#if there was a small bit of a plot. that would help this book otherwise its just like. season by seasonw eird stuff happening.

[oysterie]

Went back to lapvona decided to finish it. I don't think anything has happened this whole book 👍

[writer-logbook]

How to get back into writing: a 5-steps guide

As someone who hasn't written anything in a decade, this is what I did to get back into writing seriously.

Identify which archetype of writer fits me better. You may have heard George R.R. Martin saying there are two types of writers: gardeners and architects. Whether you believe in that statement or not isn't relevant per se, but the actual meaning behind that point is that you need to get to know yourself as a writer, how you work, what you need, etc., so you can adapt your environment to achieve your goals. Speaking of which…Gentle reminder : you're a person not a robot. You are allowed to work the way you want to, and not to follow whatever pieces of advice that are linked to these archetypes.

Set a realistic word count/session I can stick to over the long term. When you're a 9-6 office employee, it's not always easy to find time to write and sometime our day at work got the very best of us. Having that in mind, I set my word count up to 200-500 words per session or 1 chapter per week (they're rather small in my case). Gentle reminder : babysteps are better than no-step at all.

If I'm not writing, fine, I'll do some research or anything else. Your story will always require something from you. When I'm not in the mood for writing, there are two options : forcing myself or doing what I call para-writing. For instance it's : reading articles or books about improving my writing style, improving my worldbuilding, drawing a map of my city etc. This are not things that would appear in the novel but it would guide me throughout the process the way a walking-stick would do for an injured man. Gentle reminder : you always find something useful to do but at the end of the day, you still have to write.

Have a general idea of what I want to tell. I won't lie, I've plotted my entire novel from the very beginning to the very end, which means I know exactly what to write and when. If you're against having a defined plot, I'm no one to judge, but having at least the key events or the major points will definitely help you. Like a lighthouse, it will help you navigate through the mists of confusion or hesitation. Gentle reminder : It's better to know where to go even if you end up losing yourself along the journey. Having the map doesn't mean you have to follow it, but rather when you can allow yourself to take a step to the side.

Write something I enjoy. A bit cliché I admit, but it's the best advice I could give. You'll spend hours, days, weeks - even years !- on that story so better buckle up to something you really want to write. Otherwise the risk is to abandon that hard-work you've done halfway through the process. No one needs that frustration and that self-doubting questionnings. No one. Not you. Not even me. Gentle reminder : it's okay to want readers and reviews but I promise you, your writing will be really different on something you trully want to share...Remember how pissful it was to write an essay for class you didn't want to ?

[writingwithcolor]

Avoiding the white savior of the kingdom

@ceo-of-angst asked:

Okay so I'm writing a fantasy series. There's two main kingdoms though there is a third but that one doesn't have to do anything with this ask. Both of them are likely as big as a continent each so there are different climates everywhere, therefore there's a lot of diversity even within one country. The issues mostly is between the two kingdoms nationality wise, as there's a war. The prince of one of the kingdoms kills his older brother to gain the throne. This is where the issue starts. They have a younger (half)sister who ends up leading a revolution bc of her brother's bad rule (famine, war, dictatorship and incantation or sentence to fight to the death in war to anyone who doesn't obbey the government etc), she's white, she's helped by my main cast who are all poc (one of them also from nobility) from the other kingdom and I don't want to accidently make it a white savior She's not my main character though if anything we only see into her pov bc of a difference between kingdoms in book 2. Most of the pov is on my main cast so I don't know how this could pay out.

Add diversity to the kingdom

There is a simple solution: don’t make one kingdom all-white or all-BIPOC. Add in diversity and mixed race. You seem to already be doing that, and it’s not an issue of race but rather tyranny. White saviorism is when only a white character can solve a problem for BIPOC and they’re seen as the hero. If it’s a team effort, where your protagonist is fallible but well-intentioned, you should be fine. -Jaya

Questions to ask yourself

This critique got levied at Tamora Pierce’s Trickster series, and it’s a pretty valid critique of the books—every time you have a white person as a figurehead of an otherwise-diverse movement, you’re going to start getting into why this white person, and why then?

It’s especially salient if you have the person come into an already-established rebellion movement. Is her involvement the thing that gets the privilege necessary to make the movement valid? What about her makes her the ideal top person in the organization?

Why is she white?

My first question is: why is she white? Is it related to colorism and classism? If yes, then why are you automatically making the leading group white if there’s so much diversity and so many other groups can trend extremely pale?

Why are the kingdoms so big?

My second question is: why are the kingdoms so big? It’s actually frighteningly hard to run a continent-sized country. If you’re attempting to make these single groups so big simply for ease of worldbuilding, and for diversity’s sake, know that a country does not have to be large to contain a multitude of groups. You are allowed to have political rivalry in a small area and still maintain diversity within it.

How much privilege is she willing to give up?

My third question is: how much privilege is she willing to give up? Is she trying to take the throne for herself, or is she trying to destroy all of the structures that gave her status in the first place? Because that question will determine how willing the PoC around her are going to be. Why would they support a ruler if they’ve been subjugated by that family, with no real promise she’s going to be any different once she gets in power?

On the flipside, why would she be willing to give up any of her privilege in the name of removing her brother from the throne, and what stops her from going off the deep end once she has the ability to control others?

It’s likely doable to make this situation read as less of a white saviour, but in order to do that you’ll likely need to wask yourself a lot of hard questions about your motives and the character arc you want to have with her.

People may see a white savior, regardless

And you’ll also have to ask yourself if you’ll be comfortable with never really being able to avoid some people calling this a white saviour plot. Even if you do “everything right” and follow every bit of advice you can, there’s always going to be some people who aren’t too thrilled that the person saving everyone is white.

So examine your motives, really nail down what you’re trying to show with this, and come to terms with not making everyone happy no matter what you do.

~Mod Lesya

[lady-ashfade]

A day of thanks.

Dark yandere house of the dragon x Fem!reader

Plot: It’s the day of thanks in kingslanding and your family has tried to make it a good one. Though everyone was always fighting for you attention they toned it down just for you or, did it behind your back. You shared your thanks with everyone close to you, but that only lead to blood being shed. 

Taglist: @dangerousbluebirdpoetry @second-try-stevie @prettyinblack231

This is a bit darker then what I normal wrote but it’s not the long so it’s fine.

Warnings: Dark yanderes tendencies, yandere tendencies, obsession, unhealthy relationships, blood, death. And being the center of a crazy family. Also editing this late so I don’t even know what words even are.

“You look beautiful my lady.” Your maiden, Nrya spoke to you as she finished up dressing you. You looked at yourself in the mirror and gazed at your body. A red and green dress that you had made just to represent both family colors, you had thousands of dresses from red and black to green but this one was different. Green dangling earrings and a red gem necklace.

Your maiden caught you playing with the rings on your finger, “Is it not to your liking?” She asked and you quickly reassured her otherwise. “No it’s not that. I look good, you did a good job. But my thoughts are taken over about what the day will hold. It’s the yearly feast to celebrate one other but my family doesn’t really care for it.” Rolling your eyes at the many fights you have witnessed over the years.

“I just wonder if today will be any different. I want one day were my family acts like well, family. It’s just sometimes they get so caught up over their own petty reasons and just- Forgive me, I should not put my problems onto you.” Waving your hand to apologize and take her hand into yours. You heard her say you didn’t need to be sorry but you cut her off.

“I got you a gift.” Her brows frowned and her head tilted in confusion. “Me? Your grace I can’t not except-” Gigging you pulled her to your deck and sighed for her to wait. She crosses her hands and watched as you opened the drawer and pulling out a tiny bow. “I think you’ll like it.” You pushed out the box and she took it from your hands.

Cautiously and slowly she opened it up, you could tell she was nervous and didn’t know what to do. But when her eyes met the necklace of a small dragon figure with a red gem in the middle her eyes went wide. It was just like the one you had, it was something to cherish for the rest of her days. “I- I can’t not expect this.” You pushed out your lip. “You can and you will, it’s a order of the princess.” She laughed not know what else to do.

