#I didn't edit this much so if it's not too polished that's why

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Routeriver's selkie Hideduo drawing reminded me of the old Hideduo + Tazercraft Mermaid / Nautical AU I started writing wayyyy back in October, so I dug up my old notes because I was feeling nostalgic.

I've moved on to other fics since then, but I really like the portion I did end up writing, so here's the opening scene along with some extra notes I made when I first came up with the idea.

—

One of the most common misconceptions about merfolk was that they'd die without water.

The other was that they only lived in the ocean.

Pac didn’t always live in the ocean; he grew up in a freshwater river with a large estuary at its mouth. There were plenty of fish to catch and more than enough space for him to swim freely without fear of the dangers that normally roamed deeper waters. It was only when Pac got older that he ventured out to sea and began traveling – which is how he wound up meeting his best friend.

According to Mike, a common misconception about selkies was that they could swim with or without their pelt. Mike said it might be true for others, but not for him. When he was younger, he almost never used his human form, so trying to swim without his pelt made him panic and claw at the water in a feeble attempt to keep from sinking like a rock. Thanks to many lessons from Pac, Mike was a strong swimmer in both forms now, but when Pac first met him, Mike was stranded alone on a remote beach. A handful of human boys were in the water jeering at Mike, and Pac felt a pang of sympathy and anger as he saw them waving a seal pelt just out of Mike's reach. Every time he tried to wade out to them, they'd move into deeper water, and Mike would have to scramble back to avoid getting pulled in by the current. Only when Pac swam underneath the boys and grabbed one by his ankle did they let go of the pelt, shrieking about sharks as they swam to shore as fast as they could.

He and Mike were best friends ever since, and not a day passed that Pac didn't have Mike by his side.

Except for today.

Even after being trapped with him for so long, Pac still didn’t know what kind of creature Cell was. Cell once told Pac he could smell blood in the water a mile away, and his night vision far surpassed either of theirs, allowing him to explore parts of the ocean neither of them dared to venture.

Both these thoughts were in Pac’s mind as he and Mike executed their escape plan and trapped Cell in the winding underwater caves of a cenote. Pac didn’t know what Cell was, but he knew that Cells’ claws were sharp and his teeth were even sharper. Half of Pac's fins were shredded to ribbons mid-escape while he tried to buy Mike time. That alone might've been a death sentence, but Pac's tail was the real problem.

The water around them was quickly being dyed a murky brown from the deep long gashes Cell left behind on Pac. Every movement only made the pain worse, and the water was getting so dark with his blood Pac could hardly see, let alone swim.

Here's the other thing most people don't know about merfolk: they're mammals.

Without air, they die.

The only reason Pac didn't drown was because of Mike. Mike was a faster swimmer than Pac in his seal form, and he could’ve – should’ve – escaped when Cell caught up to them, but he stayed. Mike did his best to help, encouraging Pac to lean against him as he inched them towards the surface, but Pac could barely keep his head above the water even when they reached it. Mike was a powerful swimmer, but he wasn't strong enough to carry Pac for long, and they were a long way from shore.

—

I know it's bad manners to end on a cliffhanger, but unfortunately this is all I wrote at the time! :'D I do have notes about what I wanted to happen next however, and notes about the rest of the cast.

After this scene, I planned to switch to Fit's POV. I imagined Fit as some kind of fisherman, and Ramon was his assistant (and adopted son) who wanted to become an engineer / inventor. They'd be out on the water hoping to catch some fish, and all of a sudden a harbor seal would flop into their boat. They'd laugh it off and assume it was after their fish, then Ramon would notice something was caught in their net, and they'd find a very injured and still bleeding Pac, who grabbed onto it to keep himself from sinking / drowning.

I do have a small piece from Fit's POV regarding the injury:

Fit was familiar with treating basic injuries, especially thanks to his time in the war. He knew how to do stitches, which came in handy back in the day when he had to tend to his own gaping wounds, and was still handy whenever Ramon came to him with holes in his clothes. Experience and quick-thinking was the reason Fit was still alive today, but the person – or whatever it was – bleeding out on the wet dirty floor of his boat was way outside his area of expertise. How can we help? Ramon signed to him. His eyes were wide with concern, but he didn't look afraid. No matter what happened, Ramon trusted him to know what to do, and he'd be damned if he let his son down now.

The story mostly fell apart after that because I had too many ideas for where I wanted to take it. I wanted to make Pac and Mike some kind of water-creature from Brazilian folklore since Selkies are from a very different region's mythology (wasn't too concerned about the mermaid bit though), but I also wanted to make sure I wasn't wading into any weird territory with that. (Before moving on to other projects, I was doing a lot of research on the lara myth, and similar "lady of the lake" stories.)

Another route I considered was making Fit a "merman" too, or reverse things entirely and have Tazercraft be human. I imagined 2B2T as a deep ocean battleground, which Fit only leaves after losing his arm in a battle. Pac and Mike find him washed up on the beach, and they take him to their lab, where Fit wakes up and nearly bites Mike's arm off.

Other aspects of the story I wound up incorporating into different projects, so you might see those in future fics (which I'll hopefully finish someday).

Even though this is an unfinished story, I hope you enjoy the concept! I sure do.

#QSMP #Tazercraft #Pac #Mike #qsmp talk #fic talk #I didn't edit this much so if it's not too polished that's why #<- I definitely did make a few tweaks though #I'm incapable of posting rough drafts. I'm trying to change that

[gh0st-t0wn3]

Lmk ss edits + Headcanons, Part 2 (Pigsy, Tang, Sandy, Sun Wukong, Macaque)

- He/Him

- Bisexual

- Huge environmentalist, if you put any garbage or recycling in the wrong bin expect to get at least a three hour lecture, no you can not escape this, yes MK and Mei have tried, no they did not succeed

- ONLY shops from farmers markets/family businesses, you will never catch this man supporting a corporation

- Use to steal Tang's college hoodies

- Took him the longest to get used to having Redson around and a part of the group , but eventually warmed up to him (is still kinda salty about Redson burning MK's room though)

- Grows his own herbs

- Gets incredibly frustrated when he gets the hiccups (writing this as I'm fighting off hiccups)

- Loves watching true crime shows and listening to true crime podcasts while he does household chores or while he's setting up/closing the shop

- Got his ears pierced with Tang

- MK and Mei call him mom when he's being overbearing, Tang calls him mom now too to tease him

- Once caught Mei and MK sneaking food out of the kitchen at 3am and beat them with a broom for a solid minute because he was too drowsy to recognize them and assumed they were intruders (they were fine)

- Is the type of person to call his husband (Tang) "bro", "dude" etc

- Got drunk in college once and talked about nothing but how much he loved Tang, didn't remember any of it the next day but Tang asked him out pretty quickly after that

- Exchanged a few recipes with DBK while they were at the beach, they still do exchange more recipes once in a while but they don't talk much outside of cooking related topics

- Learned how to play dnd in college because Tang liked the game and ended up liking it a lot more than he expected to so they wound up playing together all the time (they still play it once in a while if they have time)

- Him and Sandy get together every other weekend to try and help Pigsy with his anger management issues

- Never called MK his son while he was growing up because he was scared that MK's real family would show up one day to take him back home, finally realized that no one was gonna show up a short while after MK turned 10 and started acting like an actual parent (MK always saw Pigsy as his dad though)

- Always says "this is the last time" when giving Tang free noodles (it is never gonna be the last time, and Tang knows it)

- Once bumped into a mannequin at the mall and apologized to it, Tang still makes fun of him

- Use to take Mei and MK to conventions all the time until Mei learned how to drive and could take them herself

- Won't care for people getting hurt in movies but will be absolutely crushed if something happens to an animal (sobbed when he watched "A Dog's Purpose")

- Smells like noodles

- Love language is acts of service

- Keeps trying to convince Tang to come with him to family events, has yet to succeed

- Carries around an extra pair of headphones in case Tang or MK needs them

- Almost threw hands with DBK and PiF after hearing about how they treated Redson (seriously guys, I need Redson to have a good parental figure in the next season, please), this man is a father to everyone

- Snores loud as fuck, it's a wonder how Tang gets any sleep

- No fashion sense what's so ever

- Insomnia

- He/Him

- Gay

- Once zoned out and stared at a wall for six hours straight

- Desk is covered in pencil shavings and pen ink

- Constantly bruised from always falling (weak ankles)

- Fluent in Polish, don't ask why, it just feels right

- Doodled all over his books in school (they made him pay for new ones)

- Never up before sunrise

- Got in some random dudes car once thinking it was a taxi and almost got himself kidnapped

- Will make the most annoying, smart-ass remark to anything anyone says

- I'm not actually sure if it's ever mentioned in the show what Tang does for a living but it doesn't matter, he's a college history professor now

- Has grandma floral bedsheets (we've all seen his sleepwear, you cannot tell me that man doesn't have grandma floral bedsheets)

- Somehow always cold

- Constanly napping, he can and will fall asleep if he's left alone for too long (his students once caught him asleep at his desk after lunch break and dipped class)

- Used to have hexagon glasses cause he thought they looked cool but found out Pigsy liked circular ones better so he got new ones

- Still has a septum piercing he got while he was in college but keeps it flipped up, he also has ear gauges

- When he met Pigsy's parents he was super nervous and ended up passing out half way through the night because of anxiety, he has not lived it down and refuses to go to any events with Pigsy if his family is gonna be there (they actually really liked him and are disappointed when he doesn't show up)

- Doesn't own a bookshelf for some reason, everything is just piled on the floor

- Very faint freckles

- Needs a daily 'to do' list, his whole day gets thrown off if he doesn't have some kind of schedule

- Maladaptive daydreamer

- Never showers, only takes baths

- Needs headphones on crowded transportation otherwise he'll get stressed at all the noises and talking overlapping eachother

- Severe rsd (rejection sensitivity dysphoria,  "benched" was an especially bad time for him)

- Number one art appreciator and constantly drags Pigsy to museums

- Smells like a library (please tell me you know what smell I mean)

- Love language is gift giving ( and you KNOW he loves you when he shares his food with you willingly)

- 76% of the clothes he owns are thrifted

- Blind as a fucking bat, if he looses his glasses he's on the floor feeling around for them like Velma,  I swear they could be two feet in front of him but he won't even notice

- Hypersomnia

- He/Him

- Bisexual

- Huge conspiracy theorist, ask him anything and he'll have some in depth explanation on how it relates to cryptids or something (I'm talking Matpat level conspiracy theorist, seriously, someone get him help)

- Slowest typer on the planet (mainly because the screen is too small for his hands), will respond to something 3-5 minutes after they changed topics

- Made seed bombs and threw them everywhere at random around the city and now there's a bunch of flowers and vines growing everywhere

- Was the first one (Aside from Mei and MK) to welcome Redson into the group with open arms, everyone else was still kinda cautious

- Would literally die for any of his friends, no questions asked, no hesitation, just jumps in the line of danger as soon as he sees one of his friends about to get hurt

- Didn't have a lot of friends growing up until he met Pigsy in his last year of high school because everyone was afraid of him

- He and Pigsy were in a band together in college, Sandy discusses it with pride, Pigsy gets embarrassed and denies ever being in a band at all

- Since he also has scales he's the one who teaches and helps Mei look after her scales and keep them from drying or getting damaged

- Yoga master, wakes up super early to do it during sunrise

- Has the best taste in music, he can find the most amazing, tear jerking, heart wrenching, underground music ever effortlessly

- Hasn't met a single person he wasn't able to get along with

- Firmly believes in all the little wishing rituals (11:11, shooting stars, birthday candles, blowing dandelions etc)

- Learned how to whistle so he could sing along with birds

- *gets robbed* "oh, i bet he needed the money, it's ok"  "I really don't think he did." "...maybe he's gonna donate it!"

