#including two for my story stuff but i need to update them to reflect the sort of rebranding my story has gone through

[rot--mutt]

grrrrrr really wanna create a good blog for my worldbuilding and story stuff but also the desire to clean up this blog and use it for that but also wanna use this for personal stuff and have separate sideblogs for creative projects but also

[batchilla]

Most Married Divorced couple timeline and other fun stuff.

This post will be updated as it needs to be updated.

I recently received some feedback that the third chapter of The Most Married Divorced couple caused some minor confusion, and so! a timeline to help make it clear what happens when is now being created! I also included fun facts about the series and my writing quirks because I am desperate for people to talk to meeee.

I have the full version, but this post will reflect the currently released works, or works that I can fit in spoiler free, such as the flashbacks, which are of course all prior to the main fic and can be read as stand alone if you so choose to just ignore their doomed future haha.

Purple titles are linked - let me know if I forget to link any of them!

Five times Robin rescued you and one time he didn't. (no link as not yet out)

This was a confusing one to fit in, as I would say that technically complicated exists somewhere in the middle of the many rescues, but I settled on first as it includes you meeting Jason.

the five as of this stage of development are:

the first time

the creation of your desert arrangement

the first time he drops you off at home

Complicated would occur loosely here

followed by the remaining rescues which I am keeping close to my chest.

Complicated

This could be read as a stand alone, but it is intended as the first kiss of this particular reader and Jason. It takes place shortly before Jason's death, maybe a year or two prior. While I never set an age in stone for the reader, I would imagine them to be mid to early teens.

We then experience a time-skip of several years.

Chapter one of The most married divorced couple

Till death do us part.

This fic occurs with no set age in mind for the reader or Jason, but you are settled into a apartment, and your daughter Mary is three years old, so I had imagined her as mid to late twenties or so, but you do not have to of course!

Chapter two of The most married divorced couple

Four years later

We skip forward four years into your divorce. Those of you with your smartie pants on will know this puts Mary as around seven years of age. This, for the majority of the time, is considered the 'main' time period, with anything before being a flashback. While I tried to make this clear, I will say it more plainly here because I am talking as me and it is easier to communicate this more bluntly out of the story:

Jason had zero contact post divorce with the reader or Mary until the events of chapter three; two years of utter silence. After the events of chapter three, while officially no changes in the custody arrangement were made, during the two years between three and two, Jason has come over as we see him do in 'four years later', or been present at places he could plausibly ran into you.

Chapter three of The Most married divorced couple

Jason comes home.

Despite what I just said about the main timeline, chapter three is an immediate flashback to the first time Jason returned after two years of total silence. Simply put this is two years AFTER till death do us part and two years BEFORE four years later. Or, for those of us keeping track by Mary's age, when she is five.

Chapter four of The Most married divorced couple

Churros, Coffee, hard Conversations, and Custody. (no link at this time because it isn't out yet)

a sneak peak of the unreleased chapter? in this economy? more likely then you think.

Jason wakes up on your couch, the morning after the events of Four Years Later, and after spending the morning as close as your heart can take to as a proper family would, with Mary, (once again aged seven for those keeping up that way) off to school, a very important, very sad, rather heated discussion must be had.

FUN FACTS

I, when writing x readers, try to avoid having the reader described as walking or running anywhere as I am a wheelchair user irl, and it often breaks immersion for me. No hate to writers who don't, its not a failing on your part, but I hope my fellow wheelchair girlies feel seen! I don't have her explicitly in a wheelchair, because I feel that it wouldn't represent most of my readers, but I have made a conscious effort that it could be read that way.

Jason's hoodie in chapter two, while never canonically described and therefore whatever you imagine it to be, in my own heart, is the 'I am kenough' hoodie. I had it as that in a draft, but I felt it changed the vibe too much to make it canon.

works I am considering writing for this series in addition to the main timeline:

meeting the resurrected Jason as Red Hood

The proposal

A series of dabbles or at least short, short, segments on what it's like to be pregnant in a family of the worlds greatest detectives

a short story about how Damian was impacted by the divorce

A far into the future mainly crack fic with the many bat uncles and aunts, Jason, and Grandpa Bruce all trying to convince a teen Mary to come join THEIR super team / to be their sidekick.

Let me know in the replies if any of these particularly excite you! I make no promises of writing them but they are rattling around in my mind.

[tessa-quayle]

FanFiction Recommendations

before I disclose my favorite Pedro Pascal character-related fan fiction here, a few caveats and disclosed biases: I’m a woman of a certain age.  I was your average English lit major.  I’m the dork who - upon listening to Jewel’s debut album and hearing the lyric “you can be Henry Miller and I’ll be Anais Nin” in the mid 1990s  - legit hauled my ass to the local public library and looked up Anais Nin - using the Dewey Decimal system - to read her elevated smut.  Right now I’m a content but exhausted, ragey American woman in a mid-life crisis.  I hate bullshit, I have an ok attention span, I scroll/read after the family’s gone to bed.  

if you look at my semi-neglected Tumblr page, you’ll see I’m relatively new to the Pedro fandom.  What a privilege to dive into really superb writing.  This is clearly not an exhaustive list and reflects my tastes (and to each her/his/their own)!  But if you’re an exhausted parent in a mid-life crisis and have no time, this may be for you! 

in no particular order...

@fuckyeahdindjarin - masterlist - Cee describes herself as a writer who pens romantic comedies - and she does a stellar job with them - but she sells herself short and fails to mention the sex scenes she writes are hot.  especially love the consent series (dieter bravo), the grays 2-part series (frankie morales), and of course, the ongoing joel miller/pin series.  a delightful mix of angst, sweetness, spice.  and a thoughtful writer with an inclusive mindset. 

@absurdthirst - masterlist - if you told me Keri has a few stories published in several “best of erotica” anthologies, I’d believe you.  good smut is fucking hard to write.  this is great smut.  this is smut you read and then take a cold shower afterwards or do whatever it is you like to do to get yourself off.  it’s smut that even as a non-smoker and knowing all the terrible health risks you may think goddamn I need a cigarette.  I'm partial to a few Javier Pena and Agent Whiskey pieces, but you’d be satisfied reading any of her stories.

@something-tofightfor - masterlist - Rachael should give a master class on how to write the best slow burn.  Her Joel Miller stories stand out for several reasons including - 1) she thoughtfully incorporates elements of the original canon/game into her fanfic which is uncommon in the PP fandom (from what I’ve seen/read at least), 2) every Joel story/chapter is compelling and well imagined.  Her current series on Tim Rockford has me on the edge of my seat and I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.  And judging from the titles of her stories, we have similar music tastes (ha!). 

@disgruntledspacedad - this writer hasn’t updated in several months, but their Javier Pena multi-chapter fic (and folks, there are MANY out there) called Better Love is the one that kept me going and going and wanting to read more (see mention of short attention span in a tired mama above).  being in the healthcare field, I also arch my eyebrows out of curiosity when someone weaves medical stuff into their writing and wonder what line of work they do.  (yes I'm a terribly biased nerd, I’m a sucker for when someone puts a f!physician reader into their PP-character related drabble).

@jomiddlemarch - she is a great friend and a gifted, amazing writer who always makes me wonder “how does she do this and how does she do this so well and so quickly while the rest of us plebes are just getting through our day.”  she writes for MULTIPLE fandoms (and judging from the notes on her posts, I think her readership is more into those than Pedro and the Last of Us but it’s ok!), and started writing Joel Miller and an OFC (she created!) named Grace Yang (NOT ME - but maybe there’s a chance she created this OFC to shut me up since I’ve been rambling on and on about how besotted I am with Pedro 😂).  If you’re into OFCs, read her stuff.  Check out the (ongoing) entire series on her AO3 here.  Here’s one story that you can find on her Tumblr.  Two of the five stories are Ted Lasso crossovers - all her stories are written so richly and so layered - she’s the star in your writing workshop who’s showing and not telling - I’m still thinking about how there’s so much to unpack in the latest one. :) 

[melien]

Hi!!! Your most recent post has got me wondering, are Freya and Keegan still together in the character verse? I know you said they both have other partners so I needed to ask because I'm still obsessed with those characters and their love story! 🥰

(I hope this isn't too nosy or anything! I just love your updates about the character verse and seeing how all these characters I love from your legacies develop and change!)

Hey Payte! Thank you for the question😭 I really appreciate the interest and that you remember the characters, even though I'm well aware it's a bit of a mess right now as I'm mostly posting photoshoots, and without a proper story it's hard to get attached to them. But I'm planning something quite big and impressive that will connect a lot of characters and it's really looking great so far! I feel like things have changed so much in my life in the past couple of years, I'm now in a better place mentally but also has been through a bunch of life-altering events and I think this reflects on my current storytelling, I know I would definitely write some things differently now so I want to show it. I love rewriting stuff from today's perspective and revisiting characters and having them grow with me. But I've learned to appreciate my old stuff as a learning curve as well.

Regarding Freya and Keegan, yes they're still a couple (still one of my favourites too, I would die for them😭) and their story would be very similar to their berry versions in the legacy! I will probably not give too many spoilers in case I do write that (the rewrite of it will also be included in that new big thing with many characters, I'm super excited about it), but basically Delphi replaces Freya's old Chinese mentor (what a coincidence, they're even Chinese!) but instead of a wise old man they're also a regular young human, a couple years older than Freya, with their own worries that parallel Freya's (they're a psychic and it can often be a burden) and they bond over it and have a lot of deep profound conversations. So the whole Freya and Keegan stuff remains the same, Freya loves Keegan deeply, and Delphi also will have a partner who they cherish and they'd have quite an emotional story together. But I've been feeling some chemistry between Freya and Delphi and thought of Freya later on starting to feel this pull towards Delphi that's more than friendly and she's aware they both have partners but can't ignore it, and Keegan picks up on it (maybe sees the pining look that she usually gives Delphi) and even encourages her to explore it. And well, Freya has two hands, right? I'm still working out the specifics but I'm pretty sure this storyline will happen, I ship them too much.

Also the irony is that a couple years ago I got an ask related to Freya and how she would possibly feel about polyamory and I think I said she would be open to it and look how things turned out. 👀

[kirstenonic05]

I can't believe I got tagged for this. Thank you @rottenpumpkin13!

Rules: post the names of the files of your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you asks with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it. If you want, tag as many people as you have WIPS.

I'm gonna tag people now and then put the WIP names under the read more because I wasn't lying when I said I have an unholy amount of WIPs!

@nibwhipdragon @idolcrescent @shadowsageingempress and anyone else who wants to do this! No pressure, though! :D

I have this many stories:

And this many finished:

So uh. This'll be fun. (I won't do all my WIPs but... it's still a lot...)

I think this would be a lot funnier if I took screenshots of the names/adding the pictures that are attached to the Keep notes, but there are just too many to do that. Anything in italic isn't in the title, it's just present me screaming

(Sadly all my finished fics have funnier titles since I finish crackfics in a day, and sorry for the weird formatting! I reached the paragraph cap apparently :()

Star of the Sea 2 (No name)

"What should we do with its corpse?" (Rewritten) (Two ghosts discuss throwing away a dead centipede. One throws it at the other)

Encounter with the Local Dark Mage (I only have a title... I don't even know who the characters will be yet... Why am I like this...)

Comfort (I'M A SENTENCE OFF OF FINISHING I THINK)

The Demon and the Boy (I am SO CLOSE to finishing this. Just need to edit. Might end up on Ao3)

The Dark Mage and the Dark Alchemist

I don't have a title but Sig cheers up Schezo

A New Cave???

A Len, Two Lens (Waiting on Ink to send me some of the script, collab moment)

Scarf

Also no name, smth abt Allen and Hibiya but fantasy???

