#it's my first time writing them and I feel like they're really difficult to capture as characters

[infinitelymint]

an itsy bitsy snippet from the riorgail fic I started last night...

“Vi,” he says and she shudders. She hopes he doesn’t notice. He’s still speaking in that same soft voice, and he so seldom calls her anything other than Violence, sometimes, rarely, Violet. Most of the time, he calls her nothing at all. She isn’t sure he’s ever called her ‘Vi’ before. It feels more intimate than it should be coming from him. By some mercy, he doesn’t comment on how her body betrayed her when he continues speaking, ”I do think we need to talk about this, actually, because it sounds like you think you’re the only one who’s been faithful in this marriage.”

She does turn around at that. Does it without even thinking. Gods, of all the things she thought he might say, it had certainly never been that. Did he really just imply that he hasn’t been with anyone else during their marriage? Exactly how stupid does he think she is?

Angers surges into her, red hot and volatile. She feels her power rise with it, desperate for an outlet, for destruction. She almost feels relief at this feeling of something other than bone deep despair or world-stopping numbness that have been her constant companions for months and months.

“Don’t lie to me,” she hisses. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

[adagiorii]

Edu, don't keep us in the dark >:0 what are the typical circumstances of the PCD's missions that make using high-grade guns not be ideal??? ENLIGHT US

See for me to answer this I'm going to have to get into some deeper lore so I'm gonna try to keep it as short as possible-

There was originally a completely different explanation for it but while writing this I came up with new lore so that will be the answer now

TLDR: They have weapons mostly for self-defence and/or to neutralize threats and keep others safe, not necessarily to kill those threats. Their weapons also double as capture tools so a gun really wouldn't be effective at all.

Circumstances

I'll clear up what I meant about the "circumstances" first. I said that because the PCD usually do their work in public places, and sometimes even in people's homes if need be - which means it's not really ideal for them to go around using really destructive and powerful guns lmao. And even if it wasn't, guns in general aren't the most effective weapons for the job except in the self-defence department. See Method 2.

Paranormal Entities

As for why smaller guns like police handguns wouldn't be useful, that's because of what the PCD fights - paranormal entities (placeholder name while I can't come up with a better and catchier term). An entity is essentially a deceased person that has experienced what I call a sort of "botched" resurrection attempt. They're not quite alive again, but it's the closest they can get (they basically look like distorted doppelgangers of the person they were before). They can be either corporeal or not, but regardless, the main thing that keeps an entity "alive" is their host, to which they are bound from the moment the person passes away. It is through this host that the entity maintains a connection to what is left of their humanity, which is usually very little. Most don't retain enough of their rationality and consciousness to be able to think like a human person, and end up devolving into violent and resentful beings driven mostly by instinct. And, yes, they do have powers.

This is why they're a huge danger to people, and are known to attack human beings.

Method 1

In current lore, entities can be killed in two ways (called Method 1 and Method 2). Method 1 is destroying or killing the host.

Method 1 has some issues. Fyi, a host can be pretty much anything - an object, a plant, an animal, or even a human in very rare instances. One of the issues can be that identifying an entity's host can be very difficult, time-consuming and impractical. And then, if the entity's host is a living creature like an animal or, even worse, a person, the situation really gets delicate. (Fyi, in-universe, human hosts are almost unheard of and even considered a sort of myth or at least a very rare occurrence - but it can happen. Either way, this still applies to animal hosts.)

So, in the vast majority of cases, the PCD uses Method 2.

Method 2

Alright so- this is where the lore changes. The original Method 2 was that if you wore the entity down enough, by attacking it over and over again and essentially torturing it, it would lose the remains of its sanity and essentially self-destruct (this would also save the host btw).

I decided against that entirely because I feel like it's 1. just killing the entity with extra steps and 2. it undermines the importance of the host if you can just kill the entity without worrying about how to keep the host safe. It removes stakes. I originally had another way to keep those stakes but with the lore change that's probably going to change too so I won't get into it. I also don't like that it boils down to physical and mental torture by relentlessly stabbing it. It sounds like a weirdly needlessly violent plot point and it didn't sit right with me. Besides, it really doesn't counter the gun argument - my original argument was that small handguns don't do enough harm to successfully kill the entity with Method 2 because stabbing them is more effective (again weirdly violent), and big guns are a needless safety hazard to the public when you can just stab with sword.

The new Method 2 is something I had been considering for a while but never actually gave much thought to. This idea is that in this world, there is a unique kind of metal that is capable of absorbing and essentially trapping entities, which would be more akin to ghosts (since that's also what they were inspired by). This metal is the main material used to build the PCD's weapons, and their modus operandi is having their agents go out, fight entities, make sure they're not a threat and at the first opportunity, trap them.

They use weapons for self-defence and/or in case the entity is violent and they need to fight it. The weapons then double as their "capture tools" for lack of a better term. Take Eiko's sword; I like the concept that, being a rapier ideal for stabbing and piercing, it would actually also function like a medical needle (in the sense that the entity is sucked inside) once an entity is stabbed with it. As part of this change I am also considering having the main part of the weapon actually be the little red gem in the tip of the handle of her sword, which would be a feature in all PCD weapons and be the actual part the entity gets trapped within. Once a mission is over, that little gem is temporarily removed so that the entity trapped inside it can be locked away in some high security facility idk.

This, in my eyes, is a much less weird method? It establishes that an entity cannot actually be killed unless their host is too, which adds stakes in a more natural way in my opinion. And, obviously, having a gun as a PCD weapon doesn't really make sense because the weapons' main purpose is to trap entities. It's hard to do that with a gun with bullets you're supposed to shoot at them. Idk I don't think it works.

You could argue that a gun could work for the self-defence part and maybe. But keep in mind that as long as the entity's host is safe, it's not going to die lmao. You can do harm to it and injure it enough that it will sort of quiet down, but it can and will regenerate eventually. I don't think a gun is very effective in that regard especially because it's tiny holes and an entity doesn't have weak vulnerable spots like humans do.

I also really like the potential worldbuilding this new Method 2 could bring. I haven't mentioned it much but the whole regime the country operates under and the PCD are a little shady. I imagine the citizens don't actually know the PCD usually doesn't kill entities, they just capture them and take them elsewhere. You might ask why they aren't honest, but let me remind you that entities were once humans. How would you feel if you knew your once loved one turned entity wasn't actually put out of its misery, but rather captured and sealed away to have God knows what done with it without you knowing about it?

Furthermore, the PCD are seen as mighty heroes in this country. Having the people believe they actually do kill entities suits that noble and brave image a lot more than the reality. They're the knights slaying the dragons and saving the day. Honestly a dragon entity sounds pretty cool.

[annbeez]

Hi there! So, I finished Complicated Girls and now am totally mourning it. I was hoping you could recommend your favorite Heathers fanfics to try and help fill the giant Chansaw-shaped hole in my heart.

I feel like I should have some super deep cut hipster recs here, but I kinda don't. That said, I will absolutely take the opportunity to gush about some of my favourite Chansaw fics, even though you've probably already read all of them.

Dead Girl Walking and the Demon Queen is the most kudosed fic in the fandom for a reason, and that reason is that it fucking rules. The characterization is so on point, the pacing is aces, it's fluffy, it's hot, I love these girls to death. You already know this, there's zero chance you haven't already read it. I call it out here mainly because Complicated Girls wouldn't exist without it. When I started to get back into Heathers again (mainly because of the Wicked film reigniting my love for insisting musical girls are gay), I thought to myself, "I bet you some people have written some great fanfic about Heather and Veronica" and DGWatDQ said, "Yes, they have, and you are going to be obsessed now," and put me in a fucking chokehold. I read it through probably 5 times before I started publishing Complicated Girls and I have read it through another 5 times since. It's that good.

Yours, Veronica is the fic I would do the most crimes to get an update of. If you haven't read PoshBiscuit's earlier work, The Prom Bet is also very good (I bounced off reading it a couple of times because the first few chapters contain a lot of Britishisms and I am particular like that, but am very glad I pushed through because it's very worth it). but Yours, Veronica really is Posh flexing how far they've come as a writer. What blows me away about Posh's writing is that they are already excellent, and they get noticeably better with every single chapter they publish. If they continue to improve at this rate, and if Yours, Veronica goes the full, planned 62 chapters, by chapter 40 it will have won a Nobel prize for literature, and by the last chapter it will be written in the divine language and you'll go blind from reading it like an Elder Scroll. And I'd still read it anyway. But even if Posh plateaus in skill at some point, I'll still be here for every chapter. Like there's something PG-13 that happens in Chapter 4 that is hotter than the majority of smut I've read. God, it's so peak.

