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fenmere · 8 months

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Sunspot Coffee and Tea

Against our promise to avoid writing for a bit while recovering from a minor burnout, I wrote something here tonight. It might have been therapeutic to do so, honestly.

It's a coffee shop AU self insert crossover fanfic of Wildow's Otherverse and the Sunspot Chronicles, titled "Sunspot Coffee and Tea". It takes place on this Earth, though. Descriptions of Others, Practicioners, Aware, and the Seal are from the work of Wildbow, A.K.A. John C. McCrae, and belong to him. We reference them here with love, and no intentions to make any profit from them, even if we stretch their intended canonical possibilities a bit. References to everything else not of this Earth, including Ktletaccete, beshakete, and `etekeyerrinwuf, are of the Sunspot Chronicles and belong to us, the Inmara. All the characters are headmates and therefore real people.

The Black Drop was a real coffee shop that was really like that, and we miss it. A lot.

We'll probably put this up on AO3 later. No warnings are necessary for this fic. It's 6093 words, light, hopefully cute, and totally self indulgent:

In Tanasbourne, Hillsboro, Oregon, in one of the strip malls there, there used to be an Insomnia Cafe next to a brewpub.

It’s still a cafe. Of a sorts. It was bought out a couple years ago, however, and has a new name. It’s called Sunspot Coffee and Tea.

There are some interesting things about this cafe, not the least of which is that they don’t accept money. How they manage to stay functioning without actually doing business is a total mystery to all of their neighbors and patrons, but if you want any sort of drink or pastry there, all you have to do is walk up to the counter and ask for it. Of course, the pastries have to be available, and it’s first come first serve for them. But they produce them quickly enough that if they’re out of something, you just have to wait thirty minutes or so. At most.

Before it became the Sunspot, it was like most cafes of its sort, especially in that neighborhood, attracting working class people who had at least some decent income. And that part of Tanasbourne wasn’t really known for being accessible to the less fortunate.

However, after it became known what their new mode of “business” was, people in need would take the MAX and the bus from all around to get a free meal, and they were quite welcome.

The clientele changed quite quickly, and this created something of a controversy in the neighborhood. Theories sprang up and circulated when efforts to bring the law down on them failed utterly. Stories about the mafia, or even more unbelievable things. One of the stories is true.

Eventually, things settled down, and everyone got used to the new culture and routines that the Sunspot brought to Tanasbourne.

I happen to know exactly how that all played out and why, but I’m not telling. I’ve taken oaths. I’ll give you hints in this story, though, because I think I can get away with it, and it’s kinda fun.

In any case, it was under these circumstances in that cafe that I got to watch a connection made that I had never expected to see. One that may well lead to the kind of quiet, sweet partnership that causes the world to glow just a little brighter at the ambient level, without most people quite knowing the source.

Of course, it started during a day when Eh, our boss and Senior Captain, was working the counter.

I was sitting at a table with Gesedege and Gnargrim, enjoying a round of Brekken’s tea while slowly discussing the intersections of public relations and security for the shop. Which is to say that we mostly sat, quiet, watching steam rise from our drinks, looking around at the guests and just soaking up the joy of seeing people rest who might not otherwise get to. And then, occasionally, one of us would take a sip or say a word or two, and the other two would nod or take sips as well.

And a new person walked in. Someone we’d never seen before. And I could tell by the way they entered the shop, they hadn’t yet heard about who and what we were. They hadn’t got the story yet. They probably thought this was a typical coffee shop.

They put on a double layer of masks before entering, which was good. Largely unnecessary in the Sunspot, but with covid still running rampant in the rest of the world, despite all the propaganda suggesting otherwise, their N95 disposable under a metallic hot pink mermaid print etsy number was a really wise idea. And it certainly put most of our guests at ease, even though they weren’t wearing masks anymore themselves.

But there were some smirks as this person reached into the pocket of their navy blue sleeveless cloak to pull out their card purse as they navigated through the tables and easy chairs to the counter. The long, black feather in their wide brimmed black wool hat bobbed as they went, boots squeaking on the wood floor.

Eh smiled as they looked up from a drink they were preparing for someone else.

And it was at that eye contact that the person realized they’d walked into something different.

They probably hadn’t noticed the lack of a cash register or POS yet. They’d obviously missed the appearance of me and my compatriots, since they’d been absorbed in arranging their garments and fishing out their method of payment, and had glanced at the other guests. They’d just happened to look the other way as they passed our corner, which was right near the door.

If they’d seen us, they might have had the same reaction they were having at the sight of Eh.

Eh is tall. They tend to keep their height low enough that they don’t have to crouch while in the building, but their antlers will just miss scratching the ceiling when they straighten up from a task like decorating a mocha. Their tail has a tendency to fill the walkway from the kitchen to the front counter, and their wings will block the view of the front from the rest of the staff who are in the back. And through clever programming, they’ve managed to turn the outer skin of their body into a satiny dark purple that seems to be full of stars and nebulae and is somehow constantly rim lit, regardless of the actual lighting of their surroundings.

Most human beings, upon seeing that vision, will later describe it as having been like walking right into VRChat. Only, I’ve logged into VRChat, and nobody has yet been able to create an avatar of that detail and refinement.

“How may I help you?” Eh asked.

The newcomer looked around, clearly startled and worried, and caught the vision of Gnargrim, Gesedege, and myself holding our tea cups up in greeting.

If you look at my tumblr icon, you’ll know what I look like. I’m slightly smaller than Eh, and like to sit in my easy chair backward, resting arms and chin on the back.

Gnargrim, built like a cross between Eh and myself, also uses chairs in a similar way.

Gesedege, however, has taken to dressing like a human, and will stow their tail away in order to sit in a chair. But their muzzle, parabolic ears, and pair of horns tend to give away their origins as easily as Eh’s countenance.

Most new people at this point tend to freeze and gape, and it takes a certain amount of talking and coaching from the other guests to get them to relax and start to feel at home.

This person, however, scowled, brows knitting together above their mask, eyes squinting. They reached into their cloak to where a metal handled antique cane was hooked into an inside pocket and pulled it out with their right hand, clapping its point to the floor.

Gnargrim raised an eyebrow my direction.

We hadn’t seen this reaction before at all.

They whirled to speak to Eh, and asked, “Are we in the presence of Aware?” They lightly gestured at the other guests.

Eh opened their mouth for a moment, tongue and teeth glowing, pausing to think, before speaking, “Everyone here is aware of who we are, yes.”

The newcomer relaxed and bowed their head, then looked up and spoke more softly, “I’m sorry. My name is Anne. She/her. I’ve just moved down here from Washington, and didn’t realize a place like this was here. The Lord of Portland made no mention of the Sunspot, of course, but nobody else did either. I would have thought it would be recommended or warned about. Am I welcome here?”

Eh tilted their head, “Lord of Portland?”

Anne took a step back, and said, “Asterix. Right?”

Eh shook their head lightly, “I have never heard of them.”

“Him. How?” Anne corrected, then asked, tense. Then she shook herself out and stammered, “Sorry! Sorry. Please pardon my rudeness and short language. This feels like a very unusual situation and I’m finding it hard to mask.”

“You are wearing one,” Eh pointed out.

Anne looked around, then back at Eh and said, “I’m the only one here wearing one. Do you have a ward of protection up against pathogens?”

“You… could put it that way,” Eh said. “The air is heavily filtered and everyone here is personally protected with our technology. It should be safe for you to remove your mask here. If you wish to have your own personal protection, you’ll have to give us your consent to give it to you. It comes with side effects, however. You are also very welcome here. I am assured that this is considered a safe place to be, even though I have never heard of Asterix or a Lord of Portland.”

Anne hesitated midway through taking her hat off to remove her masks, then decided to proceed. Her long brown hair had a freshly trimmed sidecut, and her face was covered with a fine layer of stubble. Like many people in the Pacific Northwest, she didn’t wear any makeup, but she had earrings and an eyebrow piercing. Her glasses had little dragons sculpted into the sides of the rims.

She smiled hopefully as she put her masks into her pockets, cane hooked into the crook of her arm as she worked.

“Can I order a coffee?” Anne asked.

“You may have one,” Eh said. “I’d be more than happy to make it for you.”

Anne paused again, blinking, then asked, “How much is it?”

Eh smiled, “It is free to anyone who asks.”

“Even a twelve ounce decaf mocha?” Anne asked, gesturing at the drink that Eh had just finished up.

Eh nodded and said, “Yes. Even that.” Then they looked across the cafe and called the name, “Maxwell?”

A man in an orange knit skull cap and a blue puffy jacket got up from his seat and wandered over to get his drink, thanking Eh and nodding to Anne before sitting down again. Anne’s eye followed the checkered handkerchief that hung from Maxwell’s left back pocket. She didn’t seem to have any strong emotional reaction. It seemed like a reflexive look followed but a decision to be satisfied with it.

Then she looked at the line of big pride flags along the wall, and smiled back at Maxwell, nodding.

“OK. Please let me know if anything is expected from me. I’d like to be a good guest,” Anne said. “I would very much like to have a decaff twelve ounce mocha, with no whip cream. And, do you have pastries?”

Eh nodded, then gestured to the case to Anne’s left, which held all the available pastries.

Anne bent to look, leaning on her cane.

“Are those cheese danishes?” she asked.

“They are!” Eh replied.

“I’d like one of those.”

“Certainly!” As Eh began to work on Anne’s mocha, they reached over with a foot and slid the back door of the case open. And then they did one of our little tricks, turning their extended hind limb into a tendril with a hand on the end of it and used it to select one of the danishes and pull it out of the case to put on a plate.

Anne watched this with an intense curiosity, completely unalarmed.

It was obvious that the other guests who were still watching were impressed with her reactions, but they also largely started to turn their attention away. To them, she might as well have been a regular at that point.

Not to us, though. She was behaving somewhat strangely. She was speaking of things that were established to her, such as the Lord of Portland, that we knew nothing about. I could see in Eh’s eyes that they were avidly intent on learning more. And I made a note to ask Morde to look into it if Eh did not.

It looked like Anne was about to ask another question when Eh beat her to the punch, “So, what brings you to Tannasbourne?”

“Ah, my girlfriend,” Anne said. “I’ve moved in with her.”

“Oh! Wonderful!” Eh said.

“Of course, what with Practice and the Seal, now I’ve got business here, too,” Anne said, a little less brightly, in a humorously onerous tone as if Eh should know what that meant.

Eh nodded absently but didn’t say anything, letting Anne think what she might think for the moment.

“How long have you been here?” Anne asked. There wasn’t anyone behind her, so she felt like she could stand and chat.

Which suited Eh just fine. Eh replied, “We arrived about eight years ago, and set up shop two years ago, after the pandemic hit the cafe that was here particularly hard.”

“And, if you don’t mind me asking again, you don’t know the Lord of Portland?” Anne asked. “How is that?”

“Well,” Eh said amiably. “We didn’t know that there was one, to begin with, if you’re really not talking about the Mayor.”

“I’m really not,” Anne said. “That’s kind of amazing.”

“Is he kind of like Emperor Norton?” Eh asked, referring to Joshua Abraham Norton of San Francisco, who had declared himself Emperor of the United States in 1859. We knew about him from one of our regulars.

Anne turned her head sideways slowly and drawled out, “nooooo? Not really. Though, I think Emperor Norton might have been a Practitioner.” She said that with an emphasis that gave me visions of both italics and a capital letter. “Asterix is an Animus,” she explained. “A surprisingly strong one, too, for his origins.”

“An Animus?” Eh asked, clearly dawdling on Anne’s drink to maintain the excuse to do something while talking.

Anne didn’t seem to mind, but she did sway side to side on her feet a bit, still leaning on her cane. I had to admit, even though her back was turned to me I was still watching her expressions via our surveillance channel. Really Gnargrim’s job, but I was very curious about her. As were we all. She looked like she was trying to concentrate. Not frustrated, but maybe confused.

I’ve been studying human expression pretty avidly, so I’m fairly confident about that. But I could have been wrong.

“An Animus,” Anne confirmed. “You know. An Other that is a manifestation of an idea or common emotion?”

“Oh!” Eh exclaimed, stirring chocolate into the shot before pouring the foamed milk into the cup. “We do know one of those, but it didn’t follow us here. It was afraid there might be others like it, and it didn’t want to encroach.”

“OK, so you do know what a Lord is?”

“No,” Eh said. “We really don’t.”

“But, you’re Other and you know what an Animus is, and you’re here.”

Eh held up a claw with one hand, and the milk pitcher in the other, “I am friends with a thing that can be described by your definition of Animus, yes. But that’s not our word for it, though. And I’m not sure what you mean by ‘Other’. That sounded like it had a weight to it and a context that I don’t know about.”

“But you’re not human,” Anne said.

Eh shook their head, then began to pour the milk into Anne’s cup.

“So you must be Other,” she concluded.

“So,” Eh carefully waved the pitcher to create a rosette on the top of mocha. “Other, in this context, means not human? Such as an alien, yes? I’m assuming you wouldn’t call a cat or a bird an Other.” Eh was managing to verbally put that capital letter on that word, just like Anne had been doing.

“No?” Anne said cautiously, putting a question to it in uncertainty. Then she asked more firmly, “What do you mean by ‘alien’?”

Eh glanced at Maxwell with a bit of a smirk, and said, “You know, like in 3rd Rock from the Sun.” We’d all watched that show on recommendation from our eldest regular.

Anne straightened up and did the backward step again, blinking.

Eh offered her her drink.

She squinted at them long and hard, then turned to my trio and did the same to us. I noticed that her pupils glowed a bright pink. Which is not something I’ve seen outside of our own Network before.

“You’re not Other,” she muttered.

“We’re not?” Eh asked.

“You don’t look like Others through my sight,” she replied.

“Interesting.”

“So, you’re aliens? Is that what you meant by ‘arrive’?” she asked.

“Ktletaccete,” Eh said. “Our word for aliens is ‘beshakete’, or Outsiders. And to you, we are Outsiders, yes. But we call ourselves Ktletaccete. It’s fascinating that you don’t detect us as Other, though. What does that mean, exactly?”

“You all have strong Selves like humans typically do. The spirits react to you as if you do, and you might be able to Practice, if you’re not doing it already,” Anne said. “You absolutely don’t resemble any of the Others I know about. My sight is particularly attuned to that kind of thing.”

Several of the guests were paying attention again.

“I think I need to sit down,” Anne said. “But, can we keep talking?”

Eh nodded, saying “Certainly.” And then commanded a chair to form from one of the bins, graphene colored clay crawling out of what people often took for a trash receptacle and slithering across the floor to shape itself into a seat particularly suited to Anne’s height and shape. Eh gestured at it.

