#attwdc

[gaydryad]

good morning gamers I am once again opening up asks for ATTWDC [“setting swap.scriv”], here’s a snippet from the scene I just finished revising:

Begrudgingly, Karyn had finally allowed Death to fetch replacement bandages from the windowless bathroom. The surprise from his answer had dislodged temporarily the itching in her limbs and the flight feathers in her chest, though something snagged in the back of her mind remained; settling back on the couch, she let her mind chase the distraction of slowly freezing to death. For obvious reason she could not stay encased in blanket, and so her exposed legs were assaulted by the frigid air, and even her wrapped burns seemed to absorb the cold. Karyn was shivering in her gym shirt by the time Death reappeared. She grimaced at the breeze which billowed out when he sat down next to her, and stilled the reflexive temptation to rub her hands over her arms, instead yielding her left hand and arm. Chilly drafts slid through her bandages as Death undid the existing fastenings from the gauze and methodically unwrapped the cotton, and for a pleasant moment the burns covering her forearm reached temperature stasis as the escaping heat reasserted itself, fought the cold, and eventually succeeded at re-establishing discomfort. “S-so,” Karyn began, trying desperately to stay in place as nerve endings rediscovered themselves, “about. Uh. Your.. you.—No, wait…” She grimaced to herself before Death could make remark. “I can phrase that better.”

WIP Wednesday Game

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it works:

In a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

Requested/Friend event mentions under the cut! If you'd like to be pinged next week, let me know!

Friends @fiore-della-valle @redbirdblogs @greenbergsays @idkfandomwhatever @luckyspike @obaewankenope @mad-madam-m @anonymousdandelion @geometricfractal @prettybirdy979 | Requests @aparticularbandit @madnessfromthemountains @makeroftherunes @not-orpheus @1attheedge @preetsramblings @whimsicalmeerkat @kidsomeday @lizhly-writes

[asexual-society]

Mod Banshee

Hi y’all! I’m a new mod, you can call me either Kat or Banshee. My pronouns are he/him & she/her, and I identify as mixed-race, chinese-american, non-binary, and biromantic demisexual! I’m currently working on a bachelor’s degree in Writing & Literature, with a minor in LGBTQ+ studies. Find me at @gaydryad​ !

yes, I intentionally drew my hanfu crossed right over left. I am almost a giant nerd about death (gods, ritual practices, eschatology, etc).

I’ve been identifying as demisexual since I found the term on Tumblr mid-2014, and have been “out” for almost as long, since I was lucky to be raised by a fairly liberal mom, and grew up in a gay-friendly neighborhood. Now I get to be the aggressively ace activist at my college, lmao whoops...

My current special interests include: death, men’s fashion, Hollow Knight, and Steven Universe.

ALSO, I’m working on a fantasy novel about trust, politics, and resisting fate, which you can learn about at @attwdc​ ! It has an all-queer cast, including multiple ace characters :0

[gaydryad]

6 for ATTWDC and 12 for your fic?

:D can do!

6. Does this chapter/fic have any twists that you’re proud of? (for ATTWDC)

augh, a difficult one. ATTWDC is a very information-hierarchy book in the sense that a lot of the conflict comes from characters hiding things, outright lying to each other, or (conversely) (perceiving) undesirable differences in knowledge, which naturally lends itself to having various subjective "reveals", of which I definitely have favorites...

as for plot twists proper, there's a Moment in arc 4 (about three-quarters of the way through the book) that amidst other things forces Karyn to confront the ever-dwindling chances of her being able to go home (which has been her driving motivation for most of the book until then), and also ends up with her getting some new powers, and that 2-3 chapter sequence is one I quite like personally! it's fun to write, both literally and figuratively empowers Karyn for the final length of the novel, adds a new dimension to her relationship with Death (also fun to write), I get to explore how magic "feels" a bit more, there's a menacing little dialogue between Life and Death in there, I just like it a lot

also, it includes these two lines of dialogue, the latter of which is funny to me personally:

“There is a chance that you may have in some fragment inherited some of the elemental abilities of your parents,” Death thought out loud, “although (...) by design, they should not be heritable abilities.” “Well, I don’t know what else that could have been, so I guess now you’re going to have to amend the textbooks to just ‘extremely rare’,” Karyn said.

