#and i was actually considering doing short stories for one school bc i want to submit my weird robot story to one

[queenerdloser]

arggggggh so the writing sample i want to use for my grad school apps is a portion of one of my novels in progress except that it's a portion that's still VERY rough and part of a novel that's still being drafted and i've been having SO MUCH trouble writing this stupid thing. and i'm like. okay maybe i SHOULD just do short story excerpts like i have some fairly polished short stories that will probably be stronger works. but genuinely i'm a novelist at heart and i don't plan to write short stories, i plan to write. this novel. in grad school lol like this is what i want to write as a project there. but i'm worried i won't have enough time to refine the sample and i really don't want to submit something half-done arggggggh

[madockisser]

I just finished Elfhame series and came across your tumblr and your post about "Cardan just wanting love" and your analysis was enjoyable to read.

However, after finishing books 1, 2, and 3, I get the feeling that Cardan isn’t... faithful to Jude. Fae are very poly, and Cardan was/is definitely a thot, and Jude's insecurities over that never go away.

Do you believe Cardan is monogamous after The Wicked King?

Will cardan stay loyal to jude? / cardans views of faith / his love for jude

😭😭no hate to anon but i can’t ever picture cardan NOT being faithful to jude. Also anon did you read “how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories”

btw I’ve made posts like this before(regarding his faith) and they dive into other aspects of why i think he was faithful: this one!!!

he singled jude out from the very beginning during palace school, he fell for jude WHILE he was with nicasia, for so many reasons.

he at first found her infuriating and frustrating for her advantages that she had and he didn’t, despite being raised on the idea that humans were garbage.

then he fell for her determination and audacity, her cunning and strength. even as jude made him look weak, he wanted her and only her.

Meanwhile, cardan hates ass-kissers, which is nicasia, and the rest of the court. He hates that courtiers will allow him to slap and use them, all while going home to people that actually loved them. This is stated in his novella.

Cardan is brought up on the idea that he is a prince that has nothing, that he is worthless despite his title, and he hates it. And that’s how the people treat him, adored and petted on for short times (mostly for favor), but ultimately abandoned and unloved.

Yes, cardan has had lovers, as seen in tcp, in twk, but never after the beggining of the wicked king when he’s shot at. of course courtiers drape themselves on him, but he is aware that they do not love him and that he does not love them, he has only grown not to lash out at them, at which i imagine was based on the fact that he was no longer under balekins suffrance (his beatings) and because he now had jude (even if they weren’t really allies at this point, he still craves Jude’s favor and acts accordingly, as seen as when he gives Taryn his army bc he thinks she’s jude, as seen as him trying time and time again to gain her favor in twk)

Because he wants jude to trust him. Even in the first book, even BEFORE the first book, in his novella, cardan WANTS jude to admire him. he wants jude to see him as he wishes to be seen, princely and powerful, i will attach a pic below from his novella:

(Honestly this pic ALONE pretty much seals the deal for me that he wouldn’t so much as look at another, let alone cheat on jude)

now, onto monogamy and fae standards:

Cardan has shown a clear dislike for many fae standards and cultures.

He sees humans differently from others, he sees life as precious and as something to hold onto, (I’m talking about his morals and his unwillingness to kill even someone that another faerie would consider beneath him), he is unlike his brothers in the power-hungry sense, he likes taking the easy way out, and he craves true love above all.

Jude’s monologue once said that faeries view lovemaking as a sport, as a game. But cardan also said that he never saw love as a game. And he cannot lie.

Add on: bro LITERALLY called jude his GOD. and he cannot lie… so why would he ever have anyone else? exactly!

Another thing, his view of human culture. We know he read Alice in wonderland. We also know that to humans, exchanging rings is commonly our wedding/marital tradition. It it not a fae tradition, for a bride and groom to give each other rings.

Cardan went out of his way to learn about Jude’s culture when proposing to her, and he also stole her ring very early on in the wicked king, so i can imagine that he was planning to propose for a while. To make her his queen.

It is also human culture to remain loyal and monogamous.

Then, when she left during the exile. he was devastated, and begged her to come home in letters that his mother did not send.

In twk, cardan learns, slowly but surely, how to be good. How to be a good king, a good person. For Jude. He learns that he doesn’t have to resort to drinking himself sick to avoid all the misery he endures, but to overcome those miseries and become a good man. and he does it partly for jude and also of course-for himself.

Cardan never knew he could be good, he could be loved. But jude taught him that. (If that isn’t enough to think that he wouldn’t remain monogamous then damn)

Then of COURSE there’s the fact that jude is human. there aren’t many unglamoured humans in elfhame, and obviously Jude’s body is different from a faerie. i like to think that cardan has a specific attraction to Jude’s human body, rather than the same old faerie bodies he’s seen. (I get it king)

LASTLY, i just want to remind us all of how cardan reacted when he found nicasia (of whom he was in a royal relationship with, like him and Jude) with Locke. the photos from his novella are below:

He views nicasias little fling with Locke as excruciating, as a horrible painful betrayal, and he trusted her not to hurt him. (Similar to him and jude, how they trust each other by the end of it, not to hurt one another)

and also, i highlighted “pretend” because although it is faerie standard to be poly in many relationships, cardan STILL is pained by her actions and his dignity and heart are both in shreds. he will pretend to love her after, if the opportunity arises and nicasia doesn’t love him, if it turns out to be just a fling, but he would still be pained by being with her.

if that is how cardan feels about being with lovers, about jude being poly or him being poly, why would he go and inflict that on jude?? he wouldn’t. what him and jude have is much more real than what he and nicasia had because it wasn’t built on obligation (and also the idea that nicasia was going to eventually murder him and steal his throne)

Moral of the story, cardan would not be with other lovers for these reasons: he loves her and he loves to be loved by her, he has learned human cultures to make himself a better husband for her and he follows those traditions, he is heavily distrustful and he dislikes courtiers. also him and jude are MARRIED ROYALTY, at which they are bound by the throne and the land to be together or whatever

anyway thanks for coming to my Ted talk! it shocks me that anyone would think that he would be with others, even if it is faerie culture, cardan is absolutely DEVOTED to that woman (i understand you king)

add on: also ofc jude is scared to get her heart hurt, she guards her heart the ENTIRE series until the end w cardan- and she’s sad when she sees him w nicasia when she asks cardan to get w her in twk. also he’s smoking hot and the king so yeah i would be thinking abt his sex life too lol. also- bro doesn’t even consider the thought that she thinks he may have been w another lover (in qon when they are about to bang) like he is so madly in love w her and she doesn’t even see it, they’re so cute! ALSO cardan has finally found love w jude so it doesn’t make sense for him to go and seek out another, especially since he’s distrusting and hates boot lickers lol

sorry for being so dead on here, I’m from the US so i was saving this last week for rotting my brain on TikTok for the last few days !! I’m working on more asks and ily 🫶 also feel free to add anything i probably missed!! This was messy and lmk if there are any typos!! ok bye

[inbabylontheywept]

I love your writing. It’s the type of writing that I love bc other than being easy to read, I admire it bc it accomplishes what I struggle with. It uses few words yet conveys across the idea efficiently, vagueness to its benefit.

Have you heard the phrase “I want to distill myself like poets do”? It comes from a tumblr post of someone trying to express the same thing as me rn.

Anyway the other part of what I wanted to say is that I’m autistic, and when I try to write, I always succumb to the urge to add as many details and overexplanations as possible to avoid being misunderstood. You’re autistic too, but your writing shines in doing the opposite, so I was wondering if you struggled with this too, and how you got better, or if your flavor of autism simply doesn’t manifest in this way and this isn’t a problem to you

Unfortunately, I do naturally tend towards condensed formats. So some part of this is just natural for me. If it makes you feel better, I tried several times to make serials while doing HFY and I never succeeded. I've also tried several times to write books, and I always just get kind of stuck. It's one of my big regrets, so if you have any experience in those, I'd love to hear it. Same from anyone else reading this, actually - if you've made the jump from short stories to long form, I'd like to know how you managed.

Still, despite it being a natural thing for me, I can give you three activities that I've done that improved my short story work very much.

