#cant wait for an ''edge in time'' character development

[eggpea]

Just watched the entirety of the spider verse movie.

I am changed

[voidwritesstuff]

Nightwatch and Nightmares

Summary: war has to take the first half of the night watch on the maker tree,and finds himself with a human companion that leaves him wondering about just how far away in nature nephilim were from humans.

Cw: nightmares, unnamed human female character. (I dont really write x reader)

A/n: this was a gift for @moodymisty, also I have to clarify that I use dashes for dialogue!(my mother tongue is spanish, we use dashes for dialogue,thats just my writing style!). Misty I hope you like it!

He knew strife was going to get him tangled up in something,its strife we're talking about.

Which is how he finds himself keeping watch over the maker tree where all the humans were. He sits the at the edge of the entrance with his sword driven into the bark of the oversized Flora, the night Sky above twinkles with stars as its clear of any clouds.

He doesnt like this- being still and having to wait.

War has done it time and time again for missions,but this? This was different. He could do it- he would do it but he hated it.

Its the middle of the night, he hopes to at least crush a demon head. Instead,what he gets makes itself know with soft steps.

Walking behind him is a human girl,young, she holds on to her clothes as the air is a little chilly. Her eyes seem lost and she seems shaken.

The human sits close to the rider,perhaps because he meant safety and she needed some of that.

War- he didnt understand humans. He understands why he protects them Yes,but the intricacies of the human condition absolutely baffle Him.

--Tis late-- he says under his breath to not startle the girl-- what are you doing awake,human?

His companion pulls her knees to her chest, resting her hands on her lap.-- nightmare.

Light from the moon filters through the massive leaves of the tree,its a mesmerizing sight to behold. Theres Beauty in this destroyed world, a glimmer of hope for the humans.

After a moment of contemplation,war asks-- perhaps you'd like a listening ear? --She shook her head and a harsh wind blows, she shivers and her body shakes-- come closer, lest you freeze to death.

Reluctantly,the girl shuffles closer,enough that his radiating body heat subsides the effects of tbe chilly air on her skin.

--Theyre very vivid-My nightmares I mean-- she murmurs-- I dont want to talk about what it was about- I just want to go back to sleep but I cant shake off that lingering fear- do you guys even get nightmares?

Usually,he'd avoid being seen as weak or vulnerable. But the human was really shaken up and he didnt know what to say-- sometimes, yes.

--I didnt know that- WOW. We're similar in more ways than I thought-- she says absentmindedly, rubbing her palm with her thumb.

Well,that takes him off guard-- similar? Nephilim and human?

The girl shrugged-- well- you can develop bonds with people, your siblings I mean and the makers, too! Thats something important for us humans--she explains-- you can feel things like a sense of duty, or Curiosity. You can create things! Ive seen strife grab pieces of the maker tree and turn them into rustic toys for the kids! We also make stuff!

--Seems you have a point, little one-- he agrees, hes never seen it from that perspective. Now its glaringly obvious to him- how didnt he see it earlier?.

--You guys have a sense of humor too! I mean strifes the best example but ive seen you and fury laugh a little. You guys have troubles and worries like we do- i mean I could Keep going

Without noticing, the human had leaned on the rider for more warmth. Not that War minded,he didnt even feel her weight.

--As interesting as your ideas are human- I rather you save your strength--he states-- perhaps soon sleep Will find you-- then he makes a pause,trying to think the best words-- youre free to stay until you feel better

Yawning,the girl nodds and rubs her eyes-- cool--she wiggles a bit to find a comfortable space to lay on and she folds her arms over her chest. Her eyes feel heavy with sleep-- awesome- yknow? You guys are really good people- I mean yeah you hide behind snarky sarcastic comments but you care about us- so thank you.

He chuckles-- theres a lot you humans dont know about us.

--Yeah but we can tell when someone is good-- she added,a few words slurred-- and you guys are really good

Before he can say anything else,the girl falls asleep quietly. Body relaxing and leaning her whole dead weight on him,he barely even noticed it. But his gauntlet does lay its hand on the human to Keep tjem warm.

--Rest human,ill Keep you safe-- he murmurs before thinking "including from nightmares"

When strife comes by to switch with his youngest brother, War carries the human to a spare bed, not sure where her room was. He makes sure the covers are well laid on her and he takes a moment to appreciate the sight before him. Humans always looked so heavenly when they rested.

He decides he could get some rest of his own,so the red rider goes to find a quiet,dark corner of the tree to sit on and rest for a few hours. In his mind linger the words of the girl,War wonders just how much humans and nephilim were similar to eachother.

Humans,they really are an interesting thing.

[collegetennisoriginstory]

OK. UM. first of all, hiiii! <3 ok lemme just gush a lil bit:

1. I LOVE UR FIC OHMYGOD HOLY SHIIIIIIIT

2. god, i don't even have the slightest idea of how tennis works, but this is just so????? like?????? you know. and i kinda get how the play goes?? YOU'RE AN AMAZING WRITER GOSH.

3. i actually remembered most of the characters?? considering there's a lot of em, this is practically a miracle. again, you're goddamn amazing. i dont know how. maybe the pace is great, but definitely THE CHARAS ALL HAVE PERSONALITY/DEPTH??? like, i actually even remembered the side charas!!! mike, thalia, diego, felix, that cool ass girl in that shooting game, etc. umh just perfecto.

4. THE TENNIS MATCHES ALL FEEL SO SATISFYING!!! <3333333 omg. i feel like WUOOOOOH u know. i feel so cool playing a cool talented mc omg im loving it (i play a i-win-everything type of mc becuz im a perfectionist with a fear of failure) the matches me on edge in my seat oh gosh <3 and when u win it somehow just go WOOOOOOOH again!!! AAAAAA<3

5. aw, and of course, my beloved rivals to lovers rayyan <3333 *sigh* the slowburn.... (hes actually my first & only one. i go: ohhh tension!?!? and make a run for it. um, if it's ok to ask, is there a lot of content in the romance area as of now or in the future? like, replayability in terms of romance? im sorry if this is rude, i didnt mean to, i suck at words & i wont ask that again.)

6. FOUND FAMILY YAY! FOUND FAMILY YAY! <33333 (we genuinely lack those in the if community pls.) soulmates w/ sam. ride or die diego. very reluctant ride or die G (imma be honest, his name is just so hard so my head for some reason just go Guacamole 😭). aww tobin u very big cinammon roll ill protect u. shenanigans. & others too many to name honestly.

7. help this is just so good i had to force myself to sleep at 3am for a 7am lecture and i sat in the front rows and i put my head on the table and the fricking professor called me out ohmygod- BUT IT WAS WORTH IT GODDAMN!! ILL DO IT AGAIN IF I HAVE TO! HA! i cant wait for the next update- i'm gonna have this fic in my head for the next week oh pls noooooo. (no pressure tho. u do u author! take ur time!!! ill be here to support u, whoo!)

8.ALL IN ALL, I LOVE IT I LOVE THIS I LOVE EVERYONE I LOVE YOU AUTHOR *runs over & hug you w/ consent* <333333333333

ok. um. that's not it but if i continue it's literally gonna be an essay so i'll stop.

author. i will die for this fic. ahaahahahah. if i may ask, what's ur fav IFs? (i really, really love this one so im kinda hoping maybe u have similar taste in IFs eheh. again, im sorry if this comes as rude or insensitive.) oh uh & if my long rambles bother u, i won't send it again sorry.

<333 okok. take care of urself, dont forget to eat healthy, drink water & good sleep. have a nice day :D

Wait. I think I might have missed replying to this I am so sorry!!! It gave me so so much joy. Maybe I subconsciously did not want it to leave my inbox haha.

1. And 2 -> THANK YOU!

3. Gosh this is such a great thing to hear. There are a looot of characters, and I definitely worry sometimes that it gets to be too much, but I think the IF is getting long enough for me to give enough-ish screentime to each character... though it takes me a while to cycle back to different side characters. I cant believe you remembered the cool ass girl in laser tag! :)

4. AWESOME to hear! 🥰

5. Yup, being a character driven IF, there will be a lot of romance (or friendship) beats / moments in the IF (which is already true now). The next couple of chapters will follow the same mix of sports, school and romance / hanging out, so you should already have a sense of how much romance there'll be (it'll just keep unfolding / developing for each of the RO routes!)

6. Hehe found family is my fave trope to insert in stories as well.

7. Hahaha aww oh no fictional college life is catching up to your real college life!!

8. HUG YOU BACK (with consent)!!🤗🤗

[onlyjaeyun]

hi baby!!! i read the chap last night but was exhausted and i passed out right after so now i’m sending in my ask!!

HOLYYY SHIT ZADIE THAT CHAP MADE ME FEEL ALLLLL THE EMOTIONS like first off i was annoyed at hoon for being so in denial and then the steamy parts came and i was like 😳😳 that chap was so well written baby it had me rereading every sentence like 5 times w/ how good it was

ik hoon is not gonna be able to hold in his jealousy any longer, i feel like he’s just trying his hardest to convince himself that he still hates her when we all know how that ends🤭 i’m also very curious to finally find out what happened between them that made them THIS angry with each other 🫣

i really love how you’re portraying this e2l trope bc you ACTUALLY made the characters enemies. bc usually it’s like one sided where one of them just pretends to hate the other’s guts and the build up is very anticlimactic. BUT WITH CH YOU HAVE ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT EVERY TIME AND I LOVE IT THANK YOU ZADIE😭🫶🏻

i’m picking up my disposables today which i’m extremely excited about!!! also a little nervous to see how they turn out but i trust jungwon🤞🏻🥹 i hope you’re having a great day and overall week my love!! as always, take care of yourself baby!! love you so so much💞💞⭐️⭐️ !!

- 💌

MY BABY!!!!! i hope youve got some of that well deserbed rest my sweet love, dont ever worry about sending me asks pls i just want you to take care of yourself 🥺💞

AAAH THANK YOU SO SO MUCH ANGEL!!!🥺🥺🥺🥺 so so happy you enjoyed the chapter and sre also enjoying the whole e2l dynamics, honestly means the world to me when you guys tell me i'm doing a good jon portraying their hatred/attraction bc as you know this is my forst e2l fic ever so im still super nervous 😭 thank you for always giving me so much love and support inlove and appreciate you so luch 🥺💞🤍🫧

fingers crossed the pics developed well baby, cant wait for your update on that🥺🤍 sending you so many kisses, pls accept snd have a great day i love you

[mirtifero]

I actually want to talk about a short story book plan I had back on around 2020(?) and that I'm slowly coming back to.

