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cactusringed · 6 months

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You know, whilst obviously a cushy ass job, I don't think many people appreciate how difficult and stressful content creation is. Humans were never meant to have millions of eyes on them and especially people in their 20s or lower are never going to be the perfect emotionless content creating machine

Idk, it's just the way I see some people talk about CCs is kind of painful. Maybe I'm being a bit parasocial, but a few are around my age, or even younger, and I can't help but wonder how horrifically choking it must be to have to continuously entertain millions of people. I know it's easy to forget just how much that is. But even one million is a staggering amount of people. Many of them have over 5+ million subscribers.

And worse yet is that they have to balance their genuine friendships and emotions with what will be considered entertaining to an audience. It's easy as scarian girlies to be upset when Grian avoids Scar so much in the life series since third life, but I think that annoyance is a bit misplaced both because 1. They still interact quite a bit and their interaction are always full of joy and radiate with their friendship even when they play enemies, and 2. In the grand scheme of things, we remain a minority within the 8 million people who are subscribed to Grian. Many more would be annoyed to get the same storyline over and over.

There is an unfortunate pragmatism that content creators in such series have to employ. They need to juggle between their friendships, the people they tend to hover around, and the idea of what would make good content. As much as scarian girlies would eat up 5 seasons of scarian alliance, the nature of their natural friend dynamic as well as the series in general would lead to it being repetitive. It would lead to decreased viewer satisfaction. Decreased viewership. Decreased money. They're in the unfortunate position of monetizing their friendships. Who they ally themselves with is not just a matter of who they like most, but it's also a business decision. None of us are in the position to fully appreciate that, unless there are content creators with millions of followers in the midst of mcyt fans ig.

Idk. Idk. Maybe I'm too protective of CCs or whatever. But I've seen too many folks completely dehumanise them and fully forget that they're just dudes playing Minecraft for a living with their friends in front of million of people. A lot of these dudes are in their 20s or 30s. Hell, even those in their 40s have a right to struggle with shit as well. That level of attention on you can be terrifying. They reserve the right to do what they fucking want, and furthermore reserve the right to offer the kind of content they want. And maybe that includes not exploring a storyline or trope or character the fandom is hyped about because they got spooked by the attention, or flat out aren't comfortable with it. Maybe it's trying to be aware of how often they magnetize towards their closer friends, and thus avoiding making all of their videos about them, because they want to ensure the amusement of the million of people who watch them.

Idk. Idk. There's a level of entitlement we can sometimes feel towards the CCs that we as a fanbase - that we as individual people - need to be aware of and question. These are people. They're professional but not in the same sense that film actors are professionals. The majority of them completely stumbled into their popularity and their spontaneity ends up weighed down by that awareness of an audience. Idk. Grian won't read your posts about him but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be kind

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s1lly-gh02tz · 6 months

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So I made a hc/rant/character analysis on spamton a few weeks ago and after reading over Jevil’s wiki page I decided to make one for him🥳

Personality:

I see Jevil as a pretty childish person. He struggles to take things seriously and he always jokes around during serious situations, even before he lost grasp of himself. He also does things very impulsively. If it comes to mind, he’ll do it without a second thought. It usually ends up with somebody getting physically hurt.

Jevil isn’t a very emotional person. He doesn’t really understand that what he’s been through and his emotions mean so he doesn’t really feel sad about it. However while he is “free” he does feel very lonely and everything he’s been through finally hits him. He realizes that he’s screwed up. He’s upset for a while but then he realizes it doesn’t matter. Everything’s just a game. He can do whatever he wants. This also means he ignores his emotions sometimes and does things to his absolute limits.

Story:

I see Seam as more of a friend/parental figure towards Jevil. I see Seam a lot older than Jevil and a lot more responsible and caring. They’re able to keep Jevil out of as much trouble as possible. The both of them always enjoyed playing games together, while that either playing literal games, doing tricks using their powers or fighting each other (but never actually hurting eachother)

The two were very well known and successful as entertainers. They would always perform for the king and large crowds and they loved it. Seam would for example, “cut Jevil in half” like that one magic trick. Jevil would juggle different things Seam threw at him etc etc.

Eventually when one day Jevil met that someone it entirely changed his view of the world. Although before he was childish, impulsive, and could never take things seriously all of these qualities basically doubled. He would speak very fast and always repeat words, making it a tad hard to understand sometimes. Seam became worried as time went on until one day Jevil took things too far, probably hurting someone.

This broke out a fight between them, first with yelling, and ending violently. Both of them were very skilled fighters, however Jevil had Seam beat. After a long, bloody battle Jevil swung the Devilsknife and took out the button in Seam’s eye, worsening their sight in that eye. Finally Jevil snapped out of his insanity for a moment. He couldn’t believe what he had done. He didn’t know how to feel.

Before things got any worse he was locked away in the castle. While in prison, the loneliness only made him drift further and further into insanity. He realized that he was the only one truly free. He was the only one who knew that everything was truly just a game. He could do anything while in there.

Although he laughed everything off, as I stated he missed everyone. He missed his friends, he missed Seam. But although he didn’t want to admit it, he was scared to see them again. He knew what he did was awful.

Other relationships:

OK OK SO THIS SECTION IS VERY HEADCANONY. NONE OF THIS (Or most atleast) ISNT CANON😫

anyways spamvil time🥳

so I’ve already said before what I think their relationship was before and after and how they met in my Spamton “analysis/headcanon” post. However I want to talk about what happened after they divorced.

While Jevil was in prison, he looked back on a lot of things, Spamton being one of them. They both really loved eachother. However when the both were driven into insanity, they couldn’t handle each other. Both of them weren’t themselves. Besides the two are actually pretty different if you think about it. For example, Spamton doesn’t feel in control. He’s a puppet. Jevil however is the opposite. He feels in control and that whatever he does, doesn’t matter. He can do whatever and it won’t affect anything.

Ok no more spamvil ☹️ seam time 🔥

As I said before I see seam as a parental figure towards Jevil. they took care of him and kept him safe. They were a great parent, however they couldn’t handle him after he met that person.

I don’t exactly know how Seam met Jevil but for a while Jevil helped Seam run their shop. Seam themself didn’t really have many friends, nor did they really want any. They liked being alone. However, they very much enjoyed Jevil’s company. He could really brighten seam’s day.

After all that shit happened, Jevil was fought and defeated, I feel like him and Seam reunited. Again, I haven’t really thought of how but maybe it would go along unexpectedly. Like Jevil could just be strolling around the kingdom and unexpectedly run into Seam’s shop. He didn’t really know what to do but he knew it would be best for him to just keep walking. He didn’t want to see what he had done to Seam, because he had blocked out as much of the memory as possible. However Seam did see Jevil outside.

Seam stepped out and called Jevil back. Jevil, for one of the first times ever, was scared. He looked Seam in the eyes and felt a wave of sadness and guilt. He saw the tear in Seam’s eye. The stitches holding together their fur. Unexpectedly, Seam was excited to see him. They hugged him and told Jevil how much they’d missed him. Jevil completely broke down, apologizing profusely for what he’d done. He cared about Seam more than anything. Seam had done so much for him. But Seam wasn’t mad. Seam realized what had happened to Jevil. They knew something had happened to make him that way

They hugged it out and stuff and they’re good now😸

Ok that’s about it! Lmk if anything’s screwed up bc I literally just came up with all of this on the spot😎

#deltarune #deltarune analysis #character analysis #head canons #jevil #Jevil deltarune #deltarune jevil #Jevil the jester #seam #seam deltarune #spamvil #spamton x jevil #jevil x spamton #rambles

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pricescigar · 6 months

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My opinions on Call of Duty Modern Warfare III

Call of Duty MWIII Spoilers down below. Don't look if you haven't played the game!

Disclaimer: This is my own opinion everyone has a right to their own opinion. Please don't fight in the comments. :)

With that being said here it goes.

Campaign over all, I give it a 8.5 out of 10

The campaign over all for me, it was amazing. Yes it was supposed to be a DLC, yes it was supposed to be this or that, yes we was supposed to have a two year time frame for the game. I get it.

The missions could be a little longer, and they've could've added a mission dedicated to only using snipers. Like in MWII with Gaz & Price

Those are the only two issues I have !

The movement and guns were good, I had a lot of fun, the odd occasional banter between the characters was what I liked too.

Yes the game was rather short and quick, either way I had a lot of fun even if it didn't take me long to complete it.

I was so happy to see Nikolai again, Laswell, Farah and Alex. My bbys ❤️

And part of me also thinks Yuri will replace Soap? But that's me just jumping to conclusions, but I know Yuri will play a bigger role soon!

We just have to be patient.

The Combat Missions:

I actually really liked them, it was different. Sure it was like Warzone / DMZ and I could've easily played them, but it gave you the option to go in stealthy or go in hells blazing. It gave you either those options.

But I also why people dislike the open combat, it isn't for everyone's taste.

You had the opportunity to be each and every person in the Task Force, hell, even be Farah as well.

Overall I liked what they did with it.

I just play the missions and go along with it lol

Vladimir Makarov

Julian did such an amazing job portraying Makarov, he knew what he was doing when he was first revealed I was so excited to see him. He took the role and he ate it up, easily one of the best villains in Call of Duty.

His screen time was very limited, very limited, which I was a little disappointed by. But even when he wasn't on screen, he caused a lot of damage.

But what he did in MW3 was just the tip of the iceberg and I know whatever it'll happen next. There will be bigger plans for his character. And what other plans he'll have in store.

Which I can't wait to see.

Now... Soap's death

I know a lot of people are mad, I hear you, I your feelings are valid. But I suspected something was going to happen to him, back in the mission Makarov said

"I'll be seeing you again MacTavish... I promise."

I may be overlooking at some of the dialogue but I felt like he was the target .

(Refrencing what happened in OG MW3, we knew something would happen.)

Soap Sacrificed himself to save Price from Makaorv, and to save Europe by trying to detonate that Bomb, Price and Gaz finished finished off for him.

Price was in shock because he was almost executed, and also because Soap got shot by him, then shot in the head infront of him.

Ghost's voice and emotion when he said "Johnny." Broke me, I feel like all of them were in a state of shock on what had just happened. Their brain hasn't fully registered or fully processed what happened.

The sad reality of being in the army is that you don't know wether you will die, or your teammate will die. You're juggling your life, and juggling to save innocent lives.

Them releasing his ashes was heartwarming and bitter sweet, may seem corny to others... But Task Force was his only family.

Post end credit - Shepherd & Price

PRICE IN HIS INSANE ERA??? HE WAS SO PISSED. AND RIGHLY SO.

He didn't want to leave any loose ends, and I also feel like Price will also go after Graves next and his shadow company. They're the only thing left standing. But who knows what will happen.

(They did work together to stop Konni, but after all Graves did try to kill TF141, so there's still a grudge)

We all knew Shepherd had to die at some point, it was just a matter of time, when and who would do it. And Price did it.

But the thing makes me think is like ... Laswell allowed Price to wait for Shephed? Did she know what he was going to do? So many questions too.

