#like it very much depends on the context for specific examples but if two minor dialogue tweaks could have avoided the plot hole

[writingwithcolor]

Representing Biracial Black South American Experiences…Through a White/Asian Mixed Race Character in Europe

@colombinna asked:

I have a YA story that's in very early development - pre-alpha, if you will. For now what I have developed is the characters: one of the MCs is a biracial asian queer girl (her dad is thai-american and japanese, her mom's white), she has a medium/dark brown skin, and lives in a very white context in a fictional European country. The contact she has with her extended family is limited to phone calls and regular visits because her dad moved from the US to said fictional European country.

I'm a biracial black queer girl myself, living in a very white community in South America, my extended black family also lives in a different place, and I'm taking a lot of my experiences of being not white and queer whilst living in white communities into her story (the feeling of not belonging, the impostor syndrome, standing out as one of the only POC kids in class, etc) and thinking back to what I've heard asian friends and classmates say about their experiences in the same school/community context as mine. But I want to know how different her experiences as a dark-skinned asian girl would differ from mine and my friends' in a similar context (white community, small number of other asian people - and POC in general - in the social circles, and limited contact to her extended family), and what experiences could make sense if the character was biracial black like myself, but won't if she's biracial asian.

Why not write a biracial Black girl if those are the experiences you want to represent? 

This MC is straddling, like, 3 different cultures. Having multiple immigrant identities in not-Europe is not the same experience as being Black in South America; while both are complex minority experiences, there are too many differences in intersections and histories to compare. Not to mention, it really depends on what European culture(s) you’re basing your not-Europe on. 

I think you’ll find that the written result will ring much more genuine and rich in depth if you either translate your experiences more directly or pick a more narrow focus, instead of assuming that there is a universal for racism and colorism against biracial people that is transferable across contexts. Because there isn’t. There can be overlaps, but if you’re looking to cover the entire range of What It’s Like in general, it won’t work.

This isn’t to say that people can’t use other identities to write about specific experiences of their own, but in this case you need to think about what story you want to tell and what your reasons are. Marika’s commentary will go more into when and how this can be done effectively. 

Also, if the point is to make her a dark-skinned Asian, as a white/asian mix myself, I implore you: why must you make her 1/4 Japanese and 1/2 white? Even with the Thai ethnicity thrown in, Thai people very much range in skin tone and have their own domestic issues with colorism. It’s not impossible for dark-skinned examples of your MC’s ethnic makeup to exist, but still I don’t recommend it for two reasons: 

It's going to make researching people whose experiences fit that much more difficult. Most experiences of colorism, othering, and other forms of discrimination that mixed white asians tend to face are completely different from mixed race asians who tend to have darker skin & features.

There's enough Japanese & white mixed Japanese rep in the Asian rep sphere as is. Consider that this individual could be mixed Asian (not Japanese) with something else (not white)! 

But again, think over your motivations. I’ll spare you the copy/paste of our Motivations PSA, but re-read it and consider. Why do you wish to write a mixed Asian character to tell the story of your experiences as a mixed Black individual instead of a mixed Black character? What does it add to the story? Is it an effective vessel for the experiences you want to convey? 

~ Rina

I think Rina brings up some good points here: I’m not hearing a lot of specificity in your query. As you doubtless know firsthand, the more intersectional and complex an identity, the more of a chance the identity may come with unexpected baggage and nuances that fly in the face of what is common sense for less intersectional identities. This can make writing such characters challenging just because there is so much choice on which identity themes to emphasize. 

I once spent about 15 minutes explaining to a person the thought process I used to determine when I could wear jeans depending on which country I was living in as a mixed race person who is perceived as different things in different places. It might seem trivial, but it’s actually very important to me for the purposes of identity, safety and gender presentation, so I personally think it’s interesting. But will my readers think a character’s multi-page internal monologue on whether or not to wear jeans is especially compelling? Does the writer-version of me want to research the version of myself musing on my specific jeans conundrum to that extent? Or do I want to talk about other things related to attire a lot of other people would relate to? I think those are all YMMV questions, but hopefully, they provide some perspective that will help you be intentional about how you might want to tackle something potentially very time-consuming.

When I say intentional, I mean that when covering a complex identity with which you are peripherally familiar, it will always be more effective and easier to use it to tell a specific story extremely clearly than to be extremely broad in scope and try to include almost everything about your own experiences, especially because some of those experiences might not be as relevant for your character’s background as they are to yours.      

One of my favorite childhood picture books is written and illustrated by a Nikkei writer-illustrator team. The book is titled Ashok by Any Other Name (link). The story features a desi child growing up in the US who wishes he had an American name his friends and teachers wouldn’t think was strange. It covers how being othered for his name makes him feel, and how he copes with that feeling. Speaking as someone both Japanese and desi, I think through the plot device of names perceived by the majority of Americans as foreign, this book aptly shows how many immigrant/diaspora creators are capable of relating to the pressures of assimilation experienced by other immigrant, even if the creator, the audience and the story’s subject’s backgrounds all don’t completely overlap 100%. 

There will be aspects of your Blackness, mixed identity, skin color, sexuality and living in a local community lacking diversity as a member of many minority groups that you will find resemble/ resonate with the experiences of mixed-race, Japanese individual in a Europe-themed setting, and I think any story that leans into those themes will be considerably easier for you to research. In other words, instead of asking us “How does my experience differ?” I would approach this issue by deciding what narrative you want to show about your own experience and then research the specific contexts within which your desired story overlaps with elements of mixed-race Japanese experiences. 

- Marika.

[sleepingdeath-light]

smoked cheese cookie smut hcs ; 18+

requested by ; anonymous (17/12/23)

fandom(s) ; cookie run

fandom masterlist(s) ; hub | specific

character(s) ; smoked cheese cookie

outline ; “Can u do smoked cheese cookie smut hc?? I really like them. :)) (im 18 btw)”

warning(s) ; sexually explicit content, dominant leaning!smoked cheese cookie, sadist!smoked cheese cookie, collaring, pet play, free use kink, dollification, objectification, dumbification, degradation, humiliation, body writing, marking kink, edging, overstimulation, impact play, bondage, masochist!reader, submissive leaning!reader

note ; i’m not gonna lie smoked cheese cookie was a really difficult character for me to get into the head of, especially since i’ve never written for him before, so this may very well be somewhat ooc. this was also 90% written from my initial thoughts as i was going back through the story snippets in game where he appears, so apologies if this reads as a bit jumbled here and there lol ^^

minors and ageless blogs will be blocked

the first thing we need to establish is that while smoked cheese cookie has an extremely strong dominant lean, he is still a switch and can be convinced to take on a more submissive role in the bedroom every now and again — granted, it’s very very rare that he’s in the mood to sub, so unless you’re extremely patient or know exactly how to get him into sub space it’s unlikely that you’ll get much of a chance to dominate him outside of special occasions

those special occasions usually consisting of the times where he’s absolutely exhausted, defeated, and drained after a long day or a failed plan and he wants nothing more than to be held and pampered and spoiled until the whole ordeal is wiped from his memory — so anything involving body worship, praise kink, long and sensual foreplay, and lots of orgasms is the ideal way to get smoked cheese cookie to sub for you

(and if you start whispering praises about his power and intelligence and strengths as a future leader in his ear whilst making love to him, then you may just be able to send him straight into sub space — depending on how relaxed and vulnerable he’s feeling at the time, of course…)

on the other hand, as a dominant he adopts a much more strict and controlling demeanour, even becoming outright mean and sadistic at times, which means that a lot of the kinks he prefers to indulge in are the ones that emphasise the power imbalance between the two of you and, consequently, his ownership of you as your lover and your dominant

he’s a big fan of objectifying you and will go about it in whatever way you prefer (as cruel as he can be, and for as much as he likes flaunting his status, you’re still his equal at the end of the day and he wants to ensure you enjoy these things just as much as he does) — but the main two methods he defaults to are dollification or dehumanisation: either treating you as a dumb little dolly to be moved and dressed and posed and used however he wants (bonus points if you really perfect the glassy-eyed, thoughtless look), or as a glorified cocksleeve that’s only real purpose is to be a set of holes for him to use and a body for him to own (bonus points here if you get into the habit of presenting yourself to him whenever you’re alone — e.g. falling to your knees and opening your mouth when he spreads his legs for you). he also tends to combine each of these with very degrading and humiliating language, for example blatantly pointing out how much you enjoy being used when he’s deep inside of you, or commenting on how easy you were to train when you drop to your knees on instinct the second he motions for you to do so

(though both of these kinks are only really appealing to him in a sexual context as outside of the bedroom he does generally appreciate having a partner to covet and converse with as opposed to a living toy)

these ideas also go quite well with his love of the ‘free use’ kink as, with your express approval of course, with his busy schedule it’s nice to just be able to snap his fingers or drag you somewhere private to get you both off without having to skip out on his duties too much (he has an image to maintain after all)

pet play is also something he comes to be quite fond of as, again, the idea of owning you and treating you as his possession is something that’s extremely appealing to him — and if you’re up for it then he goes all out: buying you a collar and some matching jewellery to wear when you’re out and about in the golden city, insisting on you kneeling by his side whenever he’s working on some documents at home, having you eat and drink out of a personalised set of bowls, purchasing the best gear that money can buy (what kind of master would he be if he didn’t spoil his pet?), refusing to acknowledge your speech when you’re in pet mode and mocking you for making such a racket (e.g. telling you to stop ‘barking’ if you prefer being treated like a dog), and even getting a comfortable pet bed for you to rest in and a cage large enough to hold you for when you misbehave

being as greedy and possessive as he is, smoked cheese cookie also has a strong thing for marking you as his — sometimes that means covering your throat and thighs and chest with hickeys, and other times that means writing his name and statements affirming his ownership of you all over your body in a neat, but thick, cursive that take several hot showers to fully wash off

when it comes to punishing any bad or bratty behaviour you show, in public or in private, he tends to use a mixture of three different elements: impact play (usually using a flat instrument to swat at your ass and/or thighs until either he’s reached a number of hits he deems suitable for your ‘crime’ or you call the safe word), bondage (using a stretcher bar to keep your legs spread nice and wide so he can have full access to your body, while also using standard bondage rope to tie your wrists together and keep them extended above your head so you can’t reach down and get yourself off), and edging (using his hands and his cock to slowly work you towards the edge of climax before backing off just at the last moment over and over again, paying no mind to your tears or pleas as he continues to degrade and humiliate you for your desperation — recalling how desperate you were for his attention before and how pathetic and needy you’re acting now that he’s finally touching you)

and then once you’ve paid your penance, in his eyes at least, that’s when a different flavour of his sadism comes out as he proceeds to roughly overstimulate you until you physically can’t take anymore: until your throat is so raw that even breathing hurts, until your eyes are so full of tears that you can’t stop yourself from crying, until your voice is so hoarse that even your loudest screams sound like little more than timid half-coughed whimpers, until your whole body is limp and trembling, until the bed beneath you is soaked with sweat and your cum, until you’re so thoughtless and dumb that all you can do is climax over and over again

that’s when he’ll finally let up and get started on aftercare — he may be greedy (greedy for power, greedy for attention, greedy for your pleasure) but he’s no monster and makes sure that you have everything you need to recover from even the roughest of nights in his bed

[zwy01]

Original Noble Clan + Clan Leader OCs!!!

I’m suuuuper excited to introduce my third original clan, the Ceresthalassa, Clan of the Earthshakers!

About a week ago, I introduced two original clans: the “Volo”, Clan of the Healers, and the “Pyradros”, Clan of the Sun and Fire. It’s time for a third one yayy!!!!

Again, these characters aren’t necessarily exclusive to a specific/fixed setting. They can be interpreted as headcanons that exist/fit in the canon storyline, characters specific to my Millennium AU, characters that exist by themselves and don’t fit anywhere,…etc. Anything really, as I do want them to have some flexibility. So feel free to interpret them as whatever makes the most sense to you. Personally, I see them as existing in both the canon storyline as my headcanons, and in my Millennium AU. In this post I’ll be (mainly) approaching and discussing them in the context of my Millennium AU, though there will also be some references to canon/pre-canon events of my interpretation.

For context, age-wise Doris the Clan Leader is somewhere between Gejutel and Lagus. So older than Gejutel, but younger than Lagus. In terms of title/position, Doris was appointed as Clan Leader either during or even before the Previous-previous Lord’s (Raskreia’s paternal grandfather, another OC of mine) reign. She’s old! Currently, she is still active as Clan Leader in Raskreia’s reign, so technically she can be grouped with the current generation of Clan Leaders (aka Raskreia’s peers). Retirement? Lmaooo nah. Doris’ daughter and heir Marina is definitely younger than Claudia, and most likely older than Raskreia and her Clan Leaders.

The Ceresthalassa Clan is the most nature-aligned clan in Lukedonia. The Clan name itself is a combination of Ceres (“nourishment”, “harvest”) plus Thalassa (“sea, ocean”). They are one of oldest noble clans in existence. Just as their name suggests, members of the Ceresthalassa Clan can directly manipulate and control the forces and elements of nature, including but not limited to the sea, storms, earthquakes, plants, and…farming! While the degree of manipulation depends on the individual clan member, the most powerful spells are always exclusive to and cast by the pureblooded Clan Leaders and their line of heirs, who all have very powerful and much more extensive abilities than an average clan member. For example, 1.) an ordinary clan member may be able to channel their aura to push the growth of a single or few stalks of grain, while a Clan Leader may be able to grow an entire field or even several fields of grain 2.) an ordinary clan member may be able to generate a few small rainclouds/thunderclouds, while a Clan Leader may summon a super massive, devastating hurricane 3.) an ordinary clan member may be able to slightly shift the ground beneath them, like if someone wanted to switch the location of a fountain and a flowerbed, while a Clan Leader could shift entire mountains, and even the formation and very foundation of the entire land they’re standing on (though entire large scale transformations will drain them of almost all their energy and they would need to hibernate for centuries and even a millennia so this is almost never done + there usually really isn’t a reason to) and 4.) an ordinary clan member may be able to generate a few large waves or riptides, while a Clan Leader can summon an entire tsunami, raise seawater to above boiling temperature, and lower seawater to below freezing temperature, if that is what they wish.

Unlike the Volo, where every single healing spell (even the super minor ones cast by both CLs and ordinary clan members) will drain its magic caster of some energy, the Ceresthalassa’s energy drain depends on both the individual and the type of nature manipulation. For example, clan member A could do a lot of weather manipulation and still be going at it for a good while but gets tired easily after a crop-growing spell, and clan member B is the other way around. The only all rounders that have incredible stamina across all categories are, of course, the CLs and their heirs.

The Ceresthalassa have a very special role in Lukedonia, and even the entire planet, in a sense. One could say that the world could’ve lived without the other noble clans but the Ceresthalassa? Don’t even get started on advancing things such as culture and art…without them, the other species likely wouldn’t have even survived much. And the reason is obvious. Nobles don’t need food or sleep, and can virtually live in locations with extreme weather conditions and be relatively unaffected. Which is a great privilege, of course. Maybe one that even they don’t realize puts them in such advantage and comfort compared to other species like humans, werewolves, etc.