I cant remember if it was around 2020 or 2021 or if it started in 2019, but I remember being in front of a computer while thinking about it, so idk. Maybe 2020.

Cus I remember being influenced by senmu's work by the time? And some of these seem to have some ressemblance.

I remember stopping writing them because they started making me feel ill to my stomach. Maybe you'll see why. The scenes of each story were too personal and were wounds that hurt too much for me to handle at the time.

Now I see them with a bit of fondness.

The stories are going to be written in portuguese tho, ahahah. Not here! Here you'll have short summaries.

Warnings for each story summary on the improvised name for each of them

Dream Boy (abuse, murder, suicide)

This one is quite simple. A man in a big city has developed major depression due to loneliness and is struggling in a small friend group he made of horrible people. These "friends" basically just use him for his (broke) wallet or to beat him up or harrass him. Due to that, he slowly starts to make a fictional person inside his head to be his best friend. He eventually actually develops feelings for this fictional boy, and starts going slowly but surely mad. His life is a mess, he is constantly almost getting evicted, he locked his university course and his friends suck. That dream person is the only person he has. He eventually has a breakdown and kills his "friends" and ends up getting arrested. He commits suicide shortly after to reunite with his beloved.

Girl best friends (abuse, suicide, murder, homophobia)

This one's very short and simple. Two girls are best friends in a very conservative town, and one starts developing feelings for the other one. Let's call them 1 and 2. One day, they are having a sleep over, and 2, who knows about 1's feelings for her, starts whispering sweet poison to her. 1 gets flustered and asks what she's talking about, receiving a confused look from 2. Basically things like that happen for a while, 2's whispers developing from sweet nothings to... something weirder. 2 starts to talk about death and wanting to kill hersef when they graduate highschool, which was some months from then. Slowly 2 also starts suggesting for a double suicide. 1 is scared, but 2 keeps pushing and pushing for her to do it. On graduation day, they go to the roof together, and 1 once again hesitates, but 2 looks at her and tell her she loves her so so much and that she can't wait to die together with her. 1 sits on the edge and breathes but chickens away, making 2 angry. 2 pushes 1 down the building. 1 looks up while falling, realising 2 was not jumping. 2 had tricked her. She never wanted to die. She wanted 1 dead.

Three friends (cannibalism, animal death)

This one. Changed a lot. Originally it was about a starving girl, her dogs and a mysterious kind stranger. The stranger gave her food and she was forever grateful. Slowly though, her dogs start missing. Her meals are her only source of comfort. One day, instead of a full meal, the stranger appears and shows her one of her dead dogs. Rips it apart and feeds it to her. She had been feeding the girl on human and dog meat all along.

Now, there's only 2 people in that story (which I took some liberties to change from its actual original, since silly me doesn't remember much besides dogs and cannibalism), so why the 3 title? Thats because for a good while I changed it. It is the time loop yuri story I talked about. With the same characters and similar ideas, a girl was trapped in a time loop where her two friends kept killing each other and grotesquely mutilating and eating themselves, and how it kept getting worse because the girl started actually making things worse HERSELF.

But I ended up... not liking it? I don't know, my original ideas were feeling based only, I couldnt seem to make a plot out of it. It's a nice idea, but not for them. I won't scrap it, just like what happened to Henry (hence why there's two of them), but the murder besties will stay on the shelf for a while.

Yes I will write the dog eating story instead. Lol.

That's honestly it? Like, it's three stories I made at a very low point of my life, and based off emotions I couldn't seem to explain at the time. Now I understand them better and wish to explore it on these stories I made at my lowest.

Sharing here because... maybe someone here likes grotesque stuff? Haha. Well. Hoped you who read this liked it!

[omophagic-beast]

!! TTRPGs Wrapped!

this is a very funny list because i play a lot of one shots so! in no particular order as well!

1. Royal Blood 2. Healer 3. There Is A Light At The Edge Of The World 4. Gravemire 5. Mews Cruise

Genres

ritualism, tower of babel cottagecore, little guys!™️

TTRPGs Wrapped

Mausritter

Monster of the Week

DnD 5e

Into The Odd

Wanderhome

Genres cottage folkcore, weirdwonder, indie sonder

[ah0yh0y]

My On My Shelf Books (but its chaotic)

- the weight of your sky - Hanna Alkaf I CRED I TELL YOU SO HARD WE STAN LITERALLY ANYTHING BY HANNA ALKAF IS GOOD IF SHE WROTE LIKE 3 WORDS I WOULD BE AMAZED MASHAALLAH - a heartwarming and heartbrekaing look at racial tensions on the brink - feels especially true

Queen of Tiles - Hanna Alkaf , murder mystery grief and literally so good. much better than YA murder grounded and heartbreakign and im a sucer for the scenes like the ending would look beautiful on my shelf as well

a language of thorns - Leigh Bardugo - i have read this book time and time agian i have my problems wiht the rest of Leigh’s work but this, this will foverever remain untouched  ON MY SHELF AND IN HARDCOVER TOO

Once upon a Eid - anthology literally the best muslim rep I have come across like i cannot tell you how big of a content and slightly weepy sigh my hearttook wiht this.

the ballad of Mulan - Sherry Thomas - actually shipped the main two SO GOOD- hISTORICAL FICTIONNNNN beautifully done ALSO THE COVER??

nevermoor !!!!! - home grown aussie magic mog DRAgon cant wait for silver born. THE WRITING IS SO GOOD FOR THIS unparalleled . also the people in this fandom are really nice ON MY SHELF WOO

Sal and Gabi break the universe + Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe - RR PRESNETS SO GOOD FOUND FAMILY- creative funny and poignant  and took my inner “i want to be in the arts!!” self and jjust gave it all i want 

bone witch trilogy!!!! rin chupeco can have my soul i have read this series so many times and i never do that. - i am trying to describe this but like its so good i cant

Airman - Eion Colfer guys its eion colfer what do i even have to say

Deeplight & A Skinful of Shadows & Cukoo Song - Frances Hardinge - no words except i want to write like this

The Anne of Green Gables Series- friendship and love and forevermore

The Secret Garden on my shelf!!!!

Murder most Unladylike series - specifically mistletoe and Murder and arsenic for tea at the mo cause BERTIEEEEEE WELLLS -- aside form that one of the best middle grade book series i have  ever read mysterious are complex and leaveyou on the edge  of your seat and a series to binge when you feel like coffee and pistachios 

ILLUMINAE FILES- HOW COULD I FORGET THE BOOKS SERIES THAT CHANGED ME AAAAAAA- sci  fi opera mixed media told by chats and ship logs and literally took my heart and forged it into a new being

Trials of Apollo THE META FOR THIS SERIES I SWEAR- honeslty ricks best work AMAZING character development 1/5 on my shelf

Enchanted Emporiun- literally magical will fight  you all if you dont like it/j

A Wish in the Dark - TEH VIBES Thai inspired fantasy friendship and coconut made me feel at home def reccoment

A Place to hang the Moon    - wooooo found family very Blyton-esque whihc makes it no suprise that i enjoyed this eimmesly

Middlegame - god this books is so good 500 hundred games wish a thousand times i could read it again

Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik - the fairytale inspired book of my dream rich a nd deep and oh my god i ship these people moment

The VAlley and the Flood - loss grief ptsd beutifal writing eerie enought to seem real . grounded and omg it is now a comfort read. radio waves in sea glass green 

the scholomance trilogy POWER OF FRIENDSHIP AND DARK MAGIC AND LIKE ACTUAL INTERESTING LORE AND THE THIRD BOOK MADE ME CRYYY AHHHH ITS GONNA EMPTY MY POCKETS ON MY SHELF YEAHHHH

Berrybrook Middle School  - graphic novel series SO GOOD                        aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAH

Glorious Wrestling Alliance, Ultimate Championship Edition :  go read this graphic novel its vey good idk how to describe it just do it

Red White and Whole - made cry best rep of a south asian mother and daughter relationship i think i can see also good at describing the relationship between the parents (spoiler: they love each other)

The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya VOL 1 & 2 - such great grpahic novel the muslim rep immaculate THE STORY???? immacualte the characters????? IMMMACULATE

A Bit of Earth - its a south asian muslim retelling of the secret garden what more can i ask for it made me cry

Discworld - havent read many but ive been love with every single book carrot is the only character ever 

Tress of the Emerald Sea - AAAA found family pirates cutest couple ever cool sea spores and worldbuilding and the plot twist the power of love and friendship and CUPS tress the woman of my heart we would be besties

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett. (Emily would love APA citations I love and relate to her so much. Be my Friend)

[nerves-nebula]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO OMG OKAY QUESTIONS (no pressure to answer or go too in depth !)

What inspired you to make the characters? like where they an instance "YES I HAVE A CHARACTER IDEA" or was it more of a development over time?

Will Etik and Groe get along?

Will Etik ever have to pick a side between Maureno and Groe? (oo possibility of angst but also Etik.. Etik deserves to not be put in that position)

I LOVE how you do your character designs, like all of them feel unique but not overly complicated/hard for eyes to make out (if that makes sense? it's a compliment my eyes are wonky alerkgm). do you have any tips for character designs?

Thanks!!! I can't wait to learn more about Etik as you share more about Etik's story with Maureno (and Groe!)

OK SOOOO you've given me the chance to ramble AND SO I SHALL.

FIRST QUESTION: buck up cuz this is a long one.

Etik, Maureno, and Groe are all pre-existing characters. Sort of. They originally come from a story where Groe is the main character and is dealing with a lot of PTSD and has to teach a class of teens/young adults how to Use Magic! Etik is one of his students, and Maureno (called Maurice in this story) lives in the palace Groe is teaching at on a boat they can never leave (for backstory reasons)

(scenes of Maurice and Groe on the boat can be seen here)

so they didn't really spring up wholesale, but the next story put them in they were just background characters. Still, this version of them was wayy different. this was also the version where I changed Maurice to Maureno, sicne the characters were very different and i wanted a more funky name of this Evil Version. Etik isnt an important part of this story.