So many questions left unanswered and I can't wait it'll they're eventually answered

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk 🖤

#call of duty mw 3 #cod mw 3 #call of duty #cod #cod mw #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare 3 #cod mwiii spoilers #daily life of brooke

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hexhomos · 1 year

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i rlly want to write longer fics but i can never get past the first 1k words no matter what 😶 how TF do you write up to 30,000+???? pkease im DYING

This is a question I often battle with myself and it's one without an universal answer, imo. I can offer you advice that has worked for me, but you'll have to administer it following your own habits!

I’m putting this post under a readmore because it ended up being fairly long. (Tips, resources, links and book recs below cut)

In the throes of intensive fixation, I managed to write Catafalque's 32k in about ~2 months. But I think it's important to be clear here: 2 months of active, every day writing, even when I was feeling kind of meh about it, and I had already spent the previous November thinking about a lot of the themes / scenes / structure of the fic before I got to the writing part itself. I was also helped plenty by the fact that the fic is borrowing time locked events from Arcane's canon, and I knew exactly how things would play out for these characters ahead of time, meaning, I could explore alternate possibilities without a lot of stuff bogging me down. Readers would know what I was talking about by implication! I can just go on and on about feelings and abstract concepts and it's fine!

Compare it to my latest fic though (’Meat gets caught’) which sits at a hefty 6k, but also took… about 2 months of flubbing in the backburner, LOL. The Idealization period for this fic was considerably larger for a Way Smaller Output, since I was juggling characters people are mostly unfamiliar with, events they had no baseline for, and establishing a set character dynamic that is clear to me, but not to others, all in very a short allocation of paragraphs.

Now here's what I mean by the above: There is no standard speed to writing, and you should be aware that the process Will Be Different from author to author *and* project to project. It is a fallacy to believe success follows only one mold.

Ideally, you should stop thinking about big numbers altogether. Focus on the NOW. You want to finish a story you think might be kinda long, but you lose steam when trying to write aaaaaall that bullshit? ok then here's tip number 1 --

1) Just write 300 words a day. Every day. Make it a hardset goal, and avoid skipping this daily exercise as much as possible.

300 words a day for 30 days = 9000 words, easy. The objective here is giving you a task that can be completed without a daily headache. Maybe your minimum can be 200 words, if you prefer - so long as you write them. Pick a frequent or comfortable timeslot to do it, and make this a routine. Focus on finishing scenes, finishing a chapter, finishing whatever section you're already on. Keep going until you reach the end of your story.

You can edit it tomorrow, or when you're closer to completion. (I do a lot of fiddling with my words! I'll often edit my stories dozens of times, more if you're counting section rewrites or re-arranging paragraphs. Editing is your friend. Wait a little bit to see where you've messed up though. Fresh text is tricky.)

The good thing about setting this bar low, is that if you can only write your minimum of the day, that's perfectly fine. Close the doc and let it rest. But just the act of starting and working on the thing by itself is a surprisingly potent battery - there's days where i find a good rhythm for things and end up hammering a whole 1k, since my hands are already on the keyboard.

Tip #2, following on the footsteps of the above:

2) Use a different font color for each day. Make your progress actually *visible* while you're composing the document.

This can be as simple as alternating between black and dark blue to keep it non-distracting. (You can use other, crazier colors if you're into it though!) It's immediately rewarding to be able to scroll back through what I've already written and see that organic growth - days I wrote little, days I wrote a lot, how the text is still changing and being affected by what i do. I have an issue with abstract goals, I *like* being able to see how much progress I've made, and it gets me hyped to pinch in a little more.

3) EDITING IS YOUR FRIEND.

first drafts look and read like gummed up garbage. You should give imperfections a license to exist.

That's ideal! Don't be discouraged. Trust that you can come back and fix things when you have a better grasp of the whole piece. You can always edit it later. Remember: Polishing your text with time is not a bug - it's a feature.

4) BE FUCKING INDULGENT.

Writing is an inherently embarrassing act. This is self explanatory. Now, since you’re already there, just make the most of it.

If you’re really on the path towards a long con of a plot, make sure to sprinkle in gifts for yourself. Write about something you enjoy. Put in details that make you laugh. Make your characters go on your own big wubbyland adventure. ‘writing for an audience’ instead of for yourself can quickly kill the enjoyment (and drive) of anything.

5) Lost or confused? Think of your INTENT, FORM, and STRUCTURE.

I can't remember the last thing I wrote without an outline to guide me as the months wore on. I think it is deeply important to write down somewhere accessible, somewhere you can look back on:

What is the intent of this story? What am I trying to say?

This is a little cheat just for yourself, so you stay on topic. And you can broaden that question with a few more qualifiers if you like:

What is the sequence of events? What *themes* am I trying to convey? What are the major beats/ scenes/ actions taken? Can you break it down into a clean list of bullet points, one for each step of the story? that might help you a LOT. More than you'd think. If you find that helps you - make it a checklist. Make every little turn of the story into a micro goal that can be reached through narrative, and go ticking off the boxes until you’ve covered the whole thing.

You can even make this into a dedicated planning document by itself, put your themes, keywords, and bullet point outline all in one place. So when you're in the process of writing and your mind goes a little blank, all the refreshing elements are saved up nicely somewhere. Feel free to cheat.

...So that's INTENT and FORM -- what about STRUCTURE?

Mary Robinette Kowal did this great explainer on the structure of short stories and how to plan them, and the ideas she introduces here can be used to write fiction of *any* length. I highly recommend giving it a listen. If you're not used to thinking about story structure, this can be very clarifying! And if that's already something you worry about, the formula she provides is a great starting point to baking your own sourdough.

Structure is a broad subject depending on the specifics of your fiction, and this is where we begin to run into things like ‘Genre’ and ‘Point of View’ and the rubric stretches really wide.

When in doubt about structure (and genre), my rule of thumb is always:

1) Find something similar to what I’m trying to do

(what are things similar to this? what are the most popular examples of this? how were these things written, to express those ideas?)

2) Read up to see how they do it

(separate the stories into their barest components - how are the events presented? How is style used? How are characters developed -- what pushes characters into developing? What are the recurring themes? What connects this fiction into a cohesive, recognizable whole?)

3) Try to apply whatever notes I took from above ^^^^ into my own project

This might be obvious, but ‘questioning my story’ or ‘questioning my characters’ is usually how I begin developing all of my writing. You might be more attracted to another method! (and that’s okay) but this is the stuff I can offer.

More vaguely useful resources on structure/plotting or literary theory;

Ellen Brock’s (Novel Editor) Advanced Story Structure series

‘Monkeys with Typewriters’ by Scarlett Thomas (book)

‘Steering The Craft’ by Ursula K. Le Guin (book)

‘Story Genius’ by Lisa Cron (book)

If you read through *just* the intro of some of those you’ll notice that they all have very different takes on these topics (and some may even contradict the others,) which is what I think makes for the best path to self-discovery. Explore different stuff, test it out, throw it away if it doesn’t work etc. And while I can’t post direct links here lets just say these are all. ummmm. Very Findable in the internet! Get an epub reader. Highlight a bit.

now that structure is over and done with, let’s move onto my last tip:

6) Seriously reconsider the size of your story.

A lot of people really don’t like being told this, but someone has to do it.

You’ll notice that a lot of my above advice (and resources,) errs on the side of assuming you want to write something at least as long as a 200-300 page novel. I can’t really blame them, since that’s just the state of the industry and ‘what sells’, and these ideas are so prominent they have transferred to nonprofit hobby spaces to the point people tend to think that bigger IS better -- but consider, maybe it isn’t.

Maybe the story you’re trying to tell can be condensed into a 15k word oneshot.

Maybe you can *actually* get it done if it’s a collection of important character-related scenes split into 3 chapters, instead of a whopping 50.

Maybe the concept eluding you thus far can become stronger if you let go of the preconception that it needs to be a drawn-out epic, and just write it as a potent roller-coaster ride that ends before the hour is up.

I’m not saying you need to undo all the work you’ve already done - but consider the whole! Making the scope of your writing smaller works on your favor. Unless you have a natural knack for it, I really, really wouldn’t recommend making your first serious attempt at longform writing a 100,000 word behemoth. ‘Done’, as a goal, is immediately more achievable than ‘Perfect’!

You can get a lot of mileage out of short stories and oneshots, and it can be more satisfying for you, as a writer, to complete whole projects in a realistic timeframe.

anyway. Maybe this will help you, or maybe it won’t. But in any case: I wish you the best of luck in this journey and I hope you can find what works best for you!!!

#hexposts #meta tag #i guess #resources #writing resources

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bi-bard · 1 year

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my predictions for who i'll write about in stories inspired by the songs that might be on the deluxe edition of Noah Kahan's "Stick Season"

So.

Noah Kahan has been busy working on the deluxe version of Stick Season... and teasing it on his TikTok.

Just for a bit of fun, I wanna give some prediction on what I think each song we've heard (so far) will inspire me to write because we all know that I'm going to write stories for them.

Again, this is just for fun. This is not set in stone because I don't know the whole songs... or even which of these are going to make the album, so... yeah.

It's just using clips from his videos.

Also, this starts from the most recent audio shared and then goes down the list of videos.

SPECIAL NOTE: I have absolutely no idea how many of these are actually going to end up on the deluxe album. I simply don't. I just kept going until I got tired. Sorry.

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

"Medicate / meditate / swear your soul to Jesus / throw a punch / fall in love / give yourself a reason..."

I think this will end up being a Dean Winchester imagine. I think somewhere around season 10 to season 11 because I think that's where we see the most distinct moments of Dean truly seeing himself as something bad and undeserving of love and forgiveness.

"I ain't proud of all the punches that I've thrown / In the name of someone I no longer know / For the shame of being young, drunk, and alone..."

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto from The Bear. That boy is damaged and messy and I think this song is going to be a great way to look at the pitfalls of the behavior that we see from Carmy in the show.

"So pack up your car / put a hand on your heart / say whatever you feel / be whoever you are..."

I don't have a specific fandom, but I'm looking at a found-family story where the reader says goodbye, either to what they knew before or to their found-family. Mostly because this song reminds me of the scene in Supergirl where everyone is saying goodbye to Winn. I'm juggling between something like Titans or something like Doctor Who.

"I saw the end / it looked just like the middle / got a paper and pen / and a page with no space...."

this story is going to be so personal to me. i can already tell. I'm leaning toward a superhero story or a Supernatural story. A life after being with these people. Maybe that life was scary and seemed pointless, but now that their free, they have to deal with missing what was familiar and the guilt of not feeling grateful enough to something better.

"There's a tiny tourist trap a few miles off the interstate / and I watch as it empties out..."

I don't have a character in mind, but I have an idea that it'll be a very tearful goodbye and kiss and shit. Maybe a reunion too? Maybe?

"Quietly you're coming home from work / Forty hour week minus commute / for a dream of planting flowers on the porch / For now, my love, store-bought will have to do..."

I want to write a childhood friends-to-lover kind of thing, but I'm not sure what it'll be yet. I just know that much.

"I'm the tall glass of water you lost in your kitchen / I'm casually cruel like a senior prediction..."

This could also play as a childhood friends-to-lovers story, but I am not nearly as sold on that one. This one is such a strange one to me. It's very nostalgic but also angry?? I don't know. I'm still thinking about it. I'm kinda thinking that Hannibal might work, but there may be another Hugh Dancy character that would fit better, so I make no promises...

"County line, I'm counting down / mailboxes until my house / This place had a heartbeat / in its day..."

