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astralanthropologists · 1 year

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can you talk a bit about the dynamics of Bones, Jim, Anna, and Riona in your polycule? you sometimes talk about them as each other's sun, moon, and stars, and I'm super interested in how you conceive of those relationships and what that means to you

Oh, man. This is a whole like. Thing. XD Charlie (@aseelierose) and I always throw our OCs into any fandom, and I think that Charlie was super excited when I got into Trek, because they've always been a big fan of it (and are currently getting their partner to watch all of Trek, too). They've always paired Anna with Jim, and I absolutely fell in love with Bones (obviously). And, well. Charlie and my OCs are very bisexual. AOS McKirk is, in my opinion, not even subtext, but y'know. Ship and let ship, and I love watching other people bring other ships to life, especially in rp.

And we're gonna take that quote about dreamers and realists from Modern Family:

“There are dreamers and there are realists in this world. You'd think the dreamers would find the dreamers, and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not, the opposite is true. See, the dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun. And the realists? Well, without the dreamers, they might not ever get off the ground.”

~*~

For a personal rundown: Riona—Jim is the Sun; it’s also a star, and they’re similar, and he reminds her of her home amongst the sky. Len is the Moon; it’s part of the night sky and pulls the most focus as the brightest light in the darkness. Anna is the Stars; they are her home and most natural place of being, and that’s Anna; she just feels free with Anna. Note: Riona is also a dreamer. Len—Jim is the Sun; he rebuilt his entire fucking life orbiting Jim Kirk without even realizing it. Anna is the Moon; she’s his anchor the way the Moon achors the tides. Riona is the Stars; not only can he not associate them with her, but he just feels like Riona is infinite. Note: Len is also a realist. Anna—Jim is the Sun; he’s been the brightest light since she met him. Len is the Moon; quiet in his brilliance, but no less important. Riona is the Stars; again, the association, but also because of the stars as hope. Note: Anna is also a realist. Jim—Anna is the Sun; she’s big and bold and brilliant and vibrant, and he just feels warm. Bones is the Moon; he feels like losing Bones would be catastrophic. Losing the Sun causes basically instant death. But losing the Moon causes devastation while life can still be sustained, and he doesn’t know how to lose Bones. Riona is the Stars; again, the association, but also because the Stars are constant, and Riona just feels like she’ll always be around for whatever he needs her to be. Note: Jim is also a dreamer.

~*~

So, yeah. It started with Riona/Bones and Jim/Anna, but Riona and Anna almost always end up in a friends with benefits situation, because it's easy for them to sleep together when they're not communicating their feelings to other people. And it's not that they don't have feelings for each other. Riona's love for Anna is something that is very freeing and needed in this verse in particular, as Anna's the first person Riona's fallen in love with since her faerie partner, Aidan, was killed. Aidan's death was what prompted her to join Starfleet; she just didn't feel at home in the faerie world anymore, despite having her family (Aislinn, Aleria, and Logan). It wasn't their whole family, and she just couldn't live with the fragments. Anna, being half-Betazoid, gets a lot from Riona that Riona doesn't say, and Anna is just as open and honest with Riona because of this and because of her Betazoid culture. Anna has a bad break up in Academy that makes it very convenient for her and Riona to get closer, and it's just easy for them.

~*~

Now, McKirk is something to me that is just obvious, and I have a lot of posts about the two of them. But what it comes down to is that they were both at the lowest point of their lives when they found each other in that shuttle, and then they built these new lives together.

They don’t know how to separate themselves from the other person, and if you don’t believe me, just look at how they react in Into Darkness. When Jim thinks that Bones could die because of that torpedo? He is on the edge of breaking, even though he knows that he would still need to push forward and keep captaining the Enterprise. And Bones? Look at his reaction to opening the body bag and seeing Jim’s corpse. Everything drains right out of him. He’s broken and can’t even stand. He collapses and barely even breathes.

The two of them have a dynamic that works for them, but it is extremely codependent.

~*~

Jim/Anna is the first couple that like. Actually gets their shit together. Granted, there is some small manipulations there. Spock would call them "calculated decisions". It's an away mission, and they have to pretend to be a couple, and Anna's half-Betazoid and their chief of security, so it makes sense for her to be undercover in this to protect Jim during what is supposed to be a diplomatic event. And playing these parts and having to pretend to be together forces them to actually confront their feelings.

But it's a wonderful slowburn, because the two of them are made of the same stuff. They hide behind big, brash personalities in order to keep their insecurities hidden and put up this wall. But they get each other. They see each other's heart, and they love the way that the other cares so fucking much. They both have so much that they want to go and explore and learn and do, and they realize that they want to do that together. And, for as much as they're similar, they're also different. Anna's more of a realist, and she helps ground Jim.

~*~

Anna/Bones is the foundation of this polycule, though. Maybe it's because they're both the realists; maybe it's because Into Darkness was particularly traumatizing for them. But they have a lot of realizations together and pretty much vow to be there, not only for each other, but for their dreamers. They bond a lot during the two weeks Jim is out before he fully wakes up from being dead, and they have an implicit understanding of each other. That time, that shared trauma, and their understanding is also why Anna is the one other person in the entire universe who is actually able to call Len Bones, but only during very specific instances. They are the ones who make the polycule possible, though.

~*~

Len/Riona is, well, one of my favorites. I'm a sucker for idiots-to-lovers; I'm a sucker for mutual pining that they think is unrequited. I'm a sucker for how they can't quite figure out their timing. They're both so scared, so hesitant. They're so in love, but they're both of the opinion that if something goes wrong, then it's over. Bones is more than content to just be Jim's friend; that relationship doesn't have to be romantic. He accepts his feelings, and he just kind of tucks them away. If Jim ever felt the same, that'd be great, but it doesn't matter.

With Riona, it's different. They are all or nothing, and that's so terrifying to both of them. Riona, especially, because barring some extreme traumatic event, Riona's outliving Len by an eternity. She knows she will lose him someday. And it's easier to pretend like it won't kill her when it happens, and it's easier to not take the risk of making their friendship more, because if it goes wrong, then she lost the person who makes her feel safe.

And all of this is also why, when they finally admit how they feel after dancing around it for the better part of four long years (though they both knew before that, so....), they don't have to date. They already know each other inside and out, know their fears and insecurities, know the way they fit together and can just breathe.

~*~

Jim/Riona is the last piece of the puzzle, and it's their similarities that finally pull them together. The way neither of them know how to give anything less than all of themselves, the way they both are constantly craving home and connections, the way that they both love the stars as if the stars flow through their blood. Sometimes, they're the only person who can get the other one to stop. They're always turned up to an 11, always at the highest setting, but they bond in the quiet moments. They figure things out in shared bad feelings, in taking a breath and looking at the stars, in getting the other out of their head. Jim is the only one who can get Riona to just sleep. And it's usually because he needs to sleep, too, and having a light sleeper makes it so that he can't just get up and go think about things. They're the dreamers, but that means that they can whisper about the bad parts of being dreamers, too.

~*~

And then putting them all together is just....they all came from places of loneliness, of loss, of trying to find who they are. And they found each other. They found themselves along the way, and they owe all of that to each other. They brought light back to each other's worlds.

#otp: no point without you (mccoy/jim; astralanthropologists)#otp: the brighter side of things (mccoy/anna; aseelierose)#otp: i’ll prove it every day (mccoy/riona; asoulofstars)#otp: you’ll gaze unafraid (jim/anna; aseelierose)#otp: that quiet space like home (jim/riona; asoulofstars)

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twoidiotwriters1 · 3 years

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Written In The Stars CX (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: I just hope you guys are actually enjoying this book bc you’ve been extremely quiet and it’s making me worry jfdg -Danny

Words: 4,785

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Listen to: ‘Lemon To A Knife Fight -by The Wombats

Chapter Eight: Arguments.

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation..."

Mel discovered that pouring all her attention into the classes was an excellent way to keep Harry and his stupid ogling towards Cho away from her thoughts. She wasn't going to bury herself in homework and miss the fun, but for the first time in her life, she was going to put herself first.

"A light silver vapour should now be rising from your potion," called Snape.

As on queue, the surface of Hermione and Mel's started to create a mist, Snape barely looked at them without saying anything.

"Potter, what is this supposed to be?" She heard the Professor ask in quite a nasty voice.

"The Draught of Peace," said Harry shortly.

"Tell me, Potter, can you read?" "Yes, I can."

"Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter."

" 'Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore.' "

Mel noticed Harry's face shift slightly at the last line.

"Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?"

"No."

"I beg your pardon?"

"No. I forgot the hellebore..."

"I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evanesco. Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing. Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday."

She knew it had been unfair to vanish Harry's potion, but she picked up her things, delivered her own, and left the classroom in silence.

"That was really unfair. Your potion wasn't nearly as bad as Goyle's, when he put it in his flagon the whole thing shattered and set his robes on fire," Hermione commented during lunch.

"Yeah, well, since when has Snape ever been fair to me?"

"I did think he might be a bit better this year. I mean... you know... Now he's in the Order and everything."

"Poisonous toadstools don't change their spots. Anyway, I've always thought Dumbledore was cracked trusting Snape, where's the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?"

"I think Dumbledore's probably got plenty of evidence, even if he doesn't share it with you, Ron," snapped Hermione.

"Oh, shut up, the pair of you," said Harry. "Can't you give it a rest? You're always having a go at each other, it's driving me mad..." He turned and left.

Ron and Hermione looked at her in search for an explanation.

"I think he was pretty clear, wasn't he?" Mel raised a brow. "You two fight a lot."

"Look who's talking!" Ron said heatedly. "You and Harry have been arguing all the time!"

"We don't even talk!"

"You do! But you only fight!" Hermione pointed out. "It's strange, you barely speak and when you do, you end up yelling."

"We still fight less than you two."

"Fine," Hermione replied irritatedly. "We'll stop fighting, but Harry has to stop lashing out on us, we're not the ones he should be treating like this."

"Well then, you tell him that," Mel scowled.

Hermione looked like she wanted to keep arguing, but Ron stopped her and mumbled something Mel couldn't hear.

"D'you realize how much homework we've got already? Binns set us a foot-and-a-half-long essay on giant wars, Snape wants a foot on the use of moonstones, and now we've got a month's dream diary from Trelawney! Fred and George weren't wrong about O.W.L. year, were they? That Umbridge woman had better not give us any..."

"I reckon I can handle it, but if you got any problems I'll help you, you just have to pay me five knuts per essay!" The girl joked.

"I think I rather fail everything, thank you..." Ron pouted.

"Well, good afternoon!" Umbridge greeted them in that unnerving voice.

"Good afternoon," said a few.

"Tut, tut– That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," Everyone replied. Mel and Ron shared an amused grin.

"There, now. That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please. Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it? The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

"Theory-centred?" Mel looked at Hermione. "I'm hating this already..."

"Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" A few replied humorlessly, the woman interrupted them. "I think we'll try that again. When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge."

"Good. I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk."

Everyone listened. Everyone except for Hermione, who kept her book closed and raised a hand in the air, waiting for Umbridge to notice her. An awful lot of time passed before Umbridge finally decided to address the girl.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?"

"Not about the chapter, no."

"Well, we're reading just now. If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims."

"And your name is — ?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully."

"Well, I don't. There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."

"Using defensive spells? Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?" The woman laughed, Mel found it extremely irritating.

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr — ?"

"Weasley."

Hermione raised her hand again.

"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes. Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?"

"No, but —"

"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way —"

"What use is that?" said Harry. "If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a —"

"Hand, Mr Potter!"

Several students now had their hands up.

"And your name is?" Professor Umbridge asked to one.

"Dean Thomas."

"Well, Mr Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?" said Dean. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free —"

"I repeat, do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but —"

"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school, but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed — not to mention, extremely dangerous half-breeds."

Mel gasped quite loudly. Several of her classmates stared at her in anxious anticipation.

"If you mean Professor Lupin," piped up Dean Thomas, who was as upset as her, "he was the best we ever —"

"Hand, Mr Thomas! As I was saying — you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day —"

"No we haven't," Hermione said, "we just —"

"Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!"

"How can self-defense be inappropriate at any age?" Mel asked, her hand up without waiting for the teacher to giver her permission. "Why does it matter? Isn't it better if we manage to learn it while still young? It makes room for more knowledge–"

"More knowledge?" Umbridge's eyes had a dangerous glint. "What kind of knowledge, Miss Dumbledore?"

Mel opened her mouth but she did not speak. Umbridge knew her name without needing to ask for it.

"Just..." The girl hesitated, measuring her words, "general..."

"It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you — Did that help you, Miss Dumbledore?"

"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he? Mind you, we still learned loads —" Dean commented.

Mel was starting to like Dean better than other years, she made a mental note to buy him a few sweets on their next visit to Hogsmeade.

"Your hand is not up, Mr Thomas! Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?"

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the countercurses and things?"

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions."

"Without ever practising them before? Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough —"

"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" Harry blurted out.

"This is school, Mr Potter, not the real world."

"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?"

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr Potter."

"Oh yeah?" Everyone stared at him in expectation.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?"

"Hmm, let's think... maybe Lord Voldemort?"

Mel swore under her breath, this was exactly the kind of stuff they were supposed to be avoiding, and Harry had run straight into the trap.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter. Now, let me make a few things quite plain. You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead —"

"He wasn't dead– but yeah, he's returned!"

"Mr-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," said Professor Umbridge, her demeanour changing, but barely. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark Wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."

"It is NOT a lie! I saw him, I fought him!"

"Shut up!" Mel hissed, but Umbridge spoke louder.

"Detention, Mr Potter! Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office," She looked like she'd just been granted her biggest wish, which Mel didn't like at all. "I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means, come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners.' "

Harry stood up.

"Harry, no!" Hermione cried quietly, she turned to Mel with a pleading look, but she crossed her arms and looked ahead. He handles his own stuff, she convinced herself, too pissed about his careless behaviour.

"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?"

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she said without missing a beat.

"It was murder. Voldemort killed him, and you know it."

"Come here, Mr Potter, dear." She said sweetly.

Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and started scribbling, hunched over so that Harry could not see what she was writing. Nobody spoke. After a minute or so she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him.