(I've posted that second version here)

WHICH LEADS US TO the maureno and groe that YOU, the ASKER know.

this version of them is relatively new compared to the other two, i just came up with it earlier this year. YOU SEE, I developed a bit of an infatuation with Sun Wukong and a dozen or so iterations of his character. I also later on fed my affection for honey badgers, and SO! I wanted to write a character that was inspired by Sun Wukong but like, for honey badgers. (sort of, there's plenty of differences but yea)

I also wanted to include Groe because I LOVE to torture him, and because I'd had this idea of him being killed/brought back which fit in well with my sun wukong fascination. Plus Groe's personality was perfect for it cuz he's already really bitter and petty and a bit of an asshole. I ended up including Etik and making her play a more main role because she's been underdeveloped for a while so I figured Why Not give her some attention?

SO IN SHORT: It was a combination of "YES I HAVE AN IDEA" and then mapping that idea on to pre-existing characters.

SECOND QUESTION: Etik and Groe already get along! Etik thinks he's cool and mysterious and admires his craft/work (his plants & his potions). Groe likes Etik too, it just hates that she stays with Maureno because it doesnt trust Maureno to look after a kid. and also because of its own child-related trauma.

THIRD QUESTION: Sort of! Etik is kind of caught between them already, but in more of a "Divorced parents trying to one up each other" sort of way not a "You have to choose one of us!" way. She'd probably choose Maureno anyway because she lives with her, and because she made a pact with Maureno to rescue her siblings. But she wouldn't be happy with or accept the idea of cutting off contact with Groe.

FOURTH QUESTION: Uhhh once again I'm kind of at that stage as an artist where I've internalized a lot of shit but cant exactly explain it. I basically just try to follow the rules of like, Shape Language and designing recognizable silhouettes (Groe is tall and thin and mostly pointy so that he looks like of like a wilting flower, Maureno is short and round but with a few edges that show that she's not just a big softie and is a potential threat, Etik just has a pretty average build cuz she's a pretty average girl. probably the least recognizable silhouette except for her little AAC snake)

my only other advice is to make more of your characters fat and transgender and disabled and non-white. fsdfmkdsfmsdf those arent really tips though, that's just what i like to draw hah.

[jjkyaoi]

hi, hello, welcome to a short ass explanation about my opinions on some dsmp characters because i’m bored. and because you didn’t have a choice of what content you were gonna consum when you hit the follow button =)

- mf this is an inniter blog 🧍🏼. were you expecting negative shit? honestly though he’s probably got one of my favorite character arcs in this entire smp

- “he’s a little shit” yes? and? he’s my little shit and i’d give the world for him.

- literally i’d give my entire soul being just to give this mf some sort of break. he has the worst luck. constantly. and for what?

- anyway can we talk about his character development? man went from a selfish, naive child who wouldn’t ever— ever open up to his own mistakes, to a worn out war soldier who’s trying his best to fix his mistakes / become a better person, which includes owning up to them. he’s fuckin,,.. i cant even. i love him. mwah. 10/10.

- ah, there he is. that motherfucker. what a tool.

- hey, let’s say— can you hear that in the distance? yeah, it’s the sound of all the fucking minor’s he’s manipulated. damn, there’s a lot of ‘em, huh? you’d wonder why..,,,.

- he’s got a neat character arc, i guess, and he’s interesting as a villain, but there isn’t anything that’s stopping me from beating this mf up. i’ve never felt such rage towards a minecraft roleplay character of all things; he is a child manipulator that only does it for fun / the chaos of it all.

- okay tell me that motherfucker doesn’t look punchable. don’t you just wanna punch him—?

- *cough* *cough* he’s done nothing wrong *cough* *cough*

- there’s so much bottled up rage in this body like,..,, i can smell it. i can smell it on him. there’s so much held back violence and i just wanna,,.. MM.

- okay but like motherfucker’s been the victim of these people’s wars since day one 🧍🏼 getting publicly executed? being forced to exile his own best friend? his home country being destroyed? he’s been nothing but a target for these people and i’m :(

- anyway, uh, tubbo goes apeshit arc when? literally when? i’m waiting—

- uh,,..,,, he’s done nothing—,,...,,, he’s done nothing wrong?

- honestly, whenever he opens up his mouth when he’s being serious it’s just facts, and yet nobody listens to him, and that’s Tiring.

- easily one of the most interesting character storylines on this smp right now. there’s so many twists and turns to this and there’s so much we don’t know about his character— so much i’m ready to find out. i’ve never been on the edge of my seat more

- uh,..,,,, motherfucker are you alright? like dude genuinely get therapy—

- beginning to write this, i can feel my daddy issues begin to boil.

- he’s a complicated character for me, because i understand where exactly he’s coming from & i sympathize with him, but god damn if he didn’t fuck up his family and god damn if i won’t forever hold a grudge to the way he tossed tommy & wilbur aside.

- he’s trying his best,,,... and i sort of respect it

- y’know, it’s really saying something when you say you prefer the fanon version of a character over the canon one, &—

- sir, i’m torn between wishing you the best and writing a long ass essay about how your reasoning for things is Very questionable

- honestly, i think he’s a neat character to have even if he’s literally just a cartoon villain /lh.

- there’s a lot i could say about how he chooses to go about anarchy, and his reasoning behind wanting l’manberg gone is something i agree w/ but the way he goes about it is a way i don’t necessarily agree with. there’s a lot of feelings i have about him.

- no matter what i think, that “i am a person” will haunt me for years

- once you look past the fact that he blew up his nation & traumatized his family, he’s a nice little lad!!

- i appreciate that he’s trying his best to be better, and yes i would like some blue

- his character is really just something that’s so bittersweet and yet so interesting at the same time? every seen that has him in it just has this hint of something melancholy; he simultaneously has the mindset of a child and yet. not. it’s interesting

- anyway, glattbur anyone? what the fuck 🧍🏼

- he’s one of the only characters where i see going apeshit, & i’m like “go off little man”

- half the time you’re like “is he possessed or is he just like that”

- genuinely though, his character arc is another one of my favorites; he’s got so much power and potential and he genuinely means the best, but he makes wacky decisions w/ somewhat good intentions in mind, and that’s what i vibe w/. chaotic good anyone?

- he’s not entirely a hero, and yet he’s not a villain. and that’s? so fucking cool

[kiniism]

okay heres a really long post about my onions on scarlet (and violet but ive only played scarlet so far). i will NOT be spoiling any of the story or pokemon that havent been revealed in official media, HOWEVER! i will be talking about certain mechanics in the game in more detail, most specifically how you physically move about in the world (ie the upgrades you get for your mount). while im going to try not to compare scarvi to other games in every single aspect, its not feasible to leave it in the vacuum considering What It Is (a mainline series game from one of the highest-grossing franchises in the world). developer crunch aside, this is what they gave us, so thats what im talking about. SO!! preface done. lets get into this, breaking it up by section with each getting an overall Section Score, and then a final Overall Game Score. points i like begin with ++ and points i dont begin with -- to try and make it easier. THIS IS LONG AND CONTAINS SALT (some deserved, some personal).

THE POKEMON THEMSELVES

section score: 8/10 i like a lot of them! its just the ones i Dont like, i...Really Dont Like

++wooper’s new evo is the singular best pokemon of all time ++the names this gen are top-tier ++most of the designs are really cool! --there are some who have interesting ideas behind their base design/abilities but it really doesn’t feel like it fits with the mon itself and wouldve been better off as a separate entity/pokemon (there is a sea-based creature and a coin critter who bring this to mind most keenly) --while its nice theyre supposedly all to-scale, many are way too small to be seen on the switch screen. conversely i guess i understand why people are always tripping over bug-types in forests

YOUR LEGENDARY RIDE BUDDY

section score: 5/10 their personality is the absolute saving grace here, the novelty of riding them is fun, though a lot of the mechanics fall flat for me but are still required to explore the world

++having the box legendary with you from the tutorial is a cool idea i didnt know i wanted before! ++this lizard is so personality. god bless --the camera cannot keep up when you dash for long distances --i dont hate the fact that there is only a single pokemon you ride on since that cuts down on total animations needed, its just sad we cant use anyone else --i also dont hate that your movement abilities are locked behind one of the story lines, BUT there are hard-locked areas of the game you cannot get to without more progress, which stifles the whole “open world, do whatever you want whenever you want” feel --you unlock gliding late, and after roughly ten seconds of gliding, you begin falling rapidly to the ground. whats the point of this? also no free flight is always depressing, if understandable at a technical level --climbing walls is your last upgrade. the small hop you do at the top of the cliff to make it to the flat ground is often TOO small and you may fall. and if there is a pokemon at the edge where you’re about to be, you will bounce off it and be sent likely back down to the bottom of the cliff. not to mention if the wall is not completely vertical, you might lose your climbing grip and begin to slide down anyway --they take up so much of your screen you often cant see whats in your path and will run over or into obstacles like smaller pokemon or npcs

THE ANIMATIONS, GRAPHICS, AND VISUALS

section score: 5/10 the pokemon textures and chara designs alone save this part from being rated a 3/10

++the pokemon themselves look AMAZING, they have visible scales/fur/metallic sheen and are generally a delight to see walking about ++the npcs and characters are all really cool and i enjoyed meeting them ++pokemon have several different animations you can see with the picnic feature ++pokemon having sleeping animations in the picnic and when idle too long with lets go mode is adorable ++pokemon roaring/crying after they defeat an opponent in battle and are waiting for the next to come out is a nice touch --the environment textures look like 144p stock photos --the landscapes themselves look like a middle schooler’s first blender project, they arent natural and they arent pretty --there feels like there isnt a cohesive stylistic choice, like in legends arceus or breath of the wild, where they have a consistent vibe for the whole game --pokemon dont stand correctly on slopes, ie one of their feet will be clipped into the ground and the other will be floating --most of the move animations are pretty to look at, but we still have “slide forward and jiggle around a bit in your t-pose” and thats IF its a physical contact move. arceus’s dynamic battle movements are completely forsaken here --the idle animations in battle have a lot of dead space between them so we’re back to just two of them t-posing at each other --pokemon dont even close their eyes when theyre asleep. they have a whole animation for it outside of battle, and inside of battle there isnt any sleepy signs. they dont Freezeframe when frozen either. --koraidon specifically does a really cute animation when you’re just sitting on his back BUT. his neck wheel clips into his throat horribly and i just cant unsee it --the pokedex has a cute aesthetic but you cant SEARCH it and trying to read the sideways names is unsatisfying --the CONSTANT jumpcuts/fadeins both in the open world and in cutscenes looks Awful. give the editor a break, you dont need ten small movies to do the job of one

