#bc this game is just doing something to my brain to inspire it

[wondrouswendy]

I genuinely feel like Alan Wake 2 has reconfigured my brain chemistry on a completely new level. Like no joke, I feel like I was one person before this game and now I’m someone else after. No I am not being dramatic

[cherubytes]

to me the funniest thing about making a warrior cats ultrakill au is that you don't really have to change a lot to make the characters and story fit into the warrior cats universe. being able to enter cat hell without dying was literally a major plot point for one of the arcs, so having some random kitty go and fuck shit up over there is totally believable as far as im aware.

[jflemings]

would you minds sharing any random jessie relationship headcanons you have? you write about it so well in your fics pls let us into your brain lol

— my oddly specific gf!jessie headcanons

pairing: jessie fleming x reader

warnings: nsfw & saw

a/n: got this ask and kept it in the drafts so i could just keep adding to it when a thought popped into my head :)

if any of my headcanons inspire fics please please please tag me!!! i’d love to see your take on them <3

- took soooooooo long to ask you out because she kept psyching herself out

- spoke with such confidence that it was honestly a shock to you when she told you she was nervous

- talked about you all the time to her friends and family before they ever actually met you

- introduces you to her sister before the rest of her family (mainly bc elysse begged to meet you)

– she has tiktok only so you can send her videos and you’re the only one she follows

– she takes soooo many photos of you

loves taking embarrassing ones just so she can laugh at them later

– sleeps on the side of the bed closest to the door

– is an absolute pain in the ass to go furniture shopping w because she reads everything on the label

– early bird

– not super big on pda but insists on holding your hand everywhere you go

– she doesn’t really celebrate her goals but if she knows you’re in the crowd she’ll point to wherever you’re sitting and blow you a kiss

– if you get married she gets your first initial tattooed on her inner left bicep closest to her heart

– easily embarrassed by compliments

– likes to read her book with your head in her lap

– makes the best bacon and eggs, i don’t make the rules

– if you drink coffee you can bet your ass she memorised your order the first time y’all went out for coffee

– super clingy in the mornings

– makes a playlist of songs that reminds her of you/your relationship

– very attentive gift giver, will take note of even the smallest things you say you like for future reference

– if you’re a reader she’s got your tbr in her notes app so that if she sees a book you’ve been meaning to read she can just get it for you

– likes to give and receive flowers

– a rambler, she’ll talk your ear off if she gets talking about something she really enjoys

that includes you, she talks about you to her teammates all the time

– secret avid pet name user

babe, baby, my girl, sunshine, ALL OF THEM

- blanket hog

- the two of you make a pact to learn something new by the end of the year and she chooses to learn how to play the fucking harmonica

- she gets rlly good at it tho

- picks out your outfit for game days

- loves having baths with you

doesn’t get to do it often but when she does she goes all out: bath bomb/bath salts, candles, her kindle. the whole lot

- talks during movies if she doesn’t know what’s going on

“why’d he do that” “jess i don’t know, we’re watching the same movie”

- not a big tv series watcher but will sit with you while you watch it

- loves her documentaries though

- does a really good david attenborough impression

- is ridiculously competitive when it comes to monopoly and twister

- which is funny because she’s shit at twister

- likes to be close to you at all times

if the whole couch is free she’ll still sit next to you, thigh to thigh

- doesn’t like to argue but will if she feels strongly enough about it

- she can honestly be kinda condescending in arguments without even realising it

definitely comes from her role as a leader

- she asks you multiple times through the day what you’re thinking about just because she likes to know what’s going on inside you head

- likes to do normal, everyday things with you like chores. honestly doesn’t even care that she has to vacuum the whole house, she just likes that fact that the two of you are cleaning together

- as clingy as she is she also really likes her alone time and will often take herself to a corner of the house to just mellow out, especially if she’s been around people a lot that day

- she’ll always come and find you with a smile on her face when she’s ready to though

- loves to update you on her day when she’s away. she’s been known to send you photos of anything and everything when she’s with team canada

- likes to get you lil something from every city she visits if she can

- you display all the trinkets she gets you on a shelf

- when you first started dating she’d write you letters as a way to express her emotions because she didn’t feel like she could properly communicate them directly to you

she gives them all to you on your wedding day

- she’s just so so so so in love with you

NSFW

– generally soft during sex unless she’s high off a win, pissed off or been away from you for too long

– is a switch lol

– gets pleasure from you being pleasured, she’d eat you out for hours if you let her because she likes knowing that she can get you off

- also a biiiiiiiiiiiiig fan of using a strap, absolutely loves the way you look when she bottoms out

- is surprisingly vocal in bed

- has a massive praise kink it’s literally insane

- she came untouched once bc she was fucking you w her strap and you were telling her how good she was doing

- likes when you scratch down her back but can’t let you do it often bc of the shared change room

- once went to training with a scratched up back and sam never let her live it down

- isn’t super experienced but she is observant so she figures out what you like really early on

- made it her personal mission to fuck you on every surface of your new place when the two of you moved to portland

- is a big fan of morning sex

- not a big fan of shower sex

- also is a fan of make up sex

- tries to give you as many orgasms as physically possible in one round (four is her record) (she intends to beat it)

- aftercare queen

- is pretty firm with what she does and doesn’t like and isn’t usually one to go out of her comfort zone unless the two of you have discussed it before

- refuses to hit you during sex. she’s just not comfortable with it

- doesn’t really like choking either but she does like having her hand on the base of your neck without applying any pressure

also goes absolutely feral when you do it to her

- definitely prefers to have sex in the comfort of your own home

- the two of you got caught by niamh once because jess was too loud as you ate her out

neither of you could look her in the eye for about a week afterwards and jessie endured so much teasing

- isn’t one to have drunk sex but she does like just having her hands under your bra so she can cup your breasts. she doesn’t know why, it just happens when the two of you are going to bed after a night out

- is the biggest tease in the world

- will rile you up and then pretend she has no idea what she’s doing

- has insane stamina and will go for rounds until she physically can’t

- can get really cocky during sex, especially when she knows you’re about to cum

- if she’s had a really shit day/week she likes to be overstimulated just to get all of her negative emotions out

[mostlymaudlin]

would you still love me if i was a worm?

ive always wanted to manufacture a situation where andrew gets to ask neil this bc i just think he deserves to be a ridiculous bf who seeks validation in silly, petty ways <3 and i think I’ve finally got something — it’s def silly but that’s the point lmfao

Andrew wakes when Neil gets up to pee.

“Sorry,” Neil whispers, brushing his knuckles against the back of Andrew’s hand as he slips out of their bed.

Andrew doesn’t bother trying to fall back asleep immediately. He’ll just wake up again when Neil returns. Instead, he pulls his phone from under the pillow and scrolls through iFunny, staring blearily at memes that do not live up to the app’s name and fighting sleep.

By the time Neil gets back, Andrew has lost the ability to move his heavy thumb, his eyes drooping as he stares at a pixelated screenshot of a screenshot of a Tweet posted to Facebook. Neil takes the phone out of his lax grip, turning off the screen and shoving it back under the pillows.

“Go to sleep,” Neil whispers. Andrew opens one eye to glare at him. He would still be sleeping if Neil hadn’t chugged a whole can of seltzer water right before bed and damned them both. Unfortunately for Andrew, the act of looking at Neil in his rumpled, tired state only makes his chest go tight in that angry, riotous way that only Neil can inspire in him. He shifts closer to Neil, pushing at his shoulder until Neil gets the message and rolls onto his side. Andrew presses up against Neil’s back, shoving his face into his bedhead and inhaling deeply. One arm wraps tightly around Neil’s waist, the other wiggles underneath the pillow they now share. Andrew throws a knee over Neil’s thigh for good measure. Neil sighs happily, resting his palm over the back of Andrew’s hand where it rests on his chest.

The lure of sleep threatens to pull him back under, but the meme he’d been staring at is still burned into the backs of his eyelids.

“Hey,” Andrew murmurs into Neil’s hair. Neil hums in acknowledgment. “Would you still love me if I was a worm?”

Neil stiffens for a second, and it takes a beat for Andrew to register that they don’t really use that word. They talked about it once, a few years ago. Neither of them have anything against it, but agreed it felt shallow. Andrew thinks the word sometimes, when his brain is too lazy to be specific about what exactly Neil stirs in him. It doesn’t really matter. It’s just a word. He presses a kiss to Neil’s shoulder, and Neil relaxes immediately.

“I don’t know,” Neil says. “Why would you be a worm? How would I even know who you were?”

“You’re supposed to say yes,” Andrew says, squeezing in reprimand. “That your feelings for me transcend species.”

“Okay, well, mine don’t,” Neil says. “Worms are gross.”

In a flash of irritation, Andrew releases Neil and rolls back to his own side of the bed.

“Andrew,” Neil says, sitting up. “You can’t seriously be upset about this.”

“I can do whatever I want,” Andrew says.

“I mean, yeah,” Neil says, interrupted by a yawn. “But you’re not a worm. And I do love you.”

Andrew wrinkles his nose, flopping onto his back. “That’s gross.”

Neil huffs. He reaches a hand toward Andrew, waiting for Andrew to roll his eyes and nod before running his fingers through Andrew’s hair.

“It’s true,” Neil says. “And also based on reality.”

“Whatever,” Andrew says, he catches Neil’s wrist and tugs. “Come here.”

They resume their earlier position. When they finally settle, the slow, steady rhythm of Neil’s chest rising and falling has Andrew’s consciousness slipping. He jolts a bit when Neil speaks again.

“Would you love me if I was a worm?”

“Yes,” Andrew says, even though Neil is so annoying that Andrew should squeeze him until he pops.

“What would that even look like?” Neil asks. “Would you kiss my worm body?”

“I’d put you in a little worm enclosure,” Andrew murmurs, eyes closed. “I’d get you good worm food and toys, and keep you in a room where you could see Exy games on TV.“

“Oh,” Neil says. “That’s really nice, actually.”