I'm leaning toward Doctor Who on this one. I don't know which Doctor it'll be, but I think it would work out well.

"I hear you call / me somewhere only we know / I'll hold out hope / when my eyes open, you'll show..."

This will be a very sad story. I can promise that. It's about grief and it's very complicated process. I have every intention of writing for that.

#imagine #x reader #fanfiction #noah kahan #supernatural imagine #supernatural fanfiction #dc imagine #supernatural x reader #dc x reader #dc fanfiction #doctor who imagine #doctor who fanfiction #doctor who x reader

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nirikeehan · 1 year

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End-of-Year Fic Writer Round Up

I got tagged by @rakshadow and @little--abyss to do this (the latter of whom GENEROUSLY gave me a shoutout in their favorite read fics this year which has just sent me OVER the moon!!) so... why not, let's goooo! Each one had slight variations, so I tried to combine them.

Also tagging, if you are so inclined:

Words posted: ... AO3 claims it's 120,351, which I'm honestly not sure is actually possible. My stats are sorta screwed up -- a large quantity of my overall count was posted in 2019, which doesn't show up on my totals at all. 🤔 So I'm not sure if it's actually that high. I did write a lot this year, though, so it might be.

Additional Words Written: According to Scrivener, I have an additional 13,642 words that come from miscellaneous fills for @dadrunkwriting, some of which are random snippets and some that might feature in future chapters of fics, so we'll see.

Grand total of words: If the stats are to be believed, that's around 134k. holy shit. That's like two full length novels. Apparently I CAN write a lot in a short time, as long as I break them up into multiple projects and rotate through them at random, lmao.

Fandoms: 2 (Dragon Age and the Witcher)

Highest Kudos: Tactical Maneuvers, a light-hearted and frankly silly smut piece featuring Thalia/Cullen. It's got 58 kudos.

Highest Hit Oneshot: Also Tactical Maneuvers at 911 hits. It's officially my second most popular fic ever, after a Star Wars Reylo longfic I was writing at the height of that fandom, lmao.

Smut scenes: In addition to the above, there's also a smut scene in chapter 5 of Kingdom Come. That one's between a widowed Thalia and Thom Rainier. I strive for nothing if not equal representation of points in that love triangle, lmao.

New things I tried: I played around a lot with different fic lengths this year. For most of my life if I had an idea for fiction, I would pour heart and soul into this ONE THING for months or years until I ran out of steam and... eventually abandoned it due to burnout. I tried to be kinder to myself this year and write whatever the hell I wanted to when I wanted to. I wrote a lot of one-shots, but I have a handful of ongoing multi-chapter fics going, too. I'm not sure how long any of them might end up being, but I learned I do a lot better juggling multiple projects than becoming hyper-focused on one and being unable to start another until that one is properly "finished"... that would lead to a cycle of guilt that often meant I would write nothing at all. So this seems to work much better!

Fic I spent the most time on: It's hard to gauge due to how my previously explained process works, but it's probably Through a Glass, Darkly. It started as a dark one-shot in April but I was so intrigued by the nightmare au setting that I decided to expand it into a longfic. I've done the most world-building for that one, and it's the longest right now at 6 chapters and 24k words. I think the scope on that one is the most ambitious too, as it's a cat-and-mouse game between Thalia Trevelyan, Cullen and Samson, and I'm hoping to expand the cast of on-screen characters as well. Also Thalia and Cullen might have to actually like, idk, fix the nightmare world at some point 🤣 and that's not even addressing the tension that keeps getting weirder and weirder between Thalia and Samson...

Fic I spent the least time on: Hard to say for sure, but probably one of the one-shots I wrote for Dragon Age Drunk Writing Circle that came to me in a flash, like Shadows in the Rain (Thalia/Cullen in battle together), Heavy in Your Arms (Thalia/Blackwall post-Trespasser angstfest), and The Wolf in Your Darkest Room (Thalia/Blackwall post-Revelations angstfest).

Favourite thing I wrote: I just keep coming back to A Little Grace, and Some Elegance. I was in a dark place at the beginning of the year and banged out 10k in a week or two in some sort of fugue state. It's technically Thalia/Cullen, but focuses far more on Cullen and Samson's friendship, how it fell apart, and the role lyrium addiction plays in both their lives. Since it's complete, it feels like the best finished piece of writing I've done this year.

Favourite thing I read: I read a lot of excellent stuff this year, especially through DA Drunk Writing, but here's a few that stick out in my mind as being especially right up my alley. Love Lost Love Found by Meraad (7 chapters, WIP) is super delightful – it's the only other fic I've found besides my own that engages with the Blackwall/Inquisitor/Cullen love triangle that has destroyed my brain. 😅 Blackwall was also lost in the Fade and assumed dead for awhile, and he's come back half-mad only to learn the Inquisitor, Briar Lavellan, has married Cullen in the meantime. No one is clearly in the wrong or in the right, either — I love that sort of nuance. Can't recommend enough.

Aside from that, @warpedlegacy is writing a delightful post-Trespasser Cullen/f!Trevelyan fic in While Time Remains (10 chapters, WIP) with her Inquisitor, Theresa Trevelyan. Cullen and Theresa have married and are spending time with Cullen's family, who have been fleshed out wonderfully. I'm a few chapters behind right now, but it's a really lovely exploration of trauma, grief, love, and healing. Definitely check it out if you're into that sort of thing!

Also gonna engage in some blatant nepotism and encourage anyone who might like the stuff I write with Thalia to check out my bestie @monocytogenes's one-shots with her OC, Pravin Talavera. We devised the AU together, where Pravin is Thalia's long lost older cousin and fellow black sheep of the family. He is a bard and is recruited to be an additional advisor to Thalia – but his identity as her relative is unknown to everyone but them. I've written a bit, she's written a bit, and we have more planned. Lots of cute found family feels, including Pravin as the voice of reason during all of Thalia's love life disasters. Two one-shots by her are up currently, As With Any Shitshow and Seems Like A Real Gentleman, which introduce Pravin to the setting and the Inquisition.

Writing goals for next year: Maybe finish at least one of the multi-chapter fics I have going? I think that's a reasonable goal, as some of them aren't meant to be that long. (I know, I know, famous last words.) Maybe do more exchanges this year, if I get clued into them on time. I'm already participating in the 22/23 Platonic Ideal Exchange, so that's a start!

So, as a rule I don't share much about my real life here, but 2022 was a particularly challenging year for me personally. I just wanted to say I am not sure I would have survived if not for the outlet fic and the Dragon Age fandom has afforded me. (And, of course, an excellent therapist.) If you're reading this, thanks for making this year a little brighter for me. I appreciate you all. ❤️ ❤️

#writing nonsense #fic meme #fic recs

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blueeyedrat · 2 years

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Steam Next Fest, fall 2022. In between Splatoon, Monster Hunter, and having a full-time job, I managed to find the time for trying more games out and writing up some thoughts about them. Detailed comments under the cut.

Wavetale - A 3D platformer. Learned about this one a month or so ago from sources and it caught my attention pretty quickly: the artstyle was appealing, and the movement looked quick and flowy (in multiple senses of the word, given the main character's ability to run on water). With the Next Fest demo, I was able to get a firsthand look, and yeah, that impression holds up. The demo was tantalizingly short, but what little I got to play, I liked a lot. The game looks good, and the movement feels good. What more do you need?

Rats in a Cage - On the other end of the scale... I thought a minimalist, humor-tinged puzzle game would be up my alley, but I couldn't bring myself to even finish the demo for this one. The puzzles were fine if nothing special, but the humor was... well, the game insults you for playing it. If you somehow keep playing anyway, the game starts trying to actively waste your time, and then insults you for wasting your time. It's a satire, get it? Just, not a particularly interesting one. It wears out its welcome very quickly.

LEGO Bricktales - I played with LEGO a lot when I was a kid. I have a bunch of old sets, disassembled and neatly stored in my closet for when I ever find the time or attention span to bring them out again. My favorites were always the old Creator sets, which gave instructions for a few different things you could build with the same pieces, but also encouraged you to experiment and free-form. This game has a similar air about it: a world to explore with puzzles to solve by building with the pieces you're given, but you're allowed a lot of flexibility in how you can approach each puzzle (and when you're done, you can go back and rebuild them in a sandbox mode with the limits removed). Very charming, with a lot of fun LEGO details.

Invercity - A gravity-flipping puzzle platformer. The base mechanics (flipping gravity for specific objects, and flipping the entire screen upside down) could take a minute to get one's bearings with, but they seem like they could be used for a good variety of puzzles. The dialogue in the English translation is awkward in places, but it gets the point across. Seems alright, on the whole.

Paraperspective - A minimalist puzzle game about navigating Escher-esque impossible structures. I like the style and the concept, but it stumbles a bit in implementation. The controls feel awkward and inconsistent, trying to rotate a 3D space by clicking and dragging on a 2D screen without a clear idea of how one maps onto the other. When your puzzles revolve around understanding that 3D space and moving it in just the right way, that becomes a problem quickly. Neat idea, has room for improvement.

Masterplan Tycoon - A minimalist logistics sim. I quite enjoyed this one! It takes the idea of building up a complex network of factories and automation, and distills it into a minimalist strategy game in the vein of Mini Metro and similar titles. I'm curious to see how it'd work in a full game. Different maps? Different missions and objectives? Whatever it is, I'm interested.

Vernal Edge - A fast-paced pixel art exploration platformer. Like one of the other games I sampled earlier in the year, Islets, if you want something to scratch the Metroidvania itch, this might be one to look out for. Some of the movement is more finicky than games like Metroid or Hollow Knight (ex: jumping off of walls and objects), but there are some interesting things the game lets you do with it (ex: dashing downwards into a slope so you slide forward with a burst of speed à la Dustforce). There's a lot of depth to the combat right out of the gate, with a full moveset of attacks (normal and mid-air attacks to combo and juggle enemies, charged attacks to break through shields, etc.) and a customizable loadout of spells to cast. Battles with waves of enemies can get a bit chaotic and hard to keep track of, and managing Vernal's health can be tricky: like Hollow Knight there's a dedicated heal ability built up by landing hits, but unlike Hollow Knight forcing you to disengage from a fight and find a safe moment to use the ability, Vernal Edge forces you to fight back even more aggressively to use the ability and drain health from foes. Not sure how much that fits my playstyle, but the game still interests me all the same.

Venice 2089 - A slow-paced narrative game. This one has some interesting ideas, but a couple of odd quirks as well. Actually traversing the map feels a little awkward; your character walks incredibly slow so you're encouraged to use her hoverboard to get around, but she also jumps off her hoverboard whenever you interact with anything and it breaks up the game flow in a way I don't enjoy. The run-down future Venetian neighborhood is easy to get lost in, which is intentional but I'm undecided if I like that or not. On the other hand, the idea of the map changing day-to-day depending on low or high tide is very intriguing and I'd like to see how they make use of it. The demo doesn't offer much of the game's actual narrative or puzzle-solving. It's mostly a map to roam around in and an assortment of characters to meet and items to collect, which is fine enough for a demo, but I think I'd have to see more to give the game a full verdict.

