#i need my fanfics to be lore accurate do you understand me.

[antimony-medusa]

hi ur a tumblr blog that i like a lot who's really good with wording things when it comes to discussing fandom stuff. i'm wondering what ur thoughts are on fandom being really obsesssed with writing characters exactly "right". whether it's in character or writers only writing this character with other characters they like, etc. i've seen people feel self conscious about their writing and even stop because fandom will just go "why are you guys writing them like this/i'm so tired of seeing this trope/so repetitive." Fanfic writing should be fun. it shouldn't feel like the end of the world if they're writing the same things several times over. even if a character isn't 100% accurate, or they don't include that character's other lore or relationships or background or whatever. and i'm saying this as a sbi fan who got so tired of all the typical sbi tropes back in the day! sorry for this long tangent, i'm just wondering what your thoughts on this kind of stuff?

*finally escapes from my homework and life exploding enough to get to this ask*

HELLO. Okay, so.

First of all, I absolutely am tracking with the paralyzing fear that you're writing someone or a trope Wrong, and people are going to get mad at you, they're posting right now, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... maybe I just don't write it. I have put story ideas on the back burner because I'm scared of writing specific people in the idea. I noticed it especially in QSMP, you can come up against the issue of depicting people from languages you don't speak and with disabilities you don't share, and the fear that a) people will be mad at me, b) I will write something Actually Bad And Harmful— that's a vivid fear. If you decide that writing a specific character or specific read on a character is not worth the risk of blowback if you do it wrong, that's fair and I can't fault you.

But on the other hand, if you find joy in a character and you're afraid to depict them, and you step away from them, that's kind of a tiny tragedy. I understand the fear, but if your fandom participation is driven by fear, I would say that's a good sign that you need to step back from the fandom— find a new way to participate or find a new place to belong. I have a lot of anxiety and I have had to take a step back from keeping up with fandom several times, I go "okay I leaned into this a little too hard, time to unfollow some people" cause I can track in myself if my fandom creation is being modivated by fear rather than joy. And there's enough fear in my normal life, I want this to be a place of joy.

Because the thing is, if the way someone's love of a character plays out is that they post impassioned posts about characterization in the character tag, that's also fair. They get to do that. They love the character, and this is a guesture of love. If they are specifically calling out other fics that they think "did it wrong", there's a sliding scale there from "pointing out egregious racism/sexism" to "straight up being an asshole to baby writers" and that could be anywhere on there, but someone dropping an impassioned two thousand word guide to how best to write their favourite character is not hurting me or anyone else, they're also following their joy in fandom. That's not my joy, but it's a valid one.

Cause I think there's something that draws us to the characters (or the plotlines) and it's perfectly fair if someone wants to go "okay here is point by point how to depict the character that we all love", and you're running the risk of being an asshole if you go too far into it but there's also nothing wrong with going "I do not know why everyone writes this character as a humourless fighter, guy could not go more than two seconds without cracking a joke, did we even watch the same streams", as long as you're not being actively rude. Especially with people pointing out ableism, racism, sexism, etc— I can see why they would not want those tropes to continue unchallenged, and I think much of the fandom would not want to be accidentally doing a racism. I see those posts and I go Good To Know and I sock that information away.

But also, on the other hand, like, if the fandom police show up at my door/in my comments, they can come back with a warrant. If I want to take two characters who never met in fandom and have them passionately make out, that is my god-given right, no matter if it's butchering the characterization. Maybe I am the True Knower Of The Character and I know that their real true love is somebody who they never met. Maybe I just think it's funny. That's perfectly fine. This is a space where we do work for free, for fun. This is about having fun, no matter if it's cringe or cliche. If I want to write a trope that has five thousand hits on the archive about those characters already, just try and stop me. I will be writing superhero aus till they have to pry me out of this fandom with a crowbar, I think. Overdone trope? Insert "You've told this story before" "AND YOU"LL HEAR IT AGAIN" gif. My Ao3 is my little yell hole for writing things that please me, and by god am I going to write the same two characters over again in the same series of situations. This is for fun, I'm doing what's fun.

I think you just have to do a check on yourself and go "is this hurting anybody", and if it's not, straight up do what you want forever. Other people can go "I only want to see this character written as a bear" and I can go "I respect that but this fic is not for you" and write them as a nerd, and they're not hurting anyone to say that, but I'm also not hurting anyone to do it my way. I do care about depicting the character as in canon, cause that's the character I fell in love with, but also if I write a story in which I turned up the dials on his anxiety and made him adorably worried about social misteps so I can reassure him that he's fine— I also get to do that. It's not hurting anyone to be silly or cliche or cringe or make the blorbos kiss or have them be friends with different people or ignore all aspects of lore that do not bring you joy or what have you. Our fandom now, do what you want.

I think that there are a lot of different ways to do fandom, and a lot of learning to exist in fandom is letting other people do their own thing over there, and then you follow your bliss over there, and you can be as aware of them or not as you wish, but you don't have to cater to what other people like. In MCYT we do sometimes worry about creators who are only doing things because their fans/twitter want them to, and how that will lead to fear and creative burnout, and the same applies to fandom people. I think it's not a bad thing if you personally are concerned about writing the canon character and you keep going back to canon to check that, but it's also not a bad thing if you are four generations down in fandom characterization just having fun with it. And in both cases I think it's fair if the person who really likes canon doesn't read the fanon one, and the fanon person goes "but where is the [fandom tropes I like]" and doesn't read the canon one. Not everything you write or draw is going to be for everybody, and that's fine. I even have friends who love unhappy endings and I do not, and we're still friends, I just do not click through on their unhappy ending fics.

Mostly I just think you have to check yourself and go "is this actually bad or did I see someone post a rant about how tired they were of it" and if it's like "this is sexist" maybe consider if you agree with that person or not, and if it's "this trope is overdone" then do whatever you want forever.

[1waywardbirdlane]

Unsolicited Lore Dump

tagged by @ancuninfiles , a beloved mutual

Do you make your bed? Occasionally when i’m tidying up and want everything to look nice & neat, but it’s not something I do habitually. 

Favourite number? 19. Not sure why

What's your job? I tell people I’m a homemaker. 

If you could go back to school would you? If I could go to a trade school, like for carpentry or welding or something, I would in order to build my skills and my art portfolio into larger scale and more intricate projects. I would maybe go to university. I would definitely love to learn more. I love being able to deep dive into a subject, to really learn the nuance & history of it. There’s definitely lots of subjects I’d be interested in, but if I were to actually devote that kind of time to school, I’d also want to have a goal in mind- a Masters or PHD or whatever.

Can you parallel park? Yep

Do you think aliens are real? I think it’s the height of arrogance to assume that there are no other sapient life forms in our whole universe. As much knowledge as we humans have accumulated, there are most definitely still things we cannot even perceive, let alone understand. Most media depicts “alien life forms” as largely humanoid, but that is so limiting and it drives me crazy. Of the films & TV I’ve seen, the film Arrival is the most unique and exciting depiction of alien encounters on earth. The creatures themselves were more imaginative, but also their concepts of language and time were presented in ways that felt fresh and caused a lot of introspection, both for characters on screen and for me personally.

Can you drive a manual car? No

What's your guilty pleasure? This is probably a terrible thing to say here, but fanfic? I still feel like I’m going to be teased if someone asks why I’m crying over my phone and I tell them the new chapter of my favorite fic came out and my ship had a huge fight. (Looking at you @Aevallare jk ilysm) Or if someone asks what I’m reading these days and the only answer I have is “so many Astarion/bg3 fanfics that I literally can’t keep the Tavs straight anymore.” I know I shouldn't feel embarrassed, and if anyone said all these things to me I’d tell them to be proud and just enjoy what they enjoy, fuck everybody else. But…I’ve realized I actually got teased a LOT about things I loved as a kid. My family would pick on me about what I realize now were hyperfixations, like a movie or certain activities that I seemed obsessed with. When I watched fellowship of the ring everyday one summer my brother would mockingly quote lines at me and tell me I needed to get over it. 

Tattoos? I have 2! A henna/paisley -like flower design on the inside of my left forearm and 3 sparrows flying from my right shoulder blade up to my neck. & plans for MANY more

Favorite color? Green. All of its shades and hues. Purple as a close second, especially lilac purple.

Favourite types of music? I think I have a very eclectic taste. I can appreciate most kinds of music, but… folk, indie rock/pop, grunge are probably the most accurate categories? I like female singer/songwriters- Ingrid Michaelson & Maggie Rogers. We’ve seen the Decemberists like 5 or 6 times, but probably my most favoritest band is Incubus. I’m convinced Hozier is some kind of magic Fae creature who fucks off to another realm or dimension between albums. I’ll fight anyone who tries to take a shot at Eddie Vedder. Bowie always puts me in a good mood and reminds me of college and Wes Anderson movies. Radiohead and the White Stripes were some of the first bands my sister introduced me to. The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and Lauryn Hill’s Miseducation of Lauryn Hill are still some of my favorite albums of all time. 

Do you like puzzles? Yes! It kind of runs in our family on my mom’s side. If you went to visit Grandma and Grandpa and they were having a quiet night, they'd be doing a puzzle and listening to music or watching a movie. My aunts and uncles do it, and so do a few cousins, and my sister & her family love them too. I can get lost for hours with a good podcast and a puzzle. 

Any phobias? I originally went on an ADHD tangent about bear bells and tip toeing to cliff edges, but then I realized the only phobia I probably have is deep water. I LOVE being in the water, water creatures and ecosystems, but if I think too much about what is possibly swimming around just below me I can get a little freaked out. Truthfully this might stem from a “game” my brother and sister played with me when we were little and our house had a pool. They were 11 and 10. Both of them had taken swim lessons, could swim underwater and jump in without holding their noses. I was 3 and had a bathing suit with a built in innertube. They would take turns diving under the water with their hands on their heads imitating fins and grab my ankles and yank me down. Obviously it scared me and they did it so much that I stopped going in the pool with them.

Favourite childhood sport? Soccer

Do you talk to yourself? Oh yeah. Sometimes I pass it off as if I’m talking to my cat, or one of my plants, but yes very much a lot.

What movies do you adore? The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is #1 for of all time. Nacho Libre is another all time favorite. What We Do in the Shadows, the John Wick movies, Fast & Furious movies, Mad Max Fury Road…

Coffee or tea? I love both but if I have to choose then COFFEEFirst thing you wanted to be growing up? Somewhere in my parents’ house there is an old video of me saying that when I grew up I wanted to be a princess or a mermaid.

Gunna tag all 10 of my followers lol. If you've already shared yours just ignore me lol.

@astarionancuntnin @midnight-musings-of-nyx @adoenamedjane @originalin @giganticrodent @shewhowas39 @halsinwhore @swancensus

I really love doing these!!

[silvermaplealder]

Vampire Feed Requirements (informational)

I wanted to go into some depth about feed requirements for vampires in the same sort of strategy that I use for livestock. I wrote a whole funny kinda guide on fanfic .net , but since I don't like that site anymore I wanted to edit my original guide and put it here for you guys to see (also no one called me out on my mathematical mistake where I flipped two numbers rip). I'm also adding a section on using a replacer blood.. Please enjoy my terrible sarcasm and humor. You have no clue how many times I have to write little guides like this for people on Facebook who obtain animals and have no clue how to feed them.

Before I can get down to the numbers of how much blood a vampire would have to drink to survive, I need to state several assumptions:

Since lore does not cover this, I am assuming that fully fledged vampires require blood as their sole nutrient source and are unable to derive nutrients from other foods (though they can eat it and it makes them feel “full”, they will not be able to get their nutrients from it and thus eating it would further starve them). Half vampires seem to be able to digest food just fine, so they can consume and get nutrients from human foods. 

I don’t know the internal anatomy of the vampires, but I am assuming that they have 1 stomach. A human stomach can hold up to about 1 gallon of liquid at max. 1 gallon of blood = around 8 pounds. However, in the bonfire feeding scene the vampires were gorging on blood. It's unclear to tell how much blood they ingested verses just killing for fun.

 I am assuming after they are turned into a full vampire they have new enzymes and proteins that help them with getting the nutrients out of blood.

We are doing all calculations based on bodyweight. I’m going to be using 180ibs as the weight of our vampires, though I'm terrible at judging weight. You can adjust this number for whatever stories you may need to in the future.

