#wipiii sort of

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Hello! Happy Sunday! Just dropping by with a writing question. How do you approach writing relationships? What are your favorite dynamics to write (in general or between specific characters)?

Happy uhhhh... well it is not "Sunday" but it was a Sunny Day-- Happy Sunny Day!

Thanks for the ask, Zac!

I've got two modes when it comes to writing relationships. If I know the plot before I know the characters, and the plot needs a romance (or several...) I think of what kinds of chemistry I want the romance to have: sexual tension, banter, sweet fluff, overly sappy (everyone else within a 10 mile radius is gagging), co-dependent disasters, partners in crime, hates everyone but each other etc. etc. and then I write characters who will behave that way around each other.

If I know the characters before the plot... I just try shipping different combinations of characters together and seeing if I like anything. Despite valiant attempts by me, a straight alloromantic woman, to make my female characters date the hot princes I created specifically so I could project onto their girlfriends, somehow my characters keep ending up either lesbian or aromantic (not all, but like if I had a nickel for every time my hot-prince fantasy was foiled by a fictional lesbian of my own creation...). A few times, even when characters turn out to be straight, they end up dating the person I specifically decided they would not date (generally for "that would be fucked up" reasons...)

In terms of favourite dynamics to write... for straight couples I seem to write a lot of "Cinderella" stories, where one character (not always the girl) is poor and in an abusive situation and the other is royalty or some equivalent. They meet on "neutral" ground, like both are students at the same university or where the royal is hiding their identity. They become friends (with benefits) and it is a nice reprieve for the poor character from their life. Eventually some hurt/comfort ensues, the poor character escapes their abuser, the institution of monarchy is questioned, and they live happily ever after. For queer characters I write a lot of slow burn friends to lovers and established relationships. All my relationships tend to be rife with banter and sexual tension, though my straights tend to get tension from rivals-to-lovers, forbidden love, or the "him? really? That asshole? WHY?" dynamic. My queer relationships tend to get their tension from yearning/pining and the dynamic where one character gets really flustered in the other's presence and the other knows it and is an insufferable flirt about it. IDK why my straight relationships are so different from everything else... it's probably has something to do with projecting a highly unlikely fantasy versus the kind of relationships that are more likely to arise organically.

Art can be such a snitch.

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I had three. I made Amerinda when I was 8 or 9. She was a fairy tale princess with golden hair and deep blue eyes and was 12 years old (which seemed soooo old and mature to me at the time.) She was an amazing archer, swordfighter, knife-thrower, and won every battle she commanded. Her whole kingdom loved her. She also had a hot prince boyfriend who would die for her.

I made Alex when I was 12. She was a spy with heightened senses, a perfect memory, and reflexes so fast she could redirect bullets Kung Fu Panda-style. She was in a command position and known for her... unconventional plans. She talked waaay too much and waaay too fast and said the most random things and everyone just thought she was funny and charismatic for it. (Was she my way of celebrating all the ADHD traits I was constantly criticized for? Who knows haha)

I made Eryri (later Iliri) when I was 13. She was a cold, ruthless space princess that everyone in the empire feared but also loved and respected. She was like if Azula had a reeeally good PR team and also her friends were loyal to her. At first she had gold eyes, then she had purple.

I still write these characters. Just, as I got older they stopped being so perfect, just to keep things interesting. Ami is now a teenager forced into an abusive marriage with an older man, she has depression and struggles with self-esteem. Alex is a deeply traumatized child soldier with trust issues and a deep-seeded distrust of authority. Iliri is learning how to break the generational cycle of trauma and abuse in her family while also acknowledging that she herself played a part in the atrocities and exploitation that kept them in power.

But sometimes, as a treat, I let them be their old selves again. Sometimes we need fantasy.

I am actually so serious I think it really messes with a childs creativity and joy to tell them to never make a mary sue OC. Like that unbridaled form of joy where you make a self insert OC who super cool and everyone loves them and they have every superpower in the world SHOULD be something a kid makes, it nourishes their ability to create things for fun and not be stifled by "oh but what if my character is too overpowered and cringey...". whatever

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Happy WBW! It feels like I haven't done this in a while so here's some questions:

What are popular drinks in your world? (Could be either alcoholic or soft drinks).

