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y-rhywbeth2 · 10 months

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Gods and Clergy: Bhaal (OBSOLETE)

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

I did an updated and much longer version here; this one is significantly less detailed and lacking.

I'm in a Durge and Orin mood, so we're getting the full details on Bhaal and his priesthood now. Fun fact, did you know the Dark Urge couldn't even die without Daddy's permission?

Featuring:

Intro: Do you realise this cult is basically a crime syndicate supported by the rich and powerful?

Priests: Hierarchy. Responsibilities. Murder. I rather like the ceremonial regalia, personally.

Deathstalkers: Teleporting! Killing people with your mind! Unlimited ressurections courtesy of Bhaal!! And yet more crazy shit!

Bhaal: Kitten thinks of nothing but murder all day. Also mortal backstory and the Slayer is absolutely nothing like the games depict it

Right then, "Bhaal awaits thee," and blah.

"Make all folk fear Bhaal. Let your killings be especially elegant, or grisly, or seem easy so that those observing them are awed or terrified. Tell folk that gold proffered to the church can make the Lord of Murder overlook them for today." - Bhaal's Dogma

Unsurprisingly for an ex-assassin, Bhaal is the patron god of assassins. Assassins, mercenaries, bounty hunters who aren't bringing their quarry in alive and, presumably, executioners all tend to send a prayer to Bhaal for success. Faithful were called Bhaalyn in the East and Bhaalists in the West. As BG3 takes place in Western Faerûn we'll use the latter.

Amongst these assassin worshippers we find the oh-so healthy individuals for whom killing is more than a job. These killers who regard their murders as a "pastime and a duty" join the clergy.

That said, Bhaalists do not murder indiscriminately. The taking of another life is a holy act, a lot of thought and planning goes into both the kill itself as well as what impact the death may have upon the world. Once the target is slain, they are to smear the victim's blood over their hands and draw Bhaal's symbol by the body with it. If Bhaal is pleased then the blood will vanish.

Bhaal supports and encourages his followers attaining wealth and comfort (it's a good hook to draw them in, and it makes him look good if his followers are successful, and more importantly: money is power, provides a shield against repercussions when caught, and opens doors), and in exchange for their worship his priest-assassins receive the priest spells and administer to the lay worshippers, who benefit second-hand. The assassins have an easier time killing people and getting rich and Bhaal profits from more prayer and death. A win for everyone (who didn't die in the process).

Bhaalist temples historically have spent their time founding and sponsoring guilds of assassins and thieves, including infamous organisations such as the Shadow Thieves of Amn. These guilds survived their patron's death, and while they were mostly businesses throughout the years of Bhaal's death many still paid homage (although there was some confusion involving his replacement, Cyric) and have presumably resumed worship. There's a massive old temple still functioning over in Thay; the Tower of Swift Death, and the assassins work closely with the Red Wizards who rule the country.

Bhaalists have no tolerance for rival guilds and organisations not following Bhaal (which would make them independent of their control) and will eliminate them. They will also root out anybody in the area that will attempt to oppose or otherwise interfere in their business and ensure they have freedom to go about their jobs/worship.

Their other job is to ensure the church has a steady income. They terrorise the commoners into paying tithes in exchange for safety from being sacrificed this tenday (a protection racket, basically) while leaving "economically and socially important individuals live unharmed." I mean, the peasantry have far less enemies to assassinate and gold to spend, so. Plus the rich and powerful are brilliant at turning a blind eye to crime when it benefits them, as well as making sure the evidence never sees the light of day - know which side your bread is buttered on, and all. Baldur's Gate has no law against the worship of Bhaal. Why do you think the original temple exists, after all? Bhaalists actively seek out and sway such potential patrons who would be... amenable to sponsoring and protecting their technically-legal church and its not so-legal activities in exchange for their services.

Urban temples of Bhaal are usually dark, subterranean affairs built under the city streets, containing countless branching tombs that are home to the bodies of the clergy's victims - said victims are usually wandering around down there as restless undead.

Bhaal's clergy can be recognised as Bhaalists by their ceremonial robes - full body robes of black or deep purple with a deep cowl. The robes will be randomly and violently streaked with flashes of violet. Their entire face is fully obscured by a black veil, to both hide their identity and make it appear as though the hood is empty for the intimidation factor.

The leader of the church - and thus all of the temples - in a region is the High Primate/Primistress, who can be identified by a red belt/sash they wear over their robes and the fancy curved ceremonial dagger that marks them as a high ranking priest and a specialty priest known as a Deathstalker - more about them in a moment.

High Primates spent much of their time planning the proper strategies of manipulating nearby rulers, inhabitants, and organizations into the deeds and behaviour that the Bhaalyn desired.

The head of a single temple is a Primate or Primistress. The Primate is directly served by the First Deaths, who in turn can call upon a council of the nine most senior clergy; the Cowled Deaths. Below them were the regular priests, who were known collectively as the Deathdealers and are referred to by the title Slaying Hand. A Bhaalist rises in the ranks by hunting and ritually killing a target with nothing but their bare hands, which they will then report to a higher ranking priest who will confirm that they are being truthful. If they are then there's a party, and a ritual sacrifice is held to celebrate.

When on a job they dress in black - in the form that suits whatever their preferred method of killing in. Leather armour, mage robes, whatever.

Bhaalists pray to their god before sleep. In the temple the entire congregation comes together to pray in a formal ceremony called "Day's Farewell"). Bhaalists are also to pray before setting out on a murder.

Bhaalists only observe one holy day. It's the Feast of the Moon, a continent-wide holiday for honouring the dead and honouring one's ancestors. Bhaalists have their own spin on it where they remember dead Bhaalists and celebrate with stories of murder to honour them.

All Bhaalists are to commit a murder every tenday at midnight, should they be unable to fulfil this duty then they are to kill two people in place of the one who should've died that day. Before the victim dies, the murderer is to ensure that they know their killer and that they died as a sacrifice to the God of Death; "Bhaal awaits thee, Bhaal embraces thee, none escape Bhaal."

The specialty priests of Bhaal, those who dedicate their devotion and worship no god other than him, are the Deathstalkers.

One does not have to be a cleric to join the ranks, though the majority are. Rogues, rangers, barbarians and fighters are the most common, but all classes make an appearance (and most are multiclassed clerics)

To become a Deathstalker one must have murdered sixteen sapient creatures in sixteen different methods with sixteen different weapons. This presumably is also the rite of passage to becoming a member of the Brethren of the Keen Strike - an order of Bhaalist assassins to which all Deathstalkers belong.

Distressingly for people who aren't Bhaalist, Bhaal's Deathstalkers regained their Bhaalist abilities around 1372 DR, following the end of the Bhaalspawn Crisis, and resumed their duties, spreading death and terror in his name as they worked to bring him back to full power. The most popular argument for how the priests of a dead deity were getting their spells is that another god - likely Cyric, was granting them spells disguised as Bhaal. However, in the wake of the Bhaalspawn Crisis and the wave of fear felt towards Bhaal that resulted (which counts as prayer), the rumour mill became very fond of the idea that, despite how the crisis ended, Bhaal had still managed to resurrect at least some scrap of himself through that fear and the God of Murder was haunting the Realms once more.

The various abilities Bhaal gifts to his Deathstalkers include the following:

[From 3.5e] The ability to identify key weaknesses in a target by studying them for only a few moments, killing them in a single strike. They are also supernaturally good at stabbing people with their ceremonial daggers.

[3.5e] The ability to tap into the hatred of a person, stoking it into homicidal rage and direct it at another person who they will kill in a mindless bloody rage (also called the Urge to Slay, an ability Bhaal himself has)

[3.5e] Bhaal's own inability to just fucking stay dead - a Deathstalker Bhaal doesn't want dead will come back to life an hour after it is killed, with a single hit point left. During the time prior to resurrection they are an actual corpse.