The first thing we need to do to get an accurate understanding of how much a vampire should be eating is we need to figure out their weight. When dealing with potentially dangerous critters, it’s okay to estimate to get a general idea if you don’t have a safe management plan to contain and weigh them. Judging from a distance using David and his boys as a general guide, I will assume they weigh between 150ibs - 180ibs. Since they are most often seen feeding together, we can put them into a single feeding group assuming that each will eat their own fill. As a general note, remember that there is usually a pecking order for pack animals, so be aware that one may get more than another. If this is a prolonged issue, consider separating during feeding. 

Now that we have a general number for their weight of 180ibs, we need to figure out another crucial piece of information: what kind of diet are they in need of? There are several main types of diets such as: growing stock, maintenance, and production. Growing stock is for young critters that need the extra energy to grow. Maintenance is for critters that are fully grown and are not putting extra energy out in production. Production is for critters that are actively putting energy towards things such as reproducing, lactating, or other work. Our four vampires here would be considered needing a “maintenance” diet since they are fully grown, and they are not putting energy towards some sort of production (though if they are actively being worked, consider that they will need more calories to help perform these activities). Most maintenance diets need for the animal to have around 2.7% - 3.0% of their body weight in nutritional food per day. 

Seeing the four vampires in question are moderately active and don’t exert too much energy in hunting (looks like a majority of their food comes to them/does not put up very long fights), we will be using 2.7% of their body weight for intake per day. We can determine 2.7% of their body weight with simple math: 

180ibs x 2.7% =  4.86ibs 

Reminder: when multiplying percentages, remember to move your decimal point two spaces to the left! So when you input it into a calculator it should look like this: 

180ibs x .027 =  4.86ibs

Great! So we’ve found out that 2.7% of our 180ibs vampire  is 4.86ibs. But here’s the catch: you can’t just feed out 4.86ibs of blood to the vampires since they require 2.7% of their body weight in caloric intake. Blood is around 55% water, which has 0 calories. 45% of blood is nutrient dense for them to digest (all according to a thing I found on Google). So in reality, feeding a vampire 4.86ibs of blood only gives them 2.187ibs of actual digestible content. Time for some more math! We will need to set up two fractions and cross multiply to find the amount of blood required for the vampires. 

Our first fraction is as follows:

2.187ibs of digestible content

 -------------------------------------

4.86ibs of blood

The fraction above tells us that we currently are only getting 2.187ibs of digestible content out of the 4.86ibs of blood we’ve given them. We will need to set up another fraction to show the amount of digestible content we want to get and find the number of how much blood will that require. 

That fraction is as follows: 

4.86ibs of digestible content

-------------------------------------

X amount of blood

Now it’s time to cross multiply the fractions, but due to the formatting it will not look pleasant on here. If you don't know how to cross multiply, feel free to look it up.

Remember: multiply the 4.86 of blood to 4.86 of digestible content, and then multiply the 2.187 with X to look as follows:

23.62 = 2.187X

Now just isolate the X! Divide both sides by 2.187

10.8 = X

We have now found that each vampire (estimated weighing around 180ibs) will require 10.8 pounds of blood PER day. For 4 adult male vampires, that is 43.2 pounds of blood PER day!

As a little conversion, 1 pound of blood is just about 1 pint. So we’re looking at around 1.3 gallons of blood per vampire per day, or 5.2 gallons for the feeding group.

Now, you may be saying to yourself, "Geez, that's a lot of blood and I don't know how I'm going to get that much to feed them." The first thing I'm going to say to you is that you shouldn't have gotten a vampire in the first place if you cannot adequately feed them. However, there is a replacer you can use. Animal blood can work to feed a vampire, but it will require more energy for them to convert the digestible calories into usable energy. They will require more caloric intake because their bodies have to work harder to convert the blood to usable energy. I would add an extra 1.35% (which is half of the 2.7%) of their bodyweight. Using the same conversion we did earlier, that looks like:

180ibs x 1.35% = 2.43ibs

Which, remembering that only 45% of the 2.43ibs is digestible (1.09ibs), we need to do the same ratio that we created earlier to determine that we would need an extra 5.42ibs of blood on top of the 10.8ibs we calculated earlier. In total, for a 180ibs vampire to be drinking animal blood, they would need 16.22ibs of blood, or 2 gallons, per day.

Don’t forget about other requirements for the proper care of your vampires. Ensure that they have free choice minerals and consult your local vet to see what kinds of mineral deficiencies are in the blood of your feed. You may need to give periodic vitamin or mineral injections.

[collinnmckinley]

I wouldn’t say I’m new to the fandom but I’ve been here for a few months like a month after mw2 came out is when I joined but I’ve been looking through your blog and seen complains about people getting the characters wrong I wanna start writing fanfics for 141 and I wanna get all the guys personalities as accurate as possible so like how would you describe them? 

Like I’m not trying to be rude I’m just genuinely curious 

-🫠

thing is about interpreting a character and writing fanfics of their personality, is understanding the depth of them and how they're played out. and I'll be honest with you, I am no expert in them, I merely know them as they are in the game, and i don't divert my impression far off from that, yes i do have hcs and i put them in scenarios based on those hcs but never too far off of what was originally shown to us.

i've been complaining about people ooc'ing characters since siege days, and cod characters are no different. and like i said, im no expert in these characters, i'm just a consumer who likes her favorite characters represented properly.

now, you're asking me to describe them, I'm sorry to say that I can't do that, as much as i personally understand them I still have a lot to understand and need to learn more (or rather want). and you shouldn't be taking someone else's views perspectives on the characters and base them into your writings, i would suggest just write away what your heart desires, and if you feel like you got their characteristics off or someone says its not something they would do or say, then come back to the campaign, wiki, youtube for lore, and try to understand these characters from different angles and perspectives.

what im saying is, how you write these characters is based upon how you see them in the story, and REALLY take into consideration on how they showed these characters to us. for me at least, i base my impressions on the latter heavily.

it's totally fine you weren't being rude, I understand. sorry i couldn't give you my full impression on these characters because i feel like its not my place to speak for them, the game does that plenty tbh. I hope you get grasp these characters personalities, and they help you in your writing endeavors.

[vicesario]

you want the second prime sanctum released so you can fight a hard boss. i want the second prime sanctum released so i can get more lore about the terminals. i am bad at video games

[valenhell]

From the studio that brought you “I can’t find good Byler fics in the ao3 tag”, comes:

"The Definitive Byler fic rec list"

Literally no one asked for this but because I spent the majority of last year (...and 2019, and 2018...) reading byler fics and coping with life, I thought I’d make a list of some of my absolute favorites. 

The other day I was basically starving for some byler fics and the angel @magicalfairy provided me with some of her faves so I thought I’d do the same, because I love reading, and I love all of these fics and I appreciate their writers💗 And fic writers in general, come on!

- This is a mix of long works and one-shots/short stories. - Everything is mostly fluff with a tad of angst and a lot of internalized homophobia conflict.  - Every fic is completed, except for the ones I mention that they are not. - I try my best to lay out the stories in a way that I won’t spoil you the plot but also warning you of some stuff you might don’t like. Either way, all of these fics are correctly tagged by their respective authors/owners, so read at your own risk. For better understanding, in between brackets I denote Rating, Words and quantity of Chapters. - I feel like I should clarify, none of these are narrated in the singular first person. None of that “And I told him...”, no. 

Long fics

a dream always the same (T, 99k, 35 chapters) What happened in those few weeks between the Battle of Starcourt and the Byers leaving Hawkins. Literally a satisfying and very needed fill in of season three, with a good dose of Mike’s thoughts and conflict. Mike’s characterization is specially amazing in this one. The writing style is amazing and I know the author put everything into making it historically accurate, and it was really sweet. You probably read it, it’s by the amazing sevensided here on Tumblr🧡

Spring Break (T, 120k, 14/15 chapters) The slowburn of my dreams. Lots of internalized conflict and conflict with each other. Conflict within the Party (uhh kind of), conflict with Mike and Will. Byers family has moved and the kids are visiting! Chaos. Characterization is on point. Yeah, I know it’s unfinished, but the fourteenth chapter actually serves as a pretty nice ending. 

This is where it starts (M, 148.8k, 24 chapters) Aged up characters. The Party is in college and Will disappears again, but now it’s different. Mike knows he didn’t vanish from thin air, and the discovery he and the Party end up making is pretty insane. Mystery solving/fantasy/third dimension, throw in a bit of D&D and Mike realizing some shit, and you get this marvelous fic. It’s a breath of fresh air. The world building is definitely one of the elements that stands out the most, because it’s very nicely described, it sounds like a dream and it’s completely immersive. Absolute gem of a fic. 

there’s a Starman waiting in the sky (M, 30.6k, 8 chapters) Do I need to say anything? Will is out there living his best life and Mike realizes that wow, umm, maybe his best friend looks a bit too nice with that costume... and wait, is he getting horny? It’s actually really fun and sexy.

The Evening Speaks (T, 23k, 7 chapters) In where Mike is a late-night college radio host and Will is the art student that stays up till late to catch up with Wheeler on the Mic. They flirt through songs y’all, this one is really sweet. 

heads or tails? (E, 24k, 3 chapters) Aged up characters. I know most people don’t enjoy sex in fics and with specific characters but this one is insanely well written. It’s a slowburn that commits to the tension and with every word you are grasping and anticipating their next move. I think you can find the author here on Tumblr as yousaidyes🧡

The Man of Average (M, 56.7k, 5/? chapters) Aged up characters. No but you don’t understand, the writing here is absolute gourmet. The story is exciting as well, it’s super interesting. Weirdly enough, for being very aged up characters, they are well characterized but they don’t feel like teenagers. They are naturally Mike and Will. The author really captured Mike and Will’s essence. I know, it’s unfinished and it’s updated very rarely, but this is the typical fic you can’t believe someone just posted on the internet for free. I will say though, I think it’s definitely not for everyone. Read at your own risk.

Heartstrings (E, 82.8k, 24/? chapters) Aged up characters. By the same author of The Man of Average. A collection of memories, the road to Mike and Will’s happy ever after. And fucking hell!!!!! You’ll cry and get angry, you’ll cheer for them, then you’ll want to crash their faces together because god dammit you love each other!!! But yeah, same thing here. The writing and the way the story is laid out as a nonlinear narrative is brilliant. And I also think this is one of the best Will versions I’ve read. The author might as well be the og creator of this two characters tbh. You can find the author here as mylesimeblr🧡

Sinners behind the walls (T, 1.5k, 1/1) And because I can’t stop recommending this author, a little thing of Mike tormenting himself but also being too deeply committed to Will. 

The Red Envelope series (T/E, 167K, two completed works) Something happens that Will thought was impossible and from there, pure drama and romance. Anything by this author has the potential to become your absolute favorite fic, but this series in particular is amazing. I doubt that any of you haven’t read this, but it doesn’t hurt to put it in this list. I’m pretty sure the author is serendipitous-magic on Tumblr🧡

A New Fight series (T, 91k, two completed works, one WIP) And finally the Star Wars AU that we all needed. But this isn’t your typical “Mike is Han”, “Will is Leia” and “El is Luke”, it’s way more interesting than that, and the author has appropriated the Star Wars world like no other. I’ll admit I’m not a 100% fluent in SW lore but this is amazing to me either way. This author is also on Tumblr, tea-for-one-please🧡

- Yes, most of these are (if not all), in a way, canon compliant/canonverse/canon continuation into fanon. (In a way)

One-shots and short stories

Sundae for Two, Please (G, 4.8k) Steve being the supportive friend and older brother these kids collectively need. (not Jonathan erasure, we love him). Steve is very sweet himself, and this little cute thing through his POV is gorgeous. Yes, it’s byler.

Backstage (T, 10k, 2/2) Jonathan, you forgot to mention to Will how hot your new band’s guitarist is, dude. Now he’s hyperventilating and weirdly flirting with him in the corner. Background Stonathan because why not.

