#depending on whether ideas come to mind that make for good plot there might be changes

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I wrote a guide on my main blog on writing SimLit a while back, but I figured I'd amend it to make it more suitable to Tumblr and post it here as well.

Please note, that there is no one way to write SimLit; creative work is always subjective. You do not have to do everything in this guide, obviously- just focus on the bits that apply to you and what you want to write. This is a gathering of my own ideas, the way I do things, and other options as well. Depending on your writing style, some of this will be more relevant to you than other bits will. This is both for the challenge players and the people who write stories with little basis off anything going on in the game.

I have made a story / challenge-planning document that you can read about here that will give you a place to put all your ideas!

The fun part...sort of...is coming up with all your rough ideas. Things to think about are:

. Where you'll put your story: The most popular place for SimLit these days seems to be Wordpress, but there is always Blogger and LiveJournal as another option for a place to put your story. Tumblr is a great place for stories that are more picture-based and less textual, or if you plan to only have dialogue for your story text. Have a look at what different platforms have to offer to see what suits you.

Whilst I would say Blogger is a bit harder to properly customise than Wordpress and you have to rely on custom templates made by other people and some HTML editing if you want a nice blog template, it is very generous in terms of picture limit. To my knowledge, any image under 2048 on the longer width won't count toward your Photo space (as of 2025).

. Narrative or Gameplay-Driven: Some writers will write commentaries to go alongside images of challenges they're doing. Some write commentary for their general gameplay. Others use Sims solely as a way to 'direct' a story they've come up with themselves instead. Others make comics. Some do a mix of various things... Have a think about what kind of story you want to do. It might even change halfway through writing, you never know!

. Genre: You won't always have an easily-defined genre for your story, but you might have some ideas. Romance, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Family...the options are more or less endless. 

. Custom Content: If you use CC, it can help to look for CC you might need for your story- whether that's poses, CAS items or Build/Buy items. 

. How you will plan your story: Some SimLit authors write entirely around the game and don't pre-plan anything (brave people you are going by the seat of your pants, I used to do this but now I could never), but others like to plan story points and character notes beforehand. There are plenty of ways to plan your story, whether that's jotting ideas in a notebook or on a word processing document. There is one I already made linked at the beginning of this section.

There are also programs like Scrivener designed for writers to plan stories (it's not free, though). It depends how in-depth you need to plan things out before you write. With me, it really depends. Some story ideas, I have most of the plot planned in my head from the get-go. Other times, I only have a rough idea and have to go from there.  

. What challenge you will do: If you want to write a commentary/story around a challenge, look for one you'll find fun first. Long or short? What rules will you change or omit? How much will you let the challenge and game drive the story? Will you be writing commentary, or will you be writing in a narrrative-type style inspired by what happens in the challenge?

. Rough plot / character ideas: Write down any plot or character notes that immediately come to mind, even if you don't know if you will use them. Anything that comes to you straight away is a good place to build on later and should be jotted down whilst it's still fresh in your mind.

. How you will write your story: - Commentary VS. Narrative: Will you write a commentary around your screenshots/gameplay, or will you write it in the style of a prose-like story? You can also mix both of these approaches in various ways.

Or do you want to go about it in a different way? Maybe you could use your screenshots to make a comic-style story. Another option is to possibly have something like an epistolary novel (written almost entirely in letters) or even a 'scrapbook story' (a story told in multiple ways with multiple artifacts- letters, newspaper clippings, phone calls, almost anything).

- Tense and Viewpoint: Will you write in past tense or present tense? Will you write in third person, or first person? How many different characters' viewpoints will you have if you write in first person? (...Or are you like me, and will accidentally switch between tenses throughout the whole story?)

. Themes: It's good to think more in-depth of what themes will appear in your story. Family bonds, friendships, relationships in general, dealing with various aspects of life, prejudices, overcoming fear...the list goes on forever. Whilst I personally don't like reducing stories to tropes, tropes are always a place to start if it works for you.

. General length: Do you want to ideally write a short story, or something longer? This won't always be something you'll have in mind straight away, but that's fine. 

. How much to plan and when to start: It's up to you how much you need to pre-plan and when to start writing, but I don't start writing until I'm at a point where I know that the story can be resolved. I don't start writing straight away, in case I end up with a story I somehow can't finish. 

. Upload frequency: You won't always stick to this, since most of us are busy, sad and tired adults- but it's good to try and think about how often you want to upload chapters. Are you aiming for weekly, monthly, or just whenever you manage to get a chapter out? What I will say is please TRY NOT TO STRESS about schedules. If your readers are impatient that's their problem and they can wait until you're ready!

. Gather inspiration: Whether it's authors, shows, films, art, music...anything that gets you in the right mood and frame of mind for what you want to do. Moodboards are sometimes a good idea as well for collecting inspiring pictures. Make inspiring playlists of songs that get you in the mood for the story or characters.

. The sliding scale of 'Utopia' and 'Dystopia': On a scale of 'Paradise' to 'Hell-hole world', what's the rough state of the world in your story like? Maybe it isn't that simple, but it helps to have an idea if it's thematically relevant somehow.

. Any messages or lessons: Are there any messages you hope to get across in your story, or anything that a reader may be able to learn from it at all? Not always the case with every story, and this is not the sort of thing that you'll do intentionally. For my own story, it's very much just a snapshot of history so there isn't really much of a defined moral to the story.

This is geared more towards people who are writing mostly story-driven SimLit, since commentary and gameplay-driven stories often don't require any sort of major world-building. That, and the challenge you are doing might already have the worldbuilding situation laid out for you, like the Apocalypse Challenge or the Alien Adoption challenge, but I'll build on this a bit too.

As someone who has been Game Master for DnD and Pathfinder, I'm used to fleshing out worlds, building on lore and the like- and being a Game Master often requires you to do it on the spot sometimes. For me, it's good to have some level of lore and world-building written out. I like having a certain set of 'rules' to stick with, mainly to help keep consistency of the universe's 'rules'. This is especially important with my Magic Universe since the magic system needs a level of consistency I have to try and stick to. (That said, I have occasionally changed tiny less-significant bits of lore as I go...shh...don't tell anyone!)

But where do you start with such a thing? First off, this isn't something you have to do in massive levels of detail (unless you want to!).

Here's the general way of how I do things. Feel free to pick and choose which bits will apply to your story; you don't have to pre-plan every little last detail about your world if you don't need/want to.

--Starting with the already-established relevant worlds and lore--

I almost always start out with the 'official' stuff first. You can find this in-game, in item and world descriptions, in trailers, and on Sims Wikis. Sims isn't the most lore-heavy game for obvious reasons, but now and again you've got something to work with. It all depends on exactly what you're writing about, and how much your story will revolve around the actual Sims universe. 

--Seeing what I want to keep from the already-established worlds and lore, and what to get rid of--

I don't keep everything all of the time, and it's unlikely you will either. Sometimes your idea is better, or fits better with what you've already got in mind. Or perhaps the Sims 'lore' behind the thing is too comical and wouldn't fit a slightly more serious story.

--Start stealing ideas! (Go careful though)--

Writers worry way too much about originality, but everyone takes little bits of ideas off each other all of the time- everything is inspired by something. That, and in my opinion there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing a story that’s a ‘love letter’ to a genre with all the tropes and cliches you can think of. 

So gather up some inspiration and see what ideas others have; have a quick read of SimLits that are similar to your idea. Look at the lore behind shows or video games that are the same genre as you are writing. Think about your favourite shows, films and video games as well. Or even look at the official Sims forum or Tumblr to see what people have done with worlds, premade characters and the like. On the official forum, there are a lot of ‘What have you done with…’ threads where people discuss what they have done with premades and in-game places.

One thing I tend to focus on the most when worldbuilding, is the sort of socio-political aspect of the world. 'But why does everything have to be political?', you say, but everyone's life is governed by social and political ideas - some more than others, so for me it's what makes up a big chunk of the worldbuilding because of how much it influences the characters living in that world. That, and a few big historical events I tend to think of as well to flesh the world out. If this sounds like something you feel like delving into, then here's some ideas:

NOTE: Some of this won't apply to your world or focus, so just ignore the stuff that isn't relevant to your story.

--Events in history leading up to your story--

This will depend entirely on what you story is about, but events to think about are:

. Inspiring figures from the past: For example, if you're writing about vampires, are there any in history who are still iconic to this day? What made them iconic?

. Any miscellaneous important events? My more specific ones are geared more towards conflict, but there's always going to be important events that happened that stay with people that happen in the world and they aren't always going to be bad. (Yes, the author of Divided really did just say that.)

.Changes in laws and/or major attitudes towards groups: Were there any rules or legislations that came into play that completely shook the world of your story?

.Conflicts: Wars and other major conflicts in history will linger around for years and years in various ways

Modern society 

This is looking at your present day in the story in more depth. This can help you with characterisation as well- how has modern society affected your character and their development and current attitudes? 

. Attitudes towards certain groups: Who or what is celebrated in society? Who has to deal with negative attitudes and why? How are people choosing to fight back, positively or negatively, against positive or negative change? Is there any prejudice at all, or is your world almost entirely accepting of different types of people?

. General morale: How happy are the different groups of people in your world? Is there still need for change, or are people more or less okay with the way things are? Is there an imbalance in the welfare of different groups and why?

. What's/who's popular: From people to events relevant to the story you're trying to tell, what's popular and well-known? Are there any events or people that are causing change or debate that might be addressed later?

. Fashions: It helps to think about what's fashionable in your universe sometimes, but maybe that will all depend on what kind of CC you can get a hold of.

. What the future holds: What ideas do people have for the way things may change as time passes?

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Magic, superpowers, or other power systems

If your story has some kind of system of 'special' power- magic, or superhero powers, certain chemicals, powers granted from deities or the like- it's good to have some rough idea for how they work:

. Is this power innate? Can it be learned? Is it within the person, or is it an outside source of some kind?

. Is this power a finite or infinite source? Is it a physical object, is it ethereal/energy, a chemical, etc?

. What limits are there to the use of this power? When can it/can't it be used? What downsides are there to using this power (illnesses, magical overcharge, death, etc)? What consequences are there for overuse of the power?

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Beliefs and belief systems

Your story might have some sort of 'collective' belief systems- common superstitions, or religions like Sims Medieval’s Jacoban or Peteran faiths, or maybe even cults. If so, it's good to outline those, though the amount of detail you'll need for it will depend on the kinds of beliefs and the story you're telling.

. What are the core / defining rules / lessons /ways of living of this belief?

. What actions/attitudes etc are rewarded, and what attitudes are frowned upon? What rewards and punishments are there for such things, if any?

. How has this belief system affected other people outside of that belief system? What do 'outsiders' think of the belief and the people that practice it?

. Are there any key figures in this belief system? Are they real objects/people, metaphysical beings, or are they not real at all? 

. Are there any specific meetings or practices etc. associated with this belief? 

. Do people of this belief own specific special clothes or objects? What significance do they have?

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: When it comes to world-building, ALWAYS go careful when using any real-life cultures, beliefs or events outside of your own culture etc- especially those of marginalised groups. Try to do your research as thoroughly as possible.

To avoid potential upset or misrepresentation, I either rely on fictional creations or keep things vague. For example, I'm using the lore behind the Sims Medieval's Jacoban and Peteran religions in an upcoming story to avoid making a fictional religion that people might mistake as a parody of an existing one.

Do any research you need to do

Once again, how in-depth you go depends on how far you want to go- how realistic you want it to be, how historically-accurate you want it to be...Sometimes it's good to just have enough to get a rough idea of something to add on to. For example, if you're doing a historical story, it might be worth just seeing what big events happened, social taboos, etiquette etc. just to get a feel for the rough world of your story. For anything that isn't an important topic, I'm not bothered if it's inaccurate. For example: if it turns out the soft background science of something in my work is a bit wonky, I don't entirely care. However, for serious subjects like mental health etc, I always make sure to get a good idea of what I'm doing before I write it. If I get it wrong, I could end up spreading massive misconceptions and that's the last thing I want to do. -

World-building towns and cities

Not everyone's story is going to have a huge deal of focus on this sort of thing, and additionally to the top you might want to go even further with building onto what's already given to us. So here's some other things that might be worth thinking about if you want to do a bit of extra fleshing-out for the game worlds. When I say 'individual world' I mean the actual playable worlds on their own as opposed to the ts4 worlds altogether at once. If you're doing a challenge and the challenge has worldbuilding aspects, like Alien Adoption Challenge or the Apocalypse Challenge then that is a brilliant thing to give you some level of a framework for some aspects of your story's world.

. Rough population of the individual world etc.

.Landmarks and their significance

.Tourism, what do other people like to do whilst they're there

.What sorts of people tend to live there

. What the individual world is known for the most, what puts them 'on the map', so to speak

Characters are my main focus as both a writer and a reader. I can have a good story with great characters and a thin plot, but a story with a great plot and boring characters is never going to interest me. They can also be difficult to come up with ideas for. Here is a rough idea of how I come up with characters, and how I build on pre-made characters.

Some people have written 'character interviews' - these can sometimes be helpful. You fill them out from the characters' point of view, or from a third-person perspective but about the character. The 'Marcel Proust' character interview is a great one to use, since it asks questions that will no doubt be relevant to both the character and the plot later on. Some of them have questions about favourite food, colours etc. but for me, this is more often extraneous than not. Then again, knowing too much about your character for some people is better than not knowing enough.

My own character 'interview' is here. It's technically not an interview and is just a list of things to consider about your character. You may get some use out of it.

First off, before anything: think of what to base your character on, roughly. Think of the traits of people you know or have known, think of aspects about yourself. Of course, we can't forget basing characters off of your favourite fictional characters! 

