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speedofsoundsketches · 2 months

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When it comes to designing fan characters, do you like to stay within the confines of what people consider to be “acceptable” for certain aspects, like powers/abilities, specie choice, overall design, incorporating certain ties and affiliates to official characters, etc? I guess the “unspoken rules” when it comes to making a “proper” oc that fits the overall spirit and lore, rather than an “oc in sonic style” that “doesn’t fit”. Do you think that taking a leap of faith to originality is bad?

This is a thoughtful question Anon, but I find it concerning that there's an insinuation how wanting to be held to any kind of standard is "bad" for originality. In my experience, this is not always the case.

Having self-imposed restrictions can seem unnecessary if your goal for creating is to not think hard about expectations and instead, purely for self-expression. There are no hard rules for how to make fanart. If you want to add a ton of accessories on fan characters, use every color under the rainbow or construct one in a way that breaks the Sonic standard, it's your choice! What's gained from making characters for the joy of it and without the weight of "perceived expectations" looming over you is a reward in of itself.

With that aside, what really matters is what your ultimate goal is with your fan characters. Because when people ask for my insights on designing one, what I believe most are REALLY searching for is a way to get an audience to CARE.

This is a much deeper conversation beyond whether or not your character is "original" and "breaking the rules". Now you're entering uncharted territory where it's no longer about what only YOU want out of your creations. You HAVE to now consider how OTHERS will perceive them and make intentional design choices that gets the audience and reactions you WANT.

Jolt and Strike's Crew were created in the frame of mind that they would be used for a full story line. The ultimate goal is to create an engaging comic that both appeals to my own interest in this series while still drawing in an audience. And of course, this causes me to have to consider what makes a character bring an audience in and KEEP them. It ultimately defines what kind of character it will be!

Having a standard to measure your creations against isn't a hamper on originality. In fact, by HAVING restrictions, you're challenged to think OUTSIDE of the box and find an elegant solution that can be novel but still fit. Not all good ideas are born from having NO obstacles in our way; rarely does it work like that.

When starting Shadow and Jolt, I had zero clue on how to actually make a likeable character. I knew theories, I had read about it and made fan art of established characters that people already liked.

BUT I had never put it into practice from scratch. I had to learn as I went and made a ton of mistakes until the right solution became apparent!

This is a long answer but basically Anon, what is your intention? Do you just want to create for the sake of it,

or are you creating to be seen and have others engage with your work like that of an Author with an audience of Readers? Do you want to BUILD an audience that likes your fan-characters, wants to learn more about them and is EXCITED to see more of them?

That's the real question to reflect on. And it may require asking yourself if you even know what it means to achieve such a goal.

Because believe me, it's not easy. It took YEARS to build what I have now. But, it's also extremely rewarding and for me, worth all those extra late nights spent working diligently to make it happen.

I hope this helps anon. I get that this may not seem like a very fun answer. It's not always fun to create for an audience. Sometimes it's very hard! But if you love it enough and you are open to knowing what you don't know, you can find joy in a healthy challenge. This project is still just as fun for me to do as it was 6 years ago when it began. And I wouldn't change it one bit. :)

#anon #text #asks #ramble #onlyart #me #Shadow and Jolt #comic help #art help #character design #thoughts #sonic fan character #sonic oc #sonic fc

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xykcta · 11 months

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can we please hear more about your OCs?? :). they look really cool and interesting!!

only if you’re okay sharing of course

Well, now I'll try to describe it all..or at least something. I have a shared setting with my girlfriend and it takes place in an alternative Europe of the 19th century (mostly in Britain). The main group of characters are cryptid hunters. Hunters founded their guild, established their foundations, hierarchy and monetary relations with "commoners", who are most often customers for catching beasts that devoured livestock.

The main characters are hunters-partners: a tall, serious man from Scandinavia named Ryan (belongs to my gf) and a frivolous Romanian drinker Ardy (belongs to me).

They behave like a stereotypical couple who divorced 10 years ago, despite the fact that they have never been married. But now it's not about them, I just needed to mention them and the place of action so that you understand further information.

In addition to primitive cryptids that just eat cows or lure children into the forest, there are much more developed entities. People call them "angels" because they are of unknown origin, most often anthropomorphic in shape (but there are also completely fucked up), have appendages similar to wings, sometimes glow and convince not to be afraid of them. Angels know human languages and pretend to be "human" pretty well. To do this, they have a "real" appearance and a "formal appearance". This is necessary for them to live together peacefully, to explore the new world around them… or just eat people. Unfortunately, human meat is a mandatory product in their diet to imitate their appearance. But some of them eat people simply because they can (this is condemned by a considerable number of relatives). Some angels are so good at pretending to be homo sapiens that they hold high positions in human institutions.

One of these angels is Dr. Lee (a character of my gf, and her drawing of him). He is the head of a psychiatric hospital, which allows him to conduct experiments. Dr. Lee is obsessed with research on creating artificial life and crossing humans with angels to breed a new race.

He behaves more like a modeler of miniature ships made of 3,000 parts than a mad scientist. He considers the human race to be several steps lower in development, so he doesn't feel sorry for the patients in his asylum. But Lee understands perfectly well that he can't just throw away lives, so he has to keep an acceptable level of the institution in order not to arouse suspicion. Not the biggest fan of his own work, but proud of his latest "projects". The first project is a successful crossing of an angel and a human woman (under the name Lilith). The second project is the successful creation of artificial life, a homunculus named Franklin.

Franklin is currently the only successful homunculus created by the hands of Dr. Lee (where did the rest of the failed attempts go? nobody knows). He doesn't react to pain, performs immoral tasks without unnecessary questions and learns quite quickly (thanks to the collective mind). Unfortunately, his emotions and feelings are artificially suppressed, so it's hard for Franklin to realize sarcasm, humor, irony and other charms of complex human emotional intelligence. Homunculus doesn't know how to regenerate, but in this case, Dr. Lee has an ace up his sleeve - he relieves the previous body of suffering and creates Franklin anew, laying all the accumulated experience with the help of the collective mind.

Dr. Lee is not the only angel in the asylum. Zebedee also lived there for a while (despite Lee's attempts to kick him out). Zebedee is quite phlegmatic and passive, but this doesn't make him not dangerous. Under huge sleeves and baggy clothes, he hides his limbs with additional joints that he cannot shorten.

Zebedee is very ancient. He probably even remembers the Cambrian period. I think that's why he looks more like a prehistoric creature than something cosmic. He collects only the best from evolution. So he has a retractable jaw like a fish and amazing manipulative abilities like humans.

But there are also ordinary people in this institution. For example, intern Beatril Quincy. He had every chance to become a new ray of light in medicine, but addiction to opium and cocaine made him a scum. He doesn't disdain to steal laudanum from the shelves of medical offices and doesn't miss the chance to steal one of the bodies from grave diggers. All he wants is to get an opportunity to escape from the hospital he hates (which he eventually succeeds after being fired at Dr. Lee's asylum and suddenly getting a job as a guild doctor)

Actually, so far this is all I can tell you about the lore. In the future, there will be a clash between the hunter guild and Dr. Lee's hospital (but this still needs to be worked out better).

I hope it was at least a little interesting (:

#baby wake up new lore just dropped #it's so long i'm sorry #original character #oc: franklin #oc: ardy #oc: zebedee #oc: dr. lee #oc: quincy #internship set

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munchbell45 · 24 days

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No ask game. I just want to know: How did you get into writing? Was it easy for you or was it something you had to work at?

Thanks for asking! This is going to be long, you have been warned.

So, about a few years ago, I was getting back into Naruto and decided to visit Naruto-related subreddits. I had also been thinking of funky ideas related to the series, but I was hesitant to write them. I never enjoyed writing for school projects, so I figured i just didn't like writing.

One of the subreddits was r/narutofanfiction, a subreddit specifically for Naruto fanfics, like the name says. This was in 2022, BTW.

I was mostly lurking on that subreddit until one time, I read a post that someone created. They had wanted help coming up with some cool titles for some OCs. We then had a little chat, and I said something like this. "Maybe I should write a fanfic sometime. I know I've got a bunch of ideas knocking around." The dude said that i should go ahead and do it.

I decided to write my first Naruto fanfic, which was a one-shot based on idea I had. It was called Returning Home, and it was about a former member of the Hidden Stone's Explosion Corps (he left due to losing a hand years ago) returning home from work. However, something horrific happens that leaves him in shock. Fun fact: the fic is VERY loosely based on a song called "Story 2" by the band Clipping. https://archiveofourown.org/works/41908419

While I was writing it, I had a thankfully mild case of CVID, but I still stayed home. I think that gave me extra motivation.

Anyways, I later made a post asking for fics about the Ame Orphans, and sparked up a conversation with a commenter. They were kind enough to beta read the one-shot, and they told me that I had to wait a few days for an AO3 invite. So, I did my editing while I waited.

It was a long while before I started regularly writing after that. I had a fic idea that involved a scientist OC with an original kekkei genial who escaped from the Hidden Sound with some allies, and they stole Orochimaru's Akatsuki ring. Then, they were supposed to work with the Akatsuki and the OC was supposed to be like a yandere for Deidara.

I put off writing it, and I had hated what i wrote, so it never went anywhere. Frankly, it was going to be an edgiest and deal with subject matter that I probably couldn't pull off tastefully, so i think it was for the best.

Now, I actually started writing regularly in 2023, when the r/narutofanfiction discord server posted a spreadsheet with a daily writing challenge. I decided to join, and I found it to be a great motivator.

My second fanfic, The Ame Orphans' First Valentine's Day (https://archiveofourown.org/works/45018589 ,) was inspired by a piece of fanart that I had commissioned from moonamayillu on tumblr (https://www.tumblr.com/moonamayillu/707530031815114752/commission-for-munchbell45-thank-you-so-much?source=share) .