The Closet's Other Door (Continuation of a fic named The Closet)

Also no name, Armani (OC)'s birthday

Photos

The Master of the Heavenly Yard

I don't want to die

Nightmare (I thought this was done...)

A Glitch's Musings (I DON'T REMEMBER WRITING MORE ECHOED TIME STUFF HELLO??)

Times Two (I wrote so much for Echoed Time and. Forgot)

Repression

No name but continuation of Joseph has a dragon spirit that goes out of control (Aurora Dragon)

Plush

No name, everyone's animal hybrids except Sonic

Sick

Interrogation

I'm so sorry Mayday (I'm so sorry for doing this to you Mayday...)

No name, Joseph post apocalypse(?)

Me, the Stall Wall, and You

Three Wings, Five (OUGH THE AU UPDATED. NOW IT HAS TO BE 7 WINGS)

You tried (That sounds so angsty without the context of Chrom walks into a Minecraft desert temple and blows up...)

Digitalis

Spin a Tale of Silk and Cotton

Chase

Isle of Destiny

Reality Check

Guardian Angel

To the Pure Body, to the Perfect Existence

Volume Control (Help how do you write sad Tsukasa)

Last One Standing

Dualheart

Different

Twist of Fate

Dimensional Scream

Before Disaster

Fighting a King

Red String

At Dawn (DD edition)

Bottoms Up

Themes

What's in a name?

Couple of Strays

Stuck in Stone

Heterochromia

City Boy Lost (Joseph gets lost: The story)

Merry Chrimpus

Tales from the Shattered Star

Birth... marks? (This was meant for Caejose week but I was busy rip)

From the Dark World

Dark Fear

Night in the Desert

So, do you like him? (Huh Joseph? Do you like him? It looks like you do)

Corrupted Code

Crumbling Stars

Hotel (My lord I was on a full SoSS spree after Frontiers, that's like 6 in a row including two others that are here somewhere)

Tension

Heads Up! (Local hedgehog yeets ghost friend's head at people)

Ridgegate Rumble (Also the name of the song I'm turning in as an assignment lol)

Redeemed Flame

Light of the Sun

Out of Known Time (Almost done...)

Swords

Carriage (The only Shrimp fic that isn't finished, set before Soggy Shrimp and Emotional Support Shrimp)

Another Life

The Ultimate

Faded Light

Wish Come Through - Wish Fall

Meeting

Aurora Dragon

Family

Reflection

Instinct

Murky Water

Land of Ice (Light, Butterflies and the Never-Ending Winter)

Refracted Invader

"Best Coffee to ever grace the earth"

The Boy

Enter: The Ripple

Skirmish Pack

At what cost?

Silence

Your Turn

Copy (OH RIGHT JOSEPH CLONE AU. I SHOULD FINISH THAT.)

A New World

Clothes

Threaded Stars (SOSS DD crossover I forgot about...)

Sugar Rush

To Turn Back Time

Arachnophobia

BOY I DIE The End (I've finished BOY I DIE the first and almost finished this one :3)

BOY I DIE the middle one (I have not started this one though...)

Yearn For Home

Wait ghosts can't-

A Totally Normal Day (Putting my OCs on a date...)

Insight

Sweet Treat

Logical Stimulus (HELP BATTLE SCENES ARE SO HARD TO WRITE. HOW DO YOU WRITE VANITAS.)

Blue Eyes, Red Stone (I forgot to finish this one sorry Nibwhip... It's the Monster Hunter JoJo fic)

Photo Ghost

Unfounded Kingdom

Two

Not so Dark

Similar (Hedgehog and Human)

Popsicles (Will be on the Caejose collection once it's done. If I finish it, of course)

Just a Familiar

Final Battle...?

Time Stops

Barista

Heart's Pulse

Immortal

Welcome to Vivosaur Island

The Heroes

Fireflies

Like Surviving the Apocalypse (OC edition)

Like Surviving the Apocalypse (AU Joseph edition)

Live Play

Aragami - 荒神

Reunion

It's Time (Kirsten finish Echoed Time fics challenge: impossible. Literally this is the beginning of the series and I STILL haven't finished it.)

Chaos Warp (OH HELLO SOSS FIC THAT IGNORES ALL THE RULES OF SOSS)

Light in the Dark

My Own Hands (Rerun)

My Own Hands

Comrades No More (Rerun)

Comrades No More (OG CitS edition)

Distorted Graffiti (It's literally just Comrades No More with a different name and they dance before killing each other... what the heck past me...)

Winter Wonderland

The Supernatural

【End of Days】 (Kirsten don't write the end of the AU before the start challenge: Impossible impossible)

Midnight Dancing

Arena (I think I never finished this because the characters changed names 3 times during writing lol)

Learn to Dance

Ruins Deep

How to say "I love you" (Learn to dance from Caesar's POV)

Tsunami

Snow Tower

Phone

Time, again and again

Heart Burn (Probably gonna split this into 4 different oneshots ngl)

Cast Away (I THOUGHT I FINISHED THIS D:)

Eternamax

Cute? (Not in the way you think)

Mission

Jail of Burning Hell (An actual mission name from Sonic Adventure. How.)

Treading the Needle (I wrote the start to OG CitS and never finished it, then proceeded to write everything in between and the end. Ok me.)

Legendary Heroes II

Beautiful One Day

Lock

Table Tennis Table (OH RIGHT THE JOSEPH AND SONIC BREAK A TV AND ALLEN IS DISAPPOINTED FIC. I NEED TO FINISH THIS.)

Brioche (I have like 3 fics named brioche. Which fic is this.)

Braving Lightning

Meet the Ghosts

Rift Token Pendent

Joe's Diary 2

Zombies at Port

Zombies at Port (Dream accurate) (Technically done?)

The Start of Origins

Beast on World's End (The day I figure out how to write DIO, the day I will finish this fic)

Shuniji (EotD version)

Shuniji (Minecraft accurate)

Lunch

Mice on Venus

Anigame

Anigame 2 (Kirsten name your fics-)

Ridgegate Rock (OG CitS version)

Night Market

Arrival (i wrote this playing Stardew) (The previous brackets is actually in the title...)

Butterfly House (Valentines 2021) (NOOO I NEVER FINISHED THIS D:)

Water's Edge

Turtle Beach

Allen, Joseph, and the Mizutsune (I need to. Finish this.)

Streak of Lightning

Guest

(Not So) Secret Island

Son of a Champion (Nuzlocke gone wrong not clickbait)

Kars' 100% Accurate Retelling of Meeting Joseph (It's not accurate)

Through Ghost Eye

Dance of the Decorous

March of the Profane (So I made this challenge where I wrote two fics at the same time (This and Dance of the Decorous) that share the same amount of sentences, and chose two songs that are the same but remixes as the titles. I wanna continue these fics sometime cause I'm kinda proud of them ngl...)

Purest Sky and Sea (Started this with Ink and. Forgot abt it)

Wrong Seat, Right Timing (Ink and I have to finish this! :D)

Blue on the Run

Dawn (Another fic named Dawn??? It's... Stardew???)

Temporal Rift (THIS WASN'T EVEN TAGGED AS STORY I JUST STUMBLED ACROSS IT WHILE TRYING TO FIND SMTH. HELP I MIGHT HAVE A LOT OF FICS I'M MISSING)

Shadows on the East (This is one of my most important fics and it wasn't tagged as story...)

Up towards the sky (I wrote a Caejose New Years fic??? What??? When???)

Where it all went wrong

Poffins (Continuation to Underground on Ao3!)

Eye of Memory

Sunflowers Spring Forth Day

~ℜ𝔢𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢~ Bluebells Sound Death

Sunset Orange (I think I've written more oneshots for this AU than the actual main story...)

Sunrise Yellow

EC x SDV (Aka Boredom/Commas everywhere) (I REMEMBER THAT I COULDN'T FINISH THIS BECAUSE IT WENT OVER THE GOOGLE KEEP WORD LIMIT LOL)

The Mystery of the Two Pranksters

Lost Memory

I know who you are (Well that's not cryptic as heck)

Token

Dreaming of Shooting Stars

Dreams (3 SoSS fics in a row again. Huh.)

Love?

Name

Nest

Golden Friendships

No name, Eye of the Sea intro for EotD

Who are you?

Valentines (ANOTHER VALENTINES FIC???)

Stairwell (This was a story where anything stupid that happened to me at this stairwell would be rewritten with characters but... I'm not at that school anymore... this might be finished...)

Full

Orchid

The Legendary Wolf Likes Coke (COCA COLA. NOT COCAINE)

America? (America is not real)

JOeStar rEcreation: Project Hamon (J.O.S.E.P.H ;) )

Rain under the Trees

It feels like midnight

The Revolution Comes Around Again

Before I say goodbye to you

Collab Story

The end of the 10 year story (10 years irl)

Null

Rumours

The Mentor Servant's Name

Who's She? (Sounds kinda angsty but it's not... It's SoSS)

Shadows of the Past (White Deal)

Scarf (OH LOL I'VE USED THIS TITLE TWICE)

Sea of Fire

Visit

Left in Ruins

The Concept of Love

A little spider goes a long way (Eden why did you name the spider that) (My friend named a spider Joseph and then we talked abt it and a crackfic spawned...)

Safari Zone

Another

DD rewritten

Around the World

One and the Same

Royalty is not for us

Entralinked

Servant of the Worlds

The Evillious Chair

Why does a flaming arrow hold a curse instead of killing the victim straight away?

Strengths and Weaknesses

Christmas Snack

Happy birthday Sonic!

Back in Time

Blossom Storm

Hanahaki

A day in the life of the Kagamine/Lucifin Twins (TYPO SPOTTED. IT'S SPELT "LUCIFEN")

Tricksters in the Lucifenia Palace

Slice of Life - Ancestral Bonds (I'm 100% sure there's a continuation to this somewhere that's unfinished but I can't find it...)

As Faith Foretold

Dimensional Defenders - 1 (My first ever fic!!! Wow!!!)

Experiment TS-#042 (Sad that I didn't get far in this, I had so many ideas for this AU as a kid)

Mirai

A day in the Lucifenian Castle

Len's Adventures at Gakupo's Sushiria (Collab with my friend, who wrote Miku's Scooperia)

Tuna why did you make me do this you peckneck smh (Speaking of said friend...)

Shattered Mirrors

One

Through the desert's flames

Pocky

Earthen Guardians

Ships on a Spaceship (There are 3 separate stories for this, and 2 more planned. Why would I do that to myself)

Azure Gold

Azure Wind (These two fics are not related to each other. Azure Gold and In Love with a Wyvern are. What.)

Mirror Cave

In love with a wyvern

New World, New Beginnings (JOJO MINECRAFT ISEKAI FIC I WROTE AND FORGOT ABT??? HELLO???)

Lab AU??? (The AU has a name y'know, past me)

Among Us there are Two (Part 3) (ONE DAY I WILL FINISH THIS)

Cookies

And that's all! If you made it this far, thank you for dealing with my disaster!

[kinetic-elaboration]

December 11: Update Graph

I almost managed to be responsible about bedtime today and then got sucked into the internet doing literally nothing at late-o'clock and now here we are. My brain is ON and my body is ready to sleep and I will have to be up again and at work way too soon.

Anyway. Earlier today I made an updated graph of my writing projects and their anticipated update counts. I included specific numbers where I knew them or had a pretty good idea of them (I mean, one-shots can always become multi-chapters and fics can expand, but, being good faith about it) and left blank anything I just didn't know. I did this once before with just blatantly made up numbers for a lot of fics and that makes the final numbers...suspect, inevitably. I also, as in the other table, stuck to T100 only, just for clarity and to keep a sense of clam around the place.

