#the southern gothicness of it all was made with me in mind specifically

[murphycooper]

me reading “all the grey spaces”

[terapsina]

Okay, it's been a while so here's an additional list of fantasy and sci-fi books with little to no romance in them that I've read recently and really loved.

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First post with books not heavy on the romantic subplots HERE.

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Once There Was ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Kiyash Monsef.

An Iranian American girl discovers that her recently dead father was a veterinary for magical animals and that she - like him - has inherited the ability to help these animals because of a family line reaching back for hundreds of generations.

The story deals with grief, rage, neglect and how it all intersects.

But it's also an incredibly magical story that wakes up all the wonder and love for animals that most children have and some never lose.

Interspersed through the book are also short fables and legends that Marjan's father used to tell her when she was young and are now gaining new meaning as she understands that they were more than stories.

(totally also recommend the audiobook version for those who enjoy good narration. Nikki Massoud does a freaking excellent job)

(Marjan does develop subtly budding feelings for someone in the story but it's kept very, very background. On a scale from 0 to 10 the romance reaches barely a 2).

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Vespertine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Margaret Rogerson.

A story about a girl named Artemisia who is training to become a Gray Sister. A nun who cleanses the bodies of the dead so that their souls would not return as ravenous spirits that would then threaten the lives of the living.

But then her convent gets attacked by possessed soldiers and she's forced to pick up a sword holding the spirit of a very powerful revenant - a malevolent spirit of mass destruction that could possess her and kill everyone around her indiscriminately - despite not having the training of a Vespertine. So the only one who can teach her what she needs to know is the Revenant itself.

(The main character is autistic, antisocial and extremely introverted. And as for the romance, there is someone who develops feelings for her and we as the reader kinda notice it, but Artemisia the character notices nothing (also, the someone in question is not the Revenant, just thought I should clarify that). Amounts of romance in the book, like 1/10)

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A House With Good Bones ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by T. Kingfisher.

A Southern Gothic light horror with a bit of humor thrown in.

Sam Montgomery is worried about her mother so when her Paleoentomology dig falls through after she's already sublet her apartment for the next few months, she temporarily moves back in with her mother.

The mother who seems to be very stressed out while saying she's fine, and also seems to have acquired a sudden personality transplant. More specifically, she seems to have changed the house from the bright and colorful place it's been for decades, into the cookie cutter, bland (and slightly racist) fifties commercial kinda place it once was under the iron thumb of Sam's dead grandmother.

Is this some kind of weird delayed grief? Early onset alzheimers?

And why isn't there a single bug or insect in the entirety of the back yard's rose garden? Or why does she wake up to thousand's of ladybugs crawling all over each other - and Sam - one night in her childhood bedroom? And what's up with all these vultures staring at their house 24/7?

(Sam's POV is hilarious, her relationship with her mother one of the most genuinely emotional aspects of the book, and the story creepy enough to be exciting without reaching the point that would have made me throw the book down a hole for my own peace of mind. The romance... eh, there's a very nice dude Sam wouldn't mind going out with but it's not all that relevant to anything so amounts of romance don't reach past 2 out of 10).

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And finally some special shout outs to some other recently read books that I also enjoyed and that don't really have a lot of focus on the romance but that I don't feel like getting into rn.

Thornhedge ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by T. Kingfisher, Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Heather Fawcett (okay this one's a bit heavier on the amount of romance but it gets points for not being annoying and still doesn't reach past 4 out of 10 in its amount, would recommend this book for people who enjoyed The Memoirs of Lady Trent), Translation Slate ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐by Ann Leckie, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Theodora Goss (the daughters of classical book scientists like Frankenstein, Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hyde, Moreau and others come together to solve some White Chapel murders and maybe uncover a society that has been doing human experiments on women. 0.5 out of 10 on amounts of romance).

[rustedhearts]

hi rolly, hope all is well. i recently read "but i love him", and i think ive said this before, i cant remember, but your ability to capture very specific experiences/emotions really makes all of your fics stand out! like apart from the very well done characterisation (with each character/variation of steve and reader having a unique character voice), and atmospheric narrative that makes it easy to immerse in the scene, each story feels very coherent and complete thematically, even if its part of a larger series. i know its literally around only 1.5k words and written with a sort of particular goal in mind and so not like a totally accurate representation, but it was kind of fascinating from an outsider's perspective of like, what general setting a small (from the general sounds of it white coded) midwestern town would look like, especially as someone who grew up in a very urban environment with lots of other fellow immigrants and first generation people, and mostly read books that tend to reflect those specific experiences.

Its literally written as a warning but i was sort of shocked at how much of a bad taste in my mouth this guy put in my mouth?? like yeah he sucks, but i don't think his specific treatment of the reader is like, that egregiously worse than like some of boxer!steve's behaviour, or like the straight up abuse of power that is present in priest!steve. I thought about it, and, i think some if it is because of the fact that the boxer and priest are introduced with a charming and charismatic first impression.

but also i think its because of the aesthetic tones you've used really well! Your priest!steve series have always felt, at least to me, like some sort of southern gothic horror/romance, like crimson peak, where the high aesthetic of the language describing moral decay turns it into a story of appreciating that aesthetic beauty rather than examining that moral decay, which then gives readers pause to examine their own complicity in moral decay at a larger structural level. i really hope that made any sense but basically the way its written so beautifully, all the warm, gauzy summer scenes, and attractiveness of the various characters, movie-like dialogues, and sex charged scenes, distract me from the horror of the situation, that only really sets in after like a minute, and then i am doubly horrified which also weirdly is very aesthetically pleasing. i am trapped in a cycle it seems. boxer!steve similarly, especially at later points, is surrounded by like luxuries and wealth and a buzzing of californian excitement that make his actions seem smaller than they really are, especially when he apologises in the earlier chapters and i know there's a charged scene coming and allow myself to, again, get swept away in the beauty of the language that you wield really beautifully and effectively, despite being the polar opposite of a hot Christian Georgia town.

I think with this fic, the aesthetic pleasure was not as present immediately in the setting. Cold and lonesome with a guy introduced as angry doesn't give the same fantasy as sun soaked southern summer or wild shimmering california girlfriend, but it had a really unique hook all the same. the cold you wrote was so good, i swear it made me dread the canadian winter already and while it was strange sort of seeing the already dampened enthusiasm these two had when i'm used to seeing the honeymoon phase first, it also made me curious to see why these two did stay with each other, like on a character analysis level. as uncomfortable as i was in the cold, i was also uncomfortable because of the frosty relationship in the room and was caught between wanting to see them fight or make up, anything to see more of their extreme reactions to cut the cold you put in the room, to heat myself up. And omg! You did! in a way that felt true to what we knew about these people and let us know more about them (reader's desire to be possessed by a singular person who loves her to the point of wanting to cage her in and possess her and her doing a lot of the emotional labour and reparation after a fight), and that fit the tone of the rest of the story so well. there was always a feeling of something larger than both of them during that whole scene, like she was fixing a symptom and not the root cause (his anger and emotional issues, her not being able to get out of this), which is true, but you wrote it like a haunting ghost, always lingering even when you want it gone. specifically, what spoke out to me was when she looks at the cross on the wall, and then the one he has tattooed on his knuckle, and it felt almost odd, like he was taking this very real part of someone's faith and turning it into his own variation of an intimidation tactic, and seeing it in the bedroom felt just off kilter to me. And the car ride....omg....even when they're making up he will do something horrible! and she just sits there! hearing the yells but only in short bursts of scuffles, and then having him come back bruised and grinning while she sort of sits in horror and unsure felt like you captured a microcosm of their whole dynamic. idk if i'm making it much worse/darker than you intended and if so i apologise! i am genuinely excited to see how they will play out, specifically reader's desire to be consumed almost it seems for the price of love!

this is so insanely long and i tried editing it to make it shorter but i really apologise for the length. you're such a talent and reading your work always makes me excited to analyse and try to pick up on your thematic and aesthetic choices that you always execute with such grace and we are all so lucky that you've decided to share this beautiful literature with us for free.

you never fail to blow me away with these asks, and every time you send one i genuinely try and sit and soak it all in and appreciate it, because wow!!! i’m so spoiled!! 💓💓💓

i also think you live in my head, because you completely understand everything and its purpose lol. i’m convinced you’re just a little chunk of my brain living somewhere else

this steve is definitely different because he’s bad for bad’s sake. like you said, there’s no passion behind why he commits these crimes. his reason is literally just “because he wanted to.” it’s just a cycle he was always bound to end up in. with boxer!steve, his overprotective jess and jealousy stems from his passion for libby. with pastor!steve, his icky, slimy grossness stems from desire for delilah.

this steve is just…evil, honestly.

[punkass-diogenes]

17, 25, 61, 100, 119.

17. a book with a yellow cover

This book is a very old favorite of mine. I first heard of it when I read one of the stories in The New Yorker in a doctor's office when I was 13. It resonated with me then in a way that few things do or ever have. I bought the book and read all of the stories many, many times over the subsequent years. The best way I can describe the tone of this book is magical realism meets Southern gothic (Florida gothic, specifically). The stories all focus on the loneliness and alienation of its characters, who are mostly children, in a world that is simultaneously dreamlike and magical, and grungy and disappointing. And, oftentimes, truly scary dangerous. It taps into the liminal space between childhood and adulthood in a way I have seen few works do. I have also experienced the stories losing resonance for me as I have gotten older (and am not older than the author was when she wrote them), which is sad but also perhaps fitting.

25. a book by your favourite author

Exhalation by Ted Chiang. Particularly the story "The Life Cycle of Software Objects." Chiang is everything I want to be as a writer - cerebral and soulful in equal parts.