It's Always You made me fucking miserable, and I mean that as absolute praise. I have had multi-year relationships end that hurt me less than this. A lot of Heathers fic walks a really difficult tonal tightrope, given the source material, and there are a lot of really great fics that I don't love for me because they don't hit the sweet spot tonally. It's Always You manages to produce so much angst while still always letting me like and root for the characters, and it feels raw and heavy without ever veering into misery porn. Even aside from the part of it that made me want to die, it's also fantastic at capturing the giddy infatuation of, like, that first teenage gay relationship when it's so new and you're obsessed and never knew that it was possible to feel this way, to feel so much. The highs are so high, the lows are so low, I stared at the wall long enough that my wife asked me what was wrong, 5 stars.

All of these are unfinished because as Chansaw fans it is our lot in life to suffer, but oh well. They're very worth reading anyway.

There's obviously other fics I love but right now those were the first three that jumped to mind and that I have the energy to gush about (sorry for not doing more I'm just very tired lol). If other people have recs, please reblog with them and gush about your faves!

(Also all of these authors have tumblrs and I don't know if it's considered good etiquette to tag them or not? I erred on the side of not because I am shy and Canadian and hate to bother people, maybe that's wrong.)

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Hi there, i would like to start off by saying that i really admire your writing and have been following the JG updates for close to a year now. I've been in love with it ever since I read the first chapter and its only gotten more over time, tho I cant complain cuz this sure is my favorite hyperfixation! I've been meaning to leave an ask for a while now but wasn't really sure, but the latest chapters have compelled me to just try so here we are! (really late tho cuz I had my last exam yesterday so i didn't get around to writing this until now lol)

Anyway, I would actually like to express my sincerest gratitude to you and your stories. Not all too long ago I was diagnosed with autism and have had a really hard time handling that information, since i grew up in a "mental illness isn't real" type of household and didn't get a lot of support for starting therapy.

I would classify my flavour of autism as the feeling-out-of-place-within-society variant. I don't really have the "stereotypical" issue where i can't pick up on social cues, but more so that i try to understand people and overanalyze them, only to come to the conclusion that their actions and motivations are unrelateable to me. As a kid, i would often say that i don't feel like a human sometimes.

Because of this, I've always loved non-human MCs in stories since they're far more relateable for me, but a lot of the time authors fail to actually make them feel like a different species. They'll just make them "suddenly understand humans" and drop all special quirks they had as soon as being non-human even just slightly interferes with the plot.

So, I have to commend you for so wonderfully capturing Zhongli's non-human traits and mannerisms. The way he perceives the world and people around him is so fundamentally different from the other characters POVs without feeling forced/unrelateable at all. You can tell he approaches things differently than the human characters do. His character is extremely cohesive and consistent.

(It's at this point that i should probably mention that I in no way mean to label zl as autistic!! i remember you already discussed this topic of non-humans feeling kinda autistic to us and i fully agree with him just being neurodivergent-coded)

When I first discovered JG it had only been a few months since my diagnosis and I would constantly tell myself that im "wrong in the head" and that I'm probably just lazy and weird. Reading JG, following Zhongli's story and his experiences of being "out of place" in this world while trying to be perceived as human, feeling him dread the day everyone will find out he's not like them out of fear they will treat him differently; all of this is extremely relateable for me and has helped me come to terms with myself in the process.

Especially the latest chapter has left me gaping at my wall for hours after i finished it. A lot of the time, Zhongli's pov is kinda difficult for me to fully deciver since he's a very unreliable narrator when it comes to his emotions and feelings. So, whenever he shows even slightest bit of vulnerability, it feels far more monumental for me since it helps me to really understand the extreme disconnect he feels from the essence of his very being. When Ajax told him that he's not a dragon anymore, I was immediately reminded of when a friend first asked me if I might be autistic. Needless to say, this chapter really hit home for me.

And throughout it all, Ajax has slowly turned into my comfort character. I love his attitude towords the whole zhongli-isn't-human situation. The way he treats zl is so heartbreakingly beautiful and really shows his affection. His and Zhongli's interactions actually had me tearing up from time to tim, because it gave me hope that I too can be accepted for who I am, despite the details. Seeing Ajax treat Zhongli "normally" even after everything he found out about him has actually given me the courage to reach out to an old friend and tell her about my diagnosis and everything surrounding that. I don't think I ever would've gotten back in contact with her if it wasn't for JG.

All that being said, I apologize for the info dump no one asked for and sorry for rambling. I just felt like you deserve to know that your writing, your art, is actually reaching and truly moving people out there.

Words couldn't possibly convey all the ways in which reading JG has helped me throughout this journey. JG has, quite literally, changed my life. Genuinely.

Thank you.

HELLO??????????

i don't even know how to respond to this, i'm so honored; like i know fic usually helps people get through stuff or realize some things but it's not often that they come out here and give me the (comparatively) full details of how and why

[z3st0fl3m0n]

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 (≧▽≦) [𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐎𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬!𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞]

Experimenting with this banner thingy- Anyways this is something I decided to finish up 💪🏼💪🏼 I totally did not get this idea while listening to sad romance songs 💀 Won't be writing for a little while because I'm going through some things right now but I hope this is good enough for my fellow Venture enjoyers!

Summary: Reader has been pining for our oblivious little archaeologist for months now, and close to when they're supposed to leave they finally decide to be upfront and confess with a song!

Warnings: Nothing! It's Fluff with just a tad bit of angst! Also no use of Y/N

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

You watched on in silence, not really enjoying this party. You were supposed to be performing tonight, a celebration for the Wayfinders and their success in discovering a new artifact today. You'd been briefed about it, but you hadn't been paying much attention. Your thoughts had drifted to that stupid archaeologist you'd been pining for for months now. Sloane Cameron, though commonly referred to as Venture, had captured your heart quicker than you had wanted.

Sweet, funny, energetic, passionate . . . what more could you want from a person? You didn't realize it at first, dismissing it as admiration, but when the two of you kept seeing each other, it was far to late. They'd wormed their way into your brain, and they weren't going away anytime soon. You had been invited to the dig site by a relative of yours who worked at the Petra site, and it was Sloane themself who made you feel the most welcomed.

The time you two had spent together had been . . . wonderful. They talked, quite a bit, but you didn't mind, considering yourself someone who preferred to listen instead. They didn't quite realize how sexy they looked talking so in depth about their profession and findings. It warmed your heart, and you had been caught staring quite a few times.

They showed you their favorite spots to frequent when they needed alone time, taught you about different artifacts and the history of Petra, and on more than one occasion you had fallen asleep in their tent listening to them ramble and woken up covered by their coat while they were sleeping awkwardly in their chair. For a moment, you were convinced they liked you, but you were well aware that they did nice things for everyone. It was difficult to tell if you were special or if they just treated everyone this way.

Too shy to completely come clean about your blossoming feelings, you began to drop hints. You went out of your way to hang out with them whenever they were free, always offered to take important documents to them, hell you were even extra touchy and flirtatious with them. To your disappointment, it all went over their head. Every. Single. Time.

"Thanks! You're such a great friend" was the most common response you got whenever you brought them things. Your compliments were slightly more successful, but the ones they gave were all so plainly platonic it hurt. Any innuendos you gave were taken so seriously that you had made an indent in the wall of your own tent from banging your head against it so frequently.

Your pining was so obvious to everyone else but them. Most people felt pity, and even tried to help you out. Sloane's response?

"What? No no no! They're just being friendly! Trust me, I'd be able to tell if they liked me like that!"

You thought about shaking them violently and yelling how you felt to them but even then they had a skull so thick you were pretty sure they'd find some kind of excuse not to believe you. No matter what you tried, they just didn't get it.

To cope, you turned to writing your feelings down in the form of song lyrics. Pages upon pages filled with your feelings. You practically spilled your guts on those pages, and yet nothing ever truly felt like it'd get the point across. Not until tonight. You had the perfect song to sing for them, but you weren't sure it'd smooth over well. You were due to leave the site tomorrow, and with some urging from your friend you decided tonight was the night. You'd be leaving tomorrow anyway, so if they did reject you you wouldn't have to face the embarrassment for long.