What I ended up with was 38 stories and 91 updates. I really didn't create this for any purpose, like, this is not useful data or whatever lol. It's just... a curiosity. I like making lists. That I am making lists is a good sign for me I think, actually--it means I care enough to plan, even if the plans are just... kind of vague, circular things. It's a weird sort of feeling, looking at numbers like this because as I said, this has no meaning: I won't write all of this. It's just fantasy math. And it's sort of depressing, because these numbers are so high, but also sort of calming because they have this objective, clear, cold appearance. Compact. Like I can see it all at once and the outlines are definitive. Again, this is not true and they are not: I could easily come up with a different WIP List by defining WIP differently, and ultimately I'll make choices etc. But it's the calming nature of the illusion.

But at the same time...my goodness this is so much. Many ideas. I could literally update one a week for two years--keeping in mind that most of my multi-chapter ideas are not reflected in that 91 because I have no idea how many chapters they'd be.

Anyway. I need to go to sleep. I like thinking about writing projects and stuff in the abstract, even though I probably won't actually write any more until my vacation starts...

[malicious-compliance-esq]

Another new game courtesy of @late-to-the-fandom focused on how people became fanfic writers and our publication history! Fun stuff.

When did you post your first-ever fanfic?

September 9 of last year. I’ve published 21 other stories since then and will be dropping another new one on October 31 for Spooky Day!

First Character(s) you wrote?

Black Jack Randall and various people from his world in the Outlander universe.

Main Character(s) you're currently writing?

Ibid.

Character(s) you haven't written about before but plan to soon?

Not so much characters overall, but apropos of the snippet I’m including below I will be writing from a new POV soon. Specifically, in a couple more Dispatches from Fort Laggan installments I’ll be writing from Geneva Dunsany’s POV for the first time!

Fandom(s) you're currently writing?

Outlander of course! I also do some cross-fandom activity on here connecting themes from Outlander canon to other Evil Redcoat Pipeline media like The Patriot and Turn: Washington’s Spies via meta-type musings. But Outlander remains the only fandom in which I publish stories; I don’t see this changing.

A note on meta for the good of the order: Some of these are “extended studies” with bonus content available in Drive and some will be more standard inline-only posts. I’ve realized the format I’ve used for longer meta pieces is a bit much for some of the "brief reflections" stuff I’m looking to do in the future and have been mulling amendments to my process for a while, so consider this the reveal on that! I’ll be updating my tags for previously published content accordingly.

Platonic Pairing(s) you're currently writing?

Probably my favorite platonic dynamic in my works is the social relationship between Black Jack and Jenny Fraser, who thinks he’s an absolute disaster but thoroughly trainable. Canonically she succeeds in getting him to leave her entirely alone when she makes it clear that she doesn’t want what he’s offering, and does so in a way that embarrasses him horribly. So I enjoy playing with that dynamic of Jenny making credible threats to make Black Jack behave himself in other contexts.

Speaking to an Ask I’ll be answering in time from the always amazing @lyledebeast Jenny also sees more readily than pretty much anyone else how similar her brother Jamie and Black Jack are—Randall comes by his jealousy of and obsession with Jamie very honestly. She also sees how although the two of them are both a few sandwiches short of a picnic mental health wise, each of them also understands the other in a unique way and thus has a bizarre acumen for pulling the other’s head out of their ass when needed.

Romantic Pairing(s) you're currently writing?

Most of my works involve some configuration of Black Jack’s canonical intimate connections with Jamie Fraser and Mary Hawkins. Whether I not I write him in a relationship with Jamie in waking life has everything to do with whether or not the rape at Wentworth Prison happens in a given timeline. If it gets averted, usually the two of them wind up together in some form. If it doesn’t, no dice—although this doesn’t make Jamie’s feelings about Randall any simpler or prevent him from having horny dreams about him as he does in canon.

Your top AO3 tags?

Probably “BJR is his own trigger warning” and “just out-DGing DG as usual” apropos of the kind of stuff I write.

Current platform you use for posting?

For the fics themselves, AO3 and Google Drive. For releasing fics, Discord and Tumblr. I also share snippets of my current “focus fic” that I’m intensively working on finishing to the BJR Discord server, basically publishing the story in serial from beginning to end. Hey, it worked for Ian Fleming back in the Playboy days!

Snippet of the WIP you are currently working on?

The story I’ll be posting Tuesday is already finished and will also be a surprise for its celebratory recipient, so no reveal on that one. But this works out nicely because the story I’ll be focusing on finishing next is “The Geneva Convention” in my “Dispatches from Fort Laggan” continuity referenced above!

This fic will be a one-shot focusing on Black Jack getting a surprising piece of good news that rapidly turns into manipulative scheming to get Jamie Fraser off his duff about courting Geneva Dunsany. His wife Mary Hawkins enables Jack’s plotting with gleeful aplomb—our shrewd Shakespearean wife gal never sits on the sidelines of a good social intrigue, after all.

Per the “pulling heads out of asses” note from earlier, this little snippet from the in-progress fic shows Black Jack ribbing Jamie about his own hypocrisy. Specifically, throughout “Shaking in the Light” and the first half of “Pictures Every Night” Jamie urges Randall to tell Mary how he actually feels about her—that he isn’t marrying her purely out of obligation to his brother Alex.

Black Jack eventually does, after a lot of false starts. Jamie initially enjoys pointing out how this was kind of moot given he didn’t use any words until after giving in to his desire to touch her intimately in response to her clear entreaties for same. However, he soon gets made to eat his words entirely after Randall realizes his stablemaster has fallen for the horse trader from whom he helped Black Jack buy a horse for Mary earlier that year.

So with that context in mind, here’s the first little sneak peek at “The Geneva Convention” wherein Black Jack gets Jamie in a compromising position and gives him hell forthwith about the shoe being on the other foot these days.

“It’s not so easy, is it?” “Och, it’s damned hard is wha’!” Randall purrs, fondling his cock in earnest now. “Mmm. It certainly is, isn’t it? Perhaps you might show a bit more sympathy for your commanding officer in such matters going forwards, hmm?” “Christ,” Jamie gasps, “how many more such matters can there be a’ this point? Dinna tell me ye need two entire wives asides when ye’re no’…”

I’ll tag @meerawrites whose Turn works I can’t recommend strongly enough! Would love to know more about how you got your start in fanfic writing, friend.

[soltana-studios]

State of the Soltana Address - 2023-08-30 - Unpacking and Catching Up

Well, hey there internet.

I’ll try and go through this as painless as possible, but I know that with me gone for a bit, there’s a lot I need to address, including my absence in the digital world. Also, I’m posting this on Tumblr as oppose to the bird site, mainly cause this is kind of a mixed site between LJ and Twit for me. An unholy union. That said, let’s begin.

Where have you been?

So, right off the bat, I have been a little away from things for some time. Primarily due to some things in my life outside of the screen. This involves getting my work in order, finding a new job and getting married.

Sorry, Married?

Oh, right, yes, me and my wife (always feel like I sound like Borat when I say it) got married in June after being engaged for some time (longer due to COVID). I had to direct a lot of my energy and time into this as we both are anxious people and I hate planning things for large functions. Wedding itself was fun, lots of love and laughs. Great beautiful day and now I spend the rest of my life with my partner in crime. She’s stuck with me now, despite her knowing my insanity.

What Else?

Outside of the normal day to day stuff, we have been looking into adoption, due to some personal issues we both have. Won’t get into the nitty gritty of it, but it is due to health. Wife is telling me I would be a great dad and, honestly, I think that makes sense. I am at the point in my life where dad jokes do put a smile on my face rather than make me shudder. Then there’s just the upkeep of having a house, balancing work, and all the while, squeezing in moments for myself.

Seems Like You’ve Had a Busy Summer:

For the most part, it has been longer than a summer, but I will say yes. The problem is I’m finding smaller amounts of time to write and relax, and the time that I do have, I just want to decompress. As of late, my life is boring while at the same time being busy and crazy.

So, What is the “State of the Soltana Boss / Studio”?

Well, I’ll break it down as such:

I am currently working a personal omnibus for myself, in which I am about 90% complete. The details are basically a bunch of notes, original copies of all the stories I have done and references / guides that I managed to reorganize into a PDF.

I have been off and on with TFSU. As I said previously, Book 1 is fully fleshed out and I should be writing it, while the other books are in developmental stages. I’ll try and keep an updated log of this, but, for now, things haven’t moved

I have a couple of new projects I want to start, however, all I have now are concept ideas. They need a little bit of time in the oven before I can being the work on it.

I do have some stories of the Bing that I want to do, however, I’m treating them as low priority, due to, I don’t want to fall into familiar patterns.

What do you mean Familiar Patterns?

Lately, I have been stuck in the past. I didn’t realize that I was until I saw a story online that made me reflect on what I was doing. I was keeping the Bing on some ungodly life support, because I wanted to have the feeling that I had before of writing in a forum and talking with people or RPing in said forums. I was trying to recapture that feeling again, the joy that I had.

But unfortunately, I couldn’t. As dark as this sounds, we can’t go back.

That’s what I feel that the Bing was, a lifeline to try and pull me back into the past. I want to do new things with writing and not rely on characters that I know everything about and that every story about them has been practically done. I want to move forward with myself and write new experiences and characters.

What about TFSU?

TFSU is sort of a mixed bag. While it has a lot of Iris’s characters that I have worked on for a while, I see it as two things. One, an homage to a friend’s creativity and talent and two a new experience to write a different setting and bring in some new plots. I’m actually looking at TFSU as the first step in breaking out of these patterns and it is exciting.

Okay, so what’s stopping you?

Outside of the above? Well, I also managed to get myself a new Steam Deck. It’s the first next gen console that I have had in a while and I found I am actually playing some games. Speaking of games, I’ve also been sucked in to playing Gloomhaven a lot with my wife.

Gloomhaven?

Look it up, it’s a video game and a board game. Short of it, it’s DnD in a board / card game.

Anything Else?

Caught up on Geats , now I am taken a sabbatical, like I normally do, until next year to watch Gotchard

How was Geats?

[Inhales] Definitely not perfect, but it has been one of the best Reiwa Riders that I have seen. Ace reminds me of Tendou so much it hurts. I did feel that the last act kind of meandered, but overall it was a good season. I felt like I was enjoying it for what it was all the way through, unlike Revice’s second half where it kind of nosedived a bit. Some people might call me crazy, but, I put Geats in second place right now, as I think Zero-One still has that crown, in my opinion, as best Reiwa Season.

Also Geats IX? Best final form in the Reiwa era to date. I will fight anyone on this hill!

We good?

We good. I’ll try and post more online, but I might make more of these, just cause I find writing this easier than anything else.

Stay Classy Internet

- Soltana Boss

[shanastoryteller]

Questions about outlines: How detailed are they? Are they the same level of detail or do they vary? How do you make your outlines? Chronologically scene by scene? Or do you come up with the scenes that call you and then come up with smaller filler scenes to fill in the gaps? Do you have outlines for each chapter? Or just for the larger general plot points? Do you try to complete the outlying before starting the fic? Or do you add to the outline as you go? Sorry if this is to many at once

lmao okay i got several asks about outlines but i’m just going to answer this one because it’s ~comprehensive~

every writing teacher i’ve ever had has hated my outlines. my friends find them incomprehensible.

if people are going to look at my answers as ways to do their own outlines, i have to say: that’s probably not a good idea

i don’t write outlines a majority of the time

i don’t write outlines to plan a story i’ve already decided to write

i write outlines primarily as a way to exorcise story ideas that i want to write but don’t want to actually commit to writing (answer prompts are another way i do this lol)

now, some things do get outlines as a way to plan and organize. survival is a talent has an outline because it’s 400k and spans six years. child king had an outline. needy’s body had an outline. 

b u t

i’m currently writing rotten work without an outline

lynchpin didn’t have an outline

hope is the thing with feathers didn’t have an outline

never grow a wishbone only had an outline for the first couple of chapters 

an invincible summer didn’t get an outline until like. chapter 4 of 6. 

i just. uh. think about what i want to happen and then hope i remember to write it down. even when i do an outline, i’ll deviate from it wildly, and not update it to reflect that, because i know what i’m doing (ha!)

so! with that in mind, let’s go! 