“Mmhmmm.”

“I’d do that too,” Neil says, yawning again. “But different. I’ll think about it more tomorrow.”

Andrew doesn’t really care anymore. He’s warm, and he’s human, he’s holding a warm and human Neil. Sleep finally pulls him back under.

[fakeuwus]

RECKLESS | lee heeseung

now playing ☾⋆⁺₊🎧✩°｡ reckless by madison beer

"how could you be, so reckless with my heart?"

⁺ ⋆˚ genre: idol!hee x nonidol/university student!femreader, pure angst sorry lol, established relationship

⁺ ⋆˚ warnings: cursing, lowercase intended, barely proofread, mention of i-land LOL, lots of dialouge and idk if thats even a warning but had to put it out there, use of nicknames like babe/baby, infidelity

⁺ ⋆˚ word count: ~1k

⁺ ⋆˚ message from nic: wanted to put smth out while working on my jay fic!! got inspired by this show i was watching called "the game" (dont watch it its like highkey misogynistic and a bit racist and just overall so bad 😭) i wanted to rewatch it bc i used to watch it as a kid and now i realize how bad it was skdkd. but basically the bf is a pro football player while the gf is in med school and a certain plotline in the show inspired this 😁 also this is my first writing piece so pls be nice and feedback is appreciated!

heeseung slowly opened the front door to the apartment you and him shared, trying to be as quiet as possible since you were most likely sleeping. once he made it in he tip toe'd his way to your guys' bedroom. "did you have fun tonight hee?" you asked, while sitting on the couch with nothing but the lamp on. heeseung jumps, "holy shit you scared me! baby what are you doing up? come on let's get you to bed."

he walks over and tries to give you a kiss. you turned your head down only allowing him to press it to your forehead. you were pissed. actually, you were beyond that. words could not describe what you were even feeling at the moment.

you get up from the couch and stand before him, "you didn't answer my question. did you have fun tonight hee?" heeseung is perplexed by your tone. you sounded... hurt? angry? annoyed? all of the above? he tried to proceed with caution, racking his brain of all the possibilities of why you could be acting like this.

"uh... yeah babe, i had a lot of fun tonight. sorry i stayed out so late by the way. you really didn't have to wait up for me, you're probably tired." he was hopeful this was the right answer. it's gotta be, right? all you could do was stifle a cold laugh.

why the hell were you laughing? what was so funny? heeseung can feel his heartbeat in his ears and his skin was turning hot. you had never once acted this way in all of the years you guys had been together. it may not seem like a big deal to others, but you had always been so caring and sweet towards him.

even when you guys were arguing, your soft voice never changed. this was new. this was scary. you had a smile that didn't quite reach your eyes now and it seemed like you were staring into his soul.

"yeah heeseung. it's 2 am," you say sounding almost condescending, "but no i'm not mad that you stayed out so late. i mean i WAS, but after someone sent me a little something i realized there are worse things to be mad about." suddenly your phone is shoved into heeseung's hands. his jaw dropped. no. there's no way.

"who sent you this?! wait no it doesn't matter baby you can't believe this can you?" he reaches out for you but you pull away and start walking towards the front door to gather your jacket and bag, "so you're not even going to try to deny it? huh. i guess my friends were right." it makes him sick how you seem so calm on the outside, your words and actions treating this like one big joke while he's freaking out. he'd rather you be a crying, screaming mess than whatever behavior you're exhibiting at the moment.

you turn back around to him, "you think i don’t know who you’re giggling with on the phone while i’m sitting in the room studying for hours? that i’m stupid enough to believe that you’re not making out with her in that video? that i’m blind enough to not see the heart eyes you two make at each other while in the same room?” your words drip with venom and they shoot heeseung straight in the heart.

he feels like the room is spinning and he wants to faint. he wants to go up to you and hold you and tell you that she doesn’t matter, that you’re the only important thing in his life. but that’s not what happens. heeseung is too wrapped up in the moment to admit his wrongs.

frankly, he’s disgusted with himself and at a loss for words right now. he wants to convince not only you but more importantly to himself that he didn’t do anything wrong. and so he does. what comes out of his mouth next are words he’d soon regret. “WHAT DID YOU WANT ME TO DO YN?! i’ve been so lonely lately because you’re so wrapped up in school and she’s THERE FOR ME. she’s been there when you weren’t. i wouldn’t have made out with her if YOU were at the afterparty with ME like i asked you to! we won four fucking awards tonight and i just wanted my girlfriend there to celebrate with me.”

and just like that, you snap. the jacket and bag in your hands are now thrown to the ground and heeseung flinches. “YOU ARE SO FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE! do you hear the words that are coming out of your mouth right now?! i told you i have an exam tomorrow there was no way i was going to that damn party.”

tears are blurring your vision and your breath is becoming uneven. you don’t even recognize the man standing in front of you. “i have a life too heeseung. while you’re out chasing your dreams so am i. do you even acknowledge the sacrifices i have made for you over the past five years? tell me, was she there for you when you first became a trainee? was she crying for you every fucking episode of i-land? was she there every step of the way supporting your career?!"

heeseung doesn’t speak. he doesn’t move an inch yet his brain is moving a million miles per minute. he knows you’re right. he knows that you decline going out with your friends so you can wait for him to come home from practice. that your life only revolves around school and him. and he’s so eternally grateful for you. his heart yearns to express all the love he has for you and that he fucked up so badly. he just wants to fast forward to the part where you guys work through it and everything is okay again.

but that time is never going to come because you walk up to him with a heavy heart, placing the promise ring he gave you all those years ago in his hands.

he stares at the pretty diamond that shines in the moonlight, the only thing illuminating the darkness that’s consumed the space you both once filled with love. “i hope she was worth it,” you say as you open the door and walk out into the cold night. leaving heeseung and all of the memories of your relationship behind.

© fakeuwus 2023 do not repost, translate, or plagiarize

[penvisions]

wish i never met you {a garnish one shot}

Pairing: Chef! Joel Miller x Professor! Reader (formally known as Bartender! Reader)

Summary: Fear of rejection and messing up so beyond comprehension makes you regret crossing the professional line and getting to know Joel as you do now.

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: canon typical language, joel thinks he's the one in charge but we all know it's really reader, religious contemplation, mentions of past trauma, mentions of bad family dynamics, smoking, consumption of alcohol, menstruation, talk of menstruation, blood, cramps, muscle soreness, unorthodox pregnancy announcement, reader is a hot mess, allusions to adult content, allusions to smut, mentions of past p in v, might need to add more if i missed anything!

A/N: wrote this as part of a fun, silly fic title prompt game submission from a sweet anon. it totally inspired an angsty din piece at first that i have in my drafts but then these two slammed into my brain and hijacked the idea. i just love them, your honor. i have so much love for them. NOW I KNOW THIS SUBJECT MATTER ISN'T FOR EVERYONE, I REALLY DEBATED POSTING THIS OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS BC I KNOW IT'S NOT EVERYONE'S CUP OF TEA but i feel like this is a good trajectory for these two, truly. i'm so sorry if anyone disagrees with the direction i took this in and i hopei t doesn't take away from the original series for y'all

ao3 link || series masterlist || main masterlist || ko-fi

“No, fuck off.” Was the quick response to a wide palm caressing over your back. You were hunched over your crossed legs on the couch, aware of how bad the position was for your posture. But it was the only way to find any relief on your aching back. You had thought it was cramps at first, really, but then you realized all the symptoms of your monthly cycle fell in line with something else when the bleeding never started.

“Excuse me, darlin’? You sure you wanna use that language with me?” Joel’s deep voice was tinged with an edge, giving you the chance to retract your expletives. You were never so outright with your denial, never wanting to deny the man a few feet away. But the way in which you had expressed it to an obviously exhausted Joel was maybe too bold for the late hour. But you didn’t take it, instead repeating yourself.

“Kindly, fuck off. Don’t touch me.” You pulled away from him, hunching lower under his hand to break the contact.

“That’s not much better, ya know.” Joel’s hands shifted to his waist, a thick brow raised as he took in the sight of you nearly balled up, the faint light of the screen lighting up your face as you ignored him.

A harsh contraction of your muscles had you groaning out, “I wish I never met you.”

“C’mon now, you don’t mean that.” Joel huffed, trying to keep his calm, but you knew it was hard for him even if you really didn’t feel all that good. You never took your pain or frustration out on him like this, it was always soft murmurs of ‘hold me’ or ‘can I borrow your warmth’. Never the way you were reacting now.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into y-“ His mouth snapped shut, eyes focusing on the screen. On the words you had typed into the search engine. Normally he would tease you over the typos, your fingers not working as quick as you mind for all the grace and focus you normally had to expertly wield a sharp knife.

 Your heart thumped at the sudden silence. The fizzling tension that had filled the room.

“Don’t!” You gasped out, slamming the laptop closed and shielding the device with your body completely.

“Darlin’…” You swore you could hear the cogs turning in his head. Thinking back on the depraved as desperate way you had been seeking him out when he returned home from a late shift at the restaurant even despite the haze of sleep, in the mornings before you had to peel yourself away to go to campus, the photos you had brazenly sent him without warning that had him shielding or turning his phone over throughout the day. Thinking back on the way you had been inhaling food at any occasion, none of your normal contemplation or silence after what you considered a binge. Thinking back on the way you had begun to complain of your work clothing feeling wrong and too tight on your aching body as you dressed in the morning.

When he moved to sit on the other side of the couch, far too close for comfort, you shied away and pressed your back into the arm on your end.

“Not gonna touch ya, you have my word.” He raised his hands placatingly, his expression so soft that the tears burst from you without warning.

“You do-don’t wanna touch me. Not anymo-more.” Hiccups jolted your body, making the skin you were already uncomfortable in tingle. “I ruined ev-everything.”