Mel was wondering what was going to happen to Harry when she walked out of the classroom and a younger student stood in front of her, handing her a note. Mel opened it quickly knowing from whom it was, she read it with a new sense of purpose.

'Sugar quills. Tonight after dinner.'

Mel sat down in front of the Headmaster and stared at him, waiting. Dumbledore seemed unimpressed.

"You've got your first class with Professor Umbridge."

"That woman is as close to being a Professor than I am to being a mermaid."

"Professor McGonagall told me Harry had an outburst in the middle of her class."

"He did."

"Why didn't you step in?"

Mel frowned.

"Was I supposed to, sir?"

"You're certainly not obliged, but after all these years I assumed you knew better than to let him speak about Voldemort in front of a member of the Ministry."

He didn't sound upset, but there was an edge on his voice that made her feel uncomfortable about her indifference.

"I tried to get my point across, but she knew who I was and after that, I didn't dare to speak. I didn't want to give her a reason to believe my lessons are more than what they are..."

"I'm afraid Fudge is not entirely wrong about your lessons, Mel."

The girl looked up at the man in confusion.

"What?"

"After the events of last June, I've decided to advance your classes to N.E.W.T levels," Dumbledore replied calmly. "I beg you forgive me, but your studies to become an animagus will have to wait. You'll be learning legilimency and occlumency, and nonverbal spells that you will try to do wandless."

"That's..." Mel started, taken by surprise. "That's okay... why?"

"Professor Umbridge will refuse to teach you in practice because Fudge doesn't want you to learn more than what you already know," Dumbledore explained. "I can't allow that to be your case. I need you to be ready."

"Ready for what? You're not... you're not saying I'm bound to take your place?"

Dumbledore fell silent for a moment before continuing.

"I don't want you to be my replacement. I want you to cover all the aspects that I cannot. I understand, thanks to Emily's letters, that you and Harry have grown apart during this summer, is that true?"

Mel thought about it for a moment before speaking.

"You need me to stay close, don't you?" She said in resignation. "Want me to become Harry's guard? You'll find that hard to achieve, as soon as he found out about the lifeline he cut all ties... He's convinced that this way is safer."

"What we're doing is important and we can't afford to fight in times like this. If you don't stick together, then we already lost."

"It's not that I don't care," Mel started, getting a bit irritated. "I just that he's been acting up on everyone–"

"Have you stopped to think that maybe he's acting this way because he's been cast out?" Dumbledore asked carefully. "He pushed you away, and you decided to push even further. He felt guilty of the pain you went through. I'm not saying you owe him kindness, but I surely expected more of you, Mel. You've always been understanding. What's different about this time?"

'What's different is that he broke my heart', Mel thought bitterly. However, his words did cause her to reflect on her actions.

"We'll start next week then, with the new lessons?" She asked weakly.

"Indeed," He stood up. "I must ask you to keep them in utter secrecy this time. No one must know."

"Umbridge could be listening," Mel nodded.

"Keep a low profile," The man told her once they were standing at the door. "Don't give Professor Umbridge a reason to punish you."

"I believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and I believe you fought him and escaped from him," Luna approached them in their way to Herbology. She said all this quickly and without blinking.

"Er — right," said Harry.

"I also believe you and your grandfather are misunderstood geniuses."

"The Headmaster's not my grandad, Luna," Mel replied politely.

"I know," She said like it was obvious. "You can laugh!" Luna exclaimed, unaware that the laughter coming from Parvati and Lavender had nothing to do with her words. "But people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"

"Well, they were right, weren't they? There weren't any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack," Hermione mentioned.

"D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?" Harry asked after Luna left.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her! Ginny's told me all about her, apparently, she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler."

"I don't think Luna's a bad person," Mel defended. "Just because she chose to believe in something you don't, it doesn't make her stupid or crazy."

"I know that," Hermione rolled her eyes. "But c'mon, Mel..."

"I don't want to hear another word about Luna's 'madness'– she's all right. I don't want to hear any of you calling anyone crazy- I'm sick of that bloody word..."

"I want you to know," Ernie approached them the same way Luna did, "that it's not only weirdos who support you. I personally believe you one hundred percent. My family have always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I."

"Luna's not a weirdo–!" Mel started, put Harry stoped her.

"Thanks very much, Ernie," He stared at her expectantly.

If she was supposed to prove her point on uniting the houses with good manners and a kind attitude, she had to start now.

"We appreciate it," She kept a smile firmly on.

"Oy, Potter!"

"What now?"

"I'll tell you what now," Angelina stormed towards them. "How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"

"What? Why... oh yeah, Keeper tryouts!"

"Now he remembers! Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch especially? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!"

"I didn't decide not to be there! I got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about You-Know-Who —"

"Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off on Friday and I don't care how you do it, tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure you're there!"

"You know what?" Harry grumbled, looking over his shoulder to make sure Angelina was gone. "I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because she seems to be channelling his spirit."

"What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?" said Ron as they entered the Great Hall.

"Less than zero. Better try, though, hadn't I? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something, I dunno... I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening. You realize we've got to write three essays, practice Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a countercharm for Flitwick, finish the bowtruckle drawing, and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?"

"I already finished half of all that," Mel said with a pleased smile. "If you didn't spend half of your time moping about homework, you would've done so as well."

"I don't remember asking to be lectured," He replied.

"If it weren't because the teachers are pushing schoolwork down your throat, you wouldn't be learning at all."

"Does it look like it's going to rain?" Ron asked, trying to break their argument and looking at the sky reflected on the ceiling with mild worry.

"What's that got to do with our homework?" said Hermione.

"Nothing," Ron blushed.

"So, dear ol' Ronnie," Mel sat down next to him in the common room, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Trying out for the Quidditch team, are we?"

Ron let out a choked squeak.

"How d'you know?"

"Oh, please," The girl rolled her eyes. "You asked for a new broom! You brought it with you, and you want Harry to be there on Friday because it'd make you feel better. Am I wrong?"

Ron's ears turned scarlet, which was enough confirmation.

"I think it's a great idea," She continued. "I mean, I've seen you fly and I've seen you play... sort of– I could help you if you want?"

Ron hesitated.

"Would you? I don't want to ask Fred and George because they'd laugh at me."

"They probably would," Mel agreed. "I would try out myself but I don't own a broom, so better you than someone else."

Ron let out a heavy sigh.

"I could really use some help, Mellow."

"No worries, mate. We got this."

Mel was having the worst cramps on her right hand ever since the start of the evening. She thought it was thanks to writing more than she was used to, but after a specially sharp pain, she hissed and grimaced, when she looked down she saw a hand that wasn't hers with the words 'I must not tell lies' carved into the skin.

"Mel, you're all right?" Someone nudged her shoulder and Mel blinked coming back to her senses.

She held onto her hand tightly, breathing unevenly she examined it only to see her skin untouched, her anxiety shot up at a dangerous speed.

"Yes," the girl stood up, leaving her stuff abandoned as she walked to the portrait. "I forgot something in the library..."

She rushed out the door not knowing where to go.

'Look for Harry', She urged herself, running towards Umbridge's office.

Ten minutes later she came face to face with Harry, who stopped abruptly at the sight. Mel stopped too, examining his face carefully and picking on the way he was sweating.

"Hi," She said tensely.

"Mel," Harry frowned. "What're you..."

She looked down at his right hand, Harry was quick to hide it.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with a straight face.

Mel wanted to say what she'd seen, but then she remembered what Dumbledore told her, and she was certain that telling Harry the truth would only cause him to push her away, so she lied.

"I was studying with Neville in the library and I forgot my books there, I was on my way to pick them up."

Harry nodded shortly.

"See you later, then."

Mel frowned, last year he would've offered to go with her, but it was clear that he was adamant to keep his distance. She felt stupid, running out of the tower like that after such a minor inconvenience. Harry was clearly okay! It didn't matter what she'd seen, he could handle it on his own.

"Yeah, see you..." She walked past him, her eyes fixed on the back of her hand, rubbing the skin in circles.

In the middle of her training session with Ron, a cramp pulled all the way to her elbow and she closed her eyes for a moment. It had happened every evening since Tuesday, normally she would just drown the pain and focus on her surroundings, but she was especially tired that night.

"I think we should call it a day, Ron," She sighed. "C'mon, it's getting dark..."

They walked in silence until Ron pulled her behind a statue at the same time the twins walked past them followed by a bunch of first years.

"Ron, you have more dignity than this," She whispered. "You need to stop acting like a baby around your brothers! How're they going to take you seriously if you don't give them a good reason?"

Ron was about to reply when a voice called for them.

"Guys? What are you doing?"

"Er — nothing. What are you doing?"

Harry frowned at them.

"Come on, you can tell me! What are you hiding here for?"

"We're– We're hiding from Fred and George, if you must know," said Ron. "They just went past with a bunch of first years, I bet they're testing stuff on them again, I mean, they can't do it in the common room now, can they, not with Hermione there."

"You're a terrible liar," Mel mumbled beside him. He elbowed her arm roughly, causing her to grunt.

"But what have you got your broom for, you haven't been flying, have you?" Harry asked.

"Have you, Ron?" Mel pressed.

"I — well — well, okay, I'll tell you, but don't laugh, all right? I-I thought I'd try out for Gryffindor Keeper now I've got a decent broom and Mel's helping me train. There. Go on. Laugh."

"I'm not laughing," said Harry, glancing briefly at her. "It's a brilliant idea! It'd be really cool if you got on the team! I've never seen you play Keeper, are you good?"

"I'm not bad, according to Mel," said Ron, smiling a bit. "Charlie, Fred, and George always made me Keep for them when they were training during the holidays."

"So you've been practicing tonight? With Mel?"

"Every evening since Tuesday... Fred and George are going to laugh themselves stupid when I turn up for the tryouts. They haven't stopped taking the mickey out of me since I got made a prefect."

"You'll do fine, and if they try to mock you, I'll make sure to hex them afterwards," She replied.

"I wish I was going to be there," said Harry.

"Yeah, so do — Harry, what's that on the back of your hand?"

Harry froze, attempting to hide his hand away.

"It's just a cut — it's nothing — it's —"

Ron grabbed Harry's forearm and pulled. There, exactly the same place she'd been feeling pain all week, were the words she'd seen on her vision. Ron let go of his hand.

"I thought you said she was giving you lines?" He asked coldly.

Harry stared at the both of them, suddenly looking smaller than before.

"She's... she's been making me use this quill... she says it doesn't need ink and I think that's because, well, it's using my blood."

Mel felt her mouth dry. Harry might have been acting up, but he certainly didn't deserve that.

"...I've been writing the whole week with it– and it's been cutting deeper each time," Harry concluded as the reached the Fat lady portrait.

"The old hag! She's sick! Go to McGonagall, say something!"

"No. I'm not giving her the satisfaction of knowing she's got to me."

"Got to you? You can't let her get away with this!"

"I don't know how much power McGonagall's got over her."

"Dumbledore, then, tell Dumbledore!"

"No," said Harry.

"Why not?"

"He's got enough on his mind," said Harry.

"Well, here's a different solution," Mel started. "You go to her office tomorrow, you finish your detention, and then you keep your mouth shut for the rest of the year."

"You can't be serious..."

"I talked to Dumbledore the other day and–"

"And of course you're telling me this just now. What did he say? Surely he asked you to stay out of trouble–"

"He asked me to step in," Mel replied over his voice. "I should've stopped you from getting detention in the first place. I find it funny that exactly the same year I decide I don't give a flying troll about you, suddenly everyone wants me to defend you–"

"Well, I reckon you should —" Ron started, but the Fat Lady interrupted their chat.

"Are you going to give me the password or will I have to stay awake all night waiting for you to finish your conversation?"

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

@dee123ksha @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @kylosleftbuttcheek @reverse-hxlland @bloodorangemoonlight @omiwashere @t-rexs-world

#twoidiots writing #hp fanfic #Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter xoc #WITT fic

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ghost-chance · 4 years

Text

Fanfiction Recommendation: “Fat. Beautiful. Tasty. Ravenous” by MoofyKitten

Title: Fat. Beautiful. Tasty. Ravenous Author: MoofyKitten on AO3/FFN/Wattpad Fandom: BNHA/My Hero Academia Rating: M/MA for a reason. (Detailed sex in over half the posted chapters. Perv away only if you’re of age!) Pairing(s): Fat Gum [Toyomitsu Taishirou] / OFC Found on: AO3

Deets Expect some light spoilers and a mini-rant.

I am an unrepentant fanfiction addict; this is no secret. There are fics I read to wind down after a rough day, fics I read to put myself to sleep in hopes of pleasant dreams, and fics I read to tear my hear into teeny tiny fragments then build it back again better than before. THEN there are fics that don’t fit the mold – the kind that I become so invested in that I physically cannot put off reading that update. THIS, my lovelies, is one of THOSE fics, and it’s earned that place from the early chapters. This story has almost everything I need from a fanfiction, and I have a feeling the rest is just around the corner.

Let’s get the basics out of the way.

The Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all excellent – I have yet to notice a single error, so either the author and her betas are a force to be reckoned with or I’m just getting so sucked into the story an elephant could sit on me and I’d never notice. The formatting is effective and easy to follow, and the chapters have all been of a nice meaty length, perfect for plowing through in a single sitting only to realize you missed a meal and it’s time for bed and your brain is hopelessly lost in ship-land daydreaming about what’s up next. ...wait, that’s just me? My bad.

Syntax – This one requires an entire section of its own. The fact that I’m having to actually think about how well the author’s varying their syntax says they’re effing nailing it. If a story’s syntax is at all static or the sentence even the slightest bit predictable, it’s easy enough for me to recall it because I’m mentally rearranging the bits that irk or don’t impress me as I read. I can’t even get through a bleepin’ news article or an online recipe without itching to push what I’m reading up to the standards my professors held. It sounds harsh, I know, but please take my word for it when I say I’m not criticizing anyone. Suffice it to say, if my classes did anything, they made editing so instinctive I can’t turn it off. Confession: I have never found myself rearranging a single phrase in this masterpiece. Arguing with the characters? Encouraging the characters? Begging, pleading, and berating the characters for breaking my heart time and time again by stopping just short of the sugary fluff I can just smell right around the corner? Oh, Hell yes. I’ve done all of that and more, but I’ve never found myself with the urge to grab my red pen and strike out or scooch even a single word.