61. your favourite horror novel

The first thing that comes to mind is not a novel but a short story (seeing a trend?) called "Divided by Infinity" by Robert Charles Wilson. This story is a masterpiece of existential horror that tackles what I consider to be one of the most terrifying concepts in philosophy. I won't say anymore about that! If we are going to go with actual novels, I would go in a different direction and say Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. This book is not technically classed as horror - it is a psychological/crime thriller - but, at its heart, it is a gothic horror story, and it makes my skin crawl. Flynn does an amazing job of creating the most nauseating, suffocating atmosphere of total dread and exposing the unspeakable grotesqueness that writhes and festers beneath the ideals of femininity. I literally felt sick to my stomach after finishing this book, and there are parts of it that made me feel real sweaty-palmed terror. The fact that none of it is fantastical only makes it scarier.

100. your favourite gothic novel

Again, I have a tendency to veer toward short-form here. "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Cask of Amontillado" come to mind as my favorite works of classical gothic fiction. Both of these have been very influential on my own writing. I have a hard time with 19th century language and my attention span, which is why I have not read many of the classical novels from this period. However, a modern gothic novel that I really liked was The Secret History. Nothing beats stories of a group's collective descent into Dionysian darkness and insanity. And "beauty is terror" lives in my mind rent-free.

119. your favourite summer read

I don't have any books that I particularly associate with summer, but maybe The Expanse series, which I am still working through. Also shout-out to the works of Blake Crouch, which are super fun mind-fucky high-concept page turners that also all manage to casually feature some of the most nightmare-inducing apocalyptic scenarios. Also any collection of Bradbury stories. Summer for me means sci-fi.

[whumpyourdamnpears]

4, 16, 17 for weird writer questions?

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

The word heaven really does things for me. I don't know why. Not Heaven as in the place, mind you, but describing things as heaven

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

Maybe not the weirdest, but I enjoy using paint samples as bookmarks in colors that correspond to the cover and subject matter of the book I'm reading. I'll also use the receipts that come with the books.

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

*Cracks knuckles* This is the one I've been most excited to answer. Since the two of us have discussed my work-in-progress extensively, I won't bore you with a complete rehash of things, (but if others would like the low-down, I'd be more than thrilled to either break it down in an ask or in private messages,) but instead I'll break down the origins of how this WIP came to be

The WIP, in its very early stages, started out as an AU for a different WIP of mine. I was really fascinated by the idea of a Good Girl who's been led astray by someone she's been taught is a danger to her, who then learns that the people and community she loves are in fact very bad people, and the deconstruction of everything she knows after that fact, and the queer undertones between both her and the character she was taught to fear. The characters changed into their own, and the queer undertones were toned down once I had made the heartbreaking decision to give them a familial dynamic rather than romantic, but the concept stayed the same.

Another fascination of mine that ended up bleeding into the plot was for southern culture, specifically southern gothic media. I loved the language used, the way ideas were conveyed, the concepts. The story ended up veering into southern gothic territory, so I welcomed it with open arms. You can thank Raise Hell by Brandi Carlile, The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie by Colter Wall, Devil's Backbone by The Civil Wars, Tongues and Teeth by The Crane Wives, and Bottom of the River by Delta Rae for this.

And with the concepts of community, family, morality, and sexuality, religion and its impact followed. I couldn't help it. The subject matter made it the perfect breeding ground for exploration of my religious trauma. I realized well into planning that the character I was discussing above was more-or-less living within a religious community similar to a cult, which has been an interest of mine since middle school, so we can tack that onto there as well. What started off as a simple AU quickly turned into a complicated story of its own that explored some of my favorite things, which has its own problems. All of this makes it so hard for me to write, because I really wanna do it right, and I just want to be able to write it and be proud of what I've done.

[imaginarianisms]

portrayal meme: i was attracted to your blog bc of your unique take on clementine! you’ve put a lot of time and effort into her and it shows! i stayed because you’re very kind and the effort you put into your muses is admirable!

CRYING SCREAMING RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES TO INSANITY???? TY ANDEEEEE!!! 🥺💕✨ clem is just so dear to me& & ig she grew & developed so much that she grew a life & mind of her own as an introject in our& system & sometimes i& feel like she's even outgrown me& a lil bit !! like i& NEVER halfass my muses & w/ clem in particular i& literally Never see anyone addressing her trauma besides very basic iceberg surface level or or write her as. an actually disabled person. or address how as a mixed black girl how all the shit would affect her personally or her VERY obvious southern gothic aesthetic & theme surrounding her character & i loved the original concepts of twdg especially season two way too much to let them go unused. & now that we're seeing black girls as protagonists in horror genres more it rly boosts my& inspo. im& rly proud of her & the connections she's made over the years.

what about my portrayal attracted you to my blog? if you would like to be more specific – what made you stay? || OPEN; ACCEPTING.

[hws-cernunnos]

Following an advice given by my friend @flamaflavio I've decided to dedicate a series of posts on Northern Italy(because there's a serious lack of them in the fandom:(),whether they might be about culture,history,folklore,stereotypes(could be an interesting addition to characterization)or misconceptions*? Maybe even cuisine ahah

In this post I'll expain what we intend for North Italy, why it doesn't line up perfectly with canon and most importantly why Feli gets called "Italy" way more often than Mano.

Let's start by stating that in our country by North Italy we mean the regions of: Aosta Valley (Valle d'Aosta), Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria(the region your girl's from), Lombardy(Lombardia), Piedmont (Piemonte), Veneto and Trentino Alto-Adige.

So you might ask me, why is it that in Hetalia Chibitalia has been shown as Florence as well??? Is it a mistake made by Hima?? Yes.. But actually no ahah! In this post I'll cover how we came to such a perception of the North in our country and why Tuscany and the rest of Central Italy, isn't included in it and doesn't consider themselves part of it :D

I won't talk about all history until nowadays of course (I'll definitely make future historical posts) I'll simply give you basic information based on early history to have an understanding of how us italians divide our country and why in canon other nations refer to Feliciano as Italy more commonly than they do with Romano(it is indeed based in history, it's not mean spirited!!).

So during the centuries prior to romanization North Italy was inhabited by a different bunch of cultures, among them the long haired Ligures(whose origin is unsure,Celtic?? Or simply celtified by their neighbors uhmm?? Talking about them in detail would take a whole ass post) the Veneti who were known for their commerce of amber and horse breeding, the Etruscans who, coming from Tuscany, colonised parts of the North and founded cities such as Bologna and in a later period a swarm of Gaulish tribes(generally referred to as the Celts).

The latter(most likely the Insubres) founded Milan in 590 BC, naming it Medhelan(the place in the middle of the plain, or among rivers) or Mediolanum as the Roman would call it later(Meśiolano as a Celtic engraving informs us) keep Milan in mind we'll come back to her later. Their domain extended from the Alps to the Adriatic sea.

This would be stopped by roman conquest that would culminate in 194 BC in the foundation of a province under the name of Gallia Cisalpina**,Cisalpine Gaul, id est Gaul on the hither side of the Alps(from the Romans point of view) that pretty much contained the regions which nowadays we consider North Italy.

The area became one of the most influential and rich provinces in the empire and it's strategic role is emphasized by the fact that in 286 the capital of the Western Roman Empire is moved from Rome to,guess where, Milan the main city in Gallia Cisalpina(and later on in Ravenna from 402 to the fall).

Is this why Grandpa is shown to leave poor Romano behind in canon in favour of his little brother??? Most likely!!! Btw if you're interested in the subject you should totally check out jjblue's Italia Annonaria (baby Feli) and Italia Suburbicaria (baby Mano) profiles on DA.

It's really unfair that the other characters call only Feliciano Italy:/ It's actually not true, as my friend flama has talked about in one her posts both Germany and America have called him Italy in the past. The fact that this behavior hurts Romano is long lasting misunderstanding in the fandom: he really doesn't care.

What annoys him it's that he's often referred to as "Italy's older brother" but not because he's Italy as well, but because that takes away his individuality: he's peeved by the fact he's only considered in relation to his brother, he's Romano besides being Feliciano's older brother ahah.

If his identity as Italy truly mattered to him he would have some kind of reaction out of being called Italy, especially by someone he has a bad relationship with like Germany, but he was left completely indifferent by that. I've often seen fanfictions where he's moved to tears by such action by it actually seems like he doesn't mind. He just wants people to understand he has a persona outside being Feli's big brother ahah.

There's actually a reason why Feli is "Italy" and it has been actually brought up recently in the fandom. Let's go back to history ahah.

A germanic general named Odoacer overthrew the last Roman Emperor, whose name for some reason I always found funnee, Romulus Augustulus.

Now the Eastern Roman Empire was having none of that and decided to invite Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths to rule over Italy under their approval(btw if you'll ever visit Ravenna do check out Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and Theodoric's Mausoleum). Ostrogothic rule was short lived (lasted pretty much Theodoric's reign) but greatly improved the economy and the arts. . . Too good to be true of course, because Justinian I(Eastern Roman emperor)decided he wanted to revive the glory ™ of the empire and this brings us to Gothic Wars.

Italy, especially the North, was left devastated by them, as they brought death(duh),poverty and were accompanied by a good dose of famine and plague. Byzantine rule wouldn't last long as a Germanic tribe***, the Lombards, took advantage of their weakness and took over italy and gave birth to a reign, which had Pavia as capital.

Said reign was called Langobardia, in particular North and Central Italy were named Langobardia Maior(The great Langobardia), which is the name under which North italy would be known as for a good part of the middle age and that gives the name to the modern region Milan and Pavia are located, Lombardia/Lombardy.