What is a common form of entertainment in your world?

What is the most interesting weapon you've made up?

Lol I am answering this sooooo late. I am so sorry my friend. But Happy Long Belated WBW all the same<3

What is a common form of entertainment in your world?

In WIPI there is a boardgame called "Coat of Arms" which is like four-way chess meets DnD. There are four sides, the object of the game is conquer the other three. Temporary alliances and secret alliances ensue. Each side is given stats for terrain, resources, population etc. and there are a series of accepted commands that can be strung together on each players turn. There are different versions of the game. Some are medieval siege warfare. Some have canons. Some have dragons. Some use spaceships and nukes. Games can last months and cheating is expected.

What is the most interesting weapon you've made up?

Not a weapon but a shield. A necklace with a pendant that projects an electromagnetic forcefield dome around the wearer's body. When something travelling above a certain speed hits the dome it will immediately disintegrate. It is meant to defend against bullets, the force of explosions, and flying shrapnel. It does not have any effect against slower attacks like darts, throwing knives, people throwing bricks, and good old fashioned punches. This is to stop the shield from disintegrating random objects the wearer will come into contact with like chairs, the floor, and other people. These shields are expensive to make so they are mostly worn by military officers and nobility to protect them from snipers. This is used in WIPIII.

What are popular drinks in your world?

I put this under the cut because 1. this answer is long enough, 2. Content Warning for dismemberment (due to hypothermia) and because the drink is kinda gross.

This comes from a paracosm (elaborate daydream) of mine which I like to mine for WIPI and WIPIII content - I don't know which WIP it will end up in, maybe both. Also, it's not really a common drink, just a weird one.

Moonshine cocktails with sterilized human body parts (toes, fingers, teeth) in them for decoration.

What the heck, Kate??

I know, I know. Some context:

The Empire of Segraeli was in the midst of a succession crisis and peace-talks between the two sides were being hosted by their long-time ally, Oshuada. Unfortunately things started getting tense and it looked like the conflict was about to boil over and become an international war. To ease the tensions, Lyrira, the Empress of Oshuada (who is about 20 years old but has been empress for ten years by now), decides the throw the most hedonistic, scandal-inducing Halloween party in history. She invites all the diplomats and political figures in attendance for the peace talks (representing eight major empires), and her hope is that they will either be distracted by the excitement of the ball, or so outraged that they will forget their initial anger long enough to calm down so the peace-talks can resume. It works.

All the body parts were sourced ethically (believe it or not) from a bar in the remote part of the empire. The story goes that a hiker who frequented the bar lost his toe to hypothermia. As a joke, he got the toe sterilized and stuck it in his shot glass the next time he went to the bar. Somehow the tradition caught on, the hiker donated his toe to the bar, and drinking the toe-shot became an initiation ritual at the bar. Soon, more and more people were donating their amputated body parts and the bar became locally famous for the weird tradition. (and when a messenger from the Empress shows up one day and asks to borrow your body part collection (for generous compensation) you don't exactly say no.)

This is based off a real bar in Yukon, Canada by the way.

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Thumbprint Tag

Rules: look back on your work, both past and present, finished and unfinished. What are five to ten narrative elements or tropes that continuously pop up in your work? Give a list of these things!

@on-noon don't mind if I jump on your open tag. I can get soooooo weirdly specific with this...

Oh yes, and I am going to carry on the open tag. Anyone that wants to join may.

Read More because oddly specific requires lots of words--

A female character from a very disadvantaged background (see political prisoner, indentured servant, peasant, enslaved person, poor etc.) who has an unlikely meet cute with someone (male) who turns out to be extremely privileged (see royalty, crazy rich etc.). They become friends. One day she has a really rough day, ends up sick, and he takes care of her (like makes her meals, rubs her shoulders, holds her hair when she throws up etc.). They don't end up dating until a while after this happens. If I had a nickel for every time this shows up in a story I'd have dollars by now.