Something that strikes me about this story above others I’ve given the same rating (Spoiler: there are VERY FEW!) is the sheer variety of the scenes and environments. Sounds silly? Probably, but romances often develop a certain amount of location stagnation, and I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to bust through those patterns. (I mean, the majority of “A New Lease on Life” takes place in the Lair in some room, most commonly a bedroom, the lab, or the kitchen.) This story takes the couple off of familiar and ‘safe’ turf like homes and offices and drags them through countless other places without regard for their sense of comfort. Each scene feels real and multi-dimensional and directly or indirectly influences the characters’ behavior and reactions. It’s awesome. That’s a sign the author has done her people-watching!

Now, about that OC. I’ll readily admit, in the first chapter, I had my reservations. At first glance she seemed shallow, obsessed with appearances and her own view of the world, and – strange as it may sound – too skinny and too attractive. Yes, there’s some personal bias involved there, but the majority was practical rather than emotional. BUT! Because the writer of this story is the same who unleashed the beautiful Kacchako torment Hot-Headed upon me without a single breath of remorse, I gave Aiko a chance. Sure enough, my first impressions were entirely incorrect. The things that bothered me about Aiko? They all had explanation or purpose, and she’s turned out to be a pretty well-fleshed out character...pun intended. As the story progresses we’re seeing sides of her that I hoped for but didn’t expect and each chapter leaves me wondering what we’ll learn next.

Romantic connection. First word: “OOFTA.” The second word, I’d spell out, but it’s a shrill, wordless, begging whine that I cannot translate into English for the life of me. This pairing starts without any sort of romantic connection; it skips straight to the shenanigans and leaves hope that the snugglebunnies will follow eventually. Friends…if you’ve read any of my writing before, you’ll know that I. LIVE. For. The. FLUFF. The awkward mush, the sweaty palms, the am-I-gonna-barf-or-do-I-have-a-crush, the absolutely tooth-rotting sweetness capable of sending a reader headlong into diabetes with a dopey grin and heart eyes - they’re my crack and I love them. This story started with no fluff but it’s been slowly developing in the background. It’s an entirely new situation for me! I feel like I’ve gotten used to eating my dessert first then digging into an equally sweet dinner without a moment to cleanse my palate. This story? It’s like gorging on smoky, meaty St. Louie barbecue for weeks on end with literally just a smear of something sweet as an afterthought. Mind. Frackin’. BLOWN. It turns out I’m more masochistic as a reader than I ever suspected.

Another relationship I want to cover is the building friendship between Aiko and Fat Gum – because nope, she has not managed to mentally connect the half-starved Taishiro she’s climbing like a tree with the big-and-beautiful Fat Gum who owns the agency. Yep. She thinks she’s boning Fat’s beefy little brother. It’d be funny if my heart wasn’t whining for fluff. While frustrating to fluff-starved readers, Aiko not knowing the beefcake and the brother are one and the same provides an intriguing and natural way for her to build an actual relationship with him. This means none of the fetishistic bullarkey rampant in other stories pairing plus-sized male characters with OCs.

What sort of fetishistic bullarkey am I talking about? To name a handful: I love you so lose weight. I love you because you’re big. I’m fat too so it’s okay if we’re together. Blatant fat-fetish disguised as romance. Fat character’s life absolutely revolves around food and it’s gross/nvm it’s okay. Lastly, OC’s only chance at being loved by fat character is feeding them. Maybe to thin folks those don’t sound negative but to those of us who fit the description? NOPE. These don’t make healthy relationships. Using these can turn a well-meaning pairing toxic and frankly, it tends to piss off those of us who – GASP! - accept ourselves no matter our size. These...tropes, let’s call them, have made me hesitant to even try fiction involving plus sized male characters because I’ve been let down so many times. Finding plus sized female characters is easy, especially OCs, but appreciation for the chonky bois isn’t nearly as common. They need love too, dammit!

Ahem. Rant over.

As mentioned before, I ain’t seen any of that crap in this story. This author is treating Fat Gum like she would any other character instead of focusing on the fat. I wish with all my heart that more authors were capable of (and willing to) do the same with Fat Gum, and with other plus sized male characters. I can’t even put into words how much it means to me that she’s doing such a fantastic job portraying a character type that so many writers bungle without ever realizing it. I’ve needed this story my entire life and never realized it wasn’t there; I shudder to think of how long I might have been waiting for it if this author never found the inspiration to do so.

If I don’t shut up now, I fear I never will. I love this story that much. Moving on.

Warnings

Explicit sexual content – do NOT read this around your family unless you have a stronger will than I and can do so without creeping them out. (According to my husband, when I read smut I “look like a demented vulture staring down at a half-flattened ‘possum waiting for it to take its last breath,” complete with hunched shoulders and heavy breathing. Flattering, I know.) The smut scenes, while not my usual cuppa tea, wreck. My brain? Broke. Chapter four’s budding romance? It’s goin’ on my headstone ‘cuz I’m dead.

There are mentions of human trafficking and the future may include more about it. Slut-shaming comes up a few times because men are assholes and asshole exes are the ultimate assholes. Situational fat-shaming and lack of body confidence come up as Aiko comes to recognize Fat Gum for who he is instead of what he is; on the other end of the tag, Fat is also doing a lot of it to himself even when it isn’t spelled out. You can see it behind some of his reasoning in his POV chapters and since the writer is kickass at portraying thoughts and feelings without ever breaking out of restricted POV, you can also see hints in other chapters. That said, if the shaming was really bad without any redeeming purpose, I’d have noped my way right out’a that fic and never looked back. It has a purpose, and it’s not that bad. Give it a chance.

Recommendation level

This story lacks purple prose and excessive fluff, and I haven’t seen any signs of the pop culture, literary, and music references I love so dearly, but the rating remains the same:

Ten. Out. of. Farking. TEN!

YES! I’ve finally found another 10/10!!! A quick reminder for anyone who’s managed to not see my other reading recc posts, I don’t even need both hands to count off all the 10/10s I’ve read. Congratulations, Ms. MoofyKitten – your story rocks my world and I have an addiction I do not care to shake!

#fanfiction recommendation #BNHA #My Hero Academia #body postivity #Fat Gum #mature fanfiction #Plus size guys need love too #this story is KILLING ME #and I'm loving every minute of it because I'm weird like that #i stayed up for this

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sugar-petals · 5 years

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Hey. As I said in my previous ask, I think you are so darn smart, and I love your writing skills. If it's not going to bother... Could you, please, read my recent oneshot (akai-ito)? I need honest opinions on it, mainly coming from someone who writes and has no sentimental connection with me. (Only if it's not going to bother you) Thank you :)

Honest and a writer 😄 You’re at the right address I’m thinking. For a sweet please and Yoongi fics I’d probably do anything. The infamous review it is. I employ my classic critique structure (title-description-plot-characterization-grammar-dialogue), as always with strengths and improvement points, hope it is helpful, and here we go.

Title: As most pieces on your m.list, you possess good sense when it comes to selecting what catches the eye and stays memorable. Definitely unique and a summary of the story, although much like with ishin-denshin, it took me a while to figure out what it’s about. That can be a strength (innovation/tension!) or a weakness (confusion). Make use of the former by giving the reader bread crumbs. Authors have to play Hansel and Grethel as we say here in Germany. For instance, maybe you’ve seen it, some fic writers give definitions to foreign or complex words under the title right away, maybe you can drop at least a hint about the yarn and that the idea is from a manga/series, important crediting there. Something else that might also be relevant according to recent events, be careful there with using Japanese words should you not be a native speaker. The Ariana Grade tattoo effect is very real and a slippery slope. Solution: Best clarify everything at the start, or make a disclaimer. Other than that, you don’t need much advice with titles imo, never change a running system.

Description: It strikes me that you are an advanced writer. There’s solid attention to detail. Definitely keep that up. The common downside, and here is the crux, is trailing off. Bear in mind to tailor detail according to relevance versus background story and worldbuilding. Each piece needs to interlink with something else sooner or later, repetition matters as an emotional anchor. That’s the extra mile to go and the step from advanced to senior writer. The key to describing, unless your name is Oscar Wilde, is often linearity. You can only break it up once you’ve mastered it. Good news, I think you’re already getting there. I see things like consistent tense, great syntax variation, and a POV switch at the right point in time.

Plot: What you are excellent at is creating ups and downs. A lot of effort went into this. That can’t be messed with. An important component, however, is missing. Most authors turn defensive when I point it out so I’ll word it step by step and show a trick to solve it. The alpha and omega of Caro’s advice remains nailing a character’s actions to hook the reader, not just during the smut scenes. A crucial example: The boss firing Jade is not placed at the start — as the most dramatic event in the earlier sequences — and thus loses momentum. It’s a well-orchestrated event and twist, that’s why it’s so essential to add emphasis. The characterizations + foreshadowing that led up to it are proper. But it has to come down like a hammer; not with indirect phrases that make it seem like something trite. Which it is not given how dear work is to Jade as a comfort zone. You describe her leaving angry, but not her face, what she does, the environment, other characters. It’s only trailing off into a semi-monologue with background information that should be self-evident through things that happened earlier. I want to see the hammer. You only bring it in the dialogue but there, it’s secondary to the verbatim of the characters, as it should be, mind you. Solution: Draw the hands-on sentences from the dialogue into the plot. Then we’re good to go. Problem solved.

Characterization: Little to no objections here on the other hand, very well done. It’s one of the pillars of your writing. I’ll tell you why it is good. It maps out the different lifestyles from your characters which creates a nice contrast, especially with Jade’s concerns in life, and her core motivation (stability). Yoongi’s portrayal impressed me, too. All quite effortless. Even the names themselves, I quite like them, brings a lot of pizzazz. Definitely use them often, things like “the skinny man”, “the woman”, “the dark-haired female” are best converted into simple adjectives for description along the way. The Chaos Club: Also a good idea to have.

Grammar: Pretty salient, I see it in the way you chop your subclauses which I love. Not much to improve except the bit with caps. If you want to use texting sequences in your fic, definitely don’t hesitate. It may read as off in the paragraph but sits just right in a written message exchange. Which also depicts reality well. Now, the reason why I have issues with caps is that you only need them once emphasis is not clear enough through context. You can test out whether italics are a more sophisticated fit, it depends on the scene. If someone yells, incorporate that in the description, put an exclamation mark — yes, the old-fashioned way, I’m a conservative critic I know, it’s annoying. The only caps you need are the ones for saying korean - nations always with capital, geography pun intended. No other grammar concerns, that’s basically it.

Dialogue: Interesting how you use hyphens there. It’s much like everything about your style, very much in its own bubble. That can be a good sign of authenticity. Took a while to get accustomed to it for me, but it’s a stylistic and individual choice, whatever works best and is comfortable. The reason why I probably missed the quotations marks is not an aesthetic one, but because the words of the characters blend into description quite seamlessly. It’s hard to picture their voices that way. What other readers think about it, maybe gather some more opinions how they get by with the hyphens. If I were to use them, my trick for next time writing would be to start a new line for each particle of speech while the description is not attached after the hyphen. It makes it very deliberate and sets pace, too. It gets rid of ‘said’ quite conveniently and brings out stronger verbs. As in:

The man binned his cellphone in one of the back pockets.– Nice to meet you, Jade.

That has suspense and sex appeal. See how it differs from the original:

– Nice to meet you, Jade. - The man said and binned his cellphone in one of the back pockets.

Apart from that, something else to improve in dialogue is not stating the very obvious sometimes, but letting readers put things together in their head. That’s harder when Jade uses the exact tone of the narrator and not her own. Examples: ‘I’m visibly punchy’, ‘Before listening to his depressive songs and staring at his cute eyes and cheeks, I was satisfied with my nonexistent romantic life, now I’m considering the idea of nurturing a very dirty business.’, ‘I never felt another warm sensation other than tears, whilst watching some emotional crap on Netflix’. Dialogue does well contrasting to how the story is told. Bring all the slang, make it fragmented like real speech, fuck it up, it’s the fun part. You do have the registers and pull them off, that’s not the issue, only finding the right place to use them is the challenge.

Other: Something funny happened. I missed the URL mention and thought Jade was an OC and not an existing person! 😅 Took some time until I managed to immerse myself in the story because I’m not used to seeing singular users inserted as readers. It’s one-to-one and hard to get into as an outsider, which surely is not the purpose, but it would help to understand who Jade is in relation to you, and how the fic idea came about. That can be quite entertaining as well in the author’s notes. That being said, she is living the dream and being Yoongi biased myself I feel rather envious which means you achieved plausibility in your fic. Maybe it’s because he has black hair and round cheeks in it. Am very endeared.

PS: I get paid in fic reblogs for reviews 😉 Am half kidding. Speaking of the devil, for the love of my dash, please insert a keep reading so I can reblog.

#unimpressedperson #ask #bts fic #fic rec #rec #fic review

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typhon-nota-mimic2-0 · 5 years

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Status report

Hi! As I’ve told you before, I’ve decided to make a status report as to let you guys know what changes in my blog Im going to do to enhance it and make it better. I’ll tell you what things I have planned so far:

-> I’ll keep making OC’s every now and then, so don’t worry about it ^^

->Talking about which, my OC's would belong to a universe in Prey, a Nexus universe of sorts which would convine fragments from other AU's I like, this Nexus would revolve around the idea of a small comunity of hybrids living on their own in Earth after the Typhon decimated humankind and Alex started fiddling with hybrids. Lead by the White Phantom, they settled in the remains of a ruined city, pretty close to Transtar HQ. They had started to rebuild it and reserch a global way to rescue the minds of the Typhon victims from the Coral and safely transfer them into Typhon bodies, so they wont be completely lost... But there are some people Who wont let this happen so easily... Which may or may not include a Typhonic Yu... The name of this AU mashup I was thinking about for quite some time now would be: "New Yellow Tulip" au Mashup. Thats the name the hybrids gave their New city, and it carries a heavy meaning: Yellow Tulipa represents hope, this city represents the hope of a second chance to live and emmend past errors. -> Even though its been some time since I last played Prey, It’s still one of my favourite games so I’ll keep making fanart mostly about it, However, I might eventually try out to draw fanart about other games, but for now, mostly Prey stuff

-> The ask box will always be open, so feel free to tell me your thoughs and ideas, if you prefer to remain unknown, you can use the anon option, I just ask you (lol the pun) 2 things: Be kind and patient: I might take some time to reply your asks, but I’ll do it as soon as I can. However, I’d prefer not having to deal with hate comments, you know?