- Favourite kind of tea is earl grey

- Named one of his cats Maquack after Macaque

- Sometimes cat sits for Bai He when she goes to doctor appointments, family visits out of the city, etc

- Got his piercing while he was still in a band but kept them in because his band mates were some of his first friends and they all got pierced together

- Has a tail to help him swim better (unfortunately I could not add it in the edit above but just I imagine he has the same kind of tail as the water Na'vi in Avatar ig)

- Skin has a faint ombre to it (his hands and feet are lighter and fade around his forearms/knees to a slightly darker blue (i did add this one in my edit but unfortunately I don't think it's as visible as I wanted it to be, my bad)

- Webbed hands and feet to help him swim better

- Has adipose eyelids like a fish to protect his eyes from the water, block exposure of harmful ultraviolet light into his eyes and act as protection against impact to the eye in aquatic environments. Since his eyelids are transparent though, he has to wear a sleeping mask at night

- Smells like a mix of ocean air and tea

- Love language is quality time and physical touch (will pick up and hug his friends all the time no matter the place)

- His hair and beard always have something in them, sand, seaweed etc

- Shoes are actually really uncomfortable for him to wear because his body is evolved for an aquatic environment, but he doesn't want to be rude so he wears them anyway (Mei found out and got him a customized pair of shoes so he could be comfortable without feeling like he's being rude)

- Uses Kaomojis

- If he's not busy, or doesn't have anything planned for the next few hours, he'll spend his free time cleaning up the ocean and beaches from any garbage

- He/Him

- Pansexual

- Everything he has ever done has been an impulse decision

- Is the type of mf to kick the inside of someone knee while they're walking to make them fold (Tang is the primary victim)

- Chews his nails

- Made up his own constellations as a "fuck you" to the universe (somehow managed to convince some mortals they were real constellations too)

- Mk and Co constantly forget how ancient swk is until he says some old person shit

- Naturally has curly and untamable hair, uses glamor to avoid getting called out about not taking care of it

- Horrifically optimistic

- Always has leaves and dirt and sticks etc in his hair

- Will sit out in the rain for hours on end

- Follow up on the last hc, he's been struck by lightning.. twice

- Actually has really heavy eyebags but uses glamor to cover them up

- Gets bored super easily

- Has naturally long lashes, Mei is still convinced he's wearing makeup though

- Cannot cook for the life of him

- His memories are always in shades of gold, no ones sure if it hasn't something to do with his gold vision or not, even himself, he just can't remember things in normal colour

- Stress induced migraines from the circlet

- Not a fan of big cities but loves how the lights look at night

- Stacks of notebooks and loose paper, cannot keep anything organized

- Takes a nap everyday at exactly 2:38 without fail

- Freezes in the winter, man's house has no insulation whatsoever

- Doesn't like big crowds but also can't stand not being the center of attention

- Once picked fleas out of both MK's and his own hair and ate them, MK was and still is disgusted, he will never look at Monkey King the same way again

- Smells like Peaches (it's like the only fucking thing he eats)

- Love language is physical touch

- Kinda chubby (mostly around his stomach and thighs) but still has muscles

- Always teasing Redson about the fact that he's technically his uncle since he and DBK are sworn brothers, he finds Redson's overreactions to it funny but is secretly kinda hurt that Redson doesn't think of him as family anymore (He use to when he was a little kid but stopped seeing Wukong as family after he sealed DBK away. They've started to try and mend their relationship after the events of season 4, it's slow but it's progress)

- Sometimes the monkey's on FFM will come into his house through the windows at night to sleep with him for comfort

- Really bad with technology but pretends he's just too good for the internet so he can avoid using it without looking old

- He/Him

- Bisexual

- Says his "S"'s really sharply

- If you ask him anything about himself he'll give you a different answer to the exact same question everytime (he thinks it makes him mysterious,  it does not)

- Lower lid eyeliner >>>

- If you say something stupid or weird he'll just stare judgingly until you take it back

- Actually lost his mind when he found out what blowing bubbles were

- Drinks tea with an ungodly amount of sugar

- Chronic eye pain + headaches. It's gotten significantly better over the years but.. yk, eye gouged out

- Has a deeply relaxing voice, strangely enough

- Has tried to compliment people before but it always ends up coming off as an insult

- Classical music or heavy rock, no in-between

- It is literally impossible to take a bad picture of him

- Puts his hair up in a bun whe he doesn't wanna deal with it

- Has patches of freeze burns from LBD, along his right side (mostly just his arm).

- Theater kid

- Rose tea enjoyer

- Likes to bake sometimes and frequently exchanges recipes with Pigsy and DBK

- Like to watch the sunrise and sunset

- Hates being out in the sun too long, not having a shaded area nearby for an easy escape stresses him

- Will stare out the window while it rains, Mei once said he looked like he was pretending to be in a cringey early 2010 music video

- Hard of hearing, his six ears are very sensitive and all the fighting and screaming has definitely done some damage to them by now

- Follow up on the last HC, despite being hard of hearing he will either absolutely refuse to wear hearing aids, or will wear them (albeit begrudgingly) but cover them with glamor

- Septum and snake bite piercings he got during his emo phase

- Smells like grapes, don't ask

- Love language is quality time, he doesn't care to actually have a conversation, though, he's fine just sitting in comfortable silence

- Will use his shadow transport for the dumbest things when he's lazy, like teleporting the TV remote to him if it's on the other side of the couch, teleport a bag of chips from the pantry to him in his bedroom,  etc

- Room is covered in scented candles

- Sandy has invited him over to work out some of his problems multiple times, he doesn't really care to open up though, he just goes for the cats (Sandy let's him)

- His hair is always soft and he refuses to tell anyone what he washes with, MK has asked multiple times and he gets a different, vague answer everytime

#fanart #lego monkie kid #lego monkey kid fanart #lmk sun wukong #lmk macaque #lmk sandy #lmk tang #lmk pigsy #freenoodleshipping #lmk freenoodles #monkie kid freenoodles #shadowpeach #lmk shadowpeach #lego monkie kid shadowpeach #lmk headcanon #headcanon #edit

[hpowellsmith]

Happy birthday, Royal Affairs!

It's been a year since Royal Affairs came out and I've been over the moon about how it's been received. It's meant that I've been able to write full-time, make Honor Bound as rich and detailed at high speed, and do a lot of physical and mental health recovery after various periods of burnout. I'm really grateful for everyone's support, here and elsewhere, and it really makes a huge difference.

I had so much fun returning to the characters after a while away for the epilogue - if you enjoyed the game at release and haven't replayed for the epilogue, I very much recommend giving it a go!

After beta testing, I wrote up a retrospective about what came up and how I organised my work. I thought I'd share it for some insight into my process, for players and authors. Here it is:

In Crème de la Crème I ended up adding large branches to the plot during beta, but I was fortunate not to have to do it this time around. Mostly it was building on what was there or bringing certain things to the forefront, or adding a few different ways of navigating situations.

As feedback came in, I was lucky enough to have so much that it became unwieldy to act on it in one go, so I made a priority list.

Highest priority was game breaking bugs or large continuity problems like Dominique's final game scene switching to Beaumont's.

High priority was smaller continuity bugs like the game confusing who you were romancing or whether you had or hadn't done a particular action earlier.

Medium priority was things like small scene additions or multi romance responses, or tweaking first impressions of characters, and so on.

Low priority was nice-to-haves like allowing a character to be romanced only late on.

Alongside this, I fixed typos and made small adjustments - easy wins that added polished. There were also some major sweeps that I did: a stat test clarity sweep, a stat change sweep, a reduction of tests in casual conversations, and repetitive words or phrases.

Stat test clarity:

I picked 3-4 stat tests at random from each chapter, copied their text into a separate document, and highlighted words that reflected the stats. For example: for Authoritative I had things like "I order them to..." "I tell them what to do", "I stay aloof to maintain my authority..." and so on. I edited testing choices to include these keywords, and also edited the stat guide to include them.

Checking all this had the side effect of helping me spot unnecessary tests or points where the stat being tested just didn't match the situation at hand.

Stat changes:

There are a lot of points where stats can change, and not all of them made sense at the start of beta. I did variations of this sweep several times, including the Action Skills, NPC stats, and adding a lot more chances to boost your Powers of Persuasion. Again doing this check helped me spot unnecessary or unintuitive tests and changes.

Tests in casual conversations:

This was again something that I iterated several times. Some of the commentary about Crème de la Crème said that the stat tests felt punishing or too difficult, and an early playtest from my wife flagged that some of the tests in Royal Affairs felt unfair. Why should a character's relationship reduce when you're trying to be affectionate, if the circumstances aren't in a state where that makes sense?

So I stripped out a lot of this, generally replacing a success/failure with flavour text (such as a Subtle MC perhaps being, well, more subtle about holding hands with someone). In some cases, where a character needs to be drawn out of themselves to talk more emotionally (Beaumont or Hyacinthe, on occasion), or they see the conversation as a contest or challenge in some way (mostly Javi or Trevelyan), I left them in. But I liked that they were a rarity rather than default.

Repetitive words or phrases

As I was writing, sometimes I noticed that I was overusing phrases, so if I got that feeling I would make a note for the sweep. In the end there wasn't as much as that as I thought, but there were a lot of qualifier-type words that reduce the impact of a sentence - "a little" was one, or "really", usually in dialogue - or filler words like "down" in sentences like "you sit down beside them".

I also looked for phrases like "you know" or "you suspect" to spot places where I could express whatever it was that the MC knows more elegantly (this is something a former colleague told me once and I've never forgotten it!)

More involved edits

With some major things that I did change, I'd put them on my to-do list before beta but they were either unwieldy and I wanted to start testing sooner rather than later, or I wanted to check whether other people agreed. It was great to have more opinions and mostly they confirmed what I'd thought. With others, I studied the feedback to gauge whether the effort of making the changes would be worth the payoff. In most cases, I decided to go for it.

In general, this stage involved adding things, including:

more worldbuilding details to give more context to the plot

more teacher interactions throughout; added scenes as well as offhand references to other classes; more about Clemence and Vere and expanded outcomes to their storyline

romanceable characters responding to players romancing other people: in the moment, checking in about where your relationship was at, and a set of final breakup conversations if it was left until the very last minute (this was a very big undertaking and would have been better to do earlier - a lesson I've taken to Honor Bound)

lengthening the main suffrage debate

adding slow-paced romance dynamics for two characters (I was really keen to do this but was disciplined about making it low priority - it was a lovely idea and I knew I'd enjoy doing it, but it was very much a nice-to-have compared to other things. I was delighted to be able to do it!)

more communal scenes with classmates to give more of a sense of living in each other's pockets

adding an option to confide in Asher about a particular plot point and for them to assist with it if wanted (I was so happy about adding this: it's one of my favourite Asher moments, even if few people see it!)

tweaking some of the friendship/romance conversations to add more emotional chat (mostly this applied to Javi and Hyacinthe; there was a bit added to Asher and Dominique at Verdancy)

more pet time

more narrative and conversational responsiveness about whether an imperilled character was romanced

more Javi asexuality chat

more detailed outfit descriptions throughout with more choices about what to wear

generally expanding some scenes to give more breathing room to important moments

In the end I added 45000 words to the game during beta testing, thanks to feedback from editor review, continuity testing, and copyediting. Testing took place during late December 2022 and January 2023, and I massively appreciate everyone who contributed to make this big game as polished as it is!