I was working in the Valentine's Day section at my retail job, which made me crave art of the Ame Orphans giving each other Valentine's Day gifts. So, I commissioned moonamayillu and the art was so good that I decided to write a fic based on it. people liked that fic, so I kept on writing other fics.

TL;DR: Someone suggested that I write, so I did. I lost steam, but a daily writing spreadsheet on a Discord server motivated me to write, as well as some banger fanart that motivated me to write my second fic.

#long post warning #how do i put stuff under a cut? IDK #naruto fanfiction #cw long post #nagayahikona

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lucifers-horror-harem · 6 months

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7 & 20 for the edgy OC asks? :3

YEEEEEEE thamk u for the questions Montana 💜💜💜

7. What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

Alan: In some ways Alan's gotten... darker? Since I made him. Which is hilarious considering I made him a yandere serial killer who kidnaps and keeps the object of his affections locked away. But while he's probably the more romantic of my 2 OCs, and the more likely to give you a semi normal life, I was always anxious to delve deeper into his mindset and the true fucked up nature of him. In a way I use him a lot to project and self insert myself into so I never made him super harsh BUT the more I've delved into him and written some other original stuff for him I've felt a lot more comfortable just getting fucked up with him.

Boone: This one is easier because he's far newer. I'd been puttering around with him for a while, and he was pretty much the "kills trespassers" type killer, but I didn't connect him with Alan until a bit later when I was like wait... Alan's place in the middle of nowhere would still need to be taken care of, have someone to look after the grounds... what if Boone lived on Alan's property? And from there they created a fun symbiosis that I want to delve into more but yeah he was pretty much the same archetype from the beginning but once I connected him to Alan he felt complete.

20. Does your OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest?

Alan: The most jealous of the two, and more likely to jump to drastic measures to keep you """safe.""" He can handle showing you off as his partner and dealing with stares you might get. But he doesn't get super jealous of you talking to someone else because he's secure in the knowledge that you're his. But he gets jealous when someone takes too much of a liking to you, and he's keenly aware of people being sneaky and talking to you when he isn't around, or simply flirting in general if you aren't with him. He'll easily get jealous before kidnapping you because you're living your life and he so desperately wants you to be a part of it. In those cases, he's quick to resort to torture and murder if anyone so much as looks at you funny. And of course, abducts you so you don't have to worry about unwanted advances... That he certainly wouldn't contribute to.

Boone: Doesn't really get jealous, mainly gets angry or annoyed. He's quick to straight up murder a captive of his if they cause too much of a fuss, so he doesn't really have much attachment to people. But I suppose if he were to actually fall for you and be committed to you, him being plastered to your side like a lost puppy all day is his way of being alert... just in case someone stumbles across you.

#asks #OC: Alan Sharpe #OC: Clint Boone

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lotusmuses · 2 years

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Faruzan leaks basically say that she's similar to my oc-ification of Haypasia,,, I'm thriving!!! Don't read the orange section if you want no spoilers as to what the leaker said!!

haypasia but she's my oc now:

"Tainted by the Scarlet King’s forbidden knowledge, saved by Rukkhadevata’s power. An eccentric scientist who has travelled all of Teyvat in her longevity. She met and befriended a certain wanderer from Inazuma and became the mentor of a student named Zandik. Currently she's assumed a new identity as a well meaning genius but scatterbrained Rtawahist (and Vahumana) researcher."

Character Story #?:

...travelled to sumeru to learn more about the gods lost to time. she typically stayed in the desert because the civilization was a living relic and had at least 4 main deities.

unfortunately around this time king deshret unleashed the forbidden knowledge upon his people and everyone nearby. she became one of the first "mad scholars". when she learned that lord rukkhadevata would use her powers to get rid of that knowledge.. she ran.

how could she willingly forget all that now knew of the world? still, it got maddening enough that she needed some type of fix. upon returning she noticed that the greater lord's power left roots travelling beneath the sand. roots that kept her from succumbing to madness and with the power of life in the plant it kept her unaging, immune to natural causes of death, and with minimal symptoms of eleazar. still rukkhadevata's power has it's limits, and the scientist ran out of the original root a very long time ago.

now, using only a synthetic version that she managed to create, the scientist can only delay her inevitable demise — the forbidden knowledge festers in her, just like it did to the land and in a similar manner it spreads inflicting itself on the life around her as if a poison in her veins.

Current In-Game Faruzan Info:

Faruzan is a member of Sumeru Akademiya who disappeared at some point in the past. Her current whereabouts are unknown, although Cyno found her but deemed her to be a non-threat and let her go.

Faruzan is mentioned in Khaldun and Yavanani's daytime debate, where Khaldun uses Faruzan as proof for his claim that "you Haravatat would make mistakes" by viewing history solely through the perspective of linguistics; Yavanani retorts that Faruzan's points are outdated and cannot be used as discussion points. It is unclear whether Faruzan herself was a member of Haravatat, or if she previously pointed out mistakes in Haravatat's methodologies.

Cyno's "About Faruzan": I've carefully browsed through the case files regarding Faruzan's disappearance. At the time, I thought maybe she had been conducting some kind of dangerous research, but once I met her in person, I completely abandoned that idea. Though it might be a little hard for me to get along with her, she mostly reminds me of a kindly and chatty parent. She is considerate of others, and would never do anything imprudent.

Nahida's "About Faruzan": She is suffering from exposure to remnants of King Deshret's power. It's as if the great tortoise of time accidentally threw her off it's back and left her suspended in the past. If you're interested, you should be able to catch a glimpse of Sumeru from a bygone age through her.

!!!!!!!!!!! FARUZAN LEAK SPOILERS:

Faruzan Lore by Genshin BLANK twt: She is a Professor at the Akademiya with a special condition, which makes her stuck in the past due to prolonged exposure to remnants of King Deshret's powers. It is said that, if you want to catch a glimpse of Sumeru in the past, you can talk to her.

Layla's "About Faruzan": Has Professor Faruzan managed to get any students? People from the Haravatat Darshan say that she always has difficulty getting funding for her projects, so it's hard for her to attract students too. *sigh* ...

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egopocalypse · 2 years

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Since I just reblogged something about it, I guess this is the best time to talk about my current thoughts and plans for my DSMP fics.

In short: I don't know.

I don't use Twitter or any social media other than tumblr, so most of what I've seen about the Dream situation are summaries shared here and people's discussion on it. I believe the victims, and I've needed the past few days to process my feelings toward Dream and how to move forward. My heart goes out to both the victims and the people in this community who feel betrayed by Dream. I may be a lorehead rather than someone super focused on the CCs, but this was devastating news regardless of your place in the fandom. I hope everyone is staying safe, and for the people whose best way to stay safe is to leave, I hope you know we support and love you.

Now, in terms of what'll happen with Gone Away, A Warden's Secrets, Pandora, and other unreleased projects, I haven't figured that out yet. c!Dream is such an important character in every single one of my projects as the main antagonist, and yet they're never truly about him. They're about clingyduo, or hotelduo, or c!Tubbo and c!Sam, and c!Dream's purpose is to hinder and/or indirectly facilitate the growth of those dynamics (by being the person the others have to deal with).

I've never intended to give c!Dream a happy ending in any of my WIPs, or even end with his victory. Hell, the main reason why all my current fics start the way they do is to give him that victory early so that the rest of the story can focus on the other characters overcoming it and eventually be victorious themselves. All my WIPs are planned out and give the main characters (c!Sam, c!Tubbo, and c!Tommy) the happy ending they deserve, and because of that, part of me still wants to keep writing them to give those characters their endings.

However, I don't want to be insensitive to the current situation. It doesn't feel right to jump right back into posting DSMP content that involves c!Dream only a few short days after this news came out, and it feels callous to not post about the situation for a couple days and then jump right back into posting writing like it never happened. I tend to be the type of person to not post a lot publicly when it comes to situations like this because I like being a space where people can come to if they need a break from doomscrolling, and so that's why I haven't reblogged a majority of the stuff I've seen, but in this case, there isn't a way to keep going without at least addressing it.

I had three more Whumptober stories planned for the DSMP and a fourth for @/aimandfire21's Bad Things Happen Bingo Event, but I don't know if I'll be able to write and post them. If I do, it won't be until the last few days of the month, just to give the situation a little time to breathe as people come to terms with what Dream did and decide how they want to proceed themselves. I may even decide to scrap my original ideas for them and fill those prompts using another fandom's characters and OCs. I just don't know yet.

For now, I won't post anything on tumblr regarding my DSMP WIPs, at least until I come to a proper decision. I will continue to talk about them privately in DMs or on Discord, but new chapters won't come out for a while, if I continue them at all. I won't be leaving the fandom entirely, but a little break feels necessary in the wake of all that's happened. I will be posting a lot of content regarding Jacksepticeye, his egos, and the projects/OCs I've created while in that community, so if any DSMP mutuals are interested in learning more, I'd be happy to introduce you. Maybe you'll find something to comfort and engage you in the meantime. 💚

TL;DR: My current DSMP projects are on halt, and while I won't be speaking about them publicly for a bit, DMs and Discord are okay. Instead, I'll be posting more about Jacksepticeye, his egos, and the projects/OCs I've made while in that community. It's time to come home.

#dream situation #I might reblog this once or twice just so people can see it #Or I'll update my pinned post with the link to this #It needs a refurbishing anyway #Also this came out a lot more rambly than I thought #But I needed to write this out #Mutuals DM me if you want my discord #I tend to share my thoughts a lot more there than tumblr #long post

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afanoffiction · 4 months

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Dream a Little Dream of Me - Chapter 1

Matt Murdock x afab original character

Words: 4K ish

Warnings: fluff, Matt Murdock flirting, courtroom scene, mention of kidnapping, kissing, superpowered original character, black girl oc

Notes: this is my first fic ever! Please be nice to me! Ignore egregious typos! Read chapters 1 & 2 on A03

“Do you swear to tell the whole truth?”