For example Boccaccio in his Decameron(in particular in the first novella) uses Lombards when referring to Italian merchants because that's the name they were given even if most of them came from Piedmont and Tuscany.

Lombard language and culture slowly was assimilated into the previous one and that can be seen in names, words and laws created in that period. This came to an end in 774 when Charles the Great, king of the Franks(and future Holy Roman Emperor), conquered Pavia and annexed the Lombard kingdom... Under the name of Kingdom of Italy!

So in other words the reason why our boy is the one who's called Italy the most is because he's simply been "Italy" for longer or more specifically for more than once(as I explain in the notes:)!!). Mano on the other hand would have most likely known as Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of Naples or Kingdom of the two Sicilies :). And I'm very much sure he would have been proud of such identity.

But what about central Italy??? You see the Papal States forged a document the Donation of Constantine, according to which Emperor Constantine assured Pope Silvester I(in 321) and his successors the exclusive domain over the city of Rome(btw Rome isn't part of southern Italy!!the fact South Italy is called Romano is really weird and so is North Italy as Veneziano ngl). This gave the Church access to "temporal power",id est material power and with it came territorial power. And so little by little (with the exception of Tuscany that flourished on it's own) it ate up the whole of Central Italy, which would develop a linguistic group, a culture and history of its own.

And that's pretty much what you need to know to understand Hetalia's confusing lore ahah. It's not everything I could go on explaining the era of the Commons and the Renaissance and go all through medieval and modern history to make you fully grasp it but I think it's enough for today:D let me know if you want me to talk about the subjects I mentioned in detail and if you want me to go on. Read the notes :)!!!

*I've often seen Feli wearing tarantella clothes, because it's probably assumed as the italian™ traditional dance and the music is misused in videos about Italy(all of Italy!!)when it's really characteristic of the South:)! Would be nice to see more fan arts of Mano in those garments lol really nice

**Napoleon would found in the 18th century the Cisalpine Republic in North Italy, a sister republic of France, that would later become known as the Italian Republic and then the (napoleonic!!!)Kingdom of Italy:) not to be confused with the Kingdom of Italy that would be born on the 17th of March 1861,ring a bell ahah???Read Hetalia's Risorgimento strips if you want to know about that:)))Milan djdbdb was once again the capital of all these.

***considering Romano is stated to have Arabic blood which is definitely brought by the moorish occupation, I'd assume Feli's Germanic one has to do with daddy Lombards. The longobards ruled over the South as well so ehhh, but hey it's Hima we're talking about. Genetics work in a weird way in hetalia, they're like acquired??? Hima explains that Canada, America and Seychelles don't have England's bushy eyebrows because of France's influence. Wtf. Oh btw if you might be interested in the Lombards' origin in Historia Langobardorum Paulus Diaconus informs us they came from Scania(a region in Sweden) and the settled in "Scoringa".

[suilinbride]

Autumn Equinox Free Divination for the Lokean Community!

I want to make a quick apology before I dive into sharing the details for this event for delaying it for so long, as I said in a previous post I would delay things until Friday, and it's now Sunday as I type this post out. My bad! All I can really say is that I've been super busy the past couple of days, a lot of important things came up, with one of those things being potentially life changing in a very positive way.

Also, due to my internet basically dying a very slow and agonizing death the past week, I'm still behind on a few things, finishing and sending out the final couple of readings I still owe from the past few months being a good solid example of something I'm still working on catching up with. I'll do my best to finish writing them up and sending them out during the duration of this shindig.

As a sort of apology gift from me to all of you who have been waiting for this shindig to kick off, as well as a major thank you for waiting patiently for me to get on with it already, I'll be extending the duration of this event until the fifth of October, instead of the end of the month of September like I originally planned.

All of that now out of the way, what exactly is this shindig I'm doing on my blog? Well, the Autumn Equinox is the anniversity of Loki coming into my life. He came into my life eight years ago when I was stumbling around attempting my first ever personal one on one blot and decided to show up and ask for a little bit of my southern hospitality. Thing obviously developed in their own way since then and now I can absolutely and honestly say that he is one of my main deities and I absolutely love the fucker in so many ways. Except for any kind of romantic or sexual way, as I'm not attracted to him in either of those ways at all. Also, that would be disgusting considering the nature of our relationship as it is. Not judging or bashing Loki's mortal wives in any way or fashion at all, I'm just saying it aint so for me. Never has been that way and never will be that way for various reasons.

But this shindig of mine isn't just to honor Loki. No, not at all. This shindig is also a way for me to give back to the Lokean community at large on this website, as many of you were all kinds of help and support while I was figuring things out the past year or so. Thank you for being so fucking awesome ya'll!

So, from now until sunset of the fifth of October, I'll be taking and fulfilling free requests for divination. I'll also be answering any question anyone has for me regarding my relationship with Loki, the nature of my practice that involves him or his family, etc. Feel free to ask any question at all, even if the question is intense or feels like it would be uncomfortable for someone to answer, I'll be answering with as much detail as I am able to share.

Here are the following nitty gritty details and rules for this event. Please follow them, otherwise I am more likely than not to ignore or even outright block the person in question.

This event is for Lokeans, Loki's people, or people who have strong relationships with members of his immedate family. Please don't send in any requests for free readings if you aren't a close worshipper or devotee of Loki or one or more of his family members. This event is to honor the Lokean and Loki worshipping community specifically. Thank you for understanding and abiding by this first rule.

Please only send in one request for a free reading regarding one question or brief topic at a time. Please wait until you receive your completed reading privately or you read it posted on my blog before you send me another request for a reading, be it a follow up reading to the one I just did for you, or a different reading altogether.

The cutoff date for my receiving reading requests is sunset for the fifth of October, Eastern Standard Time. I will refuse any and all requests that show up in my inbox for this shindig after that period of time has passed.

Please only submit requests for readings in my ask box. Any reading request I receive through an instant message will be instantly ignored, while repeat offenders will be instantly blocked the moment I catch them in the act.

Because my life can get fairly busy at times, it might take me some time to get back to you with a completed reading one way or another. Any requests remaining in my inbox once the duration of this event is finished will still be fulfilled and either sent out or posted on my blog the moment I am able to get to it with the proper care and attention that I give to all readings I do for people.

Anyone requesting a free reading from me must submit their birth date as part of the request for me to accept and complete a reading. Due to an incident that happened back at the ass end of July, I will no longer do readings for minors unless I know they have permission and blessing from their parents or guardians for me to do so. Said incident almost ended up with me in legal trouble, so that's why I am now requiring knowledge of your status as an adult for me to be willing to read for you. The only people who are exempt from sharing their birth date with me are people I am in fairly regular contact with and already am aware of their status as an adult.

Anonymous, as always, are welcome to send in requests for a reading from me at this time. Anonymous people must also share with me an alias or nickname, initials or something of such nature for me to do their reading for them in a proper manner. I require some kind of name, even if it's just a bunch of letters that authentically connect to you in some way or form. I use the alias, nickname, etc, to attune to your energy and this allows me to read a lot more accurately for you for things.

Please do not send me in your Sun, Moon, and Rising signs instead. I know some diviners require this information in order to read for you but I am not one of them. An alias or nickname, if I don't know who you are already, are what I need to connect with your energy. Divination requests containing Zodiac signs will be promply ignored.

Do not, for whatever reason, send me reading requests with emoticons added or inserted in them. Such requests will be instantly ignored and repeat offenders instantly blocked for good.

I do not read situations of a Legal, Medical, or strictly fiancal manner.

I also do not read third party questions. Please do not submit requests asking me about how X feels about you or how X feels about Y. These kinds of reading requests will be ignored.

For the most part, the only deities I'll be reading about for the duration of this shindig are Loki and his family. This includes Angrbotha, Sigyn, Fenrir, Jormundgandr, Hel, Sleipnir, Vali and his brother, etc, Loki's parents, etc. The only time I might read about an unrelated deity or deities is if they have something to do with you and your relationship with Loki and/or his family. Such as checking to see if Loki is cool with you working or worshipping that deity too, confirming if there are problems popping up because of this deity, or other similar situation. I'll be accepting these exceptions to this particular rule on a case by case basis.

Anyone requesting a free reading from me for this shindig at this time may choose from the following Divination systems for me to read with for your reading:

Lenormand: I've been reading with Lenormand off and on again for less then a year now, but I feel fairly confidant reading with Lenormand despite the short period of time I've been reading with this system. I'll be reading any requests involving Lenormand with my Scrying Ink Lenormand Deck.

Ogham: I've been an Ogham Reader for the better part of eleven years or so, I am finally in a position where I can start offering Ogham readings on my blog and feel comfortable doing so. Any requests I receive involving Ogham will be read with my smaller set of Ogham made from Rowan wood.

Tarot: I am not a Tarot Reader by any means whatsoever, but I do occasionally read Tarot. Actually, I'm starting to learn how to read with it better, I now feel comfortable and confidant enough to read with it now. which is why I'm offering Tarot as an option to be chosen from for this shindig. Any requests to be read with Tarot will be done so with a basic Rider Waite layout, more or less.

Shufflemancy: I've been reading with Shufflemancy since 2006, a lot of people seem to enjoy my Shufflemancy readings a lot, so it will always be an option for you to choose for me to read with for any of these kinds of events or shindigs. There are now three playlists for you to choose from when requesting a reading from me with Shufflemancy in mind:

Anguish, Motion, and Sea: My Heavy Metal playlist, consisting of music from NuMetal all the way to Black, Death, and Doom Metal.

Inspiration, Joy, and Sky: My Power Metal Playlist, mostly consisting of music from Power Metal to Progressive Metal, with occasional appearances from Gothic Metal bands and other similar music acts in between.