12. What emotions do you expect your readers to feel? (for "there's blood on your shirt.")

hmmm. it's a (rewrite of a) joke drabble from years ago, so I suppose my main hope is that it'll manage to be as funny to others as it is for me writing it, with a bit of bystander wish fulfillment. it'll be obvious what I mean when it's done

maybe some intrigue into the main story, since it's post-canon for ATTWDC? that's probably a stretch though.

[gaydryad]

1, 9, and 20?

>:)c going to do this for ATTWDC

1. Give a 5-word summary of this chapter/fic.

"Magical politics, mostly about Death." lol

9. What is your favorite dialogue you’ve written so far?

oh this is DIFFICULT... constraining this to new dialogue for draft 7 (setting swap) and not anything from previous ones / that's been grandfathered in, I have an intense soft spot for this exchange (transcript in alt):

(marge meme) I just think more gods should be non-binary

20. Share 3 images that would fit to a mood board for this chapter/fic.

in lieu of reusing ones from an old mood board [here, fwiw.]. I can find 3 memes on my phone / laptop for this. bonus is 2/3 of these also work for the sequence of chapters I've been working on. lmao.

I would draw more on aesthetics but I think this is a more realistic moodboard

[ecritetmort]

Karyn was somewhere between wanting to call bullshit on the entire setup or accept Life’s suggestion; her entire body cried at the idea of moving, but that didn’t disprove her theory that this was an elaborate kidnapping scheme. “How could I possibly sleep off being dead?” she asked incredulously.

“You soul has already been re-bonded to your body. Now you wait for your body to remember how to be be alive,” Life said calmly. She lifted one hand, and a golden-glittering screen lifted from the coffee table between them and hovered before Life in the air, despite lack of any support or signs of string.

Karyn lifted her head, squinting at it. The screen glowed faintly of gold, and appeared to maintain its position entirely on its own. “How?” she whispered under her breath.

Around the screen, one eye shifted to Karyn, narrowed. “Your body needs time before you can use it again. Sleep.” Nothing in Life’s voice was directly hostile, but as she sat posed with one leg crossed over the other, eyeing Karyn with disdain, the threat of or I’ll make you was clear.

So, despite the anxious sweat accumulating on her scalp, Karyn closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

"I was dead!?"

"Yeah, eh, sleep it off, you'll be fine."

[gaydryad]

just found an Intensely dry scene I wrote back in february for ???? who fucking knows why ???? in which karyn asks death if he can use magic to recharge her [nintendo] ds and. hey past me. what

[gaydryad]

ATTWDC [“setting swap.scriv”] for the WIP Wednesday Game please!

on the shorter side, but I think I'm going to cut off this scene here, so:

An unsteady knock came from her front door. Delta didn’t move. She considered cursing out whoever was bothering her, or simply waiting for them to leave. “It’s unlocked,” she wearily called out instead. The door timidly swung open, and two heads peeked in, two nervous teenagers, wearing expressions which betrayed that her day would likely involving making much, much more noise.

[gaydryad]

3 sentences on setting swap please!!

you get four! congrats?

Still fuming silently Delta had cut through the dark back home, thinking morosely on the best course of action before at last tossing off her slippers in frustration and collapsing back against her bed. It was of no use going to see Zeta then; evening was falling over the island and her sister would likely be either asleep or temperamental at the disturbance. Delta closed her eyes; tried to stymy the anger in her heart.

decided to give up temporarily on the scene I was writing and start a new one. this is the start of the new scene

[ecritetmort]

my WIP sideblog @attwdc​ has a lot of excerpts and unincluded-but-canon scenes, with the most recent being “affect(ion)” and an older favorite being “the empty restaurant”!

I also have a #visual tag for all of my edits that I’ve reblogged onto there, most of which are a little old now but I’m still fairly proud of.

thanks !!

I just realized my queue is nearly empty and that's what I rely on when I'm not online so I'm looking to fill that up! Reblog this post with links to recent writeblr work you're proud of, including art, moodboards, playlists, and excerpts! If you see me like it, that means I've tagged it and dumped it in the queue! I want to boost some work from other cool writeblrs! 😊

[gaydryad]

🥊 and 🧊 for ATTWC plz!