-> You can “ask the mimic”, which basically means you can ask me anything and I’ll reply as if I were a mimic, and said response would be from its PoV, like what a mimic would think about mirrors, for example (This would be my first "RP" ever, so please bare with me 😓)

->Im also working in 2 other projects, one of them you must have already noticed. The first is called “The Wheezer”, it would basically be funny AF videos I find in youtube which are funny in all their lenght, rather than just a clip I could share (they are worth the length, trust me xD). The second one would be “Dream-Sound” (name might change in the future), in this I’d basically share electro/pop songs I get obsessed about and listen to in a loop over and over for some time, If you like pop/ electro songs, STAY TUNED! ^^ Also, if you have some songs you think we might enjoy, please submit them! I’d love to hear more tracks to fall in love with and if I’d likely post it so you guys can listen to it as well (likely, because i dont know if I’d like it or not, but most probably I’d do ^^

-> I’m going to open a side blog as well, which would be mainly themed around “humans who becomes looses their humanity but not their identity” trope, I really like the concept of a person becoming a monster and being unable to talk, but still being the same inside, or his personality might have changed slightly but the core remains the same. And like monsters it would fit robots, demons, aliens,..... I just love that trope okay? xD But please, if you find something along the lines of that, tag me or something, I’d love to see it ^^

Welp, i think that’d be all for now, but If you have an idea for something else, or would like to suggest me anything, feel free to ask me in the inbox or DM me, I’d love to see your messages!

So... without further ado.. Have fun in this site! =D

#What do you guys think about this so far?#Might change some things in the future #But it'd essentially be this #^^

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discord-of-laughter · 6 years

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100 IMPORTANT CHARACTER QUESTIONS: Damian

Thank you so much @myriad-ocs / @myriadimagines for tagging me!!! 💛

PART 1: THE BASICS

1. What is your full name?

Damian. I was found wandering the streets close to an orphanage when I was still too young to know my last name… and I reject the last names of my foster parents. So, all there is, is Damian… no middle name, no last name, no birth certificate or birthday.

2. Where and when were you born?

I suppose I might have answered that already. It’s possible to assume that I might be around 30 years old… but the day I usually celebrate my birthday on is the one I was brought to the orphanage because I don’t know the true year, month or day I was born at.

3. Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.)

I wonder… but then again, I don’t want to know either. It feels better not to be sure that they were the disappointment I expect.

My foster parents on the other hand… I don’t want anyone to remember their names or to associate them with me. They were scum… leeches… they could cash some money with me, could use me for bait and sympathy… I was a cheap help and bait with big, sad eyes.

They sent me to lure well-meaning people into dark streets… a well-placed hit over the head… sometimes a few kicks too if they felt like it… that’s what they did. Fed themselves on the willingness to help of others… and their wallets. Nearly exclusively themselves though.

I don’t want to know if they had an occupation aside of it or a personality… or family… I don’t want to know anything and all I know is already too much.

4. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like?

I don’t know… maybe. For a few days way back, I felt like I had a brother for a bit more than a week… but that was nothing and means very little… but seeing who I am, my condition, my personality and all. I can only hope that no, I don’t have siblings.

5. Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people.

I live alone. It’s a small apartment. Nothing fancy but at least towards the yard so it’s kind of quiet. One room for pretty much everything and a bathroom. A big window in the main room, the heater in front of it… I can sit on it while blowing smoke into the cold morning air. It isn’t too rundown. Most of the neighbours work hard. Lots of people from different places I usually avoid most of them in the hallway. But there are three of them I think of a bit differently. One of them sometimes makes me breakfast… and the harsh detective lady let’s me crash on her sofa when things are too shitty.

I have a bed, a sink, a fridge, a microwave, a toaster, a sorry excuse for a wardrobe and a small table for everything… those are the most important things… it’s often kind of darkish in my apartment but I don’t care… it’s good for sleeping in… and cheep enough for someone who earns his money like I do.

6. What is your occupation?

I’m a… musician? I’d like to be a musician and a singer… I beg for gigs at small pubs… but it barely pays for anything… I’m not shy to take any help that is offered to me… pride is overrated. And I have a bit of money at the bank from a previous job… or was it a job? Because I am definitely skilled and talented in the only thing my foster parents taught me.

7. Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye colour, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks.

Really? I don’t own a bathroom scales… so whatever. Sometimes I forget to eat, sometimes I’m too drunk to eat… sometimes I gorge myself… I’m comparably lean I think… not much physical activity and a generally considered “unhealthy lifestyle” with little sun might lead to that. And my ashen skin. I suppose there might be a hint of olive under the greyish pale of it but I’m not sure. My race is up for debate as well… something Mediterranean Caucasian probably, generally considered white. Short, black hair, blue eyes… dark rings under my eyes, thin lips but still enough for a sweet kiss. I’m not especially tall either but hadn’t had a chance to get to know my height for a while… and I suppose I forgot about it if I ever knew it.

I like to dress casually, jeans, a t-shirt, sometimes a shirt. Usually combined with sneakers, nothing fancy. A small leathery bracelet on my right arm, on the left a silvery bracelet providing info to medical care personal if needed. I have a bunch of scares… none too big, absolutely none too interesting. I never fought in a war in- or outside the country. I never had a notable medical procedure done to me but accidents, impulsive and reckless behaviour happen… and foster parents.

I don’t have a tattoo either, just a burn scar on my left side… if you have to identify me that is the only thing to go for because otherwise I’m plain, uninteresting. But apparently despite all and my heart condition still interesting enough to attract attention once in a while. Oh… and I have a mole on my left hand. Slightly below where my thumb and my palm connect. A small dark brown dot you can only feel but not see. And a few freckles between my left ear, my hairline and my neck… look closer…. closer… well hello love, are you trying to seduce me? Because if you keep breathing on my neck it will work.

8. To which social class do you belong?

Lower class probably… maybe not yet… I honestly don’t care as long as I’m alive, getting by and there is music you might as well say I’m scum class and I would just give you the finger.

9. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?

It’s not an allergy but an intolerance they say when a big violet lump forms on my skin when a wasp stings me… but that doesn’t happen too often. I’m usually too afraid and gentle with them… but it’s a hassle when it happens.

And I do have a heart condition… there is a name for it but let me explain it simply instead so that we can move on. My heart more or less beats irregularly, sometimes it stops. It already did two times so far and I’m still here, so that’s the good news. The bad news is that to fix even a part of it costs money – a lot of money. That I obviously don’t have, so I’ll probably live and die with this ol’heart of mine. No excessive physical exercise or it might stop… and so on and so on… all you need to know is that the pump is kind of broken but there still is a lot space for you and some others and a lot of love left. But better don’t go for the deal because death is my eternal companion always peering at me from a distance and waiting for it to happen… wondering if three times really is the charm?

10. Are you right- or left-handed?

Left-handed.

11. What does your voice sound like?

Very rough and raspy… kind of lowish I suppose but less when I speak than when I sing.

Here… how about you listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo-FlLQ6Gls

12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?

I honestly never though about that. Stuff with a double meaning maybe? Sweet, nice and honeyed phrases to charm someone. Excuse me… maybe? -ish stuff? Stay away… urgh I really don’t know who the hell even cares about that enough to notice it?

13. What do you have in your pockets?

Keys with a bottle opener attached to it, lighter, cigarettes, comb, mints, some spare money and a pretty old and worn phone I probably had for 5+ years.

14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

Baby, I’m a walking collecting point for annoying habits. Smoking, drinking, lying, at least two times so far dying. Flirting with women I know are out of my league. Diverting tactics when someone is about to actually get close to me because suddenly all I can think about is… how much it might hurt them if I just die then and there… and I want to die alone… I don’t want anybody to cry because of me… does that count as well?

Other defining characteristics… I can talk myself in and out of nearly everything. When nervous I like to rub one of my bracelets between my thumb and index finger… I put them on before leaving the house because they are my shackles keeping the person I am inside to allow a more society friendly mask to take its place… don’t call me if Trish Talk is on… though I suppose that is kind of obsolete… and don’t expect me to pick up before noon either.

Is hating hospitals a quirk? I have such a hard time standing even entering one… I don’t know something about them just makes me feel death’s hand on my shoulder press down… not really but you get what I mean… right?

PART 2: GROWING UP

15. How would you describe your childhood in general?

Wanna take a wild guess? Shitty.

16. What is your earliest memory?

The cold and mud on my feet… the cold and mud everywhere while I wander dark streets… everything is damp, and the lights are so bright. Dark, dark, light, dark, dark, light… nobody on the street… cold wind howling through the empty streets… a dog barks somewhere.

There is just fragments and feelings left… though. Not the whole picture… it ends there. I don’t remember how I made it to the orphanage… the next thing I remember is hot water in a shower… in an otherwise cold bathroom. And an oldish woman trying to scrub the mud off me… the brush hurt…

The earliest complete memory is from a few days later… singing to the blind and afraid boy until he stopped crying… all while he listened to my heartbeat… going on until he fell asleep. I felt safe and warm… it was so long ago.

17. How much schooling have you had?

I suppose I have no kind of degree at all. Sometimes I think it’s a wonder that I can read and write… and know enough math to con people. I don’t really know what kind of education or schooling I received before that night of my first fragmented memory.

The nuns taught me a bit afterwards… but from the moment on I went into my foster parents care that was over. At first, I was still sent to school sporadically, but they soon gave up on that too… and claimed they home-schooled me… claimed being the important word here. Because nothing like that ever really happened. I learned a thing or two from TV shows though… and taught myself to play guitar eventually.

18. Did you enjoy school?

I don’t think so. Not the few months in my foster parent’s care at least… I enjoyed being taught by the nuns though… but before that… I wish I knew.

19. Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

From them… I did learn stuff on the streets or from TV or because I did my best to teach myself… but most of what I’m able to do… most of what I’m good at… I learned from them and their example… how to lie, steal, hurt, deceive, cheat, defraud, fool and con. But I think I might have just always had a talent to use my words precisely and as my weapon of choice.

20. While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them.

I had anti-role models if that counts. People I knew I never wanted to be like… but I never felt compelled to follow the path of some hero either. Or wanting to be like someone I saw on TV or on the streets. I always just wanted to be me… a better me… but that was kind of stupid too I’d say.

21. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

I hate you… and you should know by now… I got along with those people outsiders would call my family by lowering my head and gaze, keeping my head down and saying nothing that could distract them from their victim or TV show… and before that… who knows and after that… I haven’t had a family since then… and likely never will have one.

22. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I don’t know… someone not like them? Someone not like me? Someone who does the right thing and helps people maybe? Or makes them happy? A musician possibly… or a singer… not like them at the very least.

23. As a child, what were your favourite activities?

I loved singing… I loved just being able to go outside without being bait… but I also liked the drives to other places before… work. I loved watching TV and when I got the chance to get some sweets to hide in the park and eat them all… music… just listening to new music in the shops that allowed it on and on and on… I suppose I never was very much of an active child and that kept my heart going comparably smoothly for a bunch of years. I also loved to sit outside on the fire escape ladder late at night… watching both the stars and humans… but that isn’t especially active as well.

24. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

I… don’t know… and I don’t think I care very much… more kindness probably because I felt compelled to comfort Matt back then. But they made sure to knock that out of me… to make me quiet and angry and dreading when they actually took interest into me… which may be one of the reasons I feel so much safer when I know someone won’t actually take interest into me… I suppose before that I was kind of an intelligent child, sympathetic, compassionate… wanting to help maybe? Not too shy either I suppose… but that seems like nothing, but a thin veil of memories left from a past life.

25. As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like?

Maybe I could have been popular. I kind of felt like I was during the time in the orphanage… but I don’t think those kids were really my friends… except for Matt. And then after he was gone… I don’t know I think I did withdraw myself a bit… and before that could change again there were my foster parents and I did not get to see many kids anymore and honestly, I didn’t want to either… I didn’t want them to learn anything about what was going on… or worse their parents might have ended up being victims of them… I couldn’t risk that.

I suppose that was when I was over and done with being popular… what a shame, especially now when I look back with the guitar in my hand trying to beg for a job or being able to perform at the next bar.

And Matt… Matt was deeply hurt, stubborn, clever, determined… and very, very afraid and weak when I met him… I wanted him to feel better and to be there for him. Because he could be so nice and caring… and he was the only one who knew about my heart before even I did.

26. When and with whom was your first kiss?

Some girl… I don’t even remember her name. Not even her hair colour. People place so much value on their first kiss… but I don’t know it was nothing but good fun at best. I think she giggled and her mother nearly had a meltdown – something like this.

27. Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?

No and probably and probably some girl I walked home after meeting her at the bar or wherever… she offered me a coffee… probably… the details are a bit fussy. I just remember making her little sister breakfast the next morning before sneaking out of the house to not get caught by her parents.

28. Describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.

You are asking for a long list. All my life lead to this for better or worse and if I tell you of every account that brought me closer to here we’ll still be here tomorrow. Mostly I think I influenced myself… the few people I ever cared about did… losing them did… and my overall shitty childhood. And probably meeting you! Can we move on now?

PART 3: PAST INFLUENCES

29. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?

Dying… probably three or more times up until now though I only remember two times. If you let me fall in love with you I might finally be able to change that though… how about it?

30. Who has had the most influence on you?

Our kind and benevolent saviour in the sky! Or you know… like the people who messed up my childhood… like… I did tell you how many times before now?

Can I ask you something? How important is the past to you? Do you think it is all that defines us? Then what am I to you? Because very obviously it doesn’t matter to you what I did yesterday or today… or how much I tried… because at some point someone had the most influence on me and that is what you are going to ask about! Maybe… just maybe people like Matt, Jess, Bo and the others haven’t had the MOST INFLUENCE on me. But sometimes quality is still worth more than quantity. But I doubt someone who asks 101 questions in one go would understand.

31. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Not dying and staying dead yet?

32. What is your greatest regret?

Not dying yet! No, scratch that. Allowing people close enough again so that my death would hurt them. Because I am a shitty human being like that.

