#// This probably varies a bit depending on if something comes up or gets plotted while writing with people but

[cyn-if]

I've been re-reading the WIP a few days ago, and a weird series of questions came to mind... Warning, this will be all about a character you probably don't get a lot of asks about!

So, for some reason, the specific kind of "bully character" that Thomas is fascinates me in works such as this one. Not that I'd like him to be a RO or anything, I just think it's interesting to see how such characters are written or the different paths their story can take.

With Thomas, I know MC can humiliate him by showing how stronger they are, scare him by letting him stab them and witness how non effective that is, hurt him or kill him... That is a lot of variety!

Now I have a variety of questions if you don't mind!

How impactful on the overall story will be what we decided to do in regards to him?

If left alive, will Thomas continue to appear in the story on a semi-regular basis, or is he way too much of a secondary character for that? I don't know just how much he's a "proper character" and how much he's a "plot device" at this point.

Assuming he's alive and will be reappearing, are you planning on having him stay the same, or do you have some character evolution planned for him, good or bad (no need to tell which way it will go if that's spoilery! - just asking if anything will change or not).

And now a self-indulgent character ask that I hope won't be too annoying to answer: on a playthrough with a MC that is fully on board with their task of fighting against all things demonic and who basically resists their "evil nature" as much as possible, what would happen if Thomas was in mortal danger for whatever reason and MC saved him, possibly even taking risks or getting actually hurt for it - because at the end of the day, "he's still a human I have to protect"? How would Thomas react to that? And the ROs too, considering they all witnessed at least some of the stuff that happened between Thomas and the MC?

I hope this isn't too many question about that one character who isn't even a RO and that I shouldn't be overfixating on so much!

It's not a lot at all. Thomas does indeed sort of fall into the 'plot device' sphere then fully fledged out character. However, I do indeed have scenes in mind for a Thomas that was spared and depending on what the MC did.

Regarding impact, Thomas is the son of one of the more influential nobles in the Kingdom. While I'm undecided if Lord Ducant sits on the council, he for sure has quite a bit of influence in it. Thus killing, maiming or even scarring his son will impact his mind when it comes to the council informing the King what to do with the MC. Furthermore, slaughtering or maiming him outright will only alienate the MC from the rest of the Blackguard even more. Sparing Thomas, will indeed be seen as the MC doing something good (unless they maim him) and will carry positive benefits.

If spared, yes the MC will have opportunities to run into Thomas again. And when he shows up, depending on what the MC did to him, his character will indeed be slightly different. With certain paths being a little more antagonistic then others. (Maimed Thomas will hold a grudge.)

As for your what if scenario, Thomas would be surprised. That level of surprise will vary depending on what the MC did to him, but even an MC that avoids the fight entirely saving him would come as a surprise. That action more then anything would inspire a lot of growth in Thomas, and assuming he doesn't fully hate the MC, might even earn the MC a loyal helper (friend would be a bit of a stretch)

The ROs reactions would depend on what the MC did to Thomas first, and if they've shown themselves to be heroic in other encounters.

Everix is most likely proud and vindicated by the act. Knowing (hoping) deep down that the MC would be able to overcome their nature and be a hero.

Hayes wouldn't really understand risking one's life for someone like Thomas, but they would look at the character with a bit of awe at their heroics.

Sam wouldn't really make much of a big deal about it, unlike Everix or Hayes. But they would be happy to see that the MC is being heroic, and would probably try to mimic that level of heroism.

Quinn would be surprised, much like Thomas, at the MC saving him. But if the MC had been preforming heroic actions before, she would get over her surprise quick, and would congratulate the MC on sticking to their principles.

Maverick would trust the MC made the right decision, and would sort of be at awe and proud of them. He would also try to emulate that heroism, just in a less direct way then Sam would. More words and assisting, less physical acts of saving someone.

[yanderes-galore]

For the new requests, could I ask you to do a Transformers Animated Blitzwing concept

Sure! I'll try to keep it vague for darling. Sorry if something is OOC, still very new to the series. Hope I still get his character right :)

Yandere! TF:A! Blitzwing Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Multiple personalities I guess? (It's Blitzwing, I would think that's expected), Obsession, Stalking, Manipulation, Jealousy, Violence, Murder mention, Forced partnership, Kidnapping.