You were watching them from across room, observing them from afar. They never looked so dashing before, hair slightly more cared for compered to how messy it usually was. They wore a very clean white button up, sleeves rolled up just to their elbows. Various tattoos littered both arms, and the muscle they hid beneath all those layers was on full display. The black slacks they wore hugged their figure comfortably, suspenders with funky little designs on them attached and giving them that familiar nerdy vibe they naturally gave off. To top it all off, they had a bright yellow bow-tie on, adding to their charm.

Currently, you were watching them speak with another co-worker of theirs. She was so pretty, and certainly looked much better than you did. You thought so at least. Your arm tightened around your waist as a flush came across your cheeks. Your brows furrowed as you looked away from the two giggling lilies, downing the rest of the alcohol in your cup. This was stupid. You couldn't do this. God, what if they looked embarrassed? What if they looked at you with disgust? Hell what if they flat out rejected you in front of everyone here!? This was such a stupid plan, you didn't completely think things out.

"You're up next." You snapped out of your thoughts, looking over to your friend. He smiled at you, nudging you with his elbow. "Loosen up, you look constipated with all that frowning your doing."

You smacked his arm as the two of you chuckled, and he leaned against the wall beside you.

"Seriously though, what's got you wound up so tight?" He looked down at you, sympathy written all over him. He probably already knew, but you still wanted to confide in him anyway.

"I'm just super fucking nervous." You sighed, throwing the cup into the trashcan next to you. "What if they don't get it? Or they reject me? I don't want to embarrass them in front of all their coworkers, they'd hate me for the rest of forever and I don't think I can live with myself if that happens."

A hand rested itself on your shoulder, followed by a couple of pats. "You're overthinking for one, but you make some valid points. Whatever happens, happens. It won't be the end of the world, I can promise you that much."

"Certainly feels like it."

That got a good laugh out of him as he shook his head at your dramatics. "Whatever. It's too late to back out now. We're finna go on and you better be ready. If they don't get it now, they probably never will in all honesty."

As he walked to the back of the stage, you began to follow, casting one more glance at your crush. They were still chatting it up with their co-worker, but they were looking at you. You flushed immediately. Did they know?

Raising a cup to you, Sloane mouthed the words 'Good Luck!' and you felt the familiar sting of disappointment, Of course. They were just being a good friend. You gave them a thumbs up in response, shuffling backstage with the rest of your band mates. Taking a deep breath, you prepared yourself mentally for just about any outcome.

You heard the announcer begin your introduction as you stepped up onto the stage, curtains still drawn shut. Your heart pounded in your chest, and you could physically feel the anxiety coursing through your veins. No going back now. It was now or never.

There was applause as the curtains began to draw back, stage light on you as you held onto the mic, looking out at the crowd. You'd performed in front of people before, but it felt so much more intense now than ever.

"GOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING LADIES, GENTS, AND PARTY PEOPLE OF ALL GENDERS!" Your voice boomed over the speakers as you announced yourself, taking the mic from the stand. There was more applause and whistles as you raised your hand to calm the crowd.

"Thank you all for allowing me to be your entertainment for tonight, it is an honor to be celebrating this accomplishment with you all. The song you're about to hear will get your body movin' and groovin', but is also directed at a special someone who has yet to catch on the vibes I'm shootin', so here's to hoping it finally penetrates their thick skull."

There was a unanimous amount of "ooos" and "aaahs", and as you gave the crowd one last glance, you could see Venture's sweet confused face.

You took a deep before you signaled for your band to start. As the guitarist started up, you faced the crowd, ready to face anything.

"Don't you notice how, I get quiet when there's no one else around?~ Me and you in awkward silence!"

Your voice rang out clear over the crowd, making direct eye contact with Sloane as you pointed at them.

"Don't you dare, look at me that way!~ I don't need reminders of how you don't feel the same!" You did your own little spin as you placed your hand on your chest, keeping your gaze locked on them.

"Oh the burning, pain~ Listening to you harp on 'bout some new soulmate. 'She's so perfect' blah blah BLAH! Oh how I wish, you'd wake up one day! Run to me, confess your love at least just let me say-"

Your face flushed at the way their eyes widened as you stepped towards the edge of the stage with each word sung, watching as they were pushed as close to the front as they could be. There was no doubt this was for them.

"That when I talk to you, oh cupid walks right through and shoots an arrow through my heart~ And I sound like a loon but don't you feel it too!? Confess, I loved you from the start~"

You couldn't tell what they were feeling, only that their cheeks were just as flushed as yours and their mouth was agape. You stepped back, continuing through with the rest of the song, occasionally making eye contact with Venture who had yet to run off with embarrassment. As you reached the end of the song, you walked towards the edge of the stage, crouching down slightly, pouring the rest of your heart out as you looked at them.

Most of the people were dancing, but Sloane continued to stare up at you, watching as you poured your heart out to them, conveying everything you've been trying to for the past months the best way you knew how.

"Confess I've loved you, just thinking of you~" you paused, letting your band mates play their short solo before finishing off the lyrics. "You know I've loved you from the start~"

You let out a shaky breath as people applauded, bowing as the curtains began to close. You immediately ran over to your friend, panicking and whispering to them.

"Did you see them!? They totally hated it oh my god this was such a bad idea. I can't face them after this!" You buried your face into your hands, trembling with anxiety as he gently rubbed your back.

"Hey now, at least give them a chance to respond yeah?" He chuckled, though continued to comfort you and hype you up.

Your stomach fluttered with anxiety as you walked off the stage, and low and behold there they were, looking around like a lost puppy, thinking they might've missed you. When they caught sight of you, you both seemed to freeze, and you weren't sure you could talk to them alone.

"We'll let the two of ya talk, yeah?" Your friend patted your back encouragingly as he and the rest of the band walked off, giving you a thumbs up.

You approached Sloane, who had yet to say anything. Both of you were flush on the face, neither one saying a word.

"So . . . Did you mean that stuff? On stage I mean . . ." Their voice was quiet, breaking the painful silence.

"Yes-" You paused, feeling like you replied a bit too fast, a bit too enthusiastically. "I mean- Yes, I did. I meant every word of it." You looked down at your feet fiddling with you hands. "I've felt that way for a while now actually . . ."

They chuckled, and for a moment you prepared yourself for rejection, tensing up.

"Sorry! I don't mean to laugh it's just-" They let out a sigh, rubbing the back of their neck. "I feel really stupid, not seeing it before."

You looked up, hope sparking up in your gaze. They smiled, hands hesitantly coming up to take you own into theirs, stopping you from wringing them anymore.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't . . . like you too." They started of, casting their gaze to the side. "Because I do. You're really special and I enjoy hanging out with you, I just didn't want to get my hopes up-"

"Just kiss me already-" You blurted out, slapping a hand over your mouth.

Sloane laughed, looking at you with adoration. "I've made you wait long enough." They whispered, taking your hand from your face and pressing a soft, warm kiss to your lips.

You were all too eager to reciprocate, hand holding onto theirs as butterflies fluttered in your stomach, this time not from anxiety. God, this was so worth the wait. As you two parted, you felt breathless, grinning like an idiot.

"Was it how you imagned?" They joked.

"Better." You pulled them in for another kiss, wrapping your arms around their neck as you felt their hands glue themselves to your waist, pulling you right up against their body.

Kissing someone had never felt so good. All too soon it ended, and they looked at you, now with a slight frown.

"You're leaving tomorrow aren't you? Why'd you wait so long to tell me?" They sounded upset and frustrated.

Slightly embarrassed, you looked down at the floor, pulling away from them. "I tried, but you just . . ." Sighing, you paused. Blaming them was not what you wanted to do. "I . . . I was afraid you'd reject me. I mean I thought maybe there was a chance you liked me too but you were just so nice with everyone, and if you didn't like me back I didn't want to be here and have to face you everyday so today was the perfect day to do it. But, now that I know you do like me back I really wished I'd said something earlier, I feel really stupid for-"

Their hands cupped your face, stopping your anxious rambling. They made you face them, smiling softly and sympathetically.

"I get it. I do wish you had said something sooner, but we can't change that now. What matters to me is that you told me, and if you'll have me, I'd be glad to work things out with you . . ." Sloane's voice was soft, caring, everything you knew it to be. Their thumb rubbed slow, soft circles on you cheek and your own hands came up to cup the back of theirs.

"Y-Yeah . . . I'd like that."

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

(Requests currently closed!)