How detailed are they? Are they the same level of detail or do they vary?

they vary! but honestly - not very. sometimes i’ll write out a paragraph or bits of dialogue that are important to me, but most of the time it’s just broad strokes of what i want to happen, or a mechanism of how something complicated happens. like i have several paragraphs in my siat outline dealing with necromancy books, but like. two sentences on how they actually occur in the story because that’s just something i’m trusting myself to figure out when i sit down to write it.  

 How do you make your outlines? Chronologically scene by scene? Or do you come up with the scenes that call you and then come up with smaller filler scenes to fill in the gaps? 

I try to put them chronologically, although sometimes that’s a little hard (in siat i have several scenes that i know will happen, i just don’t know when). that is something i will go back and edit on my outlines, is if i’ve changed the order the something happens i’ll go back and copy and paste until my outlines is in the right order. but only if the outlines is something i’m actually using to write and the story is longer than a couple of chapters. 

because my outlines are so very not detailed, i just write down what it is that i want to write, like the reason i’m going to write this or want to write this, and figure out the rest later. i’ll fill it in later - or i won’t! because most of the time i don’t use my outline to actually write the story, and i use it more as an idea list, so if i don’t know what happens between scenes or i find it boring i just won’t write it down

like, for example, here is my “outline” for won’t even plant a garden in it’s entirety 

weep as a woman

“you weep as a woman weeps.” “and how is that?” “as if the future rests on your hips, and you must walk it forward.”

crowley and eve were friends. cain killed abel with the flaming sword, and crowley begged them to say it was with a rock instead

crowley was raphael the painter and fucked michelangelo

crowley was there the night yeshua was born, was friends with mary, helped raise yeshua?

ghosts

crowley and anathema and joan of arc

i ended up dropping most of this and crowley ended up sleeping with both eve and yeshua as the major plot points. i don’t explain stuff, really. i know what i mean so i just don’t bother to get very detailed most of the time. 

Do you have outlines for each chapter? Or just for the larger general plot points?

siat i divide up by year, and i think i did it by chapter for the last two chapters of build your wings on the way down, but otherwise it’s just one long list. i do my chapters based on words counts rather than content, so outlining by chapter doesn’t really make sense for me (siat is always around 15k a chapter, and everything else  i do these days thats multi chapter is around 8k because that’s the best, but ngawb was 5k a chapter and i think for child king it was around 11k a chapter)

Do you try to complete the outlying before starting the fic? Or do you add to the outline as you go?

I’m constantly adding as a i go! my outlines are never really “complete” they’re just abandoned. i write down what i think will help me and tend to ignore the rest. sometimes i just. talking to myself in my outlines when i’m trying to think something through. 

my outline for child king is under the cut because that’s one that’s a good mix of stuff i kept and stuff i threw out. DON’T JUDGE ME!! bad ideas don’t get written because they’re bad!! it’s part of the ~process~ 

child king

Summary: “A child king is still a king,” Deaton says softly. “A child king is still a child,” he snaps, but he knows this is an argument he’s already lost.  – Stiles is a born alpha, and after the Hale fire, things get real complicated, real fast.

Stiles’s mom is the last remaining human from a pack that was destroyed by hunters. John is the one that helps her after, so he knows everything. When they move to beacon hills she doesn’t feel the need to say anything to the hale pack, because as far as they’re concerned she’s just a human, and she doesn’t want to get involved in pack business. But then stiles is born with red eyes. The doctor is quiet and scared john and Claudia freak out, but it’s because he’s a werewolf, which is a relief to parents because they thought something was wrong with their kid. Maybe they don’t know he’s an alpha, only that he’s a wolf? Or they know and they keep it a secret on purpose

Claudia is the one to approach mrs. Hale. She tells her that her son is a born werewolf, but that she’s not interested in joining their pack. Her husband is a new deputy and they just bought a house but they’ll move if they have to. “he’ll need a pack one day. It’s safer,” she says. “if he wants to join you one day, I won’t stop him. But that’s not a choice I’m willing to make for him.” Mrs hale agrees that they can say separate as in exchange for the sheriff smoothing over some ruffled feathers no and again. They agree. Claudia to sheriff “we’re going to have to move one day. Our son is an alpha, and he’ll need to make his own pack.”

Stiles is seven the first time he snarls at his mom, eyes flashing red, and she freezes. She’s got the pack instinct, it doesn’t matter that hes her kid, hes still her alpha, so its hella awkward. John can see how this will quickly spiral out of control if they can discipline their own kid. But stiles is the one to back down first, apologizing and doing as he’s told. There are careful power structures here, and this is the beginning of differentiating between stiles the human and stiles the wolf.

When his mom gets sick, stiles offers to turn her. Hale offers to turn her. She refused for Reasons that I have to figure out. Maybe the politics of it? Wanting to protect stiles and not wanting to become part of the hale pack

The fire happens. John ships stiles the hell out of dodge, because there are hunters about. He snoops around enough to figure out it was kate argent, but theres not really anything he can do about it

Scott knows about everything, and tries to tell his mom in a really akward way that they should trust stiles if they’re ever in danger, but she just laughs it off. Except when someone breaks in and threatens her with a gun, and she manages to make a phone call, it’s not 911, not john, but stiles, and she doesn’t even know why, regrets it as soon as it happens. But then stiles shows up and breaks both of the guys, eyes glowing red, and then calls his dad and scott to take care of it, because they’re humans, so they get human punishments. Melissa is told everything.

Scott has a bad asthma attack and, and Melissa asks about the bite. Scott is itching for it. He wants it so badly. Stiles has already promised to turn them when they turn 18, and Melissa knows that. She asks if theres a reason to wait, and the answer is nah, not really. So he gets the bite. Stiles being like uh psa punishments cant include scott staying away

After hale fire and stiles gets back, he’s shocked that hey just left, and that they left peter behind. He starts visiting peter several times a week. He tells his dad that they should pay for his medical care. They have a fuckton of money because his mom inherited all the pack wealth, and john doesn’t touch it because that’s stiles’s money, that’s werewolf money. But this is a werewolf thing, so he agrees. “his pack left him dad.”

Stiles bites Erica when they’re 14. Some point in middle school stiles wises up to the Isaac thing and tells his dad he needs to arrest his dad, or stiles is going to kill him, and he’s not even a little bit joking. Stiles hears Isaac crying while going by the house? In johns squad car. Makes them pull over, then bursts into the house. John goes with it because his son’s eyes are red.

Some point after the hales leave, things start trying to move into hale territory. Some wolves? Stiles smells them, and ends up at 10 years old telling them to fuck off. This how scott finds out? He’s with scott and his dad. Deaton is facing off against something? Panics when stiles intervenes, but stiles goes wolfy and red eyes and is like. This is mine now fuck off. Looks at the hale house, and finally says, we have to take care of this. We have to. But they don’t own the house or the land or any of it. They do … something

Stiles ends up having to deal with a lot of crap real young

Stiles has scott and Isaac when peter wakes up. Stiles is there, and peter isn’t crazy because he wasn’t abandoned to die alone. Stiles says he can stay, or he can go, not trying to pressure anything. Peter chooses to become part of stiles’s pack, because his family is either dead or abandoned him. Peter ends up moving in with them as he finishes healing and to get used to being in a pack and with stiles. It’s very strange for john, but it’s a werewolf thing and he’s trying to be supportive. After a couple months, stiles tells his dad that having peter is a relief, that there’s finally someone who knows things, someone older who can support him as a werewolf. Peter acts as his second, and he finally has some degree of authority that age has lost him. Stiles has peter take care of the hale house. Peter and stiles have the conversation, where peter is like the hale land is your land now. You’re the alpha of beacon hills. He does what stiles directs him to.

Isaac is living with scott under stiles’s direction ish. But lots of Melissa. Isaac like I don’t wantto be afraid anymore, I don’t want to hurt anymore, and stiles is like. Okay. We’ll fix this. But he doesn’t bite Isaac until he goes to a shitton of therapy and has mostly sorted himself out. For isaac’s fifteenth birthday, he bites him.

Erica is spur of the moment, it’s something that all instinct and very little thought. OR they’re dating and it happesn? Erica’s parents suck. Stiles doesn’t want the balancing act of being boyfriend and alpha.

Jackson is so fucking desperate to belong to something. He nags and nags and nags and finally stiles bites him at least half to shut him up.

“dad can I talk to you about something weird and uncomfortable and a little creepy” talks about crush on Lydia, and how he’s not sure if its because he has a crush on her or if it’s bc he thinks she’ll be good for the pack. Lydia joins before Jackson, and she’s the one that pushes stiles into it. Lydia and stiles are not dating, but she’s clearly high in the hiarchey.

Boyd? Just like. Shows up. Idk.

So by the time laura and derek show up, stiles’s pack is: john, Melissa, peter, Lydia, Jackson, danny, Isaac, boyd, Erica, deaton (who’s acting as emissary but is training danny). Maybe bring in some later characters, like malia and kira and cora. Ooooh maybe the twins show up before they became alphas, still run aways and looking for something else? Stiles takes them on. Stiles finds malia early on after the fire

Peter is willing to forgive derek but he has a lot of shit with laura. Stiles agrees to let laura and derek stay and not be part of his pack, although laura insists she doesn’t need his permission. She snaps at peter to come home with them, and he looks at her like she’s insane. He says there’s no hale pack, and if there was, he’s not interested. He’s a stillinkski wolf now. Cora too maybe? Double blow. Peter owns the hale land, and he makes it clear the day stiles turns 18 he’ll be signing it over to him. Stiles is known by the surrounding packs.

Stiles has to somehow defend the surrounding area, has to make it clear he’s his and that he’s not willing to give it up. It’s valuable land. People are going to come looking for it once people figure out it’s abandoned. When deaton finds out stiles is an alpha, he goes around as an emissary to the surrounding packs. Saying that its under stiles now. He’s known to them so it goes mostly uncontested. This is when he and the sheriff have the child king conversation.

Stiles tries really, really hard to be a good alpha. That means controlling the territory, and working with other packs when members go rouge or something goes wrong. He’s thirteen the first time he goes to lend a hand in a fight, and it’s young, it’s too young, but he’s an alpha. He has to do this, to maintain the peace. And the thing is – stiles is good at this, good at not pushing, at not using his status as a crutch or an excuse, instead as a tool.

Maybe this is why no one cares for laura’s excuses. As much as laura wasn’t ready to take on the responsibility, she was an adult, if only barely. Stiles is a literal child, and in her absence shouldered it all. So even if she does technically have a claim, none of them are willing to honor it. “if you kill alpha stiles, you won’t have allies, you’ll have enemies.”

Allison and argents. Stiles brings his pack to kill kate. Gives peter the chance to do it himself, and is so very proud when he says no. but instead of letting her go free, stiles crushes her throat. “revenge would have been trapping you all in here and setting the whole thing on fire. Justice would have been making you watch as she burned alive. This was mercy, and don’t you forget it.” Scott is hella in love with Allison, but he knows this comes first. Her mom is full of hatred, but stiles more than makes it clear that he has no problem with killing her too.