“Yes”

Matt Murdock was not working this case but he was very invested. He was seated in the gallery of the courtroom on a Thursday afternoon listening carefully.

A child had been kidnapped, missing for 2 weeks last month. The witness that was just sworn in somehow knew exactly where she was being held. Matt had been searching every night on his patrol but couldn’t find any leads. He had to know, how did this person know?

“Can you state your name for the record?”

“Viola Gates”

The state prosecutor continued, “if I have this correct, you called law enforcement and let them know exactly where the victim was?”

“Yes I did”

“And they promptly arrested you”

“They did and I expected that, because I was correct and I understand how that is suspicious.”

“Can you explain how you knew?”

She took a long deep breath and slowly let it out. Matt could hear her heartbeat quicken, and then even out. Nerves probably.

“I have prophetic dreams. The defendant came to me in a dream and told me the exact address of where he was holding her.”

“Like a superpower?”

“Uh, I guess?” She didn’t know exactly what to say, “I have never been wrong but I’ve never thought about it that way.”

“So you are going on the record claiming to be an enhanced individual?” The prosecutor used air quotes with his fingers around “enchanted.”

“Sure, yes I am. I guess that’s not abnormal these days”

“I suppose not,” he continued, “you said the defendant came to you in a dream, is that the same man?” He pointed to the defendant across the room.

“Yes it was,” she said.

“So you knew him?”

“No I didn’t know him but I had met him at least once,” she very clearly stated.

“At least once?”

“It is impossible to dream about a face you’ve never seen, even if you’re enchanted,” she also used the air quotes around the word. “Your brain doesn’t create faces out of thin air. I can only dream about people I’ve seen and usually have talked to.”

“So you’ve talked to the defendant?”

“The only time I remember was at work. I sing at a club most nights of the week and he came up to me once after my set. Tried to hit on me, buy me some drinks. I’m used to some patrons being creepy, and he definitely gave off a bad vibe but I just brushed him off. It wasn’t until 2 nights later that I had the dream.”

The prosecutor was listening intently holding his chin with his finger and thumb. Nodding his head as she gave more details, taking a beat before asking his next question.

“So, you have a dream where the defendant tells you where the child is, but you didn’t know his name?”

“I couldn’t remember,” she said with some frustration, “he only told me the address in my dream. When I woke up I immediately wrote it down. He had only told me his name once at the club, I’m bad with names but great with faces”

She wasn’t lying at all, Matt was still focused on her heartbeat as she spoke. He was shocked, not only that this was an enhanced person but that she just freely and publicly let everyone know about her power.

She continued, “that’s why I was not surprised at all when I was arrested. Of course they brought me in before I was able to explain how I knew and I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t believe me.”

“And you’ve only met him once, but you’ve never met the child?”

“Nope,” she shook her head, “of course I’d seen her and her name on the news but I don’t know her or her family”

“And you’re really always right?” He asked.

“I am, truly! You can ask any of my friends or family. Usually it’s not this high of stakes but if I have a dream about anyone telling me something, they’ll confirm that it’s true.”

“Now that we’ve met will you let me know if you dream about me, if I need to avoid anything?”

“Objection,” the defense cut through the courtrooms laughter, “relevance your honor?”

“I’m sure we’d all like to know if you had information for anyone of us!” The judge said as he looked over at her with a smile.

“That’s all from me your honor,” the prosecutor went back to his seat.

Matt listened to the defense cross examine her, but nothing new came to light. They definitely tried to discredit her, question if she truly was always right. But did it matter if she was right all the time, or only that she was right this once?

When they were done for the day Viola was swarmed outside the courthouse by press. He listened to her state the same facts and answer many of the same questions that she heard on the stand. He knew he had to speak with her and waited patiently for her to finish with reporters.

He caught up with her as she started walking down the street. He very smoothly slid his cane into the side of her shoe to get her attention, apologizing quickly

“Excuse me Miss. Gates, can I just tell you that you were amazing on the stand. I’m also a lawyer and I know how nerve racking it can be up there”

“Thank you I appreciate that, are you on the states team? Or the defense? Should I be talking to you?” She said with a laugh.

“Oh no,” he said, “I was just in the gallery, I took a special interest in the case and thought I could learn something from the trial. My name is Matt Murdock” he switched his cane to his other hand as he reached out for a handshake.

“Viola, nice to meet you Matt,” she took his hand firmly as she started to turn towards the crosswalk.

“I was wondering i to f I could talk to you,” he said still holding her hand in his, “I’ve had clients who were enhanced myself and have some questions about your experience.”

She slipped her hand out of his grasp, “enhanced, huh,” she let out a chuckle. “I’m not an avenger or anything, I’m just a person”

“Ok Viola, person, can I buy you a cup of coffee?”

Viola couldn’t see his eyes behind his dark glasses, but took a second to look over his smile. He seemed friendly enough.

“Sure, I’d actually love some coffee. I’m a little exhausted”

They walked over to a diner he knew, slid into a booth and ordered their coffee.

“How can I help you Mr Murdock?”

“Well,” he leaned in a little to whisper, “I’m curious why you’re so casual about going on the record about your power.”

She took a sip from her coffee and cleared her throat, “I told you, I don’t have any powers,” she waved her hands halfway up in the air at the word like casting a spell, “I’m just a person who has very specific dreams with very specific information that happens to never be wrong.”

“How long have you had these dreams?”

“Since I was a kid, I would know things like when teachers were giving pop quizzes or when my parents were going to be late from work or,” she stopped suddenly realizing she was over sharing.

“Sorry,” she said, “this is probably not interesting to you.”

“But it is,” he said before taking another drink, “I know a few other uh, for lack of a better term, enhanced people across the city. They’ve helped a lot of people. Have you ever thought about what you could do with the knowledge you have?”

She stared down into her cup nervously running her thumb over the handle.

“I don’t know, I can’t ever change what happens. I only know that it will happen.”

“Have you ever tried?” He asked gently.

She sighed, “well it didn’t stop me from getting cheated on,”

“Ouch,” he didn’t know what else to say.

“That’s just one example, I had a dream where they told me exactly where they would be with someone else. As much as I tried to stop them from going out or tried to make plans they couldn’t get out of, they were already willing to lie. What’s more lies?”

“Huh,” he thought out loud, “are all your dreams just people telling you things? Like you don’t see something happen, someone tells you whats going to happen?”

“Yeah it’s always the same, someone comes in and sits at my kitchen table, then they tell me something. Like in the kidnapping case he told me he had her and the address. Luckily I remembered it and wrote it down,” she took another drink as the waitress came over to top her up, “I don’t always remember specifics like that. Just like normal dreams, you don’t always remember.”

As she said it, she realized it may not be a universal experience.

“Do you dream?” She asked carefully.

“Sometimes, occasionally, mostly about things from when I was very young. Before my accident.”

She nodded in understanding, immediately feeling silly about it so she said, “Oh, interesting”

He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable so he quickly changed the subject back to her.

“I believe you could do more good than you think, Viola”

She shifted in her seat, “well you don’t know me, I’m not any kind of hero.”

Matt chuckled to himself, “in my experience anyone can be a hero, you’ve already proven that you’re brave and heroic. You let them arrest you while waiting to be proven right, that’s pretty badass.”

She finally smiled at that, “I appreciate that.”

“And I don’t know you, but I’d like to, if you’re open to it,” his voice lowered like a secret.

“Ok,” she said with a yawn, “I’m open. It was nice to meet you, I have to get going. I need to take a nap or something before work.”

“You said you’re a singer right?” He asked, “when is your set?”

“I’m on at about 9 to 11 Thursday to Sunday, so I’m sure you can imagine this is going to be a long day for me,” slightly in a rush she started gathering her purse to leave.

“Can I come hear you sing tonight?” Matt asked quickly, “your voice is so nice just speaking I’m sure your singing is amazing.”

“Really? You don’t waste time do you?” She laughed as she got up from the booth. He could hear her heartbeat speed up, probably due to the compliment.

“Not really no,” he said with the most charming smile he could muster.

“Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll send you the address of the club? It’s right on the edge of Hells Kitchen”

He agreed, she got his number, thanked him for the coffee and left.

Matt got to the club at 9pm on the dot. The band didn’t come out until 9:10. Thursday night wasn’t packed but all the tables were full. Viola sang and he listened so closely, she certainly was talented and he enjoyed every second. It’s a jazz club, her band played standards and neosoul songs with a little bit of hip hop mixed in.

She could see him at his table, wearing a suit and drinking a beer. He nodded his head along with the beat and smiled every so often. After her set was finished she came over and sat at his table.

“I’m a little surprised you showed.”

“Your band is really good,” he said shifting in his seat toward her.

“Aw thanks,” she said, “it’s not really my band, they kind of found me”

“Your voice is amazing, I was right,” his own voice low and smooth as he could make it. He was still wearing his dark glasses but it was like she knew exactly what look he meant to give.

She lightly grabbed his arm, “thanks Matt, do you want to go somewhere we could talk more? It’s dinner time for me if you want to get food.”

“That sounds great Viola,” he said.

“Let me go grab my stuff from backstage real quick then we can go,” as she stood she slid her hand up to his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

He could still hear her behind the curtains talking to some of the other members of the band.

“Who’s the douche with the shades V?”

“His name is Matt. Did you also notice the cane? He’s blind you asshole,” she said, the other members of the band laughing at the others expense.

“Are you leaving with him? I thought you said you just met?”

“Yeah we did,” she said, “but he’s good, I can tell. And If he’s not I’ll probably find out by tomorrow.” She finished gathering up her things and putting on her coat. She made her way back over to Matt and offered her arm as she lead him past the bar and out of the club.