102 Peach Street (G, 3.8k) Established relationship, but not only that, they are married :’’))) PURE fluff. Extreme fluffiness. Diabetes. 

sweatshirts and bottled up feelings (T, 3.2k) Or, Mike thinks that the sweatshirt Will wears looks insanely good on him. And kitchens are for lovers. 

kiss it better (T, 16.3k) Basically one of the best character studies of a few precise moments of Mike and Will’s relationship and feelings. 

will wonders ever cease (T, 11.3k) #i ship will and happiness. Omfg what a beautiful piece of fanfic. Will centric, this kid really deserves all the good in the world.

The Calm After the Storm (T, 1.6k) Tooth rotting fluff, boyfriends in love. Boyfriends being lazy, cuddling, love words, kisses. Boys loving each other’s company... Basically, Mike and Will in their element. What more can you ask for?

neither of us ready to let go (T, 4.8k) That scene from season three, but a bit of a fix it. 

Still in love (G, 1k) Domestic, married life au fluff. Y’all, I’m a sucker for established Byler, even if I can’t find many fics with it. But this is very sweet. It takes place in 2020, but I don’t think there are any mentions of the COVID-19 crisis that I remember.

I Nver Find Out ‘Til I’m Head Over Heels (G, 12.5K) Classic 5+1 fic. If you haven’t read it, where have you been? This is your moment. In where Mike keeps inviting Will to the school dances and Will thinks it’s just a joke until he realizes it’s not. 

Before You’re Gone (T, 5.9k) Will is leaving Hawkins and Mike thinks this is a great moment for a confession. This one I discovered last friday, thank you friend @magicalfairy 💗

You’re weird Wheeler (M, 4.5k) Mike unintentionally starts a tradition of going to each other to talk about their sexual encounters just after they finish. Will keeps getting more explicit with the details he shares, and he makes his best friend interested. This one is really fun y’all.

Out-Of-Town Friends (N/R, 4.6K) It’s not rated. I haven’t re- read it but I’d say it would probably fall in a T rating. So cute!! Will has new friends and sneaks off every friday and the Party doesn’t know where he is going, so Mike decides to follow him and is surprised. 

Snowed Under (G, 1.3k) By the same author of The New Fight series. Mike is spending christmas by himself in college because a snowstorm hits Chicago and Nancy can’t drive to see him, but then he has a surprise visitor. Ahhh just a lil sweet holiday fic. Super cute. 

you love me anyway series (T, 7.1k, three completed works) Literally just the cutest thing ever. Established Byler. Will loves to take pictures and he loves taking pictures of Mike. It’s adorable. 

you wanna be friends forever (i can think of something better) (T, 9k) This one is so amazing. So. Amazing. From Will’s POV, my kid deserves the world and he gets it. 

okay not to be okay (T, 4.9k) Mike is a bit sad but then everything is okay. 

can’t hold out forever (G, 18.4k) Y’all!!!!! 5+1 sweetness. Mike has been falling in love since kindergarten. And it’s long af, you’ll enjoy it. 

even if it takes forever (G, 1.3k) College short AU, they miss each other, they love each other, they promise all to each other. It is sappy y’all.

clear as day (N/R, 18.4K, 4 chapters) It’s not rated, but I’d say it falls in the T category. Strangers to friends to lovers. And also, everyone is pretty gay; we have our dynamic trio Mike, Max and El as disaster lesbians (and gay). Will works at the library and he is also gay. Lucas and Dustin and Will are the best friends we needed. It’s very sweet and the Party is kind of formed here!

I went overboard with the one-shots, so you must have realized how much I love long one-shots and I favor them over long works lmao but they are all amazing!!! If it’s on this list, I probably read it at 2 am, sobbing in my bed. So. Hope you enjoy it☺️🧡

[mayihavethisdanse]

“What is this, the Dark Ages?”

Or, Arthurian themes and allusions in the Brotherhood of Steel mythos as seen in Fallout 4. (But that’s a lot of words.)

Yep. We're doing this. 

First, some obligatory caveats: there is no single Arthurian canon, just 1500 years of assorted fanfic based on the whims of whoever was writing at the time. For this extremely highbrow Tumblr meta, I have ignored most of it and drawn on my favorites. Also Wikipedia.

Also, I am not an expert in Arthurian literature (or Fallout lore, come to that), and I preemptively beg the pardon of anyone who is.

Finally, in no way am I claiming that all these parallels and thematic echoes are deliberate or even significant. In fact, I'd break it down into:

Clearly deliberate allusions, whether in or out of universe;

Probably coincidence, but could be someone deliberately capitalizing on a coincidental similarity;

Almost certainly coincidence, but fun to speculate about; annnnd

Blatant Monty Python references. (Because of course there are.)

I'll start with the big one.

Arthur Maxson, boy king and unifier

(source)

So across all the retellings and variations of King Arthur’s life story, there are a few consistent elements, particularly in his early life and rise to power. Some of these threads are echoed in the Fallout universe, specifically (and unsurprisingly) in the person of Arthur Maxson.

Both the legendary King Arthur and Arthur Maxson were born with a claim to power lying in their ancestry, both were fostered away from their families, and both proved themselves in combat at a young age. 

King Arthur united the warring kingdoms of Britain into a single entity, making them stronger against outsiders and receiving general admiration and acclaim. Arthur Maxson united the divided factions of the BoS after the events of Fallout 3 and is held in similarly high regard by his men.

The name Prydwen is a reference to the ship of the original King Arthur. Presumably, Arthur Maxson (or someone in the BoS who anticipated his promotion) christened the airship in a deliberate homage to the Arthurian myth.

King Arthur is associated with his legendary sword. I think it’s notable that Maxson’s legend is associated with a bladed weapon, too. ("He killed a DEATHCLAW with a COMBAT KNIFE!”)

Probably coincidence, but fun: the historical emperor Magnus Maximus, who pops up a lot in early Arthurian legend, was known in Welsh as... Macsen. (⌐■_■)

Round Table, but make it dieselpunk

(Continued under the cut.)

Moving away from obvious allusions and into some looser parallels:

Like the Round Table, the Brotherhood is an exclusive knightly order with its leader being the one able to open it up to his chosen few.

Like the Round Table, the BoS sees itself as defending human civilization against forces of chaos. (I’ll touch on their tech-hoarding tendencies when I get to the Grail stuff.) This idea of civilization in the face of chaos goes back to the BoS’s founding, even though the level of isolationism we see in most of the Fallout franchise is not exactly what founder Roger Maxson had in mind: “Notably, Maxson's ultimate intention was to establish the Brotherhood as an organization that works closely with people outside of the Brotherhood, as guardians of civilizations, not its gatekeepers.” (source) In a lot of ways, Arthur Maxson represents a return to his ancestor’s original ideals.

Renegade knights? Internal politics? Traitors within? We gotchu.

In both the medieval legends and in all chapters of the BoS we’ve seen, there’s a big focus on bloodlines (ew). Ironically, it’s probably Arthur Maxson’s unquestionable ancestry that allows him to be more progressive than either of his East Coast predecessors when it comes to boosting Brotherhood numbers by recruitment (even though you can still see a clear division between “born Brotherhood” and recruited soldiers, but that’s a topic for another day). Maxson sees himself as an Elder who "cares for the people"—however misguided and patronizing that attitude might be—and whatever else you might say about the guy, you can't say he doesn't believe he has a duty. Which brings us to…

Know Your Enemy: Danse as Gawain

Before I start this section, an acknowledgement of authorial bias:

Gawain, as portrayed in the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is my very favorite of King Arthur’s knights. (Other stories aren't always as flattering, but like I said at the outset: I'm sticking to the ones I like.)

That poem is my very favorite piece of medieval Arthurian literature. In this section, I'll refer to the modern English translation by Simon Armitage.

...that’s it, I have no other biases to disclose. 

What? 👀

(Art: Clive Hicks-Jenkins)

All right. So in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, you’ve got this himbo loyal knight of Arthur’s who finds himself caught up in... you know what, let me just paste in the Wikipedia summary. (The Toast, RIP, also did a pretty entertaining and more-or-less accurate recap.)

It describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who dares any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the appointed time. In his struggles to keep his bargain, Gawain demonstrates chivalry and loyalty until his honour is called into question by a test involving the lord and the lady of the castle where he is a guest.

Don’t worry too much about the plot details, though; for this post, I’m more interested in the thematic parallels. The Green Knight story is full of contrasts: order vs. chaos, civilization vs. wilderness, mortal man vs. Other... but let’s start with Gawain himself. 

Some stuff to know about Gawain:

He was "as good as the purest gold, devoid of vices but virtuous and loyal". Gawain took his principles more seriously even than the rest of Arthur’s knights, not out of pride but out of humility: "I would rather drop dead than default from duty," he says. 

He’s faithful and honorable and never even tempted to betray an oath, even when offered every variety of seduction and riches, except for a single moment of weakness in a desperate desire not to be executed for random shit by powerful forces for reasons he doesn't understand.  

Even though he doesn’t really understand why he needs to die, he sticks to his oath. Gawain's one weakness is a moment of desperate, private, human desire for survival. He'll submit to the headsman’s axe if he has to, but he'd still rather live. 

Above all, Gawain is the ideal of a human man: he might be the bravest and loyal man there is, but he’s still fundamentally human.

You can probably see where I'm going with this.

A few more fun facts about Gawain that resonate with Paladin Danse’s story:

He’s got a bunch of really shitty brothers. (No comment.)

Gawain (SPOILERS!) doesn't actually end up beheaded, but he does willingly kneel for his execution and gets a cut on the throat as a reminder of his sin. And, uh, Danse can also get his throat cut! It doesn’t end as nicely but it’s, you know, a thing that can happen.

Gawain might be a really good guy, and he tries really hard to be one, but in the end he’s nothing more than that: there’s nothing supernatural about him, he has no special powers beyond his own principles and devotion. He’s just a dude doing his Best. 

Wait, why not Danselot?

Oh, that guy? Here’s the thing.

Lancelot personifies the continental ideals of courtly love that became popular in the High Middle Ages. Central to his story is the prioritization of personal relationships and romantic feelings in a way that you don’t really see in Gawain's, at least in the Green Knight tale. (Later stories hook Gawain up with an extremely delightful lady, but even that is a different flavor of romance than Lancelot's and has more to do with Gawain honoring his word and his egalitarian treatment of women (hell yeah). In the poem, Gawain is impressed by Bertilak's wife but resists her temptation; in fact, the biggest risk is not that he'll yield to her advances but that he'll be discourteous to her, i.e., violate his principles and cause dishonor to his king and his host.)

Lancelot is driven by passions over principles in a way that Gawain never really is (at least in the stories I’m talking about; later writers have committed character assassination to various degrees). Yes, you could argue that both Gawain and Lancelot betray their oaths, but Lancelot’s betrayal is never, um, blind. He knows what he’s doing and makes a deliberate choice to prioritize his love for the queen over his love for the king. It doesn’t make him a bad guy—he too is an ideal knight with one fatal flaw—but his character isn’t as comparable to Paladin Danse. 

Yeah, Gawain is (in most stories) a prince and a kinsman of Arthur’s, but he’s ultimately a native boy who doesn’t break the mold of a Knight of the Round Table. Likewise, Danse is portrayed as competent and valuable to the BoS, but not exceptional or breaking the mold of what a BoS soldier should be: he simply represents the ideal. Meanwhile, Lancelot is a foreign prince who was marked from childhood as special and fancy, and his storyline goes alllll over the place. (Much like this post.)

For example, Lancelot goes to absolutely absurd extremes to prove his devotion for no other reason than to prove it. (“I’ll do any useless humiliating thing you want. I’ll betray every oath except the one I made to you. That’s what love is!”) Gawain would never. Danse would never.

Ultimately, Gawain's tests are of his character and not of his love. And like Gawain, Danse’s devotion is to service and his principles, not to another person—even Arthur Maxson.

All that said, there are some similarities: both are beloved by Arthur, both are held up as the ideal of what a knight should be. And even if their fatal flaws are different, both make the point that no matter how good and brave and loyal they might be, no human being can be perfect. 

(Except Galahad. Who is, as a result, very boring.) 

I’ll conclude this section with a quote from someone else’s take on the Greek Knight poem:

I like Gawain. He’s not perfect, but he’s trying his best which is all any of us can do. He’s not like the other knights in the Arthurian legends who occasionally ‘accidentally’ kill women on their little adventures and then feel hard done by when they have to deal with the consequences of that. Gawain holds himself to a high standard – higher, it seems, than Arthur and his knights hold him to considering how hard they laugh when Gawain tells them how bad he feels about the whole thing.