The backstory. A long time ago, a Ceresthalassa CL felt sorry for the other species that had to struggle so much to survive, and watching them get up only to fall back down and perish was very painful for him. So he couldn’t just watch them suffer, while the other nobles just sat still and simply did nothing. He rearranged many parts of the planet so they would have suitable shelter. He lowered seas, and raised lands. He gave them resilient, edible plants that would later be known as the ancestors of the crops today; he gave them food. He used the full extent of his powers for good, and his line of descendants, the future Ceresthalassa CLs, would follow in his footsteps and do the same. They quelled storms and raging seas for humans who wanted to pass to other land. They gave them rain when there were droughts. Obviously, the Ceresthalassa were not omnipotent, because ultimately they did not own the planet, and were only capable of controlling elements once at a time, one location at a time. They did what they could to help, and left the rest to nature itself in hopes for the best, that the other species would be able to take care of themselves. And because manipulating these natural forces required the spell caster to be there physically, members of the Ceresthalassa were always running around, often traveling outside of Lukedonia to places that needed their aid. They were truly some of the busiest nobles… and still are. Doris, the current Ceresthalassa CL, has never had a single day off in her entire life. Not even when her daughter Marina was born. Talk about being a workaholic…

Anyways. Little do the humans and werewolves of today know that without this specific noble clan, they wouldn’t even be standing here as who they are right now. Sure, their ancestors could’ve survived on their own, but progress would’ve been much, much slower. Most Ceresthalassa clan members would be happy to see the world make so much progress with the help…but when is too much, indeed, too much? Which is exactly the reason why Doris, the current CL, experiences a complete attitude change and now absolutely hates specificaly modern humans and wish she had never helped them in the first place. And for a good reason, which I will explain very soon.

Regarding the Ceresthalassa’s place in canon. Jumping back to PL’s reign, Zephyrus Volo and Leona Pyradros were on a mission that required them to leave Lukedonia, so that explains their absence in the canon storyline. What about the Ceresthalassa? Well, unlike those two, Doris was very much in Lukedonia the whole time. And maybe outside of it too, when she had personal errands to run. Whether it was inside or outside of Lukedonia, her job was basically endless. She was just super, super busy with her clan and other things she had to do, so she never showed up… like at all. Inside Lukedonia? Didn’t mingle with the other nobles much, or at all. Outside of Lukedonia? Probably so focused on doing things for planet earth to the point where she didn’t really pay attention to anything else either. Simple as that. And after her daughter Marina was born and grew up, the two of them were then super, super busy together. Lots of nature related work, so much they just didn’t have time for anything else. Even in present day Millennium AU, when the Ceresthalassa’s deal has become a bit more relaxed, they still aren’t seen around as often as the other nobles.

Before I get to the character introductions, let me introduce their fighting style and soul weapon first!

The Ceresthalassa Clan is mostly known for their affinity to nature, but they’re very good at combat too. By training day and night to push the upper limits of their stamina for nature related spells, they’re also indirectly perfecting themselves for battles that last for long durations. They’re basically super hardy, for as long as they don’t accumulate injuries. For the ones who like to fight and specifically train extra to become fighters, their advantage is even more obvious. Members specialize in both close range and long range combat, and can do the usual hand-to-hand fighting and aura/energy beam blasts etc. though their basic combat moves are almost always accompanied with some type of nature manipulation. If they’re fighting on land, they shift the ground around them. If they’re fighting on sea, they command the waves to assist them. No matter where they are, as long as their energy remains, they will always be in some sort of advantage. The best way to win against a Ceresthalassa is to somehow drag out the fight and eventually tire them out by forcing them to continuously use their bigger, heavier nature spells, because most of them are, by reflex, inclined to do so.

Soul Weapon: Eulises. A trident. The main body consists of the general color scheme of black and gold, and the symmetrical pattern on the head of the spear is that of grain stalks. Eulises’ wielder can use it as a general weapon to pierce, stab, cut, and even deliver blunt blows to enemies. It can also be used to summon stronger weather/nature spells. The top tier spells actually require Eulises in order to be activated. Eulises’ power grows when it is closer to the sea. Its ultimate skill consists of a powerful attack in which the concentrated aura it releases manifests into a colossal sea monster with tentacles, which parallels their clan symbol, the Kraken.

Doris Ceresthalassa: the current Clan Leader. A visibly older woman with prominent wrinkles on her face and hands. Hair has a lot of volume to it and looks like a giant bundle of seaweed, haha. Looks like she’s grumpy not because her resting face is simply like that, but because she actually is frowning. Constantly very worried about the state of her beloved planet Earth, and absolutely despises the other intelligent species (humans especially) because they’re literally destroying the home she loves so dearly. Her ancestors and predecessors could’ve ignored them and just let them perish. They gave them food and shelter and now this is how they choose to repay the goodwill? By cutting down forests, burning things and driving other species to extinction? By filling land with mountains after mountains of trash, and then dumping them into the oceans when there’s no more room? By infiltrating the lungs and gills of every living creature and making them suffer in misery with harmful chemicals and particles? If she knew how to time travel, she would’ve gone back in time to her ancestors and told them to just. Leave the other intelligent species alone and let them die because they’re not worth helping. Ungrateful, malicious, toxic, greedy, insatiable humans who will not stop destroying the planet to achieve their goals of what they call it, again? Glory? Riches? Fame? Shallow beings who deserve to be annihilated from the planet because their ambition is leading the world to its doom.

Doris doesn’t care about modern humans, they could die off to some mysterious cause and she wouldn’t even bat an eyelid. Maybe she even hopes that they’d suddenly die off, so the pollution and destruction of nature would stop. But Doris is generally nonviolent in temperament and is against genocide, and she won’t actually go and eliminate the humans. She just keeps imagining scenes in her head where she chokes her ancestor who started it all while screaming to his face “Don’t you dare to even think about helping them!!!”. Unfortunately that’s not an option, so. Rip. Best she can do is disguise herself as a human, and go around the world, get herself into seats of power, to pass laws and enforce measures to stop and maybe even reverse some of that pollution and damage. She probably has like 72 human identities. And she’s not doing this because she likes humans, in fact she hates them so much she hates that she has to disguise herself as one. But anything for the planet. She’s trying really hard to adapt to the modern world. Other than that, she sometimes goes under the sea and personally removes plastics from turtles’ necks and junk from creatures’ stomachs. Doris would really like a day off, but there’s just so many damn things that need her to take care of. Someone give this woman a break.

Marina Ceresthalassa: the clan’s heir, Doris’ only child, and Claudia Tradio’s younger half-sister. Yes, her father is… Lagus Tradio! (Surprise surprise. To this day neither Marina nor her older half-sister Claudia know the exact relationship between Doris and Lagus. The sisters suspect that those two could’ve been more than just friends because clearly they were close enough for Lagus to give Doris his soul fragment. Doris refuses to elaborate when asked though, so they will never know. Maybe she’ll give in and talk about one day. Who knows. Anyways) A charismatic and upbeat woman with an adorable, angelic face. Styles her hair in braids and golden hoops similar to how Claudia wears hers because she admires big sister. When Lagus betrayed Lukedonia, Marina was one of the only people who regularly visited Claudia.

In general, Marina agrees with her mother Doris when it comes to other intelligent species such as humans. They indeed don’t deserve to be helped because all the goodwill and aid they got from the Ceresthalassa, which they used to advance their own society, is getting “repaid” with nothing but disaster. Chemicals, trash, extinction, climate change, etc… not only are humans ungrateful, they also just don’t know when to stop for everyone’s good and even their own good, eh? Well, bad news for them, Marina isn’t all nice and nonviolent like her mother. In fact, Marina’s quite aggressive. Unlike her mother, who passively cleans up after the planet, Marina will show the humans the consequences of their own actions. She’ll give them a taste of their own medicine. So what Marina does is she purposely causes storms, floods, droughts, etc. Instruct plants and crops to hibernate. Don’t grow. Stay low until I say so. Let those parasitic humans starve. One of the things Marina does the most often is she’d collect trash from the bottom of the ocean floor, cause a tsunami filled with said trash, and dump aaaallll of it back onto the humans and their living spaces. Just simply giving them their shit back, like they deserve. She’d also destroy human underwater infrastructure when sea creatures report feeling disturbed in their own homes. She’d also tip over boats, and even sink them. And the humans won’t think too much, they’d just wonder why things keep malfunctioning. Unlike Doris, Marina is dangerous because she is willing to eliminate humans for the wellbeing of nature. But she doesn’t want to upset her mother, so the two of them have an agreement: give the humans a chance, a time frame. Until then, don’t eliminate them. But if they still don’t listen and time is up, then Doris will allow Marina to fully unleash herself, and let her give the humans a taste of the wrath of nature.

In her free time, Marina is a music conductor. She has her own orchestra and choir, and is in charge of Lukedonia’s grand concert hall. Sometimes her audience would get super weirded out when a sea monster casually walks on stage, seats itself among the other noble performers, and then proceed to play the violin like it’s just another day. Marina would just laugh when questioned and say “we were one performer short, so I invited one of my buddies from the waters” and then mention how her Kraken friend would even be willing to give out autographs after the concert ends.

P.s. both Claudia and Marina aren’t too much older than the current generation of Clan Leaders, aka Raskreia’s generation. There’s also some flexibility here and there but I’m inclined to headcanon that Lagus kinda just had Claudia super late. Same deal with Doris and her kid Marina.

That’s it for this time!! I love them and hopefully will have time to draw them again. See you later!

[velaraffricate]

Kaiaŋ! Now that I've got a couple of pretty well-developed conlangs I've been focusing more on the worldbuilding of Kena'ar, and in this post I'd like to share how the religion and magic system works. Any foreign words you see are in Ke'eloom, as it is the lingua franca of this world as well as the language universally used for magic spells and in religious contexts. Be warned that this is a very long post.

The elves were created by a 4+ dimensional infinite divine entity that split into sixteen aspects or minor gods. Each god-part rules over certain parts of nature and daily life. I won't go into too much detail about the different gods here, but the point is that every elf has a piece of this deity inside them, which is what allows them to perform magic. Because of this, magic is basically semi-sentient, and can react to the user's emotions, intentions, and environment. Magic is called samal, and is synonymous with our concept of a "soul", and magical stamina, or what is commonly known as "mana", is called naia. Naia is depleted when someone uses a spell, and takes a while to recharge. With training, one can decrease the amount of naia that is needed for each spell and the rate at which it builds up again, but even the most powerful wizards will run out of it at some point, and some spells are naturally more tiring than others. Most people can perform decently powerful spells, but only with extensive training and focus can one reach legendary levels of power. "Power" and "strength" in relation to magic mean that a spell lasts longer, takes less naia to cast, or is in some way more effective, but this all depends on the individual spell.

Everybody is born with magic inside them, and it can never be taken away. Even children can technically already cast spells, but, unless they have a rare special talent, they will be extremely weak and short-lived. One's magical ability strengthens slowly as one grows older, gains more experience, and starts worshipping one or multiple gods in a more serious manner. Disabled elves of all kinds can use magic, too. As mentioned above, it's basically alive in a way, and thus can be very accomodating to the individual user's needs.

There are many dozens of spells, but each is connected to only one or sometimes two specific gods. The stronger the user's connection to that god is, the stronger the spell will be. This god connection is called ronsu. One cultivates it by engaging in certain activities related to their god of choice and practicing mindfulness. For example, flowers are associated with the god Shati. Tending to a flower garden, focusing on their smell, texture, and colours, meditating near them, studying their life cycles, drawing them or otherwise incorporating them into artworks… all strengthen your ronsu with Shati and in turn make you more powerful in the spells associated with it. But this also means that no one elf can simultaneously be powerful in many different kinds of spells - you can only allot so much time in the day to worship, and if you try to devote yourself to too many gods your ronsu will only be very shallow and you will remain weak. The mightiest wizards are monks that devote every minute of every day to only one god, and as a result become immensely powerful in only a handful of spells. Everyone (except monks) can freely choose and change who to worship. Most elves worship different gods throughout their lives as their needs and preferences change.

Spells are triggered by a specific phrase that must be said out loud (deaf/mute elves can use sign language or write them down (if someone can't speak and also can't use their hands, they can just think about them very intensely or perhaps find some other way to express them)). Simply saying the phrase won't automatically cause anything to happen, you have to put all your focus into every word, every syllable, and visualize the spell's desired effect. Strong emotions and the influence of drugs can be both a hindrance and an asset when casting spells. Channeling your emotions into a spell may make it more powerful than usual, but they may also serve as a distraction or blockage and prevent you from using magic - it just depends on the situation. During the casting of a spell, the wizard's eyes, horns, veins, palms, and other areas with thin skin glow in the colour associated with the spell's god.

Some examples of spells and their phrases: kikh korukhaakha huf alaŋatam, "let me see through the darkness", gives one the ability to see in the dark; kikh loñaŋatam, dare okorehalaŋabar, "let me smell what I can't see", enhances one's sense of smell; kikh vitslane kikaŋatam, "let me run with the wind", increases one's running speed; kikh huf zhiksukhe saikhe ŋgi saaŋaŋatam, "let poison flow through me like water", gives immunity to venom and poison.

You can technically have as many spells active at the same time as you want, but each spell becomes weaker and weaker with each additional spell. Having three or more spells active will only get you very minor effects and is basically not worth it unless you're incredibly powerful. This would also drain you of naia much quicker than a single spell would, so it's not a very sustainable state. Spells only last for a certain amount of time, again depending on one's power. Elves can instinctually feel when their spell is about to run out. Afterwards, especially if the spell depleted all or most of one's naia, one might feel tired, groggy, sick, and confused, but nothing that can't be fixed with some food and sleep. You can end a spell yourself with the phrase samalkhe kil mbadëbëŋ kil tshi shiŋatam, which means "let my magic return into my body".

Spells can also be transferred onto another person. This is a rather advanced technique and requires a special phrase, and a transferred spell will typically be weaker than a regular once used on oneself. This is most often used with healing spells. Both the transferrer and the transferree can cancel the spell at any time.

But spells aren't all there is to magic. There are also "talismans", called mondarisa. They're small objects that come in many sizes, shapes, and materials such as wood, metal, clay, or glass. But they must be sculpted into or otherwise depict something associated with a specific spell. This spell must be focused on during the entire process of creating the mondaris. Once it's finished, the spell is enchanted onto it using a special phrase, which infuses it with a tiny piece of samal. It then acts as an unlimited external beacon of magic, giving an elf that holds it close the effects of its spell.

But of course, its effectiveness is highly variable and depends on both the mondaris's maker's and the current owner's power. Most mondarisa are still weaker than an average spell, but their magic never runs out until it is broken or otherwise destroyed. Many mondarisa can be worn as jewelry, and are usually kept close to the body part associated with their spell's god. As with spells, you can wear multiple mondarisa at once, but the more there are, the less effective they become. Mondarisa can be used in conjunction with spells without either one being weakened in their effects, as their sources of samal are separate. In fact, if you cast a spell and are also wearing a mondaris with that spell on it, their effects stack up. Elves can instinctually feel if an otherwise ordinary-looking object is actually a mondaris and which spell it's enchanted with.

Some examples of what a mondaris might look like: a glass eye or a piece of wood with a painting of an eye for the night vision spell; a clay sculpture of a nose for the smell enhancing spell; a sculpture of feet or legs or a carved footprint for the fast running spell; a sculpture of a snake or poisonous plant for the venom immunity spell. But do keep in mind that this is all very flexible, these are just common examples.

As mentioned above, some elves choose to become monks and live in monasteries. They devote themselves fully to only one deity, and in turn become immensely powerful in its related spells. Their duties are twofold: thanks to their power, they can produce very effective mondarisa which they then distribute among the masses. And in times of crisis, their powers may help hundreds of people. They're also scientists of sorts, spending a lot of time studying natural phenomena like the stars, the weather, and different plants and animals, and developing tools and appliances. Monks are very highly revered in elven society, and whatever material needs they have that they can't take care of themselves, they are given by nearby townspeople. The monasteries' locations depends on their associated god. Not all of them are solitary temples in the middle of nowhere, some are in fact vibrant community centers and workshops, museums, theaters, schools etc. Commiting to a be a monk is a very serious decision, as should one later decide to forgo this path, they will usually be ostracized by their community, forcing them to start a new life far away.