33. What is the most evil thing you have ever done?

You heard my life story, you tell me. But I think throwing the flowers meant for a very much injured friend in the thrash can because I couldn’t stand hospitals ranges pretty high… right after luring people to be robbed, beaten up and sometimes left to die of course… but you know that’s one of the things I usually did before breakfast though I’m not sure that counts!

34. Do you have a criminal record of any kind?

Yes – go and request inspection if you want to know more. But know all my friends are well enough aware of it.

35. When was the time you were the most frightened?

What is fear even? Maybe when I woke up, mud all over, cold and damp, in a place I didn’t know, with no memories and no one to turn to… I think I have never been more frightened than the night my life began… or the part I remember faintly at least.

36. What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you?

Who knows… I probably have enough drunken slip ups to fill a book. But losing to Jess after challenging her to drink probably is on top of the list. The next thing I remember is being held under the cold spray of water from the shower half-naked… barely kept upright by Malcolm and Bose because they were afraid that I’m about to die of alcohol intoxication… but at least they have never seen Jess so wasted either, so there is a bit of pride about all of this as well.

37. If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

I don’t know… maybe to get hit by a car the first night I remember before reaching the orphanage would be a good change to make? Or to run away during the first days of foster care? Honestly there are a thousand things I would consider.

But in the end, I just want the two of them to be alive. Both of them… because she is the only person I ever met who understands… and he… he’s…

38. What is your best memory?

It was such a random morning actually… blowing smoke into the cold air outside while the warmth from the heater keeps me warm… there is so much fog and everything is quite… probably a Sunday and holiday… going over to one of my neighbours and having breakfast with him… getting the sign right when asking him to hand me the sugar. Going for a little walk outside and to smoke a cigarette while he goes for a run… talking to another neighbour there… meeting up again later to just sit on Jess’ sofa and listening to music while nothing else happens… nothing… a good day.

39. What is your worst memory?

…dying?

PART 4: BELIEFS & OPINIONS

40. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?

Neither. I suppose I’m just a -mistic person. Expect… but not only the good or only the bad makes life less surprising and less disappointing.

41. What is your greatest fear?

What is fear even? It is to leave or to be left in pain – emotional, physical, whatever. So… pain.

42. What are your religious views?

If there is a god, we will never know, and he probably doesn’t care.

43. What are your political views?

That something is going very wrong right now and no one really wants to change anything for the poor and huddled masses as long as it keeps them from being part of it.

44. What are your views on sex?

I miss it. The nicest thing two consenting adults can do to and for each other… and nobody’s business but their own.

45. Are you able to kill? Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable?

Maybe… but I’m better at dying. And that depends… there is no absolute in something like taking or sparring a life.

46. In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?

Risking the life of hundreds and thousands of innocent people and their children for money and getting away with it… genocide, slavery, sex trafficking of children. Honestly, it’s hard to choose the ultimate evil. Especially when some individuals might just come up with a new most evil thing any minute of any day.

47. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

Do you believe in the existence of fairies, dragons and spinning gold from straw my sweet summer child? See… neither do I.

48. What do you believe makes a successful life?

How should I know? Obviously I suck at it. But maybe staying true to what you believe in would be a good starting point? And hopefully it is the right time and place for it and the world agrees instead of making you feel guilty… no I honestly don’t know what makes a successful life. You tell me, I apparently need any advice on it I can get.

49. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)?

Hahahaha… you have no idea.

50. Do you have any biases or prejudices?

Who doesn’t?

51. Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it?

Give me the right circumstances or reasons and I’d do anything…

52. Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)?

Considering I did already die for nothing at least twice. Any reason would be a good one… or at least a better one.

PART 5: RELATIONSHIPS W/OTHERS

53. In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)? Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how?

Trying to keep them at a distance – failing too often in the end. But I don’t think it’s possible to generalise how I treat others… people I don’t know or want to buy groceries from… professional I guess. It’s different for friends of course… but I have a hard time to really… let someone in on things. And whenever I notice too much that I already know them well… that we might be close. I might as well feel the need to get some distance between us… I don’t know I just… I just don’t want anyone to be sad when I’m gone. So for them to not care seems like the best option, even though I suck at keeping to it.

54. Who is the most important person in your life, and why?

That is… embarrassing. Matt probably… okay? Because he… knew another me, a better me. And in a way inspires me to be… better…

55. Who is the person you respect the most, and why?

Respect the most? No one… respect at all, a bunch. Nobody is perfect though, quite to the contrary so there is no such thing as respecting someone the most for me.

56. Who are your friends? Do you have a best friend? Describe these people.

I hope there is nothing like a best friend… maybe Matt comes closest. But it would be hard to tell because, there are also Jess and Bo. And to a bit of a lesser extend Malcolm and Trish. They are a stubborn bunch, but they mean well – all of them in fact. And they bear with me.

57. Do you have a spouse or significant other? If so, describe this person.

No, there is no such person and it’s probably for the best.

58. Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened.

I’d like to think so. But I think the person I would fall for deserves to be given a heart that… is better than mine in pretty much every aspect with the potential to make them happy instead of ensuring tragedy.

59. What do you look for in a potential lover?

That they only stay for one night?

Actually, I don’t know. Someone better than me, probably out of my league… inspiring me to be a better person maybe? I know it’s not fair to expect anyone to settle for less or settle for me though.

60. How close are you to your family?

How familist to assume everybody has one!

61. Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If not, do you want to? Why or why not?

No and no. Because.

62. Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help?

Jessica probably. She’s seen some shit herself and I guess she would ask the least amount of questions which is probably good. Besides it isn’t like she would close the door in my face. She pretends to be tough but refusing someone really desperate for help isn’t really like her.

63. Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who, and why?

Matt, Jess and their friends. And the friends of their friends too, all of those ladies are probably better at kicking ass than I’ll ever be. Pretty much everybody actually. I’m not picky if I need someone to protect me. Bo and Malcolm too, I mean I trust them well enough when I’m drunk. But it all depends on the situation, usually there is not really anything I need to be protected from I’d say.

64. If you died or went missing, who would miss you?

Hopefully no one…

65. Who is the person you despise the most, and why?

Narrowing it down to a single person isn’t possible. But there is a bunch of people over whose death I wouldn’t shed a tear.

66. Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict?

I don’t avoid conflict. If they fucked up they are better ready to hear me tell them so. But I won’t go back and forth with someone forever. Honestly argue isn’t even the right word… I’m not interested in their point if what they did sucked big times.

67. Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?

Nah, why should I? Social situations aren’t my thing anyway. But if it’s needed to pull of something I might as well. During a normal day there is no reason for me to take on any kind of leadership anyway.

68. Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not?

It’s okay. Sometimes it’s needed, and large groups allow for a certain anonymity which can be nice if you want to avoid attentions. I just really don’t care about large groups of people in general.

69. Do you care what others think of you?

Maybe. But more or less only what a few others think. The whole world in general? Or society? Only if it interferes with or obstructs with what my goal is.

PART 6: LIKES & DISLIKES

70. What is/are your favourite hobbies and pastimes?

Music, preferably listening to it with others. Singing. Smoking. Having a drink with a friend or without. The sport course I go to.

71. What is your most treasured possession?

My guitar maybe? Actually… probably a memento from my childhood. Nothing special though but from a time where things were… different.

72. What is your favourite colour?

Red.

73. What is your favourite food?

Coffee and anything made from liquorice – especially liquor. Oh, and the fried eggs Bo sometimes makes when I’m really badly hungover. I wonder what his secret is.

74. What, if anything, do you like to read?

Something that makes me feel better? I really liked The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway for some reasons… probably because there is no bad person in the story and humans are just that – humans.

75. What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)?

Movies with friends that aren’t depressing. Even better if they are so bad you can totally slander them. Getting to know knew songs a friend likes. Even or especially when I hate them at first. And I like to listen to the radio because the more trivial shows calm me down.

76. Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit?

Smoke – yes. Drink – yes. Do drugs – no, never even once in my life. And I can see the surprise on your face, no use in hiding it. It’s because I want to and no, I don’t want to quit and I won’t quit even if you would like me to – thank you very much.

77. How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

At a bar with a drink or a completely cosy with a bottle while hanging with friends… sometimes alone to relax and forget… just me the radio and a bottle.

78. What makes you laugh?

Dry jokes, understatements and sarcasm.

79. What, if anything, shocks or offends you?

When someone mocks people’s needs or what they believe in it offends me. The same is true for people mocking my friends for whatever reason.

80. What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?

Music… or fight the insomnia with alcohol, which I kind of do already and with quite the success as I want to remark.

81. How do you deal with stress?

Not well. More often then not with a drink or just curling up on the sofa of a friend.

82. Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?

Spontaneous mostly – making plans on the long run doesn’t really make sense for someone like me.

83. What are your pet peeves?

When people I’m on the phone with don’t pay attention but do something else. But also, when people I’m with are constantly on the phone. I guess I just like to have the people’s attention I’m with while I’m with them. And when someone tries to tell me all the things I should probably change… that and to be woken up much too early.

PART 7: SELF IMAGES & OTHER

84. Describe the routine of a normal day for you. How do you feel when this routine is disrupted?

Sleeping in and sleeping it off. On good days finding something to eat before even getting dressed. On not so good days getting decently enough dressed to walk over to Bo’s apartment and hope he has mercy on me and some breakfast left over.

Then getting some work done, going for a walk, practicing or annoying another one of the unlucky people I call friends. Maybe going to my sport course depending on the day of the week. Then getting home again, listening to the radio and sometimes taking a nap before I leave for the evening again.

Hopefully for a gig in some pub or something alike or to help out a friend or acquaintance with work or whatever else. Getting a few drinks in the end before heading home. With some luck actually making it home and into my own bed… rinse and repeat with smoke breaks in between.

I don’t care about the routine being disrupted most of the time. Sometimes I might even be glad about it… mostly though the routine is fine enough… safe enough.

85. What is your greatest strength as a person?

I have nothing to lose and I’m able to get people to trust me easily enough. Or in other words I’m a very good liar, which allows me to clear the path for others or cover their back. Also I’m available most of the time if they should need me at all.

86. What is your greatest weakness?

My questionable life expectancy? Not letting people close? All my bad habits? Take your pick.

87. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Everything.

88. Are you generally introverted or extroverted?

Ambivert.

89. Are you generally organized or messy?

Messy. I leave the cleaning up for tomorrow… if I actually make it that far.

90. Name three things you consider yourself to be very good at, and three things you consider yourself to be very bad at.

Singing, lying, alcohol tolerance.

Sports, being a good person, getting my life together.

91. Do you like yourself?

Good question… I suppose so, or I wouldn’t be so scared of actually suddenly being gone one day.

92. What are your reasons for being a hero? Are your real reasons for doing this different than the ones you tell people in public? (If so, detail both sets of reasons…)

I’m not a hero. I’m not even a sidekick. I just… … … want that the hero knows he is needed. That I support him, and his work is appreciated. I think even a hero needs to know that. I don’t think someone like me can suddenly make a change the way they do. But I… I don’t know, I want them to know I have or try to have their back. And my only reason for it is… that I feel like it. No secret second reason. I just think it’s the right thing to do.

93. What goal do you most want to accomplish in your lifetime?

Surviving for as long as I can would be good and bad enough. But if I can manage to make people I don’t know smile? While I’m here and keep them from crying when I’m suddenly gone I think that would be enough.

94. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Alive hopefully. And otherwise in the same place, with the same people at least… maybe with more people to share my love for music with would be nice. But I’m not picky. And no hope means no danger.

95. If you could choose, how would you want to die?

Alone in a place where they don’t find me for years to come. Until no one remembers me anymore… so that no one would cry.

96. If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left.

Every morning is like knowing and not knowing that it might be that last day. But if I knew that I only had 24 hours left… I’d tell everyone that I’m done with them, that I’m done with this city and that I’ll start some kind of business far away from here… and then leave the city to find that place where they don’t find me for years to come. While everyone goes on with their life thinking I’m an asshole but alive in some far away place, doing my own thing.

97. What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?

I… don’t know. I don’t want them to remember me but probably being drunk. I hope it’s that, it seems like… such a fair thing to remember me for.

98. What three words best describe your personality?

Walking, manipulative disaster.

99. What three words would others probably use to describe you?

That drunk guy.

100. If you could, what advice would you, the player, give to your character? (You might even want to speak as if he or she were sitting right here in front of you, and use proper tone so he or she might heed your advice…):

Carry on. Ily Damian. Surprisingly enough many people do. Because you are more honest than you admit. While you try to do the right thing, you are just bad at it… but it doesn’t have to stay that way. There is more hope than you can see right now… and while you are right “no hope means no danger” maybe you need to step out of your comfort zone a bit more… because hope as well as no hope also means so much more.

#damian #marvel's defenders #marvel's defenders oc #my oc #ocs #melody's oc

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jolteonjordansh · 7 years

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Thoughts on Digimon Adventure tri.: “Coexistence”

Alright, I kept telling myself I was going to give a day to let my thoughts on “Symbiosis”/”Coexistence” (I'll go with Coexistence generally just to clarify) sink in, but I cannot get my mind to shift on anything else so let's just get to it. If I miss anything, I’ll make an additional thoughts post or something, but I feel like I’ve covered everything here for the most part. So, how did this go as we’re nearing the end of Digimon Adventure tri?

Oh boy, where do I even begin?

Let me lay this down straight: “Coexistence” isn't absolute garbage and is not the worst thing I've ever seen. I still think other series like Digimon Frontier are far worse than tri as a whole so far, but... “Coexistence” pretty much puts a lot of tri's flaws all in one big package.

The "padding" of this movie wasn't so unbearable that I wanted to shut the thing off, but I can certainly say that for 3/4ths of the movie, I was so bored. Not ready to die bored, but questioning "When the hell does all of the material this movie kept pressing so hard before release supposed to show up? Where's Kari's development? Where's Ophanimon Falldown Mode? Any answers to all of the plot threads you've left open? Are the Digimon going to regain their memories? The 02 cast? Anything?" There were cute moments here and there, but I felt that the payoff wasn't good enough to sit through so much of this. This isn't to say that the payoff wasn't good at all--I'll get to that towards the end. Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. Other than the music anyway; that was as good as always.