“I think you deserve to be well rewarded for helping and dealing with me for years. A good friend you become.” Grabbing the necklace you went behind her and she brushed her hair out of the way. “I would do it free of charge.” The smile never leaving your face as you clipped the chain together.

“But you never have too.” Placing you head on her shoulders as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was the same way you did earlier but the roles reversed. “Today is the day of thanks. You are someone I am thankful for.” Her cheeks flushed and tears in her eyes began to swell up. Nrya never felt this appreciated or loved. You always were kind to her. But this was something she never expected.

“As I am of you.” 

The morning was quiet to say the least. You spent time with the younger children to brighten your day before the day furthers. You had a small book in your hand reading some stories the children didn’t seem to care for since they were focused on their toys. The doors opened and you saw Alicent walk through in a beautiful green dress, her eyes met yours and her happiness showed.

“My daughter.” She walked over to you and kissed you forhead, “The gods gave me you to be thankful.” You smiled at her. “The gods gave me you as a mother. I think I’m more thankful.” She took your face into her hands softly while her eyes scanned your face lovingly. “That’s not possible.” Her attention stayed on your for a moment before she let you go and walked over to Aegons and Helaenas children.

The other child in the nursery were rhaenryas and daemons children. “Is it almost time for the festivities to begin?” Placing the book down. She agreed and kissed her blood grandchildren goodbye before heading back over to you and taking you arm in hers. “I have made sure to make the servants make everything you like.” And with that you both walk out and to the gardens outside.

When you arrived you saw your family actually smiling and looking like they were having a decent time. Aemond and Aegon were over by the wine, jace and Luke were by the small food platers, Helaenas was sitting at the table next to Otto both of them not saying a word but looking relaxed. Rhaenrya and daemon also sitting at the table but talking to Viserys who was at the frontend of the table.

Alicents grip on your arm while Aegon was the first to notice you. “Dear sister.” He called out and everyone turned their eyes onto you. Everyone wanted to get to you first but Aemond and Aegon were first to make it. “You look beautiful as always.” Alicent let go of your arm but aemond was quick to take you into his. Rubbing his back, “Thank you.”

He pulled back and stepped to your side but his arm still placed on your waist, Aegon smirked at you. “Did dressing take you all morning sister? I thought you died in the bath.” He joked. “I was spending time with the children.” You answered and he just rolled his eyes in return. The three of your focus turned to see the other brothers rushing over to you. Aemond almost didn’t let you go but you got away from him before he could do anything.

“Luke, jace.” You pulled them into a tight hug while they wrapped their arms around you. “I am mostly great full of you.” Luke muttered into your left. “I think I have him bet on that one.” Jace said in your neck on the right. Laughing as you pulled them both back. “Don’t let your mother hear.” They shook their heads but your heart flutters as jace takes your hand in his and kissed the skin. “I’m sure we all agree that you’re what we are thankful for the most.” Your cheeks heated up at the kind action.

Aemond and Aegon watched with a tighten jaw’s in jealously watching the boys get all your attention. The way you smiled and as jace kissed your hand made aemond want to kill him, Aegon was just jealous you weren’t paying him any attention. When you walked away to go to the table the boys stared at each other. Jace and Luke smirked at them showing they were proud to steal you away even for a second. Aemond’s eye darkened but he remembered his promise- What everyone promised.

That they would be civil for you.

“Darling.” Rhaenryas cheerful voice called out to you as she kissed your cheek, daemon pulled you in for a side hug and a pat. Since they were close to Viserys his attention was solely on you as he smiled up at you. “My dear girl.” He took your hand in his and you leaned over to kiss his head. “How are you feeling today father?” He just nodded his head and continued to smile. “The gods bless me on today. I feel nothing but happiness.”

“That’s good to hear.” He let go off your hand and you made your way over to Helaena and Otto while they eagerly awaited you. “I hope you both are enjoying yourself.” Otto smiled and nodded while Helaena patted her seat and you sat down next to her while there was some time to spar. You engaged in conversation with both of them when your attention went back on Helaena when she stared right into your eyes.

“Blood spilled over a chain.” She scared you for a minute because she seemed fearful but turned her attention to the plate on the table. Before you could question her everyone was called to the table and you had to change chairs. You got up and moved only a few chairs down, you sat at the end with your father and your mother on the other side. You were sitting across from rhaenrya and daemon to which they were happy about even though they wanted you to be closer to them.

“As the years have passed I have been welcomed to new faces to be great full for, my children, my grandchildren. All of you. I thank the gods each second, I hope that we can all stay as a family for the rest of our days.” He spoke in a breathy manner and grabbed onto your hand as he spoke. You raised your cup and agreed and everyone followed then their plates become full and everyone started to eat- Not before Alicent said prayer and you could hear daemon huff about it.

You watched as everyone was talking and laughing…It felt like a true family dinner. You’ve spent years trying to get them all together and today it was finally coming true. “I’d like to make a toast.” Raising yourself with your cup in hand. “I would like to toast to my father and mother, they took me in when I was a babe and to them I’m grateful. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. I have a family now and you all are the most wonderful people I have to love. To my brothers, to my sisters, to my uncle and grandfather and to my nephews and nieces. You truly are my blessing from the gods.” 

Alicent grabbed ahold of your other hand and squeezed it while everyone cheered and took a sip of their drinks. You watch as they continue to stare at you for a moment but then turn back to something else. “That was very heartwarming dear.” You look down at your mother to see her soft but overpowering eyes. “I was just speaking the truth.” You backed away from her and excused yourself while they all watched you leave.

“Should we follow her?” Aegon suggested. “Ser cole will follow her.” Daemon and rhaenrya shared a glance at alicents words. But you were just using the bathroom.

You were gone quite some time. You made a stop back to your rooms to get a servant to bring the gifts. Oh how you loved giving gifts, what special way to show your appreciation then giving the people you loved gifts. You couldn’t wait to get back to the gardens, you even brought one with you as you watched back with Ser Cole.

“What’s in the box?” He kept eyeing the long box you carried in your arms, it even going above your head because of the way you held it. “Do you really wish to know?” Raised a brow at him in a teasing way. “If you’re willing to tell me.” You giggled and stopped him then handed the box to him.

“It’s for you anyway I was just waiting but it might be better to do it here alone so the others wouldn’t get jealous.” He froze in disbelief and took the box carefully, “You got me something?” He was asking as if you were joking with him.

“It’s my thank you for protecting my mother all theses years and being someone I look up to.” He had to push his emotions down fearing he would cry at knowing you found him so special, and then he would hug you and he isn’t sure he would even let go. He teared the paper covering the box and placed it on the bench, he slowly opens it and you watche his every move. 

It was a sword. And really, really nice sword and the carvings and the tales on the handle were beautiful. But he looked at the middle of the blade and his name ran across it. “Do you like it?” You questioned making sure you didn’t mess up his gift and get him something he wouldn’t like.

Cole turned around quickly and pulled you into his arms not caring if he wasn’t even going to let go. If he was going to die he would love to do so in your arms, “I love it my princess.” He was delighted and you hugged him back happily. You both stood in the hallway hugging until he let go and you didn’t want to be rude and pull away first.

You made it back to the gardens a while later and you skipped back into the area your family was in. “I’m sorry I took so long, I was getting the gifts to share with all-” mouth ran dry as the pressure in your chest pulled you down and you forgot how to breath.

Blood.

There was so much blood.

Your family looked at you but you payed no mind as you looked at what was in front of you. Scanning your eyes you see a lifeless body on the ground of a woman, her head being chopped off and you looked for it’s head. The only thing you could do is fall to the ground and scream at the sight of your dearest friends head laying on the ground.

Your Nrya.