In conclusion: Magic is everywhere in Kena'ar and deeply affects everyone's lives, even if someone isn't particularly religious. It comes in many shapes, ranging from trifles like creating a small flame on your finger to act as a lighter for candles, all the way to huge feats like wind and storm bending, and everything inbetween. Magic is a gift from the gods, and never using it at all or even purposefully avoiding it is seen as a grave insult to them. Devoting yourself to it can be deeply spiritually satisfying, connect you to your inner self as well as your environment, and allow you to help yourself and others in both small and big ways.

We've finally made it to the end! I hope I didn't forget anything lol. More worldbuilding posts sharing further details about the monk lifestyle, the deities, and specific spells are hopefully soon to follow. Feel free to ask any questions! Thank you for reading, I hope this was in some way inspiring or interesting, and khosa tshon ekerebëlaŋa - may the gods be with you!

[rraakkee]

hey i'm doing PWYW icon commissions for a bit while i try t get peepo to the vet 🥲✌️

icons, bc i dont have much time t do more complex pieces for money (MIGHT accept them on a case by case basis, ask). Minimum is US$15, which would get ya smn like a transparent headshot. obviously the more you pay the more you get (ie. more complex BGs, shading, alts??? feel free tell me what ya want). I'm capping it at US$40

takin' p4ypal n v3nmo. dm me if inch rested and/or reblog t spread da word 😎

here's my ko-fi as well if that's more your thing ! I offer doodles

will/wont draw n TOS under the cut

I can draw pretty much anything (humans/humanoids, animals/furries, object heads, fan art/characters, robots/mechs, etc.). but here's my list of no's:

× Strong Violence/Gore

Heavy injuries I can do, I just can't do blood/gut baths, it's not my strong suit

× Depictions of birds, bugs, or children in distress/pain

Anthro birds/bugs are fine, feral ones no

× Real People Fiction (RPF) 

Real, established relationships are fine. Shit like Slushmello isn't

× Any sole piece with more than four characters

× Pedophilic/Incestual/Non-con relationships in any context

I don't care for your technicalities or whatever stupid arguments you have to justify these things. This is nonnegotiable.

× Overly complex subjects

I love drawing things like weaponry n mechs, however by overly complex I mean things with extensive color palettes and/or very intricate detail. If you're unsure if your design(s) is/are too complex, feel free to show it to me so I can gauge it myself

× Anything offensive or bigoted 

this include N*zis or characters that look like they're inspired by them. I can't believe I have to say this

× Anything political 

I don't consider LGBTQ+ stuff n human rights in general "political" so those are fine

× Fan art of certain fandoms/people as well as fan characters of said fandoms (ask)

This is not a fully comprehensive list, merely a list of exclusions based on topics that are popular or relevant to me. Just because something isn't on it doesn't mean I can't reject your commission. Please respect my boundaries.

× If you want to ask about something not specifically mentioned here or have other inquiries, don't hesitate to ask! ×

===

TERMS N’ STUFF

• If I approve your commission(s), communications will be done via DM or email; I'll give you the necessary information depending on your preferences.

• Payments will ONLY be accepted via P4yPal or V3nmo. Payments will be made via P4yPal invoice or V3nmo link*. You must pay everything upfront before any work can be done.

          □ I do not offer discounts of any kind, nor do I allow clients to haggle. All prices are firm unless otherwise stated.

          □ *I will admit that I am new to Venmo and am referencing an online guide on how to use it. Please excuse any goofs!

• I send WIPs in three to four stages: sketch, linework, color, and, if applicable, shading. You can request up to three changes in sketch or linework phases for free. After that, I will charge a 20% fee per change.

          □ If changes are requested due to my own mistake, that is forgetting/misinterpreting something shown on the references given, the fee will not apply.

• Major alterations will not be permitted after approving linework without a fee that is 20% of the commission's price including extras. Examples of major alterations include but are not limited to: drastic change in character's pose or expression, extras (you will be charged appropriately), and basically anything that will vastly change how the finished product looks.

          □ Slight tweaks such as altering colors, mild changes in position/expression, and minor anatomy/line art fixes will not require a fee unless they are constant in which case the 20% fee will also be applied.

• I will set up a separate document that details my commission queue; you will also see the status of your commission there.

• ETA should be no more than two weeks; of course, it can vary based on how life treats me. I have depression and hypotension, so that also affects how quickly I can work.

          □  I'm iffy about deadlines, but if it's reasonable, I'll do it. Note that commissions with deadlines may be subject to a rush fee depending on how quick you want it and how big my queue is.

• I will update everyone if a situation arises where commissions may be delayed. In extreme cases, you may be liable for a refund.

• If I am unable to complete a commission or you decide not to go with it before I send a sketch, you are entitled to a full refund. For any other circumstance, refunds will be partial, except in the case where the commission is complete, where which you will not be given one. This is non-negotiable.

□ You will not be allowed to use the art you ordered under any circumstance if you decide to go with the refund.

• ONLY THE CLIENT has the right to use the finished piece as they like non-commercially, but they must credit me. 

          □ If you wish to repost the full piece to personal accounts, it must be the watermarked version, and, of course, there must be credit somewhere in the image description. This is to deter potential art theft.

          □ We can discuss commercial usage if desired; note that this will come with a 100%-300% price increase depending on how you want to use it.

□ I do not permit the use of any art I make for the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), regardless of whether or not credit or royalties are given to me.

• I reserve the right to deny a commission for any reason even if it may follow the guidelines. Note that I do not have to explain the exact reasons why I do not wish to do business with you, and any misconduct that arises from this can and will get you blacklisted.

• If I feel as though you have breached the terms in any way and/or have failed to cooperate with me in a professional manner, I reserve the right to blacklist you from further transactions.

By commissioning me, you hereby agree that you have read and comprehended the terms that were just listed. If you find an issue with any part of these terms, do not commission me.

[awetistic-things]

hello! I believe im autistic but I don’t have a special interest. I don’t have any specific 1 thing that im completely passionate about. I mean, maybe psychology but isn’t that too broad? idk. I need to consult someone autistic themselves bc im a minor and I can’t get a therapist and probably can’t convince my parents to get me a diagnosis. my mother thinks I just have high anxiety and ocd. I definitely have dermatillamania though. here’s some of my symptoms:

Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts; I go nonverbal when I’m anxious/stressed/in a social situation where I’m being forced to talk to or interact w someone.

Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities; i do really like sameness but I’m also super impulsive and love changing thing up that don’t have a lot of value to me. for example I would go on a trip to Chicago rn with my friends if I had the means and they wanted to but I’m not changing the way I write my notes or cleaning my room

I have a hard time understanding figurative language and kind of obsessively overanalyze most things that I don’t understand

maybe it’s a mix of me being weird, ocd, and high anxiety that’s been present for my entire life and that I also can’t pinpoint the reason for. or maybe I’m autistic. I know you can’t diagnose a stranger on the internet from a couple paragraphs and I’m sorry if this is too much info.

I’m staying anonymous for my safety but my pronouns are they/it!

hi!

okay, so for starters i'm just gonna share with you some of the articles that helped me essentially start me on my journey of "oh shit i'm autistic" and my own two cents for each statement you made

---------

social interaction:

What Is Social Interaction In Autism - AutismTalkClub.com

i personally relate to the "non-verbal" part of what you said. I tend to lose the ability to speak whenever i am overwhelmed due to environmental factors (senses being overstimulated), but there are many other reasons (sometimes due to masking)

being overwhelmed in social situations is really easy for me personally. mainly because of sesnory issues, masking, resisting the urge to stim, etc and this can set me off into having meltdowns among other things

--------

repetitive behaviors:

Restrictive and Repetitive Behavior | Kennedy Krieger Institute

having a schedule is really important to a lot of people on the spectrum, it can help create some calmness in constant chaos

but, sometimes (such as myself) it is nice to be spontaneous and just do random shit without planning or a schedule or anything

so although repetitive behaviors are an autistic thing, the flexibility can differ depending on the person (emphasize on its a *spectrum*)

---------

language misunderstandings:

Whose metaphor? Autism Spectrum Disorder and metaphorization (metnetscandinavia.com)

that metaphor doesn't necessarily make sense to me, but just in case it makes sense for you there it is

about overanalyzing i totally get that. something I've noticed is that autistic people tend to question "basic" rules and social hierarchies so becoming obsessed with asking "why?' questions is very relatable to say the least

i dont really struggle that much with more everyday metaphors and I love analogies, but once again its a spectrum and I still very much need tone tags to avoid misunderstandings between both parties

-------

the way i figured out i was autistic was through research, research, research. at first I thought that meant clinical studies and such but it also means learning from the community itself, so its cool that you thought to do that (I wish I thought of that immediately)

also about how you don't really have ONE thing for a special interest, that's something normal from what I've seen. you don't have to know everything about something to have it be a special interest. you don't have to have known about it for years or an extremely long period of time. its really an individual thing for how you view hyperfixations and sp.ins (special interests). so, if you think that psychology is a sp.in of yours, then its a sp.in. its really up to you

all the things i sent you arent to diagnose you, but involving yourself in the community, researching a lot, or calling yourself/self-diagnosining yourself as autistic is okay. its perfectly okay. i know you said that because of your age and your parents you arent able to get a diagnosis at this time, but don't let that stop you from finding out more (even if its not with a therapist or your parents) about autism and essentially about who you are

im always free to dm, so please reach out to me if you want to talk (doesn't have to be just about autism) :) /gen (also my discord server for autistic people is linked in my pinned post if you wanna check it out)

[rayfishandchips]

On that Chinese superman of DC and good representation

Summarized: Dear writers, do better or go home. Dear readers, go read spirit world, that one is real good representation for both Chinese culture and queer culture (a rare combination that we deserve more of).

Again, this is really just personal opinion on the specific topic of cultural representation in media. I'm writing this so those interested in learning about Chinese culture don't get confused by certain writers. I won't say I have the most mature and holistic view on Chinese culture either, but I can provide a chinese pov for reference.

So first as a disclaimer, I appreciate the writer's effort to make a Chinese story. But. Actual Chinese culture don't work like what you see in this Superman of China comics. Not at all.

One very surface-level thing is that we don't just grab a random guy from the streets for superheroism. Even if such a project really exist, candidates would probably be chosen from existing special forces or military schools. Those chosen for the project will also definitely be people with great skills and virtues because they will be held up as a national figure/role model like Chinese astronauts. Chinese people are serious about national projects folks, we even train all the volunteers to make sure nothing goes wrong before hosting major events like the Olympics. A random bully kid from the streets with one minor action of personal bravery? No. While this "common, flawed kid achieve great things for reasons" trope is totally possible under Chinese contexts, it wouldn't work if the said reason is being specifically selected for a national project. A more possible situation would be accidentally getting powers as the flawed common kid and growing up to be capable and responsible.

Then there's the justice league of China. Do some research my dear writers, we are not an unimaginative people. There's all the history, literature and mythology behind us to tap into, why would we just copy those 100% American heros with arguably dumb names? China is not a religious country, but we do have many somewhat religious practices that differ regionally. Faith depends on collective beliefs instead of religious institutions. These self-arising faiths and traditions offers great possibilities. For example, instead of "Aquaman of China", perhaps try a fisherwomen hero blessed by Mazu, a goddess of the ocean and safe sailing that is worshipped by many Southern Chinese fishermen to this day (Macau is in fact named after her). Now that is much more original.

Similar ideas apply to literature and history. There are a lot of Chinese hero storys (similar to epics, but these stories are mostly about various heros instead of one) that all Chinese people know about the way Western people would know about Hercules and Achilles. These stories also make great superhero material, because some of them are close enough to superhero stories already.

You can see the practices I suggested in the above two paragraphs in Chinese aerospace projects. We named our Mars probe after the Chinese fire god, our moon rover after a magic lunar rabbit, and our space station after the sky palace of gods. Sure I like the American names like enterprise and voyager as well (I'm a star trek fan what do you expect), but mythology-related names are a different kind of Chinese romantic.

Another problem about justice league of China is that batman. In Chinese traditions, bats actually have positive meanings such as luck and good life (“福”). In the Chinese context, a "bat" man won't really mean a "I am vengeance I am night" type. I'm seeing this as copying the JL homework on names because writers got lazy.

So in conclusion this comic is really just shoving the superman thing into a pseudo-Chinese frame WITOUT accounting for cultural differences. I would say that this is a 99% American story with a surface layer of Chinese on it for looks. If you replace all the characters with Americans it will still make perfect sense, and that shouldn't be possible if the story is really Chinese enough.

A better example will be spirit world. Sure it's not 100% accurate in mythology details, but it kept enough real Chinese elements while keeping things exciting and readable enough for audiences from all cultural backgrounds. The generally non-supportive/phobic attitude towards queers and the parent-child conflict seen in Xianthe's family are good takes on period-accurate reality. The paper burning practice is a common practice in China, and combining that with the spirit envoy concept (which is also a real thing under Chinese myth contexts) makes a creative character design that falls in the perfect zone betwen realistic and fantastic. It is rooted in cultural practices, not cliche like "oh a god blessed me with stuff". Besides, at least all the Chinese words in the background are accurate. Spirit world really did something there because it took the best of both sides instead of overriding one with the other. This is difficult, but without doing so it's impossible to achieve accurate and positive representation. Put spirit world next to that chinese superman and you kinda intuitively see the difference in quality.

Representation is always about creating narratives that belong to the represented. Shoving minorities into majority plots for the sake of it just don't do the job.

I wanted to write something about representation in our flag means death too but maybe later. It is also great because it did the job of creating original narrative. fyi "shoving minorities into majority plots" can also be known as queerbaiting :)

Oh on the other hand marvel was like "ok captain China" which is arguably just as bad if not worse.

Phew that's a lot of words. If you really read all of it you have my gratitude.

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

my least favorite kind of plot hole remains the kind where the writers Did Not Have To Do This, there was another way they could have written this situation to avoid the plot hole without adding characters/screwing up the runtime/going over budget/any doylist reason for plot holes to happen, but instead they’ve written this thing that’s completely impossible to make sense of from a watsonian perspective, proceeding to strain or break my suspension of disbelief and screw over any fic writer trying to stick exclusively to canon lore

[hakuoyuki]

Hello! Just wanted to say thank you for all the IkePri info you've given us :) I am super curious now about the localisation changes made for the ENG version. It seems like the MC was changed quite a bit from your tags :D. What other changes have you noticed compared to the JP version?

Hello Anon～ Apologies for the delayed reply.

You're welcome! By the way, another ask was also asking me about the localization changes so I shall be answering that here as well.

This is going to be quite extensive with spoilers from various parts (including spoilers from parts of all starter routes) for both ENG and JP versions so I shall share the examples under the cut

To start off, here are the general list of things which I had noticed a change for (as of Sep 16, 2021)

・Route Ending Titles

・MC’s Personality / Behavior and Style of Speech (This is one very major change I have noticed. First and foremost, unlike the previously released titles, in IkePri JP each of the suitor’s MC have subtle but very apparent differences to her. It’s a little hard to explain compared to experiencing it but the rough explanation would be as follow:

Leon's MC: Bright & Honest, Daring

Yves' MC: Open-minded & A Hard Worker

Licht's MC: Patient & Active

Jin's MC: Earnest & Lovely

Chevalier's MC: Intelligent & Refined, Thinks and Acts Maturely

Clavis' MC: Have Composure & Tsun (Mega Tsun pre-lovers)

Nokto's MC: Frank & Flexible

Luke's MC: Peaceful & Helpful

Sariel's MC: Elegant & Mischievous

Rio's MC: Pure & Cheerful

You get the picture. Basically, in addition to JP MC being “polite and graceful (to varying degrees depending on which Suitor’s MC)” her personality vary depending on the suitor and this is something that really impresses the JP fandom because it gave her character even more depth, and most importantly, it really shows why the specific suitor fell in love with her. Their chemistry together is just perfect.