THE UI ELEMENTS AND CONTROLS

section score: 3/10 for every step forward there seems to be several dozen going back

++taking a selfie for your trainer card is nice ++the map has a pleasing aesthetic overall --the map does not show cave layers --while you can lock the large map from rotating, you cant lock the minimap from spinning which disorients me to no end. also the main map doesnt keep your zoom level saved when you close and open it --trainer card is removed from the x menu and instead locked behind opening the large map and then a smaller menu, which is pointless --you cant take a photo of yourself for the profile Icon. why? --the pokemon menu icons do not have special shiny variants, and also they clip horribly within the party screen. all of my pokemon are beheaded and/or have no feet --in the pc why is multiselect bound to the - key and not something way more accessible. why make Y ONLY swap and not toggle between modes like sword and shield had? --in the pc you cant pick up a pokemon and go to the ‘all boxes’ screen and drop them in a new box. you have to manually scroll through all your boxes --in the pc you cant hit Up on your first party member to end up tabbed over the Last Slot --health bars in battle. where do i start. its awful and i hate it? if you have a status effect or take damage from an ability, the bar will display for a moment while the damage animation goes off, and then DISAPPEAR WHEN THE TEXT BOX TELLING YOU THE DAMAGE WENT OFF SHOWS UP. its stressful when you/your opponent is at low hp and you dont know HOW much until the turn resolves entirely. in worst case scenarios (ie tera raids), you may only get a few frames. just display the health bars all the time, along with the pokemons level.

THE NEW FEATURES

section score: 5/10 if these features worked as im sure they were intended or had a few tweaks, they would be 10/10. but they Dont, and its super sad that the bad vastly outweighs the good

++finding rare items on the ground (nature mints, vitamins) is really nice ++being able to BUY nature mints is amazing ++picnicing is fun and handy when you dont want to make a long trek to/from a center ++terastralizing is fun to both do and plan around ++the raids are an improvement over sword and shield ++coop is kind of pointless but still really fun to Exist in the same space as your friends! so it stays as a positive ++accessing your pc boxes from anywhere is a godsend! ++nicknaming pokemon anywhere is nice! ++being able to relearn any past known move at any time is amazing! ++shiny pokemon are seen in the overworld! ++the lets go feature is a fun concept --HOWEVER the lets go feature is implemented Terribly. the mon doesnt stray far from you and immediately returns to the ball if you do get too far. you often send them forward and they dont target what you want them to, or they defeat one pokemon and then give up. 90% of pokemon are also TOO SLOW to keep up with you, which means you cant even reliably have a buddy walking with you for fun. it also makes evolving certain pokemon a hellish nightmare of forcing yourself to walk slowly so they dont get stuck --shiny pokemon DO NOT SPARKLE OR MAKE A SOUND in the overworld. they will ONLY alert you to their shininess when you enter a battle. the only way to identify a pokemon is with the lets go feature (your mons will not attack a shiny) BUT. with all the problems the lets go feature has i just listed, the only other recourse for people who dont use it is to squint at their screen. what do you do with a shiny who flees if you dont notice it in time before getting too close? you lose. good day sir. i will not be giving the game a pass on this at ALL because of the many visually impaired players being shafted on all fronts --speaking of shiny pokemon, shiny dittos and shiny zoruas can be disguised as Normal Pokemon and you wont know until you engage them and they de-transform. and again, the only way to know for sure before you manually battle is the lets go feature. so thats just dumb --we did not need crouching and sneaking in this game if there isnt any out-of-battle catches or need to hide period --the tera raids being timed really doesnt feel good when you need to watch SO many animations and none of them are shortened or skippable. the boss tera’s, sometimes you have to tera, and while the throwing-ball at the end was clearly made with love...its long, and ive seen it a lot now --the difficulty spike from 4* raids to 5* raids (i havent done a 6*) was pretty insane without building an endgame pokemon specifically to take them on. also the fact that i cant invite my friends first and then open it up to strangers means you’re likely stuck with dumb npcs padding out your team --sandwich making is kinda clunky and the fact that the buffs are separated by type feels super arbitrary and just to pad out the system of “wow look at all these ingredients!!”

THE STORY AND WORLD

section score: 9/10 its a pokemon game so some cliche is expected, but this has been my favorite one since black and white. the only thing really dragging it down is that the world is not as open as it seems

++all three paths have solid foundations and i enjoyed experiencing them! ++all of the important npcs felt like real characters who had their own motivations and quirks ++i actually learned stuff in class and got to flunk my math midterm three times because i cant fucking read just like in real life! +7 points --the world is not as open as it wants to be. areas are hard-locked behind certain mount abilities (swimming, climbing) but you can. sort of get up cliffs by jumping backwards which is fucking hilarious --the OVERworld doesnt necessarily need to scale with player progression (its normal to have low level starter areas and high level endgame areas) BUT! the BOSSES should. i was reasonably leveled for my first few fights but then took on a boss 10+ levels higher than my team, which was a fun struggle! BUT. after that. i was ENOURMOUSLY over leveled for the REST OF THE GAME, and none of the fights were interesting or fun --the terastralizing gimmick was only used in an interesting way a handful of times (one earlier-level gym leader surprised me but that was about it) and could’ve had a lot more potential if the types weren’t so predictable. a fight you have after beating the league had me cautious of something that wouldve been amazing to see but never happened --almost none of the npc pokemon had held items...? or if they did, they didnt make a valuable contribution to the fight, which made most of them feel easy to steamroll --i also found very few useful held items in the wild, which isnt the biggest deal since you can buy them, but it was always nice to pick up something and be like oh hey yea i can use this! without specifically going to the store. maybe ive explored the wrong areas tho idk --there are too many shops. have a clothing store in each city, yes, but do not put every piece of your outfit into a different store. no fucking store sells ONLY socks and NOTHING ELSE. same goes for the sandwich shops --there are too many buildings. you dont even go inside any of them, not even the fashion shops, so why have a loading screen just to pop up a menu? have an npc outside show you a ‘catalogue’ and pick from there --there isnt a way to mark npcs you want to revisit on your map, ex the friendship checker or that one guy you trade pokemon parts to so you can get amarouge or ceruledge. i have to look them up every time --the pokemon dropping materials is nice and adds immersion that each line drops a specific item, but it just adds to unnecessary bag bloat. ive made maybe seven tms in my 80 hours of playtime and havent sold any materials because i dont want to scroll through them all

and the kicker... THE PERFORMANCE

section score: 1/10 this is abysmal. it makes me physically ill.

++the coop bugs are kind of funny thats the only reason this has a Single Point and isnt a 0 --the lag. THE LAG BRO. everything lags. the game, every menu, the pokedex, starting a battle, EVERYTHING --it cant keep a steady 30fps at the best of times --the frame drops and slowdowns are frequent, distracting, and honestly nauseating at times. i can only play in handheld mode --the camera clips through EVERYTHING how did this get through playtesting --my game has crashed three times. once while i was walking away from a pokecenter, a second when trying to connect to a friends world, and the third while eating a sandwich. this is the only switch game in my recent memory to have ever crashed completely --the memory leak when the game runs for more than a few hours. --people are FALLING THROUGH THE FLOOR. --the world fucking deloads itself sometimes when i throw a pokeball. yea that video of the psyduck by the bridge is real, its happened to me several times

so now.......here we are at the end of things. first, heres stuff i would fix to make it a perfect 10/10 mainline pokemon game

add shiny sound/sparkle back

make health bars display 100% of the time in battle

move the profile/trainer card and pokedex options back to the main menu

let players lock the minimap rotation

bosses have proper level scaling

make the names in the pokedex not sideways

tweaks to the movement of your ride mon

animation upgrades, both in the overworld and for cutscenes

minor adjustments to the animation timings in tera raids, making shorter versions of them to combat the timer anxiety

complete overhaul of the lets go feature

performance upgrades. god let this game cook for another year at least

and i think thats everything. this game is clearly unfinished and the product of the ruthless development cycle, and ultimately it was way too ambitious for the time and manpower they had. its extremely sad that theres such promise under all of the glaringly unpolished features. if this game had at least some of the fixes i specified above, i would feel confident rating this as my favorite pokemon game since black and white or legends arceus

however. as of right now, with the game the way it is, this is my final score

                       POKEMON SCARLET AND VIOLET                                   FINAL RATING: 6/10

[saintobio]

Saint, as someone who has been reading and following your work avidly since UFC back in January, i’m so happy you’re receiving the attention you rightfully deserve, your writing is and will always be one of the very few things on this hellsite that enjoy and Sincerely Not was honest to go such respectfully a beautiful, tragic mess to read from the moment you uploaded the first chapter it already had us on the edge of our seats for the next upload. You once again managed to write such an amazing story despite some negativity that you received in the beginning about the MC being “weak”. I also stopped making memes after a while because honestly i couldn’t make light of the situation anymore to make a joke about what they were going through, however you beat believe that once season 2 starts i’ll be back on my bullshit as always.

I cant lie and say that I didn’t hate Satoru in the beginning and wanted better for the MC but as the chapters went on, your once again proved most of us wrong on Satoru being cold hearted and as someone who refuses the change their ways by providing such well written character development on his behalf. As much as I was rooting for the MC and Toji to finally be together bc yunno toji <3 I can’t help but to feel so much remorse for Satoru at the end, every wrong doing he caused was inexcusable and the MC had every right to do what she did because she has shown from the start that she put Satoru almost always first when they were married and i’m genuinely happy that she put herself first for the first time in almost a year.