Two or three female characters that my straight-ass spends years trying to ship with every palatable male character in the story to see if I can make them date. After years without success I finally realize that these characters are lesbians and they were made for each other. When their story arcs get finalized into canon they have an epic friends-to-lovers slow burn romance.

A main female character that, in hindsight, should have been my clue that I had ADHD. Re: talks too fast, says the most random shit, won't shut up, sits weirdly in chairs, really good in a crisis, always waving her hands when she talks, sensory issues galore, no eye contact, last minute queen, always has a song stuck in her head, can list 50 digits of pi but can't remember why the fuck she just walked into that room, and most importantly, me saying about this character, "I feel so relaxed when I write/daydream about her. It's like a release. Like, I can finally be myself and do all the things people think are annoying, but everyone in her life thinks she's funny and likes her energy." Like, you might as well have written MASKING ADHD directly across my forehead.

A monarchy that becomes a republic by the end of the story because I want to write about attractive princes and badass queens/empresses but I am also an anti-monarchist...

A character who was based off an irl friend that lost relevance in the story and got written out, only for me to eventually drift away from that friend or discover that they weren't the friend I thought they were.

Long rants about whatever topic I am learning about in uni at that time (assigned to a particular character for plot reasons). This week's rant was on Populism...

A couple that I decided could never be a couple because the power imbalance and political nonsense was too problematic, who ended up becoming a couple anyways because I have no self-control and them being together was just so *feels*. When all is finalized into canon, these couples get a glorious enemies-to-lovers slow burn that lasts several years and plenty of denial (in homage to my own feelings on the subject).

That moment when a character takes off their disguise and reveals that they are, in fact, a princess, goddess, secret agent etc. in order to save someone's life.

Idk what some of these say about me. idk if I want to know...

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To atart us off, after our draw outside the dennys parking lot at 3am, i intend to extrnd an olive branch: for Blorbo Blursday, how would thy blorbos endure group therapy?

I take your olive branch, with with narrowed eyes. happy (belated) blorbo blursday my esteemed nemesis.

I'm gonna talk about three OCs I have not discussed yet on this blog because I think their childhood co-dependency issues are the most likely candidate to end them up in group therapy sessions.

None of them would be there willingly. It'd have to be court-mandated (and let's face it, these three being legally required to attend therapy is already basically a plot point).

All three of them would sit there, starting pointedly at a spot on the wall just behind the therapist, in silence. The therapist would try every trick in the book to get them to talk but it would be 15 minutes of pleading before one of them breaks.

Alex would break first, and only because cookies were offered. She say something like, "convince me that everything said in this room is, in fact, private and no one from the secret government intelligence organization that has been training us since we were children is listening in. If you can't do that, we have nothing to say to you."

And the therapist would be like, "these trust issues run deep don't they?"

To which Alex would respond confidently, "make me talk."

Aloe and Peter would nod at that. Nothing else would be said the whole session because Alex has reflexes so fast she can redirect bullets, Aloe is a strategic genius, and Peter, through sheer force of unhealthy management techniques, is the only reason these two haven't burned down the world yet. The therapist has been given their files. They are the most dangerous teenagers in the world. If they won't co-operate nothing short of threatening their families will make them.

These three have sooo much trauma and sooo many issues. They may be co-dependent wrecks but, by god, are they a united front.

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Hello, and happy Blorbo blusday!! I'm well *checks clock* 1h late gasp! As an excuse I can only say that today I have been packing and I forgot it was Thursday. (As usual I am @writeblr-of-my-own) ANYWAYS. For today's question, I'd like to know about food preference and cooking skills of your blorbo(es)! What can they cook, what they like to eat, whether they are good in the kitchen, or better away from it and close to a fire extinguisher!

Thank you for the ask (again) my dear morbo! I got this ask several hours before my thursday was over so you're good hahaha.

I'm gonna answer this for Sylah and Darius again, because why not?