Anne watched this and then pointed at the chair, stating, “That’s not Practice.”

“Ninite clay,” Eh said. “It’s part of how we got here.”

Anne experimentally sat down in the chair, and then looked surprised at how comfortable it was. It molded itself to her body and adjusted itself to her needs as best it could without the neural link.

Watching, Eh said, “The nanites are also how we provide protection against pathogens for those who consent.”

“Can they replicate?” she asked, with a tone of nervousness in her voice, moving as if considering standing up again.

“Yes,” Eh said. “But not without explicit command.”

“I thought that wasn’t possible!” Anne exclaimed. “I remember reading on Wikipedia…”

“The prevailing theory is that our Animus helped us make them,” Eh said. “If it is an Animus.”

“Oh.”

“Can you tell me what you mean by ‘Practice’?”

Anne took a sip of her mocha and raised her eyebrows in appreciation, “Magic. Through vows to keep true to one's word and uphold the old pacts, humanity can command the spirits to do work. Move energies. Alter reality a bit. Summon Others. Travel places. That sort of thing. Magic.” Then she looked startled with herself, and looked back fearfully at the other guests.

Maxwell grinned and waved back at her.

“Wait,” she hissed, turning back to Eh. “If you’re aliens and you don’t know about Others and the Practice and all that, then, what about everyone else here? Are they all aliens too? In disguise? Please tell me they are.”

“No, sorry. We cater to humans,” Eh said.

“Oh, shit,” Anne said, looking up at the corners of the room.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I just said a whole lot of too much,” she shrank into her seat with dread.

Eh settled onto their haunches and leaned on the counter with their elbows, lowering their head with deference and concern, “That sounds bad. What are the consequences? Can we help somehow?”

Anne glanced at the other guests again, most of whom were now watching with various looks of surprise, concern, and enlightenment. Some of them were clearly putting two and two together for the first time regarding things we still had no clue about. Others seemed to be familiar with what Anne was saying, and maybe displaying concern for her. And the rest might have been hearing about this all for the first time.

Anne slumped and looked down at the floor, “I’m gonna take a big hit. I don’t know that there is anything you can do. I’m responsible for what everyone knows now.”

“Don’t sweat it, Anne,” Maxwell called from his seat. “We all know they’re aliens, right?” He looked around at the rest of the room, and was met with nods. “I don’t think anything you’ve said has really changed any lives here. Except maybe theirs, you know?” He gestured at Eh and the rest of us. “But, I bet you the Kletachitay don’t fall under the protection of the Seal, right?” He pronounced our people’s name with a distinctly West Coast accent. Most people around here did.

She rose slightly out of her seat to turn and look at him.

He nodded solemnly, with an inclination of encouragement, gesturing with his drink. Then, when he was sure she took that sentiment, he turned to relax back down into his own chair.

“It’s probably true,” someone else said.

Anne visibly relaxed and grinned nervously at Eh.

“Tell you what,” Eh said. “If you want to keep having this conversation in private, we can arrange that. If it would be better for you. We have our own secrets. We understand. But I would also like to learn more about this Lord of Portland, and maybe I should meet him at some point?”

Anne nodded.

Eh smiled, “There are a couple of ways we could do this. We do have a back office, which we could use, if you like. Or – well – we don’t really have hours, but it’s usually super quiet around 4 am. Sometimes we don’t have guests here at that time. But that’s not guaranteed. Or, you could consent to a neural terminal, and we could meet over the Network, if that’s not likely to mess with your, uh… You do Practice, right? Would your spirits reject the nanites?”

Anne’s eyes went wide as she took in a breath and held it, looking up at a corner of the room in thought. She looked fearfully back at Eh and said, “I don’t know. I’m kind of afraid to try. Um. Yes, I Practice. Yes. Um.” She glanced around the room again. “Through a bit of a loophole I can tell you about later.”

“A loophole?”

“Later.”

“OK.”

While they were having this part of the discussion, I witnessed yet another thing that was unprecedented to us.

Maxwell gave several of his fellow guests meaningful looks and exchanged nods. Then, some of them got up and spoke very quietly to other guests. And as Anne and Eh negotiated how they might talk in private, the presumably human guests of the Sunspot cafe began to gather their things and file out of the shop. Some of them waved to Eh or to me, Gnargrim, and Gesedege.

Eh looked just as surprised and bewildered as I did, and Anne noticed, so she looked back at the rest of the cafe to see what was happening.

“Don’t worry, Anne,” Maxwell said. “We’ve got your back. We’ll keep as much Innocence as we have left for you. Might come in handy, right?”

Anne looked utterly flabberghasted.

“After all,” he explained. “You’re family.” Then he gestured at the trans pride flag with his paper cup, and smirked.

He tugged the fold of his hat as he passed me, uttering my honorific, “m’Drah.”

Maxwell’s one of my favorites, but he surprised the hell out of me that day.

Anne stared at the flag for a few seconds then looked at the door closing behind Maxwell’s back, eyes brimming with tears.

“I never thought I’d find a replacement for the Black Drop,” Anne said in the now emptied shop. “I thought that was an era that was gone forever.” She heaved out a couple of silent laughs, shaking her head. “But this place. How do you – ?” She trailed off, apparently unable to complete the question.

Eh brought themself back from their own bewilderment and replied, “We have some secrets we’re not going to divulge to even you. At least, not until our Council can agree to it. It looks like we could convene one right now, though.”

“Let’s go a bit more slowly than that,” Anne said, shakily.

“Sure.”

“Um,” Anne said. “I’m not exactly human, myself. I mean, I’m human enough now that I can Practice. Gaining a human enough Self was… a neat trick. I’m not sure I can explain it without giving you a whole education on the different kinds of Others and how Practice under the Seal works, though. Let’s just say that I’m old enough and experienced enough that I’m absolutely mortified that I was that careless. Bewildered, in fact.”

“Was the Black Drop -” Eh started to ask.

“A coffee shop where I came from,” Anne replied. “They weren’t like this. I knew only a few Others and Practitioners from there, but you couldn’t talk about that stuff in their lobby. You could talk about everything else, though. You could talk openly and loudly about your weirdest special interests, about being plural, or what it meant to you to be queer, and no one would bat an eye. And they called me family the first day I walked in the door, too. We had to chase the occasional bigot out a few times, but it was home in a way that no home ever was, you know?”

“I’ve heard Maxwell say something like that about the Sunspot,” Eh said. “But I don’t really know? I can’t. I can approximate from my own experiences, but I’m not human or Other, as you describe it. I didn’t grow up in this world.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Anne said, finally trying her danish. She gestured with it, “This is phenomenal!”

“Thank you.”

“You really should meet with the Lord of Portland, though,” Anne said. “I think I can arrange that. I’m really surprised he hasn’t reached out to you. Maybe he doesn’t know you’re here for some reason? But he should. By virtue of his station, a place like this should be known to him. Your presence should be felt.”

“Could it be possible that someone we’ve done business with covered that without telling us how it all works?” Eh asked. “Kind of like how we operate here legally?”

“Maybe,” Anne said. “Also, you’re not Others and you’re not Practitioners, so you technically don’t fall under his rule. It’s just that you don’t really belong here, either. How did you get here?”

“Oh, that’s a long story,” Eh said. “But I think I can summarize it intelligibly.”

“I’ll try to understand it,“ Anne said.

They were both so much more relaxed now, and my Crew mates and I fell still to let them continue talking as if we weren’t even there. Eh never gave any indication we should leave, though, so we did stay and watch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eh so at ease with anyone before, honestly. I’ve known them through… so many lifetimes. I wondered what was different about Anne. Something was obviously clicking between them now. The speed with which they responded to each other picked up.

“One of our people, with help from `efeje`e, our Animus or whatever it is, figured out how to warp space/time and transport a vessel over hundreds of thousands of lightyears without aging significantly inside it,” Eh said, as if this was nothing more than discovering and developing a new Art. “We let her leave the original Sunspot on her own journey, with a Tunnel aboard so we could keep communication. And she’s been jumping around from star to star, exploring the galaxy since. And she’s been collecting a bit of a crew for herself in the process. But, um… That’s several novels worth of story. Anyway, she’s gotten pretty good at sneaking onto and off of inhabited planets without being noticed.”

Anne dropped her jaw and squinted, shaking her head, and said, “This sounds just like any science fiction story.”

“It feels like one, yeah,” Eh agreed. “The idea that we can bend space/time like that is phenomenal. After hundreds of millennia of evolution and development, you’d have thought we’d have discovered it sooner, if it was that possible. But, it did take help from `efeje`e, you know. And our agreement with it was also unprecedented.”

“So, maybe your warp drive was a kind of Practice?” Anne asked.

Eh shrugged, “Maybe.”

“But, wait,” Anne tore her danish in half and gestured with part of it. The chair had a cup holder when she needed it. “How did you get here, if you didn’t go with your explorer?”

“The Tunnel,” Eh said. “We can send consciousnesses through it. Everyone here is what we call Crew. We ascended long ago, our original bodies dying, and now live in the Network created by our nanites. When Molly told us about this planet, a few of us decided to transfer over and stay here. She dropped off a bin of nanites and we started making a new home here, as quietly as we could. But it became apparent humanity could use a little help, and our local Council decided to start being a bit more overt.” Eh gestured at the cafe in demonstration.

“And you’re doing this,” Anne gestured at the cafe herself, “without the help of Practice? I don’t even see Glamour at work.”

“As far as I know, yes,” Eh said. “Though, it seems Maxwell is aware of Practice, at least.”

“You’ve definitely cultivated a clientele full of Aware,” Anne remarked. “Which I supposed shouldn’t be at all surprising. You’re a bunch of extraterrestrials giving away food for free. Of course you’re going to attract the Aware. They need people like you. And they have a tendency to take weirdness like this in a certain kind of stride, because weirdness is part of what made them Aware. And if you haven’t even been visited by witch hunters, then someone’s gotta be covering for you.”

“Kinda figures, I guess,” Eh said.

Anne looked at Eh for a while, danish in one hand, drink in the other, then asked, “You look a lot like someone’s idea of a dragon.”

“I’ve been told that, yes,” Eh said. “We think this is what Ktletaccete looked like before we took to the stars and started tinkering with our genetics and life itself. Our oldest language hints at a shape like this, and it’s what felt right to me when I decided to stop being how I was born.”

“That sounds a little like something I’m familiar with,” Anne said, before taking a bite of the last of her danish.

Eh inclined their head, twitching it in the direction of that particular flag, “we’re family?”

Anne swallowed and looked at the flag, “You have trans people in your culture, too? Assigned gender?”

“Ah,” I couldn’t help myself from vocalizing, and Anne glanced at me. I grinned back, and nodded at Eh.

“Not the Sunspot. Or, the `etekeyerrinwuf,” Eh said. “We made sure our new world, our own Exodus Ship, didn’t have assigned gender. But Fenmere, Gesedege, Gnargrim, and I were all born on a ship that did. Or something close enough to it that it’s basically the same thing. We didn’t have the word ‘trans’, obviously. But, again, close enough. We weren’t able to end dysphoria by ending gender, though. Even with technological interventions before birth, eugenics even, as abhorrent as it is, we can’t stop some people from being born with the need for physical change. Sometimes it develops later in life, too. It’s better to accommodate it when it becomes known. Anyway, I digress. We have an understanding with your transgender people. We get it. It’s ultimately why we’re here.”

Anne, apparently, was stuck on the first few words of Eh’s explanation, “Can - can I ask? How old are you?”

Eh smirked, but I wondered if Anne would read it as a smirk. Anne was too focused on the subject of her question to be bewildered by Ktletaccete expressions like a lot of other Earthly people often are, though.

“Do you want to know my age by my own personal years experienced? Or from your perspective, taking into account relativity?” Eh asked back.

Anne grimaced, “Let’s go with years you’ve experienced.”

Eh titled their head and looked at the ceiling as if to calculate. I knew this was a hard thing to answer for a Ktletaccete of our age. I don’t like thinking about my own age, myself. It kind of defies memory. Causes a kind of dysphoria itself. I could see Eh’s face twitch as they settled on an answer.

“I’m going to give you an estimate,” Eh said. “Calculated in your years, but for my experience. And really rounded off. At a certain point, the thousands digit means as much as the ones digit.”

Anne looked what I’ve come to discern as incredulous.

“Two hundred and some millennia,” Eh said. “Maybe thirty? Maybe fifty? It gets squidgy.”

Anne blinked and deflected internalizing that with an observation, “You use English vernacular like you were born here.”

“We’ve been here eight years, and we live in trillions of tiny machines that can house the consciousnesses of millions of us,” Eh said. “Our ability to translate and learn your language is… enhanced.”

“Two hundred thousand years?” Anne asked, back on the topic.

“Yes,” Eh said. “More or less. Mostly more.”

“Well,” she said. “At least you’re not embarrassingly older than me. Just a smidge, though. A bit of a smidge. Like a civilization or two. Well, technically, it’s off the other end, and there weren’t civilizations back then, so…”

Eh drew their head back and raised their lure in surprise, asking, “How does that work? If you’ll excuse me for asking. How does a human live that long? I thought your civilizations were less than a few thousand years old at this point. You only had your industrial revolution two hundred years ago or so. Your computer technology is less than a century old.”

Anne grinned, licked the icing off her fingers one at a time, and then rubbed her hand dry on her cloak as she stood up. She held out her hand as if to offer a handshake to Eh, and said, “Former Primordial Goddess of Hospitality and present trans girl, Anne Other Problem, at your service. Welcome to Earth, I guess!”

Eh straightened up and sloughed off a considerable amount of nanite clay, reconfiguring their body to be about the same size of a human, but otherwise the same shape as before. The excess clay oozed toward the large bin in the back, reverting to its graphene color almost immediately. Then they stepped around the counter to stand before Anne and took her hand to shake it.

“My name is Eh.Though, that’s really a title. My name is Yenfiri. My pronouns are they/them. Former Senior Captain and Founding Crew of the `etekeyerrinwuf, revolutionary, trans enby as you’d say, and co-Artisan of Sunspot Tea and Coffee,” Eh said. “And it is a real pleasure to meet you. Thank you.”

“I don’t have anywhere near the power I used to have,” Anne said. “But I’ll do my best to step back into my old role for you. Your customers… Or, I guess they’re your guests? Their actions speak very well for you and what you’ve done for them. We need places like this. But let’s try not to make too many waves. I think you’re in a more fragile position than you realize.”

“You’re our hostess,” Eh said, glancing at me.

I nodded. The Council would accept this. We had a habit of still treating Eh like Captain, anyway.

Eh concluded, “We’ll follow your lead.”