He regarded you with a small frown, his plush lips pulled down as he clasped his hands together in his lap. Just as he opened his mouth to speak the words flew from you.

“I remember what you said, on the line.” You narrowed your eyes at him as they echoed in your head.

‘It had been a slow day, prep and cleaning taking over most of the evening shift. It had been back before you had taken on a role in the kitchen. Sneaking fries from the bowl of them on the expo line. They hadn’t been hot or even salted, but they were better than snacking on the fruity garnishes at the bar.

He had been passing the time with who you hadn’t known at the time was his brother, Tommy. Who had driven into the city to help take a look at the empty lot beside the restaurant, both of them contemplating the construction of a patio. But they had ended up in the kitchen, hunger too strong a call.

While Joel was on the line, Tommy was beside you, sneaking fries with a wink in your direction. But you ignored him, focused on looking through the catalogue of one of your vendors. Trying to make a seasonal menu. But your ears caught the harsh grunt of the man your eyes trailed over in the midst of busy nights.

“Wouldn’t do it, no.”

“C’mon, you seriously tellin’ me you wouldn’t baby sit for me if I were to gift you with a niece or nephew.”

“No, ‘m too old. Hire a babysitter.”

“You’re full of it ‘n you know it.”

“Brother, a baby is a lot of work. Now, your baby? Even more so.” Joel leveled his brother with a look that silenced any other argument on the matter.’

The moment he realized what you were talking about, his brows flew up into his hairline and he breathed out a hearty chuckle.

“Darlin’, I was just givin’ him a hard time. You gotta know that.”

“I didn’t know you.” You stood up from the couch, body protesting the movement. Cupping a hand over your mouth, you breathed harshly as you tried to tamp down a bout of nausea. “And now that I do, I’m gonna have to consider literally everything on my own and I’m gonna hate how much it hurts to not know you any longer. I wish I-“

“No,” He sighed, brow furrowing before he pinned you with a serious expression. “You do know me now and I wouldn’t turn my back on you, on this. I’m in it, pretty girl, no matter what you decide to do.”

When you whipped away from him, shuddering breaths wracking your sore body, the crack of your voice on a sob spurred him into motion. His arms came around you slowly, giving you the chance to retreat if it wasn’t something you wanted. But you let him, the feel of his chest warm and soothing on your aching back. The push of his soft stomach comforting. His chin hooked over a shoulder, and he spoke in such a somber tone.

“Darlin’, I always thought I was too old to do this again. But I haven’t crossed fifty quite yet and the thought of you carrying my child, of loving me and my child. God, I would give anything for it to be our future. To see you blossom into yourself more, to show our baby the same devotion you give to everything in your life, you deserve somewhere to put all your love.”

One of his hands moved over the one you had on your middle. Holding you so secure, holding you both so secure.

“Joel…it’s a lot. It’s….we’re not even-“ You turned in his arms, facing him. His beautiful, open expression so full of love and adoration, all of it for you. Your heart melted in your chest, dripping low to flutter in your stomach. You weren’t even overtly religious, left over from the trauma of your childhood. Of being forced to attend mass and important holidays alongside your grandparents. The denial of your father never urging you to seek out a higher power in replacement. But the thought of technically being single and going through something like this. It made you afraid.

“There’s a ring in my sock drawer. Got it the day of our first do over date. ‘s why I was so close to the campus. It’s yours. I’m yours. This could be yours. But only if you want it.” Joel’s forehead lightly thumped against yours as he pressed in close. His breath a warm wash over your face, smelling faintly of cigarette smoke.

Looking between each of his eyes, searching for any hint of hesitancy from him it was quiet. When you didn’t find any, you felt a smile pull at your lips as you nodded your head in affirmation. Wet laughter bubbling up as his lips pressed to yours, a smile of his own for you to feel on them.

“But I still expect you to propose, can’t skip any steps with me. I know you think you’re hot shit with being crowned the city’s most prolific chef of the year but I swear to-“

He cut you off with another kiss, his moustache ticking your upper lip as he nipped at your bottom one.

“I don’t wanna miss any steps with ya, darlin’. I’m here for ‘em all.”

It was hard to ignore the stirring of other feelings in your body, drowning out the aches and pains. But when realization hit you, you pulled back with wide eyes.

“We’re gonna have to stop drinking and smoking!”

“We?”

taglist: @tuquoquebrute @jessthebaker @littlemisspascal @76bookworm76 @hiddenbabynyc @clevergirl74 @anavatazes @samiamproductions @sarap-77 @honeyedmiller @undercoverpena

[iraprince]

Any ttrpgs (including/especially yours!) that you recommend to get the oc wheels turnin’? Or especially fun as oc design tools/inspiration?

as an overall recommendation for this, from the perspective of design tools, solo journaling games are often excellent for this -- you can browse the entire solo tag for the physical games category on itch and find TONS!!

moving on to specific recs: not for characters specifically, but for general worldbuilding one of mine i can recommend is lamplighter's festival! it's about building up the history and culture of a location by developing a ritual or holiday that's celebrated there, and i think sometimes creating a location with a lot of intention and thought will of course naturally get you thinking abt the ppl who live there. (i think this is also a great gm tool if you want to bring your party somewhere special!)

divined journey is a game about outlining a character's story in detail using tarot cards -- i've had a lot of fun using this to flesh out existing characters and imagine plot arcs that are different than the ones i'd come up with on my own, but i think it could absolutely start u running on a brand new character too. often the order ppl go in is make the character, THEN put them in a story, but forming a character BY putting them through the story (i.e. keeping them more malleable and considering events the primary development vs "backstory") can be extremely cool

on the more... i don't wanna say "traditional" but like, "narrative tabletop games as we know them" (vs solo journaling stuff/things that lean towards being design tools):

time to drop is a game about pulling one last heist (again and again and again, in a timeloop). i often find that games with a really specific premise/setting kickstart tons of fresh thought; as much as i love just doing the exact tropes i already like ad nauseum (being completely genuine there), restrictions and a narrowed focus are GREAT for getting the brain churning. and trapping a bunch of criminals in a time loop is a great way to develop necessarily juicy oc dynamics :3c

sapphicworld is a game that has gotten me SUPER revved about ocs (up to the point where i once planned out a 12 course formal dinner menu for a campaign finale.....). it's still in development, but you can get a pwyw glimpse at the ashcan here (kind of like a tasting platter of the style and mechanics of the game, which the dev describes as a dream about sapphicworld), and get access to the entire wip game on the darling demon patreon for five bucks. it's worth a billion times that. i love sapphicworld lol

in general i think games that have playbooks and picklists always get me going, for that same "narrowed focus" reason... at first ur urge might be to push outside the picklists, bc u have a different idea or none of the stuff on the list exactly matches what u had in mind for the character, but forcing urself to adhere and then branching out from that is something that i think creates a lot of really fun combinations. for this reason i think that a lot of PBTA stuff fits the bill -- i realize that doesn't narrow things down at all lol but it DOES mean u can browse the pbta tag and then just snag anything that seems to have a setting/tone that you're in the mood for!

i feel like this is a woefully small selection but it's all i have time for today, and ttrpgs are just so broad....! i would love if ppl gave more suggestions in the reblogs + replies!!!

[ganondoodle]

Since you said it's ok to send you random ask, i've always found your "monsters" design to be really really gorgeous, and I wanted to know : in any form of media you've interacted with, what's PEAK monster design for you ?

i have been thinking about this ask alot bc ... i dont ... know? theres a problem with what counts as a monster really too, most are either some sort of anthro/furry or the horror gore type of monster that instills you more with disgust than awe

i guess theres some i really like but idk if thats what id call 'peak' (though its rarely JUST the design but their vibe and stuff too);

(its a lot of zelda.. sorry)

Eldra, Farodra and Naydra (engl Dinraal, Farosh(?)) though Eldra is def my fav one of them, i like how they are a little more less typical dragon- with the fur around the neck the floppy ears and kinda goofy face yet manage to be the most ethereal, awe inspiring creature i have ever seen in a game with how they act and are presented as (in BOTW!!! do not mention anythign sonau/zonai with stupid magic pebbles to me about them i will manifest worms into your tea)

Leunen (Lynels) (botw) -i could not find a better picture wtf, fav are white and silver ones) FINE they had some pretty neat new horn designs in totk- idk i just like them alot, rather simple if you think about it, horse lion plus horns- but its so well put together it just kinda scratches my brain in a good way (also how intelligent they clearly are, like the way they fight and act and also even their death animation is so??? huh?? you are just gonna treat them like any other mindless monste- *remmbers they treat ganondorf even even worse all things considered* .. nevermind you're good)

'Beast' Ganondorf (twilight princess) its my favorite beast ganon design (even if it technically is just kinda a man boar .. again) though if ww gan had a non puppet beast form that one would most definitely be my fav lol (i will not get over the fact that some descriptions call this a hideous beast EXCUSE ME???? WHERE???) (honorable mention here, darkbest ganon from botw, pig on fire but it looks cool as fuck)

Nimbusgarde (ww) .. (engl .. darknuts?) do i need to say anything? (i could throw alot of ww design here) not sure if it counts as monster but they are not human so ????

the pathless bosses- (here in order, Cernos, the Godslayer, and Kumo) all of them are rad as hell (except for the final version of the godslayer ... liek im sorry but it looks to boring compared to any other one lol) again not just the design but man do i love them

since i dont know what would count as a monster or no i could just list my fav characters here bfmjbfmjsbmj like radahn (elden ring) is just kinda a zombie, aurelion sol (league of legends) is a space dragon, the forest god in princess mononoke, Narisha (skyward sword- sky whale)- i could go on but this post is long already (honorable mention to Omus in nausicäa, weird bugs but also something divine, though it is much more how they are treated and the vibe etc)

in all honesty though i cant think of one that i would describe as perfect, what i want of a monster design is to be ... cool but also a little weird, big hulking monsters that have something off about them and something that makes them 'other', but also not, as much as i like bloodborne, just bloody gory messes of rotting flesh, AND not just as a monster to kill, i just crave a game or otherwiese piece of media where the cool monsters arent just there for you to kill- the perfect one i guess would be something kinda big scary weird and off but while non verbal clearly not a mindless beast?