Darius is royalty. His cooking skills are limited to roasting marshmallows over a bonfire at the family vacation palace and the bland army cooking he had to learn as part of his military service. He is very good at making tea, however. He insists on doing so personally anytime he invites his close friends over.

Sylah grew up poor in a war-zone and living off of state-provided rations. She knows 10 000 different recipes for spam cooked in an open fire pit but she could not do anything gourmet.

Neither of them has ever used an oven. For the sake of everyone in the building it is best it remains that way. Especially if they tried to cook together. Darius is a very, "what would happen if... well there's only one way to find out!" kind of person. Sylah is a very, "oh! shinny button let's press it!" kind of person. Neither has a strong sense of self-preservation.

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Hi, and happy blorbo blursday! (as usual I am @writeblr-of-my-own). Kind of a specific question, but imagine your OC's are suddenly teleported into our world. How would they react? What would make them the most surprised/scared? Would they adapt or try to go back?

If your OC's already live in this world, then imagine they are teleported into an high fantasy type of universe!

Hi morbo, thanks for the ask!!

hmmm... which OCs... which OCs...

you know what, I'm gonna do Sarius this time (aka. Sylah and Darius).

Oh, I should add a Content Warning for discussion of slavery and implied sexual slavery, and brief mentions of racism and sexism.

Sylah and Darius would both be ecstatic to be teleported to our world, a timeline where Sylah's ancestors (humanoids genetically engineered to be "perfect" slaves) have not been created. Everyone who sees Sylah would just assume she is a very conventionally attractive human wearing a nice perfume. She could move about freely, without needing to prove she had permission from an enslaver, and people would assume she and Darius were a couple instead of them thinking Darius was her "master". The kind of discrimination Sylah endures in her world would not exist in ours. To us, she'd just be a pretty "white" girl with an accent.

I put "white" in quotes because "whiteness" as a privileged racial category also exists in Sylah's world, but even though Sylah would be "white" in our world, her distinct set of just-slightly-too-perfect physical features would immediately distinguish her as being something other than "a white human" to others in her world. The category that Sylah is there does not exist for us on Earth. But she does not have access to the white privilege that humans in her world do. In her world she is not even considered human. Sylah is not meant to be analogous to POC in our world; her ancestors were created in a lab in the far future. She is more a commentary on White patriarchal sexual fantasies than anything else.

They wouldn't stay forever. They'd want to get back to their families and to the rebellion they are part of back in their world, but they might put off going back for a few months: a nice vacation.

People might make comments on Darius's weird eye colour. He has blue eyes, but a much darker, rich royal blue than what most blue eyes on Earth look like. But Darius wouldn't mind.

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Happy STS, Kate!

For your characters in non-platonic relationships, do they have any cute/unique pet names for each other? Do any have strong opinions about or a strong dislike of certain pet names? (Ex. if you call Emmett "baby" just order your tombstone now.)

Hi Sunset! Happy STS<3

I have been sitting on this ask for a while because I couldn't think of anyone that fit this... which is hilarious because my favourite couple (Sylah and Darius aka Sarius) actually has a really cute pet name-related story.

For context, Darius is a prince, the heir to the throne of a powerful empire. Sylah's status in this society is kind of complicated to explain because the common belief is that her "kind" aren't fully human - her ancestors were grown in labs. So she's not even a commoner or a peasant she is something beneath that. You could say she is an enslaved person, in that the society that dominates her people sees them as property, but Sylah isn't actually enslaved for most of her story so the term doesn't quite work. Long story short, there is absolutely no way Darius would ever be able to marry Sylah (at least, not without upending the status quo).

So about the pet names:

Darius has this word that he starts calling Sylah a few years into their situationship-turned-star-crossed-relationship, aiea'a (pronounced like A-ya uh). It's a word in his mother tongue, a language Sylah does not speak. When she asks him what it means he brushes it off as, "just a term of endearment. I don't know if I could explain it."

At one point, Darius calls Sylah aiea'a in front of several other people who speak the language. They kind of giggle but when Sylah asks them what it means they just say, "we'll let Darius explain that one."