I think Gawain is very relatable in this story. We all want to be better than we actually are.

And that, more than anything else, is Danse.

The Grail myth

What’s that? Lost relics of power? Better send some large armed men after ‘em!

The parallels to the BoS’s tech-hoarding ways are obvious enough that the games themselves lampshade them (albeit by way of Monty Python). But it also ties into the larger themes of “purity” versus “corruption” and the BoS’s self-image as a bastion between civilization and chaos. (See Maxson's line in response to the Sole Survivor’s quip about the Dark Ages: “Judging from the state of the world, it wouldn't be a stretch to say we're living in that era again.”)

But the ultimate futility of the Grail mission is also worthy of note. The BoS might want the power of prewar tech on their side, but they’re no more to be trusted with it than any other group of human beings. No matter how they try, the “corruption” of humanity can’t be overcome as long as they’re striving to harness power for their own ends. You can only achieve power by surrendering control of it.

The death of Arthur

The nature of gameplay being what it is, it's not guaranteed that the Arthur figure will be fatally betrayed, bringing Camelot down with him—but it's not unlikely, either.

Awkward.

Some final spitballing:

Outside the Brotherhood, there are some fun parallels of the Arthur myth with the rest of Fallout 4. Betrayal by one’s own son, for example.

The key difference between the BoS and the legendary Round Table: King Arthur’s knights, for all their flaws and human weaknesses, are usually presented as unambiguous Good Guys. The BoS is... a little more ambiguous...

...but damn if they don’t think they're the good guys. 

A-ad victoriam, fellas!

[kinnoth]

What's your take on Thor Ragnarok? What's your take on Thor's development within the MCU so far?I'm a fan of your posts and tags!

GREAT QUESTIONS THANK YOU FOR ASKING, THANKS FOR BEING A FAN

tldr I """"like"""" Thor's canon development now bc I've done some fucking Olympic grade backfilling and contortion to recontextualize the canon to make it meaningful, but this results in me living in my own pocket universe of an interpretation where I can't really interact with other people bc they don't subscribe to my exact reading of canon

But bro I LOVE Ragnarok. I know that can be a controversial take (I've read the meta of people who think it "slaughtered" Thor and Loki's characterisations), but I just thought it was so much fun! Like on a movie watching experience level and on a lore/meta level, it's FUN. That's not something I can say for 95% of marvel movies, which are nigh universally too dimly lit and too reliant on hateful sarcasm between characters as a substitute for a relationship.

On a meta level, I 1000% subscribe to the idea that the entire movie is a retelling that Thor is preforming for his refugees, so it's a heavily edited, exaggerated, and sillier version of events meant to keep everyone's spirits up. On the point of lore continuity, I really appreciate that thor3 makes CANON and EXPLICIT Odin's campaign of imperialist violence behind his "peaceful" reign over the nine realms, I FUCKIN LOVE IT. I LOVE the context Hela gives to their family, because she makes canon and explicit Odin's disappointments in Thor. I LOVE that Mjolnir was Hela's weapon before it was Thor's because Mjolnir was never meant to be a metric for moral goodness or readiness for rule, but a metric for a colonialist's commitment to imperialist violence on behalf of an empire WHICH IS WHY IT FINDS CAPTAIN AMERICA WORTHY BUT NOT LOKI

(btw if anyone else can draw a line between Hela and Steve Rogers that is a. representative of Odin's priorities and b. includes Thor but excludes Loki, hmu, bc this is the best I got.)

(Mjolnir rejects Thor in thor1 bc Thor was trying to conquer Jotunheim for personal glory and doesn't accept him again until he starts thinking about the good of the empire again by protecting Midgard, an imperial asset. Mjolnir rejects Loki bc Loki is a not an imperialist in service of an empire)

Off topic but I know a lot of people get hung up on Thor leaving Loki paralyzed in the parking garage, potentially to be found by the grandmasters dudes? Like people say that was unaccountably cruel and ooc for Thor. But like, ok, they killed everyone on the way up, and Thor knows his armed gladiator rebellion is on his heels also headed for the parking garage, so I dunno, I never read it as Loki was in any particular danger? But I'm a notorious Thor apologist as well as a Loki apologist so 🤷‍♂️

Things I also love: loki defunding the military to spend that money on art and infrastructure, Loki's live action thorki fanfic that Asgard unaccountably loved, Loki stonewalling Odin's attempt to reconcile bc fuck Odin, Thor's lightning powers, Bruce banner is now a Jewish grandma, Hela have I mentioned Hela love that girlboss, Jeff goldblum love that wiggly man, the Valkyrie love that angry girl, "piss off ghost", inglorious deaths for all the warriors 3, "I'm here" (screaming, crying, shaking), the story about how Loki bit Thor as a snake as well as the confirmation that they are in fact the same age

I have complicated feelings about Thor's canon development tbh. On a very ground floor sort of reaction, I despise what they did to My Boy in infinity war and endgame. I think it's a disgusting character assassination and I don't think the russos understand humour and specifically how to use humour to expand on tragedy like what thor3 did.

On the other hand, if you've read my fic and meta, you'll know that I've accepted the canon development, bc at this point, I've done a LOT of very deliberate and concerted labour to MAKE the canon development we see between thor1 and endgame WORK. But, like, there was a LOT of labour that I, specifically, put into it. It fully relies on me specifically doing a lot of digging and reaching and mining these movies for every possible frame of content to the point where I am pretty sure I've put more effort into making all the development make continuous sense than any of the screenwriters put into the actual development.

And I think I've probably just drank too much of my own Kool aid but like, I am in a position now where I do think my interpretation of Thor's character development is THE most complete and accurate reading of his character development. Key to these points are: a) I think he is an ex-imperialist who is currently and actively trying to deprogram himself from the colonialists' mindset that Odin instilled within him b) he is trying to deprogram himself from Asgard's culture of extreme toxic masculinity wherein he was not taught to have any sort of emotional processing that did not involve physical violence c) Loki is/was/always will be the person he loves best

So like, as I try to show in my thorki canonverse fics (shameless plug for myself), I can make most of the bad decisions made about Thor's character in infinity war and endgame work if I recontextualize all of his canon actions with my own (well supported, well documented) headcanon'd baggage. Of course he goes on a death wish mission to get revenge on Thanos -- he has a literal deathwish bc he was already supposed to die with Loki. Of course he sinks into an unshakeable depression afterwards -- he has no identity now that he has no family bc he was never taught to live by himself or for himself. Of course he leaves new Asgard and abdicates his rule -- he hasn't wanted a hand in the dirty business of Empire ever since Odin's ambition got his mom and brother killed in thor2, and that hasn't changed. I try to make him go through all the canon-implied feelings and anxieties and doubts in front of the reader. My entire goal of this is that people read my shit, then look at canon and think "oohh that context DOES make it better!" I will be gratified if that is the case.

(The only thing I cannot fix is the bit in endgame where Thor walks past Loki's Tupperware cell and the narrative doesn't come to a screeching fucking halt as Thor has so many feelings that he has some sort of paralytic breakdown where he simultaneously wants to commit Time Crime (tm) so he can just stay here forever and also wishes he could just die here, next to loki, like he was always supposed to. Like, that needed to happen to really lynchpin all of my work together into one smooth, problem free reading, but I'm not allowed to have nice things so)

(oh also I didn't like Thor calling frigga "mom". Shouldn't it at least be "mum"? I think "mother" is best tbh, bc I don't really read them as having that sort of relationship, see "toxic masculinity", see also "homosocial socialisation")

(and ok I get that it was a nice moment for Thor to call the hammer back to his hand, and I get that it even still works with my headcanon that mjolnir finds Thor worthy still bc Thor is defending the imperial asset that is Midgard, but like God damnit. The uncritical and unquestioning use of that word "worthy" when he catches the hammer again. Like worthy of what you guys? Do you ever ask yourself that question bc I very much do. I kinda wish they didnt bring it up at all, or if they did, it didn't come back to Thor's hand and he is just like, wistfully, "that's all right, I suspected as much. I'm such a different man now, mjolnir doesn't recognize me. I don't think I'd be alive right now if I had been the same man I was")

Wow that got long, anyway, thanks for chatting with me! Again, always a pleasure to field asks!

[ashura-writes]

About Me!

Learn all there is to know about me!

(as of currently)

My name is Ashura! I also go by Ash or Lunar, so take your pick! Any new nicknames are welcome as well.

I'm 18 years old.

I go by any pronouns, so again, take your pick!

I enjoy reading and writing grammatically correct fanficitions, as well as drawing!

Currently I'm really into the Dream SMP, so most (if not all) of my fics that I share here will be about that.

Boundaries!

Probably the most important thing here! I don't have many, but I ask that you respect them nonetheless!

I will not write for things that I do not have the best understanding of, or things that I am not properly educated on. My worst fear is to portray something wrong and potentially harming or misinformation others with my stories. Please ask if you have a specific request, and I will let you know if I am comfortable with writing for that topic.

I will not write sexually explicit/NSFW stories for ANY characters. Not only is it most likely out of the comfort zones for many of the content creators to have their characters sexualized, I can personally only see these characters interacting with the Reader in friendly lights. Please do not ask for any NSFW.

SFW/Fluff/Feel-good things are completely okay! My intent is to write these characters as if they have a really close friendship with the Reader, which can include cuddles, hand-holding, and general cute things. Flirting is alright as well! This is mostly inspired by my own IRL friendships.

On the topic of flirting, I am okay with SOME romantic things. Romantic and sexual are completely different things, after all, and my expertise in romance is probably my only defining quality haha! I am okay with writing about romantic relationships between the Reader and some characters of the SMP, NOT including minors. All minor relationships are STRICTLY platonic. Do not ask for romantic relationships with minors. I will not answer. If you wish to see a story about a romantic relationship between the Reader and an adult SMP character, just ask!

As for personal boundaries, I don't have many! I'm fine with a lot of things, including cursing/swearing. The only thing I will not tolerate towards me or anyone is derogatory remarks. If you don't like something, move on.

And because I can't think of anything else to add, let's move on to questions you probably don't have!

Q.《Why did you start this blog?》

A. As mentioned above, I really enjoy writing fanfictions. They are one of my escapes from the real world, as is the Dream SMP! I started reading some fics, headcannons, and imagines here and really enjoyed it! I thought, "Why not do the same? Share your stories with like-minded people," so I did!

One of my biggest inspirations for starting this blog was the fact that there was so little fanfics for the DSMP, at least in the friendship department. I aim to write stories that center around the characters of the SMP, their friendships and hardships, and to put the story in words that the members otherwise cannot express.

Q.《What will your stories be about?》

A. The Dream SMP, and all characters included! Most, if not all of the stories I write will be 'Reader Insert's, or 'x Reader's. This totally does not stem from my desire to be friends with everyone aha nope haha definitely not-

All stories will be about the characters that the streamers portray, NOT the content creators themselves. I personally feel a bit awkward writing for real people. I may try and change things up one day, but today is not that day!

Q.《How did you get into the Dream SMP?》

A. I got into the Dream SMP a few months ago after coming across many videos and posts talking about it, and began my journey by watching Wilbur Soot's videos and the story of the rise and fall of L'manburg. Ever since, I've been hooked, and I've come to really enjoy and look forward to new streams and videos!

Q.《Will your stories be inclusive? (Gender Identity, Sexuality, Race, etc.)》

A. Absolutely! None of my stories will leave anyone out, and I will strive to accurately portray anything and everything! The Reader in my stories will never have their gender, sexuality, or appearance explicitly stated, either in walls of text or in dialogue. To make everything the most inclusive, I will be using they/them pronouns when characters refer to the Reader. I tend to avoid the use of 'insert points', as I will call them, or things like 'Y/n', 'e/c', or 'h/c' to name a few. If necessary, I will use '(Name)' for the Reader, but otherwise dodge the use of other insert points unless it is useful to the story or needs to be explicitly mentioned.