Land, Rest, and Warmth: My general Rock and Roll Playlist, consisting of all kinds of music from bands from all kinds of various subgenres of Rock and Roll.

I hope you enjoy this shindig! Feel free to send me requests or ask me all kinds of questions. I'll be here until the fifth of October for sure. I look forward to receiving and fulfilling all of your requests for divination. Thank you for being such an awesome community!

[stevensavage]

Why I Wrote It - A Bridge To The Quiet Planet

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve's Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet was my return to fiction. It exists because someone said writing genre fiction is worth doing, and I said, "I should do that."

That's it.

The author in question was Magen Cubed, best known for her Southern Gothic Series. Her story is about a monster-hunting modern himbo cowboy and his neurotic vampire boyfriend. Their misadventures include wild romantic hookups, monster politics, and a chihuahua. Honestly, Netflix should option this even if they may need some "fade to black" when things get steamy.

She wrote her thing, and her Twitter statements on the way genre fiction is open made me think about my writing. I hadn't done fiction in years, and I suddenly had the urge to return.

I have written about worldbuilding for ages - it's been a specialty of mine since my teen days. I'm fascinated by good setting construction, and it was a vital part of my previous fiction work. Even a decade-or-so break from writing fiction wasn't a break from worldbuilding - I was the guy to bounce ideas off of, read beta editions, and so on.

But oh, her Tweets about why you should write fiction reminded me of how I missed bringing a world to write.

Then it began. Ideas began to come to me . . .

. . . I loved anime and video games, and specifically the techno-fantasy worlds where science and sorcery existed . . .

. . . but those worlds often never extrapolated on what this meant. Sir Terry Pratchett and Dave Barry came to mind, ideas to explore this world of gods and computers more closely . . .

. . . a pair of heroines began to evolve, one a kind of Hermionie (Marigold), and Mei Hatsume of MHA (Scintilla) . . .

. . . they lived in a world scarred by a massive war, as many fantasy novels have so many ruins they are post-apocalyptic . . .

. . . and the world valued stability, and that meant I threw in the schemes renegade god to screw things up . . .

And there we had my return to fiction. A Bridge To The Quiet Planet was a road trip where a bunch of modern fantasy tropes traveled to a planet-side graveyard for gods. I won't spoil.

Thus I had a novel, my first in ages.

Overall I'm pleased with it. It's a road trip story, mainly to have fun traveling through the setting and the implications of what one reader called "a typical fantasy world in the space age." Though I would do parts of it differently, there are also elements I'm very proud of.

There's also a sequel in the works - A School of Many Futures. I play with several tropes there (The Big Book Of Plot Secrets, Magical School Adventures) and go for a more complex mystery ala "Knives Out." It's harder to write than the first because I'm pushing myself to make a more complex, richer story.

The novel awakened my fiction-writing urges, so I decided to write at least three books in any setting. The truth is, I know I'll be writing fiction for awhile - maybe the rest of my life.8

All because of the right Tweet at the right time.

Steven Savage

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 10: Friday

I just had this feeling this morning like I didn’t want to go to work and eh... that was probably right. Nothing really bad happened, I just felt very strongly that I did NOT want to be there.

My coworker wanted to talk to me at like 8:30 in the morning (you know those silly little ‘don’t talk to me before I’ve had my coffee’ signs?? literally do not talk to me before 9:30 EARLIEST) and I was supremely incoherent. Then later a different coworker essentially took out his bad mood on my department including on me personally, and it was... dumb. I got his point but I’m just, as I tried to explain to others later, unkeen on being talked to about actions I took under others’ explicit instructions. Also, in part because of that, in part because I thought he was semi-unreasonable, and in part because I just truly didn’t want to do what he was asking/telling me to do, I did not really budge on the issue. Which was very awkward because as I said I did get his point. And of course the issue is SOMETHING DUMB which is always how it is. All of these fights are 100% shit that would sound idiotic if you tried to explain it to someone else, which is why I’m vaguing right now.

And the nametags thing came up on Teams (thanks @ the same coworker), and the only good thing about that is that the director explicitly said she was against the idea so I feel pretty confident that it won’t be mandated. Also I could detect some panic in other people about it. I do NOT like the way this is being handled AT ALL. Plus it’s just the hill I’ve decided to die on (because I think I can win--so I guess it’s better to say this is the hill I’m going to defeat my enemies on) so I gotta get annoyed at it. I refrained from contributing to the conversation but I did like the director’s anti-nametag post, which I think gets my point across.

Also I felt like I spent a lot of time doing not much, to be honest. Still didn’t go to stupid compact shelving. Devoted too much time to the crap in the above paragraphs. Talked to BL over in admin and heard some more unflattering stories about a particular administrator. Like, incredibly unflattering. Which is stuff I do want to know but it contributes to the overall Mood of the day, which again is ‘I don’t want to be here.’

I took a very late lunch, and that in turn contributed to me not paying enough attention to the time and leaving late.OH AND I got 3 important emails in the last ten minutes of the day. Two were very expected because they were coming from the West Coast but the last was like.. do not make me deal with this right now.

I didn’t deal with almost any of it but I did get so distracted that I left about five minutes late, and so I missed the bus. I wasn’t too upset about it since the weather was nice anyway and I didn’t mind spending some time downtown. But I did waste time trying to see if I could catch said bus, and then more time trying to go to my favorite coffee shop, which had closed at 5. But since it was 5:15, there were still people inside (cleaning up, which is fair) and people outside (drinking coffees they’d bought before 5 I’m sure, also fair), and the sign said hours were until 7 so I spent a few confused, embarrassing moments going ????? what is the truth?

So ultimately I went to a different cafe, a newish one that opened in 2019 I think. I’ve always avoided it in part because the floor is very loud and in part because I felt like I was cheating on my main place lol. (Not that I never get coffee anywhere else... just that this place is so close to my usual place, I always feel like, if I’m in the area, I might as well go to said usual place.) I did find the inside very disorienting. The pattern of the floor is just truly A Lot. They did have these weird teacup ornaments hanging from the ceiling though. I got an iced latte, which was fine, and this delicious spinach and feta pastry. I feel like I should stop by more often for baked goods. I settled outside with what I’d gotten, mostly because of the floor, partly because it actually was nice out, and partly because I’m not currently comfortable with indoor dining, even in places with almost no one in them.

I only had like 25 minutes to kill at that point, but it was nice. I had a notebook with me and I did a teeny bit of planning on the Southern Gothic AU (still behind on this!!). Mostly I listened to the conversation next to me. I couldn’t entirely help it; the girl’s voice was carrying. She was talking to her guy friend about some recent issues they’d been having in their friendship. I was honestly...kind of impressed with them? I could mostly hear her--he was talking too but his voice didn’t carry as much--but it just overall sounded like a really open, emotionally honest, generally calm talk. Like certainly there were strong emotions in play (not exactly going to judge whether they were “warranted” given the apparent facts of the dispute, since I just ranted about a disagreement over something so dumb I don’t even want to name it in public) but they were just... expressing feelings that were difficult, and expressing displeasure with others’ actions, without yelling or being passive aggressive, etc. I mean even that they’d picked this time and place to meet specifically to discuss it I thought was commendable. And they were definitely friends, not bf/gf, because the disagreement involved his girlfriend (once referred to as his “partner”...sorry lol I judged that a LITTLE since they looked like they were maybe 21 years old--partner in WHAT??). The girl mentioned her therapist, which put a lot of her tone and vocabulary into perspective. Not necessarily in a bad way, I mean, it seemed to be working? But as someone who has never been to therapy, but is self-taught, so to speak, in gauging and describing my own feelings, I could... discern a sort of purposeful vocabulary that almost sounded scripted. I wrote down some specific quotes but I don’t want to put them in a public place. I’ll draw my respecting-strangers’-privacy line in the sand there. But a lot of, like “when you do x, it makes me feel y” kind of controlled explanations.

Anyway, I got very invested in that. Partly for future writing purposes, partly out of curiosity and partly because... I don’t know that I could have that kind of conversation NOW and I’m fairly sure I could not have when I was in college. I mean.... I don’t know... I’ve blocked out a lot of the pretentious/serious/about-our-feelings talks I did have. And what sticks out now are all the times I didn’t do that--all of the many, many issues with TA38... Even the way B and I have literally NEVER acknowledged the handful of times we hooked up in 2009.

You’re never gonna sound COOL talking about your emotions, your wants and your needs; it’s always gonna sound, imo, like a Therapy Script. And I don’t even always think you gotta have those talks. After graduation, R and I literally had this exchange where we said ‘well we both made mistakes last year, and we could try to untangle it now, but it’s just gonna bring up a lot of bad feelings. It’s done now anyway. Blanket apologies given, blanket acceptance of apologies, let’s move on.” And we did and it was fine. But if we’d had better conversations while we were living together, that would have been a different situation.

All of which is of course complicated for me personally because I am extremely conflict-averse. EXTREMELY.

Anyway, I ran into BL at the bus stop and we talked a bit there and on the bus, which was fine but kinda exhausting tbqh especially because of the topic of conversation. I got home at 6:30 and must have crawled immediately into bed and gone to sleep, but I barely remember it at all. Woke up at 10:30 and had no idea what time it was or what day it was or what I was doing.

Had dinner and then somehow went down a rabbit hole that started... somewhere?? and ended with me looking up my childhood home on Google Earth, which you KNOW is the sign of a mentally stable person who is doing just fine okay.