“Asterix might want you to pretend to be human from now on,” Anne said. “It might be for the best if you did, honestly. But that might also depend on what kind of protections you don’t know you have.”

Eh grimaced, “If it comes to that, we can comply. But it will hurt. Some of us will have to front more than others. Whatever it takes to do what’s safe, though.”

Anne nodded, “Let’s go see the Lord and find out what he has to say.”

“Sounds good.”

And nodding and waving to us, they walked out the door, just like that. Though, before they took their third step beyond the threshold, Eh had changed shape to their human disguise, which looked remarkably like Yenfiri had before their body had died. Just a different species, obviously.

#Sunspot Chronicles #Otherverse #crossover fanfiction #self insert #coffee shop au #selves insert really

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gunsli-01 · 1 year

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I will always state that outside of all the nonsense that goes on in my milgram posts my personal opinion on punishment....like just me not taking any fandom responses, theories etc if it was just up to me innocent sweep for everyone. Sorry my morals are very loose by loose i mean i refuse to be a witness. I will not start problems for myself, it is the job of the authorities to prove they did anything not me.

I did not ask for this position as far as I know I'm trapped here too and being put to sleep for months at a time. Honestly, if I was Es I would simply vote everyone innocent and get to the end of this as quickly as possible. No skin off my back. What about the songs, the visuals, the confessions could you ignore- I had and still have to at times ignore gunshots the answer is yes I could and I would. I know this can sound cowardly or uncaring but even if I started off taking the job seriously as soon as Mikoto kicked my ass i would be rethinking life.

I'd be doing whatever the fuck kept me safest cause clearly this facility isn't trustworthy not just for these inmates but for me as well. Though I wouldn't jump to making deals with inmates right away either. This is a clear facility failure in more ways than one. So after being shell-shocked for a bit I'd take the issue up with Jackalope. If he can't do anything about it then yeah no I'm not trusting anyone after that for a while.

Even at the beginning having it all laid out to me like "Hey you're here with these murderers, we give them a lot of freedom, and you have to find out what they did and judge if they deserve to be punished or not. We aren't related to the authorities in any way and no i won't explain how you got here or what happens after all this." My immediate knee-jerk reaction was just "Alright, cool, cool no one here's a cop sooooo...innocent." If any inmates hit me with why did you vote this way I'd simply go "Why did you kill? Exactly. Stop asking questions." Like if any of the inmates wanted a different judgement then I'd probably be like fine here ya go. If I can abstain or consider a 50/50 as abstaining then I'd just do that what is the rabbit gonna do fire me?

All this to say I think milgram fans that like to write should very much write self-indulgent guard insert fanfics where their votes are the only one that matter and explore the other possibilities. I'm willing to write guard and choice variations for people not that into writing themselves but I've got no clue if my style is for everyone. I just think it'd be fun to see what it'd be like if it was all up to one individual and I feel like the fandom would be full of so many possibilities.

Ah, my variations may also be kind of boring though since going all innocent might not cause as much conflict as we're seeing now. Kotoko would definitely be mad at me but at least she can't jump me. It really depends on the prisoner not everyone would be happy with straight innocent verdicts. Both options may just be far too dangerous. Just accepting everything or denying it haaaa it's difficult to figure out a nice balance.

#milgram

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twsted-princess · 4 years

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Helltaker Girls Headcanons!!!

Tagging @dokiquents @angelprep and @lovely-selfships!

Pandemonica

* If you ever give her decaffeinated coffee and you’re not her s/o you might get stabbed. If you are her s/o then you’ll get off lighter but she will glare at you.

* She loves coffee flavored ice-cream and dark chocolate covered coffee beans and eats them a lot, she likes the crunch.

* When she’s in her sadistic mode she’s extremely flirty and loves making you squirm. You’re her arm candy and you’re gonna deal with it.

* Dates when she’s tired consisting watching shitty reality shows while eating takeout and occasionally ignoring the tv to make out. When she’s sadistic she’ll take you out to fancy high end places just to show you off and make you blush.

* Sometimes she’ll make a cup of coffee for you and then expect a kiss for doing “hard work”.

Modeus

* All of her clothes are comfy and soft looking but underneath she’s absolutely wearing leather and lingerie. Her fashion sense is lovecore with a dash of e-girl.

* She likes doing makeup for the other girls and styling their hair, sleepovers with their s/o’s are a common date.

* While she’s not used to romance at first but once she does she's the most affectionate out of the demons. She always wants a hug or a kiss or both and she loves being close to you.

* Has thot energy but surprisingly is faithful to you and the other demons, she might try to bring more people/demons/angels into the harem but only if it’s ok with her partner.

* Loves desserts with plenty of whipped cream and chocolate covered strawberries, she let you feed her and she’ll pamper you back tenfold.

Cerberus

* Will eat pretty much anything and everything but they love raw meat. Chicken, pork, eagle, pufferfish (with the poison as “seasoning”), humans.

* Doesn’t know how humans kiss so they’ll just lick you and think that’s a kiss.

* They blep. That’s it, that’s the headcanon.

* The best cuddlers by far, if you wanna take a good nap they’re your girls.

* If you’re their s/o expect to get pounced on every day and pulled around to various places for dates. They love how exciting the human realm is so they wanna see everything even if they always get into trouble.

Malina

* The best at keeping her alcohol and will drink everyone under the table, loves vodka with all her heart but she’ll drink any liqueurs as long as it’s hard.

* While she does like turn based strategy games she’ll play any of game.....though don’t give her Dark Souls or you’ll end up with a broken tv.

* Zdrada and her may butt heads 99% of the time but on the occasion they do care about each other. They love getting drunk together and watch The Room as a way of bonding.

* She’s pretty tsundere when it comes to affection, she’ll tell you not to touch her but then will put her head on your shoulder while she’s fighting a boss. If you point it out she’ll call you a “fucking moron”.

* Has a twitch channel and scam saps out of money while arguing with people in chat, sometimes she’ll let her s/o join her just to watch the shitshow.

Zdrada

* Loves alcohol just like Malina but she prefers shooters over straight up booze, her favorite is either a Fireball Cocktail with extra whiskey or a CS Cowboy.

* The type to wake up at 3am and go on a munchie raid. You wake up to see her eating hot pockets and drinking milk out of the jug. She’ll let you join her and might even hand feed you.

* She’s the older sister and she loves holding it over Malina’s head, even though she’ll get kicked in the kneecaps.

* Dates consist of getting into illegal shenanigans, get drunk and then fighting the entire bar, and watching the city lights from top of a skyscraper with some snacks just to talk about whatever.

* When she’s with you she can let herself go and talk about anything, knowing you won’t judge her. She can be herself and you’ll still be there. Honestly you’re the greatest thing that’s ever happened to her and she’ll love you endlessly.

Azazel

* Wrote angel/demon fanfics back in the day and she keeps it in a dairy under lock and key. She might show you but only if you swear to not laugh.

* She has the weirdest food combos like angel food cake with hot sauce and the demons respect her but they’re slightly scared.

* Bi but doesn’t know it yet. She just thinks that the demons are pretty without noticing it.

* Makes the cutest pet names for her s/o and will say them constantly. She’ll call you every single cute name and make you blush like crazy.

* Really wants to bring you to Heaven and show you to the other angels, she think you’ll make a good impression and just wants to show you off.

Justice

* Definitely gets a motorcycle when she’s in the human realm and treats it with the upmost care. She’ll take you out on late night joyrides and just enjoy yourselves.

* Her and Lucifer used to be in a relationship and even after they broke up (they had other things and it wasn’t messy at all) they still get along well.

* She loves human food and will take you out for dates. Her favorites are barbecue, hamburgers and ice cream, oh and is you get sauce on your cheek she’ll causally swipe it off with her thumb and lick it cause she’s that smooth.

* While she is the smoothest out of the ladies she loves being cheesy too and will use to dumbest pick up lines just to make you laugh. She think you have the cutest smile in the whole universe.

* She's the most open to affection and loves being able to hold you close. She'll also be affectionate with the other demons just to make them flustered.

Lucifer

* Not the biggest fan of waffles but will eat them, she likes crepes too and practically lights up when she tried one for the first time.

* Owns a hydra for a pet and named it Satan. It’s spoiled rotten and will bite everyone including you unless you’re Luci’s s/o.

* She’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol cause she only drink wine and the occasionally martinis. Wants to drink harder stuff but after one cup she’s out like a lightbulb.

* If you’re her s/o then you’re gonna be on her lap most of the time until the other demons want a turn. She loves keep you close and might kiss you occasionally.

* Might be a classic boss bitch but sometimes you’ll find her eating Nutella out of the container and playing video games with Malina. You get to see her soften up considerably and it’s honestly sweet.

Judgement

* She’s the most shy when it comes to affection, you could literally hold her hand and her face will turn to the brightest shade of red in existence.

* While her “judge” voice is booming and kind of deep her actual voice is light and soft, she’ll start using her real voice once she’s comfortable with her s/o.

* Has no indoor voice and while she’s trying to tame herself she can’t help it, she must yell.

* Dates with her are surprisingly chill, she likes going on late night walks and listening to music in your room while you talk. She likes being at peace and you make her feel more comfortable then she’s ever felt before.

* Extremely protective of you and would do anything to keep you safe. She might teach you how to defend yourself but really she wants to be your protector and wants to make sure you’re ok.

Beezebub

* Acts snooty and all-mighty but can be quite sweet to her s/o. She can also be a bit flirty but if you use a pick up line she’ll melt.

* Will actually write self insert fanfics when she’s bored (and she thinks no one’s watching). She has an entire bookshelf filled with self insert stories cause they’re her favorites.

* She spoils her s/o with jewelry and trinkets inspired by flies or your favorite bug. She’ll get you whatever you want with a snap of a finger.

* Goes by She/They pronouns and will not hesitate to drag some poor soul who tries being an asshole over gender. Has no toleration for misgendering people at all.

* Absolutely adores spending time with you, loves being close to you and loves being with you. You make her so happy and she loves you with all of her undead heart.

#my work #helltaker

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prismarts · 3 years

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2020 Creator’s Self-Love Extravaganza!!

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Thank you @roninreverie for the tag!

Let’s see... 2020... what am I most proud of from this year???

---

1. A Bond That Lasts Centuries

My Douxilly au fanfic inspired by @alovesongshewrote ‘s Almost A Thousand Years, it’s pretty much my first continuous fanfic that I am still working on for the next part (sorry, if I kept any of you waiting for it xD).

I was super inspired by AATY but was incredibly nervous about turning the au ramblings I came up with while reading the fic that I shared with friends into a fanfic, mostly from the fact that I might be accused of copying. But Lovesong and everyone in the Discord server as well as just my friends have been super sweet and supportive and I couldn’t be happier!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636032522517626880/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-prologue

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636033273346359296/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-chapter-1

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636036602881359873/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-chapter-2

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636037062453231616/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-chapter-3

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636465861108056064/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-chapter-4

---

2. Douxilly Ship Art

Self explanatory, Douxilly has been my comfort ship from the start and has been my way of getting cute ship art and practicing drawing Douxie. I am extremely proud of the progress and improvement I made in said art and absolutely adore my wizard dorks, I’m also happy that so many of you seem to like them as well and enjoyed the warm reception!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638253722848378880/i-was-cutting-it-close-but-here-is-my-christmas

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635634426419822592/just-two-wizard-dorks-being-in-love-and-happy

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635211321534758912/his-girlfriend-cat-dragon-familiar-and-demigod

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634646165441445888/is-it-way-past-halloween-and-just-weird-timing

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634729723188133889/soooo-i-was-writing-a-one-shot-but-then-i-lost

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634913728891174912/soooo-justhave-my-first-ever-time-drawing-douxie

---

3. Shadowmancy (Pre Wizards Douxilly Oneshot)

Ah, my second ever oneshot posted for not only Tumblr but for the ToA fandom in general.

I am super proud of this oneshot because it was my first time delving into trying to write more magic stuff, trying to describe magical and tense scenes, writing Merlin.

But it also gave me a chance to try delving more into writing a frustrated moppet Douxie, who is just determined and impatient, writing a more timid Illy who is....honestly naive when it comes to her affection and loyalty to Douxie. It also let me explore a line from Wizards that always peeked my interest when it came to Douxie’s past, “I never had the gift for Shadowmancy”,

Overall, I’m just really proud of this one.

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634812267056283648/shadowmancy-camelot-era

---

4. Selena Lucia Rica

Granted, I only made one post about her but I am really proud about how she came out design wise and am working on developing her backstory right at this moment as well as making Zolena art!

I think what I loved most was how many of my friends from the Douxie server were so excited in helping me design our werewolf bab, it was honestly a group effort and it makes her all the more special! Expect more of this bab soon! Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638556968441790464/i-almost-forgot-to-post-her-and-that-is-a-crime

---

5. Birthday Surprise (Pre Wizards Douxilly Oneshot)

The first oneshot I ever posted here and for the ToA fandom!

In all honesty, I just enjoyed how fluffy it is xD.

This was my first time attempting to write moppet Douxie and also trying to write his and past Illy’s friendship as well as her one sided affection for him. It was also my first time writing Archie, if I am not mistaken and I really wanted to give him and Illy a sibling like relationship.

I’m just proud of how fluffy this came out!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634741321060564992/birthday-surprise-camelot-era

---

6. Douxie Discord Server Art

OOOoooOOHHH BOY!!!

Joining the Douxie server on Discord has definitely helped me expand in my art, and by that, I mean, I started drawing cool concepts, cute concepts and just cursed......

Just cursed art.

That being said, it was absolutely fun and has been quite the adventure, you guys are a riot and I love you all xD

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635914679486709760/just-something-dumb-and-fun-after-the-stuff-we

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636493996173197312/i-im-honestly-not-sure-how-to-feel-about-this

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638004381489496064/did-this-purely-spawn-from-the-fact-that

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638345362691719168/discord-shenanigans-that-resulted-in-imagining

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638578308266721280/this-is-what-happens-when-i-get-nostalgic-and

---

7. Happy Birthday Douxie! (Art and Oneshot)

Haha, I enjoyed making these,

Now, I won’t say they are my best work but I did immensely enjoy doing special things for my comfort wizard’s birthday! It was also just fun to work on birthday themed stuff so closely to my own birthday.

For the art, I would say it was great to get more practice drawing Nari and Archie, I really loved how they turned out and I can’t wait to draw them more. Oh! also the lighting, I’m still practicing but I was proud of how it turned out!