Q.《Will you write for certain things if asked?》

A. Yes, I will, as long as none of it goes out of my boundaries!

Q.《How much knowledge of Dream SMP Lore do you have?》

A. Honestly, not much. I have gotten as far as Doomsday and Dream's imprisonment, but that is about it! Not to mention, all of my knowledge comes purely from Tubbo, Ranboo, Wilbur and Tommy's streams. I don't know much about Technoblade or Philza's lore as of this moment, or any one else's, but I plan to learn! Any requests that deal with these characters lore, I will do my best. Please don't be afraid to let me know if I mess something up! Help is always welcome.

Q.《Do you have other stories not on Tumblr that I can read?》

A. That I do! I have a story up on Archive Of Our Own under the title "Hearteater"! It is an Demon Slayer OC insert featuring my character Higurashi Shion! I am very proud of it, and I think you should check it out. Look for the user 'LunarPenguinChan' to find the story!

Q.《Is there any other social media I can contact you on?》

A. Yep! Discord, at Ashura#4903, or Twitter under the handle @ashura_penguin!

More to be added as I go! Please check back here frequently for updates. I really look forward to meeting and making friends with everyone! Don't be afraid to send me a DM or ask/request anything! I'm fired up and ready to show off my horrible writing skills! :D

[puckwritesstuff]

50 Writing Asks! - 8, 13, 28, 31, & 34

Let's go!

8. What writing projects are you currently working on?

I always have a few things going on in the background, here are a few of them:

I am working on more chapters of "Where the Law Leaves Off", I swear. The beautifully infuriating thing about adapting Leverage to prose is that it's a very visual show, and I'm not a particularly visual writer. In fact, that's a reason for me to write the fic. Use your fanfics to git gud, writers!

I've got a melodrama centering around Fendra, Gyro, and the fallout of something massively life-changing, with large amounts of relationship drama and angst. I'm not sure where it's going, but I'm having fun writing it.

I've slowly been putting together a sequel for "Step Into Your Power" with a significantly higher writing quality than the previous fic. And by "slowly", I mean I haven't even finished the first chapter and I'm also not sure where it's going, but I do know that the work I've done on "Take On Me" has helped how I've thought about writing this.

As for original content, I've been kicking around not so much a story, but a setting-- a floating city on Venus. The most aggravating thing is that I don't have any solid characters, other than a few vague archetypes.

13. What’s your favorite trope?

I like a lot of tropes, and one that I really like is any variation of "Aw, Look, They Really Do Love Each Other!", where two characters that don't seem to get along suddenly share a really intense emotional moment where they prove that they care about each other.

Also, actually accurate sibling writing.

28. How much planning and/or research do you do before you start writing?

I do exactly as much research as I need to tell the story that I want to tell. Let's look at Kingdom Hearts and how I use the Final Fantasy magic system in "Take On Me". I've never played a Square Enix game, to my knowledge. I have watched both Fullmetal Alchemist series, though. (look it up!)

The way that I use the magic in "Take On Me" has very little basis in the actual game mechanics of the two video game series. I looked up lists of spells that they could use, and watched the video of Donald casting 'Zettaflare' a few times, and that was about it. When it came to "Nothing Like You" and I started using Kingdom Hearts settings, I did some more research into what would be verisimilitudinous to the tone of the series, which is not easy for a game series where Donald Duck can one-hit KO a Satan allegory. It's high fantasy with Disney characters. But not having played the games means that there is a mountain of lore and context that I can't get from reading a wiki. I don't feel like the story suffers for it, but I do have to manage expectations in terms of what readers expect from a Kingdom Hearts story versus what I'm trying to do.

But that being said, my position on research is that your story comes first, but taking the time to look things up can take you to places that make your story a lot more interesting.

31. What is your ideal writing environment?

I feel like I've answered this question before, but I really can write anywhere. I just need it to be comfortable, and without anyone looking over my shoulder. I don't like writing around other people much.

34. What is the best advice you have for a beginning writer?

Find people that do the work to understand what you're trying to achieve in your story. I've had a lot of different writing instructors and criticism over the years and the people who helped me the most were the people that were as invested in my writing as I was. Your writing isn't always going to be good-- in fact, it's going to suck a lot and you're not necessarily going to know. But there's a difference between telling you that your writing sucks and they don't get it, and telling you that it's not where it should be, but here's some tips on how to get it there. You'll figure out the difference pretty quickly once you start looking for it, but just know that there is a difference.

[funkymbtifiction]

So, do you perhaps have any advice for trying to type characters when the show just…  Isn’t that well written?  It had a lot of potential, so I want to write a fanfiction trying to write a proper ending, but I keep getting tripped up on little inconsistencies on the characters (and lore, but that’s unrelated)...

My Te is going to tell you to ignore the little inconsistencies and run with the big picture. Read over the different types and fill in the rest with guesswork – ie, this is probably their type, but if not, who cares? They can be this, for my story. Add up the majority of evidence and run with that. If you are wrong, nobody can tell you so, because the writing was so inconsistent they can’t say it’s out of character because there’s nothing consistent enough to go on.

What kind of story you write for a character says more about who you are than who the character is. It tells the world what you value. I remember being pissed off watching The Vampire Diaries that after Elena SPOILER offed Elijah’s brother Kol, he would shrug it off, not care, and be worried about her mental state of health. She just murdered his brother and he was like “ah well. So what?” I mean, that was nice of him, because Elijah was a decent, upstanding guy, but… I wanted him to get mad, because the entire series had been building toward how much he cares about his damn family and is willing to go to any length to protect them. I sure as hell would be mad if she offed my brother. So I wrote a little revenge fic in which he decided to get even. It was therapeutic for me, and “how it should have ended.” But in the end, it said something about me, not him. That I would never in a million years turn my back on my family like he does. But Elijah was a hypocrite. He valued two of his family members, not everyone. I was not able to understand that, because my bias blinded me.

Everyone has a bias. It is going to blind you. Fanfic is a way to express yourself. So it doesn’t have to be 100% “accurate” to the character. It doesn’t have to be 100% “right.” It can’t be, because you aren’t the original creator. You are putting yourself into the end result. You are writing the ending you think fits or that you want. And that is how it should be, because that’s the point of fanfiction. Agonizing too much over ‘getting it right’ is understandable (I didn’t want to ‘get characters wrong’ when I wrote fanfic a lot) -- but unnecessary.

Just be consistent in your writing with who YOU think they are, and don’t worry about it. Every time someone tries to write a character with “a type in mind,” it stagnates their writing. You can’t be creative when you spend every other minute thinking “Would a tert-Fe do this?” Free yourself. They don’t ‘need’ a type. Their type will come as the result of your creative process, as long as you are consistent in making them realistic. :)

- ENFP Mod

[tzalmavet]

Ahh, okay, thank you for answering my question! I also want to say I've read your Find Me fanfics and I really like how you wrote them honestly! ^W^ (Kinda want to make my own now but I need to get around to playing the demo first XD)

No problem!  I’m glad you like my Find Me fics, but yeah you should definitely play Find Me’s demo before writing any fic yourself (the most recent one is 3.2) if you want to be accurate; my fics will make a lot more sense after you’ve met Jadon in-game, too (though “Changing Hands” was written before 3.2 came out, it still matches pretty good with the current canon).  I’m mostly able to write them because I took a lot of screenshots of locations and dialogue while playing, because I’m not the best at memorizing all the little details.

I want to write about Malachi, Gaius, and the other characters someday, but I stick to Jadon for now since I understand his thoughts and mannerisms better than I do theirs.  I’ll branch out a little more once once the game is complete and I have more lore to work with.

Good luck on writing your own Find Me fics!!

[brynne-lagaao]

(Fanfic) Set in Stone - Chapter Eighteen (Final)

Title: Set in Stone

Pairing: Sarumi

Chapter: 18/18

Rating: M

Mirrors: AO3 | Website

Summary: Yata wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he performed a summon on his own in a fit of drunken loneliness. It definitely wasn’t some asshole demon with a bad attitude, even if that demon happened to be frustratingly hot. But breaking their contract was going to mean working together, and he wasn’t sure how much of that he could take before he snapped… one way or another.

Note: Thank you to @dropletons for being my beta and to @chromekins for helping with the magic aspect. This fic is not entirely accurate in terms of modern magic and the demon lore was basically made up to suit the story, but I tried to keep somewhat of an authentic feel, so hopefully that succeeded.

Note #2: Thank you so much to everyone who read and enjoyed this fic! I hope you like the ending - let me know what you think if you are feeling up to it!

The fully charged moonstone felt hot in Yata’s pocket as he stepped into the lobby of Munakata’s office building.

It had been like that since the afternoon, when they’d completed the final charge – a comforting sort of heat that gave him the impression of sunlight sinking into his body. At the same time, he could feel the sense of the stone’s own identity, cool and inviting, as a contrast. It was sorta like the completed charge had given it a new aspect, drawing out a side of its personality that had been suppressed before.

“Since when does a stone have a personality?” Saruhiko had drawled when he’d voiced that thought as they wrapped up their moonlight charging.

Yata had shrugged it off. “You just don’t get it.”

“I’m fine with that,” Saruhiko had agreed dryly. “It’s enough trouble keeping up with sentient beings – I don’t need to consider the feelings of rocks on top of that.” A slight pause had followed, and then he’d added reluctantly, “This one does feel different now, though.”

That had been enough to draw a grin from Yata. “Told ya.”

“I already regret saying anything.”

The exchange had been somewhat subdued; they’d already said their personal goodbyes before flying out to Munakata’s office building for that last charge. After a lengthy discussion and putting together what seemed like a solid plan for how they’d see each other going forward, neither of them had wanted to draw out what remained of this flawed contract, so the decision had been to cut it off cleanly and start on the new arrangement as soon as possible. It meant a few days apart before Yata would summon Saruhiko again, but that was something they were going to have to get used to, regardless.

“I probably need to clean up a bunch of messes at work anyway,” Saruhiko had said easily, his fingers playing idly with Yata’s on the mattress between them. They had done most of their talking like that, enjoying the closeness and comfort it allowed. “There’s only so much you can do remotely.”

Yata had huffed out a brief laugh in response, turning his hand so their fingers could entwine. “Bet it’s not as bad as you think.”

Saruhiko clicked his tongue. “It’s probably worse.”

“You’re just too damn fussy.”

Truthfully, he was gonna have some catching up to do, too; he’d had way too many unplanned days off already, and there was still rent and bills to take care of. Plus, he missed going to Homra more often. Basically, life went on – they’d just have to keep up as best they could.

He didn’t mind shifting some stuff around to make room for this new thing between them, though. It was worth putting in the effort to make it work.

“This is it, huh?” Saruhiko mused, as Yata pressed the elevator button in Munakata’s office building. His expression was relaxed when their eyes met, a small rueful upturn to his lips the only indication of his emotions. “Ready to end it?”

“Ready to start it,” Yata corrected him, smirking in response – and got the satisfaction of seeing that tiny upturn grow to a real smile in response.

“I guess you’re right about that.”

Munakata was waiting for them when they made their way down, still seated behind his office desk despite the late hour and with a smile on his face that looked entirely too self-satisfied for Yata’s taste. “My, my,” he commented when they stepped through the door. “How unexpected to see the two of you at this hour, and after such a lengthy absence.” He leaned forward in his chair, studying them with interest. “I was beginning to think that perhaps some trouble prevented you from coming.”

Yata snorted. “Yeah, well, you thought wrong.” ‘Trouble’ was probably not the right word for it, but he wasn’t gonna explain more than he had to. “And talking about the hour, how about you, huh? D’you just sit here constantly or what?”

The smile on Munakata’s face widened marginally, but he didn’t respond to the question. “Judging by the timing of this visit, I expect the charges have been completed.” He glanced back and forth between them. “Is that a fair assumption?”

Saruhiko clicked his tongue, even as Yata scowled. “Why do you bother to ask when you already know the answer?”

“Call it a professional courtesy,” Munakata responded smoothly. He bridged his hands in front of him. “And how did you find the experience of charging them, if I may be so bold as to ask?”

Yata glanced at Saruhiko, and found his gaze returned. Somehow, just the simple act of making eye contact had his skin prickling and heart picking up a notch. He couldn’t help the wry smile spreading on his face, and was gratified to note how the corners of Saruhiko’s mouth turned up in response. “Pain in the ass,” he answered glibly, letting that smile build to a smirk as he turned his head forward again.

“Unnecessarily complicated,” Saruhiko added dryly – but the amusement in his tone was clear.