[2e] They can point at a person, sending necrotic energy coursing through them and causing them significant damage, agony and possibly death.

[2e] They can inflict severe wounds on a person just by thinking it.

[2e] They can teleport! A Deathstalker can teleport themselves (and other people, if they're powerful enough) to the Throne of Blood and from there they can teleport to anywhere on Toril that isn't protected by warding magic. Bhaal won't do anything to protect Deathstalkers while they're in the Lower Planes - if you're strong enough to get yourself here, you're strong enough to get yourself out.

[2e] They can affect the emotions of those around them, reversing whatever emotions an individual is feeling towards them into its polar opposite.

[2e] They can accelerate the entropic aging process of objects.

Bhaal himself is "violent, cruel and hateful at all times." Being in the presence of the living fills him with an overwhelming urge to kill and destroy. He presents himself as either on the verge of a violent rampage or cold and ruthlessly calculating depending on which suits the occasion best. A Lawful Evil deity, his domain is the Throne of Blood in the first layer of the Lower Plane of Gehenna (Khalas), part of Bane's domain (Banehold). Hilariously, not a single Baldurs Gate game has got this right. BG2:SoA claimed it was the Hells, BG2:ToB changed to the Abyss and, for some reason, BG3 has put it in the Grey Wastes.

Bhaal served Bane, and was in turn served by Loviatar (goddess of pain) and Talona (goddess of disease).

His holy symbol is the Circle of Tears; clue in the name, it's a skull surrounded by teardrops of blood forming a circle.

Bhaal rarely manifested in avatar form. When he did, his main avatar in urban areas was the Slayer, which was not a four armed scaly monster:

"The Slayer look[s] like a corpse with a feral face, [bloodless] skin, and deep lacerations that endlessly [weep] black ichor that vanish[es] before it strikes anything."

It makes no noise at all when it moves. it can talk (its softly spoken and sounds creepy). It can levitate at will and summon floating daggers made of bone, that appeared and disappeared at will. They would cause any living flesh they hit to wither and die. Creatures slain this way would rise again as zombies under its control - or have its skeleton shattered into more bone daggers. Enough of these daggers form an area-of-effect; a wall made of a flurry of sharp shards of bone that would trap the soul of anyone they killed. Oh, yeah, and the Slayer can also inflict the overwhelming urge to murder everyone around you on the people around it.

Bhaal's other avatar was the Ravager, which was mostly an angry 30-foot tall giant with horns.

While in either avatar form, Bhaal also had the ability to create any form of undead loyal to him by touching a corpse (greater undead like vampires would be free once they'd completed whatever task he'd assigned them). He could also immediately destroy any undead, turning them to dust at a touch. Bhaal cannot be harmed by the undead.

Rather than using his avatars, Bhaal usually just manifested as a pair of flying undead hands that can shoot bone daggers at people. Or a laughing human skull trailing teardrops. Both these manifestations are capable of speech, casting darkness and driving everybody into a mindless bloodthirsty rampage - you might have noticed he really loves this trick.

He also invented his own undead monsters, the Harrla of Hate. Harrla are invisible creatures, which if you use magic to see them appear like human shaped wavering impressions. Guess what they do?? If you guessed "fill people with a sense of overpowering hatred and drive people into committing homicide" get yourself a fucking cookie!! (This isn't said anywhere in canon, but Bhaal has less imagination than a chunk of rock, I swear to god...)

According to one version of the story; in life Bhaal was a Netherese mortal wizard named Tharlagaunt Bale. He was one of a few hand picked by Jergal to bear a fragment of the god's divinity and raised from a young age to serve him (a Chosen, basically). Hilariously, one of the others was Karsus. These Chosen were promised godhood for their service as they set about performing a ritual to increase Jergal's waning power and make him one of the most powerful deities. Karsus chose to try and make himself a god instead and blew up the Weave, destroying Netheril and the plan and killing all of his coworkers except Bale.

Bale got a job as an assassin, changed the spelling to Bhaal and dropped his first name, teamed up with a bitter ex-slave with no name except the title "Bane of the Ancients" and a necromancer prince called Myrkul Bey al-Kursi.

His other backstory features him as Arabhal; the spymaster and chief assassin of the Netherese City of Rdiuz, and an ally of Bane. The two became unwitting paws of Jergal, who directed them through nightmares to do his bidding and slay various primordial divinities who threatened his plans.

Regardless of backstory, they all grabbed more divinity by killing an ancient god (also Bane's ex-master) and then he went knocking on his old boss' door for that godhood he was promised (Jergal at this point had embraced depression and just went "yeah, whatever, have it. Idgaf, I'm retiring." Or was manipulating them into becoming his divine pawns. There's more than one take on this story.) and Bhaal walked off the god of murder.

He learned of a prophecy predicting he would die when his stupid ex-travelling companions would decide to piss of Ao who would then kick all the gods out and make them mortal, and Bhaal then decided to sleep with what seems to be at least 25% of Faerûn to produce kids who would hold fragments of himself so that they could all fight to the death and he could resurrect himself afterwards. He was killed by the soon-to-be-god Cyric not far from Baldur's Gate during the Time of Troubles. Cyric proceeded to take his job, and there was a huge fight between Bhaalists who converted and those who didn't and the converts killed all the holdouts.

The rest of the backstory is basically just the original Baldur's Gate games.

#Durge is basically a crime boss #Also; Bhaal please have more than one fucking idea for once in your fucking miserable life I AM BEGGING YOU #long post

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writingquestionsanswered · 1 year

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I finally have motivation to write but no inspiration. I have a bunch of ideas, but not well fleshed-out, pretty weak, and feels there's no "point" to the story. But I'm struggling to add more to it. I don't feel inspired. There is no drive for my own WIPs. I do have a creative well. I just feel like I'm lacking the heart for writing. But I get so pumped when I see others' WIPs! It's like I have apathy for my own ideas. Am I just not creative enough to be a writer?

Struggling with Creativity & Inspiration

If you feel your "creative well" is full and you're still struggling to find inspiration, I definitely wouldn't jump to the conclusion that you're not creative enough to be a writer. There are a lot of other places where there might be an issue… 1 - You Don't Know Enough About How Stories Work - This is honestly the biggest obstacle for newest writers to overcome. Humanity is so invested in stories, yet the vast majority of us don't really know how they work. Kind of like cars or cell phones. They're a part of daily life for a lot of us, but most of us couldn't really explain a lot about how they work. There are all different kinds of stories and they all work in different ways, but most of them revolve around conflict and follow basic story structure. In fact, most of our favorite stories move forward in the same general way. Once you master these basics, it's easier to flesh out your ideas and figure out where to go with them. My Plot & Story Structure master list is a good place to start.

2 - Your Expectations Are Askew - The next biggest obstacle for newer writers is the mistaken belief that writing should be easy... that you can just sit down with an idea and off you go to write the story that will make you famous. Of course, that isn't how writing works at all. Even if you know how stories work, have fleshed out ideas, an outline, motivation and inspiration, time and energy... you still have to put the words down on paper, and that requires thought and effort as well as acceptance that what you write isn't going to be as amazing as you want it to be. Not until you've written a lot of bad and mediocre stories. And even then, your first drafts will never be final drafts. You have to give yourself permission to write an unpolished mess before you can polish it up into something pretty.

3 - You're Getting Hung Up On Silly Things - If you're anything but an experienced writer, you don't need to worry about "the point" to your story. You don't have to worry about underlying messages, your writing style, motif and theme... You have to focus on quantity before quality, and all those other things will fall into place. If you give yourself permission to write stories that have messy plots, lack point or purpose, have characters with sketchy arcs if any at all, and which aren't super well written, you can learn to write stories where all of those things are really well done.