Aka - An open-world sim about a soldier settling down and building a new life after The War. The closest comparison I have to this game is Spiritfarer, both in vibes (the music in particular) and in ludonarrative: a blend of exploration, farming/gardening, resource gathering, community building, the occasional minigame, and other low-pressure Things To Do, all giving a gentler touch to a narrative with much heavier themes (in this case, war and its aftermath, survivor's guilt, and the like). Said themes are woven into the game pretty well and never feel out of left field, and are tempered by equally important themes of healing and restoration. Even this demo of the game's first few days has a few moments that are genuinely jarring and effective. I don't think it controls quite as intuitively as Spiritfarer, but that can be chalked up to the quirks of 3D versus 2D. I've been curious about this one since it was announced, and having now tried it myself, I'd love to see more.

#wavetale #aka game #masterplan tycoon #vernal edge #venice 2089 #lego bricktales #invercity #bryan writes about games

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silriven · 2 years

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Thoughts on VotS

I'm working on other stories now but I still think about In the Valley of the Shadow a lot. I'm pretty sure I made the right decision to put that whole project away but did I ever have high hopes for what kind of story that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands was going to deliver.

VotS was supposed to be just a fun little "what if/fix it" fic to slot Wrathion into whatever story played out, but as the expansion went on, there were more and more things that I wanted to "fix" and it spiraled into something that was way bigger than I could chew for a fanfic. I still have these images in my head that I desperately want to depict, of Wrathion making the long, icy climb to Icecrown, spreading his wings and falling into the shattered sky. I wanted to write him bargaining for information from characters like Ve'nari. I wanted to make Wrathion the clever hero of a tragic, romantic katabasis story. I wanted to write Wrathion being Anduin's advisor under strained circumstances, dueling politically with Stormwind's cruel, catty nobles, fighting to win Anduin's trust.

ToAW was a very meta fanfic that wouldn't have happened if someone hadn't said something dumb in Taliesin & Evitel's Twitch chat one time about how "wrong" it would be if Anduin was "forced" to be gay in game. VotS was similarly going to be a little meta. I was really tired of the WoW community on Twitter and was basically like "Fine. You want wranduin fans to acknowledge that Wrathion wouldn't be trusted by other characters in universe? I kind of think this would make for a really compelling narrative, so let's do this right."

I wanted to write Turalyon as a villain and have Wrathion and Genn fall into a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" type of adversarial relationship as they both grow increasingly frustrated over watching how things play out between Turalyon and Anduin.

I had plans for Anduin suffering in Torghast under the literal and metaphorical weight of what he'd done during the Fourth War. I wanted to play a long game role reversal where Anduin was the one who would ultimately have to prove that he was worthy of Wrathion by saving him.

I wanted to bring in my ideas for Tiffin again and have her as a lost soul who would shelter Wrathion in Oribos. The city would have been tweaked slightly to also serve as a waystation for the dead who couldn't find a proper place in the Shadowlands hierarchy or move on.

I wanted to bring in Nyxondra (Wrathion's mother, not my OC) in a way that would give her a real character. I toyed with the idea of having her play a crucial role in...something, possibly sheltering Anduin in some way that would mirror Tiffin sheltering Wrathion.

I thought there was going to be more done with Taelia that I could work with, but there ended up being...nothing of substance with finding her father. Or Anduin. So then I wanted to give her the attention that I thought she deserved and that became another plot thread to juggle.

I also wanted to write a toxic relationship between Anduin and Tess that shows the darker side of what can happen when two incompatible people try to force a marriage to work. It would be in the vein of Stede and Mary's dynamic in the last episode of Our Flag Means Death S1.

I was also fed up with the great Anduin ship wars and wanted to write my own answer to what I thought would make a compelling version of the Anduin/Wrathion/Tess/Taelia quadrangle. I also wanted to write Tess/Lorna (also known as the “Rebel Princess” ship), which I fell in love with after writing Tess/Vanessa in ToAW.

It was going to be long, brutal, and bloody. I didn't want to skimp on the horrors of Torghast. But I wanted all of it to end comfortingly with Wrathion and Anduin having adventures on the shores of the Dragon Isles, Anduin first nursing Wrathion back to health.

The final piece in the puzzle that completely broke things was Sylvanas' story. I couldn't, for the life of me, come up with a satisfying way to rewrite her Shadowlands arc, one that included her sisters, without writing a "fix it" story for Battle for Azeroth, too. It was too much.

Maybe I'll figure out what to do with the pieces of these ideas, or at least write an outline or summary to stick up on Ao3 or here on tumblr like I did for ToAW. I keep thinking I should do some more sketches or something but I'm trying to focus more on improving my writing than drawing nowadays.

I think I at least answered "what do I do with all of this" for myself in writing this. I wish I had the energy to write this fic but I just don't, at least not right now. People didn't seem to mind reading ToAW after I wrote and posted the outline on tumblr.

Ok that's enough ruminating for now, time to go back to FFXIV and my current fanfic project. It's an AU, a collaboration, and takes place in the woods.

#silriven: in the valley of the shadow

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fandomwave · 2 months

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Hey tumblr user @jesibeii, I couldn't heeeeelp but notice we miiiight have gotten off on the wrong foot concerning fandom and interaction and I just, you know, I was turning over what you said in my head for a while and I realized I wanted to come over and offer some brownies

I realized that I was being what the kids call "An Asshole" in my tags but I also wanted to at least provide some context on the matter, since you know when the poll came onto lawn I wasn't really in the frame of mind to give an entire dissertation on interactivity and contribution on the silly and cursed land that is fandom TM.

Sooo if you'll allow me, and honestly if you don't that's fine too, you can take the brownies and run. I just wanted to earnestly and kindly reach across the isle and examine some concepts.

Just know that in the end of this entire pop up ted talk I'm juggling in my arms with the plate of brownies, that I agree with you:

Fandom has no room for cops. You get to enjoy and do whatever the fuck you want in it. I did not, and do not ever want that to change. Even if the landscape becomes something I don't recognize.

This is gonna get uh, long in the tooth, so I'm just gonna imagine you have one of those lovely porch swings with some bright yellow pillows.

OK LETS GO:

Comfy? Good good ok cool so I'm gonna use your fandom as a springboard because WHOO BOY did BNHA used to be my Jam for a while!

My favorite character is Shinso by the way! I was up to the Chisaki arc in the anime but eventually dropped off, and I was up to chapter uuuh, 350-ish in the manga??? It gets a little blurry from my memory and I'll admit I got a little Tired towards the end before I dropped off there too.

So I think we're on the same page when it comes to passive interaction when it comes to fan-made art! You don't have to have even a remote understanding of the original context to want to enjoy the transformative works that people make

Anyways I wanted to at least start off saying that I do agree in that you don't have to Go Here to enjoy the things fandom creates.

I myself had a laughable amount of Omori fanart before I ever realized there was a game.

And I think I would have been pretty irritated if someone told me that I couldn't look at it or enjoy it for it's composition or color use or emotional resonance because I hadn't sat down to play the game.

You're right, I would be irked as fuck if I went to a public library to read The Chronicles of Narnia and someone griped at me the whole time that I wasn't reading the Bibble

Here's where I get a little confused, and again, PLEASE keep in mind, it is a silly place here, fandom, and my confusion is not condemnation.

Lets say, again using BNHA as the core example here, that I found a fic for Denki/Deku. The person who wrote it made Denki into this really complex and nuanced character. In the fic they mentioned that him and his father had a falling out, mostly because his father was worried that with a kid like him, and his poor grades, he would never be able to cut it at UA.

Deku and him bond over the fact that both of their parents worry for the right reasons about their attendance at UA, and there's even a bit of a grit between the two of them because Denki can't match up to Deku's raw talent, even if he keeps hurting himself over and over for the lack of control, that he wants to prove he can be just as useful, and they have to learn how to navigate that together. Maybe Denki comes to defend Deku more when his quirk hurts him and understands where that comes from given the fact his own causes his brain to short after he pushes himself too hard.

Man there's an ENTIRE chapter dedicated to Denki showing off his lightning points and how he can throw his electricity even further, and Deku gets inspired by the concept, maybe altering his costume altogether to help launch rebar polls to launch off of to move faster in combat!

And I'm enthralled by this, I think that Denki is the best character and I'm so thrilled to get to know this character in canon!

Only to find out he has like, maybe 2 major arcs and is kind of just a gag character.

Or, another example, because lets be real, a large portion of folk characterize Bakugo as nothing more than a mindless abuser. If I only read the most popular fic, I might come to hate this dude.

People mischaracterize Deku all the time as uwu wubby soft boy, and I might be really turned away and think the whole series really IS a waste of time if these characters are as dumb as they are..

To me anyways, fandom is an extrapolation of the source. Without the source, there is no fandom.

And because it's an extrapolation, it's like a photocopy. Every photocopy has some loss from the original. Artistic Telephone if you will. All fandom art that is made and shared is usually transformative in some way from the original which is fantastic!

I think that's why fandom is as weird and silly and stupid as it is, it by it's very nature really can't be taken seriously because it's all just interpretation and speculation and extrapolation on something none of us even own.

I ADORE the idea of someone giving Denki a full fucking realized character in comparison to the original, and hell if I like the work well enough I might magpie some ideas and add it to my own works!

So there is where my example, inflammatory as it was, comes in:

Since fanart and fanfic is an extrapolation of root work, how would someone know if the characterization of someone, or something, be accurate if they've never engaged with the original.

If someone reads a fic (the first extrapolation) where Bakugo is a huge asshole.

Then writes their own fic (the second extrapolation) where Bakugo is a whole new level of monster..

But doesn't know that Bakugo is more.. of an emotionally constipated edge lord..

I think that's where my disconnect and confusion comes from is the idea of loving a work and not having any sort of compass for the 'They Would Not Fucking Say That' radar.

I'm listening to someone's dissertation only to learn in the end that they've never studied the topic.

And I mean, lets be real here, if someone wrote a whole academic essay and I couldn't tell OP never cracked open the source material than like, GOOD ON THEM for logical assumptions and characterization! Insane work that they could interoperate flawlessly from someone else's interpretation.

And to this end, as with all things, someone could name Denki's fucking bloodtype from memory, know the manga by heart and which studio animated specific scenes from the anime, and still turn him into the worst reduction of his tropes in their works. Don't get me wrong knowing the source material doesn't automatically make you a better creator than those who don't

I think the only thing it DOES do is make you a more informed one.

Maybe this also comes from me being uh, how you say, ancient. When women in fic were reduced down to their worst elements. Usually there to be homophobic to whatever slash ship was popular at the time, or just generally horrible. Like imagine if someone did Uraraka dirty in a fic and without any context, any root to check the notes against, you just thought she was Like That.

Not to say they aren't even now. Trust me I have Seen Some Shiiit. But it used to be the default, and canon was a good way to check is that was accurate or not (spoilers it usually wasn't)

So why this big annoying essay? I dunno man, fandom is weird and silly and shouldn't be taken seriously but I also think it's fun to understand people and also get further context in the ways we see things. I wanted to explain myself in a way that wasn't some one liner reddit quip, and I genuinely DID feel really bad making you feel something intense enough to leave the tags, and in all honestly they weren't even that mean aha. If this weird little subculture is gonna survive the corporatization of it's space, the old guard and new guard and everyone in between should help to understand one another as best we can :3

In the end, you're still right.