Now it’s the absolutely disgusting hour of 2:30 in the morning... Idk I wanted to go out tomorrow and take advantage of the nice weather but we’ll see how that goes. The thing is I feel like I need a full day to sleep but I only have two (2) days and in that time I gotta do laundry, cook for the week, preferably write one (1) whole chapter of this fic, and possibly also go on the aforementioned excursion. Which is a lot for me. It doesn’t really... fit.

Everything’s just so much all the time and so on.

[midsvmmars]

anyway quarantine is still driving me crazy with boredom and with an all time high of muse so here i am once again asking for plots...under the cut will be some plots i want and how i typically rp so like and i’ll hit you up!!

rules/my typical rp things ig??:

first things first i only really rp on discord and i usually prefer mumus cuz i love intertwining drama and multiple characters just a straight 1x1 kinda bores me sometimes..

i play any gender and any kind of pairing but also pls dont just use me for playing males or have certain ships be fetishy it makes me v uncomf

like i said above im rlly big on mumus and prefer them and because of that i also love going based on chemistry like ofc plot things ahead of time but i like still leaving enough open to see where it goes naturally and be surprised by ships/friendships/rivalries etc

i do oc’s or canon characters as some of my fav muses are canon ones and some are oc’s so anything i’m down for even if its oc/canon or within a specific universe or a mix im down for anything p much

here’s my pinterest any characters, ships, universes, etc are what im most likely willing to play (but theres so much more) and my main oc’s are there so look at this if anything catches ur eye or u want to get to know some of my character types OKAY SO U CANT LINK TO SHOW IN THE TAGS BUT MY PINTEREST IS MELLIESGRANT THE PFP IS CHER FROM CLUELESS

plots:

i’m really into anything horror (a mumu of horror characters from any movie/show/book/game/etc pls), dark academia, supernatural, mystery, southern gothic, etc

im also a sucker for teen drama type shows like one tree hill/dawsons creek/the oc so i’d love a mumu just in a small town or a specific setting and just focusing on the characters and crazy drama and intertwining relationships

i just finished the oc rn so my mind is on ryissa too ....

also a gossip girl inspired mumu?? pls

i love supernatural stuff but im a big sucker for vampires and their lore so i’d love smth inspired by the worlds of the vampire diaries, vampire the masquerade, true blood, salems lot, from dusk till dawn, or buffy

esp a tvd type mumu cuz i miss the show so i at least want to write in a similar universe oops

more horror ideas: silent hill or until dawn type plots?? PLEASE

also a canon until dawn mumu? yes esp if u give me mike x emily

also a veronica mars type plot?? outcast private investigator and someone they hate having to work together to solve a crime for someone they both cared about and serving enemies to lovers yes please

a stranger things inspired mumu?? yes please

also here’s my tag for wanted ships so you can see types of ships i like or if you want to rp any of these or smth inspired by them!! OKAY LIKE I SAID ABOVE U CANT TAG THINGS BUT THE TAG IS WANTED-SHIPS SORRY

HOUSE OF ANUBIS INSPIRED MUMU PLS

my main fandoms/canon characters i play ig is snicketverse, cartoons, horror, and comics ig?? also teen dramas?? IDK LOOK THROUGH MY PINTEREST I LINKED EARLIER FOR THE SPECIFICS but im always open to more too hehe

some canon characters ive had a lot of muse for/been dying to play rn are nate archibald, pacifica northwest, mia jones, bugs bunny, and marissa cooper BUT SO MANY MORE TOO

so like i said this was a mess idk if any of this made sense but if youre reading this rn and somehow it did make sense and u wanted to do one of these things like this and i’ll hit you up!! ty!!

[bethygauw]

Mahoyaku Interview: Tsushimi Bunta (Main Screenwriter) and Kazuma Kowo (Worldbuilding Supervision) + Coly Scenario Director

Released: 28 February 2020

(!) Warning (!): Some spoilers for Main Story chapter 17 towards the end of this post.

TL note: I feel like going by surname-given name in this article;;; pardon the inconsistency Also support the fab fan translation site if you haven’t already: https://mahoyaku-eng.com/ 

Blurb: This is a world where mages and humans coexist, and this is a story that depicts the journey to save it—brought to you by screenwriter Tsushimi Bunta, known for their subtle writing style that retains a realistic touch, and Kazuma Kowo, who oversees not only character background but also the worldbuilding of each country, among other things. In this issue, we’ve asked what sort of things they were being mindful of during the game’s creation and if there are any behind-the-scenes that they could share. In addition, we’ve also included a few comments from the scenario director, who’s in charge of bringing together all story elements in this game from the Main Story to Training Location stories. We hope you enjoy everything that Promise of Wizard has to offer as you play through it.

Tsushimi Bunta: Freelance screenwriter. Main scriptwriter of Idolish7 as well as the author of the novel adaptations. In this game, they’re in charge of writing the Main Story, Training Location stories, and Event Stories among others.

Kazuma Kowo: Manga-ka and illustrator. Representative works include Junsui Adolescence (Ichijinsha Inc.), Dear Tear (Hakushensha Inc.), and Hinemosu Futari (Takeshobo Co., Ltd.). In this game, they’re in charge of worldbuilding supervision.

----- * * * -----

Part 1: Interview with Tsushimi Bunta (Main Screenwriter) and Kazuma Kowo (Worldbuilding Supervision)

Q: How did you get involved in the development of Promise of Wizard?

I got my first offer around five years ago, but I had to decline because I was already working on something else. They’ve continued to contact me a number of times since then, and then finally the right chance came along. There was the worldbuilding, and then the management and creation of character setting sheets that would shape their sets of values et cetera, which seemed to be a lot for me to handle. That’s why I asked Kazuma-san to help us out. We made games together in the past.

Q: Kazuma Kowo-san is in charge of worldbuilding supervision. Together, the two of you came up with the mages’ world as well as the story. What sort of discussions did you guys have when you were creating the character setting for the wizards as well as the world construct?

We decided on the fantasy genre, but it can range from fairytales to light novel stuff to something as massive as high fantasy. We started from discussing what extent would attract the audience’s attention the most. We talked over and over about it, and in the end, we moved forward with the idea of the countries having their own fantasy taste. We had Kazuma-san sort which wizard into which country first, and then we made adjustments over time. Oz was in the North at first, for example, and then there was Figaro in the Central country. Shino was more reserved, Heath was the flirt, whereas Leno was someone ruthless. Then we figured we should be finalising the characters that would be “the face” of each country first, so that people can remember the characteristics of each country more easily. These are Arthur, Murr, Shino, Rutile, and Mithra. Things that have wizards and witches vibe such as precious stones, stars, plants, fortunetelling, incense, books—a lot of these things are what girls usually like, so we tried to be brave and implement as much as we could.

Q: How did you develop the personality and other characteristics of each wizard from each country? Was there anything you paid attention to in particular when creating these wizards?

The central country has wizards with heroic qualities, so they lean more towards heroes, leaders, and priests. The Western country’s qualities stress on the eccentricity, the bizarre, and entertainment, so they have themes like the Cheshire Cat and Halloween. The Japanese equivalent would be the kitsune foxes and the shapeshifting tanuki racoons. The East has wizards that are gothic, dark and gloomy with melancholic feel to them. The Southern wizards are like the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. They're good at helping others, honest, and pastoral. The Northern wizards’ image is like a demon lord or great witches who rule over humans—the power type that screams horror.

Q: In this game, wizards have powers that humans don’t have. Because of it, humans rely on them and they adore them. But, there are also occasions where the wizards are feared and detested. You’re depicting not only the “cool wizards”, but also the gap between the wizards and humans. There are also characters who have power but suffer and feel lonely because of it. I think things like that are what makes this game charming, but was there anything you were being mindful of in the process of writing that sort of aspect?

I don’t want to make the loneliness that the wizards feel to be theirs alone. Instead, I want the players to feel something similar, seeing as we all live in a society. I think anyone who lives in a society feels that they “want to be understood” or “want to understand [others]”. But at the same time, they also feel some sort of indignation where they “don’t want to be understood” or want to say “don’t you dare think you’ve understood”. I want the players to take any of these emotions and observe from the wizards’ point of view. I want them to let their imagination expand and enjoy themselves that way.

Q: Many of the wizards’ incantations are phrases that we’re unfamiliar with. I believe a lot of fans have put a lot of thinking into figuring out the meanings and the origin. How did you come up with these incantations?

In regards to incantations, I had Kazuma-san take the wheel. We had it in katakana so that it reads more smoothly in text, but we also adjusted it as we prioritise things like how easy it is to pronounce and for people to catch it. The impression you get from these incantations (sounds powerful, weak, ominous, or it’s still too early for you, et cetera), and how powerful they actually are—we have it all ranked and organised, so it would be nice if it shows one at a time.

Q: Was there anything about the “fantasy parallel universe” genre and the “relationship between wizards and the sage” you find to be the reason why you can deliver particular ideas? Was there anything you found interesting during the writing process?

I actually had to restrain my thinking process because I had to remind myself that I’m writing fantasy, so it’s like I can’t include things that are normal and already exist in the real world. Even if I come up with a good idea, I’ll end up thinking that it’s a little too normal and then it gets scrapped.

Q: The existence of the previous sage who doesn’t put on airs and has an approachable personality becomes one of the attention-grabbing elements in the storyline. In your mind, what sort of character is the previous sage?

A white-collar worker who works at an exploitative company. They can say pretty irresponsible things to the mages and amuse themselves with it. But they also get scared simply from scary things, and they have the boldness to say something selfish.

Q: Please tell us, if there are any, things that seem trivial but it’s something that you were being particular about during the process of writing the Main Story. These can include scenes, specific lines, or portrayal of something.