If you are writing a premade character, and you're unsure on what to expand on, first off look at their in-game traits, any information provided in trailers/promotional material, and then look at fan theories and ideas about the character. Those are good places to start if you're using a premade Sim.

As well as specific characters, think of your favourite traits, archetypes, and development types as well. One of my favourites is the downfall of a character, a tragic character whose constant screw-ups land them in a deeper and deeper mess. Even better when they start going off the rails a bit as well. I also love characters who struggle with others' kindness, who learn to let themselves be loved over time.  

Then you can get to outlining them.

The basics about your character

. Name: Is there any meaning behind this name in-story? Did the character choose it themselves or is it their birth name? What nicknames do they have, if any? Which do they like, and which do they hate? (Names don't have to have meaning. I only use meaningful names in certain contexts- most names are just names I like, names that just fit for some reason, or that a character's parents thought sounded nice). 

NOTE ON NAMES: If you want an authentic name for a character from a specific time period, look at census records for the country if they're available or see if you can find articles on people from that country and time period. You can also Google naming conventions, as they can change within a country over time as well. I also recommend avoiding baby name websites or baby-related websites when you want authentic names for characters that aren't English or American. It's best to find blogs written by people from that country. Sometimes travel blogs for the country will sometimes talk about names, authenticity and such. Sometimes Wikipedia has lists of names as well, but it's worth double-checking any info found there.

. Rough description: Height, rough weight, colours of skin/hair/eyes, the general 'vibe' of their attire or a more in-depth description. Anything notable about them, like specific jewellery, clothes, tattoos or scars/other injuries?

. Identity: This could be anything from where they grew up, gender, race, sexual orientation, or if they are an occult sim or some other made-up species or race. How has their identity affected their life? Do they face any prejudice or mistreatment for any of it at all, or does it give them more of an advantage over others?

. Family: People in a character's family, whether blood family or found family.

.Beliefs: What they do (and maybe don't) believe in.

. Protagonist or antagonist: Not always this black and white for every character, but good to think about your character's rough place in the story. Of course, one can become the other as the story progresses.

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Character-defining aspects 

. General personality traits: You can use in-game traits and Randomise to give you ideas, or you can think of your own personality traits for the character.

. Upbringing: What it was like growing up for them. Who was good to them? Who wasn't? How have these people and experiences shaped who they are today? How was the world different growing up to what it's like now? Does the character mourn the old ways of the world or do they like the change?

. Social class: How has this affected their life?

. Education: Might also connect with upbringing here- how was school/university etc. for them?4

. Goals/dreams: Almost everyone has a goal, even if they never achieve it. Even if it's just getting out of bed to make breakfast and then getting back in again.

. Social life: Extrovert, introvert or somewhere in the middlle? What do they do when they hang out with friends etc?

. Fears: What are they afraid of? What do they do to avoid that fear, if anything?

. Any conditions, illnesses, or neurodivergence: (ONCE AGAIN, go careful when writing things like this and do research where it's needed.) How have they affected the character's life and their outlook in general? How does it affect how others percieve them, if it does at all? If applicable, what caused them?

. If not that, then general physical/mental health: How well (or not) does the character look after themselves in these ways? What do they do for self-care and distraction?

. Likes and dislikes: People, things, events, hobbies...What makes them happy and what makes them want to punch a wall? 

. Character 'flaws': Flaws don't necessarily have to be absolutely-horrible things, it can be just things that can hold the character back in some way. Some things that characters may overcome in a story might not necessarily be flaws as well- for example, introversion isn't a flaw (I wish writers would stop treating it as one), but possibly some characters may seek to try and 'come out of their shell' socially a little. Most characters have some kind of flaw or personality 'aspect' to overcome or learn to deal with, but the best kind of character flaws are the ones that actually get in the character's way in the story. The joy is in seeing how the character overcomes these flaws...or even how the character gives into them more and more as the story goes on. Wretched excess is fun sometimes!

. What they're good/bad at: Where do they excel, where do they need a little practice, and what are they absolutely terrible at?

. Any special ablities or powers: What can this character do? What are the limits of this power? How do they feel about this power? 

. Things they are known for: Whether by friends, family, colleagues or the world. What are they known for? What do people like and dislike about them?

. Ideas for development: How do you (at the moment) see the character changing? If you have any ideas for it, who or what will help to influence that change?

. Relationships with other characters: How they do (and don't) get along with other established characters, and maybe why. -

Things to think about character-wise when writing your story

Once you get to writing your character, here's a couple of things that it helps to think about- though some of it is more relevant if writing in the first person.

. What your character does and doesn't notice: How do they approach the world around them? What sort of things do they notice first in their surroundings?

. Manner of speech: Formal, or informal? Do they have any mottos, catchphrases or words they use often? Do they speak about feelings a lot? Do they lie, and how often? Sometimes what isn't spoken can say as much as what is spoken.

. How they socialise and deal with others: Do they overthink things in discussion? Do they pick up on social cues? Do they often over-analyse the actions of others, or do they let everything go over their head? Are they confident in socialising, or not? Maybe their out-of-dialogue musings are complex, but they keep to not revealing much in their speech.

. How they cope with negative emotions: Do they break down, or blame others? Or do they power through it?

. In connection to some of the above points, think about your character both from the outside and inside: How do others see them? How do they think they come across to others? How do they come across to themselves? And finally, who are they really on the inside?

An important aspect to think about especially is character motivation. I've written this one separately from the bullet points since I think it's especially important given character motivation will play a major part in driving the plot along, as well as relationships with the other characters. This might not be something you'll have a solid answer to until you start writing, but it's good to have some starting ideas.

. In the broadest and simplest sense, what does your character want? Money, fame, honour, redemption, happiness, revenge...Have a think about what it is that they strive for deep down. (If you're struggling for ideas, maybe it might help to look at the in-game Aspirations, or maybe even the Traits will give you some ideas).

. How far are they willing to go to get it? Are there limits they won't go to in order to get what they want? Or are they willing to step on whoever's toes? This might be a change that occurs over the story, that's always an interesting concept. Seeing the well-behaved character slowly and gradually challenge what is acceptable...

. Who, or what 'kickstarted' this motivation? Some people just naturally come to want something, maybe as they grow up and/or their general interests, hobbies etc. change. Some motivations are brought on by events, though. Maybe harm done to a loved one motivates them to seek revenge, or something they did in their past motivates them to seek forgiveness or redemption for their actions. 

For challenge players, you can always define your characters through funny commentary, I always like seeing that. One story had one generation founder constantly break the fourth wall and be the only one who realised they were in a game and it made them stand out in a comical way.

 Let me start off by saying: Plot is my weak point. I struggle to organise ideas when both reading and writing, I always have done. As usual, for plots it's best to think of your favourite plots from stories or a 'stock plot' like The Hero's Journey, Wretched Excess etc. It's also good to think about any potential plot points that come to mind straight away, so then you have starting points and can fill in the gaps- this is generally what I do. And honestly, I don't think it's that bad to re-use themes and plot pieces sometimes. Sometimes it works better to stick with what you're familiar with, than it is to try a thousand things at once that are new or different to you.

Do you see yourself as a 'plotter' or a 'pantser'? I'm a bit of both, though I'm leaning towards more of a plotter now. I wish I could write everything by the seat of my pants, but sadly I can't. 

The way I initially began planning for a longer, more in-depth story is by making a table in a word processing document that is one column wide, with loads of rows. Just one giant row of loads of columns. Each box in this table will be for specific notes, and the order of these notes in the planning table goes like this:

. Title ideas/preliminary ideas: What it says on the tin, and the very, very first ideas for the story.

. Rough story ideas: Any ideas that come to me in the pre-planning stage go here. Ideas for anything at all- screenshots, scenes, lines of dialogue, anything!

.Background information to be aware of: Any relevant lore or research goes here. Sometimes I keep story research in a separate document.

. Previous story points to be aware of: Any previous characters or events to be aware of to aid in consistency.

. Current plot threads: Keeping track of plot threads that need to be resolved in some way, to help prevent plot holes.

. Character info: Character information in varying levels of depth. At this point, this usually only covers main characters.

. Character Development:  This almost always changes halfway through, but this is my plan for how characters will change as the story goes on, and the events and characters that will be catalysts for that change.

. Backstory: Character backstory goes here instead, to keep things organised.

. Ideas for future chapters: Any ideas at all for upcoming chapters, no matter how vague. This also includes things that absolutely have to happen later on.

. Story ideas: Various boxes, all of which have more detailed story ideas. At the moment these are defined by specific events, and these are just for the direction of the story.

. Chapter (X): The main story planning, with one box for every chapter. This is where the story starts to be sorted by chapters as opposed to just events. Things always get swapped around during the writing process: Some things get moved until later, moved to happen earlier, or omitted/changed entirely.

The general idea as I'm going, is that each chapter has to move at least something forward. We learn something new about someone, a character's actions have changed something or caused a consequence, a character has learned something, etc. Somehow things have to be different from the beginning of the chapter to the end of the chapter and that is generally how I go about it. Whilst a lot of people frown on whole chapters that 'info-dump', for some stories it might be necessary- especially for futuristic or alternate history stories where the author will need some filling-in on the general state of this unfamiliar world.

Again, how much you want to/need to plan depends on what you're doing. Nowadays I write narratively, and the game has little bearing on the actual story.

If you're going with a gameplay or challenge-driven story you probably won't need much planning, if any at all.If it helps, it's worth doing what you can to create associations of some type within your planning- whether it's symbols, bold/italic, colour-coding, anything. That might aid you in keeping important bits of the notes tied together somehow, whether it's done by scene, character, important plot points etc.

It may help to highlight important bits as well in your word processor, so you can easily find things you know you have to go back to soon. I sometimes do this since I easily get lost in my own notes...

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Other Planning Ideas

. Starting from the end: It might be easier to go backwards if you come up with your ending before your intro. You can always start with your end point, and then figure out how you got there. 

. Mind-maps: If a massive list of boxes doesn't sound ideal, it might help do a sort of mind-map or flowchart. This is better if you are the sort of person who'd rather take in small bite-sized pieces at a time. You could have one mind-map for the beginning, middle and end, and then do little branches off for different events. And then from those branches, possibly add more for other details surrounding that specific story event, or things to remember for later on down the line. 

. 'Snowflake method': Put simply, it's writing down a simple plot point or idea and then continually expanding on it until it's at the level of detail you need for your plan- the way a typical snowflake's points branch out. As a random example: - Dave goes to get some cheese. - Dave has discovered a monster in his kitchen, and it demands a block of cheese or Dave's life. Terrified, Dave goes out to get some cheese to appease the monster. - A monster that can only live off of cheese is used to eating the bits of dropped cheese off Dave's kitchen floor, but Dave has decided to do more cleaning now his girlfriend is moving in. Desperate for survival, the monster has escaped its hiding place, demanding a block of cheese from Dave for its survival. If Dave does not supply cheese, he will be killed by the monster.

. 'Five-part narrative'/Pyramid: Breaking down your story into the five main parts of most stories: - Exposition: This is mainly setting up the world of your story - the setting, the main goings-on in the area, the characters we will be following throughout the story, and also the driving point which sets the main characters ahead doing plot stuff. - Rising action: The rising action is generally the part where the characters' antics, or possibly something caused by the world around them, sets stakes higher and puts more pressure on them. Perhaps the character has made a grave mistake. People could be after them. Or perhaps some kind of natural disaster has caused massive issues for the character. How will they come to navigate all of this? - Climax: The rise up to the 'turning point' or the height of the drama in your story. Maybe your character finally has some kind of breakdown, their actions have led them into the worst situation possible, but good can arise from this...or your character can just keep going down the slippery slope. - Falling Action: This is generally the process of gradually resolving all that has happened during the story. Maybe the main characters have realised their mistakes and aim to solve them, or perhaps your characters have overcome the main antagonist, or possibly made peace with them somehow. - Denouement: The resolution to the story, or at least where the characters end up. Then again, who's to say that everything will be resolved by the end if you want to make a series rather than a one-off? And who's to say the resolution will be a clean pretty one?

. For the challenge/game-driven writers: It helps to make notes of anything that happens in-game that could become a plot idea. Whether it's something from a mod, Lifestyles, Sentiments, or other autonomous actions- anything that gives you idea for a potential relationship change, conflict or story point, jot it down and maybe you can build on it later. If your Sims end up with positive or negative Sentiments for each other, then maybe it could be fun to come up with a reason why they feel that way.

My biggest piece of advice is: If you are stuck with what to do next in a story, let the game do some of the storytelling for you if you need to. Look at what happens autonomously, Likes/Dislikes, traits, anything caused by mods that add story depth to the game, Sentiments that people have for others etc. You probably even have mods that actually add some real depth to the game that you can go off of. It's a great way to help you get new ideas. It's gotten me through a lot of brick walls in the plot.

. Do not use ChatGPT or any generative AI! The whole point of creative writing is the CREATIVE part and neither of these are at all creative. Don't bother writing a story if you can't be bothered to do the writing.

. Be sure to try and use content warnings for aspects of the story that may need it. You can use the trigger tags and can warn in chapter headers. You can't catch everything, of course you can't, but it's a helpful way to help a reader decide whether or not it's worth getting into a story, or whether they may want to skip a page or chapter. My own story has a lot of potential triggers so I warn about them as much as possible.

. Portrayal is not automatically endorsement. Your story does not have to be entirely morally-pure and neither do your characters. Not every story is about the perfect people who do no wrong and somehow manage to tick every box on how to be the perfect Leftist. You also don't have to provide disclaimers on the fact you are not okay with what's being portrayed, but you can do so if you want to save your own skin.

