#THAT MAKES ME THINK TANYA TRIED WRITING

[kindheartedgummybears]

"I wanna know more about the hoa vampires" "I wanna know more about hector" "I wanna know more about *smgs mystery*"

BITCH I WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT HER

[cowgurrrl]

I present more Joel Miller headcanons: Pre-Outbreak Edition

Author’s note: that ask about preoutbreak!Joel got me thinkin 🤔 (gif by @userpascals)

Oh my god he’s so soft

He definitely went to Mommy and Me playtimes with Sarah after her mom left to try to make friends and all the moms couldn’t stop talking about the young hot dad

Got into contracting because his dad owned the business and let him come on as a partner when Sarah’s mom got pregnant

Tommy definitely moves in with Joel once he returns from Desert Storm and helps Joel raise Sarah (even though he’s still a kid himself)

Joel is a Worrier™️. Every time Sarah would lose a little bit of weight or fall behind on a milestone, he would be rushing to call her pediatrician or his mom to make sure he didn’t accidentally break his daughter

Have you seen that TikTok of the baby laying on his dad’s guitar? I totally think Joel would’ve played guitar and sang for Sarah on nights when she couldn’t sleep

There’s a great picture Tommy took floating around somewhere in Austin of a three-month old Sarah reaching for Joel’s guitar while he looks down at her and sings. He looks so tired and his hair is a mess and there’s spit up on his shirt but his eyes are so bright and happy

Her favorite song was Delta Dawn by Tanya Tucker and Joel could probably play it with his eyes closed

Joel would totally be the dad to carry his baby around in a Baby Bjorne so he can have free hands. Sarah loved it so much that when she outgrew it, they both had trouble adjusting

Sarah loves going to the zoo so much as a toddler that one year Joel splurges and gets them season passes

They end up in the butterfly sanctuary or the aquarium for HOURS every weekend

That girl ADORES her dad and uncle like those men are her whole world

Sarah takes her first steps in the kitchen because Joel put her down and she was DETERMINED to make it known how much she wanted to be held (yes, Joel cried)

Her first word is Dada (yes, Joel cried)

On her first day of kindergarten, Sarah had no problems walking right into school with her huge looking backpack but Joel was the one who lingered in the doorway, watching his little girl go and make friends on her own for the first time ever (yes, Joel cried)

He really tries not to work so much but life and bills get in the way so he works more than he wants to but he still manages to rent the newest Disney movie from Blockbuster when it comes out

That man would be so Southern holy shit

His mama raised him to be a polite gentleman and he tries to raise Sarah with the same manners

He would also be the type of Texan who calls everyone pet names. He uses pretty much all of them: mama, honey, sweetheart, darlin’, etc, but baby girl is reserved for Sarah

During Fair Week when Sarah gets out of school, Joel, Tommy, and Sarah load into the truck and go to the county fair

Same thing for Fiesta in San Antonio. It’s a long drive but he justifies it because he gets to spend time with his family

When he gets jobs out in Lockhart or Ottine, he always stops by Buc-ee’s to get Sarah a new shirt

There was one point where Joel Miller was punctual but after Sarah was born, he’s always late

He’s always the last one into PTA meetings, parent-teacher conference, and whatever else but the important thing is that he’s there

As Sarah gets older, he would reach out to her mom every so often, half-hoping she would want to know about Sarah, but never gets a response

They definitely do matching Halloween costumes for as long as she lets him get away with it

Her first Halloween, Joel was a fireman and Sarah was a Dalmatian

Every Christmas season, they go out to the Miller family ranch in West Texas and spend time together. It’s not a lot of property and the house is older than Joel but it’s cozy and Sarah loves it

Joel often feels like he doesn’t know what he’s doing when it comes to raising Sarah but when she brings home a class assignment for him to hang on the fridge, he cries again

Sarah had to write about heroes. Her class had been learning about firefighters, doctors, and nurses and the kids got to pick anyone and write about why they’re heroes. Some kids picked Spider-Man or their dogs or even the school crossing guard, Mrs. Quintanilla, but Sarah picked her dad

“My dad is my hero because he works very hard! He helps fix people’s houses and gives them safe homes to live in. I love my dad because he is my best friend and he takes care of me and sings to me. That is why my dad is my hero,” her scribbly second grade handwriting is transcribed by her teacher on her paper

He hugged Sarah tight and left it on the fridge for a year before carefully tucking it away in a memory box to look at for when he feels down

Being a single parent is tough but Sarah makes it all worth it

[cxrruptedpens]

NRS punching tf out of my hopes and dreams for a good written game be like

Let me just vent about some shit about this game.

In my personal opinion, too many unnecessary changes were made. First, Raiden being younger just doesn’t really make any sense at all. Throughout all the games, not once was he ever younger. He’s been old throughout every game. Maybe I could be wrong but anyways.

Second, SUPPOSEDLY RAIN IS RELATED TO KITANA AND MILEENA NOW??/?).$$ HUUHH? Okay now I’m completely in shock. From what I’ve read and seen to try and pinpoint things, Rain was once engaged to Kitana (back in one of the animated movies I think). And Rain has Just constantly tried to overthrow Mileena off the throne lmao and was also introduced to Mileena by Tanya.

Third, Mileena’s tarkatan disease. Oh my fucking god are you serious? Back in the past games, Mileena was a clone from Shang Tsung’s imagination from Kitana’s blood and genes. Now it’s a disease? Huh. While it’s kinda heartwarming to see Mileena and Kitana working as sisters now, the sudden change in the origin Mileena’s abnormal teeth is just confusing and basically tossing away past lore.

Need I say more about Scorpion and Sub-Zero? Bi-Han, I wasn’t worried about because he was already in the past MK1 beforehand. But Scorpion who is Ed Boon’s favorite??? Make him Kuai? Jesus. But I mean, it was better than having Hanzo and Bi-Han blood related because then that would’ve been racist to Asians. But even still, seeing Kuai with fire abilities is awkward given he had ice throughout his whole life. “Cryomancy is my birthright.” Said Kuai back in MK11. 😭💔 Scorpion had the biggest changes which threw curveballs into every bit of MK lore.

Even if they add long wanted characters, it’s not gonna make a difference in the story’s writing. Which is most likely gonna be ass due to the changes. It might as well have just been called MK12 instead of MK1. The reboot doesn’t make sense, AT ALL.

Anyways I apologize for this unnecessary vent and rant. As a long time MK fan, it just ticks me off about the dumb ass changes. 😭

[starsurface]

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Regressor Mileena w/ CG Tanya (Fic)

"Mileena? Are you free, my dear?" Tanya asked, knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Mileena shouted.

Tanya slowly opened the door, smiling as she saw Mileena sitting at the desk. She was writing something. Tanya set the gift on Mileena's bed, walking behind her girlfriend and kissing her head.

"What's this about?" Tanya asked. The letter seemed . . . Well, the tone was more than displeased.

"It's a letter for the Zatareans. They . . . Are less than willing to accept Syzoth as my ambassador," Mileena frowned. "I am hoping this will help improve their treatment towards him."

"On Christmas? You are cruel sometimes," Tanya laughed, kissing Mileena's temple. "Now come, I have something for you."

"We already gave Christmas gifts," Mileena looked confused. "Johnny said they're usually given during the morning time. Plus it's after dinner."

"Well, this one's a special gift," Tanya said, grabbing Mileena's hand and leading her toward the bed. Both girls sat down and Tanya handed her the gift. "Open it. I think you'll like it."

The gift was wrapped neatly, with a ribbon and bow and all. Although the wrapping was different than the normal wrapping they used. Mostly snowflakes or Christmas designs. This wrapping, however, was pink, with unicorns on it.

Mileena wanted to laugh at the wrapping. It was childish, but adorable. Obviously Tanya had put thought into getting it for her.

She tried to neatly unwrap it, not wanting to destroy Tanya's hard work.

It only made Tanya more anxious.

Mileena gasped as she opened the box. It was a stuffie!! A brown stuffie with a pink ninja suit on. With jagged teeth, and a yellow eye, and an X on the other eye. It was adorable, in other words.

Tanya watched as Mileena stared at her new gift. She wanted to get her a friend for when Mileena was small. Not all the time could Tanya watch after her. And there were times that Kitana or Syzoth wasn't free either.

Plus, Syzoth had recommended getting her a toy. Apparently, Mileena had a habit of playing with his stuffie. And while Syzoth didn't mind sharing, he would like his stuffie during nap time. Ashrah got it for him! It was heatable!

Tanya didn't get her a heatable stuffie. But she hoped Mileena liked it. Liu Kang had actually suggested how it looked. While Tanya wasn't sure about the face, she did think the idea of making it look like Mileena was nice. At least with the pink outfit.

". . . Do you like it?" Tanya asked hesitantly. "I can get it returned. Or get it a new face. Or-"

"I love her!" Mileena giggled, hugging the bear tightly. "She's so cute!"

Tanya breathed a sigh of relief, she was glad Mileena liked it. She had gotten it custom-made, and returning it would have been a bit of a hassle.

"I'm glad you like her," Tanya smiled. "Are you gonna name her?"

"Uuuuum, I dunno what," Mileena pouted. "Can't think of a name, Mommy."

"Mileena, are you feeling small right now, Sweetheart?" Tanya asked. Mileena pouted more at her words. Tanya chuckled, opening her arms for a hug. "Come here, Angel."

"Not lil," Mileena whined, almost tackling Tanya with a hug, sitting on her lap. "But I dunno what to name her!"

"Well we can think of a name together," Tanya said, scratching Mileena's hair. "Do you wanna name her after her color? Cause she's pink?"

"Hmmm, no," Mileena shook her head, sitting back up. "Wanna just name her."

Tanya pulled Mileena onto her lap so the little could sit on it. Mileena giggled, snuggling against her. She continued to hold her new friend close.

"Well it looks like you, we could call her Mileena Jr," Tanya suggested. Mileena gasped, shaking her head. "No? Why not?"

"Me Mileena," Mileena pointed to herself. She then pointed to her teddy, "Not Mileena."

"Rasphberry?" Tanya suggested.

". . . Maybe," Mileena huffed. "But it could be better."

"What about a flower type?" Tanya asked. "We could find some pink flowers we could name it after?"

". . . Maybe," Mileena whispered.

"What about . . . Dahlia! You like those ones, right?" Tanya asked. Mileena gapsed, nodding happily. "Dahlia it is!"

"I like dahlias," Mileena hummed, playing with Dahlia's arm. "We need to introduce her to Sissy!"

"I'm sure Kitana would love to meet Dahlia," Tanya laughed, kissing Mileena's temple. "Did you have fun at the party tonight?"

They had a Christmas party, with all their friends invited. Johnny did something similar at the mansion. Christmas wasn't something celebrated in Outworld. There was usually a festival of some sort near this time, but not Christmas. Mileena wanted to introduce Christmas, through a party! Johnny helped her with the decorations and planning. Food types, and even some gift suggestions. It was funny, watching people run around on such short notice.

"Liked the music," Mileena giggled. "Like the song Jingle Bells! Me and Tomas sang that together."

"Yes, I heard," Tanya laughed. "His reindeer outfit was very nice, he and Kenshi almost matched. Did you like Syzoth's outfit?"

"Mhm, he was silly," Mileena snickered. "And he jingled when walked!"

Syzoth had been . . . less than willing to wear the elf outfit. But the happiness on Mileena's face convinced him. Plus the compliments from his friends, and how young children ran to hug the elf got him through the night.

"And Sissy was really pretty!" Mileena awed. "Johnny looked silly, but Sis was very very nice."

Kitana had dressed as Mrs. Claus, and had gotten many compliments. Johnny came as Santa, which went well with Kitana's outfit. Kuai Liang was suppose to be Santa. But he would do anything to desperately get out of the outfit, so Johnny was more than willing.