The animation, while mostly okay, had some weird moments. I know it's happened throughout tri, but the size inconsistencies of the Digimon were especially obvious in “Coexistence”. Maybe I just never noticed it until now, but there were so many moments where I was thinking things like "Agumon isn't that small," or "Why did Patamon suddenly shrink from one frame to the next?" Also, there were a good number of stills used here for some reason. Why? I have no idea, but it looked bad. There was also this one shot of Piyomon flying that was really choppy, yet Patamon's flying animations looked as fluid as usual just a few seconds later. Are they trying to save all their budget for the last movie? Come on guys, this isn't “The Scuffle of Legends” for crying out loud. The animation was at least good where it was supposed to be, especially towards the end (the scene where the ground was falling apart were super quick and fluid? I'm not sure if it was just me, but it stuck out to me as looking really well-animated and flowing compared to the rest of the film).

There's sadly not much fighting to talk about animation-wise either. It looks good when it happens--I personally thought watching Alphamon and Jesmon duke it out was awesome. The Digimon from the DigiDestined, other than Tai and Matt who manage to bring together Omegamon, sadly don't get to do much. But hey, the animators learned to put all of the Digivolution animations together in one shot instead of making us watch ten minutes of Digivolution animations! I mean, I love watching them and all, but sometimes you have to cut to the chase, and this was one of those cases. I just found it funny that the one Ultimate Digivolution we hadn't seen, WereGarurumon, gets boxed. But I was sad to see MetalGarurumon's boxed. I mean, his pose and everything looked awesome so I would have really liked to see it in full! Hopefully, we'll get to see it in full in the next film. I mean, come on! I demand to see my metal puppy with some shiny awesome Digivolution animation! Omegamon also got a... sort of Digivolution animation, but it still looked neat! I just wish it was even flashier since, you know, this is a Mega/Ultra level Jogress Digivolution. It deserves to be insanely flashy!

I know I've been saying "towards the end" a lot in these thoughts so far, but... that’s because, sadly, you don’t really need to watch the first three episodes except for like, some exposition about Meicoomon. You know what the rest is? Meiko wondering and whining and mulling over what to do with Meicoomon. Over. And over. And over. If you weren't tired of it the last couple of movies, you will be absolutely sick of it by the end of “Coexistence”. I cannot stress how I tried so hard to give Meiko a chance. I tried to look at things from a sympathetic viewpoint. So many times, I was ready to just give up on her character, but I came into this movie thinking, "Okay, I'm going to try one more time. This might be where Meiko gets interesting. Maybe after all of this 'development', it will actually pay off into something really great."

That didn't happen. We got the same kind of thing with Meiko as we did with the rest of tri. The self-doubt, the crying, the blush stickers, the "Why was I chosen!?" subplot which was already done so much better with Joe, the pity party, attempting to take responsibility for things only to rinse and repeat everything I just mentioned--anything you have seen of Meiko in the last four movies of tri, you will see here (except maybe blatant fanservice) but it is done for three full episodes. It was tiring, it was frustrating, and I just wanted to see the movie focus on something besides Meiko for five minutes. I mean, we get some nice bits with the DigiDestined like them reaching out to their parents as they're unable to go home--but of course, most of these are silent and the one that gets the most attention is Meiko's.

I hate to go on and on and on about Meiko as much as I am, as I understand some people like her. However, I wouldn't be going on as much about Meiko as I am if tri wasn't focusing on her so much in the first place. My biggest issue with all of this focus on Meiko is that these attempts to "develop" her and make her more likable are far too little, too late. These are things that we should have been seeing in “Determination” and “Confession” for us to understand and connect with Meiko as a character. Instead, they wasted time with her being unrealistically socially awkward and fanservice-y, and then being outright whiny and insufferable in “Confession”. And the writers expect us, more than half-way into this series, to truly invest in her and care. This might have been doable at this point if it was in small increments with balance with the rest of the DigiDestined rather than focusing so hard on her because the writers realized they were running out of time, but that's not what they did.

There were things they could have done to make her more likable and human throughout this series. There was the potential of her father being an abusive asshole father to at least explain how shy and scared and shut-in she was, except he... wasn't really that terrible. He was just a workaholic who asked Meiko to let Meicoomon be experimented on, and... that was about it. Suddenly he started caring about her in this film like he woke up one morning and said "Oh shit, I'm a bad father." It was more like a parody of the asshole dad than an actual use of the trope, with little execution applied. There's also this tick Meiko has of having a Tottori accent, which was only used a record time of once in “Determination” to show she had this quirk and for the cast to giggle about. Suddenly, after a phone call with her father and crying about Meicoomon again, Meiko starts speaking with this accent, likely forgetting her habit of speaking so formally around everyone. This is honestly a minor thing, but it did give more flavor to her character and had she grown more comfortable to use it more often around the DigiDestined cast, I would find her character to be more believable. She just shifts around from being uptight and formal to suddenly open and willing to cry her whole heart out to them. There's no gradual development. What was also weird to me is that, with all of flashbacks Meiko had, we don't really hear her using this accent she supposedly has in her childhood (at least as far as I could tell?), so yeah... we also have inconsistency issues! Yay!

I also simply cannot bring myself to like Meicoomon either. I get it, I'm supposed to sympathize for this poor Digimon who was basically born as an outcast and technically did nothing wrong. But... She barely has a personality other than "Mei! Mei! Mei!" and how am I supposed to care about a Digimon who serves as nothing more than a plot device and flipflops from being a cutesy kitty to a devastating killing machine? This was something Digital Monster X-Evolution did infinitely better with Dorumon. Now, we do at least finally get an explanation as to why Meicoomon freaks out so much without Meiko and why she's so uncontrollable in the first place. And... it's one of the dumbest asspulls this series has had.

Meicoomon was basically born from a fragment of Apocalymon's data. I've seen some people point out some things foreshadowing this, but they're super filmsy to me and nowhere near convincing enough for me to really follow as something the writers really thought through. It feels like some lazy excuse the writers came up with to try to connect Meiko and Meicoomon back to the original Adventure series in some way, when really it just makes their whole existence feel all the more hamfisted. I've tried to avoid the "blatant self-insert Mary Sue OC" label with Meiko as much as I could with how overused it's been applied to her by so many people who watch tri, but if anything made her fall under this label, it would be this. She has a Digimon formed from a fragment of the original Big Bad's data? Seriously? Let that sink in. Did that really sound like a good idea on paper to someone? If that's not enough, this is literally recycling the plot of Ryo and Monodramon from the Tamer games on the Wonderswan, where Monodramon Jogress Digivolved with the Big Bad Millenniummon and ultimately became his partner after being reborn, which led to the Ryo we know with his berserk Cyberdramon from Digimon Tamers. Hell, Battle of Adventurers did the whole "leftover fragment of Apocalymon" thing a lot better. It's just shameful how lazy this whole thing is put together when the writers have been building up the plot for, what, five movies over the course of three years? I guess this also explains how Meicoomon was the special snowflake who wasn't affected by the Reboot at all, but... whatever. I barely even care at this point. Meicoomon and Meiko are special snowflakes and that's just how the writers are going to treat them.

What makes this special treatment of Meiko all the more frustrating is when you look at the DigiDestined constantly comforting her and acting like she's been with them for years, saying things like "We're with you because we're all DigiDestined!" and were even willing to depart from their own moral compasses (referring to Tai's willingness to kill Meicoomon as Meiko wishes when he just said in the previous episode that he didn't want to kill a friend) when... they're completely ignoring the Adventure 02 cast. I get it, some people are tired about people questioning where they are, but when the writers have been waving teases at the audience like showing them being "killed off" in the beginning, Gennai taking on the Digimon Kaiser disguise, Kari and T.K. being concerned for their whereabouts a record one time and bringing back the freaking Dark Ocean (because, you know, that went so well in Adventure 02!), you have to question the cast's lack of concern. Adventure 02 has not been de-canonized, or these little things wouldn't exist. So I hate how the Adventure cast is constantly catering towards Meiko's needs when they've maybe known her for a couple of months at best, but don't even show a wink of concern for the Adventure 02 cast who they have probably known for years (I imagine they kept some contact over time) and both T.K. and Kari went through a whole series of adventures with them. It really does make it feel like the cast are written in a sort of bad self-insert fanfic whenever Meiko has any sort of presence as if the world revolves around her.

Once again, I get that a lot of my problems surround Meiko and Meicoomon, but the problem with this movie is how freaking heavily it focuses on them. A lot of this movie before the last episode is simple padding like the cast trying to get back to the real world, telling ghost stories and having other cutesy moments. I didn't hate all of these, but when we're getting so close to the end... I want this time being spent on the writers finally tying up loose ends. There's one movie left, and yet here they are continuing to add even more questions to the plot and not enough answers and then otherwise wasting time with things that do not answer these issues. I am not against filler--I was fine with most of “Determination”'s because it was the beginning of the series, things were still rolling in, and there were still increments of development happening here and there (Mimi's narcissism and Joe's questioning of his identity as a DigiDestined). But this late in the series, it's time to cut that down and focus on ending the story. Instead, “Coexistence” does a whole lot of nothing with terrible pacing issues, retreading on things we already know/are tired of hearing about, and just adding more instead of answering more. The writers have dug themselves in a big hole and bit off more than they could chew, and it is the most apparent in this movie.

So I must hate this movie then, right? Actually, no. Even though I think three of the four episodes are tough to sit through, with only cute moments to salvage them, the fourth episode was good and finally gave me what I was hoping for in this movie.

Because it's a minor thing, yes, Himekawa had some of her insanity breakdown. Not as much as I wanted, but I still ate up the nonsense she was saying and... she got a gun out of nowhere? What? When? How? I don't know, but it's hilarious. I swear, she's ready to kill someone who speaks a word to her. What's even weirder is that the guns she has changes between scenes. One moment, she as a BFG or some sort of grenade launcher, the next she had a handgun. What, did she find some Weapon Shop in a village somewhere? I have no idea where she's going or what she's going to do since she ended up in the Dark Ocean, but I hope if she shows up, she's just off the walls laughing like a maniac bonkers when we see her next. Insane Himekawa is the best Himekawa.

We also get a little bit of the OG!DigiDestined, like a shot with Nishijima's partner Bearmon. Dawwwwww!

But the best parts are when this movie finally decides to get to the focus I was personally waiting for in this movie--Kari Kamiya. While unfortunately it got nowhere near as much focus as I wanted (because apparently a certain other character really needed it more for some reason...), what we got was damn good. I love that Kari, with all of the times she's been possessed by Homeostasis, finally stood up to a fucking deity of worlds. She wasn't taking any of that shit, and she stood up for it. And I love that if tri has done anything, it's given Kari far more character than Adventure or Adventure 02 ever did. While she isn't forceful or rude, she does not take shit when people spew things she can't possibly bring herself to agree with. She has a firm ground, and she's willing to stand on it. Much like the scene where she talked some sense into Joe in "Determination", it was damn good to see.

And then there was her breakdown. Man, what a breakdown. While we all know Tai isn't really dead (if the Adventure 02 epilogue doesn't count to you, he's on the freaking poster of the next tri movie--he's not dead guys), there was no better way to break her. We've seen that Tai and Kari are close like in some bits of the Dark Masters arc in the original Digimon Adventure, so what else could they take from her but what's most important to her? And the way she just breaks is incredible to watch. Dead silence. Disbelief. Broken sentences. She is in such despair of Tai being gone that she just wants the rest of the world gone. While I wish Gatomon had been a little more involved, with the Dark Digivolution just sort of... happening, it was still a damn good lead-up. But man, is it a terrifying one.

While my personal favorite Dark Digivolution moments still go to Takato and Guilmon and Marcus and his Agumon, Gatomon to Ophanimon Falldown Mode and then Jogress Digivolving with Raguelmon to... whatever terrifying Evangelion experiment they combined into, was just horrifying, down to the body horror. It gives the whole "Coexistence" title double meaning (along with the whole coexistence of the Real and Digital Worlds), and just... seriously, look at that thing! If that's not a destroyer of worlds, I don't know what is! And it's basically a living embodiment of Kari's will and feelings after seeing her dear brother "die" before her eyes. Even after this whole thing happens, she's just a living shell just sitting there. You can really see just how broken she is after that.

While I still want to see more of Kari breaking, like how she'll deal with this whole situation and cope with her brother's "death" until he returns, it was still just good to see her develop in some way. And I will say, yeah, the cliffhanger is pretty dirty when the whole movie felt like a set-up for the last one while still doing a lot of nothing until the end. "Confession"'s cliffhanger, while absolutely painful, still felt more genuine than "Coexistence"'s just being there for the sake of set-up. And I think part of the reason it's so frustrating is because that... again, this movie didn't do a lot, so leaving it at that just when it was starting to finally get moving is aggravating.

This is still easily the weakest entry in the Digimon Adventure tri series though. And while it was frustrating at many moments, I would still call it... okay. I think it could have been even worse. The last episode did make it worth a watch, but the rest did make me want to bash my head into a wall at times. At this point, there's no way tri will be able to possibly tie all of its loose ends in a satisfying way. Hell, we may never even get an answer for things like the Digimon's memories or the Adventure 02 cast (though I certainly hope we do). But there is some good set-up here... So if we can at least get some answers, some awesome fights, and good character development and interaction, I am going to look forward to seeing Our Future, though with some optimistic skepticism. Here's hoping, to what little tri has left and how much going against it... that it pleasantly surprises us somehow.

#Shut Up JJ #Final Thoughts #Digimon Adventure tri #Digimon Adventure tri spoilers

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varricttethras · 7 years

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tell me abt ur ocs

@demolosse

SOUP U POOR SOUL THIS WILL BE LONG :‘3c lately! im focused on my fallout ocs in particular !! and i have 6 of them including my sole survivor which is basically my self insert :’-) but anyhow ripley and sam are my synth ocs, vex and cherry are my ghouls, celeste and ash are humans

- sam is a black gay trans man and he was a courser for a few years but eventually he started realizing how messed up stuff was and he finally split off from the institute. once he was out, he got a face change, started transitioning and wandered on his own for a bit until he finally happened across celestes family farm. one thing led to another and they pretty much took him in. he was perfectly happy to stay there basically forever but when celeste wanted to get out and have an adventure, he decided to stick with her.overall hes a cheerful, talkative, sweet person! hes super affectionate and dedicated towards people he cares about. hes gentle but by no means a pacifist, he’s earned a reputation in several places for being very effective with his ridiculously souped up laser rifle.