. Do not worry too much about word counts. Some people like to keep an eye on word counts, but make sure you're not letting it dictate your entire workflow. It's great to have goals to keep you going, but to let them define your work entirely can get stressful. If you miss your goals, don't beat yourself up about it. 

. Use online generators if necessary! Names, plot points, rough plot outlines, there are generators for everything online. They are there both for fun and to help you get a starting point, and you are NOT cheating for using them! No other writer ever does absolutely everything themselves. We all get ideas from somewhere, so there's absolutely zero shame in using generators for ideas and such. 

. Do not get hung up on looking for writing advice. I know, I just gave my advice and yet I'm saying this! Over the years I've looked at so many writing advice blogs, and almost all of it has been useless to me in the long run. Most of my learning has been from reading others' writing, and I have also learned from other kinds of art as well- films, pictures, etc. Do not rely too much on one person's style or advice. It's no good wanting to be someone else, and take that from someone who's been super jealous of loads of creators over the years. Whether it's art or writing, I've learned more from looking at others' art than I ever have from people who've told me how to do it.  On top of that, don't let others' advice dictate what you do too much. After all, people are so quick to label absolutely anything as 'bad writing' these days. Continuing on from this point...

. Do not let others' writing advice become super-strict rules. Including my own! The problem with some people and their advice, is that they tend to think their way is the only way, for everyone. And as I mentioned earlier, people are quick to slap the latest cool 'smart writer's term on anything. Remember when Mary-Sue/Marty-Stu started off as an overpowered character who never faces consequences, but then seemingly became any character with supernatural powers and/or unnatural hair and eye colours? Remember when we got taught 'said is dead' in primary school, and then authors and Internet writers suddenly became obsessed with it to the point where you were terrible for using 'said' at all?

All of those writing blogs demanding complete originality when every conceivable story is inspired by something, subconsciously or otherwise? Getting thrown overboard for using clichés? The same three authors being used as a style model? It's great to take inspiration from other people, but don't think that others' writing advice is always 100% going to improve your writing because as I have said ad nauseum throughout this whole thing- art is subjective. Even if the advice-giver is an excellent author that's been published 1205 times, that doesn't necessarily mean their way is the only way for everyone. My likes and dislikes are not ultimate. Neither are theirs, and neither are yours. Write the clichéd character, add the cool thing because it's fun, use 'said' all of the time, enjoy yourself.

. Also worth adding that just because someone writes their writing 'advice' in an incredibly harsh or 'my way is the only way' manner, it doesn't mean they're 100% right and that you should change how you do things because a bored stranger on the Internet thinks they're the last word on how to create things. You are not going to please everyone, and that's fine. And let's face it- some people are never pleased. Ever. Don’t write to please these types of people, it’s not worth it. I've come across them plenty of times in the past on creative websites, and I've fallen into the trap of trying to do what they say because they must be right, right? And really, why should I? Why should anyone?

Don't fall into the trap of feeling like you have to do what the angry man on Wordpress told everyone to do. Maybe these types occasionally have something good to share, but you should only use writing advice you find genuinely helpful to you.

. When it comes to doing research on things like stereotypes or tired archetypes / plotlines for certain marginalised groups, be aware that everyone has a different opinion on what is harmful and what isn't. You cannot write a character of any experience that every single person will agree with or consider to be a sympathetic portrayal. One man's good representation is another man's problematic.

You are also occasionally going to find some people writing these portrayal guides who will consider every experience out of their own individual one to be wrong (I've come across plenty of 'how to write autistic characters' guides where the autistic writer is convinced their experiences are the only kind of 'proper' autistic experience... and we are all very different people in reality!). Try to get a rough idea from multiple sources and go from there.

. In addition to the above: Go careful where you get your research/advice from. I will happily admit when I don't know what I'm talking about sometimes. Other people, not so much. Go careful who you choose to do any research from. On top of that, when you are looking for advice specific to a culture or identity, most of the time it's best to find things written by people who are actually a part of the group. It's good to be as thorough as you can.

. Be imperfect. No-one is a perfect writer, though some certainly think they are! Perfectionism is common, but in my opinion it holds people back a lot of the time. Don't stress too much- SimLit is meant to be a fun hobby.

. Always aim to finish your work. Even if you have to pull a plot point out of your backside to do it, try to finish everything where you can. I have only ever discontinued one story, and that was only five chapters into it. If you're having trouble, don't be afraid to leave a project for a while. I find in the meantime, I come up with new ideas. Sometimes a necessary distance to a project is needed to see it in a different light, and then any issues can be (hopefully) figured out.

. Don't get caught up in the 'reboot loop'. It's a dangerous game, to constantly want to re-do your work. I'd know - I have a personal project that's been rebooted over 10 times and still not completed that's been a work-in-progress since almost 2014. Don't get caught up in it otherwise you'll never finish anything. If there's something you don't like, assess first if it's best to just move on with the story despite it. In connection to my above point, I'd rather a story be finished badly, personally, than not finished at all.

. Do not get put off by low reader numbers or lack of comments. It's part of the creative process- either you'll get feedback or you won't. People nowadays tend to go for shorter stories either due to not having time, language barriers are also a thing that can put people off a longer prose-based story, or due to the modern age trying to make everything as succinct as possible - and like I said earlier, a lot of people are tired busy adults and likely won't have time.

Some things are also typically more niche than others.

Do not publicly whine or guilt-trip people over lack of feedback or attention. There are always going to be times where lack of attention to your work will get you down, and in my eyes, that's a good sign to take a break from it until the passion for creation comes back to you. Otherwise the story will likely suffer for it as will your wellbeing.

. Do not get put off by negative critique. Critique can be helpful, but let's face it, many people often don't know how to write a good or useful critique and a lot of people nowadays want to be a edgy, feisty caustic critic, might as well say it. Even if someone is nice about it, your first reaction might be ‘owch’.

Keep the useful critique in mind, bin the rest. You don't need to change anything about your story, at the end of the day nobody can force you to do that - but it's also not healthy to ignore absolutely all critique completely. Sometimes others' ideas can be helpful. Sometimes.

. Jarte - A free fancier version of Wordpad that I use for note-taking and plot-planning.

. My planning document and character questions linked earlier.

. MyNoise - If you like background noise to focus but music isn't for you, these are various noise machines. It includes chanting, white noise, natural sounds (thunder, rain etc), bar ambience and much more. There's an amazing selection.

. Writing Plot Prompts and Generators - A bunch of generators for plot-related events. Rough plots, possible things that could go wrong, ideas for how characters meet and general writing prompts. 

. Character Generator - A bunch of character-related generators that will generate all sorts of ideas- from rough descriptions, to in-detail outlines, to causes of death, and a separate generator for ideas for LGBT+ characters as well.

. Evernote- a free (with paid options) note-taking app for mobile and for PC. It allows you to create to-do lists, clip whole web pages, screenshots, articles PDFs and bookmarks - great for storing research or other important things! You can also sync your PC notes with your mobile ones so you always have a space to dump your ideas wherever you come up with them.

. Random Town Name Generator - with some fun tidbits about town naming in general.

. Fantasy Map Generator - for the super-world-builders!

I hope this has given you something of a starting point, or has otherwise given you something else to think about. Happy writing!

[inkblackorchid]

We all know Aki is your favourite yugioh character in 5ds

My question is, if you had to do an anime mini series focusing on her, how would you do it, and what would the plot be about?

This has been sitting in my inbox for an unfortunate amount of time and idk when it's going up, but I wanted to answer it before the year is over!

So.I'm going to assume that by "miniseries" you mean a tiny spin-off with Aki at the centre that's still loosely connected to canon, so I'll base my answer off of that.

If I were given the reigns to a miniseries where Aki gets to be the protagonist, it could go either of two ways: Either I make a plot-heavy arc to tie up some of her loose ends, or I do something more light-hearted that focusses on the less important shenanigans she gets up to when she's not on screen.

If I gave her a plot-heavy miniseries, I would focus, as one might expect, on the Arcadia Movement. Canon left a lot of loose ends and a lot to be desired on that front and it's just begging to be adressed in-depth. With a miniseries, probably situated during the timeskip between the DS and pre-WRGP arc, I'd try to properly adress the fallout of the movement. There's a good chance I'd reuse elements from Fields of Arcadia for that. I'd dig into how Aki's readjusting to normal society, how her re-enrollment in duel academy works out, and how Arcadia's sudden, violent downfall is probably still on her mind. She'd probably start digging through files in this one, too. But for a miniseries, I'd probably go beyond that and maybe let her seek out some former members, too. Really get to the bottom of what Arcadia was doing behind the curtains and who was involved in it. Who knows, maybe I'd let her track down Carly's help (or Carly involves herself by accident because she can't help her curiosity) and they try to chase down as much information as possible. The rest of the usual crew would be the supporting cast, helping out with occasional enquiries. To give the whole thing some tension, let's say Aki gets "inspired" to dig into the movement by hearing that someone is trying to revive it, hoping to take Divine's place as the new leader. It follows that after countless hours of tiring research and probably a couple of scrapes with the "new" Arcadia Movement (with Aki gratuitously learning to appreciate her powers by using them to defend people, naturally), the minseries would conclude with her taking down the person trying to revive the movement and becoming comfortable with her new life outside the movement and her powers. (Meaning she would mostly be in the same position we meet her in at the start of the pre-WRGP arc, just proooobably without the later nonsense of her losing her powers and then declaring they were a curse before regaining them anyway. Yes, I still have beef with that.)

If I went with the funnier, but less intense option of making a miniseries about Aki's off-screen antics, however, I would absolutely stage something like a duel academy tournament. Same timeframe, and for some tenser elements, I would also add the idea of Aki trying to readjust to normal academy life back in. It's a familiar environment, but it has bad memories attached to it, and Aki wouldn't immediately have a good time adjusting. What better way to get her from weird outsider who comes back to school with some strange rumours attached to her to star student who can duel every bragging bully into the ground than an academy tournament? It wouldn't be as massive as the WRGP, of course, but I could see it going from at least a round of sixteen down to the finale. Aki might even hesitate about entering at first (because she doesn't want to garner negative attention again), but her new friends encourage her to. And again, the signers would probably make for the supporting cast. Rua and Ruka would obviously be right there in the academy with Aki, giving them some more attention, too. Rua joining the tournament (depending on whether or not it's an academy-wide or older-students-only tournament) is optional. (But would make for a fun match where they're both giving their all and Aki doesn't have to worry about being judged because he likes her, leading to her showing off how fucking good she is at duelling and how much fun she can have with it if people allow her to. Added bonus of being able to show how much Rua has progressed.) Throw in some bullies Aki puts in their place along the way, and some students (or even other tournament participants) she befriends, and bam. A fun time for everyone involved. (I think it goes without saying that Aki wins the tournament.)

So there you go! Two very different ideas that would make for two nice miniseries for Aki to star in. (They would also make for pretty good fice ideas, lmao.)

[kufothewriting]

So, You Took Away Your MC's Powers

So, you took away your protagonist’s powers.

First of all, congratulations. Really. 

If you’ve gotten to the point of permanently depowering your story's central figure, it more than likely means you've reached or are approaching the end of your story and deliberately chose that specific option as the best way to wrap up an important conflict or plot point.

So let's talk about it.

Your protagonist, through some turn of fate, lost their power. 

An enchanted item, a bloodline trait, an inherited power—whatever it was that made the protagonist special or incredible or uniquely able to complete the plot has now gone away. Whether it was a deliberate decision made in the interests of the greater good or an unfortunate consequence of a dangerous decision that backfired or had unforeseen consequences, the result remains that the protagonist is no longer special. At least, not in the way that they were before.

As someone who’s been online a lot longer than he should, I can say first and foremost that it seems that there’s a lot of ill-will for this trope. Some people seem more than willing to scream from the rooftops that it’s bad writing and makes for a poor ending and that anyone willing to depower their character is in the same realm of cruelty as people who call online strangers slurs and then say they're joking when they get flak for it.

Is that true?

I’d personally disagree. It’s hardly that simple. In my opinion, few tropes are just bad or good, cut and dry. Stories are complicated, endings are tough, and when trying to decide how to wrap your narrative, sometimes it can be a difficult task to defeat the villain or solve the overarching conflict without having your hero take desperate measures. 

The depowering of a character can come in many different flavors, depending on the medium. For more battle-focused stories (cough cough shonen), a hero can lose their powers to an enemy’s tactic or in service of defeating a villain far too physically overwhelming for them to overcome by ordinary means. 

In some narratives, the protagonist’s power could be the cast’s power, and it might be the case that this power or its source is actually a major contributing factor to the reason behind the story's driving conflict. 

In that case, it would seem strange to solve the plot without directly addressing the core issue. If the power itself is the problem endangering our heroes’ way of life, then it stands to reason that taking out the problem would solve the issue in a neat little wrap, no ifs, ands, or buts.

So what’s the issue? Why do so many people seem to hate this ending?

Well, keep in mind this is all conjecture. But let’s start with a premise.

People consume fiction for a variety of reasons. Personally, I’ve been enamored with the creation of worlds, characters, ideas, and belief systems for as long as I can remember. Consuming fiction is something I doubt I could ever give up, and consuming fantasy is something you couldn’t pay me to. A protagonist with the ability to summon light or fire from their hands or transform into a dragon is just a certain type of wish-fulfillment alternate-reality hijinks that tickles my brain just the right way, you know?

Seeing a super-powered protagonist navigate through an unfamiliar world full of strange and incredible abilities is gratifying in a way that’s difficult to describe. I keep finding myself returning to these stories time and again. 