So... learn the basics of how stories work, then just sit down and write. Take an idea and run with it. Do a writing prompt. Write some fan-fiction. Give yourself permission to write something that won't be good, that you might not even finish. Just start. Don't worry about point. Don't worry about message Don't worry about theme. Don't worry about style. Just start writing. You're not here to write a masterpiece... not yet. :)

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ankoku-teion · 1 month

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Dioraden: Dragonborn conlang - genders

ok, so. my approach to building this conlang is that language and culture are inseparably intertwined. so I find i cant build one without the other. as with everything Dioraden, this is a WIP. there are bits missing and things may get shuffled around to fit, its not meant to be perfect or idealised, and there are deliberately problematic elements of the culture that are reflected in the language.

getting my thoughts on the dragonborn approach to gender sorted out is proving difficult to do using notes in a spreadsheet, so im writing it down here. if anybody want to make any comments or suggestions, or ask any questions: please, please please do! it helps my process immensely.

bear in mind also that this is entirely for a fantasy race in a fantasy setting and is not meant to be directly representative of any real world identities or groups. that said, i am open to learning new things.

the view-link to the entire g-sheet is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15rrKWM-kTKqSK7uD7AWxeXxnSvli9CwyIu9vJrs_H6o/edit?usp=sharing

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the dragonborn have a far more complicated relationship to gender than is typical of the other races in the setting.

the first dragonborn were hybrids created via magic from human stock to be servitors for the last true dragons, who they worship as gods. they live in a matriarchal clan-based society with two biological sexes born in a 2-1 ratio of male to female. they are hatched from eggs rather than born as live young.

those are the biological circumstances that underpin the culture. sex and gender are, of course separate but related, and this is where the greater part of the complexity comes in:

dragonborn are gender-trinary. meaning their culture has 3 basic genders; the Feminine, the Masculine, and an as-yet unnamed third gender.

given the matriarchal nature of their society, the feminine is the default gender, in much the same way that in english, the masculine is often treated as the default. e.g. the dragonborn word for mankind is more literally translated as woman-kind. their word for "woman" is "Rodoki" which is also their own word for their species. etymologically, it comes from the words "Rodeigo" - dragon/god (these concepts are synonymous) and "kidoh kidoh" - child/descendant. (Kidoh - child of my brood, as opposed to Ohaki - person who is a child. the repetition of Kidoh indicates multiple generations, with a third optionally being added for emphasis of a distant ancestor.)

thus the word "Woman" can be literally translated as "child of the gods" or "descended from dragons" - Dragonborn.

most biological females are women, and most women are biological females.

Rosika and Rodeka are the words for the other two genders but i havent decided which will be which, once thats setled ill just refer tot he third gender by that word. etymologically they are derived from "woman+river" and "woman+hard+fast"

most men are biologically male. but only about 60% of biological males are men.

the vast, vast majority of non-cis* dragonborn belong to the third gender. about 40% of biological males and a few percent of biological females belong to this gender. it becomes readily apparent in early childhood if a child is 3rd-gender, and it is incredibly rare for a biological make to identify as a woman or vice-versa.

*the semantics of how the terms cis and trans might best be applied here are beyond me, discussion is eagerly welcomed. im being careful with my language here because i really dont know how to translate these concepts properly. the closest analogous concept in humans is enby, which we dont consider to be cis, but also, all of these people conform to their AGAB, though even AGAB doesnt fully apply because a. they hatch from eggs, and b. they aren't considered fully people until they start to speak, so it would be 'Assigned Gender At Speach' i guess? a biological male identifying as a woman, or a biological female identifying as a man would be undeniably trans, as would anyone who was assigned man or woman in childhood and later identifies as third-gender. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

an additional layer of complexity is added by a fourth genderless identity, similar to our a-gender. with it/its pronouns, though these are distinct for people vs objects.

i haven't created the words for this yet, but it exists, and its on my list of gaps to fill.

a dragonborn of any gender may choose to take on this genderless identity at any time, for a limited period or as a permanent state. often, but not always, this is done as a sign of dedication to a task or creed. however people who are simply agender do exist.

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finally, there are 3 gender neutral singular pronouns. the primary one is Li (pronounced lie) which directly translates as the singular "they" in english. with the plural "they" being Linah. the second singular they is Linoh, and the thrid is Litah.

the 3 singular theys exist only to allow the speaker to easily distinguish between multiple unidentified people in casual conversation. e.g. instead of "the first one said [X] and the second one said [Y] so they hit them," it would be "Li said [X] and Linah said [Y] so Li hit Linah."

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so, in conclusion:

2 biological sexes 3 genders a fourth genderless identity. and 3 additional gender neutral pronouns @four-leafed-queer-gal @ms-macintosh what do you think? feedback is welcome.

#dioraden #dnd5e #d&d #d&d homebrew

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jacqulinetan · 5 months

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20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged!!!! thank you @ursae-minoris-world, you're truly so so kind to think of me.

I'll be real honest, I'm only on tumblr very intermittently and I don't really know how to use the platform at all. I'm scared that my formatting will be really messy and make people angry if I put a wall of text on their feed. So hopefully I figure out how to do the jump cut. But I just finished a fic so it's very fun to do one of these and talk about my writing. And I always like to see other people too, so I thought, hey I will give it a shot. Here's the questions:

How many works do you have on ao3? Right now I just finished my 74th work on ao3! Fifty four of those are vld, twenty four are sheith proper

2. What's your total word count on ao3? 993,716 words. I'm set to hit a million this year, I think!

3. What fandoms do you write for? LOL can you believe it? We're still loving Mr. Keith Voltron in the glorious year of our lord 2024

4. What are your top five fic by kudos? Oh well, my sk friends aren't going to be impressed--- my kl fics always take top spots for kudos and bookmarks. I attribute this not to talent or popularity but just because that side of the fandom has a much wider reach. For the sake of the questionnaire, I'll answer properly, in order: 'it's you that's haunting me' takes the top spot by a wide margin at 2,591 kudos to date. 'that mullet, etc' is currently at 1,788 kudos, and after that it's 'cross my heart,' 'swapping out silence,' and 'things that go bump in the night.'

5. Do you respond to comments? I do! for me, one of the best parts of fic is the community between authors and their audience. For the majority of my fandom life I've considered myself more of a reader than a writer, so I really treasure it when I leave a comment and an author responds. It's so special. As an author, I do respond to every comment, though sometimes it takes me a long time. I'm always so impressed that people are not only reading my words but digesting them and thinking on them too. It's wild to me. A very precious gift.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Oh, my friend, that fic is yet to come. the wip I've got on my closest back burner has a real humdinger of an angsty ending. I'm excited about it. hmmmm if I had to answer now.....I'm not sure! usually I'm a happy ending kind of girl

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? well well well, now I have to answer this one properly don't I? Are we thinking happiest like 'biggest emotional pay off for the reader'? Or happiest like 'Keith is wildly happy' by the end? I think 'heart nailed open' has a very good emotional pay off (though I wrote it so perhaps I can't judge too well on behalf of the reader). If I am really thinking, in which fic is Keith truly the happiest he could ever be by the end...well, I try always to make Keith happy but, in 'the whole story' he has everything he could ever want AND a very nice couch.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not routinely. I did, actually, get a very nasty comment on a fic in 2023 and it legitimately hurt my feelings. Made me feel like I should not be writing at all, actually. But, can you believe it? Friends came out of the woodwork-- people I rarely talk to, even-- and jumped in my comments section and really defended me. like, I really had all kinds of people on my side, defending me! So that meant a lot to me, and I was honestly so surprised, and I'd like to give every one of those friends the kindest hand press because I really did feel very taken care of in the aftermath.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Oh, I don't know! I have plenty of E rated fics but I don't know if I will ever master a true PWP. to me, the sex scenes I write are not so original or exciting, nothing to really write home about lol. I'm not a fan of publicly being negative about my stuff, so I will simply say that I wish I could write some really off beat toe curling wild kink, but it's probably just not my personality to do so LOL

Is this getting really long?? should I be embarrassed ? should I close the tab and never think on this again? hmmm no

10. Do you write cross overs? Cross overs with what, my dear? There's only one Keith

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Oh I think 'it's you that's haunting me' strolled on over to wattpad or some such site without my permission back in the day, but I've never really looked into it. What I don't know cannot hurt me, right? I highly doubt that there's been some crazy highway robbery for perfchan words.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I don't think I have! But I did have someone ask to record a podfic for one of my stories, and I was so flattered and thrilled!!!!!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope! I don't have much interest in this, I am very shy about my writing and I fear I would be too cagey to be a very good collaborator.