[magerywrites]

magery hello,,!! i hope this isnt too forward but i discovered you via _maiqo on twitter a long while ago and have been absolutely enamored by your works ever since — your writing is an enormous inspiration to me and i sincerely hope that my works can one day match the same level of excellence.

you absolutely dont have to indulge me at all, but is there any advice you can give in terms of writing character studies? :’D if not its totally ok !! and anything works !! i just figured it’s worth a shot haha

Thank you very much! It's always lovely to learn that what I've written has meant something to someone. I appreciate it.

In an attempt to answer your question, I'll talk about how I think about and approach character studies. It may be that much of what I say fails to be useful to you, but I hope to be of some small aid regardless!

To begin, I think the most fundamental element of writing a character study—as a piece of fanfiction, though much of this can be applied without significant difficulty to orginal works—is to have a firm vision of who the character is to you.

This is separate from having a firm vision of who the character "really" is. Nobody can have that—every way we engage with media is coloured by our own values and perspectives, and that bleeds into the way we think about and write characters. This is sometimes a difficult dichotomy to balance against the principle of "they would not fucking say that", but to borrow some old and too-simplified physics, I think it can be useful to consider that a character is in many ways like an electron in an electron cloud. Their precise and perfect characterisation is not something that we can ever truly locate, but we can identify the area of narrative space it is most likely to be in.

The task of the character study, I feel, is to hammer down on the part of that narrative space that you find most compelling. To take the meat of their character and cook it the way you would want it served to you. A character study is not to please anyone else. A character study—or, at least, the kind of character study I write—exists for you to get your feelings out about the character you have been rotating in your brain onto the page. It also exists, of course, so that you can try to show those feelings to other people and hope they feel them too, but you will never succeed in actually capturing those feelings in the first place if you don't allow yourself to write your authentic vision of the character.

They don't have to be your blorbo, or your problematic fave, or your three corners of the OC design triangle, or whatever, but when you write them, for that space and time they do have to be yours. Otherwise, what's the point?

Once you have that vision, you can put them in practically any situation you like and as long as there's something in it for them to bounce off, you're going to be able to tell a story that reveals something about the character. If you look at the "plots" of a selection of my character studies, we have "one guy folds sheets, another guy asks him questions" as a plot, we have "a pair of exes talk across a tabletop after a party", we have "oh LAWD they FAWKING" like four and a half times, we have "retelling the plot of something else" twice, and we even have "two people on a helicopter flight for an hour". It's not really complicated stuff. It doesn't need to be. The character, or characters, just need to be in a situation where they're going to have some reason to think about, and maybe even talk about, whatever conflict or idea or relationship you find most compelling about them.

With that said, it should be noted that it's... well, for me, with the way I do things, it's very very difficult to conceive of writing a character study in any situation without a clear and central conflict the character or characters are grappling with. All of my character studies revolve around a problem a character has and how they react to it. And yes, "having a conflict" is, like, the quiddity of a story, the most basic plot diagram there is. But what I'm trying to say here is that even in the story I mentioned where two people sit in a helicopter and talk to each other, the story is intensely focused on the internal struggle one of those characters is having with the choices that led to her sitting in that helicopter and how much they do, or don't, make her like the person she's sitting opposite (both more and less than she knows). And that's the sort of thing that I think is key. The conflict, in my eyes, needs to be philosophically central to the way you view the character and what you want to say about them. It needs to be tightly intertwined into what you find most compelling about them—the thing that you just want to sink your hands into and squeeze, for good or ill. That's how you get to really show the world who they are and why you care about that.

After that, I really think that in a lot of ways it just comes down to the prose. How deeply can you write into your character's head? Are you colouring even your description of the world around them with the way they would see it—or are you taking the opposite path and presenting the character entirely through someone else's eyes, so that you can characterise them through the distance between what the other person thinks about them and how they present themselves? You don't need frame-perfect metaphors or the Inanna-Ishtar LGBTQIA+ sharingan-coloured prose to do that, but you do need to focus on writing in a way that expresses the character.

This does take focus. How much focus depends on how specialised you are into that style of prose, but it is focus nonetheless: you need to think of your sentences, each and every one, as tools to communicate something about your understanding of the character that you want the audience to know. Some of them will inevitably instead become vehicles to reach a point where you can communicate that understanding, but something as simple as what a character notices first when they walk into a room tells you something about them. Lean on that. Lean into that. After all, if you're writing a character study, the writing should study your character.

(Colour this advice with the fact that I am, as you've probably realised from reading my writing, very much a prose-focused writer. I have spent near on fifteen years, since before I even graduated high school, honing my prose for poetry of language and interiority so that I can write in the way I most enjoy reading. That affects what I value in writing, and it affects my opinion on the way people should write. I believe what I am saying is true and good and useful, because I have faith in the way I engage with my art, but my advice does not chart the sole and singular course to the ever-distant utopia.)

To tl;dr myself, my advice for writing character studies fundamentally boils down to to the idea that I think a character study is most potent when it presents a vision of a character that the writer has clearly obsessed over. That they have layered with their thoughts, their perspective, and their heart to the degree that it drips even from their prose. A character study with the confidence to say this is what I think is compelling about this character, and I want you to see it too.

I may not agree with it, I may think "They Would Not Have Fucking Said That", I may even think the writer has just invented an unsustainable interpretation of the character that demonstrates startling reading incomprehension and I can't believe I have to share the same fandom as these people.

But at the same time, I know people have thought and said that about my own works—and I'm still happy that I wrote them.

I have far more respect for someone who's written an entirely committed and deranged interpretation of a character that I think is Flatly Fucking Wrong than I do someone who presents me with the most milquetoast interpretation I can't disagree with. If I choose to read a character study, it's because I want to see you study the character. That's, as the meme goes, why I'm here.

So, really: focus on determining who you think the character is, write them the way you want to see them written, keep your prose tight to who you think the character is (not just "would they say that?" or "would they think that?" but "how would they describe that?" and "what would they see in that?"), and commit to the bit.

(If you've managed to read to the bottom—thank you for entertaining my rambling, and I hope it helped!)

[cindersnows]

ok @storgicdealer i started writing out a thing in your askbox and then lost it so im writing it in a post instead.

freevic ramblings

(...that kind of ended up turning into mangvic my bad)

ok so like. vic escapes the youtube video. and they find the freedom ad and instantly go into the outernet. theyre one of the first citizens of carteblan, and exactly the type of stick freedom had set out to help when he started a city in the outernet.

(for a little context; the original victim is still dead, as well as all her clones. in my hc/theory, the victim we know who starts rocket corp and lives in the outernet escaped from a youtube video after basically just living out his own death in a fucked up loop over and over until she gained sentience and decided to break out. she's like. a copy of the original victim. haha xerox of a xerox.)

in the beginning, most of the houses in carteblan are still being built, so vic ends up rooming with freedom. and they were roommates. they become friends pretty quickly and freedom tries to help vic come to terms with their trauma and stuff, (he doesn't know that vic escaped from the youtube video --- vic is insecure about being a copy so they lied and said they just survived the deletion and got to the outernet).

they both get happier together even after vic decides to move out and start their own company. freedom's happy that vic's moving on from what noogai did to them and becoming their own person (hahaaa if only he knewwww,,,). freedom also decides to support the company as it's the first proper organization thing to open up in the town and it's pretty useful! as carteblan grows, freedom gets officially appointed as mayor and rocket corp kind of becomes tied in with the government, giving them tech and stuff.

i don't think freedom and vic ever properly label their relationship as anything other than a friendship, though they do go on dates and stuff pretty frequently. its pretty queerplatonic actually. vic likes to spend time with freedom a lot because he makes it feel like a normal person, a good person who's doing what's right for society. for freedom, hanging out with vic is like a breath of fresh air, one of the few things that didn't change after he was given responsibility over and entire city of traumatized stickfigures.

sometimes vic has major depressive episodes where its difficult for him to do any work which makes him even more frustrated, and freedom is the only person she really considers close enough to help. they remind me of that one short where the couple text each other "feet pics" to get each other out of bed when they're sad.

honestly, when i think about it, i'm pretty sure freedom is the only person vic actually considers a friend. most other people she hangs out with, she only vaguely likes, and a lot of the time she has to pretend to like people for pr. (in my hc, their relationship with the mercs is purely transactional, and i doubt either party is looking for more.)

both freedom and vic have insecurities about their relationships with other people; freedom has gotten into multiple romantic relationships over the years, though none of them have really stuck, and he often feels like people only like him for his power. vic feels like that too, but with the added feeling of "if people knew the real me, they'd hate me". they lie to everyone, so they feel like everyone's lying to them in return, with the exception of freedom, who's only ever been honest (and vic convinces herself that she's not lying when she says she's happier now and that rocket corp is working for a good cause).

