” Smiler quickly said, not wanting their parents’ joy to be marred by thoughts like that. They waved at their eyes. “See – just yellow! Mar-Mal didn’t marmalise me too much! And yes, I–”

GROOOWWWWLLL…

All eyes went to Smiler’s stomach. “...I very much want breakfast,” Smiler finally finished with a chuckle.

The slight, barely-noticed tension went out of Mum and Dad, leaving their smiles pure. “Oh, good – we’ve got toast with butter and honey this morning,” Mum said, pulling them toward the table as Dad went to get the honey from the cupboard. “Sorry, I know it’s practically Dust Day fare, but…”

“It’s fine, Mum – we can load up later,” Smiler said, taking their seat. They gave her a grin and a wink. “After all – I’m sure Dr. Gertslauer and the other Advocates are going to want to throw another party.”

“And why shouldn’t they?” Mum beamed and patted their arm as she sat down beside them. “I’m so proud. You deserve it most of any of us.”

“Indeed – you’ve done so much to advance the cause of happiness since we found you over near Chimewater Canal,” Dad agreed, putting the platter of warm toast in front of them. “I can think of no one better to receive such a gift.”

“Thanks.” Smiler looked between them, biting down on their wobbling lip as joy flooded them again. “I’m – I’m so glad you two stopped that day.”

“We are too,” Mum said, reaching over and giving them another hug. “Now come on, eat your breakfast and get dressed! I can’t wait to share the good news.”

[sayonaramidnight]

Do you find that your interpretations of your character changes as you get older/learn more about the world around you? For example, a soft character may have started innocent but they (and, by extension, you) choose to keep them that way despite the harshness of the world? Does your character's expertise on a subject change as you become more familiar with it, etc.?

This question has made me think a lot and my thoughts went many different ways, so please forgive me if I get incoherent and/or start digressing~

In general, I'd say my interpretation of my characters kind of depends on my mental and emotional state, but also on where I am with my life and what kind of stories and motifs I'm currently into, and what I'm fed up with. There was a time when I thought of kind and gentle characters as too sweet and naive, but later I learnt to admire them. How about those who are serious and brooding? Younger me thought they were So Cool. Older me wanted to make fun of them. Current me just waits and sees what they do.

That said, most of my characters have been with me for many years, decades even - and then there's Helvi, who's only been there since, 2018, but I started playing for serious in 2019! Given that time is a weird soup and the years 2020-2023 have blended into one short period of time in my mind, it feels like two years at most, so I'm not sure whether I got older or more experienced in such a short time XD

But! One of the very few things I've known about her since the very beginning is that she follows Menphina and it makes love one of the big recurring themes of her story. It got me wonder, how to interpret her faith, because, really, there are so many ways you can go to express it! Will you share your love with your family? Friends? Paramour(s)? Nation? Random people you meet on your way? Do you pray for everyone's successful love life or just focus on your own? Seek your fairy tale romance or indulge in daydreams? Have many lovers or commit to one relationship, or maybe fill your heart with pure love for the whole world instead? So many possibilities and for a long time I didn't know what to choose...

Then it turned out there was room in her heart for all of the above, to some extent.

But let me tell you it wasn't easy to figure out for quite a while. See, from Heavensward to Shadowbringers I played with no long breaks. I had all these expansions, so I jumped from one story right into another and didn't give myself much time to sit down and think. After the emotional rollercoaster that was HW, I mostly ran Helvi through SB on autopilot, and then another rollercoaster came along... And she felt so tired most of the time, so exhausted and still the kindest soul ever, but distant and withdrawn at the same time. She spent a lot of time grieving and self-loathing And I asked myself: is she going to get better? Can she get better? Can she fall in love again? Does she even want to? And at that time, the answer was 'no'. She seemed.. resigned to her fate. Reached into her own soul and found darkness, and decided to embrace it and use it to fight. And it seemed like she would be hardened that way.

Then, there was a long break between ShB and EW, and I could finally think in peace, share my thoughts with friends and answer their countless and valuable questions, and even write a few snippets, putting her feelings and some events from her life. I let her go back and do some thinking in peace too. She let herself laugh heartily again. She didn't stop being a dark knight, but simply added red magic and dancing to her fighting skills and thus found the balance she needed. She made peace with herself. She even fell in love again, after all, and is not going to let this love go. Now, in any friend group, she's that friend who gives away hugs freely and dotes upon everyone, and dances like no one's watching, and also defends you fiercely.