First of all, Blitzwing has three alters.

An icy strategist.

A short-tempered hothead.

Lastly, a random nutcase.

Each persona would play a role into his obsession with his darling.

He's also pretty powerful, being able to become a tank, jet, and robot.

There's no doubt Blitzwing would prove to be dangerous to you.

You'll also notice him talking to himself alot.

It is shown he can have conversations with himself.

They usually involve you.

His obsession most likely makes Blitzwing unable to focus at the start.

This is because how it starts is usually with one persona.

Then it spreads to the others over time.

His strategist persona does most of the planning.

He doesn't express much in terms of affection but he is the most put together.

This persona plans most of the stalking, kidnapping, manipulation, etc towards his darling.

He essentially does most of the thinking in the obsession.

Hopefully the other personas go along with his plans.

Then there's the more aggressive and hotheaded personality.

This persona tends to be more in charge of his jealousy and violence.

If Blitzwing is angered or jealous then you'll see his hotheaded side more.

His strategist personality makes his jealousy more controlled so really they both work on this when it comes to plotting murders.

His random persona is the most affectionate one and very unreadable.

While Blitzwing is in this mode you'll be smothered in affection more than the other two.

The question is... do the personas fight over you?

Most likely yes... at least the strategist and short-tempered one do.

The more random persona just doesn't care.

If Blitzwing can trap you in him or not if you were a human, maybe?

That tends to be when you hear him talk to himself.

He's arguing....

We don't see many Decepticons have humans in them so that's up to speculation.

You probably don't want to be in him anyways.

He's unstable and jet/tank mode conflict too often to be safe.

He can't take chances.

Blitzwing probably doesn't mind being given/forcing affection out of you.

The strategist tolerates it and expects it if he orders it.

"It's good you're obedient. Unlike some bots...."

The hotheaded persona is rather aggressive with taking affection from you.

"About time! I've been waiting for this moment!"

The random persona adores affection no matter how he gets it.

"Oooh! You like me too, don't you!? I knew it!"

Blitzwing would abduct you, when it happens varies.

It can be a long while of stalking before he takes you.

Or almost right away once he gets jealous.

You'll never be able to predict him or his obsession.

Decepticons are skilled in manipulation and lies, he'd probably threaten his darling around at times.

Or ask you to dance... honestly depends.

Blitzwing also doesn't mind a bit of murder.

Humans fall easily to his attacks...

Autobots will be sent offline if they had anything to do with you.

Decepticons? It'll be harder but he'll figure something out.

You need to be on your toes around him.

He'll go from forcing you to be obedient to cooing over how cute you are.

The scariest part of Blitzwing is the fact he's unpredictable.

That and the fact he can work with himself enough to find you if you escape him.

He's a Decepticon fast on land and the air.

He'd freeze your road to escape or blow something up to block the way.

Even if he's unstable at times, he'll still able to outsmart you.

He tries not to harm you, but if he does it's by accident.

The best way to escape is to make his personalities fight against each other.

Even then he'll quickly pull himself together if it meant keeping you...

With Blitzwing... you have to adapt as you go.

[decepti-thots]

Hi! I hope your day/night has been grand.

I’ve been a fan of Transformers for a long while but I was wondering if you had any recommendations on where to start with Transformers comics?

Hi anon! Sorry for the slightly late response- busy weekend.

This depends on a few things really. TF comics vary a lot in terms of tone, genre, take on TFs and what they're interested in when it comes to the franchise... so it kind of depends on what you're after.

Still, if you're looking to dive in, there's two big options here: IDW1 and IDW2. IDW1 refers to the comics published in a single major continuity between 2005 and 2018, with various distinct 'eras', while IDW2 refers to the shorter-lived new continuity that ran 2018 through to 2022.