freedom's probably unsure about the idea of capturing chosen (and dark?) at first, but vic manages to convince him by talking about how many people have been hurt by them and lost their home websites/games because of them. the capture is left up to rocket corp alone, since it was their idea, and since by this point rocket corp is basically just the military but if it also sold household tech. freedom's proud of vic for taking the steps to help keep other people safe after vic has frequently beat themself up for acting 'selfishly'.

spoiler alert: freedom gets called to the rocket facility after a massive fight is reported and the place basically blows up, and finds the color gang + chodark + kingduo + the mercs + vic and several other workers all badly hurt with signs of them having gotten into a fight. freedom automatically takes vic's side, because those are two terrorists fighting against fucking Rocket Corp, of course he's going to assume vic's in the right here.

but then cg and kingduo explain the situation (including the torture and the interrogation and sutff), and while freedom doesn't want to believe it, vic refuses to answer when freedom asks if it's true, and freedom knows in his heart that vic was the 'villain' here.

freedom is just. extremely disappointed in vic. and vic in turn feels horrible, because she was convinced freedom would take her side, having seen the ugliest parts of her and accepting her regardless. but freedom thought that vic had moved on, that she no longer wanted revenge, that she was happier.

he can't bring himself to formally arrest vic, much to the protests of cg+kingduo+chodark. they're best friends, after all, and freedom knows from his experience with his own animator that hurt people hurt people. but vic still needs to face consequences, and freedom knows more than anyone else what would hurt vic the most. he strips vic of his power, removing him from the position of the ceo of rocket corp and saying the government is going to take full control of it.

he also says that he's going to completely cut contact with her.

this hurts vic more than anything else, being abandoned by the one person she considered a friend, close to a lifelong partner, all because of her own actions. even after mango and purple decide to help pick vic off hir feet and become a better person, vic spirals, shutting out everyone else and refusing to connect with anyone.

it's only when mango lets vic stay with him after she loses all her property, continuously being kind to them even after seeing what a horrible person they are (because he's been in their place), that vic starts to open up.

this DOES lead to vic beginning to put mango on a pedestal the same way he did with freedom, but i mean, people don't change THAT easily. it'll probably take a few talks with purple to help break the cycle, since purple also struggles with idolizing people (albeit in a different way). i could say So much about victim and purple helping each other become better people but this is so long and also that's off topic so that's a ramble for another day.

[starmapz]

the recent chapter felt soooo incredibly intimate!! despite all the joyful moments and atmosphere, you managed to capture the delicate balance between warmth and heartache, wrapping the story in a quiet, melancholic glow that feels yet so fitting for christmas. the way you handle sukuna’s quiet strength and the readers growing attachment feels so real. uraume quietly observing from a distance, holding a secret that isn’t theirs to tell, the warmth in watching something unfold naturally, in seeing sukuna and reader inching closer to a realization they’re not yet ready to name. and oh my god, don’t get me started on the gift sukuna had prepared for reader. are you kidding me? a DRAWING? and not just a drawing, but a glimpse into his mind of the person he’s been quietly thinking about.. that to me has been the most intimate moment between them, (dare i say more than the kiss they shared)

from the personalized gifts and the way sukuna handles himself and his brothers, you can tell he is someone who wraps his care into layers of indifference, yet his actions speak louder than words ever could, he’s a perfect blend of vulnerability and guardedness, and during the brief moments where his mind started to wander in response to his stepmothers custody threat, it was clear that you truly have a gift for illuminating the softer, more human sides of difficult moments as a quiet sense of calm washed over sukuna by the simple act of their knees touching, which makes the evolving connection between sukuna and reader all the more captivating 😭😭

(call me the #1 dick rider for what you know I DONT CAREEEE!!!!! (i wanted to keep this short 😭) also happy new year!! 😼)

HIII LOVE <33

your asks and comments always seriously make my day they're so sweet 🥹🫶

i'm so glad that balance between heartache and warmth came across!! that's a big part of why the chapter really got away from me was that although i was absolutely just having a great time writing the fluff bc AWW i love their lil family, i also felt like it reaaally gave a glimpse into sukuna's headspace and the way he feels not just about the lawsuit but also about uraume, his brothers, and of course the reader.

i really wanted the drawing to feel super intimate so i'm super glad you felt that way!! it's definitely a moment that's far more important and intimate than their first kiss given the headspace they were both in when it happened. plus having uraume there with a knowing smile was WAY too fun, like you just know they're rooting for sukuna and reader!!

PLEAAASE that's so sweet of you 😭🫶 i really did intend for this to be little more than a way to fix sukuna's lighter and have some cute little holiday scenes but the more i explored the looming threat of the lawsuit on sukuna and the way he's so carefully trying to balance that, i decided the full chapter was absolutely worth it. exploring the way he's built up his walls and he keeps himself extremely private in spite of his reputation for being prideful and confident is one of my favorite things to write. especially when it comes to the way the weight of his life is slowly crushing that confidence and it's the reader he's finding solace in, i think it's genuinely like my favorite aspect of any relationship i've ever written, like i'm seriously in love with them as a couple already LOL 😭 rooting for them so hard fr

aaaa i'm so glad you love them!! it seriously means a lot <33

happy new year!! wishing you all the best!! 🫶

[miladydewintcr]

songfic tag game

A big thank you to @lottiesnotebook for tagging me!!! like a week ago shh I love making playlists, and music is usually my go-to method for getting In The Zone when I want to write! So this was both really fun, and really difficult to narrow down lmao

I'm going to tag @the-bear-and-his-sunbird @the-font-bandit and @broodwoof <3 (no pressure!!!)

I'm mostly a one-shot writer and I'm not about to subject you all to a song for every single one of those I've ever written. But I do have my multi-chapter Coralie Hawke duology already up, and then I'm working on two longer fics atm. So I'll just do those?

Rules: Pick a song to accompany each of your fics or as many as you like. This might be the fic's inspiration or just pure vibes that you'd like to share with readers. Tag as many people as fics you feature (or do as you please!)

And When I Was Shipwrecked, I Thought Of You / Get Away With It

So these are both named after Taylor Swift song lyrics (from Evermore & False God respectively). Taylor sneaks her way onto every playlist I make I s2g.

But I think this song captures The Vibe of the whole duology really well, and GAWI in particular! I really wanted to tell a story about a group of people who love each-other so very much, finally getting to be happy together. And if you've read it, you'll know that Coralie & Anders are still SICKENINGLY in love post-DAI (bless them). So this song v much fits in with all that imo!!

The Spy Who Loved Me

I was gonna be so strong and not put one of the (5!!) Taylor songs on this playlist, here. But Renegade. for Shepard?? Like come on.

In all seriousness though, this song really fits the relationship between my Shepard and Samantha in this fic. I'm exploring what a romance route might've looked like if Samantha had been in the series from ME1, and I think this really captures the falling apart and back together sort of vibe I'm aiming for with them. And being a safe harbour for each-other and letting each-other in is such a core part of their relationship anyway in canon, too.

The Unnamed Ghilandruil Fic

This is THEIR song, to me (at least rn). The playlist for this fic is growing really fast, but this was the very first song I added to it and gosh it reminds me of them :')

A lot of the lyrics are incredibly on the nose (that entire chorus oof). And if I can be a bit literal for a second here, they really do follow each-other to the graveyard, don't they? :) Because they're imprisoned together :)))) And Andruil dies there :)))))))))) Feeling so normal about the Evanuris potentially watching each-other slowly die one-by-one over the course of centuries, always, at all times

[exonerin]

4, 11, and 17 from the writer question list please 🤗

Thank you so much! Here's the list with the questions! I had so much fun with these questions. Don't feel pressured to read all the nonsense here. There's a lot.

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

In general, I think 'foodstuffs' is a delightful word. It must be my favorite. But a concerning trend is the word 'haltingly', which has been popping up in my fics, and I can't rest until I've used it once in each fic. I'm also a repeat offender of 'however'. I always overuse that word in my fics.

In speech, it would be 'right' according to one of my friends, who I've driven slightly insane (my bad).

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

Never kill the darlings.

Simple rule. Yet, people keep killing their darlings. Mark my word, you will regret killing your darlings. It's better to pull a Maul on them. Make them suffer, it's so much more interesting than killing them.