Ears falling deaf as you lost all feelings but panic and grief. You balled you eyes out, screaming for it not to be real while holding onto the ground for support. You felt your body being pulled into a warm embrace but you just continued to cry and only then did you hear the words you were always so blind to see.

“She was just a maid, you’re ours always my dear. You need no one else. You’re only going to be thankful for us.” The voice of rhaenrya whisper in your ear.

You looked over at her body and saw the necklace you got her laying on the ground covered in blood. You soon were told that’s why they killed her because they knew you were close to her. And they’d be damn to let another person be close to you because you’re only supposed to need them. You’ll come to learn in time…

No one else loves you the way they do.

[c-bookwyrm]

══ஓ๑ 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮

Constance is still, technically, a work in progress. This post may be updated over time, and this will be notated with a date at the bottom to show the last time it was updated. This post is a little long since I am just rambling about her as a whole.

First picrew (split hair is not an option, edited). Second picrew.

⁀➷ Basics

Constance is near her thirties, and had accepted the fact that her life would undoubtedly be a quiet one. She keeps to herself primarily, and while most may think this is due to her anxieties, it's only a small part of the overall reason.

She's short (5'2), has a little weight to her, and favors more earthy colors and purple when it comes to colors she wears. Likes to wear long sleeves with collars of some sort, with dark skirts. She has a few beauty marks in random places on her body, but nothing much else to note.

She's often seen carrying a very modest makeshift purse with her that she's sewn herself (not amazing at it, but proud of making it), that carries whatever journal she is on currently, as well as various pencils and a couple of books.

⁀➷ Background (Before becoming Belle)

Her upbringing to others sounds rough: orphaned, found, and raised by a man she has no blood ties to, but it's all she's ever known. She doesn't find it sad, and gets rather annoyed by the pity found in otherfs gazes when it's ever brought up. On a rare night where there are more self-depreciating thoughts than normal, she will muse on the ambiguity of her history, but otherwise she finds no point in getting beside herself as there could have been countless reasons she may had been abandoned.

It is, however, why she was so insistant on trying to help take care of Rio when he was found- even if he was rather unplesant at first. She had an inkling that if others treated him like her in that regard, it would do more damage than good. So even when he was an ass, she would still persist and chalk it up to difficulties surrounding why he lost his memory (and would scream into a pillow when it got too much, before promptly going on with her day).

She follows the canon Mc's story decently close, even working at the bookstore as well as living on her own, she develops a little outside of that. She does enjoy romance, but also various other fiction and some nonfiction as well. Most of her interest is in personal accounts of hardships, fictional or not, as well as just fantasy type of romances. She doesn't stray too far away from darker subjects, but tends not to discuss this with others.

Reading, writing, and drawing are her main hobbies. Rio does not get to view her journal for any reason, meanwhile her friend Maggie (vauge, npc-ish side character) does get to see tidbits. This is due to Maggie being part of a troupe, and enjoying the poems and stories Constance writes. One of her ideas became the inspiration for one of their preformances, but Constance refused to be mentioned in regards to it.

She's friendly with the townspeople, there are not too many people who are rude to her. When they are, it's always regarding her selective mutism. Most are patient with her when she tries to communicate (mostly through writing). Her selective mutism has been with her since Akatsuki found her, so there are older townspeople who are very used to her mannerisms regarding this.

⁀➷ Relationships (Before becoming Belle)

Maggie: She is rather vague and just an ambigious spaceholder for Constance to have someone in her life that supports her creative endevors, but not to an overwhelming manner like Rio would (he means well, but...). When Maggie's troupe is near, Constance spends a few hours a day watching them practice or preform, or spending time with Maggie outside of the troupe. Maggie is patient, but Constance is aware that her mutism causes small issues between them.

Rio: very sterotypical to the plot in this regard, however to her his love feels a bit stiffling. She loves him as a friend, and has put down some boundries so he does not overwhelm her with the shower of compliments he tries to give her. She feels very conflicted in regards to him due to how he seems to put her on a pedestal she didn't ask for, but she is too cowardly to say too much on the subject since they are close friends.

Her relationships with the princes has not been fully considered. i feel as though she would get along fine with a majority of them. Nokto may make her wary at first, as well as Chev, but she'd still persist to talk to them like normal (her heart will go a thousand miles per hour just due to all the social differences, but she'd still persist).

With Gilbert... Still being explored. The idea is that he would not look at her with pity due to the way she is- something that others do even if its unintentional. This would draw her towards him just a little, with him knowing sign making her stick even closer to him, and from there it's the way he treats her, some ideals, and smaller events between the two. Almost like a morbid curiousity over his reputation. She'd ultimately feel betrayed during a point in their relationship (spoilers), but she'd also want to stay by him as the only one who knows some secrets about her. (will try to expand when I have more braincells)

I believe Chev would treat her similarly, but she wouldn't feel much of a connection.

⁀➷ Other Details

-> Constance is someone who had believed that her life would be very simple, and while daydreamed about love at times, did not forsee herself getting married or being so involved with someone. This was due to some internal issues, but primarily she was content with this. She knew a grand adventure did not await her, and while her quiet town life left her yearning for more at times, she found that relief in stories she read/watched or penned herself. Her life was acceptible to her, and she figured that if something needed to change, she could confidently work through that. She did resign to the idea that if love was something that she truly felt she needed in life later on, then she'd more seriously consider Rio and debate her feelings on the subject more.

She became suddenly very adverse to such topics, and those close to her do not know why. They haven't broached the subject too much, save for when she snapped out of character towards Rio for his behavior with her. It took a week until she could form some sort of apology regarding it, but had to ask him to tone it down for a while. After a few months, she seemed okay again.

-> Becoming Belle terrified her. The idea of such a huge decision failing would keep her awake late at night, shaking. The idea of having to work through her speech issues terrified her, but she was trying to work through them a bit more with Rio and Sariel instead of clamming up completely. It's one thing for a stranger in town to treat her poorly over it, it's completely different when it's someone that holds power over her.

-> She finds most ease interacting with Licht, Luke, Leon, somewhat Yves, and Keith

-> She's not too fond of Nokto or Jin, but she still treats them politely. Just certain remarks make her unable to mask her distaste for the comments they can sometimes make. Silvio pisses her off.

-> Chev makes her uneasy, but she still treats him as well as the others. She isn't fond of how Clavis talks about him, but she's chalked it up to weird sibling rivalry. There's an odd comfort she can find in Chev at times but its rare it ever happens. Clavis, she's guarded with but enjoys when he's harmless.

-> She's constantly questioning her feelings towards Gilbert and is confused.

-> Can handle her alcohol well. She doesn't seem the type but theres many stormy nights where she enjoys having some alcohol while watching a light storm pass through. Hates getting drunk.

-> Has bad habits that I will not elaborate on, tied towards her random bouts of self depreciation.

⁀➷ Misc.

Constance herself became an idea with Clavis' route. I wanted to try and make an OC for him originally, since I was very in love with him. And then Gilbert needled his way through. After some daydreams of toxic polyships between them, I started forming a better idea of Constance- as previously, she was loose strings of ideas only barely connected.

She is still lose strings, but they are forming apart into a shape of a person now, and so she's slowly growing into being her own character. This got kickstarted with a song named Aura.

I don't think explaining how she came to be from that song will do a lot of good, it's vibes primarily- there is a section in the song where the singer is asking/pleading to be told when this curse of a fog will subside, and then a creaking type of noise in response. In my mind, this was a woman asking the embodiment of death when the fog that plagued them would end and life would get better. Due to my brainrot, this twisted into me visualizing this as Emma and Gilbert in a strange sense, then an Oc and Gilbert.

Constance was originally going to be a performer- she was to write this song and perform it, with Gilbert making some sly remarks about the symbolism that it could have with Obsidian. but I already have an oc like this. I didn't want to repeat. Instead, I now have Constance drafting these types of poems, songs, stories, in private. I've mused about having her publish a few things (erotica would be funny but not likely for her character), but haven't decided yet.

