#and then I don't want to use Beatrice bc I don't want to use her as a love interest character

[tanicus-caesareth]

guarana drama, damage control

[sweetbunanarchy]

Having both the brothers have messy romantic lives bc I’m a weird multi-shipping mess that likes different ship dynamics even tho they both have CANON LOVE INTEREST WHY AM I DOING THIS- BC IT'S LIKE; King: I am in constant need of love and affection and while I'm still in love with the man that gave me that I don't trust him anymore after what he did so I seek it out whenever Kuro: *oblivious* Yeah idk why so many people are super friendly to me? It's really nice tho :D

[unlirise]

🖋️ 240607 • fri

i'm trying to teach myself that there are things i can be inconsistent with - things that are not all too important right now and as long as these are being put aside for more important things.

i wanted to have a regular posting schedule for my blogs but sometimes there's not much for me to share. and that's alright. there's always dull moments in life, and i'm learning that sometimes these dull moments don't need to be shared. i can just relish in its nothingness and soak it in.

onto other topics of discussion, wideacre is starting to pick up speed for me. i've only read one book of hers but the constant princess was such a masterpiece that i'd trust philippa gregory to write any female character bc ik i'd absolutely devour them. similar to what i'm doing now with this book. the character, beatrice, is quite straightforward yet complex at the same time. as she grows, the layers surrounding her grow. i'm only halfway through chapter 4 so there isn't much for me to say but i can't wait to share my thoughts about this book when i finish it.

i've also been enjoying this new plate i bought from a japanese dollar store. a lot of the time, i'm too lazy to cook myself a meal and end up ordering takeout. but this plate has been motivating me to whip up more recipes. it makes sense. some of us enjoy buying stationery because it encourages us to write, to take notes, to journal, or to do whatever on it. same thing with this plate – it's encouraging me to put things on it and take cute pictures and enjoy it. maybe there is a point to consumerism.

[mikhailoism]

okay i need outsider pov fics on bathena so badly ,really any time but specific in the beginning of their relationship. like i want the team and grant/carter family initial and growing throughts on their relationship.

like first with the team. they're still kinda getting to know bobby after he's finally told them about his past and is being more open with them, so seeing bobby in a relationship is a whole new side of him (and it being athena just adds to it) they get to see bobby open and vulnerable and happy in a completely different way then they're used, a way they probably never thought they'd see. ( maybe they're something about the relationship that helps bobby be even more open around the team faster and easier than before) I think in the beginning they'd be surprised by the physical affection they have for each other bc both are usually quite guarded, and in Bobby's case keeps his distance but now they have them together always touching in some way greeting each other with kisses and calling each pet names ( like the reaction to hearing bobby call athena baby the first time would be hilarious, I don't think they'd have expected it from bobby)

another pov i badly need is beatrice. i want her thoughts and feelings on the relationship how it progresses. im a little shocked that i haven't found a single fic about bobby calling her in athena begins (unless there is one hidden in the depths and im just stupid pls tell me what it is) I wanna know how that phone call went and more about how it did change his and beatrice's relationship. I think about the Florida arc a lot and the part where bobby defends athena and beatrice gets upset and later he tried to apologize but she simply refutes, like I wanna know more about that. mostly I wanna know how she's sees athena in all this and yes I do kinda want comparisons to emmett and michael, not in any sort of extremely negative way but some sort of feelings on these important relationships in athena's life and how different or similar they are and also how they've impacted athena's life. another moment I think about is beatrice's first ep where one of the things she says to athena she worries the next time her life falls apart that athena won't be able to put it back together, a lot implications and i personally wondered if this partially a vague (not perfect) reference to emmett's death and how athena shut down after and i want more thoughts on it , like we know so little about her life after his death and i want to know more and partially through beatrice would be so interesting ( and to continue it and see michael and the kids and then bobby etc)

the next obvious povs are may and harry like I want to know their thoughts and feelings on first meeting bobby and him becoming part of their lives. i want to see them notice how different and happier athena is, and the small differences between this relationship and the before with michael (preferably not really negative we do love michael) i wanna know how they adjust to a new person in their house after they get married and then learning bobby's quirks ( like what did they think the first time bobby had a huge stress baking session) I wanna know more about their thoughts on athena's job, about her attack, more about may's decision to work at dispatch and the thought process behind it and how she told her parents, more about the events of mayday, more about harry post kidnapping and how he's recovering and how it affects his relationships with athena and michael, i want more first responder responsibility discussions between bobby and may and then for her to also reach to hen and get that bonding moment

soooo yeah outside pov fics you'll always be loved by me

[possibilistfanfiction]

What are your domestic headcanons for Bea and Ava in your surgeons AU? And how did Ava realise that they are not cis? And how/when did Beatrice realise she wanted top surgery?

these are great questions i will now come up with answers to bc they're mostly vague in my mind before the actual timeline starts! lmfao

a domestic thing -- ava is obviously, like, incredibly gifted at charming people anywhere, at any time, doing anything. i think bea is a little terrified at first when she starts bringing ava to stuff — trivia night, the climbing gym, even just over to mary + shannon's for dinner — that everyone will immediately love ava way more. or, even worse, that bea will suddenly be expected to be the same kind of charming, to love attention in the same way, to laugh as quickly. but it's not like that at all, obviously: everyone is Delighted by ava & also delighted by bea — quietly, in a way that's still comfortable & happy for her. at the climbing gym ava tried adaptive climbing, like, one time & was like 'no ty lol', but he still loves to come & watch. bea is... quite serious, but ava isn't, so in like ten minutes ava's made friends w all of the people bea enjoys climbing with. the next time bea comes to climb, no one expects anything differently from her, but they ask after ava, a few of the boys tease her for having such a cool, hot partner (fondly, & she loves it), they invite ava out with them for beers saturday. i think they open up each other's worlds in different ways but the crux of it is the same. love them! as @princington said 'they're so tangible' & like they rly are