The final chapter of Sincerely Not: s1 specifically the MC and Satoru’s conversation before the wedding has been something that I didn’t know that i needed, I really do feel that MC deserved the closure she now rightfully deserves but not executed the way Satoru did, sure he got his feelings very much involved but even then it was so indulging the more I read; the dialogue between them and interactions in that scene was so compelling to read that I couldn’t stop but to feel my own heart break as Satoru voiced his wrongs, admiring that he was always in the wrong and expressing how much he truly did and does care for the MC in the end after everything they have gone through.

I absolutely cannot wait until season 2 and what you have in store for it because let’s be honest, all your works have been a god sent with your talented writing and I really hope you take some time between now and when you upload it because you deserve to take a break!

I hope you’re well, drinking enough water and getting the proper amount of sleep and i’ll be here for season 2 ready to either cry my eyes out and rant about it in my groupchat or make memes about it at degenerate hours!

yuliiii i’m sorry it took me ages to reply. and yeah, you’ve been here w me since ufc era n you still stayed w me until now. that’s so amazing ?? i can’t thank u enough for the support you’re giving my fics 🥺 and don’t worry abt not making memes. i enjoy hearing ur thoughts as well too. ilysm and i hope you’ve been well

@rinstars said

SOBBING PUKING CRYING SCREAMING DYING JUNPING ROLLING YELLING SULKING PEEING CRYIBG SJDKHWOWBSOE SAINT I LOVE U SO MUCH THANK U FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL ENDING TO S1 I WAS HEARTBROKEN BUT NOW IM SO READY TO FACE S2 AND IT WAS SUCH A SATISFYING END IN SUCH A HEARTBREAKING WAY BUT THOSE LITTLE GLIMMER OF HOPE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE LINES MAKE IT ALL BETTER ILY IM SO PROUD OF HOW U FINISHED SUCH AN AMAZING LONG SERIES I WAS SUPPOSED TO GO OFF CAPSLOCK A WHILE AGO BUT IM TYPING THIS LITERALLY WITHOUT BREAKBRJEJWODHIR I WOKE UP AND CRIED BEFORE GOING YO CLASS YOU. WILL. PAY. 😭😭 WOWWWW GOJO NEXT SEASON WE GOT U BAE WE GOT UUUUU WHEN SHE SAID JUST FORGET ABOUT OUR MARRIAGE OH WOW THE FORUPWHSLWHROEJOW CANT EVEN TYPE ANYMORE LORDDDD

risa HELPJBD you’re always screaming under the replies and i love that !! thank u for finding the time to read sn even though you’re busy w life and w writing ur suna series <33 🥺 sending u all my love !!

@sunasbabie said

ily and ur blog more :’)

hi ily and ur writing <33

@shintin said

your story was a masterpiece. i don't remember liking a story like yours 😍 i don't hace a question about story, i'll just wait untill sincierly yours first chapter 😍😍 when do you plan to publish it?

and i also i want to ask you a favor, i have written a story about Gojo x Reader, too. I will be happy and ery honored if you read my story and tell me your opinion 😍😍😍

you're one of my favorite authors in social media 😍😍😍

thanks ❤

it’ll be published tomorrow 4pm pst. thank u for the support !! i’m glad you liked it. and sure, i’ll check it out once i have free time from work :’) <33 i’m sure it’s beautifully written !!

@imnotjo said

While I was getting a massage, i suddenly thought what if y/n and gojo submitted their life story entry to MMK (maalaala mo kay) PLS HUHUHU CANT GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD & THE THEME SONG PLAYING GURL— DBDHVDJD im dEaaAD

jo, you switched to 3 urls for the three weeks i’ve been on hiatus bsjdjs anyways aaaah yea bc their love story is so dramatic (tho i’m not all too familiar with the mmk context 😹)

@ch1yhoe said

saint shskshaksh idk what to say really, the ending left me speechless, i can't i'm so heartbroken that i'm singing beer by the itchyworms with my gojo figure, telling him that "iinom nalang natin yan" cos- 😭 im laughing at myself hahdwjwudhw but legit, i even sent it to @joranhaitani—like we always read it at the same time and trust me we're both bawling our eyes out 😭 GSJSGASJSHSHAHAHAHSHS

anyway, you've done a great job with SN! it's truly a masterpiece, i'm grateful to u and i'm very happy that i've found your blog. thank u for your hard work, saint. <33 you're truly a blessingggg. i hope you get enough rest after this because we can wait for sn2 hehehshak u deserve to rest, that's all ily saint!! 🤍🤍

aly !! you changed urls too :0 thank u for ur support. you and jo make me laugh so much when i see u guys on the dash bsjsjd i’m grateful for u as well !! keep up the good work on ur sanzu (?) series hehe <33

@sushiwuu said

Thanks for writing a great chapter as always!!! It hurts so bad, I LOVE IT! I think I became numb in reading too much of your angsty fics. Will, you believe me if I said that waiting for your updates is what keeps me going every week:)), college and personal problems are constantly draining me but reading your fics are like a little reward for me for getting through the week. Can't wait for sn2!!!(I'm already having so many scenarios/theories in my mind, I can already feel the pain in sn2) I'm scared:,). Take your time in getting that well-deserved rest! Love youuuu!🥰

honestly writing sn was also a reward for myself after a stressful day at work, it’s just that it eventually drained me out so i wanted to escape writing for a while 💀 but i’m back now, hopefully i can write sy the same way i pictured it in my head. thank u for support my love <33 i wish u a very happy stress-free life

[capricxs]

so you’ve been roleplaying for years... things change, the way the community does things shift, and sometimes there’s new skills you need to pick up and adjust to in order to make your time rping as creatively rich and fulfilling as it can be. one of those things that’s become extremely important is plotting & hcing. either in groups, in indie, or doing 1x1s, these two are the foundation to your interaction (unless you’re the type to wing it). sometimes when i interact with people, it seems they don’t really click with this process, so in the guide below, i’ll help to explain why these are so important, and how to do it in a way that not only gives you a rich plot, but helps inspire and keep your writing partner engaged with you.

disclaimer --- this is just my personal experience and opinions being shared. i am not the end-all-be-all on how to interact with writing partners. this is just here to get people to begin thinking about things they otherwise wouldn’t have thought about.

questions regarding this help post can be found here. let’s jump in!

WHY IS PLOTTING & HCING SO IMPORTANT?

firstly, rp has changed a lot since the days of launching into an rp or writing a random starter for a new follower. things are a lot more established and regardless of if you’re in a bio/skeleton rp with pre-written connections, or you’re in a new plotless group or indie and you’re coming up with them on your own, it’s a major foundation to your writing experience, so don’t treat it lightly!

secondly, regardless of format, and with the shifts in rp culture, behind the scenes plotting & hcing is crucial to the development of your plot & characters. as writers, we take more time with our replies so development on dash happens a lot slower. personally i don’t mind that, but i don’t want that to hinder my writing experience so i like taking things behind the scenes to help build up dynamics and situations so the whole relationship isn’t based off one or two threads/instances.

lastly, it helps to keep things inspiring. sound dumb? you bet, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles baby. so many times i have plotted ships, sibling relationships, best friends, or other core relationships, and wanted to sink my teeth in relationship lore and background and dynamics, only to be returned with “hahah yes! i love that!” now i understand this is never ill-intentioned, but it does suck the muse right out the situation. if you do not validate & expand on your partner’s ideas, it’s not going to make that writer’s ideas feel appreciated or loved. the way to tell them you love their ideas? sink your teeth right back and send an equally meaty response right back!

PART ONE: SO YOU WANT TO PLOT

you don’t need this post to tell you how to come up with plot ideas, that’s a whole different guide, but let’s say you’re in the brainstorming process. you’re throwing ideas back and forth based on your muse’s two backgrounds and seeing what sticks. what is SUCH a downer, is when a writing partner is just ... not contributing. yes, we are all guilty of the line “i’m open to anything!” but try and limit yourself to using that line once in a conversation. hell, i prefer it when a person doesn’t even say it at all and they’re HONEST. if i come in guns-a-blazing and i ask ‘what plots do you need filled?’ if a person responds with ‘i need someone who hurt my muse’ there’s two option, i fill that plot, or i don’t. it’s that simple. don’t be afraid to say what you want, the worst that can happen is the person says ‘eh, i don’t really think that fits my character’ and you come up with something else! but when you’re already passionate about the idea, you’re setting yourself up for such great success!

so what do you do when your one (1) braincell isn’t working and you can’t come up with any connection ideas? two options, you can either go to one of the dozens of guides for basic connection ideas and give your partner something, or you can look at the other person’s bio, and your muse, and try and find connections between them. both of these are painfully easy! i’m a personal fan of the latter as it seems a bit more grounded and juicy than the former, but those can be twisted into something great too! **if you’re in a group setting, even asking what that person’s other connections are, and piggybacking off of that. these create super spicy connections. example: you find out muse a is muse b’s ex, and your muse, muse c, is best friends w muse b, so it’s safe to assume your muse c will probably not get along with muse a.

this important thing is not to make your partner feel like they’re doing all the work. because that’s never fun, and truthfully, it doesn’t make that person want to write with you if you’re not also putting in the elbow grease. plotting is fun, not a chore! make it a party!