The oneshot, again, not my best but I loved getting to delve into Illy’s dynamic with Archie and Nari and giving them some special family bonding, trying to make Douxie a birthday cake. Plus, the chaos of it all was super fun!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635211321534758912/his-girlfriend-cat-dragon-familiar-and-demigod

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635397253786402816/happy-birthday-douxie

---

8. Illyria Calypso

And last but certainly not least, Illy!

The very oc that began my journey on Tumblr and into joining this wonderful fandom!

I’d like to give a special thanks to my friend, @legendling for convincing me to create the lovable dork in the first place! Everyone, you can thank Leg! She is just a special oc to me, like many of my ocs, I enjoyed creating her and inserting her into the world of Tales of Arcadia and exploring her place in this world and in the lives of not only my comfort character, Douxie but also the other characters I adored so much from this series.

And the fact that so many of you loved her and instantly welcomed her existence makes me extremely happy, you guys are amazing and made me and Illy feel so welcomed in this space and I love you all!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634626258919178240/soooooo-this-is-my-bab-xd-illyria-calypso-former

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634638299911356416/illyria-calypso-backstory-camelot

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634641323053465600/i-did-say-i-have-a-few-things-i-came-up-with-that

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634644004924964864/more-character-relationship-stuff-cause-yes-so

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634649103598534656/illy-in-wizards-episode-1-spellbound

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634654231157227520/illy-in-wizards-episode-2-history-in-the-making

---

Seriously, all of you guys, my friends and followers are what made this year amazing! I love you guys! Tags: @yagirlcheesely , @prezzole , @tales-of-hisirdoux , @alovesongshewrote , @legendling , @blixeon , @soni-dragon , @generalfandomsofthefreak , @bernie-the-nugget , @furblrwurblr , @krelitobxby , @wizardalienhunter , @moppetwithamanbun , @valentimmy , @roninreverie , @pinkflash4627 , @angeliatheturkishdelight

#toa wizards #toa douxie #douxie #hisirdoux #douxie casperan #hisirdoux casperan #douxilly #douxie x oc #toa archie #toa merlin #toa nari #toa zoe #zolena #proudest work in 2020 #2020 creator's self love

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carewyncromwell · 3 years

Note

I’m regularly blown away how consistent and well thought out your characters are. 💛💛

How is the process of designing them?

How do you come up with all the different backstories?

And how on Earth do you keep up with all of them? 😅

Awww -- you are too unbelievably sweet, cherie!! *virtual huggle* 💙

Let’s see here...let’s split these answers properly...

What is the process of designing your characters?

My general feeling on creating characters is that there should be something real at the heart of everything imaginary -- a core of something from the real world that you can refer back to, when you’re having trouble writing for that character or figuring out how a character would react to a certain situation. That “something” from the real world can be a person you know (Jacob’s based off my uncle), a historical figure (Jackson’s based off Harry Houdini), another fictional character you really like, or even just a personality type or archetype you want to explore (Ana is an INFP Gryffindor and Carewyn is a paragon Slytherin). I don’t really care for self-inserts, and generally my characters ultimately acquire aspects from multiple sources, but I find it’s good to at least have one source of inspiration, to start with. Once you have that source, it’s also good to give every character, regardless of their importance in the story, a driving motivation -- something that fuels them in-universe, the way that their real-world source fuels them from a meta sense. It can be anything from a dream they passionately fight for or just what fulfills them as a person...but it’s basically an engine that drives the character’s actions in your story, just as your core source of inspiration is your character’s battery. Once you have those two things -- a real-world source of inspiration and a driving motivation -- they can be a spring that you can return to for the water of inspiration when you’re running on empty.

Breaking away from the metaphors now so as to hopefully explain my process better, let’s take one of my characters as an example -- Robert Harker / Bartholomew “Bat” Varney.

The real-world source of inspiration for Bat, in the beginning, was the character of Garrett from Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 -- more importantly, how I felt like a Revolutionary War veteran vampire like him had such potential as a major character and yet in my opinion wasn’t given a proper amount of focus in his source material, as well as what I would’ve personally loved to see in a vampire character when I first read the Harry Potter books and tried and failed to get into the Twilight series. Bat’s motivation is to leave a lasting, positive influence on the world, with the extra time he’s been afforded.

From there, as I developed Bat’s character and personality, he acquired more elements from other sources. To avoid the “brooding vampire” trope, I made Bat a Ravenclaw, as my mum, stepmum, and stepbrother are all Ravenclaws, and all of them are infinitely more proactive and less prone to angst than I am. To explain the in’s and out’s of why someone like Voldemort wouldn’t want to become a vampire, I developed a backstory not unlike Garrett’s where Bat went off to War and died, only to come back as a vampire against his will with greatly reduced magic. To give Bat an arc that would accent his struggle with a greatly lengthened life-span and potentially watching everyone around him waste away, I took elements of Sirius Black’s history with James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, so as to explain why he’d have trouble opening his heart to love and why he might choose to detach emotionally from others. To give him a reason to be near Hogwarts and better justify his house placement, I gave him an interest in teaching not unlike the one that my stepmother, some of my close friends, and I have. And little by little, more traits crept in, stitching a web from that initial starting point. If Bat was a military veteran, him being a Muggle-born in need of stable money would make sense. If his decision to detach from others emotionally but not physically wasn’t something done out of any sort of angsty reason, then perhaps it was done out of Ravenclaw-worthy logic, since vampires tend to go mad after a while and cause devastation after experiencing a lot of loss. If Bat was the “Sirius” of his friend group, he could take on other aspects from other “lancer”-type characters like Ron Weasley, Han Solo, and Katsuya Jounouchi.

One can even apply this principle to minor characters. Taking Carewyn’s uncle, Blaise Cromwell, for example, his real-world source of inspiration is an emotionally abusive parent of a friend of mine, only as a Slytherin single father, and his core motivation is keeping his family close to him, like a dragon would hoard treasure. That was all I’d initially planned for him, but with those two things set in stone, it’s made it very easy to write him in multiple AU’s with slightly different backstories while keeping his characterization the same.

How do you come up with all the different backstories? And how on Earth do you keep up with all of them?

A lot of elements of my backstories for my characters tend to likewise have touchstones in reality, but as before, it’s all about experiences, whether things you experience yourself first-hand or through other people, through research, or through other stories you enjoy. One of my core interests is psychology, so once I have a character pinned down, I like to try to analyze how this character would react to certain situations, which can likewise color their backstory, as honestly one’s history is built on the choices they’ve made previously. Severus Snape never would’ve joined the Death Eaters if he hadn’t decided to elevate himself through terrorizing others, but he also wouldn’t have ultimately turned his back on them if he hadn’t decided his feelings for Lily were more important than his desire for advancement. If you were to place someone like Carewyn in Severus Snape’s shoes -- namely, making her a neglected half-blood child who grew up with only one true friend -- it’s possible she might have been tempted by similar vices as Snape was since she’s a Slytherin, but she also as a stoic, yet empathetic paragon (rather than the cold, vindictive personality Snape’s been established as) would’ve likely not made the choice to align herself with the Death Eaters, regardless of where she started.

Just like with developing a character’s personality with just their core source of inspiration and motivation, one can create a whole web of a backstory based on a few core events and how the character established would react to them. Carewyn grew up in a poor house with a single mother and an older brother who raised her more than her own father, only for that brother to disappear mysteriously. Because of her overly sensitive heart, losing one of the most important people in her life hit her very hard, and so she lost all sense of her identity and had to rebuild one anew for herself at school. Because of her proactive nature, she became obsessed with finding her brother, at the expense of every other dream she’d had prior to starting at school. Because of her tendency to “look after” her brother the way he did her, she likewise took to nurturing her friends and became the “Mama Bear” of her friend group. And it can branch off from there.

As for how I remember it all...honestly, that’s something I can’t properly explain, given how friggin’ ADHD I am. XDD Sometimes I make notes and profiles for myself to keep details straight, but other times, it’s really just because these characters end up feeling like such real people to me that I remember these things about them the way I would for my real friends and family. (Or just my historical crushes. LMAO.) 😂

❤ Fanfic Writer Friday ❤

#ask me #fanfic writer friday #writing #now you see why i have the tag 'oh boy here i go' on my home blog #personal #bartholomew varney #lol recycled art #carewyn cromwell #blaise cromwell #analysis

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zombiequincy · 4 years

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THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all had witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat.

MUN NAME: Hela AGE: 21 CONTACT: IM

CHARACTER(S): Giselle Gewelle, Yumichika Ayasegawa (inactive)

CURRENT FANDOM(S): Bleach

BLEACH FANDOM(S) YOU HAVE AN AU FOR: I have gory Bloodborne au but that one just exists in my head on my lonesome.

MY LANGUAGE(S): English and one very specific Middle Eastern dialect.

THEMES I’M INTERESTED IN FOR RP: FANTASY / Science fiction / Horror / WESTERN / ROMANCE / Thriller / MYSTERY / DYSTOPIA / ADVENTURE / MODERN / Erotic / Crime / MYTHOLOGY / Classic / HISTORY / RENAISSANCE / MEDIEVAL / Ancient / WAR / FAMILY / POLITICS / RELIGION / SCHOOL / ADULTHOOD / CHILDHOOD / APOCALYPTIC / GODS / Sport / MUSIC / Science / FIGHTS / ANGST / Smut / DRAMA / etc.

PREFERRED THREAD LENGTH: one-liner / 1 para / 2 PARA / 3+ / NOVELLA.

ASKS CAN BE SEND BY: MUTUALS / NON-MUTUALS / PERSONALS / ANONS.

CAN ASKS BE CONTINUED?: YES / NO only by Mutuals?: YES / NO.

PREFERRED THREAD TYPE: CRACK / casual nothing too deep / SERIOUS / DEEP AS HECK. (i love it all sorry I am quite the mixed bag lmao)

IS REALISM / RESEARCH IMPORTANT FOR YOU IN CERTAIN THEMES?: YES / NO. i gotta know what certain human body parts taste like u know

ARE YOU ATM OPEN FOR NEW PLOTS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

DO YOU HANDLE YOUR DRAFT / ASK - COUNT WELL?: YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. it’s SO BAD FOR ME RN ASGLDKJDJKA i’m very inconsistent i’m so sorry.

HOW LONG DO YOU USUALLY TAKE TO REPLY?: 24H / 1 WEEK / 2 WEEKS / 3+ / months / years. / a lot of it has more to do w my general writing mood and if the thread im writing catches my interest, and rn im writing a TON of really wonderful and fascinating threads so they’re all super captivating for me and i try to reply asap

I’M OKAY WITH INTERACTING: ORIGINAL CHARACTERS / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / MY FANDOM / CROSSOVERS / MULTI-MUSES / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / CANON-DIVERGENT PORTRAYALS / AU-VERSIONS.

DO YOU POST MORE IC OR OOC?: IC / OOC. (i have a lot of stupid shit sorry)

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WITH FOLLOWING OTHERS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

BEST WAYS TO APPROACH YOU FOR RP/PLOTTING: just send me a tumblr instant message, i know it sucks shit but im not comfy releasing my discord w everyone just yet cause i use it for personal use as well. i check tumblr on the daily so if you send me a message chances are i’ll see it and respond!

WHAT EXPECTATIONS DO YOU HOLD TOWARDS YOUR PLOTTING PARTNER: i guess just be able to put up with my rambling and stopping and starting, a lot of characterisation choices i do go through various stages and its pretty messy so when i communicate that with others it usually ends up equally messy. just be patient with me please.

WHEN YOU NOTICE THE PLOTTING IS RATHER ONE-SIDED, WHAT DO YOU DO?: i don’t mind! sometimes ppl have more ideas that they want to share first and i’m always super happy to listen to those ideas !! sometimes its nice to have someone with a clear guide or structure and be able to work around that rather than trying to fumble through a plot together.

HOW DO YOU USUALLY PLOT WITH OTHERS, DO YOU GIVE INPUT OR LEAVE MOST WORK TOWARDS YOUR PARTNER?: i try to map out some basic info abt their characters that i otherwise don’t know from their bio or verses and try to pick out points of confrontation or similarities to expand on with giselle that can be used as points for like a starter to happen. its either that or sometimes i have really stupid ideas i just toss out there like ‘LMAO THEYRE BREAKING SHIT AT DISNEYLAND’ and go buck wild from there if the other person is down. i also always try to warn people or get a gauge for what subjects to avoid and steer clear of considering that giselle is a bit of a Freak(tm) and will say and do bad things.

WHEN A PARTNER DROPS THE THREAD, DO YOU WISH TO KNOW?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: if there’s something giselle did or said that upset you, i would love to know not to repeat it again (since i do still feel pretty new to the rp game, theres still plenty of time for me to make stupid mistakes). if its just a general lack of interest or uncertainty of where the plot should go, then you dont have to tell me i wont take it personally i promise !

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY LEAD YOU TO DROP A THREAD?: sometimes i can be made uncomfortable by certain things mentioned... it happens but its rare

- WILL YOU TELL YOUR PARTNER?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. i don’t want to upset anyone personally and sometimes explaining the ins and outs of my discomfort make things ten times worse so i just. would rather not.

IS COMMUNICATION IN THE RPC IMPORTANT TO YOU? YES / NO.

- AND WHY?: i am the most nervous person you can meet and my brain is always giving me misinfo abt paranoia and random shit so i having clear concrete communication between two parties abt if something is going wrong or is being received poorly means the world to me.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH ABSOLUTE HONESTY, EVEN IF IT MAY MEANS HEARING SOMETHING NEGA1TIVE ABOUT YOU AND/OR PORTRAYAL?: i need it !! i still feel relatively new to all this and i need to know whats going wrong to improve !!

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE SUCH SITUATION IN A MATURE WAY? YES / NO.

WHY DO YOU RP AGAIN, IS THERE A GOAL?: to help with my confidence in writing! i have v bad anxiety when it comes to sharing my works and i write a lot of other pieces alongside this blog on ao3 and i want to develop my writing skills just in general. when it comes to like the nuts and bolts of why i rp giselle specifically, its mainly to just have fun and have a laugh w my friends who are really awesome quincy writers

WISHLIST, BE IT PLOTS OR SCENARIOS: OH SO MANY! ive managed to fulfil a lot of my wishlist threads with like, giselle talking to characters she’s already zombified and i love all that angst but i want to do more stupid shit. i want to make it my personal goal to bully every quincy man and woman on sight. although a REAL dream would be if i got to write a thread zombifying a character who managed to escape giselle’s clutches. and more fighting! i want to get better at describing action and fights and i love to write giselle getting beat up and beating people up! more more more!!