“I see.” Munakata shut his eyes for a moment, letting out a soft chuckle as if in response to some private joke. When he opened them again, his gaze was strangely fond. “It would appear that the two of you have exceeded my expectations.” Lowering his hands, he pushed himself gracefully up from his seat. “Congratulations are thus in order.”

Yata blinked, taken aback. “Eh?”

Saruhiko recovered more quickly, clicking his tongue. “You haven’t even seen the results yet.”

Munakata smiled beatifically, moving around the desk to face them. He was a tall man, which Yata more or less knew from the few times they’d faced each other when he wasn’t sitting at his office desk – but it still irked him all the same. “If you would be so kind as to present them, then.”

That was a cue he could understand. Yata reached into his pocket to grasp the moonstone. He felt a strange reluctance as he drew it out, a tiny hint of loss at being asked to part with it. Probably because of… yeah. Saying goodbye wasn’t easy, even if it wouldn’t be permanent. Despite the feeling, he held out his hand without hesitation, opening his fingers to reveal the stone on his palm. A second or so later, he noticed Saruhiko doing the same beside him.

Munakata studied the two of them for only a brief second before nodding his approval. “Set them on my desk for now,” he instructed. “I will have Awashima-kun carry them on to their next destination once her time permits.”

Next destination? The thought jumped into his head just before Saruhiko asked, “Where are they going?”

“It need not concern you for now.” The response was easy but firm; clearly, the subject was off-limits. Munakata waited while they followed his instruction, and then went on. “Before I proceed to void the contract, did you have any farewells to make?”

Already done. Once again, Yata glanced at Saruhiko – and once again, he found Saruhiko meeting his eyes. This time, it was a full grin that spread on his face. “See ya,” he offered casually.

Saruhiko lowered his eyelids, the smile on his face reflecting Yata’s satisfaction back at him. “Mm,” he returned, and then in that casual drawl added, “See you.”

It was as simple as that, but it felt like a promise all the same.

“Very well, then.” Munakata stepped forward, extending his arms to press his index finger to each of their foreheads.

The touch was light, but Yata felt the surge of energy that flooded him very clearly. He shut his eyes instinctively against it, sucking in a breath sharply – and when he opened them again, Saruhiko was no longer standing beside him.

The sense of sudden loss was sharper than he expected. Yata swallowed, staring for a moment at the spot where Saruhiko had been. This was the way they’d planned it, and he was still sure it was the best way, but he felt the ache that came from parting all the same. Now that it came down to it and they had to go their separate ways for real… he couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely.

I’ll see him again, he reminded himself, trying to shake off that mood. It wouldn’t be long, and they had their whole lives ahead of them to work out any potential problems.

“This occasion puts me in mind of a particular sentiment I’ve heard expressed frequently.” When Yata looked up, Munakata was studying him keenly. “All good things must end in time.”

“Heh.” Yata shook his head. “You got it wrong – it’s not the end.” He offered a smirk, feeling his earlier optimism returning. “This good thing is just getting started!”

Munakata shut his eyes, a small mysterious smile on his lips. “Well said,” he responded simply.

Saturday nights, Yata always made sure he was home early.

It wasn’t like he could summon Saruhiko right away. They’d had long talks – and occasional arguments – over the logistics of their arrangement, but one of the agreements they’d hammered out was around timing. Saruhiko was always irritable if he responded to a summon when he’d been in the middle of work, even if he tried to hide it. It had required some trial and error and a certain amount of strain at first, but eventually they’d knocked the rough edges off of the process. They both made an effort to be ready at whatever time they’d agreed on – no “spontaneous” early summons and no “voluntary” overtime.

After months of pressing the point, he’d finally convinced Saruhiko that it was no big deal to just refuse the summon if he was in the middle of something urgent, and Yata would try again in an hour. There was no point if they couldn’t relax and enjoy themselves.

Feels like he doesn’t really get the whole relaxing thing. But that was changing too.

Slowly, surely, they’d been smoothing things out. Yata couldn’t help but smile when he thought about it, the pleasant anticipation he always felt when he thought about seeing Saruhiko again coursing through him as he stepped through the door into his apartment. It wasn’t perfect, and it would’ve been better if they could just move in together without the limitations – and complications – of a binding contract, but they were making it work.

Maybe someday they’d figure out something better, but for now, he was content with what they had.

Either way, the main reason he came home early was to make sure he had time to eat and shower before drawing up the summoning circle. And today there was an extra reason he’d been eager to get back, one that had him kicking off his shoes with even more enthusiasm than before. In front of him on the table, the wrapped box he’d brought home several days ago was still sitting there, reminding him of the occasion.

A whole year since then, huh? Plus a few days, since they’d agreed to stick to their regular Saturday rather than try to hit the exact date. But yeah, a year ago he’d summoned Saruhiko unexpectedly and kicked off this whole business.

It was worth celebrating, for sure.

Yata had been thinking about what to get for a while, and finally settled on a set of coffee mugs – specifically, two of the mugs used for customers at Hakumaitou, which had cost him a lot more from his stash than he’d expected. They were plain off-white, but he’d gone out and gotten their names engraved in bold print – ‘Saruhiko’ in blue on one and ‘Misaki’ in red on the other.

Saruhiko would have to leave his here and only use it when he visited, from Saturday night to Monday morning, but Yata kinda thought the sentiment was fitting. He had a fresh bag of Hakumaitou’s special coffee, too – and hope of flying out for a view of the city from ‘their’ spot at some point during the night.

It was all pretty low-key, but it suited them. He was really looking forward to it.

Yata had just finished cleaning up after his dinner, about to move the table aside so he could start drawing up the summoning circle, when there was a knock at his door.

What the hell? He frowned, hesitating for a second. Usually he didn’t get many visitors. Sometimes one of his friends would drop by if they were in the area, but everyone knew Saturdays were off-limits, and he’d mentioned the anniversary too.

The landlord? It would be unusual, but it had happened. Well, only one way to find out. Yata hurried forward and swung the door open.

His skin prickled, mouth falling open as shock paralyzed him. All he could do for a moment was stare.

How…?

Saruhiko returned his gaze, shifting on his feet in a slight, awkward motion. His shoulders were a bit hunched and his expression was oddly hesitant. “I don’t have a key to your place,” he drawled, after a moment of startled silence.

Yata blinked, recovering from his stupor – and then blinked twice more in rapid succession, double checking that he was really seeing this. “Wh-why are you here?” he managed to stammer out after another awkward pause, too stunned to react in any other way.

There was no way a demon could come to this plane without a contract. So…?

“I’m not on someone else’s contract, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Saruhiko told him dryly, and glanced around, clicking his tongue lightly. “Can I come in? I’d rather not explain while standing on your doorstep.”

There wasn’t much he could say to that. “Yeah, right.” Yata bit back his impatience and moved aside, holding the door so that Saruhiko could step past him and remove his boots.

As soon as the door shut, he gave in to a sudden impulse and moved forward to wrap his arms around Saruhiko’s waist from behind, pressing his chest against that thin back. He lifted his face to bury his nose in the space between Saruhiko’s shoulder blades, inhaling deeply to take in the familiar scent, and mumbled, “Happy anniversary.”

Saruhiko had momentarily frozen in the unexpected hold, but relaxed almost immediately, a short contented sigh escaping him at the words. “Happy anniversary, Misaki,” he murmured, setting his hands over Yata’s arms to return the awkward embrace as best he could.

They stayed like that for another moment or two, just enjoying each other’s presence, before Yata’s curiosity got the better of him and he broke away, stepping around Saruhiko to look him properly in the face. “Okay, now spill it! How the hell are you here?”

Saruhiko shrugged, the motion seeming somehow awkward as his posture shifted slightly. It was a small change, but Yata could see a certain amount of nervous tension in the way he was standing. “Apparently we can be granted clearance to come here under certain circumstances.” He didn’t want for Yata to ask. “I’m here to propose a new contract to you.”

Something about the way he said it had a little shiver running through Yata’s body – and not an unpleasant one. Get a grip. He swallowed it back, managing to grin in response. “Oh yeah? Let’s hear it.”

“It’s not really a standard contract.” Saruhiko reached into his pocket, movements unusually sharp and jerky. “The terms are a little unusual. Technically, it doesn’t have an end date, but it’s not… exactly like before.” When he pulled his hand out, his fingers were closed around whatever he’d grabbed. “In exchange for sharing your energy, this is what I’m offering.”

His hand was noticeably unsteady when he slowly opened it, but that wasn’t what caught Yata’s immediate attention. Even before he could see what was there, the almost-forgotten sense of captured sunlight and moonlight had his breath catching in his throat sharply, recognition hitting like a truck – and when his vision caught up with his other sense, that same breath escaped him in a sudden rush.

The stones they’d charged together had been somehow shaped into solid, thick-banded rings.

How? It had been a year already, and he couldn’t imagine how they’d held their charge for so long, much less been forged so perfectly into this shape. The luster was even preserved, and he could feel the same energy…

And… they were rings, so…

So.

Yata took in another breath. “Saruhiko…”

“I made a deal with the Captain,” Saruhiko cut him off. When Yata looked up, he was met with a wary, tentative sort of gaze. “I’m guessing he planned this from the start, since his condition was for me to take on some jobs for him on this plane. If we’re contracted like this, I’ll be able to move back and forth between the two planes, which makes me a convenient resource.” He clicked his tongue. “It’s kind of irritating when you fall into his pace, but it can’t be helped. Not like I was going to turn him down.”

Yata seriously didn’t want to think about Munakata in that moment. “Right, sure, I get it,” he agreed impatiently, eyes dropping to the rings again. There was a fierce anticipation building in the pit of his belly. “What are you offering here?”

Saruhiko shifted again, if anything looking even more awkward. “The contract is in the rings,” he mumbled. “Either one of us can end it any time if we throw it away or give it back – that’s what you wanted, right?” Once again, without waiting for an answer, he added, “It’s… also what I want. To be with you.” When Yata raised his gaze again, it was in time to catch a telling hint of red spreading across Saruhiko’s pale cheeks. “If you’ll have me.”

“Are you kidding me?” Yata could feel traitorous tears welling up in his eyes, elation bubbling up through his entire body. He reached out to close his hand over Saruhiko’s, feeling the comforting glow of the rings between their fingers, and leaned in to capture a fierce kiss, pouring all of his happiness into the motion. When they broke apart, he smirked, letting his eyes go lidded. “Course I’ll have you, dumbass – why the hell else would I put up with you for a whole year?”

“Who knows.” The tremor in Saruhiko’s voice belied the mocking drawl he was trying to go for, but he smiled back, relaxing enough to lean his forehead against Yata’s and shutting his eyes to let out a shaky sigh before adding, “Maybe you’re just a masochist.”

“Pretty sure that’s you, you fucking gloomy-ass workaholic!” Yata didn’t bother holding the deep affection back from his voice; it came out throaty, but he didn’t care, staring deeply into Saruhiko’s eyes when he opened them again and feeling fierce contentment fill him. “So this… this means you’re staying, right? You’ll live here?”

“That’s the idea.” Saruhiko freed his hand and the rings, leaning back far enough to take hold of Yata’s left hand and holding the moonstone ring up between his fingers. He hesitated, watching Yata’s face keenly. “Do you accept the contract?”

He knew enough now to guess that this required a clear answer. “Yeah,” he responded seriously, returning the gaze with all the conviction he could throw into it. “I accept it, Saruhiko.”

The sensation that poured into him when the ring was slipped onto his finger was achingly familiar; Yata felt the sting of tears once again at the welcoming pulse of warmth and sunlight. There was a different energy behind it now, too – heavy and full of promise.

It matched how he was feeling right then. “Here.” Yata reached out to take the sunstone ring. “Let me.” It was given up to him without any resistance, and he picked up Saruhiko’s left hand, glancing up. “Do you? Accept it, I mean.”

Saruhiko’s eyes were half-mast; the tiny smile already on his face widened ever so slightly. “Yes, Misaki. I accept.”

When he slid the ring home, he wasn’t prepared for the sudden shift in the energy of the room – a kind of ‘click’, as if something had just fallen into place. And then alongside his own happiness, he could feel another, separate sense of joy – and something like triumph.