Last Updated : 05/28/2024

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Critique Partner Basics

What Is a Critique Partner?

A critique partner (CP) is another writer with whom you exchange writing to get feedback from each other on your drafts so you can get better. A partner for critiques!

Do I Need One?

You should really probably have one if:

You’re trying for professional publication/marketing/selling your writing

Getting better writing skills is something you aim for

Otherwise, no, not really.

Do They Cost Money?

No, they cost time and effort and mutual support.

Can’t I Just Hire an Editor Instead?

Sure, but honestly, they don’t work as well. Critiquing other people and trying to see how their story works and articulate it to help them is half of the skilling up having a CP provides.

What Does a Critique Partner Do?

This depends on the people involved and what they’re good at critiquing for and what they want help with. In general, I expect these two things from CPs:

My story document back marked up with live-reading comments from track changes or Google Docs or a PDF with annotations or whatever.

An edit letter of 1-2 pages of overall thoughts to edit towards.

The in-line edits help if something small isn’t adding up, two details don’t match, and gives me a good idea at what point something repetitive became a serious issue, so I know how much patience my CP had with a flaw before they started losing it. It’s also usually fun—this is where I get CP comments laughing at my jokes or yelling about how much they love characters or snarking at them.

In-line comments tend to look something like this:

A mix of pointing out problem spots and bits they love. Often they will fix your typos, but that's generally not what you're getting a CP for.

Edit letters are often broken into sections of things they CP wants to talk about: what they thought of the characters, the stakes, the plot, the pacing, the structure, or any other element they want to specifically call out. A lot of it will be reflective of the line edits, but since it’s written later, it tends to be more cohesive and thoughtful of how things feel by the end of the story after seeing where the entire story goes instead of the experience of puzzling it out as they read it.

Sometimes they will offer suggestions, some more specific than others. They will tell you the things that are working and the things they aren’t, ideally.

I like to also have a back-and-forth with my CP after getting notes to answer questions and brainstorm ideas. This is optional; not everyone likes this.

What Should I Look For in a Critique Partner?

Someone who likes your writing, respects your abilities as a writer, and provides feedback you find useful.

A lot of writers, especially without strong community ties, often find themselves willing to accept basically anyone who is going to read their thing and give them some notes on it. That’s a pretty surefire path to unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

I get it. I’ve done it a lot myself. But I’m going to advise you not to do it. If someone doesn’t get your writing or your story and wants to change it to something more like what they would like, that’s not helpful.

Here’s a few examples to illustrate the difference:

If your CP points out a few sentences that sound a little award or a paragraph is flat, that’s probably helpful! If they try to completely rewrite sections to better look more like their writing style, that’s probably not.

If your CP thinks maybe the story you have has themes or characters that sound more adult than YA and have you considered aging them up, that’s probably helpful! If they  suggest you age up the characters because adult books can tackle a concept that interests them and it wasn’t in your story, that’s probably not.

If your CP says the ending of your story left a lot of loose threads from subplots or other questions that were raised in the story and it feels unfinished, that’s probably helpful! If they say the ending of your story wasn’t satisfying to them because they didn’t like the message it sent to watch a character win, that’s probably not.

Basically, is your CP giving you feedback that will help you write the story you want to write? Do you both even want the same story out of the draft? Do they respect what you bring to the table?

How Do I Find One of These?

Ah, the million-dollar question.

Most writers find them through friends or writing communities they’re in. My best CPs have always been writer friends first, and then we start sending each other pages to test how well our vibes work. Make them on forums, on discord, on social media, in person writer’s groups, writing workshops and classes; whatever. You know a friend who is writing and whose writing you like and you’re both looking for someone to help edit? Great!

There are also sometimes events like CPMatch on Twitter, which are hashtag events to pitch your book and yourself as an editor to see if anyone is interested in reading it and swapping feedback with you.

Some people will run CP matchmaking. Sometimes this costs money. Personally, I don’t think I would bite for one of those, because if I didn’t get a useful CP out of it, I’d feel like it’s wasted money and time and not just time. But it is work for the matchmaker and some people are satisfied with matchmaking options, so having someone try to hook you up, for free or not, is also an option.

Websites like Critique Match also exist for the purposes of finding a CP. I don’t know how popular it is, but it’s also an option.

Most writing discords will have a “seeking feedback” channel and you can reach out there.

[laroserie]

how are we feeling about a half merperson!reader in the marauders era ? i know that merpeople have the status of 'beast' but its because they rejected the one of 'being' (like the centaurs) and are otherwise sentient beings and all that, so a half merperson half wizard isnt like bad or enter murky territory

id like to set it up in the marauders era because its my favorite era and is more easy to write a reader in, but id like for the reader to have a romantic interest, a part of me want it to be Remus but im not too sure (++kinda want to make it, like a poly!marauders situation, +lily but im not too sure people would like it)

as for sub specie, definitly not merrow (im sorry but they are just too ugly no way a wizard could have had banged one) so its either selkie or siren, selkie are a bit ugly too but i could ses a wizard rizzing one up and all, and sirens are, sirens si no problem here either

as for the features they could have, they have a regular human body, but have fins/branches on their neck and maybe arms/legs ? and probably a few scales on again, their neck and arms and legs. of course they'd be able to stay underwater like any others merpersons, but they aren't able to speak mermish fluently, they can barely manage to make a few sentences (i want to write a plot point about the reader trying to find books to help them learn it / struggling with it)

and honestly i could see a half merperson!reader be sorted into slytherin more than anything (id imagine them to be quite snarky and not shying away from using manipulation - or any techniques that they see fit to get what they want and also be quite prideful? but more so to protect themselves than be fully genuine pridefulness) but gryffindor could also work (a half merperson!reader could probably have a lot of determination, because of their nature and like have the qualities that fit both those houses lol)

again, small plot point i want to write about is, reader having beef with the magical creatures care teacher (like the teacher will be talking about underwater creatures and then turn to reader and ask them question about it, asking about their experiences with the creatures and reader is like 'its not because im half merperson that i know about those')

oh and ! reader just fighting with pure blood supremacists slytherin, not sure how to go about that, but i definitly want to write that too

anyway !! this post is to see if anyone could be interested in that ! (please tell me in the comments, reblogs or thru asks)

[whatwouldvalerydo]

The theory of blow magic - The final blow - 9/9

Warning: minor sexual references and swear words.

And it's a wrap people and what fun this comical series was. Thank you for indulging me as I wrote something comical.

Akira (@cursebreakerfarrier )and Talia have a talk because of course Talia is bored.

Often times being with Akira felt like being outside of the entire world while looking into the daily lives of others. Most days were spent isolated, other times carefully watching the moves of others as they traversed each day unknowing of the fact that a pair of immortals sat and monitored their every move.

Usually Talia would have no problem with the silence that engulfed them as they travelled at ungodly hours while the rest of the world slept, but sometimes she would be so bored she just couldn’t help taking a jab at the taciturn man beside her. Especially on slow nights when they were hunting down targets who refused to emerge from their homes or return to them.

“How does it feel to be one of the most boring eternals ever?”

Without missing a beat or looking at her, Akira blinked only once “Like I want to kill someone close.”

Scoffing she rolled her eyes “Funny, but that ship has sailed.”

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he gave her a quick side glance “Really making me question my life decisions Talia.”

“Good, because otherwise you’d get bored. Can’t have you be that on top of boring.”

Shaking his head slightly, he continued to ignore her while she played with a knife, balancing it on top of her finger, however Akira was well aware she had reached her quota of sitting still. It depended, sometimes she would be as quiet as him, participating willingly and actively. Other times, random as her mood didn’t follow a set pattern, she would be restless, unable to sit still, wanting to talk in the most inopportune times.