THEMES I WON’T EVER RP / EXPLORE: hohoho theres a LOT... uh r*pe/dubcon threads for one, even if yeah i know writing it doesnt condone it, it makes me intensely uncomfortable to put my muse in that scenario, i feel like i have an obligation to like, protect her from that shit you know? racism is one i don’t want to transgress, even though i’m a poc, its not really cathartic or groundbreaking to write abt racism in threads its just... really fucking upsetting. also i know the quincy’s have this very close parallel to the whole n*zi imagery and ideology thing going on and i am not about to start even daring to thread that into my writing or bring those allusions and references of real life tragedies into giselle’s threads. i’ve already talked at length abt exploring giselles trans identity in rp and why im not comfortable doing so, so.... yeah! all those i guess.

WHAT TYPE OF STARTERS DO YOU PREFER / DISLIKE, CAN’T WORK WITH?: i like starters where giselle can just immediately get right into being a piece of shit. mise en scene and all that! cut out the build up and just get to the intense horror !! i don’t like starters where its not immediately clear where the characters are standing and what they’re doing and what’s happening around them. those really disorientate me and leave me kinda floundering because i always need some allusion or mention of a setting to ground giselle in a time and place other wise i cant tell what her response should be

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE MOST?: EVIL WOMEN EVIL WOMEN EVIL WOMEN. also just characters i can wholeheartedly clown on, or also characters who have hidden depths to them and have a single panel of screentime. honestly it’s just all over the place!

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE LEAST?: angry old men GSADJDKSJA i could never rp yhwach for example or yamamoto because idk. theyre just so crummy and boring to me. i also couldnt rp characters who always have an upper hand in battle like aizen. i like my dumbasses and i like them stupid and adaptive not just, ‘yes i know this because i Know this.’

WHAT ARE YOUR STRONG ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: i think im nice...? FKSJDKDJSA idk i hate trying to toot my own horn. sometimes i also think i make funny jokes and im pretty chill and laid back

WHAT ARE YOUR WEAK ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: my writing style is inconsistent and adapts to whatever i’m reading so sometimes it’ll be really good and i love it and other times it reads like really bad fanfic and i get carried away far too easily and write novella lengths for threads which should be much shorter. i also get shy a lot and dont think i communicate very effectively but HEYO we’re working on it!

DO YOU RP SMUT?: YES / NO/ DEPENDS. haven’t had anybody brave enough to try yet lol

DO YOU PREFER TO GO INTO DETAIL?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH BLACK CURTAIN?: YES / NO.

- WHEN DO YOU RP SMUT? MORE OUT OF FUN OR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?: more for fun i’d imagine because that’s just giselles own attitude to sex and relationships where she doesnt want anything deep. it might show character development in one way of just showing how she regards others in a romantic sense to be used rather than actually appreciated as their own person and show how selfish she is but yeah, more out of fun

- ANYTHING YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO RP THERE?: theres a few kinks and such but i dont think they’d ever really come up. again, just mainly no r*pe/dubcon.

ARE SHIPS IMPORTANT TO YOU?: YES / NO lets hope this doesn’t make me sound like an asshole, but its more like a fun little side thing than anything important to giselle’s actual development and characterisation.

WOULD YOU SAY YOUR BLOG IS SHIP-FOCUSED?: YES / NO. again, hardly anyone is brave enough to try to romance this evil cannibal.

DO YOU USE READ MORE?: YES / NO / SOMETIMES WHEN I WRITE LONG STUFF.

ARE YOU: MULTI-SHIP / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship — MULTIVERSE / Singleverse.

- WHAT DO YOU LOVE TO EXPLORE THE MOST IN YOUR SHIPS?: more how giselle likes to give over her power or dominate in different circumstances depending on who she’s with and what’s being done. BUT AGAIN, not a whole lot to explore yet.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS?: YES / NO. - i mean im down for p much anything if it vibes w giselle.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOUR MUSE INTERESTING TOWARDS OTHERS, WHY SHOULD THEY RP WITH THIS PARTICULAR CHARACTER OF YOURS NOW, WHAT POSSIBLE PLOTS DO THEY OFFER?: if you want an evil woman to taunt and mock and hurt your muse, she’s your gal. you want her to zombify and ruin your muse, shes also your gal. you want her to insult and maim and injure, she’s also YOUR GAL. basically, if you want to do anything fucked up or sad or scary, she can help with that.

- WITH WHAT TYPE OF MUSES DO YOU USUALLY STRUGGLE TO RP WITH?: uh muses who get really angry quickly or don’t rise or respond to her jabs and are just kinda like a flatline. theres only so much pestering and annoying she can do until realises its not working and just wanders off

- WHAT DO THEY DESIRE, IS THEIR GOAL?: to find a goal worth living for.

- WHAT CATCHES THEIR INTEREST FIRST WHEN MEETING SOMEONE NEW?: appearance she always takes an interest in girls almost right away. age as well because she judges old people.

- WHAT DO THEY VALUE IN A PERSON?: a good set of guts to ruin and strong muscles.

- WHAT THEMES DO THEY LIKE TALKING ABOUT?: women, gore, murder, herself, music, stupid memes, gossip.

- WHICH THEMES BORE THEM?: politics, history, quincy ideology, soul reaper ideology, hollow physiology.

- DID THEY EVER WENT THROUGH SOMETHING TRAUMATIC?: her family tried to force the burden of upholding the quincy lineage onto her shoulders, she was thrown into the wrong prison and held in isolation, then pressured to become an undying monster in service of a god and then was nearly killed by that same man and left wandering without guidance or purpose. so, yeah?

- WHAT COULD LEAD TO AN INSTANT KILL?: transphobia. even a whiff of it in her direction and she’ll gut you like a fish.

- IS THERE SOMEONE /-THING THEY HATE?: the twink soul reaper who outted her.

IS YOUR MUSE EASY TO APPROACH?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?: if you’re smart, you’ll bring a big bone for her to chew on and distract her while you ask whatever you want.

SOMETHING YOU MAY STILL WANT TO POINT OUT ABOUT YOUR MUSE?: i love my evil queen!

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by: @bazzardburner cheers chicken boy !!

Tagging: @hyouketsu @blooming5th @viciousvizard @glacies-tempestatem and whoever else wishes to do this!!

#dash games #// this took ages....

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zaequeenoflazy · 5 years

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Writerblr Introduction (Re-do!)

Now that I’m getting more comfortable and used to being a part of the writerblr community, I definitely want to redo my introduction!

About Me

21 years old (’technically a 00′s baby since I grew up in that time and born on the back end of the 90′s); She/Her Pronouns; Clumsy and forgetful like whoa; Stressed TFO College Student; Loves to Talk, especially when it comes to things I’m passionate about; If I’m not asleep dreaming about story ideas and current WIPs, I’m daydreaming about them - there’s no in between; Music has been and still is an important part of my life

While I love reading and writing, I’m unfortunately terrible with reminding myself to finish either. And it makes me sad but also wanting to kick my own a**. BUT, when it comes to reading I at least push myself to keep reading because I personally believe the author deserves an honest read. My writing on the other hand can wait until I’m in my fifties and actually have time to do shit

Type of Blog I Run

Right now, it’s a mixture of reblogs of writing memes, writing tips and advice, and other posts from blogs I follow, but eventually it’ll also include “writing shenanigans” from stuff written from warm-ups or exercises, writing snippets, all that jazz~. Once I get the hang of the themes and find one that fits me (or one i’m most comfortable with and now how to friggin navigate myself), I’ll “tidy up” my blog and make it unique to me!

Genres of Writing and Reading

I’d like to continue experimenting with different genres to write in, but currently I’m working on WIPs in the fantasy, adventure, YA and NA fiction, with some romance and slice of life. Reading-wise, I’m open to reading any type of genre! My go-to would have to be fantasy and maybe YA fiction, leaning more towards NA fiction!

I’ve also worked on some fanfiction in the past, dabbling in the Bleach, BnHA, Devil May Cry, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Kingdom Hearts, and Soul Eater fandoms. I went back to one longer fanfic from the Bleach fandom for several reasons:

I noticed a few plot points and even characters that could go beyond their original purpose. Reading back through the beginning, there was potential in my MC’s method of transporting to the Bleachverse that somehow ended up being a much more complex concept that I just came to love. I started doing research, going through forums, talking about it with close friends who also loved and even wrote fanfictions, all of it. And once I got into uni, that’s when I had a final version of the concept on lockdown.

The original was pretty much a self-insert instead of a story. Self-inserts could honestly be a great read if done properly, but I will say that it was my very first published fanfic and I was honestly so proud of the feedback I got. Said feedback fueled me into wanting to revamp the entire fanfic and use that as a basis for future works based on the concept I developed.

It was cringe-city in the early parts and I wanted to out-do myself

My writing style changed since then, and I genuinely wanted to see how different everything would be written in my current style!

The fanfic really felt like my FIRST story, and I personally want to give it and the fandom its in the justice they deserve. And again, I really do want to treat it as my first “serious” but still serious story. It’ll help me before I start working on my own original works.

WIPs

(I’ll eventually post a link to it once I have the first two or three chapters done)

Tadaima (The original is still posted on Fanfiction.net. If you’d like to read it, you can either shoot me a message or leave a reply asking for the link! Fair warning I haven’t updated that sucker in five years have mercy on my soul): Ever feel like you might belong in a different world? Different universe, even? Then it’s possible you were of the hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, switched with an alternate version of yourself before the age of five. Tori is one of them. And her respective universe is within Bleach.

The concept in mind involves different galaxies, e.g. Andromeda and Milky Way. The stars oversee phenomena that occur and with a threatening potential to cause rips, paradoxes, and other repercussions if someone wasn’t in their respective universe. It’s a doozy, and I’m working out the “Star Society of the Milky Way” and their involvement in Tadaima’s plot, but I honestly feel in love with this concept once I started doing research.

I’m hoping to have the first three chapters done maybe before October (a personal goal) and then the rest should be easier to write once the beginning is out the way. Until then, no official link for it yet!

But I am prone to writing snippets of character interactions to help with character relationships, development, etc., so I might add a tag for posts like that later.

WHEW! I did it! Pleasure to re-meet the writerblr community! Can’t wait to start making posts about my WIP and future ones. And to interact with more people in the writerblr community!

#writerblr introduction #writerblr

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mira-shard · 3 years

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No one:

absolutely no one:

Me: *gets sad*

Also me: LET’S DIVE HEAD FIRST BACK INTO THE TINY ASS NOWHERE BOYS FANDOM, SHALL WE???

#aka i've been depressed and binge watching and I FINALLY FOUND A SITE WHERE I COULD WATCH THE MOVIE #so yes time for a complete binge watch #i love my homeless bois #honestly might give in and just write a self insert fanfic cause #less depresso more expresso your love for fictional characters trough writing #yeah :'D #mira rambles #my randomass thoughts

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ombreecha · 6 years

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Oh great one, please teach us how to write smutty fanfics for Clerith. Please!

i’m literally just sitting here doing nothing so why the fuck not.iactuallymeanttoreplytothiswaaaaybeforenowimsosorryforgiveme.

Lemme just start out by saying that I don’t think there is a right, or wrong way to write smut for Clerith—don’t get me wrong when I say this though.

Badly written smut is still bad. I’ve read some shit. Trust me.

It’s all about experimenting while considering their personality types. I think the thing that gives people the most trouble when writing smut for this ship is the large misconception of Cloud, and Aerith’s characters. Aerith, especially, has had this fanon representation applied to her that just makes it almost dirty (in fact all of the characters have had large misconceptions applied to them over the years, honestly).

Fanon Aerith: The puriest of purest purer puring pure things, would never think of the birds and the bees, calmest of calm, and daintest of daint. Did I mention pure? How about dainty? What about the fact she is like the biggest child of god that ever walked with a bible in hand and is a preachers wish-fulfillment daughter?

I could literally go on but you get my point.

Canon Aerith: Spunky, sassy, vocal, outspoken, and definitely knows how to tease. Not afraid to get down and dirty including in the bedroom, has flaws, and feels more than just peaceful daisies and floral happiness pouring out of every pour of her body. The girl is confident.

Don’t lower her down for less. She is all of these things and yet because we either haven’t played the game in forever, are new and have no clue outside of her design, or even worse have bought into fandom’s fanon representation it’s become a thing.

Fanon Cloud: Is either the dumbest of fucks who can’t speak words, or the most possessive cucklord to ever exist because “mEh sHiPs” and “bEsT gUrL”. Super confident, or super anti-social to the point words don’t exist. Likes to yell for no literal reason???? Did I mention that in almost every occasion everyone loves him? Every girl is a literal self insert thirst trap whether a bystander or an actual character? I didn’t? Oh, well include those.

Sometimes you might be lucky to find a nice happy medium but usually it’s chaos honestly. You never know what Cloud you’re getting. It’s like a mystery loot box you get every month.

Canon Cloud: Sassy, not interested in dumb shit, can in fact laugh, is more than angst, is absolutely shy underneath it all, insecure to a point (large point lets not be over-dramatic here), awkward, and when it comes to deeper issues struggles to get the words out but tries his best. Does in fact feel things. Is not the internal dialogue king that is Squall Leonhart.

Don’t over do him, but don’t under do him.

Getting personality is hard. Trust me. We’ve been there. We’ve ALL been there. This shit takes literal time. You’ll get there. Sometimes you get a good feel immediately. Sometimes you don’t. I’m still working on how I write Cloud. I am by no means perfect in my writing with him and I question how I do him consistently which is a wonderful thing because it means I know I have room to improve.

Now for the smut portion and how I do what I do and wrapped it together in a wonderful nsfw bow.

Test. Those. Boundaries. Test them. Push them. Cross the line then come back.

The number one thing about Clerith is that it is wholesome. It is genuinely a wholesome pairing. From their actions to their behaviors. Canon shows and tells us their wholesome from their teasing between each other to their moments of connecting on deeper topics and wanting to be there for the other.

Don’t let that scare you, though. You can write something absolutely filthy, and still make it wholesome. You can write some amazing possessive, and passionate sex, and it still be wholesome at it’s core.

I’ve literally done this. I can’t even count the times I’ve done this for this ship and others.

It’s not always about the physical action. It’s so important to include that mental link. It’s so important to include that connection of love. Bring it back home to the fact they love deeply, and love so reassuringly.

Filthy smut is some of the best shit, but writing your OTP showing how much they love each other through smut whether it’s filthy, or a nice relaxing vanilla is even better.

Why? Because you’re literally reading or writing this because you want to see/show that love.

Now do I think you should walk away from this post doing some major dominatrix BDSM shit… I mean you can but is it probably gonna be good? Nah, fam (send me it though I’ll totally give it a shot even if I might end up not being my cup of tea cause shit I’ll read just about anything once).

That’s because it’s not within their personalities to go THAT wild.