First, improv classes. Attending them will help your writing in ways you will not believe, and also, as an autist, that shit's better than OT. My parents signed me up for some in the summer of my fifth grade year, and they were legit life changing. Way less social anxiety, better writing, I could sing their praises all day. If you do one thing on this list, do this.

Second, write poetry. I do not consider myself a poet, but I attend a weekly poetry writing club, and it has noticeably improved my prose. Find one and go. As you get better, try and constrain the poetry you write to things like rhyme and meter. Writing with artificial constraints is amazing for teaching people to be focused and direct.

And if you have room for a third thing, maybe try finding a way to do extemporaneous public speaking besides the improv. I grew up Mormon, which involves absolutely insane amounts of public speaking from an early age, but I also did stuff like that in middle school NAL and high school speech and debate. Those all helped. They were stressful, and not terribly fun, but they did help, and it's a good skill to have.

I love talking shop, so thanks for asking! And just to reiterate my request from before, anyone that's jumped from short stories to novel length works, please, tell me your secrets. Plz.

[kekaki-cupcakes]

Request for Nico di Angelo!

Hello! If it's okay, may I request Nico with a (GN or male) reader whos got like, super serious mommy issues? Like, they'll be in a bad mood during the last day of summer solely because of the fact that they have to see their mom once they get home. And it's not even bc they're a misbehaving kid, it's just because their mom absolutely sucks. Maybe where their mom has a bunch of pointless rules, too. Like, nothing to do with cats, praying every morning, going to church every Sunday and church school every Monday, etc. And readers just done with life during the year. They'll purposely go on quests the last week if they get the chance just so they don't have to go home, too. Lmao, just realized this is sorta venting in a way, so sorry. It's alr if you cant do my req. Take care and have a nice day/night!

this is a short one but I really like it, so... and by the way, if anyone ever wants to just vent in my inbox please feel free too, there's no judgement on this blog and you're so strong <3 <3 <3

You don't have to be sorry for doing it on your own---Nico x reader with a shitty mum [fluff, dw] »»————-　★　————-««

-Nico would be that person who’d offer to kill anyone you hated

-But he would be completely serious

-Like, no fucking around. He knows how much you despise your mum. But it’s so very hard to hate parents because they're still your parents. Godly parents are a whole different story, but the mortal ones are hard to loathe without feeling shit about it inside, so it becomes this sort of silent resentment. 

-Nico knows that. Sort of… well, from knowing you, really. And he may have planned out your mortal mother's death in a very excruciating way, with a few backup plans just in case.

-You shut that down when he mentioned it subtly, so he went back to rubbing your back and bringing your favorite snacks from the stash Cecil had secretly [everyone knew] imported from the mortal shops, then hissing at people like a rabid cat when they asked where you were. 

-He’s very good at scaring campers off.

-You’d be eating shitty junk food and sweet red strawberries in your cabin and listening to Harry Styles’ song Matilda [Hazel had bought you his record for your birthday last year] pretending your head wasn’t spinning with thoughts about how much you wanted to run away from home, and then the shadow’s by your bed would thicken and your boyfriend would just launch himself onto you.

-You’d gotten pretty used to it, obviously, and now you were pretty much immune to jumpscares. 

-It was a handy skill to have considering how many horror movies you and Nico would watch together. He liked to critique how realistic the deaths actually were, and you liked to watch his nerdy face and tease him for jumping when Ghostface crept out from behind a doorway. 

-But sometimes, mainly the days before you had to return to your mother and the house filled with crosses and rules and arguments and not enough pet cats for your liking, not even movie marathons and picnics in the strawberry fields could help your mood.

-So, Nico would resort to his back up backup plan [not the murder one, the happy boyfriend one], which was cuddle piles. 

-It had taken him quite a while to get used to touch, but between Jason’s ‘how to ask out that random dude you're obsessed with’ classes [you were the random dude] and the fact you liked to hold his hands, he would say that he was quite the expert on hugs now. So he’d wear the biggest jumper he could find, probably one of Hazel’s flowery ones, and drag you into bed. 

-Thankfully his bed was no longer a coffin [they had been turned into bookshelves] and was big enough for you both to squish in. So he’d stroke your hair and nod understandingly when you scoffed about how stupid it was to send a literal child of a Greek God to a church. 

-It wasn’t even a nice church, apparently. It smelt like socks. 

-He had a very good speech for these complaints, which you both knew the words to by now.

One day, very soon, you’re gonna get a job, or a smart person class at college, and you’ll never have to go to Sunday school again. We’re gonna get our own house too. With lots of tea and toast. And rescue cats. And we can name them after your favorite famous people and book characters and we’ll have a huge squishy couch too we can watch horror movies on. 

There’ll be lots of posters on the walls and no one will tease you about being a little kid and you can wear whatever clothes you want. Maybe not orange ones though. I think we’re all sick of oranges. 

And all of our friends can visit whenever they want to, and we’ll have all of their snacks as well. And toothbrushes.  

And we can have Christmas there, without all of the bad stuff. We can decorate the tree really badly. You don’t have to invite your mum. At all. And if she shows up, her coffin will be shaped like a fish. They’re a real thing, you know, fish-shaped coffins. 

You’ll never have to see her again. We’ll have our own place. I promise.

You can throw a party full of everyone you know, and not invite your family, 'cause they never showed you love. You don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up.

I promise. 

»»————-　★　————-««

[wickerfox]

HELLO YES ITS ME IM COPY PASTING THE THING HERE:

YOU JUST MADE THE CHILD IN ME BLOOM. THE QUESTION LIST (THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IM SEEING THIS AU BUT GOD FORBID):

× Who's Hoodie

× Is it in the same time setting as MH

× Who PLAYS AS ALEX

× Did it start the same way as a dumb school film project?

× From what I understood Scar takes the role of Tim, is bro a chainsmoker too LMFAO.

× Is Grian canonically gay too

× Would it be a wild correct guess that Amy is Lizzie and Alex is Joel since yk based from obvious plot points?

(before I start, placing this disclaimer here at the top since I have friends who don't frequent mcyt and might get confused, but when I talk abt this au I'm specifically talking abt the characters, not the content creators themselves. Anyway)

SO IM GONNA GO AHEAD AND SHARE WHOSE WHO FIRST

Jay- Grian, it made the most sense in my head, but I actually flip flopped on this so many times bc he also works so well as Tim or Alex, but at some point I went "wait it's an au, we can see how the story changes with Grian as the protag" so Grian's the protag now

Tim/Masky- Scar, I'm a transparent desert duo enjoyer and had a similar flip flop with him as I did Grian bc he'd also work as Jay but I was halfway through that drawing and had a similar thought process to the one i had abt Grian

Brian/Hoodie- Jimmy, I wanted to keep the cast focused to life series and evo members and he made the most sense to me lore wise, especially with the idea that in this au he was one of the ones with the earliest exposure to The Watcher (bc I love Canary Curse symbolism)

Alex- This one was the toughest choice bc no matter what a fav is going to loose it. Good thing this based on the Life Series! As much as I Love the idea of Joel and Lizzie as Alex and Amy, I actually went with Martyn. Again, the character is pretty involved with the Watcher Lore so it made the most sense as the character that is arguably most effected by it. (Although for a brief moment I considered Mumbo Jumbo bc,,, how fucking funny would that be)

Jessica- Jessica's gotta be Pearl right? It makes the most sense for it to be Pearl, I don't even need reasoning for this it makes sense

Amy- So who's Amy then? Scott actually! He's not Martyn's boyfriend in this, he's just a really good friend of his who was super involved in the production. Also like in mh, he's Pearl's roommate.

Sarah- Ren. Can't have a life series au featuring desert duo and not have some renchanting. Who else would be one of the leading actors in Martyn's short film?

Seth- Big B, again Evo connection made sense to me, and depending on your own personal theory on who the third person running the totheark account is, both Big B and Ren have interesting implications, even if both their rolls are p minor in this au

With the cast out of the way other questions !!!