It’s not something based on age or maturity, but some inherent curiosity inside that asks, what if the world was like this? What if people were like this? What would it look like if these kinds of people, with these different abilities and emotions and ambitions, shared the same space? How would it change them, and how would it change the world around them? 

Even if you don't consider something like that fun to think about, I at least think that it’s interesting to lose yourself in the fantasy of a world so different from our own, where people are incredible in a way that feels so utterly divorced from our reality. At least, that’s my viewpoint. Whether or not you consider that escapist or not is up to you.

But when it comes to stories that have the protagonist lose their power in the end, there comes a sudden, staunch divorce from our immersion. The story that previously said, "Hey, look at this cool person and the cool thing they can do!" at its beginning turned around at the end and said, "Actually, this cool person and this cool thing they can do? We won't be having that anymore."

A gross oversimplification, but you probably get my point. Depowering a protagonist as the solution to the plot can feel deeply jarring, especially if that power or its source is something deeply connected to the protagonist’s character or something that in some way saved them, whether salvation was from a mundane life or a brutal murder in some backstreet alleyway.

Losing what makes you special can feel deeply hurtful, like a betrayal of trust. By no means is it a negative trope wholesale—I personally feel that the depowering of a character, though often unsatisfying, can be a good way to wrap up a narrative conflict or story arc previously infused with escalating stakes perpetuated from increasingly arcana or overwhelming abilities that most characters likely can’t realistically match with conventional means.

Still, for a lot of stories, a protagonist left depowered in the wake of a major event while all their allies and friends and even remaining enemies get to retain their abilities feels a bit like a gut punch. All they did for the world and for others, and in the end, they lost the thing that made them special. Regardless of how they feel about it, whether they hated their power or cherished it, unless the protagonist truly suffered as a result of their ability, it can feel like a sad thing to see them let it go. 

Depowering a protagonist isn’t a bad writing decision, but I feel like at its best it runs clearly into the bittersweet territory. Despite its narrative credence, it can feel unsatisfying, and for many, an ending with a character resolution (especially a protagonist's character resolution) that feels unsatisfying might as well be a bad ending. 

If a viewer walks away from a story thinking, "That shouldn’t have happened," it can be tough to woo them over with arguments of foreshadowing or sacrifice or skillful full-circle narratives the author established by going that direction. It’s tough both for creator and consumer, and I think that’s part of why the “depowered protagonist” ending is a bit of a sore spot for many people (And that’s not even getting into the gender dynamics of the “depowered” trope usually affecting more powerful, plot-relevant women than men).

It’s an interesting trope. I don’t think it’s bad at all—in its best form, I think an ending that depowers a protagonist in service of solving the major plot problem says that, yes, this new reality may not be ideal, but it was one that they reached after fighting and clawing and bleeding to make it through. It was an outcome born of struggle and perseverance and potentially, loss, but in the end, had they not done what they did, the world would be all the worse for it.

In stories where the protagonist loses their powers, the result that arises from that power loss is typically one that’s leagues better than what would occurred without it. And, in a way, that’s emblematic of real life. To create something, you have to give something up. To build a bond with someone, you have to give up time. To create an item, you have to give up materials. 

And to protect the things you care about? Well, you might have to give up what makes you special.

[oh-shtars]

RFTS!AU AskBox #4

Me to @signed-sapphire for the legendary number of 50 Questions Galore they sent me:

Heads up though, you might notice there’s certain questions skipped. I’m either not able to answer some of the asks at all OR they’re either some art requests that I haven’t finished and will post in future posts. So I had to skip them for this post unfortunately…. I apologise as such. 😅

Anyways, let’s get speeding through them shall we?

1. How do you plan to show the songs?

It should be question 6 of this post here. :)

……

2. How many songs do you plan to have in RFTS?

4 or more. Depends on what I come up with.

……..

3. What ‘vibe’ would each song have?

Uhhhhhhh, idk tbh. I’m really just going with the flow of what this story brings me. You can’t wait to see what the RFTS!plot has in store? Yeah, me too.

……..

4. Who’s voicing Valentino and the main cast?

For Valentino, I’m not sure. I’m debating whether it should be younger Bambi or Ronno’s VA. But he basically has an actual kid’s voice this time rather than a deep-sounding one. (Because honestly, I found that a bit weird personally). For the the other characters, I don’t really mind the voices they have canonically.

And I think I’ve mentioned this before, but even though Sueño can’t speak, I could hear him singing this in this voice hypothetically.

………..

5. Write or draw any cute interaction between Ashueño!

Mk :3

………

6. I know Asha will have a different outfit by the end, but do you have different designs for anyone else?

Yeah, I do actually. Some characters have a different outfit to better reflect their current context. (Like how Sakina would have work clothes similar to Asha.) But I don’t want to reveal most of them at the moment since I would like to keep them a secret for now.

……

7. Some Gabo doodles, if you don’t mind. I rarely see the short king in any Wish Art.

Fiiiiine.

His design makes a lot more sense if you were me and you knew the context. Take this art with whatever theories you guys can throw at me 😂

……. 10. What made Amaya fall in love with Magnifico? What changed?

Amaya had a family who greatly discouraged her interest in studying magic and potions since it’s against what their family has done for generations. Meanwhile, Magnifico who was adopted as Rosas’ prince, is expected to learn magic but COULDN’T because he struggles to do so since he hasn’t moved on from his trauma.

When these guys were around 16-15 years old, they were mutual best friends. Mag offers Amaya to read from his magic books while he finds comfort in just having a genuine friend who doesn’t remind or push expectations onto him that he hears everyday in the castle. She’s like an escape from the stresses he has in there.

In their future years, Amaya grew to fall in love with someone who promised her the world if she only asked for it. She finds bits of herself in Mag, as both were people with crushed dreams that deserve better. (In their POV anyway.)

Falling in love was not at all what she expected since she used to believe sympathy would only hold her back from exploring the limits of magic. But you know, Amaya’s as much as a tragic character as Magnifico is.

…….

11. Who fell first and who fell harder between those two?

Is it possible to say that RFTS!Magnifico is both?

……..

12. Any fun fact about the Royal Couple? (You can tell who I’m most invested in. lol.)

The only reason Espino, the royal cat, is in the castle is because Amaya wanted him around. Otherwise, if it were up to Mag, that cat is out to the streets. He’s not very fond of animals and he considers them as pests. Though, Espino gets small bonus points from Magnifico just because he keeps the castle clear from mice which he especially hates.

(Good to know you’re enjoying ‘Grand Despair’ while it lasts :)

……

13. This may be weird but…Body Swap! How would Hopes and Dreams react?

Asha would have zero idea how to get star magic under control. Meanwhile, Sueño finds an interesting realisation.

……..

14. What’s your favourite fanart piece of your AU?

I LOVE all of them so much!! They’re all made by very amazing artists!! I’m so happy to see these silly characters I’ve made be brought to life in someone else’s style. 💖💖

Mere words can’t express this joy enough. I hope you all would love the final chapters once they do come out as much as you loved seeing content of them now. X3

……..

15. Are you telling your story via writing or art of word dump?

I’m planning to share it in chapters like how Anny and everyone else has been doing. Plus some more sketches I would keep making of them obviously.

………

17. Draw Ashueño dressed as another Disney couple!

Hehehehehe guess whooo~ 🙃

………

19. Young!Sueño!

Which one? 🙃

Awww, good times back then when the little guy is still figuring out the forms he likes….

…… 20. Young!Royal Couple!

Mini Magnifico would rather drown himself or drink snake venom than call Oliver his dad- ………

22. Give some more lore on Asha’s father. Are you keeping him as close to the source material as possible? Will we see him in flashbacks or something?

You’ll definitely get to see Tomás at certain points in the story. Either in the short prologue, mentions and flashbacks. He’s generally a friendly guy but at the same time, is also assertive to defend what he thinks is wrong. But even though his life was cut short, Tomás ended up inspiring more people than he thinks. Especially his old friend, Sabino, who hasn’t given another wish or attended any more wish ceremonies after his death.

I don’t think we really knew much about Asha’s father at all in the canon movie, but I’ll pretty much be close to what is depicted there already with some more detail on how he made an influence in the lives of those he loves.

………

23. Give Sueño a stuffed toy for him to cuddle with. He deserves it <3

He adores it so much 💖💖

……….

24. More lore about the Astral Realm!

Not all Wishing Stars have the strong desire to venture down into the human realm someday and that’s completely fine. They can still guide their wishmaker from above. But for those who do want to, they need to answer one important question first:

“Why do you grant wishes?”

Since they would be going down to earth by themselves ALONE with none of their elders to guide them this time, their answer to this question serves as their anchor in case they get lost or distracted. Answers do vary and some may be the same among stars, but that’s fine. As long as they’re sincere with all their core on their answer. Some examples may be: “I like to see them reach their very best and reap their deserved rewards.” Or “I like watching them journey and discover themselves.”

……….

25. SNEAK PEAKS!!

This scene is one of my dotpoints I came up with but I’m not so sure anymore if that would still fit in and whether I should scrap it. Regardless, I thought this would be a nice little thing to show you all. Proof that I’m indeed working on it 😅

(Actually, this sounds so cute to draw. Feel welcome to try and do so if you want to, my fellow artists ^^)

…… 26. How does Magnifico’s magic work?

I made a whole post on this :3

………

27. Where did Amaya learn potions?

She’s self-taught mostly. But I also did mention that Mag generously lets her borrow what is meant to be his books of magic soooo, he played a role on that as well.

……

29. What’s Amaya’s opinion on the other Wish AU Mags?

I’m not exactly sure how different her opinions would be on each of them since I think we all decided to have our fun with Magnifico just being a shameless show-off and fun evil villain. I’ll try though.

Amaya would think KOW!Mag reminds her a lot of her own husband, also short-tempered and a disgustingly sweet romantic at times. She’s kind of a play-hard-to-get girl though 😂. One thing she does notice is that what WRTS!, Wish Granted! And KOW!Mag have in common is how loud they are with their ceremonies. Is that a universal Magnifico thing? Eh. There sure is a lot of interesting knowledge to learn from these universes. Hmmm.

TKoRaT!Maggy has that same pained look that falls on RFTS!Mag whenever he’s sulking by himself and needs time alone. Usually it’s because of his old village trauma. It’s an intriguing but ever so familiar cycle she recognises well.

Meanwhile. TFS!Mag is……different, she would say. Not exactly good different. I kinda imagine her eyeing this guy like a cat. This Mag just gives off a very different vibe of non-ruthlessness(?) that she’s not used to.

……..

30. Same for Mag, but vice versa.

RFTS!Mag gets very very very familiar vibes with KOW! And Wish Granted!Amaya. He finds it slightly amusing since it feels like his wife just became a part of some triplets. (He jokingly asked RFTS!Amaya if she had any sisters she never told him. The woman wasn’t amused. She doesn’t really like being reminded of her family.) I’m sorry TKoRaT! And TFS!Amaya, but you’ve made the decision to adopt Asha as your daughter and so he thinks lower of you now. Although…the TKoRaT!couple might just get to redeem themselves for that since they sound interesting enough. They’re going to have the ditch the girl though at some point.

WRTS!Amaya just feels off. He doesn’t know what exactly though? Is he losing his mind or something? Ugh, I think he could use devouring another Wish Bubble just in case…

……..

31. You know what, for Asha and Sueño too!

Oh boy, here we go. 😂

Asha will NOT be able to handle Wish Granted!Star’s energy. It’s so different from the silent but still lively conversations she has with her Starboy. Star just can’t bring himself to stop talking, can he? 😅 Asha thinks WRTS!Aster and TKoRaT!Star are adorable. Cielo may be a bit much at times with his light teasing and flirting, but she’s aware he means well.

I could see Asha’s non-hesitant empathy, patience and genuine concern to Haedus would be a huge comfort for the poor guy. (Trust me, she’s done this plenty before.) She’s a bit surprised to see Naos and Nembus but I think they’d get along just fine. She’s pretty good with playing with kids from her experience with a mischievous Valentino. And lastly, KOW!Aster is a total sweetheart that she jokingly comments could rival Sueño’s. (That comment caught Sueño’s attention quickly lmao.)

MEANWHILE:

Sueño is more hesitant and unwilling at first to approach humans by his own accord. He’ll still keep a short distance buuuut… if they’re just another version of Asha, it can’t be that horrible, right?

KOW!Asha’s drawings are a familiar sight for him and he’s impressed that she could bring her own drawings to life. Same goes for WRTS!Asha with her magic wand. Maybe they’re friendly… Maybe they could both do that together :D He’s neutral with Wish Granted! And Aled’s Asha for now until he gets to know them better.

Sueño recognises that same shyness and timid nature in TKoRaT!Asha. (It’s weird how she does the same thing RFTS!Asha does of turning their head away and hiding behind their hair when he innocently just looks her way.)

And then there’s…….HER. TFS!Asha. Cielo talks about her a lot….😬. But you know, that girl scares him.

Unfortunately, Sueño is staying a relatively farther distance away from the last two Ashas I mentioned. Why? Idk, probably the fact that they’re the daughter of Mag and Amaya-

……….

32. *Gives Sueño an iPad with Duolingo on it* Here my child. Learn Spanish.

I have a feeling you did this so he could finally find out what his name, ‘Sueño’ translates into. Lol, nope. Not yet he’s not.

He still appreciates the gesture though, but the guy got distracted by the other cool features and apps this weird magical mirror-tablet thing(?) had and completely forgot all about the Owl app.