That’s why I say test the boundaries. That’s why I say cross the line and then comeback. When you come back to this can you honest to god be sure this is how you think these characters would do this?

Wholesome doesn’t mean vanilla.Wholesome doesn’t mean you can’t be filthy.Wholesome doesn’t mean you can’t be spontaneous in the bedroom.

Remember that you can be wild, fun and kinky in the bedroom and be just as fluffy and cute outside of the bedroom.

Vanilla also doesn’t equal boring, though.

Remember that you can be fine with missionary, relaxing, and sensual sex in the bedroom and be just as fun and out going

It’s all about comfortablity in the end. I’m sure there are some Clerith who think I go too far (I’ve yet to meet them but hey can’t say it’s impossible and I respect that my work isn’t everyone’s cup of tea).

It’s all about the happy medium you as a writer have to find within yourself. Just remember to have that wholesomeness. Imagine and think about how you would want that to go down when you just love the other individual and put it on paper.

I think about Cloud getting head and how he would react far more often than I would like to admit, but I do it because I would love to hear, see, or feel those responses from someone who I love and am connected to not only physically but mentally.

Don’t be afraid to pull from your own sexual experiences as well and how those things made you feel, react, and respond. I do this far more often that I’d like to admit but fuck it truth is truth.

I have a long distance relationship IRL and after seeing my boyfriend you can bet your ass I’ll pull from the last time we did it.

Anyways, this post is forever ass long and will definitely be a major TLDR for some which is gucci as fuck. If you’re still here bomb dude.

Wrapping this up though, what makes bad smut bad is bad characterization. Nothing else. It’s not the act. It’s not what they do. It’s not how they show their love. It’s all about just bad characterization.

If you need help ask. I have helped other writers in clerith with their own pieces before because sometimes having that second set of eyes just helps. Asking how an author writes this or that helps. It helps you grow and helps you build.

You’re never going to get better if you don’t try.

Now go forth. Bring that shit to my door. Give me that filthy wholesome content. Gimme some of those sensual and relaxing romps.

I love Clerith, and I’m always down for some smut, my dude.

#clerith #cloud strife #aerith gainsborough #aeris gainsborough #ombree:asks

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pseudoneiiric · 3 years

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meta post: lili and her gender

let me go on the record to say that i fucking love lilian eyler with my whole heart, like, i typed all this out and im so fucking emotional about her! in the past, i've written things about hello charlotte and how the lgbt representation is... lacking, let's call it, and i've also made a few headcanon posts here and there about lilian's transition and her relationship with gender. so i thought, you know, let's actually write a whole ass thing about it. so here it is.

content warnings: gender dysphoria, suicide attempts, homophobia/transphobia in the original source material

PART 1: ETHERANE'S BAD TAKES so... etherane did not handle lgbt stuff well, like, in the slightest. lili is canonically genderfluid, as seen in one of those little profile things that etherane drew that doesn't actually show up in any of the games. but her genderfluid identity isn't handled well at all in the actual source material. actually, in general, hello charlotte is pretty transphobic. to cite one example, there’s this journal entry in hello charlotte 3 talking about “defective” charlotte vessels, and one of the things that can make a charlotte vessel “defective” is for them to be born amab or intersex. this already has some really bad vibes, but then we remember also that one of the big functions of charlottes is apparently for them to be sexualized (yikes!!!!!) and so we also get this weird kind of like, “trans people aren’t hot” kind of take?

but anyway. when it comes to lilian specifically, she never actually states in canon that she’s genderfluid or otherwise trans, not even in the spinoff visual novel, which, by the way, would have been the perfect place to address her gender identity, and she consistently uses he/him pronouns. we don’t actually get to see any of her thought processes about her gender at all — like at this point, i can’t even say it’s a non-issue because that would imply that they even mentioned her gender in canon. the only time we can potentially extrapolate from canon that lili might not be cis is when anri mentions that charlotte is lili’s self-insert oc. that’s kind of heavy-handed with the whole “charlotte being the female name for charles”, but that’s another matter. the point is, with the lack of any canon basis that lilian’s even vaguely questioned her gender, the reveal that she’s actually genderfluid with like, two pieces of artwork that are detached from the actual game feels very pxrfxrmxtxvxly xnclxsxvx (performatively inclusive) especially considering how.... etherane talked about lilian’s gender in particular within the actual canon material.

after all, the story behind lilian is effectively that, after she was born, her mother was forced to abort her second child, a daughter that she would name scarlett. doing so plunged her into a really deep depression that eventually took on delusional qualities. so ever since lilian was about three years old, her mother has been referring to her exclusively as scarlett, asking her to ‘ be a good girl ’ and similarly raising her as a girl. we can see here that etherane seems to have implied that genderfluidity is something that happens because other people make it so, and isn’t an identity and lived experience. (bad take!) although, albeit unintentionally, i think etherane did lay some groundwork to talk about lilian’s relationship with her gender, specifically with regards to her projection onto her oc, charlotte. in high school, when she’s more active on the internet, we see that she’s going by charlotte and using she/her pronouns. anri, her irl friend, is pretty openly critical of that, but she sort of brushes off anri’s complaints and continues to present as feminine online. now, there’s this fanfic writer who goes by the pseudonym “c”, and lilian very quickly takes an interest in him. the way she talks to c, who doesn’t know her irl, compared anri, who does, is just like flat-out like they’re completely different people.

compare, her with c:

to her with anri:

i also wanted to mention that lili does occasionally act more “femininely” with anri, but it’s never to the extent that she does with c, and in general, affectionate banter is sort of... outright ridiculed in their friendship both ways. see this one exchange:

anri: >:) always up for some roasting lili: right? <3 <3 anri: now you’re the one being gross

unrelated but it fucking kills me that anri was like “ily <3” and lili went “gross” so she went “kys” and lili deadass goes “that’s better” like that’s what anri is referencing when she says “now you’re the one being gross” and im like... please just be healthy friends who don’t wish death on each other???

it’s also worth noting that c doesn’t know that she’s not “actually” a girl, and literally when they meet, she goes like, “it’s you who should be disappointed in me. charlotte turned out to be charles, whoops! i bet you were hoping that i’d be a cute girl.” and that’s... really depressing, like, she ended up really leaning into that cutesy side of her when she was talking to c and now she feels the need to be a lot more... sarcastic and bitter, like how she is with anri, because now c “knows the truth about her”, that she’s “actually been a guy all along”.

in any case, i think the intent that etherane was going for with this was kind of like... “lilian’s actually a repressed cis gay man!” which is . not great. it gives off this really gross vibes where it’s implied that since lili was raised as a girl and is into men, she got “confused” and started going by she/her online because she couldn’t come to terms with her sexuality or whatever. and that’s just such a bad take!!!

not to mention that a really important part of lili’s backstory is... her germaphobia. she has persistent delusions accompanied by visual hallucinations where she sees people as “parasites”, which visually manifests as them rotting or decomposing. because of that, she wears gloves all the time and is repulsed by physical touch. but when she meets c (whose real name is vincent) in person, she pretty much instantly goes for skin-to-skin contact with him, where she takes off her glove and holds his hand. and like, sure, that’s sweet, but that’s really not how mental illness... works. in the slightest. she doesn’t react at all when his hand touches hers, despite the fact that she has literally had panic attacks in canon from touching things without her gloves. and it gives off this implication that mental illness can be cured with romance somehow, and that’s a really bad take!

this feeds into fandom understanding that like, well, if lilian sees vincent as pure and allows him to touch her, then Obviously she’d let him kiss her, they could probably have sex, etc. and like... she’s canonically asexual though! and that brings us to the other implication, that asexuality is somehow... caused by something. like, there’s nothing in canon to state that lilian experiences sexual attraction (or even really romantic attraction, like i know etherane went off in heaven’s gate and did a lot of ship tease, but she never really outright says she’s crushing on anyone), but judging from the way etherane handled lilian’s gender identity, i have a sneaking suspicion that she established lilian’s asexuality with her mental illnesses specifically in mind. lilian’s autistic, germaphobic, has severe ocd, and she’s been sexually assaulted in the past. therefore, she must be asexual! that’s the sort of vibes i get from the game, and im not here for it. similarly to how her genderfluidity was handled, she makes no actual statement in canon that she doesn’t experience sexual attraction. the closest she’s ever come to this is when she says to anri in heaven’s gate that she is just straight up not interested in kissing (to which anri is like, “well what if it were vincent owo??” which. ugh. anyway). it just seems really strange to me to design a character with severe mental health issues with regards to physical touch and then just sort of treat it as a given that she’s asexual. it’s another example of etherane implying that lgbt identities are results of traumatic experiences or symptoms of mental illness and not an identity or lived experience. you can be sex-repulsed and not be asexual, and while i understand that many people do identify as ace due to trauma and other such things, it still feels like really bad rep when taken with the way lilian’s genderfluidity was portrayed.

PART 2: HOW “CHARLES” IS DIFFERENT FROM “LILIAN”

throughout hello charlotte, lilian identifies herself as a passive observer, someone who doesn’t directly interfere in events. this applies mostly to her existence in false realm, where she’s like... a god, and doesn’t want to interfere in the balance of the world. but i believe she also has always seen herself as an observer. in her very first scene, the one where she and anri are watching someone get bullied, she’s the one who tells anri that there’s no point in getting help. because her role is just to observe. to take pictures for anri, to be a good girl, to say yes to everything and to never express her opinions, feelings, thoughts.

and honestly, i think the main reason for that is that she’s dysphoric. whenever she talks about herself, she’s really self-deprecating, especially compared to when she talks about charlotte. i feel like the main reason why lilian detaches herself from the world and refuses to really perceive herself is because she’s fundamentally disgusted with her gender presentation. and like, we can see in the two times that she’s presented femininely (with c and in that one comic) that lili is just so much happier and more bubbly when she’s presenting as feminine. you can literally see her stop dissociating and becoming more present in the moment because she’s just. so much more comfortable in her skin. compare:

these pictures with this one:

it’s funny i was going to say that there is a picture where she’s presenting as masculine and actually smiles like a person, but guess what! she’s texting c! so she’s actually performing femininity!

but the point is, like... when she’s presenting as masculine, especially in the canon pictures rather than etherane’s art, she just doesn’t look... happy. and then we compare that to how much more present she seems when she’s presenting as feminine, and how much more comfortable she seems in being, like, happy! and cute! but there is a downside to this. and that is...

PART 3: DIFFICULTIES IN LILI’S TRANSITION

in my sort of... “main verse” for lili, i have it so that her suicide attempt failed and that she was somehow... saved from drowning. mother passes away and she starts to... soul search a little bit and find a reason to live, and somewhere along the line she starts to transition socially. that means she starts transitioning at a pretty... extremely vulnerable point in her life. in the year between 18-19 years old, she’d be a wreck. she’s growing her hair out, but she feels insecure about it. she starts to wear skirts, but only at home. she buys makeup and never wears it. it’s a long process for her, because it’s one thing to go by she/her online or to claim she’s just a gender-confused gay boy and a completely different thing to come out as a trans woman and to actually see herself as a woman and not some kind of imposter. considering that she was raised as a girl, she would have a large amount of guilt over transitioning, feeling like she’s going to be seen as confused, or that her gender identity is a direct result of her childhood trauma. but she’s not just worried that others will see her that way: she’s worried that she’s going to see herself that way.

and for a long time, she probably does see herself that way. for a long time, scarlett would probably treat her transition as some kind of attempt to personify her unborn sister and comply with perceived expectations rather than an attempt to feel comfortable in her own skin. she’d get nervous that she’s somehow becoming scarlett, because though she’s always thought it would be easier if she’d just been her sister, she’s never really wanted to be scarlett. she’d be scared to wear mid-length skirts, scared to put her hair up in a bun, probably even scared to wear red for a time, all because she’s scared of somehow losing herself and becoming her alter.

because of her caution and concern with identifying as a trans woman and not as the “safer“ gender identity of genderfluidity (where she can say she’s trans but never actually have to “push boundaries” by wearing feminine clothing or using any pronouns besides he/him), it would likely take her a very long time to take the step to medically transition. she’d likely never get any gender affirmation surgeries just because of how invasive the procedure is, but hormones would probably be something she’d look into once she’s much older and has a more stable income.

i mentioned before that before her transition, she uses dissociation and observation as a way to cope with her gender dysphoria. she saw herself as someone who didn’t really participate in the world, was a class ghost, invisible to everyone and a minuscule part of a vast universe. but upon transitioning, she’d feel much more actively self-conscious. once she starts to present in a feminine way, she’d feel like she’s being seen, like she’s actually participating in the world, and that’s both a blessing and a curse.

she’d be much more prone to stammering, especially when saying her name, and would blush far more often. she’d be afraid of saying the wrong thing or messing up somehow. and on top of that, she’d likely feel predatory for talking to others, always wondering if others find her cute or repulsive, always wondering if someone will perceive her and harm her in some way.

she’d very likely also feel really guilty about her own emotional experience. because she’s so used to being a passive observer, a puppet that only does what others want, she would feel like it’s selfish to be just... content. she’s so actively disgusted with herself before she transitions that she’s never allowed herself to be mentally present for a happy moment in her entire life. she always second-guesses, always dismisses positive things as a mere coincidence, and after she transitions, when she starts being more present in her life, she’d feel so guilty for just allowing herself to be happy.

because of that, she has some trouble with presenting as feminine consistently — she’d vary the “level” of her feminine presentation from day-to-day, where she might go full femme one day and another day stick with a beanie and a pair of slacks. she’s much more comfortable with presenting as more traditionally feminine when she’s at home or with trusted friends in a private space, but around 19 years old, she makes a vested effort to remain in public spaces. she’d time herself, saying, “for one hour, i’ll stay in this café while wearing a skirt, and then i can leave,” and she’d gradually increase the amount of time she spends in public spaces. and eventually, eventually she does end up feeling really comfortable with her gender presentation and falls into a more static sense of style. she really likes clothing design, so she ends up wearing a lot more dynamic outfits when she’s more comfortable with herself, and she probably also mildly gets into cosplay.

i also like to think that she reconnects with anri during her young adult years. either it’s like, right after her suicide attempt (i’ve written before that she’d had anri listed as her emergency contact and forgot to change it when she moved), or it’s at some point after she starts transitioning socially. i think it’d be really sweet for them to be friends in a more real way, and the sheer concept of anri teaching lili how to properly apply makeup and to set her hair is just so fucking sweet i might die. they both deserve to have friends so i think this is just a step up from hello charlotte canon.

