#like that's what i'm $[redacted] in debt for and i want to make personal work and send it out for exhibition

[fallingbyjuleecruise]

me and my mom having the same argument over and over which is her telling me that i should have a different job than the one i have and me responding w if any other job was willing to hire me i would be working there instead

[isabeljkim]

Hi! First I just want to thank you for putting your work out there. You have one of my favorite writing voices I've read in ages. I was wondering how you go about the process of plotting. I think you do a really good job creating emotionally satisfying setup/payoff and question/answer cycles (the pod-switching in Benthic especially was really satisfying!)- do you usually plan them out before you get to the story proper, or is it more a matter of pantsing it and then going back to plant hints?

hi! thank you so much, this is deeply flattering to hear, and i'm glad you like my stuff! :D

well you see doing a plot is essentially just: :3 ????? ?????? [redacted] [airplane woosh noise] [cartoon cussing] ?? !! [muffled bangs] > story is done.

ok jokes aside, the way i think about plots is that... one way to think about a story is that x amount of the story is about setting up a problem, and setting up the pieces that are part of solving that problem, and y amount of the story is about actually resolving a different problem related to the first problem (which is actually the real problem!), and using the pieces in a novel but satisfying way.

so i usually have about half figured out when i start a story, and the other half is a puzzle box i've given to myself, and through writing i figure out the other half and then go back and weave it in more conclusively. i have the question to begin with, but i usually have to build myself the tools to find the answer.

[under the cut if you want disjointed rambling]

sorry. that's vague. lets do an example.

when i start a story, i usually have the idea of "what the story is about" (the problem and premise) but not necessarily the "resolution to the story" (whether the first problem is actually the issue, and what the solution is).

so for example, bc you brought up Benthic - the orignal idea was that i wanted to do something about spaceship scavengers carving up a generation ship as a whalefall metaphor, and space as an equivalent to the deep ocean. so then the logical next step is that "ok, whats inside?" > and then whalefalls, spaceship wrecks, shipwrecks..... "its got to be a survivor."

so then the story becomes "ok, the generation ship scavengers find a survivor in the generation ship, but this needs to be a problem for them, because otherwise...there's no plot. there needs to be a problem. so ok, culturally, what if you need to kill survivors on the generation ships for [some reason]."

and that creates the problem, which is the ethical dilemma: will the protagonists kill the kid, or will they choose not to kill the kid, or will they find some other way? I don't know what they're going to do! and from there i write the story and build the boat as it is being floated. i add in cryotubes, and i add in the idea of it being a legal issue, and i write seam and mica and figure out their personalities a bit, and i extrapolate out what leads a person to being a scavenger in debt... and then i figure out that the logical past for them is haunted.

and that nails it all together. the story is is ethics, emotion, and scraping the barest bit of humanity you can get on the edge of the world.

so the solution to the problem has to be kind, but grim. because all of the above has created a world where the logical, practical outcome is cruelty. but because this is a story the ending cannot be the logical, practical outcome! the characters must change, or rail against their situation. (this is one of my tenets while writing - i used to be awful at endings, and i ve gotten much better. i think a good ending shifts your understanding of the prior work/uses the pieces given early on in a surprising way)

so then because i've nailed enough elements in place that have extrapolated from my original scenario, the only solution is then: the cryotube swap.

i dont know if any of that makes sense to anyone but me. i honestly just come up with fuckup premise problems and then write half of a story and then think about it in the shower for a few days and then write the rest. (i'm lying that's only like, a third of my stuff that gets written that way)

[sweetreunions]

hey y'all, i'm april ( s/h, 21+ ) and this is kang jinah! she's technically a muse i've had for awhile but i've tweaked things here and there so bear with me as i figure her out fully once again 🥹 you already know the drill: background (tw: mentions of child abandonment + bullying) and plot bunnies under the cut, drop a like for plotting and i'll hit you up 🫶🏻

BACKGROUND

born in daegu to a young college couple that could barely afford to make ends meet for themselves, let alone their newborn child. she was left on the steps of the local fire department at the age of three and brought to a children's home not long after

she was six years old when a sweet couple from the busy bustling city of seoul adopted her, the wife having chanced upon the children's home and jinah during a work trip as a traveling nurse. little young jinah would become the light of their lives despite not being biologically theirs

jinah's childhood was spent adjusting to the bright and loud city when she had only known the quaintness of the countryside, but it didn't take her long to adapt and by the time she moved on to middle school, she was living life like a seoul local

if living like a local meant enduring the hazing and bullying of fellow classmates for being given up at birth. how they came to know such a fact, jinah would never know but that didn't faze her nor did it hinder her in any way because if there's anything that kang jinah is, it's resilient

that resiliency got her through public schooling and before she knew it, she was entering university where she could be anyone that she wanted to be. not that she particularly kept her adoptee status a secret, but it's not exactly something you spill on a first date over coffee, y'know?