This goes on for years and it drives Sylah crazy.

Finally one day, when plot has happened and the world is somewhat changed, after years and years of fighting for it, Darius proposes to Sylah and Sylah says yes.

It's only after they get married, Darius's father dies, and Darius succeeds him as emperor, that Sylah finally learns the truth.

Aiea'a means "my queen" or "my empress."

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Happy STS! (i’m so late to this 😭😭)

Do you have a “favorite” WIP?

Which one of your characters is the most chaotic?

How do you get your story ideas?

BRUH it is 8:30pm on Saturday as I answer this. You are definitely not late.

Thanks for the ask!

My favourite WIP is WIPI. It is nowhere near the furthest along but between being the oldest WIP that I am still working on, the most ambitious of all my WIPs, the one that I think has the coolest worldbuilding and magic system, the one that I plan to shoehorn in a version of every single one of my favourite OCs, and the one that imagine as having the colour scheme of a barbie princess movie... yeah, it's my favourite.

My most chaotic character is Alex. She has a perfect memory, can redirect bullets and electricity through her body, and was trained to be a living weapon by a secret government child-spy program. She once commanded a secret spy base beneath the POW camp she was supposed to be imprisoned in (Hogan's Heroes style) and she convinced every single world government that aliens were invading for an April Fool's prank. And that's not even the half of it. She also blurts out the most random things, always has a song stuck in her head, talks way too fast and too much, forgets words constantly despite having a perfect memory, and never sits properly in chairs. She was a self-insert I created when I was 12 and... in hindsight... I should have realized I had ADHD a lot sooner.

As for how I get my story ideas... no idea? One day I just kinda have a thought. Then I go oh! that's cool! and then the thought keeps going. I just keep adding more stuff to make it cooler.

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Speak wretchedly to me of the blorbos you do keep, and on this night tell of their feats. Superlatives, of which I speak. Most likely to die (gasp) in their sleep? Perhaps among them, the best athlete? Or most likely to partake in a pyramid scheme? Which of these fools seems ripe to succeed? Which is assumed to lose all their keys? Thank you again, if you answer me these.

thanks for the ask Anon!

Most likely to die in their sleep? Alex. The girl has a death wish and a deep-seeded hatred of the world. The only fitting end for her would be to live to 100 and pass away peacefully in bed surrounded by family and friends. She would be so pissed.

The best athlete? You know... I have no idea. My OCs tend to be fighters more than recreational athletes. (Well, at least, the important ones.)

Most likely to partake in a pyramid scheme? Uthman. He seems like the kind of guy who would know it is a pyramid scheme but do it anyways believing he'll be one of the lucky ones. (50/50 chance of his gamble paying off).

Ripe to succeed? Aloe, Ailea, or Lette (let-uh). Aloe is the kind of genius who would hack into the private banks accounts of several billionaires, skim a few dollars off the top of each transaction, and never get caught. She would also have figured out how to game the stock market by age 8. Lette earns her PhD in aerospace engineering at age 19. Ailea is that sweet kid that all the teachers love (and the students can't bring themselves to hate). She gets perfect grades, works three jobs, takes care of her little sister by herself, and somehow rakes in every eligible scholarship to her dream university. Later in life she scores herself a prince for a boyfriend and uses her new-found fame to start a non-profit for orphans and co-host a talk show that spotlights social justice issues and advocates against government censorship.

Which would lose all their keys? okay. so the thing is. I have ADHD. and that means most of my OCs do to. Iliri would lose her keys but Eneli, her long suffering lady-in-waiting and best friend, would know exactly where they were. Alex, who has a perfect memory, would lose them and wake up in a cold sweat two weeks later, suddenly remembering where she left them. Sylah does not carry keys. That's Darius's job. I am really not sure, of the most likely OCs to lose their keys, whose keys would stay lost.

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Happy Blorbo Blursday! What are your blorbos' favourite foods?

thank you for the ask, my friend!!

so the thing is, I tend to just give all my OCs my favourite foods.