Also, I would feel too guilty about killing them. I don't know. I've never killed a darling, even when I wrote original stuff.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

When I saw that number, I grinned because you are going to regret this question. Let me place a Keep Reading for a good reason.

When I finished my last fic, I got into one of those little spirals again. Where nothing I start writing or return to captures my interest or is good enough. And so I returned to three very old fics.

And the one I'm mainly working on now is called sandcat. That has been its WIP title for... 1? 2? years now. It's Picking Up Stray's ancestor.

It's the cat!Anakin fic that started it all. But unlike Picking Up Strays, the timeline is convoluted, the plot is currently still in shambles, and it will be long(er). Picking Up Strays was easy to write in the sense that the shorter the fic the less luggage you're lugging around. There're fewer plot points to tie up and you actually remember most of the stuff you wrote. Hence, less inconsistencies.

sandcat (and I'm tentatively calling it DAUNTLESS for reasons I will not spoil but am super excited about) is one of those fics I've really wanted to write for a long time but didn't know whether I could pull it off.

Now, the WIP title is sandcat (only because I couldn't find it parked between fics sw_1, sw1, SW1, and star_wars1) because Anakin is a sand cat. I love sand cats. They're adorable, and you can't tell the kittens apart from the adults, so I get to shamelessly write kitten! Anakin. But yes, I watched a short BBC(?) documentary on sand cats a few years back. When I saw the sand cat, my first thought was Anakin. But more like 9-year-old Anakin at the time. I mean, come on, the blonde fur and the big blue eyes. It's basically Anakin. But looking at a cat and going; 'someone must name these cuties Felis margarita Anakinus' is not, in fact, a fic. And I've gone through many iterations of this fic trying to make a story out of sand cat Anakin. My main problem is the timeline. I had to place this fic on the timeline, and I had 23 years to pick from, each with their advantages and disadvantages.

On the note of material that gets scrapped: sand cat Anakin curling up with baby Luke. It's such a shame to see that bit go, but alas, I've already deleted it because I have different plans.

But we're getting there. By which I mean to say, I only have 9k so far, but give me a few weeks, and we'll have something. When you get past the first 10k, you know you have a fic. Typically, it's most difficult to have a vision beyond that initial burst of inspiration that's typically just a hook.

Now, this fic will mostly be on Tatooine. Listen, I can't spoil the fic here because this thing is convoluted for a reason!! I love introducing little secrets at the start of the fic that I only reveal later on. Not plot twists but you-could-have-guessed-it-twists. And little jokes (but no one ever spots them because they're so small and refer to a single sentence uttered by a background character like 20k back), which I tend to forget about myself, too.

Anyway, it's Tatooine. Also, I've been greatly enjoying rewatching a certain series lately, which has Tatooine as backdrop for part of its six episodes. So, that's the timing.

I've also been taking color-coded notes on the fight between Ben and Vaderkin in the last episode. A lot of my fics use/recycle dialogue from the shows and movies.

I'm not sure how many people notice how much dialogue I recycle. And I've been spending way too much time rewatching the confrontation on Mustafar and jotting down notes.

But sandcat is going to be my greatest offender yet. I'm also doing some fun stuff with placement of things across the page.

Don't worry, it'll still be readable. In fact, I'm using placement on the page to make this fic more readable. It's something I want to work on. My sentences then to sway a bit, which makes the whole thing a bit jerky (I hope that makes sense), and I want it to be smoother and more focused.

But anyway. The next fic you'll see from me is sandcat. Because writing 18k of cat!Anakin didn't scratch my itch.

If you're wondering about the other two:

sort of fake dating in the GFFA with the Jedi encouraging 'healthy attachments' to get better press. Anakin and Obi-Wan get in a really confusing fake/real relationship because they're both idiots. And the Temple explosion wipes out Anakin's room, so they're sharing a bed, which adds to the fake/real part. Listen they're both pining idiots.

A modern AU (I know, shocking) in which Star Wars is a video game, Obi-Wan is a veteran on the scene and Anakin the crazy talented newbie. Obi-Wan's looking for reasons to quit, Anakin makes that impossible. Together, they wreak havoc on the servers. Because Team Jedi and Team Sith are not supposed to team up.

I think I have shared a good amount of details. Next week, I'll probably do a WIP Wednesday. Unless I forget. I often forget.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #312

My goodness, I did lots of stuff today. I am writing this to you very late. I'm sorry about that.

I went to work today. Do you remember the very tall gentleman who gave me my work shirts? I think I mentioned him in a couple of previous letters. I was very surprised to discover that, like Mi, he no longer works at my store.

I was very sad. First because I don't like unexpected changes, and second because I don't like when familiar people go away to places where I won't be able to see them anymore. And I understand that these probably sound like two different ways to say the same thing, but… one is an issue of a lack of certainty, and the other one feels more like loss.

Like Mi, I was hoping to get to know this person. Now I'm not going to be able to do that. And now, I also have to wonder if anyone else might disappear without warning, and that's a scary thing to think about, for reasons I don't know how to articulate at this time. I don't want Tr or Ma or Ra or Ka or Sh to go away. I like them. I'm sad to think maybe something will happen and they will go away and I won't get to see them anymore.

…I suspect that it might have to do with the nature of how I was removed from the custody of nanna and poppy. I suspect it may also have to do with the way that some of my mother's partners had been removed from my life. Something to do with the nature of how people I've loved in the past were suddenly not there anymore for reasons beyond my meager control.

…There's not much to do for it other than weather it, though. I know that new people will come in to fill the space, but for now, I gotta feel the sad things until they go away. And they will; nothing is ever permanent.

On the bright side, I did learn how to make scones today! Check it out!

Once again, we take the bag of flour, and split it in half:

We fill up the giant mixer with water, and dump half the bag of flour in. We mix it in the giant stand mixer on a low speed for a little while. Then we add blueberries. And then we mix it a little faster for a while. And... I was so focused on trying to watch how to operate the machine that I didn't get pictures of that part.

...I did get pictures of the next part, though, where I use the scone scoop to put the scone mix onto giant cookie sheets covered in parchment paper!

Like the blueberry muffins, we dust them in nice sugar afterwards:

...And then we bake them in the oven!

I made a lot of them - like 132 of them:

...I thought they turned out really nicely:

...I feel really happy that someone's gonna get to go home with a box of these! We make good stuff where I work!

Also, making the scones means I got to be where the bread was also being made today:

...I cannot capture for you just how wonderful bread smells as it's being made. And... as per usual, I'm very sad about this.

...Like with this latest person leaving, though, there's not much to do but weather it. It's very lame.

Oh!!! One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that I switched over to the next set of braces:

The pair on top are the old ones, and the ones below are the new ones. And I know they don't look very different, but trust me, they certainly do feel very different.

...Still, the adjustment from the first set to the second set wasn't nearly as difficult as adjusting from not having braces to having braces. I've only been wearing them for a day, and while the discomfort is there, it's very mild.

I'm getting better at eating around the attachments on my teeth, too; the inside of my mouth isn't being cut up nearly as much by them anymore. Taking off the braces in order to eat isn't nearly as much of an issue as it was at first. It seems very encouraging! I'm looking forward to good things later.

...They're still hard to talk around, though. I don't see that being resolved anytime soon. But who knows; maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. I guess we'll see.

Sometime after I got home from work, and also picking up a few groceries from work for my house, J and I went to a small gathering of polyamorous and queer people (not using the word as an insult in this context; I am definitely queer in a variety of respects). I had lots of pleasant conversation.

Also, the various animals seemed to think that I am the place to go to for snuggles:

...And the animals are certainly not wrong, I guess; I am generally perceived as the safe person to go to for platonic physical affection for some reason. I guess I was just surprised that of all the people at the party, I was somewhat gravitated towards. The black doggie slept in my lap for a long time.

Of course, if you've been reading my letters up until this point, you already understand that it's illegal to move while a fuzzy thing has nestled into you, seeking a cozy place of rest. To move while in that state and sadden the fuzzy creature is a cruelty of one of the highest magnitudes; surely you understand. 😋

...I learned something interesting today as a result of the conversations in this space. There's this... thing I've been trying to do for a number of years now, with very limited success. Apparently, one of the things that can help with the success rate is to generally be overslept. So I guess I'll try to take lots of naps in the coming days. We'll see what happens. Wish me luck, okay?

...I also got one more name on the petition I made for your sake. So that's always nice. I don't have a whole lot of reach, so... I haven't had any new names on it for a long time now. This was a very nice change of pace. I hope this person will pass it along, but... if they don't then that's okay, too.