another domestic thing -- bea can't cook. she's abysmal at it, even after cooking classes. she tries to cook for ava One Time & it truly is so inedible ava just kisses her & orders pizza. she can make eggs, barely, & that's about it. ava tells her they're the best eggs, though

last domestic thing -- they're a big slipper household. at first ava thought it was kinda cute that bea was partial to a nice pair of teva slippers (also, of course, had to tease her) but the second ava tries them he's like oh fuck yah, i get it. needless to say, as he justifies bc of his difficult circulation system but rly just for fun, he gets... a Lot of slippers lol. also bea steals all of ava’s beanies. it’s only fair

in the context of this au, i don't think ava's ever rly been sold on being cis lol. even as a little kid before the accident, ava was happy to just play & imagine & sing & dance. their mom never forced them to Be A Girl, & ava didn't mind, really, when they were in the orphanage, but it never felt like it truly fit. not in a dysphoric way, but just that it was limiting. ava's body was confusing, was hard to come to terms with in that it wasn't the same anymore, they couldn't feel all the things they used to love. so when they finally had the opportunity to like go Be Queer, be in community, her world Opened Up in the most beautiful way. ava LOVES the playfulness & expansion of gender & the body, the control she has over not having to fit in a box. the world is so, so big & so, so lovely, & u know ava also HATES colonized ideas of anything lol, so it just makes sense. in undergrad they had some good trans buddies but also like... drag? LOVE. so it's rly fun for ava, especially with good people

hmm i think bea probably wanted top surgery from day 1 of puberty on but didn't realize until late in college. after a lot of reassurance from her friends that she didn't have to be a Trans Man to want to try a binder, she did, & p much that first night she knew bc she just felt so much better, like her body made sense & she could just relax. idk if bea ever rly feels gender euphoria but she does feel a lot of peace & so that's cool. probably she tells cam first, maybe lilith & cam together, that she wants surgery. by that time they're already in med school & also... they both know lol & so they're rly happy for her & they make her lots of snacks & take care of her afterward. lilith keeps her out of the gym for months even tho bea complains that she's bored & will be so out of shape, cam makes a bunch of food frequently. they're a little family & it's a rly joyful, quiet, happy time; she feels very lucky

[butterscotch-goat]

Your oc lore, please give it to me, I arrived very late and am rather confused but also incredibly intrigued! (Also side not idk how to explain it but your art is very comforting! Says the man who has seen 2 drawings. But my point still stands lol)

This means so much to me 🥹🥹 Im glad ur interested!!! I'll give u some quick summaries (quick as I can be bc once I start talking about my silly little blorbos it's hard for me to stop-)

IF YOU EVER HAVE QUESTIONS PLS ASK IM DYING TO TALK ABOUT MY GUYS

SO! First group of OCs is a project I'm currently calling "Escapism" which takes place in 1890s England. (Check the #buttersketch-escapism tag for content of em)

Okay so I started typing and realized I included WAYYY TOO MUCH info but I worked hard on it so I'll still include it, bUT

TLDR: Aster (tired, anxious, hopeful) is magic (plant magic) and is being used for experiments and tests by Charles(friendly guy, stubborn, cheery) and Beatrice(joyful, caring, passionate) until Beatrice herself becomes and experiment when Charles wants to find out what would happen if you attached wings to a human being. Also aster and Beatrice are girlfriends. Charles accidentally kidnaps Martha (extroverted, curious, peppy) because her magical(healing magic) girlfriend Grace died and Martha has info about her magic. Eventually Aster kills Charles and is haunted by her guilt, which is manifested in a character I call Ghost!Charles (self-explanatory)

Here's uhhh escapism for ya!! Sorry,, you don't have to read it there's a lot of text I know-

Second story which I haven't posted about as much as one I'm calling "Dawn" which takes place in the modern day, and is about demons & angels, heaven & hell & earth type stuff. Simpler than escapism, thank God- (check the #buttersketch-dawn tag for some content of dawn!!!!!)

Here's the cast!! Refs are somewhat outdated but do the job. (Sorry for the last image I don't have a ref for him yet)

I'll keep this short, for real this time!!

In 2019, Chigs accidentally falls off the edge of heaven and misses earth so they fall straight to hell. They didn't have any evil intent so are still an angel, but they need to find a way back to heaven. They stumble into Dawn's office and Dawn reluctantly agrees to help them. Frappe also barges into Dawn's office to hide, as she's on the run from the police. Gene comes around to check on Dawn and finds an outlaw and an angel. Dawn, Chigs, and Frappe run away to earth. Gene recruits Ronnette to help him track down the trio. The trio accidentally gets separated on their way to earth; Frappe and Chigs find each other but Dawn is left to navigate a modern day earth on her own. HIJINKS ENSUE!

time for some lore that's BARELY plot relevant!

Gene and Lucy used to be boyfriends but Gene broke up with Lucy in the 1920s because Lucy was so drowned in his work and wouldn't care about anything else. They get back together eventually tho :3 I make a lot of Lucy & Abigail content even tho he only shows up in like one flashback scene maybe??? Sorry about that.

Anyway THANK YOU FOR ASKING ABOUT MY GUYSSS I tried to keep it short, also bc it is getting late and I have school tomorrow OFBSHHDHFHDHSJ.

my inbox is ALWAYS open for questions of any kind so hmu if you ever have any!! Sorry again for all the info!!

[whoslaurapalmer]

and to complete the trio ! 🤍 beatrice 🎭✨🦇for 2, 5, 22, & 25 !!