PART TWO: NOW YOU HAVE TO BACK IT UP

you’ve got your plot now, congrats! and you’re so excited. but now you need that plot to be fleshed out a bit. there’s some history there so you’ve got to establish it. in comes the powerhouse--- my favorite part to this whole thing: HCING. it’s the most laid back, and in my opinion, creative part of the rping process. truthfully, i enjoy it more than threads because of the absolute insanity you can dig up. but i only love it if my partner can hand it back just as i can serve it.

maybe you’ve never quite thought that this part was that important, but i can assure you, if a person is giving you 3+ sentences about the dynamic of your characters, they’re trying to hc with you, and if you don’t enrich them, your dynamic is going to wither away.

i brought up an idea in the first part of this guide that’s extremely important to how you hc with your writing partner: VALIDATE & EXPAND. it’s the idea that no matter how much or how little your rp partner gives you in terms of an hc, you respond to it with a validation, which can range anywhere from ‘i LOVE that’ to as simple as a key smash and the pleading emotion, or even repeating a fraction of what they said to show you understand their vision. but then you have to back that up with expanding on that idea. hcs could be about a situation or about your writing partner’s character, so expand on how your character feels and reacts to things. it’s beyond discouraging when i write a whole idea out, explaining how my character feels in this emotionally intense setting, and my writing partner only gives me the validation portion, and now i have no idea how my opp’s character thinks, feels, or interacts.

see, a point i mentioned above is the fact that threads don’t work like they used to. and that’s fine! but hcing is an easy and fun way to make up for the fact that we take time with our threads now. if you’re rping to find rich, in-depth, satisfying dynamics, it’s going to take many many months to get your understanding of your opp’s muse, and the relationship they have, hcing fast tracks that process. i’m writing with you, i love your muse, give me the dirty details, i promise it’s not obnoxious. the more your give back, the more you will receive. so why wait around, sitting on our thumbs for me to fully get a grasp of your character’s voice, and your character’s thoughts, when we could do that on chat and have a grand time.

but now you’re thinking to yourself: okay, but how exactly do i validate and expand? and for that, we go to EXAMPLE-BOT 3000 !! not a real bot, unfortunately, but example bot has dug up a personal interaction i’ve had hcing. for context, this is a 1x1 writing partner i’ve had for years. we have an excellent dynamic and they are perfect. they have also given me permission to use our convos as example.

here is my message [ CONTEXT: this is a sandbox-star-wars-esque verse]

Okay but I had a thot in the shower,,, where the best thoughts are had. And what if,,, after this meeting and they part ways and such and it was just another weird occurrence in their lives, blastis gets a mission and it’s either to protecc salia or like guide salia across the galaxy to do something smth and save some lives or whatever. And ofc not because she couldn’t take care of herself but he has smth she doesn’t that gives an edge or just a close loved one of her’s didn’t want to see her get hurt. So you have these two traveling across the galaxy,,, sometimes arguing bc she can manage herself but he’s just fulfilling the mission. And them both kicking but. And all the steamy tension and cliches.

let’s break this message down before we get into the response. first, hcs don’t have to be formal. they are the most fun when they’re less together and don’t rely so much on “sounding good”. you’re just rolling off the top of your brain, chatting like you would with a friend, don’t worry too much on formalities because this isn’t the place for that.

i am also presenting my idea in a way that is confident, and with plenty of ideas to work on. i am involving my partner’s character but not godmodding. i am taking things i have learned from character introductions (like salia being independent and empowered, and wanting to do good/help others) and not disrespecting them, but having her take part in the plot. there are also small bits at the end of this idea that are little nuggets to build off of.

let’s look at my partner’s response.

AAAAH okay i love the idea!!! however shes a v. freelance kinda healer and doesnt really take official things. and she doesnt have loved ones that would know if there was danger - she can telepathically communicate with her own people but if she doesnt want them to know things they cant just. force their way in its a Closed Communication line not an open invitation into her thoughts asdfghjsh. But i could imagine that some guy or family hire her to find their children maybe who were lost on their adventure/mission with friends and the last message sounded like one was hurt,,, badly. and the other cant help for some reason. and they hire blastis to both protect her and later the people shes supposed to heal??

but anYWAY the Important part is ofc. the tension. and his big ass in her ship bc why would she?? take another if hers is right there. so hes gonna take that single bed and not complain. but ooof those two?? just kicking ass and being amazing. growing on each other more and more.

right off the bat is validation. and validation doesn’t have to be as direct as it is in this message. the validation is important here specifically, my partner showed they were interested and supportive of the idea i presented, but needed the plot to fit in their character’s story better. we see them making adjustments--- this is a collaborative experience so i alone shouldn’t be the one coming up with the plot, nor would i want my idea taken just as is. instead they mold it to fit what makes sense, getting more specific than my idea with a “mission purpose”. this is where the bouncing off of each other begins.

they then take the “bait” and start building on the tension our muses will experience (this is a ship afterall). while this is the beginning of our conversation, and there’s aren’t specific moments we’re working off of, this is setting the ground for future headcanons (see: the focus on sexual tension, living in a ship together, kicking butt), we are both mutually giving each other little tethers to take hold of. this is a very good start to begin working out the dynamic and situations these two characters are found in, with multiple different launch-off points.

CONCLUSION

there’s no right or wrong way to rp. even the tips listed here might not be applicable to your style, just having the idea in the back of your mind helps. the important thing is you and the person you’re writing with are having fun. you both are respecting each other’s time and ideas and creating a beautiful dynamic or world or relationship. this is a collaborative experience, and it’s important not to leave your partner feeling like they’re doing all the heavy lifting creatively.

hope this helped! as always, you can send me any questions you have in regards to this topic HERE. you can find a tag of answered questions in relation to this topic HERE.

[blackberry-gingham]

Hi, for your fanfic writer ask game: 5. 19. 22. 23. and 46.

P.S: Have a nice day!! And i cant wait for your next work! <3

Ask list here! Asksksks Thank you so much!!! You too and thanks for the ask!! Sorry, it got a little long 😅😅🙏🏻

5) How many words do you write per day?

Aaaaaa, aha 😅😅😅 Heavily depends tbh. I suppose technically I do write every day, lol, but I don't really like work on fics or even sometimes request every day 😅😅 I can write about a 1,000 words in an hour if I'm fully focused, so when I post a new chapter of something there's a 90% chance I wrote it all in one sitting lol.

Anyway, I guess if I had to estimate, between shit posts and the chapter I posted yesterday that was nearly 3k words in one day. So... maybe 2k ish words on average? Not a lot tbh, but there it is 😂

19) Where do you write?

In my dorm 😭😭 Sometimes on my phone in the cafeteria if I'm like sitting with my back to a wall 🥴😂 Usually seated at some type of table tho lol, I don't really like writing in my bed as much as I use to for some reason 😅

I would love to go type in the university library tho! It's nice in there, but I'm usually busy lol.

22) Favorite part about writing fanfic?

I know I already answered this, but I have a lot that I like about fanfics so I can give a different answer lol. I also love the payoff of writing character development arcs 😩 It takes a loooooot of time to have your like bad guy romantic interest come to the conclusion that, "hmmm, maybe I don't want to be a criminal anymore" without it being like... bad writing lol. So it's always nice to get to that feeling of authentic, earned redemption at the end of most of my x reader fics.

23) Least favorite part about writing fanfiction

Smut scenes 😭😭😭 I'm not the best at them, and I kind of am not looking to be either, lol so idk. It's a wash I guess.

46) Favorite sentence/paragraph you've ever written?

Oof, I have a lot tbh Like... could make a whole post of little scenes here and there from all my works lmao 😂😂 I think a lot of my favorites come from first ever massive success of a fic, Last Pale Light from RDR2 tbh, but one that particularly comes to mind is in the big shoot out and reader, who Arthur has by now fallen very hard for, gets shot. It's that little brief moment where he basically goes through all 7 stages of grief in a just a few seconds, as some of their sweeter memories together flash before his eyes bc he genuinely fears she's dead.

Not only has half the gang been slaughtered at this point in the fic by the rival gang I created, but he now also thinks he's lost you two. The third woman in his life he's ever feelings like this for... and now she's gone too.

Looking back, I think it could be written a little better lol, but it was very impactful at the time for me, so I still love it. It's got great suspense (imo), plus in it's place in the fic, it's kind of your first glance at just how deeply Arthur feels and cares for you. This post is already long, but here, you guys can read the scene here if you want lol:

One of the gunmen, a little too on edge from the shoot out, pulled the trigger as soon as a target made itself available. A few cracks rang out in the town, and the whole world seemed to stop.

You gasped, slumping to the ground, as a deep red stain painted its way across your chest. Arthur went completely numb, as he watched your body fall to the ground in slow motion.

This was a nightmare. It had to be. Yeah, just a bad dream...

Any second now he’d wake up to your contagious laughter as you teased him for sleeping late and shook him awake. Any second and his eyes will snap open and all the screaming and gunfire will melt away to the sound of your beautiful, soft singing while you stroke his hair. Any second, and he’ll jolt awake laying beside you in your tent and stop himself before he rolls onto you again, turn on his back, and hold you close enough to keep your bad dreams away, while the scent of your hair and peaceful snoozing comforts him from the one he’s about to wake up from.

Any second now…

Arthur blinked once. Then twice. But the scene refused to change. His mouth twitched and a lone tear escaped down his cheek, but he was hard pressed to care. Not again. It was over. Everything he’d loved in life was gone. Mowed down before his eyes as a direct result of the very same life he’d so happily led.

[mercydreaming]

this is super random but like I was thinking about the movie Over the Moon (spoiler warning obviously, imma talk about the ending and major plot points)

Its on Netflix, and its a super well made movie. I don’t know much about it tbh. I usually don't research everything about the movies I watch, and rarely do I look more in depth into accuracy or things like that since Im just so tired these days.

but I watched the movie some months ago and found it super sad and cried like 5 times and spent like 3 hours watching it, pausing and stepping back, and processing it. It was a beautiful movie with pretty animation and nice songs, but like it just made me so sad that I couldn't finish it just in one go. Hence the breaks and the deep breaths and the bathroom breaks. It’s really not the kinda movie that forced you to stay on the edge of your seat/that forces you to not pause it/that makes you want more by the end.

it wasn't the best movie I'd ever seen, and like nothing really compelled me to rewatch it several times, the way other movies have. But I thought it was a good movie by the end. a solid movie. It finished, I had a pile of tissues next to me, And life moved forward/

until yesterday:

My mom, brother, and I were taking turns picking movies to watch and I happened to see it on one of the Netflix lists and just casually was like “oh yeah I remember that movie, was pretty good. sad though/” and my mom and brother weren’t opposed so we watched it.

BRUH I AM STILL BROKEN

It’s such a sad movie! I cannot stress this enough. This movie would bring anyone to tears because like it just deals with character death in such a painful way that you cant help but feel for the characters. Fei fei (the protagonist) loses her mom in the beginning of the movie and is stuck in this realm of missing her. She cannot imagine how her father could ever move on from loving her mom. So when this other chick (nice lady, Mrs.Zhong) comes into the picture and seems to be a “replacement mom”, Fei Fei feels hurt and betrayed in a way. Like how could her dad not think that she and the memory of her mom are enough? (idk if I like saying “memory of mom” since like it feels kinda hand wavy but ughhh I’ll leave it like that for now)

And the whole movie is about how she goes to the moon to find Chang’e and prove that it’s true, and show her dad that their family, as is, is good enough. (Prove that the story of true love where Chang’e waits for her Houyi is real, and show how strong true love is. show how strong the love between her mother and father still is)

On the moon, there are some plot development points, she learns the truth about how Chang’e really is now, and in the end she learns about how her heart can be big enough to love new people and still love the ones that have gone. Bittersweet ending because you can never bring back the loved ones who have gone but you can always have room for new ones that love you too.