……

33. Will Asha ever attempt to learn Celestial? Maybe with a candle? Like Morse Code? Idk.

Idk. Speaking Celestial is really just stars exchanging screechy sound waves to each other telepathically like words, while their glowing sequences indicates the mood and tone of what they’re saying. Maybe if Asha comes to learn how to harness light magic on her own, she’ll be able to at least convey emotions such as happiness in it by controlling the brightness and duration of each flash.

…….

35. How are you planning out your story?

I usually think of what main message I’m trying to get across first and build the story around it. After some character and world-building stuff (that I keep adding to because procrastination), I put the key scenes I could think of in bullet-point format and then just think up some in-between scenes that could occur between those points.

Usually though, the most usual process is that a random concept/idea pops into my head and then I immediately type it down so I won’t forget it. It’s basically my thing now to organise the giant mess of reminders into comprehensive plot lines.

I’m not writing the story at this point. The story is choosing to expose itself to me XD

Another main thing I do is listen to my Spotify playlist of this AU, read the Wish Artbook, or rewatch a movie that has inspired the RFTS! plot in some way.

……..

36. Are there any kisses in your story?

Hmmmmm….. *glances at Ashueño and Amnifico*

Oh well, since you’ve asked me, I gueeeeess I’m unfortunately now going to have to remove all the kisses I had included since y’all are so desperate to know….. (/jk)

……..

38. Will the Royal Couple have villain transformations?

………..

39. What’s your take on the ‘eating wishes’ thing?

As I’ve mentioned in my last post on how the magic system works in the RFTS!AU, Magnifico eats wish essence to reverse the costly effects of using Curse Magic. To put it simply, he uses them to make him more mentally stable.

.,,,,,,,,

40. What Easter Eggs are you planning to put in your story?

Awwwww, where’s the fun in that? Find them yourselves >:)))

And who knows? Maybe certain fellow creators in the Wish Rewrite Fandom will make a reference in some of the chapters. Keep an eye out 😉

……..

42. What exactly does Asha’s job entail?

Being a king’s apprentice is a way to gain experience and learn how to use magic by the king himself, so you could use the attained knowledge as to however you want. Share the talent with Rosas or Go out into the world.

However, when Magnifico’s reign started, he forbade magic usage other than he and his wife with the claim that it’s for the greater good and safety for Rosas. (He kinda had a point since criminal activity and accidents did decrease in number after that rule.)

Since Mag doesn’t really need an apprentice, Asha is more of an assistant now, following in her dad’s footsteps before her. She’s tasked to do help with whatever Mag might need around his study such as keep the fire going or organise his papers. But Mag doesn’t really like having her around a lot, (since she asks a lot of questions about his wish-keeping system) so he purposefully tells her to go carry out outside tasks such as go into the garden and help the gardeners or something.

……..

43. Did Magnifico make Sueño’s bonds?

If I told you, would that make you more blood-thirsty enough to gather pitchforks and torches for his head? Because if you are, please don’t. I still need this guy to stir up conflict in my story :((

(You can have him all you want though once I’m done with him. Lmao.)

………

44. How was Rosas founded?

Nearly a century ago, the kingdom was first built. I’ve read in the Art book that Rosas was apparently named to reference ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

Like, ok….?

Anyways, I found that roses are meant to represent love, rebirth and beauty. So I decided to add more onto that than just have it as another reference. The kingdom’s founders wanted Rosas to be a place where people who are wary and feel outcasted by their homes can find and start a new beginning. To ‘Rebirth’ and have a second chance to find the ‘beauty and love’ in their lives again,

Blue and white were made the royal colours because the blue was meant to stand for trust and reliability and white for new beginnings. Symbolising the past kings and queens’ responsibility to have their talents in sorcery be used to serve the people who come here. Thus, Rosas’ citizens all are in a variety of different cultures.

……..

45. Over how many days does your story take?

I’m thinking within one month. It’s a race-against-time sort of thing where Asha needs to find out how to confront the Royal Couple before they do something horrible on Rosas’ celebration of its 100th anniversary, which is literally just a month away.

…….

46. What was your favourite part of Wish? Are you translating that to your AU?

I really really loved how Mag’s magic looked and how he went all evil-ish green as a tribute to past Disney villains. If we ignore the awkward transition he had from sympathetic to just plain psychotic, it’s a cool magic display. I kinda wished they went more full out on the final battle because it just felt so underwhelming asf.

I’m keeping the magical final battle but with more magical funsies. :D

…….

47. Least favourite part?

I’m frustrated how bland and empty the character interactions and emotional beats are since those kinds of moments are usually my favourite when it comes to movies.

Magnifico’s tragic loss of his village? “Pfft- What tragedy? We don’t need that in the movie’s 2nd half.”

Asha’s dead father? “Eh. We only needed him for a few mins and he’s non-existent from that point on.”

Valentino claims to be Asha’s helpful animal sidekick. “Did I mention I have a deep voice? Oh, and my butt’s a funny thing too. Did I already mention that my voice is loud and soooo deep??”

Simon’s betrayal? “Oh wow, that was a shock…. Anyways, wanna start a rebellion?”

OMG, Sakina’s wish is back!! “What was the wish about? Idk who cares.”

Asha’s friendship with Star doesn’t even feel that special to me?? GUYS, I felt more chemistry between Rapunzel and Pascal. COME ON, BUILD IT UP. DON’T JUST SAY ‘Awww, you and I are thinking the same thing~’ AND EXPECT ME TO BUY THAT.

……….

48. What’s your favourite aspect of the TFS!AU?

Idk why, but I like how there’s a unique twist in your AU on how Wishing Stars don’t have the best reputation to humans. It’s a nice subversion that makes it stand out a little more. :)) Because usually, the idea of wishing on stars is always seen as a positive thing but that’s not the case in this story. It’s intriguing to watch characters slowly realise that not everything is what it seems.

That, and the hilarious dynamic you’ve got going on between Cielo and Asha and how deep in denial they both are, even though it’s clear as day to the other TFS!cast. 😂

(Wouldn’t it be funny if TFS!Mag and Amaya also noticed? They may be going down a dark path but they’re not blind, girl.)

……..

50. What’s a boring fact about you?

Uhhhhhh…. I like organising stuff by colour for fun...? Like, I used to pour out a box of legos and sort through them as a kind of pastime. I still organise coloured pencils in rainbow order if I could too. 😅 ………

@annymation @uva124 @your-ne1ghbor @ficsinhistory @rascalentertainments @gracebethartacc @spectator-zee

It’s a long read, but I think you guys would enjoy going through it regardless. I hope so anyways.

Btw, thx for all the fun questions Bo! 💖 Might post some more regarding your other doodle requests that I’ve put to the side for now if you don’t mind. :))

[velnna]

This might sound like an odd question but I’m planning on making my own comic at some point and I was wondering if you had any advice? Specifically in making the plot, deciding what each character does and maybe panel/page composition and how to make harmonious colour palettes?

Also one more question but when you were at the beginning of developing Stray Souls did you post little lore/plot snippets and character doodles/info or did you mainly wait until the comic was out?

(Sorry I know this is a lot but I was just wondering sort of what your process is because everything seems so seamless and well-put-together :> )

Ehh first of all the seamless and put-togetherness is an illusion 🫠

A lot of my work is built organically (fancy way of saying I just sorta wing it) and very dependent on what makes me excited at each given point. Generally, I come up with an idea for a character or a plot point and from there start branching out.

Say, I create character A. A needs a story so I create some beats for them, a beginning-middle-end type thing. While thinking of this, characters B, C, etc pop up as placeholders/devices for A's story, and the world gets shaped around it as well. Then suddenly something in the world gets decided that in turn changes A's story a little, and so on. Then I go into B, C, etc and do the same thing (build a story, let it bleed into the world and let the world bleed into it).

There's pros and cons to this sort of thing of course. Most of the time I over-develop characters or world bits that are completely unnecessary and clutter the narrative (especially when it's something like a comic, where things need to be explained visually and economically), and because of this sort of chaotic process I also tend to get entangled in my own concepts and lose track of my main threads. I don't dislike it entirely so it's just a matter of figuring out what works best for your own goals and processes.

Some general advice for comics that I've learned from trial and error: try stripping your story down to its bare bones and see what you absolutely need VS what's there for flavour or added context. Only add flavour once you're sure you can tackle the minimum, both in writing and artwise. Keep your character designs simple if you value your hands lol. It's fun to design complicated details but you WILL get tired of drawing them after a while. Sometimes it's ok to tell and not show 🤷‍♂��� if you're a one-man team sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet. Bear in mind that long stories will take YEARS to complete in comic format. Not an end all be all, but you do need to think about that. Also just go for it once you've got a structure you feel good about. I personally don't like over planning and don't even script things, so I don't think you need to have everything on paper before getting some chapters rolling. Most of what I've learned about comics has been making them, not thinking about making them. Oh, and readers tend to be more lenient than we give them credit for - if you're passionate enough about your world or characters, chances are at least some people will be interested regardless of whether you think art or writing are up to par

As for the other question, I spoiled the shit out of stray souls before launching it and still kinda do it for fun LMAO. Nothing too serious ofc but I've always loved giving people an insight into characters and world outside of the comic since the comic itself is a little peek into the whole thing. It also kinda serves to keep people interested imo

And I just can't keep my mouth shut about my stories lol

[ancientforgcd]

General

This blog mainly focuses on Honkai Impact, Genshin Impact Cthulhu Mythos, and Honkai Star Rail, along with various original characters and other fandoms like Dragon Ball, SCP, etc. The primary characters I often feature are Ruby Rose and Kiana Kaslana. While these two are the main focus, I also occasionally highlight other muses and themes, depending on my current interests and creative direction.

Selectiveness 

-I’m a semi-selective roleplayer and I will only roleplay with mutuals. I will kindly ask for you to please check and make sure that we’re mutuals before interacting with me, if you do not then I will ignore you. If you persist, then it’ll earn you a block.

-Please do not reblog threads you are not apart of or reblog ooc posts. It’s rude to do, but feel free to like any thread or ooc post you want.

-This is a supportive and friendly space. I stand by my friends and fellow roleplayers, so if I notice any form of harassment, I won’t hesitate to block to maintain a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone.

-I don’t have exclusives since I know people come and go just as blogs do, but if we’re very close friends (or just roleplay a lot together) I don’t mind coming up with verses specifically for our muses.

Memes, Asks & Plots 

-My inbox and IM are always open for asks, memes, chatting, plotting, etc. I’m all ears for whatever creative ideas you’ve got cooking.

-Reblog Karma? Nah: Here’s the deal - you don’t need to feel any pressure to reciprocate when sending asks. Feel free to reach out whenever the inspiration strikes, no strings attached! And as for me, I might reblog directly from you or the original source, depending on what’s easiest at the moment. The same goes for you, feel free to directly reblog memes off me too.

-Curious about my character? Got a question for me personally? Bring it on! I’m more than happy to answer most questions. I’m open to all sorts of other questions, whether we’re mutuals or not. Though, I’ll be a bit selective with those.

Characters & Roleplay 

-Ruby is Canon-Divergent and won’t be played any differently. Most other muses are played by how I interpret them. As for my other muses, they’ll be played by how I interpret them.

-Some muses have codenames, some use them, some don't. Really depends on the circumstances.

-All muses are multi-ship. Each ship takes place in its own verse.

-I love seeing new faces! Feel free to bring your OCs or canon characters into the mix. Just make sure there’s a short bio or some basic information available for them.

-Some of my muses are gonna be overpowered. If you don’t like the fact that you’re essentially going to be seeing deities and other powerful individuals in equal measure, then this blog is not for you.

An important thing to read, which is relevant for this blog, as taken from this.

-My muses are multi-dimensional, capable of both good and bad deeds. Their actions are shaped by the tone and circumstances of each thread, keep that in mind.

-No God-Modding, Please: Let’s keep our roleplay fair and fun for everyone. If god-modding happens, I will talk to you in a civil manner. It’s all about respecting each other’s characters and their stories.

-All Genres and Lengths Welcome: Whether it’s novella-style depth or light-hearted crack, I’m open to all kinds of roleplay. Bring on the variety!

-Slow and Steady Roleplaying: Just a heads-up – I’m on the slower side when it comes to replies. But don’t hesitate to nudge me for a response. I promise to get back to you, though it might take a bit of time.

-Real Life Comes First: Remember, the real world keeps me busy with work and daily commitments. So, please bear with me if my responses take a while. Thank you for understanding.

NSFW & Triggers

-Mature Themes Ahead: This blog features mature content, including torture, gore, and sexual themes. If these topics are not your cup of tea, feel free to use the unfollow button. Or, if you prefer, let me know and I’ll tag these posts for easier navigation.

-NSFW Content and Tags: Most stuff NSFW occurs on Sunday, or as we all collectively call it, Sinday. Any and all Sinday content and threads that happen are considered non-canon and will happen on @lewdforged.

-Trigger-Free Zone: Personally, I don’t have any triggers. However, I’m always mindful of the content I share and its impact on my followers.

-Approach to Angst: While I have a penchant for roleplaying angst, an overabundance has somewhat dimmed its appeal for me. So, expect it to appear only sparingly.

-Dealing with Anon Hate: Anonymous hate messages will mostly be ignored. I might post them occasionally, especially if I’m feeling a bit sassy, but they won’t get much of my attention.

-Drama-Free Space: Drama, should it arise, will be sidestepped or tagged accordingly. I’m all about maintaining a positive and enjoyable space here.

Icons 

A special shoutout to Cloud-Ya, the amazing artist behind the HoV icons. Big thanks to them for granting permission to use their work.

Word from the Mun

Thank you for reading my rules, fam. My name is Joy Boy, 27 and it’s nice meeting ya. There won’t be many details on myself, but do know that I will answer most questions that are asked about me. I'm a tad bit unhinged, but who isn't these days?