!!!!!!!!!!!

2) favorite canon thing about this character?

tie between 'made dinner on the floor once' and 'wrote a novel-length letter to break up with a guy' and 'put on heels while eating an apple and making eyes at her boyfriend bc how is that not the coolest sexiest thing bea has ever done????????' and 'thought fishing was super boring but took her son fishing bc she loves him'

5) what's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

i very much wish i could say the heroine by unwoman bc it really is such a good bea song, like objectively i know this, but bc i first heard it on night vale and in one of the best episodes, one of my favorite episodes, i will forever associate it with kevin. i just do think very frequently about how it reminds me of kevin but it could be such a good bea song if it was not for kevin. ANYWAY. curses by the crane wives

22) if you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? what's something you don't like?

oh! this one is the opposite! if i am reading bea! okay okay. ah..........i'm picky about people writing beatrice. i know it's because like.......we've had to build a lot of fanon in this fandom. bc there is so little we see of some characters. and bea is not actually one of them, we really get a lot of bea in memories, but we still don't get to see Beatrice. so we've still had to infer a lot and create a lot. and i know that i am responsible for some of it. and it becomes something very personal, writing these characters, bea especially. i'm, very picky about fanfic i read anyway bc characterization is the most important thing to me. i want to see a bea that is layered, that is joyful and sly and dramatic, but interpretations differ among us all about the, amount to which that is an act, the sort of act that she puts on at all, because she is an actress and we can't forget that, of the extent to which she might've...............been manipulative. that personally is where i draw a line bc i don't think she was. categorically manipulative? it's not the word that i think works the best for me when i think of bea, idk. i'm also plotting a fic where she Acts in a very specific way for a very specific purpose through the whole thing so i also have less of a leg to stand on here than i usually do. but i think there's no like, malicious intent in her manipulation. i think sometimes there could be a lack of.........a desperation in a young beatrice in fic. the nuance of vfd on her. or like.........showing the acting but not showing the cracks it's created, the cracks vfd has created. i am. looking forward to poking those cracks more, myself

25) what was your first impression of this character? how about now?

first impression: i was nine and reading the books as they came out and going 'oh this beatrice woman sounds FASCINATING i wonder if i will ever find out who she is. i wonder what happened with her and lemony.'

current impression, editing to point out that it is now twenty whole fucking years later: my babygirl my everything my angelface my beloved

[transfemmbeatrice]

parker's personal much ado primer

i'm gonna keep posting much ado shit so here is some background on my personal favorite interpretation of the characters; this is not a primer on the actual play and these opinions somewhat differ from my like. canonical readings of these characters. this is what my personal action figures are like when i'm talking about aus. i'm mostly leaving physical descriptions out bc they can vary quite a bit.

when i say "we" i mean me and my wonderful spouse @zaxal because so much of this we sort of developed together over the years and none of these characters would be quite who they are to me without them.

Beatrice: beatrice is a trans woman to me!! i talked about this a bunch here. she will also always have red hair to me (thanks catherine tate for that one). she's hot, she's confident, she doesn't give a fuck what anyone thinks about her, she has relatively good judgement, she sometimes struggles to be vulnerable or soft with other people, she loves hero more than anything. she's also arrogant as hell! and often quite angry. beatrice is all fire all the time, she is alive and loud and proud and really likes having the last word. you will always know when she is in the room.

Benedick: oh this man is such a slut. grade a whore. pansexual as shit too. always cracking jokes to cover his own insecurities, desperately needs to be liked or if not that at least the center of attention--even if people don't like him, if they're thinking about him and watching him, that's good enough. he loves being witty and he is prideful and acts somewhat detached when in reality he feels things the Most and gets desperately attached to people and doesn't truly believe they could love him back.

Pedro: strong sense of duty. pedro is one that tends to vary more wildly because we've fallen into "suffocated by responsibility and shitty father, actually kinda shy and dumb and kind" which i love but in the play he is mostly just kinda shitty but i don't WANT him to be, so sometimes we try to lean more into the shitty side of him but often he is an earnest idiot (affectionate)

John: as mentioned in my beatrice post, i hc him as a trans man! sometimes more genderfluid or nonbinary. he's quiet, serious, and calm, and has been done fucking dirty by his dad/the world. generally our thought is that he was raised by his mom until about age 12 when she died and he got dumped on the palace steps and the king extremely resented taking him in and everyone was shitty to him because he's illegitimate. everyone thinks he's a villain and he knows he'll never convince them otherwise so he doesn't try; he just keeps to himself and doesn't form many attachments.

Hero: usually soft spoken but whip smart, doesn't like a lot of attention, stem major, big lesbian facing comphet vibes. she and beatrice are basically sisters. she's insightful but she doesn't share those insights with most people, and is by far the one who calls beatrice on her shit the most. we've ended up friendshipping hero and john because they're both such flat characters who exist at the whims of others and i love the idea of two wallflowers finding each other.

Claudio: obviously the villain. there are lots of different approaches to this--he might be an entitled golden boy, or a rich kid not used to hearing no, or an incel--but essentially he's a bully. i think its most interesting when he appears very nice at first and then when there's any amount of pushback things get ugly but i hate him so much i often make him pretty rancid from the start.

Margaret: outgoing and fairly relaxed, a jock, bi, in love with hero.

Conrade: john's bf, utterly loyal, and by a twist of fate it has become a running joke that he has tumblr disease (purple eyes/white hair). we usually depict him as similar to john--stolid, serious, not interested in taking anyone's shit, but lately i've been wondering if maybe he should be the bright sunshine in contrast to john.

Borachio: essentially a stray dog john and conrade adopted. he comes and goes. he's a mess.