Stiles sees derek soon after. They’ve already gone back and forth a lot. But he and laura weren’t there. Stiles tells him what he did. They have a ~moment~

Derek wants so very much to join stiles’s pack, but he doesn’t want to lose laura.

Something finally convinces laura to take the plunge and the stillinksi pack is one happy family

[hxneydreamers]

Hello, could u share your journey in the law of assumption and how u started and what progress you've made till now, what you had trouble with at first and how you resolved them, and finally what concepts made everything click for you and made manifestinf super easy like being on a roll for you? And thank you for starting this cool blog 😊

Hey! I'd love to!

I'll first point out that I am still learning and whilst I am here to help people manifest, I am learning alongside you! I want you to know that I am very well educated on the law of assumption, and I am also currently manifesting an SP. I have manifested lots of things in the past (like traveling, meeting a celebrity crush, as well as multiple specific people including my current SP), but I never really pushed through because I never properly tried. I was always on and off my game for a number of reasons, so I would receive my manifestations, but not in full, and this was all because of my self-doubt and self-concept.

I first discovered manifesting with the Law Of Attraction a few years ago after watching the documentary 'The Secret'. I had NEVER EVEN HEARD about manifesting before, and I felt like it was a bit far fetched.

For a very long time, I was extremely non-religious, I didn't believe in God or magic, the afterlife, spirits, fate, NOTHING! I was the biggest non-believer out there. When I watched 'The Secret' I tried to simply change my attitude to be positive as much as I could so I would only attract positive things in my life, and I noticed it worked for a little while, but it wasn't anything significant. I pretty much forgot all about manifesting very quickly, because I never took it seriously.

The next year one of my friends was obsessed with the law of attraction and twin flames and all that spiritual stuff, and she was trying to convert me a bit. I was intrigued by the concept, but I didn't really believe in any of it at all. I just liked making vision boards with her for fun. I never took any of it seriously.

My friend made me go to a psychic with her for fun one day and I resisted and said no, but I eventually gave in because I got curious. Seeing this psychic was extremely earthshaking. I won't go into detail about my experience with her, but some things happened that pretty much changed my view of life and way of thinking. I was much more open to the possibility of things like manifesting.

A year ago, 2 people close to me sadly passed away. I felt very lost and I spent many nights awake and I stumbled across 'Sammy Ingram' on youtube and discovered the Law Of Assumption. I began to binge watch her videos and I did sooooooo much research about the law. I was immediately obsessed.

I started manifesting text messages and instant replies and dates so easily because I was so excited about it and felt no doubt that it would work.

I had success manifesting an internship, consistent shifts at work/consistent money flow and other money manifestations, I manifested dating a specific person (but I ended it for natural reasons), I manifested another specific person literally within a night, just to see if I could do it, and I manifested my current specific person as well (we have a past).

After these successes, I ended up having to deal with some personal issues with my grief for a while, as well as finish my studies, AND my internship, which took my mind off manifesting, and as a result, I manifested negative circumstances in many areas of my life, because I let myself spiral.

I won't tell you the old story too much, because I don't want to revisit it, but basically, for years I had been stuck in a cycle of being abandoned. I felt unlovable and my self-esteem was quite low. All of these beliefs were reflected in many ways, and I was constantly worrying about everything. My internship became toxic and I wanted to leave, my relationship also ended temporarily, and my self-concept was very very very bad!

I felt like I was obsessing over everything in my life going wrong and I wanted to manifest my SP because I thought that he would fix everything, but by putting him on the pedestal I was stalling.

As soon as all this happened, I was of course upset, HOWEVER, I had suffered so much loss at that point that I was determined to make sure that I turned my life around. So I decided to manifest ending my internship naturally, rather than me leaving or being dismissed.

I started visualizing a conversation with my superior where they told me that something came up and we would have to pause the internship.

Literally, two weeks later, he met up with me and told me this exactly, and he said that the decision was ultimately up to me if I wanted to continue later or not. So I said that the timing would not work with my studies, and I successfully manifested leaving the internship naturally.

Next, my SP.

- I literally went to sleep every single night repeating my affirmations.

- I affirmed every single day, I affirmed through tears and I affirmed with my friends. EVERY CHANCE I GOT!

- I started affirming from a place of peace, indifference, faith, and trust that it would work out

A week later we were back together again.

My struggles with the law were mostly that:

- I KEPT CHANGING MY AFFIRMATIONS

- I was on and off my mental diet

- I kept looking for confirmation in the 3D

- I kept repeating the old story

- I focused too much on my SP and not enough on me

About 2 months ago, I had a breakthrough where I decided I needed to completely change everything in my life to put myself in control.

- I started listening to music that made me feel extremely happy and would watch movies and shows that put me in a great mood

- I decided to pick my affirmations and stick with them NO MATTER WHAT!

- I started having a better mental diet, and I noticed results immediately

- I started being able to say 'I don't care what I see, I'm getting my manifestation, and genuinely feeling relaxed and peaceful about it

Once I shifted the focus onto myself and even took some space from my SP, I felt amazing 24/7 and my mental diet was practically perfect.

He has started implying that we are a couple, I don't feel needy, and don't even text him much anymore, he is the one chasing me and constantly blowing up my phone. He is constantly asking to see me, begging me even. He initiates ALL CONTACT NOW! Finally, the whole tone of our relationship has changed and our interactions have been extremely amazing! I have never felt so confident in myself and I can see it reflected in how he treats me.

I manifested him in steps to build our relationship to this point, and I didn't want to begin manifesting commitment until I felt my self-concept was perfect, as I want a healthy relationship with him. Now I am finally beginning to manifest the final stage: official commitment, and I am certain that I will get it!

My biggest tip based on my own experience is to:

- Persist in the same affirmations.

- Do not affirm from a place of desperation and lack

- Keep yourself busy and prioritize yourself and your life, they must reflect this and prioritize you as well

- Trust that it is done and don't check the 3D for confirmation

- If you started having negative thoughts, PERSIST! Do not be discouraged!

- If you know that you have been doing everything right, but suddenly everything feels wrong and your negative thoughts are coming out all at once and/or the 3D looks like shit, you could be in a transition period. THIS JUST MEANS THAT YOU ARE FINALLY GETTING RID OF THE OLD BELIEFS AND YOUR MANIFESTATION IS REALLY CLOSE! SO PERSIST THROUGH THIS!

So for whoever is reading this, please remember that I am here to help you, AND I am on this journey with you! We are all human and none of us is perfect!

I'll share updates on future manifestations in the future, but this is my story so far and my current manifestation in progress!

I will probably make a post in the future about past manifestations such as celebrity crush and travel etc.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers (February 22nd, 2021)

Hello! Here’s another collection of anon ask answers all put together in one big post.

This might be strange considering how upbeat yall are about the fandoms for your games in general, but is there any particular trope or ship you WOULDN'T want us writing/drawing/etc. in relation to your stuff? (IE, any canon you don't want us 'overwriting' or something like that?)

Of course we would want the fan content people make to not be racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted, harmful, etc. But in terms of generally doing non-canon pairings or adding in headcanons or stuff, we really don’t mind that. People are welcome to have fun and explore their own ideas.

for the 1.2 Android update was it meant to download as a  separate app? I really want to keep my previous save files but they don't show up (also thank u for the updates I'm really excited to get back into the game!!)

We had to change the name of the file and unfortunately for some phones that meant it’s treated as a brand new game. I’m sorry your saves didn’t transfer over to the new version. You can try to look up your specific phone and see if there’s a way to access save files for games on your device and then transfer those saves over to the new build manually. It may or may not be possible.

I'm having some trouble figuring out how to get the update from Itichio without losing my save files? Is it the same game or a folder I can put in the properties? Sorry if this question is not worded well or if this isn't the avenue you'd want to take technical questions on

Are you using Android? If so, the above answer may apply to you. If you’re on PC or Mac, the save files will automatically still be included.

Hey. I really loved playing our life. It was a fun experience and I never thought I would like it this much. I do have a question, I am currently replaying the game and I am choosing choices I never chose at first. In step 2 during the road trip arc, I decided to ask Cove about what he liked to see on people. One of his response was anklets and black eyes. My MC have just happens to have black eyes. Do Cove say black eyes cuz my mc have it or it was just a coincidently programmed into the game?

He uses your eye color intentionally! If you changed your eye color he’d change what he said.

Will step 4 have 10 moments like steps 1-3? 

Step 4 is only an epilogue. It plays like the openings/endings of the earlier Steps where it’s a bunch of scenes all in a row, there aren’t any individual Moments.

hi! who was/were the artist(s) for our life? 

&

who is the artist for Our Life: Beginning and Always?

Main Sprite and CG Artist: Addrossi

Main Background Artist: Vui Huynh

Main Interface Artist: Winter Slice

Other artists who helped out can be seen in the credits of the game.

In the new ol, there are two main love interests... Would it be possible to pair them together or is that weird? 

You can’t stay single and pair them together. If we are going to add all the extra content to have a route where the two LIs get together, it’d be a full poly route where them and the MC were all dating. And that’s not a for sure option yet because it’d add a lot of extra complications. But either way, in OL the relationships all gotta be about the MC, haha.

In OL2, there will be extra LIs in form of DLCs? Like Dexter and Baxter. 

Maybe! We’ll see how it goes.

Since Cove will have 2 diff body types in s4, will the storyline and dialogs reflect this? Or all of it will be the same? Btw love the game and sorry for bad english. Hope this doesn't sound rude 😅 

Some descriptions and pieces of dialog will change, but it won’t impact the story really. And you don’t need to apologize! It’s all good.

Will you ever release the transparent sprites of the Our Life characters? 

Probably not, I’m afraid. They’ve got a lot of pieces and it’d just be kind of hard to deal with, aha.

Something I was curious about, what was your inspiration for making a game with so much customization?

Initially, the idea was just about having a romance where you actually grew up with the LI. But it was pretty stressful to try deciding how fast the relationship would progress with it taking place over such a long period of time and with no real storyline carrying it. People might not wanna play a game where the characters don’t get along as kids, but other people might not bother with a game where kids immediately liked each other. So the obvious answer came, just let the player pick themselves how it goes. From there we simply continued to add more flexibly with the MC due to the same thought process of wanting to make sure people were onboard with how their life was going.

What made you decide to change the artstyle for ol 2 so much? I of course respect all your decisions and will buy the shit out of everything related to ol 2, but i love the original style and i m honestly not a fan of the styles shown on patreon, despite me liking the painterly style in general. (I don t mind the style being changed, just that the examples shown so far all feel like there s something wrong with them.) 

We’ve always used different art styles for each of our projects. They all have distinct looks from each other. It’s just nice to do something new. I’m glad you really like how the first game looks, though. And those samples were only general concepts, rather than the exact options being decided between. We wanted to see reactions to different options. The art style we’re going with won’t be exactly like those, though I personally like all of them. I think players are gonna enjoy the style Our Life: Now & Forever when it’s revealed.

Hey! Is it ok to ask what gender ourlife2 protagonist will be and if we'll be given the same opportunity to customize an MC? Totally understand if you're keeping this under wraps for now if u don't wanna say! 

OL2 will have the same type of MC customization as OL1, but even more refined! So their gender will be up to you.

Hi! I happened upon Our Life on Steam by pure chance. It is such a great game, I am super excited about the DLC, and I just want you all to know that you are awesome! :D I have a question, and I'm sorry if it's been asked before. Do you have plans of making more games similar to Our Life, with customizable player character? The customizable player character was probably the one thing I personally have been desperate for in romance VNs. So glad there finally is one and would love to see more.