I should be on my own lawn right now, being unbothered and minding my own business. I hope you don't feel like you're being put on the defense or that I'm trying to be antagonistic here.

This is, an actually earnest means to come across the fence and at least kinda chat about perspectives, how I think active fandom engagement can be skewed without core context, and how passive fandom engagement doesn't require an SAT test on core context. And how yeah, at the end of the day it doesn't matter because fandom is a silly place.

It's just silly. No one should be taking it seriously. If I read a fic from someone who took the worst read on a character they've never engaged with on it's source, but it brought them the most amount of joy in the world to write it, who am I to stop them or to care.

I can find it as confusing as I want, it doesn't matter.

Oh shit I think your sprinklers are coming on, yeah, oh fuck all the flowcharts I brought are just.. getting drenched. You know you can keep the plate btw, I don't really wanna wash it.

Ok I gotta grab these papers before they melt all over lawn

BTW Idk if you drew it or not but ur icon is very cute!

OK BYE

#Hi this is not a hostile post I swear to you I just dont know when to shut up and leave well enough alone I am SO sorry #edited to change Denji to Denki because i am a soft braind idiot

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more-than-a-princess · 1 year

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@yukikorogashi asked: [ mint ] when did you start your blog? what made you start it?

Colourful Interview (Munday Meme) - Accepting!

In the most simplistic explanation, starting this blog was a combination of the following things:

I was roughly a year and a half into my current job and I really, really needed a creative outlet. To put it blankly, my job can be a stressful downer quite often and many of my hobbies aren't really things I participate in every day (exercise isn't a hobby, it's a necessity for me).

I knew I didn't want to write a fanfic series. I wanted to go back into collaborative writing, but mostly I didn't want to juggle handling both an AO3 account and a blog to support/promote the account. I could do it, but honestly, it felt too much like work and when I inevitably lost interest in whatever fic series I was writing, I was certain I'd probably piss some people off for not finishing things (which...I did end up doing. Sorry about that! My unfinished fics will stay buried).

Group RPs, after several failed attempts for about 5-6 years or so on this site, were a no-go. I wasn't about to depend on (unreliable) mods to ensure I had a place and people to write with.

I'd just finished my first part-watch, part-playthrough of DR2 after watching the first game's anime years back. I'd forgotten about DR until mid-2018 or so, where it popped up either on tumblr or youtube. The characters looked more interesting to me than the DR1 cast (Though Byakuya and Celestia are still dear to me). I watched/played, I enjoyed, I immediately was amused that there was a European royal character with an interest in anime, horror movies, serial killers, and cults. A+ interests with A+ personality, just mildly annoyed at the time she was underutilized and written poorly. But rich people problems? One of my favorite things, if not favorite thing, to write.

After a convention in mid-2019, I wanted to keep fandom going in my life outside of cons and cosplay. I was at a point where I was torn between writing Haru from Persona 5 and Sonia, but Sonia won out as 1. There was no way I could figure out how to play P5 the game and not just watch P5 the anime. I'm shit at video games. I did not grow up with them and 9 times out of 10, I will choose to read a book or watch TV/a movie over playing a video game. Just my preference. 2. I liked the overall plot and message of DR but, again, the execution was poorly done (not the executions, but the story and character development). 3. I'd spent nearly 20 years, off and on, writing not-so-nice characters for the most part and wanted a change. You know the sort of badass, fighting, tough female characters or the sassy know-it-all or the flirty, clever temptress type of characters? Yeah. I wrote them for a long, long time. 4. I knew I could do a lot with Sonia, her European royal background, and her interests, hobbies, struggles, strengths, etc.

Okay, maybe that wasn't simple after all, but it was a lot of factors that fell into place that made this type of blog and this muse the ideal writing outlet for me.

#more-than-a-princess answered #more-than-a-princess musings #(Colourful Interview meme)#yukikorogashi #(Thank you for the ask!)#(One day I will not write a novel as a reply to an ask)#(But today is not this day)

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criticallyacclaimedstranger · 2 years

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Alrighty *cracks knuckles* some fic asks, you can answer as many or as little as you like :)

best and worst thing about Jay and Frankie (could be best/worst thing about writing them, or best/worst thing in their relationship, or whatever)

most outlandish idea you've had or written with any PP character

crossover between PP character verses you've always wanted to do or find interesting

your Most ™ Jay and Frankie song(s)

that's it for now :)

I posted that invitation for asks and then got a rash idea and went to the garden market, which means I had to sow and plant stuff when I got home so I'm only now cracking down on this, haha! Upside is, I'm no longer sleepy.

The best thing about Jay and Frankie is that they're basically always on my mind. The worst thing is that they're always on my mind... Their masterlist is already very long but if I had written everything I ever thought up about them, a second masterlist would be needed. The best thing about their relationship, about writing them, is that I can have so much fun with them. They can bicker a lot and especially Jay can be kinda harsh because they are so comfortable in each other's company, so secure in their relationship. Jay doesn't have to pretend to be someone she's not. Frankie can be as soft and caring as he needs to. They love and respect each other so, so much! But they're both products of the military and because they both are that, they know the jargon. (Obviously they'd never be mean to each other but, you know.) I love writing their love.

I kinda think Misty is the most far-out idea I've ever had. I've never written any AU's, I don't have enough imagination for them I guess. But Snowman Ezra monster fucker Victorian gothic romance horror? To me, that's far out.

I'm not good at crossovers. I don't know, it's not really my thing to have several PP characters in one and the same fic. I can barely juggle the thoughts and emotions and actions of one man, the mere thought of doing it with several is just nope to me. I have a forever WIP with Frankie in which Marcus Pike comes in at the end, but that's about it. Also, I'm kind of practical: I wouldn't know how to describe two PP characters in one and the same fic because they're... the same guy? I mean obviously PP really manages to portray his characters very different, honestly, you can barely tell that Javier Peña and Frankie Morales are played by the same guy, but to me, it's still the same guy, you know? As I said, I don't have much of an imagination, I guess *shrug*

I listen to Hozier a lot when writing Like Real People Do, so obviously that song always make me think of Frankie and Jay. And then there's this really cheesy country song by someone called Brad Paisley, The Perfect Storm, that I just think is Frankie's thoughts on Jay. ("She ain't just a song, she's the whole mixtape", I mean, come one!) Almost Unreal by Roxette is also a Jay and Frankie song. I apparently like really cheesy songs for them?

Do you have any songs that remind you of Frankie and Jay? And thanks for the ask!

#rambling-in-purple #asks #fic asks

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jin0 · 2 years

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Hi again! I'm the anon that missed the deadline. Thank you so much for agreeing to pair me up! I am a 24 year old Mexican (born and raised) female. I am Cancer sun, Aries moon, Capricorn rising and INFP. My height is 1.61m (5'3). My eyes and hair are dark brown and I have a medium skin tone. My hair is also wavy. I have two moods: I'm either looking almost like a drag queen from how extra I am or I'm walking around with a bare face and sweatpants. I studied English language teaching and work as a translator, but I'd love to be a published author in the future. My personality consists of being an MCR fan, emo at heart, and a cat lady. I probably should add that I've never been in a relationship because I'm terrified of commitment and not very social. I think out of the characters you write I am familiar with Marvel, Andrew Garfield and a few of Chris Evans characters. Btw, I forgot to congratulate you on 1k in my previous ask, so... Congrats! I've been loving your blog and you're so talented!

it's the last one and i was in a filthy mood so hope you enjoy this, slightly longer than the rest, piece of absolute naughtiness. genuinely, it's just porn (i ended up forgetting the plot at some point)

you, my dear bunny, get :

jake jensen !! (cause i love him and so should you :)

it had been a hot night a work had been terrible that day, all the exam papers taking up his day off. he'd never hated being a teacher more, mostly when you were right there, looking as devine as ever. you had been done with your own exam papers to grade and you spent the rest of the time sitting behind him, playing with your cat.

these were the simple days he loved because you both weren't too busy and could do whatever you wanted. it was mostly juggling between video games and sex on the couch. sometimes you mixed both by cockwarming him while he'd be playing and kissing your shoulder.

you both shared shit like that on the regular and even after spending a wonderful day like that, he always loved the way you'd meet each other in the bed at night. you would hug as if you were separated the whole day, finally breathing out in relief.

that night had been particularly special because he genuinely missed you. seeing you under the covers, in his shirt and nothing else, the windows open and fresh wind blowing all over you and soothing your overheating skin. you looked absolutely devine, the moon clearly agreeing when it poked through to illuminate your body.

when he slid under the cover, he was directly pulled towards you, sliding his glasses off and wrapping you in his arms. when you whined, nuzzling into his chest, he swallowed back a puppy like whine of his own. you were going to be the death of him, so sweet and responsive to his touch, as innocent as it was. you'd always respond to him, even in your sleep.

the next day, he woke up hot and just as needy for you as you would be for him. he would feel embarrassed if you hadn't seen him in worst states before but here he was, boxers stained with cum and practically useless as you could see his cock hard and raised up in the air.

whimpering against your skin, he tightened his grip around your waist, bringing you closer to his chest and grinding his leaking member on your thigh. he couldn't help it, the frustration of the previous day catching up to him in his sleep and staining his only piece of clothing.

sitting up, he admired your body, warm and so enticing. he wanted a bite of you, devouring you whole. he had no business being this insatiable right in the morning but you were a dream. you sweet tits, round and swaying under the thin shirt, he swallowed a lump of lust, growing in his throat and falling right down his loins.

he needed you instantly, the throbbing becoming too much to bear.

_________________________________________

rare were the occasions you could remember in which you'd been subject to wet dreams. now rare did not mean impossible, because the burning of your pussy and the dripping of your folds was enough to prove you very prone to excitement in your sleep.

feeling the lips on your cunt move and ghost over your chest all the way to your breasts, your eyes stayed closed, drinking in all the nasty things the man you love would be uttering against your skin.

now the dream got more and more creative and precise even as you pushed yourself towards the source of your excitement and were met with deeper and messier movements on your center. you could feel all of it now, your entire body awake and embracing the sweet sleepy torture you were being subjected to.

"ooh fuck... you feel that princess ? fuck, so reactive already. tits feel so good, so soft, so sweet." he mused, rutting his hips and exposed cock on your folds.

you could feel them drip open and embrace his girth. ypu couldn't contain yourself, whining so loudly in his ear that he went temporarily blind for a second. he had soaked your belly of his cum, coating you under your shirt with his thick milk.

"princess ? did i wake you up ? sorry baby, sorry." he apologized profusely while his hips kept on rolling over your skin.

he couldn't help but feel both embarrassed and aroused by you catching him in the act. blood rushed straight to his cock, raising it full of more cum for you to be covered with.

when you watched him, you couldn't help the smile on your face, a mix of arousal, pride and slight need to challenge his limits. he clearly wasn't thinking about anything but covering you in his spend but you could see that he was aching for more, aching for true release.

hooking your legs around his waist and making sure to place your dripping folds on the perfect spot, you pulled him to you. he groaned when feeling your folds drip and drip and drip on him. his entire body was going haywire, working on autopilot and pure primal instinct begging him to fuck you when you looked your best. still drowsy with sleep, no makeup and your breasts freed from any bra, but also, your panties completely gone as you decided to ignore them to sleep.

you were completely bare for him, from the morning, and with nothing to disturb him. he'd be able to catch up on your sweet taste all morning.