"But this my favorite gift," Mileena smiled, holding her teddy bear for Tanya to see.

"Oh? Even better than the jewelry Bi-Han gave you?" Tanya asked. Mileena freaked at the jewelry, and Bi-Han even let her give him a small hug.

"Mhm!" Mileena nodded. "Best gift yet!"

Tanya smiled more, holding Mileena closer as she prepped kisses all over her face! Making the young one giggle and squeal.

Maybe she'd get her more stuffed bears. Perhaps one with Kitana's outfit, or even herself. Or a tea party set! Christmas always came next year. Tanya liked this new holiday. Although she liked seeing Mileena's happy smile more.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Fun Fact: This was the fic that started my entire Mortal Kombat Age Regression stuff. I had been doing Spiderverse but I said I wanted to do Mortal Kombat and somebody requested this. If I hadn't done this, this blog wouldn't exist. Not my best fic, but definitely my favorite. <3

[woodenfawn]

Re Zero Highschool AU Concept

very new to tumblr, sorry if i mess anything up!

mey and i just talked about this and threw it together and had a lot of fun with it XD I'm at arc 6 and mey is anime-only so far, so some things may be inaccurate, and some characters are not included!

If there are things you want to suggest please do, but any spoilers should be either really vague or plot-irrelevant (like, outside of main plot developments. Side stories are fine i think!) mey's notes from our conversation, I'll put some of my individual thoughts in at the end (Thank you @tanya-degurechaff for letting me ramble about my blorbos for so long! and watching re zero!!! and everything!!!)

Click on the keep reading to see all the notes, i think???

Shitty Re:Zero Highschool AU

All the king candidates are all part of the Student Body, all running for Student Body President. That's the competition.

Emilia is an awkward transfer student. Her step-dad, Betelgeuse, had to move for work purposes. She looks a lot like the weird girl, Satella, which people isolate her for. Emilia deepest secret: watches 70s TV shows. Her clothes look vintage. She watches Antique Roadshow. When she goes to Anime Club, she finds out the anime she likes are very out of date. (Astroboy). 

Subaru is the leader of the anime club and he instantly falls in love with Emilia and invites her to join. She takes the invite. Besides anime club, he also goes to the QSA, but as a student named Natsumi Schwartz and it's 100% convincing everyone.

Julius hates Subaru guys he swears. Julius is the captain of the fencing team and hangs out with Reinhard very often. He and Reinhard go to the chess club every Wednesday after school. Julius is also a secret LARP-er and goes to Ren fairs as a cool knight. 

Reinhard is a straight-A, valedictorian, star of all of the sports team golden students. He's planned to take the Astrea Company after he graduates. Secretly, Reinhard wants to be a shoujo manga artist. He keeps his shitty Manga in a pink sketchbook at the back of his locker. He goes to the Anime Club with Subaru and that's the only time he can draw.

Otto had a lot of trouble in elementary school and barely talked, rather interested in his anthills instead of people. As he got older, he started making friends and now hangs out at the anime club. He's known as the student janitor, cleaning up after everyone else. He also lays facedown in dirt talking to bugs. He's autistic and has a special interest… in bugs/nature in general. Sensitive hearing, uses noise canceling headphones. Scalper. Theater Tech. Stage manager. 

Garfiel is a freshman who's known to cause a lot of trouble and hates school. He's actually a youtuber who makes shitty rage roblox and minecraft trolling videos in his freetime. He's quite popular with elementary school boys. Calls Subaru Captain in school, follows him around. Great at sports

Rem is a VTuber for LugunicaEN. Her Oni form is her Vtuber model. Very popular for her genuine talks, she does ASMR, gives advice to people. She's very kind. Writes fanfiction. 

Ram is just a girl 👍. Mobility aid user. 

Priscilla is a theater girl, she acts like she is the best actress. Tries for all the lead elegant female roles. She's a good actor, just a little bit annoying. 

Roswaal is the theater teacher.

Wilhelm principal 

Crusch also does Fencing Club. She's very academically intelligent, though struggles socially. A good leader.

Ferris is the TA for the nurse. Also Vtuber for LugunicaEN. Openly part of the QSA, no one realizes she's a girl somehow. Girlfriends lesbians Crusch.

Liliana is an older student who gets held back, joins theater because she's a great singer. Priscilla has a sexuality crisis and becomes a woman lover.

Anastasia is part of the student body beforehand.

Otto is friends with Subaru's mom.

The triplets are all in the DnD club. It's just the three of them. Mimi is a Berserker.

Subaru is good artist, great at sewing. 

Ferris can also draw. They draw together and talk about their girlfriends. 

Emilia CANNOT draw. Worse than Reinhard.

Puck is the cool teacher, knows everything. Wise…

Beatrice is the librarian. Looks like a student, is not. Never leaves the school, no one knows why. 

Echindna is a history/english/science etc. Teacher, teaches everything no one else teaches. How is she doing this.

Satella is a weird girl who has never really talked to anyone. Advises the anime club, no one talks to her. Has a weird shrine in the girl's bathroom. 

Minerva is the school therapist, part of the health and social relationships classes. She's just so sweet… she takes care of the therapy dogs. Aggressively supportive of everyone. She's like a shaking chihuahua. Tries to act threatening, is just not. Really likes Emilia.

Felt is the youngest running for student body. She really wants two lunchtimes. That's her goal. 

Rom is the gym teacher 

Fredrica is the older sister of Garfiel, top student. She and Crusch are friends. Ready to graduate, just a girl. Trying to control her younger brother.

Henkel stands outside of Reinhard's class window shaking his head in disappointment.

Reinhard likes magical girls a lot, he just wants to help. He genuinely loves power of friendship stories. Really likes Tokyo Mew Mew and made Felt watch it. Reinhard likes to cosplay magical girls for cons and drags Felt along. 

Subaru convinces Reinhard to get Tumblr, does not know how to use it. Reinhard: "Dear Diary, I had breakfast today, two eggs and a toast." He also texts using the glitter flowers gifs with shiny text.

Al is a stage crew guy who follows Priscilla around. Otto doesn't know what to think about him. 

Otto disappears for days at a time. He is camping.

Garfiel is secretly a furry. His fursona is based on Garfield. Has commissioned Ferris.

Ferris is a furry artist. The Vtuber and Furry stuff is completely different.

Garfiel almost stopped going to school, Subaru convinced him to stay because he's been there before. Garfiel respects Subaru because of this and that's why he follows him around.

Petra is an elementary schooler who visits the highschool. On friendly terms with all the teachers. Why is this child here. 

Elsa is the science teacher, especially biology. Seems just fine at first, but has some… moments that's a bit terrifying. Everyone ignores that.

Meli is a future scientist, best friends with Elsa.

Gluttony twins are great students and hang out in the cafeteria all the time. Right below Reinhard, Crusch and Julius. Acts like delinquents.. 

Regulus is a horrible teacher. Terrible man. The kind of teacher that's like "your learning depends on how I'm feeling today", hated by everyone. 

Capella is not in the school… she. She is not in this au. Gets booted in this HS au.

Sirius is a very sweet teacher. She's the kind of teacher that's almost childish, really wants everyone to get along. She almost seems condescending, but she's genuine about it. Obsessed with Betelgeuse, every time he visits Emilia, she flirts. 

Pandora is the one who keeps Regulus in line. A faculty member. Philosophy Teacher.

Hector is a sad janitor man. Otto took over his job.

Tonchinkan are the three school delinquents, but strangely friends with Felt and therefore associated with Reinhardt (who's trying to keep them in line).

Daphne is the Lunch lady. 

Typhon is a student who's really into philosophy. Bad at it. Misquotes things often. Probably says a Lord of the Rings quote trying to be smart. Googles "how 2 be smart"

Sekhmet is a no nonsense teacher, she doesn't like being a teacher, but good at her job.

Individual notes:

We initially thought this up because we were joking about a Subaru-Reinhardt-Julius highschool fanfiction, cause honestly the way they're written in-story would fit that so well, and ended up making this whole thing...

I think the witches should all be staff/teachers of some sort, except for typhon maybe?

We set wilhelm as the principal just by vibes, but we have some ideas that would clash with the concept. maybe the dragon is the principal and nobody's seen him XD

Reinhardt's story in more detail: he's a straight A student (the kind with over 100% in all of his classes) who joined all of the sports but skipped it a lot because he was just so good at it and also he prioritized chess club. Julius is in a similar position. Subaru then invited him to the anime club (being the idiot he [she?] is) and Reinhardt accepted because "friend!!!!" he found his love for shoujo anime and now tries drawing his own. he's okay at drawing girls but awful at drawing guys. He picked up crossdressing from Ferris and Subaru and had a full identity crisis when he realized Ferris was transfem and Subaru is an egg (or closeted transfem or bigender or something). he realized he's just a cis man who likes crossdressing but he had to put his shoujo down for a little while... now he forces Felt to cosplay as a magical girl with him. She secretly has fun! Every time Heinkel shows up outside his classroom window he just... slides his sparkly pink sketchbook back into his backpack

Subaru sews the cosplay fits!

We said sirius is sweeter in this AU because i don't think anything would trigger her more extreme views in this story, and mey can't tell me if that's right or wrong cause they haven't met her yet XD i might be but i think a sweeter role fits her!

Rem and Ferris are in the same vtubing group. they refuse to talk about it

Emilia picked up her outdated language from old shows and anime! She joined the anime club because she was excited to talk about the old old anime she loves, and when subaru talks about waifus she just thinks "ah, like that lum girl!"

Julius has either really really good taste in anime or really really bad taste.

Subaru's just picking up friends cause he's too chaotic to follow the atmosphere, and the people he tried to become friends with just so happen to need someone like him!

Subaru WILL try to woo emilia with anime pick up lines

When Rem develops a sleeping disorder that makes her fall asleep while standing up sometimes, she becomes wheelchair buddies with Ram! Ram is determined to push herself (though she'll let Emilia do it sometimes) and Subaru helps Rem out!

Rom is a very sweet teacher. everyone is scared of him at first but they all call him grandpa at the end (teasing, but lovingly). Felt is actually his adopted granddaughter, and when she got to highschool it got a little awkward but made some very funny moments!

Ram is a very good student in some places but very bad in others. They don't know what to do with her. Sometimes she gets an A and it's clear she didn't cheat but sometimes she fails. sometimes in class she knows everything and WILL show off and sometimes she's straight up asleep. Nobody can figure out the pattern.

Otto will sometimes skip class and teachers either don't notice or just say "oh he's probably doing janitor stuff we shouldn't bother him."

can patrasche be the very aggressive therapy dog

i think i should stop here before i write a whole book

we haven't even got a fanfiction planned or anything we just talked about this for a few hours

if anyone does want to write a fanfiction that would be hilarious and send it to us please

[vaicomcas]

Since I am rather serious about some day writing nihpil Tanya verse I am trying out characters and Nora just doesn't make sense to me

Like She is a single mother who works, right?

Then she should have had babysitters at hand, someone who does it regularly, somone she can call if they are not available I don't know, didn't she have like friends or family or even neighbours?

Nora asking Cas or Steve who was practically a stranger to stay with her kid is just straight up stupid

Oh yeah it's totally unrealistic. What single woman would invite a random guy she obviously doesn't know anything about into her house, let alone leaving her baby with him?

Clearly the sole purpose of the Nora character and her only two or three scenes was to demonstrate Castiel being miserable and humiliated in his human life. For that reason, unlike many Castiel fans, I don't hate Nora, I don't even fault her. She never had a chance, if you know what I mean.

And really, without this contrivance, we wouldn't get the "Castiel comforting baby Tanya and vice versa" scene, which I do like, obviously. So I am grateful to her for that.