14. what's your all time favorite ship? Keith x Being Loved and Cherished the Way He Ought to Be

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? (covers face) I don't have any unfinished WIPs.... it's not in my Type A personality to leave things undone.....

16. What are your writing strengths? This is something to really ponder!!! What /are/ my strengths!!! huh!!! well. I figured out early on that my favorite things to write are atmospheric and setting heavy -- both my most popular fic (it's you that's haunting me) and my most personally beloved fic (heart nailed open) have this in common: they have a lot of detail about the setting, and a lot of effort put into ~vibes~ of the story. so I think, if I could be self indulgent and chose which writing bits I'm good at, it's that type of thing. I really like crafting a scene you can settle into with all of your senses

17. what are your writing weaknesses? too many to list!!! I very often read my own writing and I always enjoy it (I wrote it for myself afterall) but sometimes I wonder....why did I spend so long on this particular bit? I think I am not very good at making a story tight. I wish I could master the art of being able to 'trim the fat' so to speak, really be precise with the story, but I simply don't have the chops! I can never understand how to make it better than I already have! perhaps if I keep writing long enough, I will get better at this

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? this question would really open up a can of worms on the kl side of the fandom LOL. I will admit it, I've had Lance speak spanish a time or two. I don't speak spanish myself so in those rare instances I have been VERY careful to keep things straightforward and try really really hard to not be cringe worthy to native speakers

19. First fandom you wrote for? the first thing I posted online was a USUK fic in a hetalia LJ comm. I can distinctly remember the first time I ever read a fic with *there was only one bed* (it was usuk) and WHEN I TELL YOU MY EYES WERE OPENED. I was forever changed on that day. of course I wanted to try my hand at writing after that

20. Favorite fic you've written? You would ask me to chose a favorite of my children!!! Oh! I simply could not!!! No, seriously, it's 'heart nailed open.' I love that fic

This got so long !!!!!! I can't imagine anyone reading all this !!!!!!!! but omg if you did thank you!!!!!! I'm shy about tagging people in the best of times, and like I said at the very beginning, I am very very shaky on tumblr etiquette, so I had better not tag anyone. but if my friends enemytosleep or grem or kacy or monday happen to see this, I would be very excited to read your responses!!! okay bye!!

#perfchan #my writing #fanfiction meta

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overtheimaginationwall · 1 year

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Favorite boss(es) in No Straight Roads?

Least favorite?

(Sincere apologies. I've been holding this one for more than a year in my box, so I hope you don't mind a really late reply ^^")

(Also Happy 3rd Anniversary, NSR!! 🎉)

I will tell ya honestly - they all are my favourites!

Tho if to be more specific I decided to set them up by TOP.

1. Sayu

Oh Sayu, my beloved <3

The Best Virtual Idol and The Reason I bought this game in the first place!

Her music and style of battle was the most fun and dancy! I still vibe to it to this day-

Sooo many references to Internet Culture and Digital Art fills my heart with warmth and gives me determination just like her song itself as well!

Funny Useless Fact: She is the only boss I've beaten on Rank B on my first blind playthrough!

2. DK West

He's OUR MAN, He's THE BEST!

My second favorite and at the same time the hardest for me to beat.

I personally didn't adore RAP genre at first and never seen anyone preform it as an actual entertaining battle until he showed up...

HOLLY MOLLY DESPITE ME BREAKING MY THUMBS WHILE GOING THROUGH THE PAINFUL DODGE GAME - HIM AND ZUKE RAPPING FELT LIKE I'M WATCHING DISNEY-

LIKE-

I STILL HAVE IDEA IN MY HEAD TO MAKE A SORT OF ANIMATIC WITH "FIRST ENCOUNTER" ALONE!!

Anyway, despite damaged fingers - 10/10, would fight again!

Funny Useless Fact: When I was drawing him for the first time I listened to his theme on loop for 4 days straight in order not to get myself distracted or lose motivation, so I finish the piece.

3. Yinu

Oh, sweet child...

I love Yinu and her theme lots even if I'm not that big of a fan of Classical Music. And her backstory...Gosh! It made me cry a lot.

And I'm still feel ashamed of breaking the piano ;;-;;

Love the pace of how music goes with the fight and it feels even better when you get into actual rhythm. There were issues that gladly wore off thanks to practice and fighting this boss over and over.

Tho those slamming cords haunt me whenever I listen to the song off-battle-

Funny Useless Fact: I didn't like her Mother at first but when I read more about her and relationship with Yinu my opinion completely changed. And this is why I would nominate No Straight Roads for The Best Storytelling and Character Design.

4. EVE

Two-faced, tall woman.

Used to be one of my favorites but due to some circumstances I can't look at her the same way I used to but I still adore her as a boss!

I honestly love her style of the fight and music that changes depending on who you play.

Tho fighting her is literally like eating a lemon but eventually you kinda just accept your fate and roll with weird artistic antics happening around you.

And EVE herself as a character is so fascinating. Like this is the moment where I started to see that these aren't just bosses, they are actually characters that tie this little but complex story together bit by bit. And this is why I would nominate No Straight Roads for The Best Storytelling and Character Design AGAIN!

Funny Useless Fact: EVE was supposed to be a next character to have a complete and detailed art of but due to my forgetfulness, difficulties with her design (and many other things) - it was never finished but I hope to get that dusty sketch out of WIP folder someday.

5. Tatiana

The Bitch. The Boss.

I don't really like her music and rhythm but I can forgive that since it is kind of fitting for conflict between her and the BBJ.

She tries to hide her true image throughout the story and the fight but ultimately crumbles cause escaping from the past isn't the best option to improve.

I love her design and personality and I wish there were more villains like her. Strict, simple, stoic and yet well-written.

Funny Useless Fact: I've never drawn Tatiana until NSR announced their release on Steam with addition of Fanat Graffiti Contest that I certainly didn't want to miss out on. It was difficult but I did it and ngl, I am still proud of the results.

6. DJ Subatomic Supernova & 1010/Neon J

I can't really say anything much about both of them. Sorry, guys...

Their designs and personalities are fun and well-made but due to one of them being the first you fight as "tutorial" and the other appears only at the end of a fight. (1010 band doesn't count as an actual boss to me more like a part of it) They didn't struck me much as the others did...

I will say this thou: their backstories are interesting. One is an academy astrology teacher with a goal of achieving the stars and other is a war veteran who just wanted everyone to live in peace and he himself despite everything never stopped his passion for doll-making and making people happy.

Just simply, beautiful...

Cool Science Fact: Their VAs are GOLD!

#sofiath ask #thanks for the ask!#no straight roads #nsr #nsr neon j #nsr djss #nsr sayu #nsr tatiana #nsr dk west #nsr 1010 #nsr yinu #opinion #sofiath thoughts

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cottonfeltgembira · 3 months

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[WIP] Im finally writing a full proper fic in months now... (Rolls over on the floor)

Yosuke heaved a sigh, “Something tells me while you won't press me any further, you definitely wanna figure out what's up with me today.”