"what's wrong jakey ? can't think straight, can you baby ? your cock's got you all stupid, don't it sweetheart ? need your princess's pussy to get your fix huh baby ?" you purred, looking at him through batted eyelashes.

his head shook violently, mimicking the one of a bobblehead. he could feel your juicy walls call for him, just as needy for his cum as he was for yours. he was an addict in need of his dose after being deprived of you for an entire day.

"yeah princess, please, lemme get my pussy. fuck, i need her. need her all around my cock." he pleaded, rubbing his nose against your face tenderly. he was going desperate, his thick girth trembling at the feeling of your breath fanning his skin.

reaching up towards his neck, you pulled the man down onto your lips for a passionate morning kiss.

"do what you want baby, this is your pussy, you own it, remember ? no one has her as wet as you professor jensen." you pleaded with a soft pout.

fuck, fuck, fuck, you'd kill him. yeah, he got your pussy nice and dropping just like he liked it. and the professor jensen ? that would be his downfall, he knew it as soon as he felt the tip of his cock stir and spill heavy drops of his seed.

for the rest of the day, you were fucked thoroughly, letting your man fill you up to the brim with amounts of cum that were to mind numbing to stop now. you both had been switching pace between slow and fast, rough and tender, but the only moments he'd pull out were to cover your skin with his ropes.

both of you going at it like animals in heat, he couldn't get enough of the rawness of your morning appearance. you looked absolutely divine, covered with nothing but his milk.

"oh god, oh god, oh god ! jake baby, fuck ! s-slow, slow down baby, c-can't take it ! can't take more cum, please baby ! pussy feel so full, gotta stop ! p-please baby ! can't take more cock baby, too stuffed jakey, god !" you mewled, feeling the creamy substance drip down your inner thighs.

he couldn't hear your please, he couldn't e en hear himself, too pussy whipped and thoughts driven by his own cock. he couldn't believe how much he'd missed you from simply not enjoying you for a day. and waking up to you looking so breathtaking in the morning already had him creaming his boxers like a teenager.

rutting into your tight cunt, he hissed at the feeling of your walls swallowing him to well and so nicely. he was being suffocated by your pussy, your juices slicking him perfectly while he fucked his cum into you.

he watched it smear with admiration, dreaming of what that much cum could do to you, having your belly grow heavy and full with his baby and your beautiful tits get all supple and leaky with milk. he was an animal this morning, completely brainless and thinking with his girth.

"oh god princess, s-so sorry... there's so much, can't stop... it's leaking everywhere... i'm getting your pussy so messy, so fucking messy..." he groaned when he dripped out into you again.

you could feel it, he needed more, his sack slapping against your folds in a symphony of obscene sounds. his balls were so full still, you needed to take it from him.

falling, face first, in the pillows, you push your ass closer to him, taking him in deeper into you while your hand reached for your clit. you play with yourself right in front of him, disregarding your please for rest and letting your release flood out of you.

leaning over your back, he kept rutting into you

"j-jakey... jakey god, can't do it... please professor jensen... please, can't take more, please, oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck !" you sobbed loudly.

"yeah baby, yeah you can. i know you can princess, god, you fucking can. you begged for it, that slutty mouth of yours. fuck, could die just thinking 'bout it. needed my cum and now i can't stop, there's so much, so fucking much. gonna get you all stuffed." he slurred, swallowing his own moans of pleasure.

he was practically sobbing for his next release to come, drenching you even more until he could feel his heavy, cum filled balls empty and free from the violent arousal he'd felt in this peaceful morning.

like promised, the next time he came was the last. as you bit into the pillows, eyes rolling to the back of your head to sooth your sore vocal cords, you stuck out your ass, reaching for his seed to spill in each corner of your sweet velvet like pussy.

you were both exhausted for the day at such early hours of the day but kept each other close. one of his hand laid on your stomach to press into it, the hope of his seed taking in your womb very present as he kissed your soft skin. you were falling asleep in his arms, his cock still buried inside you and keeping his cum stuffed nicely inside your hole while his other hand palmed your breasts with a tenderness he had forgotten earlier.

the warmth you were surrounded by lulled you to sleep, both your urges satiated. you'd discuss his creampie kink later on and try to figure out whether that bubbled up in your stomach was due to the post orgasm clarity or if you truly wanted a child with that man that cradled you against his chest.

#•°jin's 1k sleepover°•#•° jin replies <3°•#jake jensen #jake jensen imagine #jake jensen x reader #jake jensen smut #jake jensen fluff #chris evans smut #chris evans imagine #chris evans fan fiction #chris evans x black reader #chris evans x black!reader #female reader #woc reader #black reader #FINALLY DONE WITH THE FUCKING MASHUPS DYDE #FINALLY !!!#NEVER AGAIN OMG

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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Having asked your thoughts on designing Frankenstein's daemon, might I now ask your thoughts on bringing Count Dracula from the written word into illustration? (I'm definitely in favour of the 'Hairy Old Mountain Man of Horror pretending he's people' look from the original novel; one of the small tests too many Draculas fail to pass is an absolutely tragic lack of the Evil Beard and/or Wicked Moustache explicitly described by Mr Stoker).

Unlike with Frankenstein, where I think the design needs to be painstakingly thought out in order to achieve the best balance of the creature's traits for horror and tragedy alike, I think with Dracula you can actually just take an approach of "whatever works". Because as I mentioned before, I think much of the appeal and longevity of Dracula is how the character's both a layered villain as well as a shapeshifting narrative force that can be tailored to whatever you want to do with. Granted, there are bad or dissappointing Dracula designs, of course there are, but in regards to the leeway you get for reinterpretation, you get a lot more of it with Dracula than with other literary icons.

Like with Frankenstein, I'm gonna bring up how I'd tackle a less grim, more comedy-centric Dracula first, one that's less a force of horror and more of a charismatic villain, and I think to that end I definitely agree that people are sleeping a lot on the hairy old man barely-passing-off-as-humanoid of the original story. Despite very much loving these performers, I'm actually not a fan of takes that mold Dracula too closely to people who've portrayed him, like Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, partially because I think it's a waste of an opportunity to create your own Dracula design. Since I can't draw (yet), I'll do what I usually do and make a board of images to try and convey some of my thoughts on one way I'd design Dracula.

(Pictured: Kiwi's design for Dracula, Hotel Transylvania concept art, Nandor, Castlevania Dracula, Charles Dance in Dracula Untold, Vladislav, a Transylvanian rug)

I used the images in my other Dracula post and I’ll post it here again because I absolutely adore @kiwibyrd's designs for Dracula and it's main heroes, in particular I love the way it strikes a good balance at making sure Dracula looks distinctly separate from the humans, but not too much that he couldn't conceivably operate in society as just a harmless old man. I also adore the mustache and bushy eyebrows and pointy ears and I think these three are wonderful features to keep on any Dracula design. I'm also very partial to the Hotel Transylvania concept art, even if it makes me incredibly depressed to look at all the great designs they had for Dracula that they threw in the trash because they somehow decided making him look like Adam Sandler was the idea to go with.

I deeply adore What We Do In The Shadows, both the movie and the show, and Jemaine Clement's Vladislav is one of my favorite (maybe even my actual favorite) on-screen Draculas. But I also enjoy Nandor just as much, and I think it's really great that as a character he's completely different from Vlad while also being ostensibly a take on Dracula, and in particular I bring up his Jersey look because "Dracula in common clothing" is a criminally underrated concept for a joke.

As a character, I'm very partial to comedy takes on Dracula that play him up as a decadent aristocratic supervillain, the kind that can get away with talking in third person. I also have this idea for a version of Dracula who dresses ostentatiously in finely-broidered Romanian or Transylvanian patterns, maybe even wearing a rug as a cape, claiming that he's carrying the legacy of his people on his back. And of course he's lying, he's not Vlad Tepes and he's not even Romanian, he is just a parasite pretending to have a history to be proud of, but good luck getting him to admit that. And finally, I'd like this version to be played by Charles Dance, and I consider it a tremendous crime against humanity that he has yet to play Dracula proper even despite being in a film with the character's name on the title.

So that's kinda how I would design a take on Dracula for something more comedic or more based around him as this guest character and personality on-set. Now, if we're talking a more serious version, I think the possibilities increase, and I won't be getting into all of them because I may prefer to keep them to myself, but I'll elaborate a few ideas.

For example, the edition of Dracula I personally own comes with these really scratchy, really creepy B&W illustrations related to the story, that I can't find scanned online so I'm uploading them here so you can look at. They don't necessarily depict the scenes but rather some of the story's moments, like Van Helsing staking Lucy, Renfield in a straightjacket, Dracula as a coachman, and they are more focused on conveying the horror of the concepts at play.

Dracula never looks the same way in any of the illustrations, in fact you kinda have to piece him out of them by trying to find teeth or capes or eyes or bat-features to see where he's hiding this time. In the first, it's the half-man half-bat, in the 2nd, he's the shrieking bat silhouette next to Renfield, and in the latter, he's the gaping jaws and eerily humanoid eyes in the wolf. The effect to me almost feels like if you were to look at a bunch of tv static and then see a humanoid shape form for a split second before everything went back to normal, something like you'd get from Slender Man or other modern creepypastas, and I’ve argued before that Dracula’s form of horror is a very modern one.

In terms of illustrations of Dracula that keep up the original traits while still pulling off horror, I definitely have to hand it to the one at the left of the image above, drawn by regourso on Deviantart (account deleted at present). Going back to Castlevania’s many takes on Dracula, two in particular that stick out to me would be Castlevania: Judgment’s armored dress Dracula, who’s got this great twisted heart/rose motif going on in his outfit, and Dracula’s final form in SOTN where he just sits in his throne and his cape twists into all these monsters, particularly how it’s depicted by witnesstheabsurd’s depiction.

I’m not particularly a fan of how Dracula’s “final form” in these games is usually just some big demon, and part of what I like about his final form in SOTN instead is that, while it’s not a particularly challenging final boss, I do find it interesting the idea of us never actually getting to see what Dracula’s true final form looks like, only an ever-shifting pitch-black torrent of teeth and claws and bloody veins pouring out because that’s ultimately what Dracula is and brings to the world.

On the flip-side of the rotten old monster, we have the charming seductor Dracula, and while I’m really not a fan of how various adaptations have convinced people that “the point” of Dracula is that he’s a seductive force and an allegory for Victorian xenophobia and I’m reeeally even less of a fan of adaptations that make Dracula some misunderstood tragic hero (and I think I’ve made rather violently clear my feelings on interpretations that play up a romance between him and Mina), that the seductive force part exists is impossible to deny, so conversely, while on one hand we can have Dracula as the gargantuan whirlwind of predatory violence, we can also go for Dracula as the tantalizing lover.

I’ve seen a lot of opinions proclaiming Frank Langella as the best Dracula because he was the best at actually being seductive while still playing Dracula, although I haven’t yet seen his performances. If I had to point at one picture I look at and do buy for a second the idea of Dracula as a romantic character, it would be that particular still of Raul Julia in the left of the above image. And it’s strange for me to think of Raul Julia as attractive because I mainly associate him with his brilliant comedy performance of M.Bison (I know it’s far from the highlight of his career but, look, I grew up with Street Fighter, I can’t help it) but those eyes are definitely looking pretty convincing to me, if nothing else.