And thirdly, as far as Castiel's humiliation goes, it was so mild, especially in contrast with what the others dished out to him, it's almost inconsequential. There was zero evidence that Castiel had any feelings for her. It was just one more routine disappointment. I am more angry that Nora didn't pay for his babysitting service--Cas was homeless and needed the money.

(Really, if they want to show Castiel humiliated, they should have just showed the moment after "you can't stay " registered. They should show him realizing he had no right to be there after screwing up everything, that he had nothing to contribute anymore, that he had to be saved by the Winchesters and now he was freeloading on them. They should show him turning red and stammering and sweating and him not knowing what to do with the burrito he was eating that he had no right to be eating, they should show his rush to get out of the bunker as fast as possible even though he didn't know where to go. Compared to that? being misled into babysitting was small potatoes.

Like of all the characters on SPN that treated Castiel terribly, she was pretty low on the list. She exploited him for a few hours of free labor, sure, but unlike others, she didn't demand him to negate his own identity or to hurt himself or to die for her benefit. )

Sorry, I went off a bitter Cas girl tangent again. You didn't ask me to comment on what I think about Nora, you asked about Nora's character not making sense. The way I tried to incorporate her into my hc is to decide that she acted in this senseless way for a reason. Perhaps she was always kind of unhinged wild-child, a reckless free-spirit, but was forced to become the adoptive mother of baby (Nephilim) Tanya because her sister (Tanya's birth mother) of course died at child birth. Because of that she had to go on the run (because her sister warned her that angels and demons would be after the baby), leave her life behind, and get a job in some small Utah town that she hated. So she resented all this responsibility she didn't ask for, and resented the baby. In rebellion she pursued her own interests while dumping her baby with a stranger. But I would like to give her a redemption arc where she discovered that despite her bitterness, she grew to loved baby Tanya after all.

However, there are lots of other ways to explain her behavior too. Like she could be an undercover demon or an agent of BMOL who was spying on Castiel (this was the hc of heaven-ecologist). In this way, she could also be killed off in a fic.

And one more thing (back to the show). I totally think that after that episode, Nora kept asking Cas for babysitting and Cas kept agreeing. I don't know if Nora started paying him or not. I think Cas would have agreed even if she didn't pay (like I believe he would have agreed to babysit for free in the first place if Nora just flat out asked him honestly). I would think babysitting was a peaceful refuge during his homelessness, to have the security of a comfortable house (maybe Nora was at least decent enough to provide free food as well), alone with a baby who didn't judge him and who needed him, made him feel useful.

[weaselandfriends]

The Making Of: Cleveland Quixotic

I. Context

After I finished Chicago in 2019, a powerful and persistent fatigue gripped me: the fabled "burnout." The next two years would be the least productive of my literate life. As one day ebbed into the next, I wondered if I would ever be able to write again. I thought of Andrew Hussie, who, after years of feverish activity on Homestuck, seemed now capable of only short spurts of creation, heavily assisted by amanuenses.

It wasn't an issue of knowing what to write. I had been developing the idea for Cockatiel x Chameleon since 2015. I knew its plot, characters, scenes, themes. But when I tried to manifest it into reality I felt drained. What I managed to scrawl was junk, far below my standards. Goaded by a lurking terror of infinite lassitude, I forced myself to blurt 60,000 words of an initial draft; loathing it, I scrapped it entirely.

That was when I got the idea to write a "fun" story.

My vision for Cockatiel x Chameleon was technically complex and emotionally demanding. Maybe something simpler, a straightforward adventure, would be a stepping stone to recovery. I thought back to Fargo, which I had written (unlike most of my works) with relative ease and minimal forethought. How could I emulate that experience? What made Fargo so easy compared to Chicago and Cockatiel x Chameleon?

After reflection, I concluded that Fargo was, at its core, a revenge story. Revenge stories are older than dinosaur dirt. They are fundamental to human experience, easily understood, all structure inherent in their premise. The hero, wronged, seeks revenge on the villain. From that sentence alone you understand the protagonist's motivation and the plot's direction: trending inexorably toward final confrontation. With such a powerful core, it'd been easy to add details and complications to Fargo as they popped into my head, without warping the story's innate trajectory.

If I wanted another "easy" writing experience, I decided, I needed a similar type of story. Something with a clear premise that removes the burden of planning. A "template plot," where beginning/middle/end is fundamentally present and the writer merely adds their own spin. It took little time to think of such a story type. After all, it had been ubiquitous in Japanese media for the past decade. Not only was it popular with readers, it was appealing to amateur authors; many of its biggest examples originated as web fiction.

I decided I would write an isekai.

II. The Isekai Genre

A person from the real world is transported to a fantasy world.

Not quite as old as the revenge story. Nonetheless, this narrative concept has existed for over 100 years. The premise immediately informs the challenges the protagonist will encounter. They will adapt to a world they know little about, introduce knowledge from modern Earth society, and rise in power and prominence. Toss in a Demon King hellbent on world domination and you get a clear narrative climax. The details can be changed nearly any way without issue.

(Or so I thought.)

In retrospect, I myself was being transported to a new world. If we ignore The Chronicles of Narnia or The Pagemaster or Digimon Adventure and focus solely on the contemporary isekai genre (say 2012 on), which is what I intended to emulate, my experience extended to only the following titles:

1. Sword Art Online

2. Log Horizon

3. No Game No Life

4. The Saga of Tanya the Evil (or Youjo Senki)

5. KonoSuba

This is not only a pitiful sample size, but a specifically poor representation of the genre. Sword Art Online and Log Horizon exist in their own subgenre—trapped in a video game—and have many oddities unseen in more traditional isekai. No Game No Life and Tanya the Evil are "real" isekais, but both have unique worlds that eschew most traditional fantasy elements (especially in Tanya's case). And KonoSuba is a parody.

Nonetheless, I felt that, via cultural osmosis, I "understood" the isekai genre. Based on a few video essays I once watched that roasted dreck like Trapped in Another World with a Smartphone, and reverse engineering KonoSuba's parody, I conceived an impression of isekai as wish fulfillment: A loser gets another chance at life, often with some boon to ensure they don't muck it up this time. They become the hero, triumph with their strength and modern intelligence, and meet lots of attractive women.

I smirked. Heh, I thought. What if I made an isekai... that wasn't wish fulfillment! Truly novel. Let us take the premise of KonoSuba—a benevolent god gives a loser a second chance in a fantasy world—and turn it on its head. Instead of a benevolent god, what if the main character was sent by... a devil? The loser protagonist makes a Faustian bargain to become a hero. They get exactly what they wish for, except they're still a loser at heart, and inevitably bungle everything due to their own social incompetence.

That was the flashpoint. Ideas came together quickly, exactly as I hoped. Soon I had a narrative. It went like this:

III. The Original Idea

Our protagonist is a bumbling failure who lives with his mother. One day he sees an advertisement for a devil's wish-granting service. Being a fan of isekai anime, he goes to the devil and wishes to be sent to another world, one where he'll be the most powerful person. The devil, a sleek and professional businesswoman, agrees to the unusual wish, but pushes the work of actually creating the world to an overstressed, chain-smoking intern. The intern cobbles the world together in a matter of hours and our protagonist embarks on his journey.

He arrives to find the human kingdom besieged by the Demon King's army. The humans are outnumbered; total defeat is imminent. Just as he wished, though, the protagonist possesses incredible power. He charges into the fray, destroys the demon army singlehandedly in instants, and slays the Demon King himself soon after. The protagonist enters the human kingdom hailed as a hero.

Soon, the Human King emerges from his castle to express his immense gratitude. He offers the hero anything, including his daughter's hand in marriage. The hero takes one look at the princess―named either Mayfair or Viviendre, I wasn't sure which―sees she is exceedingly beautiful, and eagerly agrees. He's gotten exactly what he always wanted!

Unbeknownst to him, the king is a schemer. Advised by two strange beings—the rotund fairy Tetzel and the living plant Tintoretto—the king believes the hero is too popular; the people would side with him if he sought the throne. The king offers his daughter not in goodwill but to tie the hero to his side. His ultimate goal is to control the hero's power to imperialistically expand his kingdom.

Meanwhile, the princess has her own schemes. She's a lesbian and has zero intention of sleeping with the hero. In a comic scene, she gives the hero excuse after excuse why they can't sleep in the same bed despite being married; the hero naively buys it. Eventually he catches on, but while he's upset by the situation, he's too morally upstanding to do anything but accept it. (This would be a recurring theme: The hero could use his strength to force people to do what he wanted, but constantly shirks from doing so because he refuses to act in a way unbecoming of a hero. His morality and desires exist in a constant state of push and pull.)

Eventually, the hero and his wife compete for the affections of various female characters, with the wife always winning. Temporary the elf was part of this subplot: A dimwitted ambassador to be competitively wooed. To keep the hero sated, his wife buys him a female slave to use "as he likes." The hero, possessed of modern anti-slavery sensibilities, is appalled. He instantly frees the slave girl and enters a crusade to abolish slavery in the kingdom. Unfortunately, because he is not particularly smart, when he debates the slaveowners over the evils of slavery they routinely trounce him (using many arguments real-world slaveowners once used). Again, he could use his incredible power to kill the slaveowners, but they're law-abiding members of society. Murdering them would be "immoral" in the hero's eyes despite his staunch belief in the immorality of their actions.

Around this time, the hero finally uses his power for something good and sends gold back home to his financially poor mother. Unfortunately, this charitable act also goes awry when his sister, an IRS agent, thinks his disappearance is a ploy to evade taxes. She gathers a posse: her coworker boyfriend, his two friends (I called them Aaron Van Zandt and Allen Van Langevelde, envisioning an American Psycho vibe), and a private detective. Using security camera footage they track the protagonist's last known movements to a dingy apartment building, where they find the overworked devil intern who created the world and force him to send them there too.

They roll out in a huge SUV: Five people plus the hapless intern, armed with guns and equipment. The king, not wishing to lose the hero, decides he must intercept them before the hero learns of their existence. In a big setpiece-style scene reminiscent of Children of Men, a horde of knights ambush the SUV on a forest road. Arrows fly through the front windshield, killing the boyfriend (passenger seat) with an arrow to the neck and wounding Aaron Van Zandt (driver). The SUV crashes into a tree and the sister flees on foot, followed by Allen Van Langevelde, who has barely spoken before then but who now reveals themselves to be a badass marksman as they dispatch knight after knight with efficient hunting rifle shots. The private detective is wounded in the leg and forced to remain behind, while the devil intern cowers in the backseat. Aaron Van Zandt limps out of the driver's seat and attempts to follow Van Langevelde, but a knight on horseback rushes past him and knocks him down a steep incline, where he smashes his head on a rock and seemingly dies.

The knights surround the vehicle. The private detective fights back, but is overwhelmed and killed. The devil intern is captured to be burned at the stake later. The sister and Van Langevelde escape on foot, but without the intern, they can't leave the world. They need to rescue him before he is executed. Meanwhile, Van Zandt, clinging to life, is discovered by fairies and brought to their court.

And then...

IV. The Problem

And then I got stuck.

First, it should be clear by now that I did not actually have a plot. I had a series of incidents, loosely organized. Vaguely I knew the main character would work to overcome his social ineptitude and ultimately truly succeed, accomplishing the character growth his get-rich-quick Faustian bargain could never provide. But nothing came together in a coherent structure. Despite my intention to stick to a template plot, I instantly destroyed the template by killing the Demon King in the first chapter. I still had character conflicts and ideas to pursue, but no actual story.

Plus, the main character being a loser made him—well, a loser. Even if he eventually grew, he still ate shit again and again before vanishing entirely from the big action setpiece.