However, ENG had changed her personality, reducing all of the above to be the “default ENG MC”. (Think IkeSen ENG’s “Sassy” MC, that’s pretty much what IkePri ENG MC was turned into).  (My JP friends who are fluent in English uses the term “impudent” to describe ENG MC after reading the ENG ver). A scene from Leon Chapter 4 avatar story had him describing MC in both versions and the difference between the two was very well highlighted there so I have included that as one of my examples. Additionally, there are way too many instances of this and I simply can not cover everything in full details but I have included selected examples under the cut.)

Nonetheless, sometimes the original personality is kept because of plot-related lines (as described in the next point below) and even for ENG only players, the sudden difference in her speech pattern / behavior is can be clearly seen which sometimes leads to “a little” confusion and inconsistency.

・Conversations / Narrative in Stories (The changes here varies from minor to Major changes in nuances, to sometimes the Whole Context of the line being completely changed into something else entirely, however this mostly only happen to minor details that (1) do not affect major plot points, (2) is not a "plot-moving" scene, (3) does not touch "crucial world building" information. Some examples can be seen under the cut.)

・Suitor’s Personality (During some scenes, which examples can also be seen under the cut, the way some suitor behave or speak have quite a distinguishable difference to their original JP counterparts. Some character had their lines in ENG "toned down” making them sound “tamer”, while some ended up acting a bit more “aggressively” than they did in JP. It is debatable whether to call this “out of character” or “a change in personality that makes JP Suitor and ENG Suitor different from each other (to a certain extent)”. It is however, not something new at all for ENG localization to be changing how ENG Suitors acts such that sometimes they feel like different people (Example: IkeSen Sasuke, IkeRev Dalim))

・Choice Selections within Routes

・Usage of Character Sprites in Routes (So far, there is evidence that in at least one of the starter’s route (Yves’), a scene where a character was shown to be in their full outfit in JP ver, instead had their dressed down sprite used in the ENG ver. Due to spoilers, I will be explaining this scene and which character it was under the cut. P.S. Nokto having his dressed down sprite shown in Leon’s route is Not A Change, the original was made that way.)

・Yves Dramatic (Passionate Love) End Last Premium Story (Parts of the story, especially toward the end of the story had been rewritten from the JP version. The ENG version for this specific story included some very explicit description which Did Not Exist in the JP version. As of now, I do not know if this kind of change was made to his other end’s last premium or other suitor’s “those kind of scenes” too but refers to my earlier point of changes regarding “Conversations / Narrative in Stories” because the same applies here. As an additional note, from what you’ll see in the examples later, these type of changes are not always “made more explicit” since the opposite, “toning down and made tamer” also applies too. *Note: due to the description in ENG being Very Explicit for this story, I will be omitting it from the selections of examples below as my prior explanation had already covered all the details of what was changed.)

・Birthday Story Promotional Image (I do not mean the CG image but the layout of the template used to promote the story sale. For the ENG version, they have removed the story name from image entirely and changed “1st” to “Year 1”. The quotes they chose to use was also changed. Example from Leon 1st Birthday is included below)

・Story Names (Confirmed changes: Both End Clear Story, Birthday Story. The starter routes’ premium and His POV story titles are a direct translation of the JP version. Comparison of the starters both end clear story title and Leon’s 1st Birthday story title can be found below)

・Card/CG Titles (Not all, but many were changed. Mostly to become more concise but some has changes made to the nuances too. The CGs in the “Photos” page kept the original JP names as translated but the same CG found in the “Cards” page has adjustments made to its name in the ENG ver.)

・Card Lines (Similar to the situation with “Card/CG Titles”)

・Login Bonus Line (Similar to the situation with “Card/CG Titles”)

・Suitors' Profiles (Not only were their “A X B” Character Traits changed into a phrase, some of the suitors had their descriptions tweaked a bit too.)

・And on a general note, the way IkePri JP and IkePri ENG handles their promotions on Twitter are also different

.

.

[The following bit showcasing the examples after going through side-by-side comparisons will be even more extensive with spoilers from various parts (including spoilers from parts of all starter routes) for both ENG and JP versions so please be forewarned before proceeding]

.

.

Exhibit of Examples

Note 1: I may not be sharing all the screenshots due to sharing policies but all comparisons are side-by-side comparisons. Even for routes, I actually sat down and went through both ENG and JP version at the same time for max accuracy.

Note 2: Since we’re focusing on the differences, I’ll be omitting bits that are more or less the same in both (no change in nuance nor context).

Note 3: These are “selected examples” so there certainly are even more changes than what I chose to include here.

ーーーー

[Route Ending Titles]

ENG: Romantic End, Dramatic End

JP: True Love End, Passionate Love End

The ENG localization of IkePri have changed the title names to be like IkeSen / IkeRev / IkeVamp despite their JP end titles being different. As such,

True Love End (JP) = Romantic End (ENG),

Passionate Love End (JP) = Dramatic End (ENG)

ーーーー

[Leon Chapter 1 Scene 1 & 2] - (This segments most clearly highlights the changes in “MC’s Personality / Behavior and Style of Speech”, “Conversations / Narrative in Stories”, and as a bonus: Rio fans you’ll want to check this out for his line that was lost due to localization.)

ENG

MC: “You wish! This is... actually, wow. This is AMAZING. I bet the whole bookstore could fit in here with room to spare!”

JP

MC: “It’s not “love nest” but it’s “my bedroom”. Uwaah... This is wonderful.”

ー

ENG

Rio: “MC... I’ll always be here for you, no matter what!”

His words had a teasing edge, but I knew he meant it, and as the last of my doubts vanished, I felt a sudden burst of excitement.

JP

Rio: “MC... As thanks how about a hug, or a kiss to my cheeks, orーー”

MC: “Fufu, Rio you’re full of jokes again.”

ー

ENG

Rio: “Sure thing! But if you get lost or you need me, just call my name and I’ll come running!”

JP

After tightly holding onto Rio’s hand, I left the room to explore the palace.

ー

ENG

I’d been so taken by the scenery that it took me a few moments to realize I wasn’t alone.

JP

Leon: “......”

ー

ENG

MC: “Oh! Umー”

JP

MC: “.....!”

ー

ENG

MC: “Do you blame me for looking dazed? This place is huge! I’m going to get lost just trying to find the bathroom! Oh, andー”

JP

MC: “This palace is huge so I was just taking a stroll to figure out where things are. ...More importantly!”

ー

ENG

MC: “Thank you so much for helping us. We’re indebted to you. Would you mind if I asked your name?”

JP

MC: “Thank you very much for helping us. And you are....?”

ー

ENG

MC: “Wellーthanks, Leon. Do you... know that guy? The one on the white horse?”

JP

MC: “Thanks, Leon. .....Is the royalty from earlier an acquaintance of yours?”

ー

ENG

MC: “Do you remember when we first met in town earlier? Why did you make it sound like you barely knew Chevalier?”

Leon: “Because it’s not that far from the truth. I wasn’t kidding when I said we don’t talk much.”

MC: “Okay, I guess I get that, butーI had no idea you were royalty, either. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you in the palace!”

Leon: “Sorry if it felt like I was keeping secrets from you. How about I do something to make up for it?”

JP

MC: “When we met in town, why did you make it sound like Prince Chevalier is just someone you came across before?”

Leon: “I don't really talk to Chevalier much so it's not really wrong to say he's just someone I come across”

MC: “I see.... wait, that's not the point here! I totally didn't think you're also a royalty so it surprised meーー”

Leon: “Sorry for surprising you. Won't you let me apologize for it?”

ーーーー

[Leon Chapter 4 Attire Story] - This story included a description for MC as quoted by Leon. This part very clearly shows the personality change in MC of the two versions.

ENG: “Who's smart and sassy and also really sweet”

JP: “Who’s strong-willed, hard working, and serious”

ーーーー

[Leon Chapter 5 Choice Selection] - The (+4 +4) choice in this chapter was changed from playful (JP) into serious (ENG). The conversation following the choice selection was also changed however since I’ll be focusing on the change in “Choice Selection” example here, I won’t be sharing the dialogue that followed.

ENG

・I frowned at him.

・I questioned his motives. (+4 +4)

・I sighed and looked away.

JP

・Pretend to be angry

・Tease him back (+4 +4)

・Turn away from him

ーーーー

[Leon Chapter 7] - Nokto had one of his line changed in this chapter and this change in ENG, no offense but, it made him sound like he was turned into IkeVamp Arthur. This is an example for changes in “Suitor’s Personality” and “Conversations / Narrative in Stories”. Other than this one line, the rest of Nokto’s dialogue in this chapter was “plot-moving” and contained “crucial world building” information thus his original line was kept as is (which I am personally very glad that they did not changed the rest much because this was my favorite Nokto scene in Leon Route).

ENG

Nokto: “Aww, rejected already! I’m heartbroken.”

JP

Nokto: “Aww, too bad. I got rejected.”

ーーーー

[Leon Chapter 9] - Toward the end of the chapter, Nokto had one of his line lost in localization similarly to what happened to Rio in Leon Chapter 1. The examples from this chapter highlights the changes in “Conversations / Narrative in Stories”.

ENG

Nokto: “Don't tell me you and Leon are already...”

MC: “Already what?”

Nokto: “You're a woman. He's a man. And what beast doesn't want to pounce when a pretty little rabbit appears before him?”

JP

Nokto: “Could it be you and Leon are already in that kind of relationship?”

MC: “What kind?”

Nokto: “You know? A guy and a girl together? That kind of relationship. For a rabbit to be in front of a beast like this... It's hard to resist their instinct.”

ー

ENG

Nokto: “This should make up for me not helping you out last night. I don't like owing people things.”

MC: “Nokto, I... okay, thanks!”

I still wasn't sure whether I could trust Nokto, but if he was going to give me this opportunity, I wasn't going to squander it.

(This isn't quite how I wanted it to play out, but I'll take any chance I can get to break the ice with Chevalier.)

JP

Nokto: “With this, I'm making it even for not being able to help you out last night. After all, I don't like being in debt.”

MC: “Nh, thank you, Nokto....!!”

I was so eager to follow along that I didn't caught it when the words....

*“Many things are better left unknown.” ....left from his mouthーー

ー

Note: The bolded sentence here is the bit that was entirely changed across localization. I wanted to highlight this out because (mild spoiler) the phrase “Many things are better left unknown.” is a phrase that later on comes into play again in Nokto’s route and it really emphasizes on the core of his character.

ー

ENG

Nokto: “How did you end up looking like that? I doubt blood just came raining down from the sky to drench you.”

JP

Nokto: “What's with all the blood? And don't joke that it rained blood on your way here.”

ーーーー

[Leon Chapter 19] - This part once again highlights the changes in “MC’s Personality / Behavior and Style of Speech”, changes in “Suitor’s Personality” and “Conversations / Narrative in Stories”. During this whole conversation here, the way it played out in ENG and JP pretty much gives off the same message but... both MC’s and Nokto’s personalities just ain’t it when you compare how the conversation turned out in both versions.

ENG

Nokto: “Do you have any idea how many guests are here tonight? I've been smiling and greeting them for so long my cheeks hurt. I deserve a break.”

MC: “Well, when you put it like that...”

Nokto: “You know, we used to hold balls like this all the time, before... recent events. But that means it's the same old same old and I'm bored.”

Nokto: “Oooh, I know.”

(I don't like that glint in your eyes...)

Nokto studied me in the semi-darkness, a mischievous smile playing across his lips, and then he reached out and caught hold of my hand.

Nokto: “Why don't you come back to the ball with me, MC?”

(You have GOT to be kidding me!)

MC: “You know there's people here from Obsidian, right?! I can't just go waltzing into the ballroom! Come on, Nokto, I know you're not stupid.”

Nokto: “I'm not. And that's why I know they're not going to guess who you are just by looking at you.”

Nokto: “Besides, I don't think I can stomach going back in there without something exciting to entertain me.”

Nokto: “But if you can't handle the challenge, I guess I'll have to just sneak off into town andーー”

MC: “You can't do that! This is an important event!”

Nokto: “Then you know what you have to do.”

MC: “All right, fine, but I'm not staying long!”

I scowled at Nokto, but his grin only widened as he twined his fingers firmly with mine and turned towards the doors leading inside.

JP

Nokto: “There's tons of guests tonight, I've been forever handling the reception ever since it started. .....That's why it's about time I take a break”

MC: “.....I see, you worked hard”

Nokto: “Before the king passed away, there's a lot of these kind of balls held at the castle, and there's no unusual face around today either so it's pretty boring”

Nokto: “.........I got an idea”

(.....?)

His thin lips turned into a smirk as if he's plotting something as he firmly grip onto my wrist

Nokto: “Won't you go back to the ball with me, MC?”

(Eh........wha? No, no, no!)

MC: “I can't do that! Tonight there's guests from Obsidian too aren't there!?”

Nokto: “Yeah, and it'll be huge trouble if they find out you're Belle. But, just something like seeing your face won't give you away”

Nokto: “And unless there's some sort of thrills, I can't get myself to head back to the ball”

Nokto: “If you won't accompany me then, I might as well ditch it and just like this, head off somewhereーー”

MC: “Nh, you can't do that!”

Nokto: “Right? Which means you have only 1 option left to take”

MC: “Wah.......!”

While holding onto my hand, Nokto walked off with a jaunty step

ー

ENG

Nokto: “You were pretty when your world was so tiny you'd only read about love in books. But now that actual love has left you heartbroken... You're stunning.”

Nokto: “So stunning I could definitely see myself enjoying a night with you in my arms.”

JP

Nokto: “More so than when all you knew were just the narrow world of love within books, you're much more sensual when you're suffering from love”

Nokto: “......To the point that makes me think I won't mind being your one night stand partner”

ー

ENG

Nokto: “And judging by that expression, I bet you've got a lot to learn in the bedroom.”

Nokto: “If you'd like a few lessons, come by my room one night. I'd be more than happy to show you all sorts of new ways to have fun.”

JP

Nokto: “As far as I can see from that unsophisticated reaction of yours, it seems I still can't expect much from you on the bed though?”

Nokto: “Well, if you want to be trained though feel free to drop by, to my bedroom. It's not like I won't slushily caress and dote on you”

ーーーー

[Chevalier Chapter 3] - This scene shows the changes in “MC’s Personality / Behavior and Style of Speech”, and “Suitor’s Personality” that was slightly changed due to the nuance difference in the way the line was said between the two versions. As well as minor changes in “Conversations / Narrative in Stories” from how the dialogue between MC and Nokto turned out to be here.

ENG

MC: “Hey, learn the concept of personal space!”

JP

MC: “...Nh, too close, too close!”

ー

ENG

Nokto: “Your intentions are pure, I see. That's not really my thing, but maybe the other princes will like you for that attitude.”

MC: “Good thing I'm not here to impress you or anyone else.”

JP

Nokto: “Unsophisticated aren't you. This is unsatisfactory for me, but perhaps that kind of attitude might appeal to the other princes.”

MC: “That's not my goal!”

ー

ENG

Nokto: “Ah, yes. I was probably on a date back then.”

JP

Nokto: “Ah, I was busy with dates”

ー

ENG

Nokto: “When I'm finished, how about we have a little fun together?”

JP

Nokto: “When I'm finished, I’ll be your partner?”

