#the art and writing and headcanons you've made inspire me and keep me going

[weenwrites]

HII!! saw your request are open so can I get a senario with an artistic reader who sketches and paint a lot? and Ratchet, Optimus, bee or smokescreen, just entered one of the UN-used rooms of the base, it ended being filled with super detailed paintings of them and the team all signed by the reader

(I only write scenarios for 1 character, so I can't do all three. And I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna go for headcanons for this one so I can do all three.)

Optimus nearly takes a moment to admire all these paintings, but then realized he shouldn't look at your works without your permission. These are your private works, and you might not be too happy with someone peeking at your work in secret. So he simply leaves the room, and if you happened to have caught him in the act, he'll apologize for intruding. He finds your creativity and your ability to paint such detailed pictures such as these to be something rather nice, and he's happy that he may be a source of inspiration for you to draw from.

Ratchet honestly doesn't know how to take the room so he just walks out. He doesn't find it weird—well, perhaps a little, but from the little peek he got at the art, it was very detailed and rather impressive. He does ask you about the paintings, and if you seem embarrassed, he'll drop it. But if you explain to him that, yes you have been painting him and the reason why, he won't stop you so long as you aren't distracting him from his work.

Smokescreen's jaw drops the instant he realizes that he's the subject of all these paintings, and the fact that you made them just made you waaay cooler in his eyes. He instant he finds you he's immediately throwing question after question at you, a few that you actually manage to hear through it all are "these are so cool! Could I keep one?" and "could you paint me again? I'd be more than willing to pose for you!" If it turns out that you're extremely embarrassed that he found out about your paintings, he'll attempt to tone it down and assure you that he doesn't think it's weird or anything. Whenever he catches you doing what he thinks might be drawing, he'll "discreetly" slip on over to go take a peek unless you've told him you're uncomfortable with that.

[auxiliarydetective]

We've done it!

Or, more accurately, you've done it! Thanks to you, my fellow Tumblrinas, I've actually managed to hit 200 followers!

I never thought I would get this far, but I'm eternally grateful for all the love you've given me, and I can't wait to share many more brainrots with you!

In tune with that, I've decided: Why not let you look even further into my mind? I've given you lots of writing, but why not provide some visuals? And so, in thinking about what I wanted to do for my 200 followers celebration, I came up with...

⁕ Evie's Mind Palace Festival! ⁕

(Placing a cut so this doesn't get too long ^^)

As depicted in this lovely graphic above, I'm going to be focusing on my OCs' fashion for this little event. But not just that! I'll get to the bonuses later :)

For now, text version! Because Tumblr likes not loading images and some people may not be able to view the image

↬ Step 1: Pick an OC of your choice! From my OCs, that is. Hope that was clear. Anyone from the list. I'll even throw in a little bonus and say that unintroduced OCs are allowed! That means the ones on this list AND ones I may have rambled to to you in a chat we've had.

↬ Step 2: Pick an occasion prompt! The prompts are as follows:

Casual (aka everyday wear, aka their basic character design or an alternate outfit or it)

Formal

Training/Athletic

Battle (this may overlap with either 1. or 3. for some characters, but let's assume they actually get geared up for battle)

Hot weather (your typical summer clothes)

Cold weather (sweaters, winter coats, you name it)

Swimwear

Canon event (may overlap with some other categories, but I made this a separate thing for the lore opportunities it provides) - Make sure to specify what canon event you want!

Stealing clothes - You can include who the character should steal from in your ask, otherwise I will pick the victim myself.

Holiday-themed - Pick your holiday! Any holiday counts.

Fandombend - Pick your fandom! (This will probably come with some headcanons on what the OC would be like in the new fandom)

Inspired by a song - Please, pick a song! Preferably from the OC's playlist. I should have a playlist for almost every OC. Hop into the "#playlist" tag on my blog to find them and, if they're not posted over there anywhere, tap on any playlist that's there, let it take you to my Spotify profile, and hop into the "Character Playlists" folder!

↬ Step 3: If you want, pick an extra prompt! Your options are:

Historical - Please specify your time frame! You don't necessarily have to, but I tend to be an indecisive little gremlin, so it would make things a little easier if you could pick ^^"

Fantasy (This, of course, makes little sense if the OC is already in a fantasy setting)

Sci-fi (Once again, this makes little sense if the OC is already in a sci-fi setting)

Steampunk

Cultural - Please pick a culture for me to take inspiration from! It doesn't have to be a real-life culture. For example, you could pick Japan for some kimono art or you could pick the Kuja from One Piece!

Color prompt - Pick your color! I ask that you do keep it at one color so that I have some more freedom, and I won't take specific hex codes either because those specific hex codes might clash with the OC's color palette

Prompt of your choice - This can be literally anything! Yes, also an occasion, in which case it would replace your original occasion prompt. I just didn't have the space to add in all occasions known to man, so if you have another idea, this is where to put it.

↬ Step 4: Send your ask! Done!

Once you've sent your ask, please keep in mind that it might take me a while to answer it. I'll then make a collage/moodboard and get the ask posted. Maybe, I'll also draw your prompt, depending on if I have the energy and/or time for it. If I plan on doing that, I'll let you know in the post and tag you once I have the drawing finished! I may also be swayed into adding a little fic snippet to the answer, if I do feel so inclined. Maybe a song to match the vibes? It'll be a little surprise!

► Rules:

Be nice! It's not hard, and it's basically all I ask.

This is the one time you might not want to shower me in asks because these asks might take a bit to answer. I'm not putting a cap on how many asks per person you're allowed to send, just maybe be mindful of how long they take to answer and space them out over the time of the event.