So my original idea of quickly and easily constructing an isekai plot hit a roadblock. Luckily, it was now 2021. After two idle years my fatigue seeped slowly out of me. Finally I regained my energy; I no longer needed to write a "fun" story. I decided to shelve the isekai, potentially permanently, and worked on Cockatiel x Chameleon in earnest.

This time, the draft of Cockatiel x Chameleon―which would be the final draft―progressed acceptably. It consumed my entire focus and I might not have thought about the isekai at all if not for two hiccups. First, though I now had the mental willpower to technically execute my ideas, the emotionally intense material of Cockatiel x Chameleon still left me sometimes wistfully longing for a story not quite so bleak and harrowing. Second, I revisited the isekai genre.

V. The Isekai Genre, Part 2

The anime analysis YouTuber Ygg Studio (formerly known as Digibro) posted a video called Is Mushoku Tensei The Most Influential Isekai? (History of Isekai) that outlined the isekai genre's chronology in Japanese pop media. Watching the video, I discovered some surprising origins to the "contemporary" isekai genre. Though there were many isekai stories―even popular ones―before, the current isekai craze seemingly began in 2012 on a Japanese webfic site called syosetsu.com, where several popular isekai were written in close temporal proximity to one another.

The main titles of note were Re:Zero and Mushoku Tensei—followed by KonoSuba, which was specifically a parody of Mushoku Tensei, instead of (as I once believed) a general cultural conception of isekai. In fact, it was these three works that created the current cultural conception, establishing many now obligatory tropes.

So, I decided to watch Re:Zero and Mushoku Tensei.

I was shocked! As it turned out, my clever and subversive idea―treating the hero as the loser he was instead of as a wish fulfillment badass―had not only already been done, it was foundational to the genre! Both works feature loser protagonists whose social ineptitude constantly causes problems for them despite their cheat mode powers. Both protagonists are forced to develop as people rather than rely on their advantages, and the development of their relationships with the other characters is a crucial consideration of both works.

As it turned out, Trapped in Another World with a Smartphone (which I also haven't seen) wasn't the beginning and end of the genre. I had underestimated isekai. In retrospect, the languid existence of my 2019 and 2020 led to me ironically attempting the same cheap wish fulfillment of my imagined isekai protagonist. I wanted a "fun," "quick," "easy" story and intended to use isekai for that purpose, the same way an isekai protagonist assumes being sent to another world is an easy way to becoming a hero.

It was time to return to the planning stage. This time, I wouldn't take things for granted.

VI. The Original Idea, Part 2

First, I revisited my protagonist. Originally an afterthought: a punching bag who failed whenever he exhibited any agency. I decided on another direction. My hero wouldn't be a loser by incompetence, but by choice. He would be clever and intelligent, but unwilling to apply himself. He wanted a new world because the original didn't seem worth it; too rigid, too structured, too immune to change. His journey would be discovering it wasn't the world holding him back, but himself. Believing nothing could be changed, he stopped himself from changing. Thus, Jay Waringcrane came into existence.

Earlier ideas were remixed around this new protagonist. I merged the devil boss lady and the devil intern into a single character, a semi-hapless sort for Jay to outwit. That was Perfidia Bal Berith. The hero's sister, whose subplot originally lacked any connection to him, now became a foil to his ideology. She exhibited utter faith in the "real world"—its mechanisms, its processes—and applied herself diligently to maintenance of its status quo. That was Shannon Waringcrane.

Still needed a plot. Since my hero was no longer a social bumbler, I discarded the original beginning where he annihilates the Demon King's army and toyed with a new idea. The human kingdom, besieged by the Demon King's army, becomes aware via prophecy that a hero is about to appear in their world. The king sends a party led by the gallant prince to find the hero and bring him safely to the kingdom. When Jay arrives, he meets the prince and his crew, but they are immediately beset by demons, who kill most of the party and grievously wound the prince. Jay, the dying prince, and the sole other survivor―a taciturn, dark-skinned mage named Viviendre who is secretly the prince's lover―barely escape. The prince succumbs to his wounds shortly afterward, leading to an emotionally-charged moment in which Viviendre laments his death and blames Jay for causing it. Leading to an adversarial relationship between Jay and Viviendre that, after much character development, would eventually turn into romance.

Then Jay would lead the kingdom against the Demon King, constituting the main plot.

This idea improved on the previous in several ways: exciting start, high drama, and a long-term goal. However, as I became more engrossed in this project, I came to dislike the "default fantasy world" I'd used as my setting thus far. When my goal was "quick and easy," the Dragon Quest-inspired medieval fantasy tropes sufficed. Now, they struck me as banal. In particular, a generic "Demon King" villain disinterested me (which was why I summarily disposed of them in the idea's first iteration), so even if it outlined a clear direction, it wasn't a direction that enthralled. I realized that to continue, I needed to do some worldbuilding.

VII. Worldbuilding

I dislike worldbuilding.

I prefer the real world―or the real world distorted by urban fantasy and surrealism―to an entirely fictitious fantasy world. In writing an isekai, I had wanted to maintain the connection between the real world and fantasy world (hence why one of my earliest ideas was for Shannon and her cadre to follow Jay in a modern vehicle with modern weapons). But by relying on stock fantasy tropes, I only exacerbated the core issue. I decided to think deeply about my setting and design it to both stand out and clearly relate to our world.

To determine a deeper connection between fantasy and related, I pondered the historical development of the fantasy genre, from chivalric romance to Tolkien. (I collected my thoughts into this essay.) Tracing this lineage, I considered writing a fantasy world modeled on Arthurian and Carolingian romance. Then I took the idea deeper. Much of the early modern fantasy genre, up to and even to an extent including Tolkien, was rooted in nostalgia for an imagined and idealized past. Many pre-Tolkien fantasy works were born out of Victorian fascination with medieval Europe, as evidenced by the Waverley novels by Sir Walter Scott, the Arthurian poems of Lord Tennyson, and the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The original isekai, Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, parodied this idealized medievalism (Twain blaming Walter Scott specifically for the genteel Southern culture that propagated slavery and rendered the Civil War inevitable).

Then I realized that, 200 years before this nineteenth-century craze, there was another major literary work that parodied excessive love of chivalric romance: Don Quixote.

As soon as I made that connection, everything clicked. Rather than Perfidia whipping up a new fantasy world on demand, she would reuse one she created in the 1600s for a Don Quixote-esque figure. Rather than Spanish, my Don Quixote would be British, a royalist in the English Civil War seeking escapism in face of the collapse of monarchy. Pursuing standard chivalric romance activities, he would overthrow a corrupt Catholic church analog, slay a few dragons, and war against a Pagan nation that he later converted to Christianity.

What happened to this world 400 years after Don Quixote used it as his playground? I imagined the ex-Pagan nation a vassal to the Christian nation, while secretly plotting an uprising. Don Quixote's descendants, legitimate or illegitimate, grasping to maintain control in face of their weakening bloodline. Dragons hunted to extinction. A stasis that prevented sweeping change without the intercession of a true human, yet gripped by slow decay. Prayers cast for a new hero to save them from this stupor.

I also wondered how the Christians of this world reckoned with a Christianity whose foundational text is clearly meant for a different world entirely. While Don Quixote's scion, still ruler, promoted the religion uncritically to maintain their grip on the culture, underground grew a nihilist cult that believed nobody in their world was saved, that Christ died on Earth and thus only cleansed Earth's sins. All of this intermixed with the same historical devolutionary forces that ended feudalism and gave rise to mercantile oligarchy.

That was the world Jay Waringcrane entered. A world rife with thematic potential. Finally, a plot was forming.

VIII. Starting the Story

This last stretch of planning happened quickly. (Evidenced by traces of the earlier idea remaining in Cockatiel x Chameleon, specifically in the brief descriptions of the in-universe isekai from which Temporary the elf hails.) Rather than fight a Demon King, Jay's mission would be more chivalric in nature; he would rescue a princess from the evil wizard who led the heretical cult. Liking my earlier idea about the princess who first seemed like an ordinary damsel but turned out to ulterior motives, I decided for an end-of-arc twist where the princess secretly worked with the cult all along. Thus, Princess Mayfair came into existence. For the evil wizard, I reused one of the original king's advisors, the living plant.

The gallant prince and his secret lover from the second iteration returned as Jay's companions, although I changed the lover from a mage to a ranger. Shannon would still pursue Jay, but I merged Van Zandt and Van Langevelde into a single character named Wendell Noh and cut the private detective entirely, giving the sleuthing job to Shannon's boyfriend, Dalt Swaino. I rearranged the big action setpiece where Shannon's group meets disaster: Instead of fighting knights, they would fight a dragon, and this time, Jay would be involved.

After that, keeping with the chivalric romance aesthetic, I threw some faeries into the mix (I love faeries): the obnoxious Olliebollen, who would play off the more sullen Jay, and Flanz-le-Flore, a mid-arc complication. I also decided to make the cult members monstrous demi-humans with magic powers; the Christian anathema against magic must necessarily make it actively corrupting in this world run on Christian precepts.

On top of these plans, several long-term ideas already bubbled: The eventual introduction of the devil world, Sansaime's pregnancy, Viviendre, a battle with elves, Mayfair uniting the two worlds. The ideas flowed one after another now that I established a solid base. Sketchy outlines of the full story stood limned in the distance. I was ready to write.

I decided the work would be published serially at a one-chapter-per-week pace, identical to Fargo and Chicago. That decision was baked directly into my original desire to write a "fun" story. With a serial work, there is less burden of technical execution; the focus is on a fluid pace with regular updates instead of unimpeachable prose. Furthermore, serial writing lends itself to story speculation as readers comment every week, turning the work into a collaborative experience. Some readers of Chicago have told me that the reviews on fanfiction.net are an integral part of the experience, for instance.

When I post serial works, I first build up a "backlog." Essentially, that means I write several chapters ahead of what I'm posting online. The backlog ensures I can regularly post chapters even if one chapter takes longer to write than usual. (I can generally write a 6,000- to 7,000-word chapter in one week.) For this work, I decided to complete four chapters before posting the first. This generous backlog allowed me to post the entire first arc weekly, without a break prior to the climactic chapter that took two weeks to write.

When establishing the backlog, I also gave myself more time than usual to edit, which allowed me to polish the beginning for a better first impression. I meticulously pruned the first chapter to make the dialogue between Perfidia and Jay as snappy as possible while also minimizing exposition. (Originally, Perfidia explained the Seven Princes and their increased quotas in an internal monologue, since I knew they would become important much later in the story, but I cut it for streamlining purposes.) Additionally, I spent a long time deciding when Chapter 2 would end and Chapter 3 would begin; originally, the scene at the beginning of Chapter 3 was at the end of Chapter 2, but I moved it because it better matched the tone and scope of the third chapter. Olliebollen was originally far more in-your-face obnoxious; I toned them down. Lastly, I added the part in Chapter 4 where Jay remembers being beat up by Shannon's past boyfriend, which not only hinted at a soon-to-be-introduced major character, but gave Jay a reasonable chip on his shoulder to cause friction between him and Makepeace.

With four chapters completed, I was ready to post. Almost. I still needed a title. The entire time I operated only thinking of the story as "my isekai story." Thinking long and hard, I came up with titles such as American Isekai, The Waringcranes, 144k Angels, and—my personal favorite—Hellbrowned, the last of which I was strongly advised not to use by every single person I know.

(Side note: Setting the story in Cleveland had been an easy decision. It's such a funny city, taking Detroit's tragic Rust Belt decay and removing all grandeur. The Jon Bois video The Browns Live in Hell and the famous Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video sum it up neatly. Setting the story in 2017, the same year the Browns infamously went winless, was also a snap decision.)

Finally, I thought back to Don Quixote, the impetus for much of the worldbuilding, and the title revealed itself.