Yata jerked his gaze up, startled. “Wait – Saruhiko – is this…?”

The smile on Saruhiko’s face widened into a smirk. “Right, I forgot to mention,” he drawled. “Since the contract is in the rings and you happen to be wearing one, the emotion-sharing goes both ways.”

“How the hell could you forget to mention, you – ?” Yata cut off there, feeling the little trickle of smug amusement from that other source, and shook his head ruefully. Well, not like I mind. Still, it was stronger than he would’ve expected, the blend of relief and happiness and contentment. Almost overwhelming, but not in a bad way. It matched his own feelings perfectly. “Seriously, you gotta warn me about this shit!”

Saruhiko gazed at him through his lashes, that little smirk lingering on his lips. “That would’ve spoiled the surprise.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He had to admit, it was a good surprise – on top of everything else, it felt satisfying to have things go both ways between them. It would probably take a little while to get used to, but he was gonna enjoy every second. Yata grinned back. “You’re a liar, by the way. You said you’d never felt emotions like mine, remember? But yours seem just as strong to me right now!”

The sense of contentment only increased – he couldn’t tell if it was Saruhiko’s or his. Maybe both. It didn’t really matter, either way. “I learned from the best,” Saruhiko murmured, and leaned in to capture Yata’s lips again.

[fountainpenguin]

P & Q

P: How much do you plan in advance versus letting the story unfold as you go?

Story-wise, ends and general events are always planned early on (All 130 Prompts, most of Identity Theft, Hawthorn Haven, Little Imperfections, No Anesthetic, Factor It In, Devil’s Backbone, and so on are already planned even though I won’t be posting some of these things for years), so it’s just a matter of doing the actual writing. Beginnings come next and middles come last.

For me, writing is a matter of saying, “Here is my destination. Where are we coming from and how do we get there?” Depending on what I’m writing, sometimes where I’m coming from is the previous chapter, sometimes it’s a specific point in my timeline. Chapters don’t require a lot of set-up because readers should more or less remember what’s recently happened to a character, but with one-shots I have to clarify not only the setting, but recent events as best as I can. There’s a different mindset there.

Origin, Knots, and the Prompts are divided into over a hundred different files in Google Docs, so I can’t give an accurate word count, but I probably have 200k words on hand for both Origin and Knots and at least 300k for the Prompts. I wrote scenes I consider significant early on and I’m working my way towards them, correcting inconsistencies along the way.

What I plan worldbuilding-wise for a fantasy series is another topic altogether (Expanded on below the cut).

Sociopolitical Aspects

For my Mario works, for example, the first thing planned was how the Koopa Kingdom is laid out, and where the Koopalings fit into my ideas. Then it was a matter of deciding which parts of canon I want to draw from and what I want to do with it. I didn’t rule out the new kingdoms revealed in Odyssey, but I definitely didn’t erase Sarasaland and the Beanbean Kingdom either. I worked out the political systems of a few countries, what the social norms and big crimes are, and the basics of Bowser’s inclination towards violence.

I have a document noting what the people of each land are called and what their native languages are so I don’t have to worry about contradicting myself later, which has been extremely useful. I even determined populations for different kingdoms, with the Mushroom Kingdom at about 235 million people, the Koopa Kingdom almost twice that, and the Beanbean Kingdom a measly 4 million. Even if this info never comes up in story, it helps me understand how people interact with one another and fit into this system.

In my FOP works, I worked out the history of Fairy/Anti-Fairy conflicts, drawing from aspects of canon such as the known war over human godchildren. The Pixies fit in there too as the neutral party. Then there’s the matter of fitting in the aliens and humans. Deeper yet, the Ghosts and Beasts. Figuring out the international relationships up front works best for me, and then I can later determine how characters with this background interact in this environment.

In my Danny Phantom works, I drew from a comment Butch made once that although King Pariah was a tyrant, he did keep the Ghost Zone organized and it’s fallen to chaos since he was overthrown. I worked out Ghost-Skeleton relations, how the Observants play into things, and what the space within the world might be like.

In my WordGirl works, determining how Hexagon functions was crucial to what I decided to do with Kid Math: In this case, his planet is obsessed with math to the point they only have spoken language, not a written one. They use numbers and mark up blueprints, but written language is for the Lexiconians [Insert snobby scoffing].

When writing Rhyme and Reason backstory, I worked out how common powers are, how those with certain powers are treated by society, what kind of education kids with powers get pushed towards, what laws might exist, how many heroes there might be, and how police involvement works in cities that have heroes. In this alternate world, there are things called charm schools that are “finishing schools” for kids with powers, and Rhyme was almost sent to one until she ran away.

Physical Aspects

I made the Mushroom Kingdom an archipelago and chose Indonesia as my main inspiration country, researching the climate, seasons, plants, and meals typically found there. I know exactly when the dry season ends and the wet season starts and how this affects the Piranha Plants.

In FOP, I understand the landscapes of Fairy World and Anti-Fairy World, what kinds of mountains and water features they can have, and the flora and fauna found in each location. I know ways to move between locations, what travel is possible with magic, and what happens in times there isn’t any magic. I know what the major buildings are, where they are, and what they do.

In my DP works, there are certain stable parts of the Ghost Zone and certain unstable parts. It’s easy to get lost if you’re new there and not used to things moving around, but as you learn the rules of the world, you’re able to identify landmarks. I know which populations live where and what those landscapes are like. I came up with rules for how lairs work and how far things can move about the Zone. I know how things work and which characters know X amount of information about their surroundings.

Cultural Aspects

I pored over a LOT of small details in canon for my Mario works. I took painstaking notes about the Soybean civilization, the ancient Luffs, the fallen Bask Kingdom, and all sorts of historical tidbits and worked those into modern canon. Some stuff didn’t cross my path during my personal gameplay, but I like knowing about it anyhow.

I considered Peach’s pathway to becoming queen and how she fits her role, especially compared to her predecessors. I made stars important in Mushroom Kingdom culture and the moon important in Koopa culture. I created lore for why karting exists, canonizing all locations and the general idea of kart racing even if I’m not going to make every kart track canon or organize each game in a timeline.

FOP worldbuilding involved gathering as much canon from the show as possible, collecting info from folklore, plucking bits and pieces from insect and bat biology, and marrying the three together. It was important to me to give Fairy World a distinct culture different from any on Earth, and really examine how magic affects daily life in this world.

Anthropomorphizing insect behaviors gave me Fairies who lick faces as a form of greeting and who favor those with freckles above those without. Not exactly accurate to show canon, but it works great. Gyne and drone relationships have been fun to build, and I made sure my timeline included points in the past where such relations were different than modern times. Changes in relationships over time is something that really fascinates me.

Anti-Fairy World also gets a unique culture. Since they’re evil antagonists in show canon, I certainly didn’t want to race-code them like any group of people on Earth. I’ve tried to design them their own culture, heavily inspired by bats and a belief in luck above all. Bats aren’t sociosexual, but they are promiscuous, so I don’t stick wholly to bat behaviors either: they’re partially based on bonobos. Most importantly, I made sure everything I did was fun for me to write.

With my particular writing style, it works to have deep, complex culture for the Anti-Fairies. If I wanted to write short, lighthearted pieces, that would impact where my worldbuilding priorities lay (Probably lots of cute holiday traditions and less focus on why Anti-Fairy culture revolves around causing others harm).

General Research

Heights, timelines, food, and clothes are all things I settle as soon as possible, and I keep ref sheets on hand so I can fact check myself at a glance. Fairies and Anti-Fairies, being a species who live in the clouds, have easier access to silkworms than cotton plants. That determines what their clothing is made of, what products are expensive, and what gets worn on certain occasions. 

I draw from canon where possible, using screenshots or known character heights (Mario canonically 5′1″) and comparing them to others. Being of a different height can impact how others view you. Dining etiquette is a fun cultural difference that can create conversation or social awkwardness and really set the mood.

With fanfics, I dig as deep as I can. Did you know Wario canonically doesn’t know how old he is because his mom never threw him a birthday party? Or that he keeps a matchbox of ants in his cabinet and is “waiting until they worship him as a god”? I drink details like this by the gallon.

I prefer nailing this stuff down before getting far in my writing because that’s what works for me personally. I worldbuild further over time as I think up new questions I didn’t already have answers for.

Unique Aspects

Magic systems are complex. They generally take me longest and are more work than play. I like to have an outline of how a magic system works, write the story, figure out what I absolutely need magic to do and what I don’t want it to do, and then tighten the system during the revision process. For example, I weakened shapeshifting in my FOP works so you can’t easily hold another form while aroused- I personally didn’t want age changes to be involved in lovemaking. That expanded to making it hard to hold a form when you’re drunk too.

It was important to me in my Mario works to have 1-Up mushrooms exist and be capable of saving your life, but I also needed a reason why people don’t walk around with 99 lives and consume 1-Ups at all times. After wrestling with plans for a while, I decided to make them time-sensitive. You have to consume them often to have more than one life on a regular basis, and they’re pretty rare. As long as I can justify why someone has access to this rare item, I can utilize a 1-Up’s power, but I can also justify killing someone off if enough time has passed since they last consumed one.

With Fairly OddParents, I’d seen enough episodes to understand the basics of wishes, magical backup, and Da Rules. When I became serious about writing FOP ‘fics, I started noting the times Cosmo and Wanda failed to use magic for reasons other than Da Rules (Not in sync with each other, low battery, lack of belief in magic, Big Wand toppled over, etc.) and built my version of the FOP magic system to accommodate as many of these “inconsistencies” as I could. My take on magic is complex, but I can stretch the system many ways, so it works great for me.

Will I use everything I’ve worldbuilt in story? I might not say it directly, but having a pool of information I can draw from helps me find ways to flesh out a character’s life. Some stuff makes it in, other stuff is only vaguely glimpsed. To me, diving into worldbuilding is fun. Taking what I have and creating something with it is even more fun. I could whip out a bunch of one-shots about basic slice-of-life events without doing all this work, but tying my stories to social, political, or culture aspects of the world is what I really enjoy.

Q: Do you have any discarded scenes/storylines/projects?

//Laughs

I don’t like deleting things, so I move them to scrap docs instead. Origin, Knots, and the 130 Prompts each have a scrap file of 50+ pages (91 pages of scrapped Prompt scenes) and I can usually remember keywords so the deleted scenes are easy to search for if I need them. Some get recycled, even back into the same chapter I originally deleted them from, but a lot stay dead because they were either irrelevant or inconsistent with the final material. 

Fortunately for me, I have a good memory of what I kept vs. what I scrapped. I’ve compiled some favorites in my deviantArt Sta.sh and linked them in my FOP sideblog because they’re my version of sketchdumps. Even if they’re unfinished, I still think they’re interesting to look at.

For some reason I don’t delete much from my standalone one-shots, just my multi-chapter stuff. Most of what enters my standalones survives.

The projects I’m most hurt to have left hanging are my Total Drama stories The Beatin’ Path and Lions Under Palm Trees, keeping with my tradition of writing stories about eliminated contestants at that season’s elimination location from the perspective of the first character eliminated. I have a good 15k words written for the former and 25k for the latter, and I just… let them slip through my fingers in favor of Fairly OddParents years ago.

Arguably letting them go is for the best because I took the “cartoon physics are canon” concept and RAN with it, so I have an entire plot arc about one character coming into puberty and having his ability to utilize cartoon physics switch on for the first time. I personally consider Lions one of my best works in terms of matching my niche interests, but the acknowledgement of cartoon physics does stray from Total Drama canon, and I just couldn’t get over that enough to keep posting it.

Some of my all-time favorite scenes and characterizations are in these stories. I’m glad I have what I do for myself because these works make me smile even all these years later, buuut it’s probably best if I keep most of this nonsense private. This is probably my favorite snippet of the entire Lions draft, though:

“What’s in the box?”

Don’t say the hearts of small animals, don’t say the hearts of small animals.

“Stuff for my girlfriend.” It wasn’t untrue.

The least loved always end up my favorites somehow. I’m still so in love with my delusional wizard. I honestly might love Leonard more than I love any of the FOP characters I write about nowadays; he was the best I ever had. I mean, look at this FREAKING CHILD-

====

“Hand me my dice.”

Beardo dropped the dice in his hand. Leonard rolled them across the grass. Nine. He groaned. But, obediently, he knelt and poked his head inside the damaged zeppelin.