And I’ve included this still of Sebastian Stan in the right because, during a conversation between me, @krinsbez and @jcogginsa about who could be a good fit for Dracula, jcog suggested Sebastian Stan, partially because he’s Romanian, and I’ve learned recently that Stan was actually interested in playing the character in Blumhouse’s upcoming remake. And you’d think I’d hate this idea considering how much I don’t care for tragic anti-hero Draculas, but who says that’s what he’d have to play?

Do you have any idea how much actors, who are traditionally known for heroic or supporting roles, usually LOVE it when you give them a chance to cut loose as the main villain?

I’d want Sebastian Stan to put all of his charm, all of his talent, all of his good looks and etc, into playing the absolute most vicious, bloodthirsty and irredeemable Dracula put on screen. Someone who is exceedingly, eerily good at being a lovable protagonist, who’s all smiles and charming eyes and politeness mannerisms and maybe even a funny accent, and then it isn't as funny when he's flying through your window intent on kidnapping babies to feed to his brides, except he may take a moment or two to do so because he's feeling pretty hungry himself right now.

Now, admittedly this is kind of a lot to juggle in regards to a single character, which is why my answer for questions like these inevitably has to be “depends on what I’m going for”. That being said, if I was going to try and cast someone who I think could both look the part of Dracula, as well as respectively, play “cartoon aristocrat” Dracula, “mercurial embodiment of evil” Dracula, as well as realistically be an attractive, even seductive performer who can charm viewers even as the character descends into horrible villainy, and juggle these performances even?

I think I’d have to go with Mads Mikkelsen. Not specifically because of Hannibal (I actually haven’t watched it yet), although it’s definitely a factor, the thing that actually made me pick him specifically is, other than his looks, his voice, his reputation for playing sinister characters, the fact that he loves the role and wants to play it, or how many people are deeply in love with this man, or that people already joke that he looks like a vampire, was watching him in Another Round, and specifically that glorious final scene where he’s just dancing to his heart’s content and just, moving with such spring in his step and such joyful vitality even though he’s past his mid-fifties, and that was the moment where, in regards to how much you all love this man, I went

And now I am going to add “casting Mads Mikkelsen as a dancing Dracula” to The List of Reasons Why I Became a Filmmaker.

#replies tag #dracula #horror tag #bram stoker #charles dance #sebastian stan #mads mikkelsen #castlevania #raul julia #wwdits #what we do in the shadows #vladislav #nandor

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 3 years

Text

hi yes im still alive

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST--

HAVING A MOMENT TO PROCESS ALL THE LORE AND STORY CHAPTER 6 JUST DROPPED ON US, I CAN BARELY WRITE

AHHHHHHH, I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS 😭 kjdbbaufbiafafvoaybo LEMME PUT ON MY THINKING CAP AND THROW SOME STUFF OUT ASDYUBUASDLI;AGVUOQIB;VI You’ll understand why I used Leona’s face here even though it’s Idia and Ortho’s chapter after you read my thoughts--

***Chapter 6 (and other main story) spoilers below the cut!***

Okay, just to keep it simple, I’ll try to keep things in chronological order!

First is a bullet point list of my thoughts on chapter 6 so far, then all my questions and theories (mostly a biggish theory on Ace) are at the end of the post.

Expectation: Idia cowering in his room, Vil and Rook busting down his door using Epel as a battering ram, dead Ortho theory confirmed

Reality: SWAT TEAM RAID ON NRC, DORM LEADERS (sans Kalim) AND JAMIL GET KIDNAPPED

Admittedly, I’m disappointed to see that the injury Grim inflicted to MC was basically just a cat scratch and nothing more. I thought it would be a lot more impactful if MC had to deal with juggling the realization that Grim has betrayed their friendship and trust while also on the verge of death (or at least while being severely injured)... And given how MC reacted to the attack at the end of chapter 5, I would think whatever struck them was much more substantial than just a cat scratch. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say either the script got scrubbed by Disney, or the intent was that MC was still woozy from VDC / OB Vil, MC felt so betrayed that it shook them emotionally, or that MC was just that weak by default that they can’t defend themselves against cat claws.

Hey, Ramshackle’s finally getting renovated! Proceeds to immediately get destroyed again--

I feel like????????? They tried to retroactively explain why Neige won to try and mitigate the uproar over how VDC ended. There’s some dialogue between the VDC group about how they didn’t perform at their peak because of having just walked out of dealing with OB Vil, and how Neige’s fans were going to vote for him anyway because they resonated with his background. Honestly, I think they should have moved on from that sore spot instead of bringing it up again, even if how chapter 5 ended didn’t personally bother me.

BOOM, HERE COME THE TWST TERMINATORS--

NOT GONNA LIE, THOSE STYX GUYS LOOK HOT SO COOL

AAAAAAND IT’S KIDNAPPING MONTAGE TIME, KIDS

JOABSFHUPAUABDBADB CALM DOWN, RIDDLE??????? YOU’RE GOING TO COMMIT ARSON IN BROAD DAYLIGHT--

Okay, I know this chapter’s focused on Ignihyde and Grim, but the standout part to me (so far) has been the scene where Leona’s being kidnapped. Historically, Leona has not been a character that I like (excluding that one time I had to pretend to like him for a game). I feel like he’s one massive missed opportunity (he didn’t show up much in chapter 2, he’s pretty similar backstory-wise to his Disney counterpart compared to the other Dorm Leaders, he didn’t seem to learn anything or become a better person even a LITTLE after chapter 2, etc.). I’m not a fan of his lazy and arrogant attitude either (even if it is justified by his backstory). But here? THIS IS THE LEONA I ACTUALLY LIKE AND WANT TO SEE MORE OF.

LIKE????? I CAN’T DESCRIBE TO YOU HOW MUCH I LIKE THIS SCENE???? Yeah, we have Leona fighting STYX at first, but as soon as he realizes who they are, he wises up and surrenders because he knows better than to resist arrest. AND NOT ONLY THAT, but he uses King’s Roar in a smart way--to turn the falling greenhouse glass panes into sand so they don’t hurt anyone nearby (namely him and Ruggie).

And after he turns himself in????? LEONA TELLS RUGGIE TO TAKE CARE OF SAVANACLAW FOR HIM!!! THIS is what a real leader would do. He looks after himself and his people, but he knows when to surrender, AND he leaves his “kingdom” (the dorm) in good hands while he’s away. THIS is the Leona I want to see.

AJBDUASHPFBUABFIABIYFBIPFAAFIAF I ALSO REALLY LIKE HIS SASS WHEN HE JUST THROWS HIS HANDS UP AND ASDBIASBIABAIODDAYOFAIPPADAIDB SAYS “I’ll go with you, but be careful while escorting me, okay? Despite my looks, I'm a precious prince. I’ll get sick/dizzy if you drive recklessly.” SARCASTIC SASSY SMARTASS??????? IF YOU HAD MORE LINES LIKE THIS, I’D LIKE YOU MORE

I love how Azul’s still talking about capitalism/how he can profit from Idia (apparently the Shrouds are like the TWST equivalent of Google??????) as he’s being escorted away by the agents?????? IF I WERE HIM, I’D BE PISSED OFF THAT THEY INTERRUPTED MY BOARD GAME????? At least let the man finish first--

Damn, everyone’s being tasered???????? And apparently all the STYX agents are equipped with anti-magic plates? I guess Bind the Heart can just eat shit then--

Lilia’s ringtone is cute, period.

CROWLEY CALLED STYX TO CAPTURE GRIM???? GRIM IS OFFICIALLY A SCP THAT NEEDS TO BE CONTAINED????

WAIT WHAT CROWLEY’S BEING KIDNAPPED TOO??????? Oh well, the school is probably safer in Trein’s hands anyway--

askhlbfbilhidbabbidasb RIDDLE WAKES UP POST KIDNAPPING AND HE’S USING LEONA AS A LAP PILLOW?????!

How does it feel to be held in a room against your will, Jamil? Yeah, don’t like a taste of your own medicine, do you?

OH HI IDIA, NICE YZMA MAD SCIENTIST GETUP YOU GOT THERE

Wait, what????? THAT’S IT?????? SERIOUSLY???????

MAN.

I have so many questions??????? Specifically about STYX and what they do, and how the Shrouds are tied into all of it.

So they say STYX is a specialized unit called in to quell serious Overblot cases. And if Crowley called them to deal with Grim... well, bad times ahead for Grim. STYX has also been studying Overblot for a long time, which is why (I think?) they captured Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil, and Vil.

There’s been some allusions made between Grim and Stitch in a lot of fan art and fan theories I’ve seen, since their struggles have some parallels: that being them struggling to decide if they are “good” or “bad”. I don’t know if this was intentional on the part of the TWST writing team, but regardless, it’s a really good concept that plays into the themes of TWST itself. There’s no good, there’s no evil, no black and white--most of the characters we see may be BASED on villains, but that doesn’t MAKE them villains. They are good, and bad, in their own ways--and now Grim is dealing with that crisis as he fights to keep his sanity and avoid completely succumbing to Overblot.

Though Idia seems to be involved with STYX’s research, it doesn’t sound like he personally gave the order to retrieve those test subjects (or at the very least, he’s not happy about roughing up the test subjects), it sounds like the orders came from other people in the organization. His parents, perhaps?

They mention briefly that Idia’s parents are asking him to “come home”, so it must be for something urgent. Are they worried about his safety? But Idia’s lines at the end of chapter 5 lead me to think he is estranged from his family, since he straight up rejected a job offer linked to them (Olympus Corp is owned by the Jupiter family, and the Shrouds are a branch family of Jupier), and says something like “I’m not welcome anywhere”. Has Idia done something to disgrace him from the rest of the family? Or is it more of a self imposed/self inflicted statement, given that he always says he’s “cursed” and acts like he’s guilty of something that deserves scorn?

Why is Idia participating in STYX research, even if it means experimenting on his fellow students (and fellow board game enthusiast Azul)? People are speculating that he wants to use blots to fully revive Ortho (if dead Ortho theory is true), or that Idia actually has heroic intentions (he wants to know more about blots to prevent OBing from happening?), but at this point??? Literally anything could happen?!

In future parts, I’m guessing Pomefiore, MC, and Adeuce will team up to break Jamil and the Dorm Leaders (except Malleus, Malleus got left out again www) out? And HOPEFULLY we get to see Rook’s Unique Magic or at least more screen time, since I feel like he got so little in chapter 5... Another thing I’d like to see is Ace and/or Epel getting their Unique Magic, or at least starting to develop it. It’s really mostly Ace I want more details for.

A theory I’ve been holding onto for a long time is that Deuce getting his UM will spur Ace on to become jealous (since he has always seen Deuce as an idiot/”lesser” than him), and that will cause a rift in the friendship, or for Ace to throw himself into a dangerous situation to prove himself (he has done it before with Riddle)... and has his ass rescued again. This would make Ace even angrier, since he feels like everyone is treating him like a little kid or rubbing it in that he isn’t “as good” as they are. I don’t know where it would go from there (I’m sure TWST would get creative), but ultimately it would culminate in Ace making amends with everyone and rushing in to save them from either Grim or Idia OB.