IX. Writing the Story

Because of my fast-paced schedule, I lacked the luxury to make major changes to my plans as I wrote. I started with a plan for the first arc and scattered ideas for the future. As I wrote the first arc, I planned the second, and as I wrote the second, I planned the third.

Room remained for tweaks, though. Each time I write a story, I try to do at least one thing outside my technical repertoire. This time, I wanted more flexibility in my characters. I usually only introduce the bare minimum necessary, and aggressively cut or merge characters to reduce the total number. In Cockatiel x Chameleon, however, some commentators criticized how the Consortium's limited number of characters gave the impression it was as dead and empty as Harper's real life. While that impression doesn't necessarily conflict with the story, it did expose limitations to my economical approach.

I dislike having limitations. (Unfortunately I have many.) Thus, I decided to write more characters whose storylines were not plotted from the onset, characters I would develop spontaneously as the story progressed.

An example is Lalum. I introduced Lalum in Chapter 5 as an enemy with a unique power for Jay to fight. Zero subsequent intent for her at the time. Then I realized her power would interact well with Flanz-le-Flore's, so I kept her around for that fight as well. When Lalum is attacked in the Flanz-le-Flore fight, I was 50/50 on whether she would live or die. However, a friend reading the story really liked her and wanted her to live, and I realized it might streamline the plot if someone was around to point Shannon and her crew in Jay's direction.

Having spared Lalum from death twice, and also conceptualizing more concretely the second arc—including Viviendre's role in it—I decided I had a use for Lalum after all. I conceived of Viviendre and Lalum being foils, envisioning their eventual confrontation in the last arc. Thus, Lalum went from monster-of-the-week to major character. To a lesser extent, characters like Theovora were introduced offhandedly, and while they did not become major characters, I found small uses for them later.

Speaking of Viviendre, that was another challenge for myself. With her, I wrote something I wouldn't normally: A romance. Cockatiel x Chameleon, believe it or not, was originally intended to be a straightforward romance, but I found myself incapable of writing one and pivoted to its current direction. Nestled within the sprawling undertaking of Cleveland Quixotic, the romance between Viviendre and Jay was my attempt to write two people who genuinely liked each other. Their three-chapter mini-arc in the middle of the story moves at a more lax pace than usual, but allowed me to develop a relationship I otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

In general, Cleveland Quixotic is larger than my other works. More characters, more plot threads, more locations, more everything. Though Fargo and Chicago are also large, they operate in a more enclosed and linear space. My thought process with Cleveland Quixotic was to open up and express that feeling of world-spanning storytelling the fantasy genre is so known for. It pushed my limits, but I accomplished that goal more than in any previous work.

The real challenge is, once you go big, how do you reel it back? So many of the isekai I mentioned remain ongoing, proceeding through arc after arc without end in sight. Today's most notable ongoing fantasy literature, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, is likewise mired in endless expansion the author seems incapable of curtailing. On RoyalRoad, it's easy to find million-word works with early reviews uniformly positive, but recent reviews expressing a new sentiment: "Dropped after nothing happened for the past 200 chapters."

Above all else, I wanted to avoid that trap. My solution resided in the second arc's climax, which I developed midway into writing the first arc. Uniting the two worlds made it natural for all the distinct groups of characters to join up for the finale, tying every plot thread together. As such, I cultivated multiple storylines in the long and less immediately plot-focused second arc, secure in my knowledge of how it all eventually connected.

Even so, at times it grew overwhelming herding so many characters. Many characters wound up less prominent than I initially intended, sacrificed for the good of the overall pacing. Fortunately, few characters wound up utterly vestigial, and those that did were minor. (There's no worse feeling than a character given loads of screentime and dialogue only for them to end up inconsequential when the curtains finally close. Homestuck reeks of it.)

A few miscellaneous changes that occurred while writing:

I intended for Viviendre's brother, the "mad king" of California, to appear in the final arc, wielding ten relics for an epic duel with Jay. Given the large amount of characters already prominent in the story, I cut him.

I intended for Sansaime to die at the end of the second arc and for Avery to live. This was mainly because I wanted Jay and Shannon to have a cathartic moment with Avery in the final arc (Avery still would have died afterward). I realized that, using Pandaemonium, I could have that cathartic moment anyway, and Avery wound up saving Sansaime's life both outside and inside the story.

On the flip side, I originally intended for Mallory to die at the end of the second arc, but decided I wanted her and Mayfair to have a climactic conflict, which could only be done if Mallory were still alive.

I intended to kill off the minor character Gonzago of Meretryce the entire story, probably by having him jump in front of Shannon to take some attack or another. I never found a way to work it in, and I feel like the actual use I got out of him in the climactic fight, though minor, was far more unique. I likewise considered killing Mademerry by having her take an attack for Mayfair, but I prefer her current ending. I did not intend to kill Pythette, but found at the last moment it would be more convenient if she died.

Beyond that, I wrote the story generally according to plan. Leaving aspects of my plans malleable meant I could write quickly without needing absolute certainty in the precision of every line and action. Only in Chapter 45, the climactic chapter with Beelzebub and Moloch, did I sit down and carefully outline what each character would do at each moment in the chapter. (The chapter's seven-minute time limit made such meticulousness essential.) Otherwise, even in other climactic fights, I relied only on general ideas about what should happen and when.

Ultimately, I successfully completed the longest story, with the largest number of characters, I'd ever written. It pushed my limits, but in a way that didn't leave me gasping for air. Instead, I feel ready and eager for my next story. What'll it be? I have an idea and I've already begun research. I hope to start writing it by the end of the year, and publish it by mid-2024. I'll let you know more as things become more concrete.

X. Names

Before I end this post, a few name origins.

Perfidia Bal Berith: As mentioned in the story itself, "Bal Berith" (or Balberith, Baalberith, et cetera) is a false idol mentioned in the Bible. It is also a demon of the Ars Goetia. My familiarity with the name primarily comes from a weapon used in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Olliebollen is based on oliebollen, a Dutch pastry.

Mayfair is the name of a character in Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya, the first video game I ever played. Her middle name, Lyonesse, is a character from Arthurian legend.

Makepeace came from an attempt to make a name that would pair well with Mayfair. My primary knowledge of the name comes from British author William Makepeace Thackeray. His middle name, Gaheris, is an Arthurian knight.

John Coke's name was modeled on the character Wicks Cherrycoke in Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon. I only found out after I posted the first chapter that John Coke was the actual name of a person involved in the English Civil War notable enough for a Wikipedia page. I was more than happy to pretend this incredible serendipity was actually my plan all along.

Sansaime's name was modeled on the characters Sansloi ("without law"), Sansfoi ("without faith"), and Sansjoi ("without joy") in Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, which was the primary inspiration for the romance elements of Whitecrosse. "Without love" is also a notable phrase in the visual novel Umineko When They Cry.

Whitecrosse's name also comes from The Faerie Queene, being modeled on the Redcrosse Knight, an allegorical representation of England (with its red cross flag).

Many names in Cleveland Quixotic have an "allegorical" sense, being words that suggest a clear, often moral meaning. Charm, Charisma, Mayfair, Makepeace, Mademerry, Theovora ("god eater"), Condemnation, Obedience, Tricia (short for "patrician"), Meretryce ("meretricious"), Mordac ("mordacious"), Malleus ("malleable"), Astrophicus ("space plant"), Viviendre ("life ender"), Perfidia ("perfidy"), and so forth. These allegorical names are a play on The Faerie Queene being an allegory, although many of the names in Cleveland Quixotic are not an accurate representation of their character, indicating the breakdown of allegory and thus clear moral meaning.

California is the name of a location in Amadís de Gaula, Don Quixote's favorite romance.

Dalton Swaino is the real name of a semi-pro League of Legends player.

Wendell Noh's surname comes from a professional League of Legends player. His given name is the name of a character in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

Kedeshah is a Hebrew word that possibly refers to sacred or temple prostitutes.

Ubiquitous is an ordinary word with a clear meaning, but its abbreviation, Ubik, is a Philip K. Dick novel that was also the name of one of the demons in Berserk.

The Seven Princes, rather than refer to the traditional Ars Goetia representations of the Seven Deadly Sins, are pulled from John Milton's Paradise Lost, which was the primary inspiration for most devil theology.

Flanz-le-Flore is a corruption of Blanchefleur, a name that appears in a few romance legends.

Lalum is an alternate translation of Larum, a character in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

Pluxie is a feminization of a semi-pro League of Legends player's screen name.

Tintzel is a corruption of the character's original name, mentioned earlier, which was taken from historical corrupt priest Johann Tetzel.

Jreige is the surname of a semi-pro League of Legends player.

Justin "Just" Vance is a play on J.D. Vance, an Ohio politician.

Temporary, one of the earliest names that persisted into the final form of the story, is modeled on the elves in No Game No Life, who have names like "Think" and "Feel."

The other names in the story do not have any particular meaning or genesis.

XI. Conclusion

I believe that covers the generation of Cleveland Quixotic from beginning to end. If I missed anything, or if there's anything you want to know more about, please send me an ask and I'll be certain to answer. Thank you again for reading and stay tuned for my next work!

[aquanova99]

Hello, I saw your headcanons for the Denali family. not too many people write for them, especially Eleazar, so I was really excited to read your work. Anyway, if request are open and your okay with writing this could you do a request on what it would be like if the Denalis(specifically Eleazar, cuz he's my fave) fell in love with a cullen!fem!reader.

If you don't feel like doing this that's fine. Have a nice day buddi🙂

Okay the setup is that you’re a more recent addition to the family, they don’t meet you until Edward and Bella’s wedding. And for Carmen and Eleazar they never dated in this scenario bc I’m not breaking up those cuties. She became like a sister to him over time but her kind nature convinced him there was more to the volturi 🤷‍♀️ listen I got change canon somewhere for these asks. Really the regular headcanons are the same so this is mostly the meeting parts

Tanya

She’s only there for the formality of it all. Vampirism made it hard to really let loose but mingling with humans was as close to human as she could get herself

Marrying a human? Weird Edward

She notices you while Esme is chattering about the decorations, both sides forced to pretend they can tolerate small talk

She could see you and Rosalie talking about how ridiculous this all was, you see her staring and wave. You’d heard about these “cousins” but were new enough you hadn’t had the chance to meet.

After the ceremony she decides to start a conversation, she meets you cautiously

And if you two proceed with falling for eachother it will be a slow process. Dating headcanon a are the same after

Kate

Straight up is going to ask you if you are doing the diet because you want to or because if your family

Your answer will determine if she wants to pursue you or not

If the answer is because you want to, it ends there

If it’s because of the Cullens she will keep the conversation and see if she feels a spark (see what I did there? Lol)

She wants to leave the veggie diet when she finds her mate but she has to be sure there’s more of a connection than she feels with her family, mainly Irina

Irina

Tried not to fall for you

After Laurent she is pretty guarded, and likely your relationship won’t last very long 🫢

But if you empathize with her or follow her after she wants to leave because of the wolves presence she will try and open up with you

Mainly because you feel safe

But I don’t think this would progress into an actual relationship

Maybe a few dates but she would be crushing hard and trying to deny it to herself

Unfortunately she tells you too late (at the confrontation)

Carmen

Immediately turns on her Spanish charm

Asks Carlisle if she can steal you away in front of you and tries to make you blush (you do)

Asks you if you are going to ask her to dance

I’d suggest you ask her

Again the dating isn’t going to be different just see my other headcanons

Eleazar

You’re going to have to approach the man

He’s going to be very respectful, especially as he is sure the Cullens are going to be very protective (they’re probably to busy with making sure Bella does t get another paper cut but sure)

He will ask you to dance eventually and whisper as low as he can into your ear to ask if you would want to go somewhere quieter to talk

And let me tell you 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

He will just want to get to know you actually but homeboy has this mischievous kind of charm and he will ask to see you again soon

Regular dating and then I assume he would follow wherever you would want to live

[marypsue]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you @rocketnebulas for tagging me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

That would be 158!