it's also during university that she started to fiddle with the idea of finding her birth parents, figure out her true roots and what not. she was careful in letting her parents know of her thoughts and luckily for her, they were fully supportive of the idea as long as jinah finished university first. so that she did; with a bachelors in computer science from hanyang and a mountain of debt to show for it

and so she's back in daegu now, 20 years later to search for her birth parents after the immense amount of money spent on a private investigator alerted her that [redacted] and [redacted] on her file still resided there

for her personality she's very much sticking to the phrase "it is what it is", meaning she's likely to be one of the chillest people you've ever met. it's not that she doesn't care, because it's likely that she does, it's just that she chooses not to stress herself over things completely out of her control. she's sweet and almost always with a smile on her face. a nice girl that would help the elderly cross the street if she saw them struggle or wander around to help a lost child find their parents, you get the vibe we're going for here

PLOTS:

she's a relatively fresh face around the mall and clearly in need of a friend; that's where you come in! ever since you noticed her taking a break on her own you've made it your personal goal to check in with jinah whenever possible

for whatever reason, you find yourself digging through the racks and racks of items at isanghan thrift and she's got her eye on you for potential theft with the way you're ransacking through the shelves but really, you're looking for this (1) thing you lost and security says rumour has it it's landed here

something like this post where she notices you having a crappy day and when she inevitably asks what's wrong you say "nothing" except she's calling bullshit. she may be new to sunset but she isn't dumb, so spill

she's been dying to try out glogolf but she doesn't want to go on her own because "that's just sad" so she basically begs you to go with her and honestly...how can you say no to her 🥺

someone who she's known from seoul!! it can either be a friendship they had or perhaps they didn't get along so well back then, the possibilities are truly endless here

a new (?) city means a new dating pool and miss girl won't pass up the opportunity. that is until she finds out you also work at sunset and then it's jinah goes ghost!

miss compsci major is also a gaming nerd and she makes it pretty obvious with her spending breaks glued to her phone a lot of the time– oh what's that? you're a gamer too? oh she could just fall in love rn in this club

i'll add more as time passes (or perhaps make a legit plots page lmao) but this is all i've got atm. as always, if nothing works here i'm all for brainstorming so let's get itttttt 🌚

[talesfromsiteredacted]

Just Another Monday at Site (REDACTED)

I should have known this would happen. I work in a clandestine world-saving organization, naturally I would see some... strange stuff. Although, I'm not sure if even Foundation training could prepare me for what awaited me in the halls.

It's about 9:30 am local time Monday, and as low person on the office ladder, I was sent on the coffee run. I've just gotten the last of the very large order on my cart, and am heading off to the office when it happened.

I step into the grey corridor, and nearly get flattened by a pack of panicked D-Class. This is quickly followed by somebody in classic Doomguy kit running by, slightly out of breath. The semi visible face winks at me as he dashes past. I just sigh, do a double check, and continue on.

I make it to the elevator with no further incident. But... three floors beneath Dr. Gears' office... the man in the Praetor suit walks in. He stands between me and Geoff, the confused elevator operator. Praetor suit sees the coffee cart.

"Is that... coffee? Gimme."

"Not so fast, Discount Doomguy. Magic word?"

"Uh... now?"

"Tell you what, I'm not supposed to do this... but since you ripped and tore Hell a new one several times over... I guess I can hand over the bean juice. Still take it with 6 sugars, hold the dairy?" I make the drink, and hand it over.

"How did you know?"

"Besides your favorite shotgun on your back, and your third eye winking at me? Just a hunch. Morning, Dr. Clef. You're almost on time for once."

Meanwhile, poor Geoff is both confused and a bit scared. We reach our floor, Clef steps out, and as I go, Geoff grabs my arm.

"Uh, does... does Dr. Clef do that a lot?"

"Hell if I know. Word of advice, young Geoff... don't think too much about it. Otherwise, you're going to have to see a lot more of the Psych department. And I know how creepy Dr. Zhao can be. Best to just play along with Clef, I doubt even he knows what he's doing. Still... that's the first time I saw DoomClef."

"I thought it was a myth, like getting a college degree without massive student debt, or honest politicians."