Yu, who was semi preoccupied with dusting a collection of music CDs on the bottom of the rack let out a chuckle, his response slightly muffled by the medical mask he was wearing.

“How did you know? And yes, I would like to know what's going on with you and if you allow it I'd like to help.”

“God, you are too good, man. And it's… really stupid.”

Yu got up from the floor and disposed of his medical mask and disposable gloves into the trash bin, turning to Yosuke with his hand on his hip. “Yosuke, if it's bothering you then I don't think that whatever it is it would be considered stupid.”

“That's the thing!” Yosuke sat up from his previous slumped position. “Look, just promise me you won't laugh when I tell you.”

“I promise.”

After Yu promptly dusted his shirt off he made his way to the couch, taking a seat next to Yosuke. “So, what is it?”

“The truth is… I'm stuck on the fact that I don't have a girlfriend.”

Yosuke’s silver haired friend only stared blank eyed, he wasn’t sure what he expected from Yu but his poker face wasn’t one of them.

“Uh, Earth to Yu Narukami? This is the part where you either break the promise and laugh or realize it's over for me.”

“Sorry, I guess I was expecting something else.”

“Something else?” Whatever it was Yu thought of, it couldn't have been good.

“Mmm, I was thinking you forgot Teddie in the freezer in Junes and you had to defrost him for a whole day.” He knew it…

“Well actually that did almost happen once- Hey!”

“But in all seriousness,” Yu changed his tone from his light jest. “I don't think you should let that worry you, I'm sure you’ll find someone. Besides, didn't you mention before you were going on dates?”

“Those were just dates, they’re different!” And they were different, Yosuke swore he tried everything in the book of dating and romance but not a single girl he went out with considered a second date. Was he not charming enough? Was there something about himself Yosuke didn’t know that girls just didn’t like? If only it were easy, like Yu would ever truly understand his plight. Yu could say he wanted a girlfriend and 30 girls in his near vicinity would drop everything to run at a chance to be his.

“Hmm, I don’t really get it. I think love comes when it wants to, you just have to be yourself.”

“Man, easy for you to say. Aren't you dating like 3 girls simultaneously right now?”

“Snrrk.” A loud snort came Yu, “Yosuke, you believe in me way too much.”

“What?”

“Actually, I’ve never dated, not even once.”

“WHAT!?” Yosuke shouted, thank god neither Dojima nor Nanko was home. He couldn't believe it, Yu could easily be pulling his leg but he sounded genuine, there was no way and yet…

Yosuke had to confirm,”You’re not just saying this to make me feel better about my dating failures, right?”

“If I was lying to you I would’ve said I’ve only been on a date or two.”

“Holy shit, you’re serious.”

“Oh, I am serious. I’m showing you it's really not the end of the world if you haven't found anybody by now. It's different for everybody, Yosuke.”

And he was right, as displeased as Yosuke was to hear it from Yu. Maybe he was just too eager. Yeah- Yeah that had to be it.

“I guess you’re right…Hey wait, didn't you had a thing with Ebihara?”

Yu tilted his head, almost akin to a fox, “Ai-san? No, she was troubled at the time. She did suggest dating but she was doing that out of wanting validation, she just needed a friend who could understand her and support her.”

“How did that even happen?” Yu only shrugged, another mystery to the strange array of acquaintances Yu had. From creepy nurse to grieving old woman to a middle school kid he tutored, it’s miraculous how he made the time to get to know these people, hang out with the investigation team and solve the case at the same time. That was his partner alright.

“Speaking of Ai-san, I wonder if it's still in my closet.” Yosuke watched as Yu eagerly got up, walking towards his closet and began digging through the drawers. As Yu dug for whatever buried treasure he had in his closet from being reminded of a female friend, Yosuke stopped the music on his mp3 player and took his headphones off for once, placing them on the coffee table.

Love comes when it wants to, huh?

Yosuke wondered if that love will ever come, at this point it started to feel bleak. Countless failed attempts with girls, maybe he wasn’t made to ever be in a relationship. It’s silly but he can’t deny it made him feel miserable. Yosuke Hanamura, still a loser at 21 and forever alone.

At least there was his partner. Yu was the first person who he’s ever felt truly close to, he saw Yosuke in his ugliest moments and didn’t bat an eye, Yu reached out to Yosuke and he’s been holding onto that hand ever since.

Yosuke admired Yu, he was smart, headstrong, and always got back up no matter what. At the same time, envious of the same things he liked so much about his best friend. It’s an ugly feeling, one he thought Yu beat out of him years ago at the riverbank. But every once in a while, jealousy would rear its head, and Yosuke sometimes wished it would show itself as a shadow so he can whoop its ass instead of doing it the hard way.

#WIP #chirithy... write???#souyo #yu narukami #yosuke hanamura #persona 4 #pray i finish this fic... sobs

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killingsboys · 4 months

Text

20 questions for 20 writers!

tagged by the bestie @afaramir abby thank you so much for giving me an excuse to avoid writing tonight <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 45!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 492,078 and literally a solid quarter of that is from c&b oh i'm laughing.

3. What fandoms do you write for? right now only for les mis but most of my works are trc and in 2019/2020 i wrote a bit for soc and aftg.....

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? oh i'm laughing these aren't even GOOD.... 1. [redacted soc fic] 2. makes me feel a little bit closer to you - pynch clothes sharing fic 3. c&b (my most beloved this is the only valid entry on this list) 4. i ain't gotta tell him (i think he knows) - pynch ithk songfic 5. all the time, all the time (i think of you all the time) - pynch fic where ronan is tutoring adam in art

5. Do you respond to comments? mostly yes! for like a solid 2 years i didn't but now i do again <3

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ummm i think the only actually angsty ending i have is all too well adansey fic? i'm such a happy ending girlie that's the only one i can think of that doesn't end happily. for obvious reasons.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i like to think pretty much everything i write ends happily but c&b proposal fic is what comes to mind since i finally finished it THREE ENTIRE YEARS LATER very recently

8. Do you get hate on fics? no i have been very lucky so far actually!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? no because i am afraid

10. Do you write crossovers? i do not!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? nope not yet!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? only the theoretical AUs that coco and i like to talk about but never commit to writing <3 although really you could consider coco my cowriter on most of my fics (especially c&b) like so much of them comes from her fr. love you coco <3333

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? oh i can't pick. that's like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. right now those dead gay french revolutionaries have my heart but tomorrow, who knows?

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? ugh i hate admitting defeat but. but. i am aware that beloved beloved pynch band fic will probably never be finished. which is a SHAME because i have soooooooo much of it planned out i mean like. i've got full albums designed. most of the beats are mapped out. i've got fake tweets written up, i've got chapter titles and scene drafts. like the entire concept is there and i'm so obsessed with it. but i just. after all these years it is extremely unlikely that i am going to actually, you know. write it.

16. What are your writing strengths? beginnings. i am so good at beginnings. that's why i have so many wips. also i like to think i'm good at dialogue. i try to write conversationally even when it's not actually a conversation and i think that translates well to actual dialogue it's fun.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? endings. i can't end anything to save my LIFE. also just plots in general escape me. and i always end up writing 10k more words than i meant to.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? um other people who can do it definitely should! i however cannot do that. i did however use my extremely limited knowledge of the french language for the section headings in my most recent fic and i like the effect it produced i think.

19. First fandom you wrote for? all evidence of their existence has been wiped from the face of the earth but my very first fics were one star wars fic and one agents of shield fic circa like. 2015.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? legally i'm obligated to say c&b but right now actually i'm still very very happy with how exr rooftop fic turned out. literally the entire time i was writing it i was just having a blast. i love writing angst and stuff it's like chewing on a polly pocket toy. now that i'm evil i never wanna write fluff again. i'm torturing those fictional guys fr.

tagging besties @television-bodies @gingerpeachtea and anyone else who wants to do it! ♡

#talking to strangers #tag game #this was fun hehe

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daifukumochiin · 3 months

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Writers ask!