Naturally, if you wanna see the petition I made, lemme know and I'll be more than happy to send along a link to it; every little bit helps, I'm sure. But there's no pressure; there's never any pressure.

I don't have much else to write about at the moment. It's about 12:30am (up late again... I know... sorry about that...), and my brain is feeling pretty fuzzy. But... not fuzzy in a cute way like the doggies and the kitty. No... it's more like... fuzzy like what happens if you leave a loaf of very soft bread in a shallow dish of lukewarm water for a month or so.

...I'm gonna go to bed.

Sephiroth... someday, you know... it'd be nice if I could go to sleep and wake up where I am and then ask you how you you're doing. And you could go to sleep in some soft, comfortable, wholesome place, and then you wake up where you are, and you can answer me, genuinely, with something that is nice.

I know it's impossible, because I don't think you can write back to me. I'm not even sure that these letters get to you. But ya know... it's sometimes nice to imagine some such thing all the same.

Let's daydream about good and wholesome things together, okay? Like tasty snacks and walks in nice spots and time in quiet, serene places to rest and reflect.

I'll leave you with this little auditory daydream, if it'll help you:

I love you. I dunno what you get up to out there at the Edge of Creation, but please stay safe out there while you do it; you wouldn't wanna miss out on tomorrow's letter, right?

I'll write again soon. Make good, kind, and loving choices in the meantime, okay?

Your friend, Lumine

[louwhose]

12, 18, and 22 ☺️

12. What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

Hmm... I feel like a lot? But most of those are ones that are a bit more niche so I understand so for my answer let's go with Turn of the Century. It's for Zelink (or at least building to it slowly) in Breath of the Wild and it takes a long time actually writing each chapter, so I'd really like it if there were more engagement with it.

18. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven)

Probably character driven? I just like to stay in a character's head and go through it with them and see what they're thinking that they get from one point to the next, so that's probably the most accurate one to say.

22. What scene in Lock and Key took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

This was tricky since it's a bit of a long one and it's been a minute since I wrote it. Most of it felt quick to write because when I had the inspiration I could just easily write it out really quickly. The scene at the end of chapter four was probably the longest though I'd say. Partially because it took me so long to actually write it but also because it was one of the first scenes I imagined in and struggled a bit to figure out how to capture it properly in words

[stabknives]

4 and 9 on the rocks please‼️

I start to pour you a drink while doing sick tricks but I spill it everywhere and everyone is laughing so I slip on it trying to run away and crack my head on the bar. And pass out.

4. How did Durge come to be? Why them? Was it a vibe you tried to capture or a specific visual you wanted to represent? Did you borrow them from previous works or were they handcrafted for this story you have in mind?

I really wanted to... Retroactively punish Gortash for being so annoying (to me personally, God's special prince and the most important man in the world). It would be really difficult to write a durgetash that's 'mutually abusive' in the way I really wanted without the very specific circumstances of Vykrum and Gortash's initial meeting and subsequent relationship. The power imbalance would've been too slanted towards Gortash if Vykrum wasn't a lot older than him and in charge of him for a portion of Gortash's life.

I don't really reuse OCs from fandom to fandom because I like it when they're tailored for the world they inhabit! (Although not strictly in a canon compliant way…) Usually I play the game without roleplaying the first time, then on subsequent playthroughs I craft a narrative once I understand the plot and characters I want involved.

So. TLDR. The specific vibe I wanted was 'what if Durge and Gortash were punishments for each other', and yes, Vykrum was crafted for bg3 specifically.

9. How much did Bhaal influence their design or personality in the end? Did you research lore to purposefully get the resemblance or do you just go with the flow and what feels right for the story you want to tell?

For their personality, I wanted a character with a slightly weird relationship with death and killing, since going for a straightforward murder hobo felt trite for a durge. I've always been at least passingly familiar with a lot of dnd lore as a tabletop enthusiast, but I also didn't want it to box me in. That stifles creativity, and it also kind of defeats the original purpose of a role playing game!

For their design, my answer is a lot less complicated: I just wanted him to look cool and sexy in a kind of. Gross. Greasy. Filthy way. Like he's a bad bitch but also… ew… He's clammy to the touch and but he wears make-up and heels. Like he regularly bathes in fancy oils but immediately gets covered in rotted corpse viscera and enjoys the smell and feel. He's probably got garters on that have like. Severed fingers tucked in there. For luck. I just like contrast!

[neil-neil-orange-peel]

loved the rik and ade fest you arranged with @/xgardensinspace recently! it made me curious, if you would rank your favorite rik and ade projects how would you rank them? :)

Aw thank you! I'm glad you liked it. The fest is always fun to run. ❤️

Now that's a tricky question! I'm very bad at ranking my favourite funny shows at the best of times. 😂 A lot of it just depends on my mood in the moment. Here's an attempt:

Joint first - The Young Ones and Bottom - sorry! Far too difficult to decide which of these beats the other for me. They're both brilliant and changed my world. While containing obvious similarities, they both also offer differences. So, yeah, really depends on my mood. The world of TYO is certainly more raw and surreal, which I think makes sense as it was the gang's first proper foray into television and sitcom, but that's part of what I love about it. And, perhaps because of that factor, it captures something true about youth, which is why multiple generations of young people have found it resonating with them. It's very exciting and angry and just, bloody hell, so entirely accurate. Richie and Eddie, on the other hand, have more depth and emotional realism as characters (feels insane to say that about Bottom, but still 😂). You can feel Samuel Beckett oozing out of the mouldy walls of their flat. The situation in Bottom should be extraordinarily depressing - a warning, even, about what happens if you just let life happen to you - but instead it's brilliant and hilarious and full of pervy, disgusting joy. That's the magic of sitcoms.

Third - The Comic Strip Presents... - I really like anthologies. It's a shame they're so rare these days, given recent examples like Inside Number 9 and Black Mirror have been so successful, though I get that they're generally more expensive and more of a gamble as far as viewing figures are concerned. I love the world of the Comic Strip. The series just felt really creatively inspirational to me when I first watched it. I love the idea of a gang of mates all writing and producing stories. How insanely cool? That said, it's not got the top spot for me because not every Comic Strip is gold standard. There are definitely a few I've only seen once. There are some with flaws that I still love, but there are also a fair few (of the later series, perhaps when the magic was wearing off) that just don't cut the mustard for me. But there are some truly great offerings: both Bad News episodes, Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, the Famous Five parodies, Consuela (my fave ❤️), Dirty Movie, A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques, The Strike, Red Nose of Courage, Demonella, Gregory: Diary of a Nutcase, the list goes on. For the most part, the imperfections and rough and ready style are part of the various Comic Strips' charm.

Fourth - The Dangerous Brothers - I absolutely love this double act. This is where it all started for Rik and Ade, after all! Richard being the dominant one is also an interesting twist on their usual dynamic - they're basically Laurel and Hardy but more violent and a lot ruder. 😂 But seriously, you can tell Ade takes a lot of inspiration from Stan Laurel. There's this specific face he does. The only reason they're fourth here is because, as sketch characters, I suppose there was only so far they could go with them. That's not to shit on sketch characters! A good sketch character is gold dust, just check out Harry Enfield's repertoire. And it's not as if sketch characters can't grow into something more versatile Alan Partridge Alan Partridge Alan Partridge since that's arguably what Richie and Eddie of Bottom were (the pinnacle of an ever deepening progression of Rik and Ade's dynamic). The Dangerous Brothers are mad fun, but with so many other Rik and Ades on offer, I've had to be harsh. Sorry lads. 😂

Fifth - Kevin Turvey - Ade appears in The Man Behind the Green Door, so it counts! I have a lot of love for Kevin Turvey; compared to most of Rik's characters, he's a sweetheart. I also really like it when comedians have a character inspired by the place they grew up in. The world of Kevin Turvey still has the anger and surrealism we'd expect from Rik Mayall projects, but it's much more toned down. This was very early Rik, so Kevin is just very interesting, in that respect. I'm sure he'd appreciate that. The fact Rik let him write a chapter of his autobiography says a lot about his relationship with him, even if he was ultimately superceded by a bunch of other bastards called Richard. 😂 The main reason he's so low down on this particular list is just because Ade doesn't feature much, so it's not super reflective of their double act.