I know I'm rambling, but all I want to say there is a big difference between playing with or without long breaks and it may change your perspective and interpretation of your character :D

[thecourtjester12]

I saw some people doing a like, end of year appreciation post to all their mutuals, so, I thought I'd do one!

@fairstival

Fairy! You were my first moot! You post a lot about things you love and that's great! Even if it's not always something I'm also into, it's still fun to see on my dash! And I'm excited cause you're excited! :3 (It's also nice to see random things on bats like facts and just pictures of them! They're very cute creatures :3 (unlike giraffe weevils...tho I love those funky things!! XD))

@dragoncxv360

Ellery! I tend to see a lot of stuff related to being neurodivergent and Aroace related things! And I love seeing that! You also have been slowly dragging me back into my love of Invader Zim with seeing you post stuff on it!!! Its great tho! Cause we both have things we like that overlap and get to see cool stuff this way!

@flufflefleurry

I mostly see reblogs from you, but you reblog a lot of cool stuff I wouldn't have seen otherwise in the fandom! And it's always a treat when you do post stuff about your Au!!

@sketchtxt

Sketch! I spam you a lot with reblogs and likes, but you do the same to me! Its mutual spamming and I love that! :3 I love interacting with you and seeing all the cool ideas and drawings you have for your many Au's!!!! And just getting to add my silly little comments in on stuff! (like...Eclipse and the...garlic bread boots thing...) And you are the single handed reason for an ENTIRE Au!! (I am very fond of the Au as well XD)

@salemlucidsleeper

Salem! We mostly interact in the StarBench Server, but its always fun to talk with you there! And see your comments on stuff others share or are talking about! And you reblog cool stuff!!!

@just-a-floofy-catt

Catt! Its always cool to see what you make and I love seeing your little snippets and drabbles! You make so much stuff with just...really sweet and heart warming vibes and I just LOVE it!!! (I may perhaps be...thinking of talking with you about something a bit like a collab in the future.....mayhaps...)

@cryptidbisexual

Cryptid! My newest Moot! And one of the people who have unofficially adopted me (and everyone else) in the Plushverse server! (no clue if the silliness applies here as well XD) I love seeing your art and how much its changed!

And to all of you!! Some of you are writers, some of you are artists, some of you are both or neither and instead appreciators! And for those who create, I love everything you make! All y'alls Au's and ideas and fanart! And those who don't I love your comments and appreciation and enjoyment of the things others create!!

All of us are in the DCA fandom and maybe other fandoms too! And its so fun to share and see what each other posts! I hope you all had a good year and I appreciate you all!!! <3 /platonic

[allmightskitten]

Hey! Thanks for tagging me in the WIP post! I don't have a lot of active WIPs, myself -- it takes me approximately 90 years to finish writing anything, so all I've got at the moment is the 100k+ BNHA fic I've been working on literally since before I even started One Piece lol 😅😅 -- but I'm having so much fun reading through all your ideas! They all sound fantastic (and honestly, I love your writing so much that I would happily read anything you wrote), but I'm maybe the most interested in the Water 7 romance dawn trio fic! I just adore those three in any setting, and I just made it to Water 7 in my first read-through of the manga, so I guess I've got it in my head. 😅 I'll admit, though, I'm also a bit too intrigued by the Sabo/Koala fic; why *is* Caesar Clown the only other character tagged...? 👀 (and, perhaps more importantly, will I regret asking lol? 😅🤣)

Once again, thanks for the tag! I'm always happy to tune in for some more snippets of your writing! 😄💗

Ooh, I didn't know you were into BNHA, we have that fandom in common 😳

Thank you, talking about these WIPs is a lot of fun so I love to get into them a little more :') Funny thing about that Water 7 fic specifically is that I made the silly goose decision to write it on the ao3 editor and ended up not saving a backup copy before it expired, so I've lost MOST of it 😭😭😭 BUT! But that ISN'T dissuading me, this is still a fic I plan on getting done someday!! I got an ask from @saraptor-art about this one too, I'll scavenge my files for a decent snippet from the little that I could salvage and share it in that ask, but until then– let me share a few more details about the fic!