"Nope, DoomClef, much like 076-2, exists, and is scary. You weren't here for the first batch of exploding chickens. I've never seen twenty heavy-duty goons running full speed in a panic while carrying 30 kilos of gear on their back each before. And Clef laughing like a kid left unattended in a candy store. We were cleaning exploded poultry out of everything for weeks. It was terrifying. I almost asked 076-2 to hold me during the first volley."

"I'm... not sure I want to know more."

"Probably for the best. Later, Geoff." I walk to the office. And am greeted by Dr. Iceberg in a cheap Cod of War costume, and Dr. Talloran in an Engineering RIG from Dead Space. I shake my head as I pass them. Gotta wonder if the anomalies are the crazy ones here, or the staff?

[hotgilearsummer]

multiples of 10 koel and montgomerie :) for real this time

Running into some extreme problems here w Montgomerie still being a pre-campaign character w a lot of secrets hdgdhsgdd

10. what inspired this character’s creation?

Koel:

This image. Literally this image. Which is funny because it looks nothing like current Koel, but Wren came first by at least 24 hours. This image and then a joke about a very evil seeming and grim man who was actually just A Regular Guy is what spawned Wren, who went through multiple iterations in my mind before he became a mask for something else (Koel). And then months later they ended up getting used in a Strahd campaign which makes this even funnier

Montgomerie:

Montgomerie is less specific. I needed a character and I had already promised [redacted] for Fleece's new heart game. I didn't want to play my usual "guilty character in mourning" or "✌️😘 (so tired)" types. So I decided to be so [redacted] and make a character who is so [redacted]. Also jessica rabbit a little bit. Really, the name came first and then the rest followed

20. what attracts them to someone—platonically and/or romantically, anything counts.

Koel:

Koel has very broad taste. They love nice and kind and bubbly people so much, but they tend to feel inadequate next to them, so the process of making friends with (and getting a crush on) someone like Nuri is a bit of a double edged sword (and ironic considering Nuri has admitted he's as nice as he is because he doesn't want to make anybody feel bad)

Overall, Koel will cling to whoever is kindest to them. If only one person is being nice to them, that person becomes their whole world. A big part of them believes that they aren't allowed to be choosy, so it really is first come first served with whoever they may end up dating or being friends with, even if it's not healthy for them - the biggest barrier is getting them to understand that they're being flirted with.

Montgomerie:

She also has broad taste, but not because she's desperate like Koel. She'll respond to most people who show an interest in her. She's also attracted by people who seem very fragile. Preferably men, but she's willing to give equal opportunity

30. how do they handle confrontation?

Koel:

Poorly, usually. In a moral confrontation, they're very stubborn and very all or nothing. If they believe you did something wrong, they will stay angry about it until the 'moral debt' is repaid. If they believe that they did something wrong, they will try to withdraw and remove themself from the situation so that they can't cause harm anymore, and then (often dramatically and out of proportion to the original issue) do something 'good' to try and even things out and fix the problem

Montgomerie:

With delight.

40. if you had to remake this character right now, how would you change them?’

Koel:

I wouldn't have set their stats up the way I did. They don't need that 16 in int lol, and they should have more than 16 dex. I would be interested in building a beast barbarian version of them, but I'm also not unhappy with them being a swashbuckler rogue

Montgomerie:

Since she's still in progress I think this is an N/A lmao

50. do they have a go-to beverage, alcoholic or nonalcoholic?

Koel:

Willing to drink anything you give them. Theyre Nasty. But also, theyre more food focused than beverage focused when it comes to preferences, and drinks are more of a survival thing for them. But if gravy counted as a drink, then the answer would be gravy, they love salty and savoury things

Montgomerie:

Enjoys red wine every so often. It's about the only thing she drinks nowadays. She won't drink plain water

60. what do they have faith in? what keeps them believing?

Koel:

Believes that when they have done enough good things, they will feel better and have repaid their moral debt enough to be 'nuetral' rather than a monster. They will never achieve that through the approach they are currently taking, but they're too stubborn and naive to realise that yet

Montgomerie:

Has no faith :)

[bustedbernie]

Hey, I was wondering if you could give me some reasons to be excited for Biden? I dunno, I'm not big on any candidate except for Warren, but she hasn't been doing well... So I'm trying to prep myself for Biden, even though he's not the best in debate, and there was that whole eye filling with blood thing, and the "creepy uncle joe" type stuff flying around still make me nervous. I dunno, I just want to at least be content with whoever the democratic nominee is, and I was hoping for some help!

Well, as i don’t know you and I can’t even see your blog, I’m not sure how you might compare to me politically and what appeals to you most in a candidate, so I’ll just tell a little bit about my own experiences, having been a very disappointed Kamala supporter into the Biden camp...