- ripley is a south asian pan woman. she was a scientist for the institute who studied radiation and died from overexposure. her father couldnt deal with the loss though and carried out his own private pet project by stuffing some fragmented memories in a synth duplicates head. thats how synth ripley came about. she was fine for a while but things started falling apart fast and to make a long story short, she ended up escaping after things got too foul. she changed her name and headed off into the ruins. she kept getting into one fight after another for the next four months and after one in particular, a gunner shot her right eye out. she limped off to goodneighbor and thats where sam and celeste met her. shes stuck with them ever since.shes bitter and angry and likes to fight. has a habit of hoarding powerfists. even though she likes to think of herself as being a total stone cold bitch, she melts when it comes to celeste and sam.

- vex is a bi sioux woman that became a ghoul shortly after the bombs dropped. her real name is june porter but she changes it when she goes somewhere new. for a while, she ran with the followers of the apocalypse and had a relationship with another woman in the group. she had a bad crisis when she came close to getting them both killed out of her own carelessness and abruptly ended the relationship, left the followers, and went wandering off on her own. shes in the commonwealth now, hanging around forest grove marsh and spends her spare time laying traps for unsuspecting gunners and raiders.shes quiet and contemplative and can be snarky when the mood hits. has a particularly strong hatred for raiders. shes introverted and tends to isolate herself from others, despite being terribly lonely.

- cherry is an afrolatina lesbian that was a robotics student in college when the bombs dropped. she has a lot of memory loss and cant actually remember her name or who she exactly was before. she remembers having a sister, who was much less fortunate than her and ended up as a feral glowing ghoul, and going to college but other than that shes at a loss. shes traveled a good deal since the great war, originally living towards california. nowadays she hangs around the commonwealth with ash.shes vivacious and bubbly, has a persistent inability to take anything seriously. she figures life is already too crummy in general to spend it being a sad sack, so she might as well have fun with it while shes around.

- celeste is a black lesbian. she grew up on a farm with her two moms, an older brother and a baby brother, including sam whos basically another big bro. shes had a relatively quiet life thus far, excluding the odd few incidents with raiders thinking they could push around her moms (they couldnt). shes autistic and non verbal, so she uses sign language to communicate or writes things down in cases where someone cant understand her. shes a talented medic and has taken care of sam and ripley more times than either of them can count. shes also the one who stitched up ripley after she got her eye shot out.shes an adventurous energetic soul. shes incredibly clever and quick witted, which makes her a perfect fit for the leader in her little rag tag group. shes patient and loving and that makes her a precious light in sams and ripleys life.

- ash is a bi korean woman who grew up in vault 109. the vaults residents are raised under militant authority and are basically trained to be soldiers from childhood. ash is stubborn by nature and doesnt take very well to being ordered around, so she slipped out one night and never looked back. she loves modding her power armor and minigun, but she also loves makeup. its something of a coping mechanism. for the longest time, she wandered on her own until meeting up with cherry. the two have been inseparable for almost a year and have been having the time of their lives since meeting.ash can be a little stiff and formal at first but once she cuts loose, shes sarcastic as fuck and quick as a whip. shes boisterous, fun, and fiercely loyal.

- and my sole survivor is basically just me with tweaks to fo4’s storyline. her name is ruby and she was living with her sister when the bombs fell. now shes on a mission to get revenge for her sis and get her nephew back. shes really anxious and perpetually five seconds away from having a breakdown, but does eventually mellow out with some help from friends. with a bit of tutoring from maccready, she becomes a talented sniper but she also favors getting up close with a chain wrapped bat. shes allied with the railroad and joins up with the brotherhood solely to double cross them later. after the institute gets blown up, she disappears for almost two months and everyone thinks shes dead. she shows up at her own funeral like "hey guys im ok now lol"

COMBUSTS

#askies #fallout ocs #long post

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larphacks · 7 years

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PROCESS HACK: Seven Tips for Starting Your Own Game

So, I have a lot of asks sitting in my inbox about how to start / run / write a LARP game. I’m going to give it my best shot, but I’m equally aware that there are many wiser than me out there who likely have their own opinions, and I look forward to learning and reblogging from people who want to add to or disagree with anything I’ve said here. The post is a bit of a monster, so buckle in!

1. DECLARE YOUR INTENT

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Your policies on diversity & inclusion / equality and accessibility should be the first thing you think about and the first thing you publish when you start making material public, not an afterthought.

Photo from the first event of Pioneers, by @tomgarnett

Now Read On....

It isn’t good enough to write some airy-fairy “~~everyone is welcome at our LARP~~ ^_^” rubbish either. You’ve got to get real with this stuff. This is a statement of principles that your entire game needs to live up to. You have to start considering now:

What the practical limitations facing you are, and

What sort of game you want to run vs. what sort of game you can run.

Is your intent to run a game where everyone has equal access to all IC spaces? Then you can’t put any of those IC spaces in areas only accessible by stairs. Is your intent to run a game where people of all genders feel welcome and included? Then you’d better be prepared to back it up in your setting material by including specific representation of multiple genders in different roles, otherwise your intention means squat. Is your intent to run a game where everyone can participate in combat? Then you need to have a serious chat with yourself about hard vs soft skills.

The statement of principles that you start with will influence every aspect of your game, from setting, to system, to what sites you can and can’t use. It isn’t set in stone - there’s nothing wrong with coming back and revising it later, adding elements you’ve forgotten or clarifying how it relates to your game; indeed I heartily encourage it! But you need to understand now what sort of game you intend to run, and for what sort of people.

Unpopular opinion time: It is not inherently evil to run a game which is not equally accessible to all possible players. LARP is a physical hobby, some variants more than others - it is not wrong to run a game where it’s easier to play a fighter if you have 20/20 vision and the use of both legs; it is not wrong to run a game where it’s easier to play a mage if you are highly numerate and can speak fluently in public. It’s not even wrong to run a game at a site that’s impossible to access by wheelchair, especially if that’s the only site available to you.

What is wrong is not clearly signposting those restrictions up front in your publicly accessible game material, and making whatever reasonable adjustments you can to compensate. It is worse to be welcoming and “talk the talk” in your advertising material, then fail to follow through on the field, than to state simply and clearly what access restrictions your game comes with - your players need as much information as possible to decide for themselves whether the game is right for them.

If you want some examples of what an “OC policies” or E&D / accessibility statement might look like, try these:

Death unto Darkness OOC policies

Profound Decisions Accessibility Policy

Profound Decisions Equality & Diversity Policy

Tales out of Anchor Event Rules

Photo from the first event of Falling Down, by @tomgarnett

2. WRITE FOR THE SITE

Now that you understand what inclusion and accessibility requirements you need to meet, you can pick a site!

If you’re a university or small-town LARP, this decision may be from a very small pool indeed; you may even find after looking at your options that you need to go back to your accessibility statement and revise it or manage expectations. That’s fine - you can only work with the resources you have; just make sure that you’re doing site recce & viewings with accessibility in mind.

If you are mobility impaired or have a friend who is, they may be willing to help you out by conducting an accessibility survey of your potential site. Don’t assume they’re obligated to help you, but there’s nothing wrong with asking politely.

It is important that you match the game to the site, not the other way around. My LARP career is littered with examples of start-up games which had a fantastic concept of the world they wanted to run in, and which implemented shockingly badly in play because the site they eventually found didn’t match up with their requirements.

What do you have? A lot of single-use mixed-terrain woodland? Then small-party linear adventures can be an excellent feature of your game! A big open empty field with nothing in it? Have some linefights, or a big friendly diplomacy-heavy IC camp! An abandoned glue factory but no outdoor terrain? Claustrophobic space-prison survival horror it is!

At all costs, avoid marrying yourself to any particular gameplay style or type before you know what site you’re working with.

Photo from the first event of Regenesis, by @tomgarnett

3. GAMEPLAY BEFORE NUMBERS

Start thinking about designing the mechanics and working parts of your game the same way the military plans operations: Begin with the effect you want to achieve on the players and then think about the tools you can use to get there, not the other way around. A lot of people who write and run LARP games are mathematically clever and get excited about creating intricate, clever systems like D&D; that’s fine, if that’s the sort of game you want to run, but you need to be focused on what the players get out of it and how it works in play as the first priority, not as an interesting side effect.

Your “system” - the crunchy numbers bit, the magic, the calls, the death counts, the bean bags, the Nerf guns, whatever it is - is a mechanism to create the kind of gameplay you want, not an end in itself.

Once more: System is a mechanism to create the kind of gameplay you want, not an end in itself.

Photo from the first event of Slayers LRP, by @tomgarnett

4. PLAYTEST THOROUGHLY

Take every possible opportunity to playtest. Give your mechanics, your setting, your character creation and your fight system to fellow LARPers. Give them to LARPers whose opinions you disagree with, who like a different type of game to you, who you argue with on the internet. Give them to friends and family. Give them to total newbies and ask them how accessible they are. Ask them to murder your darlings. Swallow your pride and take all feedback with equanimity - use it to hone and refine your game. Don’t feel the need to change everything someone objects to, but understand where the objection comes from and how you would meet it from a paying customer.

Don’t try to please everyone “just enough” (unless you are trying to run a national, professional-level game you intend to make a lot of money from, or a local system in a town that has no other LARPs and which you want to have a wide appeal to local nerds); please your target audience as much as you can, and make it very clear who that audience is and what sort of game you are running. Hard work during the playtest will help you articulate these things, and clearly signpost who this game is designed for - and who it’s not designed for.

One useful project management system that my friends Crazy Donkey LARP use when receiving feedback about games is the Stop, Start, Continue heuristic. They ask their audience segment to tell them about things they didn’t enjoy (that they should Stop doing in their games), things they felt were lacking that they should Start doing, and things which worked well which they should Continue doing.

Photo from the first event of Split Worlds, by @tomgarnett

5. THINK ABOUT THE BUY-IN

What is the minimum amount someone needs to know to functionally play this game, and how long will it take them to absorb that information?

If you really care about your game setting, you’ll be overflowing with cool tidbits of history and costume advice and setting material. That is great - and all to the good for stoking the fires of keen from already keen players! But a huge volume of game material (such as, much as I love it, the Empire wiki) can be really offputting for a new player. It’s in your interests to boil down “the basics” as far as possible, and present them in a clear, obvious one-pager which allows a new player to quickly and easily absorb them. This also helps accessibility for people who have issues reading, or absorbing, a large volume of text at once.

The “At-a-Glance” pages for the six Cultures of Odyssey LARP (now, tragically, ended) are a really good example of how the game writers used a single format to boil down a high volume of culture-specific setting material into a series of representative fragments that gave a new player all the information they need to quickly play a character from that IC culture. Here and here are examples.

In system terms, this is a pretty successful attempt to collate several pages of Odyssey rules into as-basic-as-possible summaries for the reader in a hurry.

The Empire Game Overview is another good page, and the Combat Rules page for Empire is an example of the “Bullet Point / Expand” format that can make it easier for some people to absorb complex rules and system information.

Photo from the first event of Tales Out Of Anchor, by @tomgarnett

6. KIT & COSTUMING

When contemplating what costume looks like for your setting, you should be thinking on two levels: Firstly, what makes the characters look cool and iconic (and, assuming your setting has different classes, nations, professions or cultures which are distinguished by kit, what is obviously different about each one); but secondly and more importantly, what do your players have access to?

Once again here, understanding your target audience is key. For a small, local weekly game that runs for a few hours on a Saturday and targets university students, your costume briefs need to be realistically achievable by people with a low budget and time constraints. For a £250 three-dayer in a castle, you can probably assume your target audience has a bit more spare cash to splash out on frock coats or chainmail or EL wire. If your target audience already has a certain type of kit in abundance - Medieval armour, or Roller Derby kneepads, or leather jackets - build that into your briefs.

Do your best to provide photographic examples of costumes in advance so that players can see what sort of “look” they strive for. When writing costume briefs, pick one or two clear, simple, iconic and easy elements for each brief - like “wide sash around the waist” or “brightly coloured headgear” - and try not to crowd the brief with too many elaborate suggestions for the perfect look. Your players will pleasantly surprise you.

Be aware of body shape and size accessibility when writing your costume briefs. “Empire line” or “broad shoulders” or “ethereal, floaty, elfin clothing” may all sound iconic and straightforward to you, but they are all examples of clothing which disproportionately favours particular body shapes; steer away.

Think about where your monster/crew kit comes from; do you expect crew to self-costume or will you be buying kit for them? What does a properly stocked crew kit room look like? How does that affect your budget?

Photo from Hades, by Oliver Facey

7. SEPARATION OF POWERS

When you’re putting your game team together, clearly define what each role means - who’s responsible for what - and write down those responsibilities somewhere everyone on the team can see them. An amorphous blob of “the refs” which slowly evolves into proper working practices is unlikely to be as efficient as starting out with a head of site & logistics, a head of setting coherency, etc.

You can always change and modify these terms of reference as you go on, but setting them out clearly at the start will cut out an awful lot of drama later down the line.

Try to avoid having any individual make big important setting, system or plot decisions on their own; everyone, no matter how authoritative, should have their work checked by at least one other person who has the power to veto or bring their material to discussion.

If you can, appoint a “conscience” early in the game design process. That person’s job is to stand behind you every time you’re about to make an important decision or rules call, or finalise a plot, or do something you think is really cool, and ask “What about player agency?” and “But how do the players interact with this?” and “What effect does this have on the players?”

Photo from Gruntz, by Oliver Facey

8. CREW

Where is your crew from? How do you keep crew coming back for more? How many crew do you need to run a successful game?

If you’re starting up a local small linear style system, inculcating an early culture of “crew one / play one” is a good way to keep a regular stream of crew available for more. For medium systems, you might implement a “crew lottery” where people who crewed the last game get favourable placement for tickets for the next event, or discounts on future tickets. You should also do your best to include crew incentives - you’d be surprised how little “bennies” like hats or t-shirts help cement a sense of group identity and belonging among your crew cohort.