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Karyn: Loves— Is the kind of person who finds math fun, and loves engaging in movement / dexterity-based sports. Is this influenced by maybe unconsciously tapping into inherited magic? Maybe. She is oddly light on her feet... anyway! She also enjoys people-watching quite a bit. #1 eavesdropper. Hates— Self-reflection

Death: Loves— Reading. It's pathological. Particularly second-world fantasy and science fiction, but also mystery and horror. Anything not a psychodrama or historical fiction is on the table, really. —Otherwise: enjoys sneaking into various spiritual or religious festivities & impersonating various spirits/deities (though does this less than he used to in the past); following new technologies for physical combat/etc, sometimes tinkering with/designing magical weapons. Hates— Actually having to engage in any sort of sustained conflicts, particularly involving the factions. Absolutely hates direct confrontation, preferring more indirect means or games. Also hates being tied down to one thing or place for too long; prefers to avoid extended obligations.

Life: Loves— Working on her experiments and designing new ecotypes. Would isolate herself from everything in a heartbeat if it meant getting to spend all of eternity running field tests and simulations. Enjoys taking on particularly hostile or novel environments, and getting to completely manipulate and suffuse a place with her creations; she likes the slow calculation around and mitigation of random factors and variance. Maybe a bit pathologically. Hates— Having to interface with humans and engage with them outside of strict delegation or indirect manipulation. She doesn't mind keeping up with humans' antics, but hates being roped into them herself. Totally unrelatedly, hates any discussions of morality or politics.

Diana: Loves— Was 100% into any team-based extracurriculars she could join and enjoys nothing more than getting to be in a leadership role, particularly with regards to delegation and task management. Though she gets more frazzled by the more bureaucratic aspects of her position as queen, she really loves the aspects of balance and care. Is the first person you would want to go to with your problems; she will both solve them for you and love doing it. Also enjoys the competitive aspects of team sports. Hates— Managing bureaucracy and regulation. She has a slightly-unrealistic idea of how resource management works and hates having to turn away any in need. —On a lighter note: is fine at practical math but hates proofs.

Oscar: Loves— Anything that involves working with animals. He just loves animals. Also really likes making music and writing poetry; if he didn't have to prepare to be king, he would absolutely be an artist of some stripe instead. Hates— Confrontation, and having to play up confidence or power in general. Is not a fan of violence, and is also an anxious mess, and so has a very bad time if he needs to speak out or defend himself (though, he's not actually terrible at combat, just opposed). Additionally, he hates the kind of power games that he's expected to keep up with both domestically and in broader politics; he doesn't like having to lead, but he also hates the demands placed on him.

lastly... okay hmm... for Triste... let's play in the space of his younger self. Pre violent depression, at least. As a younger man I think he was an absolute nerd, and also highly driven by care for those in his House. He's a good politician, and a competent leader, but the thing that drives him on that front is ultimately moral guilt and not passion. He is, at the end of the day, that mutual who is running threadbare trying to fix the world (or at least, "fight for a better world," by his standards) and has not spent enough time on his own wellbeing. Maybe he loves the fight, the controversy, but it's not so much that he enjoys flouting convention as the other options didn't quite work out. What does he hate? I think Triste hates doing what he's doing: getting into petty squabbles to try and build power, appeal and appease various other Houses to garner support. He hates the game as he hates the game-masters, even if he plays well.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Physically yes (i.e. their general appearance hasn't changed much): Karyn, Death, Oscar, Diana, Zeta, Delta

Physically no (i.e. got a significant visual redesign): LIFE!!, Triste

Universe is kind of in a weird place here—They haven't been redesigned per se but originally I had no plans to give Them a more human-looking appearance (nor to have Them come back from the dead), so... kinda?

Personality no: BASICALLY EVERYONE. For the most part, the only exceptions were late adds to the cast (Diana, Universe, Delta), though Oscar hasn't really changed much either. Diana basically emerged fully formed, minus technically a veeeeery old proto-Diana from... I think draft 2...?... who basically was a completely different character; Universe likewise, though Their distinctive speaking style came a little later. Delta has gone through basically zero changes

In terms of changes, Karyn has changed the most. Her current self and the version of her in draft 1 are basically two completely different people LMAO,,, in part because I have changed a lot since 2013 and she has changed with me, in part because starting with draft 2 she more or less went "actually this shit isn't romantic!! I hate it here!!!" and evolved from there.