#long post //#lilian eyler: study.#ive been working on this post for days. im fuckign emotional about her

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theteaisaddictive · 6 years

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tag games, all in one post

for everybody’s sanity i’m not going to come up with new questions, but here is everything i’ve been tagged in:

@lumiereswig

are you more introverted or extroverted? introverted, all the way

what’s something dorky you were into whe you were younger? i’m kind of into all the same things now as i was then, so that doesn’t help :P

what’s something dorky you’re into now? um. beauty and the beast? i guess?

go on a rant about some aspect of the dorky thing you love. 1991 MAURICE WAS NOT A COWARDS HE WAS A BRAVE MAN WHO HAD A TENDENCY TO HYPER-FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME. WHEN THAT THING IS HIS INVENTIONS, HE’S A LITTLE SPACED OUT AROUND HIS DAUGHTER. WHEN THAT THING IS HIS DAUGHTER, HE DOES ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING HE CAN TO KEEP HER SAFE, AND HE LISTENS TO HER WHEN SHE TELLS HIM THE BEAST ISN’T ALL BAD.

Got any rituals when you write/draw/etc? no, alas i am very boring

Tea or coffee? Chocolate or pastries? Dogs or cats? tea, pastries, dogs because i have 2

hell, why not, flatter me. have you read my fics? do you have a favorite? i really liked the one where the servants became human in modern europe and had to travel to find each other -- did you ever finish that?

HAVE YOU LISTENED TO GREAT COMET YET. YES

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO MAKE YOU LISTEN TO GREAT COMET. NOTHING IT’S AMAZING

THOUGHTS ON GREAT COMET. ALL THE FEELINGS FOR THE SAD RUSSIANS. ALL OF THEM.

favorite shakespeare play? much ado about nothing

@rosemoon621

If you could be a batb character, who would you be? belle, for sure

What is your favorite song of the moment? party tattoos or would you be so kind, both by dodie.

What series are you currently watching? i’m on episode 19 of critical role, if that’s an acceptable answer

If you could live in a place of your dreams FOREVER, where would you go? maybe my childhood town? i’m a homebody who likes what she already knows, though, so this is the most boring answer

If you could come to a country in South America, which country did you want to go to? i think brazil would be a really interesting country to visit!

How old are you now? 20

What is your favorite youtube video? oh c’mon, asking me to choose anything? i do love that one try guys video where they taste test the sexy drinks, because i just about suffocate laughing every time i watch

What song are you listening to while answering this question? no songs, this gets my full attention!

When is your birthday? i’m not sharing that on tumblr.

In a modern au, can you imagine what profession Adam would be in today? i can see him as an anger management therapist, actually.

What is your favorite tumblr blog? nobody! you’re all brilliant and lovely!

and

1. Can you imagine what happened minutes after the kiss at the end of the movie? i like to imagine that they hugged, maybe cried a little. belle asked the prince what his name was, and she tested it out a few times before saying that it suited him. 2. What is your favorite character, and why? belle, because of the self-insert feels. 3. What is your favorite song in the movie? (it can be either the 91 version or the 2017 version) something there, for either. 4. What character of the movie would you be in if he existed in real life? probably the beast, for self-insert reasons 5. When was the first time you saw the movie? i don’t remember, i would have been a child. 6. What’s your favorite fanfic (more than a chapter) about the movie? Kissed By A Rose, by SamoaPhoenix9 7. What movie character would you look at if he existed in real life? last time i did this i chose kelsi from hsm, so i guess that still stands. 8. What was the craziest thing you imagined involving this movie? that belle and plumette are sisters (this has 0 basis in canon, but you can pluck the idea from my cold dead hands) 9. What part did you dislike about the 1991 version? how short the falling in love parts are 10. And what was the point that you did not like the 2017 version? it’s a four way tie between the shirtless scene, the growl at the end, the lack of lines for the prince, and the goDDAMN MAGIC BOOK THAT MAKES NO SENSE 11. What was your favorite part of the 2017 version? the costumes!

@hathor-frozen (technically didn’t tag me, but i like their questions)

1. Do you like Mrs Potts in the animated or live-action BatB more? Why? animated, because she a) doesn’t do the weird kiss-pout thing in Be Our Guest, and b) Angela Lansbury’s accent is miles better than Emma Thompson’s.

2. Out of all the various meals mentioned in “Be Our Guest” which can you (or would like to learn to) make? beef ragù always sounded interesting to me

3. Have you ever tried any of the meals mentioned in “Be Our Guest”? that would be a no

4. Imagine they had announced they were cutting out your favourite servant from the live-action. Whom would you be most sad/angry to see go? mrs potts, because -- well, can you imagine the movie without her? cause i can’t!

5. What about least sad to see go? probably babette (from 1991 -- sorry, babette stans!), since she doesn’t really contribute much

6. Ballroom scene: 1991 or 2017? 1991 for sure! the little gulp when belle guides his hands to her waist, the beautiful colours, the brilliant smiles on their faces . . .

7. If 1991!Belle and 2017!Belle met, do you think they’d get along? Why/why not? i think they would! they’re similar people; i feel like 1991 belle would just kind of nod along to 2017 belle’s mechanical talk, since she doesn’t seem that interested in her dad’s work, but they’d probably get on well enough.

8. If you could have any role in the castle, what would you be? i might be mrs. potts, honestly

9. Which BatB film’s “Little Town” do you prefer? 1991, because it’s fast-paced, keeps everything at the same pitch, and has the immortal line ‘marie! the baguettes! hurry up!’

10. Which BatB film’s “Something There” do you prefer? again, 1991, because it’s the first time we hear the prince’s voice.

11. If you could redesign any of the costumes in the live-action film, what would you pick and why? probably the yellow dress, because it doesn’t really wow me as much as i think it could have.

@myfellowcandlesticks

if you got turned into an enchanted object in the castle, what would you be? probably like a bookmark or something

if you could have only one dish from “be our guest”, which one would you eat? i’ll try the grey stuff, since it’s so intriguing

what are your thoughts on the last scene in batb 2017, when mrs. potts sings a reprise of “tale as old as time” and gives maurice A Look™? i think it’s a sweet nod to the people (LIKE ME) who ship 1991 maurice and mrs potts. but it doesn’t work if she has a husband already. (cue me getting the horrible idea to write a three-way love triangle ending in maurice and mrs potts being together, but involving infidelity and divorce, which means i’ll never write it)

in a modern day au, is plumette a hipster or an art hoe? art hoe 100000%

same modern day au; is lumiere a star trek or a star wars fan? star wars, purely for the in-jokes.

WHAT HOGWARTS HOUSE IS COGSWORTH IN?? I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR AGES i think he’s a gryffindor. sure, he’s a stickler for rules, but so was hermione and that didn’t make her any less gryffindor.

you know what? place everyone in their hogwarts houses! adam is a slytherin and that is a hill i will die upon. belle is either a ravenclaw (dat intelligence) or a hufflepuff (loyal to her dad/the castle, works at her inventions and books). mrs potts and lumiere are both gryffindors. plumette and chapeau are slytherins.

do you have any headcanons about belle and adam as parents? i think they’d always let their children know they were loved, and they’d always try their best to support them.

what does chip grow up to be? i mean what job do you think he chooses? there was a really nice fic juliejeanette (civilwarrose) wrote where he became a sailor in the french navy, and i think that fits him pretty well)

what’s your favorite song of the moment? (doesnt have to be batb, i’m just curious to know what yall listen to) already answered!

what’s your favorite book? (not romeo and juliet like belle, i hope) again with making me choose! uhhhhh jane eyre, villette, the woman in white, fangirl, the lunar chronicles, ink heart series, his dark materials.

and

name: rachael

gender: cis woman

height: like 5″2′

hogwarts house: hufflepuff

favorite animal: dog/cat/dolphin

average hours of sleep: right now about 9 because i’m sick, but usually about 7

dogs or cats: dogs

how many blankets i sleep with: two in winter, one in summer

dream trip/vacation: i’d love to go back to canada one day, especially p.e.i. again.

dream job: nurse

when i made this account: july 2012, but i didn’t really use it until like 2013

why i made this account: to keep up with bernie su’s bts posts about the lizzie bennet diaries

number of followers: 460

reason for url: i like tea

#asks #beauty and the beast #batb 2017 #sorry for this hella long post guys

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fyodorsuggestions · 6 years

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Tagged by @fy-soukoku

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

My A03 username, and main blog and twitter and facebook and freaking discord and literally every single thing is Darke_Eco_Freak either with hyphens, spaces or underscores and basically I was an edgy 11 year old who loved Jak II and the concept of the evil version of the protag Jak. Only I wanted to be extra Edge™ so I added an extra E to dark.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos)

Hits: Sex Pollen isn’t a real Thing (it was one of the first smuts I wrote and it’s kinda bad now whoops)

Kudos: Sex Pollen again

Comments: T(w)o Me, Fo(u)r Us, or as I call it 2/4

Subs: 2/4

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

It’s been Virus from this piece of art for some months now. Why? Because Kat made it and I love it a lot so you know

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Um damn, I haven’t gotten regular comments in a few months except from my friends whom I spam with my many many fics. I’m actually in another fandom I made another archive account for because reasons but yeah. My friends are my fave

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

I haven’t actually read fic in a while, there’s one or two Daredevil ones I think about but I don’t go back and re-read, my attention span’s been pretty shit for a while.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

I’m not subbed to anyone but I have bookmarked 6 fics

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

None really. My latest fandom isn’t really open for AU’s, well written Au’s at least and yes I’m forever salty over that. Hmm, if there’s one I like to toy with though it’s Evil AU’s, you know the villain turns bad AU? Love em

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Subs: 465

Bookmarked: 2133

I don’t really care though because A) I’ve been in a lot of fandoms since 2014 and I know most ppl are here for the porn as per comments on said porn.

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Idgaf. I’ve written necro, cannibalism, torture porn, self-insert stuff. Honestly I dump most of what my other fandom wouldn’t accept on this one. Plus Fyodor is a very easy character to manipulate for me so it’s always fun.

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

I’d like to be better about my chaptered fics, not abandoning them and things like that. Also, action scenes, I want to get better at those.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

I multiship myself to hell. For this fandom I write whatever catches my eye because I don’t know the characters all that well? The running meme of me not watching the show is still a thing. In my other fandom, I’m one of the few writers around and I write every single ship I can think of cause I can.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

One my darke account: 73, on my other account; 10 but I post a lot to tumblr and don’t really cross post all that much.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

I can’t tell you that because I just keep huge word docs around but for the year I’ve written about 600 k so that’s cool.

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I just write off the top of my head most of the time, I’ll talk out a plot with a friend sometimes but otherwise it’s just whatever I feel as the day goes.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

I have, two, soon to be three.

16. How did you discover AO3?

I think I saw someone on ff.net mention it and I started looking at the site.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

Fuck no lol. I’m here writing the rarest of pairs and writing oc/characters, not to mention in first person sometimes and those tags alone mean ppl won’t read. Eh, I’m just posting to archive to bolster the number of fics a character has tbh. (this is for BSD fandom but I’ve never been a popular/famous author in any fandom)

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Umm, half the time I’m not sure I have ppl beyond friends who read my fics so yeah.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I’d say Lakshmi Persad, a local author. Mostly because I hated having to do that book in lit class and wanted to do better than her.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

If you want it, make it. I’m serious, don’t count on anyone to make the content you want to see, do it yourself and people might follow suit, if not, at least you made it. Hella.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I finish stories and still have no idea if I figured them out or not.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

I’ve gotten a few, mostly I ignore them. But there was this one fic, it wasn’t for anyone but me and I shouldn’t have posted it at all but I did and someone told me that the characterization was completely wrong for the character I was writing and I ended up leaving the fic alone for months and months. I got back to it eventually but I’m not sure if I’ll ever finish that fic tbh.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Action gives me joint pain. I just how do you make it flow?

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

I want it All

Deathless Sleep

Missing Pages

Five times he fell

Divine(d) Visions

2/4

Many lil drabbles and sexy times.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

I can’t plan to save my life

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

It used to be 300 a day now it’s 2k because apparently I hate myself. Most of the time I meet it, between the two fandoms I write for daily so yay.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Absolutely.

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

Step back Through Time and Remember my Touch, definitely those two. One’s the original fic and the other is the sequel. Best things I wrote all year

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

Maybe Gone, that’s a really old one but god the cringe.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Hopefully I figured out those damn action scenes.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

I think bringing the characters to life in my own head is the easiest thing.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Not letting lack of feedback get to me cause I’m not writing popular shit, I don’t expect it but god damn it gets discouraging as fuck to see something I worked hard on just kinda flop and drown.

33. Why do you write?

I can’t do anything else and crave validation like the attention whore I am.

I’m tagging @chuuyasuggestions @kyusakusuggestions um idk who has archive shit. If you follow me and you see it, you have to do it okay?

#dear lord #all my opm stuff was popping #but that was about 2 years ago almost?#jesus #it's been a while

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purplefictionmom · 7 years

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I'd normally be like "ALL THE QUESTIONS" but I'm really interested in 7 and 15 (but like if you wanted to do them all then hell yeah pls do)

You know what, Imma answer them all, cause I love you darling~

All answers under the cut, cause I’m sure I'll get long winded, as usual haha

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?I mean, there was a story that I had been sitting on for...10 years, I think? I just didn’t know how I wanted to tell the story. It started as a mockumentary type of thing, then when that didn’t fit the narrative style I wanted to tell, I moved to a classic modern fantasy style, but that didn’t pan out either.

Then, the game called “What Remains of Edith Finch” came out and it hit me so hard that I nearly passed out: that is the perfect narrative style for the book idea I’ve been sitting on!!

Incidentally, if you haven’t played/watched someone play it, “What remains of Edith Finch” is an excellent game and Jacksepticeye does a wonderful let’s play of it :D

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?Not as much anymore, but I used to hate bringing up “...And the Things That Followed.” Just for a short what-for: ATTTF is a Left4Dead/2 fanfiction, reader-insert that started as a sort of experiment: I perused lunaescence and picked a fandom that I was familiar with, but that didn’t have a lot of fanfiction to choose from. I mostly wanted to see if smaller fandoms stay active, even with very little content to choose from. And boy, did I get my answer.

The biggest reason that I ended up embarrassed over it was because I hadn’t intended it to be a romance fic (I mean...the two main characters are the reader and a Hunter, and what with necrophilia being really gross and all...), but I had readers out and out demand for it, to the point of going on strike from reading my fanfic. This was years ago, mind you, so I caved like a wet noodle and now hate that particular fanfic, to the point where I don’t even want to write the two sequels that I already had planned and half-written.

So, it started out as embarrassment, now its more I wish I could just delete it and forget it exists, but I’m one of those authors who has a really hard time deleting anything, even things I hate haha.