“Wonder what house you would have been if you were at Hogwarts.”

“Slytherin.” His voice carried its low deep tune.

“Wonder how you would have dealt with the curse.”

He knew she was batting him, but he asked anyway to keep the conversation going “What curse?”

And there it was, that small smirk “The theory of blow magic.”

“What?” he asked, brows shooting up, that single glimpse of a startled expression making Talia laugh.

Leaning closer to his ear, she whispered “Apparently a fancy book haunted the last year students. A fancy book on how to suck and fuck.”

Creating a bit of distance, he searched her face “Are you being serious right now?”

“Dead serious. There was such a book circulating ever since the Victorian era.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes “If it was that old it mustn’t have been that interesting.”

Pondering on his statement Talia missed a beat, falling silent for a few seconds before actually responding “I don’t know, I mean sex is sex and people were freaks since the first time a man stuck his dick in a woman, or a man or whatever and whoever anyone chose to fornicate with. Being old literature doesn’t make it bad. Unless…” The mischievous glint in her eyes told him she was plotting something “you’re saying that older generations had boring sex. So that means your sex is boring as well.”

“Why do I even talk to you?”

Offering him a big smile, she winked “Because you secretly like it and me. So how about you come here and let me write you a new theory on blow magic.”

“We’re in the middle of a forest, scouting our target.”

“Not even home tonight, so come here, let me teach you some new tricks.”

[farizrz]

Anastasia G. (Author of GoE, SBTR, and OTI) comment about new book, Garden of Eden on her telegram. (Translate by deepl)

"Did we really wait?" - I wondered until the announcement came out.

Now (I'll allow it to be considered insane), Effie's mocking voice rang in my head with a not-so-encouraging wish:

"Happy Hunger Games and may luck always be with you."😞

For almost three months, I was in a languid wait for the release of the novella.

We chose an ambiguous setting and were undoubtedly worried about the audience's reaction.

You could see for yourself that most of the time I kept my mouth shut, made almost no comments (or responded, but ambiguously) and waited for the right moment to get back to you.

I hoped that the less I commented, the better chance I had of keeping my chosen plot and theme of the story from you. But what happened, alas, was otherwise (my fault for not keeping track in many ways🥲)

I won't lie that I reacted calmly to all sorts of statements (managed to prick me after all), but I won't close myself off from the audience. I've missed you guys since it's been a year already.

Thank you for listening to my verbal .... rebellion and outrage🐕 and now, straight to the point.

I am pleased to finally present to you my third novel, Garden of Eden.

We will dive into an exciting adventure that will present not only colorful moments, but also dark events with a small note of detective component.

📌Small note: regardless of my desire to show the thorny path of a K-pop idol with all its unpleasant components, I want to warn you that there will also be moments/scenes in the story where I simplify their burden a bit.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have time to get to know our favorites more closely and, in general, the romance would be relegated to little more than a tenth. By the way, this point will also be revealed quite uneasily in this setting.

🔺Now to the important news, which many people had time to discuss, but never learned all the subtleties and nuances.

Aleksandra is the lead writer of my story (not a co-author).

She controls part of the visuals in the novel, gives edits and makes sure that the initial plot moves in its own direction. She helps with the math part (she opened the door to the world of k-pop for me, and I threw all of my energy into learning it), and also makes sure that LL's relationship with you develops so that everyone is happy with their favorite.

I am a freelance writer who writes her story on her own.

I would like to thank Aleksandra for her help and support throughout our work together.

I sincerely hope you are pleased with it. Thank you for waiting and believing ❤️

[ratbaguett-e]

Dom! Zhongli x AMAB Reader

~ Zhongli gives you the best head of your life ~

Oral (obviously), daddy kink, Porn with BRIEF plot, Zhongli giving the gawk gawk 3,000… pretty straight forward

- Enjoy and feel free to send a Genshin request 🐉 💙

Being born and raised in Liyue was truly a blessing, so much life and color everywhere, beautiful scenery, wonderful cuisine, and many job opportunities. The bustling atmosphere wasn’t chaotic like most metropolitan areas. It was relaxing. So relaxing that even the shyest of introverts could find a sense of peace by simply being in the presence of the citizens of the hand carved nation. It was home.

You enjoyed your job. You worked as a waiter at Third-Round Knock Out which was well known for it’s fragrant and perfectly brewed tea. Zhongli had been a regular at that place for some time and never failed to order the same thing. A tea pot full of high quality green tea made from the finest of leaves, he would order a small pot so he had enough to satisfy himself but not too much to where a fraction of the liquid was wasted.

That’s how you two met. After having him as a regular for so long and always being the one to serve him, you two had grown to like each other quite a bit. In short; one date turned into two, and then into three, and before you knew it you had spent nearly a year together. A prosperous year indeed. You both had never been happier and not once did he fail to show up to your place of work at his usual time and day of the week and order his pot of tea. Despite you reminding him countless times it was against the policy for you to consume what you serve, he would always offer you a cup. What a gentleman.

However, as happy as you were with your job, it got exhausting. Especially the day before the Lantern Rite. Lantern Rite Eve was arguably your busiest time of the year. People placing orders for the day of, ordering take out, or celebrating by eating in the restaurant. Whatever the circumstance, you were always booked that day and had a constant flow of orders to take and rush out to people, you were constantly on your feet. Thankfully you were closed for the actual day of the event. You can’t imagine how packed it would be otherwise.

That had been the case when you returned home. Zhongli was reading on the large rocking chair in the corner of the living room. He looked up to see you sluggishly walk through the door of your shared home. You had been called in early that day to help serve for breakfast hours last minute due to a coworker suddenly falling ill, as an effect, you hadn’t slept in as planned. The shift you were getting home from was for the dinner hours. Zhongli couldn’t imagine the stress and fatigue you felt.

He spread his legs expectantly, waiting for you to walk over to him and sit on his lap like you usually did and listen to him read. You did just that after lazily kicking your shoes off at the front door of your shared home. You situated yourself on his thigh, your body facing him. You rested your head on his shoulder and sighed.

He kisses the crown of your head and sets his book down after bending the corner of the page he was on to mark his place. He wrapped his arms around you and broke the silence by saying, “Same crowd as every year I assume?” You replayed with a small “mm-hmm” and Zhongli lovingly started stroking your cheek with his thumb. The dark circles under your eyes became more prominent in the dim lighting of the room. You looked so tired.

Even so, Zhongli couldn’t help but admire how handsome you looked. You looked slightly rugged from the chaos of today, yet your young face kept you looking boyish and charming as ever. He admired you some more until his thoughts became more twisted. Thoughts of you writhing underneath him and letting out those sexy noises whenever he feels you up the right way. You were the real divine being in his eyes.

You sensed him staring and looked up at him with a soft smile and a peck to his lips. You chuckled before stating, “I know, I’m a mess,” and returned your head to his shoulder. “Even so you’re the most precious thing I’ve ever held, your beauty rivals that of the freshest glaze lilies and your charm is never dull.” You blush at the compliments. He’s always been such a sap. A poetic, handsome, knowledgeable sap who knew just the right words to say. “I’m glad you think so,” you reply with a shy smile. He lifts your chin to look him in the eyes, “I know so.” He ends the sentence by sealing your lips in a kiss. One that grows more passionate and heated.

He separates briefly to lift you up and place you in the rocking chair. He reconnects your lips, keeping you distracted until you become aware of his hand unbuttoning your uniform shirt. He had managed to undo your apron as well without you realizing, it was now a heap on the floor, soon to be forgotten. Once your shirt was all the way undone he moved his lips to your chin, then your neck, your chest, your abdomen. Once he reached your belt he looked up at you from his place on the floor and threw you a rare, cheeky smirk.