I don’t think Ace would discover his UM in a similar manner as Deuce (Deuce had to embrace his own stubbornness and straightforwardness, but as the term “Unique” Magic implies, the way a magic develops and manifests is “unique” to the user). While Deuce has to learn to accept his own way of thinking, I believe Ace is already sure of his own way of thinking and has totally accepted it. I think what Ace has to deal with instead is coming to terms with his fickleness. We’ve seen him time and time again treating his loved ones kind of callously, from constantly bullying MC, Grim, and Deuce to ghosting his own girlfriend and flaking on people when they are counting on him to do a task.

The issue with Ace isn’t that he isn’t aware, it’s that he is aware and he seems to think this behavior is totally okay. He demonstrates little to no remorse in what he does and says, and he doesn’t seem to care about the consequences either (how many times does he get punished by Riddle, yet he keeps doing the same dumb things over and over?). Ace appears to operate under the mindset of always being in the right, or (if he’s in the wrong), he won’t really acknowledge it, or he will wave it off as “no big deal”--and I think that’s his greatest weakness.

In the scenario I described earlier, I mentioned that Ace’s jealousy will cause a wedge between him and his friends, and I think this will play into him realizing the error of his ways. When he has finally driven away all of the people that supported him, what will he have left? Nothing. Then maybe Ace suddenly finds himself relating to Idia, or to Grim, who have Overblotted and are in a similar emotional state as he is. Confused and lonely... and that energizes him to pitch in again, even if all he has is wind magic up his sleeve. Everyone could be shocked that Ace has returned, and in that moment, he could finally realize his true potential and unlock his Unique Magic!

(Maybe that’s too specific, but that’s a scenario that I’ve had playing in my head for a long time!)

... Buuuuut given that Ace has gotten little to no spotlight so far in chapter 6, I’m not sure if they’ll lean into him developing his UM yet (unless they pull a chapter 5 and really start addressing Ace in the latter half of the chapter like they did with Deuce). Seeing as chapter 6 is dealing with a lot of heavy topics (death, Grim lore, Overblot lore), I’m thinking maybe the TWST team will push off Ace’s UM development to chapter 7???? The only way I can see it happening in chapter 6 is if the chapter is SUPER long, or if the writing is REALLY good or really bad.

Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed!!! I’m so excited for the rest of chapter 6... I hope that we don’t have to wait too long for it!

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skellebonez · 3 years

Text

Happy Birthday Winter!

Hey @winterpower98 it's your birthday! I really hope you enjoy this, I know I had a ton of fun writing it for you! Actor AU is one of my favorite AUs you've made and coming back to play around with it again was a blast and a half!

Painter MK cackled, taking the brushes filled with bright pink paint into his fists.

“Yes, yes!” He exclaimed, brushing them against his cheeks and bringing another to run up the center of his face. “The art is-OW! OW, THE ART IS IN MY EYE!”

“Cut!” The director yelled, bringing the entire film production to a halt in an instant. “Xiaotian, what happened?”

The young actor dropped the paintbrushes into the hands of a stage worker to rushed over to help him, one hand covering his right eye as he tried to keep himself from laughing. “I think some of it splashed when I waved the brush at my face. I guess the art really IS-”

“Don’t say it,” Heshang said from the other side of the set, doing his best not to join his co-star in laughter.

“-seeping into my pores!”

The entire cast and crew groaned as Xiaotian cackled again, with a few added ows, before another stage hand came by with a bottle of water.

~3…2…1~

“Uh…” Xiaojiao pulled, attempting to pull the prop sword from above her head out of the wall only to be met with… a lot more resistance than should probably be there. “UH…? It’s stuck?”

She stood, attempting to pull it out normally only to be met with just as much resistance.

“It’s stuck!” She laughed, out, bracing a foot on the wall with no change.

“Let me try,” General Ironclad, or rather Red in the costume of General Ironclad for the episode, offered, attempting to do the same with the exact same result as his co-star. “What did you use to hold this in place? Cement!?”

“It should have only been stuck in with force!” A stage hand yelled as Xiaotian and Heshang joined in, both failing to pull the sword out from the false wall and Heshang nearly toppling over backwards with his additional costume pieces.

“Whoever stuck that in there needs to be moved to making sure the safety equipment stays connected!” Xiaotian offered, watching as even more people tried to remove the sword. “That is not coming out.”

~3…2…1~

Heshang held Mo in his arms, waltzing around the set as he waited for places to be called for with the shockingly content feline in his arms.

~3…2…1~

“You are selling beautiful vegetables today?” Pigsy said, leaning over the the display to give an awkward smile to the disguised Spider Queen.

Tang looked over the produce from where he knelt, looking back up at his companion with a concerned and confused look. “Are you… a-are-PFT-FUCK.”

Everyone on set burst into laughter as Tang did, both of his fellow actors holding back from laughing themselves.

“Why is it this line!?” Tang yelled in frustration as he continued laughing. “It’s not a hard line! I wrote this line! Why do I keep laughing at the last word!?”

“Maybe if Ganglie wasn’t making goo-goo eyes at me you’d keep straight face,” Zhi-Zhu Jing managed to get out through her laughter.

“That’d be the only thing straight about me.”

~3…2…1~

Dicky Cheung, or the actual Sun Wukong disguised as a human actor in full costume of himself, took a running leap and jumped onto the counter of Pigsy’s noodles, sliding to a perfect stop with a wink toward the camera.

~3…2…1~

“MK, there’s something I wanted to tell you…” Mei said, looking at MK with sparkles in her eyes before snickering. “Stop looking at me like that, it’s hard enough to keep a straight face during this scene!”

“Sorry!” Xiaotian yelled to the camera. “I can’t help it! How are Jin and Yin this wrong about these two in the show?”

“Himbos!” was the shouted answer from Tang at the other end of the set.

~3…2…1~

“One of the rare talents that no one knew the great Sun Wukong possessed…” Xiaojiao said ominously, camera panning over to Mr. Cheung in full costume. “Surprisingly good peach juggling!”

“Gotta keep myself occupied somehow!” The actor laughed out, catching two peaches in either hand while the last one was caught perfectly in his mouth to the applause of everyone watching.

~3…2…1~

“Thanks for the Key los-AH!”

Red flung his arms wildly, key flying into the air as Tie Shan rushed forward and caught him just before he face planted into the ground.

“Mine!” Mr. Cheung yelled as he caught the key mid air and rushed through the frame.

“YOU’RE NOT EVEN IN THIS EPISODE!”

~3…2…1~

“Thank you… for giving me all o-ooh, whoa!” Lui Er Mihou, or unbeknownst to nearly all Six-Eared Macaque in disguise much the same way as Sun Wukong was, yelped as the cable that was supposed to gently raise him and make him look like he was floating yoinked him as good 4 feet off the ground way too fast. “That’s too much power!”

“SORRY!” The line operator shouted, fiddling with the controls. “Someone loaded the weight setting for Xiaotian into your line instead of yours.”

“I already feel bad enough treating him like garbage and beating him up in this role, this is just rubbing salt in the wound,” Liu Er muttered, leaning back and swinging limply much to the amusement of everyone who couldn’t hear him before raising his voice. “When will my beloved friend Sun Wukong come to rescue me?”

“SPEAK MY NAME AND I SHALL APPEAR!”

Liu Er yelped in surprise as Mr. Cheung rushed in and grabbed him from beneath to hold him bridal style with a shit eating grin. He couldn't help the flush on his cheeks in response.

“HOW DO YOU KEEP SHOWING UP IN SHOTS WHEN YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE YET!?” The director yelled with more than a little amusement in his voice despite the disruption.

~3…2…1~

“You!” DBK said, rounding on Red Son. “You have brought me nothing but failure! Time and time again! I keep telling you I… shit, I can’t remember the next line when you look that sad, I am so sorry.”

“Nothing but disappointment?” Red offered helpfully, immediately breaking out of his downcast somber gaze to the floor with a wide smile.

“It is scary how fast you get in and out of character sometimes, kid,” Niu Mowang laughed out, clearly resisting the urge to ruffle the younger actor’s hair lest he ruin the styling job that took far too long every time they got dressed.

~3…2…1~

The White Bone Spirit stood at the entrance to the Silken Web Cave, looking at the camera before far too much time passed from when she was supposed to say he line. She moon walked backwards out of the frame without changing her expression one bit as the other actors devolved into cackles.

~3…2…1~

“The Year of the Spider starts tonight!” Spider Queen proclaimed from her high vantage point before she muttered something under her breathe, narrowing her gaze and then looking off to the side. “Or next year ‘cause I don’t remember my line.”

~3…2…1~

Huntsman slowly lowered into frame, upside down and gripping the rigging holding him up like Spiderman.

~3…2…1~

“Oh yeah?” Sun Wukong said, appearing in frame as he walked down the wall MK was embedded in. He grabbed his staff, yanking it out of the wall and jumped down and smacked the wall with it.

… only for it to go through the wall once again and crack it. Or, rather, the false wall that was on a tilted angle to make it look like he was talking down it, rather than a heavily slanted floor.

“I’m sorry!” Mr. Cheung yelled, looking at the damage he caused. “I must have hit at weak spot!”

He hoped no one noticed that when MK offered to get the prop staff for this shot and put it into the wall… he grabbed the real one by accident.

~3…2…1~

Nui Mowang held the little bird that was Wukong’s transformation stand in for one of the final scenes, gently petting the little head with a big goofy smile on his face.

~END~

The entire cast sat around on various travel tables right outside the small Lunar New Year Festival set they had set up, various extras that had answered the open invitation for the shoot going about and getting the free food that was available at the functional stalls provided by the catering they had hired.

It was an odd sight to see Red Son and Spider Queen and Sun Wukong and everyone else sitting around together, but Liu Er Mihou being there outside of his Macaque costume broke the illusion a little bit.

It was the final day of shooting for the season 2 opening special to Monkie Kid, Revenge of the Spider Queen, and everyone was there. Even people who didn’t have to come in wanted to give a temporary farewell to Tie Shan, Nui Mowang, and Red before season 2 proper began shooting. There was still a chance they could bebcalled in for bit roles, the scripts weren’t entirely finished yet, but as far as anyone knew the Demon Bull Family wasn’t going to be returning properly any time soon.

Maybe in season 3, Tang had teased, holding the begun scripts for that in his little tablet away from prying eyes. And they were always welcome to help out in bit roles, background characters or voice over or to use their other talents to work other jobs that were needed around the set.

But even before then it would be a while.

And so that’s how Red found himself sandwiched between Long Xiaojiao and Qi Xiaotian, with the newly added member of their quartet in her full White Bone Spirit costume hanging over his shoulder to watch the compilation that Xiaojiao had expertly edited on her phone for them all.

“The director gave me permission to use whatever I wanted and I though that… maybe we could all have it for ourselves,” Xiaojiao offered, pulling up the wireless transfer option on her phone. “To watch when we miss each other being on set together. I know we’re going to probably be back together with Red Son eventually! But…”

“I’ll miss shooting with you too,” Red said smiling softly as he pulled out his own phone to accept the file. “Hopefully Mr. Tang isn’t just teasing us about season 3.”

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #fanfic #gen fic #actor au #ensemble cast #shadowpeach #(hinted)#scheduled

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