ー

ENG

Nokto: “You'll spend time with king highness but not me? At this rate he's going to get ahead of me in terms of your favor.”

Nokto: “Hold on, don't tell me you got closer to him the moment I took my eyes off you?”

MC: “Not exactly, no.”

JP

Nokto: “You'll be King's partner but not mine? Could this be that he had already taken the initiative?”

Nokto: “To think that while I was looking away, you would become this close to King.”

MC: “We're not close though....”

ー

ENG

Nokto: “Lately, there have been rumors that military action is on the horizon.”

MC: “What kind of military action?”

Nokto: “Ooh, I've piqued your curiosity, huh?

.

Nokto: “Let's see.... How about this? If you join me in bed, I'll tell you all about it.

.

MC: “No thanks! I'll just ask someone else.”

I jerked my head away from his hand, and he chuckled.

JP

Nokto: “You see, recently there's some fishy rumors floating around.”

MC: “What fishy rumors?”

Nokto: “.....Ooh, you're interested after all?”

.

Nokto: “Let's see.... If you enjoy yourself together with me in bed then, I won't mind telling you though?”

.

MC: “Nh, never mind then. I can just ask someone else about it.”

I looked away from him, and he chuckled.

ー

ENG

MC: “Stop playing games with me.”

(I'm really curious about that rumor, but I'm also not buying at the price Nokto is asking!)

MC: “I'll be leaving now.”

JP

MC: “Don't play me.”

(I'm interested in what the rumors is about but, if I ask about it from Nokto that seems like a huge price to pay.)

MC: “I'll be going now alright.”

ー

ENG

Nokto: “He's probably in the library at this time of day.”

MC: “Really?”

Nokto: "And just like that, you owe me one. I realize now that wooing you is going to require real persistence and tactics.”

(I was about to thank you, but when you say that, I'm glad I didn't.)

Nokto: “If King Highness makes you cry, come to me and I'll comfort you.”

MC: “Uh, thanks for the offer, I think?”

JP

Nokto: “If it's around this time, I wonder if he's in the library.”

MC: “Eh?”

Nokto: “With this, you owe me one. Just now I realized the hard selling way seems to work better with you.”

(When you say that it makes me don't want to thank you)

Nokto: “Come to me if King makes you cry. I'll comfort you.”

MC: “T-thanks?”

ーーーー

[Chevalier Chapter 4 Attire Story] - The way the dialogue proceed in this story once again highlights the changes in “MC’s Personality / Behavior and Style of Speech” that the localization has brought about.

ENG

MC: “Good morning, Prince Chevalier.”

All I could see was a large, silent, motionless lump under the sheets that didn’t respond to my greeting.

MC: “Umm, wakey wakey, eggs and bakey?”

Still no response.

MC: “Prince Chevalier!”

JP

MC: “Good morning, Prince Chevalier.”

Chevalier: “.....”

MC: “Um, it's time for breakfast but.....”

Chevalier: “.....”

MC: “Prince Chevalier!”

ーーーー

[Chevalier Chapter 5] - This scene also shows the changes in “MC’s Personality / Behavior and Style of Speech”, and “Suitor’s Personality” that was slightly changed due to the nuance difference in the way the line was said between the two versions. All in all, Chevalier in JP really do feel more “sadistic” than in ENG and this scene is just one of the example of that. There is also a distinct difference in MC’s personality in ENG vs in the original JP ver which can also clearly be seen here from the way she reacts to Chevalier telling her to “move”.

ENG

Chevalier: “That was clumsy of you.”

(Ohー)

I found Chevalier standing next to me, looking down at me with those frigid eyes.

MC: “Well, this is awkward....”

Chevalier: “Indeed. And you need to move.”

(I'm fine, thanks for asking! Geez!)

JP

Chevalier: “How clumsy”

(Ah.....)

By the time I realized, Prince Chevalier was standing next to me staring down on me with a cold gaze

MC: “My apologies for the unsightly....”

Chevalier: “It absolutely is. And get out of my way”

(I didn't expect him to worry about me but..... He's unsparing.....)

ーーーー

[Yves Chapter 13] - This is another example for changes in “Suitor’s Personality” and “Conversations / Narrative in Stories”. The punching line ENG Yves here said earned a “What? I beg your pardon?” from me when I read that line because that was a little, if not too much, of a shift in Yves’ personality from the JP Yves I came to know making him uh... more aggressive? Or well, more “impudent” like how ENG MC had also generally became so.

ENG

Yves: “I'm so furious I'd love to go in and punch every single one of them in the face. But I'm hardly the punching type.”

Yves: “So when the banquet is over, meet me in the kitchen.”

MC: “The kitchen? Why?”

Yves: “To blow off steam, obviously, We're going to eat everything I make in the meantime. After all, you're the only one who knows my secret.”

MC: “I'd love to help! I promise I'll be there, and we'll eat everything in sight!”

JP

Yves: “So much that I want to go and raid the banquet right away. But it's not like I can do that, right?”

Yves: “That's why, then the banquet is safely over, let's gather in the kitchen”

MC: “Kitchen.....?”

Yves: “Come join me as I binge eat to release off my stress, MC. The only one who knows about this secret of mine is you so...”

MC: “Uh...of course! I'll join you and eat a lot too, I promise!”

ーーーー

[Yves Chapter 17] - The ENG version of Yves Chapter 17 includes Licht’s dressed down sprite that does on exist in this route in the JP version. In the JP version, it wasn’t until late October 2020 (almost 4 months after release) that Licht’s dressed down sprite was first revealed before his route release in November 2020. In the JP ver, other than the starters and Nokto whose route was slated for release 1.5 month after the release of IkePri JP, all other characters did not have their dressed down sprite shown in any of the starters’ routes at all. (Rio casual outfit from the prologue is another exception).

Note: Screenshot from the left is from a Yves Chapter 17 in JP ver at the beginning of July 2021 (there were no changes made to it from its release a year prior), Screenshot on the right is from Yves Chapter 17 in ENG ver on September 1, 2021.

ENG

Licht: “You don’t need to be so nervous. I don’t care much about you one way or the other.”

JP

Licht: “.....You don't have to be that cautious. It's not like I like you or hate you”

ーーーー

[Yves Chapter 19] - And again, another highlight on the changes in “Suitor’s Personality” and “Conversations / Narrative in Stories”. This time it’s Klein Twin’s interaction and how the way their conversation played out in ENG delivered the scene so differently from JP in terms of mood and tone and the emphasis made on what is being said.

ENG

Nokto: “Well, handing Evie over to Obsidian might actually be a good idea. Although on wrong move and he'll be dead.”

Licht: “....Nokto.”

Nokto: “Stop glaring at me like that. I'm just telling it like it is. It's not like they actually care about Evie.”

Nokto: “Besides, Evie's so naturally unlucky I wouldn't be surprised if God himself abandoned him. It's more likely he'llー”

Licht's chair hit the floor with a sudden crash as he rocketed to his feet and stormed over to Nokto, grabbing him by the collar.

Licht: “Can't you event tell the difference between what to say and what not to say?”

Nokto: “Not really.”

JP

Nokto: “Handing Yves-chan over to them might be a relatively good plan though? But just a single wrong step could end up getting him killed”

Licht: “.........Nokto?”

Nokto: “What's with that scary face. It's the truth isn't it? It's not like that side think of Yves-chan preciously either.”

Nokto: “More over, Yves-chan himself got such god forsaken level of unluckiness doesn't he. The chances of being saved isーー”

A loud thud resounded as Licht stood up. Closing the distance between them, he glared at Nokto.

Licht: “......Can't you distinguish between what's good and bad to say?”

Nokto: “Perhaps”

ー

Note: The bolded sentence here is the bit that completely changed the twin’s characterization between versions. There is such a major difference in nuance in what Nokto said as well. 

"Literally" translated, the line in JP would end up as

“More over, Yves-chan himself got such level of unluckiness that seems like even god had forsaken him doesn't he. The chances of being saved isーー”

The original JP line on the “god abandoning” was emphasized on his level of unluckiness

Whereas, in ENG they’ve instead emphasized on “god himself abandoned Yves”

As you can see here, these two means completely different things.

Additionally, the way Licht treated Nokto in ENG here is something Klein twins absolutely wouldn't do to each other had this been their original JP persona.

ーーーー

[Birthday Story Promotional Image]

As you can see from the pic below, the ENG version changed “1st” to “Year 1” and removed the story title from below the year indicator. This was what also gave me the feeling that perhaps they changed the story’s title too anddd... they did.

(Quote change)

ENG: “You move my heart so much it’s almost absurd.”

JP: “Being with you.... I feel alive”

.

(Story Title change)

ENG: Only You

JP: It's Fine if You're the Only One Who Knows

ーーーー

[Leon Both End Clear Story Title]

ENG: The Blue Sky

JP: The Farthest Corners of the the Blue Sky

ーーーー

[Chevalier Both End Clear Story Title]

ENG: Our Kingdom

JP: The Country Loved by my Beloved Woman.....

ーーーー

[Yves Both End Clear Story Title]

ENG: Happily Ever After

JP: The Tale of Endless Misfortunes and Happiness

ーーーー

[Leon 2nd Route CG Title]

ENG (Cards): Lost in Skies of Blue

ENG (Photos): A Childish Wish Lost in Skies of Blue

JP: Young Wishes Dissolves into the Blue Sky

ーーーー

[Chevalier 2nd Route CG Title]

ENG (Cards): The Flower in My Heart

ENG (Photos): The Flower in My Heart Blooms Again

JP: The Whereabouts of the Flower that Bloomed Again is.....

ーーーー

*[Chevalier Romantic End Route CG Title]

ENG (Cards): The One Flower

ENG (Photos): The One Flower the King Loves

JP: The One Flower the King Loves

ーーーー

*[Chevalier Dramatic End Route CG Title]

ENG (Cards): A Beloved Flower

ENG (Photos): A Beloved Flower in His Hands

JP: The Beloved Flower is in His Hands

ーーーー

*[Yves 2nd Route CG Title]

ENG (Cards): Someone Else

ENG (Photos): Someone That’s Not Me

JP: Someone That’s Not Me

ーーーー

*[Yves Dramatic End Route CG Title]

ENG (Cards): Curse

ENG (Photos): Lifting the Curse

JP: Lifting the Curse

ーーーー

[Card Titles]

Leon 5 Star - ENG: Just a Beast

Leon 5 Star - JP: I'm a Craving Beast Thirsting For You

ー

Yves 5 Star - ENG: Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing

Yves 5 Star - JP: Maybe I’m Just Acting Like a Cat in Front of You?

ー

Licht 5 Star - ENG: Wolf’s Den

Licht 5 Star - JP: To Be Jumping Into a Wolf's Bosom

ー

Jin 5 Star - ENG: In Other Words

Jin 5 Star - JP: In Other Words, I'm Not Letting You Escape Got It?

ー

Rio 5 Star - ENG: Beast Right Here

Rio 5 Star - JP: There's Other Beast Here Too Aren't There〜. Yep, Right Here

ー

4 Stars - ENG: [.....] Prince

4 Stars - JP: Rhodolite’s [.....] Prince

ー

Nokto 4 Star - ENG: Ready?

Nokto 4 Star - JP: My Sword isn't Just for Show

ー

Rio 4 Star - ENG: I’ll Protect You 24/7

Rio 4 Star - JP: I’ll Be By Your Side Protecting You 24 Hours 365 Days

ー

3 Stars - ENG: [Name]’s Hobby

3 Stars - JP: His Hobby

ー

Nokto 3 Star - ENG: Younger Brother

Nokto 3 Star - JP: I’m Not Like the Younger Brother You Say?

ー

Licht 3 Star - ENG: Keep Your Distance

Licht 3 Star - JP: Don’t Involve Yourself with Me

ー

Rio 3 Star - ENG: Your Loyal Attendant

Rio 3 Star - JP: Loyal Dog Butler

ーーーー

[Card Lines]

Nokto 5 Star - Don’t Run Away

ENG Line 1: “You shouldn’t run away from me. It’s instinct to go after running prey. See? I caught you.

JP Line 1: “No running away~ You see, wanting to catch a prey that's trying to escape is the nature of a man and a beast..... Hey, I caught you.”

.

ENG Line 2: “Hmm? You’re going to resist? You really know how to turn a beast on. I won’t be able to play nice at this rate.”

JP Line 2: “Hmm? You're resisting? You really know how to agitate a beast don't you. At this rate, I won't be able to be gentle though?”

ー

Nokto 5 Star’s Evening Line

ENG: “Good work. If you're tired, you wanna lean against me and take a break? Ah, but if you do that, I might end up kissing you.”

JP: “Good job. If you're tired you can rest against my shoulder if you want? Ah... but if you act that spoiled I might end up ravishing you though~”

ー

Nokto 5 Star’s Night Line

ENG: “Good night. ....If you want something, say it. If you do, I’ll take you as mine.”

JP: “Good night. ....If you're expecting something then properly explain it to me in words. If you say it precisely then I'll eat you.”

ー

Nokto 5 Star’s Morning Line

ENG: “Morning. You know it’s really alluring to see people disheveled after sleeping. ...What was I trying to do? Exactly what you were imagining.”

JP: “Good morning. Seeing your disheveled figure upon waking up is such a turn on. ....What am I about to do? Exactly what you're thinking I'm going to.”

ー

Nokto 4 Star - Ready? (ENG) / My Sword isn't Just for Show (JP)

ENG: “I'm actually better at battling with wits, but there's nothing else I can do except to use a sword against those who can't understand simple words. Ready?”

JP: “I'm actually much better at a battle of wits. But against someone who words doesn't go through, there's no other option but to slash them down. You see, my sword isn't just for show.”

ー

Nokto 3 Star’s Night Line

ENG: “Isn't it about time you went to bed? Of course, if you're in the mood, I could join you there...”

JP: “Are you about to head back to your bedroom? Ah, if you feel like it... how about I pretend to escort you back only to have my way with you?”

ー

Clavis 3 Star’s Night Line

ENG: “Goodnight. Keep the bed warm for me, won't you? Haha, I'm just joking. This time, anyway.”

JP: “Goodnight. Beware of a sneak visit to make love. ......Hahahah, just kidding. For now”

ー

Nokto 2 Star’s Night Line

ENG: “Hmm? Are you trying to stifle a yawn there? Ahaha, you could just go to bed, you know.”

JP: “What's this~ you're stifling a yawn. Ahahah, you're all teary eyed, how cute~”

ーーーー

[Nokto’s Login Bonus Line]

ENG: “Got you. Let’s have some fun.”

JP: “Caught you. I was thinking how I want to play with you.”

ーーーー

[Suitors’ Profile]

Chevalier’s Profile Description

ENG: The prince who will use any means to achieve his goals, even if it stains his coat red with blood. Not many dare to approach this heartless beast, but will you? Can you turn this beast back into a human?

JP: Feared as the beast among the beasts, the ruthless and cruel 2nd Prince. For the sake of his goal he will use any means to achieve that and his blood drenched figure is frequently witnessed. He's an unapproachable existence but he holds an unexpected secret.....?

ー

Nokto’s Profile Description

ENG: Licht's younger twin brother and a complete flirt, but he's clever enough to outwit just about anybody. You notice that his flippant behavior just comes from trying to hide scars that run deep. Will you be the one to heal those scars?

JP: The 7th Prince, Licht's younger twin brother. He's quick witted and is proficient in socializing but his womanizing tendencies makes him an enemy of women. His skillful seductions made you stand on guard however, contrary to his frivolousness he holds a sublime past.....?