It's set in a kind of nebulous time frame that's probably a little closer to present day, but it does still start with a student film project. When asked Why Martyn chose to use tapes he says something about wanting a more authentic feel to the film but in reality he just thought using tapes was a cool idea and doesn't want to admit that it's kind of impractical now.

In this au Scar doesn't smoke, but instead I like the headcannon that he just has boxes of candy/bubblegum cigarettes on him at all times. He'll pull one out, pause, and offer one to someone and when they say no he's just like "Okay, your loss" and watch as they get all confused when he starts unwrapping it asdfghkgkdjhfjsh

Is Grian gay in this au? Whose to say. (Real answer tho, I'm a notorious Jam shipper and while I'm not an active shipper when it comes to hermitcraft or the life series, I don't really mind it so the relationship is left kind of ambiguous)

But yes THANK YOU DO MUCH FOR GIVING ME A CHANCE TO TALK ABT THIS IVE BEEN RAMBLING TO MY FRIEND WHO DOESNT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING IVE BEEN SAYING FOR DAYS

[flamerunn3r]

Ok making this as a new post bc I adjusted a couple of minor things on these. In the order I drew them in, heres the great p5u au design post finalized after working on these on and off for like 5 months

This is my own personal interpretations but is also somewhat speculative in nature. I'm mostly trying to use already established characterizations and arena epilogue set ups as a branching off point but there might be stuff I've missed or forgotten (i also haven't played dancing yet sorry if there's something in there I hadn't accounted for). This is kind of like if I took the creative reigns on the story where I'd continue with it. Only the investigation team for now but maybe I'll do the shadow ops at some point.

Yu Narukami

He's currently either attending school as a journalism student in the city or just starting out as one. Enthusiastic about his field but still tries to find the time to keep up with his friends and visit Inaba when he's free. I felt journalism made alot of sense for him with the themes of persona 4. I liked the sport jacket and turtleneck but wanted something different so the scarf was chosen to keep the same kind of silhouette. I made the collar on the winter coat large and I feel like Narukami's large uniform collar is a key part of his design. and I wanted to call back to that in his casual outfit. The summer outfit I kept close to his summer outfit from p4. I mostly wanted to keep his outfits smart and simple. For his meta verse outfit I really wanted to go all out with the bancho (kingpin) stuff and other delinquent tropes. I lengthened the uniform coat a little because I wanted it to look like a tokko-fuku. Alot of smaller detail inspiration was taken from Izanagi. The lenses in the mask are supposed to mimic glasses. I'd imagine he'd take off the mask the same way he throws off his glasses at the end of P4.

Teddie

I can't imagine him leaving Inaba and the TV world behind. Still staying in Inaba and working largely the same job. He's got his own place now albeit small (still a step up from the closet though). At some point the IT asked Mitsuru to pull some strings so he actually has a legal personhood now. The animal hoodie is something that came to me spontaneously but I knew I needed to include it. I really that his normal outfit in 4 keeps the white and red of the bear costume in the outfit so I tried to keep the colour scheme here too. Most of his later outfits are less flashy and more casual so I tried to continue that trend. I didn't want to lose the rose from the corsage completely so I included a rose pattern in the second shirt. Alot of his outfits feature light blue so I wanted to feature that. (I considered making the hoodie light blue initially) I don't think he'd have a metaverse outfit he'd just use the bear costume.

Naoto Shirogane

I'm under the assumption Naoto is still presenting masculinely to the general public as of p5 but I may be mistaken. (If I'm wrong I'd still probably largely keep the outfits largely similar to this.) Naoto's still working as a detective and I don't think that's ever really going to change. One thing that a hypothetical p5u would have to address is what Naoto and the shadow ops would have been doing during the events of persona 5 but I haven't worked that out yet

I feel alot of the appeal of Naoto's design is the kind of boy detective fashion. I went at this design with the intention of kind of refining that into something a little more adult while still keeping in a similar vein. I did have to ditch the pageboy hat unfortunately as I felt it made them look too young. These outfits were kind of designed as pseudo work clothes which is why I tried to make them a bit more formal. Something I consider notable about Naoto's design that I deliberately avoided here was the rolled up pant legs. It's very obvious in 4 it's done because Naoto is short but I feel like Naoto would start getting that either custom made or tailored to fit. I was initially going to forgo the blazer on the summer outfit but the design felt empty without it. Naoto having a noir detective themed metaverse outfit is an idea I'd had for years but I tried to incorporate design elements that were princely. I alot of the inspiration was from Sam Spade specifically. Deliberately made similarities to Akechi's white crow design. The band around the hat is supposed to invoke the similar one on the old page boy hat.

Yukiko Amagi

Still working at her families in but is taking online schooling during the less busy seasons. She's mostly happy where she is but is keeping her options open. Occasionally makes visits to other ryokans out of town for ideas for her families own inn, as well as an opportunity to for her to sight-see.

The headband was included in her design in p4 as a like retro design thing but I find it too important of a marker of her design to remove it. I understand the why they went with the hairstyle they did for her golden epilogue but I feel it just ends up making her look way older then she is. I thought her having her hair up would be a nice change since she does it so rarely and settled on a ponytail. Tried changing the bangs but the ones she already had just felt right. I wanted her clothes to carry this kind of air of sophistication so I tried to keep them relatively simple and sleek. She's wearing pants in the winter outfit but I chose the longer coat to keep a similar skirt silhouette. The choker was largely inspired by the scarf she has in her winter outfit. Despite being a different colour the cardigan was also chosen to tie back somewhat to the sweater she wears with her school uniform.

In some side material it's mentioned that Yukiko has an interest in western fashion and aesthetics (part of what made the castle manifest the way it did) and I wanted to lean on that in some way for her metaverse design. I ended up going with a masquerade ball theme. I tried to keep the dress to something simple and easy to move in. The gloves and boots take inspiration from her persona in terms of design and size. I wanted to incorporate elements from her work kimono as well hence the ribbon around the torso and flower patterning. Probably the most unsure of this one of the metaverse designs so far. Especially the colours (considered making the reds pinks initially). Might revisit this one.

Rise Kujikawa

Canonically still making music as an idol as of p5. She thankfully has a little more time to herself now then she did at the height of her popularity but shes still enjoying herself and her career.

I really liked her epilogue design having her hair down because it feels alot more relaxed. I feel she probably stop wearing the pigtails as regularly outside of work as time goes on. I went for a more casual relaxed style for her in for her general casual wear, but I still wanted a kind of cute vibe.

Wanted her to have two metaverse outfits mostly because I wanted her to have this little magical girl transformation thing when she fights. But I also think it kind of emphasizes her thing in arena with Himiko about having different sides of herself. Tried to keep them visually similar. General coloursheme of these were inspired by the album cover she has in p5 bc I really liked the kind of more mature vibe to it then weve been shown with her previous idol stuff.

Himiko kind of has this like emphasis on a lack of mobility with the mermaid dress so I ended up using this with Rise as well bc I thought it would be fitting for a navigator. I based the battle outfit mostly on her idol oufits from the anime and DaN. I was really unsure the direction to go with for the mask but I wanted it to be two-toned to emphasize the multiple faces thing again and I like what I ended up with.

Yosuke Hanamura

Studying in the city and struggling to juggle college and a part time job. I'm unsure on what he'd major in but he's paying his own way through college. He's working at either a Junes branch or a Triple Seven or something. I think he's rooming with someone in a rented apartment currently (either Narukami or someone outside the IT. Leaning towards the latter)

I'm trying to go for outfits that are like flashy but still pretty casual and I think I did an alright job. Darker colour pallete in his outfits here then the p4 ones but I think it works. The headphones being wireless was an immediate obvious design choice I thought of as a way to show the difference in time period (sounds weird to talk about it like that since its like 5 years difference but it is what it is/)

I went for this kind of tropey ninja/super hero thing with his metaverse outfit. The primarily black colour was something I also chose for this reason. The tools on the belt are also kind of typical in this regard. The headphones were something I felt was integral to his design so I had to include them. Charge suggested the googles as a mask idea and I think it works really well.