“May I?” He asks the question seductively, making you stutter. Once you finally answer him with a shaky, “yes you may,” his hands reach up to the buckle of your belt and slide it free from the loops of your pants. He undoes your dress pants and slides them down along with your underwear. They now pool at your ankles and Zhongli is face to face with your hardened cock. You had gotten hard as soon as he started sensually kissing down your body, you were flustered as he looked up at you. You turned away with a heated face waiting for him to do something. Anything.

Still looking away, you started to ask, “Can you stop starting and actually do somethi- AhH~” you interrupted yourself with a moan at the feeling of him circling his plush lips around your tip, slightly salty with precum. He shallowly bobbed his head a few times teasing your tip. You finally looked down at him and let out a hiss as he finally sank deeper onto your length. He held his head at the hilt of your cock for a few seconds and finally started moving. You threw your head back and let out a groan at the feeling of him sucking you off.

Your head rested against the back of the chair as he continued to bob his head up and down. The lewd, wet sounds of him slurping your cock turned you on even more. You felt him start to use his tongue to rub along the veins and prod at the hole of your cock. You let out a higher pitched moan and put your hands in his hair as he lightly and slowly ran his teeth along the veins and ridges of your cock. He then hollowed his cheeks so he didn’t hurt you with his teeth and continued his faster pace from earlier.

You gripped onto his air for dear life, feeling an orgasm approach. You were whining and begging for him to make you cum. “Ugh~ please daddy… I-I’ve worked so much today~ mmph-“ you let out a muffled mewl due to a particularly hard suck from Zhongli. He chuckled at your reaction making your body heat up. He continued harshly sucking and expertly using his tongue. The slick sounds of his mouth on you still resounding throughout the room, turning you on more. “P-please keep going… I wanna c-cum in your mouth daddy please.” You don’t know how you managed to get that out through your incoherent babbling and whimpering, yet Zhongli understood that you needed this.

He looked up at you through hooded and predatory eyes and gave you one last harsh suck and wetly slurped his way up to your tip, giving it a kiss. He repeated this one last time while maintaining eye contact which caused you to finally have a mind numbing orgasm right in his mouth. You moaned lewdly as your eyes crossed and you threw your head back. Zhongli held his mouth at the base of your cock for a few seconds until he felt you stop seeping into his mouth.

He brought himself off of you with a pop and helped pull your pants back up and button them again. You were panting and sweating with a blush on your handsome face. Zhongli stood up and picked you up out of the chair, carrying you to your shared bedroom. “How about we clean you up and get ready for bed dearest. You seem quite spent,” despite the subtle teasing of his words, his smile towards you was soft and genuine.

You washed yourself up and climbed under the covers with Zhongli, kissing him goodnight and cuddling into his side. He smiled down at your sleeping form in adoration and dreamt of how he’d make you repay him at a later date.

[update-blog-bp9]

In case you want to know...

The whole Father!Alastor x Son!Reader book (Because let's face it, it is a darn book at this point) has with five published Chapters already 32 999 words.

No kidding.

You can look it up on AO3.

But I will move the "Start of Cannibalism" down. And then "The dark past will always hunt you" will be moved a few notches down. I can tell you why.

HUGE time skips and so little background story. I planned a few more Oneshots. Like:

(SPOILER ALERT !!!)

M/n protecting Alastor, M/n teasing his Father or having a small kitchen war...just some fun and interesting background stories, before I move with them to Hell.

The story is all planned out already, yes, but I wanted to polish it a bit. I don't want to leave so many plot holes for my story, because let's face it. It would be weird if M/n talks so fondly of him in Hell, if we never spent some fun times with him together that we knew of, right ? We know he protected us, way later we might have found out that he killed for us, he helped us when we needed it, but otherwise he would seem like an very absent, closed off Father. No ?

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Heya! How are you and how are things going? What's the first thing you have to do before you start writing? Like do you have any rituals or do you need to set up notes, character plans ect?

Hi! Thanks so much for the ask!

First, I have to be listening to music, with lyrics. I dunno why but it helps with focus most of the time. Currently I'm listening to a lot of romance songs for the different relationships in my series The Secret Portal, and I have some paper beside me so I can write down the song and the relationship it reminds me of. Helps a bit with mindset, especially since I'm in my first romantic relationship.

I definitely do have a lot of notes to set up. I also need to have a game plan for the session, a goal to reach. Oh, and my water.

Unless I write during a free point in the day, my main session is after a shower and maybe some more before bed after dinner. I guess you can call that a ritual since my mindset has to be right to get any work done.

More specifics of my multi-day process under the cut just in case you're curious for a long-term process. I'm pretty sure you meant session by session, hence the above, but just in case:

I have a lot of different character notes or plot notes up at all times. To focus on my writing process for The Secret Portal Part Two, I have a general outline up just to easily keep track of what chapter is what and chapter ideas coming up from a bird's eye perspective. I also have another document that expands on the outline as I try to set up a more cohesive structure and scenes to happen in the chapter itself. I also try to figure out the order or the timeline.

As I plan each chapter, I look at the extended notes I have for it and try to plan out more details or a sequence of events. For example, the last chapter I wrote for Part Two was an extended family Christmas gathering from my character Ash's perspective. Going in, I knew there was going to be a lot of family members in a small house and at some point Ash would get so overstimulated from all the thoughts (she's a telepath) and relieve herself to her room where she'd take comfort in these telepathic probe devices.

When it came time to fully plan out the scene, I first focused on setting up a little family tree. Then I figured out what would ignite Ash getting overstimulated. I pulled up my character sheet on Ash and figured out how to line up all the things that bother her for the perfect breaking point. I also tried to figure out the details: as in, why now? Why is it just now that the thoughts were too much? What specifically will happen to make her go to her room? When she uses the probes, what will she see?

To figure out what events Ash would see was a little difficult. I have a series-long brainstorming document I consult frequently. TSP is planned to be a five book series, so it's important to plan ahead. I try to see where I am and judge what I need to develop now for later. I eventually realized there was a significant hole so I decided to patch it with a little vision.

After that, I'm usually ready to write the scene. I just have to be sure to plan first, otherwise I find myself approaching the scene awkwardly. Sometimes I will refine the details as I write-- realize that not everything worked, so I cut an idea or change something. Sometimes I'll leave myself a note to repair the scene in revisions if I understand that it's weak/I forgot something if I'm not in the mood for fixing it now. Sometimes I will fix it.

TSP Part One is in the later stages of revisions. I have a list of things to revise next time I read through it, as well as some behind the scenes details to work on. Usually I'll pick one to focus on, but may get some other stuff done on the way. For example, I'm currently reading through to add in some character ticks since I found myself repeating/some characters had the same physical reaction to some things. As I'm reading it, though, I am making minor revisions in dialogue or narration to make it more fitting of the character in question. Sometimes I'll notice an awkward transition and fix it. Maybe I'll add in more details. Maybe I'll change something (e.g., Lexi's hairstyle, Alium's lack of stairs, etc.) as I go and press "pause" on the focus of the read-through so I can quickly get it out of the way.

Sometimes I'll do behind the scenes work, though I'm usually not that consistent with that. If I'm busy doing something else I've been designing bedrooms for my characters to a) help with descriptions later down the road and b) get more into their mindset. Just don't tell my professors I'm doing this.

So I hope you've gathered, if you've read this far, that the writing process isn't very linear for me. I jump around at will depending on what my brain is telling me to do. I got stuck on the opening scene for the next chapter of TSP Pt2 so I've been revising Part One and doing behind the scenes work. I also have beta readers going in the background.

Again, thanks for the ask and if you read this far double thank you!

[rolloollor]

Do you have any Vision on how Rollo's NBC room would look like

Sure. I describe it a bit in Dark Fire, but I'll go more into depth.

One thing that I think is crucial is that I see Rollo as more of a guy that wanders around a lot. I don't think he stays holed up in his room unless there's a particular purpose--writing letters, doing homework, plotting, journaling, etc. Otherwise, I see him as going out to a café to get lunch, going to the bell tower, doing student council president things, or just walking around to savor the sights in his beloved hometown.