ー

Licht’s Profile Description

ENG: Nokto's twin older brother and is as cold as ice. He hates being with people and is most often by himself. But when you find that he's kind, you hear about his shocking past that forced this gentle prince to put up so many walls. Will you be able to break these walls down?

JP: The 6th Prince, Nokto's older twin brother. He hates interacting with other people, be it in the palace or on the battlefield, he often try to be left alone. Behind his cold demeanor is an event which caused the kind young boy to be changed into a lonesome beast.....?

ー

Leon’s Character Traits

ENG: The Charismatic Hero

JP: Fearless x Ore-sama

ー

Chevalier’s Character Traits

ENG: The Cold Beast

JP: Dangerous x Sadist

ー

Yves’ Character Traits

ENG: The Star-Crossed Prince

JP: Unlucky x Tough-Acting Tsundere

ー

Nokto’s Character Traits

ENG: The Suave Playboy

JP: Clown x Playboy

ー

Licht’s Character Traits

ENG: The Soft-Hearted Loner

JP: Hates Human x Kuudere

ー

Clavis’ Character Traits

ENG: The Unreadable Troublemaker

JP: Mysterious x Audacious

ー

Jin’s Character Traits

ENG: The Sexy Ladies' Man

JP: Incongruous Adult x Sinful Womanizer

ー

Luke’s Character Traits

ENG: The Indolent Charmer

JP: Lazy x Charlatan

ー

Sariel’s Character Traits

ENG: The Smiling Devil

JP: Fiend x Resourceful

ー

Rio’s Character Traits

ENG: The Devoted Butler

JP: Blind Love x Freedom

ーーーー

Last words: There’s certainly more than I’ve just shared above but it’s impossible to cover all the changes. Furthermore, I have no idea how much more or less they’ll be changing but... seeing how much they’ve changed thus far...... Yep, the JP ver is my home 😂.

I hope everyone enjoys the English localization version tho! Everyone have their preferences :D

[bitchcraftmagic]

The whole Whoopi Goldberg thing is a really illuminating moment in popular culture. It reveals a lot about our ignorance when it comes to the Holocaust and our limited understanding of race.

The first thing I would like to point out is that the Holocaust was not an issue between two groups of white people. 22,000 Afro-Germans were victims of murder, sterilization, medical experimentation, and starvation. The Romani and Sinti people were also victims of the Holocaust and endured much of the same horrors that Jewish folks did. Not to mention folks with disabilities, LGBT individuals, and political enemies of the Nazi party. Russian POW were also victimized specifically for being Slavic. Poles and other ethnic minorities were targets as well. The Holocaust was first and foremost a racialized genocide of many ethnic groups, Jews making up the largest of those groups.

Whoopi Goldberg cannot be completely blamed for her ignorance on the matter (though doubling down and voicing that ignorance even after she was corrected is something she should be blamed for). The Holocaust is not taught with any type of nuance and not really at length. The majority of my knowledge came from an intensive college course I took as a religious studies minor. Within the American school system, very little actual context is provided. There are many reasons for this fact but I believe the foremost of those reasons is because to understand the complexity of the Holocaust would be to brush up against the American complicity. After all, Hitler and the Nazi party found inspiration in the American genocide of the Native Americans. These truths are uncomfortable to the American audience and any real understanding of the racial politics of the time would be to indict the American populace for their indifference toward the Holocaust. Whoopi is not alone in misunderstanding the Holocaust but she is a loud voice who should speak more responsibly.

To fully understand the nuances of this particular moment in pop cultural ignorance you have to look at the Nazi racial ideology through a critical lens. Goldberg’s comments were very much informed by her experience of modern American racial politics. Whiteness, as it is currently defined, includes Jewish people…to an extent. It is important to note that Whiteness, as it presents throughout American history, is defined not by what it is but by what it is not. Whiteness has no cultural specific markers, no identity besides its proximity to power. Whiteness at the founding of our country, for example, only really included English Protestants. 150 years ago I would not have been considered white despite the fact that now I am very much a white person who’s experience of the world is defined by the privilege that affords. Whiteness is defined by cultural context. It is defined by the need to shore up power, to reestablish the status quo. My family became white when it was convenient to adopt the hoards of Italian immigrants as members of whiteness in the lead up to the Second World War.

Something I see a lot is people assuming American racism and racial politics is universal. Racism, like all social construct, is culturally and historically specific. Anti-blackness certainly exists globally but the way that manifests is very culturally dependent. Like I stated previously, Whiteness in the American context exists only as an antitheses, there is nothing that defines it in specificity expect its proximity to power. In Europe during the first half of the 20th century many groups that would be absorbed into the modern “white identity” were racialized. Races were defined along national lines. Post the revolutionary period of the mid-1800s there was a global obsession with nationalism. Of course, this nationalistic fervor was not new but it was reaching a fever pitch. Concepts of national identity were redefined, reshaped, and refocused. A lot of this was, again, defined by what this identity was not. The colonial rush to partition Africa and Asia was as much a desperate grab for wealth as it was a desire to solidify national identity within Western Europe. The First World War was the violent crescendo of that nationalistic greed. But within these nations were “racial aberrations”, people who existed in its boarders but were never counted as its people. Jews, Romani, and Sinti were always considered a racialized other, people without nations. While they may have lived in France, England, Germany, etc. they were never French, English, or German. They did not belong to the national identity but were utilized to demonstrate exactly what the national identity was not. When convenient, they provided cover for cultural failings and strife. Convenient tools to utilize for prosperity and for national unity. By the time the Nazi’s rose to power the groundwork had been laid. Here were the scapegoats, the evil among us, the barrier to German prosperity and victory. And they were unique, for inherent to their being were traits reviled by the Aryan, the antitheses to the pure German spirit. It was their racial “inferiority” that marked them for slaughter and subjugation. It was their imagined essence that led to their demise. Please understand that this ideology was not unique to Germany but it reached its horrifying peak there due to a confluence of factors. It should never, ever be forgotten that many of the occupied nations were all too happy to hand over their Jews knowing full well their fate. And they did so with the same ideology in mind: these were racially deviant individuals effecting the purity of our nation.

Make no mistake, the Holocaust was about race. It was about the creation of the Aryan race, the ideology that drove a nation to genocide. To assume that racial politics can extend beyond cultural context and history is to admit to something that is rather dangerous. It is to admit that race is not an experience but a truth. It is to admit that there is validity in understanding race as a set of features, failures, modes of being that are inherent and not learned. To be critical of race is to understand that it exists only in the created and imagined. Again, it would be a grave mistake to assume that because race is constructed it has no bearing on reality, it does. Race, unequivocally, is a lived and real experience but it is unhelpful to assume that that experience is fixed. Race is slippery, Whiteness even more so. By its nature it evolves to survive. In its current evolution Jews have conditionally been allowed to exist under its protection but that could shift in an instant. We see it now. Antisemitism is on the rise and it’s violence is more pronounced. The veil of Whiteness has slipped. Whiteness only protects what is useful to it, it is always conditional. And conditions change. And it seems, for the time being, that Jews exist on a razors edge and are allowed into Whiteness on a case by case basis. Are they useful to the power structure? Do they uphold white supremacy? If yes, then they are useful tools. If no, then perhaps the Nazis weren’t so far of base, after all.

Whiteness is not something that has meaning. To be proud of it is to be proud of nothing, to be proud of vapor. There is nothing that it holds in value. It is not something rich with culture, held together in collective struggle, a beacon of joy, a thing of beauty. It is a Frankenstein’s monster of cobbled together vagaries that are, all together, meaningless. I suppose I can be proud of my Sicilian ancestors for their perseverance, their cultural complexity, their struggle under poverty but none of those things are a specific trait of whiteness. The songs they sung, the food they ate, the God they prayed to is not something that can be claimed by the ever evolving beast of Whiteness. It is not inherent to it. Nothing is inherent to Whiteness except it’s grasp on power, control, and domination. It paves over beauty like a road through a field of wildflowers. It neuters and flattens. Whoopi was right to be suspicious of Whiteness, it is insidious by nature, but she, like many before and after her, make the mistake of assuming that it is a fixed entity. And to assume this is to lose a battle against it. We must understand the shifting of Whiteness in order to loosen its grip on power.

[wordsnstuff]

Guide to Drafting

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

–

Planning v. Discovery

The first thing you must decide when you embark on the journey of drafting a story is how you’re going to get it done. Typically, there are two groups you can fit into, though most writers are somewhere in between. There are writers who plan meticulously before they begin writing to create a very clean first draft, or there are discovery writers (otherwise known as “pantsers”) who find more success in choosing a premise and then using a zero draft to explore the idea before gluing down any details. You are most likely someone who falls between those two methods. Some initial planning to feel familiar with your idea before you do some of the planning through the writing itself. Having some semblance of a method will help you narrow down your own process, which is immensely important if you want to get any substantial project near completion.

Consistency

Drafting is a difficult process because it’s either the revisitation of ideas you’ve already had, or the generations of ideas in quick succession. If you want to have a draft in a reasonable amount of time, you must develop a consistency in your writing. I won’t say that it must be a strict routine because time management can be a luxury, but you must make the consistent effort to write, and keep it in the forefront of your mind. Even if you don’t write every day, it should be something you try to make time for every day.

Know What You’re Trying to Accomplish

To get a draft done, you need to set expectations for yourself and they must be realistic. That doesn’t mean they have to be easy, or an amount of work you’ve been able to accomplish in the past. Considering how much time you dedicate to writing and your skillset, it should be a goal within reality. In addition, you must accept that you cannot create a masterpiece in one draft. For each version of your story that you write, you must have a focused goal, such as maintaining consistent characterization, making the plot concise and engaging, or making the prose more fluid and efficient. If you have a specific and attainable goal that you can accomplish in a reasonable amount of time with a fair amount of precision, each draft will be better than the last.  

Designate Work to Phases

As mentioned in the last section, it maximizes your time and effort to have specific and attainable goals for each draft. This doesn’t mean that you rewrite the draft each time (though that is very common amongst writers), but that you designate tasks to draft versions. I find it very helpful in clearing my mind and soothing my perfectionist anxiety to make a “schedule”, outlining what I’ll accomplish in each version following the zero draft. For example, my draft schedules usually end up something like this:

Zero Draft: Main plot line, basic characterization, key world building

First Draft: Finalize Timeline, research for world building, structure

Second Draft: (Rewrite) Plot Development Fine Tuning

Subplot development

Foreshadowing

Build up to climaxes

Tone & Pace

Third Draft: (Intermittent Rewrites) Character Development Fine Tuning

Backstory

Subtextual Development

Making sure motivations are clear

Relationships between characters

Reinforcing character arcs

Checking dialogue

Fourth Draft: (Give to Beta Readers) World Building & Prose

Descriptions & Flow

Finalize settings

Checking grammar & punctuation

Reader Immersion

Fifth Draft: Incorporate Beta Reader Feedback

Write for Yourself First

In what some call the “zero-draft”, there are no rules. This draft is purely for your eyes. It’s you telling yourself the story for the first time. So, you don’t have to write in chronological order, or know the right word you’re looking for, or take a break every time you run into a problem. The purpose of the zero draft is to get a rough idea of as much of the story as you can and avoid getting snagged on minor details. This part is important. A lot of writers like to outline meticulously before they begin drafting and if that works for you, that’s great, but the majority of writers who attempt that get stuck in the planning phase, or burnt out on their story before a word of it exists. The easiest way to avoid those two situations is to do a zero draft, which can be as long or short as you want if it provides a skeleton for you to add meat to later.

Common Struggles

~ How do you estimate the number of words/chapters?... That depends on the genre, mostly. However, that’s usually something you decide in the second draft and beyond, and it can vary because of factors you haven’t got locked down until the plot and character arcs are firm or final. This is also something you’ll probably do a lot of tinkering with, and receive feedback on, especially from beta-readers, who can advise you on where natural breaks could occur from their perspective.

~ Why, after planning everything out, do I always struggle to write the draft?... 99% of the time, it’s because you’ve either burned yourself out, or accumulated too much pressure. When you put that much effort and time into a story, you can either slip into a headspace where you feel little excitement about it because you’ve already done all of the problem solving and had all of the revelations. It’s usually beneficial at this stage to take a step back (even if you’re not burnt out) and give your story some space, so that once you come back to it, you’re enthusiastic enough to fully realize your vision. If instead you’re struggling to write because you feel a lot of pressure to do justice for a story you’ve put so much love into already, take a step back, remember that the first draft is just for you, and work on letting go of the idea that the zero draft is meant to serve any purpose beside simply existing. 

~ How do I come up with the necessary scenes to move the story forward between major plot points?... Most writing problems can be solved by asking yourself the right questions. When you’re trying to figure out what your reader needs to see next in order to effectively set up the next major event, ask yourself “What would happen between event A and event B that would add context or make event B more impactful?”. Treat it like a real situation and try to map out all of the tiny, notable moments that would take place between the major plot points, and then assess those moments on the basis of how impactful they would be to the coming scenes, and whether they can add context, set the tone, or aide in the rising action.

~ How do I balance sticking to the draft and following my own creative instinct in the moment?... This is a judgement call. Sometimes you’ll realize that maybe you should have just stuck to the outline, but remember that you can always go back, rewrite, test things out, etc. Always save every version of every scene, just in case, and go wild. Don’t be afraid to take detours just to explore. The writing process is anything but linear. 

~ How do I maintain momentum in my writing progress when I constantly have distractions or other responsibilities that take priority?... Work at it. There’s no magic trick or piece of advice I could say that gets rid of your personal responsibilities. Write when you can, don’t make excuses on top of the reasons you have no control over, and remember that you create your own deadlines and expectations. Be kind to yourself, do what you can, and don’t spend potential writing time punishing yourself because there isn’t as much as you’d like. 

~ How should I designate space (words/pages) to specific scenes/description/conversations, etc?... Trust your instinct and remember you can always cut/add later. In the earlier drafts, I’d advise you try to create as much material as possible to work with, and in the later drafts, be ruthless when determining what is necessary and adds value, and what doesn’t.

~ How do I finish a draft if I regularly lose motivation or interest in my projects?... Accept the fact that motivation is fickle, and that no writer in history has ever maintained “inspiration” for any project from the beginning to the end. There are going to be days where you’re like “ugh this is not what I want to do right now”, probably more than there are days where you’re stoked to work on your project, but that’s reality. If your goal is to finish a draft, you must recognize that writing is work, and nobody wants to work all the time. Try to supplement the lack of motivation by setting a positive and enjoyable routine so that, even when you’re not particularly motivated, you still know that your writing time will be peaceful and comfortable. 

–

Masterlist | WIP Blog

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon, where I offer early access and exclusive benefits for only $5/month.

Shoutout to my $15+ patrons, Jade Ashley and Douglas S.!

[the-lone-witch-and-secret-room]

I'm writing a beta lumity fanfic and the line between friendly banter/teasing to emotional/verbal abuse is confusing me. Any tips on how to make it work?

Anon I am so sorry, I wrote like a whole essay on this and then I forgot to finish it.

I found this article that covers some basic stuff that I recommend checking out!

But a few essentials to take away from this (and also just in general):

-The topics you joke about and how the person teased sees them matter a lot. This depends hugely on the character.

If someone is insecure about a skill, and another person knowingly jokes about them being bad at it, that’s verbal abuse meant to put them down. Teasing Willow about her lacking magic skills in season one when that’s something she’s very insecure about is one example of that. That’s bullying.

Season one Eda on the other hand is very confident in her magical abilities, calling herself the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles and everything. If Lilith were to point out when she, say, missed a shot during a fight that would be teasing, because this isn’t something Eda would waste another minute of the day thinking about. It’s said, and the character cares about it so little that it’s immediately forgotten after an eye roll or a sassy reply.