They ended up back in another diner, one of a few late night options. They sat opposite each other laughing and chatting. Matt said he wanted to get to know her and he wasn’t lying, but she was getting to know him too. When they finished up he asked her one final question.

“Will you tell me if I’m in your dreams tonight?” His mouth so close to her ear that the question gave her goosebumps.

“Maybe,” she said holding his arm as they waited for a cab, “depends on what you tell me. Either way I’ll call you tomorrow, is that ok?”

He took her hands and held them right in front of him so they were face to face. She was almost as tall as him, but he knew she was in heels. Feeling her shiver in the night air, he brought her in close wrapping one arm around her waist.

“That’s ok with me,” he reached up to gently cup her chin with his hand, “is this ok?”

She nodded into his palm and sighed contently. He pulled her face up towards his, his soft lips landing on hers. He pulled her in closer by the waist, and her arms moved to the nape of his neck.

He felt engulfed by her, even though she was small. Every scent on her, rosemary and lavender and eucalyptus. Smoke and liquor from the club, honey from the tea she just drank. He could hear coins rolling in the bottom of her bag, her earrings tapping against her neck when she moved, her shoes scraping the sidewalk. With his hands around her waist he could feel her skin hot under her thin dress, her long braided hair hitting the top of his hands, her nails scratching the short hairs on his neck.

It was a long, deep kiss. She felt it tingle her toes. Viola finally pulled away, said goodnight and got in her cab home.

#matt murdock #daredevil #matt murdock x oc

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carissimipaixao · 10 months

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Hi! I just wanted to say thank you for the great writing, especially your Lupin stuff (fr it’s so hard to find)

For the ask tag I’d like to hear: B, G, I, and M

That’s all, keep up the good work 😚✨

these aren't tears, you're seeing things 🥺😭 but seriously, thank you so much! i'll keep doing my best, just for you, dearest anon

also, this reply actually got very long, so i'll be putting under a "read more"!

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

hmm, well, i do try to incorporate my personal experience(s), depending on the subject and the story itself. for example, i think i tend to add my own mannerisms into characters' getting ready, how they have their inner dialogue, etc.? it's really splattered everywhere, although it's never fully self-indulgent either. i don't like making readers/oc feeling completely like empty slates. people can add/change things as they read the stories to themselves! (fun fact: when i was younger, i'd pretend fics' dialogue went differently, because i felt like the stories were awkward or out of character, and proceed reading according to my own changes or personal tastes) however, the closest fic i have to personal experience is this fic for yu-gi-oh, because it's 100% based on a very vivid dream i had with yami malik chasing me, as i ran in circles in the dark.

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

well, most of the time (or for one-shots), it's from start to finish. sometimes i start a story but then decide that scene fits better for the middle of the story, so then i go back and write the beginning to get to that same scene (which might get rewritten or not, so it's incorporated nicely into the story). however, if there is a particular scene i am dying to write, i sometimes go ahead and write it and i let it sit there until the current storyline gets there. then, i might rewrite it, depending on how long it has been since i picked the project up or depending on any new details on the plot or characters. this is a maybe scenario when writing one-shots, but it's a definitely when i'm writing multi-chapter stories.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

i really, really love time travel and stories involving alternative timelines, multiverses and that sort of thing. if i catch any tag that merely suggests it or a summary of a fic involving it, i'm clicking and i'm reading it for sure. i even have a doc (all the way from 2020) based on a project that may come out soon, where a lupin and jigen from another universe show up in the current universe, where jigen and the protagonist have completely different backstories and relationship. and i'm actually creating a doc where i will try to write down the gist of each main version of the main lupin cast, in case i decide to do the same type of fic for other characters. maybe people would like to read how, for example, a certain jigen would react to a certain scenario compared to another jigen? it's complicated. the doc is still very much in progress and i'll try to combine certain universes/iterations of lupin just so that it's a small guide (and considering certain iterations are quite similar). additionally, i like reading dark stuff, especially yandere!

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you'd care to share?

pearls and daggers (name subject to change)! it's a story pairing up jigen and reader/oc (i say original character because there is a reason for it, but readers can 100% see themselves as the protagonist), in a sort of slow burn/enemies to lovers situation. it's also going to be set before and after jigen meets/works with lupin. there might be another (former) pairing with the reader/oc, but we'll see! it's been in the works for two to three years now, because, as i've said in the past, 2019-2022 were difficult years to write in, due to blockages and lots of things going on, but i'm definitely looking forward to posting it and talking about it! alternatively, this series (because there will be extra stories, alternative scenes, etc.) will most likely get side-stories featuring other couples, such as lupin/reader, fujiko/reader, goemon/reader and zenigata/reader. these stories will have a somewhat different plot or pairing development, considering jigen's story is the main plotline. people can request prompts or even one-shots set in either of these plotlines, if they want, too!

also, like it was for what a thing to admit, i will be releasing a short story (20k+ words) for jigen, called chamber of reflection!

fanfic ask game!

#i am seriously crying #listen i've been here roughly since 2016 and began writing for lupin in 2017 give or take #there were lots of breaks here and there #but it feels like lupin is the only fandom thus far that hasn't given me any real “burnout”#at least i haven't lost interest in the show #tho just between you and i #i've been thinking i'm shadowbanned or just somewhat under people's radar?#or i've gone under radar #because i did use to have more readers before but #maybe that was due to “the first” movie because that helped people #I'M SORRY FOR THE RANT it is 5am here and i've not been sleeping for a week #exaggeration but understandably accurate #anon #fanfic letter ask game

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iamnmbr3 · 3 years

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Another day. Another questionable interview from someone involved with the production. This time the Director (who to her credit at least is better than Mike Waldron in that she is able to say she likes Loki’s character whereas his interviews drip with open disdain and disrespect and he can’t even pretend otherwise). (x)

Kate Herron: But Loki doesn't have many friends, you know? He builds this friendship with Mobius across the second episode.

Here again we get out-of-universe confirmation that the narrative framing of Mobius in a positive light is intentional. Mobius is not Loki’s friend. He’s his captor and his torturer. Loki isn’t on equal footing with Mobius. They don’t even have a boss-employee relationship. LOKI WAS MOBIUS’S SLAVE until he escaped. He was being held against his will and coerced under threat of death to work for Mobius and his organization without compensation. That is slavery. And it’s not ok.

Mobius also berated him by telling him that he is inherently evil and monstrous - the very things that drove him to suicide. Mobius is complicit in acts of torture, genocide, murder, privacy violation, and police brutality and shows no signs of having any problem with it. He’s no more Loki’s friend than Thanos or the Black Order are.

When has he ever treated Loki with dignity or respect? Even if we ignore all the horrific stuff, he’s just plain not nice to Loki. He constantly mocks and belittles him and never takes his side. That’s not a how a friend behaves! That’s how a bully behaves! Where is the basis for this friendship??!!

Kate Herron: “And obviously, we're seeing it through Loki and Sylvie's POV. You know, neither of them are good or bad. A complete, pure good hero would probably join the queue and be like, "Well, hopefully we'll get on the train." But they're not those characters. They're going to try and get on it.”

They snuck onto a train??? That’s what she thinks a grey character is? That’s so dull! Loki was a complex and grey character. Larry (as I call the tv show character) and Sylvie...got on a train without a ticket. That’s laughable! That doesn’t make me think about complex morality or issues. And c’mon. All the heroic Avengers have done that level of rule breaking MANY times and they don’t lose their “pure good hero status.” Tony Stark constantly does things like that! I want Loki back. HE is a grey character. But I haven’t seen him in the show so far. Instead I get Larry the watered down clown.

Kate Herron: “When Loki and Mobius are at Pompeii, for example, that's shown through Loki's POV, right? He's joyous and he cracked the case. Pompeii was horrific, but we're seeing it through his perspective and he's in a completely different headspace.”

You know a scene can have more than one emotion right? Like he could be happy about solving the case but also horrified at the destruction of Pompeii? Instead he is laughing at the people who are about to die horrifically and seems to have no compassion for them whatsoever. Sure people can headcanon reasons why he behaved that way (and more power to them. Fixing dumb canon is what fandom is all about!) but the narrative framing is to me pretty clearly lighthearted and the director confirms that intent. There seems to be no awareness that by having Loki behave so callously it makes him come across as incredibly cruel. Far more than he ever was in canon.

In Thor 2011 Thor is laughing while slaughtering Jotnar (as is considered appropriate in his culture) but Loki isn’t. He kills when he has to but he doesn’t enjoy it, something that’s unusual for the culture he was raised in. This Pompeii scene could’ve been a great time to see Loki’s more compassionate side as he looks at the people who are going to die. We could’ve seen some real conflict from him. And it would’ve been a great moment to start introducing the concept that he’s more than just a simple villain to more casual viewers. Instead, although they think they’re “redeeming” Larry over the course of the show they’ve made him far worse and more villainous. I wish they had hired an experienced Director who also understands Loki - like Kenneth Brannaugh!!! - rather than a Director who has never headed up a major project before. Though even the best Director couldn’t fix the abysmal and ooc script and story Mike Waldron came up with.

Kate Herron: “I think that's the thing that's really key for her is that she's a completely original character, completely born out of our writers, and that, for me, was exciting.”

Remember when I said Sylvie is the favored OC? Called it.

Kate Herron: “The train scene I love because Loki doesn't get many wins and it's nice to see him having a nice sing-song. He's just enjoying himself. Because I think that's such a funny way, as well, to show the difference between him and Sylvie is that she's on a mission. She's like, "We're going to get off this moon." And when she's offered a drink, she's like, "No, thank you."