The idea is that the Straw Hats get to spend an extra day in Water 7 before their adventures there canonically start (I mean, if you pretend there's a little gap in the timeline, it *could* be canon compliant...), where Luffy goes on ahead as usual to see what adventures the new island offers, without consulting anyone or sticking around for a plan to be made. Zoro goes after him WITHOUT CONSULTING ANYONE, with a undeservedly confident "It's fine I'll bring him back" which means a sensible member of the crew now needs to go retrieve them both. That ends up being Nami, who finds Zoro first and promptly realises she lost his ass again just as soon as she finds Luffy. There are some mini adventures from there that were mostly an excuse for me to explore what I think Water 7 is like beyond what we see of it in the animanga! BTW, they do find Zoro again, he's part of some of it before he inevitably wanders off a second time. Nami also has an agenda on the side to map out the city itself when she realises the official map is so poorly done it's aggravating XD

The Caesar Clown question!!!😂😂 okay, it's definitely a little cursed that he's there. It's in the vein of him discovering that there are "spies" aboard this ship and making a huge fuss getting everyone involved and leading them to what he thinks are definitely spies looking for their secrets...hint hint, everyone ends up seeing something they probably wish they didn't. Or maybe some did, a few of these unnamed characters are nasty.

Thank you again for your ask!! I'm going to go see what I can salvage from the wreckage...👀

[rillils]

RILLLLLLSSSSSSSSS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HKJFHSDKJ

i so terribly want to write but i dont know howwwwwww ughhhhhhhhhh hsdkfhasdhfjk i have one (1) singular blob of words that i think is amazing, one (1) convo between them. and youre telling me that i have to write a whole fic around it 😭😭😭 how do you do it rils 😭 the little thing i wrote is so soft and so pure, i dont wanna ruin it 😭 its just steve talking and all the actions are in my head, how on earth do i put it into words

not enough appreciation is being shown to writers istg, i owe them my life

honey, you're asking the big questions here 😭😭

I know, sweetheart, writing can be both a pleasure and a struggle - actually, sometimes it is both at once xD I never got the hang of it, myself, but all the writers in the world deserve an actual medal for every single line they write and put out there for us to enjoy!!

I don't think there is one fool-proof recipe for a smooth writing session, where the words simply come to you and it's like the fic just wrote itself without any bumps in the road (that's an extremely rare occurrence, if it ever happens at all); but I do think there are some things you can consider when you're writing:

if you already know what needs to happen in your fic (that is to say, if you know what the characters are going to say and/or do), that's a good thing!! amazing, actually! I know that, when you envision a certain scene, it can be hard to translate the characters' actions into words. try to picture that scene in your head: what do you see? are the characters talking? if they're talking, what's the tone of their conversation? are they whispering, are they chatting, are they arguing, yelling, laughing...? how do they feel: are they happy, anxious, angry, sad...? you can focus on their mannerism too, to convey their emotions: are they gesticulating? are they tense, maybe sitting up too straight? are they nervous, bouncing their leg, biting their lip? are they comforting someone? are they showing affection with their body language? leaning into the other character's space, or touching them, or snuggling up to them, hugging/kissing/sharing meaningful looks? there are so many things you can try and explore with your writing! which, maybe that makes it feel even more scary sometimes, but you don't have to explore everything all at once. you don't have to already have everything set clearly in your mind from the get go: you can build your fic (or your scene) little by little, line by line. one step at a time, honey <3 and if you don't like the first draft, don't worry! first drafts are made to be edited and changed and even taken apart, that's perfectly normal!

you won't ruin your fic, honey, trust me on that <3 now you have the foundations: all you're going to do is, you'll keep building on those foundations, and around them, bit by bit, without hurry, because there is no hurry. you'll pour all your love into it, and you'll watch it grow, until you feel that it has reached its natural end.

the thing about completing a story is, the finished product won't always look like what you had in mind originally. it's so very common for a writer's plans to be completely derailed, and that's okay! the writing experience is unpredictable, but that's half the fun of it <3 the finished fic might look a bit different than what you set out to write in the first place, but that doesn't make it bad, believe me.