1. Start to finish, how long did it take to plan and write? Did you take breaks during the process?

6. How did you decide what tense and POV(s) to use?

18. Talk about your editing and revision process

26. Share your favorite detail

Since no one is curious about any particular fic, I'll just answer in a general sense, Lav 🥲 I'll address it to everyone who'd come across this post. 1. How long does it take me to plan and write a story? Do I take breaks during the process? > I don't have stellar records. So far, out of nine that I uploaded on ffnet, I have two completed one shots (one of those, I promised I'd write a part two, but I'm not interested in it anymore), a completed short multi-chapter fic, a microfic anthology, and then all the rest are WIPs. I've been DM for 7-8 years now... That's how long it is to plan my most read fic xD Technically, it is complete, but I promised some extra chapters and I could just never get it done. I'm answering in a roundabout way because I'm not as organized as Lav when planning and writing my fics. I don't keep records, I mostly go by feeling. However, if I do put my mind into it, I guess I could be the type to set a deadline and get it done. Though it's not a guarantee that I'd get the response that I hope for, and that makes me feel gutted. So, in my case, after getting familiar with my writer self through all these years, I need to believe in the importance of a fic more than anyone so that no matter the response and readership, I'd never stop until it's complete. How long does it take me to plan and write a story? Until the will to do it takes me through its completion, that's my answer. Do I take breaks? Hahaha! It's breaks that need to be taken from me.

2. How do I decide what tense and POV(s) to use? > Past. Third person limited POV. Those are my default. I don't think much about it. 3. Talk about your editing and revision process. > Even after I finish uploading a fic, I'll always end up finding errors here and there. I don't have a perfect chapter unlike PianoCoat. When I see an error in PianoCoat's chapter, I'm like, "whoa, that's rare." I edit for as long as I see mistakes, and for as long as I wanted to check for mistakes. I used to be more prudent with this, especially with my first fic, but recently, I don't have much time anymore, and you know, that's fine. I run it through Grammarly-sensei and even after then, I'd still catch some errors. Fresh eyes? Don't know her. Maybe give it five to ten years, then I'd truly have fresh eyes. Not the day after. Fresh eyes I tell you, isn't necessarily a good thing. Your past self's treasure could turn into your future self's cringe. My verdict: I edit and revise, but I'm not the best person for it.

4. Share your favorite detail. > 🤔... This took long for me to think about to be honest. I think I've already told everyone in the SasuHina Month discord about things I liked that I felt those are old things that aren't necessarily very true for current me anymore. I'm thinking maybe something from my most recent works. Is 2022 recent? Doesn't matter, let me tell you about it, 'cause I haven't told this to someone yet. I liked how my story for SH Month 2022 Day 3: Dépaysement took everyone on a journey where they didn't know how it would turn out. That's my favorite part about it. People knew it was a SasuHina story, but they weren’t able to predict the ending because the experience of the journey had immersed them. Also, I liked that Hinata had a hard time with the goats. That part was semi-autobiographical🤣

Thanks for checking out my stuff😽💞🙌 If you haven't yet and are interested, here are links for you:

AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daifuku_Mochiin/works

FFnet https://www.fanfiction.net/u/9526245/Daifuku-Mochiin

#fanfic writing #sasuhina

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muirmarie · 1 month

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slams into your askbox, i saw the words timeloop sequel and i need to know more immediately

@thegeminisage

ty both!

if anyone hasn't read the time loop fic (it ends or it doesn't), please don't read the readmore, because it contains extremely big spoilers, and that fic is probably the only fic i've ever written that i'd say this about, but spoilers really do matter here imo.

okay! the time loop fic sequel.

this one i have very little actually written out, because i have other fics i need to finish first, but i still consider it an active wip because i go in it pretty routinely to make notes (so many notes).

this is almost def going to be in the 30k-40k range, though (maybe more, idk, we all know i'm a terrible judge), and it's absolutely on the back burner for now.

The working summary is long lmao, BUT:

Three months after they're rescued from the time loop, Starfleet Command asks the Enterprise to pick up Ambassador Sarek and Amanda Greyson and accompany them to the Arexilian home world. It's clear that Starfleet hopes to leverage the Arexilians' goodwill towards the triumvirate into reopening talks with the Federation, and aren't above using Spock's father to do so. Kirk uses his own leverage to get two weeks shore leave on Vulcan before they leave. But what should be a pleasant shore leave before a pleasant voyage to a pleasant people quickly starts developing snags: another Federation ambassador is coming along for the journey, and it's clear that he has his own axe to grind, Spock's parents have their own opinions about Spock's relationships—both those disclosed to Starfleet and not—and the triumvirate is still dealing with their own fallout from their choices on Arexon-3, as much as they might like to pretend it's behind them. Most importantly of all, Bones has to find a way to make Sarek like him.

They're basically all working through their own trauma, there's elements of Arexilian generational memory that McCoy ends up with due to going into the device some 270-odd times (I've been playing with him having dreams of flying), the other Federation ambassador is trying to get information on what the Arexilians did (both the teleportation, but also, they're beginning to suspect, why/how the sun exploded.....possibly w/ interest on that as a weapon), Sarek & Amanda are both extremely nosy in their own rights, I think Sarek & McCoy end up hostages at one point, Kirk won't admit it but he doesn't exactly trust his CMO right now, Spock can't hear 0900 without checking his wrist to make sure the mark is still there/the loop hasn't restarted...

At its heart it's them navigating the fall-out of what happened, and how actually being in a relationship together works when they're still struggling to remember what normal even feels like.

Plus it's the fact that I really like those purple feathered humanoids, and I think it would be really fun to get to explore them a little more! (like, did you know: they're extremely long-lived! Their lifespan averages about 340-400 years, so despite the fact they'd been on Arexon-3 for 800 years, there were a handful of them who returned to their homeworld whose parents had actually been born there!) Plus the idea of generational memory bleeding into McCoy's dreams means I have an interesting way of exploring it (for me, I mean, it might not be interesting for you, but I'll try lol) rather than just, say, info-dumping.

Plus I just really liked the dynamic I set up between the trio and Larissaya & Iratha - and the idea of the Arexilians and those that stayed on their homeworld (I haven't decided on a name for their homeworld yet) having to adjust to being back on the same planet again? Also very much Interests me. And I'm very, very fond of Iratha. They're my (gender neutral) girl <3

It's also supposed to be for my Planet Vulcan prompt for my bingo card hahaha, although we're maybe a little past that. But they DO go to Vulcan!!!

Part of me thinks that I might split up the shore leave on Vulcan and use it as bookends. Actually, now that I write that here, I'm almost definitely going to do that. Okay, lmao, I'll stop rambling now, if any of you are still with me ilu <33333 tyyyyyy

#answers #fexiled #thegeminisage #wip tag list game

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kiwiana-writes · 11 months

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20 question for fic writers

Thanks @stereopticons and @welcometololaland for the tags, even if it is distracting me from hockey lmaooooo

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

221. No, that's not a typo.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

729,286! However there's a few collabs in there, per my spreadsheet where I obsessively track these things my *personal* wordcount for works on AO3 is 600,080 (so I guess I crossed 600k with this morning's kinktober! That's fun.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now it's Red, White & Royal Blue. I still have my toes in Schitt's Creek, and I've written for Happiest Season and The Last of Us on AO3 as well.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest) [Red, White, & Royal Blue] - the actor AU, aka MJ Nerds Out About Shakespeare For 65,000 Words. And y'all love it, apparently 😅

We always walked a very thin line [Happiest Season] - It remains forever fascinating to me that my rage-fuelled fuck-that-ending thing I smashed out in like 3 hours after watching that film is still the most-kudosed work in the entire fandom. I guess other people shared my annoyance lol.