and here is the thing; my own characters do not furfill that, my designs are really rather conservative, much to my dismay, anthro of a mix of animals, maybe an extra arm thrown in- Eadrya, one of my favorites, is really just a blueish furry (yes they have fur) and their demon form is a mix of seals and catfish with some extra arms, too many teeth and a mouth that goas wayy to far (if they want) - Shargon is a feather dude with extra arms and his demon form is really just a chinese type dragon crossed with a bird, throw some darts at the color wheel, done

together with my problem of my monster characters losing their 'otherness' vibe within the story rather fast bc the majority of my characters are non human and speak and you see them in all sorts of emotions and parts of life- they lose that divine, unknown vibe and i HATE that that happens, i want them more akin to the forest god in mononoke but thats not possible unless i start from scratch

and i really dont mean to make myself look bad to sound self depre- ... however you spell that; i really am rather dissatisfied with my own designs but mostly just roll with what i got bc i never seem to be able to actually achieve what i want

even my redesigns often really make things LESS interesting (unless maybe the og was just ... human, but they are blue eyed with golden hair and white so that makes them divine you seE-), the skyward sword dragons as i redesigned them made them much more classical dragon, in part intentional bc i was drawing a connection of them becoming the botw dragons at some point, but by all means the canon design is much more weird and unusual than what i did with them, you could apply the same to even demise, his canon design might seem a little uninspired but really what did i do? inject him with some classic satan spice like that makes it in any way less stereotypical evil demon ??? lol

im sorry this post devolved into whatever this is but i really am trying to answer sincerely, i am confused about it myself, what counts as a monster, what doesnt, there must be more that i really loved but why cant i think of them, why do i design characters like this when i really want something much more different, i dont know, i feel like my brain is in a cage, why do i keep making things less interesting in an effort to make it interesting, am i falling into the corporate trap of cool sells who am i what am i doing

(theres a zelda artist with a style so strikingly genuis in shape, color and just .. DESIGN that i want to chew my nails off bc i cannot design like them, their designs and redesigns are so different yet sensical and so full of crisp shapes i have never seen before it drives me nuts and i would want to give them a shoutout but i think they dont like me so aaaaarhekjbfhgdknbgdfklbg)

[scarlettscribbles]

prologue

PART OF neither the angels in heaven above, nor the demons by the sea DRABBLE SERIES ↠ masterlist

- Lucy Gray Baird & Daughter!OC, mentioned Lucy Gray Baird x Coriolanus Snow

Summary: 1.7k words - The words were on the tip of her tongue before Coriolanus had let it slip that he'd killed three people.

As Lucy Gray became a ghost lost in the wind, so did her secrets.

a/n: i cannot stop thinking about snowbaird !! inspired by my visenya-verse and also bc i love writing about children being loved :)

also, shout out to PlayingTheGameOfThrones' It's Quiet Uptown! i was reading snowbaird fics and i was so happy to find a secret kid fic. literally squealed in excitement bc i was like, that's what's literally in my brain rn

In truth, Lucy Gray was too young to be doing this. Halfway eighteen, with her heart broken by a man — a boy, really — who almost killed her. Ironically, the suspect of her current predicament was the same person. Oh how Lucy Gray hated it that he still haunted her now.

She had Lucy Gray’s tan skin, her baby girl. The wisps of her hair stuck against her forehead were bright blond. Lucy Gray wondered if her hair would darken eventually.

Annabel Rose Baird was a sickly baby. Her heart was weak and every night, Lucy Gray would have trouble sleeping, afraid that she’d wake up with a cradle gone cold. But she was a survivor, her Annie. Much like her mother. (And father.)

But they could not live on that alone. Lucy Gray, barely recovered from birth, wrapped her baby tight on her back with a sling and took their meager belongings in a bag, setting out to find the community up North Billy Taupe had once talked about. Lucy Gray walked for miles and miles, sometimes wishing she hadn’t left behind that lovely orange scarf her lover gave her. It would’ve made for a more comfortable sleep in their journey. She could’ve given it to Annie as her baby blanket, something to remember her childhood by — the one piece of her father she would ever know or keep. But alas, Lucy Gray had left it behind along with the broken pieces of trust she once thought she could rely on.

Lucy Gray found them eventually. Or rather, they found her. It was in the middle of the night and she’d just put Annie to sleep when flashes of light shone through the gaps between the trees. Cradling her whimpering baby close to her chest, Lucy Gray raised a hand in surrender, hoping that she was saying the right words for them to not shoot her.

They took them to their leader and gave them a small cabin. It was cozy and comfortable but it wasn’t home. Not when their leader, with his calculating eyes and access to Capitol broadcasts, look at her and her baby with such intense scrutiny. Lucy Gray’s paranoia increases every time he “accidentally” chances upon her with questions about the Capitol, about the Hunger Games, about Annie. He’s not as subtle as he thinks he is. Lucy Gray endures his questions, answering casually to alleviate the suspicion upon her. Her heart threatens to beat out of her chest every single time. She could only properly breathe again when she’s back within the four walls of their cabin, with Annie safe in her arms, her little puffs of breath warming Lucy Gray from the inside out.

The one saving grace of the place was Dr. Hartree. She was training under some big shot Capitol doctor when she fled, so she knew more than the District healers did despite the meager hospital equipment she had. She diagnosed Annabel Rose with something called moderate Ventricular Septal Defect; a heart disease she had since birth. Dr. Hartree let her listen to the whooshing sound of her Annie’s heartbeat through the stethoscope. Her baby’s got a hole in her heart. Lucy Gray wept.

Dr. Hartree said that the hole might yet repair itself, that she could look for some medicine that could help strengthen Annie’s heart muscles. But if it did not, Annie would need heart surgery which Dr. Hartree was neither qualified for nor equipped to do. In that scenario, going to the Capitol would be Annie’s best hope, said the doctor. The community’s leader approved Dr. Hartree’s request for getting the medicine. In exchange, Lucy Gray had to take on additional work on top of what she’d already been assigned with to earn her keep. Lucy Gray was both thankful and suspicious. She was no fool, a big favor like that didn’t come without heavier strings. But her baby was alive so Lucy Gray kept her head down. (For the moment, at least.)

Annabel Rose grew up a happy child. She was small for her age but her presence filled the room and her heart was so full of love. Whenever she smiled, a deep dimple showed on her cheek and her warm brown eyes would shine like stars in the night sky. Her baby never did grow out of her blond hair, riotous curls tumbling down her head. She looked like an angel; Lucy Gray’s own angel.

She was truly heaven sent. There were no words to describe how much her daughter made her happy, which was something, coming from a songwriter. Oft Lucy Gray wished the Covey had a chance to know her daughter. Annabel Rose fit in alright with the children of the community, but children can be cruel sometimes. Annie’s body was weak and she ran out of breath fast, making her unable to be included in strenuous physical activities. Lucy Gray was not deaf to the whispers of “runt” that surrounded her daughter, whispers that eventually reached Annie’s ears, causing her to come home tearfully, fisting her mother’s skirt and asking what it meant. Once upon a time, Lucy Gray would have been rearing for a fight but everything was different now. She didn’t have her Covey; her and Annie were alone.

Oh, people were nice enough but, like in District 12, they seemed to be able to sense an otherness in her and Annie that made them unable to accept them fully. It didn’t help that the community leader’s demeanor was like that either. The residents liked and respected him better than the strangers they barely knew anything about, so of course they’d follow his example.

Lucy Gray had been missing her Covey so much that she contemplated going back to District 12, back to her family, when she’d heard that an electric fence was put around it, complete with Peacekeepers patrolling the perimeter. They’d never bothered with that area before, but Lucy Gray had an inkling why they suddenly found it important.

So what else could she do but grit her teeth and bear it? Every night Lucy Gray would sing songs to Annie and tell her stories about the Covey, about her family and the colorful nights and laughter they shared. And Annie’s eyes would shine in the low lamplight, humming along to the tunes.

Lucy Gray did not bring her guitar with her during her journey out of District 12, but she was able to obtain a smaller version — a ukulele — from a traveling salesman. His initial offer nearly took all her saved up money to pay for, but she was able to haggle down to a more reasonable price. At 3-years-old, Annabel Rose learned the basic chords from her mother. The first song she learned was to the tune of Lucy Gray's namesake.

It tugged at Lucy Gray’s heartstrings to hear her Annie’s sweet voice in the warmth of their home. She resolved to write a song for her daughter’s fourth birthday as a gift. Lucy Gray had her song, and so did her Capitol boy. It was only apt that Annabel Rose had one too.

It was the night of Annabel Rose's fourth birthday when everything went wrong. Lucy Gray was humming underneath her breath to the tune of a new song, their tiny kitchen fragrant with the smell of a birthday cake she’d stolen half the ingredients for to bake. She lit up a deformed red candle she attempted to mold from whatever melted wax she could find, cupping the flame between her palms briefly to keep it from being blown out. With a satisfied sigh, she wiped her hands on her apron and walked to the bed to shake her daughter awake.

All Lucy Grey felt was the cold skin of her daughter, her breathing shallow and her skin tinged blue. Her heart dropped to her stomach. With shaking hands, she wrapped Annie in a blanket and lifted her into her arms.

On the way to Dr. Hartree’s cabin, Lucy Gray would not realize that she’d been singing the song she’d written for Annie. And she will sing it under her breath while the good doctor examined her daughter, telling her the heart defect had gotten worse. She’d sing it at the back of her mind while Dr. Hartree tells her that surgery wasn’t an option anymore, that the medicine Annie’ll need is only available in the Capitol, that if she wants her baby to live she’ll need to find some way to get her a heart transplant. She’ll sing it and sing it, hoping the girl she’d written it for would awaken long enough to sing it with her.