I'll be accepting asks from the time that this is posted until March 17th. The event ends with the strike of midnight starting the next day. Whenever that may be in your time zone. As long as it's still 23:59 on March 17th somewhere around the world, send in your ask. I might also extend the event if asks keep coming in and I have the energy to keep going.

↬ Additional info for mutuals: You get to ask for crossovers! Just pick one of my OCs and one of yours and I'll try my best to draw them. I might bother you for references though, so be prepared! It doesn't matter how long we've been mutuals for! It could've been five minutes, you're still allowed to send in crossover asks. As long as we're mutuals, let's say, at the time that the ask is answered, it's all good. In practice, that means that you just need to be following me to be able to send in a crossover request. If you ask nicely and maybe say something about why you'd think why our two children would go well together and we share a fandom, it's very unlikely that I'll deny your request and won't follow you back.

Also, if you've ever wanted to say something about my OCs and/or me and my blog, this might be the perfect time for you to do it.

Okay, that's it for now! Love you, everyone! Here's to more fandom-y shenanigans!

Also, behold my new non-OC post divider! It features a lineart sketch of my blog icon in the middle! The icon was designed by @benevolenterrancy pretty much exactly two years ago when they realized my old icon was not, in fact, a unicorn. I still go full-on heart-eyes mode whenever I see my icon, so I figured it was time to remind everyone of the amazing artist that created it <3

Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @fluffle-system @wheresmybloodynauglamir @supermarine-silvally @nanukanal @cody-helix02 (I believe this is the first time I've ever used my full taglist, aka the basic taglist plus everyone from fandom-specific taglists - wowie!) - Let me know if you'd like to be added or removed, for specific fandoms or the general list!

[callmegaith]

just a curious question. As someone who has been in the fanbase for a long time, do you feel like the fanbase has changed over the years? If yes, then for better or worse? And also do you feel like you've popularized Jackalope among the fanbase in your time making art for it?

Thank you for what I'm sure will be an insightful answer

Oooh interesting ask!

Long read ahead!!

Well, I've been with the fanbase for what's gonna be my 6th year now. I would say at the start I mostly kept to myself so I didn't engage a lot with others. I got into the games after playing Hotel and took my time learning all the lore. After that, I mostly just talked about RL with my close friend and bestie. After a while we both started making fanart which really wasn't anything significant on my end. I was a nobody and still kept mostly to myself. I have made friends in the fanbase tho, some who I'm still friends with today. The fanbase was small but dedicated. (Obviously smaller than now)

Then my friend and I created our own community for Rusty Lake that we managed and were mods on and kept it going and growing for 2 years, which allowed me to meet more people. Everyone mostly liked sharing their art and theories, and that's when I started getting a better view at the fanbase as a whole. They were SERIOUS about their lore and theories. Lots of people didn't accept other people's headcanons and fought back and forth on it, everything had to be lore correct yada yada yada. Also shipping was a HUGE NO NO. People fuckin hated shipping RL characters.

And then Paradox happened and idk why but something in the fanbase shifted after Paradox. It was a volcano erupting and then going back to sleep. It got bad before it became good, but I wasn't there a lot during this period as I decided to take a hiatus when things got to their boiling point.

Through the entirety of 2020 I was gone, and then I came back for a while to draw my silly son and check on the games, since there was nothing interesting ( FOR ME ) at the time, I left again. Same thing in 2022. And then 2023 the brainrot returned HARD and though there was still nothing interesting going on with the current games (again, FOR ME) I still played them all and went back to reclaim my throne as David Eilander's # 1 fan. By that time, I've really bettered my art skills and I was way more confident in sharing my art openly to other platforms like Reddit, where it was a great success. It also allowed me to meet with the fanbase again and BY GOD IT CHANGED. Everyone is a lot nicer now for SURE. Everyone is way more respectful and discuss their lore and theories in a civil manner. No more gatekeeping. It was BEAUTIFUL. And I guess that's what made me stay this time around.

So yea, fanbase was bad, now is good.

As for Jackalope, I feel like it's more popular outside of Rusty Lake than inside the fanbase. Most of the people who like my Jackalope art don't even know what Rusty Lake is. While in the fanbase I think it feels big simply because I keep it contained within my community, and since it's just a group of familiar people sharing their work about one topic, it feels big. But in the larger scope of the fanbase? I don't think so, no. I think Jackalope is just enjoyed by a few of us who bounce ideas off one another. I make art that inspires someone to write a song or a story, and then I see their work based on my work and get inspired and make something based of what they made, so on and so forth.

And this time around I also tried to introduce my dynamic for Dale and David very differently than the times before. I approached the fanbase with a slow burn idea and a comic to make it interesting. And people were surprisingly open to the idea of them, not necessarily as a ship, but just that they deserve to meet again and make amends.

Jackalope is a small ship, but it's a ship that inspired a lot of amazing things and honestly? Got a lot of people in my community interested in the game.

Hope you enjoy this long text, anon xD and I hope it was as insightful as you hoped

[banavalope]

Really apropos of nothing - from your perspective, anyway - but I do wish it were. Easier? Less open for exploitation? For artists to be able to explore the concept of shared / collaborative universes more often in the pursuit of creating original art.

(more discussion of topic under cut in the event no one cares lol)

I'll note first that I'm having a different conversation here than the ad nauseam one about an artist's right to own and profit off their intellectual property. We do not disagree on this point, I am staunchly in favor, always, of independent artists staking claim on what is theirs and protecting themselves with ownership and copyright. What I'm against is corporate abuse of this protection, because literally what do they need it for, they are billionaires. Eat my ass, my life has only been made worse learning that Disney tried to fucking copyright the names Thor and Loki. So, let's digress.