Since you're already up to speed on TF as a whole by the sounds of it, that does mean I feel a bit less like I have to find you something that requires no prior knowledge, so for IDW1 there are a few good possible jumping on points I'd recommend, which are: start at Robots in Disguise #1, start at More than Meets the Eye #1, or start with Last Stand of the Wreckers. All of these start someone between a third and halfway into the run of the comics, but they either juuust precede or jumpstart a kind of 'soft reboot' that produced IDW1's main powerhouse comics they came to be widely regarded for, and they're a lot easier to recommend as jumping on points.

Start with RiD #1 if: you like large ensemble casts and a rotating list of plotlines in an ongoing comic with a large scope, you are interested in Cybertronians-on-Cybertron and worldbuilding relating to that, you are more in the mood for a comic that takes its setting and premise moderately seriously, and you want something that ties together into a big overarching plot. Well, plots, really. RiD is a little bit less newbie friendly than our next two picks, but it doesn't really require you specifically know IDW1 lore or backstory, just that you can pick out well-known TF characters and know a bit about the franchise's core assumptions. It's famous for including a lot of intricate continuity in its overall story, but it mostly (re)establishes that continuity internally, so it's fine to start here. It has political intrigue and lots of Schemes and some really great characters- Barber writes most issues from a certain characters' implicit perspective, so you see a lot of different points of view on what's going on. The short version: RiD picks up when the Autobot-Decepticon war has just ended under uneasy circumstances, and neutral Cybertronians have started coming back to the planet en-masse. It's got a cast of Autobots, Decepticons and neutrals trying to work out how to run the planet in the wake of that.

Start with MTMTE #1 if: also if you like large ensemble casts but more in the sense of character-focused plotlines with an interest in interpersonal dynamics driving the storytelling, you want something that falls more into space sitcom/dramedy tone wise, you are interested in a comic that looks at the franchise through a very different lens than most other incarnations, you enjoy high-concept story ideas. This one is even more newbie-friendly than RiD, because it mostly features characters who either have not appeared in previous IDW1 stories, or have only appeared a few times. The short version: MTMTE picks up when Rodimus, upon the end of the war, decides he doesn't want to stay on Cybertron and watch people bicker over who's in charge and manages to persuade around 200 other people to go on a wild goose chase around the galaxy looking for the mythical "Knights of Cybertron" to fix things instead. This has pretty much gone off the rails by issue two because he gets the ship stranded in a kind of Star Trek Voyager style initial setup, and also everyone on board turns out to have about a million personal issues that makes everyone being stuck together probably not a great idea. Ultimate road trip from hell. Sidenote: this is The Comic What Has Some Romance Plotlines in it, if you like that, you'll wanna check this one out- but contrary to popular belief they are subplots, and there's plenty here if it's not your bag, haha.

Start with Last Stand of the Wreckers if: you do not want to read 50+ issues of a massive ongoing comic, haha. LSotW is a standalone miniseries that is only five issues long and tells a complete story that requires basically no prior IDW1 knowledge to just jump into, and it finishes that story in those five issues. It has a smaller, tighter cast and knows where it's heading, so if you want something you can just pick up and read, try it. This one is an action story with some serious horror crossover elements and is notable for being significantly darker than the vast majority of TF media, and specifically at parts for being very violent (think, oh, homages to slasher or grindhouse horror, I guess). It's all still cartoon robots of course, but do be aware. The short version: three years before the series, the Autobots lost one of their wartime prisons to the Decepticons and it went radio silent. The series follows the black ops Wreckers team, newly assembled after things went tits up for them on Earth, who now have to go in and try to fix things. Anything more about the reasons for sending them in would be a spoiler, but since the entire point of the Wreckers team is to do suicide missions in which most of them wind up dead, it obviously doesn't go super well. Sidenote: LSotW does have two sequels (Sins of the Wreckers and Requiem of the Wreckers), but was written to be standalone.

These are by no means the only IDW1 comics you could try, but they're the easiest ones to just hand to someone like, 'here are some comics that are readable and fun and cover most bases, and you will not have to prep by reading 37254 articles first'. So. They are my go-tos.