She would only stop when Dr. Hartree clasped her hands, telling her in a hushed whisper that she’d found a way to get them to the Capitol discreetly. The doctor’s got family among the Peacekeepers in District 12 who was going to go to the Capitol in two days. Some officer fellow that was high-ranking enough to have his own private train cabin, and kind enough to share it with them. Dr. Hartree had given her temporary antibiotics for Annie with an apology that she couldn’t do anything more. When they arrive in the Capitol, Lucy Gray was on her own. Lucy Gray who had no penny to her name, who would probably be shot on sight once the Capitol had caught wind of her existence.

Her mind was racing on the morn she and a barely-lucid Annie snuck out to the gates. They were met with a heavyset man two heads taller than Lucy Gray, driving a military jeep. Time passed quickly and they encountered no hurdles getting to the train station on time. He lent them warm Capitol-style cloaks so they could blend in upon arrival. He’d even made her a cup of tea, noticing the nervousness in her demeanor. Lucy Gray had not been expecting such kindness from a Peacekeeper, no matter how highly Dr. Hartree spoke of him.

It was nighttime when they arrived, snow falling heavily on the ostentatious buildings. It wasn’t only the cold that made Lucy Gray shiver.

Under the cover of the night, Lucy Gray held her Annabel Rose and rapped on the door of the one she’d hoped would help them. If blood was not an enough reason, she could always appeal to their conscience.

The door swung open.

“Tigris, I need your help.”

[ghoultrifle]

Your post with Jimothy was just a little inspiring to me.

How do you feel about Phantom wetting himself on Rains lap while Rain is sat on the floor (below eyeline just felt more subtle than the couch or armchair) because Rain wont let him up during pack movie night? Stop wiggling will you? You don't want us to miss the good part do you? While Rain plays the good, helpful partner. Whispering in Phantoms ear to keep quiet as he feels it happen, then still not letting him up until the movie ends "so that the rest of the pack doesn't find out what he did and tease him or WORSE punish him for making a mess" (in quotes bc ofc they are in on the shenanigans as consent from all parties is always key)

HELLO ANON THIS IS THE BIGGEST BRAIN PROMPT AND IT WAS A PLEASURE TO WRITE!!!! (this is the post anon is talking about) Once again, it's a piss fic, read the prompt for the contents - don't like, don't read. I'd also like to point out that I have never seen Twilight so please ignore if any references sound out of touch, it's because they are ajghalhkdg. It slightly devolved into the entire pack getting in on the action because I couldn't resist!!

Read HERE on AO3 or below the cut!

After Twilight was rudely interrupted by Mountain and Cirrus’ fiendish games last week, the whole pack held a proper movie night to show the cult classic. Earlier in the day, however, Rain had accidentally spilled his iced coffee all over one of the common room’s beanbags, leaving only enough room for eight of the nine ghouls to sit. 

Cirrus immediately made her way to the remaining beanbag, popcorn in hand, ready to subject the others to the film. Next to her, Aurora was already fast asleep in the other beanbag, she’d been curled up all afternoon. Cumulus was wedged between the resident big boys, Mount and Aether, already making biscuits on Mountain’s thigh as she settled in for the night.

Swiss and Dew were left to find their seats, Rain having sent them out of the kitchen with drinks and snacks for everyone, keeping Phantom behind. Dewdrop ran at the remaining sofa, launching himself onto it, no doubt breaking something in the process. Swiss followed, placing the food on the table before laying his head in Dew’s lap, staring at the screensaver on the TV.

Everyone was right where Rain wanted them. Including Phantom, who was bitterly arguing with the water ghoul about who gets the last seat on the sofa next to Swiss and Dewdrop.

“Alright Bug, calm your tits. How about we both sit on the floor, hmm?” Rain enquired, praying to Satan below his careful planning would pay off, “I’ll even let you sit on my lap and I can braid your hair.”

“Mmm okay but I call dibs on the beanbag next time!” Phantom pouted, resigning himself to Rain’s lap, sat on the floor in front of Swiss and Dew. 

The water ghoul was sat cross-legged, the space between his thighs a welcoming nook for Phantom to nuzzle into, resting his head on the bend of Rain’s neck. It’s as if they were made for each other, an enzyme and substrate locked together for eternity.

Rain offered a blanket to the younger ghoul, knowing his own tendency to run cold. Phantom happily declined, his brand new bat ‘oodie’ covering most of him, and a large pair of fluffy socks keeping the rest of him warm.

An absorbent choice of clothes, Rain thought to himself, pleased the young ghoul had picked the oodie up on the way to the den.

Cirrus happily clicked play on the remote as the film started. The lights were out, only the glow from the TV and Phantom’s bat-themed fairy lights illuminating the den. Rain had his arms around the quintessence ghoul, embracing him in a warm hug, well warm for a water ghoul.

That afternoon, Phantom had been out in the greenhouse, helping Mountain move the delivery of new pots for the earth ghoul’s ever-expanding collection. It was hard work, Mountain ensured Phantom wasn’t getting dehydrated as he knew the young ghoul found it hard to listen to his body (and he’d be lying if it didn’t make him think back to their quiz night, Phantom drenching Cirrus as he writhed in her lap).

But Phantom didn’t use the bathroom once. In fact he seemed quite content labouring away without a care for his bladder. Mountain certainly took note, a new summon like Phantom couldn’t hold his bladder for more than a few hours, let alone when he was pounding back drinks at the rate Mountain had been offering them.

What the earth ghoul was unaware of was Rain. Rain who suggested Mountain take the young ghoul outside for some good old fashioned manual labour. Rain who sat at the dockside watching the quintessence ghoul all afternoon. Rain who kept Phantom’s bladder from sending any signals to that poor brain of his. Rain who dragged the ghouls back inside for movie night, handing them a clean set of clothes as he led them directly to the common room, “It’s starting now, guys, Cirrus would be really disappointed if you missed the actual showing of Twilight!” And Rain who, midway through the film, let down the barriers between Phantom’s brain and bladder.

Shit, Phantom thought, a sudden, intense pang twitching in his lower belly, What the fuck? He looked behind him, only to be met with a set of cerulean eyes already staring back at him. Looking down, Rain’s fangs were poking out, a smirk adorning his face. Still unsure of exactly the game Rain was playing, the quintessence ghoul went to stand and make his way to the bathroom. The water ghoul clamped his hands down on Phantom’s twig-like arms, it was no trouble to keep the smaller ghoul from moving, he could do it in his sleep.

“Colour, baby bat?” he whispered sweetly, as if he wasn’t suggesting Phantom piss himself in front of the pack.

Phantom hesitated. He knew Rain would release him if he just said the word, but part of him loved being forced into these situations, forced to go through the humiliation of getting himself, and others, soaked.

“G-green,” he choked out, trying to be discreet about both his words and the growing desperation. He thought the initial twinge was bad, but Rain seemed to be letting the need grow with every second.

“Good boy, now stay right here, I’ll be the judge of when you can leave, okay?”

Rain phrased it as a question, however they both knew it was anything but. The only way Phantom was getting out of this dry was by calling the scene, and that was exactly how he liked it.

Phantom was now cursing his past self for not taking the blanket, his bladder on the verge of leaking as he writhed under Rain’s vice grip; both ghouls’ hands now in the main compartment of the jumper. Phantom had removed his hands from the arms of the oodie to subtly clench his dick. Rain’s deft fingers, on the other hand, snuck their way under the woolly fabric to still the squirming ghoul’s arms more firmly.

“Stop wiggling will you?” Rain whispered into Phantom’s ears, barely audible over the swell of the film’s music. Unlike the swell of the quintessence ghoul’s bladder, the slosh of the day’s drinks audible as if it had been injected directly into his eardrums. 

Damn water ghoul magick, he thought.

He wondered if the others could hear it or if Rain had spared him the humiliation of letting the pack in on his desperation.

He wasn’t sure which option he would prefer, both ideas leaving his cock twitching for different reasons. Had the pack been unaware, it would have been him and Rain’s dirty little secret, something shared between them, a sinful pleasure. Had the pack been in on it, part of Rain’s master plan, he would revel in the knowledge that their eyes are on him, it’s not all in his mind; they’d watch him let go as Rain hushed him to be quiet under the guise of secrecy.

Rain, the ever helpful partner, offered Phantom a drink, “Wouldn’t want you to get dehydrated, baby, you’ve been working outside all day.”

The smaller ghoul grimaced as he took a sip from the shark-adorned straw, not wanting to alert the others to his somewhat distressed state. There was no doubt that refusing a drink from Rain would prick ears and invite watching eyes. The other ghouls had all fallen victim to Rain at one point or another, Phantom included.

His efforts were futile as Rain held the tumbler to his mouth for far longer than expected, forcing Phantom to continue gulping the water. He wasn’t sure he could physically hold any more liquid in that slight body of his. Dew and Swiss exchanged a knowing look, Rain having made the pack well aware of his intentions for tonight. 

With each gulp, the quintessence ghoul’s bladder longed for release, and his brain became fuzzier, a haze pulling over him. His belly was throbbing, an unhelpful, nimble hand massaging his abdomen. Cuddles, the water ghoul would claim if questioned. Not that anyone would, the pack were under strict instruction not to let on, and Phantom was flushing a deep purple at the idea of being found out.

Quintessence ghouls had an odd connection with the colour purple. When a ghoul turned that hue, it was indistinct, it could be any number of emotions; excitement, shyness, embarrassment, or unfortunately for Phantom, turned on. The young ghoul prayed the room wasn’t too dim for his glowing veins to be displayed. Even if it was, the distinct smell of ozone wafting around the room was all the pack needed to know exactly what was happening between the two ghouls.

In the interest of dragging the scene out, Rain removed his teasing hands and began to softly braid Phantom’s hair, gently raking his nails along the ghoul’s scalp as he whispered into his ear.