Out of the number of crew you need to run your ideal event, 2/3rds will book, and half of that number will actually show up. Be prepared and write your encounter based on low crew numbers as a contingency.

All photos from this set are from the first games of new systems, or one-off games.

#larp #larphacks #process hack #new larp #newbie advice #player agency is king

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shrubbery-in-a-half-shell-blog · 7 years

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How to Handle Constructive Feedback

This blog is typically just where I post my chapter updates and things relating to the TMNT fanfiction I’m writing. However, I also want to share my thoughts and experience in writing in general. I have been writing and posting my work online for 13 years after all. Maybe others, writing fanfiction or not, might find it useful.

So this little gem is about when you get constructive feedback/criticism on something you’ve written. I’ve gotten my share of reviews and comments on my things both online and in creative writing classes. Here’s somethings I’ve noticed and maybe some advice that might be helpful. Also, if you review for other people, these might be helpful to keep in mind.

1. Allow yourself to be upset.

This just means you might have a knee-jerk reaction to receiving feedback that is critical of your work. I know that I certainly do. It’s natural to be defensive of your precious work that you pour your heart and soul into. I let myself feel those feelings and get them out before I really start evaluating. Huff and puff. Get it out. Then you can return to the criticism with a more open heart and mind. You can start to consider if their feedback is beneficial or not.

2. Evaluate the feedback.

Just really think about what they’re saying.

3. Get rid of what is irrelevant.

This just means not everything a reviewer says is helpful. I’ve often noticed that they sometimes ask questions about things that were already addressed in the work. But evaluate if you’ve addressed it in a clear manner or not. You can always ask someone who you can trust if you addressed the item in question clearly or not. So getting a second opinion can help determine this.

Keep in mind, the average person actually kind of sucks at paying attention. I’ve noticed this a lot. It’s kind of the most frustrating thing I’ve encountered, because when it’s clearly spelled out and addressed--they either forgot or weren’t really paying attention when they were reading and/or giving your review.

So if it’s something that’s already pretty clear. They probably just weren’t paying attention. Decide for yourself if it’s worth pointing out to them. Not everyone is perfect, you or them.

So figure out what is worth considering further and what is just them not paying attention.

4. Just because they’re wrong, doesn’t mean they aren’t right.

So this contradiction here is that while a reviewer might try to backup their claims with examples and reasoning--sometimes their examples are poor and their argument has dozens of holes. Especially if they suffer from what I described above--they weren’t paying attention to details that would ruin their argument.

But that doesn’t mean their original claim might not still have some merit to it. Consider it outside of the poor logic and evidence they tried to support it with. Could they be right? Even if they aren’t, is it something you should still be aware of while you write? It might still be a helpful claim, even if its messenger wasn’t exactly the most competent. Give it serious consideration.

5. Not everything that seems important to them must be important to you.

I see this especially when getting feedback from other writers of a similar genre or fandom. One friend thought it was important for me to explain the size of the kingdom (a Zelda fanfiction) and the distance between locations. This could be important, but it could also not be important at all. Do I need to know the size of the kingdom I’m writing about and generally how far locations are from each other: sure, I can agree to that. Do I need to explain this in my writing in full detail: only when it’s important to the story and plot. Too much unnecessary details can bog down the story, make it boring.

It’s for you to evaluate and decide what is important, when, and why it is. Maybe you don’t always need to provide as much or in the way others (especially other writers) think you should.

6. Readers always want the answers now, but sometimes that’s why they need to keep reading.

This is when reviewers ask questions as if they’re critical ones that you need to address--but actually, you did that one purpose to create tension and generate interest. Unanswered questions are what plots are all about. If they want to find out, they need to just be patient and keep in mind it will be addressed/revealed in the future. If all the plot questions were addressed immediately, you wouldn’t have very much of a story.

Also, maybe not every lose end needs to be tied in a story? It depends on what kind of story you’re writing and perhaps what kind of point of view you’re using. But in life, sometimes you don’t always get all the questions answered. Neither will your characters--but you still should know the answers for yourself! Avoid plot holes, but maybe not everything needs to be nice and neat.

7. They have their own bias and personal tastes.

This kind of goes in hand with what might be important to them, might not always be important for you. But as a fanfiction writer, you see all kinds of fan stances on fandoms, depending on the fandom. Since this is my TMNT blog, we’ll use that fandom as an example, though in general most fanfiction communities tend to have a lot of hate for original characters.

Characters you made personally and are inserting into the fandom in your fiction. I get the most push back about this in my story. I probably would have a shit ton more followers and reviews if I didn’t have OCs tagged in my summaries.

Still despite your warnings about specific tastes in your fanfiction, some people still might read it anyway for other aspects they enjoy. And they still might try to give you constructive feedback on the things they aren’t too hot about.

They might be obviously biased against it, and this might be obviously the driving force behind their criticism. They might not like it, but they might be more obviously objective. Either way, refer back to four. Just because they obviously have a bias against it, maybe their claim might still have merit. Evaluate despite the obvious and probably annoying bias they carry.

Unless they’re just begging you not to do something against their personal taste, when you obviously warned them about it before. You can just ignore these people.

8. Listen to yourself.

This means, while you evaluate, even while you consider their claims and perhaps their advice, don’t force yourself to do something a certain way to please them. You can’t please everyone. Everyone has their own way of doing things, which might be right for them. It doesn’t always have to be right for you. If it doesn’t feel right, listen to your inner voice and instinct. This is your story, not theirs. They have their own personal tastes and biases clouding their judgment at times. This leads into the final and most basic point:

9. Take what is useful for YOU and leave the rest. Do it your way.

Too often I find all these advice threads and even blogs about the “right” way to characterize, develop characters, and even avoid Mary Sues. I have even written a lot of these myself. I’m writing this, right now, aren’t I?

What I have found as I meddled my own way through these issues in my own writing and as I wrote advice threads is this:

There are no absolute rules in creative writing.

Not even in punctuation. (See that’s a sentence fragment, but I know that, I chose to use it to express myself a certain way.) You can always break any rule if you’re doing so to express yourself in a purposeful way. Or just in the way that you NEED to express yourself as you write.

There aren’t even any true rules when it comes to Mary Sues. Any typical Mary Sue trait can still occur in characters but be used well. Those traits can still work. It’s just how and with what intent you’re doing something. This is what it means to be purposeful.

You might even have your own rules that work for you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be true for everyone else. There can always be an exception.

Most of all:

10. Don’t let it suck the fun out of writing.

Especially for fanfiction writing. All of that can’t typically be published anyway, so when it comes do to it, it’s a fun hobby. A way to express yourself. No rule should stop you from having fun while expressing yourself.

Sure, not everyone will like it. But that’s okay. You can’t please everyone, and while you want to share your work with the world and get some praise and constructive feedback--don’t let it overshadow the reason you write in the first place.

Don’t be afraid to be yourself, even if it’s not popular. You’ll find your own niche.

#fanfiction #review advice #constructive feedback #constructive criticism #how to handle constructive feedback in writing

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prettycottonmouthlamia · 4 years

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Artoria Caster Analysis

Arts is inevitable

Artoria Caster Max HP: 14,406 Max ATK: 10,546 (Effective ATK: 9,491) Star Attribute Star Absorption: 50 Star Generation: 11% NP Charge ATK: 0.54% NP Charge DEF: 3% Death Rate: 36% Traits: Arthur, Humanoid, Saberface, Servant

QAAAB Quick = 3 hits, Arts = 3 hits, Buster = 3 hits, Extra = 5 hits Quick = 1.62%, Arts = 1.62%, Extra = 2.70%

Charisma of Hope B Increases party's attack for 3 turns. (10 -> 20%) Charges party's NP guage. (20 -> 30%) Cooldown: 8 -> 6 turns

Protection of Vivian A Charges one ally's NP gauge. (10 -> 20%) Increases party's NP generation rate for 3 turns. (20 -> 30%). Cooldown: 7 -> 5 turns

Caliburn: Sword of Selection EX Increases own ally's Arts performance for 3 turns. (30 -> 50%) Increases their damage against Threat to Humanity enemies for 3 turns. (30 -> 50%). Grants them Invincibility for 1 turn. Cooldown: 8 -> 6 turns

Magic Resistance A: Increases own debuff resistance by 20%.

Territory Creation EX: Increases own Arts performance by 12%.

Independent Magic B: Increases own critical damage on Arts cards by 10%.

Around Caliburn / Round of Avalon Arts Increases party's Attack for 3 turns. (30 -> 50%, NP Level) Removes party's debuffs. Grants Party Anti-Purge buff for X times, 3 turns. (1 -> 5 times, OC)

Primary Role: DPS support, Defensive Support

You probably have heard about ten thousand viewpoints on how good Artoria Caster is, and I'll be honest, I'm probably not going to bringing too much unique to the table here. It doesn't take a genius to see how powerful Caster Artoria is, being by far the best Arts support in the game and having great generally usability as well. No matter how you feel about the existence of a meta in F/GO, it's pretty hard to argue that she isn't game-changing.

Starting from her fundamentals, you might find that's she actually isn't amazing in that regard. Her statline is positioned well enough, having high HP and a lower ATK, which is good for what she does, but her NP Generation leaves a little to be desired at first glance. Her Quick card is also pretty much useless, as she won't generally make many crit stars no matter what her chain, with a maximum of 12. Her AAA chain will generate 55% of her NP gauge on average, which isn't bad since having a natural Arts chain is always useful. If you use her 2nd and 3rd skills, she can charge her NP gauge to max in one turn, although she will only generate 79% of her gauge for the next two turns, since she needs the 20% charge. All things considered, her NP generation is perfectly fine, thanks to her skills. It just looks more mediocre on its own. Similar to Merlin in all honesty.

Going onto her skills, they're all amazing. She has a better version of Merlin's 1st skill, generating more NP but coming at the cost of an extra turn of cooldown. She also now provides the largest party wide NP gauge charge on a skill, which is quite notable, although going from 20% to 30% is a bit situational in terms of the difference it makes. Her second skill provides a targeted charge and a party wide NP gen bonus, and while Nero's targeted charge is bigger and her targeted NP gen is also larger, this skill is very synergistic with Artoria's kit, providing a 50% NP charge to one Servant. Her final skill is a 50% Arts steroid that also boosts damage against a pretty specific niche of enemy, and to top it all off it's also a targetable Invulnerability too. All on a 6 turn cooldown. These skills make Artoria the best Arts support in the game, not only providing both NP Generation and Arts performance, but very strong NP charges on top of it.

Her NP is also extremely good as well. It provides a strong Attack boost that gets even better with extra NP levels, removes all debuffs from the entire party, and provides a special Anti-Purge buff, which is Invulnerability but also ignores Pierce Invul. She even provides extra hits per OC level, for a maximum of 5 hits of Anti-Purge for 3 turns. It's a really good NP since all of its effects are very good, and even sticking it at the end of an NP chain gives what is essentially a super Protection from Arrows effect. She fits incredibly well into defensive teams because of it, able to protect the party from damage unless the buffs get removed. This NP is even good in Arts teams who typically had problems dealing with NP damage if a boss could instantly charge their NP.

Support Options: Artoria Caster is more, the support to other Servants and not really a Servant who really requires supports in any way. Using Double Artoria will turbo-charge a big number of Arts Servants, allowing them to do a ton of damage and get a ton of refund from their NPs and basic Arts cards. Tamamo is very synergistic as well, since she provides healing which is something that Artoria Caster also lacks. Servants who provide Buff Removal resist, such as Murasaki Shikinu or Beni-Enma can also provide the perfect defense set-up where it becomes impossible to deal damage once Artoria uses her NP. Medea Lily provides both healing and buff removal resistance to a more defensive team as well, in addition to some Debuff resistance.

Command Code: Artoria doesn't require Command Codes at all to function, so there main recommendations are Command Codes that will allow her to support the team, either through specific buff removal, generating critical stars, or boosting party crit damage. She will work just fine without any Command Codes though, so you can skip over her.

Craft Essences: In an Arts team, Castor Artoria typically doesn't need specific CEs. Looping teams can use her with a CE that boosts QP, Master EXP, MC EXP, or Bond points since they won't typically do much in the way of attacking. More defensive Arts teams can use Arts boosting CEs, Prisma Cosmos, or starting NP CEs in order to get to her NP faster or on demand, and stall teams will enjoy Prisma Cosmos or Maid in Halloween. Her Bond CE can also be used effectively as well. If you want to stick her with a Servant that wants to crit as well, Fragments of 2030 is recommended, since she cannot generate crit stars well on her own.

Competition: Caster Artoria doesn't have competition per se, she's at the top of the food chain. But it's worth comparing her to Tamamo and Caster Gilgamesh specifically. Tamamo is more defensive and works better in longer battles, providing healing and skill cooldown reduction, and Caster Gilgamesh is far better with Art Crit servants since he boosts their crit star generation, and can do a good amount of damage on his own. Paracelsus isn't competition per se but is often the 3rd Arts support in a looping team.

Jeanne occasionally is better in stall teams thanks to her Stun, and Ruler advantage against Riders, Moon Cancers, and Alter Egos, but she's generally worse than Artoria in the stall department.

Pros: -Incredible support kit that activates pretty much every Arts servant in the game -Double Artoria presents some of the cheapest looping set-ups in the game -NP is incredibly powerful -Great general use thanks to large NP charge numbers -Is very cute and her smile cures cancer

Cons: -Provides no crit support what so ever -No healing or defense buffs means she's more frail against normal attack damage -3rd support isn't as cute or good as 1st or 2nd and if you're using random Ascension options that can be disappointing, at least to me personally I love her 2nd ascension outfit

Artoria Caster is, at least in my eyes, probably the best Servant in the game at this point, but it's worth keeping things in perspective for a moment. She massively boosts Arts as a playstyle, but both Buster and Quick are still very viable and have different pros and cons compared to the Arts playstyle. She's not perfect either, she just provides something that no other Arts support has in the past: a lot of NP charge. That's enough to really equalize the Arts playstyle and allow a ton of Servants to function far better than they have in the past. She is game changing though, and definitely the first immense hit of powercreep the game has had in a long time.

All hail the Arts overlords.

#fate grand order #artoria caster #servant analysis

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