We were supposed to find this [Red, White, & Royal Blue] - The soulmates/solemates fic and my first fic in this fandom??? That somehow blew all my SC fics out of the water kudos-wise??? Go figure lmao.

Meet me out at the end of my rope [Schitt's Creek] - angstapalooza, my beloved.

When you care enough to send the very best [Schitt's Creek] - this being in the top five (and my second-highest SC fic) is eternally fascinating to me. A fully epistolary fic with Patrick as a greeting card writer for Hallmark?? I mean sure, it's a cute concept, but this is another one of those 'wrote it in an afternoon and y'all love it apparently' fics.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely! Sometimes I feel bad that my responses aren't always, like, enough. But I massively appreciate people taking the time to comment so I'm always gonna respond!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably the one that ends with MCD lmaooooo

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most everything I write has a happy ending, but it's probably the RWRB Actor AU? Both the end of the main story and the epilogue end on massive joy

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yeah. Particularly kink stuff (please be cool on tomorrow's y'all) but also some massively panphobic bullshit on some Schitt's Creek fics. And one or two people who have beef with me lmao. I'm liberal with my use of the 'delete comment' button haha.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

It's been said about me that I might write a bit of smut from time to time, yes. (Though, contrary to my reputation, especially in SC, E-rated is actually only 37% of my total works.) The filthy-yet-tender kind. The let's-examine-where-kinks-come-from kind. The sex-positive kind. The let-people-be-horny-freaks kind.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't, but I would if the right idea presented itself!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of...

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! My partner in crime @ships-to-sail and I have co-written two uhhhhhh somewhat tonally different fics: The afterlife fic that was a huge treatise on grief and how the people in our lives shape us, and the one where Patrick is a snowman who comes to life complete with sparkly Twilight dildo dick. Something something range.

The Jake/Rachel series has each individual fic as a solo write, but the series is an internally consistent collaboration with @sarahlevys

And there have been a few projects where I've written a section or a chapter as part of a larger collaborative work: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Don't have one. I love a whole bunch for a whole bunch of different reasons.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Technically I guess the series is a WIP, but I honestly don't know if I'll ever get to the end of the show for kink!verse. (Never say never 😭 but right now I can't see it happening.)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Fuck off stop making me be nice about myself.

Um, character voice? Both dialogue and narration. I think I'm good at getting a handle on the way characters speak and think, and when I'm on my epistolary bullshit I tend to put a lot of thought into how they text etc as well (for fandoms where we don't see that in canon haha).

Also I'm apparently really good at making readers feel their feelings. Love y'all ❤️

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot lol. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's a reason y'all keep seeing me thank @ships-to-sail for the outline on anything with any substance.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Not opposed to it, but have a horror of google translate fail. So beyond, like, a word here or there, I wouldn't do it unless I could reach out to a fluent speaker and make sure it's right. My second language is functionally useless to me in a fandom context lol.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

HP. Fuck JKR for tainting all my memories of that time.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Hey remember my answer to #1? That makes this mean.

I have a different answer every time. Been a bit dysphoric lately so today I'm gonna say it's nonbinary Alexis Rose lol.

Tried to skip people I'd seen have done it or been tagged already but was probably unsuccessful, sorry if some of y'all are feeling spammed: @affectionatelyrs @celeritas2997 @daisymae-12 @happiness-of-the-pursuit @heartitinthesilence @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @hypnostheory @inexplicablymine @myheartalivewrites @sherryvalli @smc-27 @tintagel-or-cockleshells and anyone who wants to play ❤️

#tag game #20 questions for fic writers

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disabled-dean · 4 months

Text

writing patterns tag game

Tagged by the owner of the world's most accurate and correct url, @bucklebunnydean

Rules: post the first sentence from your 10 most recently posted fics. (Gonna include my wips b/c I don't have 10 yet sorry!) Also I did the first paragraph/few lines because i am evil and love cheating 😇

1. An Easier Softer Way: It’s only as he’s pulling into the parking lot that Dean realizes he doesn’t even know where the meeting is. The shitty, outdated website had listed the address for a church, but the building he’s now idling in front of has more than one entrance.

2. Asterism of an F-Series Ford Pick Up: Cas makes a quick turn with one hand. He releases the wheel and it slides smoothly through his calloused palm back to center. Dean's eyes stick on the spot where his fingers meet the hot leather. He slouches further in his seat.

3. Lebanon: The bunker emergency lighting flashes red against the walls, pulsating once before a soft whirring noise breaks through the harsh cry of the alarm. The strip lighting flickers again, and then the overheads come back on. Dean is flat on his back, staring up the barrel of a gun, at his father.

4. The cursed mommy!blogger Dean Flossing fic (which does not actually have a first sentence yet this is just how the doc starts): The glare of the ring light refracts off the screen. (which is probably why he’s sweating).

He glances at the/his open browser. He looks down at his phone. The text says: Floss

5. Ace!dean rights (also without a first sentence): Cas is sitting on the counter, legs swinging absently. Dean keeps turning around and backing up into him and not asking him to move.

Dean offers him the spoon,

"Here," he says, "try this."

Cas

"Needs more salt."

"Fuck you, no it doesn't."

6. Season 6 Lisa!rights wip (also without a first sentence): But Cas can’t be watching him, because he’s off somewhere saving the world. Which is fine with Dean. Let someone else do it for once. He rolls over and goes back to sleep.

7. Heaven is Too Hot To Handle game!show wip (no first line): [Dean is smoking in the courtyard]

“Do you have another one of those?”

“Aren’t you gonna get in trouble?”

“You tell me.”

“You’re not a contestant so I doubt you’ll try to tempt me.”

Dean half-chokes. Cas inhales contemplatively.

“You really aren't supposed to be out here.”

Seemingly I am allergic to starting a wip doc at the start of the story. We go off vibes in this household!

Tagging: @kerryweaverlesbian @bloodydeanwinchester @demora00 @ipromiseimawriter @luckshiptoshore @shineforthee @outofbluecomesgreen2 @shineforthee @their-we-go @castielafflicted @revenge-of-the-assbutt and anyone else who wants to play! <3 <3 <3

#asks #tag games #thank you this was fun <3

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intrepidacious · 11 months

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✩ upcoming wips

main masterlist | navigation

i haven't been posting a lot lately because i'm a slow writer and life has been kicking my butt but i've wanted to let you take a peek at what i've been cooking up in the background!!

what little attention i have at the moment has been going into time after time but there's a lot of ideas constantly swirling around in my head and i've wanted a place to put some of them. shockingly, these aren't even all of my wips. yeah, i know.

this is just a snapshot of the most prominent fic ideas i've been working on at the moment which means that plots and especially titles might still get changed. also i'm not committing to any sort of schedule with these so keep that in mind :')

please feel free to ask questions about any and all of these and i'll do my best to answer <3