Both Life and Death also had pretty notable changes—Life got a lot meaner and less empathetic, Death became less cruel and more compassionate—but have kept the same "bones," so to speak. They also both became more "adult," but part of this was the fact that I eventually got tired of writing them constantly bickering; it wasn't fun to read.

The biggest change, though, was regarding how they feel about humanity: originally Life was sympathetic to human plights, and Death more apathetic. There wasn't originally a non-interference taboo (Universe didn't exist in the original cosmology—They were a much later addition) (Triste originally was more or less just power hungry; the ethical debates arose later). In the time between drafts 3 and 4 (2014--2016) all that changed, and necessarily Life's characterization had to change accordingly (Death's a more slow evolution).

(As a side note here, Triste is completely unrecognizable lmao;; I'm pretty sure his current self would absolutely beat the shit out of the character that filled his role in drafts 1-2 (draft 3 he was dead, so...). That said, it's hard to say that he's changed the most, when really it's more like I decided to switch his character type from "abject villain" to "morally objectionable antagonist" and all the rest fell out of that.)

[gaydryad]

"setting swap.scriv" please!

coming right up !

Delta closed her eyes; tried to stymy the anger in her heart. It did nothing to be resentful toward the gods; the best which could be done was to keep oneself out of their thoughts, and to keep in better graces when their attention turned. To toe the line one way or another, she had learned, was far less important than keeping quiet. An unsteady knock came from her front door.

[gaydryad]

started Thinking TM about miraculous ladybug again. I can feel it. the desire to hyperfixate on this show is looming over me

[ecritetmort]

because it came to me in a hot flash yesterday:

Universe would almost certainly host a Wonderful!-style podcast of Their time exploring Earth in the JH AU, probably dragging Time along for the ride. (or in that one other version of ATTWDC I considered where it’s entirely set during Their time on Earth and instead Karyn is dragged along...) since in-canon They recorded plenty of cassette tapes documenting their travels, hosting a podcast isn’t that far off. The recording quality would be Bad and with very little editing but also filled with lively energy and enthusiasm.

in a similar vein, I can definitely imagine Death hosting a history/current events podcast (think The Magnus Archives but not fiction) where each week he covers something else going on (and also makes too much commentary on how this is just like back in xxxx BCE and it’s disappointing that humans are doing this again but w/e). either that or an ethnographic podcast that’s actually just recording the stories of the dead by temporarily giving the dead a vessel (totally not because he’s bitter about certain historical inaccuracies or anything). on most occasions it’s famous deceased figures, but not always. bonus points if it just turns into the deceased of the week & Death both complaining about how much ancient knowledge/tech is belittled. double bonus points for complaints about mistranslations of ancient texts and I should know because I wrote it!

Anyone doing STS!

I'm not sure who on my dash takes part (feel free to let me know and I'll try and send you questions!) so here's a general question for anyone STS-ing.

If your OCs started a podcast, what would their podcast be about? (Bonus points if you can write a snippet from an episode!)

[gaydryad]

god I love writing scenes with delta, she’s literally such an old lady (honorific)

[gaydryad]

god I've been working on ATTWDC since I was 12. now I'm 24. half my life...

[gaydryad]

wip ask meme !

Tagged by @sourb0i hehe

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! then tag as many people as you have WIPs. I do not have that many writing mutuals on this account slknsdfsn

I do not keep a WIP folder per se (tho I do keep folders per project usually) but here's a (non exhaustive) list of all of my ongoing projects (+ the genres since um. it's all over the place):

setting swap.scriv [ATTWDC, novel]

Archive Project [creative nonfiction]

calls of the void [zine]

aftermarket.scriv [short story]

technically I could put like 2-3 more things here but shh those are things I haven't worked on in a WHILE.

tagging: @captain-lovelace (welc to the published writers club) @loopyhoopywrites (I may have.. abandoned.. my proper writing acc but in my brain we are still mutuals)