You don’t want us to miss the good part do you?

Such a good boy holding it in for me.

Gonna feel so good when you leak, getting the both of us all wet in front of the others.

Phantom shivered as he let out a barely audible whine accompanied with a plea, “Rainy, please, needa go!” He was rocking slightly now, thighs clenching in time with his movements, Rain struggling to keep a hold on his hair. It was a lost cause, the water ghoul decided, snaking his hands back under the oodie to still his desperate, whimpering ghoul.

At the sensation of Rain’s cold fingers resting just above his neatly trimmed curls, the quintessence ghoul could also feel another odd prodding sensation. Of course he’s getting off on this, Phantom thought as he ground discreetly against the water ghoul’s filled out cock; he was nothing if not passionate about pleasing his partners. At least Rain’s dick was leaking from arousal and not about to burst from the insistent pressure barraging his bladder.

Phantom would be lying if he said his cock wasn’t attempting to get hard, the incoming tsunami hampering its efforts. He got off on the humiliation of it all, the shame of wetting himself, losing- nay giving control to Rain, and oh the feeling of drenching himself in his own piss. The way it floods, saturating clothes as the stream hits too fast for the fibres to absorb it. The warmth, like basking in the heat of a thousand suns, slowly running down your legs, dripping beneath like sand from an hourglass of passion.

Phantom’s eyes rolled back both in desperation and in the heat of his own thoughts. He was close now, a weak dam holding back the torrent, due to collapse any minute. It was obvious even to a passer-by that the quintessence ghoul was aching for release of every kind. Small breathy moans, supposedly muffled by the soundtrack, eyes screwed shut, tail quietly thumping on the rug, and hands conspicuously hidden beneath his clothing, no doubt grabbing his dick like the end of a hose, letting the pressure build before spraying.

He could feel his body giving in, it feld like he’d been holding on for hours at the brink of spilling. He felt the stream making its way from his belly to his dick, leaking just a few drops. He whined, louder now, with abandon. Rain’s probing fingers froze, before settling over the ever-growing damp spot on Phantom’s sage green boxer briefs.

Quiet, my darling, we can’t have the pack finding out what a dirty boy you are…

Shh baby, you’re such a naughty little boy, you’ll let the whole ministry know you’re wetting yourself at this rate!

Phantom quiets down, a low purr in his chest, only for Rain’s ears. It was the water ghoul’s turn to breathe out a cut off whine, almost forgetting the game he was playing with the younger ghoul.

Phantom sat there, placed helplessly in Rain’s lap as he drenched the both of them in his piss, torrent in full flow now. His oodie sagging as the stream continued, warm humiliation coursing over him and through his veins. His boxers now a dark shade of the once autumnal colour, the overflow seeping slowly through his layers and onto Rain.

The water ghoul was rock hard, revelling in the way Phantom was leaking all over the two of them. The warmth flooded around his dick first, making it kick in interest, a small bead of pre soaking into his already wet underwear. His jeans were no match for a day’s worth of quintessence ghoul piss, quickly soaking through the layers, engulfing Rain’s ass and upper thighs in the hot liquid. He could feel it dribbling beneath him and onto the rug beneath, a pretty pattern forming in the tufts of the fabric, no doubt.

The flood came to an abrupt stop, Phantom sighing in relief, unsure how he held it for that long. Perhaps Rain helped a little, his magick was always subtle - you’d only ever notice it in hindsight, that’s what made it even hotter. Either way the shame hit Phantom like a truck, there was no way the pack didn’t see his spectacle. No way they didn’t hear the hiss as he relieved himself, fully clothed, in the common room, ruining Cirrus’ movie night.

They both sat there, unmoving for what felt like hours. Rain finally piped up, “Such a good boy for me, ah feel so wet, my perfect little piss boy,” he mouthed at Phantom’s neck.

Phantom took that as the end of the scene, Rain was done with him. He went to excuse himself, to clean up the mess he’d created at the hands of the water ghoul. It was embarrassing, sure, but it would be far more humiliating if the pack noticed when the lights came up and they all filtered out the common room, eyes not even needing to strain to see the puddle on the sky blue rug.

“Oh no, bug, you’re not going anywhere,” Rain whispered into his ear, faux concern in his voice, “they’ll see the way your clothes sag and drip all over the floor, a little trail of shame. You wouldn’t want them to find out, would you? To see your little accident? To see you can’t even hold it in during a film? How embarrassing,” he tutted. Phantom only winced in reply.

“Or worse, Ant, they might punish you for making such a mess of Cumulus’ new rug. I’m sure Swiss is vying for a chance to get you over his knees, all soggy and dripping, to show you what happens to naughty boys who break the rules.”

The cock beneath Rain’s sodden fingers gave an undeniable twitch at the comments, interest piqued at the idea of being found out; Rain knew the younger ghoul loved public play. 

Two long fingers found themselves tracing a slick line from where the piss had pooled in the bottom of Phantom’s underwear, grazing over his taint, gently teasing his balls, before drawing up over the length of his cock, at full attention now.

“Colour?” he asked almost silently, still keeping the guise of stealth.

“As green as the mountains, Rainy, fuck, please, so hard” he whined softly back, craning his head to keep their conversation somewhat private.

Rain chuckled as he began to stroke Phantom through the fabric, gliding smoothly over his dick, a mix of piss and pre lubricating the underwear. The quintessence ghoul threw his head back into the crook of Rain’s neck, his nerves were on fire, and if he wasn’t glowing purple before, he definitely was now. All he could hope was that the pack were too engrossed in the movie to notice.

The squelch of the movements was barely audible but it was crystal clear to Phantom, music to his ears. The product of his shameful accident being used to get him off? He nearly came at the sound alone. Phantom bucked his hips into Rain’s gentle touch, not quite enough to send him over the edge. 

“You either keep still or I stop touching you, baby boy,” Rain demanded, maintaining the pack are still unaware, despite the very obvious handjob he’s giving the whining ghoul on his lap. Rain would never admit it, but he was teetering on the edge with the heady combination of Phantom’s unintentional grinding and the gloriously wet puddle he was sitting in; he was going to blow his load right into the mix with Phantom’s piss if the younger ghoul didn’t stop.

Hips stilled and whines were cut off at the water ghoul’s insistent voice. Rain’s hand gave no reprieve, however, reaching below the damp material to grasp Phantom’s slick cock and start stroking him in earnest, smirking as the quintessence ghoul desperately tried to keep a straight face, fangs piercing his lips ever so slightly, purple blood aglow at the surface.

He tried to pay attention to the film, for the first time since Edward brought Bella to the Cullen home. Although, he doesn’t remember Twilight looking like this… there was a laugh track, and completely new characters, and-

“Oh- fuck, Rain, shit, ah, don’t stop!”

Rain leaned in to give a playful bite at Phantom’s neck, as he sent him over the edge, despite his confusion about the film. The quintessence ghoul hissed as Rain’s hand sped up, stroking him through his explosive release, cum further ruining the oodie and spurting onto his happy trail.

Once the water ghoul was sure Phantom’s dick was spent, milked dry, he released his hand, wiping it on a somewhat-dry part of Phantom’s clothing. Mourning the loss of contact, Phantom came to his senses, looking back up at the TV. It definitely wasn’t Twilight, perhaps it was that friends show Aurora kept talking about. Had he really been on the edge for so long that the film finished? Looking around, nobody was watching it. Every single pair of eyes was looking squarely at Phantom, hungry.

Looking up at the sofa behind him, Dew and Swiss grinned in unison.

“Heard you wanted to see what happened to naughty boys that broke the rules,” Dew growled, the scent of burnt wood and cinnamon assaulting the quintessence ghoul’s nose.

Phantom gulped as the whole pack stood up, Swiss offering his hand to the small ghoul. Phantom squelched as he rose, only briefly getting the chance to appreciate the mess he made of Rain’s lap before he was being dragged out of the common room.

Swiss didn’t stop until the quintessence ghoul was laid, in all his soggy glory, on the dining room table, the rest of the pack eagerly perching on the wooden chairs beneath.

“Are you going to be a good boy this time?”

[buqbite]

[gently shakes you by the shoulders] I would do anything for your rendition of demon world arc kdj. Do you understand. That one piece was beamed STRAIGHT into my brain I will be thinking of it for the next few days. His expression, the broken horn, the cracks in his face, everything. I'm so mentally ill about it I swear to god-

TY KAI!!!

I wanna share some more thoughts on it because I too am so mentally ill about demon world kdj. It's my absolute favorite arc

Like Ok ok ok my first draft is this older one from when I was just getting used to the new art style. I just thot hm he should look like shit. I love men who look like shit (but like in a gay way not an incel way)

Now this is more of a 'fancy & clean' looking version of him bc I mainly focused on A) how the stories break him apart and B) the vague derangement of his BECAUSE.

Ok I went and made two shit little doodles to show off some of my thoughts

First of all: He's keeping the stories wrapped around him like the world's shittiest necklace. And at one point it was brought up that his coat was SO stained with dirt that it almost looked black (which helped his YJH cosplay) so obviously im obsessed with that too.

The demon world arc felt like such a low point. It was so lonely and he was such a fish out of water (to a certain degree) and I think that by this point he was so stuck in survival mode that he just. couldn't. take care of himself properly

And whenever he fights its so self destructive. It's like he's losing such a massive part of himself. And he so often just falls back on his base instinct of hiding within TWSA and going "I am Yoo Joonghyuk" (But even then TWSA is changing. The story is changing.)

^^^ Specifically inspired by a scene that I rlly liked where he went and killed a random person in the market square in front of a bunch of people

He's so. Idk theres something so deranged about him. He is so very clearly barely hanging on by a thread, fully immersed in this revolutionary game, grasping at everything and anyone because he doesn't have his companions with him and he doesn't think anyone will come looking for him.