Kanji Tatsumi

Continuing the family business as well as expanding to sell his work online. Generally doing fairly well for himself, rightfully confident in his work. I feel like he's probably tried out a few things when it comes to his personal style before settling where he is now. Has gone back and forth quite a few times on his hair but eventually decided on keeping in black.

Going to be honest I sketched this out after Naoto's but ended up psyching myself out of working on it for a while. Anyway I went at this with this kind of idea of trying to like soften the though guy aspect of Kanji's appearance without losing them. I did try out a couple of other hairstyles but I couldn't come up with something else that felt right.

The Metaverse Design was initially going to have more samurai inspiration but it ended up only coming through with the mask in the end. Deliberately harkening back to his initial design with this but I feel like it's warrented because Kanji's fashion in 4 is as much a facade to keep people away as it is just his own personal taste.

Chie Satonaka

Still pursuing police work around the Yasoinaba area. I think all the IT are signed on with the Shadow Operatives in case of emergency but Chie is more actively involved with the Operatives then the rest of the IT as she actively asks and tries to be. Still talks to Akihiko fairly regularly as well (mostly exchanging texts).

Generally with her everyday outfits I mostly wanted to keep it sporty but relaxed. Deliberately made these a little less overtly feminine then her p4 outfits because I feel like she'd grow more confident in herself not being as feminine as her peers. Tried to keep an article of clothing the same between the two of these outfits to call back to the jersey she was wearing in 4. I considered having her not continue to dye her hair but I didn't feel like Chie once I changed her hair colour so it gets to stay the same.

Her metaverse outfit takes inspiration from kung fu uniforms, particularly the pants. The chest plate is styled after a hotoke dou albeit shortened. Charge also came up with the mask for this one; a blindfold to invoke the idea of a uber competent blinded martial artist, the fabric here is sheer though. The shoes on this design are not necessarily finalized as they are not technically part of the outfit. They are her weapons and would change as such like in the rpg.

Ok that's all for now. Glad to finally have this done

[galacticlamps]

Hi there @1968-100a 's sideblog lol! Ty for the tag!

TBR Meme!

If you have a To Be Read list/pile (comics, books, whatever):

What title(s) are you currently reading?

Right now I'm in between Acts 2 & 3 of Shaw's Pygmalion, and for a novel I'm reading Mort - I'm doing that unheard of thing & slowly going through Discworld chronologically (don't worry, I did technically do the 'find a random installment in high school & start there' method too, but I'm a bit of a completionist and publication order feels like the best way to go at it now)

What title(s) are up next on your reading list?

Depends on when my library holds come through lol. But just going off stuff I currently have access to (& no due date for) though, my next play will be David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly, and next novel either Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine or Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited (more on that one later). For nonfiction, I have Rethinking Theatrical Documents in Shakespeare's England (which admittedly is very nerdy of me & probably doesn't make a good recommendation unless we have very similar interests, but definitely has me the most excited out of any of these. It's so incredibly up my street that it might just be the only book I've ever preordered immediately when it was announced - but that was already a few years ago & somehow I'm only just now about to have time for it). I also have a Jorge Luis Borges collection lined up in the world of short stories & poetry (I sort my TBR into those 4 categories, any one of them could be next-next depending on what I finish/am looking to start).

What title(s) are your emotional support TBRs and you’re planning to get around to them. One day. When the stars align?

I've never thought of it like that before, but there are actually two books I think fit different parts of this question - the 'when the stars align' one is under the cut bc that explanation got long.

Emotional Support Answer:

So, Brideshead has been on my 'serious' To-Read pile (as in, more than just 'I'd like to get to it one day' - I already own a copy) longer than anything else still on that list. That copy (chosen especially because it looks so blandly typical-bookstore-reprint-classic-lit) was the first 'gay object' I ever brought into my (conservative, catholic) parents' house. I remember coming by it very vividly, excuses all lined up just in case - & there were at the time already two adaptations of it making the rounds on Masterpiece Classics (respectable) - it was something akin to Pride & Prejudice, then, it was Safe. And that was supposing anybody actually noticed or identified it, shoved in among a dozen equally unassuming classics on my bookshelf, which I thought was safer than hiding it because if it were discovered (always a possibility in that house) the fact that I'd hidden it would itself be incriminating. Anyway, that was over a decade ago, and somehow I still haven't actually read it, though I've never considered abandoning it either, so it's remained an ever-present pillar of my TBR.

Recently I started to think that's quite long enough though - there were a few other shorter & less emotional baggage-y titles I wanted to clear out of the way first (like Mort, and a few Dr Who novels, and potentially the Bradbury, though his stuff tends to Hit Hard these days, despite fitting with the silly scifi paperbacks on the shelf), just in case taking a long time to get to Brideshead translates to taking a long time to finish it as well - but I really think there's a good chance it's next, this time. Not necessarily waiting for any great astrological portends, though, but we'll see.

Have you taken anything out of your TBR pile recently, and why?

Atually, no - and not even because of the aforementioned completionist-ism, either.

A few years back I was really disappointed by the second book in Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Cemetery of Forgotten Books series (The Angel's Game), and frankly that turned out to be a really good thing because it led me to reevaluate what I wanted to make time to read & why. At the time I already owned the next installment, and very uncharacteristically, I made my peace with abandoning the series there & got rid of it, along with a handful of other books that I'd been sitting on and avoiding getting to for whatever reasons. Not long afterward, I made a storygraph account where I put together a more serious/organized TBR than the various lists I'd kept before, so everything on it was added with my new criteria already in mind, and so far I've only had to take things off that when I actually get to them. It has gotten pretty long & could probably do with some pruning, but purely for practicality's sake - as far as I'm aware, there isn't anything on there I wouldn't still want to read if given the chance.

---

I'll tag @uighean @seismologically-silly and @terryfphanatics & as usual if anyone who sees this also wants to answer, I obviously always enjoy hearing a good ramble about books, so please do & tag me!

(& how lovely to be forced to just focus on them as books & how they fit into our lives for once, since we can't talk too much about the stories inside ones we haven't read yet - that's definitely been interesting to think about, so thanks again for the tag @the-batacombs <3)

About that title on my TBR waiting for the stars to align:

Unlike Brideshead, there is one book that I was aware of and vaguely interested in for a while but that only made it onto the List Proper a couple weeks ago - however, given the context I acquired it in, I suspect that it might be destined for a similarly long TBR life. It's an adaptation of Cicero's De Amicitia clearly made to appeal to the pop psychology coffee-table-read self-help world, which isn't usually my cup of tea, but this one was on my radar partly to see how the new translation compared to others I'd read before (Latin & Roman history were big for me in high school & college), and partly because it was published as part of a series including material from some other less well-known texts which I was curious to see repackaged for a more mainstream market.

Well, I happened to be traveling for work, some stuff went wrong, and I unexpectedly wound up in a city I'd last visited when I was a teenager, as part of a school trip with friends. I was already having a rather emotionally loaded day - to put it plainly, I only really stayed close with one person from that particular friend group as an adult, until they recently became what I would describe as my only true ex-best friend, and I just found out their parent had just died. I was at a total loss as to what was appropriate for me to say or do under the circumstances, and at the same time coincidentally found myself walking around a neighborhood that should have been totally unfamiliar after so long, but instead surprised me with memories of them and our high school days everywhere I looked. At one point I took a shortcut through a bookstore (the same one where we'd spent a couple long afternoons way back when, because I guess I value nostalgia, symmetry, and not being late more than I value my sanity), and saw they had a little travel essentials section by the exit, which was lucky since I was running out of toothpaste - but I was also low on cash & wasn't gonna hit the credit card minimum with just that. I turned around looking for something else useful, knowing I wouldn't have time to seriously browse, and saw right in front of the register a rack full of that series: How to Win an Argument, How to Tell a Joke, How to Win an Election, How to Run a Country, How to Think About God, How to Grow Old, etc - all billed as 'ancient wisdom for modern readers' & all titles I'd known about and was mildly interested in for pretty much the same reasons that had relatively little to do with their actual content. I hesitated for a second between How to Grieve and How to Be a Friend, went with the latter, and couldn't make it through the introduction without crying in my hotel room later that night.