Antonio: beatrice's surrogate parent, and elder queer genderfuck who uses ve/vir pronouns. general chaos agent.

ship abbreviations:

b&b: beatrice/benedick bbp: beatrice/benedick/pedro benepedro: take a guess beap: beatrice/pedro heromeg: hero/margaret johnrade: john/conrade

[cygninae]

I'm curious why you relate to Lemony, I'd love to hear an elaboration

i'll try my best to explain why I find so much of myself in Lemony, but forgive me if I sound mad or something. I'm just going to ramble about this, no structure.

The first thing, really, that we ever learn about Lemony Snicket is that he has a duty to tell us the truth about a series of incidents, though they appear to be extremely detrimental to him to do so. He does it anyway. When I look at him, I see that he has no regard for himself, only the world around him. Meticulous to the very detail, dedicated to the last second, passionate to a boiling point underneath a front of witty disregard for practically everything.

He took it upon himself to write about the Baudelaire's experience as accurately as he could, because he couldn't stand by and watch the world move on when so many lives had been ruined. He doesn't really care that he could get killed in the process, or caught, or anything worse. He throws himself completely and wildly into this task of exposing what really happened to the Baudelaires. I'm not saying I relate to him because this was valiant - don't worry, I'm not that up my own arse. I relate to him because he is so book smart but actually completely stupid for not thinking that anyone loves or cares about him enough to be extremely hurt when he throws his life to the wind. I relate to his complete devotion to something that doesn't really need him. To something that stings as it reminds him of his past - Beatrice - while he clearly revels in that pain it brings back for him. He wants to ruin his own life. The answer is just why, really, and I don't think even he knows that. I'll touch on this a bit later tho.

Lemony is, as we know, forever in love with Beatrice. Even after she broke off their marriage, after she married someone else, after she died: he worships her completely, and he loves her, but at the same time I think this is because he is someone who genuinely loves being in unrequited love... bc he could move on from her. Easily. Anyone can move on eventually. But even after she is long, long gone he clings onto her through every aspect of his art (his books, his dedications) and his life (researching the Baudelaires even though they are her and Bertrand's, keeping her list of reasons she couldn't marry him, a lock of her hair, etc) and he does this because he wants to be in a tragic, unrequited love. I relate to that. What is it Donna Tarrt says - a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs? To me that is Lemony. He wants to live in this dark constant of loneliness and tragedy because he thinks it's what suits him. It's a bit ridiculous and it's a bit heartbreaking.

Anyway, moving on. To be easier on him, I'll be kind - Lemony is someone who loves. Yes, maybe too much, maybe in a way that is unhealthy, but he genuinely loves. He loves Beatrice. He loves literature. He loves his siblings. He loves VFD as much as he hates it. He loves the Baudelaire children, even though they have nothing to do with him, and he loves, well, I dont know. He loves the world around him though he is morbid and unhappy about it all. I suppose he loves the horridness of it. Oh and of course, he loves pistachios. (Me too.)

I hope this answers your ask, even though I just explained that all like a complete lunatic. I'm a bit sleep deprived so forgive me for that. To summarise, Lemony is a self-sabotaging book-smart idiot who doesn't just run away from his responsibilities, he fakes his death and gives himself new ones. He loves like a dog but to the detriment of everything around him. Yeah. I just think he is fascinatingly layered and yet so painfully readable because he wears his heart on his sleeve and he doesn't even care. I hope that in another lifetime he was happy.

[whenthechickencry]

Umineko EP4. Replay Part 4

This must have hurt Maria a lot even if Ange didn't mean anything bad by it... kids are really cruel to things they can't understand often.

I am pretty sure cage made of flesh is explicit wording used by Beatrice before too!

This is Ange at her most raw so far, she doesn't want to live. She doesn't want to keep going. She has no one on her side,,,,

And now we go back to Maria having her own breakdown over Ange's word to remind us that Maria truly is miserable. Having a 9? 8 at this point maybe? year old describe living as holding out is so heartbreaking....

It is interesting to see the contrast in how Maria and Ange do with magic when they are faced with a bad situation - Ange starts denying it entirely and Maria instead leans harder into it ie believing the Good and the Bad Mama thing. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer as to which is better, though, both are harmful to both in certain ways.

Maria brings up how NOT LONELY she is so you know she really ISN'T LONELY did you know Maria is NOT LONELY.

Maria is fucked up but then when the police WAS contacted. It just caused Maria's situation to escalate... obviously, I am not saying the good thing to do was ignore this obviously neglected child. Still, sadly that's the fucked up reality of how it is in real life for a lot of children who finally have their abuse reported.

Tearing up again.... this episode certainly takes the cake in that regard....

And yet, no one really helped Maria.... I don't know exactly the situation with abused children in Japan but I always imagined Rosa used her connections and money in order to keep Maria with her.

If you think about how Maria is very likely autistic, this is all the more horrifying, not that it would be good either way, but having someone be punished and be considered their way of being just for the way they were born is just too harsh.

The smile with which she says this is so fucking horrifying.

Beatrice is under the belief that Rosa made the toy, too.... it's funny, if she knew she could probably get it replaced for her....

Even at her lowest, she is still trying to not hurt the Rosa in her brain, haha....

You can judge Sayo for teaching Maria 'bad coping mechanism' and while, yes, it's probably not ideal for a child to have such thoughts, all her positive coping mechanisms were removed forcefully from her, so what option did Maria really have....

She does end up rethreading to that "naive belief" once the harsh truth of her parents murder is presented to her and she wants an alternate truth....

Yeah like getting dunked by a group of ~10 year olds anyways what Amakusa is saying is extremely important and true otherwise, and Ange really wants to be at that point where she can be happy with/satisfy herself, even with all her faults and trauma.