As for the room itself, I see it as a bit empty and dark. There's probably a window or two, but they're for any plants he has. I doubt he would keep a ton, but at least one potted plant, maybe a local flower or something useful like aloe vera. There'd be a small fireplace for the winter. He might usually use candles for light and, in that case, would both have a traditional bell-shaped snuffer and some of those auto snuffers that would snap closed once the candle went down a certain amount.

Like this:

He has a nice bed, with nice blankets, but they don't help him sleep much. The focal point of his bedroom would be a big desk with neat stacks of papers, quills, bottles of ink, etc. There's probably a book shelf built into/above the desk, too. If he's in his room, odds are he's sitting at his desk.

There's an armoire with a mirror in the front doors to hold his fancy uniforms and a scant few sets of 'casual' clothes (button downs + slacks). I doubt you can just throw a uniform like his into the washing machine, so he might have to do it by hand.

He'd have an en suite bathroom because of his position. And, naturally, he would keep everything totally clean. It's a blinding white in there.

Aside from these things, I don't imagine there's a lot of 'personalization' of the room, if you feel me. It's a transitory space and it's not like Rollo's into posters or things like that.

[werewolf-girl-knot]

SO. About W5...

I ended up "legally acquiring" a digital copy of the core book and just finished my first read through of it. Some thoughts.

First of all, let me say my major gripes about it re: indigenous and disability erasure remain present, and do end up being a deal breaker for me regarding Paradox and giving them any money.

Still, there's some interesting stuff in here. I am personally a V5 enjoyer. I dislike 'gothic superhero' type chronicles, cumbersome lore and mechanical bloat. I do like Personal horror, power that comes with serious costs, character-focused storytelling, urban fantasy that feels contemporary and grounded, and brave, direct political themes. so V5 ended up being a general improvement for me over V20, give or take some small things. These are the biasas I'm carrying into my thoughts on W5.

The good: Rage Dice make a return from V5's hunger dice, and with improvements! Hunger dice were controversial in V5, but personally I found them to be a fantastic way to keep the Beast as a present threat in your chronicle. Finally, a reason for being a vampire to actually feel like a curse! And Rage dice in W5 I like even more. I enjoy how they turn failure into success when you're trying to accomplish something violent, but otherwise can cause critical problems with your approach when you're *not* trying to be violent. It really encourages you to get into character and play your character more impatient and aggressive when your rage is higher. Finally, Rage that actually feels like a double-edged sword! The things Rage does is also an improvement for me. I dislike extra actions in TTRPGs, ironically I find that they just slow things down with too much dice rolling. Making Rage something you spend to regenerate faster is a much better idea.

The forms are more distinct and interesting now as well. This is one of the things W5 takes from Forsaken than it very good. Finally, a reason to use Hispo and Glabro! Crinos feels extra powerful, *and* risky, with its rule that it will enter a frenzy if you don't kill something that round making it much more threatening and dangerous, which is precisely how it's always been described in the lore, but never really represented in the game very well until now. Claws are high damage but only deal mundane types of damage and Bite is lower damage but Agg. Also good from a design standpoint, makes the rule about not eating human flesh finally matter.

Harano and Hauglosk. Harano finally becomes a present threat for Garou. Something they need to fight against, and help their pack against. It seems to operate a bit like a humanity stat, only that your sweet spot is in the middle. Too far in the other direction, and your character starts to flirt with fanaticism. This is just fantastic for making Werewolf have an actual morality system, a balance in their faith/convictions based on actions taken in the chronicle. Much more interesting than Gnosis as being an essentially meaningless resource. I have seen some braindead takes about this being a way for STs to punish players?? Don't play with STs who try to punish you and force you to do what they would do. Simple as.

The bad: new takes on the tribes. Generally I like how the book explains lore concepts, but the new tribes are so sanitized with any possible ounce of controversy taken out of them, that the political themes most of them were built to explore are totally absent, or significantly muted. In a vaccum I would think making the Get of Fenris fall would be a very interesting way to drive forward the plot, but the execution here makes them feel a little cartoonist. Very roundabout in saying that they've become werewolf eco-facists, a better way to do this be making a Hauglosk-ed version of each tribe to represent the corruption of each tribe's ideology. The cult of Fenris work as a general condemnation of the worst side of Garou in general, but having the bad guys camps in W20 just worked better for this, and had lots of room for improvement. As with all the other tribes, the Get of Fenris feels flattened and removed from its cultural context.

The Ugly: Paradox being horrible and racist. If you haven't read about this already, then... Idk how you found this post really. But this post covers it more thoroughly than I could.

The book attempts to address this with a note I put in the bottom, listing some facts about the issues experienced by indigenous groups, while making a half hearted attempt to connect it to the Garou. In the face of this erasure from their actual game though, it feels like a platitude.

As for the removal of crinos-born Garou, it's another flattening of a complicated part of the game's politics. It might have been nice to see Garou culture advance a bit, but removing them entirely removes the representation they embodied. Most of the direct representation in this game has been removed, but I think the the indigenous and disability represent the most egregious loss, especially in a game about those who are most actively being sacrificed in the name of capitalism. Which isn't some fandom interpretation, it is literally stated in the book.

This all leaves me very sour on the game's fiction, which for a storytelling game like Werewolf the Apocalypse, is important. Which is a shame, because I see a lot of good steps forward in the mechanics, making a game that's more fiction-first, without all the terrible attempts at capturing D&D's wargame combat. But frankly, it's hard to want a game who's treated it's writers so poorly to do well, even if I do think the current writers did very well with the constraints they were given. It's hard to recommend that anyone pay money for this.

[applesaucesims]

Hi, what are some ways that you recommend to keep my decades challenge interesting as well as historically accurate??

Heyyy! That's a good question! I'll put my answer under the cut because it ended up a little bit longer. Sorry in advance lmao.

How to keep it interesting:

As for many legacy type gameplays and stories, one thing I find that helps is to shift the focus for every generation. I personally like to at least have an outline of what I like to focus on each generation. As an example, for my 1930s gen I knew I wanted to focus more on Emma and her friends, since I usually just focus on the family. Doing something "new" every now and then can help not getting bored, since otherwise legacies might feel repetitive (no matter if it's just gameplay or a story).

Another thing that keeps me wanting to play, is that I already have storylines in my head up to the 70s. Some are just vague plot points, some are basically a complete story, but it makes me excited for all of the future generations. This might just be a me thing though lol.

You might also get inspirations from all kinds of other stories, even if it's just small aspects. Not much more to that, but it's a good way to come up with new things.

Also, I know this sounds cheesy, but don't force yourself to just do anything when it doesn't feel right. If you feel stuck, you can do things like time skips. I did something like that at the end of the 1920s, speeding through the rest of the days by having Emma report important events in her diary. And, of course, taking breaks can always help restoring some motivation.

I personally also make Pinterest boards for my characters and stuff like that. It's fun and leads me to my next point: Making up personalities and aesthetics for your sims. Obviously, you would do that for main characters in a story, but I like to give a basic personality outline to side characters, too. It helps flesh everything out a bit. Also, I like to have certain "main colours" for my sims (yellow for Emma, teal/blue for Niall, rosy red for Ken, etc.). Idk how much this does for the story, but it makes dressing them and stuff more interesting to me personally.

TL;DR: Switch things up, take inspiration anywhere, don't stress yourself, and do what makes you happy.

Historical accuracy:

I'm personally a fashion history fiend, so this part is one of my favourite things about the challenge. I have a few books about this, too, but ofc internet research is a must. It's good to look up the fashion for the type of person you're dressing (age, class, job, etc.). The same counts for architecture and interiors. You can also make things like Pinterest boards for inspiration.