I'm coming at this from a background of having grown up on adoptables RPG forums circa Gaiaonline, it was a large portion of my internet community life; the concept of an adoptables RPG is tangentially related to shared universes. They have similar DNA: a collection of people all flocking to a concept and, through communal effort, build the canon together. It's non-commital, it's more than just you and some friends creating a story, it's a little like an open RPG except you get to keep whatever you made up if you decide you're jumping ship from Gaia to Deviantart because let's say you got into a weird internet fight once with a 22 year old over a PNG you paid fake money for, and have decided you really just don't need that kind of drama in your life now that you've turned 17.

Where they differ is in the most important aspect of one being open source by permission, and the other by design.

Collaborative works like Orion's Arm, or SCP for a more mainstream example, are fascinating examples of what I mean. The dedication to building open source fictional backdrops anyone can use for anything, for profit or not, that nobody can solely own. Of course, I feel like these examples exist so perfectly because the sci-fi genre has itself always been this way. D&D is also this way. Those are nice points of inspirational reference, but they're only two genres. Very specific genres, at that.

Because you have to sometimes consider, there exist people who want to write, or want to create, who are likely very good at these things, but struggle to come up with an """""original""""" idea within their topic of interest. Maybe their interest is so niche it's impossible to separate it from the original point of inspiration (see: every time someone calls out typing quirks as homestuck derivative) Alternatively are the people good at coming up with a multitude of ideas based on one topic, but no good at stringing them together into some kind of cohesive idea, or maybe just lack the motivation to do it. Not everything has to be a thing, sometimes you just want to share an idea in a way that matters without it being your magnum opus. Yeah, you could post them into the screaming void of the social media abyss, though it's hardly a satisfying compromise.

Imagine the work that could be created if there were genres upon genres of open source worldbuilding projects, and the safety of knowing the idea you're riffing off of hurts no one to use, as being riffed off of is its intended purpose for existing. Nobody owns it! We all agreed to that at the start! Go nuts! Sell it, if you want to!

"You're just describing fandom AU", yes, dear reader, astute observation. Shared universes are, to me, the natural evolution of a fandom. Instead of only joking about how, after a point, an AU is just an original story, or a certain amount of headcanons creates a whole new character, you take that joke to its logical conclusion. Maybe it goes under recognized as the next step up because we're all so focused on making fun of people for it, but to say so risks sounding spicy.

Anyway, I love collaborative storytelling, I love shared universes and open source material, so much so that I want to bake it into my own art projects. I want there to be more free art created and curated by independent artists, ensuring struggling independent artists who can't afford to be free are able to make their living. I want art to be more accessible beyond just access to products. I have exhausted the SCP wiki, and hunger.

[runeterrankhaleesi]

i'm still too shy to come off anon (i did once before but I'm too scared to do it again >_<) but i'll be banana renekton anon, maybe just banana anon for short!

if your requests are still open, could i request a fem!s/o with jhin that dresses like gwen does? very prim and proper and pretty, but also very dark and broody. like gothic lolita style ♡ but behind closed doors she loves cute, pink frilly things and stuffed animals and watches children shows for comfort? what do you think he'd think about that?

i love your writing by the way ♡ every time i play with a zed i think about you!

[A/N: Hello darling. It’s okay if you’re not comfortable going off anon, no pressure! This blog is a safe haven, you've got nothing to fear. And it makes me happy to hear that you remember me whenever you play with a Zed, it makes me realize what kind of impression I left on you darlings. Thank you for making a request. You may ask again for more.]

Headcanons of Jhin with a Gothic Lolita Female s/o

Jhin finds you to be the most compelling and most adorable person he's ever met.

It intrigues him that a person can dress in such brooding colors-with a matching personality to boot-but practically fawn over pink, pretty, and cute stuff behind closed doors.

He's a fan of your gothic lolita style. The dark and grim colors with sheer or lace poofy skirts and knee high socks paired with chunky boots or doll shoes, sometimes including a pair of gloves to complete the whole look-reminds him very much of beautiful porcelain dolls sitting atop a shelf of a toy store.

That said, he very much treats you a like a doll (and sees you as a muse and inspiration).

This man knows how to sew (it's for his actors, mainly). Thank the gods of Ionians that he pursued arts and learned how to sew, he's now proud of it more than ever because he gets to dress you in pretty dresses, like you woild to any doll.

And yes, he has made a doll that is a carbon copy of you that he keeps in his studio (It was out of love). One dressed as a gothic lolita and one dressed in a pretty pink dress like a princess.

He has also made stuffed toys of your favorite animals since you love to surrounded by those and hug them in times when you need comfort. (There has been one instance where Jhin deliberately accidentally kicked a plushie away, saying "Why are hugging these toys when you can hug me?". Please just give this man a hug.) 

You're his muse, of course this man has painted you. There was one particular painting where you wore a pink dress with ribbons, your hair was braided and decorated with flowers and pink tassels, and you were surrounded by flowers and birds. You truly looked like a princess in fairy tales. 

He knows your comfort shows like the back of his hand. He never and will never call them "kid shows", he would never want to be the person to ridicule someone who watches a series that "aren't for adults". Yes, he thinks that those kind of people are idiots and that they should be dead. 

Jhin has a sixth sense when it comes to you. He feels whenever you need extra comfort. He'll get a big floofy blanket, enough to wrap you both comfortably, and just proceed to dump it on you-lovingly, laugh a little before he snuggles up beside you and wraps you in his arms, resting his chin on your head (if you're smaller than him), then mumbles the word "I love you", kissing the top of your head. 