And like my heart was in so much pain because of how much you could see the pain Fei Fei felt in losing her mother. It was just such a terrible emptiness and I imagined my own life without my mother and like noooooo, ugh im about to cry again. (My brother was like “why do they always kill off the parent that the kid loves more?” and bruh, I felt that.) And just the pain she feels at the reminders throughout the movie as she missed her mom (the cutting off of her hair in the exquisite chamber of loneliness because the long hair was too much a reminder of her mom?? yeah a bitch cried buckets at that scene) continuously broke me.

But I think what hurt me so much more at times was the story of Chang’e. Like here she was just trying to spend time with her true love, just one more time. and she is doing so much to see him again only for it not to work out because he tells her that she has to move on??? I was sobbing like I haven't cried in months. oH my gosh the idea of how love was the only thing keeping her going and yet here she is not being told that although their love Is forever she has to learn to move on because she’s immortal and houyi wasn’t?? love stories with unhappy endings are such fucked up ones to me, like why cant everyone be happy??? just imagine finding the love of your life, being forcibly separated from them, waiting to see them for thousands of years, and then realizing that you'll never be with them again because of a stupid mistake that made you immortal while they can still die?? the loneliness? the heartbreak? the fucking terrible bitterness that I know would consume me? I cant go on bruh, its too much

Oh my gosh though I just had to write about why this movie hurts me to watch and why I cry so fucking hard when watching it.

Y'all should watch it though. The story is so fucking important to experience. Very much a movie that you have to watch at least once.

[theanonauthorfanfic]

Teased

1: Don’t make me take you home and punish you.

9: Try to stay quiet, understand?

10: We’re in public, you know

18: You’re in trouble now

23: we can’t do that here!

42: You make a sound and it is game over.

 Y/N was excited she was finally getting to work on films she wanted to for a long time. She was now cast in an independent film that was centered around her character after she had been through some drama with her family. Her character finds solace in her friend she has known for years and a fire in them grows. Yes, sometimes Y/N loved working on a cliché plot with people she knew and cared for. Plus loving the story was something too. Y/N read a lot of books actually. It was how her and Sebastian met. Y/N was in New York at Barnes and Noble looking for something new to read when she saw Sebastian standing in the same section as her looking for a book too.

Y/N approached asking, “What type of fiction you in the mood for this time?” Looking over at Sebastian through her lashes.

“How do you know I will settle for fiction,” Sebastian canted back.

Y/N smiled softly, “You just look like someone who needs a change from personal development books.”

“Are you stalking me,” Sebastian joked.

“Nah, I think we both have the same therapist that recommends the same books,” Y/N chuckled.

Sebastian laughed, “Now that you mention it. I need a break from reality in general. The world is getting to be a bit overwhelming.”

“I understand how that feels. I normally jump directly into work head first before coming up to breathe because of how overwhelming it can be,” Y/N honestly responded.

“I’m Sebastian,” he stuck out his hand to shake hers.

“Y/N,” taking his hand and shaking it. “Nice to meet you. I apologize if I came off creepy there I was just surprised to see someone looking at the same types of books I generally like. Most people think it is a little weird and off putting.”

“It is all good. So what do you do for work,” he questioned.

“I am an actress,” she answered.

“Same profession as me. I am starting filming soon again for a new indie film. I love the plot. Strong female lead but I have yet to meet her,” Sebastian mentioned.

“I just got cast in an indie film as a strong female lead that falls for her best friend that she has known for years but I do not know whom that friend is yet,” Y/N retorted.

Sebastian nervously laughed, “Well, Y/N it was nice to meet you. I have to head out.”

“Nice to meet you as well Sebastian. Till we meet again,” Y/N waved him off.

                                               *********************************

3 weeks later

Y/N walked on set of the film she was finally going to do what she loved. She knew that this was her time to just not let anything stop her. She talked with the director and found out the man male lead would be on set soon. Y/N would find out who her best friend on the movie was going to be that she was going to have a “relationship” with.

Sebastian walked onto the set and noticed Y/N from the distance he was at. He had met her at Barnes and Nobles a few weeks ago. She got his attention right away with asking about the book he was getting. He got nervous and ended up leaving empty handed. He ordered the book online and had it delivered. He shook he head to get himself out of it. The director walked up to him and guided him toward Y/N.

“Sebastian,” Y/N voice cracked.

“Y/N,” Sebastian spoke softly.

“You remembered,” Y/N was in shock. “I did not think you would have remembered meeting me.”

“You were very memorable Y/N,” he assured her. Y/N looked down diving deep into her head. “It was not something bad. I enjoyed the banter.”

                                               *********************************

They had been filming for a few months now. Sebastian and Y/N had gotten close over the course of filming. They have become really great friends and have incredible chemistry. The crew was setting up a next scene and they had a break. Y/N was sitting in Sebastian’s lap.

“Enjoying yourself Y/N,” Sebastian asked. Y/N nodded and squirmed in his lap. She was trying to get comfortable. Y/N kept squirming and would not keep still. “We’re in public, you know,” Sebastian whispered in her ear.

“Yes, I know we are in public. Is that a problem Sebastian,” Y/N quirked a brow?

“Do not tease me sweetheart,” Sebastian firmly spoke. He grabbed her hips and dugs his fingertips in.

“Maybe I like teasing you Seb,” Y/N glanced back at him continuing to move her hips right over his crotch.

Sebastian groaned. His jeans were getting tighter the longer Y/N grinded her ass into his cock. He wanted to bend her over the table in front of them and fuck her in front of the entire crew. Wanting to show her who was in control. Y/N was a brat and needed to be punished.

“Don’t make me take you home and punish you sweet girl,” Sebastian growled in her ear. Y/N shivered whimpering softly. Sebastian heard it and felt that bone quaking shiver. “You like that baby girl. You want me to take you home and punish you, don’t you?” Sebastian was controlling Y/N reactions now. Y/N nodded. Sebastian stood and Y/N fell out of his lap landing on her feet. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the kitchenette area that the crew and cast have been avoiding because of how small it was and it didn’t have the proper lighting.

Sebastian picked up Y/N and placed her on the table that was against the wall. Y/N gasped as she felt his hand cup the back of her neck and pull her into a hard-passionate kiss.

Y/N panted, “We can’t do that here!”

“We can do whatever I want precious girl,” Sebastian smirked. He wrapped your legs around his waist and thrust into your core. Y/N moaned loudly. Sebastian placed his hand over your mouth. “Try to stay quiet, understand?” Y/N nodded against his hand.

Sebastian slowly trailed his hands down your sides to grab a hold of your leggings. He hooked his fingers into the waistband pulled them down slowly. You lifted your hips and allowed him to pull them off completely. “Going commando, naughty girl,” Sebastian leaned in and bit at your lip. You pulled him in close deepening the kiss. Moaning into his mouth as his fingers slipped into your soaking wet heat. “Fuck, baby. You are so wet right now.” Sebastian curled his fingers hitting the spot that makes your legs shake and body to tense.

“Yes Sebastian,” Y/N whimpered.

Sebastian increased the speed of his fingers stroking your walls, “You’re in trouble now. I told you to be quiet.” Y/N clutches onto Sebastian with bruising fingertips. Biting your lip till you can feel it split under your teeth. Right when you were on the edge of an orgasm, he pulled his fingers out and sucked them clean.

Sebastian pushed his pants and boxer briefs down to his knees. He spread your legs and slipped into your dripping heat. He gently placed his hand on your throat, “You make a sound and it is game over. Do you understand sweetheart?” Y/N nodded fast refusing to make a sound. Sebastian smirked and thrusted hard. The table smacked against the wall. You gripped the edge of the table with one hand while the other grabs onto Sebastian’s bicep.

Sebastian’s hands gripped your waist as he slid into your soaked pussy. You arched up into his chest as his cock hit every spot. Your walls clenched and gripped him even tighter. “So tight baby. Gripping me so good. Fuck you feel so good. Teased me for so long. I could not wait this to happen.” Thrusting harder feeling his balls swell and pull closer to his body getting ready to explode. “Doing so well staying quiet. Such a good girl.” His hips started to falter as he could not stave off his pending orgasm any longer. He pumped his hips thrice more before spilling a huge pent up hot load against your cervix. You walls milking his orgasm from him as your orgasm crested over you. Biting onto Sebastian’s shoulder.

You both panted as you came down from your high. “You did so well baby girl,” Sebastian reassured.

“That was. There are no word Seb. What came over you,” Y/N asked.

“You did. All that fucking teasing over the last few months. You have no idea how crazy you have driven me,” Sebastian bluntly spoke.

“Well I guess it all worked out,” Y/N quirked back. Sebastian laughed and kissed you lightly.

Tags: @buckmesideways22 @oleanderbat , @buckyzgurl , @scarletsoldierrr , @kombatfather1796​

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

YO SEBAS’ ROUTE HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED FOR JP I CANT WAIT!!! Do you have any theories of what could happen in his route?!?

Haha, yes, I saw this morning! For those who haven’t yet seen the announcement, it has been said that Sebastian’s route will be coming to the JPN version of Ikevamp on August 25th! It’s very exciting news, and I can’t wait to get started translating after I finish Dazai’s.

Honestly I’m finding this so many degrees of hilarious because I was like “oh ya I’m curious” at first, but after seeing that character introduction video with the lil forehead kiss and the horny as all HELL biting, I’m SLAMMING the horny button holy shit??? (I have that card CG in the JPN ver of the game on my phone and. lord jesus. That scowl. WILL HE STEP ON ME ONEGAI AKIHIKO)

Putting the rest under a cut bc is long and has some JPN ver spoilers:

That being said, let’s address the second part of the ask, shall we? Theories! If I’m honest I’m not surprised Sebastian was next on the docket, but I do admit I’m thoroughly surprised by the CG of him biting MC in earnest--he visibly draws blood on her neck and shoulder. This raises so many questions that are likely to be reiterated endlessly until his rt comes out in full, the most pressing of which is: does Sebastian turn into a vampire? Or is he just really into sadistic foreplay?