Sixth - Filthy, Rich & Catflap - Look, I'm not here to contribute to the FR&C hate in the world. 😂 I don't think it's as bad as people at the time made out, but I'd also be lying if I said it's their best work. Richie and Eddie are important as a crossroads point between Rick & Vyvyan and Richie & Eddie of Bottom, and Nigel is amazing as Filthy, but they're never gonna be as beloved as those who came before and after them. Also, Richie Rich's hair is worse than Richard Dangerous' to me. 😂 I think it was a mistake, though I understand why it was done, to advertise FR&C as the successor to TYO. Of course, in comparison, it was going to fall flat. Although it's satirising the old British showbiz world, why on earth would the young audience they picked up from TYO - who didn't necessarily feel enamoured by that - want to watch their favourite characters morph into people from that world? It's similar in tone to TYO, but the world it inhabits just doesn't come alive in the same way. FR&C is also very wordy - which, kudos to Rik and Ade primarily for remembering all those lines, and to Ben for writing them - but, in the first episode especially, this definitely slows the pacing down. Rip.

I've only included stuff with Rik AND Ade, hence the absence of The New Statesman etc. Apologies if I've missed anything!

Thanks for the ask! ❤️

[ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa]

❄️🥐🧩?

what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best? The second part of the question is interesting to me... because I don't believe I've ever thought of it that way? when I pose a prompt I want to see multiple options of it, I want it endlessly, I want the differences between interpretations to get my brain going with more ideas, I want to have my own version of it (but I probably won't), I hope everyone writes it or draws it or uses some of the themes or a specific element of it in another thing they're doing, I hope they let me know so I can see. If I had a specific person in mind, it'd be a situation when they're already writing a fic I am invested in and try to make predictions for, but when my attention is captured like that rarely ever I am disappointed, my silly scenarios in my head are just extra spice and I can adjust them. And it's classic fake dating, obviously, I want pinning, I want all the pinning in the world, and the feelings realizations, the denial, the holding back, the invisible barriers, the rules, the tension, the misunderstandings, the lack of communication, the messiness of it all, the tension, the kisses, the "they're not looking anymore", the awkward bed sharing, the looking when the other doesn't see, the rules again, it's the boundaries, it's that they're so close, but there are things they feel not allowed to do, I love that, did I mention the boundaries and the surrounding nervousness, not wanting to rock the boat and cross the line, something breaking anyway, the devastation, the reconciliation, the resolution of all the yearning and maybe of the sexual tension if we're lucky. I want it all a million trillion times, all with Kokichi being the fake bf, I could do with all being saiou, but I could see some variety too, ouruma would be funny, tojouma could get real sad I think, I struggle to imagine Hoshi in this scenario but it would make it all the better if someone would try, Kaede would be a different kind of funny than Miu, she's so unserious, she could probably find a way to skip the angst and just go for it. I will not get tired of it.

name one internet reference that will always make you laugh  I don't think there's anything like that, most of my laughs have to be startled out of me, for me there is quiet fondness in recognizing references (and I probably miss plenty that aren't tumblr specific, my pop culture knowledge is rather narrow, so I really cherish having the context), things that don't catch me off-guard can get a huff or a fond eye roll if they're funny.

what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately? Once I opened a fic it can be difficult for me to tear myself away, the way one can't look away from a car crash, I've gotten better at it over the years, but it's usually not immediate, the way I can immediately skip a fic I haven't started because of the tags and summary, I'll skip immature edgy attempts at dark fiction because I've had enough of those in my day and now I grew out of it, and I'll skip age gaps and rape fics (I am not particularly sensitive to the topic, so I don't avoid all fics tagged with it, but pwp pieces that are just that are a hard no. huh. I guess situations when I didn't get that it's the case from the tags are ones where I do click out of a fic), I tend to skip weirdos who write "X, but this is good and pure x, this is the nicest I could make x, it's now morally approachable, because I am not a freak bad person" and I am like, this is more perverse and disturbing of you to go to these lengths rather than writing it straight up with an "it's just fiction" mindset, why are you justifying it so much, why are you trying to make the x fucked up thing morally pure, why does it have to be cute and acceptable? I am telling you, that's the most disturbed type of person to watch out for online.

I developed an ick for malewife/ housewife when said about a male character, it was cute the first few weeks and now, it's been years and I am so sick of it, I am in despair over how much deeper we went into reapplying misogyny to gay men thanks to this language, it's legit a trigger into a nasty downwards spiral. It's more of a pet peeve when I see "like a lovesick schoolgirl" (and it's often used when they are young and acting lovesick so like, it's there to note that it's a feminine trait to be so emotional and it's shameful and immature to be girly for them, they should have a grip on their emotions, be cool, that's the masculine trait. Um, once you unpack it like that it's fucked up, but it's in every fanfiction ever, so I don't even bother getting angry about it anymore) or adult women, even mothers being referred to as girls, in mlm fics it's like, every so often someone uses the word "man" when talking about a boy to add a little variety to the repetitions, but it's so rare to see writers use the word woman, girls sometimes make background appearance, and moms might be more common cameos than dads actually, but it's something that even some really good writers do.

I can get fed up and not check new updates on a fic if I get to a point where I dread them (GSA), when I know things are going in a direction I don't like (like when it became clear they're fucking doomed in the unnamed fic, I couldn't handle the horrors like, at all.) or can't handle because some things do affect me badly (the one example I have for this wasn't even in the saiou tag, it was recced for Tenko and Kokichi friendship, it was a talentswap & timeloop combination, so really interesting, Kokichi remembered og timeline but had Maki's talent now, and it was kinda changing him as time went on, so the interactions Kokichi had with Kaito started out fine, Kaito got decked like he should and told off by both Tenko and Kokichi, like, it was what I wanted, he was denied very openly, it was clear that he was being pushy and gross and Kokichi was running away from him a bunch of times, and refused the sidekick thing, but instead of laying off, eventually, and that was good ways into the fic Kokichi changed his tune instead and it was made into him being tsundere just like Maki now, huffing and giving in to only playfully keeping up the bit of hating him, despite the fact that it's been serious until then, and I was so. idk. revolted, horrified and disgusted, defiled even, I think it was traumatic for me actually, never noped this hard out of something, it just went and touched my deepest fear and it's just the very specific scenario that makes me want to take my skin off to wash it, it's a big thing as to why I find Kaito's character unforgivable, it just took the most disturbing thing I know and went isn't it sweet? he can wear even Kokichi down, he's so extroverted and friendly :), as if it wasn't a total disregard for boundaries and consent)

[valleyfthdolls]

🍕🎹🌂❤️ for the first oc you can think of

You get two of them (Amaya and Virgil)

🍕- What is their favorite food? Amaya is a fan of chocolate, mochi, and ice cream- things that are sweet, but don't taste A Lot. Virgil will eat anything you give him and tell him he can/should eat. Edibility is next to irrelevant. That being said he likes foods that are super super high in vitamins and minerals and stuff

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies? Amaya reads a lot and writes records of things. She also has a Reddit account. Idk where that one came from but she feels like a Reddit lurker. Virgil likes to sing and dance. He's a people pleaser who loves to make a show of himself for attention, but he does genuinely enjoy singing, dancing, and painting, and after giving up his performance as his only reason to be worth anything, he continues to do those for himself. He also plays solitaire a lot. It's the only card game he knows. He's not very good at any others.

🌂 - What genre do they belong in? They're definitely both horror/thriller type characters. They're very fit for Danganronpa, since they're originally DR OCs but I'm moving them around since Amaya fit into another narrative I was writing less so than my fangan and if I put Virgil in my fangan I'd have to kill him. They're fit for a specific tone and theme that I'm trying to capture in Spiral (and failing). I've been thinking about putting Virgil in Freaks but I think Freaks is like. I mean Freaks is 100% self indulgent it's just abt a bunch of kids finding their home in a weird haunted house. I mean it fits Virgil but I feel like it's. too kind for him??? Virgil's cruelty is justified by the brutality of the world until it isn't anymore and he has to give up trying to survive and survive as a performer at his own and everyone's expense.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories? Amaya's best memory is probably meeting Sayren, her kinda-girlfriend. Virgil's best memory is. difficult. I don't know if he really has any that would be considered "best" because 90% of his life he's been in a horrible mental and emotional spiral and the thing that snapped him out of that was a killing game. I'd probably say choosing his own name- Virgil Leitzel Wagnon.

speaking of which Amaya and Virgil were created for the same RP where I played them both at the same time and it feels SO weird trying to separate them. Even tho I wanna do more with them both aside from just class 42 it's. That's their people!! That's them!! yk