-

#choice of games #royal affairs #creme de la creme series #interactive fiction #game writing process #if writing process

[you-know-honey]

The L rule

Part 1/2

Sodo/Dewdrop x f!reader

Summary: You know what they say about short boys...

Word Count: 1930

Note: bad english, the L rule is something that until now I have only heard in Latin America but if you are from other countries and have heard it, comment :).

"Yeah!" You squealed excitedly at your phone, you were in Aurora's room where a girls' night out and Swiss was taking place. Aurora had begged to be let in and well…no one can resist that smile too much and a blackmail of candys that Swiss had brought with him.

As a fun act in your pajamas, you had been logging into internet forums about yourselves, looking at fan edits, and overacting fanfic scenes, plus of course a LOT of Reddit gossip, and now you were trying to get into a group of theories about the band by idea of Swiss. You offered to take care of searching the forums, but the WiFi signal in the ministry is terrible, especially in the ghoul area, so you were lying on the ceiling of Aurora's closet, with the ceiling of the room at few centimeters from you, while the page loaded.

"I'm sorry Rain, I can't be with you" Cumulus posed as Sodo in a fanfic about him and Rain, the performance fell into ridiculousness and that was the funny thing "I am a fire demon, you are water, we are opposites, destined to never be together." He flopped onto the pillow fort.

"Love can do everything Sodo!" Cirrus responded with the same drama. They both read the lines from their cell phones. "Let me love you" Cirrus dramatized, dropping onto Cumulus in the fort and ending his excellent play amid laughter from everyone present.

"I almost cried," Swiss exaggerated while applauding as if he had seen the pinnacle of theater drama.

"Stay still!" Aurora scolded the ghoul and pulled her left hand back in, trying to finish polishing her nails.

The night was more than perfect, even though it was a 'girls' sleepover, the idea of the masks and manicure had been Swiss's idea, he had really committed herself to making sure everyone had a good time. They had eaten popcorn, pizza and done spicy food challenges, challenges that Cumulus had won.

"Girls, enter the forum" you said as you slide out of the prison between the closet and the ceiling, Swiss made space for you next to him as he waved his hands to dry the polish.

"Let's get this started!" Cirrus said, excited to hear the fans' crazy ideas.

They avoided all theories that had to do with Papa Tenzo since it was a nostalgic topic, it was funny how many tried to guess Montain's height, he had made edits about Swiss promoting toothpastes, or about Rain being a kawaii girl.

"Wait! See" Aurora pointed out on the screen.

Test Who is your Ghost Soulmate ¡Click Here!

Without asking permission Aurora clicked, they were stupid questions like: What is your favorite food? What is your favorite instrument? What is your favorite color? Favorite Ghost song? Etc.

The results were curious to say the least.

Cumulus result was Mountain and she seemed to blush a little as she sank into the pillows. Something that you guys didn't waste and joked about.

Cirrus was paired with herself, and in an exaggerated way she went for a hand mirror from among Aurora's makeup and kissed her reflection, definitely nothing better than being your own love of your life.

Aurora and Swiss's turns were fun, they both appeared as the love of each other's lives, they looked at each other and burst into laughter. Swiss put her arm around Aurora's shoulders. "Maybe in another life, dear" she said in a diva tone as she laughed and Aurora agreed.

When it was your turn everyone was curious, you completed the questions and waited a few seconds before the pixels showed an image of Sodo on the screen with a brief description of why he would be your soulmate:

'A wild boy who will get you out of any boredom✨, his hands work magic🔥, his name says it all.🥴 All good girls die for a bad boy like Sodo. You already know the L rule 😏'

You laughed nervously as you shook your head, there was no way the gremlin was your ideal soulmate "No, never that" you said between nervous laughs but the others only gave each other knowing looks, perhaps your insistence on denying everything ended up confirming it. “Come on guys, it’s just a silly test,” you tried to ignore him.

You and Sodo weren't very close, but on the part of the ghoul who always seemed to want to be away from you, you had even felt that being close to him drained his energy and you weren't really looking for that. So if Sodo was in the room you practically became part of the furniture and in the few times they had to interact you were always too stiff to be natural while you stammered vague responses or ran away from the room, leaving the ghoul somewhat bewildered. The group had interpreted those things as 'romantic advances' and if they were like that they would be the most pathetic romantic advances in the world.

"Stop guys, seriously, it's not funny. It's fake." It was actually funny, if you weren't the victim you would joke just like they do now.

"Of course it's funny, just look at you, if it weren't real, your cheeks wouldn't be as red as tomatoes" Cumulus took the opportunity to say.

"You blushed too!" You replied, you weren't expecting that attack from Cumulus.

"At least I can admit that Mountain is cute!" Cumulus said. Low blow for you.

You wouldn't deny that Sodo was cute, it was an opinion that you and millions of others shared, even in his demonic form, you had always thought that there was no way Sodo wouldn't look attractive. But he had to stay alone in your thoughts.

"One way or the other!" You raised your arms in a sign of peace. “Also, what the hell does the L rule mean?”

"I don't know" Aurora answered, looking at the others for answers but both Cumulus and Cirrus raised and dropped their shoulders.

"No idea girls" Cirrus said.

A small, almost imperceptible laugh escaped Swiss's lips and like owls they all turned towards him, smiling maliciously at each other.

"You know what it is, right Swiss?" Cumulus approached him with a tender puppy look.

"I won't tell them," he replied, but there was a small crack of weakness in his voice. If they pressed harder he would speak.

"But we invited you to our girls' night" Cirrus pouted and crossed her arms childishly, something very cute and she knew it.

"It's a boy thing" He responded, crossing his legs looking at the ceiling to avoid falling into the manipulative tenderness of the ghoulette.

"But you said you were one of us. We girls tell each other everything" you said in the sweetest tone you had, one that worked very well with Rain or Phantom. You leaned on her shoulder like a cat to be closer to her ear.

If an outsider saw the scene they would think it was some kind of satanic harem and not a group of girls trying to convince their dear friend to betray their gender and tell them the secret.

"If it's not the good way, it's the bad way." Aurora pretended to roll up the sleeves of her pajamas. "Girls, hold it down."

With evil smiles they all understood the plan, Cumulus and Cirrus held the legs and you held their wrists. Swiss writhed like a snake but it was impossible for him to get free.

"It's not okay! It's cheating!" he screamed as he tried to get away, laughter escaping him.

"Come on Y/N, you wouldn't do this to your good friend" he begged you with his cute smile.

"Sorry Swiss, curiosity first. Give it Aurora!" Swiss opened her mouth to say something but Aurora rushed over her stomach, beginning the torture.

Aurora's hands ran over the most sensitive areas of Swiss's body, causing him to tickle and laugh loudly and uncontrollably, as well as broken pleas for them to stop. The scene made the girls laugh.

"Confess!" You yelled at him between laughs.

"No," he replied. "It's a boy thing," Swiss gasped as he tried to take a breath, his chest rising and falling violently, tears beginning to escape from his eyes and roll down to his neck.

"We can do this all night!" Aurora hummed and she wasn't lying.

"I…" I gasp "Fuck it…Fine!" He gasped again but louder, "I will confess!" the tickling stopped abruptly letting him breathe properly after some endless minutes.

"Okay" Aurora stayed on him for a few seconds waiting for some sign of a lie but it wasn't like that. She raised her hands in peace and moved away from her stomach. You and the girls let it out too. Swiss wiped away his tears and took some time to get back to normal.

He stood up and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from Aurora's nightstand before sitting back down on the cushions and scribbling a few things down. She ended up showing them an L on the paper, next to the vertical line she had written the letter 'B' and under the small horizontal line the letter 'D'.

"Any idea?" Swiss asked and the four shook their heads, Swiss sighed.

"What does 'D' mean?" you asked innocently.

Swiss smiled mischievously "This" he pointed to his own crotch.

You looked at his crotch for a few seconds before understanding, the blood went to your cheeks at a fantastic speed and you covered your face embarrassed to let your gaze go to the area of Swiss's body and everyone's eyes widened in surprise when they understood. They didn't need to look to understand.

"So if I have the page vertically and the B refers to the boy and the D refers to his… 'little friend', it means that the taller the boy, the smaller his 'D' will be, do you understand?" I explain Swiss as if it were a university class.

"But Sodo isn't that tall, the rule doesn't make sense then" Cumulus was the least uncomfortable of all, Aurora had a nervous smile, you and Cirrus covered half of your faces with a cushion each, absolutely embarrassed.

''Quite the opposite, my dear Cirrus." Swiss turned the page horizontally and changed the place of the 'B' and the 'D'. "As you see, everything changes, now the boy is small so his 'D' will be bigger."

If it could still be possible, your cheeks took on an even redder color. The girls let out a group "Ohhhh…" as Swiss threw the piece of paper against the door.

"Happy with the answer?" Swiss asked, crossing his arms, proud of his explanation. "I hope this betrayal of my gender merits some reward." She looked at her nails with feigned disinterest, before Aurora handed her a handful of candy.

"I was expecting something funnier, but it's okay," you said as you looked out the window, hoping that your blush would stop and that no one would notice.

"Forget it, let's do something interesting now" Swiss said, returning to the fun of a sleepover.

Swiss had finished singing 'London Boy' by Taylor Swift and had even tied the sheet of Aurora's bed around her waist as an elegant dress. You regretted not being able to record that moment. Now it was your turn. You spun the little spinner on the screen of Swiss's phone, it spun for a few seconds and stopped on 'I Love It' by Icona Pop. Your eyes sparkled with excitement.

A long night of talented divas was coming.

I hope you like it, I plan to write some "short" stories to cover my obsession with the band while I continue writing the fanfic.

#sodo ghoul x reader #sodo x reader #per sodomizer eriksson #sodomizer ghoul #nameless ghost #swiss ghoul #aurora ghoulette #cumulus ghoulette #cirrus ghoulette #the band ghost #ghost #nameless ghouls #namelessghoulettes

[mjjune]

How to be a Good Beta Reader (or: the difference between critique and beta)

This post is a follow-up to my ORIGINAL POST HERE "How to Have a Good Beta Reading Experience" [link embedded] so I recommend reading that one first for more info.

But I wanted to follow up because I've gotten some questions about it and I figured there was enough to make another post.

WARNING: this is SUPER LONG LOL

DISCLAIMER: Again, I want to clarify that this is based on my own experiences and what I personally look for in alpha/beta reading. Other writers/readers may disagree or have different tastes!

Topics Covered Below:

Critique vs. (Alpha &) Beta Reading

The Purpose of Beta Reading: Mindset

What Comments Should Look Like

How Much Should You Talk to the Writer About It? (Spoiler: it depends)

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

Critique vs. Alpha/Beta Reading

I want to start with this because so many times (as a writer) I have asked for beta readers, and basically gotten a critique (or "crit" as it will be called from here on). A crit can look a lot like many different things depending on the reader, but in general, here's the difference:

Critique: grammar, style, clarity, often line-by-line

Alpha/Beta: story structure, character arcs/development, plot, and overarching themes and ideas

And I say this because some writers might want both. Some want all these separately, and some want them all at once.

Generally, crits are harsher, and can resemble "tearing apart" a manuscript. They can certainly offer great feedback, but it depends on the writer and their needs.

Some writers, especially for those who have had critique partners in the past and this isn't their first story, may not want these comments at all. I generally prefer not to have them (unless it's something stark that draws you out of the immersive reading experience) because when it comes to grammar, style, and flow, these are things I can edit myself. I have had enough good critique partners in the past that I can handle that and don't need betas to do it for me.

However, some writers might not feel that way! But I definitely know I'm not alone here. Especially when manuscripts have already been critiqued and you specifically ask for a beta, it can be disheartening to receive this style of feedback (especially in large quantities).

Examples of critique-style comments:

Word choice and/or grammar edits

Line- or scene-specific comments like breaking down or giving advice on dialogue, action sequences, worldbuilding, and the writing itself

E.g. "this needs more visual description" or "this description is too long/drawn out" or "action sequences require faster pacing" etc.

Examples of alpha/beta style comments:

Character arcs/dev: "I liked this character's journey, but I didn't feel connected to them during XYZ parts of the book." or "I don't understand why this character chose to do this."

Plot: "This scene is what I consider to be the part where the plot really begins" or "I don't understand how ABC scene connects to XYZ scene."

So what's wrong with that? Nothing!

But you can see where if someone asked for an alpha/beta but the reader's comments are 90% crit-style, the writer might feel like the reader didn't like or connect with their work. If a reader is crit-style commenting x5+ per page, then they likely weren't engaged with the story so much as analyzing the writing style. And for alpha/betas, you want to be as immersed in the story as possible and analyzing the story.

Particularly if the manuscript has already been critted in depth, and is a polished draft (which, is certainly debatable, but that's a topic for another day) ready for betas, it can be frustrating to receive crit comments when that's not what you asked for. A lot of the times, for well-edited and mostly-polished drafts, these crit-style comments come down to personal preference with the reader editing your work to fit their personal taste. Which is not making the story better, just different.

But, to emphasize: if you were unclear in your expectations and the reader doesn't know that manuscript is already critted/polished going in, they might think you want these comments!

Also, some readers might be awesome critique partners, but terrible betas—and vice versa.

This is why I'm going to drive home my Big Takeaway from my first post: communication is key! Both writers and readers need to be clear on the type of feedback that's desired.

Of course, most readers probably do a mixture of both of these styles of comments, and this is fine! The important thing is to keep what the writer wants in the back on your mind. If you know the writer asked for a beta, then try to keep crit-style to <50% (or maybe even <25%) of your total comments. And vice versa, etc. etc.

TL;DR: A critique analyzes the writing. An alpha/beta analyzes the story. Many readers will look at BOTH, so it's important to discuss this beforehand and provide the feedback desired!

The Purpose of Alphas & Betas: MINDSET

So this piggybacks off of what I just discussed: if someone has asked for an alpha/beta, you should keep the GOAL of being an alpha/beta in the back of your mind. Especially if you're prone to crit-style comments, this will help you.

The goal of BOTH alpha and beta readers is to SUPPORT and ENCOURAGE the writer. I know that's obvious, but so many times I have gotten comments or questions about why some readers' comments seem rude/inconsiderate or not constructive. And, at least in my experience, it's because the readers went in with the wrong mindset—a mindset more appropriate for crit, rather than alpha/beta.

So what is the goal? To me, the goal should be to figure out what the story is the writer is trying to tell. Maybe in some cases the writer is upfront about that, or maybe you're going in blind. But when I go into a book as alpha/beta, this is the question I try to remind myself throughout the journey:

What is this story trying to tell me, and how could it be stronger?

But MJ, what does that mean??

Because no, I don't mean the genre, or the plot, or even the character arcs or writing style. I mean:

What theme is this writer exploring / what is the message they're sending to readers?

And from there: what about the narrative/writing/plot/etc. interfered with my connection with this message?

Side story: let me use avof as an example. This is an urban fantasy with vampires and werewolves and shifters (oh my!). I had some shitty "betas" for this book years ago which really threw off my groove as I was editing because I didn't know they were bad betas. But the truth is they weren't betas at all. They were critiquing it, and from the mindset of "this is vampire romance book." They went in critiquing my book for something that it wasn't. They completely disregarded that it more aligned with adventure, not romance, and the themes explored were self-discovery, self-acceptance, the impact of immortality on psyche, and gender & sexuality & identity - and because of that, they critiqued the book without engaging with the book. If they had asked themselves "what themes are being explored?" they (hopefully) would've seen it wasn't romance, and likely would've engaged better.

So, to continue on with this main goal, there are other things to consider—what kinds of mindsets you should avoid!

Whenever I have gotten insensitive (and sometimes, full-on offensive) comments, these were contributing factors. Regardless of critique, alpha, or beta, these are true:

You are not the only reader. There are going to be multiple people giving comments, and your comments are all of equal weight. You may be the only person who can't visualize that fight scene. You might be the only one who thought a plot point was too predictable. In most cases you will never know if other readers agree/disagreed with you, which is why it is the writer's decision whether to take action on your comments are not.

You are not an expert. I don't care how long you've been reading, writing, or beta reading. I don't care if you've read 100 published books in this genre before. You are not the expert on this book. The writer is. You do not know what is better for the story than the writer does.

You are not here to decide whether the writer is a good writer or not. You should not be making statements that imply that the writer is inexperienced or new to writing. You should not go into reading a manuscript with the mindset of "I have more experience than this writer and I should share my knowledge & teach them something." (But if the writer has expressed this, then it might be okay in some instances to give advice.)

If a specific minority group is being repped on the page that is not ownvoices and you are part of that community, you could offer insight that can be helpful, but should ask the writer if they want that kind of feedback prior to giving it. If you are not part of the community, you should not comment unless the writer has requested it (unless ofc you're complimenting it lol)

When betas go in without these ideals, it can lead to at best, unhelpful comments, and at worst, condescending and hurtful comments. These are the comments that make writers feel like failures, or like their book is bad, or that they are bad writers. Or, for experienced writers who know you went in with these (toxic, imo) mindsets, it can hurt relationships, break trust, and/or make a writer roll their eyes and disregard all of your comments.

That isn't to say that you should only compliment and not have any negative feedback or ignore flaws you see in the writing, narrative, character development, etc... but it is best to go in with the mindset that you are here to give them insight so they can make their story stronger, not to teach/give advice or change the story.

A note on sensitivity, authenticity, and expert readers: In my opinion this is one of the only cases where direct education/advice should be given. I also recommend having at least 2 sensitivity readers per any group that's repped that's not ownvoices, because even two people from the same group may interpret your story differently or see different weaknesses/strengths. That said, it is important for readers who are not of the repped groups to hold their tongue. It doesn't matter if your partner or sibling or parents are part of a group repped on the page. If you are not a member of that group, you are not an expert. If you have an inkling that the writer has not had sensitivity readers yet, you can politely suggest it. But it could also be a case of you having different life views, ideals, and/or opinions than the writer and the group being repped, and that is why you are not a sensitivity reader. I can't tell you how many times I had cis/het betas say my representation of an identity or repping gender as fluid was inaccurate/offensive when it was ownvoices, or when I'd already had 3+ sensitivity readers for the group(s).

Basically, as an alpha/beta reader, you are here to offer insight and immerse yourself in the story. It's also good to remind yourself throughout reading that "this might rub me wrong, but another reader might like it." Framing your ideas and comments this way will help you be more objective and less "this is wrong/right" because there is no such thing in writing.

TL;DR: The goal of alphas/betas is to engage with and understand the STORY, give the writer insight into how you interpret it, and help the writer figure out how to make their story stronger. It is not to give advice or teach. The writer decides what changes to make and is the expert on their story.

Ok, now I got the Beta Mindset™. So how do I comment?

Well, really this will depend on the person. Everyone is different and will notice different weaknesses and strengths in any given manuscript. And, as I said above, most people naturally will provide some crit-style comments, it's just in our nature to point out when a writing style doesn't mesh with our preferences.

From a writer's perspective, at least for me, these are the kind of comments that are the most helpful for me:

"I..." statements. For example: "I am struggling to visualize this fight scene." Instead of rewriting it or pointing out that the descriptions or actions are weak or explaining how to fix it—this is an open statement that leaves the decision up to the writer.

Immediate emotional reactions are awesome for writers to know. For example, if a line made you laugh out loud, say so! If you get to the end of a chapter and were so immersed that you forgot to comment, say so!

And on the other end, if you were immersed but then something happens that snaps you out of it, say so! But without "because..." or "you should..." advice. Just say "hey I was super immersed, but in this paragraph you lost me."

I also recommend holding comments until the end of a chapter/section (minus immediate reactions as above). Look at scenes, chapters, acts, as a whole rather than individual pieces. This will help you focus on the story, rather than the writing.

I would also recommend this post!! Excellent, and I agree 100%!!

Other critical examples: "this is my favorite character but this decision is frustrating/confusing me"; "I was bored and skimming through this chapter"; "I'm not sure what [insert worldbuilding feature] means"; "I didn't know that the magic system could do this and I feel blindsided"

Other complimentary examples: "This line of dialogue really resonates with me"; "this has been my favorite description so far"; "I didn't see this coming but it makes perfect sense!"

And here are comments I suggest you avoid:

Anything that implies that the story is unfinished, too long, too short, etc. This might be ok for crits or alphas or if the writer has said that it's unfinished, but probably not for most betas. If the writer is at the beta stage, then likely they consider their manuscript finished (minus any changes they make based on beta feedback). If you feel the need, you might say something like "this genre is usually 80-100k and yours is 150k" but avoid wording like "the story is overwritten/underwritten", which can be hurtful. (Once, a story of mine was on draft 8 and had been called polished and ready to publish by various other people, and then one beta said, "this is a good attempt at a draft of an opening scene." So yeah, avoid stuff like that.)

Wording things in a way that make them seem like Facts. As a reader, everything you say is subjective. Regardless of what you are commenting on, what you are providing are opinions. Especially for writers who tell unconventional stories/structures, comments like "this isn't the way this is done" are just annoying and are not even true half the time.

Unless you can provide sensitivity feedback personally, do not criticize the representation of a group you are not a part of. If you see something overtly harmful toward a group on the page, you can politely suggest sensitivity readers, and leave it at that.

Try your best to not give reasons or "because" statements. "This action scene felt slow because-" "I didn't feel connected to this character because-" Nope. Stop right there, unless/until the writer asks to elaborate.

Side Story: My Favorite Comment One of the single best comments I've ever received in a beta was when they noticed a character making a decision that didn't seem right. They pointed it out and basically said, "This feels out of character to me because I don't think this character would do this. They have done XYZ in the past, and I thought their motivation was ABC, but this decision directly conflicts with that." Why was this the best comment? Because 1) they didn't tell me how to fix it, 2) it was objective with evidence and nonjudgmental, and 3) they were 100% right. What they had actually found was a plot device I had used to push the character in the direction the story required. But because they pointed this out, I was able to see the source of the issue and rework the scene so that the character's motivation was consistent and they still ended up in the direction of the plot.

Since I foresee questions, allow me to elaborate on the last point: so often, a reader will say "this isn't working for me because of this reason" but actually, they're wrong about the reason. Like the comment above, this beta could have easily said, "this feels out of character because you messed up their motivation." But the problem wasn't motivation, it was me using a half-assed character decision to move the plot in the right direction! The issue was the scene, not the character development. The advice to "fix the character's motivation" wouldn't have fixed anything and might've even made the problem worse.

This isn't to say that advice should never happen in an alpha/beta, but I personally believe that the best comments are not those that say "you should change/fix this" but instead say "this is working for me/this isn't working for me." It leaves it open for the writer to figure out how to solve the problem, if a problem even exists.

I shall paste in a quote from the writing god himself, Neil Gaiman:

TL;DR: Basically, you aren't here to give advice, or fix anything, or change the story in any way. You are here to show the writer how their story impacts you, what you connected with, what you didn't, how their writing style works for you. Keep your comments open-ended and use specifics to show the writer what you connected with and what you didn't. You are giving the writer insight into how readers will interpret and understand their work, and it is the writer's duty to then grow their work.

And that leads directly into our final section...

How Much Should You Talk to the Writer About It?

This depends on the writer. Sometimes, writers will do 5+ betas at once (even on the same document) in which case they might not talk individually with the readers about any of the comments. Some writers (not me lol) will have an alpha as they write the first draft so it's not even complete yet, so they would probably talk a lot.

Personally, some betas I talk to for hours trying to brainstorm fixes (see: @jamieanovels and @wildswrites lmao tysm 🙏), and some betas I will just say "thanks for reading <3" and that's about it. It depends on how much you commented, the types of comments, and if I felt like you genuinely connected with the story (or not).

Side Note: I do want to clarify that by "misinterpret" below I don't mean that the readers are wrong, I just mean that they interpreted differently than what the writer had in mind. There is no misinterpretation when it comes to any form of art. But if a writer intended for the Main Takeaway of their story to be one thing, but the majority of readers took away another—that's important for the writer to learn in the beta stage. (Also, some stories are vague or open to multiple interpretations on purpose.)

For me, I talk in-depth with alphas, and maybe some betas, but there are also a lot of betas I barely talk to. I don't think there is a right or wrong here. Because as stated above, alphas/betas are here to provide insight into how readers interpret, relate to, and understand the story.

So once the writer gets that, there may not be anything else to talk about. Or, maybe the writer has questions about something you commented, and will want to follow up. For me, especially if you interpreted something way differently than I intended, I might want to follow up to see what in the narrative made you go that direction. Or, if you interpreted exactly as I intended, I may want more insight into which parts stood out the most to you, or what your favorite parts were. Or... I might not feel the need to follow up at all, for either.

In general, in my opinion, writers should be leading these interactions. Unless the writer has welcomed it, readers shouldn't be reaching out to writers to further discuss the comments they left.

(Note: this is not the same as hype/fangirling. Please come to my dms unsolicited and go hype about my book)

You have agreed to read it and leave comments, but the writer has not agreed to have full discussions with you about their own work. The writer doesn't owe you follow-up on the comments you leave, and whether they liked or disliked, agreed or disagreed with your comments doesn't really matter.

You may leave comments that are totally out of line with what the writer wanted, and that's fine. You might leave comments that make the writer uncomfortable, and that's fine too. We can't control these things, and there is no way to know how someone will interpret a story or what comments they might leave.

That said, If a writer doesn't follow up with you on anything, that doesn't mean your comments were bad. It might just be the writer's style to process and make changes alone. Even if you "misinterpret" their work, or even dislike it, all perspectives bring something to the table. Giving the writer insight into how one might "misinterpret" and/or dislike what they've written can be just as valuable as the betas who loved it.

Regardless, it's important to comment in a respectful way—respectful to the writer and what types of feedback they request, the story itself, and yourself as a reader. We are all growing and learning together, and miscommunication or writers and betas who have misaligned goals can lead to hurt on both sides. Hopefully this longass post gave you some insight into how/why that happens, and how to avoid it in the future.

--------

ANYWAY that was a lot. I hope you got something out of this, because it took a week to write this up lmao

–mj

P.S. I am considering doing another in this series focusing on writers and how to handle comments (good and bad). If you'd be intersted in that let me know <3

P.P.S. if you'd like to be tagged in this series, message me or comment below!

#writeblr #writblr #writers on tumblr #writeblr community #writerblr #wtwcommunity #beta reading #beta readers #writer community #writing community #critique #critique partners #novel writing #writers of tumblr #writing #fantasy #mj mumbles #mj posts #discussion #mj talks about beta reading #100

[bluedillylee]

Episode 4 of the Hexer

ooo some similarities with Netflix Witcher (and the books obviously) with these guys trying to rob Geralt and then Borch, Tea, and Vea intervene.

Tea and Vea look terrible honestly like a cheap halloween costume. This Borch is younger than the Netflix version. I wonder if they'll have them all flirt as a nod to the orgy that happens in the book.

AAAA WE HAVE HEADBAND GERALT!!!!! WOO WOO!!!

this is very like the book from what I remember. Geralt upfront warning Borch that people don't like witchers and treat them like lepers. All the smiles Borch is giving Geralt are making me laugh a little. Geralt looks filthy and Borch is smiling at him like he's about to start twirling his hair and giggling.

ok we've got a time-skip from the last episode. Geralt's been on the road for several years now.

Geralt is a sensitive dude huh? i'm really liking this convo with Borch it really reminds me of the books. It might be actual lines from the books i'm not sure i dont have copy with me rn.

talking about his principles and how he works to preserve human life but he doesn't like humanity very much.

pfft Borch telling Vea and Tea not to brawl even tho that dude totally groped her c'mon dragon man don't be such a downer.

drunk Geralt defending dragon omg i think Borch might be in love hahaha

holy shit are we getting the orgy??? goddamn we actually got all four of them in the tub together.

Netflix witcher I am looking at you rn 00 we didn't even get flirting!? and they got to be in a tub together!!! what the hell

DANDELION!!!! (edit JASKIER!!)

ok i thought this when I read the books as well but Dandelion introducing himself as poet, bard and unmatched in the bedroom (wink wink) to Borch is not straight behavior.

Secondly Geralt smiling at Dandelion as he greats him with a happy "Geralt" is very sweet. A wonderful into to their friendship.

oh they call him Jaskier in this too. Is Dandelion only a book name then? wait I remember there being some thing about them localizing the polish name for english readers. hmmm yep he's jaskier in the original polish version.

hold on we're probably going to meet Yennefer in this episode too! It's been very book accurate this episode and Jaskier just said they're waiting on a wizard to arrive.

OMG!! i should've just shutup and watched she's here!!!! aaaaahhh geralt's face haha yes

why is there no equality with nudity? I have seen full on female nudity several times now but have I seen even one dick? its sexism is what it is. I want to see a dick, for feminism!

hmm so Yennefer says he wants a lover and a mother (girl i hear you) and he has no purpose just wandering around killing monsters

aaaa they're hanging from the cliff and the reavers want to let them fall. omg Yennefer tells Geralt to save himself

Jaskier's helping them up (my ot3!!)

ooo scary Geralt begging the reaver to draw his sword so he can kill him. and he's back to looking goofy because wtf kinda kill was that i can't even tell if the other guy is dead or not.

ugh this dragon looks terrible. netflix version was also awful. why is it so difficult to design a kick ass dragon? his head is so small compared to his body as well as having tiny arms. Borch skipped arm day and only jacked up his legs

haha jaskier really is Donkey from shrek, dragon flirting and all

that was all very chaotic but they saved the ugliest baby dragon there ever was. Seriously tho that thing is butt ugly

what does Yennefer mean by saying she is a shard of ice? I'm trying to remember the short story. I felt like in that story she felt like there was a part of her that could never be loved or fully accepted and understood and that's what she meant by it. Hmmm I'll have to go back and read it again.

#blue watches The Hexer

[squarebracket-trickster]

Author Ask Tag Game

A huge SORRY and thank you to @mjparkerwriting for tagging me in this waaaaay back in August (what the heck - how did this happen haha).

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

That sometimes being a strong, independent woman isn't enough. Sometimes we can't succeed alone or even with the help of loyal friends. Sometimes it really does take structural, systemic change and that change doesn't happen in a single life time.

As for why I chose this theme... I didn't really. I started with a premise (princess runs away from arranged marriage and accidentally falls in love with guy she was betrothed to). When I turned that premise into a plot with stakes I decided to have something that pressured the protagonist to go back to her marriage. The thing I chose was needing to prevent a war. The theme just kind of emerged from the tension between her saving her people and not being trapped in a marriage she didn't want.

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

Southern England (loosely) in 1333 AD and some other cultures that would have been in contact with, bordering, or having diaspora in England (Wales, France, Breton, Al Andalusia, Persia, Byzantine Empire, Jewish diaspora, and like one thing from Scotland).

Other inspirations include a few Shakespeare comedies, how Tolkien uses English speech patterns to indicate social class, the Robin Hood myth, and Tennyson's poem "The Splendour Falls".

4. How many chapters is your story going to have?

Draft 2 had 15 chapters averaging between 3000-5000 words. I've already broken up one of those chapters in draft 3 and will probably break up more. So, at least 16? But I might split them all in half if I decide they are too many pages when I finally change the page size of my manuscript from standard word doc to book-sized. So maybe around 30?

6. When and why did you start writing?

The immersive daydreamer who loves to read to fandom to CinemaSins to film and tv show critique YouTube to writing advice YouTube to I'm gonna write my daydreams down so I can reread them for fun to I want to try my hand at a properly structured novel (but it's just for me) to dammit, I've put so much work in I want to polish this and publish it one day Pipeline is very, very real.

7. Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers on Tumblr do you follow?

You can edit a bad draft. It is so much easier to fix something than to make something from scratch. Your first draft is not an adequate reflection of your abilities as a writer - neither is your second, neither is your third. Asking for help is a skill, rewriting is a skill, workshopping is a skill, googling writing advice is a skill, taking a break is a skill. Your novel isn't your best work until it's done - feedback, and breaks, and months of writer's block and all. Push through. You're not a bad writer, or a good one for that matter, until there is a finished product to judge. I know looking at an unfinished draft riddled with problems can be demoralizing but you will find those problems and you will fix them. Just be patient.

I'm gonna steal MJ's idea and tag seven of my "other writers" - seven because that's how many questions are on in tag game.

@zeenimf, @ambiguouspuzuma, @macabremoons, @lexiklecksi, @sleepyowlwrites (though you've probably been tagged 1000 times in this haha), @stesierra, @ettawritesnstudies

#tag game #wipvii

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles writing recap 2023!

i feel like tacky wordart kind of encapsulates how i've been feeling lately about my writing. if that makes any sense.

as you guys may or may not have noticed i've really been nonexistent around here lately. this past year has been really weird in terms of both my personal life and my creative life. i've been a lot more blocked than in the past few years and did not meet and at the point i am now it's easy to look at the past year and be disappointed. but i will force myself to see SOME positive, goddammit.

☆stats.

words written: 102 380

projects worked on: andromeda rogue, the gemini heist, and a few Secret Projects

accomplishments: finished the 2nd draft of andromeda rogue; sent said draft out for beta reading (which was fucking terrifying, btw); crocheted two sweaters (okay that's not writing but i'm really proud of them okay)

☆looking back on 2023 goals.

i dug out my recap post from last year and looked at the goals i had set at the beginning of the year (which i had completely forgot about tbh jkgfjksd), so let's see how they measured up:

to continue polishing up Andromeda Rogue (at least just the first book) with the goal of perhaps having some eyes on it by the end of the year👀 - well i certainly did get some eyes on it, so that was accomplished ✅

to continue working on The Gemini Heist, wherever that may lead me - okay so i didn't get nearly as far as i had hoped but i worked on it, didn't i? i'm checking it off ✅

to not pressure myself too much in my writing; to be kind to myself when i’m in a slump and to take regular breaks - LOL. still working on that.

to try new things and challenge myself - getting betas was challenging. not finding them but the actually making myself do it lol. let's go ahead and check that one off ✅

to have fun and be myself! 😀 - LMAO. yeah, sure, let's give that a check. ✅

☆setting new goals for 2024.

i'm gonna have only two goals but they're pretty big ones.

publish andromeda rogue by the end of the year, assuming editing through beta comments doesn't kill me first.

this isn't writing but i'd really like to open an online shop for my art, i think it would be an interesting venture. i got a cricut machine for christmas so there might be stickers in my future 👀

so that's all my rambling! hope you guys have a wonderful 2024!!! <3

general taglist:

@dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @onomatopiya @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre

#chayscribbles writing update

[genericpuff]

I have a fandom I'm into where the world building and writing in general is kind of terrible, and I keep going "Maybe ill make a comic retelling" but then I remember I haven't even gotten my personal comic started and think about how much effort you put in to this retellkng and go "No. I actually don't want to do that."

hey, whatever you do decide to do, it'll keep you creating! Rekindled is a side project that's helped me heal through a personal project that I'm currently recovering from burnout on, I didn't really think too hard about doing it, I just went where my interests were and it's gone through a lot of evolution since then. Don't feel like anyone else's work existing should keep you from creating, that's not why other work exists and ultimately the only one stopping you from doing what inspires you (or what you're inspired by) is you (•̀ᴗ•́)و

That said (big edit ahead because I realized I had more things to say on this LOL), I think it also depends on what you're retelling and why. I feel the reason why LO is so ripe for retellings is because it, in and of itself, is a retelling. Whereas original stories that aren't based on any sort of pre-existing source material aren't really able to be 'retold' in that same way because they're telling exactly the story they intend to tell from the beginning, vs. LO which is poorly adapting original source material that pre-exists it by hundreds of years. Case in point, I wouldn't feel compelled at all to "redo" a comic like Let's Play or The Kiss Bet because neither of those are attempting to retell specific stories, they are the story and so to put them in any other form wouldn't be the The Kiss Bet or Let's Play anymore, thus defeating the point lmao In that regard, Rekindled isn't exactly LO, it's as much a retelling of LO as LO is a retelling of Greek myth. But because it does have that original source material that predates it, it makes people feel more compelled to retell it with the foundation that LO laid (with its vibrant bright colors and modern setting) but tweaking things to make them more accurate - or at least respectful - towards the original myths.

So I think you do have to ask yourself what it is you're attempting to re-interpret and what the goal is in doing so. Remember that it's all still fanfiction at the end of the day so don't be doing anything risky that might implicate yourself of copyright infringement lmao (do your own research and well-testing to see if it's something that would be worth it for you in the long run).

There are definitely times I'll encourage people to focus on their own projects rather than try to polish someone else's turd if it's in the pursuit of "fixing" things, art can and should be allowed to exist regardless of whether or not it's perfect and LO isn't an exception to that. I'm not gonna try and defend Rekindled as an exception to those times I'd suggest people to work on their own thing, I could - and should - be working on my personal original projects rather than what Rachel brought into the world. But that's also why I give it such an original spin because I also want to tell my own story, simply through the lens of recreating a comic that I loved for so many years and was retelling myths that I have a close connection to. All in all, that's why I tell people to take my experience and advice and rants with mountains of salt. I'm not a one-stop-shop for all-encompassing advice or guidance on what you should or shouldn't do. And my work definitely doesn't exist as a metric for what should be done by others lol Focus on you and your pursuits! <3

#that said it also depends on the thing ur retelling haha #i think the reason why LO is so retellable is it because it in and of itself is a retelling #ama #ask me anything #anon ama #anon ask me anything

[inkwingsinc]

I've read the newest chapter and it is sooo good and not awkward at all. Honestly couldn’t think of your writing as anything but phenomenal, especially the smut chapters are so well written and seem so in character. No idea why you’d be questioning them, because I'm starving for every single word you put out that’s how good they are bestie.

Anyway you saying that this was the first chapter you wrote and that you had to edit it quite a bit made me wonder wether the direction you are taking rn with the story was always there or wether you’ve had mayor changes of mind whilst writing or just let it flow without much of an outline? It all seems to fit in so well, I would’ve never thought that you wrote this one first and had to make it fit into the other chapters later on.

Thank you for the encouragement! I really appreciate your kindness <3 Once I take off my "writer hat" and put on my "editor hat" everything goes to looneytunes. I essentially polish my chapters with circus music blaring in my head LOL. That said - I'm glad you liked it! I try my best.

I don't really write in a linear fashion (my chapters weren't technically written in order, kind of like how movie scenes are shot out of order) so sometimes I'm pulling passages from what I call the Monster Document where I add all my scenes. The plot always had a clear outline (I swear, it literally just materialized into being and haunted me until I made a bulleted list), but the characters themselves have changed as I've written them. Just for fun, here's a short list of things I've changed and are no longer true for my story:

Laera's original name wasn't Laera. It was Talya. I cannibalized an OC name from another one of my fics to name our girl.

Laera was going to kill Raya. It would have been an accident and it would have devastated her. This would have been her "catalyst" to go down another path.

I was going to include childhood flashback scenes to parallel Laera and Feyd's experiences. Note: I am a horror writer outside of fanfiction. I uhhhhh cut these pretty early because I want my fic to have a certain level of palatability. Feyd-Rautha didn't have a pretty childhood in my mind.

Feyd-Rautha was going to have more than just a fascination with Laera...he'd also have it bad for Walden too. Like, in the spice tank and all. I totally went there with some drafts.

The Paul Atreides/Laera Druegelle/Feyd-Rautha threesome. Yep. I wrote it. All six thousand words. This fic is always destined to meet Paul eventually and I couldn't deny the Feyd/Paul tension. It will never see the light of day LMAO

Thank you again for your message and for indulging me <3

#asked and answered #bit my gun with my black gold gums #BMGWMBGG #inkwings rambles #I totally wordvomited all over this ask #such a treat! for others to think about my writing #at this point it's all self-indulgent but what do I have this blog for anyway #also I'm still blushing for the compliment. Like no really.

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

i am honestly so confused by your blog rn. how can you say that no one interacts with you or recognizes your work put into fics? you can go to your masterlist or archive and clearly see many comments, reposts, and recs of your work. half the time you respond to someone is you bitching you’re not in the fandom anymore or you’d never write for the characters again. i have seen pages long compliments and breakdowns and reblogs for stories and characters you hate the next moment later. there are many writers that want to have as much interaction u get and actually love their long term fandoms.

accurate depiction of me reading this

there is a big difference between saying 'no one interacts with me' and saying 'no one recognizes the work that I put into fics'

I acknowledge that plenty of people interact with my fics. And that is nice. But in a sense, that is - part of the problem? (Because it becomes a quantity over quality thing, and as I have said many times before - I dread having a popular fic and I hate writing for popular fandoms.) (But also, I cannot control what my brain is interested in, so I do end up writing for popular fandoms.) (Also, I unconsciously hate it when a bunch of people show up for one fic but not for another, because I know that people are not there for my writing and my style, there are just there for the smut or for the character - which is totally understandable, but then - why follow my blog?)

One of my biggest complaints is: people do not recognize the amount of hard work that goes into writing, editing, and polish a fic in order to post it. From the concept of the idea to posting - people don't know how hard it is. And this does go back to the writer to reader ratio, and so many other things.

I am still fully of the belief that people do not understand at a core level how much work goes into the kind of fanfiction I write - especially when battling chronic illness in order to write at least one fic per month. I keep thinking about what Crane said to Dick in S3:

Sprezzatura. The ability to make something very difficult look very effortless.

I think that I have that when it comes to writing fanfiction. I know that I have a lot of talent and skill when it comes to the particular genre of fics that I write, and I know that in terms of the original idea to the end product - most of my fics turn out how I want them to, so I would say that they were pretty flawless.

So I make writing a good fic look pretty easy. When it is not at all easy for me. It is very hard. And if you compared the amount of unfinished drafts (and even just ideas that are in my head that will never get written and have never even made it to paper) to the amount of finished fics I have, then my success rate is about - 20%, probably closer to 10%. But I haven't calculated it exactly.

But you guys never get to see what I consider my failures. (And when you do, I try to ignore the existence of those fics.) (And generally, I just consider my failures to be unfinished fics.)

Basically, what I'm trying to say is - you don't see all the struggle I go through in order to get a finished, well polished fic in front of your eyes. So that is one thing.

The other major thing is - apparently I change fandoms too much? Which I didn't even think was a fucking issue. I mean I knew it annoyed some people, but I didn't care. Because I can't force myself to write fanfiction for a fandom that my brain doesn't care about - because those fics would take months longer, and they would suck. Due to burnout and my own disinterest.

Saying that 'half the time' I respond to comments, it's me saying that I'm not in the fandom anymore (like... it sounds like someone is salty that I haven't written for their fandom in a while?) - like dude, sorry, I'm not one of those fucking blogs writing AUs that are 7 times removed from the original source material, delusional pretending that I'm still writing about the canon characters when those are just OCs wearing name tags in an effort to keep myself interested in popular characters. (If writing that kind of fanfiction actually makes other people happy, then good for them - but to me, it always feels like a lifeless bid to keep their blog in the spotlight and to keep their followers' eyes on them with the names of popular characters. But oh well.) I go where my creative juices take me. and that can be to very obscure characters (like characters from one-off horror movies) or to (sadly) very popular characters - where I will write three fics and then fuck off. I have always been multifandom.

Also I have NEVER said that I will 'never' write for certain characters again. The only time I have sworn off writing for certain fandoms completely is writing for kpop rpf. Other than that, all fandoms I have written for are still on the table for the future. Like - what the fuck?

I have also never said that I hate certain characters. And yes - I do tend to switch fandoms a lot, but it's due to my creative interests, and follow my autistic hyperfixations. Fanfiction isn't supposed to be forced like fucking homework. It is supposed to bring joy. And writing for a range of vastly different characters on an unpredictable schedule - brings me joy.

Also, the 'pages long' responses, often come from the same people over and over again, and shout out to them, they are fucking lovely !!!! Shout out to Rotten Anon, and @star-mum and @pikispixies and lately @sreidisms - who have been my biggest supporters. But 4 or 5 people consistently (and wonderfully) showing up to write essay comments on fics is not the same as 100s of people always leaving engaging comments all the time (which is what you seem to think I have on my blog??)

Like the ratio is fucked. Having over 1,000 followers or a fic getting over 500 likes and only getting 2 or 3 engaging comments per fic - is a very strange ratio. And I am not saying that everyone has to write a fucking essay, but if you ask me a question about the fic in the comments, I will literally wanna kiss you on the mouth nasty style, and I will appreciate it 10x more than you just saying 'your writing is good'.

and @nctzenkane is my biggest champion behind the scenes, my literal muse for most of the fics I have ever written (and he will probably be scathing when he reads your comment lmao)

also - two or three passive aggressive and selfish comments can ruin a fic and can douse my creativity, even if one person leaves a long, beautiful essay comment encouraging me. sadly, our human brains remember the negative more than the positive

and when people leave long essay comments, I try my hardest to respond in an engaging way (even when I am exhausted from my chronic illness, I try my hardest to engage them, even if respond to their comments can take hours of my time, which takes time away from writing more fics - I wanna show them how appreciative I am of their comments) - I have never once told someone to fuck off because I'm not in that fandom anymore. literally, show me the fucking receipts to back up your delusion. please

yes, other writers who have smaller blogs would love to have more comments on their fics, but they too would feel annoyed if all the comments they were getting were 'Part 2???' or felt like someone's personal vlog on their fic - commentating their personal issues with your fic (like it being immoral or unfinished) rather than talking to the actual person who wrote it - seemingly not even realizing that there is a person behind the fic who wrote it.

I don't want more comments on my fics. I want different ones. I don't need to be patted on the head and told my writing is good - yes, those comments are nice, but I can only say 'thank you' so many times before I feel like a plastic, fake bitch - I want to discuss the content of my fics. I want to discuss the plot. The only thing that is different about every single one of my fics is the plot - the themes, how the characters act. and that is what I want to disucss in the comments section. that is what I find mentally enriching.

the only reason I post my fics is so that people might find them and enjoy them and so that I can leave a lasting positive effect on this earth, and so that I can find some enjoyment in discussing the fucking story I worked so hard on.

so please - tell me what is so wrong with that

#anonymous #sundrop answers #fanfiction #discussion #about me

[cobwebcorner]

If you don't mind me asking, how do you plan/structure your fics? Do you have an outline you stick to faithfully, or do you let the characters go where they want to go? How do you maintain a consistent plot over multiple stories while keeping them independent? How do you keep track of all the things going on in a single story, and how they interact? Your fics are always really well planned out and have tons of plot threads running through and I'm really curious as to what method you use to handle it.

Also in a similar writing advice vein, how do you maintain characterization, and even showcase it, in the middle of such plot-heavy stories? Most stories I read are either character-driven or plot driven, but yours address both yet also have them tie so well together and I just? Am really curious as to how you do it I guess.

Baby writer here struggling with plot, would absolutely appreciate any advice you could give.

sorry this took me a while to reply, the askbox didn't eat it it just took me time to get all my thoughts down coherently.

Plotting stories is a subject about which whole books have been written, and I don't pretend that I can cover everything in a single post, or even that I have that much useful advice. I can talk about how I approach it, but it might not work for everyone.

In Nano terms I'm what you'd call a 'plantser' -- half planning, half by the seat of my pants. Another metaphor I've seen used is a gardener growing plants up a trellis. I know where my series as a whole is heading, I have a few landmarks plotted out along an extremely bare bones outline, and I try to nudge my characters along the route as organically as possible. Full, detailed outlines just don't work for me because I get bored if everything is nailed down.

Usually I have a central idea/scene in mind when I start a fic, and then I get ideas for other scenes, and I get those down, and then it's all just filling in the middle bits. Outlining is mostly used in two situations: 1. for working out choreography in more complicated bits (like action scenes) 2. for quickly preserving my ideas when I don't have the time to sit down and write a scene out. All my outlines are really quick and dirty too. Here, I'll show you an excerpt of the outline for MaM:

An encounter of the BOW variety? “He gave it wings. Of course, he gave it wings.” “What is this guy's deal?” “I don't know, his parents had the poor taste to name him 'Angelus,' and things spiraled from there.” find angelus's bedroom Leon reads his diary Wesker is incredulous “Snooping's a bad habit,” he admitted. Why? I just want to understand. Even if it does nothing for you? so curious, leon

yeah that's how I outline. Half the time I don't have complete thoughts, just keywords to remind me of things and scraps of dialog.

I do not have a system of organization for keeping track of things. My fics manage the level of polish they have because of--wait for it, this is going to send everyone screaming--EDITING. Yup. This is the boon of writing a story before posting it: I can go back and change things as much as I want! I can even write things out of order! (I usually write things out of order) I reread what I have written so far a lot, making notes on elements I forgot about, dangling threads or plot holes to resolve, and spelling/grammar mistakes to fix. I also reread the series as a whole periodically, not to help with planning, but just because I like my own writing (I write for myself after all).

As far as characterization goes, I've already written a post with broad advice about characterization. For me at this point, it's like. I run Leon.exe and Wesker.exe on the meat computer that is my brain, dump them into a little maze, and write down what they do. I know that's not terribly helpful.

Sometimes I keep notes as I go along about where people's relationships are with each other, their power dynamics (for MaM I had a little scale to tell me who was "on top" at any given point), and if a scene is really struggling along I plot out what each character wants at that moment. I might even write a version of the scene just for myself from a different character's pov so I know their side. Sometimes I find the scene works better from the other pov and dump the original version! (this happened with chris, jill, and leon in the bar)

Basically, I try to keep in mind that every character in a room is their own human, with their own thoughts and internal world and motivations. It's useful to know all the potential conflicts between characters in every conversation. It's also important not to forget about your side characters. If they still have a reason to involve themselves with the plot, or they're still in the room, you should mention them and what they're doing now and then.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Here's an old blog post by jim butcher (author of the dresden files) which helped me a little back in the day, specifically with getting over the middle bits: https://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/1865.html?nojs=1

And let me also point you in the direction of the writing excuses podcast, which is run by brandon sanderson (author of the mistborn series) and several other published writers. I haven't listened to all of it myself but sanderson's a good writer and what I have listened to is interesting.

#writing advice #verb answers

[souryogurt64]

Yeah I agree- liveblogging is trash.

But as a bandom ancient (2008ish-current) I feel like the reason why bandom was they way it was + it's appeal as well as simultaneously unappealing trait was that us fans didn't have a lot of info about the members of these bands we were fans of. Sure, we knew the songs and the albums and all that shit, but we didn't know very much about the people making these songs beyond very limited and super polished and edited (usually) professional interviews. We couldn't hop onto a livestream at any time to watch band guy #179412 play video games and talk about whatever stupid shit was coming to his dumbass mind. Sure, they tweeted, but it was more like "new single out! Go listen" and "new album dropping 3/29!" Not much personality.

Which has pros and cons. Now if a band member is genuinely awful (racist, homophobic, abusive, etc) they will be exposed. However, I don't want to know every dumbass thought that every person ever has had.

Also, a LOT of bandom was just straight up thirsting over these musicians and having erotic fantasies about them, which I know people have a lot of Opinions on. I, personally think it's perfectly fine and natural. However, it's hard to fantasize (through fanfic or art or just gossiping with friends like I did) when you can easily recall that stupid thing he said on a livestream or whatever.

Basically, band people used to be like blank canvases for fans to project their fantasies onto.

Liveblogging - I like 100% get the need and importance of people to post videos, talk about the setlist, and talk about the show, etc. That stuff is fun and cool and normal. But I don't understand why this entire website needs to become completely unusable for 2.5 hrs 6 nights a week to watch a grainy stream of a show thats full of like. People screaming. And people are so emotionally dependent on it and invested in it. Like it just does not make sense to me?? And like I wonder if this has to do with the high cost of concerts now meaning lots of people can't go at all??? Like I just don't get it why is this critical

2. Seeing the bands' personalities-- I honestly disagree in terms of emo bands now. I would say this is 100% true for fandoms that are like SWMRS sized and that SWMRS being on social media and livestreaming constantly negatively affected their image in a drastic way. I would also say Brendon's Periscoping negatively affected Panic drastically-- however that stopped completely in like 2018-2019. But FOB and MCR do like a very tiny fraction of the press that they did in 2013-2017 because They Old. They are also using social media way, way less.

3. I do agree there is less thirsting. I feel like there's a thirst renaissance because the like extreme beyond XXXX NC17 rated confession blogs were a STAPLE in any fandom pre-2015 and then there was like a purge. But I would say like sex RP blogs were a third of bandom in like 2014. I do feel like even though these spaces are coming back, there is a general hostility towards women's sexuality or the idea of women having sex with these band guys in them that did not used to be there. I do think people still have Opinions on it too though lol.

Also writing the last essay I read probably thousands of LJ comments from 2008, and I would say in the comments of every single LJ post there were always like capital H Hoes lusting fervently and openly and shamelessly and being egged on by "Anonymous" contributors (lol) and it felt very innocent in a way whereas now I would say all of bandom is like. Highly intricate and detailed alternate universes in which like Patrick is a cow that lays eggs and women don't exist

[reborrowing]

this silly vampire idea kept rolling around my head so that's how I chose to spend my free time tonight. it's not really edited or polished, to the point where idk that I'd even call it finished, but here it is anyway. will I develop it more or will this get it out of my system? who knows.

I was very fuzzy, very suddenly.

No, not me. Or, I was, but...that was normal, I think, it was... My thoughts. My thoughts were fuzzy. Indistinct. I couldn't think straight, I wasn't—where was I?

I'd been flying. I didn't want to spend any more time on the ground in this wretched city than They required of me, I remembered that well enough.

They?

I was they, wasn't I? A swarm of me, of bats, or...

What city?

It was dark, even darker than I liked, and a frigid mist hung overhead. I went to push to my feet but not of my limbs would cooperate. My chest burned.

Why did it hurt? Had I been attacked? Were there hunters in this mystery city? Was I dying?

My heart raced, whatever the cause. But before I could solve any of my worries, the light disappeared and something went to smother me.

~

I really would do anything to put off writing that report.

Not that I was doing this to procrastinate, of course, I was being a good person. I'd been out for a late-night walk (not procrastinating—I needed that candy as a focus incentive) and found a bat crawling across the cold pavement about a block from my apartment. Even without getting too close, I could tell it was pretty badly injured. Its left wing was crumpled and out of sync with the rest of its movements.

What kind of asshole would I be if I left it there like that?

A dozen warnings about rabies echoed in my head, but none quite loud enough to give me more than a moment's pause. I used my hoodie to catch it. It didn't seem to struggle much and once I got it wrapped up, it gave up completely. I wanted to think that it knew I was trying to help it. Mostly I hoped it hadn’t died in my hands before I even had a chance to call the wildlife center.

I dumped a scattering of clutter out of a closet shoebox, swearing to myself that I’d deal with the mess later, and gently placed the bundled-up bat inside. I tentatively pulled back one edge of my sweatshirt to steal a look at the little guy. It was breathing, at least, if not conscious.

The wildlife center told me I’d (more or less) done the right thing so far, and told me to drive it down there as soon as I had the chance. I turned off the car radio for quiet as suggested, but couldn’t help whispering reassurances to the little guy as I drove. I guess it wouldn’t understand me, even if it were awake to hear me, but the silence in the car unnerved me otherwise, especially as I left the bright lights of the city for the preserve on the outskirts.

Inside, a friendly-looking man took the box off my hands. He didn’t tell me to stick around, but he didn’t tell me to leave either, so I stayed. I had other things I didn't want to do, after all, and it would be nice to know what was going to happen to the bat.

I wasn’t expecting to get my box back, but the man stepped back into the lobby with it tucked beneath an arm. His smile looked forced now, as he thrust the shoebox back to me.

“Ma’am, we’re very busy here. I don’t know what you were thinking, but please, don’t waste our time,” he said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I opened the box and fell silent. The bat was gone. It had been replaced with a small, pale doll. 

“Is this some kind of joke?” I asked.

“Like I said, we’re very busy. If there’s nothing I can actually do for you…?”

I put up a hand and apologized for…I didn’t entirely know what I’d done here, but there was clearly no injured bat for him to help me with. I closed the box and awkwardly shuffled back out to my car to try and figure out what had just happened.

~

When I next woke, my head was clearer.

I was sure that I’d been captured by some manner of capture because God almighty, that light was blinding. No reasonable vampire would ruin a room with such a miserable lamp, save those few with a soft spot for their thralls’ visual needs. 

I was still blinking back tears to try and adjust to the artificial blaze when someone scoffed and the light disappeared altogether. An unknown force threw me to the ground. I tried to collect myself several times before I realized the room itself was shaking, at which point I simply settled into the fleece around me as comfortably as I could and waited for the chance to face my attacker.

There was an especially rough quake that shoved me up against the wall, and then the earth was still at last. I flinched as a sliver of light appeared overhead only to be mercifully bathed in moonlight. 

I didn’t recognize where I was, not even what sort of building this might be. The ceiling was distant and carpeted. There were windows all around, as if we were in a poorly shaped dome. Even the box I’d been transported in was strange. The wood was unnaturally smooth and I saw no hinges for the top side that had been pulled away.

As I was considering the low wall before me, a cloud passed over the moon and cast me in shadow. At least, I assumed that was the source until she gasped. I twisted to face the noise and gasped back. A massive woman, larger than some buildings, gawked down at me and at once, the pieces fell together. I had been not only captured, but cursed. I doubted I would be more than a half foot tall, were I to measure.

Her scent engulfed me as she leaned even closer, intoxicatingly sweet. The steady rhythm of her heart was near enough it almost enthralled me. I wanted her. And I would have her. But first, my dignity.

I opened my mouth to demand she turn me back and release me, or, if she couldn’t, return me to the one who could. I intended to order her to serve me as I deserved. The words died in my throat. 

My charm, my magic didn’t even make it that far. I needed to see my victims’ eyes if I wanted to bewitch them and I couldn’t bear to meet hers. I faltered after less than a half a second. but her whiskey stare combined with the sheer size of the behemoth looming over me was too much, too intense. My knees buckled; I was as helpless in her gaze as she ought to be in mine. 

“What are you?” she whispered.

#g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #my writing #vampire g/t #honestly just trying to get back into the rhythm of writing I did so little w covid and all that #amwt

[2knightt]

I ain't gonna tell no man's tall tale, this is my fourth attempt of shovin' this in your ask box. I've copied and pasted drafts to google docs more than I can count, and I still edited a lot through here too. Such is the life of a garrulous writer, I reckon :')

leaps in gracefully, respectfully settles beside you.

m'kay, so, this little scenario kinda built itself from the ground up in my head yesterday, and it's a little funny because I was cleaning my bathroom and utilizing bleach, so I briefly entertained the idea that the fumes got to me and had a little ballroom get-together in my brain and boom-bada-bing, this came to be.

gettin' right into it! plot being: y'know how Pony had pride in his hair? kept it real tuff, took care of it well enough, and had near half a breakdown when johnnycakes had to not only chop it off but also bleach it.

matter of' fact: I think to some extent, every Greaser has pride in their hair. Heck, it's one of their tellin' points: if it's slathered and slicked back with grease, well – it certainly don't take a genius to tell who and what ya are.

take that and imagine a Curtis Sibling!Reader (sister, brother, what have you; albeit keep in mind I was imaginin' a sister when I thought of this) who shares that same pride for their hair—and for good reason!

because they have completely lovely hair.

luscious, smooth, healthy, on the longer side and – most of all – silky to the point of disregarding the grease altogether! they're guaranteed to garner compliments when they go out and someone happens to notice just enough, especially the kids at school. it frames their pretty lil' face just right … and for a long while, it's their pride n' joy, it's their brothers' pride and joy, and their parents' when they were still gracing the earth. overall, it just so happens to be one of their most telling and sweetest features.

they just have some really nice hair, m'kay? •ᴗ• got it? ya get it. mhm, mhm, okiedokie––

now. imagine one night, curtis jr. is out. mindin' your business, per usual having a nice stroll, circling to the park to have a quick smoke, just having a peaceful moment to yourself– away from the chaos and hustle-n-bustle of everyday life.

not much happened down in tulsa honestly, but with a house full of brothers and pseudo-brothers ... yeah. you've had your fair share of escapades and adventures.

and it ain't like you weren't fine with that! you really were. but everyone needs a breather once in a while, y'know? tonight was such a beautiful night: the weather was comfy, there were puffs of indigo-blue clouds dotted with stars, there was a slight breeze, and it was times like these that made you feel infinite.

it was going good. great, even! this was the most peace you had in what felt like weeks.

then. some socs came 'round, and judging by the way they were hootin' and hollerin' up a storm, impeding on greaser territory with wild abandon, you can tell they're up to no good.

turns out you're more of a pacifist when it comes to those kinds of things — you shared in a lot of johnny's ideals (which is probably why you both get along so well outside of him bein' the gang's 'pet' and pone's best friend) of viewing rumbles and the battle of the classes as essentially useless.

but you were a true-blue and came through every time it counted. you and your trademark cherry-oak polished switchblade, rough-and-tumble mindset, and the tuffest death glare in all of tulsa.

for being more of a placid person, you sure could deal some damage; you had a kinda rep, see (a notoriety in the west, an acclamation in the east) – for your unpredictable and adaptive nature in rumbles. one defining incident? you sent a soc home post-rumble with a scar goin' all the way from his temple to his chin, and a cleft in his left shoulder. last anyone heard, he moved to a different state and you miraculously didn't get thrown into the slammer.

(it's always the quiet kids y'all jsjsjjsj)

so, you stay cool and go on to take your merry way back home, you weren't one to go lookin' for trouble no how. these guys were in your territory, they knew that. if they tried anything ... you had slipped your blade from your pocket and held it hidden against your palm.

but, luck was not on your side tonight. a twisted turn of fate, really. those stars were beautiful, but any wishes that might've been put upon them that night probably got burned right up along the way,

because one thing led to another, you got blindsided. it was brutal. six against one. what's worse is they were all drunk.

and you got messed up … real bad. you were in a daze as you stumbled— limped, more like— back to your house, the scent of tar and red iron and alcohol clogging your senses. your head was ringing, your vision was blurred over so bad it was like someone had squeezed glue right in your eyes, your scalp was on fire and felt uncharacteristically light ...

you vomited right out on the sidewalk leading up the steps, and when you finally managed to lug yourself through the door, it only took all of five seconds or five eternities before all hell broke loose.

the serenity of that evening was such a stark contrast to the tragedy that had befallen you, it nearly made ya laugh. and you did. you were a little manic. halfway out of your mind.

; darry caught and carried you to the car, probably broke several traffic laws getting you to the hospital. he had a single-track mind, tunnel vision, and is gritting his teeth as he barks at any and all incoming and outgoing traffic – he's panicking. you, his baby sibling, you were washed up real bad. the vision of your bruised and bloodied face and near-shaven head is imprinted on the back of his eyelids every time he blinks, and he's weaving between cars and lanes as he floors it to the hospital. if it weren't for soda yelling in the back seat for him to slow down and watch out, glory's sake dare! he most definitely would've ended up in a stretcher with y'all right then and there, scramblin' like a wild animal to get you some help.

; sodapop held your torso in his lap, practically cradling your entire body. but you were squirmin' and achin' and bawlin' so much, he couldn't hold all of you the way he wanted. his eyes were full of tears as he held you close, staunching the blood leaking from your temple and – the horror of it dawns on him as he's cradling your head, the miscellaneous cuts around your scalp – with an old balled-up shirt and he's holdin' your face and stroking your cheeks, pleading and shushing with your hysterics and he looks so scared.

; ponyboy held your legs in his lap, he wasn't off no better. his own eyes were practical dinner plates, all wide and shaking with horror. he held your hands real tight, trembling at how cold they felt and combating the urge to not get sick all up in the car. he's terrified, it shows, but he's your brother – that comfort couldn't go away even if it was stripped from y'all. so he holds your hands, all the way until you get strapped to the stretcher and rolled into the ICU. only then does he allow himself to book it to the bathroom and get sick in a stall. man, what had they done to you?

you got jumped by some socs. they stripped ya of all your carry-on csh, your hair, your dignity, and darn near left you for dead right there in that park.

it was a miracle you made it home. you were still high on adrenaline, and your breakdown was the consequences of it burnin' right out. but blessedly, you were out like a light (still alive dw) once they gotcha hooked up to an IV and a heavy dose of anaesthetics.

it was ironic, really. the way they had used your very own blade to chop off your hair.

*cliffhangs this* it's nearly 1am and my eyes are bouta pop right out my skull, but hold fast darlin', i'll be back with more! i'm iffy on the formatting but ah, c'est la vie. this is long nuff anyhow. 😂❣

OH MY GOD. THE URGE TO MAKE THIS INTO A FIC WHERE THE REST OF THE GANG SEES YOU…is STRONG.

ykw….ima have it done by tomorrow zee. DONT U WORRY FR

and you’re writings legit amazing had me feeling like i got jumped and shit???

#2knightt #leo’s late night rambles #zee you did it again.

[solradguy]

Hello, Guilty Gear parent figure! Finally played older games, namely Isuka XX and BOY it's so... Weird on mechanics side because I'm so used to newer ones that are less arcaidy and more newbie friendly, but they're SO fun and have so much content (esp Isuka, I CAN'T get over the option to make your own color pallets and make your own Robo Ky and even named it). And the portraits, the Daisuke art! AHHH it's so good! And the man himself voicind Sol sounds so... Endearing?? Can't wait to get ancient core for lore and and.... Order Sol coughs coughs.

Aaaanyway sorry for dropping it into your asks, just really wanted to share emotions with somebody! And would be cool to know your opinion of older games as preservationist and what's your preference, are older games better or nah and all that!

Yeah! Isuka's got so many interesting/unique features, it's really a shame that none of them came back in a major way... The beat 'em up minigame in particular is one that I wish they'd had more time to polish and put into future games. There's Judgment but it's not quite the same. Isuka's art is AMAZING too. Like, why did that game's art go so hard?? This Sol illustration is of my all time favorites and it's from that game. I think Hiroaki did it but I've never found it with a credit in any of the books:

Daisuke voices Sol in almost all of the games!! He didn't for Overture, Xrd, or Strive but there's an option to use his voice in pretty much all the others. I really like Jouji ("George") Nakata's Sol though, he did a great job voicing him. Hope you enjoy GGXX once you're able to get it!! Order Sol is REALLY fun.

Each GG game is so different, it's hard to say if one is truly "better" than the others... +R is probably my #1 favorite because it's got Order Sol and I enjoy the survival mode, but Strive was my introduction to the series, Xrd has some of my favorite designs (and soundtrack), Overture's so bad it's good (love the lore it gave us too), Missing Link is endearing...

Though I don't care for GGX itself too much, I think that game is probably one of the most important out of all of Guilty Gear. It gave us some of Daisuke's most iconic art, two novels, established the beginning of much of the major canon, and had a lot of spinoff media like the manga and a ton of figures/merch. GGX was the only game to have actual published art books (as opposed to special edition game bonuses) that collected Daisuke's illustrations from that period: Artworks of GGX 2000-2004 and then the updated Artworks of GGX 2000-2007 that included some work from the early part of GGXX. There was an art book for Overture too, but it was almost entirely rough concept sketches (that I don't think were by Daisuke) and not as much illustrative work.

It'll be interesting to see where Strive ends up going. As fondly as everyone looks back on Xrd now, it didn't give us nearly as much media to collect/archive as past games did. Strive is the best selling Guilty Gear by far. I've got my fingers crossed that it'll give us more printed materials like another art book some day.

#asks