Ange's coming to important realizations about magic and how she has hurt others, something Battler will realize soon enough too... though I think her general view is not really correct, it's not that Maria was truly self-actualized in her life, it's that she constantly lied to herself about being like that. But she needed someone to understand and help her as she is not someone that would try to change her or remove her coping mechanisms bc they are strange.

Some people feel that Ange is too self-actualized for her to go back as she did in ep8, but like, I don't agree. First of all the temptation to deny her parents the murderers is strong and second even here she is still trying to find ways for her to be the fault for an incident that happened when she was 6. She still desperately wishes for control for her life and is still probably considering killing herself on Rokkenjima.

This is, ironically after talks about hating Beatrice, the sort of understanding Sayo always wished for. For someone to not only be able to respect her and her interests but also understand the deeper pain that lead to it.

"And while still unfulfilled, she met with death," Sadly describes most of the Umineko cast and that's always hard for me to think about for me...

B-battler? Okay, I gues... I am not sure George will appreciate that statement but I am sure Shannon appreciates the hint that maybe you didn't forget her after all (crushed hope on the end of this chapter)

Eeugh, I mean, Jessica didn't mean anything by it but it's kind of a cruel thing to say with full context....

Oh, I forgot about this, I guess Sayo just did her Krauss act in front of Maria...

Was it Sayo? They did solve it on like 30 mins when they really tried.... Also the hammy and crazy version of Kinzo is kind of entertaining lol.

The irony of all of this coming out of Nanjo's mouth when he's currently being both bribed to hide the death of his Dear Friend and being bribed to assist in a murder is funny.

Damn uh, yeah uh, yeah sure.

Rosa can't even be assed to prop Maria up in any way haha.....

Maybe I am biased but I think this is 100% more Sayo's view than anything Kinzo ever remotely thought, the "hoping for a magical miracle" combined with the test that are done later being about love....

Aka DO NOT DISMISS EVERYTHING VIRGILIA SAID PLEASE

This is so fucking funny to me? Uwaaaaaaah.

Immediately setting up both Beato and Gaaps' relationship and Beatrice's relationship with Beato, damn!

[sunsafewriting]

Hey :). I was hoping that maybe you would have some nuggets of wisdom regarding story pacing and plot. Everything you published on ao3 is so well paced and worded in such a way that the reader can vividly picture every scene. Sooo.. question: how do you plan out the plot of a story? And when you don't necessarily have a plot, how do you make sure that the scenes you want to write are well-connected/paced within the bigger narrative?

Anyways, I hope you have a great day. And answer or not, I will keep enjoying your work just the same.

hey mate! thanks for thinking of me but you have actually come to a terrible place for pacing advice bc that is definitely the part of writing that i struggle with most lol . but i shall tell you how I cope and hopefully some of that helps you (?)

basically I cannot plan to save my life. fic or original writing --- if I set out to outline, I come up with bad ideas and stress myself out of even starting. all the stories I plan are MUCH worse than the ones I don't. for some writers planning works great and if that's you that's awesome!!! but I am doomed to walk another path

what I do instead of planning a story is think about what I (me, personally, bc I write fic from a place of indulgence) WANT out of it. like, what's the stuff I wanna see? to me, the essential aspect of pacing is making that stuff feel important and worth it and earned. it has to have emotional weight or it won't be what I'm after .

that's also how I try to make scenes are connected; they're all focused around a general Vibe or Feeling I want to construct.

for example, in Do A Flip, what I wanted was all of them getting to become a family. and so I worked backwards from that --- what are the steps within steps within steps that lead them there? what little aspects can we put together to create that kind of image?

for pacing it's also handy sometimes to ask what the best bit about NOT being where you're aiming for yet is. like, what is worth lingering on and enjoying that isn't the end goal? what fun thing can you only have at THIS moment of the story, rather than later? it makes each part more fun to write .

I started with a much shorter version of the fic (14k) where I wrote a shoddy draft of the whole thing from Diego's pov, and then I went back and added a ton more pieces.

that's also something I use to help myself out (and because personally I love to write this way) --- I write in pieces.

this improves my pacing, because then I'm not having to constantly consider the whole structure. instead, I'm thinking about what the point of an individual fragment is --- what am I showing in this scene, and what does it mean? often it's just something small (like I want to show that Beatrice is comfortable with Ava holding her hand, or that Lilith tries to be friendly to Diego) but I function much better with a hundred bite sized pieces than a massive whole.

in these piece-style stories, I rely on the reader drawing connections between different parts and inferring rather than a smooth flow. it's just something I enjoy as a narrative form --- I like gaps and spaces where you figure bits out yourself.

I also rearrange a ton. scenes get cut and pasted to be in a new spot all the time bc I realise as I go that they could be tweaked and fit better somewhere else. when I'm writing, I also often just leave a break and write SCENE, and then jump on to the next one --- like I don't know how I'm going to fill it in yet, but I know I need something to separate out two more similar bits, or a different POV, or to slow down before X Event happens. half the time I have no idea where a chapter is going until the first version is almost done.

the other thing about pacing for me is that devastatingly I rely heavily on rewriting, editing, and cutting beloved scenes that don't super gel. chapters take SO long to come out bc I rewrite them 2-4 times. a lot of better (and less highly strung) writers don't need to do that much so please don't feel like it's necessary but it's definitely necessary for me bc without it my work would be a total shambles lmao. I also find the promise of rewriting means I'm less likely to freeze up or stare at a blank page because I will go back and improve/tidy up later.