The same goes for the Main Story and the Sub Stories, but I want people to feel excited and let them imagine all sorts of things. I always have that in mind and that’s why I’ve added lots of details into the setting. “If I were a mage”, “If I were a citizen of this country”, “Which country would my friends come from”, “What does this taste like”, “What are their previous love stories like, and what’s their life been like until now”... I think being able to have so much freedom in imagination is what the real pleasure of the fantasy genre is. I hope it’s become a world that allows the players to indulge themselves in daydreaming.

Q: Lastly, please leave a message to all fans who are out there supporting Promise of Wizard.

Thank you for playing the game! It’s pretty much my first time writing fantasy, so right until it was released, my heart kept pounding thinking if it would really count as fantasy… But I’m so happy that a lot of people are having fun with the story! Please continue your support for Promise of Wizard from now on too!

----- * * * -----

Part 2: Interview with Mahoyaku’s Scenario Director

Q: How did you make this job offer to Tsushimi Bunta-san? What is it about Tsushimi-san’s works and writing style that makes it charming to you?

Right around the early stages of the establishment of our company, Coly, one of their past works touched my heart. Their script writing ability was so mind-blowing that I thought I just had to make this offer. In the end, that also instigated Kazuma-sensei’s involvement, and that’s how we got them to help us out as well. I think one of the things that make Tsushimi-sensei’s work charming is the universally relatable characters, the writing that makes the reader want to cheer the characters on, as well as a whole new world that they bring to the readers. Tsushimi-sensei has the ability to transform unsaid feelings and unwritten motions into breathtaking scenes. Sometimes, trivial dialogues can depict genuine feelings within human hearts, like that of a child’s. You can feel through the writing affection and gentle point of views towards those in a weaker position.

Q: The setting of this game involves the main character who suddenly wandered into another world where mages live. Then, they became the “sage” who gather up the wizards and guide them. How did you decide on what the story was about and which direction it was going?

We had the people in our company come up with several ideas and we went through them to see which ones had and hadn’t already been used in regards to the fantasy parallel universe genre, which was the direction we were going with. From there, we ended up with a story where the sage, someone who wandered into another world, and wizards fight together. We don’t want you to forget reality. Instead, we want you to enjoy it even more. We want to bring a world that gives you courage and positive energy, and we want to deliver the wizards’ world that’s blinding, mysterious, and exciting.

Q: Could you tell us a scene or a line from the main story that’s particularly memorable for you? And why as well, if possible.

Every scene in the main story is memorable for me, so to be honest with you, it’s really hard to pick one. But I was particularly driven in the execution of Chapter 17’s “Rustica’s Request”, so I cherish it a lot. It’s something that Rustica said to Chloe, who was tearing up silently as his feelings were hurt, “That’s because there’s only one of it in this world. This is something that only you can make.” It’s a sweet line, one that will always stay close to you and give you warmth. It may sound cheesy, but no matter how many times you read it, it echoes through in every corner of your heart.

[blabriel]

Q: Why did you archive your old blog and then start over without telling anyone? A: I was beyond overwhelmed, lost the ability to write entirely, and felt like I was letting everyone down.  I’m hoping that this time I can cut that problem off at the knees by only interacting with a few people and keeping threads to a minimum.

Q: Are you going to expand your writing circle any time soon? A: I don’t have any specific plans or a timeline for doing so, but it’s not completely off the table. If you read on you’ll see that I’m still willing to write with pretty much anyone, but on a more temporary basis.

Standard rules apply:

Follow the basics of politeness ooc.

No godmodding, don’t metagame, the usual.

Please tag any close up pictures of teeth and any dental horror.

You are under no obligation to follow me.  Even if we’re friends. This is a no pressure zone.

You also shouldn’t feel any pressure to reply to my stuff first/sooner just because I’m only following a few people. I’m hoping this will make my replies a little faster/a normal speed and I’m actually looking forward to occasionally logging on and not owing anything for once.

This is also an 18+ only zone for my personal comfort (as I myself am 30).

Shipping:

Now that I’ve got relative privacy I’m down to write NSFW when the situation calls for it.  

However, the thread will always be moved under a read-more when things start to get intense, just in case.

This goes for smut and darker themes.

And speaking of smut, I’ll write any ship once and if I end up liking it I’ll write it more than once, likely forever.

Especially if we have good communication ooc and our muses have an interesting dynamic ic.

Not everything’s gotta’ be smutty though, I like writing platonic relationships and pretty much every dynamic under the sun.

That being said I am open to writing things here that are on the darker side.  

Toxic relationships, dark themes, and stuff that follows the tropes and conventions of a Southern Gothic (you know what I mean).  

I just want to write these things without glorifying them and with some goal or overarching point to be made in mind.

But I’m still not interested in writing torture porn ft. Asmodeus.  I’ll fill in those gaps with hints and implications if you need me to.

Other stuff: 

I don’t have any formatting requirements or a password to send in.

I am willing to write short threads (that start when one of us kicks things off with an ask and are likely to end when i log off) with anyone regardless of whether we’re following each other or not.

I am OK rp-ing with people who use cartoon/anime FCs as long as we can do iconless threads.

Please don’t reblog threads that you aren’t a part of. If you feel the unstoppable need to like it that’s fine, but please don’t reblog or I’ll block you. 

I’m trying to keep my thread count low and my follower count lower so let’s not dive into too many things all at once.  My brain is fragile.

[sledgefuweek]

Hi everyone! As we mentioned a couple days ago, Lea and I thought it’d be helpful for everyone if we made an informational post about the prompts for Sledgefu Week, just in case people were either confused about the prompt itself or maybe looking for some inspo! 

Here is the AU prompt list: I’ll pop it under a read-more just to save your dashboards, but do go ahead and check it out! And as always, any questions or comments you may have, our inbox is always open :~)

PIRATE AU

Pretty self-explanatory, and a really popular suggestion on the google form that came before the poll, so I’ll assume most of you have a pretty good idea of what makes a pirate AU! This is a fun prompt to pair up with other ‘ocean’ themed prompts, I’m thinking of sirens, mermaids, sea monsters, however many tentacles you want to introduce into this thing. I think Pirate AU can encompass all of those, plus all the various different degrees of piracy that can be had, ranging from the big bad Captain Hook style of piracy down to something a little more Treasure Planet... the AU doesn’t stipulate anywhere that it has to be on land/water after all ;~) My favourite childhood pirates were the sky pirates from the Edge Chronicles series! Really, the only limit with this prompt is your own imagination, feel free to push the envelope!

SOUTHERN GOTHIC

This is one that I’ve seen a few people be curious about, and honestly as was I! Maybe if you’re American you may have a better understanding of what makes a Southern Gothic story different from a conventional (European) Gothic novel, but I know a lot of people here aren’t American, including myself and Lea, so! I did a little research (but if any of this doesn’t quite ring true to what Southern Gothic is, don’t hesitate to correct me! There’s only so much the internet can tell me haha). It’s my understanding that where Euro Gothic is more heavily rooted in the fantastic, Southern Gothic tends towards magical realism instead. It’s more heavily entrenched into the culture of the South than Euro Gothic is necessarily about European culture. Its essentially preoccupied with examining the values of the American south, so it’s important to exercise some sensitivity and care with some of the themes which can come up when looking at the history of the south; namely racism, and slavery -- for obvious reasons. There are plenty other ways to approach Southern Gothic without making comment on these aspects of the genre if you aren’t appropriately knowledgeable about them... the genre stems from European Gothic after all, which means that although it is focused on the south, it is also characterised by explorations of madness, fear of the outside world, decay and despair, the impact of the past on the present, and events stemming from or relating to poverty, crime, alienation, or violence. It has an absolute wealth of generic characteristics that, once combined with the magical realism that is unique to Southern Gothic, can be really fun to play with. Think Wuthering Heights, you know?

VAMPIRE AU

Another pretty classic one, and an AU that I think warrants very little explanation. I think the fun in Vampire AUs is in making it new -- there are SO many various vampire stories out there, what do you want to do with yours? Draw from popular culture, draw from history, draw from your own imagination... just as with the pirate AU, there’s really no limit to where you can take this prompt. Imagine the impact of an all-vampire company in a canonverse story! Or how would a newly-turned vampire navigate his new condition in the modern world? Plus, the whole immortality thing really lends itself to some great slow burn opportunities here. Or, hey, Twilight AU?

PARANORMAL AU

Okay, so: I know now that this looks similar to our Supernatural AU from last year, at a glance. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like they’re two very distinct prompts! It’s always been my understanding that supernatural is monsters: werewolves, witches, etc. whereas paranormal means ghosts, and aliens? Either way, if you already have an idea planned for this that tends towards the werewolf rather than the ghost, don’t worry about it. However this is the time where the angst can come in... I feel like The Pacific is kind of a perfect piece of source material to base a ghostfic on -- not to be morbid but well, you know. And of course, it isn’t limited to one of the characters being a ghost -- as I said, my understanding of ‘paranormal’ always encompassed ghosts, but also aliens, and cryptozoology. Now, wouldn’t Eugene being so interested in birds translate nicely into cryptozoology? Wouldn’t Snafu, being the paranoid legend that he is, quite possibly be into weird internet forums about aliens? You can interpret the prompt as loosely or as closely as you like :~)

COFFEE SHOP AU

I feel like I don’t need to explain this. Do I? Are coffee shop AUs still as popular as they used to be? The real challenge of a coffee shop AU is actually this: how will you make the employee of the coffee shop feel anything less than distain for the customer that is the would-be love interest? Fellow customer service workers know exactly what I mean. (But for real, this can be a fun prompt despite how oftentimes overworked it can seem, and that’s because it leaves a lot of room for creativity. Is your character a poet doing a reading at a local coffee house, catching the eye of the person in the audience? Are they a musician, a stressed-out student, a caffeine-hater who is gritting their teeth after every sip just for a chance to speak to the cute barista? There’s tons of options, and I’m excited to see where people go with it.)