Alex and Iliri in particular are known for spooning mayonnaise straight out of the jar and eating fistfuls of shredded cheese. Alex and Aloe once nearly fought to the death over a cantaloupe, but that was less because it was a favourite food and more because they had been stuck eating nothing but military food for three months.

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Happy Blorbo Blursday, thou skillful punctuation-related strategy (that's the fanciest I can get with the words "square bracket-trick," sorry). Here's some random questions:

Which one of your characters would be most likely to commit arson? (Or any other crime, if arson isn't applicable to any of them).

Which one of your characters is the scariest/most intimidating?

Conversely, which is the least intimidating/friendliest to be around?

Merry Blursday of the Blorbos (belated) to you as well, Pasta of the Cheetos!

Which OC would commit arson? Alex. She has the impulse control of a sprinkler system with too much water pressure, the ability to conduct electrical currents through her body, an intimate knowledge of military grade explosives, and the understandable urge to immolate several top secret government facilities and watch the flames dance in her eyes.

Which OC is the most intimidating? Iliri. Iliri started off as an Azula (Avatar: the Last Airbender) fanfic that became increasingly OOC but kept the intimidation factor. In fact, I think Iliri is scarier than Azula because she is a) mentally stable, b) canonically kills several people just by walking past them and slitting their throats without even looking at her hand, and c) has highly-skilled friends that she does not need to control with fear.

Which OC is least intimidating? hmmm... I don't know. The sweet ones tend to be deceptively scary once you know them well enough to see past the façade. Probably Pétrarque (his parents really liked the poet...). He is just a harmless peasant kid who got a scholarship to an elite private school and he's been out of his depth ever since. It's not that he is the friendliest of my OCs but he is the least intimidating I can think of rn. Though... he is also in a qpr with Iliri so uhhh... he's got balls of some kind or other.

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Happy Blurbo Blursday, fren!

Which of your blurbos cares the most about their clothes? Why? And what's their ideal fit?

hi fren! happy belated blorbo day!

Isolde is a close second but her style tends to be a bit more conservative and with-the-trends.

I'd have to go with Lylira, who I don't think I've mentioned on this blog before. Her style is, well, imagine a cross between Snow White from Mirror, Mirror and Ravenna from Snow White and the Huntsman. It is very extravagant and defined by that classy villain-esque blood-red lip. She is a child-empress whose regency council would do anything to keep themselves in power so she dresses to send a message. I am the empress, not you. And she tries to look a little scary.

I have to give an honourable mention to Sylah though. Her rebel poster-girl outfit is iconic. Army boots and low-rise cargo pants, an automatic pistol slung on each hip, a triangle knife on her belt, a crop top, fingerless gloves, a high ponytail, a green dragon ear-cuff, a metal collar, and Frankenstein-inspired vfx makeup. She also has a Cinderella moment where she crashes a royal ball in a florescent orange two-piece dress (a colour no one else is wearing) and steals the first (and last) dance with the crown prince.

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Happy WBW!

Which one of your worlds do you think has the highest crime rate?

What about the lowest crime rate?

What was the first world you ever created?

Happy WBW my friend!

For highest crime rate it honestly might be WIPVII. I mean the story takes place in an unruly woodland in the hills so full of crime no kingdom can conquer it.

For lowest crimes rates... hmmm. The thing is, I want to say WIPIII because the government surveillance is practically omniscient... but the entire plot of the story revolves around characters finding clever ways to revolt against the government anyways and eventually they succeed. So the crime rate is actually pretty high. For the rest of my WIPs, they either take place in our world or they are also about organized crime/overthrowing the government.

The first world I ever created? Do you mean of the ones I am still working on or like, ever. Because if we go back far enough, I was a child playing pretend and I don't think that counts. The first world that I think counts more as a WIP than playing pretend was WIPI sort of, though back the - before my standardized WIP naming system - I called it AoO. WIPI refers to the crazy ambitious version I am currently working on while WIPI sort of / AoO refers to the version I worked on between the ages of 8 and 13ish. The two versions are very different but I consider them the same project. WIPI is the result of AoO basically growing up with me.