I also think paying attention when you feel pretty meh about something is helpful for pacing. for example, I wrote a 6k version of chapter 3 of Favourable Conditions where a lot more happened, but I didn't like it. I got my girlfriend to read it and she said "the whole first part feels like you're racing to get to the second part, and then it all settles down". and she was totally right --- I had a scene I was excited to get to so I gunned it, but the overall feeling of the chapter suffered as a result. I split the chapter in half and then rewrote the whole first half as a chapter in its own right, and decided to focus on what fun stuff I could do there, rather than just skipping through to get to the rest. I ended up adding scenes that were the ones people in the comments liked most. I also ultimately decided to change the next few plot beats afterwards, based on how that went.

I would also say that generally speaking, not a lot happens in my stories. like, I go for smaller stakes and smaller actions that slowly add up --- mostly bc I'm writing very chilled out stuff. but if you're trying to build a character to the point of doing something drastic, it's a different ballgame to escalating them to some minor change. both are super doable, you've just got to keep in mind what you're aiming for. I like minor stakes because I enjoy trying to make small things like washing dishes or going to the park matter. it's also just the vibe of where I'm at right now --- previously I've written things that were a LOT more dramatic.

if you're really struggling, I would also suggest starting with writing something short. your blog is blank so I couldn't tell what kind of writing you might be interested in, but it's much easier to tweak and change and judge these things if you're working in a smaller area --- like a 2-4k oneshot --- than if you sit down to write 80k. I literally never sit down to write 80k of fic I just accidentally end up doing it lmao.

I hope some of that is vaguely useful? I don't have a lot of wisdom to dispense bc as you can see most of my process is crutches for getting around having no natural sense of pacing. if you have any more specific questions about pacing a particular scene or idea I might be able to help more?

but good luck! 💛

[animation-is-my-jam]

Doctor two brain ships? Like all of themn? Or another question, which characters you DONT like shipping with ? you chose

Even though the rat man does give me fatigue sometimes, I still think he's great and his dynamics with other characters makes him really fun. For his ships, or if you're asking what ships I like with DTB--then yeah I can say.

-Like I said before on my top Otps, I'm very fond of him and Professor Robert Tubing. Tubing in general deserved more and I have a lot of headcanons/character writing for him, during that process I played with the little idea of him and Steven being ex-friends or colleagues. And with that very little interact DTB and Tubing had in "Cat and mouse game" I was like... but what if. So then I proceeded to go insane coming up with these ideas about Tubing and Two Brains having this wild ass dynamic and of course boats of angst. If Tubing was used more he literally would have been DTB's foil and I'm a sucker for that in shipping. Also yeah I did the ultimate cringe thing and created fan kids of them for an AU. I could go really on how much I love these two and how it sparks me to engage with Two Brains content. Plus giving Tubing what he truly deserves.

As for other DTB ships, I like them and think they're pretty good too. While they're not at the status of top ships for me, I respect them.

-I always appreciated Provoclone and it's kinda grew on me, but a bit hard for me to see Beatrice not as either sapphic or aromatic personally. Still cute!

-Butcher and DTB is really funny. Someone pointed out how they have a really (one is super affectionate and the other doesn't reciprocate or is too hesitant). DTB really likes Butcher but our meat man is all “y'all hear something?” with him, it's great. This one is kinda underrated, like most Butcher ships-- but again not for me personally, but I respect it's uniqueness if this is the dynamic to go for.

-Grilled cheese is good too. The Chuck's mom's not home episode really solidified their potential and wow that truly was one of the gayest. But also sometimes they appear to be at each other's throats too. They got a little animosity but will kiss each other vibe. Again not for me, but dang their name is good

- That's the more notable ones I can think of, I know there's also a boat load of other miscellaneous DTB ships that I'm missing but I think for me they all fall into "this is a neat idea" camp and nothing much else unfortunately. There's also the very rare but also hype idea of Headcanoning DTB as a flirt Aro--which I think is really cool and actually could be true if you want to stick to his characterization in canon.

As for characters (singular characters) I don't like shipping? Idk if that's just in general or something else..but I'll go with the first one bc I like painting targets on my back. (Disclaimer this isn't me saying I don't ship these characters with others bc it's problematic or whatever, it's just preference or HCs).

- Violet. Yeah I know kill me. But there's a good reason. Even though I appreciate like every Violet ship and think they're all cute in their own right... I'm sorry but to me this girl is Aroace. I know as someone who likes to follow canon interactions to justify ships, I should be all over Sciolet, Vibecky, Scoobecklet, but idk they're all cute, but I always imagined that after a certain time Violet would be great avenue to explore her being super affectionate and friendly to the point others might construe as romantic but nope she's just like that :) and that's perfectly fine.

- Same with Rex. To me they're aromatic, and not because he's an unfamiliar with things like emotions and acts almost robotic with his mannerisms with human culture bc he's alien, it's more like Rex does understand and they wouldn't say no to a date or partner, he just doesn't prefer it.

- I mentioned on the DTB ships that Beatrice (LRW) also follows into this category. I love her, she's my perfect blend of fail woman by day and girlboss by night, she deserves no one and nobody deserves her. Or sapphic but still prefers not to be in anything committed.

- Tim and Sally. Sorry but they're inseparable and probably too monogamous to shipped with others, even in a polycule.

- Ms. Power. Yeah I know I technically have a Pla//sma rope fankid, but to be fair I never said they were together. For me it's not a matter of HC with this one, I just don't really vibe with much of Powers ships, like I think girlie just wants to be alone nor do I think she would be a good partner if we're being honest. Like I'm iffy on even giving her a redemption arc since I like her so much as an antagonist. And even with evil partner ships I'm like eh. To me I think the only love she really needs is herself...both in a narcissistic way and to do something about that underlying self esteem she probably has.