WOW. I hate this SO much. So suddenly Sylvie gets to act more like Loki and Loki suddenly doesn’t know how to be subtle and is just a dumb clown messing everything up. C’mon! This is absolutely ridiculous. This is not Loki silvertongue. This is not the Loki who tried to diffuse the situation on Jotunheim and almost succeeded. This is not the Loki who was always a restraining voice in Thor’s ear. They’ve turned Sylvie into discount Loki without any depth or complexity or vulnerability and they’ve turned Loki into discount Thor ft. dumb clown! Absolutely outrageous.

Kate Herron: “everything is not what it seems and even in our design, people have picked up on certain things. Like the way that they dress, or the posters and that there's something a bit more going on there.”

If the TVA actually turn out to be twist villains I will laugh SO hard; I’d say that twist is too dumb even for Marvel but...it’s really not! Like. Guys. If they’re gonna be TWIST villains you have to not have them do obviously villainous things on screen!!!! BECAUSE THEN IT’S NOT A TWIST!!!!

From the moment we meet them we see them commit acts of police brutality, murder, genocide, trial without due process, enslavement, privacy violation, and torture IN ORDER TO ELIMINATE FREE WILL. Like. They are literally the most evil organization in the MCU. Even Thanos can’t compare. So having them be revealed as villains will fall flat. Because the twist isn’t the audience learning new information or the main character learning it. It’s just the narrative suddenly acknowledging it and treating their atrocities seriously. So the twist is in the real world not the show. And it’ll make Larry look like an even bigger idiot than he already does if he’s suddenly like “Wait the people who tortured and enslaved me are evil?! What?!??!” (I stg if he has to fight miss minutes in the end like I joked about I will lose it).

Also. Why make it a twist?! When you treat the villains as a joke it robs the narrative of tension. Their acts of evil should’ve been acknowledged from the beginning in order to create sympathy for the protagonist and tension in the narrative as we watch him try to escape this situation! Smh. The only funny joke in this series is how badly the writing fails.

#Loki tv series #random musings #Marvel #MCU #loki show #loki series #loki 2021 #loki tv show #Loki Series critical #loki tv series interviews #my post

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the-bloody-masquerade · 3 years

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End of Year ask! So I'm playing Amanda, the Ventrue PC in Coteries. It's my first time playing a Ventrue, and I never realized how difficult their bane is. What's the most difficult Ventrue bane you as a player have taken on, and/or given one of original Ventrue characters?

Also from baddass-at-cuddling: Second end of year ask is what do you think LaCroix's Ventrue bane is? Maybe he can only feed from handsome mobsters like Mercurio? 🤔 [I’m gonna throw both your asks in one because the second answer is gonna have a lot to do with my first answer.] And heads up trigger warning for mention of rape and slavery as I discuss a couple of White Wolfs more *edgy* character arcs. How about post-first-week-of-the-year ask. That’s about all the quicker I move with these asks. 😅 So! The Ventrue! I love them so much and they are my favorite clan. A lot of people with project their frustrations of the real-world “top 1%” onto the Ventrue and tend to treat them scornfully, or worse yet, project those frustrations onto the people who like the Ventrue. Its just make believe folks! There are numerous reasons to be fond of the vampire aristocracy and not all of them automatically equate “I want to lick the boots of harmful capitalists in real life.” Anyway, the Ventrue bane can be tricky but I think it is also one of the more appealing aspects of the clan due to how it is springboard for creativity and character development. There is no official “rhyme or reason” to why a certain Ventrue gets a certain Bane but I wanna take a little time to explain my personal pitch for how a Ventrue gets their Bane. Its not really a singular cohesive idea but I cannot fathom not making a Ventrue character’s Bane relevant to their personality or backstory. Something that explores some aspect of their psyche. Maybe constructs that sense of “personal horror” that vtm says it so loves to cultivate.

I actually know of very few canonical ventrue banes and a lot of them are... dicey. 😬

On the completely innocuous end of the spectrum you have characters like Victor Temple from LA by Night who’s preference appears to be people who “know who he is” ie recognize his fame. Its simple, and not at all difficult as long as he stays in LA or its culture sphere where he as a music industry mogul and social media personality is well known. Pretty easy to tie this to Victor psychologically, he craves recognition and maybe a human aspiration was transformed by supernatural Ventrue ambition upon his embrace. Sure would be an interesting challenge for Victor to travel to an area of the world where his music empire wasn’t well known...

Then there’s Alexander of Paris who’s blood preference only allowed him to feed from women who were in love (but not married). Devilishly specific, perhaps tricky, perhaps not if the Toreador-level-pretty Alexander could just make his blood dolls fall in love with him. I don’t know enough about this character to say if this is backstory-relavant to him.

On the dicey side you have things like our dear Jan Pieterzoon’s canonical blood restriction to only feed from rape survivors. Sort of recently I’ve seen people tossing about the headcanon that this could be made less stereotypically “White Wolf edgy dark shock value bullshit” if this was a reflection Pieterzoon being a survivor himself, and then exploring the aspects of a “personal horror” how having a blood restriction that reflects that. Because as far as I know, canon never does that, his restriction is just that way in canon to be edgy. On the other hand, yet another canonical Ventrue with a... squicky blood preference would be Andrew Seneca, a former black American slave who found out after his embrace that his blood preference was in fact, slaves. 😬I am not equipped to parse out the handling of this storyline so I won’t try but he’s got a listing on the white wolf wiki if you want to know. Without getting into it, his backstory and blood preference certainly seem to be made for a very hardcore impactful case of “personal horror,” especially regarding what he was going to do as the ages marched on, but again, I can’t really speak to how it was handled.

So by now you’ve figured out that I have a preference for Ventrue whos blood preferences speak to something intrinsic to their backstory or character arcs. I actually have something of a mini-dynasty of Ventrue OCs who’s blood preferences I’ve put a lot of thought into. I’d love to go into that but I’d prefer to do it on my personal project blog. So I’ll do that and tag you in it, okay Badass? But I will answer the question of my speculation on LaCroix’s blood preference here (finally, lol). I’ve seen a few people in fandom take a pass at it and many of them do wrap it into psychological aspects of LaCroix that they’ve explored in their own works.

I have seen a version of LaCroix where his blood preference is blood that is laced with alcohol and/or opium, ‘old timey comfort drugs’ speaking to his 19th century wartime backstory.

I’ve also seen a take in which LaCroix’s blood preference is dominant women, setting up an accidental embrace and romance that the author wanted to explore. The take that I use for my own fics is that LaCroix’s blood preference is real down to earth kind of people. Peasants, working class, to put it one way, but not because it contrasts with LaCroix’s presumed aristocracy. No, in my version LaCroix was born a common citizen into a family with only fair means. His vampiric blood preference for low-born hardworking folk is a reflection of almost all the people who surrounded him in life, family, hometown friends and soldier buddies. The kinds of people he remembers fondly from life. And our favorite even-tempered salt of the earth smuggler Mercurio fits that bill for LaCroix. Another thing I’ve always pondered is if a Ventrue’s ghouls are necessarily a “tell” as to their blood preference. I think for young Ventrue it would be, since traditionally you gotta feed on the person you’re going to ghoul to ghoul them so they have to fit their blood preference. That and one of the primary purposes for a ghoul is a quick easy snack. I suppose older Ventrue could acquire ghouls who aren’t their preference by going out of their way. To make a ghoul you just gotta exsanguinate them, you don’t necessarily have to drink it. [Edit, I mixed this up, the only difference between a ghoul and embracing a new vampire is a ghoul drinks vampire blood while in a state of good health, a new vampire is created when they drink blood while having barely any other blood in their system, ie being exsanguinated. I ALWAYS get the methods of ghouling/embrace confused] So yeah, there’s a whole big barf of my thoughts and ideas about Ventrue. I just kinda tend to do that, take a relatively simple ask and be like “WANNA SEE HOW LONG I CAN TYPE???” When I get there I’ll post about my Ventrue OCs’ blood preferences on my personal project blog. Until then thanks for reading!

#asks #badass-at-cuddling #ventrue #vampire the masquerade #vtm #blood preference

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buckyswinterbaby · 3 years

Text

Leave a Light On—Series Chapter 2

Song: “Bad Dreams” by Faouzia/“Ashes” by Céline Dion

Word Count: 1,724

Synopsis: In the process of settling into life at the new compound, Steve and Natasha find comfort in one another presence. Then together they start working towards rebuilding the program and assembling a new team of the Earth’s mightiest heroes.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff

Warnings: language, fluff, angst, death mention, grief, PTSD, eventual friends to lovers, slow burn (if you read real slow), eventual OC inclusion (not sure if that needs a warning but I don’t really wanna get complaints 😂).

Please like and reblog (I love that shit)! Click here to fill out the form to be added to my tag list!

Divider is made by me. Please as permission to use it.

Previous Chapters: Chapter 1

Note: Here be the second installment of LALO, I hope you all enjoy it. If you do, I would greatly appreciate a reblog/commentary as I’m just starting out (on Tumblr, I’ve written elsewhere). Let me know if you want to be added to my tag list!

It didn’t take long for the pair to settle into life at the compound once again, resuming their dynamics with one another, almost as if no time had passed. Things were still very different from the energy of the old compound. There were no early morning arguments over coffee grounds, Clint was no longer around to slip down the hall during his routine call with Laura. It was still home, just different.

The normal buzz of conversation was replaced with the sounds of ongoing construction on the opposite wing of the compound. Natasha complained, at first, about the steady sound of hammering and drilling that often began as early as eight in the morning, but the assassin soon found comfort in the consistency. She saw everything Steve was trying to build, the tired look in his eyes as contractors came to him with another problem they had uncovered and the bags under his eyes from another sleepless night. She wanted to help but for the first time in years, she was truly lost.