Now if none of the above sounds a hundred percent what you're looking for, there's also IDW2! This one is nice and simple by nature of being a shorter-lived project: start at Transformers #1. It was a hard reboot into its own new continuity and can be read 100% without any other comics knowledge. IDW2 might be a place to start if you enjoy worldbuilding-heavy storytelling at a slower pace, unique takes on pre-existing TF lore, heavily interconnected plotlines that gradually come together, and pre-war intrigue as opposed to mid-war action or post-war clashes of personality. It ran for a little over forty issues plus some side-miniseries, which the wiki lists for you. (My advice: try most of the Galaxies stuff if you want. Definitely read Escape. Then War's End is the actual end of the series.) Unfortunately they lost the license, and so IDW2 wrapped up wayyy ahead of what was intended, but they did have time to wrap things up with an ending.

...which brings us to how to read the comics. Long story short: you can no longer legally buy them, at least in English! IDW lost the license in 2022, and as of yet the new licensee has not even been announced. It is looking increasingly likely these are gonna stay out of print for a while. Theoretically the new owners might choose to reprint them, but god knows if that will actually happen. Also, the physical trades are getting quite expensive, so frankly, you're gonna be pirating them.

Given this, here. (They're all in English.) These are issue-by-issue and not the collected versions, which sometimes have corrections in them or additional content. They're also in .cbr/.cbz format, which requires a comic reader app. So if a anyone needs anything else or wants the trade versions (which often have minor amendments/corrections in them) let me know, I have the whole lot DRM free for IDW1 at least, in formats including .pdf if you can't read .cbr/.cbz, and can always upload them.

[gimblegamble]

Gonna do another write up about a project I planned that never really went anywhere.

Welcome, friends, to the BTM band AU post

What is it?

Band AUs are definitely considered classics when it comes to fandom alternate universes and this one's... definitely a band AU i guess.

BTM is a band consisting of Grian (or Griande) on vocals, Impulse on drums, Pearlo on the keyboard, and Scar on guitar. There are a couple more stragglers sometimes but we'll get to that. As for their style it... varies?

Well, it depends. if its 'Grian' on the mic, they can range from the usual pop-punk or emo, maybe even rock if the mood calls for it-- but if its 'Griande' they usually go for ska or funk. This is when they get a couple more peeps to fill in the sound.

They get a brass section! Tango and Zedaph from Impulse's old college marching band "The Moonlighters" and they round it out with Gem, one of Pearl's old housemates when they tried living in one of those content houses with the Empires collective (they still collab tho). They play the trombone, the trumpet, and the saxophone (small stature, big lungs).

The band meets Mumbo after a gig. They were winding down in their favourite bar/cafe "The Hermit" when Scar very loudly and unabashedly asked who the "eye candy" was to the owner, Xisuma. Turns out, dude was just fired from his job and Xisuma took him in as a part-time bartender/barista, he wasn't the best at it but at least he stopped breaking Xisuma's fancy martini glasses a couple days in.

They asked if he was looking for a full-time job and he said yes. He asked if he knew anything about management and he said 'eeeeeeeeh' which they took as a kind of yes and hired him on the spot. With BTM's popularity growing, they needed a proper manager and not just rely on Grian (whose biggest problem would be his impulsiveness) and Impulse (who'd probably work himself to death if the mood was right).

So whats the plot?

It was supposed to be an ask blog first and foremost. Half of the information up there (and more) was supposed to be slowly drawn out by ask box questions. The format was supposed to look like members of the band being interviewed by the person asking, kind of like the latter half on that one mumriande gif I made (which is one of the stuff I made with this AU in mind lol)

There was supposed to be a mystery to uncover, then solve. There was supposed to be some drama and angst. Some moving pictures and animation memes, animatics even. I even have a playlist sorted!

So what happened?

Nothing really. It was nice thinking about making it but at the end of the day I am but a tired, easily distracted human being. I just made this post because there's a lot of nice details in this that I wanted to share, like the Hermitland post ages ago.

And not like I'm not gonna make things in the AU anymore but the ask blog's probably never going to see the light of day.

Some Fun Stuff

The fans never know what genre of songs they're going to walk in on, at least until they see if it's Grian or Griande holding the mic, but even then they sometimes do a double whammy and have Grian sing funk songs and Griande pop it up.