The first thing that made it easier for me was just the way Joe spoke about Kamala, her supporters and all that. He is genuinely empathetic and also understands how powerful and important it is when he gains a voter from another candidate, or the support of that candidate. Knowing that I had a place on his campaign, EVEN when there were things I disagreed with him and his group on, was helpful. Your input was important and valued. 

Second, I think after the initial sting of sadness/anger started to dissipate, Biden really shifted into a green new deal and also proposed a very ambitious transit and amtrak proposal. 

I think too, doing more research, I found that he had a pretty robust criminal justice reform plan, marijuana decriminalization plan, and many of his plans were actually quite robust. So on policy, although it still wasn’t Kamala’s plans, it was still really damn good. So I didn’t feel like I was jumping ship onto some shitty life raft. I felt it was still a really good platform that touched on many of the issues I care the most about. 

Eye filling with blood... Idk what to tell you on that, other than my eye has done that and I’m [age redacted but between 28-32] lol. Sometimes these things just happen. I’ve never been convinced that the “creepy uncle joe” stuff would get any more traction than any of the other remaining candidates weak spots, if anything, It has always come off to me as a gigantic stretch. And that seems to be the response by a lot of the key demographics we need to target to win. Of course these things can change, but that’s true for most candidates. 

As a Warren supporter, I’d assume you’re into banking & labor reform and the like. Well, Biden’s plans on that is also more robust than I had previously imagined. Just a bit of it here:

$15 minimum wage

Massively expanding unionization and the right to unionize

closing loopholes that allow employers to avoid paying overtime to employees by classifying them falsely as “managers”

Increasing taxes on the wealthy and taxing capital gains

Similar to Warren, using trade as a way to advocate for both labor and higher standards across the board, domestically and globally

Like Warren, has a Rural America plan to bring investment and jobs back to small communities. Young people should not have to leave their communities for opportunities if they don’t wish to. 

Providing rental assistance to low-income Americans, ending redlining and addressing its disastrous impacts, increasing housing supply, working to ensure no American pays more than 30% for housing, increasing neighborhood stability to avoid displacement, protecting tenants from eviction, massively expand Section 8 housing benefits, the creation of a renter’s tax benefit, plan smarter growth and expand and repair transit, retrofit old properties for environmental sustainability through a new tax-credit system

Hold CEOs personally accountable toward labor abuses, including for anti-union activities

Incentivizing collective bargaining and new unions to form to empower workers while fighting “Right-to-Work” legislation

Create a cabinet-level working group focussed on unionization

Ensure the right to protest and boycott, including secondary protests

Empower the National Labor Relations Board

Extend rights to both farmworkers and domestic workers as well as “independent contractors (like UBER)”

End mandatory arbitration agreements 

Protect undocumented workers who report issues, safety problems, or labor violations

I’m sure you’re also interested in his plan for medical coverage, since that is another cornerstone of the Warren campaign. As a Kamala supporter, I also supported a Medicare-based solution. That said, Biden is proposing a Public Option as well that would help radically expand access to medical care and drive down costs, as well as directly negotiating prices federally for drugs. You prolly know that all already, but he also is proposing free contraception and STI prevention services, protecting abortion rights through federal legislation, will lift restrictions on US aid to help global communities combat HIV/AIDS and Malaria, expanding access to specialized care for minority groups including the black community and LGBT+ community. He also aims to achieve mental health parity, bring mental health resources into the governmental framework so folks can afford the care they deserve, and work to help end the stigma attached to mental health. Similar to Warren’s plans, his plans here largely are funded through additional taxes on the wealthy and taxing capital gains :) 

Education is another area that is important to Warren and many of her supporters. Here are some of his ideas in another bullet format lol: 

Increase teachers pay to be competitive 

Provide teachers with additional professional and educational development

Ensure the federal loan forgiveness program is both preserved and enhanced so that our educators can focus on teaching and their personal lives, and not on paying off onerous loans

Double the number of psychologists, guidance counselors, nurses, social workers, and other health professionals in our schools so our kids get the mental health care they need

Bring needed support for students and parents into our public schools

Invest in our schools to eliminate the funding gap between white and non-white districts, and rich and poor districts.

Improve teacher diversity

Make sure children with disabilities have the support to succeed.

Allow folks to discharge student loan debt through bankruptsy 

Free community college and additional support for State Universities

Biden would create a new program that offers $10,000 of undergraduate or graduate student loan debt relief for each year of national or community service, up to five years. If you work in a school, for the government or for a non-profit, you would be automatically enrolled in this student loan forgiveness program. Under the proposed program, you could apply up to five years of prior national or community service.