[the-darkness-does-not-bargain]

i was thinking regardless of whether ava has multiple lives or not she still heals like a normal human, and yesss i love the concept of ava getting hurt and lilith taking care of her and beatrice being around and that's how beatrice and lilith start getting along and their relationship developing sm

lilith sees how frightened for ava beatrice is and is reminded of the first time ava "died"/got fatally wounded and how lilith was just alone with the trauma and fright of it all, and for all that she dislikes/disliked beatrice, she doesn't want beatrice to go it alone and having another set of hands to help would objectively make things go smoother

maybe this is also when lilith sometimes feeding from beatrice becomes a thing, because lilith gets so caught up and focused on ava that she forgets about properly feeding herself and it's only when she's shaking and lowkey weak with hunger that she notices, and beatrice offers to let lilith feed a bit from her, and i don't think lilith accepts, because they're not there yet

but the offer sticks with her, and as a show of trust she lets beatrice stay alone to take care of ava while lilith hunts and feeds

oh, just had a thought ava’s current “death” could be very easily be directly or indirectly bc of julian, her fucking around and sciencing ava up in a /neg way to try and find how ava’s immortal and just heals from anything and everything, because she wants to see if she can help michael somehow with what she learns from ava

that isn’t really relevant except that i just like more morally grey and/or more full fledged antagonist jullian

also lilith & ava and/or all three of the girls have bad hayfever and they were so relieved when stuff to help w hayfever came out

also idk how old you’re thinking beatrice is, but i’m thinking she’s like gen z and at max she hasn’t been around any longer than the 1800s or 1900s in large part because i think ava & lilith seeing beatrice with her knowledge and interest of history and all her granny tendencies and being like wow, we can relate and understand this (relatively) current era person lots but then beatrice turning around and dryly refererncing some meme (mostly old memes like vines & the ermhagherd girl, etc) or showing them some meme and ava & lilith like:

it’s lowkey a bit odd for beatrice because usually she’s the one having that reaction and her friends are having to explain meme stuff to her, but it’s nice having the shoe be on the other foot for once

beatrice is an old soul (metaphorical), ava & lilith are old souls (literally)

*rubbing my fingers together*

The vibe I get is that Beatrice is only in her early twenties, and she just got turned into a werewolf 2-3 years ago max. I'll sneak in more of my love for werewolf lore in the Mercy Thompson series. Becoming a werewolf sucks a lot. More than just a bite, you have to be mauled literally within an inch of your life to Change, so in addition to free trauma (Bea baby I'm sorry), it could be a way to relate to ava and lil, as their experiences were probably just as traumatic if they still remember them. Werewolves also typically live in packs, for their own sanity and protection, so that could be how the rest if the girlies get involved. I'm a sucker for big sister Shannon showing Bea the ropes, regardless of situation.

Or maybe instead the pack isn't the OCS and it just sucks, and Bea is running from them. Ava figures it out almost immediately ("all runaways look the same, Bea. Trust me, I would know.") and lovingly bullies Lilith into helping too. And yes, Bea mentions memes or other pop culture references that absolutely floor the other two. Lmao maybe she'll mention an old classic movie like Casablanca or something and they'll ask "what's that about?" and she's like "what do you mean what's that about? You were there when it came out!" "We were busy that weekend."

Bea showing one or both of them how to use a smartphone. Them being like my grandma, i.e. constantly leaving it places and forgetting to answer texts until midnight.

And yes, Jillian being a more morally gray character is an idea straight out of my old werewolf!au, so I'm down with it. Searching for literally any option to save Michael, including supernatural ones. Bonus points if she begs Bea to Change him, because yes, it sucks but at least he would live and be strong and healthy.

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

Alright y'all, I've been wondering about Alice since season 1. Like, she married Daniel and divorced him, had two daughters with him. She may totally be a character the show made up. But I have dug deep into the wiki and have made some discoveries. So, here are 2 characters that Alice could be based on:

This one is less likely, but I'm putting it first just to get it out of the way. She's Alice Mayfair. Her father was Remy Mayfair, brother to Julien Mayfair, aka the Julien they kept mentioning on the Mayfair Witches. Considering how they've moved the setting to present day (give or take a year or two), Alice could be possibly be around the same age as Daniel in the Immortal Universe. But she does have a daughter, Beatrice, that marries Aaron Lightner in the books. In the Immortal Universe, Aaron/Michael Curry were merged into Ciprien Grieve. So it's possible they could use her, and have Beatrice be one of Daniel's daughters. Just with an updated name, or she's going by her middle name. (If I was named Beatrice, I'd probably use Kate or Lenora/maybe Lenore? It looks like Lenora to me.)

2. This one is still related to the Mayfair Witches, but Alice isn't actually a Mayfair here. Let me explain. Cortland Mayfair, aka the worst uncle ever, from the Mayfair Witches, in the books had a half-brother named Gravier Blackwood, bc their dad was a big slut. And Gravier marries a woman named Alice. The wiki only lists her on his page, and with his last name. But they have a son together named Thomas Blackwood. Who has a daughter named Patsy. Who is the mother of Tarquin Blackwood, aka Quinn, the main character of Blackwood Farm. Which is a book in both the VC and Mayfair Witches. So we're probably going to see some version of it, in some future crossover episode. Rowan could even be there bc Gravier was half Mayfair, if the show wants to. And it could sort of tie Daniel into the story, like either Alice calls him up and is like, 'my grandkid needs help. Yeah, the one got from the son I had with the man I married after I divorced you. But he is our daughters' nephew' Or one of his daughters calls up and is like, 'my dumbass younger brother's kid is in a Situation, help out, you owe me.' And then Daniel helps him get in touch with Lestat, and the crew has a zany adventure.