Even after the snap, she still knew Clint was alive and out in the world. She couldn’t find him but she could still function, if anything, keeping busy is what kept her sane. Following his death, she no longer had the energy to pick her work back up, at least not at the same level she did before. Natasha knew she spearheaded the Avengers after millions were dusted. She never gave up hope that a solution would be found and the lost would be returned. Clint’s death was permanent. “A soul, for a soul” was not a transaction that could be reversed and finding a way to live with that was easier said than done.

Steve was doing his best to help her and she saw it, the way he spread himself too thin. Too many nights of being jolted from his sleep from night terrors of his own or the screams that escaped her from across the hall.

As she shot up in bed from another nightmare of Clint falling to his death, she heard his familiar steps leaving his room before he punched in her access code to enter her room.

“Nat?” he called out, his voice still thick with sleep. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of her room, as only a thin strip of moonlight was cast across her bed. He shuffled over to her quietly, trying to not startle her in case she had yet to realize exactly where she was. Gently, he sat down on her bed and waited for her to gather her bearings.

Within a few minutes, bloodshot green eyes looked over at him, “Go back to bed, you look exhausted. I’m sorry I woke you.”

“I could say the same about you, you’re not looking so hot.” His hand moved to rest reassuringly on her leg as he spoke again, “Which one was it tonight? Vormir?”

Natasha nodded simply, “Isn’t it always?”

“No, some nights it’s the Red Room, during others it’s the battle. You don’t typically scream during those,” Steve answered, a hand running over his face as he tried to wake up. She tended to block out her night terrors to the best of her abilities as soon as she woke up, pushing them back into her subconscious, as deep as they would go. Normally after a few hours, she couldn’t even remember which nightmare she had that night.

“You have my nightmares memorized by if I scream or not?” Steve could see the slight outline of her grin in the moonlight. “That’s almost sweet, Rogers,” Natasha teased.

“Almost,” Steve let out a light chuckle and looked down as her hand moved to take his. He knew she was deflecting, it was a nasty habit of her’s that he was trying to break, but changes like that take time. “Let me help you. Lay down,” he instructed, his voice still calm and kind.

Natasha considered protesting like she usually did, but she was too exhausted. Steve moved to lean against her headboard, half sitting and half laying down in her bed, before he held his arms open. There was nothing romantic to his actions, just a friend offering support so she wouldn’t feel so alone. The assassin laid next to him, allowing his arms to hold her, and found a surprising amount of comfort in the simple act. They laid like that as Natasha eventually drifted off to sleep once again. Steve stayed still and watched her quietly, almost as if he was waiting to be sure her nightmares wouldn’t start again, before allowing himself to fall asleep.

When the sun rose the next morning, Natasha was still tucked closely to his side. It was not unusual for the two to end up in the same bed from one or both having a rough night. Sometimes it was just easier to have someone nearby. This night was not unlike the rest as Natasha blinked into consciousness and looked up at Steve, who was already awake and watching the sun rise quietly. The early morning rays washed over his features, a growing stubble on his jawline was now visible. Not that Natasha would ever admit it, but she preferred him this way. The facial hair was a change when he first decided to keep it, after his falling out with Tony, but it quickly grew on her and those he became allies with while on the run.

Natasha moved to sit up in the bed beside him, leaning against the headboard, “Did you even manage to sleep?” she asked with playfulness in her tone but concern on her face. She knew he never slept well after he came out of the ice and his problems only seemed to grow afterwards. He had a cocktail of PTSD from WW2, New York, Sokovia, Thanos, and even Germany. The events of his life were testaments to where he had been and what he had conquered to get where he was, but they also served as reminders to the price Steve had paid time and time again. He may have never truly died, but he lost more pieces of his life as time went on. Sometimes Natasha still found herself questioning why he came back when he had the chance to take back one of those pieces.

“I did, for a few hours,” he responded, looking away from the window and over to her with a light smile. “It’s more than I usually get, which I likely have you to thank for that.”

She lightly nudged him with her elbow, returning his look with a small grin. The pair sat in silence for a few more minutes, taking in the peace while they could. It was the rare moments like these that they were most grateful for, especially after everything that had happened within the past year. Nowhere to be, no tasks to be done, no one in need of saving. Just two friends sitting together in a building they were trying to make into a home.

Not long after, they went their separate ways to get ready for the day. Natasha walked into the new kitchen, her hair was still a bit damp from her shower. She couldn’t help but watch as Steve shuffled through a large stack of paperwork, his coffee sitting beside him, untouched. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he read through the first few documents. If only his day could continue as good as it began. Natasha quietly set a hand on his forearm as she reached for half the stack of papers in front of him.

“Natasha,-” he started to protest but was promptly cut off.

“Don’t try to fight me on this, Steve, you know I’ll win.” Natasha picked up the papers, moving them away from him, “Let me help you.”

The assassin moved to grab herself some coffee before sitting down with her half of the stack, skimming through the first few files quietly. After a few more moments, Steve spoke up, “I told you when you came here that I didn’t want you to help because you felt like you had to.”

“I’m well aware that I don’t have to. I’ve been here for what? Two, maybe three weeks since you picked me up? You haven’t pressured me to do a damn thing. I’m doing this because I want to. Besides, we always did make a good team, you and I.”

***

The next few weeks followed closely in suit with papers spread out across various surfaces and a steady brew of coffee filling their cups as they tried to piece it all together. There was a lot to plan for the program. Protocols, regimens, and most of all the criteria that would help them select possible candidates. Some of the structure was already there from the Avengers Initiative through S.H.I.E.L.D, or what it used to be. But they both knew how much the world had changed since the original program launched and they knew the new one had to be able to grow and develop with it.

It took some time, but eventually, they managed to narrow down the core ideals they wanted any recruits considered to hold true to. Many of which were formed from the most prominent and influential traits of their old team. The values that not only made them heroes, but the ones that made them human.

That was the goal afterall, was it not? Not the perfect soldiers that the government may want, but good individuals. People from all walks of life that could come together to create something larger than themselves.

Steve and Natasha stood outside the compound after the last few construction projects on the compound were finished. As they looked at the future of the Avengers Program, they couldn’t help but smile lightly, knowing that Tony and Clint would be proud of what they built from the ashes of what use to be.

Natasha crossed her arms and took in a deep breath, “So, what’s next?”

“Now, we find some recruits.” Steve responded, looking over at her, “You ready for a road trip?”

“I am, but I’m driving this time. I’d like to arrive before I get to be your age.”

“You know what, Romanoff…”

#natasha romanoff #steve rogers #steve x natasha #Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff #romanogers #romanogers AU #marvel #marvel AU #marvel fanfic series #marvel fanfiction #captain america #black widow #marvel angst #leave a light on #leave a light on series #LALO #LALO series

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deliciousscaloppine · 3 years

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Hot takes galore 2: A brief overview of fandom backlashes that influenced fanfiction writing traditions as I have personally experienced them.

In this segment we examine...THE INDOMITABLE MARY SUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, as I was entering fandom in 2008 (Bleach, a manga by Kubo Tite), the hottest, sweattiest discourse pertained perhaps to Mary Sues. I thought the hatred of Mary Sues had completed its cycle and it was dead and gone in our days, BUT I happened upon a post that said that we are all stanning Moxiang Tongxiu’s OCs (original characters), in a sort of admonishing tone, and I couldn’t help but smile.

For back in the day, OCs, were termed self-inserts at best, and if they were a female protagonist that would sideline the canonical cast of characters then they were Mary Sues. And there were as many people hating original characters, and Mary Sues in particular that I remember sitting up all night thinking on whether I should post or not this fic that had some OCs in it that were there to just deliver some messages.

And of course this bled into accusations of writing canonical characters as basically “original characters” or “self-inserts”, by use of the term “ooc” (out of character). Personally, I thought this was over, but recently Riri accused me of disregarding the existing characterization and turning the CQL characters into my own original characters...for KINKY HAVOC IN VOLCANO PALACE!

An unjust accusation, I feel, Riri, because I do my damnedest to maintain characterization even under the wildest circumstances.

People were looking to extend their enjoyment of the existing characters and story, and for some reason fanfic authors could come under fire for not catering to that, and writing for their personal self-fulfillment.

And there were as many people writing oc’s and Mary Sues as there were people hating them, and the writers for it. It was chaos, there were journals (i was in livejournal) devoted to roasting mary sues, laughing at authors etc. If you came in fandom after me, you live in much much gentler times, and perhaps you have the Mary Sue to thank for that, because the Mary Sue kickstarted a lot of fandom feminist discourse.

Back in the day they usually determined “Mary Sue” as an overpowered, female character, whom everyone loved even though she might not be particularly charming (by whose standards?), who was adept at everything, knew everything, felt everything etc.

The thing is that Mary Sues did not seem to exist only in fanfiction, but everywhere around us, whenever there would be a project film/show/comic/book that had a strong female protagonist.

And that was because fandom and male nerd culture were intertwined. Anime, games, comic books were heavily “invaded” by swaths of girls who were not quite fulfilled by corny pop stars, or saccharine rom coms, and seeing that there were no female power fantasies available in these media, they created their own.

It was a very interesting time because if you remember, Marvel Movies started getting made around that time, riding on that convention power, which was dominated by male nerd culture - and that is why they gave so little screen time to female characters, because the demographic was pretty thoroughly examined and they were found to dislike any and every female character that was not there to validate the male character’s cishetero sexuality (YEAH BABY)

I mean women, actresses, female characters had a good portion in media, and the marvel cinematic universe and its imitators pretty much sidelined all these people very aggressively. Male stories started exploding and taking over during this time, exploiting that very vocal male nerd demographic.

But where is the backlash you ask, because so far we’ve only seen the oppression.

I saw a lot of writers struggle with the validity of the female character, and then the validity of female writing. They conflated writing female characters, as writing without examining themselves, or attaining a neutral voice and a role of representing accurately reality (lol). Writing Mary Sues was bad writing, and at some point all women were Mary Sues.