2. What’s your total word count?

Uhhhhh 1,905,572. Ahah.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Recently and actively, Stranger Things and The Lost Boys. I've also been reasonably prolific for Gravity Falls and Rise of the Guardians.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos

This actually surprised me! Duskfall (a Bella/Tanya Twilight AU) is top of this list. And then the rest are more in line with what I expected: Raising Stakes (Gravity Falls vampire!Stan AU), Return, Rewind, Rewrite (Gravity Falls Transcendence AU), Reincarnation Blues (also Gravity Falls Transcendence AU), and A Semi-Normal Life (ditto).

5. Do you respond to comments?

Most of 'em, eventually.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I think that's gotta go to this one, where everybody's dead but the main character, who thinks it's his fault. I don't write a lot of angsty non-ambiguous endings, but this one's pretty explicit that things Do Not Improve from here.

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

Uhhhhhhh. Hm.

Actually, it might be Hive! Which is a weird thing to say about a horror story, and yet.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully I haven't! Although I did once get a tumblr ask trying to gotcha me for writing Jack Frost/Pitch Black, which was extremely funny, because 1) that ship is between two several-hundred-year-old immortals who tried very hard to kill each other for the entire movie and this person was concerned because they thought there might be an age gap between them, and 2) I had written that ship exactly once, at least five years prior to receiving the ask, as a favour for a friend.

9. Do you write smut?

Verrrrrrry occasionally.

10. Do you write crossovers?

There's a reason my profile on AO3 includes the line "I was born with the gift of crossover femslash and I intend to make it everyone's problem."

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Only, as far as I know, by the usual AO3-scraping suspects. Although someone did once rewrite a fairly unique AU of mine from a different character's perspective, using almost all the same plot points, and didn't breathe a word that it had been inspired by my fic or that my fic even existed, which, like. Man, I'm glad you wrote that thing and felt good enough about it to share it, but also a little bit what the fuck.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

A few times! It's always an honour.

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

Exactly once. Wouldn't do it again unless the stars aligned absolutely perfectly.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

That's a trick question and one that I will not be answering at this time.

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

I am going to finish Something Borrowed, Something Blues, so I guess that doesn't count. Uhhhh it would have been nice to finish Imbalance, but I just didn't have as much of a plan for it as I thought I had, and the more time passes the poorer taste the plan I did have seems to be in.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Personally, I think that characterisation is the big one. I can pull together a plot that makes sense and has an emotionally satisfying conclusion. I'm very happy with the way I write suspense/tension. And I've had a couple people now tell me that I do a good job of being descriptive without the description getting in the way, which I'm very proud about.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing! Action scenes! The Dreaded Middle! Not overusing italics!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

I've done it, like, twice and I had to use Google Translate because I didn't speak the language and I felt so dirty. For anything more than a word or two, I'd personally either describe the character talking without actually writing out what they're saying (if the POV character doesn't understand what they're saying) or write out/paraphrase the dialogue in English (if the POV character is the speaker/if the POV character does understand what the speaking character is saying).

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Wrote for was probably Pokemon, wayyyyyyyyy back in elementary school. Posted was the Hugh Jackman-Kate Beckinsale fever dream Van Helsing. Thankfully I think that one is lost amongst the ruins of ff.net.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

It's still the road goes ever on. It's gonna be the road goes ever on for, like, a while.

I'm going to tag @gretchensinister, @tejoxys, @amethystunarmed, @seiya234, @marzipanandminutiae, @bixxelated, @daddygrandpaandthebeaver, @enquiringangel, @astriiformes, @scribefindegil, @mickeymagpie, and anybody else who'd like to give this a shot!

[corvidmasters]

macha combat notes

Paper Supply

The case that's always at her hip has approx. 550 sheets of printer paper in it at the start of a mission. (When they have extremely limited resources pre-Wandering Sea arrival, this amount begins to dwindle until she's out halfway through LB2. That triggers a whole breakdown but that's a story for another day.)

Prior to Orleans, her magecraft could only go so far in reinforcing the paper to be durable against water and retardant against flame. If the paper is damaged before she can apply magecraft, she is shit out of luck.

Da Vinci begins providing her with perfectly fireproof and waterproof paper after fires in Fuyuki screwed Macha over. ("I wondered what that case you asked me to make was for! Why didn't you also ask me to enchant the printer paper you stole? I'm a genius, you know?")

Paper Magecraft (Papercraft) Capabilities

Macha is well-versed in reinforcing and altering paper and paper-related products (papyrus, amate; also including some other things made from plant fiber like cardboard and filters). Their structures are so inherently understood to her that she doesn't have to think about them when changing them. Fibrous structures could in theory become her overall speciality with training, but perhaps due to a strange side effect of her family's Thaumaturgical Attribute ("Obsession"), she stubbornly always tries to stick to paper.

With the listed products, Macha can:

Fold it any way she likes

Extend the fibers to a certain degree

Overlap fibers to fuse pieces together

Sharpen them until they cut like a blade

Make the fibers strong enough to stop bullets

In the same vein, apply a degree of waterproof and flame retardant properties to paper that does not already have these qualities (if she obtains such types of paper she can push the quality to a higher degree as well)

Control paper she's already modified from short distances

She can apply these capabilities to many different things. Because she often makes things out of paper using her magecraft, she calls her own talent "papercrafting". In addition to all of this, she can recreate a lot of things she sees with paper, as she spent 20 years of her life doing exactly that ad nauseum.

When it comes to measuring the paper amount required for a given craft in writing, printer paper is used as the standard; in other words, "guess how much is needed when one material is a head tall and thin". The more thickness+surface area = more paper needed. The larger a craft, the more magical energy she needs as well. A paper recreation of herself would take two and a half Machas worth of energy as a standard.

Paper can be reused as long as it is not heavily damaged and is safely returned to her case.

Papercraft examples: 1, 2, 3

Magus Stats and Magecraft Knowledge

Both her Origin and Element are Paper. This is caused by the aforementioned Thaumaturgical Attribute, which enables mages of the Schmied lineage to have their Element be their Origin from birth. They will also deeply and inherently understand the qualities of things connected to their Origin, and any magecraft related to it will require significantly less preparation to pull off (in many cases only necessary materials are required).

Her Circuit quantity is average, quality slightly above average—a second-rate magus. She can support many Servants on her own, but backup is required from Chaldea to bring out the best of some. Of course in any case a Command Spell will always be what will bring out a Servant's full might.

She primarily relies on her papercraft. Until Tanya properly taught her before Septem, Macha didn't even know how to use her Command Spells and Mystic Codes. (This is mostly excused by Macha being omitted from a lot of basic civilian training due to Romani prioritizing treating her mental & physical ailments in time for her to be reasonably ready for the second Rayshift experiment.)

She also struggles with Shadow Servant summoning until America, where she's basically forced to use Shadows anyways because she's Servant-less for a significant period of time.

It's not until Camelot that she begins to fully understand the range of potential both the Command Spells and MCs have. By the Lostbelts she's started trying out other magecraft, particularly anything that gives her advantages in combat.

In Combat

Macha is the most confrontational Master in the team (prior to her even more confrontational little brother joining). While she has enough sense to delegate most Servant fights to her own Servants, she will often get directly involved in many monster and human battles of her own initiative. Even when relying on a Servant, she will provide offensive backup when the opportunity presents itself.

She likes to fashion her paper into rudimentary swords or throw sharpened pieces at enemies like throwing knives. She is strangely well-versed in the ways of killing humans through cutting and slashing. Macha has trouble with people with more combat experience than her...in the beginning, at least. Over time is a different story...

She can block unenchanted physical weapons of human make with her paper on her own by making shields on the fly. Defense against enchanted weapons and spiritual attacks requires backup from a Servant like Medea, and even with such backup, defense against divine constructs or any blows from a Noble Phantasm are extremely difficult if not outright impossible. Even daring to try and defend from a Servant's punch like this could seriously injure or kill her.

This all is not to say that she deliberately gets into fights, however. She actually tries to mitigate the amount of battle encounters the team has through careful planning, and is all for eliminating potential threats before they're actualized. Since she's usually trying to do this alone without anyone noticing, this won't always work. Sometimes she won't even be honest with her intentions with her own comrades on impulse. She's only honest about her plans with her Servants. ("our insane master is plotting something utterly off the rails again" - macha's servants; "LMFAO" - archer (oda nobunaga) (macha's servant))

[writing-good-vibes]

all in the name of love

guess who's back !! i invite y'all to watch your favourite fanfic author project her own insecurity regarding intimacy/relationships onto this random hot topic employee. i put vincent through the ringer in this one, apologies in advance. bold is asl, as always. divider images by @/suckgirl. check out sol's art that heavily inspired vincent's smoking habit 🚬😈. domestic sinclair content for the most part but WARNING for some mild spicy implications because i am giving bo too much credit for his hoeing around.

When they are 9 years-old, Bo comes home from school one day and tells Vincent all about his day.

His class has been reading Charlotte's Web, and Bo doesn't like Zuckerman because he was going to eat the pig. He had meatloaf for lunch, and sat next to Scotty Jones, which was good because Scotty is the coolest kid in their grade. In geography they're still going over the State Capitals, which is really boring because Bo already knows all of the State Capitals. At recess he got married to Missy Landry.

At recess, Bo got married to Missy Landry.

Vincent nods and listens when Bo tells him how pretty Missy is. She has brown hair and brown eyes and is the best at jump rope and sits two seats in front of Bo in class. She's friends with Tanya Freeman who is the prettiest girl in their grade and who got married to Scotty at recess last Tuesday.

Vincent doesn't go to school with Bo, he stays at home and Mama teaches him all of his lessons. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic. Lester doesn't do any lessons yet because he's barely more than a baby. Or at least that's how Vince still sees him.

Vincent has read Charlotte's Web and has PB&Js for lunch and knows all of the State Capitals by heart.

Vincent doesn't have anyone to marry out on the schoolyard.

When they are 12 years old, Bo comes home from school with a handful of Valentines.

The two of them sit on Bo's bed and, as Vincent looks over each card, covered in glitter and pink gel pen love hearts, Bo tells him about the girls that sent them. The girls who giggled as they dropped their tokens of affection onto his desk as they passed by, and the ones that blushed.

Lisa and Tara and Christine and Becky.

Vincent traces each heart, each xoxo, with care. He puts the cards aside and tries to brush the glitter from his hands. It sticks in the creases of his palms and glints from the fabric of his baggy blue jeans.

He thinks, absently, about Joshua Mayer who lives down the hill from them. He has red hair that is almost as red as the hearts on Bo's Valentines.

Bo is still talking. He says he didn't send any Valentine's, because he doesn't care about soppy, girly things like that.

When they are 14, Bo gets himself a date to their first high school dance.

This is the first year that the twins have gone to school together. Mama said it would be better for Vincent to be around kids his own age for a while, and that she just didn't have the time to teach him what he needed at home anymore.

The lucky girl is Missy Landry. Vincent remembers her. Bo married her at recess when they were 9. It seems like their marriage is going well, and to think Vincent had expected they'd be divorced by now.

Vincent had though Bo didn't care about the dance. But he watches anyway as Bo walks up to Missy after Algebra and says, "Wanna go to the dance with me?"

That's it. Seven words that make up a question that Bo already knows the answer to. That everyone already knows the answer to.

Missy says yes and Bo grins. They briefly discuss their plans, before Missy's friend is tugging her elbow because the bell is about to go for next period.

The twins turn to make their way to their own classes.

"Who are you gonna ask?" Bo asks.