There's an extra room key shoved inside it as a bookmark still, but I don't really count that as having started it, so it's on the TBR pile for now - and I also still don't know what, if anything, I'll ever try to do about that friendship. Or if I even want to. Nor do I know whether or not I've grieved correctly for the parent who was consistently kind to & supportive of me for so much of my life - but perhaps neither book would have ultimately been much help with that, even if I did make the right decision. (Cicero's most famous writings about death were prompted by the loss of his daughter, after all, so presumably there's not much in there covering how to feel about not even knowing if you'd be welcome at the funeral)

So, I've got De Amiticia under the guise of How to Be a Friend, for better or worse. Maybe I'll take a long time to get to that one or maybe I'll be seized by a fit of linguistics-driven interest before then, but either way I can tell it's definitely going to be a "when the stars align" read for sure, and not an "orderly working through of my TBR" -type book.

[meganechan05]

Imma write this down in case anyone wants to write a fanfic on it bc I know that if I do it, it probably won't be finished or see the light of day.

HimeRita Fic based off of Beauty and the Beast.

The Cast and the roles:

Basically the story follows Himeno, a college student who recently moved to Japan after living with her grandparents overseas to become a doctor there like her late parents.

Finding it hard to live in the dorms, she goes apartment hunting and finds a posting of another college student looking for a roommate. In comes Rita Kaniska, a law student minoring in political science at the same school. Himeno takes the opportunity since the apartment is a short commute and decides to reach an agreement with Rita and moves in.

And the apartment is a total mess with the only clean parts being designated Himeno spots. But considering rent was within her budget and most of the apartments she found were a further commute or out of said budget, she had to force herself to suck it up.

Not like Rita's closed-off attitude is any better.

A story where a young woman finds herself while living in a new country and the law student who has to find a way to open up to their new roommate.

And have I've mentioned that Rita also has to look for an engagement partner before their 20th birthday?

And joining our lovely duo, we have:

Kaguragi Dybowski - Rita's senior since middle school who often calls them to help work at his family's restaurant when they're short-staffed. Often teases Rita about potential engagement partners if they talk a little too much with a customer. He would later then join the others in trying to get Rita and Himeno together. Rita often punches his gut whenever they pick up his intentions.

Yanma Gast - One of Himeno's classmates in general classes who once tried flirting with her but learned they weren't each other's types. He works in the IT Department as a Student Assistant so he's often seen walking around with tech equipment of faculty laptops that need fixing. He's in a video game guild with Rita so the two are rather courteous around each other on campus. He and Jeramie are often teaming up when scheming how to get the roommates together.

Gira Hastie - a fellow freshman majoring in political science much to his displeasure while minoring in theater. Himeno first meets him and learn they have Humanities together while also learning he's an acquaintance of Rita's. It's then revealed he and his older brother also attended the same middle and high schools as Rita and Kaguragi.

Jeramie Brasieri - A fellow overseas student in Himeno's Humanities class majoring in Literature and minoring in Political Science. He lives with his older cousin while attending school and is very curious about Rita and Himeno being roommates. Moreso after learning of Rita's search for an engagement partner.

Racles Hastie - Gira's older brother who is a Political Science major and works part-time at Toufu Eatery. While curious of the others' schemes, he tends to stay away from them knowing Rita wouldn't hesitate to give him the same treatment they do Kaguragi for even mentioning their situation. Often quite stern with his brother, but can be seen tutoring him when needed since Gira hates his major.

Morfonia - Rita's childhood friend and former roommate who transferred schools closer to her hometown. She actually transferred because of the school's heavy workload and wanted a change of pace. Rita still keeps in contact with her to check up on her.

Suzume Dybowski - Kaguragi's younger sister who works at her family's restaurant as a waitress while also attending culinary school. She can often be seen flirting with Racles despite her brother's protests.

Shiokara - Yanma's childhood friend and roommate. While he's also very curious of the group's matchmaking schemes, he often finds himself trying to cut in if he thinks it's a bad idea.

...yeah.

Oh and to note: KaguRac are both 3rd year college students. Rita, Morfonia, and Suzume are 2nd years. Everyone else are 1st years.

[the-rat-child]

this seems random but I saw ur post from yesterday again that’s like ‘i only like couples where they are both just losers’ tagged with Eric and I just need you to know that I could agree more. Every loser sex post I see I think “that’s Eric” and I’m just glad other people also think this because he’s so cringe fail loser in a weirdly sexy kinda way. Like weirdly endearing. This isn’t making any sense.

No bc you get it and it makes so much sense

This is brought up multiple times in my streamer au due to the fact that Eric gets in a relationship (yes it's a jalim fic but Eric is slowly becoming my favorite so I gotta give him some focus)

Rambling (and I mean RAMBLING) about that whoooooole relationship and Eric's cringefail loser yet weirdly sexy appeal as of what's written right now under the cut it might be long but have fun

This. Also might not make sense I just need to talk about my cringefail sillies

First of all fun fact. This all started bc I made some sibling ocs for Jason.

Before anyone says anything yeah yeah ik canon X oc raaah bad but like hear me out

One of them is his twin sister, Piper.

She was created like... Over a year before I ever considered any of this.

I didn't realize when I was making her she is kind of Rachel-like. She's stern, commanding, and sometimes downright mean, has the same sort of attitude and determination, are both career-focused and successful

But there are some key differences to the two:

1. Rachel kind of puts distance and ices her relationships when they need support (Eric after the crash, Nick once Eric shows up, if she chooses one over another or neither are all examples)

Piper dealt with Jason's mentally ill ass all her life and tends to be a rock - she sticks around and tries to be supportive (which is actually her tragic flaw)

2. Rachel is shown as independent and I love her for it. I mean look at the entire game

Piper lowkey needs people around to function, and grew up with community, constantly around others (especially family)

3. Rachel is probably gay... I mean.... yeaaaaaahh...

Even if not she definitely didn't gel well with Eric, she's not cringefail enough. Their chemistry kind of rubs the wrong way, and their dynamic is really like Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane from Bojack Horseman (long story short it doesn't work out.)

But Piper, on the other hand, is also an absolute fucking loser. In fact this woman has never had a relationship despite being 30

Alright fun fact out of the way

The streamer au establishes that Eric is single

Enter Piper.

They first meet when he opens a closet door in his studio because they were hiding her from Jason as a surprise. She's snappy and intense, but quickly shows her funny and relaxed side due to being comfortable with Jason and Nick already

In true loser fashion, Eric immediately starts teasing her like he's a high school student instead of a 35 year old man

But just like him, she teases right back

Also it's revealed in this that Eric had an anime phase as a teenager

A few nights after this, Piper quite literally twirls her hair with her finger while asking Jason and Nick about Eric

The next time they meet, it gets no better.

Eric goes to Jason's place to record something with him, but is greeted at the door by Piper.

Jason immediately tries to expose his sister, he says something, Eric and Piper start making fun of each other again

But he calls her crazy.

Eric's smart, but he's not immune to stupid decisions.

Piper's solution?

Throw him in the pool.

He thinks she's joking but it turns out that she's not, and he's reduced to begging for her to not do it. Loser activities.

This actually works in his favor because once he resurfaces from being thrown she immediately flirts with him

She looks down at this sopping wet man and wants that.

He is like leaning on the edge of the pool and admiring the woman that made him beg to take off his prosthesis before being thrown into a pool. Peak loser activity

But the loser sex appeal marches on bc five minutes later she asks if he keeps his leg on during sex for "future reference"

Next time they meet Eric reveals that he doesn't get invited to the group's guy's nights because of his status as The Group Loser but she thinks he's fun to be around

She invites him to stick around and immediately outs herself as a fellow loser by bringing him up to her room, where she was getting high and coloring in coloring books

So they hang out blah blah blah, things happen and eventually she is cooking for the both of them

Eric is insistent on helping but she doesn't want help.

Instead of just telling him to sit down for the third time like a normal person, she drags him to the couch, pins him down by the shoulders, and threatens to tie him up

Eric, in his weird loser sex appeal glory admits that he's into that

She also rambles on the phone about how he's cute and sweet to Jason. This is the third time her and Eric have met.