That aside, I am here for the roleplay and stress relief, not for some petty drama and god knows what else, hence why I don’t associate myself with the RWBY Fandom and neither will I participate in any callout or otherwise drama either. Most of us are adults here, so let’s act like it.

Worry not, there is no password here and I will send in any myself once I read your rules as well.

[ad-astra-per-asparagus]

Ok dumping my thoughts right here now that I’ve collected them since reading Batman 138. It’s a doozy, so bear with me.

Honestly, the premise of Gotham War is intriguing and could’ve been good if not for the sloppy execution. It’s interesting to see Bruce’s psyche rapidly declining, but how Zdarsky is going about it is ham-fisted and forced. First off, Selina’s method is outlandish and riddled with plot holes. There’s no skirting around that. Now logically I could see the batfamily members not declaring an allegiance to either side because both Bruce and Selina are in the wrong here; Bruce is losing his mind because Zur is hijacking it while Selina thinks training criminals will magically solve all violent crime in Gotham and everything will be sunshine and rainbows. But having the kids blindly fall into line with Selina because they agree with her plan is dogwater writing that I’m surprised Zdarsky cooked up after his spectacular Daredevil run. Have them form their own faction and let them actually act like they have agency and purpose instead of shoving them into roles that don’t fit.

Now I’m a little skeptical on the whole Jason/failsafe stuff. On one end, it’s a daring concept to play with. It shows how Bruce is going off the deep end and raises the stakes of the plot. On the other end, it’s going to drive an enormous wedge between Jason and Bruce for the foreseeable future. Like, there is no forgiving Bruce for this easily. Maybe that’s a good thing though, considering Jason for the past few years has been cycling through the same character arc over and over again like a washing machine that spits out clothes that are more worn-out after every load. Taking him out of the batfamily fold and inserting him into his own corner of DC sequestered away from Batman might actually force DC to write him organically, depending on whether or not Jason doesn’t go insane himself because what Bruce did to him was quite literally torture that will now be perpetual. Wowza.

My next gripe is the timing between comics. Batman and Robin’s timeframe is vague, but after reading 138 it makes zero sense why Damian would steadfastly stick by Bruce’s side—unless of course B&R happens way later, and somehow Bruce regains minor control of his mental state. Or the most realistic explanation being that the writers didn’t communicate the timelines, leaving their stories to contradict each other. But what are comics if not zany contradictions of stories? So I guess this gripe can slide…for now. Benefit of the doubt to Williamson at least because he planned B&R way in advance, meanwhile Gotham War was strung together as a myopic copy of Marvel’s Civil War in order to—I’m spitballing here—have Bruce be alone for a while in his own comics because he’s “a loner”…despite his character being, at his core, a family man, and whose character revolved around family for decades. Family rift stories can be good. Packed with drama. Exciting. This is none of the above.

Finally, arguably my biggest complaint about this dumpster fire, is Tim. Writers tend to be biased toward characters, I understand that, but when favoritism bleeds into the writing it sours the story altogether. Having Tim assume this role of “Bruce’s savior” is incredibly cheap and a little laughable at times. I see that they’re trying to establish him as important again, reliving his glory days as the Robin who helped guide Bruce back onto the right path after Jason’s death, but throwing other characters under the bus to lift him up is crazy. Especially Damian, because Damian saved his dad’s life twice in the last few months. Seriously, I’d brush it off if Tim hadn’t told Damian he was the one who helped Bruce out of the darkness while Damian only pushed Bruce further into it. Paraphrasing, but that’s the general idea: Tim is a saint and the rest of his siblings (Cassandra? Who?) are a cut below him when it comes to helping dear old dad out of his bad place. That hug was cute, but it was sugar spread on a pile of shit.

[atsushishelteredinmoonlitjasmine]

The things I'm reading about the commentary for RW/BY Vol. 9 have made me want to write this post. It's just something I want to say, regardless of how it most likely retreads old ground or shares sentiment with other posts like it. At least it'll be more concise and filled with less angry ramblings than if I decided to write this last night, when I was first reading everything.

(Just to avoid confusion, I'll be referring to the characters/writers via their initials as a way of censoring them from people who don't wish to see this post. This makes it easier for me and is less annoying than having to put slashes everywhere)

I mainly wanted to focus on two things. One was the hacker crew (as I will "affectionately" dub the writers) deciding to off-screen W telling the rest of RBY of what happened to P and J killing her. The other was of ER saying on Twitter that he (and the rest of the hackers) didn't think R would find issue with J killing P. Anything else from the commentary may or may not have a separate post, it just depends on what is said and if it upsets me enough.

Let's address the second point first because I have something to say. I don't understand ER's logic here. Why did he, and by extension everyone else, think R wouldn't be upset/angry at J for killing P? She has every abso-fucking-lute right to feel that way! I mean, one of her closest friends KILLED another of her closest friends! Disregarding how it was P's choice (which I hate, btw), you mean to say R wouldn't lash out at J, berating him for not trying to find another way or doing more to save P? Even if R understood that the situation was complicated or everything was just going a million miles a second, I can't see her not being incensed at him. Shit like that needs time to process and I can't imagine R to be super calm after hearing that bombshell.

Which leads me to the first point. Why in the fuck did the scene of W telling RBY of said bombshell happen off-screen? Why do the hacker crew INSIST on off-screening important scenes like this? Even if fans want to say they didn't want to reiterate information the audience already knows, they could've made it to where W starts the conversation, fade to black or cut away, and come back to RBY's reactions afterwards. It's not that hard! Do they think scenes that are character-oriented are filler? I just can't understand their reasoning for doing this.

It's at this point I'm saying the writers are downright lazy. I've known for years now that they're not good but I know for sure now they're just lazy. ER can Tweet all he wants that he and the team should've been more clear on certain aspects of the story or they should've thought more on other aspects but the truth is, they didn't WANT to put in the work. It's too much effort for them to put in care for decency's sake so they might as well half-ass it or better yet, just shoot the first idea that comes out of their minds, write it into the story without any revising or editing, and call it a day. Let the fans who actually do more for the story than the writers do put in the work to explaining the plot because clearly, they care about the material and aren't thinking they're hot shit for writing nonsensical bullshit.

It must be nice, getting paid to sit on your ass all day while the animators you overwork and exploit the services of do all the work that you underpay them for. Wish I and the other people who create art, fanfics, videos, etc. could get money for all the promo we give you, whether that's our intention or not. But then again, the harassment we may receive for any fuckups on your end wouldn't be worth the blood money.

[aoibhinnslater04]

SOC x ACOTAR

Chapter 5: The devil doesn't bargain

SORRY FOR BEING LATE AGAIN!!

Just a quick disclaimer before starting, when CC3 comes out, I will 100% be reading it. While I'm currently happy with just ACOTAR (there might be characters from TOG and CC1&2 appearing at some point, but I haven't thought that far ahead lol), depending on dynamics and how I feel about them when reading CC3, they might feature. BUT I will add a spoiler warning if they feature, so you can look later :)

Enjoy chapter 5!

Word count: 1295

Warnings: scheming face, more kind of kidnapping, embarrassment and bombings

Kaz stood, fuming, as Jesper and Inej explained what they had learnt, both from Vassa’s notes and from being prisoners to Rhysand himself. All six of the crows were finally reunited, with Wylan leaning against a still damp Jesper, and Nina gripping Inej’s hand, as she had been since they came ashore. Matthias stood behind them, his arms crossed, his bulking figure looking like an angel that promised death, should anyone threaten the people he cared so deeply about. 

Kaz didn’t care about any of that.

Not Wylan’s eyes fluttering closed as he breathed deeply, as if to remind himself Jesper was alive.

Not Nina making Inej feel safer, with her silent promise of never letting go.

Not the way Inej and Jesper kept gently touching the people around them, to remind themselves that their minds were their own again.

And definitely not Matthias acting as a huge safety bubble, allowing Inej and Jesper to relax in his shadow.

No.

All he cared about was getting even, despite the strange ache in his chest at each of these sights.

He turned to the window, staring out, plotting.

“Scheming face?” he heard Wylan whispering.

He didn’t need to turn around to know that the other crows were nodding, silently, but he whirled around anyway, meeting each of their eyes before announcing…

“I have a plan.”

~~~~~

Matthias hated the plan.

He didn’t know what the agonised scream Jesper and Inej heard before their leap to freedom, but it didn’t sound like these newcomers scared easily. And whatever had made them react like that… Well, it wasn’t likely to end well for any of them. Especially with a third of them not at their best. He didn’t know the full extent of what Inej and Jesper had been through, only brief explanations, but though there wasn’t a mark on either of them, neither seemed fully recovered from their ordeal. They seemed to have started sleeping in the same room, although he doubted in the same bed. Jesper was fully committed to Wylan, and Inej… Although she never spoke about anyone, every brief glance towards Kaz when she thought he wasn’t looking gave her away. 

He didn’t care, she was entitled to love whoever her heart led her towards, but he was half inclined to give the little Suli girl a few words of warning. He didn’t want to see her heartbroken, and Kaz always only seemed to have eyes for the kruge that he was hoarding like a jealous dragon. Matthias was sure he wouldn’t mind having to give out one less paycheck to his crew, if it suited him. That being said, he did seem to have a certain fondness for the Wraith, although whether it was true feelings or needing her for her abilities, Matthias hadn’t decided yet. 

Either way, neither of them seemed ready to face their captors once again. But Kaz had never been good at letting sleeping dogs lie. Matthias knew that he would want to enact his plan as soon as possible, and leave as much devastation as possible on his way. It almost made him feel bad for the Court of Dreams. Once Kaz got an idea, it was almost impossible to stop him. Nothing would stand in his way.

~~~~~

Azriel was fuming as he flew through the night, quiet as a whisper. Not only was Nyx taken, but to add insult to injury, they had taken Truth-Teller too! Any shred of sympathy he had had for the teenage gang had long since vanished. They would get no mercy, not until they gave Nyx back (and hopefully Truth-Teller too- he did NOT share it with anyone outside of Elain, even with his brothers). He figured they would give Nyx back quickly enough, Jesper and Inej knew of the Inner Circle’s powers so he doubted they would want the hellfire he knew would rain down on them. Neither Mor or Amren had met them though, so they still had a few tricks up their sleeves even if the Crows wanted to do this the hard way. He was so deep in thought, he didn’t see the dark figures step out from the shadows below him, or the one in the middle raise her hands as though she was casting a spell… no, the first time he realised they were there was when he was falling from the sky, clutching his chest as though his heart was failing him.