Vincent turns with a start. "What?"

"To the dance," Bo reiterates, though he knows Vince knows exactly what he meant. "You're going to ask someone, right?

Vincent shrugs, watches as Christine Deville passes them in the opposite direction. In the first week of their English class, Christine had forgotten her copy of Catcher in the Rye and had to share Vincent's copy, under teacher's orders. Vincent felt the sweat prickle on the back of his neck as Christine asked, "Should I move over to you?" He shook his head, shuffled his desk closer to hers and held the book as steady as he could, dutifully turning the page when necessary and certainly not making eye contact with the pretty girl next to him.

He doesn't make eye contact with her now, either. She passes them by without a second glance.

When they are 17 years-old, Bo is late driving him and Vincent home from school one Friday.

Vincent waits around the truck, swinging his legs from where he is sat on the dented hood. He and Bo aren't in the same 8th period, so they always meet at Bo's truck after the final bell and drive home. Across the lot, he sees Joshua Mayer. Now he's almost as tall as Vince and plays the tuba in marching band. He's with his band friends, all packing their instruments into someone's SUV. Joshua has a loud laugh, he always has, and it makes Vincent smile behind the mask. He dutifully ducks his head down anyway.

Bo ends up being almost 20 minutes late, and the parking lot is emptying out by the time he saunters up to his twin, looking far too pleased with himself.

"I have a date with Stacy Leblanc tonight," he says, hopping into the drivers seat and switching the ignition.

Vincent follows, climbing in the passenger side door and throwing his school bag into the back seat. "Is that why you were late?"

"Time is it?" Bo asks. He doesn't wear a watch, so Vincent does.

Vince shuffles the sleeve of his hoodie up and checks the time. "3:18."

"I'm not that late," he chides, putting the truck into gear and driving out of the lot. "Had plans to make, didn't I? M'pickin' her up at 6."

They drive in silence for a while, until they get to the long stretch of road that leads back to Ambrose. It's secluded, with tall, windswept trees on either side and a dwindling trickle of traffic.

Bo glances over at Vincent, feeling a heaviness in the air that always comes when it isn't a good time for Vince to speak but he has something to say anyway. Humming lowly with interest, Bo sits back in his seat.

Vince leans forward, twisting in his seat to better face his brother. "I thought you said Stacy Leblanc was a slut?"

He did say that, last week actually. "Yeah well, she should know what she's doing then, shouldn't she?" He grins, raising his brows almost comically.

Vincent shrugs noncommittedly. "If you say so."

Bo smirks, pushing playfully at Vincent's chest. He leans back against the passenger door to get out of Bo's reach. "What, you jealous? I could put in a good word for you, if you want? Then maybe you'll finally get some."

When they are 21, Vincent drops out of college and Bo has to come and pick him up.

They don't talk for a long while. They pack Vince's things up into boxes and stack them in the back of Bo's truck. Each box is labelled. Clothes. Bedding. Books. Supplies: Paints. Supplies: Tools. Supplies: Sketching.

He stops by at a few of his friends dorms to say goodbye. He doesn't tell them he's not coming back in the fall. Just as he's leaving the dorm block, he runs into another friend. A girl from his Art History class. They'd been to parties together, sipping wine in the corner, sometimes his free hand would brush hers, but they never talked about that. He says one more goodbye and then turns to leave

He finds the truck parked across the street. Bo is sat on the dented hood, smoking.

"Who's the lil' blonde?" Bo gestures discreetly over Vincent's shoulder with the cigarette packet.

Vince takes a smoke and slowly turns to look in the direction Bo is pointing. Of course he knows who Bo's talking about, but what harm is there in one last look?

She's continuing down the side walk, the same way she was going when Vincent crossed her path that final time. As she rounds the corner of the block, she casts a glance over her shoulder, gives a half-wave in Vincent's direction, and then disappears out of his life. Or he is about to disappear out of hers? Same difference.

When he turns back to his twin, Bo is holding a lighter out, the flame flickering in the faint breeze. Vincent shifts his mask off, dangling it gently from his fingers for a second, before he deposits it safely next to Bo. As Vincent leans forward to light his cigarette, he lets his hair fall just enough to cover his face.

Pulling away and taking the first testing drags, Vincent replies, "Loretta."

"She's cute," Bo nods, like he's appraising a piece of antique furniture. "She put out?"

Vincent shakes his head.

When they are 22, the guy that Bo had sworn he wasn't dating moves out of Ambrose, so he convinces Vincent to come with him to the closest bar for some of that brotherly bonding they hadn't had a lot of time for in the past few months. He most definitely is not drowning his sorrows.

Vincent doesn't go out much anymore, but he usually accompanies Bo without much fuss. At least he can drive them home, so Bo doesn't total the truck. And to think, once upon a time, Vince was worried that it'd always be him that totalled the Chevy.

They sit at the bar and Bo drinks and Vincent smokes.

A girl with brown hair and brown eyes appears beside Bo and he buys her a drink, because Bo has never been immune to a pretty girl. She bats her lashes and Bo excuses them to "get some air".

Vincent waits, watching the clock above the bar. Sometimes, he wonders if Bo brings him along to be a comparative wingman. Because, Vincent knows, any girl in their right mind would rather hook up with Bo, especially when they see that he is the ugly alternative. He ashes his cigarette into the green glass ash tray.

There's a man, with cropped black hair and broad shoulders, at at the other end of the bar. Vincent can't help but stare. Well-timed glances which make his own heart flutter. He's practiced a smile in the mirror before; no teeth, nonchalantly suggestive. Instead, he watches for the flex of muscle that suggests movement in the other man, suggests he might get caught, and dutifully averts his gaze. When the man downs the last of his beer and leaves, Vince sighs, chin resting on his hand. That could have been an almost, he thinks.

Bo comes back, without the girl, after about 20 minutes. The flush on his face is cooling down, but he's still tucking his t-shirt back into his jeans by the time he arrives back at the stool next to Vince's.

"Where's your 'friend'?"

"She has places to be."

Vincent grunts, turning away to get a new smoke from the packet between them on the bar.

Bo nudges his twin, making him look back at him. "Don't be jealous. You're too good for a girl like that, anyway."

Vincent knows that isn't exactly true. He thinks, at this point, he'd take just about anyone who would have him.

[riverstardis]

thirty years:

charlie inviting duffy round for dinner and wine👀

ethan and lily watching cal and alicia together and lily’s like “just when i was starting to think she wasn’t quite as dumb as she looks” and ethan goes “you’re not jealous are you?” and she’s like “no, just full of pity. some women are beyond help.”💀

iain and jez come over and say how alicia and cal must be official now then and lily’s like “it’s like watching a baby antelope at the watering hole” HELPSJDKFJJ

ohhh this is the scene! iain says a few of the lads are going out for a drink later and invites lily and she says sure and when iain’s gone ethan goes “well, someone’s going home with a hunky paramedic” BI ETHAN BI ETHAN BI ETHAN🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 bc describing your male colleague as “hunky” is a very heterosexual thing for a man to do /s lily goes “ha, please” and he goes “don’t forget the five year plan lily! tick tock!” I MISS THEIR FRIENDSHIP SO MUCH😫😫

yknow if ethan’s gonna go travelling with bodhi i’m gonna choose to believe he’s going to go visit lily in hong kong. i should write a fic. i have actually been to hong kong myself but i was like 4 so i don’t remember what the city was like or anything.

lmaoo alicia comes over and ethan’s like “i think lily needs our help” “oh?” “yeah, trying to find a man.” lily goes “no i don’t” and ethan mouths “she does” to alicia behind lily’s back sjskdkfkg

why did ethan just fully take on a gay best friend role in that scene😭😭 this made me wonder if this ep had the same writer as handcuffs (rashan date ep) but no it doesn’t so there are TWO writers (at least) who were absolutely determined to make ethan queer! i thank them for their service!

also why is matchmaking ethan and alicia’s thing sjdkdjfj like them teaming up in s33 to get rash and gem back together, and, like here, they weren’t actually together themselves then either! (though they ended up getting back together at the same time, leading to them overhearing rash and gem having sex sjsjjfkfk)

lmaoo why is elle going “karen please don’t do this! karen!” while her patient runs away while making no actual effort to stop her😭

sjdkfkfk now alicia’s trying to help lily find a man, asking her what her type is and lily isn’t telling her so she looks around and suggests dylan “consultant? very eligible?” and lily goes “i once considered dr keogh but he still has that dog and mental health issues can be genetic, plus he lives on a barge” alicia’s face while she’s listening to that SKDKFKKF can you imagine dylan and lily though they would not work at all😭 too different flavours of autism

alicia’s begging for something to work with and lily’s like “someone like ric griffin” and alicia’s like “isn’t he acting ceo now??” and lily goes “exactly” wkdkfkkfkf

duffy’s son threatening charlie shdjfjjfj

poor tanya😢

ah sebastian’s dad. he’s locuming there so he can check up on him?

aw seb tries to stand up for his patient but his dad just shoots him down, and dylan also tries but mr grayling asks his name and then goes “ah yes, i know the name. curious business with the number 4?”

sjskfkfk alicia and lily were watching and alicia looks horrified and goes “what a—“ and lily goes “him.” saying he’s her type😭😭

lmaoo alicia introduces herself and lily to mr grayling and leaves lily to speak to him and goes to stand the other side of the nurses station and like motions for her to check his hand for a wedding ring and stuff SKDKKFKF

LMAO alicia goes up to mr grayling and fully just asks him if he wants to take lily out on a date😭😭 he’s like “extraordinary. you can tell dr chao to meet me here at 7 o’clock sharp”

lily’s like “i cannot believe you just did that! what am i gonna wear?” sjsjfjfkfk

aww duffy’s granddaughter is born

charlie and duffy talking about how they’ve had 30 years of friendship and duffy’s like “it wasn’t just friendship though was it?”👀👀

aww lily all dressed up for her date! sebastian’s like “seriously, dad? she’s my age!”😭😭

lily talking to ethan and alicia while seb’s standing up to his dad. and she tells iain she can’t make drinks anymore. aw ethan’s like “have fun!”

oh are charlie and duffy about to kiss?

yup now they’re snogging in a store cupboard

[witchy-aunt]

Okay so has anyone ever seen the madness I watched on Amazon prime due to auto play that is Shrieker 1998?? Because literally the movie makes no sense and sucks and besides that the characters are all so fucking silly to me so like you have;

Elaine who’s only personality trait is that she’s quiet, and for some reason she’s on the front of the poster for the movie.. she’s also the movie only real sex appeal because of the singular scene with her shirt off which is featured in the cover

David the perpetually angry untrusting guy whos honestly pretty reasonable the entire movie

Mike whos just really straight (no he literally has to make this apparently clear for humor purposes— he goes on a 30 second defense spiel about how he is straight.)

Tanya who’s only personality trait is that she’s a communist and she wears camo (I so wish I was joking because that feels so outlandish to write)

(My names get messed up here bc I don’t wanna check the IMDb page to check actors names out, but google is making it super confusing because I can’t tell who’s who in the cast from the poster and the photos of the actors available not looking anything like eachother!!)

clark our boring final girl who gets herself in a stupid situation and I cannot feel for like AT ALL

Zak the love interest who’s main personality trait is that he’s dumb and I’m not even entirely convinced he even likes Clark like… I think bro just wanted a fuck buddy and then they got trauma bonded (how all good relationships start)

Robert the bad boy weirdo freak that tells Clark about the shrieker (the creature you summon who kills everyone) but he’s like stupid and I still don’t understand his motives and he tries to be like this deep character but it just doesn’t work!!!

now I have yet to even get into what this movies about, essentially Clark meets Zak who has this abandoned hospital he lives in with the rest of the cast because he can’t pay for a place to live while going to college and Clark is like “ohmygod you guys are so genius I can’t afford to live and I should definitely put college over my own living because that’s a really smart beneficial decision” so whatever that’s that then the next day or whatever this weird ritual shit is found in the Basement and they’re all pointing fingers because Clark just got there and the girls sus!! later on she meets Robert who’s like this weird freak who has secretly been living in the basement and she’s like “omg it’s you doing it isn’t it” and then he educated her on shrieker lore and the shrieker is like this demon guy who literally looks like he came straight from goolies like he looks like an 80s practical effect not a fucking 1998 films n she has to keep it all secret or whatever while remaining extremely eus and then everyone fucking died and Robert turns out to be crazy and Clark ends up with zak and movie over but like WTF?? Like I don’t.. what? Like why? I’m also still so confused about the shrieker and his lore and the symbols like it’s all so stupid and I need someone to watch this so they know what I also had to endure.