They are both losers jn their own special way

So a while after this they're supposed to go on their first date and he's sooo excited, he's even wearing a new pair of jeans!

But things happen and he has a panic attack, ends up not going

So instead of being normal about her date not showing up, she shows up to his apartment.

They end up having a stay-at-home date yayyy

So examples of them being losers and /or insane during their first date....

1. Eric gets slightly turned on by being called a good boy

2. Gets a knife pulled on him and still wants a second date (which Piper pulled a knife on him)

3. Admits he wants to be married before he's 40 (which he didn't think about the fact that he said it on a date)

4. They build a puzzle together and argue the entire time

5. Piper's favorite board game is Jumanji

6. He gets his ass handed to him as he loses every game but one

And a while after this they fuck before their second date

I needed to ramble about these two and their complementary loser sex appeals

It makes way more sense in the story

Can't decide whether the ship name is peric or pric (like prick).

[daringyounggrayson]

2024 Writing Review

tagged by: @vechter (thank you!) tagging: @dustorange @librarylexicon @jjohnnyutah @bluegarners and anyone else who wants to do it!

number of stories posted to ao3: two (and i actually forgot i posted both of these this year😅)

word counted posted for last year: 1,366 (this is one of if not the smallest word count i've had since i started posting fic, hopefully i can write more this year!)

fandoms i wrote for: dc comics

pairings: i didn't write any romantic pairings

stories with the most kudos, bookmarks and comment threads: things better left unsaid has the most kudos (118) and bookmarks (24), but it tied with interlude between shoe one and two for number of comment threads (3)

work i’m most proud of (and why): hmm maybe things better left unsaid. it's super short, but in it i touch on some of Dick's feelings about how the Titans (in this case Roy) talk about Bruce. i have a lot of thoughts about Dick's relationship with Bruce, how his friends perceive and comment on it, and how Dick then feels about or reacts to those comments, and i really want to get into more in a larger fic some day. but for now i have this, and i think it's a decent start

work i’m least proud of (and why): i suppose that leaves interlude between shoe one and two. i really love reading and writing in-between or post issue fics, and this is one of those. however, admittedly, not much happens and i can see why it wasn't very popular (bc it doesn't say much of anything other than, wow, that event sure was rough huh?). but it's a quiet moment i thought about a lot, so i was glad to write it down for myself at the very least

share or describe a favorite review you received: i receive so many kind, thoughtful, and undeserving comments, and they all mean so much to me <3 this is one that i received a few months ago that i thought was very sweet, especially since it was left on another one of my short, quiet moment-type post issue fics (and the world spins madly on)

a time when writing was really, really hard: echoing vech here and saying the whole year. i've been super busy with school and research, and then when i'm not working, i'm often traveling home to visit family, so that's not the best time for writing either. and then now that it's been so long since i've written fiction, it's kind of hard to turn off the academic language haha

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: nothing? i didn't really write much, and what i did write was pretty typical for what i write/think about writing

a favourite excerpt of your writing: maybe this bit from things better left unsaid. i just love when they two of them fight <3

Dick stalks forward and jabs his finger at Roy’s chest. “I’m so sick of all of you assuming that every little thing about me is because of Bruce.” Dick raises his hands, spreading his fingers wide. “Surprise! I’m not Bruce’s little science experiment, and you can’t blame him for everything you hate about me.” “That’s not what I’m saying, I just—” “Yes! It is!” Dick shouts and shoves Roy backward, hard enough that the man slams into the wall. “Have you even considered that I was like this before Bruce took me in? I mean—hell—I was a child performer. Have you ever thought that maybe my so-called detrimental case of perfectionism came from that?”

how did you grow as a writer last year: i didn't really get to work on my writing, so i don't think much growth really happened :/

how do you hope to grow this year: i want to improve my characterization, and also write emotionally-charged scenes that come across less cheesy and more realistic

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): can i just say all of my mutuals! you guys are all so amazing <3 your fics and posts continually inspire me to open my neglected word docs and start writing again

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: no not really (again, probably bc i barely wrote anything last year)

any new wisdom you can share with other writers: if you enjoy writing, i'd really encourage you to make time for it if you can. writing is such a great creative outlet for me, and writing so little last year was not a great experience

any projects you’re looking to starting (or finishing) this year: maybe this is the year i post something for my Bruce and Dick as brothers au, i would also like to write more of my monster hunter au!

[altneuland]

Ancient Lovers

Now that I showed you Kingdom / empire of Israel.. I can show you finally THIS SHIP and THIS art that I'm so so proud of...

so buckle up for the wildest ride...

Israel x Ethiopia lore!! Shortly explained, but it’s still long sorry

My interest in this ship has started way back, actually since high school, when we did a work about king Solomon and Queen of Sheba. I’ve learned so much new information that it kept me intrigued about it, and slowly getting more and more information to the point I just knew I’m gonna do it lol.

Now, Israel and Ethiopia case is a special one, because unlike many nations, both Ethiopia and Israel mention in their scripts and culture each other, specifically the Queen of Sheba and king of Israel affair. And both of them are really proud of it, of course biased (and you’ll see how biased it’s gonna get lol), but good biased. It is not dropping-the-other-low kind of biased.

Okay, let’s see where it all started.

Idk the dates (I’m bad with dates and usually don’t agree with them bc long story) but long time ago, there was the kingdom of Israel, ruled by Solomon at that time. Now, let me give you the setting. Israel at that point thrived, and people all around the east from china to Ethiopia heard of Daniel. Of course, some nations couldn’t care less but heard is enough for some to be considered as success lol.

Now, everyone I mentioned here “used” Daniel’s wisdom at some point; Egypt made Israel her best ally, Assyria made Israel his soldier (for a short period of time but he did), and Ethiopia… no spoilers yet. BUT YOU WILL LOVE THEY WAY SHE USED IT.

(Side note; this is also huge evidence that israel was always considered the smart nation around. I believe there was smarter nations but you know, it’s like more of the personality. Omg I sound so arrogant rn but let me cook).

And of course, people talk. And glorify things. Tigist already knew Daniel, but when the story of a Rhino reached her ear it was already a unicorn. Daniel was described as the smartest man alive, most rich, sexiest guy alive and what not lol. Tigist already fell in love before seeing. She thought she must see if it’s true. It was too good to be true to her ears. And, if it’s true; why can’t she have some of that to herself??

She packed the best gems and camels she has (and a lot of them) and headed Jerusalem.

She saw the most beautiful buildings and temple and what not, she tested Dani’s wisdom. And it all came up as true. She said the famous quote; “it is all 1000x better than the stories about you”.

Daniel knew nations don’t come to visit him just to visit him; he asked her. “Ma’am, what is your wish?”

Now, before I continue the story, let me tell you. Daniel was WEAK for her. Damn she was pretty. And hawt. He was ready to give her things she wanted. He assumed; permit to free pass through his place to India. Makes sense? He gave that to her. Why not. She was happy with that.

But here the thing!!! She wanted HIS SPERM. she wanted his dna. She wanted to have s3x with him so she could have some of this!! And I am not making that up!!! Both Israeli and Ethiopian scripts confirm that, and.. apparently it wasn’t just once !!

In the Ethiopian culture, there’s a whole bloodline of jews, apparently they have their own status because according to their belief, since they are around the Ethiopian culture could thrive !