Thank you! And yep, we do have plans for more games like Our Life, most notably is another game in the franchise- Our Life: Now & Forever. We’ll also likely have other, non-OL, games with customizable MCs, though we may still have some games with set MCs in the future as well.

On the patreon dlc just curious but is it possible to play it without actually sleeping together/getting the nsfw content? I just want to spend more time with Cove 

Yeah, you can still choose not to go that far. Though the event is shorter if you pass on the 18+ stuff.

At the beginning of Step 2, did Cove end up accidentally falling asleep in your bed? Or did he fall asleep on the floor? 

He fell asleep sitting on the floor with his body/head leaning against the side of the bed.

This may seem like a weird question, but what exactly is the difference between "direct" and "relaxed" on the comfort scale?

Direct is blunter and more teasing, relaxed is lighthearted and goes with the flow.

can the MC have tattoos in step 3? 

Not in Step 3, but you can in Step 4.

how would Cove react if he visited somewhere like North Carolina in winter where it can get in the 20s(F) at night sometimes? 

He would be shocked and unprepared for what serious coldness is really like, haha. The poor beach baby would wanna go home.

Hello! I just joined the PATREON!! It’s amazing! I love your games! I have a question, approximately how much after will the nsfw be out? After or before the dlc 3 and step four? Sorry my English isn’t the best!❤️❤️❤️ 

Thanks so much! The NSFW DLC will be out after the Step 3 DLC but before Step 4. And you don’t need to apologize for that ^^.

This might be obvious but, will step 4 have dlcs? Also, where will the nsfw dlc happen? Won't bother me at all if it s in in our or his house but i do think it d be moderately funny 

Step 4 will have the Cove Wedding DLC and the Derek and Baxter romance DLCs each add a lot of new content to Step 4, though they’re also partially set in Step 2 and Step 3 respectively. The NSFW DLC happens in Cove’s room.

I keep wondering what would've happened if Mr. Holden met Lizzie first instead of the MC. I can't see that turning out well somehow lol. 

It wouldn’t have made a difference. He met the MC’s parents first and they told him about their two kids. He wanted the MC specifically to be Cove’s friend because the two were the same age.

Even though we have a way to go I'm really excited for OL 2! I was curious though, is the next main character going to be adopted again? I thought it was really clever to make the first main character adopted so when players are customizing,  they can make them look how ever they like without worrying about pesky genetics. Just wondering! 

The OL2 MC is not adopted. We wanted to go for a new dynamic. Instead their parents are their biological single mother who is partially customizable and an off-screen sperm donor father. So the mom will look generally like the MC and any other traits not from her can be assumed to come from whoever the father was.

—– —– —–

Thank you so much for all the asks ^^

FAQ   If you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[in-my-feels-probably]

INEFFABLE - Kaz Brekker 

Chapter Nine

If you would like to read this on Wattpad, it’s on there as well, my @ is in_my_feels_probably and there’s a few visuals and better descriptions and stuff on there. otherwise, enjoy, let me know what you think, and you can check out my masterlist for updates and more. don’t forget to read the prologue, it’s important to the story!

INEFFABLE – Kaz Brekker

ineffable (adj.) too great to be expressed in words, utterly indescribable; too sacred to speak of. 

Chapter Nine

Elham had successfully made it past the guards. Baghra was right, they had paid no mind to a random Grisha walking around the courtyard, instead scanning for unwanted guests. They had simply nodded at her as she stepped inside. She immediately had removed her kefta, discarding it in a random hall closet, left in only her dress, which she was sure she must have looked uncomfortable and out of place in.

She was now wandering through random passageways, trying to find her way to the ballroom. She was desperately trying to remember the blueprints Kaz had shown her, trying not to get caught, when she heard a voice.

“Are you lost?”

A chill ran up Elham’s spine, and she went rigid. It was the Darklings voice.

“You aren’t supposed to be back here, the fete is in the ballroom. Can I help you find your way?”

Elham tried to control her breath, willing the tears to stop falling. She quickly wiped under her eyes, finally turning to face him. He hadn’t aged a day. He gave her a soft smile, but it slowly faded as he seemed to analyze her face.

“Have we met before? What’s your name?”

Elham realized she must have looked much older than the little girl who had fled the Little Palace, and she stamped a smile on her face, trying to mask her fear.

“I’m so sorry, sir. My name is Anya. I needed a bit of fresh air, and I must have gotten lost. No, I don’t think we have met, it’s my first time at the Palace. And I think I would remember meeting a General. I hope you’ll forgive me for saying this, but it’s all quite...overwhelming. I didn’t mean to get so turned around, though, I just needed a minute.”

The Darkling’s smile returned, and he offered her his arm. “It’s quite alright, I’ll lead you back to the party.”

Elham hesitated, before taking his arm, stepping in place beside him. He began guiding them back to the party.

“Where did you say you’re from, if I may ask? You look terribly familiar, I must know your family.”

“I quite doubt it. I’m from a small town in Kribirsk, but my family is from Novyi Zem. We came into some money and my father decided Ravka was a better opportunity for us. Turns out he was right, I never imagined we would be invited to the winter fete. My father fell ill a few weeks ago, however, but he insisted I still come, meet good people.”

The Darkling smiled, patting her hand with his. They had arrived just outside the ballroom. “I’m glad you came. I hope you enjoy your stay, if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to attend to. Just go right through those doors, the party is in there.”

“Of course, thank you for helping me find my way back!”

He gave her a graceful nod, and turned down another corridor, leaving her standing still in the middle of an empty hall. She let out the breath she had been holding. She violently rubbed at the arm he had been holding, trying to wipe away his touch. He had been uncharacteristically cold to the touch, despite his warm greeting, and Elham could still feel his hand on her skin.

She caught her breath, calming herself as best she could. The Crows still needed her, and the plan wasn’t going to fail because she couldn’t keep her wits together. She headed into the ballroom, scanning the crowd of people for anyone familiar, or the Sun Summoner herself.

A guard came to stand next to her, clearing his throat.

“Sorry sir, I...saints, Kaz?”

He whispered next to her, barely looking in her direction, trying not to blow his cover. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you, you know the plan--”

He stopped talking, now fully turning to face her. His jaw clenched, and he slightly nodded his head, motioning for them to back away from the crowd, towards the corner of the room. “El, why are you crying?”

She reached a hand up to wipe under her eyes, and was surprised when she felt the tears on her cheeks. “I didn’t even know I was.”

“What happened?”

“We don’t have time for this. I’ll explain everything later, I promise, let’s just get what we came for and get out of here, I hate this place.”

He nodded, and Inej appeared next to them. She looked surprised to see Elham in the state she was in, but with a quick glare from Kaz, she didn’t even question it.

They stood in the corner of the room, watching the Grisha put on their little talent show the King had requested. As much as Elham hated this place, and she was sure she would have been miserable if she stayed, she almost missed her time there. Watching the Inferni bounce flames across the room had her in awe, and part of her wished she could be standing alongside them, showing off her talents.

Kaz looked unimpressed. “It’s reflective glass. Bounce the light into that, and people won’t know whether it’s coming or going.”

Inej rolled her eyes, stepping to another side of the room. Elham was about to follow, when she saw the Darkling, guiding the Sun Summoner through the crowd. Alina was dressed in a black kefta with golden embroidery. She was wearing the Darkling’s colors.

Elham decided it was better to stay away from the pair, not wanting the Darkling to catch on to who she was. Plus, as much as she hated to admit it, she somehow felt safer standing close to Kaz in the room.

Kaz would be no match against the Darkling or his favored Grisha if it came down to defending themselves, but he seemed to always survive improbable odds, and Elham was more than willing to bet that she would somehow make it out alive if she stuck by his side.

Alina stood behind the Darkling as he turned around, addressing the crowd. The room had fallen silent. “Her name is Alina Starkov. And she will bring liberation to us all.”

The Darkling stepped off the stage, and the crowd parted. Elham held her breath, shrinking back towards Kaz. The Darkling lifted both arms out, before swiftly clapping his hands together. Darkness enveloped the room. Wisps of black floated through the air. Elham could make out the Darkling turning to Alina, holding his hand out to her.

Alina stepped forward, and Elham was suddenly filled with a sense of hope. She didn't think Baghra would lie about such things, but hearing about a Sun Summoner and seeing one for herself were two very different things.

Alina put her hands together, calling the light. She slowly pulled them apart and held them steady, revealing a small sphere of light in between her fingertips. She bounced the ball of light from hand to hand, before creating another. Elham watched in admiration, a hand coming up to her mouth.

Alina pushed the light up and over the crowd, letting it reflect in the glass. She pulled her hands apart, letting light fill the room. Elham watched the Grisha around the room look at each other, smiling. She glanced over at Inej, who was absolutely beaming. Alina dropped her hands, and the Darkling released his hold, letting light fill the room once more.

The crowd murmured to themselves, some bowing down, some praying. Elham finally made out what they were saying, as she watched Inej mouth the words herself.

“Sankta Alina.”

Elham didn’t believe in saints, but even she was starting to question her beliefs. Alina may or may not have been a Saint, but she was powerful, and she was vulnerable, and Elham refused to let that kind of power fall into the wrong hands.

---

Elham stood with a drink in her hand, close enough to Inej and Kaz that they could include her in the conversation, without her looking suspicious. To an onlooker, it seemed as if she was simply admiring a piece of art on the wall, or that she may have had a little too much to drink.

Elham swirled her cup, listening to Kaz explain his plan for flushing out Arken. He really had betrayed them, and now, he was going to meet an unfortunate end. It didn’t seem that unfortunate to Elham, however. A man who profits off the Fold and the poor souls lost in it was not a good man, and she wouldn’t mourn someone like that. She just wished that she could have been the one to watch him go herself. She quite liked a bit of poetic justice.

Kaz and Inej had started moving, and Elham slowly trailed behind them. Kaz approached Alina.

“Miss Starkov! We are to escort you to dinner. Could you come with us, please?”

“I thought, umm...well, actually I am quite hungry.”

Elham watched as Alina was led down the hall in her direction, when the Darkling stepped around the corner, standing too close for comfort. Elham quickly turned away from him, suddenly looking very interested in her drink.

“Thank you. I’ll take her from here.”

He led her away, and Elham quickly moved closer to Kaz and Inej, suddenly aware of the Darkling’s Grisha eying them from around the room.

“Alright, plan B. Scratch that, plan F. Stay on the target and meet me at the escape route. Elham, come with me, they’re onto you too. Act like you're asking me for directions, and I’m going to lead us to that corridor.”

She nodded, and Inej headed in the other direction. “He’s an Inferni. Don’t take chances.”

Funny, Elham thought. If it came down to it, this would be her chance to reveal to Kaz her powers. She dreaded the look of betrayal that almost definitely would come her way, but if it meant defending him against another Inferni, she wouldn’t hesitate.

---

Kaz had led them through winding corridors, all the way to the chapel. Elham could tell the pace without his cane was killing him, she could see the grimace of pain on his face he was trying to hide.

“Kaz, I can--”

“Shut it, El. Hide. He’s coming.”

Kaz quickly ducked behind a pillar, and she dove down under one of the pews on the other side. Her heart was pounding, her mind racing. There was only so much they could do against an Inferni. Without having to create a spark, Elham could best him, moving quicker than he could. But she’d reveal her powers, and they were already unpredictable enough as is. She lowered herself closer to the ground, tucking into herself as the Inferni entered the room, scanning for them.

“You’re not supposed to be here, are you, limping man? You’re like a wounded spider in my house. You know what my sister and I do to spiders?”