[orbleglorb]

answering some of these questions, b/c i feel like it

what is your favorite line you’ve ever written?

a couple:

1: Sitting on Tillman's couch in his dingy apartment, Declan wondered to herself: After nine official dates, fourteen non-official dates, and countless make-out sessions, was it still too early to say "I love you?" (tilldec blaseball)

2: She looked… tired. Beyond tired. Tired in a way it didn't understand, but knew one day it might. (blaseball, it's hard to explain? basically a series of interviews of "star players" but i felt like the OC i made for it was too cringey).

3 (a long one): "Alright, then maybe you should stop rescuing animals until you get glasses," Marcus replied.

"What is so terrifying about it that I can't see right now? It can't be that bad." Tanya rolled her eyes and it took every ounce of restraint in Marcus's body to not grab her by the shoulders and shake her.

"Okay, well, for starters, it looks more like a human than a dog. That straight up looks like a naked-ass dude."

"No, it doesn't!" Tanya squinted, trying to get a good look at it.

"It does! It has arms and legs and a nose– a NOSE, not a snout! And it's sitting like a kid that got put in time out."

"Well, if it's a person, it doesn't speak much English."

"Much?"

"Yeah, it said something earlier that sounded like 'BEWARE' when I put him in the kennel-"

"Tanya, you are fostering a whole ass demon. That is a whole ass demon you are trying to rehabilitate. I don't think you can rehabilitate demons."

"Well, has anyone tried?" Tanya asked in a sing-songy voice.

"If anyone's tried, they haven't lived long enough to tell the tale! Because demons fucking kill people!"

(^this is from a creepypasta fanfic where someone "rescues" the rake to rehabilitate it.)

tell us about a character who’s very different than you who you love a whole lot

my ocs: martín!! he's kind of a prankster guy who gets tortured to the point of insanity and decides to kill a couple ppl about it. he's fun. he's too tumblr sexyman-ish for me to feel comfortable sharing LMFAO

fic: tillman! it's hard for me to write tillman because writing embarrassing things is hard for me. also, yuniesky, because i am a very earnest person and it's hard to write people who are convinced they can stop having emotions if they ignore them long enough

how do you name characters and places?

characters: most get a placeholder name, and sometimes that placeholder name sticks. a lot of my characters' names are chosen by culture. like my jewish characters are named Rebekah, Ezra, and Edith. my latine characters are named Martín, Marco, Josefina, Francisca, Catalina, etc etc etc. however, these can be difficult, because most baby naming websites are run by american moms that do not know what they are doing. so when i'm trying to find Chilean names (this family is from Chile), i have to jump thru 93919495392929487 hoops to find names that are ACTUALLY used in Chile. and if i change where they're from for Plot Purposes, i'll probably have to change some names, too. god bless that one italian mommy blogger that painstakingly explains italian naming traditions. now i just need this for several central and south american countries. anyway, i compile a list of names (and their meanings, if there is one) and choose from those. i have a giant note in my notes app of me naming characters. usually, bits of it will look like this:

the concept for this character was a friend for my protag, Gwen. I had been sitting on the idea of an 80s-esque, neon-loving hijabi for a long time, so i made her one of Gwen's friends. I'll probably have to change Dhia's name, since I've been considering changing what ethnic group she's a part of.

places: i start by writing out a description, then shorten it down until i have something i like. here's an example:

The Regular and Plain Dimension

ThRegAnPlDim

ThReAnPlaDim (Threan-Pladim)

ReAnDim

RePlaIm

→ Pladim

→ Replaim

I decided on Pladim.

For towns, I go to a town generator and write down bits i like, then mash them together into different names. I usually don't like the whole name, since the whole names they give tend to be... odd (Cape Neotsfailouise?? Brixcray and??) but there might be little parts of the generated names that i like. for example, i might decide to use Cray somewhere in the town named based off of Brixcray.

i may post more later o7

[melancholypancakes]

Jake’s angry waitress S/O

The waiting reference with naomi

https://youtu.be/-AycxwF6GzI

If Jake had an angry waitress S/O would be ✨PERFECTION✨

Warning: mentions of curse words/bad words

*Jake showing the new intern around* 

Jake: that’s the machine where you put the food and drinks order in, so basically it-

*Y/n walks in angry* 

Y/n: I hate this fucking place sometimes man, y’know. I mean what the fuck. Do we need four more people at this time and day man?

Y/n: Look at this place, it’s fucking DEAD! I swear Howard needs to clean the SHIT. out of his fucking brain sometimes. Fucking asshole. 

*Y/n looks at the intern* 

Y/n: What are you looking at fuck-wad. 

*Y/n leaves* 

Jake: that was Y/n she’s been working Wayy too long. She nice though

*intern smiles*

Jake: when she’s drunk

*Intern frowns and concern*

(...)

*Y/n impatiently waiting for her tickets while Howard looking for them during rush hour frantically* 

Howard: Hey guys, which one of these is medium-rare? 

*Not less than 5 minutes pass by* 

*Y/n screams* 

Y/n: GODDAMNIT!!!!!

*Y/n forcefully grabs her tickets*

Y/n: Please. Let me. Do. IT. 

(..)

Y/n: Lily. 

Lily: Yeah? 

Y/n: something bad. happens when you become a manager. You put on your fucking tie and you get your fucking little manager card and you think you’re so fucking cool just because you write the schedule and get to tell us what to fucking do when in reality you know you’re not even worth the fucking BULLSHIT- 

Lily: Woah. Y/n calm down! 

Lily: Relax...Woman.

*Y/n smokes* 

(...) 

Tanya: Scott, Ariel, I just sat you. 

Scott: Oh shit. what do we got? 

Tanya: Well, yours look cool they look like businesspeople. 

Ariel: What about mine? 

Tanya: I don’t know they don’t speak English. 

Y/n: Foreigners?! 

Tanya: I’m sorry! 

Ariel: Are you mad at me? 

Tanya: No, I swear I’m going by the rotation.

Y/n: I. FUCKING. HATE. FOREIGNERS. 

*Tanya leaves*

Y/n: It’s such bullshit. Like they don’t know how to tip. Oh, they know. Oh yeah, they fucking know!

(...) 

*Y/n cracks her neck and forces a friendly smile*

Y/n: So, is there anything I get you folks this evening~

*Y/n picks up the plates* 

*Customer 1 tries to say no* 

Customer 2: I think I would like a hot fudge sundae~

Y/n: Oh! mhm! mhm! that does sound good! 

*Y/n giggles* 

Y/n: I’ll be back with that for you!

*Y/n turns around and walks away frowning angrily* 

*Y/n puts dishes away* 

Y/n: Like That bitch needs to be eating desserts anyway.

Sasha: Y/n. You know if you ever want a counselor in anger management or...alcoholism. 

Sasha: I’d be more than glad to do it for you. 

Y/n: you do that for me?... 

*Sasha nods* 

Y/n: Thank you, I really appreciate it but I think I rather you just WASH THE FUCKING DISHES AND SHUT THE FUCK UP! 

*Y/n walks away* 

Y/n: FUCKING PSYCHO BABBLE BULLSHIT ASSHOLE! 

(...) 

*Y/n making hot fudge sundae and mumbling* 

Y/n: you want your fucking sundae bitch come and suck it I hate her. I HATE HER. 

*Y/n grabs Reddi whip cream can and pours but very little comes out* 

Y/N: ?! 

*Y/n throws Reddi whip cream can away*

*Y/n grabs another Reddi whip cream can and pours but very little comes out again*

Y/n: Fucking Simone and Jake! 

(...)

Y/n: Where the hell is it?! 

*Y/n slams her hand on the counter* 

Y/n: It’s been over half a fucking hour! 

Chef: I Told you it’ll be out in a minute! Now get out of my face or I’ll lose your ticket! 

*Intern taps Y/n shoulder* 

*Y/n turns around angry* 

Y/n: WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?! GET BACK IN THE FUCKING TRAINING ROOM YOU ASS-COCK! 

*Intern backs off and goes to the training room* 

*Y/n walks off*

Y/n: GODDAMNIT! I HATE THESE FUCKING PEOPLE I HATE THEM! TWENTY MINUTES FOR TWO MEDIUM RARE STEAKS THIS IS BULLSHIT! 

*Y/n walks up out of the kitchen to the customers mumbling to herself* 

Y/n: What the hell, they need to get rid of every one of these lousy cock suckers- 

*Y/n puts on a friendly fake smile* 

Y/n: So~ how is everything? 

[lightyaoigami]

13,15,16,18,30 for writer ask!

ahh thanks tanya!! great questions!

13. Is there a trope you wouldn’t write if it was the last trope on earth?

anything to do with pregnancy/babies is a hard no for me. also throwing in a hateful shout-out to buffyspeak my most loathed!!

15. A Hollywood producer tells you that they want to film just one of your fics. Which fic would you want it to be?

the one i'm about to post in the next day or so >:) i will drop the link when it's ready but it's called kompromat. i can ~visualize~ this one so clearly in my mind, i wish i could draw so i could make it into a comic.

16. What is your most underrated fic?

i just posted amnesia haze, which was was surprisingly hard for me to write because it was a little woobie for my usual taste but i'm happy with the way it turned out. lmk if you guys like it.

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

i love this question. i'm very proud of this bit here from down bad:

"His coordination was flagging, reminding him of a recent trip to the arcade where he had attempted to play Maimai Murasaki on the highest difficulty. It had been discomfiting to admit that his fingers just weren’t limber enough, and the harder he tried, the more cringe-inducing it became. He pressed his left hand to his chest to make sure it was still rising and falling and wondered if anyone had ever suffocated to death on a classmate’s [redacted]."

i spent a lot of time taking handwritten notes on how it would feel for a very persnickety person like light to do something that is objectively undignified, messy, and a little gross--even if it was his idea. and not only that, he's doing it for the first time ever, he's a little hammered, and he has strong feelings towards this person even if he mischaracterized those feelings as hatred. so yeah i wrote a lot of post-it notes on the myriad ways you can fuck up performing a [redacted] on someone despite really wanting to impress them. i also have to credit my genius pal @llawlietofficial for giving me the idea of "playing a video game on insanity mode and you're just not good enough at it to win" which was such a banger. i also think that there are not NEARLY enough fics exploring the idea that sex doesn't always go according to keikaku. while i totally understand the desire for wish fulfillment and fantasy, there is something to be said about writing things to give readers the ick on purpose to represent a more realistic, vulnerable, intimate encounter. it just tugs my heartstrings, ok? :))

30. Tell us an idea for a longfic you want to write in the future.

devastatingly i suffer from only-can-write-oneshots disease. i guess mine would be a more slow-burn college au that i could put down bad in as a chapter. or a slow burn detective workplace thing. i love slow burn. their pinkies can touch but only after 50k words /s

Behind the Scenes of Fic Writing: 30 Questions for Authors