Same thing being joked about, but completely different context, because where Willow is insecure about her skills, Eda is confident in hers.

-The relationship of the characters matters a lot in this. If two people are close friends, they likely know where each other’s lines are, and which topics you can’t joke about without it hurting the other. Unknowingly overstepping a line you weren’t aware of might still happen (for example when it’s an issue your friend has never talked about/they seem more confident about a specific topic than they actually are), but the person being teased can then communicate that their friend overstepped and that what was said hurt them. The person being teased has the power to end said teasing whenever they please, because it’s intended to be a friendly joke and not something hurtful. The reaction you want from friendly teasing would be something like annoyance, a dry laugh, etc.

The intention is never to actually hurt the other person, and when you realize you are, either by a reaction or because your friend outright tells you, you stop.

With verbal abuse, it’s the other way around. The abuser intentionally targets insecurities to put the victim down, and the victim can’t just get them to stop by telling their abuser it’s hurting them. On the contrary. That’s the goal. Once the abuser realizes how hurtful targeting specific issues is, they’ll likely target those more.

There’s a massive power imbalance. The victim doesn’t hold any control over the situation that the abuser often causes unprovoked or over something very minor.

When two people don’t know each other well, the chances of crossing over into hurtful territory with jokes is automatically way higher, and how a person reacts and adjusts their behavior when realizing they hurt the other makes the difference between a forming friendship and becoming someone’s bully.

It’s important to note here that what starts out as teasing can turn into verbal abuse over time, if lines are continuously intentionally overstepped, no matter how much the friend tells you off. Something can start off as friendly teasing and eventually turn into a person needling a friend about every aspect of their life, still playing it as a joke even when it no longer is. Signs of this may include downplaying someone’s hurt, telling them they’re overreacting and that “it wasn’t that bad”/“it was just a joke”, etc.

-Where the line is drawn also greatly differs depending on personalities. Not everyone can take teasing. Someone with low overall self-esteem will likely react more strongly to things that were intended as friendly teasing, while someone with a lot of confidence might brush/laugh things off that others wouldn’t see as friendly or funny anymore.

-The situation the teasing happens in matters. Teasing the top student about getting an A instead of an A+ might be fine depending on the person, but when someone who cares a lot about their grades actually failed a test, uh… read the room, that is not the time to joke about this stuff if you’re not actively trying to hurt them (and, totally different example but my brother and his friends often toss insults at each other during video games, despite having a perfect good relationship)

-The history the characters share also matters. For example: Willow can tease Amity about her crush on Luz.

However, I don’t see either of them ever being comfortable with Amity teasing Willow about anything, including topics she might not mind being teased about by Luz and Gus, because Amity bullied Willow. In that context, the teasing is related to a hugely negative experience between the two, and can’t be taken as lightly as it might be intended.

-This doesn’t always apply (see the Willow and Amity example I just made), but teasing is often mutual. One person makes a joke, the other makes one back, they both laugh it off.

When it’s clear that both sides are enjoying and encouraging the mutual teasing for shared fun, it’s a positive relationship, and there’s less chances for it to end up in a abusive power imbalance.

But, please note here that putting up with hurtful jokes someone makes because you don’t want to lose them as a friend/risk a fight isn’t a sign of a healthy dynamic. It can still be a friendship, but it’s a highly toxic one, and not the same as playful teasing.

End note: it’s okay for a friend/potential love interest to mess up here, accidentally cross a line, or say something dumb in the heat of the moment—as long as that’s an isolated incident that’s resolved with an apology and talking things out. The characters don’t have to be perfect, because imperfections are what makes them human. Sometimes a situation like this can actually lead to good character and relationship development and make for an interesting plot point—as long as it’s handled properly.

But while the way the teasing happens does matter a lot, it’s also important how you build the relationship outside of the teasing. If a character shifts from usually teasing attitude to actually asking another what’s wrong and trying to comfort them when they realize a situation is serious, that’s a very good sign of an overall healthy dynamic. If the characters are supportive of each other and can go to the other when they need help, that’s a sign of a healthy dynamic. When they can open up to each other without fear of it being turned on them via teasing, that’s a very good sign.

Friendly or flirty teasing can be fun and all that, but the relationship has to be built on more than just the teasing, or it’s always going to remain incredibly shallow. You have to show the characters are actually friends, have them show that they care about the other and are there for each other when it matters. They have to have a genuine connection.

Hope that answers your question! Also whoops that got long, lol

[willsimpforanyone]

Hey there! Ok, first of all, your writing is ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS 🤩!!! Okay, on to the actual request now. Could you plz write a Heroes of Olympus fic with the seven (plus Reyna, Thalia, Nico and Will) X fem!reader who is a daughter of Khione (Greek goddess of snow)? R is struggling with controlling her powers cause they r linked to her emotions. Individually each character helps her with her powers in some way. Thanks! (Idk if that made sense btw but hopefully it makes sense!) okay, bye!!

no stop you're so sweet!! thank you so much omg

i can absolutely do that- for context, we're gonna say that the camp jupiter kids are visiting

i haven't given R a name and i refuse to use y/n

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

The camp was huge and busy and full of people. She was overwhelmed, her breaths coming in sharp, shallow bursts. Steam blew around her as her freezing breath met the warm air and her hands fisted in her skirt. She wasn't gonna panic, she couldn't panic with all these people around, gods there were so many people in this stupid little tour group and oh shit she was panicking. She could see tiny flakes of snow start to flutter down around her, settling on everyone's skin. They started looking around and up at the sky and her nails dug into her cold skin as they finally turned and looked at her, the light snow turning into larger flakes and increasing in number. Within seconds there was a blizzard spanning six feet squared. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying her hardest to calm down. A hand touched her own, and a voice reached her ears, muffled by the snow. "Hey, I'm Percy, is it okay if I touch you?" She forced herself to nod, and Percy pulled her gently away from the group. As soon as there were fewer people, she could breathe a little easier. "We're away from everyone else, it's okay, can you open your eyes for me?" Her eyes opened and met green eyes and black hair and an encouraging smile. "Take some deep breaths, that's it, you're doing great." Her breathing became more regular. "It's overwhelming for a lot of people, that's okay. You're safe now that you're here, I promise." The blizzard had all but stopped, just a few flakes brushed off her hair by Percy's caring hand. "It's okay, we don't have to go back until you're ready." She would be ready in a little bit.

The forest was quiet. She liked the quiet. She knew she hadn't been avoided, exactly, but it was hard to feel that way when there wasn't anyone sitting at her table. No one talked to her, but it was just because she was new. Talking to new people was awkward, she knew that. So it was her choice, and her choice alone, to go sit in the woods. She didn't know why there were tears down her cheeks, and she hated that they froze on her skin. A snapped twig made her look up sharply. There were two people in front of her. The girl sat down next to her. "It's cold out, why are you sitting out here?" She shrugged. "Don't really feel the cold. And it's either being alone out here or alone in a cabin so it doesn't really matter." She gave a small smile. The guy sat next to the girl. "You're the daughter of Khione, right? No wonder you feel lonely," he turned to the girl. "Hazel, there's no one else in her cabin." Hazel gasped and rubbed her shoulder. "Come with us. We'll see if you can be moved to my cabin, there's only me and my brother in there." "Oh, I couldn't do that to you," she said, but the warmth of hope and companionship bloomed in her chest. "If you really don't want to, that's okay, but at least come with us to the campfire, come with me and Frank." Hazel's soft smile melted away the resistance, and Frank stood up, offering his hand. She stood, using the hand held out, and followed the pair. Frank held her back a moment while Hazel joined the group of ten, twelve-ish people around a campfire. "If you really don't want to join, it's okay, I'll take you back to your cabin, I promise." He smiled warmly and a little nervously. "But it might be fun. Coming?" She smiled back, and walked towards the promised warmth.

Hunched shoulders, her ears were being assulted with jeers and taunts. Loser, loner, ice freak, anti-freeze. That one wasn't even right. The small table felt a lot bigger when she was the only one there, but she was getting used to that. It didn't help that the Ares cabin was very loud. To be fair, it wasn't the whole cabin, just the very loud minority. She tried to remind herself of that when she got called all these names. The table was covered in a heavy frost, the cutlery in her hands was cold and clutched tightly. She took a few deep breaths. There was minimal snow, and she smiled to herself. She was gaining a little more control. A plate slamming onto the table made her jump, and she looked up to see sharp blue eyes and a shock of black hair, piercings decorating ears. The girl sat next to her, scowling at the Ares cabin. "Hey! Leave her alone, assholes!" The girl turned to you. "I'm Thalia, ignore them." She smiled at Thalia. "Thanks, but you don't have to be here." "It's no problem," Thalia shrugged. "My brother is at his girlfriend's table so I was alone anyway and you looked like you could use a little help." That normally would have made her defensive, but Thalia seemed more protective than pitying. "...thank you, I'm not good at confrontation." She frowned. "Sorry about the... ice." Thalia shrugged. "I struggled too. And being the daughter of Zeus, my power was a lot more destructive than yours, trust me," she grinned. She felt less self-conscious with this strong, angry girl next to her.

The rings of seats surrounding the dead campfire were cold. There was a light layer of frost, but she was too tired to know if it was because of her or just the chill of the night. The nightmare had been bad, and waking up in an icy cabin alone hadn't helped. The outside had seemed warmer, more welcoming, and as she looked up she could see the stars. The campfire was central to the camp, she felt like she could check every direction. For example, the second she heard footsteps coming from the left, she snapped her head to see another girl, wrapped in a blanket and walking with determination towards her. The girl sat firmly beside her. "You're the kid of Khione, the one Frank and Hazel introduced us to the other night, right?" "...yeah," and suddenly she remembered the girl's name. "You're Piper, right? Daughter of Aphrodite?" Piper nodded. "Yep. What's up, why you out here?" She shrugged. There was no stigma around nightmares in the camp, everyone got them, but she still wasn't comfortable going into detail. "Just a nightmare, didn't want to stay in the cabin." Piper made a noise of understanding. "Me too," she shivered. "The frost natural or you?" She laughed ruefully. "Not sure, to be honest." She ran a hand through her hair, and it came away covered in ice. "Although judging by that, I'd say a good portion of it is me." Piper stood up. "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute." She grabbed her blanket and ran back to her cabin, returning with a larger blanket and a wide-toothed comb. "Can I get the ice and frost out of your hair?" Surprised, she nodded hesitatingly. Piper sat cross-legged on the wooden seat by her side and wrapped the blanket around them both, gesturing for her to turn round. "I'll be gentle, I promise. It'll calm us both down, then you can get the frost under control."

The sword shattered yet again and she threw the hilt on the ground, yelling in anger. She barely noticed the two others in the arena, too focused on the fact that the blade of her sword had gotten so cold it had broken- this was the third time. Every time she got into her training and concentrated too hard, ice spread from her hands to the sword and it was only a matter of time before she shattered it. "Hey, stop throwing stuff on the ground, kids train here." A harsh female voice came from across the arena, and she flinched. Turning, she recognised the pair- Jason and Reyna, they must be training. "Sorry, I'm sorry, I'll clean it up." She frowned, kneeling and picking up the remnants of her sword. Jason jogged over, followed slowly by Reyna. He knelt down too, helping with the jagged edges. "It's okay, what's got you so worked up?" She sighed. "If the metal gets too cold, it breaks. I get freezing if I concentrate too hard on fighting, apparently, so I've broken three swords in the past two hours." Reyna grabbed the discarded sword hilt, examining it. "You know, you should find a specific sword for your abilities." "You can do that?" Jason and Reyna nodded. "Yeah, mine turns into either a sword or a spear depending on the flip of a coin," Jason explained. "I'm sure we could find something that can withstand low temperatures." Reyna frowned, considering. "I'm sure if you asked Chiron he'd figure something out. Although maybe you should work on controlling the temperature issue." Jason's eyes lit up. "Hey, you should go see Leo! Remember him from the campfire the last week? He's always too hot, but he's great at changing his body temperature. Go see him tomorrow!" Reyna nodded her approval. She smiled. Okay, let's go see Leo.

"Um, hey, Jason said you could help me?" She knocked on the open door of the Hephaestus cabin, settling her eyes on the curly-haired kid- Leo- screwing around with bits of metal on the floor. He leapt up, scattering metal everywhere. "Yes! Hello! I remember you from the campfire, Piper said you'd be knocking on my humble door." She grinned as he approached, hands still fiddling with a screwdriver. "She was right, she recommended I talk to you about helping with my heat regulation?" Leo practically vibrated with enthusiam. "Yeah! I'm always hot-" he winked, she laughed. "-but it took me a while to regulate it, so I wasn't spontaneously bursting into flames. May I?" He held out his hands for hers. They were searing hot against her freezing skin, and she yanked them away. Leo pulled away too, a dismayed look on his face. "Uh, okay, too hot, got it. I'll lower my temperature as best I can." She placed her hands back in his, the difference a little less painful this time as she breathed deeply. "Sorry, it was just a little surprising, I wasn't aware of how cold I was." Leo shook his head, and pulled her further into the room. "Don't worry chica, you'll get the hang of it. Don't concentrate on the hands, focus on the feeling inside," he nodded towards a small bench, and they sat down. "Think of your body as a... car. If the hood it hot, you open it up and cool down the engine, right?" Nodding, she relaxed her shoulders and hands. "Got it, focus on the internal cooling issue rather than the results." That earned her an encouraging squeeze of her hands. They sat together for an hour, maybe two. She could almost increase and decrease her temperature at will. Leo taught her a weird handshake, where they changed temperature every time their hands met. "Thank you so much, Leo," she grinned, getting up to leave. "No hay problema, I'm glad I could help," he lightly punched her shoulder. "And hey, any time I need to cool down, I know who to come to."

The tiny ice towers sparkled in the sun, almost looking like crystal. She was curious- she'd come so far from the girl who caused a snowstorm at the slightest anxiety, so how much control was she capable of? The ice was sharpened to a point, but there wasn't much distinction between the small structures. There was someone who could help, with a mind almost as sharp as her ice. "Hey Annabeth? Can I steal your attention for a second?" The girl looked up from her Ancient Greek book, and smiled upon seeing her friend. "Sure, come in, what's up?" She walked towards Annabeth, sitting next to her on the bed. "You're good with architecture, right?" "'Good' is an understatement," Annabeth nudged her in the ribs. "But yes, architecture is kind of my thing." "Can you help with my power? I think I can control it better now, but I need a guideline- can you draw up a blueprint or something for me to model out of ice?" Annabeth's eyes sparkled as brightly as ice in the sun, and she darted to her desk, grabbing graph paper and a pencil. "We can experiment with different temperatures and thicknesses of the ice-" starting to spout facts about architectural structures and buildings. "Annabeth, this is awesome, but just know you have to be patient with me," she said. "I need a lot of practice." Sitting back down on the bed, Annabeth wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I know, but we can do it. It'll be awesome."