The Inferni had gotten on top of the pews now, and was briskly hopping closer and closer to Elham across the top. She could hear him ignite his flame, and she sucked in a breath. She was at the front pew ducking down, ready to attack, when the Inferni jumped to the last pew, peering down at her.

Kaz leaped out from behind the pillar, clutching a piece of bannister, swinging it hard against the back of the Inferni’s legs, sending him tumbling down to the floor next to Elham, who quickly scrambled up and behind Kaz.

Kaz stomped on the Inferni’s arm, preventing him from raising his hands. “Unlike a spider, I only need one good leg. However, you look like you need both hands.”

He swung the bannister down on the man’s arm, sending out a nauseating crunch, along with the man’s scream of pain. Kaz pressed down harder, and Elham could hear the bone crack. She almost grinned. Kaz brought the bannister down once more, sending it cracking across the Inferni’s face, seeming to knock him out cold.

Kaz took a deep breath, stumbling back as he threw the bannister away from himself, turning to face Elham. He limped towards her letting out a groan, and she fought herself from reaching out to steady him.

“Are you alright, Kaz?” He just tiredly nodded in her direction, moving closer to her. She grinned, but as soon as she did, it fell from her face, her body going rigid.

“Kaz!”

Her eyes widened, and before Kaz could even turn to see what she was looking at, Elham quickly shoved her shoulder into his side, knocking him to the ground. She quickly moved to block his body with hers, hiding his frame from the Inferni’s sight.

He smacked the ground in shock, turning over to see Elham, raising her hands high, a flame erupting from her hands.

She was going to do this. She had to. The Inferni snarled, creating a spark, but Elham had already shot a flame across the room, it landing on the sleeve of the man’s kefta. His face scrunched in surprise, and he batted at the sleeve, trying to extinguish the flame.

Elham darkly chuckled, quickly advancing on the man. Kaz had sat up now, to see Elham raising her hands, sending one fireball after the other towards the man, all catching fire on his kefta.

The Inferni was screaming now, collapsing to the ground, but Elham didn’t waver. He was desperately rolling on the ground, clutching at his arms, but she just stood over him, bouncing a flame between her fingertips.

“You really shouldn’t have done that. I’m counting on seeing your sister later. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she realizes her brother died by his own power. I don’t quite like anyone threatening my family, so I’m sure you understand why it had to come to this.”

Elham’s grin had fallen from her face, replaced by a darkness that met her eyes. The Valkyrie had come out. “I’ll see you in hell.”

She raised her hands in one final swoop, sending a flame quickly across the Inferni’s face and throat, silencing his screams. His head lulled to the side, his eyes still wide open. He laid still.

He was dead.

Elham heard a gasp, and she quickly turned to find Inej now standing in the doorway, a hand covering her mouth. Elham let the flames recede into her palms, turning to face Kaz, who was now standing, staring at her with an unreadable expression.

Elham tried to find the right words. “I...I--”

Kaz stopped her. “You saved my life. The rest doesn’t matter.”

Elham sucked in a breath, feeling tears prick at her eyes, and Inej was suddenly at her side, cautiously placing a hand on her arm. Kaz directed his attention to Inej. “Get your Saint, and let’s go.”

Inej moved towards the exit, but Elham stood in her place, staring at the Inferni’s body on the ground.

“Elham.”

She didn’t move. Kaz was now at her side. “El! We have to go, now! You can explain the rest later.”

She just faintly nodded in his direction, letting him lead her out of the room and down the corridors.

---

A/N - hi everyone, i hope you liked this chapter. i promise i have a lot of cool stuff planned, just bear with me, getting in some of these plot points without changing the story too much is a little hard. i should have another chapter out soon. let me know what you thought, feel free to comment or message with anything, and thank you so much for the support.

[st-just]

I need a good podcast to listen to (informative or entertaining audio, not really looking for a story at the moment). Do you have any recommendations?

Oh do I!

But honestly, it depends on what you’re interested in?

So, like, historical lectures (in increasing order of my impression of obscurity)-

Mike Duncan’s Revolutions. Decent chance you’ve already heard of/listened to it, he’s one of the more commonly interviewed semi-intellectual pop historians at the moment (..that might come off as derogatory. Not intended. Just in terms of where he gets interviewed). A series on the great political revolutions of modernity, starting with England, though America, France, Haiti, Spanish America (told as an extended biography of Simon Bolivar), the July Revolution in France, 1848, the Paris Commune, Mexico, and Russia (currently ongoing, to be the last). The first two aren’t...bad, but no great either. Haiti is amazing and a topic that’s basically never covered in mainstream historical surveys. Honestly a better historical survey of the long 19th century in Europe and Latin America period than you’re likely to have gotten in school. The first dozen episodes of the Russia series are also a generally decent explanation of the development of marxist and anarchist thought in the 19th century.

Partick Wyman’s Fall of Rome and Tides of History. Fall of Rome is what you would expect from the name, though rather than trying to do any sort of general survey after the introduction he focuses episodes on specific regions or themes rather than just a slice of time, generally. Tides of History is the same for the period from 1250-1550 (I think? might be a century off there), which he considers Europe to have developed the necessary conditions for the creation of the modern world. More recently, still under the Tides of History title, he’s moved on to early humanity, with the most recent episode being on predynastic Egypt. Found of, like, hypothetical case studies/explaining events and situations by describing what the biography of someone unexceptional living through it would have looked like. Spices things up with interviews with other academics and book club discussions with his producer on occasion

Sharyn Eastaugh’s History of the Crusades and Reconquista. On the opposite end, these very much are chronological narrative histories of the periods and subjects (including the Albigensian and Baltic crusades). If you’re the sort of person whose eyes glaze over at lots of names and places or zones out after fifteen minutes spent on one battle, you’ll bounce off of this, but she does an excellent job of getting into/trying to describe the personalities involved, and digs up plenty of interesting anecdotes to spice things up. First part of HotC excellent to listen to as you read Foucault’s Pendulum.

(Okay, I’m too lazy to write out descriptions of all of them, but History of Japan, Egypt and Byzantium, Age of Napoleon and Fall of Civilizations are all also good)

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

Still history, but more conversational

Robert Evans’ Behind The Bastards. Which, again, decent chance you’ve heard of. Biographies of the worst people in history interspersed with comedic banter with a rotating cast of guests. Early episodes are more comedic and obvious, stuff about Hitler’s attempts at painting or Saddam Huessein’s poetry and such. After that focuses on digging into terrible people and horrifying things that you probably wouldn’t have heard of, though! (also gets significantly more openly political).

Isaac Meyer and Demetria Spinrad’s Criminal Records. A true crime podcast but instead of serial killers its about digging up really weird of interesting crimes or court cases - ‘the oldest court case in ancient mesopotamia for which any record still exists’ is probably my favorite example. The hosts are a couple with a solid rhythm to their banter, and in between episodes on like the Stonewall riots or Jack Johnson or William Calley, they really do dig up some wonderfully obscure and bizarre bits of history.

Anthony Kaldellis’ Byzantium and Friends, an interview series with various experts in the study of byzantine/eastern roman history and related fields. Far more than any of the others listed, this is academics talking to academics for a presumed audience of academics, so neither a great introduction if you don’t know the field at all nor very snappy or highly produced or polished and often more than a bit dry. Still, really interesting and extremely current in terms of the state of the field.

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

Pale Reflections is the unofficial-official Pale read-along podcast, analyzing a week’s updates at a time as they release. Useful substitute for having any friends irl you can actually talk to about new updates! Also good for pointing out the obvious things you missed and letting you feel smart for noticing things the hosts didn’t.

Pale in Comparison is a recently started Pact live read podcast where one of the hosts has read Pact and the other hasn’t but has read Pale, trying to figure out what Blake’s in for and understand the setting with that accurate-but-incomplete grounding. Doing an excellent job so far of making me want to reread Pact!

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

Beyond that mostly scripted fiction which you don’t want, various politics/current events/opinion shows whose value basically depends on if there’s an ideological niche you wanted to fill in your news diet, and a couple Canadian investigative journalism shows which are probably a bit parochial. So hopefully one of those appeals!

[tssidesfics]

Update on MGTBW

I have edited Roman’s part as much as I can without reading through line by line. I’ve noted down the other edits I need to make and now I’ve moved onto Logan’s part. First order of business is creating a guide for myself on html, considering in order to create an authentic found document experience, I need to use boatloads of that and not all of it can be done in Rich Text mode on AO3.

I make no promises, but if you have any subjects you want me to research and include in Logan’s documents, reblog this post with it. I’m planning some astronomy facts (also astrology as a gag), some bare bones basics on chemical engineering, I don’t feel like pursuing a Bachelor’s for the pure purpose of writing a fic. Assorted literature essays, essays on psychological concepts (and overlap between those two essay types). I don’t want to go overboard, but if there’s anything else you feel I’d be remiss not to include in Logan’s part, reblog this with it and I’ll take it under advisement.

This is definitely going to be hard. I’m planning to get all of the character interactions out of the way, considering I want this to be mostly streamlined and it makes sense that all the researched topics reflect the happenings of Logan’s life.

It’s still gonna be a bit before you guys can read any of this, but please do me a favor. Promote Morality Is Grey and leave lots of comments and bookmarks on the sequels when they come out. I am putting a lot of effort into these, arguably more than even some of my original fiction (you know, the stuff I’m planning to professionally publish). I want you guys to enjoy it, and I want this to be the best fic series you ever read, but it would crush me if it landed with a dud. If anyone is paying attention to this blog and is looking forward to But Deny That As You May and subsequent sequels, please shoot me a message or reblog or something so I know interest in this story hasn’t completely dried up.

I’m also going to post separately about Morality Is Grey again and see if I can’t drum up more people who want to read it. If you guys could do me the wonderful solid of reblogging that. I know the Sanders Sides fandom is, to use the word a fic used about a character who would frequently drop dead and come back to life, necroleptic, and I’ll try again after my beta’s read through everything and I’m on my final round of edits, but with as much work as I’m putting into this, it honestly would mean a lot if you could just show that you still care.

(I know it doesn’t help that I made the weird decision to finish all the parts before uploading them, but I already have to do some semi-minor developmental edits to Morality Is Grey because some other fucking character decided to slap me with a plot twist/character motivation I didn’t plan on. This is for the sake of continuity so you can feel satisfied with yourselves when you correctly guess things based on foreshadowing.)

This update proved to be an essay. Whoops. Regardless. Just...I’m a little whiny and needy at the moment, but yeah, some support would mean a lot.

I hope you’re all having a great summer. (I know the world kinda sucks right now but I want to stay optimistic.) Wish me luck wrestling html into submission.

[spooky-activity]

Just a little update on Cassandratopia 2: Electric Boogaloo (Or as it stands in my Google Docs folder rn, A Helping Hand). I’ll put it under the cut cuz it’s kinda long. 

I just wanted to say that I’m still planning on actually doing it, despite all evidence to the contrary lol 

I did Cassandratopia in a haze of graduating from college(where I was studying animation) and just having ended my first dnd campaign as a dungeon master (which went 3 years!). I was fishing around for internships, but since the pandemic had just kicked off I wasn’t having much luck. So I had a lot of creative energy that wasn’t getting channeled anywhere, and a lot of free time when I wasn’t applying to places. Which is how I did 4 pages a day several times per week. Which was insane. 

As it stands, I’m running 2 dnd campaigns(one meets weekly, the other every other week or so), and just scored a full-time internship at a video game company! The campaigns I’m running are a homebrew open world, which, for those of you who aren’t too familiar with dnd, is a metric fuckton of work to prep for each session because I have no idea what my insane friends and siblings are going to try and do every time we play. 