you're the one writing this fic. which means that you're probably going to be reading, and re-reading, and editing and tweaking it over and over again. the reader has the privilege of looking at the finished product, without seeing the struggle and labour that went into it; but you, you've seen every stage of it, from when your fic was just a couple of snippets with a big hole in the middle, that you weren't sure how to fill in just yet, to when it finally looked like a whole story. you've re-read every line and wondered if that was the right phrasing, the right rhythm, if the character's voice felt right or if it was off. you took it apart and put it back together over and over. which is why, your own writing is never going to look perfect to you, especially when you're still in the process of writing your story. but more often than not, when you leave it alone and come back to it after a little while, you'll find yourself thinking: "hey, actually this wasn't half as bad as I thought it was!"

I don't know if any of this is going to help at all, but... if you're struggling with your writing, please know that you're not alone <3 That being said, I hope you do finish the fic you're writing, and I'm looking forward to reading it, because you're amazing and I just know that you're doing a fantastic job, darling <3 Happy writing, my dear!!

[keysandopenmind]

Writeblr question tag... thing

I had no idea what to call this but I told @girlfromthecrypt I would do it and here I am! Here's some questions I answered.

1) What motivates you to write?

I always ideas knocking around in my head and I figure it's better to do something with them. Plus people seem to generally like what I read when they read it, and say nice things to me, and then I get warm fuzzies.

2) A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

Okay, so I'm probably not going to pursue this WIP anymore, but I really loved this scene.

Context #1: if Ria holds a personal object belonging to someone while she plays music, she can see a bit of their future.

Context #2: there has been an "accident" during a performance of the circus, and Lucy has fallen a great distance to the ring floor. RIa, her best friend, tells May, her girlfriend, to go with her when they take her to the hospital. Ria foresaw this but couldn't convince anyone to do anything any differently that night.

“You should go with them,” I whispered. She looked down at me. “Do you think so?” “She’ll need you when she wakes up.” “She’ll wake up then? Can you promise me that?” “I…” I wanted to lie to her, to tell her that I had seen another vision where Lucy woke up the following morning, right as rain. But I couldn’t do that to her. May pulled one of her rings off her middle finger. “Take this,” she said, holding it out to me. “If I go with her, I’ll be there when she wakes up. So you’ll be able to see it. You come to the hospital tomorrow and you tell me.” I pressed the ring back into her hand. “May, what if… what if she doesn’t? Do you want to know that in advance? I don’t. There are some things I don’t use my power for.”

I don't know if it necessarily came across here but May loves Lucy so so much. Sometimes I think I was more invested in Lucy and May than I was in Ria and Alex (y'know, the main characters).

3) Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

Going for a twofer here, Max and Clara from my Drosselmeier Industries series. They're just really natural and easy with each other, and their banter is excellent (if I do say so myself).

4) What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

Revisions and edits! I actually really struggle to get the first draft out a lot of the time. #PantserProblems. But once I have a rough idea and I'm shining it up, I thrive.

5) What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Characters by a mile. I always get feedback that I need to flesh out my descriptions and worlds more. It's something that's led me to concentrating my stories mainly in the real world, though it's always the real world with some sort of twist.

6) What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

I'm loving the vast creativity and also the raw talent! I read a WIP excerpt and I'm like "Wow, I must follow that person" and then I read their bio and they're 14? No way was I writing that well when I was 14! (I just turned 34; I feel like I am an old lady of writeblr xD)

7) A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Scrivener is always good for longer works. I also recommend a text-to-speech program (I use a free one called Balabolka) for helping pick up typos or clunky passages.

8) A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I love the virtual reality system Max and Clara play. The Veritas is so realistic that if your character trips over something, you feel the pull in your stomach like you're falling.

I have no idea if it's realistic or not, as I have played surprisingly little VR for someone who writes about it. I did do a VR escape room once. That was fun!

9) What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Having been through many a rough patch myself, I promise you will come out the other side!

At one point a couple of years ago, I was planning on entirely throwing in the towel. I couldn't see a way forward with the WIP I was working on, and I thought maybe it was better to ditch the whole thing.

You have to ride the wave. After that rough patch, I went on to recraft that story into one of my best pieces.

10) Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

@hellisheavenwithyou @careful-fear @ryns-ramblings

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