He had no idea what was going on, but as his vision was blurring and darkening at the edges, he realised that he, for the first time in a long time, had been outsmarted. If he survived this, he would never live this humiliation down.

~~~~~

Rhys stared at the pole on the stage in the middle of Ketterdam, where large crowds had gathered. Of all the things he expected Brekker to do, this wasn’t on his list. A flushed, angry Azriel glared out at him, his mouth gagged, his legs tied tightly to the bottom of the pole, and his wrists tied with a pretty bow above his head, giving Az an almost angelic crown. His dark wings had a large amount of boating tarp and duct tape wrapped around them, probably feeling like cement with the weight, and there were many stage lights directed up at him. Some of the jeering crowd likely thought this was just a prank, an embarrassment for the winged male, but Rhys knew it was far more than that. They had taken away Azriel’s anonymity, what made him such a great spy. This was what Rhys got, for kidnapping Inej and Jesper and searching their minds. Something equally as violating and cruel. Azriel looked near tears as people had started climbing onto the stage, touching his wings and taking selfies in front of him. 

He almost couldn’t stop the shadows that spread from him, scaring the crowd who ran from Azriel like they had been burned. Wings spread from his own back, wide as with one flap they lifted him onto the stage, where his shadows protected them from the public view although he knew Az could still see them, as well as the rest of the Inner Circle, who had come with him. Feyre’s eyes were wide, and her hand covered her mouth in shock. Mor looked devastated, one hand reaching out as though she could comfort him. Amren looked like she was ready to kill someone. Cassian was holding Nesta back, although both of their eyes almost glowed with anger. And Elain… the tears that left her eyes vanished from view as she turned her back and walked back to their house. 

Rhysand would have murdered the whole gang for the devastation on Az’s face alone.

But Az was shaking his head violently as Rhys moved to unbind the gag around his face, and a second later, he found out why. 

Loud explosions started going off around them, sending any curious stragglers away with a scream, and leaving his family to duck and cover themselves as best they could. Rhys got a blast of pink glitter in his face, and while he attempted to wipe his eyes, he heard fireworks going off around him. He gave up on the glitter, and cut Azriel free, leaving his wings to fix more delicately at home. As they both turned to look at their family, they started to cough, as black clouds threatened to choke them. The fireworks that had been set off each formed a crow.

Azriel tapped Rhys on the shoulder, and silently handed him an envelope, before walking back to their house, his wings dropped low. Rhys opened the envelope, and read out loud;

“Game on assholes.

XOXO The Dregs”

[mayflowers515]

(Wholesome AU) Smiling Critters Cartoon Details!

I have some ideas for how the structure of the cartoon would go in my AU! As always, I will update this if any new ideas relating to this come to mind :)

Basic Plot Summary: I feel like the cartoon would follow an episodic format for the most part. Though I would also like it to have more plot-related episodes that can tie in together. Probably nothing too heavy, but something to give some stakes for the cartoon. I imagine there will be trouble from the big bads every now and then, too!

Characters Present:

The Original 8 Smiling Critters! (and their families)

Other Smiling Critters (I feel like there are others besides the OG 8 with their own scents and powers, though maybe not as strong as the others. I hope to develop the explanation to why that's the case)

Historical figures of the town (ex. Critters who had the current Critters' powers, maybe important people of note that helped develop the town to what it became)

Villains (I might get inspired by the Care Bears in order to make these big bads sometime, possibly MLP too!)

Other residents of the town (not just inhabited by the Smiling Critters, but other residents like humans, insect-like creatures, maybe some mythical ones, too!)

Other characters from neighboring towns or ones from completely different locations!

Planned Lore: Since I mentioned the cartoon will have lore, I imagine it has some things relating to the history of the town itself as well as the powers of the Critters. Here are some ideas I have that I hope can be turned into episodes!

More information relating to how the Critters came to be as a group (I feel like this could be scattered throughout the cartoon, whether through implications or flashbacks when necessary)

Background of the Critters before the events of the 90s cartoon

The powers of the Critters (there are many people in their town, so maybe it would be important to address why these eight children were specifically chosen to hold their particular powers from their pendants + their scents)

Past Smiling Critters (basically the retired versions of the Smiling Critters before the current 90s ones came to be; this would fill a smaller portion of the cartoon specifically in the beginning, but maybe the other Critters would like to know who had their abilities before them and learn from them? I was thinking they could be like mentors to them in a sense TvT')

The plans of the big bads (Nothing TOO dark of course since it's a kid's cartoon, but there will definitely be information relating to the villains' backgrounds and what their goals are)

Episode and Season Length: For episodes, they can range from being mini segments (around 10 minutes each) or, depending on the episode's subject, they can be a two-parter (20 minutes or longer). If the cartoon were to have specials, they would be kinda standard with length (possibly 50 minutes to an hour long). As for seasons, I feel like it would have maybe three seasons or more! I can imagine it got good reception that it was able to continue for a while. The seasons could have a maximum of 48 episodes (counting the mini episodes as their own episodes of course). A full season may not actually reach 48 episodes, though (already mentioned that the format may vary).

Extra Details!:

I thought it would be fun for the end of each episode to have a picture of the Critters after they got what they needed resolved. One picture for each mini episode, and pictures after each extended episode reached its proper conclusion (so, in that kind of episode a segment where a mini episode could be expected wouldn't have a picture. Maybe a "To be continued..." text in the background of a cliffhanger scene or something-)

I plan all these pictures taken at the end of the episodes can add up to something wholesome that can show up at the end of the show's runtime (won't spoil that yet, though ;>)

Every main Smiling Critter will have at least ONE character arc. In light of character arcs, they may be foreshadowed in episodes that may not be connected, but then the arcs could more properly flesh out in episodes that expand on them (more likely for two-parter episodes I'm thinking-)

The Gacha designs I made for the Critters wouldn't be how viewers in the AU see the Critters (those are just concepts for how I think the Critters could look like in that way, and it's how I plan to personally portray them in my blog). Some aspects of the 90s Gacha designs I made for them may show up, but I'm genuinely not sure if the Smiling Critters would actually wear full on clothing as Critters.

As much as I think the different ships of the Critters are all really wholesome, I'm not gonna really include them in the actual AU itself. Mainly because I feel in the cartoon it would focus more on friendship than anything. So no heavy romance between the OG 8 here. Though a couple of the Critters having crushes on each other doesn't hurt ;) (if you guys have different opinions about this, that's fine too!)

Not too positive about this, but I think the cartoon in the AU could last from mid 1991-1995 or 1996? (they wouldn't follow real time physics with aging though I wouldn't think-)

That's all the information I have for now! I can't wait to do actual episode ideas surrounding these details and share them sometime! (Because canon doesn't exist to me for these guys and they deserve to be happy ;v;)

🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Ok. ok ok ok I know youre having fun with Elden ring, and youve probably moved on from the Ley Line Au But Hear me out! Ive been chewing on it for a bit.

So! Three main things that just feel off to me in the au. 1. Giratina is the only primordial god without a magic branch (Which I Know They are anti magic but HEAR ME OUT!) 2. The Twin Dragons are the Light (They just dont feel like Primordial Gods ya'know?) . 3. Giratina still has no motive.

I!!! have connected the dots!!! It always rubbed me a bit when we talked about the dead god and the twin dragons. The Twin dragons are not really death connected. I just realized, we have a perfectly good ghost dragon Right there! Giratina!

So let me set the stage! The Three Primordial Children of the One. At the One's command they became The Fonts of Magic from which the world sprung forth. Then, an unimaginable time later, the Light tore its god to shreads. The God is dead. What is left from the smoldering remains of Light and Magic is a Lack. A Hole from which no light comes and no magic resides. Magic follows waters rules and tries to fill a hole which cannot be filled. In which the Starving, Writhing thing that was Once Light was banished by The One bc It was now a Danger to the world it created. (It is starving Its mind is in disarray WHERE IS ITS LIGHT.) The Magic it brought forth is now destabilized. Which as one of the forces stabilizing space time and the world is a big uh oh. So One Minor Dragon God seized the light as it thrashed and tore the world in a despite bid to keep its people safe. Unlike the Original Light whom was shredded until nothing but a shade remained, the Dragon God was only torn in twane. (Whether its because the light mages (Maybe Celestica? they have light theme right?) stopped in shock or divine retribution has claimed them Idk.)

But the tearing stabilized the light bc It created a dichotomy. Light was no longer JUST light. Its the swing of light to dark. the Truth to the Ideal. The gods original thing merged kinda with the Light. Maybe the Twin gods were gods of Wishes or Maybe Human Perspective idk. But It was important bc Now the Original God of Light is now Darkness. And the Allowance of Darkness in the Light Magic kinda keeps it from folding like a house of cards.

Light Magic tends to the rule of two. Or Give and Take. Depends on the user and the intent. Which makes it Very Dangerous. The Twin Gods try their best but the Light Magic is scarred and volatile. Light users tend to play by the rule of two bc Its generally the more safe of the rules to play by. Two Mages or One who Gives so they can Take. (the appearance of a LONE ridiculously powerful Light Mage Could be very alarming, what could they give to take that much magic. (where is the other one) and Irida has to safe.)

Which Gives Giratina a motive! or maybe a motive for Arceus to stop them. I imagine being killed is very disorenting and not very conductive to being rational non rampaging gods who have yet to realize what it has become. Maybe at the events of the plot it has chilled enough to be reasoned with to Not Eat all the Light Magic and kill everyone (Kinda. it IS a primordial god. ) Tho with Volo maybe trying to control it or maybe enabling it and giving it awful ideas we might need to deal with him first. (If we go with the Idea that Celestica killed Giratina and thats why they're dead, then Volo trying to control the god that their ancestors failed to would be a better motivation than just bc yeah?)

Sorry I just had to get it out here. <3 Have fun with Elden Ring

oh anon i have never moved on from a thing in my life and i am SO INTO THIS.

the one thing i take issue with tho is the sidelining of the twin dragons to being minor deities, bc having a minor deity jump on the ruins of a primal force feels kind of left-field, and to me the concept of there being gods who entirely, by definition, rule the domain of human thought and desire—and pokemon gods, animal gods that can be leashed and controlled—is a concept that fucks so hard and i can't see it as being anything other than deeply fundamental to the universe itself. so can i play with your premise a lil bit

bc i think—and idr how much of this ive talked abt before—BUT i think in pokemon CANON, giratina is also kind of a god's corpse moreso than it is a god in itself. by which i mean to say, giratina was the original holder of spirit, not the lake trio—but having the whole force of spirit contained in one mind was too much for it, and arceus had to take it away and reform it into three separate beings, leaving giratina a banished and abandoned shell. which actually dovetails so neatly into this, just instead of being doomed by its creation, giratina was killed by its mages instead.

so like. light to dark to antimagic to spirit. this feels like such a closed loop. like, it's always kind of fascinated me how the lake and tao legends feel so conceptually linked—truth and ideals vs. willpower emotion and knowledge, like you can see how they're distinct concepts if you squint but intuitively it feels like there should be a lot of overlap. SO. do you see where i'm going with this. i've already said that light is like, the fundamental force that is the contract law of the universe—which fits so neatly with the lake trio's red chain of spirit and the way it can control even palkia and dialga and repair the very fabric of reality. cogita even suggests that it "lets one see reality as it truly is."

i also take umbrage with the idea that resh/zek don't have a death link bc to me they are the products of a death. the original dragon died, and they're the leftovers of its power, with kyurem being the body. ...but kyurem also hasn't played much of a role at all in this so far. has it.

so maybe reshiram and zekrom weren't a separate god that stepped in to fill the void. light has always been the same thing as spirit, two words for the same fundamental domain—fitting so neatly with the concept of facets and angles we've had going so far—and resh and zek are the shards of giratina's corpse. fundamentally disunified and out of balance, two opposing pieces of a god trying to fill the role of a single one. meanwhile giratina persists, but now having been completely gutted, the fundamental piece of its heart where its magic should live permanently gutted and bleeding darkness.

is this tracking?? idc i'm rolling with this now anyway. it fucks to me. anyway i'm also so into the idea that it was celestic who originally killed giratina, bc those mages have been kind of faceless until now but i think it also gives ingo such a fascinating personal stake in this whole quest in a way even irida and adaman don't have. like, he inherited their bloodied hands. he knows more intimately than anyone what the force of light is like now, lacking a true deity. that is fascinating to me.

also wouldn't that legally make volo another light mage?? but like, an Old Light Mage. one of the few who still adhere to the way it used to function, before the killing. bc like, i don't think this has made it into a post yet but i do think those are very different things. light magic is a completely different ballgame nowadays. goddammit yet again volo and emmet have taken up narratively opposed and symmetric positions. why do they do this EVERY time.

[quilna]

Ooo very interesting! Amazing response as always, very enjoyable read! I do admit at first I wasn't quite big on the idea of playing around with the 3 minds getting swapped around rather than just the bodies swapping, but I think you're starting to drag me into the concept a little bit hah! I can definitely see why you like it. I think a body-swap au with hyde staying in the body of jekyll as the usual shadow would be quite interesting to play with. A possible twist and to speed up the plot overtime could be that overtime jekyll and hyde start decaying both physically and mentally as they are both half a soul or person from the split, at least from my perspective that is, and having one half be removed fully would probably have pretty bad effects overtime. I know others have their different ways of interpreting the jekyll and hyde potion and its effect on things but thats just my personal view on it and I always enjoy hearing others opinions on the matter!

I wasn't originally going to write a response as per usual with my asks but it seems that i've gotten a bit dragged in and invested in this discussion! All credit due to the great responses from you as always.

I'll be wrapping this up now. As always thank you for your input and your response!

Ah, thank you! Yeah, different people will probably have their different tastes when it comes to the different kinds of body swaps but, the good thing about TGS is there are lot of varieties to choose from! Something for everyone!

Damn, the two of them decaying! That makes a lot of sense and is certainly an angsty idea! Certainly multiple ways to go about that too, whether it's a physical decay or a mental decay - though a physical decay might not be good depending on who is in whose body and exactly which body is decaying. RIP that person, being stuck in Jekyll's body as it rots with them in it because it's physically unstable without its other half.

I wonder in terms of a mental decay what would happen if they decayed all the way? Would the body be empty? Can they swap back if there's no longer anyone to swap with? Would the decay stop if they got back to their regular body and would the damage be reversable?

If both happen at the same time, everyone involved is truly in for a bad time. One person physically struggling while another is mentally struggling and they have to work together to try to fix the situation before it's too late

Many many possibilities, all of them with great angst potential >:)

And it's okay to respond! I've had anons in the past who have done back and forth conversations and discussions through asks before! Can always add anything more that you would like :)

Thank you for the asks! It was certainly an interesting discussion! :D