Idk, I only read the book bc it crossed over with the VC books, I don't really remember much. I do remember there was an intersex vampire, who I just looked up named Petronia. (And I don't exactly remember Anne writing that in a way that was respectful. I actually think they use the h-word.) But she was a Roman gladiator who fought animals and shit. When she was 14. So she was pretty bad ass. In the books some vampire named Arion buys her and gives her money and frees her to do whatever tf she wants. Except she has nowhere to go and asks to stay with him, and he eventually turns her into a vampire.

But Arion kinda just vanishes from the books. Though he may have been mentioned and/or in one of the Prince Lestat books, bc I don't really remember much of them. (Getting through the second book was a slog.) So my idea is that they could make Marius her maker, as he was Roman, and the time periods are close enough. Plus Petronia also disappears from the books. I think it would fit with what we've learned about show Marius so far. Buying someone from an abusive place; takes her in to give her a better life, they become lovers, eventually he turns her. I just think it would be neat to have an actual intersex character, since gender is a bit loose when you're a vampire. I think it could give a unique perspective on gender. And also there need to be more intersex characters on TV; they make up over 2% of people in the world. And two percent may seem small, but that's 2% of over 8 billion people. That's 160 million people. They deserve to see people like them on screen as much as everyone else LGBT+ Remember when we called it LGBTQIA? That's the I. Though I hardly ever see them brought up, unless they're being used in arguments about the gender binary. (Which is so weird to me, bc once I learned that being intersex was a thing, I was like, so why do we only say there are two sexes, if there are literally more of them? And my mom was like, Idk how to answer this to a 7 yr old.)

This post got kinda ramblely. But I will mention one more thing. The vampire Sam Barclay, screenwriter and Talamasca agent, who was teased to be another character (tbh it's probably just Laurent or Everard de Landen) could possibly be based on Barclay Mayfair. Being a Mayfair would probably suck as a man, bc only the ladies get the magic juju (except Julien bc he's special). It would explain the Talamasca connection, bc we know they've been watching the Mayfair's for a long time. He could have got vamped after he started working for them. Probably not, but I know they're gonna eventually crossover all the different shows in the Immortal Universe. And they gave Santiago a bigger part on the show, so maybe?

[eldritchdemonfox]

true !! we vibe.

i am struggling so hard rn. i need to write beatrice cussing out these shop owners bc theyre gossiping abt her family in front of her but i also a) suck at dialogue b) don't want to write her too aggressive. help 😭😭 i think i might open a blog solely for fics/fandoms n stuff just to make this easier on myself cause rn i use my acc for aesthetics n mental health stuff

-🧃🪡

HI

It’s okay if her dialogue is stilted or terse here because she’s probably really awkward and annoyed and angry and maybe even scared, right?

[possibilistfanfiction]

i love that you've been making a lot of ur avatrice fics a subtle (or very UNSUBTLE) ode to mascs/butch lesbians. and an ode to being queer in general. i think my fave things to read lately have been works like that; where the characters aren't just queer, but happy to be queer, relieved to be queer, or saved by being queer. and in terms of gender expression and queerness its something that i've had a hard time reconciling with myself, but the way you explore it through bea is refreshing and helpful for me, someone who's been out for 8 years and still sweats when deciding what shirts to buy myself, or sometimes how to even just walk when i go outside

honestly i never know what like general reactions will be but everyone has been so lovely! i think it's like — fundamentally so important to me that bea was never ever made to be femme! like canonically she's attractive to women in the show!! she has her little slacks!! & she's not like masc/butch explicitly but at the same time i'm like... she's never gotten to choose for herself either! & maybe she would! she could if she wanted! a little knight at the campfire, you know

& yah it's hard!! i've been out for over a decade & have gotten to have top surgery & be in a generally v safe & queer city + a wonderful marriage & community & like... i still cry over pants!! it's hard to be in a world that wasn't built for you, no matter how happy it is

BUT that being said yes to me queerness is the holiest thing in the whole world!! like whew, queerness DOES save the world; it is a relief & it is a joy & it is a miracle!

& i think, for me, at least, when i write bea, it's rly important to use the word lesbian for sure, but i also think like... there is something so so so beautiful about butches & dykes!!! & at least part of my journey has been falling in love with those words & that history & that deep joy. so in my fics i love writing bea getting to have some of that freedom & healing very specifically around like... not being femme!! she's a lesbian!!! maybe one day she would love the word dyke & all the gentle power it has held for so long. i don't really want it to be subtle bc i don't actually think after a few years of therapy & the world's most enthusiastic partner that bea would ever want anyone to think she's straight lol

& like god... i made myself emotional w a suit or a pair of pants & an older dyke where u just are like... oh. i can exist like this, so happy & so myself & so loved, for so long. & ava is wonderful so it's just kind of lovely to imagine bea just like... getting a masc haircut w the full freedom to love it or hate it bc ava is just :) i love you!!!!! & bea has never gotten to see if she would even Like that on herself before. bea trying on men's ("men's") clothes, picking out cologne bc she likes the way it smells better than perfume, etc etc etc. & in addition to her little button downs & slacks like... what would she want to wear during a lazy day at home? what would she want to wear to brunch on a sunday morning? ava is just in love so there's so, so many choices that open up to her!! she gets to just settle into what makes her happy & all the ways that's fluid & graceful & changing, none of which are defined by expectations of shutting the queer part of yourself off. all the beautiful expansiveness of queerness & this really gorgeous masculinity that's just There to explore. idk, it's wonderful lol & i feel like that freedom is just, for me, really nice to get to write. obviously if other ppl feel differently, that's also totally cool, but yeah, soft butch beatrice in all those variations forever