They're rivals with this experimental metal/electronic/acoustic fusion duo called Octagon. They play it up a lot on stage, but this one time someone from BTM really misunderstood something that made a good angsty bit.

There's this couple who met at a concert. One of em was really hoping for a night of funk while the other wanted some throwback alt rock. They talked before BTM's set started and really hit it off! They didn't even mind whoever came out to sing that night.

There was a group of fans who made a banner that said "We love you _____" and just had velcro patches with 'Grian' and 'Griande' embroidered on them.

There was supposed to be another, more secret ask blog for other more secret (👀) asks.

Conclusion

So yeah, band AU, that is all.

Thank you for reading!

[dark-roleplay-finder]

🕊️[20+, m/m or nb/m] hey y'all! i've been itching to do this concept for a bit--or at least something with very similar dynamic. i rp mostly on email but i can do discord; i write 3rd person in present tense, semi-lit/novella; and i love me some angst and complicated relationships hehe. (while nsfw or smut is encouraged, i don't have much rp experience specifically if that's something important to you!) i'd like a character-focused plot and love worldbuilding + i'm experienced in writing a recurring side cast.

SOLE SURVIVOR OF A FAILED REVOLUTION (A) X HEIR TO THE TYRANT THEY TRIED TO OVERTHROW (B)

aka Tired x Chaotic; Uses Head x Follows Heart

slow-burn, possibly sci-fi, psychological, drama, power imbalance. very fucked world overall. potential for co-dependency, obsessive/possessive behavior, power play, and manipulation. slight age difference with B being a little younger than A for timeline purposes. dubious consent for the power imbalance, especially if both are privy to each other's exact identities from the start, and each having something to gain from the other.

set in a dystopian society in a nation suffering from ecological disaster that caused most of the population to bear the brunt of it

i'd love an assertive but goofy muse who's also a bit naive while being capable of casual murder/violence, to go against someone incredibly world-weary and reluctantly living on autopilot, resigned to his circumstances yet still harboring a lot of rage. in spite of bedroom roles, hit me with some trope subversion and characterization beyond those please.

the vibesTM: asking about your favorite candy and your relationship with your family over takeout after an unceremonious bathroom hookup; a bloody kiss after one protects the other; hysterical, broken laughter right before a breakdown during sex (or anything that's supposed to be an intimate and tender moment); tracing scars in fascination with a sense of pride that you're the first/only one to see them; looking at the lights and motions of a city from above and feeling a sense of longing/alienation; whatever emotions you experienced while watching Netflix's Beef.

A + B somehow meet and get attached to each other, forming a genuine connection and feeling something for the first time in years in spite of how it draws scorn from their respective communities. give me flawed people who aren't necessarily out to fix each other that get their own sort of happy ending (happy being subjective here LOL).

B is intrigued by someone as "real" as A, being delighted that A treats them something close to human and is blunt about how they abhor B's standing and what they represent (looks at A with a hint of romanticization of poverty too) while A can't help but find it fascinating that someone who's so removed from regular people and is capable of destruction manages to have such childlike wonder at life. plus, B pays for food.

to some extent, they're both spectators gawking at each other as if the other is some animal in a zoo. they're both also very lonely people aching to feel seen and wanted.

important: my activity levels vary significantly since I kinda work 2 jobs and my main one takes a lot of my energy. if long gaps between replies make you anxious/irritate you or if you prefer fast-paced plots and rapid-fire responses, this probably ain't gonna work tbh--ofc i will try my best to communicate with you when things come up. busy people with loaded schedules that still like writing in their downtime to the front pls🥲

hope to build something neat that we can both yell about during weird hours! interact with the post and i'll reach out :]

Like this post and the asker will reach out!