[cerosin-bis]

You've inspired me to try and get back into drawing and draw Ghost but man, getting back into art is hard. But I always really like to kind of admire the art you've made bc its so cool!!! If you have any hcs that you'd like to share for Ghost that you haven't been able to share, I'd really love to hear them! :) I hope you are having a good day

AH I am so glad to read this! Thank you ♥ and I get you, I stopped drawing completely between 2016-2019. It's a bumpy road sometimes, but I can only encourage you to keep it up. Creating is nice and going back to art has been one of the best things that happened to me. Reading that I could inspire you is the greatest honour.

Here are 3 more Ghost headcanons just for u (and for anyone who wants ok).

He listens to a lot of different music genres including like. mainstream pop music (though he will never admit it). However, his favourite artists are Aphex Twin and Death Grips (yes. like nikto.). He's got his fav albums on an old USB MP3 player that looks like it should not be functional anymore but still is.

Gratuitous hc from one (1) line I wrote in Remanence: he harbours a seemingly shared, albeit silent respect with Nikto. the only two mfs who tend to remain masked as much as they can. They nod to each other but don't speak a word. (Ghost has seen Nikto's face because Nikto doesn't care too much about remaining masked 24/7 it's more of a habit, but Nikto hasn't seen Ghost's face).

He has really nice handwriting. Like impeccable cursive. He's not ambidextrous but can write with both hands for some reason.

[thatgordongirl]

1000 follower celebration!

Thank you to everyone who has followed and interacted with my blog! This couldn’t have been achieved without you - here are some asks so feel free to send :)

Fruit Emoji asks

🍉 Do you prefer to write short fics or long fics? Multichaptered works or single ones? Why? 

🍓 What’s a fic you’ve written you feel is underrated? 

🍎 Is there anything you straight-up won’t write? 

🍒 What’s your favorite character dynamic to write? (Can be romantic or platonic, specific or general!) 

🍊 Who’s a character you don’t write for that often, but keep meaning to write for more? (They’re so interesting! But maybe you have trouble pinning them down, or keep getting distracted by another blorbo…) 

🍑 If you could make a connection between your favorite character and another work you care about (whether a crossover/fusion or a wonderfully “pretentious” literary reference) what would it be? How would it work? 

🥭 Rank from most enjoyable/fun to write to least: Fluff, Smut, Angst, Crack.

🍍 What kind of AUs do you like? Are there any AUs you hate or just generally have beef with? 

🍋 What’s your favorite spicier trope to write? 

🍌 In your opinion, what’s the funniest joke/reference/pun you’ve made in a fic? 

🍏 Is there something you overuse, whether it’s a certain phrase, trope, or piece of punctuation? 

🥝 What’s your favorite trope/AO3 tag to write?

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc… 

🍈 Who’s your blorbo and what are some of your favorite headcanons/ideas about them that repeatedly show up in your fics? Free pass to rant about blorbo opinions. 

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.) 

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one? 

Emoji Asks

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

✍ Do you have a beta reader?

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

🍷 Do you drink and write?

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

💖 What made you start writing? 

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

💲 Would you ever open commissions? 

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

🏆 What's your most popular fic? 

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

📈 How many fics do you have?

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them. 

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write? 

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon? 

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

💥 How do you feel about criticism? 

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

Headcanon asks (Sent with character) 

1•What instrument(s) does this character play?

2•What is this character’s favorite color?

3•Which person can this character trust?

4•What does this person like to do in the winter?

5•Does this character enjoy reading? If so, what’s their favorite book?

6•What social media platforms does this character use?

7•When does this character usually go to sleep?

8•What is/was this character’s favorite subject in school?

9•What singers or bands does this character like?

10• Does this character enjoy doing art or sketching? Are they good at it?

11•What is this character’s favorite animal?

12• What is this character’s favorite show?

13•What is a bad habit that this character has/had?

14•How does this characters cope with a stressful situation?

15•How does this person handle people who get on their nerves?

Halloween•What does this character dress up as for trick-or-treating?

Birthday•What is this character’s ideal birthday party?

Christmas•What presents does this character want?

Thanksgiving•How is the relation between this character and their family?

New Years•How does this character celebrate New Years?

[shadow--writer]

Hey folks!

This post was kind of a long time incoming, but I really didn't have the words/courage to make it. (ty to misery lake for coming on the subject first, I've loved talking with you and bonking dolls, you've always made me smile <3) But I'm no longer going to make much content for the arcana if at all. I've watched everything go down/that is going down, paired with my waning love for the game I figure it'd be a good time for me to go. I'm keeping this blog up so if people want to read the headcanons and short fics I've written they're able, but if I'm gonna post here it's going to be more oc based.

I'm going to be clearing out my inbox of requests and closing them indefinitely, but I just want to say thank you. Thank you guys for letting me experiment and letting me write and draw. I've improved in my art so so much because of this fandom and the support I've been given. I've made some amazing friends and mutuals on here who've allowed me to bonk our oc's heads together and let me create and I'm so grateful. I'm grateful for everyone who's commented or liked on any of my works, I read them often and they always make me smile and inspire me to keep creating.

The arcana, while a mess, holds a lil special place in my heart because of everything I've gotten to do and people I've gotten to talk to, so thank you! It sucks where it's going right now, and reading about everything behind the scenes makes it hard for me to enjoy the game as much as I once did, but I'm glad I got to create here.