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?For the very first, ultimate scene I picture in each fic/story/novel, it could really end up anywhere in the final version.

After that first initial scene I see, I try to start as far back as I think I can get away with and move forward from there, so I guess the short answer is I write from beginning to end, no matter how it ends up being at the end, haha.

4) favorite character you’ve writtenI guess this is supposed to not include characters I don’t own, but that’s no fun so here you go:

OC: A supernatural Hunter named Silva and another hunter (who I have an rp blog for) named Theodora ‘Timmie’ Wilson

Non-OC: Writing Yusuke from YYH and Asgore from UT

5) character you were most surprised to end up writingI’m not quite sure what this question means, so I’ll just take a stab and guess it’s talking about how a character can end up differently on paper than how you first envisioned them in your head.

And that award goes to Silva. I expected her to be a hard, cold killer, but she had so much inner turmoil and hidden thoughts that she was definitely the hardest character to write until I actually started to understand her.

Which took an ungodly amount of time, tbh haha.

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change nowProbably how often I use the double-hyphen. Its meant to be an alternative to using commas (which, I use to many as it is anyway haha), but now they litter my writing like popcorn on the floor at a midnight release, haha.

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?Honestly? A little of both.

I’m someone who sees fanfiction (and any fanwork at all, tbh) as legitimate art forms, but there are so many who not only don’t agree, but they belittle and question those who participate in fandoms.

There are days I have all my shit together and I’m ready to defend my fanfiction to the death, along with all my original content; I have my sources, I have examples, so on and so forth, but other days...

Well, let’s just say there are days I don’t even volunteer that information to people willingly haha.

8) favorite genre to writeOther than fanfiction, I love horror, fantasy, and scifi the best, though there are plenty of times it feels like I’m hardly writing for any of those genres at all, haha.

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?Fanfiction, most of the time, but I also listen to songs on the radio, discuss ideas with friends/family (my step-dad was the only person when I was growing up who nurtured my love for telling stories and many of my ideas for novels came from talking with him over the years), or I also like to free-write.

At least, I think its called free-writing haha. I basically just put my pen on paper and just talk to the page with my pen. Sometimes, its just a rant, but more often then not, I’ll find a story or character hidden there.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?All of the above, haha. In the perfect atmosphere, music is playing in the background, and I’m completely alone with no distractions, but since that’s not reality, I’ve sort of forced myself to adapt to what I can.

My computer (where I do 90% of my writing) is in the living room of my house, so my hubby is usually around, and if he’s playing overwatch, then its usually a few voices playing in the background.

If it gets to be too distracting, I just put headphones in, but I also write in notebooks and I take those everywhere, so for that, I just write when/what I can as I go along.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?Definitely dialogue, but also my prose. Honestly, all of it, haha. I look back at stuff I wrote years ago and I wonder how anybody thought I was any good, haha.

12) your weaknesses as an authorIf I had to pick one, its probably that I tend to either over-explain, or under-explain. There is no in-between, haha. My first drafts are often a mess of me focusing in on the details of one room and then not describing a setting for two chapters or more.

13) your strengths as an authorProbably my ability to logically follow order of events, even though I don’t plot, like, at all. This also makes it easy to see where I can divert from what’s expected and explore different avenues.

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?Not really? I tend to either put my whole library on shuffle, or I have a dedicated writing playlist that’s full of background music from video games and other things like that.

15) why did you start writing?It started as an outlet.

When I was about 10, my dad came home from work one day while my mom was still at work and while I watched, packed all his stuff into his car, called my mother and told her that if she didn’t get off work soon I’d be home alone, and then left.

I was in a complete and total depression from around then until well into my late teens (I have a little depression now, and a slew of other problems, but now for diff reasons). On top of my dad leaving, my mother, step-father and I all moved to a completely new state, where I started to bomb academically and had literally no friends until almost a year later.

It started out as angsty pre-teen poetry (a lot of which actually still pretty good, even as I go back to read it), then it spilled into fanfiction and fandoms, and around the age of 13--once my step-dad found my love of writing and wanted to pull me away from fanfiction--I finally started writing original ideas out.

16) are there any characters who haunt you?Silva, and a few others. Not so much because their stories are left untold, but moreso because of the way they helped shape me as a writer and the things I was interested in writing about.

The debate about whether or not a writer should write about a certain subject usually stems from readers, but I tend to lean toward the argument from a writer’s point of view: there are subjects that I broached as a teenager that I needed to explore in order to be who I am today, as a person and as a writer. Not to say I have something horrible in my writer’s past that I wouldn’t be able to share, but more that it might be questionable about the age that I delved into those topics. (and no, I don’t mean just smut, though that is included in what I’m talking about)

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?Stop wasting your time trying to please family members with what you write. Most of them are going to ignore the whole of your writing and focus in on the one swear word you threw in for characterization anyway.

Write what makes you happy; whether or not its publishable isn’t the point. You’re just starting out and you need to write; to get better, to learn the ropes, so just go WRITE!

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?Oh geez...at the beginning, everything I read affected my writing style. Fanfiction, published novels, everything.

Probably my biggest influencers would be “The Green Mile” by Stephen King, “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien, “This Present Darkness” By Frank Peretti.

And while these are hugely different authors with different writing styles, they more influenced me in my way of thinking. Of expanding my imagination of what could be if I just had the courage to write it.

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?I either have a notebook filled with notes about characters/information, or I use a website called Hiveword(dot)com. It’s a novel tracking website that also advertises its program (which you have to pay for), but the website itself is free and you can store all the information about your book, characters, timeline, etc.

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?Both, but I get more done with longer sessions. I know that seems like a no-brainer, but its more because of how I prep myself for my writing time:

I have to have a glass of water or cup of coffee, I have to have my music playing (which, with spotify could take a few minutes to load), I have to re-read the last page or so of what was previously written so I can get back into the feel of it, then I can actually sit down and write.

the little spurts end up being in my notebooks and they’re a mess, honestly, haha.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?I used to cringe and close it immediately, but I’ve been trying to analyze and see the biggest differences in my writings from a then and now standpoint. Sometimes its really hard, if its particularly bad or whatev, but its been a real confidence booster when I can see where I was and where I am now.

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?Not uncomfortable, per se, but I tend to try and think of things from a reader’s perspective at the same time I write, so there are times when I get a little too involved in what’s happening on the page, haha.

HIAPOTS was a terror to write at some points because of this.

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?All of it, if I’m being honest, but obscure things specifically? Hmm...

I mean, probably the fact that I give all my pets personalities and conversations between each other? I do it without thinking, but there are times where I’ll find myself using lines or situations from this weird little thing in my actual writings, haha.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?OMG SO MUCH. Like, idk about ‘expert’, but I have so much useless trivia in my head because of being an author. Talk with me for an hour and see if I don’t throw ‘fun facts’ into the mix of our conversations haha.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud ofOh ugh...umm...let me to look...

From a currently unpublished reader/sans fic I’m writing:You understand, don’t you, Sans?

Sure, Sans understood. Sans always understood. He was the one who didn’t make waves, or overturn boats--you could always count on Sans to be the reassuring nod when you felt lost or the understanding ex who’s perfectly okay with just letting things die, even though the ending came as the greatest punchline ever written in history:

He hadn’t even seen it coming.

(I love delving into characters’ heads, and i love it more when i can do it well enough to feel comfortable with letting other people read it, haha)

From Part 6 of my Garrus/Reader serial fic:“They were my cases,” Garrus admitted, his eyes finally leaving Castis’s in favor of looking at the floor, “And I can’t watch it happen again.”

If Castis didn’t have such a steely reign on his composure now, Garrus might have been clued into his father’s line of thought. As it was, Castis was being forced to realize that he had been wrong in his assessments of his son.The older turian had always thought Garrus shirked the rules and regulations as a form of rebellion, since Castis stepped in and forced him to quit training for the spectres--as if to prove he didn’t care about what his father cared about. Now, Castis realized the reason Garrus pushed them aside so easily was because he did care, maybe too much.

(Honestly, the whole argument between Castis and Garrus in this part of the fic is something I’m proud of)

#wowee look at me go #elainapoststhings

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just-another-storyteller · 4 years

Text

Question Time with Hal

owo thanks @warofmywords

How Many WIPS are you working on at the minute? Yes. Too many RIP

What is each WIP about? Uhhh let’s go with the. Top 5. 1 - Finding Magic: Runa and Laith are just two normal teenagers from a small village in a country named Galetha. Until one day, Laith gets a cryptic letter from his grandfather; he and Runa can’t quite decipher it, but know he’s trying to tell something important. So they, alongside Runa’s unicorn friend Falfain, Runa’s dog Fana, and a demon named Ephraim they picked up along the way, leave to find Laith’s grandfather and get some answers. 2 - Rainbow: It’ll be a Visual Novel. In the world of Rainbow, everyone has “soul marks”; they look like simple black tattoos. Whenever someone meets someone who’ll play a big role in their life, good or bad, the mark turns colorful, showing that you’ve just met someone important. Some people never meet the ones their marks mean - It might be authors who inspire them, or celebrities they look up to, and not every mark has a counterpart, though many do. In the VN itself, the player can choose one of six marks, each standing for a different character - And where the journey leads, well, that’s up to the player. Friendship, romance, or something truly supernatural...? 3 - Ira & Lupita: I’m still in the planning phase, but I have written some shorter fics with them. Ira and Lupita are shapechangers and girlfriends, and since the shapechangers in general are vaguely inspired by the World of Darkness Fera, the plot might be, too, but idk yet. 4 - Cyberpunk: This is like, the least planned of them. It’ll be Cyberpunk-esque, following a small group of rebels who’re trying to overthrow the government. 5 - Changes: Lyka used to be just a normal kid. Until a seemingly kind woman promised her and her little sister shelter and food, if only they’d come with her. What the woman hadn’t mentioned was that Lyka and Fia, alongside many other kids and teens, would be used for experiments, designed to strengthen humanity. But this wasn’t what Lyka had in mind, so she tries to escape...

Where are you in the WIP’s progress? Finding Magic - Working on the Second Draft, I gotta rewrite Chapter 3 but am either a) procrastinating or b) too busy with other stuff >-> Rainbow - I’ve gotten like 50k words down b u t I gotta redo some planning bc it has several routes/ends so. Eh. Ira & Lupita - Um, planning and writing small ficlets of it Cyberpunk - Planning Changes - It’s kinda... Dormant right now, but I’m about 20k words in.

Do you have a favourite line in the WIP? if so, where and what chapter and what is it? Just gonna go with Finding Magic, and aside from like almost all of Ephraim’s dialogue, I really like the very first line. Translated, it’s roughly: “A young grove wyvern flew past Runa’s window. It swerved in the breeze and landed on her window sill before it lifted off again and continued its way. She looked after it, watched as it found its way away from the village’s houses and towards the trees.”

Is there anything you wish you could change about how certain events have played out in your WIP? Hm... In Changes, there’s a character death that’s just. T_T.

Who is the worst OC in terms of things they’ve done? Hm... I like my villains to be the typical “heroes of their own story”, as in, they wouldn’t consider themselves villainous and many have understandable reasons - though not necessarily excuses. Since i don’t know enough about the government for the Cyberpunk WIP, I’ll go with Genevieve from Changes. For, y’know, causing the abduction of children and experimenting on them.

Who is considered a Hero/ main character and how did they get to this point? Finding Magic - Runa, Laith, Ephraim and Falfain all get POV chapters, though if I had to pick, I’d name Runa the #1 Main Character. She’s the one who convinces Laith to go look for his grandpa, she’s the one who knows Falfain, and she’s the one who decide to let Ephraim tag along. Rainbow - It’s you! Since you’re the player, and your decisions determine what happens. Ira & Lupita - Unsurprisingly, Ira and Lupita. Cyberpunk - Most of them don’t have names yet I’d put Avery as #1 main character though, since he’s the leader of the rebel group. His second in command is his datemate Jackie/Jordie. Changes - Lyka is the #1 Main Character, since she sets the escape in motion.

What happened to your villain to make them what they are now? Finding Magic - He genuinely thought he was doing good, that he was protecting everyone else. Cyberpunk - Not sure yet, but they probably do believe they’re making the world a better place Changes - Oof well. Genevieve’s firstborn child died of something that does occur in non-human animals, but is usually harmless in those. Her goal is to figure out how to splice animal DNA into humans so that in the future, those kinds of things are treatable.

Is there anything your OCs may want to change about themselves? Laith would love to be better at standing up for himself. At least his girlfriend has his back tho

Who was your first OC you ever created and do they still have a story? Oof, good question... A myriad of Pokémon Self-Inserts and Inserts of my friends, maybe. Or one of my many, many RPG characters... Maybe Fia, who I played in a Jurassic Park RP when I was 10 or 11?

What has been the biggest inspiration for your writing and/or your WIPs? Hm, I’m not sure, it varies depending on the day, my mood, etc. Most recently, it was reading Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books, because I’d love to be able to touch someone the same way her books touched me.

Who is your least favourite OC in terms of things they’ve done? Oof, good question... I guess if they were real people... Genevieve, and whoever made the government the way it is in the Cyberpunk story, even though I don’t even know that guy yet. But since they aren’t... I can’t hate my own OCs. No matter what they do, I cannot dislike them. I did hate Genevieve when I started Changes, but she’s changed quite a bit since then.

What is one piece of advice you would give Past You, if you were given the chance? Honestly, no idea.

Do any of your characters celebrate Pride? If so, how? I feel like Ira and Lupita might. Runa absolutely would if she lived in our world. Avery and Jackie/Jordie probably did, before they joined the rebel group, because well, they really shouldn’t run around huge crowds with many people who might recognize them.

Is celebrating Pride any different from celebrating ours? Well, the Cyberpunk story is set in the future, so I’m guessing for Avery and Jay it’s similar but slightly different, though I haven’t done enough worldbuilding yet to know how.

Do you prefer fanfiction or original fiction? No. I love both.

How long have you been writing seriously? Hm, define seriously. I’ve been trying since I was, like, 12, even if most of those stories are now banned to a folder called “Old Stories” and not looked at anymore. Changes with its 20k got started when I was 14ish, but has been dormant for half a decade now. I started writing fanfic somewhat regularly in uh... March 2019, and I’ve been more involved in my original fiction since NaNo ‘18. So, pick one of those dates.

What genres do you tend to stick to? Mostly Fantasy, but also some Sci-Fi, I guess?

How good would you say you are at being able to write Angst? Have you ever made someone cry? I’ve made myself cry, does that count?

Any writeblrs you look up to? Well, you, Hal lol. Bc you’re pretty damn awesome at not letting those asshole anons get to you.

#Tag games

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