Many many years later…

The story of Jews in Ethiopia is for another post, but when they came back to Israel Sudan was about to accuse Daniel of kidnapping Ethiopian people. But, before it was “confirmed”, Daniel went to Tigist and gave her everything she wanted!! Education, free tech, literally anything that a first world country can give to a third world country enough to thrive, at least a little more!! He gave her FOR FREE some of his inventions that later made Israel world leader in it, when it comes to water and water tech. He gave her leading tech on agriculture which israel is also leading in! He gave her free schools and to this day Israelis go and volunteer in Ethiopian schools! He didn't wanna feel guilty much for doing stuff under Ethiopian gov you know so he did what I feel like a bribe but you know idm he brought some jews home and the Ethiopia got a lot of good stuff so what can I saaay

Now, as not true as it might seem, Daniel sees Tigits as a poor lady who is in a constant need of charity. Tigist doesn’t seem to mind much tbh? She appreciates the help. She’s one of the only African countries who wants Israel part of Africa culturally ! and constantly asking about Daniel when he’s absent lol… she’s still hot for his ass I can tell u that

I think their relationship nowadays is mostly beneficial… both not seems to be bothered my that… let Dani do the do without feelings.. which is totally against his morals but lets not get into that shall we

Fun fact: in eilat there’s two hotels one next to another, Queen of Sheba and king Solomon, as a tribute to them

btw,

Tigist belong to me, too

[bisamwilson]

hey sweetheart, how are you? hope you’re doing well and having a wonderful day 🩷💖

for the ask game: 💫 💞 💥 ☯️ 🧿

hello love!!! hope you are too!!! <3

(from this list)

💫: what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

oh i ADORE when people leave those long comments that mention/react to specific parts of the fic/chapter that they loved/want to speculate on/etc. like if i get a comment notification email and i see like a block of text or multiple paragraphs it keeps me going for WEEKS afterwards!!! obviously all (positive) comments are appreciated, but those are always my very favorite

💞: what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

the characters! i've talked with a-chan about this a bunch recently, actually, especially since i write so many aus, and my general metric for how successful and AU is is if you recognize the characters even though they're in completely different situations. like that's the metric for me if i've written a successful fic, if the characters are believably themselves no matter what situation i've written them in, canon or otherwise (which leads me to another favorite au-specific comment, which is when someone compliments me on characterization or on how i work specific plot points into a ficverse separate from canon!)

there are certain fics however that i wanted to have Certain Vibes™, so in those cases the figurative language was also very important to me (the angel/demon au comes to mind here). and given i was kind of forcibly made editor in chief of my high school paper when i was still a Young Mak, i'm ngl and say grammar isn't also very important to me lmao. i'm always in awe of other people's fics with amazing worldbuilding, but i think that matters to me the least. it's why i love the LOTR movies but the books weren't my favorite. couldn't handle that much worldbuilding (sorry, tolkien)

💥: find your least kudos'd fic - say something wonderful about it.

my least kudos'd fic is it's raining on prom night, which is unsurprising, given it's a samriley prequel to a sambucky au.

i do really love this fic tho! getting to write high school aged sam in sweet puppy love with his childhood best friend was so much fun, and i loved getting to dig deeper into who sam was before we got into the actual au proper. i also really loved the way i wrote this exchange, specifically bc i think i did a pretty good job of establishing the kind of banter, relationship, and history they have despite it being such a short fic that takes place way into their knowing each other (and even dating each other)

“A gift is a nice way of putting it,” Riley replies, laughing. “That flower was half-dead and I’d given it to you specifically because my mama was gonna kill me if I ruined another one of her bouquets and you were the nearest person to me. Also we were five, but if you want to consider that the start of my long game to get you to date me, I’ll accept the status of romantic mastermind.” Sam laughs, grabbing the Swiss army knife out of his pocket that Peggy would kill him for having at a diplomatic event and cutting down a bloom to hand to Riley. “You were some kind of mastermind, all right. Your mama would’ve yelled at anybody else, but I was the new kid and the pastor’s son, so I got a free pass that day. Everybody went home happy, and I accidentally landed myself a troublemaker best friend.” Riley makes sure the partial stem is free of thorns and tucks the rose behind Sam’s ear. “Everybody went home happy except my mama, you mean.” “Well, that’s a given. Her poor roses.”

☯️: how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

this is,,, a complicated question. on the one hand, i've developed some really great fandom friendships i never would have otherwise if i hadn't started writing (i've always been a lurker before now, and while i had some mutuals i was fond of, they were never people i'd seek out for conversation, much less go visit/have them come visit me!) on the other hand, there are some really toxic people in fandom, and publishing your own work opens you up to a lot of vulnerability when those people don't play so nicely, especially when you imbue a lot of yourself into your work through the characters, or your time, or even in some cases your experiences. it also can lead to the trap i found myself falling into last year, which is that since so many of my fandom friends came bc i was writing, i feared i'd lose them all when i stopped writing. obviously this hasn't happened even as my output has slowed dramatically (early 2022 mak would probably be horrified to know i haven't published anything in like five months), but that was a legitimate worry i had, and it was. very bad on my mental health. so it's all about striking that balance of finding friends and community but doing so in a way that like,,, doesn't leave you having anxiety attacks and major bouts of horrible self esteem over your own fics and writing ability at the end of it all

🧿: what steps do you take to not take things personally if a fic doesn't do well, or if your writing/posting/sharing experience isn't going how you'd like it to?

this goes back a lot to my previous answer which is just like. setting those own clear boundaries in my head that this is a hobby that i enjoy doing for myself and also bc i have wonderfully supportive friends, and like at this point i've published enough fics that i'm comfortable telling people off if they're shitty on them, tho thankfully there haven't been many instances (i am, however, forever haunted by an earlier fic i wrote where someone commented something along the lines of "i was kinda hoping [x thing that i didn't write] would happen but of course what you did was good too" and i wasn't confident enough to be like "hey what the fuck. this was kinda rude, friend. go write your own fic????")

basically if the response is negative, then either i learn if there's something to be learned, or if not, i tell them to go eat shit bc i know my value (@ peggy carter thank u for this wonderful piece of wisdom that has gotten me through many years of self doubt), or if the response is just lacking, then i brush it off bc i know that my fics 1) make me happy and 2) make a lot of my friends happy too. even if the fic doesn't do well, if i've just got one person gushing about how much they love it, well, that's someone else in this world i've made happy by doing something i enjoy, and that's enough :)

[shrillvoices]

i love your writing, but i have to know. how do you outline/plan the plot? your writing seems so good and cohesive and sometimes i find my pacing to be off or i’m rambling off in random directions lol. how are you soo good at keeping it together and concise?

⚠️Long post ahead, TLDR at bottom⚠️

Alright, the first thing I personally do is think of a random snippet of the fic. Maybe I think of a good dialog line while drawing, or I think of a good description for a cool setting while outside. Literally anything works. Whatever pops in your head, write it down. You can expand later. ('I've stopped running' was written off a 3 sentence concept the popped in my head at 2am. I just jotted it down before going to sleep)

Then I pick out what the overall idea I want. Do I want angst? Fluff? Characters interacting? Dialog or description heavy? Inner focus or outward focus (how character thinks vs how character acts)?

Usually, a main character comes to me at some point during this, but if it doesn't, I try to think of the best one for the role. I consider the facts above. Boom! Character(s)!

After that comes the fun part - actually writing out my idea. I don't concept, I don't outline or anything (sorry to disappoint), I just think of the ending. For 'I've stopped running', I knew how I wanted it to start and I knew how I wanted it to end; Kyborg questioning at first, then him getting some sense knocked into him. But the middle part? That comes to me naturally. (By "naturally" I mean I spend 4 hours at school hunched over my computer between assignments, of course).

I don't really know how to explain it- its just easy to write 12 pages when you have a concise beginning and end.

Don't forget that I'm still a beginner writer. My advice probably isn't the best 😅 What helped me immensely was reading books and short stories, gave me many ideas. I'm still working on descriptions, getting a flow that doesn't go all over the place, dialog, etc. (Descriptions are the worst absolute bc I have aphantasia really bad, can't see or hear anything in my brain)

TLDR; My advice is to practice writing things like episodes and podcasts and stuff, which helps me to get a good feel of writing a single plot. Just a lot of writing pre-plotted media, honestly!

[purplebass]

Hi! I’m trying to befriend my favourite mutuals so I’m asking a bunch of questions to get to know you all better

What was/is your favourite subject in school? Were/are you good at it?

What country do you live in? What do you like/dislike about it?

Are you currently writing/planning an original story? If so, what is it about?

What genres of media do you usually consume? What books would you recommend to people?

What is your favourite poison?

what is your favourite method of murder (both to read about and what you would actually use)?

What patterns do you usually notice in the people that you hang out with?

Hi!!! 😊

What was/is your favourite subject in school? Were/are you good at it?