(edit: but if y'all wanna chat/(this is directed at one of y'all 👀👀) send me pet updates PLEASE DO. I would LOVE that)

[iturbide]

A Gift that No One Else Can Give

Happy holidays, everyone!  Apologies for the late offering (getting sick threw a wrench into my plans), but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write a warm happy holiday piece.

Even after the better part of a year, the constantly changing beauty of Ylisse still left Robin in awe.  Arriving with the first thaw of winter’s end, he’d seen brown fields turn verdant as grass and flowers sprang forth, the bare branches beyond transformed into a lush canopy stretching as far as the eye could see.  Summer shifted the lands away from the gilt green of new leaves to something deeper, cooler, and the shadows in the gardens offered relief from the clinging heat and shelter from the frequent rains by equal measure.  The advent of autumn left the landscape awash in fresh color, golden farmlands ripe for harvest shimmering beyond forests ablaze in red and orange, and fallen leaves crackled like flame beneath travelers’ steps.  But though winter had since regained its hold and stolen the halidom’s vibrant palette, Ylisstol’s citizens seemed intent on fighting back the dreary greys and browns within their city by any means possible.

It had taken him entirely by surprise when he came downstairs and found the dining room festooned in green and red garlands.  Over breakfast, Lissa had explained that it was all part of the winter festival, a time-honored tradition where the people of Ylisse decorated their homes inside and out and exchanged gifts with loved ones to liven up the bleak midwinter.  And Robin had to admit that the results were quite effective: just walking out onto the snow-dusted streets, he could not help but smile at the renewed color in the city, banners breaking up plain grey stonework and candles burning bright in every window.  The people, too, seemed renewed by the change, and the city square rang with talk and laughter as citizens milled and shopped, smiling and greeting everyone they passed on their ways.

Guest or not, it had been impossible for Robin not to get swept up in the festive mood, and Lissa had heartily encouraged him to take part.  So with her guidance, the Plegian had set about finding small tokens for each of his friends from within and beyond the halidom, adorning each with a tiny red bow in lieu of wrapping (which he attempted once and failed quite spectacularly at, much to the princess’ obvious amusement).  Some were easy to shop for: exotic ingredients for Stahl’s apothecary pursuits, a new set of leather satchels for Henry’s hexing materials, a silver bangle studded with rose quartz for Olivia’s performances.  Others were much more difficult: he settled on a stamina concoction for Sully’s seemingly endless training endeavors, a silver blade wrought in Ylissean style for Lon’qu’s weapons mastery, and a decorative wall hanging for Maribelle’s tea parlour (on Lissa’s advice, since he’d never seen the room she swore the tapestry would look perfect in).

But there was one person who, try as he might, he could not think of a suitable gift for.  After all, what could he possibly give the man who already had everything?

It gnawed at him as he made his way through the palace halls, worrying at the ribbon tied around the plain ebony box in his palm.  Was it perhaps too little, something so small?  Inappropriate for someone in his position?  Too much for someone in Chrom’s?  Gods, why did the prince have to be so difficult—

A muffled oath caught his attention.  Looking around, Robin saw only a few closed doors along the hallway, most of which were sitting rooms if he remembered the palace tour correctly…but the sound came again, and he could swear he recognized the voice now that he paid attention.  Frowning, he moved toward the nearest door and knocked lightly.  “Is everything alright?”

The cursing came again, significantly more frantic, and now he was certain he recognized it.  “E-everything’s fine!  No trouble!”  

“Chrom, what’s going on?” Robin sighed.

“Nothing!  Like I said, everything’s fine, nothing to worry about – oh gods damn, why won’t it stay--”

“It doesn’t sound like everything’s fine.”

“W-well, it is, I promise, nothing to worry abooh no no no don’t—”

“…can I come in?”

There was a long moment of silence…followed by a long-suffering sigh.  “I guess.”

Much to his surprise, Robin heard the bar on the door shift, and hurriedly hid his hands behind his back before it opened to reveal a harried-looking prince with scraps of green cloth sticking to his tunic and silver shavings glittering in his hair.  “My, you look festive,” Robin chuckled as Chrom stepped aside.

“Ha ha,” the prince deadpanned, retreating to the table near the center of the room.

Robin closed the door and followed cheerfully after him, enjoying the warmth from the crackling hearth after his latest journey through the chilly streets.  “So what have you been up to?  Besides decorating – g-good gods, what is that?” he asked, stopping in his tracks as he finally caught a glimpse of the desk.

“I’ve been trying to wrap gifts for the winter festival,” Chrom mumbled.  If Robin had thought his own attempts were failures, they were arguable successes compared to the nightmare of ribbon scraps and torn covering scattered haphazardly across the table in the wake of the prince’s efforts.  

“Well…I certainly can’t guess what you’ve wrapped, so perhaps you can call it a success?” he volunteered.

Chrom groaned, moving a fresh sheet of red-dyed parchment to reveal the shape of something underneath.  “I haven’t managed to wrap it at all.  Thanks for trying, though.”

Well, it had been worth the effort.  “You could just tie a ribbon around it?” Robin suggested, thinking of the gift concealed behind his own back.

“That takes all the fun out of it, though.  You don’t really have to guess what it is if you can see it.  Although,” the prince mused, lifting the parcel and folding the wrapping around it, “I suppose there’s not much guesswork involved either way, is there?”

Peering over his shoulder, Robin had to admit that the outline looked very much like a book, with the rounding of one long edge seeming indicative of a spine.  Quite a thick tome, too, judging by the size; perhaps he’d found a new book for Sumia?  “It’s the thought more than the mystery that’s important for the festival, isn’t it?  You’re clearly thinking of them, so I doubt anyone will mind not puzzling over their gift.”