“Roll me an observance check.”

“Snake eyes.”

“Seriously? It’s dark. Try again. Higher this time.”

Beardo gave the dice another toss. “Lucky lucky seven.”

Leonard let out a high whistle between his front teeth. “No response,” he said after a moment. “I don’t think there are any animals down there, except maybe a few rats and some bugs. All right, I’m jumping down. Keep an eye on my back.”

He slid through the gap and dropped out of sight. Beardo heard him say, “Lux up,” and click the penlight on his keychain.

====

“Incriminatus, television.”

No reaction.

“Incriminatus, television.”

No reaction. The Christmas advertisements blared on. Leonard raised his wand to his eye, then slapped the tip a few times against his palm. “Come on, wand. Tammy isn’t here anymore. Why aren’t you working? I still believe in you.”

The door eased open. “Hey, Leonard,” Jen said in a voice of false cheerfulness. “I got your toothbrush out of… the other room.”

Leonard didn’t try to switch off the TV and faced the window instead. “Brushing teeth is for people who can’t do it with magic.”

====

“Wait.” Leonard raised both hands above his head, squeezing his eyelids tight. “Wait. What you’re saying is, Scarlett pulled a Courtney to the extreme and hid her secret identity as an ‘evil’ mastermind supervillain shaman queen this entire time. She played a character so well that even her closest friend – not to mention Chris – couldn’t see through her act until she chose to reveal herself. At which point she then convinced everyone that she was actually said ‘evil’ mastermind supervillain. You’re telling me there was a LARPing goddess in my presence, and I completely missed it.”

“I didn’t put it in those words for a reason,” Jasmine said, “but at its core, yes.”

Leonard pressed his hands to his cheeks and stared into his salad. “Holy flipping plot twist. I am so turned on right now.”

“No,” Jasmine said, jabbing him in the chest with one finger, “No you are not.”

Amy clicked her tongue. “Leonard, you have a girlfriend.”

“Not anymore. That’s it. I’m breaking up with Tammy for real this time.”

Beardo slapped him on the back of the head and made a sound like a police siren.

====

One Lions chapter was named “Baa Baa Blackmail” if that tells you anything. Ah, memories… It’s probably for the best if these projects stay retired, but I love them so very much.

Fanfic Ask Meme

[rosymiz]

When did you think about the story? It's so lovely written, everything seems so real, I love it. Talk with us about how you build the story

*rubs hands* Please. Take a seat, stay a while, and I shall tell the story. 

It all started when my best friend @bekkodraws drew THIS. By this time, she’s already dragged me deeper into League AND this ship. It wasn’t until less than a month later that I proposed an idea I had for a fanfic to her, based on that artwork, when we both didn’t want to see any more rape/non-con shit in the JhinSona tags and needed more fluff.

Originally, Like A Rose was planned to be a series of drabbles. But as I kept expanding on the story, I realized I’ll have to write the drabbles in another work instead (so yes, you will have more coming from me eventually).

It took a lot of research and character analysis, especially for Jhin, in the beginning. He had all these quotes and lore that I had to break apart to piece his personality together. It was even harder for Sona since she barely had anything to work with, so I took the liberty to create some headcanons and work that into her character in this story. I can talk more on headcanons and characterization for another ask, if any of you are curious! >vo)b

Not to mention I had to read so many other lores to get everyone’s to connect to each other… It was a lot of reading and dissecting stories. I had to make sure everything fit according to League’s current universe. There are many references I use throughout the story, mostly quotes and Jhin’s lore. 

I also had to do some research on compulsions and other’s and my own experiences to understand how recovery works so I can also show Jhin’s progress in curing himself through Sona’s help. It’s not entirely accurate per se, since I wanted to keep this a little shorter and dramatic. Recovery, in reality, takes a long time and a lot of effort to overcome disorders. You will have your ups and downs, but as long as you don’t give up and keep taking that step forward, (as Sona says) “you are well on your way to attaining the harmony you desire.”

A lot of Like A Rose were able to happen because my best friend was there to give me her opinions and thoughts as I worked. Parts of the story, mostly the ending, were changed for the better, thanks to her. In a way, she’s the co-writer :)

I honestly don’t know what to say, since I have so much to talk about. But I want to keep this somewhat general. If there’s anything specific you’d like me to talk about, don’t hesitate to send me an ask! ^^

[mystech-master]

Ben 10/LOL crossover idea (remake)

Welllllll

The big lore update for League universe happened.

And the thing is, ass someone who likes things to be as accurate to canon as possible I deleted my old idea and here I will try and put it in the new canon.

If any of you here decide to shit on me cause “NEW LORE SUCKS!” or some crap, then fuck off. There is no room for you people here.

So, this is my idea for a Ben 10/League of Legends fanfiction with Ben in Piltover.

more under cut

As I said before this idea was inspired by the works of JadeTheBabe on fanfiction. Which have the idea of (SPOILERS) the Ben being sent to the other world actually being a clone while the real Ben is safe and sound back in Bellwood. The Ben in the other world is obviously distraught and super upset, but then lo and behold one of the local heroes takes him in and he joins their family. This might be a bit difficult in this new idea I have,a and him joining a family MIGHT not need to happen but We’ll wait and see.

I have lots of notes from all the new champion backstories, colortext, and short stories.

So let’s begin

Ben would arrive in Piltover, Omnitrix is fritzing for some reason, leaving Ben without his alien forms. He arrives in the middle of Caitlyn’s backstory. She’d stumble upon him in the woodlands outside of Piltover where she hunts (read the new lore if you don’t understand). She asks what Ben is doing there and he tries to get some information, of course he has no idea what “Piltover” or “Valoran” or “Runterra” are. Meanwhile Cait just thinks Ben is some Zaunite who took a drink of something that messed with his head. I mean he doesn’t dress or talk like the proper Piltovans Cait has seen, and the color green I imagine would scream Zaun.

Caitlyn, being a nice girl but also curious about this new guy (she’s not stupid so she knows Ben isn’t lying but something is still up about him, but she’s also not cruel as to leave him out in the wild), decides to take him home to see if she can help. Imagine Ben’s surprise when he finds out Caitlyn comes from a wealthy family. But this is also the day that her home was ransacked and her parents kidnapped.

Ben, being the hero and nice guy he is, decides to help Caitlyn track down the assholes who did this. Cait is obviously surprised that Ben is helping her even though they just met. Not too sure how long it would take, but probably a while. After tracking them down and helping free them (during which the Omnitrix finally snaps back to life and Ben uses his powers to fight, without the bad guys knowing as Ben wants his secret identity back, said to ultimate Kevin remember) Ben and Cait manage to free her parents from the Rival clan that kidnapped them and return home.

Obviously Caitlyn and her family are curious about the Omnitrix and ask after returning home and seeing him transform and after an explanation from Ben they are shocked. Seeing as the Omnitrix has just as much, if not more, power than any Hextech or Chemtech device made in Piltover or Zaun.

To Ben’s surprise, he is told by Caitlyn’s mother NOT to use the Omnitrix. Ben of course has had this argument with his own parents before and says he will continue to help people. But Caitlyn understands now. her mother warned her about the dark side of Piltover but she was too naive, about how wealth and power in Piltover can make one do horrible things in order to maintain it.

The threats in Piltover aren’t ones Ben can fight without large consequences or bringing unwanted attention to himself.

Unfortunately, he already has the attention of someone. Camille Ferros has acquired information about a strange creature appearing at the site of the rescue of Caitlyn’s parents AND she is now aware of the new addition to their household. Naturally Camille is smart and tries to find info on the boy, but it turns out he doesn’t exist. So she keeps her eye on him.

So Ben is now with Caitlyn’s family and trying to find a way home, but (much like most of U10′s fanfics go) Paradox shows up and tells “Ben” about him not being the real Ben, which kind of messes him up. Cait’s family, being nice guys and not total douches, then take him in as their own as sort of repayment for helping free them from the Clan Master that abducted them. Plus Ben and Cait still need to find this mysterious “C” character that organized this little kidnapping.

The technological differences in Piltover can be a bit difficult for Ben, seeing as he lived in a world of Alien tech far beyond Earth capabilities. I mean they still have chamber pots in this world, which are WAY in Earth’s past right now. But the rich folks have access to plumbing, so that’s one bonus to getting picked up by Caitlyn.

Cait’s family are intrigued by hearing Ben’s tales or heroism and even more impressed by his Alien forms. They even believe the intellectual forms like Brainstorm and Grey Matter could assist in the creation of new Hextech Devices. hey grey Matter can make random junk into weapons it could happen, of course Ben wouldn’t go too overboard as to draw suspicion to himself.

Of course Piltover, while a nice looking place, is a bit too stuck up for Ben’s taste. It’s like hanging with Gwen’s preppy college classmates some of the time. So, when he hears about the undercity of Zaun he gets curious. He’s heard a lot of bad stuff about Zaun but he decides to see it for himself.

This part is difficult to decide since, based on Orianna’s backstory, the incident which caused the infamous Zaun Gray (the poisonous mist that plagues Zaun) happened fairly recently. This of course goes on the idea that Orianna left home at the end of her story very recently, like a year or two at most maybe. Who knows maybe Ben even hears about the incident and goes to help out in any way he can and he ends up meeting Orianna (more on that later).

While in Zaun he could end up meeting a few people we may know, like Vi and Ekko. Ben being a hero of course stops robberies, so he might end up butting heads with them, especially if they learn that he’s living/working for “Pilties”. But who knows, maybe if Ben saves their asses from something or they get to know him a bit more they might go a bit softer on him. Like a weird friendly rivalry. More on that after the Zaun update.

There’s also the possible drama of Ben learning about the Sun Gates and how a large portion of Zaun was flooded. That might get Ben a BIT pissed at Piltover for fucking over a bunch of innocent people all for the sake of profit and progress.

Of course all the while Cait is doing her Private Investigator thing eventually going on to becoming a Piltover sheriff. Ben sometimes calls in a favor if he’s looking into something (good to have friends in certain places). Cait did ask Ben if he wanted to join her in the criminal catching business. But Ben wasn’t all in for being a cop, too many restrictions and sometimes the law does end up getting in the way of a superheroes work sometimes.

Now since Piltover is the cultural center of Valoran so Ben can learn about the current events going on in Valoran. Bildgewater’s power vacuum, rumors of the ancient city of Shurima rising, the Freljordian civil war, and also Noxus’ conquering ways. I mean Noxus relies highly on Piltover for trade and navigation highly (also with the possible invasion coming). Ben of course having dealt with the Incursions plus he has the fucking Omnitrix so he’ll be able to handle anything Noxus can throw at them. Ben must be wary of course since Noxus is all about Power and strength and aren’t people to be messed with (I totally think they’d be willing to cut off Ben’s hand to get the Omnitrix, unlike Sunder who had his alien axe I mean totally bloody). Whether Ben actual starts going worldwide and kicking evil ass is up to you.

 Now as for meeting other champions, Ben meeting Vi would give Ben flashbacks of Kevin. Former criminal turning crime fighter. Plus Vi being from Zaun means she is able to catch onto Ben’s more casual/less proper attitude than most Piltovans.

Okay Let’s get to the more recent Champion and possibly one of Ben’s biggest threats in Piltover: Camille Ferros. as the, in the words of the writers, “Cyborg MI6 Mary Poppins” has eyes on everyone who could threaten the balance of Piltover and Zaun. Said balance basically says Piltover’s rich proper families remain on top and rich and are fully willing to fuck over everyone else to keep it that way, and Zaunites must remain in the shit hole and work off Piltover and can never rise to be any better. Now Ben would be all for helping out the Zaunites and maybe feel pity for them. Plus, he isn’t one for helping corrupt noblemen screwing over innocent people, even if they aren’t prim and proper sophisticates like the Piltover Clan members.

So yeah since Ben has the alien power of the Omnitrix which is a massive unpredictable wild card in this world she of course is fully ready to kill him if he threatens the balance. Camille is a highly trained agent and killer as the Principal Intelligencer of Clan Ferros, and while Ben has taken on alien armies, alien warlords, and has fought god-like beings, but has no proper training. Wonder how that fight would go.

That’s the first part of my idea, I will give more later once they finally give the Zaun update.