[slytherinshua]

How long does it usually take you to write fics ? I feel like whenever I try to write one it takes months to even get an idea 😭 Do you have any tips on how to work on motivations ? It’s like I’ve had writer’s block for the last 2 years.

anon 😭 i feel honored that you wanted to ask me for advice 😭 so i'll try my best 😭 for me it really depends on the fic. usually if i get an idea for a fic or i get a request that i really really like, i'll rush to write the fic immediately. sometimes i'll finish a fic in one or two sittings (a couple hours of writing probably depending on the length), and sometimes i'll write a bit for the fic and then sort of abandon it because i've lost motivation. i have around 50 or more unfinished fics in my drafts, some of which will probably never get finished??

writer's block rly is the worst and whenever i'm struggling with it even for a day, it feels like weeks of not being able to write. sometimes its because none of the ideas i have are inspiring me, and i guess sometimes its just cause the words aren't coming out easily. but when this happens i try to think of something to small to write, like a timestamp for example. the task of writing a couple hundred words vs a couple thousand is a lot more doable when you're already struggling with writing. so i would definitely suggest starting small.

for inspiration or ideas for fics, i get a lot of them just by looking at pictures of who i'm writing for. if i really really want to write a soobin fic for example, but i don't have an idea, i'll almost always go to pinterest and just look. a lot of the time an idea will come from just looking at a particular photo.

another thing that helps is trying to write a new trope or au. having the loose plot or basis of a fic can help you think of how to write it. lets say i found this picture on pinterest of soobin:

and this picture gave me the idea to write a royalty au for him. so now we know we're going to do a royal setting. the next thing i would think about is whether i want it to be modern or more medieval, and for now i'm going to pick medieval. so let's say soobin is the personal guard for the princess (y/n) and we'll add in forbidden love as a trope to add conflict. so now we have the basis of the fic and the setting the trope to include etc etc, so now we can start writing.

using this process is really really helpful for me. start out with a photo, find an idea you like based on that photo and build it up from there. it can be really simple and small as well, it doesn't have to be as complicated as an entire royalty au with soobin lol

another thing i will say is the fics i post are so varied. for example yesterday i posted 3 fics: jeonghan, woojin, and sejun.

the jeonghan fic was from a request i had gotten recently and i only just started writing it and finished it in one sitting. it was a shorter fic and was just short and fluffy.

the woojin fic wasn't from a request, it was just something i wanted to write for myself. it ended up being longer and even though i started and finished it in one sitting, there was ideas i pulled from a lot of different places. the basis of the fic was inspired by woojin's song purple sky, the beginning part was slightly inspired by true beauty, and the ending came to me while writing. i think once you start writing, the fic can sometimes just come to you and flow easily until you finish it.

lastly the sejun fic was from an old request. like months old request if i remember correctly. it was half written and i had kinda abandoned it for a while, waiting for when i would get motivation to write it again. and sometimes you just have to wait until you are ready to write a certain fic again. sometimes trying to force out the words doesn't work and you end up with a result that you really hate and are frustrated with (this has happened to me a lot).

i know this was really long, but i hope it helped you even just a bit (idk whether i was actually giving solid advice or just bullshitting my way through this????) but ig the main takeaways are:

it's normal for some fics to take a long time to finish, it really just depends on the fic

start out small when you are struggling with writer's block as you are more likely to end up with a fic you are happy with (and finishing a fic and being proud of what you've written can snowball into more writing motivation!!)

if you are struggling for inspiration, try to find ideas from photos or just anything around you

it might seem like all these blogs are so active and have no problem producing fic after fic *cough yena/fairyhaos how tf do u do it cough*, but we all have our struggles and we ALL experience writer's block and have to overcome it. so don't give up and power through it, anon 🫶

[streetslost]

KNOWING  YOUR  PARTNER  WELL  CAN  POTENTIALLY  MAKE  WRITING  TOGETHER  A  LOT  EASIER. (repost,  don’t  reblog)

Name: call me kylie

Pronouns:  she/her

Preference  of  communication:  loud shrugging?  tbh, i’m bad at chatting no matter the platform.  disco is probably the most reliable way of getting me, but really depends on what i’m doing ajkdl;fsja

Name  of  muse(s):  ​cat is here, xayah @rebelquilled​, alina @bloodcrave​, and then i have like... uh... 16 or something muses on my multi @starsweepers​.