...So can you guess what happened?

A lot of these people turned to male slash in order to cope. Before the Mary Sue hate, male slash was a considerable but not dominant piece on the fanfic pie, which was mostly dominated by main het ships. Male slash was already enjoyed by female heterosexual audiences, but it started gaining more and more traction until a term was coined (shipping goggles), and accusations were once more flung: that fangirls will ship any two white dudes - not untrue.

This audience was not very friendly to actual gay people. There were all sorts of strange views passing before my bespectacled eyes at the time. People proclaiming that they loved yaoi (i was in manga, so this was the term used), but would not watch gay porn, and thought gay people were gross. And in the case where gay people were in fandom these people often complained of not being included/invited in fandom activities, or having minimal readership from groups that promoted male slash, but not gay writers.

This is why I often say fandom is not a friendly place for lgbtq people, because this type of audience still exists, even if it had to suppress their discomfort and assimilate the rhetoric of allyship at some point. And sadly a lot of people who dominated these early discussions about fandom becoming more lgbtq friendly since it consumed such relationships in media, managed to set this climate of dishonesty where everyone is pro-lgbtq in theory, but not in action.

Meaning a lot of stereotyping that is not endemic to actual lgbtq communities. Like top-bottom (most people are verses), whiny bottom, subby bottom, violent top, aggressive sex, hypersexual gay characters, almost complete erasure of bisexuality, lesbians what are they?, a complete and absolute fear in portraying trans characters, suppression of genderfluidity, accusing people of writing male gay characters as female characters as a form of wish-fulfillment or supposed homophobia.

A while ago I saw this article asking why lgbtq people are so mean to each other that confused me thoroughly, until I remembered this call out phase that happened a while ago and still goes on, where everyone blames everyone else of abusing and gaslighting them, friendships falling out etc, which is not at all the reality of older lgbtq scenes, because these were not formed online under this climate.

And because fandom is a vehicle for self-exploration a lot of people to this day conflate consuming lgbtq relationships through media as being lgbtq themselves, or these “actual” relationships being set as these other fictional “idealized” relationships. Whereas in older lgbtq scenes a lot of people come into them by realizing their attraction to actual, real, live people and not characters, or hot celebrities.

I am not saying that current lgbtq people who discovered that about themselves online are lying, or lying to themselves, but they definitely came out in an environment of fake acceptance, and have a hard time reconciling reality with that lie of acceptance through no fault of their own, of course, because they never developed the language and the understanding that language brings in order to communicate amongst them. The characteristics were set by a group outside of them that might be pro gay marriage, and having a cool gay friend, and the inherent tragedy of homosexuality or something, but are not really for it - as a very wise queer eye contestant once said.

And so every trespass by their own people, becomes a proof of this generalized rejection with tremendous consequences for young people’s mental health. YOU ARE BEING GASLIT IT’S TRUE - but not by your own people, it’s just a miscommunication going on there.

BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MARY SUE. She changed. She stopped seeking love, sex, and power, or at least pretended that she did not want any of these things, or did not understand them, she stopped speaking, and became more stoic so people wouldn’t judge her opinions, and finally one day she went on to accomplish great things, because women seeking representation was also a pretty set demographic, and somebody could and would exploit that!

The Twilight Saga, Fifty Shades of Grey, even Hunger Games, are the media progeny of the Mary Sue powering through the entirely of male nerd culture. In a whole decade where people wanted Marvel to release a Black Widow movie, there have been three major spy/action girl movies that did very well in the box office, and since producing and releasing a movie usually takes three years, i’d say the audience was heard loud and clear - even though not by Marvel.

And the side girls in these Marvel movies, or other action movies, became more and more badass - they all went from damsel in distress, to saving the hero, and of course the male characters were subsequently “queer-ified” until everyone was finally happy, and nerd culture was exposed as having been infiltrated by neonazis and that’s why it was making those unreasonable demands for no women ever in the first place.

And everything was right in the world, except that it was not. Because...girls had also been infiltrated by “neonazis”. A lot of these media, and a lot of these “white” Mary Sues, fall under many conservative criteria. Conservatism being a nice word for fascism.

A few examples is the person of color always dies, or is brutalized, or is admonished constantly even as they shadow the protagonist in order to reinforce their inherent radiance. Characters who might be poc in books or in the anime (hur hur), are whitewashed in the visual media. The women are almost never comfortable with sex or romance, always thinking about the future and amassing power, not for themselves, but for the benefit of the resistance, or the family, or any other entity they belong to. And of course they are forever incredibly flawed - as opposed to idealized versions of male heroes always on the side of good for the right reasons! Also a minimal cast of women, with one woman being the protagonist, and the rest functioning as side characters or mostly antagonists.

So every time you feel a slight trepidation for not being the right type of lgbtq for writing something that is not strictly anal, or fear to include feminine characters, every time you erase yourself from the narrative it is it, the spectre of the Mary Sue coming to haunt you with a “We won, what more do you want?”

#fandom history?

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ashenburst · 3 years

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How to solve the problem of writing your characters as self-inserts... and how to give them a more unique voice

First of all, I sure hope you have recognized that you have this problem. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t, I suppose, but never mind that. Onto the issue at hand!

Wonderful, you’ve got your character designed and you’ve filled out a dozen of sheets and excel tables, you know their natal chart, MBTI, enneagram, everything. And that should be the fun (maybe not easy) part. Good, let's say you're done with that, and now you have to actually sit down and write the book.

What happens often is that, although you know your characters - hell, you've created them and got that fancy OC sheet all full - you just don't know how to write them. Characters don't seem to pop, and you can't help but notice that you're having a hard time writing them as... themselves, not as yourself. Maybe you aren’t confident enough to take risks, which is, let me tell you, not going to be satisfying for anyone. Maybe you just feel too stiff when writing and can’t get rid of that feeling. Whatever may be the case, you simply have this approach where the characters act and think like you. This is usually the case with the protagonist, of all people.

And in that case, what to do?

Truth be told, when writing, being self-referential is inevitable. However, it isn't always a bad thing. Better write about something you understand and can relate to, than something foreign, because it might turn out weird or unrealistic. So don’t feel too embarrassed about it. But, it's important to know how exactly to create characters who you'll give bits of yourself to. It's just like that: you should give the character only one, or a few aspects of your personality, and create the rest of the character from that basis.

You knew that character when you gave them an aspect of yourself, now meet them even better by creating them! That way, you won't have one character who's screaming "author", you'll have multiple characters with diluted elements of the author, easy to write, because they’re partially you.

This works for both main and non-main characters. If the POV comes directly from the main character, it should be written in a way that you understand them, regardless of how much they resemble you. Understanding the character is the key. I personally prefer having multiple main characters (and POVs) because it's refreshing to jump from one mindset to another, and saving “one” part of myself for another character.

I underline, it's absolutely fine to give some characters some of your thoughts and personality. The emphasis is on some.

Other advice I’d also give you:

- Read more, watch more, analyze. Try reading more of those “boring” books that focus on the introspective. For a quick, and yet interesting read, I recommend Hunger by Knut Hamsun. The main character there struggles with writing too. Stranger by Albert Camus is a must read as well, it will make you realize just how absurd humans are, and thus, perhaps, open your eyes to more possibilities. Just read! That’s always a good thing to do, no matter how you want to improve.

- MBTI, enneagram, Zodiac and such things make for a good basis for your character. Do label them with as many combinations as you can and read about their typical reactions/behavior. It can be a good guideline, although tiring to achieve, because you’ll have to read plenty of articles.

- Focus on the backstory, especially the childhood. Most people are willing to give the character one traumatic event, a couple of sentences too, and call it a day, no? Well, in the years of experience, that can’t have been the only thing to have happened, nor the defining factor. There’s so much in there, and no, you don’t have to know everything, but a faint idea and multiple details/events are enough. Just think of all the things you have done, have impacted you, and how easily memories stick to you, as well as resurface. An odd example: trees with red leaves remind me of my childhood... as well as Maroon 5. Why? I used to climb such trees in a nearby park with my friends, and one of them liked to play Maroon 5 on her phone while we were up there. Memories are funny like that. It isn’t always trauma that occurs to the character. It’s just so much more.

- Try not to start writing a book when you don’t know your characters well enough. Improvisation is possible and while you may be able to pull it off and figure out the character on the go, it’s always better to have some details set, especially if you’re writing a serious book.

- While designing the character, think visually, and how their fashion/appearance communicates. When it comes to communication, give the character some quirks in speech, phrases they repeat more often, lots of mumbling/yelling or lack thereof, such tiny details.

- In addition, it’s also okay to see your character variate from the original concept, and fit the story. Don’t be afraid to change your ideas, this is your project and it is yet to be finished. Until then, you can do anything you want.

Extra:

Hirohiko Araki is often referenced as one of the ideal creators, character and plot wise. Though his characters are certainly “wacky” to those who are not fans of his work, they’re all brilliantly characterized and feel incredibly human, despite the bizarreness. There are multiple interviews and sources that explore his creative process, and I recommend that you check them out, precisely because they’re so unorthodox!

#writing #writing tips #writing advice #write #author #writers on tumblr #writing help #advice #tips #haha look at this haha it's an actual post

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themurphyzone · 3 years

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3, 4, 13, 26, 27, & 34!

Thanks for the ask @plutonis! I’m sorry this is gonna be long cause I’m gonna rant about a WIP concept that may not ever come to fruition.

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

I honestly don’t know. I think it’s just easier for my work to be noticed in a small fandom than a larger one.

4. Are there any writers that inspire you?

I borrowed a lot from skimmingsurfaces and SylviaW1991. I was inspired to write my first PatB story last year from their works.