✩ one shots

a smile that cold - ransom drysdale x f!reader - au inspired by daphne du maurier's rebecca - (well, mostly by its musical adaptation, which is great) - i'm going full gothic/seasonally spooky vibes in this one - tropes: widower remarries, mystery, dark-ish (well, there's murder), perhaps a hint of spice - status: mostly done, but still missing a chunk in the middle

to home afar - bucky barnes x freader - the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society au - (oh yes we're going there) - i love this book and this au so much but i just haven't had the time to focus on it - tropes: 40s!bucky, dad!bucky, writer!reader, one (1) broken engagement, fitzsimmons appearance, hints of epistolary storytelling, pen pals to friends to lovers - status: about halfway done, still missing some connective tissue

all that's been (and all that won't) - bucky barnes x f!reader - buffy the vampire slayer au - tropes: slayer!reader, vampire hunter!bucky, friends to lovers, inspired by me rereading all the vampire knight manga so if you know those you'll see the twist coming, canon-typical violence - status: conception phase, some scenes written

stay here forever - 40s!bucky barnes x f!reader - a continuation of first date, last night - this was a plan ever since i posted that story and yet - tropes: friends to lovers, mutual pining resolved, tfa!bucky, kinda angsty, will probably get another part … - status: mostly written, missing connective tissue

just for spite - bucky barnes x witch!reader - originally inspired by a moodboard by @treatbuckywkisses - this has been sitting in my drafts for an embarrassingly long time - might end up being a collection of loosely connected one shots - tropes: post tfatws!bucky, practical magic vibes, there's a cat, slow burn? maybe? - status: first part done, some more scenes written

death becomes him - steve rogers x grim reaper!reader - inspired by a mix of meet joe black, elisabeth (the musical, not the movie), the fairy tale godfather death, and the show dead like me - this is such a weird idea and i need to write it so bad - tropes: canon-compliant-ish, slow burn, artist!steve, will probably include time jumps, dark-ish for obvious reasons - status: random scenes written

tomorrow - steve rogers x reader - inspired by the river song storyline in doctor who - (yes you read that right) - i love using my most random au ideas for steve, i think this works so well and i'm so excited about it - tropes: opposing timelines, kind of slow burn kind of established relationship, goes through steve's entire mcu timeline - status: scenes written, writing time shenanigans is tiring if that's all you do though :')

ghost light - lighthouse keeper!steve rogers x reader - (yeah) - this one is so random but i cannot stop thinking about it - tropes: retired!steve, maybe a little angsty but it's fine really, either writer!reader or barista!reader - status: vibes and like two paragraphs

mirror's image - endings, beginnings!frank x reader - fic based on "why'd you only call me when you're high" by the arctic monkeys - tropes: fwb, drug consumption, angst and spice, idk if this will have a happy ending or not - status: about one third done

✩ series / AUs

dear heart, it's me - anthology based on the amazing devil's album "the horror and the wild" - listen for vibes 😌 - will probably posted for a milestone celebration - pairings include: stucky, bucky barnes x reader, natasha romanoff x reader, wanda maximoff x reader, jefferson x reader, steve harrington x reader (more tbd) - status: one fic stuck in revision, three more started, real excited for one additional one atm

nothing else will do - continuation/expansion of my rewritten drabble - think medieval-ish fantasy vibes, once upon a time with some princess bride thrown in there - pairings include: outlaw/pirate!steve rogers x reader, knight!bucky barnes x reader - status: lots of daydreaming and some random scenes put onto paper

occupy my brain - continuing these two drabbles - ransom drysdale x reader - there will be at least two more chapters but i am aiming to keep this one short and sweet - status: it’s more or less planned out, if only someone would finish writing it down that’d be great

come fly with me - introducing my pilot!bucky au!! - i’m not sure where it came from either but i’m having fun and it grew out of my control fast - series of connected one shots within the same universe - (i also have plans for sam and steve with this one!!) - status: not a priority rn, but i have a couple of ideas floating around my brain

read you like a book - library au!! - you’ve already been introduced to this universe’s bucky and steve and i love them dearly - status: again, not a priority at the moment but they’re coming

something bout you - beloved - ngl returning to this one is probably gonna hurt but i still want it to exist - college au steve rogers x reader - this is my childhood friends fake dating au that i made up for ren - status: hopefully i will return to this one day after tat is done

i feel awkward tagging people in this but do feel free to reblog this and do tell me about your favourites lmao okay have a nice weekend 🫶🏼

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #mcu fanfic #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale x you #writing update #intrepidacious

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breezypunk · 8 months

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WIP Wednesday, thank you @gloryride for the tag. ♥︎

I have been enjoying showing off wips lately, even small. :3 I like to keep busy and I'm always working on something whether private or something I plan on releasing.

Mod wips

been working on mods, release date unknown, there's so many mods we wanna work on and sometimes we change things up, but one that's coming soon(ish) is johnny's alt jacket.

here's a potential pattern, I really love making patterns and fun colors for my mods, so expect that!

VP stuffs

I've also made a new au called low frequency. It's a au set in the prehistoric Mesozoic era! dinosaaaaaaaaaurs baby.

I have been making photos and have upcoming photostories planned for this au and I'm super excited about it!

Pose WIPS

Mainly for me, I've been doing shippy poses, focused on hamds (uwu), and I made a lil photoset showcasing those poses, they are still a little messy. I've been deep into pose making lately, and I've been doing tons of fem and masc poses as well, and I have millions of pose packs I wanna release and haven't even started working on one pack yet xD just need to fix them up to start properly making them, but that's a slow process, we'll get there.

screaming right now.

OC Wips

I've been working on re-vamping Maggie. I am in the process of making her look more like I imagined a long time ago when I created her. She's my pride and joy just like Vaughn and I love her dearly and want to give her everything in the world hehe. I gave her some tattoos, and they aren't quite definitive yet, I'm still searching but I know I want her with a lot. haha, and I also started putting more cyberware stuffs on her, she's coming out so nicely.

That is all I have for now! Anyways, If you see this and wanna showcase your wips consider yourself tagged by me, and feel free to tag me if you wanna! <3

#personal #wip wednesday #cyberpunk 2077 #oc: maggie borden #oc: vaughn leblanc #goro takemura

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suzyq31 · 5 months

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Thanks for the tag @kay-elle-cee! I feel like such an imposter lately since I can't seem to bring myself to write lately, at least outside of journaling.

AO3 Username: Elastic_Heart31

1. How many works do you have on A03? 15, but 2 more are hidden for now.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 765,116

3. What fandoms do you write for? So far just Harry Potter. If I was braver I would write the Before Sunrise idea I have or attempt to write a fleabag fanfic. I'm also experimenting with more original writing.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Maybe Tomorrow

Iris

It Had To Be You

Found (though currently hidden)

In Between (also hidden 😅)

Those are all Harmony, but my top Jily fic is:

At The Beginning

5. Do you respond to comments? I try my best with my ADHD brain. I truly appreciate when people take the time to let me know their thoughts.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Hmm. Not sure since some haven't ended some of them yet. Maybe Plans? Since we know what happens in canon.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Probably It Had To Be You with it's two part epilogue of fluff.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Sigh. Yes. One of the many reasons I've lost my enthusiasm for writing Harry and Hermione fanfics.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes, though often against my better judgement haha. I have no idea what to classify it as. Maybe I'll borrow Kelsey's word and say vanilla.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Nope!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not sure.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Maybe? I've had people ask, but unsure if they are posted.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes, hopefully will get back to it someday!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Hmmm I've had so many over the years. The only ones I've attempted to write though have been Harmony and Jily. They've also been consistent since childhood.

Special shout out to my teenage love of Pacey and Joey from Dawson's Creek, even though adult me thinks he deserves better and that show is terrible.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? At this point it feels like all of them 🙈

16. What are your writing strengths? No clue. I've been told I write emotion well. I've also been complimented on my ability to write children realistically.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Probably grammar and sentence structure, I still feel lost a lot of the time when it comes to all of that. I earned to write in English after learning French though it's my native language, and I see how it still impacts me. Also, I tend to be the worst with over writing and then having to edit the hell out everything!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

If it makes sense in the story. I've seen it work well in a lot of literary books I've read. And one scene in particular from UaS (if you know, you know).

19. First fandom you wrote for? Harry Potter. One and only (so far).

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Hmm I'm probably proudest of Maybe Tomorrow. It's one that feels personal in ways that are hard to explain. I also think I grew a lot as a writer while working on it.

In terms of Jily, I've really enjoyed my drabbles that aren't on archive. I do hope to expand on some of them someday.

Tagging: @myst867 @annonymouslyblonde @cordovabox @nodirectionhome-ao3 @glitterwitch1

Also if you feel like joining considering yourself tagged!

#tag game #fanfic writing

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