[cleavetheclover]

Clver, think about it...shadowire (platonic or romantic) domestic fluff,,, or just fluff,,, angsty fluff? ps this is just my sleep deprived ramblings

Like...

- Post Hourglass Omen being found by Cypher (probably willingly i don't see Cypher going to go see Omen if he'd rather not see Cypher) and just...a talk. Omen venting. Cypher comforting Omen and listening quietly. And then cuddles. A kiss when Cypher leaves Omen be again and an orange, "for luck," Cypher would say (knowing it had no such meaning)

- Pre Hourglass, Omen coming to see Cypher at night, cuddles and physical intimacy mixed with quietness, because if nothing else Over feels just a little more grounded when Cypher is holding him.

- Cypher noticing little quirks Omen has. Sometimes Cypher tells Omen about what he's noticed. Omen enjoys it because it at least means he's still human if nothing else. (I mean, what kind of monster has a preferred sitting position or a certain kind of wool they enjoy knitting the most?)

- Above, but roles exchanged. Omen notices things about Cypher that makes him Cypher and some that makes Amir. It's weird, Cypher thinks, I'd hate being known but it feels natural with Omen. (Inspired mostly by hermit card, which normally means like being known by no one but yourself)

ehh welp thas all i got in the brain goodnight I'm by no means asking you to draw any of these i just saw your ask thingy and went "bet lemme think"

Noooooo stop I stg every single member of the cyphmen community has the exact same headcannons please 😭😭😭

(Not that I’m complaining, that just means more food for all of us)

ANYWAY all of these are wonderful ideas and I definitely want to write all of them!!! Unfortunately I am rather swamped right now bc senior design is kicking my ass and job hunting is harder than ranking up in val, and my current hyperfixation is a game called Noita…

But I’ll definitely get back to writing as soon as my life stops being as volatile as a bucket of acetone.

Also I wrote a short thing for the hourglass thing I hope you like it! I’ll respond to the other prompts later

Post hourglass Omen:

I think he would shut himself in his room for a while and just sit there, completely overwhelmed and not sure where to go or what to do next.

Since it’s cannon that Omen can sense others emotions, I think pre-HG Omen would have already sensed a timid friendship and significant fear from Viper, but it wasn’t until post-HG that he knows why. He’s having this world-shattering realization that one of the few people he has trusted and befriended in this lifetime not only doesn’t return that friendship, but actively fears him, and for good reason.

Imagine learning that your best friend fears you, for an incident you would have never learned of—had you not hired a shady information broker to find it out for you.

Confirming that she sees you as a monster— something you never wanted to be.

Yeah, I’d be pretty lost and upset too.

So Omen is gonna be hiding in his room trying to figure out a path forward and simultaneously avoid thinking about said path forward.

Cypher, being the nosiest man alive, a friend of Omen’s, and also the guy who helped orchestrate the mission in the first place, is not gonna sit there and let Omen feel so alone.

He shows up and Omen really wants to just slam the door and tell him to fuck off, but he really doesn’t have the energy (and also can’t really afford to burn more bridges at the moment). So begrudgingly he lets him in.

Cypher softly says his name, “Omen,” but the shadow doesn’t dare look him in the eye. Instead he stares at the sentinel’s belt. Browth leather. Battle-worn. Probably replaced several times over, like Omen’s own combat gear.

The sentinel approaches, and Omen can feel a protective sentiment befitting his role as a Sentinel. It’s soothing, he’s felt it before, but he really wishes he weren’t the subject of such a keen emotion right now.

Cypher’s gloved hands come up to rest on the sides of his own shoulders. The intent is to be reassuring, but Omen doesn’t find it to be such. What is he supposed to do with his own hands, anyhow? Touch Cypher’s shoulders? His belt, or chest?? His waist???

Well, the chest option is gone, because the next thing he knows Cypher’s chest is pressed against his own. And his arms are wrapped around his back.

Omen always knew humans were warm, but for some reason, he had always imagined Cypher to be cold. Maybe it was the utter lack of skin showing. The minimal expressions in his mask. The way he never so much as brushed hands with anyone else in the Protocol, as if he were a robot like KAY/O. Hell, the literal killer-bot had a warmer attitude than Cypher most of the time. Maybe it was…

Whatever.

Cypher is warm. Like any other human. Embracing him without any reservations at all.

No fear. No pity. No grief.

It makes him feel like, for one moment, that maybe he isn’t a monster after all.

Omen responds in the only way he can think of: he ducks his head down and buries his face in Cypher’s collar, and lifts his hands up to Cypher’s back and pulls him as close as he can.

He smells like bar soap and leather. And something else more organic, musky almost like sweat, but that can only be described as subtle and pleasant.

Alas, their embrace cannot last forever. Poor Cypher is a man, not a scented candle or a stuffed animal that can be basked in or embraced forever. Omen releases him, already missing the warmth and the scents and the textures and the intimacy, but he would rather save face and keep Cypher comfortable than anything else.

Cypher seems… satisfied.

Omen isn’t sure how he feels.

There’s a long pause.

“I am not my past,” he blurts, immediately wishing he didn’t. He almost says something else to brush it away, but he knows that doing so will only dig a deeper hole for himself. He says nothing more and hopes Cypher will have the courtesy to do the same.

But the Sentinel, as always, has other plans.

“Neither am I.”

Omen’s gaze snaps up at that.

The Sentinel then reaches into a bag of items that he had discarded upon entering, and produces a ball of yarn and a small tin box.

“I have spent the last decade of my life paying for crimes too heinous to be named.” He comes to stand in front of Omen once again. “They called me everything from a villain to a monster to, well. ‘Villain’ and ‘monster’ in more callous terms.”

Cypher chuckled humorlessly. Omen dared not ask who ‘they’ was referring to, but got the feeling that he didn’t need to.

“I am not absolved from my past. I cannot fix the innumerable lives I have ruined or the things I have destroyed.”

Then he lifted the little tin up to his face. “But then again, what kind of monster has a favorite type of tea?”

In his other hand, outstretched to Omen, was the ball of yarn. “Or a favorite type of wool?”

Omen just stared at it. Cashmere imported from India, said the label.

“To the best of my ability— which admittedly isn’t much— I left it all behind.” Cypher somberly bushes the tips of gloved fingers across his masked cheek. “My name. My face. My skin, even.”

Omen tilted his head at that last one. It sounded painful. But then again, what about Cypher’s existence wasn’t?

“Like me, you might carry the legacy of a monster. But that does not mean you are one.”

The cashmere is soft in Omen’s hands. He runs his thumb along each strand, marveling in the gift. On its own, it didn’t feel deserved. But when he looks back sees the tin of tea being cradled in Cypher’s own hands, it does.

Former monsters sitting under a warm roof with their silly little domestic joys: the thought of it almost makes Omen laugh.

Cypher must have seen the way the tension eased from Omen’s shoulders, because now he is chuckling too.

Bastard.

“Omen,” the informant takes the revenant’s hand and says his name with that dratted melody of affection in his voice, “Would you like to knit while I brew us some tea?”

———————————————

Since you suggested an orange:

It’s a very cute idea— I think oranges are for luck and wealth in Chinese culture, not sure about other ones tho.

Unfortunately I’ve come to kind of associate them with mourning. My grandma passed away last summer, and my grandpa and I leave flowers and oranges on her gravestone when we visit. So I didn’t feel like writing that into this little story lol

And yeah I also incorporated your “what kind of monster has a favorite kind of wool?” Thing in here wahoo

[husky-studies]

Okay so HONESTLY im gonna ramble about this idea i got from reading one of the genshin sagau posts about the creator and their books that are read are popping into tevyat BUT imagine if it were the movies we have watched (inspired from @sagaubeloved sorry for the ping if it bothers you 😭)

LIKE imagine if ur a horror movie fanatic, IMAGINE THE CHARACTER'S REACTION. Idk if u watch horror bcs u like it or u just like a good scare or two but imagine showing them a movie like maybe the nun 2 or fnaf or coraline or ANY HORROR MOVIES. Imagine if the people (scholars, maybe some theatrics enjoyers?) are horrified watching it "THE CREATOR WATCHES THIS?!" "Yeah i do-" They'd either get nightmares or became really paranoid cause horror movie end credits sometimes scares me like 'based on-' no. I think they'd be paranoid because it says based on real life or something. Especially if its coraline, HONESTLY I COULDNT SLEEP MUCH FOR A FEW DAYS BECAUSE OF THE SPIDER MOM OR WHATEVER OTHER MOM THAT IS 😭😭 buttons for eyes (no- not identity v-) or if its something like FNAF then they'd probably be paranoid 💀 (until they know its actually from a game that has like 13 versions with i think 8 being the ACTUAL part of the series and the rest being spin-offs)

Now other than horror movies we have something moreeeee child friendly? Maybe some of y'all still watches trolls (i heard trolls 3 was about to be released), disney maybe, dreamworks am i the only one who suddenly remembers ratatouille talking about this-. The characters would be less horrified with this and go like "oh, this is the type of movie creator likes? Sounds nice" IF YOU'RE LIKE ME AND YOU HAVE THE DISC OF THE MOVIES AND YOU PLAYED THAT ONE MOVIE YOU JUST CANT STOP WATCHING BECAUSE ITS SO DANG GOOD, they'd probably cherish THAT movie more than the others because BRO, THE CREATOR watches that shit 24/7 WHO WOULDNT KEEP THAT MOVIE DISC FOR THE WHOLE TEVYAT TO SEE. AND YK WHATS FUNNY, IF ITS A MOVIE THAT HAS LIKE ANIMALS AS THE MAIN CHARACTERS (Madagascar, Lion King, etc) idt they'd even know what a LION is. I MEAN THE BASIC ANIMALS LIKE DOGS, CATS AND BIRDS ARE THERE (does rishboland tigers count as tigers here-) BUT SOMETHING MORE WILD LIKE LIONS or SPECIFIC BIRD TYPES, MONKEYS????(wolfs should exist i mean, theres wolvendom, snakes also exist cuz if not then wtf is changsheng, deers, dragons???)