“You think?”  As Chrom turned a pleading look on him, Robin smiled…and after another moment, the prince relented, offering the clumsily covered present to him.  “It’s a little early, but…this is for you.”

“For me?” Robin repeated, hastily shoving the tiny box into his coat pocket before taking the bundle.  Holding it in his hands, he had no doubt that it was a book – and quite an impressive one, at that, nearly as wide as his palm and heavy enough to pose a threat if dropped.  Perhaps there was something to be said for the mystery, after all: a curious sense of excitement fluttered through his mind as he pondered just what sort of book it could be, and it took all his self-control not to discard the paper then and there.  “May I open it?”

The prince smiled, leaning against the edge of the table.  “I don’t see why not.  The festival lasts the whole week, and usually there’s a big party on the last day for feasting and exchanging gifts, but…well, lots of times friends will trade presents early, since the parties tend to be family things.  W-which isn’t to say you’re not invited to our party here, because you are!  I-I just meant that…uh… … …”

Robin grinned, running the tips of his fingers over the edge of a cover.  “Would you like it if I opened it now?” he ventured.  Chrom rubbed the back of his neck, meeting the young man’s eye almost shyly as he nodded.  “Well, if anyone asks where your festival gift to me is, I’ll be sure to bring this along.”  Humming to himself, he unwrapped the slightly crumpled parchment, casting it aside…

…and for a moment, he could find no words at all for the beautiful tome left resting in his hands.  The leather covers alone were masterworks, with painstaking texturing and gold inlay accompanying the light and dark staining; but the gilt pages, too, were cut and aligned in perfect form, with tiny indents and markers drawing his fingertips as he ran them along the outside edge.  Opening it to one of the sections, he saw a tiny script ‘Y’ written on the tab – and on the page itself, a delicate illustration of Ylisstol Castle as seen from the city square greeted him; flipping through, the next few pages included a brief treatise on the halidom itself, from its climate and religion to its major exports, followed by blank parchment covered in neat guidelines waiting to be filled.  Moving to the next marker, inscribed with a ‘P,’ he found a drawing of Plegia Castle waiting, the great six-eyed skull at the foot of the mesa looking nearly as grand in ink as it did in his memories – and as with the section before, a handful of prescient details preceded blank pages.  Curious, he flipped to the very end to find thickly bundled sheaves of parchment bound to the spine…which, as he tested them, unfolded to reveal maps of the Archanean continent and their Valmese neighbors, along with more detailed charts for the individual nations within each.

The prince’s voice broke the silence as Robin spread a map of Plegia out across the cluttered table.  “I was…having some trouble figuring out what to get you.  So…I started thinking about…how you always go into the council meetings with that armload of parchment and quills and ink, and how much of a hassle it must be to keep it all straight.  I was hoping this might be a little easier to manage.  You can take all your notes in this – about council meetings here, diplomatic negotiations with Ferox, things going on back home – and it’s even got some helpful stuff like a list of Ylisse’s noble families in the back.”  As Robin eagerly re-folded the maps and turned back to explore the aristocratic lineages, he heard Chrom draw another breath…and paused, looking up at the man standing beside him.  “Do you like it?” the prince asked, his voice almost pleading to the Plegian’s ear.

“It’s incredible,” Robin replied without hesitation.  “I’ve never seen anything like this!  I’ve certainly seen section markers in this style before, but the inclusion of the maps is ingenious…”

“I…w-well, I can’t take all the credit there,” Chrom admitted.  “I got a lot of help.  Gregor helped find the maps, and Miriel figured out how to fold them up like that so they could be bound in with the rest.  And Maribelle pulled together the part about the nobility, since she’s sort of an expert.  Oh, and I got Henry’s help hexing the quill, too.”

“Quill?” Robin repeated.

The prince cursed under his breath, tossing aside crumpled parchment and bits of ribbon until he uncovered a raven feather hidden in the colorful chaos.  “You don’t have to keep refilling it – it stores ink, I guess?  And then it turns white as you use it, but when you dip it in an ink well it’ll refill and turn black again.”

Robin took the plume as Chrom held it out to him, running his thumb along the soft edge.  “This is all wonderful!  I’ll miss less with a quill that can keep up with my thoughts, and the book is beautiful, and contains so much – not just room for writing, but details that can help in treaty discussions and diplomatic endeavors and…gods, this section on the nobility alone might ease our way through some of the reforms we’ve been struggling with in the council…”

“I guess I was…kind of worried you might get the wrong impression from it,” Chrom confessed.  “I don’t want you to think that I only want you here for your advice and your help.  Not that I don’t appreciate it!  Because I do!  This past year with me filling in for Emm, all the changes we’ve worked out – I couldn’t have done any of that without you.  But…but it’s not just your counsel I value.  It’s…it’s you.”

Robin felt a touch of warmth creep into his cheeks.  Glancing over, he could swear he saw a trace of color in the prince’s own face as he reached out to close the tome and open the front cover, revealing a handwritten inscription within:

This book belongs to Robin The man whose mind steers me safely through storms and trouble And whose heart is a beacon guiding me toward calm and peace

He feared for a moment that his heart might leap from his chest, and pressed a hand against it to keep it contained.  The script was unique among the various writing styles he’d seen elsewhere in the book, and after all the messages they had exchanged in coordinating the Plegian campaign, he recognized it as Chrom’s own.  The precise composition and painstaking lettering spoke of several practice iterations before attempting the final product within the book…and he wondered just how long the prince had spent agonizing over the message and its implications.