[okthatsgreat]

57, 34, 22 🤯💥

LETS GOOOOOOO 💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪

57. how conscious are you about including symbolism or foreshadowing in your fics?

SOOOOOOO CONSCIOUS SO EXTREMELY CONSCIOUS. except for the times when i am not <3. but most of the time i am aware of the character's intended arc and a lot of the major scenes that they have to deal with so i love including bits and pieces of foreshadowing throughout. makoto in oppdmh is the example that is mostly coming to mind right now.... of course Spoilers but just know..... just know its in there. it is in there. also makoto in lgowab LMFAOO i really said Put That Man Through Foreshadowing !!

symbolism i LOVE writing in as well!!!!!!!!! of course i usually write fics that get updated chapter by chapter so i cant exactly go back and add anything major in once ive already set it in motion but i do try to be conscious while planning lolol. odietlg had the sickle and the constant notion of "looking up" not only as means to symbolise paranoia and distrust but ALSO to symbolise the major point in tenko's story in which it went from fiction to fanfiction, which is a big plot point during those final few chapters. lgowab with "akane's" gun as a major one, korekiyo's journal/hair, the way the participants age and how that parallels their relationship with the killing games etc etc. its all through opddmh as well but one of them that strikes me rn is kirumi's physical health and how that mirrors her relationship with guilt and yeah i love motifs i love recurring themes!! 💥💥💥💥

34. how much of your personal life/experience do you include in your fics?

AHAGHAH okay well i am somebody who has personally never been through a killing game and a lot of the time i write these people in circumstances that are extremely unrelatable so i can't apply a whole ton of my own personal experiences to a lot of my fics lmfaoooo. but there are definitely little moments i like to write in just to make the characters feel a bit more human :)!! just tiny things ive found myself doing that i reckon could make for a good character quirk. i WILL also mention that while a lot of the circumstances these guys go through are unrelatable their emotions and how they are feeling can definitely be, so yea i can say ive used my own reactions to certain emotions and applied them to certain characters!! you are going to have to figure out which one tho like a psychoanalysis version of wheres waldo. also i tend to unconsciously make characters neurodivergent but thats just because im the one writing them

22. do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process?  how do you come up with titles?

oughhg.... depends! because i write mostly longfics a lot of the time i have some sort of vague idea of what i want the title to be by the first chapter and then last second i might switch it up or something lolol. i use song lyrics to name my fics so i try to think of a lyric that might apply, whether it be foreshadowing (lgowab) or indicative of a characters thoughts (opddmh, odietlg)!!

THANK YOU SORREN 💥💥💥💥💥💥

fanfiction ask game!

[sith-shenanigans]

Next, the styles of the players.

They’re out of any semblance of order, for some reason—not the order you recruit them to play, not the order you bribe/threaten/??? them into giving you information, not the order they eventually play in. I suppose it must be seating order. But I’m rearranging them slightly, to satisfy my esoteric desires. The original order was Fiacre, Manager, Virginia, Pages, Monkey, Topsy King.

This bit is very nice despite being optional; it gives the whole thing much more of a sense of ongoing play.

The stat checks are also fairly high—I’m pretty sure my base Watchful was already 200 here, plus 50-60 from gear. It’s immediately clear that this is the beginning of the endgame.

“As though they might abandon the table of their own volition” just makes me glad we’re not playing in Polythreme. And also, I have a very vague idea for a fanfic plot now.

I’m convinced that the Marvellous is some sort of unholy combination of poker, Magic: the Gathering, and that one party game where the cards you play change the rules.

I enjoy Tristram so much. His writing is so hit-or-miss, but the good bits… ough. The fact that he seems a bit more scared and vulnerable away from the Flit, the place that respects him whether he’s in possession of his mind or not. The fact that he’s a dangerous player even when he’s visibly thrown off. Later, if the PC faces him (which Amias will), you don’t actually beat him on your own merits—the checks determine how well you’re doing, but you always make the agreement.

I’m not inclined to say that that means the PC couldn’t have won “honestly,” I tend to be skeptical of analysis that chalks a PC’s ability up to plot armor—even (or especially?) in a game like Fallen London, where the PC is clearly deliberately written as a larger-than-life figure—but I think it means it would have come down to luck in a way that doesn’t suit the plot.

(Thank you, FBG, for not supplying routes that let us potentially have to redo 80% of the ambition, I know people would take them and it would be a terrible mess for everyone.)

Virginia is the anti-Fiacre. I don’t have that much to say about how she plays, but I read a fairly convincing argument on the Discord that the Marvellous deck knows that what she would ask for is based on a lie, and so luck is quite literally against her because she doesn’t have a valid desire.

I don’t think that’s the intent—as far as I know, this text doesn’t change if her ex actually is loose—but I like the interpretation that the Marvellous works that way, so I’m willing to subscribe to the idea that it’s true when it’s true and not when it’s not, even if both routes have the same result.

I don’t usually analyze media that way, in most cases I find it a much less interesting explanation, but I think the FL setting lends itself well to that kind of “the event is the same but the reason depends on player choice” explanation.

I think it’s interesting that Pages plays the other players. It’s definitely a good player, but since this is the only time we see it play a full game (rather than a two-hand fiasco), we get the impression that it’s more dangerous in a game like the Honour than one-on-one. And a good look at its competence in playing the other players. No, it rarely gets other people as people, but a zero-sum competition where all that matters is benefit and loss? That’s its element.

Which I think points to why the Ministry of Public Decency is so much of a presence—they seem to be doing an outsize amount of the Neath’s law enforcement, maybe especially in the earlier writing. Like, Pages is… actually one of the most competent and dangerous Masters, I think, even if it’s also a wet cat of a bat that hides in attics when it doesn’t want to do its job. It’s in charge of propaganda for a reason! It’s good at controlling and influencing people! It might not be able to tell when someone lies to its face, but it can pick up on behavior very well. Because it’s a giant spaceborne predator and actually pays attention.

I do wonder if we’re supposed to read that it’s not really trying to sabotage us that way. A second-person narrator can’t fade into general groupiness the way a third-person narrator can. And you’re not mentioned as being affected, so…

This is it. The Honour begins. As usual, below the cut are spoilers for Heart’s Desire. This one will probably be a long one—I’ll probably have to spread it across multiple posts. (I don’t know when this turned into me just liveblogging the ambition, but I like having it all in one place like this. I enjoy rereading my own playthrough.)

I don’t think Amias likes Arbor very much. Which felt odd, at first—they like Parabola in general just fine, in a “not my actual wheelhouse” sort of way—but I think I just put my finger on why. Arbor isn’t dangerous enough. Everything is roses and smiles and false utopia where the lower classes literally can’t see the world their “betters” live in, and where the upper classes are forbidden from doing anything mildly unpleasant even when it would improve their quality of life in general (getting these snakes out of here). It’s beautiful and dreamy and stagnant. They loved the aesthetics of it—and the novelty of it—when they first visited, but the more they see of it, the more they feel like they would hate living there. And even when they try to enjoy it, that sours the dream.

Done of the Rose! That sounds—

—oh. Okay. Apparently “husks” are a thing here. I have even more concerns about Arbor’s everything, can we back up a step?

It’s very pretty, though. And very full of spectators. Given that Heart’s Desire is a Tournament Arc, I am pleased that at least the opening round has spectators. It seems like the sort of thing that should.

Ohhh, she hates us. Understandably. I love her for it, though. I think she’s going to hate us even more when she inevitably finds out that her ex-Prince ex is still safely sealed away. It’s one thing to be threatened horribly, and it’s another thing to be made a fool of, and I think I know which one devils consider worse.

I wouldn’t have been late if I’d been able to draw Arbor! Don’t blame me, blame the opportunity deck, it’s the desire sensor’s fault.

… I think the Marvellous is the desire sensor. Are we using the opportunity deck to play poker? Is that what we’re doing?

Does the Debauchery of Fourth require excessive drunkenness? I kind of hope it does.

Also, I thought that prevarication was the point of this kind of game.

And, as the little ambition icon says, the game begins.

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

!!!!!

Since Kaiju Grim! Is bigger than lil Yuu! (Presumably - correct me if I'm wrong) does he, like, try to be a big bro? Do he scoop the tiny human (and fail because he's a clumsy fool) once he's emotionally attached? (I'm a sucker for familial bonds lmao)

Also also - are there any Kaiju who you feel would be confused as to what to do/how to react when they encounter Yuu and Grim (like how some people don't know how to hold babies and worry about how they seem so small and easy to accidentally bump or something - which I feel may be a Deuce thing to do hehe)

And on the flip side - any who would immediately be all grabby hands 'lemme see the babyyy!' type of deal (I know in my deepest heart and soul that Lilia would be like that) - or at least correcting other Kaiju on how to handle Grim and Yuu if they lift them up wrong (perhaps Leona?)

Kaiju!Grim is approximately the size of a medium-large horse (maybe a little bigger if you wanna imagine him carrying the main first year gang on his back!). c: Don’t worry, I’ll get a height chart out on these guys soon! It’s just a little tricky figuring out the best conversion for maximum fluff and terror. 😂

Anyway, yes! Grim would try to be a big brother to his tiny hooman sibling~! It takes a lil’ while though (just keep giving him yummy snacks, scritchies, and tummy rubs though, and he’ll be putty in your lil’ hands~!), and at first it might seem like he’s only with them so Crowley and Crewel don’t chew him out…literally and figuratively! But it does create situations like this:

//

Yuu: *-trying to reach for something hanging from a branch over the ledge of a nearby cliff-*

Grim: *-annoyed-* “If ya fall, I’m not gonna catch you.”

Yuu: *-hand slips and they pitch forward with a shriek-*

-0.2 seconds later-

Grim: *-half hanging over the edge, claws digging into the rock as Yuu dangles from his teeth by the seat of their pants-* “Ur ooh thupid!?!”

//

Don’t worry, he does care! He is family after all~ UvU (Found family is my ultimate weakness if you haven’t figured this out yet. If I could turn it into a hoodie, I’d never wanna take it off!)

Another sibling aspect is that Grim and Yuu would literally fit the “needs the get-along-sweater” because they keep getting into bickering fights with one another (especially when he tries to steal their food)…except, they don’t have a sweater. So how would this work? Easy:

Crewel and Crowley utilize the “discipline branch” by hanging/setting the two on the edge of a precarious branch on the highest point over the edge of a cliff, and neither of them can get down without getting injured or having one of their adoptive dads get them down. Needless to say, the moment Crewel gives the warning growl, both stop “misbehaving” and play the quiet game for a bit. 🤣

Now, as for the other Kaiju, yes, there would be some (*cough* ALL *cough*) who might struggle to figure out how to react to the smallest members of the “Teacher’s Pack” (this is just a placeholder name until I figure out what to call the staff in this AU 😅 Suggestions are open if anyone has any thoughts though!). Deuce and Jack were prime examples of Kaiju who would either freeze/lock up into a pure ball of anxiety worrying they’re going to knock them off/hurt them, or moving slowly—ever so slowly to keep them from falling.

Kinda like the kitten and bulldog from Looney Toons! (Except even bigger 😂)

Funny enough, Idia wound up climbing the highest point of a tree the moment the tiny human squeaked up at him unexpectedly (he was okay afterwards, just momentarily spooked! He grows fond of Yuu/MC/reader the same way his in-game self adores kitties, so he’ll likely want some human snuggles—an SSR event he never thought he’d get to experience!). Idia becomes one of Yuu’s biggest fans, if I’m being honest, because who can resist the tiny cuteness? 🥰😍🥰

On the flipside, Kaiju like Cater, Floyd, Rook, Ortho, and Lilia would absolutely be the ones who would be “I wanna see!!! Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie~!” towards Yuu and Grim (mostly Yuu). Unfortunately, more than half of this selection would have unintentionally given the two nightmares! 🤣

“But Faun! What about Kalim? Surely he’d be happy to see Yuu and Grim too!”

Well, dear reader, you’re right: he would be happy to meet them…under normal circumstances. Here in this AU, though, he had a rather bad series of interactions with humans in general. If they weren’t attacking him out of fear (before the researchers arrival), they were trying to capture him for his ability to create gold and jewels (pre- and post-researcher arrival but not the researchers themselves). He just wanted to make friends, but human fear and greed say no. ;^;  (this is tied into how his in-game self would go through similar plots by the way, just on a monster scale!) Poor baby was so scared after one recent attempt left a scar on his nose, that he started pushing piles of his treasure hoard towards Yuu on first meeting and tried to hide. Q^Q

Have no fear, though! Like a skittish dog or cat and with gentle love and affection, our favorite ball of sunshine will be singing and playing with the tiny human friend in no time~! >w< In fact, you could say that Yuu is his first human friend ever to join his many other Kaiju friends!

Also, you’re right that a couple of the Kaiju (outside of the staff) would absolutely correct the others on how to properly carry the smol ones. Riddle and Vil are notorious for this, while Sebek might accidentally startle the one carrying them. XD Generally speaking, though, it takes a while for all of them to figure out what works, and in the end, Yuu/MC/reader will become the best Kaiju rodeo champion in the world! ÒvÓ

[yonemurishiroku]

Hi, I've seen a few (jk I've seen a bunch) of your posts and I was just wondering...

If Jason came back to life, would you be pissed that Rick pulled another Leo, or would you rejoice?

OR would you rather Will and Nico bump into Jason in the middle of the book?

Hi! Firstly, thanks for your interest! Let us dissect this one at a time.

For the first question: well, I'd say "pissed" might be too aggressive. I rarely get outraged when it comes to media content (wrecked yes, but rarely angry). I might not like it - that's like. all the time - but I'd most likely be able to leave it alone just bc I hate to care about what I dislike.

That is to say: should it turn out that Jason pulls a Leo, I think I would be more happy than not.

Of course, it depends a lot on how, exactly, Rick pulls it off.

As I've said, it's all about plot and more importantly, to me, logic. If he makes up another sort-of-the Physician's cure and the story basically goes the same way? I would be extremely disappointed. I love parallels but not replays. I hate it more if it's Jason - who's alr been shat on enough for "not having a personality". I'm throwing hands

In the fortunate event that Rick somehow comes up with a new, unrivaled resurrection method for Jason, though? It'd be really nice because I'm pretty sure 9 out of 10 Jason stans would want another chance for him to live a true life. Bringing him back to life - as of now, would do more good than harm, IMO, and maybe idk give the Jasico fans a reason to buy the book Ig

I'm aware of how difficult it is, also. Said resurrection must not be another Leo replica and still has to bypass Nico's children of Hades thing. I barely know about Greek myths and I have nothing in my mind. Let's just Rick has something in store should he decide to play this card lmao.

About the scenario in which Nico and Will bump into Jason: generally, I have no problem with the idea that Jason would make an appearance again. As mentioned: I'd love to see Jason again - in every shape and size, honestly.

However, there're a few I hope would be addressed should it happen that way:

1/ The fact that Nico didn't even try to contact Jason after his death.

2/ How Jason feels after-death, whether he even wishes to be back, how he feels about his funeral and/or Apollo's promise, sort of, etc...

3/ A clear insight into Nico's grief.

And of course: a thorough and reasonable explanation as to why and/or how Nico and Will bump into Jason.

Do they see him in Tartarus? Then why is Jason in Tartarus when he's died as a hero? How he's coping?

Do they meet him in Elysium? Why does Nico (and Will) come to Elysium in the first place? What does their encounter bring? Does Jason help with the quest?

In short: I'm more of a go-with-the-flow type of writer. Generally, I have no problem if things are set the way they should be and the plot doesn't just. kick its own balls I guess. If Rick can make it make sense and stay away from the cliché, I'm sure everything would be just peachy.