Anyways all this to say that my storytelling itch is kinda. Sufficiently getting scratched atm and I have a lot less free time. I’m still plucking away at the setting/refining the story of A Helping Hand, but it’s largely on the backburner. Cassandratopia was also, uh, like the first story I’ve ever told in any sort of format besides the give-and-take of dnd, so... I’m not used to having so much control over the narrative. Oddly. I’ve never thought of myself as much of a writer of stories; my main focus is character animation, so someone else is usually writing the stories I’m telling anyways, which is super cool with me. Honestly I’m surprising myself with how much I want to tell this story, which is why I’m still sure I’m doing it. Just. Slower. Than Cassandratopia got done. 

But I’ll share a bit of the lore I’ve been cooking up! Specifically about Zhan Tiri and The Drops. The story will be told in an extremely dnd type setting, because that’s the kind of narrative I’ve told before and am comfortable telling: hard magic rules, neat fights, scary monsters, a dash of eldritch horror, and huge emphasis being put on magical artifacts(kinda like in the show!). Here’s some stuff that’s basically locked-in. 

Zhan Tiri

Zhan Tiri is one of the many Demon Lords of the Abyss. She’s kind of a mashup of two of my favorite Demon Lords, Zuggtmoy, the Lady of Rot and Decay, and Pale Night, the Mother of Demons and Queen of the Night(with just a dash of Hannibal Lecter because who doesn’t like helpful, polite, manipulative-ass bitches lksjflkja;fj). Her domain sits almost exactly between the Sundrop and Moonstone, largely being the new growth that comes from death, and the endless cycle of life and death. Places where her influence is strongest includes the cracks in... Well anywhere really, from society to the planet’s shell, where metaphorical or physical rot could grow; musty, mostly ignored places where something could fester. Iconography related to her would include endless mazes, fungi, grasping skeletal hands, and rotting/blooming corpses. Her spores can animate corpses, which she likes to use as mindless minions when she doesn’t feel like sending one of her Acolytes. She shares a scrap of her power with those few mortals she likes. She appreciates ambition and the desire to Grow to be bigger than what you were to start with, as those are qualities she herself possesses. 

Incredibly intelligent and merciless to those she deems her enemies, her main thing is pulling the strings from the shadows and seeing just how far she can push people to act with as little prompting from her as possible. She does, however, have the power to kinda bulldoze her way through things if she needs to, but she doesn’t like to because where’s the fun in that? 

She first gained interest in the Material Plane when a Wizard with too much hubris from said Material Plane(Named Demanitus) contacted her trying to figure out more information about The Drops and how to control them. After indulging him for a bit, she started preparing to make a summer home on the Material Plane because it’s New and Fun here and Wow These Mortals are Really Fun to Mess With! And some of them she even genuinely liked! Demanitus then realized his mistake and locked her away in Pandemonium for what he hoped was forever, but turned out to be only around 1,000 years, due to the efforts of her followers. Her little stint in Pandemonium magnified the more... Chaotic aspects of her personality, so now she wants to cover the Material Plane in blooming mazes of fungal crops that she can break people with at her leisure. 

The Drops

The drops are two semi-sentient pieces of one original artifact, whose original purpose was to be a tool of creation for the gods. Which, through some great calamity(still deciding that one), got sundered and settled into the two basic aspects of creation: the nearly unlimited well of life-energy which organizes stardust into planets, cabbages, and kings, and the “you gotta crack a few eggs to get an omlette” destructive force which breaks down what the sundrop makes so that it can make more. 

The main goal of the drops is to reunite. I would want to as well if I was ripped in half! This manifests as a... General tug in the direction of the other drop. A desire in the host to Go That Way. It can be resisted, and even ignored for a bit, but it’s always there. Like being hungry if starving wasn’t a danger. Just a bit uncomfortable if you aren’t going That Way, but ignorable. 

Both drops generally try to be as helpful to their wielder as possible, as originally they were a tool of creation to the gods. They are innately obliging. They’re also REALLY UNSAFE FOR MORTALS TO BE MESSING WITH. The Sundrop is a little safer because the most it can do is kinda. Overcharge you into something distinctly not human but still alive, and King Fredrick was lucky he made the Sundrop into soup before giving it to Arianna. But King Edmund got his wholeass arm blasted off for touching the Moonstone. 

The Sundrop

Best I could whittle it down, the Sundrop has power over life energy, like the sun’s light. It also has power over the energy derived from geothermal activities, so deep sea creatures Are Not Immune To The Sundrop, which was a funny thought that crossed my mind that they could be, but that will likely never come up anyways salkdjf;ljsf It is, in its basest form, Growth and Progress. 

It’s a little sentient, but very much entrenches itself into whoever is holding it at the time. Like another mind looking through your eyes and seeing what you see/feeling what you feel while still retaining a bit of individuality from the host. It’s not... Parasitic because it’s in its nature to give, but it’s generally pretty firmly attached to whoever is holding it until they die( which isn’t usually for a WHILE. It ’infects’ a new host when one dies, usually a plant near their grave...) or until a solar eclipse. It wants what they want, but it’s very fussy so they have to ask it for power exactly correctly(like singing an incantation every time you want to heal someone, or doing a Ritual involving lots of very specific ingredients, Celestial Alignments, and Secret Words) or it won’t listen, like an orchid dying if the ph balance is off in the soil by a little bit. But it’s generally pretty intuitive to use, because it wants what you want and (as long as you ask right) is willing to help. 

Anyways basically under the influence of the Sundrop you get a few things: 

Basically limitless energy coursing through your body while you’re in a place with sunlight, which equates to rapid healing, mostly, because every cell in your body is being supercharged with free energy. Never getting exhausted in direct sunlight. (If Rapunzel lived in a place that was sunny 24/7 like near one of the poles she wouldn’t have to sleep like. until it started to get dark in the opposite half of the year. Then she’d have to sleep like a regular human being)

You stay at your prime, or if you are past it, revert to your prime. Someone who is holding the Sundrop, or who has regular access to the Sundrop’s magic can’t die of old age or illness. They have to be hurt beyond the Sundrop’s ability to heal or have it taken away from them. 

The ability to share this rapid healing with others (if you ask right)

The ability to freely draw on the raw, near-limitless energy of the sun to shape into things like cool-looking energy blasts (only if you ask right) 

The Moonstone

The moonstone has powers over varying levels of destruction: from destroying things by ripping them apart/ to Not Letting Things Be Destroyed(also known as protecting) by freezing them in indestructible rock. Like the moon, it can ‘reflect’ a bit of the sundrop’s power, so it can kinda provide energy, albeit a lot less than the sundrop can provide. It’s the inevitable march of The End of All Things, fertilizing the fields of time with the ashes of the old so the new can take root. 

The Moonstone is a bit more in the dark(pun intended hehe) when it comes to bonding with someone, it can only try to figure out what is going on based off the emotions of its wielder, and through anything directly touching the Black Rocks. Because of this it’s... Kinda dumb? It tries to do things to help(Like shooting red fear-rocks to try and scare away whatever must be scaring its wielder so badly) but often fails spectacularly at helping. 

Under the influence of the Moonstone you get: 

Mortals get Neat Body Armor that’s actually just you being turned into a rock! They are very fragile! They need to be protected! The best the Moonstone can do to try and preserve you is to Stop All Destruction by.. Pausing all bodily functions indefinitely. Rocks don’t need to eat, sleep, or breathe, and almost nothing can destroy you if you’re solid Black Rock. The weak reflection of the Sundrop’s energy keeps the host animated, but they’re not exactly alive anymore. Like cryostasis. Wounds (if any) acquired in this state won’t be a problem because they’re not messing anything up, because nothing is technically working in the first place, but they will be a problem when you’re not protected in this way anymore. It’s a cosmic ‘I’ll deal with that later’ button, essentially. 

Like the moon, the Moonstone can reflect the light of the sun. It uses its rock crystals to do so, which can even split the sun’s power into different shades, like a prism. Essentially, different colored rocks can mean new and exciting power sets. 

Blue Lightning! The Moonstone can reflect the Sundrop’s power, so it also has access to pure bursts of energy, even if it is weaker and colder. 

The Moonstone is very helpful, but usually has no idea what you want. ‘Asking’ the Moonstone for more control over its power in the same way you would Ask the Sundrop for more power reminds it of the perfect bond it used to share. The Moonstone’s incantation deepens the bond between wielder and Moonstone in such a way that it actually knows what you want from it, giving you near perfect control of its powers.

*This is kind of just a side note of the Drops: While the Moonstone is weaker than the Sundrop in an head-on fight, it could hold its own if it were on the defensive. Redirecting the power instead of trying to overpower and such.

** Cass made of rocks means I get to draw her skeleton :) not in every picture that would be fucking nuts and way too much work alskjdf;lkjs;fv

[reality-refuge]

Check In Tag ✔️

I was tagged by both @natolesims and @fataleromeo ! Thank both of y'all for thinking of me!

Why did you choose your URL?

I discovered simblr and really, really wanted to make one. but I had no idea what username to pick. At the time, I was working a mindless sort of job, so I had a ton of time to dwell on it. I decided to pick a name that reflected why I got back into the Sims - it was a reality away from reality. And so, reality-refuge!

Any side blogs? If you have them name them and why you have them!

I have two!

@reality-refuge-finds for the cc I want to put in my game.

@reality-refuge-reblogs for the nonsim things that occasionally drift across my dash.

(I also have a separate personal blog, but you gotta be like level 50 friend to unlock that info lol)

How long have you been on tumblr?

...is 'too long' a valid answer?

If I had to guess, probably since 2012ish, so...nine years? NINE YEARS?!?

Like I said, way too long.

Do you have a queue tag?

Nope, and never have! The only time I ever queue stuff is for simblr, and I have different tags for that.

Why did you start your blog in the first place?

I started playing my NSB just for fun, but around the 4th or 5th gen, I was telling myself stories that I wanted to preserve. So...simblr!

Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Hah, my icon(s) is usually just a picrew of myself! I've been thinking of changing it up soon.

Why did you choose your header?

My header has always been a landscape shot of the world/neighborhood that the current heir is living in. So right now, that is Whiskerman's Wharf in Brindleton Bay!

What's your post with the most notes?

I believe it is this one with 50 notes (!!!)

Considering the most I get on a post is 4 or 5 notes on a good day, this felt like a huge deal to me.

How many mutuals do you have?

Uh technically I have 65, but there's a good chunk of those that haven't updated in a year or longer, so...who knows!

How many followers do you have?

128, and I'm grateful for each and every one! <3

How many people do you follow?

207!

Have you ever made a shitpost?

I've made shitpost-adjacent posts, I think, but I do tend to keep my weirdest thoughts (and many of my thoughts, really) to myself xD

How often do you use tumblr each day?

According to my screentime, about 1 hour each day! Most of that is in the morning when I get up (and also doesn't include desktop, but eh).

Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog? What happened?

Nope! I've even stayed far from the sidelines with most simblr drama, it stresses me out too much.

How do you feel about 'you need to reblog this' posts?

I feel like it cheapens the content of the post, if that makes sense. Whenever I see something like that, no matter how well-intentioned, it just feels like a plea to get more notes and actually keeps me from reblogging the post at all.

Do you like tag games?

I do! It might take me a minute to get to them (and asks too let's be real), I always enjoy sharing bits about myself and my story as well as seeing other people share!

Do you like ask games?

See above! lol

Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I feel like tumblr famous and simblr famous are different leagues tbh.

Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Nope!

I tag @pink-chevalier, @plasmavamp, @prossims, @chaoticsimlish, and @cherryfangs (if you want! no pressure)