“It’s perfect,” Robin breathed, looking up just in time to see the smile break across Chrom’s face (and he was relieved that he’d not let his hand fall yet, since his heart pounded once more against his ribs and left them aching beneath his palm).

“I’m really glad,” the prince laughed, rubbing his neck again.  “I was worried it might be too much.  Lissa says I can be a little…sappy, sometimes.”

Robin beamed, shaking his head as he re-read the inscription.  “Not at all.”  If those words were true – if he wasn’t reading too deeply into them – then perhaps…  “A-actually…I have something for you, too.”

Chrom’s expression brightened as Robin reached into his pocket, and he did a poor job of hiding his excitement as the beribboned box came into view.  “Do I get to open it?” he asked eagerly.

“I’d have it no other way,” Robin chuckled, passing the gift into the prince’s hands.

Forcing himself to breathe, he watched as Chrom untied the bow and let it fall, lifting the lid…to reveal a brooch, the deep red stone at its center framed by gold feathers echoing the pattern of Grima’s Mark.  The prince lifted it carefully, holding it up to the light and filling the garnet with a warm glow.  “It’s beautiful…but it looks more like something for you than me,” he teased.

Steeling his nerves, Robin adopted the most confident smile he could muster.  “That was intentional.  In Plegia, the first new moon after Grima’s Night marks the start of our new year – and as luck would have it, that happens to be tonight.  The eve of the new year is a time of reflection, where we look back on the times we have fallen short and where we’ve excelled, consider the things we regret and those we take pride in, and strive to make amends with those we have wronged or strengthen our bonds with friends and family we’ve grown apart from.  It’s…also a time of change, though, where we look ahead to the coming year and how we might better ourselves.  And there’s a saying that…the best time to give your heart away is at the turn of the new year: if you face rejection, you have the year ahead to mend; and if you find acceptance, you have the year ahead to bond.”

“Give your heart away…?” the prince repeated.

Robin nodded, realizing as he did that he was rubbing his Brand and forcing his hands to be still.  “That brooch is called a heartstone.  The setting is meant to call the giver to mind, because it represents their heart, so…’wherever you go, so long as you wear this, my heart will always be with you.’”

Silence met those familiar words.  Swallowing back the fear in his throat, Robin looked up to find Chrom staring at him.  “Does that mean…?”  The prince’s voice trailed off as he looked between the brooch and the man beside him.

The first stirring of panic frayed his nerves.  “You’ve no obligation to accept, I know it’s very sudden and I’m sure you have other—”

“No – Robin.”  He stopped as Chrom lay a hand on his shoulder, his grip gentle and sure.  “I need you to tell me exactly what this means.”

Staring into the prince’s eyes, blue as the sky before dawn, Robin felt his resolve falter.  But before it could abandon him completely, he folded his hands before him and offered up a shy smile.  “It means I love you, Chrom.”

It was perhaps for the best that he’d had nothing more prepared: the prince’s embrace would have prevented him from getting any further even if he’d tried.  Before he could collect himself, Chrom lifted Robin off the floor, his laughter muffled in the soft fabric of Robin’s hood as he spun them in place...and even when the prince finally stopped, he did not let go, simply holding the young man close.  “Are…are you alright?” Robin asked.

“I never thought I’d hear you say that,” Chrom breathed.  “I figured that…maybe if I said it first, you might, but even then…”

So he hadn’t mistaken the intent of that inscription.  But even still, his heart leapt into his throat, and it took a moment before he could find the voice to speak again.  “Will you accept my heart, then?” he murmured.

“Gladly,” Chrom agreed, stepping just far enough back to pin the brooch neatly to his chest, just over his own heart.  “Would it be too much to ask if…you might accept mine, as well?”

“Haven’t you given me enough already?” Robin teased, feeling his face flush with warmth as the prince removed the signet ring from his finger.

Chrom grinned in reply.  “Never.  And besides: this is something only I can give, just like your gift to me.”  Taking gentle hold of Robin’s hand, the prince carefully slipped the silver and lapis token onto his finger…though they both fought back laughter at the poor fit.  “It might need to be resized.  But it’s the thought that counts, right?”

“Of course,” Robin beamed, brushing a kiss across Chrom’s cheek (and feeling his own burn brighter at the blush that such a small gesture left in its wake).  “Happy winter festival, Chrom.”

“And happy new year, Robin” the prince replied, pulling the young man close once more – and the kiss he touched to Robin’s lips as he laced their fingers left him certain that the year to come would be joyous, indeed.  

Creatively, this has been an amazing year, but I owe a lot to all the amazing content creators out there, whose headcanons, writing, and artwork have helped inspire me and keep me writing, drawing, planning, and creating in general.  Thank you to @2goldensnitches ​, @21stcenturyhero , @acloudylight ​, @amazingartistyellow, @anankos , @chynandri , @citadelity , @cepherine , @cloudobo , @fractalinferno ​, @grimastiddies , @gunhorse ​, @hihkoo , @kofutofuu , @la-picchio , @levin-swort , @lllaurora , @lucid-spike , @p3ach-salt , @squiddlybopbop , @tecchiiiiii , @vikonohero and so many others for everything you’ve done through this year: you inspire me every day to create, and I hope this piece can show in some small way how grateful I am to you all for what you do. <3

Happy Holidays!

[the-passenger-if]

so Malin had that interesting post on game design and some of the rules he created for Fallen Hero specifically, and tbh, I think FH has become a model for how others are creating their own from what I've seen. I was curious if you did something similar when you were planning out Passenger, and/or if there was anything different that you've been focusing on or trying to emphasize (i never give you easy questions)

I read it; Malin is, once again, the person I want to be when I grow up.