Student Loan Forgiveness and Repayment: 

If you make less than $25,000 per year: you would owe no payment on your undergraduate student loans and also no interest would accrue. 

If you make more than $25,000 per year: you would pay only 5% of your discretionary income over $25,000 toward federal student loan payments. After 20 years of student loan repayment, you would receive student loan forgiveness for your federal student loans. The amount of student loans forgiven also would not be subject to income tax. Borrowers also would be automatically enrolled in income-based repayment, with an option to opt out.

I hope that these few things help you feel a little more comfortable!!! He ain’t Kamala, and you may not ever see him as Liz, either. But, he still is pretty progressive and would help us build the framework for more progress later on! I tried to focus on policy stuff since I know Elizabeth Supporters tend to, unlike the Berniecrats, like policy lol. Anyway, this kind of stuff helped me get on board with him. 

[fatal-blow]

aaahhhhh lessee, how about: Tam with 5, 42 and 63 (I already kinda know the answer to that one but I'm curious about extra info haha), and Josan with 67, 77, and 93!

sorry this took me all daY i’ve been a bit busy!

Tam

5. How do they deal with/react to pain?

Physical pain, Tam either stays quiet and sucks it up or he’ll crack a joke about it (”Huh, that one actually tickled”).  He tends to be kinda pleasantly surprised when something REALLY hurts because he’s got very tough skin (both normally and with the added bonus of his stores) so generally that means hey, cool, this person’s gonna make for a challenging fight.

Uhh emotionally isn’t too different, actually.  If it’s really bad, though, he’s no stranger to full blown panic attacks--especially if it’s something involving Josan or [redacted].

42. Do they have any bad habits?

Tam’s a smoker!  Whatever...that means in the Other Plane.  A health risk in the Other Plane is generally a lot less subtle than a health risk in the Material Plane (ex exploding cigarettes, he ain’t getting them from that merchant again).

He bottles shit up instead of talking it out, which is an old, old habit that he’s started falling back into as he starts to feel so isolated.

Oh and he’s territorial as fuck.  Between Tam and Josan, Tam’s the one who’s more likely to straight up maim unwanted trespassers.  Feeds back a little into the fact that he bottles things up; that’s usually when the frustrations run a little more freely.

63. Do they have an accent? 

Tam does, as you know!  It’s not an Earth accent, though, despite a very obvious human ghoul heritage in him.  In fact it’s Agniparan (which is a Mar’ether country (Mar’ether being the secondary human homeworld...it’s a long story).  If you want a better idea of what I imagine it to sound like, it’s a bit like Southern USA/Bayou type accents?  Another quirk of the accent is that Agniparans generally can’t pronounce ‘th’ words.

I’ll add a small excerpt, too~

“If he ain’t gotme doing shit, da fuck am I gonna do to pay off dis fucking debt?” Tamretorted.

Josan winced.  “Just give ittime.  You’ll have plenty to do once weattack.  You’re more a fighter thananythin’ else, and there’ll be plenty’a fightin’.”

“He just betterhold to his promise.”

Hope that’s the extra info you were looking for! :3c

Josan

67. What is their sexuality?

Flagrantly bisexual, though he’s not the all around garbage disposal that Gabriel is.  He tends to like his lovers with a little bite to them--literally.

77. Favorite insult? Do they insult people often? 

Josan’s not really one to use actual insults?  He tends to use tone of voice instead or backhanded or condescending comments, especially when he’s being observed because that’s the sort of persona he’s built.  In private he’s a bit more willing to talk shit to people’s faces, and then he generally hits flaws/things he particularly dislikes about the person to insult them.  Overall, though, he’s not usually hostile unless A) he has good reason to be or B) the other person started it.

93. What kinds of things anger them? 

Josan is infuriated by the culture of the vafii, the greed, the violence, the hoarding.  He hates that jinigii are often treated as property to the point that he’s actually publicly expressed his disgust with the fact that the jinigii have become slaves--something that comes back to bite him in the ass when he takes in Alincia.

He also quickly gets frustrated with himself and his intrusive thoughts, every reminder that he’s a vafii too and “no different from his peers.”

Aaand being in close proximity to people he’s cut ties with or otherwise dislikes is a surefire way to put him in a bad mood.  Mapasha is definitely at the pinnacle of that; her manipulation of him in the past and the shit she put him through gets him riled up just thinking about it, but mostly just for the fact that he feels like he should have seen it/listened to Tam sooner and gotten away from her.