If I’m honest I sincerely don’t know if he’s fully turned, only because I’m trying to sort out the information we do have. Why turn into a vampire if the goal is to be with MC, who is also human? If we follow this course of thought, it doesn’t seem to make much sense, does it?

But then our boi Sebas is different in terms of his internalized conflict when compared to the vampires. Granted I may turn out to be wrong about this, but I think the two focal points of his route will be as follows: insecurity and the pursuit of knowledge. Remember that the reason Sebastian (our dearest Akihiko Sato) agrees to Comte’s proposal at all is his insatiable curiosity. I mean just think about it. If Comte told all that stuff about the mansion to someone in modern times, they would probably just figure he was a crazy person and go on with their day. But Sebas, the absolute madlad, agreed; he wanted to see if it was true, and to learn everything he could about people who exhibit extraordinary talent. 

I foresee that this, however, may become a double-edged sword. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. What I mean to say is that it could be very possible he might turn or undergo something similar to the changing process in order to experience what it’s like firsthand (whether to prove he can handle it or because he wants to understand the residents better/gather info). Furthermore, while Sebastian is curious--with no malicious intent at all--this doesn’t mean that envy is impossible in this kind of scenario, either. Admiration and envy are like two sides of a coin; depending on how one interprets information, they can skew to self-consciousness or inspiration. Given the content I’ve seen for Sebastian so far (and man has it been limited as all heck) I often get the implication that he truly does feel inadequate in some ways compared to the other men. As soon as MC chooses him a kind of overwhelming awareness of his normalcy begins; the implication that he is the wrong or lesser choice. Knowing this, I truly wouldn’t be surprised if problems arise as a result of this self-effacing.

(Note: I don’t think that about Sebastian at all, personally! I think he’s very mindful of others and really astute--to say nothing of his skill when it comes to the domestic sphere. I don’t think just anybody could do what he does, and he sells himself far too short. I always think of how the men call him the Ninja Butler and praise how capable he is, how they freely admit the place wouldn’t be the same without him. Sometimes I wish Sebas could see that, though I understand his concerns as well ;-; I’m always torn bc I’ll be like “I understand but alSO N O”)

Besides those latent insecurities, time to expand more on the pursuit of knowledge. In one way this drive might feed his self-derision; he might believe that the more he is able to do and understand and study, the more he can be of use/help other people. (Put simply his value as a person = the increasing extent of his knowledge in an almost linear relationship; without it he is nothing). On the other hand, I think he just genuinely enjoys collecting information the way he does! He likes assessing all the different ways people behave and why, and how this contributes to how they think and who they are. More insight offers him more ways to preoccupy his endlessly moving mind, but it also offers proximity with the subject in question. This to me is absolutely key--I think so much of his studying the great men is linked to his admiration, his wish to be like them and/or his wish to be close to them.

I’d like to address a quick reference to the drinking event that recently released in the ENG version of the app, if only to expand on/clarify where this is coming from. It essentially featured Sebastian and Napoleon sharing a drink together at a bar and in it, Sebastian speaks to the way that he encountered Napoleon in his life, and the reason why he grew so fond of him. He speaks to a childhood entirely detached from the people of his own time, roving through the shelves of libraries, reading endlessly to fill that void. It was a quote by Napoleon that caught his eye and inspired him, and ostensibly the words of people long past that gave him the strength to keep moving forward. This information, coupled with his strange excitement in Isaac’s rt introduction about how Isaac used to throw hands with people who mocked him seems to bring to the forefront a few things for me. 

Sebastian is highly, highly individualistic: he doesn’t seem to care much about what is conventional or normal, only in what brings him joy and makes others comfortable/happy. His life is highly internal, but I sense no anti-sociality in this removal from societal expectations. He just lives his own way and tries not to trouble anyone. (This is also highly notable in his acute impatience with Dazai’s shenanigans/ineptitudes now and again; while he doesn’t always scold or explode, he shows a sharp and surprising impatience with willful/harmful/irresponsible behavior.) He’s tactful and measured, but highly excitable under the right circumstances. He also doesn’t seem to think much of his own life re: self-derision. Think Leonardo’s rt ending: he insists that the serial killer focus on him and not on MC, he tells her he has no qualms with dying if it means she’ll make it out alive. MC has to be the one to tell him to think more of his own life. As such I wouldn’t put it past him to have enough nerdy reckless energy to test the waters of being a vampire (all the better if it helps him understand the great men).

Comte once said it in an event story a few months ago, but I think he really hit the nail on the head in some respects. He says something to the effect of “His curiosity is admirable, but please Sebastian--some things are to remain private.” Sebastian doesn’t intend to be intrusive or malicious, he just likes knowing things for the sake of knowing. It’s about the cones answering his nerdy desire to piece things together, not stepping on people’s toes. (It’s nice too because Comte seems to understand this and doesn’t see it as a shortcoming/nuisance, he just tries to nudge Sebas in a different direction if he starts prying too close to people’s personal business ;-; pls pardon the Comte love I just can’t help myself)

Enter Johann Georg Faust.

Now then we know very little about the reserved priest doctor, but there are tidbits of information that we can work with (or at the very least, stand out to me a lot). The one I would like to focus on for this explanation is the little blurb that appears when you open the Ikevamp app and it’s loading, providing something like trivia facts for each character. In the ENG app we got those early, but we don’t have the ones for our antagonists. Iirc, Faust’s reads something to the effect of “will often sneak substances into their (as in the castle residents Vlad and Charles’) food to test the effect of his concoctions on vampires.” There have been hints that Faust is to be our mad scientist of sorts; that he is experimenting under Vlad’s orders to find a reliable way to transform a human being into an immortal equivalent to that of a pureblood. But I have mentioned on more than one occasion that I really don’t think Faust is only doing all of this for Vlad. He has his own curiosity that is seeking to be alleviated, perhaps he is satisfied with having another puzzle dumped in his lap--a means to distract himself and exhaust his faculties. 

(One has to wonder if Vlad turned them under the same principle of desperation, and if that were the case, what Faust and Charles might desire more than anything else...Is Faust operating on a kind of necessity to atone? Has he simply given up hope that scientific advancement can happen without someone getting hurt, and so he does his best to balance the good and bad wrought by his explorations? Is he trying to bring someone back himself, is he trying to stall Vlad’s efforts in his own way? I really can’t be sure; there are just too many unanswered questions when it comes to Faust...)

This is where Sebastian and Faust begin to overlap. The pursuit of knowledge, an insatiable curiosity, a capacity to overreach the bounds of appropriate civility/decorum to get the information they want. It could potentially serve as a temptation for Sebas; become a vampire by Vlad’s hand and you can watch history over the span of generations. Assist in the development of an immortal, and you won’t even need someone like Comte to walk you through the different eras of time--you could explore yourself. While Sebas seems to be motivated more by service to other people, there can be no doubt that this could cause a great deal of friction. He will have to work to remind himself why he’s doing what he does and what it means to him, and whether or not becoming a vampire is truly what he wants.

But, there is also the issue of Vlad’s telepathic manipulations. Is it possible that an encounter with Faust (and by extension, proximity to Vlad/meeting Vlad head-on) could result in Sebastian being turned/experimented on without his knowledge? I.e. Vlad using his compulsion and sending him home with a word or memory of what happened. Though that’s certainly not the only possible explanation available. The other thing I was thinking about was a mechanic that was introduced in event stories prior to Sebas’ MS announcement. In the event story, MC and her suitor of choice encounter a street merchant that boasts a serum that can turn people into vampires. They, of course, don’t believe him--but the vial is procured and MC either purposefully or accidentally is exposed to it (i.e she knocks it over and it shatters in Leo’s ES). For a brief time, she exhibits vampiric qualities; she feels the thirst for blood as acutely as any of the other vampires in the mansion. I.e. In Napoleon’s ES, Sebas notices something wrong with MC when they’re just pouring vials of Rouge--the usual prepwork--and she runs out of the room looking dazed. Her odd/new instincts are only alleviated when she bites and drinks Napoleon’s blood, but after that single episode she shows no further signs of vampiric qualities. It’s a temporary but acute transformation. While I have no specifics as to how this is possible, I have to wonder if something similar might be done to Sebastian; whether as a means to test him (does he really want this? find out after the commercial break) or a kind of trick/trap laid by the antagonists. I remain unsure, but these are the two most likely explanations that come to mind if he hasn’t been fully turned.

As to whether or not his vampirism will be permanent, I’ve genuinely been oscillating on that one. I think it’s certainly possible given his intrigue (I never see much fear in him) with vampirism and his probable enjoyment with the prospect of an endless life learning about things (I can literally hear Leonardo screaming internally and I’m ngl it’s sad and funny). But there’s also something about the bite CG that speaks to strain/alarm, to surprise--that he wasn’t at all aware of the changes within himself--and I have to wonder if it might put him off of the prospect (like that he lost control/hurt MC)...Essentially I think it will just really boil down to how the symptoms come about (temporary or permanent), and how much his affections for MC might deter that curiosity/possible wish (if temporary, he might not touch the prospect again--if permanent, THAT WOULD BE SO FUCKING SEXY BECAUSE I’d wager the rest of the route might be MC trying to help him adjust/recover IN A SEXY WAY).

(Note post-translation: I fucking HATE IT HERE. The bite CG text says smth to the effect of “The bloodlust is unbearable--stay away from me; I don’t think I’ll be able to keep from attacking you.”) In light of this information, I am this 👌 close to launching myself straight into the sun. OFC his route is gonna be sweet as all shit and then it’s just gonna go downhill from there with angst. WHYYYYYYYYYY AKIHIKO (at least his voice is mega sexy and heals my wounds OTL) It also says something about “a fate that is greatly moved” so that does suggest a more permanent change than the temporary alternatives I mentioned (though we all know how Cybird loves to jerk us around so I’m leaving that up for debate)...this shit better be hurt/comfort or i s2g im throwing hands

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THE ANTICIPATION IS KILLING ME!!!!!!!

Here’s hoping he’ll make for a delightful surprise! I’m looking forward to it c: