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nebulousfishgills · 2 months

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Behind the scenes for Necrosis please!

1, 6, 7, 11, 17, and 21

Okay let's see here, one essay coming up :)

1) How long did it take you to write this fic?

According to AO3, I published the first chapter on April 20th, 2023 and finished it on October 5th, 2023, so theoretically that's just about 5 and a half months. Of course that doesn't include writing that first chapter and planning it out.

Although, I have planning messages (I wrote my outline on Discord like a Normal Person) that I first wrote on March 29th of that year. So... like six and a half months or so? Give or take?

Damn, when I do the math I'm kind of insane for that.

6) What do you need to write? Is there anything special you need to do/have to help your creative flow?

I have to have some kind of background noise, but that's just a general necessity for me. I can't do complete silence or I can't function. My headphones are going like 70% of the day playing music or whatever.

Writing specifically though, and for Necrosis specifically since that's the focus of the ask, typically it was like, rain/castle/fireplace ambiance. This one was my go-to:

youtube

Sometimes I'd also use instrumental tracks/playlists depending on the vibes, or even my Emily playlist (the Twilight one, ofc... god the fact that I need to fucking specify...).

7) What inspired the idea for the plot?

Okay so honestly, with Necrosis I just kinda found the plot along the way.

I knew I wanted to do a sequel to Diplopia of some kind to really give myself a sandbox to play in and see where this story could potentially go. But, eventually I found what I would consider to be my three main plot points, what I would later consider to be the three main arcs or "acts" of the story: Mele and Emily's "unwitting motherhood" arc, the ball and the disaster that befell that, and what I like to call "The People vs. Aro Volturi."

Mele just kind of came to me in a flash of inspiration after scrolling through wikis and looking into Life and Death (genderbent Twilight) and to be honest, all of it kind of stems from that idea. Life and Death has a lot of similar beats in the backstory for the Volturi presented. Sulpicia witnessing Didyme's murder, reporting it, having Mele steal Aro's gift to give it to her before he's executed. Regency ends up two-thirds female, you get the idea. Shipping her with Jane was just me having some fun.

One of my HUGE big brain moments was me deciding to have Athenodora's murder be orchestrated by Aro because he knew that she knew about his sister. In the original story of Diplopia (the full thing, not the very original one shot), I had Athenodora be dead just to cut down on the chaos of the whole situation, but I actually took inspiration from Caius' canon backstory for it. He hates werewolves in canon because he was almost killed by one and is utterly terrified of them. In my version, he hates them because werewolves killed his wife.

The subplot of Necrosis with Emily finding Athenodora's journal and putting the pieces together about what actually happened is still something I'm very proud of because that wasn't the original intention of Athenodora being absent, and I'm also proud that I had Thena's knowledge be somewhat of a mystery as well, so the reader only realizes it once Emily points it out when she's delivering her litigation.

Anyways, that was a tangent for only one plot point.

I chose to have a ball in the middle because I feel like it can be a staple in Volturi fics, and also because I wanted to include some more traditional vampire-type tropes. I wouldn't go as far to call it like a "red herring" part of the fic since it seems like a weird distraction from the main plot...

And this is where I admit that the HARDEST part of planning this fic was figuring out the conflict, and ultimately I landed on another Twilight fic staple: Newborn army conspiracy.

I knew that whatever this conflict was, it was only meant to be a plot device/distraction from the actual conflict of the fic, which was Emily dealing with this forbidden knowledge about what happened to Didyme. But this plot also couldn't be entirely pointless because it had to lead to some type of explosion that lead Emily to announcing this information. It was a lot of complex pinboarding in my head. So, I kinda just landed on Newborn Vampire Army and let that do what it will.

Fun fact about that, if in that first group of newborns caught in chapter 2, one of those vampires seemed a liiiiittle personal (the one Emily executes herself), it's because I based him on my ex. So.

Anyways, naturally the last plot point was the main reason I wrote the whole fic. Didyme and all that backstory is an aspect of the Twilight lore that fascinates me because it's genuinely interesting, yet never mentioned or expanded upon and I LOVE fics that deal with it.

I had to leave little breadcrumbs leading up to it, and I even foreshadowed it in Diplopia when I had Emily tell Sulpicia that she was sure "someone [t]here has sororicide on their conscience." Which seems like a highly specific and odd detail unless You Know.

Necrosis was all about showing some growth for Emily. She's been in Survival Mode for most of her life, and now that she's comfortable, she can enter that Growth Stage of living. Diplopia wasn't about character development, at its core it was about me being silly. Necrosis' entire thesis is basically me flipping a fat bird to Stephenie Meyer's dumb and hypocritical tidbit about vampires being static beings incapable of developing. Emily has the ability to care about others and for the greater good, she just was never in a position to try.

Those three plot points kind of showcase those developmental phases. Caring for and helping Mele learn and grow (theoretically this parallels Eleven), letting herself be frivolous and enjoy herself for the hell of it (dressing up all fancy, dancing, this arc even opens with Emily in bed with Heidi to explore her sexuality), and then choosing to act in the interest of the greater good because it was the right thing to do.

So, tl;dr, Necrosis' plot was very complicated to map out because I had the different destinations I wanted, but had to do some work to chart the courses.

11) Was there a scene you hadn't originally planned to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

To be honest, most of Necrosis happened as I planned it, convoluted as it was. There weren't many outtakes, if any that I can remember. I suppose there were tidbits that I'd debated about including or not before ultimately deciding to add them in anyways. Emily and Heidi being intimate springs to mind as one of these elements because I always had assumed that they had some type of physical relationship, but only really implied or mentioned in passing. I felt bold, though, and just decided "fuck it."

I did this silly doodle a while back using that lesbian eyeshadow meme as a template (it's not very good, be warned) and I've made memes about them having some type of intimate relationship.

Something else that I never did explicitly state but I've headcanoned since basically the veeeeeerry beginning was some type of similar relationship between Emily and Sulpicia, even if it was only like once or twice. Maybe in my mind I think the way it goes is that Heidi was very obviously some type of awakening for Emily and when she's confused by this, she asked Sulpicia what the fuck is going on and Emily basically has to get the "gay urges" talk from Picia. Then, perhaps similar to that bit in Game of Thrones with Daenerys and her handmaiden in the first season, Emily has Picia show her what to do with a woman before she tries to work her almost nonexistent charm on Heidi... tbh this might make for a good one shot.

Emily's the embodiment of repression, and she fell into a coven of actual slut vampires that do whatever they want is what I'm saying.

17) What was the hardest scene to write?

"Hard" can have multiple definitions. If we were to say scenes I was dragging my feet to get through, I'd probably say some of the ball scenes because they just weren't as meaty as I would have liked and I was itching to get to the chaos of the After.

Smut actually got easier overtime because I was practicing in private for little personal projects, but the hard part eventually became a wording issue. I've learned how to get nastier with it, but I know I need to hold myself back in certain regards because a) it's not the focus of the fic and b) not everyone is into hardcore smut. It's a balance that must be hit, but as one of my friends put it, "having to be eloquent about it is like pulling teeth."

Hard emotionally, I'd say that the bit in the last chapter when Emily and Caius are talking about outliving everything and everyone they knew. It was my last chapter and I hadn't intended for it to get that deep at all, but it was 2 AM and my brain just kind of led me down that angst ramble unplanned. Finishing Necrosis was always gonna be emotional for me and that just really hit a certain way. I actually had to stop and finish it in the morning because I had started crying over it.

It was the existentialism and my chronic "Emily Leaving Henry" guilt flaring up with a vengeance.

21) What was something you didn't expect people to notice or gravitate towards in this fic?

Something that was funny to me was how you in particular seemed suspicious of Mele and her actions lmao. I can totally see why, but honestly her quick acceptance of vampirism can be boiled down to three things:

1) In some ways she felt like some type of caricature of people who want to be vampires and would be like "yeah sure fuck it."

2) Plot Reasons/Mating Bond with Jane. Mating bonds/pulls aren't technically even a canon thing, but like eeeeeevery fic uses it to the point that it basically is canon. Another example of this is Caius being a painter. Not technically canon per se, but it's a pretty universally accepted headcanon.

3) I'm lazy. Somethings are just easier to handwave.

Although admittedly Mele being some type of twist villain would 100% be some type of shit I'd pull, so I don't blame people for thinking about it. It honestly hadn't ever crossed my mind because my lizard brain was focused on getting to Emily exposing Aro's secret.

And honestly, Emily trying "Caring for a Supernatural Child 2: Electric Boogaloo" was just such a fun concept.

I wonder if Eleven will ever know that she has several non biological/they're emotionally Emily's children siblings. One of them's also named Jane, how funny.

#take a shot every time i go on a pointless tangent rather than staying on the point cohesively #spoiler alert you'd be dead #fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #twilight oc #oc ask game #fic ask game #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 2 months

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Blorbo bingo for Henry (canon), Emily (yours) and Quinn (mine) please?

Henry

Emily

Quinn

#fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #oc ask game #ask game #oc bingo #character bingo #mutuals ocs #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 8 months

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Oh are we OC shitposting? Alright then.

Emily: I don't like marriage, it's an archaic institution that's part of this perceived ultimate goal to bind oneself to another person in the eyes of a non-existent god and is designed to keep us from being our natural free selves. Henry and I don't need a piece of paper or a pastor to say we're bound together, we-

Caius: Hi

Emily:

#listen this picture of olivia cooke is emily coded even if she wasn't my fc #fishgills speaks #fishgills shitposts #fishgills ocs #twilight oc #stranger things oc #fishgills on diplopia

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nebulousfishgills · 5 months

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pov you're watching aro get absolutely dragged and exposed by the garbage gremlin that married caius 25 years ago

(Aka Necrosis chapter 15)

#this came to me in a vision #except in this case the mojo dojo casa house is the palazzo dei priori and emily's absolutely wrecking shop #not pictured is marcus two second from going from the depressed green giant to the incredible hulk #fishgills speaks #fishgills shitposts #fishgills ocs #twilight oc #oc shitposts #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 5 months

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Discounting the fact that magic/supernatural/superpowered things already exist in these universes, are any of your OCs superstitious at all? If so, what are some of their superstitions? Do they believe in ghosts? Bigfoot? Walking under ladders and breaking mirrors?

Another interesting one!

Well, Olivia being a Norse deity believes in the Norns, basically the Norse equivalent of the Greek Sisters of Fate and has her own thoughts on fate accordingly. She comes from a place where magic and science are one and the same, and is a magician herself, so we can assume some things from that as well.

Keira I've stated explicitly is a very practical, science minded person, but she does believe in ghosts. I also bet she's the kind of person who has one stupid little tradition she does out of a superstitious fear. Maybe it's knocking on literal wood (as I do) or only buying a specific brand of pens.

Emily's as always an interesting case because she doesn't believe in higher powers aside from herself and Henry. She's not the kind of person who would believe in fate or luck or doing a silly tradition for a superstitious fear. But I know for sure she believes in the concept of soulmates since that's been a huge part of a lot of her stories.

#me personally i'm somewhat superstitious #i knock on wood very literally and i refuse to say the name of the scottish play #dad and i refuse to let anybody say it in the house since we're both theatre kids and it drives my brother NUTS #fishgills speaks #oc asks #fishgills ocs #avengers oc #spiderman oc #stranger things oc #twilight oc #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 7 months

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Returning the favor for the writing asks! (And you're right, there's SO MANY good ones!)

1, 3, 11, 13, 17, 20, 35, 54, 55, and 74 please!

I see ten numbers so we're just gonna assume this should in theory be split into ten asks but it's gonna be one doctorate thesis length post so be warned as usual and here we go!

1) Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chapter fics?

See already I have a cop out answer ready because I like doing both! A good portion of my multi chaptered fics started out as one shots, actually. A Song of Stars and Magic started as an alternative look at how The Avengers could have ended that spun way way way too out of control. 29 chapters and two plus years of nitpicking and adding and writing later...

As we know Diplopia started as a one shot before it, too, spun out of control and got six seasons and a movie. The Weirdo From Saint Valentina's is gonna get an additional three chapters and that started as a one shot (I'm very excited to show people what I have planned for that can of worms).

But, you know, Facade was always a longfic. I never finished it but I at least stopped at a decent enough stopping point. One could believe that's how I chose to end it if a) I didn't outright say I never finished it and b) it's not actually marked as incomplete on AO3. Time Variance Detected was a long fic by design because of the episodic chapters. One episode of the series was one chapter and that trend will continue with it's eventual sequel.

His Tenebris Moenibus was always a longfic. It's gonna have a sequel once season 5 comes out. It's kind of exciting but a little nervewracking that part of the anticipation that comes with Stranger Things' finale is also me being able to find out how Emily's story is going to end. I'm on the same page as my readers as of now. None of us knows how that will go and it's exciting and... oh good god it's also fucking terrifying.

But I love writing my small, stand alone one shots. Little nuggets of story. Ways to explore alternative ideas and plot bunnies that are too big for a simple idea but (in some cases, at least) are too small for a full, dedicated fic.

So... they kind of go hand in hand, really. I love the planning and complexity a longfic requires, but I love the bite sized freedom one-shots give. But one shots with me sometimes turn into longfics. So... one shots, I suppose, if you put a gun to my head and made me choose.

3) Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

It varies from project to project. Nine times out of ten, though, it starts out as one of my elaborate daydreams. I have to mentally plan everything at the very least before I write even if I don't write down those plans or outlines all the time. The ideas come in bursts, sometimes with listening to music, sometimes when watching a piece of media, sometimes with the Holy Grail of idea generation: the shower.

Most of any kind of "creative process" with my fics happens mentally. Sometimes I just get so many ideas for a fic that I have to make a bullet pointed plan or an outline. I have a server on discord that just has me in it where I send things to myself or write notes. It's just an alternative for a notes app, really. I have pages of ideas and outlines there. I remember doing this for Necrosis specifically when that last large piece of the narrative puzzle just came to me and then I got so excited I wrote out an outline I still continue to follow.

I wouldn't really go as far to say I'm a planner, though. Most of my fics are more spur of the moment.

Sometimes I have to research as well. I have wikis bookmarked on my laptop in a folder called "The Sacred Texts." The most notable time this happened was with Diplopia and I wanted to better understand these characters before I wrote about them... and now I know too much, go figure.

Ultimately it's kind of chaotic is what it boils down to. I get an idea, sometimes I plan it, sometimes I research it, and then I just kinda... let my brain do what she do.

11) Link your three favorite fics right now

In no particular order:

Necrosis

His Tenebris Moenibus

Instinct (largely because it's my highest kudo'd fic, an unexpected cult classic)

13) What's a common writing tip you almost always follow?

Okay, so I don't know if this is exactly a common tip, but it is THE end all be all writing advice I've ever gotten. A few years ago I watched a virtual book discussion for one of my favorite authors, Christopher Paolini since he had just released a new book ("To Sleep in A Sea of Stars").

Side note he had actually given us a sneak peek of the book a couple years before that when I went to an in person book signing of his when he released a coloring book for his Eragon series that I still have, actually, it's very cool.

Anyways, one piece of advice he gave was to plan out exactly what you want to write in your head throughout the day. So, you know, come up with dialogue scenes when you're eating lunch or how to start your story/chapter's opening paragraphs in the car etc. And then once it's "writing time" you don't have to waste "writing time" coming up with ideas right then, you just need to transcribe your thoughts from the day and then work from there.

I do it for every single piece of writing I put out, even in micro ways. Sometimes I get impulsive and post one shots I wrote in like, two hours, but the hour or so before that, I was laying in bed with music going, eyes closed just organizing and basically writing in my head. It helps me weed through my thoughts prior and saves me a lot of time in the long run.

Also because I fixate on my fics, I'm constantly thinking about them anyways so this advice is just how my brain operates anyways.

17) What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (Maybe a lack of inspiration or writer's block)

This happens pretty frequently. It's more like I have the motivation to write but I can't physically bring myself to actually type it out. Typically what I do is I just let it happen. If I'm de-motivated I won't be writing at my best and the product won't be at the level I would want it to be at. The dialogue and scene pacing would get clunky and then it just feels stiff. I'll eventually get my motivation back.

But in the meantime I'm doing more planning (daydreaming), I'm looking at pinterest for ideas, I have music going, whatever I need to help me not only get my motivation/will to write back, but with more ideas and inspiration than I had in the first place. More often than not I just need to find that one perfect idea that hypes me up enough to finish the chapter/one shot/what have you.

It was a huge help with Necrosis in particular since some of the filler chapters I trudged to get through, but I was motivated by the chapters that set up that big twist at the end or even those chapters themselves. That's another idea, I sometimes write the scenes I'm excited for ahead of time because I'd rather take advantage of that motivation rather than let it die and then leave more work in the future. I had those three particular chapters of Necrosis all completely done, and that's three whole chapters of work I was done with.

Basically, to sum up: Accept the fact that there will be times you want to write but can't. Find the time in between to come up with more ideas. Then, if you get motivation but for something other than that next chapter you need to write, just write that something else. Means less work in the future and it leaves room to experiment.

20) Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/Expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Well, corruption arcs, obviously. I'm a sucker for redemption arcs, of course, but there's something so cathartic about having a character arc involve going batshit rather than having a come to Jesus moment. But at the same time, usually my corruption arcs happen because of outside forces.

I like to take an optimistic approach to life, that nobody's born evil, it's their choices and environments that can fuck everything up. My characters never start out as evil, but typically the longer they have negative influences, the more it may seem like it. Like the juxtaposition between Olivia's downfall in SoSaM and Emily's spiral downwards.

We know something went wrong to cause Olivia to do horrible things, and it wasn't her fault. So there's a bit of space to sympathize with her because likely her real self is trapped inside of her mind, screaming to be let out and appalled at what she's done. She's naturally a good person with a tricksy streak, not a genocidal maniac. Emily seems more like a bad egg from birth, but that's because her life was set on a downward slope the minute she was popped out and given up. Then it's just nonstop abuse, tragically. St. Valentina's was a horrid place to live, two years on the streets, twenty years in Hawkins Lab... the Upside Down is arguably her best place of residence and you've seen how hazardous and desolate it is. I guarentee you'd lose your mind, too. And this isn't even mentioning my Mind Flayer theory.

I take the optimistic approach to a very pessimistic trope, but the secret is that I usually find the exterior corruption along the way. At first, the characters usually start by fucking shit up for no reason because I want to throw my action figures together and explore the consequences of poor actions before I feel bad and then decide to find the proverbial "Palpatine" in the Anakin to Vader fall from grace.

Of course, smaller things could be my blue rose motifs, my frequent uses of meta humor/references, and how sometimes you can tell I just remembered a cool word and use it three times each paragraph. Also just the Villain's Favorite Person trope, which with me goes hand in hand with the Corruption Arc. It's demented but there's an inherrent appeal in loving someone so much you'd do anything for them. Someone who's done horrible things being gentle only with the one they love. That sort of shit.

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting.

35) What's one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?

Motivations and how they're not always one-dimensional. All the best villains are ones we can understand, sympathize with because we understand their motives. Sometimes yeah, it's fun to just watch a bad guy fuck shit up for the sake of fucking shit up, but Malekith-type villains are rarely all that memorable (in fact I bet I'm one of maybe six people who remembered his name was Malekith).

I like it when my villains are a little bit sad, wet, and pathetic, or I can mold them to be like that. Look at the characters I ship my OCs with, look at all their drama, their family angst, their abusive pasts, among other things. Even the villains I don't ship my characters with who I use as actual villains, I make sure to analyze their motivations and reasonings.

You have your Thanos types who are trying to do a good thing for the way wrong reasons. Like, my guy, just double the resources. I know some Thanos truthers exist, but I just can't quite see it.

See it hurts knowing Henry would probably agree with Thanos to some degree. I'm a hypocrite for disagreeing with Thanos and being like "yes king go off, fuck humanity" when Henry monologues.

Or, how about delving into something I've only recently been able to discuss because of spoiler reasons, arguably the most complex thing Stephenie Meyer ever came up with that's rarely mentioned and she didn't do anything with: the situation with Didyme. This is what Stephenie Meyer's website mentions about the event, our most thorough analysis on it:

"Once upon a time, a fairly young vampire (he had only been a vampire for a decade and a half) named Aro changed his young sister Didyme, who had just reached adulthood, in order to add her to his growing coven. Aro always wanted power, and because he himself had a potent mind-reading gift, he hoped his biological sister would also be gifted in a way that would help him rise in the vampire world. It turned out that Didyme did have a gift; she carried with her an aura of happiness that affected everyone who came near her. Though it wasn't exactly what he had hoped for, Aro pondered the best ways he could use this gift. Meanwhile, Aro's most trusted partner, Marcus, fell in love with Didyme. This was not unusual; given the way she made people feel, lots of people fell in love with Didyme. The difference was that this time, Didyme fell in love herself. The two of them were tremendously happy. So happy, in fact that, after a while, they no longer cared that much about Aro's plans for domination. After a few centuries, Didyme and Marcus discussed going their own way. Of course, Aro was well aware of their intentions. He was not happy about it, but he pretended to give his blessing. Then he waited for an opportunity to act, and when he knew he would never be found out, he murdered his sister. After all, Marcus's gift was much more useful to him than hers had been. This is not to say that Aro did not truly love his sister; it's just that a key part of his personality is the ability to destroy even what he loves in order to further his ambitions. Marcus never found out that Aro was responsible for Didyme's death. He became an empty man. Aro used Chelsea's gift to keep Marcus loyal to the Volturi, though not even Chelsea's gift could make Marcus show any enthusiasm for it."

That's surprisingly a lot of information and it really shows how much thought she has the capacity to put into these characters, yet refuses to, but I digress. All I did was take the Machivellian motivation mixed with the genuine love Aro had for his sister and just expanded upon that. Alas, actions do have consequences, and Emily's a little shit so go figure.

The point is, villains need to have good motives to make them stick.

54) What's your favorite part of the fanfiction writing process?

That moment when everything, every disparate piece and idea just clicks together and the plot finally comes forward. Usually I start with an idea and find the plot along the way. I think my most classic case would have to be Necrosis. I started with just "Diplopia Sequel" and then ended with:

And it was cathartic as hell

55) Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite?

Oh, god, that's hard, cause I don't typically write for characters I *dislike* writing for. And then that question changes depending on if you mean OCs or canon characters.

I suppose my favorite OC has been Emily since it's been a blast seeing what wacky shit I can do with her. Olivia's gonna be making a comeback soon, though, since Loki s2 is DAYS AWAY AAAAAA- But I missed working with her, it's been a HOT minute.

Favorite Canon is a broader arguement since there's so many fandoms and characters I've written for. Obviously the characters I ship with my OCs I enjoy because I have to be able to see them in a certain way to write them that makes me like them. It has be a joy expanding upon the Volturi though, I'm very proud of what I've come up with. Loki, Sylvie, and Mobius have also been fun and I'm very excited to mess with them again. Eddie was fun to pit against Emily and in particular I remember really enjoying writing the parent/child dynamics between Harry and Keira.

Take your pick I suppose.

74) You've posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you'd written it?

Well, obviously look for my trademarks, playing with morals, blue roses, meta asides. And nine times out of ten if it's a Canon x OC fic, there's a high chance it's a brain child of mine.

But let's very hypothetically say I was to post the one shots I hope to write about Caius and Athenodora's backstories anonymously. Since these characters are so open to interpretation you could probably pick out unique things specific to me about them. Thena has a penchant for swearing and will Cut A Bitch, Caius is a massive wife guy and is extremely horny...

You know come to think of it, these are pretty universally agreed upon ideas... except perhaps Thena's swearing habit, I will stand by the fact that she drops f-bombs like nobody's business.

But aside from all that, I think there's a certain diction and voice my writing has that one could probably pick up on overtime. I'd say assume if you think I wrote it, I probably did.

***

Oh my god I got this ask even before fucking July 5th/Doomsday and I'm just now finishing it I'm so sorry.

#i didn't mean to take so long but shit happens and brain no wanna brain #anyways here are your essays #fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #fishgills writing #stranger things oc #twilight oc #avengers oc #spider man oc #beloved mutuals #writing asks #oc asks #ask game #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 5 months

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Me: *has been complaining about my high effort low reward, grueling, twice a week biology workbook assignments all semester*

The last workbook assignment of the semester: *helps me finally figure out Henry's pet name for Emily*

Me:

(It's Ladybug, btw)

#it told me ladybugs are classified as predator insects and my eyebrow immediately raised #ladybugs taste bad and can sometimes even eat spiders although spiders can sometimes eat them #so you know no power imbalance #plus emily has red/auburn hair so #i'm serious tho these assignments sucked absolute dick i'm so glad they're over #fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #stranger things oc

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nebulousfishgills · 5 months

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So we know how Emily reacts to becoming a vampire... how would she do with a transformation into another mythical beast? A werewolf? A siren? A banshee? Something else?

Ooo interesting!

Hmm, well in my mind I feel like she could either respond really well or really poorly to a werewolf transformation. I think the idea of her as a feral moon creature is intriguing for sure, but who knows how that would go over with, say, Henry for example.

Siren could certainly be fun since she's used to luring and seducing for souls or whatever. The irony, of course, lies in the fact that a siren is a musical creature and music and her and Henry's mind tricks don't mix well.

Banshee I feel like would be funny in some contexts. They shriek to herald in death, so imagine she's hanging out with Eddie while Henry's doing his thing in the Upside Down and she just shrieks all of a sudden... tbh I don't think Eddie would be all that perturbed.

Emily as any supernatural creature is an interesting thought experiment since she can wear so many of their traits so well, while other traits not so much.

#thanks for the asks to help me chill after my shit night lmao #fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #oc asks #stranger things oc #twilight oc #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 5 months

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For any of your OCs with romantic partners, tell me the exact moment each of them fell in love (whether or not they realized it at the time)

This ask is so adorable. I'm obsessed with those first moments people realize they've fallen in love. Me personally, I find it funny that my extremely serious fictional crushes, most of them weren't a love at first sight situation, it took time, yet I can pinpoint the exact moments I did lmao. ANYWAYS.

Olivia and Loki have known each other practically since birth, but very famously when they were children, Loki presented Olivia with a royal blue rose from the garden sheepishly before running off. We can presume he had fallen in love with her since around this time since he was bold enough for this gesture. I think she recognized this gesture for what it was even at her age and likes to tell people that's when she fell in love in return. But I bet it took her a little longer to fully realize what her feelings for Loki were. After that she probably noticed his actions towards her a little more closely and eventually fell in love herself. But it started with the rose, and to this day she still has it, enchanted to never wilt.

Keira and Norman's romance happened quickly but is incredibly strong. Their meet cute is famously goofy, Keira spilling her coffee all over her boss and future husband at the literal worst time. Keira had a horrible cold around this time so she didn't fully process this had happened and Norman had a big meeting right after, so I doubt if they had any love at first sight feelings that they recognized them at all. But I think Norman fell in love first, him offering her a coffee which doesn't seem like a normal move at all. During those few days she was out sick, I think he contemplated the event over and over coupled with what he knew about Keira and at some point knew that he had some sort of pull towards her. Keira probably developed her crush during this coffee date since Norman respected her mind and intellect more than most.

Now, we know that the first time Henry admitted to himself that he was in love with Emily was during the lockdown and they had that extended conversation about their pasts and ideals about the human race. I feel like he vaguely knew he liked her more than as a companion a little before that, but only realized it was love after he knew she felt similarly about the world and that she wasn't scared of what he'd done when most people would be. We also know that for years Emily was extremely defensive and protective of Henry, getting angry when he would get hurt by Papa or the guards. I think she herself only realized she was in love with Henry was a little while after their talk and now that they were alone in the lab, she knew that only Henry could make her feel any semblance of happiness. Of course, they only admit these feelings after Papa informs them that they're no longer test subjects.

...now, the elephant in the room once again comes when we get to Caius and Emily. Hilariously I have 100% concrete answers for both of them rather than a varyingly vague idea compared to the others. Caius knew he was in love basically the second Emily started talking since he had the benefit of feeling a mating bond he'd been waiting eons for forming (likely one Marcus saw). That, plus her brash attitude and her unique characteristics like her wings and already red eyes, dude was a goner the second she walked in. Emily of course needed to have a huge fight with Henry and had to fuck first before she realized she liked Caius, too. But right after they did the dirty, Emily saw how quickly and willingly Caius took care of her, tended to her, made her feel safe quicker than anybody else had ever had, and that's when she knew. She even said as much to his face.

#why does it always feel like the four wheels on a shopping cart meme when it comes to my ocs #cause every time we get to emily and caius it's like we gotta pump the breaks lmao #fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #oc asks #avengers oc #spiderman oc #stranger things oc #twilight oc #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 5 months

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your OCs have been invited to the Met Gala (or a similarly formal event). What are they wearing? Either describe the looks or find pictures, it's up to you!

Okay let's see, I love looking at fancy outfits and thinking of my OCs in them. So!

Olivia:

It's mythical, it's dreamlike, it's blue, it's very her. I'm just imagining a scenario where the Avengers get invited to the Met or whatever and she shows up in this with Loki next to her in some matching getup, they'd for sure be a highlight.

Keira:

Obviously it's green so... but also it totally reads like the dress someone who's a billionaire's wife would wear to the Met. Not to mention, the branching details look like natural growth or even like veins, which could be a nod to her science background or the serum in her literal bloodstream.

Emily:

Now the caveat is Emily's the literal last person I'd expect to get invited to the Met, let alone attend it. People-y, wealthy people showing off with fancy outfits, and this variant of Emily doesn't like dresses. But the simplicity is what would stand out in this case.

Now if this were Volturi Emily, then I'd see her in something like this:

It's a little more elegant, more befits her station. This is, of course, hinging on the vampires going outside to be among people, but I could 100% see her wearing this to a fancy event. The perfect oxymoronic union of vampiric class and her less than elegant tastes with the pants. I could even see her wearing this in some sort of diplomatic scenario she 100% doesn't want to be diplomatic about but has to.

#i looooooove finding oc outfits so this was a wonderful ask thank you #fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #oc asks #avengers oc #spiderman oc #stranger things oc #twilight oc #oc outfits #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 5 months

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One spoiler with no context for Emily's future endeavors? That edit you sent me got me thinking about her again :)

Hmm... okay, let's see.

Emily has chronic mommy issues and that doesn't exactly stop at Florence Mulder, at least out of canon.

(These are the edits in question btw, they're not perfect but I discovered ibisPaint's magic wand/image manipulator tool and I had to experiment by giving Emily her Hellfire shirt)

Also I think I've decided that I'm gonna get rid of some asks in my ask box, not for a lack of a desire to answer them... but because it's been so long I've lost most of the ask games they were asking about and I wouldn't know which one goes with which... so apologies in advance if some of those go unanswered but my brain said no and I've paid the price... 0/10 will probably do it again by mistake.

#i'm really sorry abt the loss of asks but it's gonna be impossible to answer most of those and it keeps bugging me so...#but have some emily edits as a peace offering #fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #stranger things oc #beloved mutuals #oc asks #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 8 months

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your OCs have just asked their partners "would you love me if I was a worm?"

how do they all react?

I had to answer this as soon as possible, screw the other asks piling up... which I'll get to eventually!

Olivia: Would you love me if I was a worm?

Loki: I can be a worm with you if you'd like? *probably proceeds to actually turn into a worm*

Keira: Would you love me if I was a worm?

Norman: *A little confused* Why would you be a worm? Is this a test?

Emily: Would you love me if I was a worm?

Henry: Of course. Nothing wrong with worms. You'd be my favorite worm.

Emily: Would you love me if I was a worm?

Caius: Why would you want to be a worm? They're fragile and helpless and you're strong and beautiful.

(Avoiding the question but okay)

#this ask was so out of nowhere I love it #so obviously I had to answer right away #fishgills speaks #fishgills ocs #avengers oc #spider man oc #stranger things oc #twilight oc #oc asks #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

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nebulousfishgills · 11 months

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Random ask bc I was thinking about it and now I'm curious:

What is the most unique power, skill, or trait that you've given an OC, and how does it impact their story?

(alternatively, share the most unique trait of EACH OC, if you'd like to be a bit more thorough with it :D )

Well, you know me and being thorough! So we're gonna do that!

I'm apologizing in advance.

We're gonna go in order, so...

-Olivia Iridottir-

If I had to pick her most unique trait, I think it's summed up susinctly enough in these excerpts from "Time Variance Detected:"

Olivia is a being who is equally capable of both good and evil depending on the universe she's in and it can massively impact her story. "A Song of Stars and Magic" covers the nitty gritty of this and the reason why that story in particular is unique... which, sidenote, someone left a really sweet comment on it the other day and I was flattered and a bit shocked bc I didn't expect anybody to read it in the year of our lord 2023, let alone like it.

I really plan on remastering it at some point since before Diplopia, THAT was my masterpiece of fiction. It's an inside joke among my knowing friends that it just never ends. 2020 was when I started it, I posted all of its chapters in like, early 2021 (so it was very much a covid pet project) and I finally stopped nitpicking it in July of 2022, and that was because of, you guessed it, Stranger Things.

But I really enjoy the lore I came up with for that story, especially with how this particular Dark Variant of Olivia seemed like... reaaaallllllyyyy bad. It was because of that Accident, but also because of how volatile of a being she is naturally.

-Keira Browning-

I mean, obviously she's *puts on the garbage Boston accent* Wicked Smaht, which gets her to her position in her story. She's smart enough for MIT, smart enough for Oscorp, and smart enough that it catches Norman's attention before they even formally meet. Her life was set for this trajectory, it's really her own decisions after the fact that set her on that darker path.

Ironically enough, her logic failing her gets her into this mess to a point where it can't get her out of it. I even say as much before they test the Performance Enhancers in the lab and it All Goes Wrong:

Which, obviously her smarts can only go so far at my own behest. I'm smart but not as smart as she is. So, you know I come up with bullshit frequently and call it Keira Being Smart. It's comic book science, it doesn't have to make any sense, really.

But you know, obviously a pregnancy hormone is the way to go here, good job, me.

-Emily Ripley/Many Last Names-

I mean, obviously her lab grown (maybe) abilities are the big one, but rather than talk about those, let's talk about the reason why they seem weaker than Henry's and how the OG 002 and 003 factor into it.

Obviously I don't think Brenner knew what he was doing with the initial experiment trials since the nature of Henry's powers were still a mystery. A blood transfusion was all it took, but I really think the Mind Flayer had something to do with it. As it stands in my theory mind, the Mind Flayer fused with Henry and physically put its particles into him like the other hivemind creatures. These particles could have been in his blood, which explains how the transfusion worked at all and how 002 and 003 got powers as well.

But I don't think they ended up being as powerful as Brenner wanted, which is why he was rather dismissive when they escaped. Admittedly that's a loose thread on my part, but I think a proximity to Henry also exacerbates it, like the Hotspot in my Bluetooth metaphor. Maybe after they ran away their powers just... faded away, maybe they're still out there, who knows.

But Emily. I think Emily's time in the abandoned Creel House allowed the Mind Flayer access to her as well, just not as much since she only spent so long in there compared to Henry. Then she gets her own blood transfusion and it gives her powers. Probably more powerful than 002 and 003, but less than Henry since there just isn't enough Mind Flayer in her...

And her continued attachment to her humanity. Henry always likened himself to a predator superior to the human race, Emily had human relationships post banishment when she would go to the Overworld. And I think only she was able to create gates because the Mind Flayer allowed her to. She was doing spy work for it as much as she was doing it for Henry since the goal is to get Eleven and, later on, Will. Having a woman on the inside (or outside, depending on her perspective) helps massively. But that connection to her last shreds of humanity is what's ultimately holding her back from her true potential.

Notice how Emily doesn't get all that tired during the Massacre when clearly if she's weaker than Henry, she probably should have. She wasn't behaving fully human, the Mind Flayer took over (as what I believe happened to Henry) and it granted her more strength and power the more she killed and absorbed for her and it. But I think after she undergoes her transformation at the end of The Piggyback (what Nancy called "the Upside Down poisoning Emily") and fully gives up her humanity and sort of "surrenders" to the Mind Flayer like Henry had, she'll get much stronger.

I expect that rot will spread. Where we leave her she still looks Emily-ish, still somewhat human, just with wings and a few vines. Maybe by the end she'll be a whole lot more powerful and look closer to Lilith from Diablo 4:

(Ooo now I kinda wanna draw that)

Basically I think in Season 5/HTM Part 2 (we'll see what I end up titling it) Emily's gonna go full Beast Mode with the Mind Flayer becoming her puppet master just as it became Henry's.

***

For the fun of it, let's dive into one small trait/power/etc for my smaller OCs (at least the named ones at the bottom of my masterpost... I have others I wanna make at some point, I just need to sit down and do it.

Lydia Roberts - Her mastery with dough and going rogue to make berry pies when meat is in short supply is the only reason Mrs. Lovett's business has lasted as long as it has.

Irinerys - Obviously she's an RPG stand in and can only do as much as she's coded to do, but I think despite the fact that she started her story as a former slave turned acolyte, with the power she's gained over the course of her story/the campaign I believe she's incredibly vain and gets very good at hair and make-up to make herself seem more important than her humble origins would have you believe. Since Ashara is the only female companion, Irinerys does her make-up as a bonding thing when not on missions, but absolutely used Andronikos as a canvas at some point. He's a space pirate, she 100% gave him some Jack Sparrow type eyeliner at some point.

Aneadora Fír - I haven't played actual D&D with my friends in a bit since we've been doing Thirsty Sword Lesbians instead, but she's a Reborn Tiefling (we were all undead creatures) and has some Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas stitches and various body parts (they all look grey compared to her blue skin). I feel like she'd sometimes undo the thread holding her pieces together and change their colors, so now her arm is held in place by pink stitches.

Marlina Nerys - So, fun fact, I was the first one of our party to get romantically entangled (literally I got laid in our first session and now it's a gag where I get laid every session). But she had a past as a Reformed Villain and in one of our last sessions (we're on break for summer) she learned a horrible secret... her ex, literal partner in crime, killed her parents after they tried looking for her (she ran away from home as a child). Determined to keep Marlina to herself, her ex tracked her parents down and killed them, never telling Marlina that her parents were even searching in the first place... TSL is a goofy system and nine times out of ten it gets very silly but our DM always has to give us something angsty. I came up with the secret, but she was the one who had me do so... it was either this or forget my girlfriend so I'd rather the horrible secret any day.

#fishgills speaks #asks #oc asks #stranger things oc #avengers oc #spider man oc #various other ocs #fishgills ocs #beloved mutuals #my inbox is open

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