Honestly, you can get into as much detail as you want with the accuracy. Obviously, there are the basics like what technology exists, which are more important for immersion (ofc you wouldn't put a computer in a 1900s home lol). But sometimes small details like what pet breeds or plants are a thing at the time can be fun, too. For my ultimate decades challenge, I even made a sheet of what plants arrived in Germany at what time. But such things might not be seen in your story, so it's more about your own immersion.

Then, there is the thing with laws. If you base your story in a real country, it's good to research its laws throughout history. However, it's still your story, so you can adjust it as much as you feel comfortable with. I personally don't feel comfortable including racist laws in my story because I don't have any personal experience with that and don't think I could do it justice, even though I have done research in that field.

I do feel more comfortable including stuff about women's rights and lgbtq+ rights, since I'm a queer woman myself, with mostly queer friends, and have also studied those fields. But even then, I like to be a bit more lenient because I'm not gonna make a bunch of homophobic sims lmao. They're still like my babies.

Additionally, there were real people, too, that had achievements that would have been against the law (interracial marriages, successful working women, etc.), so it's not technically historically inaccurate. Your characters are still individuals, so they don't have to represent everything.

TL;DR: Do your research, adjust details to your liking, handle issues respectfully, and keep in mind that it's a fictional story in the end.

[wraithwars]

a/n: part 2 of the questionnaire made by @arisenreborn. first part can be found here.

ARISEN & PAWN (CONT) -

How do they both generally regard guest pawns?

Valkyrie gets a little nervous and tries to present herself as competent and capable as she can around guest pawns. She also makes sure to vocalize her appreciation for their aid. Nolan gets a bit competitive if he thinks a guest pawn is better than him at helping the Arisen. Sometimes it ends well, other times it ends with an impromptu challenge. 

What do they bond most over?

They bond over their mutual curiosity. Valkyrie always had an inquisitive nature, so when she finds out that Nolan does too, she makes it a point to share knowledge he may not know. Regardless of how useful it may be. He returns the favor in kind. Valkyrie always wrote information she learned in her journals, and eventually, Nolan does as well. She has many journals/field guides filled with many topics often accompanied by Nolan’s little doodles or annotations.

Do they have a favorite place in the world; be it a town or a particular area or view they’re fond of?

Again, Nolan loves the fields in Vernworth and often rests with the oxen. That spot is most relaxing for him. For Valkyrie, she actually likes the Nameless Village. No one there expects anything from her, they don’t bring up Arisen business, and, though she won’t admit it, she enjoys visiting Srail a great deal. (Everyone knows why except for her, it seems.) It’s just a good place to get away from being Arisen for a while.

What is the “silliest” order VS what is the “worst” order your Arisen has given your Pawn? (These things potentially don’t have to be separate.)

Valkyrie frequently has Nolan give her a boost. She’s short, he’s not, and sometimes some really cool loot is just out of reach. Finding her standing on his shoulders is more common than you’d expect. As for silliest, one time she told Nolan to distract someone. Because he didn’t know what to do he panicked and just made funny faces and weird noises while the person was trying to talk to someone. Hey, at least it worked.

WORLD & STORY -

Do they have any pre-existing relationships with any particular NPCs from before the start of the game? Has becoming the Arisen changed those relationships?

Valkyrie had met Ulrika a year before the main plot when she was traveling alone. Ulrika was the one who had convinced her to stick around and to join the relief efforts when the monsters and beasts began growing bolder. They were simply friends back then, but after she becomes Arisen, their bond deepens. Ulrika feels responsible for her burden, but Valkyrie sees her as someone who gave purpose to a life that had none. Otherwise, everyone else she meets for the first time. Same goes for Nolan.

Which of the four residences is their most preferred, and is there a particular reason why? Do you have any headcanons about the layout and how it’s decorated? Or: Do they have alternative living quarters (a family home, sleeping at inns all the time, etc.)?

Valkyrie likes the quaintness of the home she acquires from Mildred. It’s the only home in Vernworth she bothers to get because of the idea of having a noble—though she doesn’t have negative opinions of all of them—as a neighbor does not appeal to her. She fills the small home with flowers and other things she’s acquired on her journey. Also, half of it she considers Nolan’s space, and she loves seeing their collective tastes come together. The home in Bakbattahl has less personality in it, but she’s grateful to have a space where the pawns in her party can relax.

Regardless of whether you adhere to the in-game counter or not, how long do you think their journey took? Did they book it with a sense of urgency, or did things get drawn out - and why?

I added some extra plot stuff for Valkyrie, so the adventure takes up to a year roughly. Most of the time, she hates being idle and would often be occupied by some mission/task at all times. But there were times when her confidence wavered and she had to take a break to recover from the burnout. Those moments were often forced upon her, however, as she usually faces the Arisen tasks with a sense of purpose in spite of her condition.

Whether they’d still be together or separate - What kind of life would they be living if they were not Arisen and Pawn, but NPCs?

If Nolan had come across Valkyrie as she was before becoming Arisen, he would see someone without a sense of purpose who seems to be gliding from one moment to the next. She was still inquisitive and loved learning new things, so perhaps if something were to transpire around them both that piqued their interests, they’d become quick friends. Nolan is kindhearted, so he’d also probably make it a personal mission to cheer her up—even if it wasn’t his business to do so. I think he would still save her then as much as he does during their journey as Pawn and Arisen. Platonic soulmates if you will.

Nolan felt something change in him the moment the dragon was defeated, but he can’t place what it is, only that something unknown beckons to him. On a positive note, he feels more like his own person than he ever had before. His own thoughts and feelings are interesting to him, and now he can explore them without obstacles. Still, things are bleak, so he keeps himself occupied by aiding the survivors with whatever he can or remaining by Valkyrie’s side, offering support to the one who means the most to him. But he feels as if something is going to change. Maybe that something is their fate?

What does the ending and its aftermath look like for them?(TW: SUICIDAL IDEATION MENTION)

Valkyrie feels as if all her struggles were for nothing. She sees the faces of the survivors, and she feels sick to her stomach, knowing her getting her heart back is what led to Vernworth’s downfall. In her personal canon, things continue for a year after that point. They try to rebuild the best they can but things remain bleak. Scavenging parties don’t always make it back, and what resources they can gather are not always the best. Valkyrie is so filled with anger as well as hopelessness, that she often goes on expeditions and fights, challenging beasts with the secret hope that she doesn’t make it back. Nolan and those she met along the way are the only ones that keep her grounded.

MISCELLANY & AU - 

What would be their favorite show or movie?

Valkyrie would LOVE Brooklyn Nine Nine. It’s the perfect amount of humor and lightheartedness wrapped up in loveable characters and great episodes. Nolan? A huge fan of animal planets and any documentary he can get his hands on. 

If they lived in our world, what would they do for a living?

Valkyrie would be a writer, and Nolan would possibly be a zoologist or vet.

What would be their go-to fast food order?

Not sure about Valkyrie but Nolan would be the person to order an absurd amount of food and it all be for him.

What kind of videos would they watch on Youtube?

I don’t think either of them would be on it actively, but I can see them both watching ‘how it's made' videos together.

What is an AU setting they would thrive in, or you’d otherwise enjoy subjecting them to?

A modern setting. As in they existed in their regular setting only to be thrusted into the future. Something about people in a medieval setting forced into modern times appeals to me.

What would be their idea of a perfect date or hangout?

They would travel together. Nolan would pick the place he’s most eager to see, and Valkyrie would eagerly accompany him, both learning all they can about the attractions or the area. A lot of hiking and sightseeing too.

What’s that one random fact about them you want to yell about?

NOLAN HATES HIS VEGETABLES. HE’S A BIG STRONG MAN WHO HATES VEGGIES. He only eats them because Valkyrie gives him the mom look. If it were up to him, he’d only eat meat and bread for the rest of his life.

Share a theme song for each of them.

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths for Nolan.

The River, the Woods by Astronautalis for Valkyrie. Or Which Witch by Florence + the Machine.