My favorite subject in school was English language/literature. I also loved human sciences subjects like philosophy, anthropology and psychology but English has been my favorite subject ever since I was a little kid. I was one of the few people in my class who was good at English, actually. lol. English is not my first language, so I've always prided myself that I was good at something that others found hard to learn

2. What country do you live in? What do you like/dislike about it?

I live in Italy :) I like here. There are a lot of things to love about Italy like the food, the culture (I consider Italian music, literature, history etc to be super rich and I love it). I also live close to the sea so the weather is great mostly all the year and I get to see beautiful landscapes. But I hate that you can't really have a future here, because there aren't great job options for people unless you work in a scientific field (which I don't). I also think it's a traditional country in some areas and it needs to improve because many people have some narrow-minded views.

3. Are you currently writing/planning an original story? If so, what is it about?

I am planning an original story based on my hometown, even though I don't have the details yet. There are a lot of legends surrounding my city and also a lot of castles and other ancient stuff that it's perfect as the backdrop of an historical fantasy story :) so far I just know it will be about two women born in two different worlds (one is rich while the other is not). And they are enemies! Or maybe not. lol I just need to figure out more

4. What genres of media do you usually consume? What books would you recommend to people?

I mostly watch Asian dramas. I like short series, mostly melodramas or mystery or stories where the character wants to get revenge on someone lmao. The more over the top crazy, the more I like them. You've read TLH but I would recommend the Shades of Magic series. I'm recommending this series to anyone who likes historical fantasy :)

5. What is your favourite poison?

I'd say cyanide and belladonna.

6. what is your favourite method of murder (both to read about and what you would actually use)?

Use poison is a method I like because it's so subtle and sudden. There have been a lot of crimes with poison and sometimes it was hard to detect, especially if you use this method in a book set in an historical setting :)

7. What patterns do you usually notice in the people that you hang out with?

I'm an introvert who has a hard time making friends irl and I've noticed that most of the people I hang out with are usually extroverts who tend to be the center of attention in the friend group (and often, are very popular bc of their magnetic personality). They like to laugh and enjoy my silly jokes. lol. And sometimes they dare me to do things I wouldn't otherwise do because of my reserved and anxious nature. Online is a little different because I tend to make friends who are introverts and bookish like me.

Thanks for the questions! They were fun to answer :)

[basicallyjaywalker]

20 Asks for Fic Writers

Hello!!! I was tagged by @cboffshore to do this fun little thing! Ty Lila!!

For my tag mmm @finn-m-corvex and @rainofthetwilight no pressure! Other fic writers feel free to join in too!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

2 official ones! Whumptober 2023 and Arms

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

36,850!

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Ninjago. Only ninjago. I do have a few others out there but no one will find them

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

I only have the two but it's:

Whumptober 2023: Ninjago Edition at 98 Kudos

Arms at 53 Kudos

5. do you respond to comments?

I don't but I need to, I cherish every comment and then get terrified of looking like a dweeb if i respond, but i kinda just need to get over that 😭

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

Hmm I'm gonna choose an individual whumptober entry for this because both end pretty nicely but Day 4's Shock ends on a horrifying cliffhanger!

7. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I would say Arms because you have 2 choices of ending, both being soft and sweet.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Not yet! Hopefully if I do it's warranted/constructive

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Nope!

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

For now I haven't, but I'm open to it! Craziest one I ever wrote was in middle school when me and a friend (now my partner) wrote a crossover of literally every fandom we were in. Ninjago was included bc I was spinning even then

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Thankfully, no. And consider this the first and only warning that if anyone does I'm paying a visit (for real, don't steal fic. writers work really hard on our stuff and it's just a dick move)

12. what's the longest time you've spent working on a fic? and the shortest?

Longest in general is Whumptober, taking an entire month!

Though if you count the individual entries as separate fics then Arms is the longest, and Day 21's Voice is the shortest, partially bc I was short on time and partially bc I hadn't seen Skybound in a while

13. have you ever co-written a fic?

Nope, but I'm open to it 👀

14. what's your all time favorite ship? from all the fandoms?

Awful question for a multishipper /j

Can I pick two? I'm gonna pick two

Canon is Pixane

Non-canon is probably Bruise

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I started to do the 12 Days of Ninjago for last year but ran out of time and have lost interest, though maybe the ideas will see the light of day as one-shots sometime!

16. what are your writing strengths?

I've been told I do dialogue well!

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Description that doesn't feel like I'm a five year old kid telling you the longest story of your life. I find it hard to transfer the image in my head to the page without taking actual hours. I actively study friend's writing to figure out how they do it and am trying to get better though!

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm definitely open, but I would wanna make sure I know the language. The best option I got right now is french

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Ninjago! First fandom, first fic, first ocs.... truly, a first in many aspects

20. favorite fic you've written?

Man I have to choose another entry for this from Whumptober. Even then it's still a huge tie, so top 3

Day 13's Bite made me cry while writing it (it's up there w/ Shock in terms of angsty endings)

Shock

Day 22's Hit and Run

[todayisawthewhxlewxrld]

AXEL‼️ today i almost shit myself at school(not actually)

I hate the first day back. my spanish teacher loves to call on me bc she knows im not confident with my spanish and that i have a fear of public speaking (i dont even know why i’ve been fluent since i was 5💀) SO SHE LIKES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT AND CALL ON ME TO READ THE LONGEST PARAGRAPH IN WHATEVER TEXTBOOK, ARTICLE OR LITERALLY WHATEVER WE’RE READING 😭 ITS LIKE SHE’LL LET EVERYONE ELSE READ THE SHORT STUFF AND THEN SHE’LL MAKE ME READ WAY MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE AND IM JUST LIKE?? i get that its to “help build confidence” and shit like that but is it really helping if her “helping me build confidence” made me have a panic attack last year? I DONT THINK SO.

oh yeah so you’re probably wondering abt the panic attack thing🧍‍♀️ so lemme just give you a little back story first about how i feel about her class and stuff‼️ her class terrified me. like every time i would enter i’d be shaking and my heart would be beating so hard that i could feel it in my throat… kinda embarrassing…

but anyway it was just cause we had to present a something we made for a project and i was losing my mind because my friends didnt want to present it and my class was pretty big and filled with a bunch of rude and snotty people so i went to talk to the teacher to ask if i could just present to her privately or something but she said no so like i lowk freaked out and had a break down in the middle of the hallway 💀

honestly though the work isnt that hard considering i passed spanish with an A throughout the years but i just HATE talking in front of the class because for one my accent is different than everyone elses and two im one of the only non native spanish speakers so im kinda just like on edge cause yk how some people are theyre just not nice 🫠

anyway for the rest of the school day things were pretty good except J was being weird again and i think he was trying to flirt with me? he was just being rlly inappropriate and kept stealing my stuff 🫠 he stole my bag and then tried to go through it and then he asked if i had a dildo in my bag and if i like using it 😟 he then proceeded to walk around the class and tell people i have a dildo in my bag. i probably should’ve told C or a teacher idk why i didn’t 😭 oh yeah speaking of C hella people think we’re dating AND NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I TELL THEM WE’RE NOT THEY WONT SHUT UP AND JUST KEEP TELLING EVERYONE THAT WE’RE DATING.

oh i alsofell asleep in english😭 i got lucky at the teacher didnt notice though‼️ and then my friend fell down the stairs

ANYWAY THATS ALL‼️ so how are you axel? OOO WHATS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL??

thats all for today! byebye and ilysm 💗💗

-bambi

dude i swear to god spanish teachers r either the worst person on this planet or the sweetest person ever no in between…. LIKE WHY IS SHE TARGETING U OMG i’d have to start swinging i fear…

i need J to like explode why does he act like that do u think it’s bc he doesn’t get attention at home… that’s mean sorry LMFAO um anyway i hope he leaves u the hell alone already bc u deserve it😍😍

UR FRIEND FELL DOWN THE STAIRS ?1?1??1 HELP R THEY OK???😭😭😭

i’m ok!!! and HMMMM my favorite animals r probably bats !!! what is urs :0

BYEEE ILYT!!!!