I think FH has become a model for how others are creating their own from what I’ve seen.

Hopefully; Fallen Hero is one of the best examples of interactive fiction I’ve read (it ticks all the right boxes for me and by now I think it’s pretty obvious it’s been a huge inspiration for my own work).

(i never give you easy questions)

(pictured: my last 2 brain cells trying to work together)

I will take the atheist youtuber approach and I’ll revise Malin’s comment step by step to see what resonates with me and what doesn’t.

Malin: “My goal was to write interactive fiction, not a game.”

100% this. Reading the forums I realized I was a lot more into games that told me a story and had rich characters and interactions than, I don’t know, about the I shoot the gun *roll dice* It doesn’t work. Baddie shoots gun *roll dice* It leaves a cool scar on MC’s arm. I have nothing against that type of games, neither against micromanaging, it’s just there’s so many times I can go feed the goats before my brain goes away and comes back once every goat has died of starvation. I get bored, that’s what I’m saying.

M: “Trust. This was the first rule. I needed to build trust in the reader, and make them realize that there would be no game over in this book, no way to fail so badly you couldn’t get back from it.”

This too. I didn’t want to put game overs around every corner. Don’t get me wrong, it works. One of my fave WIPs is Monsters (TW for everything basically) and I died like five times before getting it right, but Monsters isn’t just about dying; I like the NPCs, I like the MCs, it’s a cool slash horror game and I think it makes more sense to die in that game than it does to do it in mine. They say eliminating the possibility of dying kills the suspense and encourages players to play stupidly; TP is a game about an eldritch abomination and their gang of freaks, not rocket science: If players are having fun I did my job.

M: “The only reason you would make a choice should be that it felt right for your character, and you wanted to see what happened.”

I disagree with this one; I really like the oppose pairs COG encourages so much, and after reading dozens of games I found that the author that makes it work best is Devon (Samurai of Hyuga saga). I loved that the most important use of the oppose pairs was to choose your ronin’s personality traits (Devon tends to get a little carried away with how every single choice must be affected by them, but that’s because he’s a more gamey author, while I’m more interested in the role-playing aspect). That’s why there’s no way to fuck up too much in my game if you choose the “wrong” option (read: the option that doesn’t align with your traits). You are still supposed to think about your Newman and what answer feels the less OOC. Some people like to play a character that has some agency of their own (raises hand), other people are control freaks (jk I love you all xD) which bring us to the next point;

M: “Immersion. The second rule, and the thing that influenced my stats and flags. They should be there to help immersion, to enable me to to callbacks to earlier events, and to tailor text to the reader. While there’s an unusually fixed protagonist in Fallen Hero, I wanted variability in how they were presented. While things like cautious/daring influences success in certain fights, that’s actually a secondary function. Instead of trying to artificially have a stat chance with every choice to make it ‘matter’, I embraced the thought that the changing text itself did matter enough.”

All of this. There’s no way I can say it better. Also ties in with MCs having different thoughts and reactions on what’s going on around them. Flavor text rules.

M: “Consequence. That being said, I wanted there to be tension and nervousness, which meant that there needed to be consequence. This was tricky, especially over three books where a lot of the consequences won’t come until later in the series.”

The consequences in my book are a lot quicker to come and bite you in the ass than in Malin’s book (of fucking course); that’s why there are flags just about everywhere and some people will be lacking one or two companions from CH6 onwards.

M: “No lock-in.” “There’s no point in which a RO becomes locked in for good, and at the same time you don’t get locked out if you didn’t start a romance at a certain point…”

Since I have less time to show you things, I had to pick and choose what’s more important for the story I’m trying to tell. For example, what’s more important: keeping the romance paths open or having more fluffy flavor text with your chosen RO. Guess which one I chose (took me 2 solid seconds to make that call I’m telling you)

As I said before, don’t try to create your own angsty path: I FEED on angst, I won’t disappoint you. Smooch that RO, hug Livvy, everything will be taken away by me raining fire on Newman and co anyways.

M: “Secrecy. One way I picked to help me heighten tension was to keep secrets from the reader,”

Not a big fan of this one if I’m being honest. I’m not mad about it or even vocal (this is the first time I say anything) I just could do without it. Fallen Hero is great and I love it, it’s just sort of weird at times when Sidestep goes like “Did they know about the blue button and the diet coke, did they?” And I’m like, “Bitch I sure hope they do because I have no idea what you’re talking about”. FH is my second favorite game (my #1 if I don’t count WIPs) but yeah, that. Maybe if all secrets are revealed by the end of book 2, and book 3 is about Sidestep (and the player) reacting to them, maybe I won’t find it so distracting.

The Passenger has its fair share of secrets (it has to) but most of them aren’t even secrets (what is Newman? where do they come from? what about the Old Ones?) that’s just how cosmic horror works. Things just are, there’s no explanation; the magic trick is always a lot less impressive once you know how it works, and some things are better left unsaid. Whatever your mind comes up with will be one hundred times worse than any explanation I might give you.

M: “Community.” “by having people share and gossip and theorize, the story became so much greater than their single paths.”

No shit I love this. And not only when someone pushes too far and breaks their own heart by being curious *cough*shokujin*cough* but also when people come up with their own headcanons, fanfics, fan comics. Reading my babies’ words through someone else’s creation blows my mind, I’m not kidding. It’s almost dissociative. Also, I write fanfiction, I read it, I’ve made fan comics and art and I know the amount of work and love that you guys pour into it and it’s always super flattering.

All in all, I guess our approaches were pretty similar. I could talk about this for days, that’s why I chose to keep it as close to Malin’s comment as I could.