Okay maybe some science fiction enjoyers, something futuristic or robotic like Transformers maybe? (Im sorry my brain could only thing of that 💀 like any transformers movie) They'd either be baffled at that or like taking notes, they'd probably compare those futuristic stuff like the robots with RUIN GUARDS or WHATEVER ELSE IS THE BRANCHING OFF OF THOSE THINGS. Maybe Sumeru would get the gist? Tbh sumeru kinda have more gadgets but we dk abt snezhnaya yet (im thinking snezhnaya has some of their own gadgets as well)

[tippenfunkaport]

Inspired by a recent poll, could you tell us a bit more about the software you use for writing and the advantages with it?

Thanks so much!

Can I keep this short is the question...

So, for anyone who didn’t see the post this is referring to, I mentioned on another post that the writing software I use is...

4TheWords for drafting (brainstorming, first draft, etc)

Scrivener for all subsequent stages (editing, formatting, etc)

ProWritingAid for a final look before I submit / post

Longer version (and, like, I could talk about this all day so feel free to ask follow ups but I will try to contain myself)

4TheWords is a fantasy RPG-ish writing game where the words you write defeat monsters, earn loot, complete quests, etc. I have been playing it for five years ish and the game-ification just works really well for my brain. Earning silly little prizes and moving the game plot along keeps me motivated to keep writing when otherwise I would be a useless slug so I do most of my early stage writing on there like drafting, brainstorming, journaling, etc. It is silly but I love it and it basically saved my writing life when I was in a huge slump so they have my undying devotion. The company is also the kind you feel very good about supporting and they are HUGELY queer friendly with a big yearly Pride event with many of the main in-game characters being queer and/or trans. (The closest the game has to main characters are a lesbian couple that just got married as part of the Valentine's Day event last month!)

It costs money but a) there is a 30 day free trial of you want to check it out and b) there is a community pool if you cannot afford the fee as well as frequent sales/deals. (If anyone wants to try it out, feel free to use my referral code when you sign up because then you’ll get some extra crystals and I can send you a welcome present of some loot! If the image link above is annoying, dm me and I will give you it via text for copy and paste.)

Scrivener is very robust writing software that I use for fiction, non-fiction and scriptwriting. I only rarely use it for first drafts (bc I use 4TW for that) but I do almost all my editing / rewriting / formatting / publishing in it. I have been using it for probably about a decade and am still finding new tools and features I didn’t realize it had. I absolutely swear by it. The learning curve can be steep but luckily it’s one of the most popular writing programs in the world so there are a TON of great tutorials out there. (My advice? Just watch a video of something like the top 5-10 features and then play around and look up stuff as you have questions instead of trying to do the whole long tutorial it comes with.)

Disclaimer that I only own the desktop version. There are mobile versions that are a separate purchase from the desktop version but I don't use them.

Biggest selling points of Scrivener to me are:

while many writing services have a monthly fee, Scrivener is purchased exactly once and you can use it for life on your laptop and desktop AND you can get 50% off that one time price with a NaNoWriMo winner code (this alone is enough to buy my loyalty for life)

it’s incredibly versatile for both plotting and publishing and works really for my writing process (which is, admittedly, chaotic and weird) and has near infinite customization. It's esp great for making story bibles, organizing research, and plotting out larger works with lots of cross references and chapters you need to rearrange

as a script writer, Scrivener only cost me a one time fee of $35 and includes all updates and bug fixes until the next major version (which happens like once a decade). FinalDraft is $250 and that only includes the current version (which changes about once a year) to do the same thing. That’s a no brainer to me.

ProWritingAid is editing software. Like Grammarly but MUCH more robust with a lot more reports you can run. It’s not replacement for a human editor (AI editing can only do so much) but I like it as a second pair of eyes before I post or submit something because it does catch a lot of the basics and makes me feel a little better about sending something out. There is a limited free version and the full version can be pricey if you pay the monthly fee but I bided my time until the lifetime subscription went on sale for 50% off and paid once and now I have it to use for life.

There. That was almost short, right?

[moregraceful]

hi kasper!! Becky has encouraged me to make a real effort to befriend you (due to the giant friend crush I have) and to start I just want to say that I think the work you're doing to build community in fandom is sooooo so so so important and cool and it's super inspiring to me!! anyway hi I hope you're well what was something good that happened to you today? (congrats on quitting your soul sucking job btw!!!!)

This is SO sweet omg hello!!! What would we do without Becs...

Also very funny bc in addition to not allowing me to reply to posts 85% of the time, Tumblr is not also giving me ask notifications AND I was poking at prompt meme stuff for the past three hours so I missed this....community building!!! My reason for living!! I hope u are all excited for @theresonly1u bc it's gonna be SICK, I stretched out the schedule to cover a full month so there's gonna be WAY more creation time. Did you know that you can make it so that people can leave up to 50 prompts in an AO3-hosted prompt meme. I did not until today.

What was something good that happened to me today oh good question. I feel like I am having a very pleasant day, but a lot of that was related to the kids at church being perfect angels and not trying to put me on BeReal in the middle of Communion. I don't talk about church kids in detail in public, but every Sunday where no one has a meltdown or swears in service is a good day lol. Oh I know!! I am a Bay FC founding season ticket holder bc I got so excited that the Bay Area finally has women's sports and I really wanted to financially support one of the teams so that people know that women's sports belong in the Bay Area. The WNBA is gonna be too much of a trek for me to make it every single game (though I WILL be attending at least a few games!!) so I went for Bay FC. all week I was having such a strop trying to choose between buying parking for tailgating and like normie parking. My brain was too frazzled by a toxic workplace to make a decision and I was like I DON'T KNOW if I'm cool enough to tailgate with soccer lesbians...like I'm just some guy and my drink of choice is sober kombucha the sports lesbians are gonna think I'm so uncool 😭 but then I asked my high school girl friends who are like either horny bisexuals or cishet but insane fans of women's soccer, bc they're the ones going with me. they were like NO WE WANT TO TAILGATE WE'RE COOL ENOUGH TO TAILGATE. so I got tailgating parking for the season and I'm very excited to be the kind of person who owns a cooler and keeps it in his car. I may even get a small folding table. Perhaps even two folding chairs. Who can say.

And then my church bestie like idly mentioned to me wanting to go to Bay FC games and I was like !!!! you can go with ME please come with ME!! It's very nice to have tickets to a sport people want to go to lol all my nonhockey friends think hockey is stupid (they're right.) I'm very excited to spend too much time on the REI website later tonight.

tl;dr life feels good today :)

It is so nice to hear from you, thank you for taking that first step!! The power Becs has truly 🙇🙇

[courtrecord]

On twitter sometime ago you described your writing habits as something similar to my own (slow, tedious, perfectionist, compulsive, agonizing over getting the words perfect instead of editing later, etc) And you also wrote a lot of dope things like Galactic 2E and Venture that are I hope you dont mind me saying, deeply inspirational. So coming from someone who hasnt Gotten There yet I have to ask, how do you get yourself to get up and just write the damn thing already?

omg thank u so much, that means more than i can possibly say. i wish i had a better set of advice but honestly so much of my creative work is vibes and hyperfixation based, and every time i finish something i look back on it like “how the fuck did i do that”, but here are the things that work for me. they are very much based on my own particular adhd and writing hangups so ur mileage will definitely vary.

start small: i didn’t start writing ttrpgs with big projects like venture & g2e. i started with a 200 word game, then some one-pagers, then kept growing from there. @jdragsky has talked a lot about the importance of building the skill of finishing things, and small projects are a really good way of doing that. hell, even g2e only exists bc i started with the smaller project of galactic, then went back to it a year later to build on it again.

share as u go: when i started working on bigger games, and this year as i’ve been working on longer fics, friends to share screenshots of my wip have been invaluable. that way i can get the immediate validation of someone reading my thing and giving feedback without feeling like i need to Publish it yet. biggest shoutout in the world to my friends who tolerate my writing nonsense.

write in chunks: this is kind of the combination of those first two points. bob games are big piles of little lists. i tend to write fic in short, impactful scenes. i have a wip that’s an sbr game, which is a big pile of little advances. that way, i am constantly getting that feeling of accomplishment when i write something. i can agonize over word choice and vibes and editing but then i actually get to a stopping point, where i like that little bit enough to move on to the next one. it seems crazy looking back that i wrote 36 places & 36 traits for g2e, but i didn’t just sit down and knock them all out. i wrote a few, sent them to some friends, then i wrote a few more. u know?

don’t force it: sometimes, the vibe just isn’t there. sometimes, u spend a year doing barely any writing or game design bc there’s a pandemic and ur brain doesn’t work anymore. etc. i’ve thought a lot the past few years about the difference btwn the feeling of wanting to write bc i want to write the thing, and the feeling of wanting to write bc i like the idea of being the person who wrote the thing. when i realize i’m in that second mindset, i go and think about something else. bc no good writing comes from that (at least ime)

find what u like: this is kinda related to the one above, but it’s another thing i’ve been thinking about lately. i spent a lot of time when i was younger assuming that bc i like writing, i had to write a novel, bc that’s what writers do. i would try to follow writing advice made for people who simply aren’t me. “writers must learn to use description sparingly” lol way ahead of u. that kinda thing. realizing that i love writing fanfiction for its transformativity, and i love writing dialogue bc it’s what i’m good at, was a huge revelation. i can just do that. i don’t have to follow the regular writer mold when i can just write really fucking good dialogue-heavy fanfiction. and in that realization, i’ve been able to grow as a writer by gaining the ability to write things down that i’m happy with, and grow from there.

prescription adderall: i told u this list was a mess. this one has kinda been crucial for me. i realized i had adhd in my first year of college in 2017 and started taking adderall for my second year of college in mid-2018. i started churning out creative projects in 2019. coincidence? absolutely not oh my god are u kidding