Pluto listens to me scream about torturing mice, plus her works are always great if you like that bittersweet/downright tragic vibe.

@deez-art for kickstarting the PatB Disney AU trend.

Big shout out to everyone in Air Mice Nyoom for the mutual support!

13. First fandom you ever wrote for?

My first posted fic was for Phineas and Ferb way back in 8th grade, but I did fill up quite a few notebooks with Pokemon stories. My writing has improved a lot over the years, mostly because I never attempted to post my Phineas and Ferb/Sonic Underground crossover on the net. I was in middle school and we were all dumb at that age XD

That one still haunts me...I think I still have it somewhere in a notebook.

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

Can’t say. Everybody in this fandom is so nice and I love hearing what people love about my stories.

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of.

From the ending of Eurydice:

"Just say narf, just say narf.

We're alright, we're okay, so let's say narf.

You and I will have tomorrow nights again.

No matter what happens, I'm always your friend…"

I’m proud of my happy ending okay they needed it.

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

I have a WIP concept for a 101 Mice based off 101 Dalmatians, which would’ve involved a number of OCs (yes, including a group of OC Brinky kids.), but it might not get anywhere tbh. Mostly because I don’t really deal in OCs unless they’re minor characters.

The concept: The villain would’ve been an OC named Malicia de Vil, who’s a niece to the original Cruella. Basically she’s an eccentric rich woman who became interested in breeding mice to create fur trimmings for accessories and dresses (since the story takes place in southern California, an entire fur coat would be impractical), and ACME Labs took the generous funding they were given by her to create Project Gloss, which would’ve raised hundreds of baby mice to adulthood until their fur was ready for collection.

To accomplish this, the gene splicer from the failed Project BRAIN would be reconfigured to splice genes that favor long, lush fur, and sentience was just a throwaway side effect this time around. However, the mice subjected to this experiment were much younger than the ones used in Project BRAIN, and many didn’t survive.

Brain is in the middle of his usual plans of world domination when someone brings in 2 survivors of Project Gloss just after the gene splicing. They’re left in a different cage across the room and are squeaking from hunger and cold. Pinky is immediately drawn to the babies since he’s got a bad case of Empty Nest Syndrome since Romy left home, and so does Brain but it’s not like he’ll admit it. Brain warns about getting attached, but nope these are Pinky’s babies now, so Brain unlocks the cages for his friend so he can go care for the babies.

Still trying to salvage the plan, Brain goes into the gene splicer room to obtain a few spare parts for his machine...then he hears a tiny, weak squeak, and discovers a small, barely alive, gene-spliced mouse baby. Brain tries to steel himself against it and tries to gather what he needs first then retrieve the baby immediately afterward, but the squeaking suddenly stops and Brain panics, immediately dropping the plan in favor of warming up and reviving the baby. Thankfully, she survives.

Pinky is confused when Brain shows him the 3rd baby, but he quickly accepts her along with the other two. Brain is highly emotional at this point and just plops against Pinky, and he finds that Pinky has already named the two babies he was taking care of Colby Jack and Pepper Jack.

Pinky asks what Brain named the baby he’d brought in, and Brain tells Pinky he can name her if he wants, but Pinky says it’s only fair if they get to name 2 kids each, and Brain’s only named Romy so far.

So Brain concedes and after some deliberation, settles for calling the infant Amygdala (nicknamed Amy for everyday use), after the portion of the brain that controls memories and emotions. Pinky accepts the name and they sleep the rest of the night.

Brain researches the details of Project Gloss soon after the babies’ adoption and realizes that their new charges will be raised only for their fur and will be killed for it once they’re grown. So the mouse family stow away with a young intern couple who are essentially this AU’s versions of Roger and Anita so the babies can be protected. The interns, while they don’t speak mouse, care deeply enough to allow the mice to hide in a purse so they can be smuggled out of the lab and into their home. A hidden camera catches them at this though, and Malicia de Vil is highly displeased and orders the interns’ positions terminated, though neither of them are particularly upset about this.

3 months later, Colby, Pepper, and Amy are thriving, and their big bro Romy even drops in for a visit every now and then, much to Pinky and yes, even Brain’s delight. While Pinky loves his family, he also craves a date night with Brain, and they go out to dinner. Romy is having a movie night with Bunny at their own place. The babies are tucked in and asleep, and the interns are just cuddling on the couch.

Then somebody breaks in, non-fatally injures the human couple, and steals the mouse kiddos. Halfway through their dinner, Pinky is overcome by panic and thinks something is terribly wrong. Brain tries to reassure him the kids are just asleep, but Pinky won’t listen and rushes out the door in the direction of home, so fast that Brain can’t keep up. Brain stays behind to get the half-eaten meals boxed up and paid for, annoyed with Pinky for breaking the date night.

By the time Brain gets back, Pinky is a complete mess, the humans are just calling 911 to report a break-in and injuries, and the kids are nowhere to be found.

Eventually Brain finds a lead that points to the de Vil mansion, and the two set out to rescue their kids. They also recruit Romy and Pharfignewton’s help in the journey.

This took way too long to type lol XD

#pinky and the brain #thanks for reading my rant #i know it's long #ask meme

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northelypark · 3 years

Text

Tagged by @101flavoursofweird (thank you!!) Tagging @chyouxart and @dappledwrites

Answers under the cut!

How many works do you have on AO3?

Eight. Mostly Lamplight Letters related stuff. I want to eventually branch out and write about other PL characters, but there’s so many ideas I still want to explore with Clive, Amelia, Gemma, and Bernard, so... expect mostly them for the indefinite future.

What’s your total AO3 word count?

59,512

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Rayman, Professor Layton, and I once wrote a High School Musical/Kingdom Hearts crossover as a teen wherein I shipped Ryan Evans and Aerith and I wish I still had it so I could laugh at it.

In the past, I’ve written mostly original stuff. It takes a really special fandom to hit that sweet spot of me being totally obsessed with it and feeling like there’s room to explore and expand on characters or ideas.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Lamplight Letters (22) - My current big project. Amelia and Clive solve mysteries at a boarding school together.

Awakening (7) - The first of an ongoing series that explores an AU where Clive is turned into a vampire and inadvertently finds himself out of prison and in a London very different than the ones he remembers.

Queen of Spades and Spoons tied for third (6) - Both Climelia fluff/angst so this makes me happy they’ve gotten a few kudos

Traces of Glitter and Taxonomy tied for fourth (5) - Both Gemma stories. I need to write more happy fluff for her, she deserves it.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes, and I’m trying to be better about responding quickly, now that I’m more involved in the fandom again. I had about a two year hiatus where I was figuring a lot of stuff out and it took me months to respond to comments. I’m going to try to keep up with them better, as best I can, because I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to comment on my stuff. I never expected anyone to enjoy fics involving my OCs or my niche pairing in an equally niche fandom, but it means a lot to me and always makes my day when I see a new comment.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Awakening. I don’t want to spoil it, just in case anyone reading this wants to check it out, but Clive has an all around bad time.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not yet 👀 Though I am forever amused by the hate Clive/Amelia received on a Layton confessions blog a few years back. As one of the only people making content for the ship I guess that can be construed as hate toward my fics lolol. I’m just flattered I managed to produce enough content of them for someone to get angry.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yes, but nothing I’ve published. Maybe someday, if I ever feel confident and comfortable enough. Just older Climelia things. But I’d rather explore the story of how they slowly reconnect as adults before I dive into anything spicy lol. I feel like that’s something I have to earn.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of?? I would be kind of flattered I guess, because of how niche my stuff is.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but definitely impressed by those who take the time to translate fics.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No and probably never will. Writing is challenging enough without adding collaboration to the mix. The closest I’ve come is the back and forth head-canons and drabbles me and my gf @chyouxart send each other.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Clive/Amelia. Don’t ask me how an obscure rare-pair grew to be my OTP. It started out with loving both characters and also thinking they’d have good chemistry and things building from there. I liked the challenge of writing a backstory for them and having to create their relationship from scratch.

I’m a sucker for the dynamic of too very cold, very proud people slowly opening up and becoming warm and soft towards each other through rocky, slow-burn friendship. And rivalry banter that turns into flirting. And both having difficult pasts that have eroded their trust and slowly learning to mend it through the things they go through together. And of course the angst that comes with Clive’s eventual decisions and what might happen to their relationship after that. Climelia is my tailor-made ship. It also has big sentimental value, because it’s the ship that allowed me to safely explore a lot of things I didn’t fully realize about myself and further connect with my now gf @chyouxart so it means a lot to me.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Lamplight Letters T_T I guess I should amend this question to I hope I’ll be able to finish it. I’ve just been working on it for so long, and now that I’m re-writing a lot of it, it’s going to take even longer. It’s been a bit discouraging, but also I feel a lot better about the early chapters and it is satisfying to see how my writing has improved. I just hope to one day complete it and be able to turn my attention to other big projects, even if that day is still far off.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I’m pretty good at writing descriptions, especially for locations? I’m also always pretty proud of my metaphors and similes, though I’m trying to learn to use them more sparingly. I’m a lot more confident in my internal monologues now after writing so many for Amelia.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Not something I’ve attempted yet, and if I did, I’d want to make sure I did my research and would be able to portray other languages respectively and authentically. It can add a lot to a character if done well, if done poorly it just comes off as a gross caricature.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Rayman. I was obsessed with the original PS1 game and created an entire expanded universe for it.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Lamplight Letters will always be my baby. I love it. I hate it. I could spend the rest of my life working on it. I want to throw it into space. I wrote the first chapter on a bored whim and it quickly grew into the most ambitious writing project I’ve ever worked on. Definitely served as a writing boot camp for me and I feel like I’ve grown a lot through it, including meeting some amazing people in the fandom.

#writing #asks #the lamplight letters

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