GHIBLI AU

So this is quite simply an opportunity to write an AU for any Ghibli movie of your choice! It’s actually my prompt (I was super happy to see it make it up there in the polls!) so I can explain why it’s nice and vague :~) I didn’t like the thought of having to limit every single person who wanted to contribute to the ship week to a specific AU for a specific Ghibli movie: they have such a huge catalogue of movies, and everyone seems to have their own particular favourite! So basically, you have the freedom to pick from any movie made by Ghibli to turn into an AU here. And these AUs can be as close to the source or as far away from it as you like. Want to write Gene and Snaf as background characters ordering bread from Kiki? You got it. Want to have them fighting in the war that features in Howl’s Moving Castle? Your mind. It’s completely up to you! And if you’re not familiar with Ghibli movies, you’re gonna have a great time if you do decide to watch a couple :~) They’re all on Netflix in the UK, but can’t speak for other countries sadly.

ENEMIES TO LOVERS 

A time-honoured classic. Who hasn’t read an enemies to lovers AU? If you haven’t, and you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it’s pretty self explanatory! It’s pretty much about two characters who have an oftentimes very long history of conflict with each other, (though the ‘long’ part doesn’t really matter much) that eventually resolves into, well, love! The enemy relationship gets swapped for a romantic relationship. I always associate this prompt with slow burn fic too -- it’s always so good if it’s a gradual descent into affection. Now, this is a very broad prompt, which means it can be applied really nicely on top of other AUs! Just glancing at the list here, you wanna write a centuries long Vampire AU where they start out enemies and become lovers? Go for it!! It’s easily one that can be made unique and really fun by applying it to other AUs if you want to. I always think of Spy AUs or things within that genre too!

MYTH AU

This is another pretty broad one that I think covers a lot of bases, simply because there are SO many myths out there lol. If your culture has specific myths, this’d be a really nice time to get creative with them and also let people learn a little more about myths they might not know! There’s also obviously a ton of myths centralised around the American south so that would be fitting for both characters, but don’t be afraid to branch out! Really, you can apply this to any kind of folklore you want, and it’d be perfect! Obviously Greek myths are super popular and always cool too -- imagine an Achilles/Patroclus AU! But I think what makes this prompt really nice is tha it leaves you some room to actually have a go at making your own mythic tale up. So fall back on the real myths that kinda build up our world, but if you’re feeling really creative, take a stab at crafting your own!

[sapphicoftheworld]

Okay so I wrote a short story. It’s got some elements of Southern Gothic lit, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it that because that’s just not my writing style. It’s about 2k words so I’ll put just a few sentences above the cut :) 

         The vase of sunflowers that sat on the kitchen table were the center of attention. No mind should be paid to the anemic meat on the counter. Yes, it's fresh, but very insignificant. Even the honeycomb and two halves of a pomegranate, which are to be paired with the meat, are all the more intriguing. They are fresh from the backyard and cultivated to perfection, specifically for this occasion.

And do not at all worry about the bleeding skull in the back. If one were to look closely, it is possible one would find the skull with gold dripping down from the top, much like a vanilla ice cream cone dipped in chocolate, that was in dire need of jaw surgery. Of course its original owner had no use for it anymore, so I suppose it could go without the surgical procedure, but there is something undignified about a skull with a broken jaw, especially if that jaw were splattered with blood. Naturally that blood would match that of the painfully boring meat on the counter; for it would be silly for one to think there would be two different types of blood in the kitchen at the same time. 

       But nevermind those insanely boring details; the real star of the show, as I've said before, are the sunflowers. They lay beautifully in a glass vase in the center of the table, looking absolutely stunning. Almost in full bloom, perhaps this evening or the morrow’s morn will they peak, with the most dazzling, deep golden yellow hue. Strong luscious petals balanced gently but firmly with a sturdy center of deep brown. The seeds these flowers produced made the most wonderful yet distinguishable treat. They grew in a small field just a stone’s throw from the back porch. It was about twenty feet by twenty feet and when the conditions were just right, could rear about 100 plants if all survived. Growing no less than six feet tall, they tower over everyone, creating the most magical place to escape to. A place where one is untouchable; immune and separated from all outside unpleasantries. The world could go up in flames and I’d be none the wiser in the sunflower field. In here the air feels crisper and the sun warmer. It’s as if all of one’s problems and all that is unjust in the world has floated away to some other reality. 

       Today was just like every other day--nothing out of the ordinary and utterly pedestrian. The weather was pleasant enough so one could sit outside with a glass of lemonade (or a Bellini if one is feeling particularly cheeky) and not worry about blisters on one's skin. Inside, the kitchen fan mildly spun about, revolution after revolution, which was sufficient enough to keep flies off the meat and skull. There’s something uncanny about the flies here; they seem rather attracted to blood. This is strikingly peculiar because there are rather quite a few around here. And that is clearly rather mad, for why would any noticeable trace of blood be here? 

       Ah but nevermind the matter; the glory days of complete comprehension and understanding are long past. Furthermore, Mrs. Ignara was at the door now. I knew it was her before she knocked; she had a way of fixing herself up as to be presentable before interacting with anyone. Why, I’m perplexed myself, because she is the most put together woman I know; everything about her seems to exude this attitude of “I am a woman who is functioning at a level that is admirable yet unachievable; you wish and strive to be where I am but you know you could not handle a day in my life”. I think I may be in love with her, but then again most everyone who sees her falls in love with her; yet I do feel as if we share some sort of unspoken bond. Hmm. No matter what is true and what is real, I appreciate and covet her companionship.

       As I walked over to the front door, there was a hint of unfamiliarity in the air. This would have struck me as odd, but one can never be prepared for everything life throws at oneself, and not knowing what lies ahead is exciting anyways. The thrill of being blind.

       Blindness itself is not exhilarating, rather quite melancholy instead. Unable to experience the little joys of life: the joy on someone’s face as they’re given something mind and body numbing; the life leaving their eyes and draining from their body. The absolute power of being in control. 

       At the front door stood Mrs. Ignara, looking perfectly exquisite and holding a nice bottle of white wine with lobsters on the label, and next to her someone I had never met before. A man of perhaps ordinary height and firm but subtle build. He wore light brown slacks and a rosy button down shirt that had tiny crustaceans on it, only visible to those who looked closely. His right arm leaned on the frame of the door, very nonchalant but with a note of desperation, and his other hand rested gently on his side.

       “Hey howdy hey there stranger,” Mrs. Ignara said. “Care for some company and wine?”

       I smiled at the proposal. “Won’t say no to a good time.”

       “This here handsome thing is Jude. You’ll like him. He’s,” she paused to glance over at him, “cool.”

       “Hello,” Jude said. “I’m delighted to be joining you today.”

       “Ah well the pleasure is all mine,” I say, leading them into the kitchen. “Have a seat while I grab some glasses.”

       Mrs. Ignara and Jude sat down across from one another on the far end of the table opposite the kitchen sink. Grabbing the nice glasses from the corner cabinet, I turn to face my guests. The view was remarkable. A long, slender dining table of the finest maple trees fitted with three hideous floral chairs on each side and one at each head. They were upholstered with a wretched canvas fabric, a smothering of blue flowers of various shades and variety that exudes nausea and insanity, supported by shiny silver metal frames. Two guests sat at the end, one of whom I knew absolutely nothing and the other I desperately longed to know. And of course, for who could ever forget, the sunflowers in the vase on the table at the center of attention. My pride and joy. If I saw the view in front of me every day, forever, I would remember this time. I brought forth the glasses and easily poured the wine.

       “I hope you don’t mind I made lunch. It’s impossible to know what everyone likes, but I’ve never failed with bass. They’re fresh from the lake in the back.” I left my company for a second and returned with two plates of fried fish. 

       “My, my, why aren’t you handy in the kitchen,” Mrs. Ignara said playfully. 

       “Oh, you charmer,” I said blushing. 

       “Won’t you join us?” Jude asked.

       I waited for a moment, contemplating my response. He seems the right type.

       “While I do apologize for not being the most courteous host, I am quite content from breakfast and have a most intensive dinner planned,” I gestured to the back counter where the dull, soulless meat lay. “I know it may not look like much, but I am talented with a knife and skillet.”

       Jude looked behind me at the meat and honeycomb and pomegranates. For a moment there I thought I saw the slightest inclination of terror in his eyes, but it must have been the light because it was gone before I could be certain. This, whatever it was, lingered in the back of my mind, not my central point of focus but not so deep I couldn’t recall it. His eyes flicked back to my own and smiled at me knowingly. 

       “You have been nothing but delightful,” he said. “I can only imagine what wonders you can create.”

       “That is awfully kind of you to say of me. Would the two of you care to join me in a stroll through the sunflower field? It really is rather quite magical and wondrous.”

       “Oh! I would love nothing else!” said Mrs. Ignara.

       “Fantastic. And you, Jude?”

       “Thank you very much for the kind invitation, but I must decline; I’m not very fond of enclosed spaces and much prefer to be indoors.”

       “You, my dear, will be missing out, but that is how life goes. Feel free to open any bottle of red wine up. Top shelf is the sweetest, middle the sharpest, and bottom the richest.”