"Hey! Over here!" Will beckoned her over. She smiled and jogged over and into the medical tent. "Hey Will, what's up?" She gave a small wave to the shadowy boy next to him. "Hey Nico." She recieved a vague nod in return. Will gestured to a kid, maybe eight or nine, holding his wrist sitting on a camper bed. "We've run out of ice packs, and we're waiting on an order of ambrosia and nectar so can you do me a favour?" She shrugged. "What do you need?" His next words came as a surprise. "I need snowballs." Laughing, she nodded. "Okay, sure, how many?" Nico kicked an ice box next to him. "Fill this." She nodded, and started creating lumps of snow, balling them up in her palms and chucking them into the box. The kid stared, fascinated. She grinned, pausing her snowball-making to blow a flurry of snowflakes in the kid's face, eliciting a delighted laugh. The slight smile on Nico's face didn't go unnoticed. She leaned into Will. "Hey, get Nico to summon a skeleton outside the tent." "What? Why?" She whispered a plan into his ear, and Will giggled. He grabbed his boyfriend by the arm and dragged him outside. She kept making snowballs and entertaining the kid with snowflakes until Will grabbed her arms and pulled her outside, a huge smile on his face. "Come on, come on, do it!" Will jumped up and down excitedly. Nico raised an eyebrow, but smiled fondly. "What did you want the skeleton for?" She grinned, and pushed her hands forward, snow flying from her hands and surrounding the skeleton. Bones clad in thick snow and from somewhere Will produced a carrot. Nico rolled his eyes, but took out two solid black earrings to stick into the face of the snowman for eyes. Together, she and Nico manipulated the snowman to walk into the medical tent, and from within came screams of delight- it was Christmas in August.

She felt home.

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

this took me so long and my shoulder is killing me but i did it! i very much hope you enjoyed, thank you so much for requesting!

[nolabballgirl]

Can I please ask you a question? Are Turkish peoples called people of color? I'm confused whether Ismail is white or not, but Im not sure.

hi, Anon! thanks for your ask! oof, of course, you have to ask me one of the most complicated questions, and one for which there is no quick response. 🙈 have you seen the meme that to be able to answer this, you need to put together a team of: an anthropologist; a sociologist; and at least five historians! 😅 but seriously, i'm not turkish, so let me give you some general thoughts and then direct you to some turkish resources. broadly speaking, in popular culture, the term "people of color" often conflates two major concepts:

racial identity

minority status within a certain country

first, let me start by saying the term "people of color" was coined in the united states and really gained traction during the latter half of the 20th century. given that the racial history and politics of the usa is distinct, terms have specific connotations that don't necessarily have the same meaning when transferred to another country or region. for example, the term "coloured people" is a term of art to denote an ethnic group in south africa, but those words don't have the same meaning elsewhere and certainly have a very different meaning in the us. the same is true for the term "white," which itself has different definitions based on context (hey, race is a social construct and all that!) the american census bureau, for example, classifies arabs and iranians as white, but if you ask many of these individuals, they would disagree with that categorization. this highlights that there may be a difference in how government and society views a group vs. how that group views itself.

and that's where the idea of minority status within a given country takes root. and in the us, "people of color" is now often used as this umbrella, inclusive term for minorities, including middle eastern/north african (mena) members. (and for the record, it’s been rightfully called out for its overinclusiveness at times too, especially when it’s used to negate the experiences of a group, e.g., black people!) so i guess a similar concept could theoretically be applied to german turks. because just like arabs and iranians are a minority and subject to intense discrimination in the united states, ethnic turks likewise fall into the minority category in germany and face a ton of discrimination there.

as to whether turkish folks are "white," well, here are list of resources written by turkish academics that do a much better job than i could ever do in unpacking this issue:

race and racism in modern turkey

who is a turk? it's complicated.

whiteness as an act of belonging: white turks phenomenon in the post 9/11 world

‘is the turk a white man?’ towards a theoretical framework for race in the making of turkishness

so to get back to your original question, is ismail a poc or white? well, it honestly depends on who you ask. but is ismail a member of a minority group subject to discrimination in germany? for sure. and it's compounded by the fact that ismail is from the alevi community, a minority sect with turkish roots that has faced religious persecution and still to this day is facing its own struggles for equality.

hope this helps!

[not-poignant]

I was lurking in the discord, but I was wondering what exactly about Ef would classify him as a "soft client" to Dr. Gary? Is it just because he recognized that Ef is incredibly capable of loving underneath his trauma? Or like because he hadn't had like extreme cases of violence for a period of time? Or is it just like a combination of everything haha

We’ll probably have to give some actual context to Dr Gary’s job here, which I know I’ve done before but I can’t be bothered looking for the ask/s so I’m going to do it here in more detail.

Just a heads up that there will be a frank discussion/detailing of very disturbing themes which will include the malicious rape and murder of minors. (I.e. things that we do not deal with directly in the Spoils of the Spoiled universe at all). Mentions of client death by suicide.

Dr Gary is a specialist psychologist who actually focuses in on the clients that no one else wants to see. That doesn’t include people like Efnisien. Dr Gary sees the teenagers who have been raping their parents or terrorising them for years because it’s fun, he sees the juveniles who have raped or shoved foreign objects into their toddler siblings and killed them through mass internal bleeding, and felt nothing else about it except ‘well I ruined that one and now I think I’d like to find another one.’ He sees teenagers that are resistant, usually hit every part of the Macdonald Triad, have often/usually killed already, or have certainly raped before in a malicious or serial fashion, and almost always express no or minimal remorse for their actions.

They are manipulative, pathological liars who have very little interest in respecting the mental health system or psychologists, they often don’t want to get better, or show minimal interest in getting better, and they have a high recidivism rate (i.e. rate of going right back out there and committing crimes). A significant percentage of Dr Gary’s clients have eventually gone on to commit suicide or end up in maximum security prisons.

But Dr Gary is - due to his own personal interests, and due to his set of skills - suited to specifically helping these people, and also, he has a strong belief that everyone deserves some form of assistance, and that no one should be refused genuine psychological help just because other people believe they should be, as an example, put to death or sent to jail forever. Especially - to him - when they’re teenagers or young adults. He recognises that just because people don’t want to deal with these teenagers, doesn’t mean they don’t exist, or they don’t deserve help. He recognises that most of society will wash their hands of them and pretend they don’t exist, and he will metaphorically push his sleeves up and get to work. He strongly believes that ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away, and jailing the problem is rarely effective on its own.

This is one of the reasons why he falls back on ‘I don’t believe in good or bad people, I believe in good or bad actions.’ If he can reduce the rate of criminal activity, or change the action profile of these clients, even if they still want to behave maliciously, he considers himself on a successful journey. But it also means he works closely with juvenile detention facilities, created Hillview himself, and works closely with outpatients. (As well as in consultation, teaching, and sometimes working in court cases as a specialist). There’s a reason Mack has desk alarms and a sophisticated protection system and it’s not because of people like Efnisien; though Dr Gary wouldn’t see the most dangerous ones at his private office anyway.

I’m sure, when Dr Gary started out, he took more of a mix. But he soon distinguished himself as someone who was not only willing to take on those clients, but was actually more able to get results because his compassion is genuine (let’s be real, psychologists are only human, and a lot of them - despite their best efforts - are still going to really fucking resent someone who raped and murdered a toddler for the lolz), but so is his Take No Shit attitude. So after a while, he was only getting referrals for the most serious clients. And then he had so many of those, he had to assemble a team of specialists, and that was basically how Hillview was born.

In the end, his spectrum of clients were among the most difficult and some of the most dangerous. When Efnisien antagonised Dr Gary by saying ‘how have some of your clients not tried to kill you’ Dr Gary was probably thinking ‘oh, they have, they have.’ I like to think Dr Gary actually has a giant scar along his flank from a time when he was much younger, hubristic and under-estimated one of his clients, and that after that he got a lot more serious about his work and also his willingness to have security standing nearby when he’s working with the most serious ones.

Even his team of specialists take difficult and high risk clients, but Dr Gary is just known in the system as taking the worst of the worst (kind of like how Mikkel is known as being a public defender of domestic violence victims specifically). And these people do get known in the system. A lot of psychologists either won’t take on certain clients or do very poorly with them because they don’t want them or don’t have the tools to handle them or just are manipulated by them. So juvenile detention centres, lawyers, other psychologists and psychiatrists and facilities begin to get a bead on the specialists who will actually help, or at least try. And then they call them incessantly, forever. Dr Gary is a busy, tired man who tries to take at least two weeks off a year to sit on a beach and stare at the water lol.

Efnisien by comparison to Dr Gary’s other clients, molested people his own age - led to it by coercion, never raped anyone, and tortured animals. That’s still terrible, absolutely, but by comparison, he’s just not anywhere near the same calibre as any of Dr Gary’s other clients. He’s someone who is capable of remorse and demonstrated that before Dr Gary ever met him. He’s someone who literally has stopped hurting all animals and people by the time he’s placed in the hospital. And a quick interview with Dr Gary revealed he wasn’t a ‘psychopath’ as Gwyn thought he was, but someone with Pure O and complex PTSD who was exploited into acting on intrusive thoughts by an abuser (which we learn at the end of Spoils of the Spoiled, when Gwyn realises that Efnisien probably never would have grown up the way he did if it wasn’t for Crielle and it makes him very sad). As soon as Dr Gary realised that, he was like ‘oh no, turf him onto someone else, that’s too easy.’

The only reason he took him on was due to a complicated set of factors, including guilt and remorse that Efnisien was molested/sexually assaulted in Hillview by the psychologist that Dr Gary referred him to.

But being referred to Henton in the first place doesn’t mean Efnisien doesn’t have serious mental disorders (he does), and it doesn’t mean Efnisien doesn’t need serious care (he does), he just doesn’t represent the bulk of Dr Gary’s high risk clients. He’s an outlier. Efnisien feels his feelings and ultimately is a very soft person, not just a soft client. He wants to please everyone, he actually hates hurting people, he’s nervous and shy and fidgety, he’s sensitive and responsible and empathetic, and his biggest misfortune was needing to please a psychopath growing up that he was completely dependent on in order to live, who constantly reminded him that he was abandoned and that he’s only worth loving when he’s good (i.e. doing what he she wants), so he had no other choice. And his story or journey is literally the uncovering of his real self, or the self he is without being under the influence of Crielle. And he rebelled against that influence under his own steam, and she tried to kill him for it.

I also think Efnisien is helping Dr Gary realise that he maybe doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life working with ‘the worst of the worst’ just because no one else is equipped to handle them. Even if it can be rewarding at times.

These days he’s building a curriculum to educate more psychologists in aberrant psychology, and developing genuine compassion in the face of aberrant and malevolent behaviour and holding a centre in the face of that, and looking to spread the load a bit more, and work more as a supervisor for other psychologists who are learning how to deal with these clients. He’s realised that clients like Efnisien make him feel a lot more hopeful about the human race overall (not that he was ever a nihilist), and that maybe Efnisien shouldn’t be the only one. But we’re never going to learn that in the story, because it’s not a ‘Dr Gary story’ lol.

[knuffled]

some writing tips (pt. one)

warning: this is a long post bc brevity isn’t one of my strong suits. also another disclaimer: these are just things i have learned/have worked for me. feel free to ignore them if they don’t help you! 

1. the crossroads of plot and character 

there will often come times when writing where the plot must move in a direction that the characters don’t want to follow. this usually results in characters being forced to act in ways that are not congruous with who they are, making them feel wooden or inconsistent to the reader. 

one thing that has really helped me is some advice i heard from the writer’s of breaking bad. they said that one thing that really helped them was to ask “where is character x’s head at?”, or basically “what is my character thinking/feeling at this point in the story?”. it is almost always superior to have character drive plot instead of the other way around, so this question can help solve the issue of plot not gelling with character. i like to ask myself this question and reorganize the plot around my answer, and i have found it very useful for combatting content-based writer’s block.

2. rethinking character flaws

i have only recently learned how to better write character flaws, and i have found that they are huge for making a character feel real. whenever i used to think about flaws, i thought of them as huge, character-warping traits that basically defined an individual (example: prince zuko), but i always struggled to write them myself. lately, i have come view them as subtle beliefs or tendencies my character has that frames the way they interact with the world and others, and that has been massively helpful for me.

as sleazy as it is, i’m going to use my own writing as an example because i don’t read books anymore lmfao. anyhow, in my fic, “just practice”, annabeth has a tendency to be self-absorbed, which manifests in her assuming everyone thinks the way she does. nothing impressive, really. we see a few examples of it in action sprinkled throughout the story, and at first, it seems harmless, but the more we see of it, the more we realize what a huge issue it is in the context of the narrative as a whole. we see that it cripples the way that she communicates with others, how it has led her to hurting people she cares about because she assumed things about them, etc. 

the fic is written from her perspective, so when she interacts with people, we can see that she genuinely doesn’t mean any harm. she just has a certain way of thinking. but in reality, the way that her flaw impacts others in the story becomes a huge source of conflict. it requires people to call her out and make her reflect on things. this is something that i think a lot of people can relate to. pretty much everyone acts with good intentions, but in reality they could be causing a lot of harm to those around them without meaning to. 

i have found that using subtle flaws like this can be really helpful in making a believable character. i would suggest looking at people in your own life and their flaws as material you can use. most of them aren’t prince zuko - they have much subtler flaws about them that still have a huge role in who they are. once you have a flaw in mind for a character, it should inform their psychological make up, in either a minor or major way. i like to make this influence as subtle as i possibly can because that is what i personally find to be most realistic (note: by influence, i mean the way that the flaw manifests itself).

these flaws can be used to completely drive the plot depending on your genre. romance, young adult, literary fiction, etc. are all great candidates. for example, “catcher in the rye” is literally a plotless story about a teenage boy navigating his flaws. 

here is some additional advice: show examples of the character’s flaws in action, first without drawing much attention to them, but with each new instance, crank up the impact of the flaw. this results in a natural escalation that flows really well with character development.

3. choices and consequences

foreshadowing is one of the most important tools a writer has to creating a satisfying narrative. in contrast, poor foreshadowing can ruin a narrative. nearly everyone can attest to how a deus ex machina or “subversion” completely derailed an otherwise good story (looking at your Game of Thrones Season 8). at the same time, foreshadowing is really hard to do well because of how much foresight it requires. outliners have the luxury of accounting for this before they write, but as a discovery writer, foreshadowing can feel impossible during your first draft. 

that being said, i have personally found a work-around as a discovery writer for this exact problem, and that answer is to have narrative consequences. pretty much every plot point in your story should have consequences for the rest of the narrative going forward. this makes it a lot more easy for a discovery writer to write a better first draft - you just have to think about what how current plot point impacts the story going forward. 

example: character gets into a foolish fight and loses their sword-fighting arm. now for the rest of the narrative, they can no longer rely on their prowess as a swordsman. 

the neat thing about consequences is that you don’t have to plan ahead of time, but they still function similarly to foreshadowing. 

4. foreshadowing proper 

okay, but what about actual foreshadowing, you might ask. i think this is really hard to give concrete advice for, but here are some things that have helped me. i tend to have a lose idea of really major plot points that need to happen in my stories (example: the kara conversation in chapter seven of just practice). then, i try and think about how i can lay a trail of bread crumbs for that plot point to happen and reverse engineer my way there (example: chapter six, kara is mentioned by annabeth’s friends as having done something unforgivable to percy). 

more specifically, i like to use character flaws as set up for plot points (this ties into the idea of consequences above). example: annabeth is increasingly frustrated by percy’s hiding secrets from her, stoking her already inquisitive nature to a boiling point, leading her to confront kara when she gets the opportunity, even though she knows she shouldn’t. 

i primarily write drama/romance, so using character flaws as foreshadowing is my favored way of foreshadowing. i don’t think it translates as well for a mystery or a fantasy, but in those cases, laying bread crumbs still helps. in the harry potter books, rowling was often fond of burying important clues in irrelevant information. example: in book two, there is a brief mention of tom riddle’s diary in ginny’s cauldron when lucius malfoy slips it there at diagon alley. 

another thing she does is to include information against the backdrop of another, more urgent plot point. example: in book four, harry tries to steal from professor snape for a task in the triwizard tournament or something, and snape accuses him of stealing ingredients to make polyjuice potion but it was barty crouch jr. who needed it to disguise himself as professor moody. you don’t pay much attention at the time because the tournament is more pressing.