      With that, Mrs. Ignara and I left the kitchen and headed out to the backyard. We walked together in identical stride, passing the beehives on the left and the pomegranate trees on the right. Just before entering the sunflower field, Mrs. Ignara and I stopped for a moment. She looked to me for reassurance and I gave her a gentle nod of encouragement. Taking my hand, she and I stepped into the sunflowers. Immediately, I felt more relaxed. My lungs breathed clearer air and my skin felt warmer sun. The weight of whatever had haunted and plagued me was released from my shoulders. Mrs. Ignara squeezed my hand and I remembered where I was. The look on her face was pure ecstasy. She radiated elation and was the embodiment of joy. I have never seen such beauty. We laughed and spun about without fear of perception. Falling gently to the ground, we laid next to one another with a pleasant sigh. She looked over at me with an expression of bliss I had not seen in many moons. There was something about her that made me feel safe.

      “What is it?” She asked, sensing something was wrong.

      “What is what?” 

      “In your face, there is delight but in your eyes, there’s a note of hesitation.”

      “You know me so well,” I said. “I love it in here. It’s a magical place with deep, strong, true feelings.”

      “But?”

      “But it doesn’t last forever. What is true is not always real.”

      “Hey,” she whispered softly, bringing me in close. “We don’t get to decide what is true, but we have the power to choose what is real.” She touched her forehead to mine and we closed our eyes for a moment, then two. 

      When I opened my eyes on the third moment, Mrs. Ignara stood above me offering her hand. I graciously took it and we walked out of the sunflower field together, hand in hand. My knees felt like they had buckled when I took my first step out of the sunflower field. Evening had been birthed during the few minutes Mrs. Ignara and I spent with the sunflowers; the light of the world had almost dwindled away completely. We moved in identical stride to where we had previously been before, only to find something peculiar. 

      On the floor in front of the table where we sat not too long ago, laid an unfamiliar body. It had on a dark navy, long sleeve shirt and black slacks, both of which looked damp. Upon its head was a thick mound of matted brown hair. A thick pool of red had begun to seep from underneath the body, slowly spreading across the floor. I bent down and dipped my finger in the red. It was a warm, dark color. Slowly I brought my finger to my mouth, it tasted sharp and metallic, but was distracted by the sound of footsteps in the kitchen. As I stood up, the red dripped from my knees where I knelt down and had coated my hand. What I saw had brought a smile to my face and joy to my heart: Jude stood at the head of the table that was made of the finest maple trees. He held a plate in his hands, identical to those which had been placed on the table for Mrs. Ignara and myself opposite one another. They all had three rare cuts of newly inspired meat paired with a honey and pomegranate glaze. Next to each plate was a glass of red wine. The hideous floral chairs had become all the more pleasant, the supple canvas fabric had turned the loveliest shade of violet, and the multitude of flowers radiated euphoria. 

      I looked at Mrs. Ignara, then at Jude and melted. She and I walked to our designated seats on either side of him and sat down. 

      “Everything went alright?” I asked.

      “Yes, very much so. Although, I do have to apologize for the mess; you see, as I was bringing a bottle of red from the middle shelf to the counter to pour a glass, it slipped right out of my hands and smashed to the floor.”

      “Well isn’t this special,” Mrs. Ignara said, placing her napkin in her lap.

      “Every meal deserves attention and devotion. Let’s have a toast,” said Jude lifting his wine glass. Mrs. Ignara and I followed suit. “To this meal, and all that contributed to it.”

      We all gently clinked our glasses with one another and drank. As I went to set my rich red down, something in the kitchen caught my eye. What the back counter lacked in banal meat, honeycomb, and pomegranate seeds, it made up for with two skulls--one with gold dripping down the sides and a broken, blood spattered jaw; the other with a deep crimson stain, originating from the left superior temporal line and spreading outward. It was quite the satisfying sight. 

      In front of me, however, was much more impressive. Two guests sat with me, one of whom I had loved at first sight and the other I was learning to love. And of course, for how could they go unmentioned, were the elegant sunflowers in a case at the center of the table and the center of attention. At the peak of bloom, they set the mood for the rest of the night.

[feitanswife]

That southern gothic post got me thinking and here’s my guide to writing books about Washington State since SOMEONE ruined it...

We’ll start at Western Washington

Cults. Not shitting you. Everything is a cult.

Churches with weird names right in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. On the way home from school a long long driveway back into a parking lot of an unassuming plain building, you never see anyone parked in the parking lot, the lights are never on.

Everyone in my neighborhood had a special knock, or you announced yourself by shouting your name as you knocked. Cause the only people that ever rang the doorbells were the cult recruiters that made daily rounds.

Everything is football. Everything. Is. Football. You are sincerely more likely to see a Seahawks flag on a flag pole than an American one. Everyone likes football. Schools have Seahawk Spirit Days more often than they have normal ones.

We’re notoriously unfriendly and that’s intentional. Don’t trust a smiling stranger, don’t eat the food they bring. Don’t listen to their honeyed words for a snake lies underneath. Re: cultists but also racist sleeper agents who don’t even realize they’re racist.

Everywhere you go there’s just trees. Random forests in the middle of towns, snaking between developed areas. You could go from decadent three story houses with crystal chandeliers to back woods farmland within two miles. All the kids from all these houses all go to the same public school.

Calling the cops is largely a useless measure, half the time they don’t even show up unless someone’s dead. If your new (cultist) neighbors entered the neighborhood by gifting everyone homemade pizzas that made everyone ill enough to go to urgent care? And made active threats against the people across the street? Just... deal with it I guess. Tell the kids to not play near their yard. Hope they move out or die. Yes this is a true story.

Everyone’s house is haunted. Or possesed, or inhabited by other non-reality beings. I don’t care if you built it yesterday and it’s on the water not even on land! Your house is haunted! There’s nothing you can do about it and frankly it’s more of a minor annoyance than anything. Most of the time. Unless you give it a reason to be more.

Everyone knows someone with a horse. Or who used to have horses. Or comes from a long line of show horse breeders or champion riders.

Everyone knows a Car Family, or comes from a Car Family. Whether it’s hand-building army jeeps from just a frame to go rock-crawling in the mountains, or lovingly restore classic cars that hang out in Walmart parking lots on Friday nights, everyone knows Car People.

You either ski, cross-country ski, snowboard, or snowmobile. Or do sled dog racing if you’re really cool. You know someone who knows someone who has an old cabin on Snoqualmie pass, or Stampede, or somewhere, cause only tourists go to the lodge.

Seeing liscence plates from out of state gets weirder reactions the father out of state you come from. Idaho? Oh well that’s kinda odd. Arizona? Must be a...family event I guess. Georgia? What the fuck are you doing here? Whatever it is get it done fast and fuck off.

Clothes are the most important thing about a person. Everyone here dresses to send a message, and allegiance, to let you know why they are and who they definetly are NOT. Don’t come around in a pain short sleeve button up and belted slacks if you aren’t looking to be grouped in with the damn cultists.

Everybody knows a witch or three. It’s just a fact of life at this point.

Easy book plot: character just moved from out of state, befriends a shy but polite boy who seems perfectly normal. One of the haughty, popular girls takes her aside and warns her against hanging out with him, but gives no specifics as to why, acting like it should be obvious. Character thinks that this is just normal high school bullying and forges on, but as she starts to get closer to the boy she starts to notice that his family isn’t what they seem. They keep odd hours and act strangely, but surely it’s just a cultural difference! But then she’s invited to come to church with them........

Eastern Washington

Mostly just like the west side but 300% more forests in the central-area and way fewer cults but a lot more racists. Also there’s nobody out there aside from small pockets of civilization.

In Central Washington there are like... 4 towns. And a couple villages. Ellensburg, Cle Elum, Roslyn, and Ronald. Ellensburg is the only one of those big enough to have a Fred Meyer. Outside of those you technically have Thorp, Liberty, and Easton. But I don’t know if those qualify as towns. They’re more like villages.

The forests go on FOREVER. Everyone has a quad (that’s a four-wheeler for normal people) or an old hand-restored Jeep that they take out in the hills and ride the trains with for hours because what else are you going to do?

Everyone knows someone who seems to have an unnaturally good memory of the trails. All their names, and the names of everyone who rides them.

Again with the horse thing, everyone has horses it’s weird.

Anything post-Ellensburg is a WASTELAND. DRY HOT BULLSHIT. INHOSPITABLE. YOU WILL DIE.

There’s certain places with life, such as tri-cities, Yakima, Spokane, uhhh Lake Chelan... and various itty bitty towns in the middle of nowhere that I can’t in good conscious reccomend for a visit. I can’t reccomend most of eastern Washington. It’s scary out there.

It’s actually a lot like the traditional Southern Gothic setting, except take all the southern-ness out of it. Rather than old-money families with fake smiles and Murder on their minds it’s new-money, upstart wineries with cool hipster themes, “oh we hard-restored this old silo and made a tasting room and we had our daughters wedding here!” 50-something couples with four kids and three dogs, they seem so genuinely nice and down to earth but the situation just feels so odd I mean they just don’t ever want to disclose anything of note about the vineyards.... even their niece from the west side who they practically raised knows nothing....

Easy book plot: group of city kids decides to go camping at a random lakeshore on the edge of Wine Country, with an itty-bitty town next to it, middle of nowhere type with nothing but dry farmland for miles and miles. There’s maybe 100 people in the whole place, and the kids happen upon the extended family of one of the nearby vineyard owners, including a girl around their age who shows all the signs of being a normal person with coherent thought: dyed hair, edgy clothes, denim jacket with politically charged patches and pins, etc. and she offers—no, begs the group to come down to the vineyard the next morning, for the big family brunch and grape picking party! The group wonders why she was so insistent, but once they got there it was fairy obvious, things weren’t normal at this vineyard and she clearly needed backup.