Experience/how  long  (months/years?):  since i was eleven... i’m 29 so... 18 years?

Platforms  you’ve  used: n.eopets, p.roboards, and here on tumbs

Best  experience: maybe it’s nostalgia, but n.eopets was always amazing.  couldn’t write as freely due to it being a kids site but.  i miss the guild aspect.  i felt closer to the people i met and everyone was more connected and the like.  you didn’t have to promo yourself and all that.  it was just easier.  the h.arvest m.oon p.roboards i did was also lovely, but just got a bit boring.  on neo i did w.arriors so that was always chaos lol.  it wasn’t perfect but.  i just liked the smaller community and groups more.  tumbs is sometimes just too demanding and overwhelming.  but it’s had some great moments, as well.

RP  pet  peeves  /  dealbreakers: people who never give me effort when i try.  like.  i suck.  so i never expect my partners to throw themselves at me while i am barely doing the bare minimum.  but if i am trying and liking things or doing things for you and you give me nothing?  then i lose my patience and cut off.  i’m not a huge fan of constant n.sfw stuff on my dash... but i try to be open to most people and such.  it can vary, really.  i guess i have a number of pet peeves, but eh.  who doesn’t?

Fluff,  angst,  or  smut: for cat, fluff can only happen with scott technically... so platonic affection/friendship is wonderful.  or familial.  slice of life and action... but love me some angst, too.  smut is not my fave with any muse or any person.  i have done it in small doses with twinnie and kind of with emma but.  if you feel like i’m not interested in a ship because i don’t really smut, that’s not it.  i just don’t write/care for it a whole lot.  

Plots  or  memes:  tbh either?  i think both can lead to interesting situations depending on the muse.  memes can be more finicky, though.  and sometimes i come up with ideas i hate lol.  so plotting is safer and can be super tasty but.  i like the spontaneity of memes at times.

Long  or  short  replies: either.  i tend to write long on cat but short these days has been easier.  a solid middle is also nice.

Best  time  to  write: idk any more, these days i’m just happy when i do write.

Are  you  like  your  muse(s):  cat and i like food... and puns.  but otherwise she’s not really who i put myself into.  same with alina.  i probably have less in common with alina and xayah than cat.  on my multi, i put more of myself into those ocs.  my loves of sports goes into gray and brent, my love of video games/slightly nerdy side into brent, my happier nature into dawn and faith and laila, my desire to make others shine bright into those same ones...  basically go to my multi for muses i have more relations to.  but part of the reason i love cat and alina and xayah is because of their differences from me lol

tagged  by : @lighthouseborn​ ( thankes !!! ) tagging : if you read this and we’ve never really threaded, you’re tagged.  tag me so i can read !!!  this is AN ORDER !

[musecaravan-info]

Isaiah Thomas

"If you don't stand up for the stuff you don't like, when they come for the stuff you do like, you've already lost." ~ Neil Gaiman ~

Basic Information

FACE/BODY CLAIM: Zachary Quinto

NAME: Isaiah Thomas

AGE: 27-ish (in most verses)

EYES: Dark Brown

HAIR: Dark Brown, thick & wavy

HEIGHT: 6'0

PRIMARY OUTFIT: This varies depending on the verse, but regardless what he's wearing, Isaiah always tries to look his best. So, even if his clothes are old, they're well-mended. Even if they're off-the-rack and not designer, he still looks like he's wearing something tailor-made for him.

Personality

Isaiah is equal parts charming and awkward. He wants people to like him, but flounders a bit when it comes to figuring out the best ways to make that happen. In addition, he's a very passionate person when it comes to his beliefs. However, he's also very open-minded, and tries not to close himself off to ideas beyond his own.

Powers & Weaknesses

Isaiah's greatest strength is probably his mind. He's quick-witted and intelligent, often seeing patterns and possibilities before other people do. However, he can flounder when having a face-to-face conversation. Words sometimes fail him when he doesn't have the chance to think before speaking.

Romance

Isaiah is a gentleman in every verse, and it's something he has trouble breaking himself of even when given permission to do so. Flirting with him will probably get your muse lots of stammering and blushing (and perhaps a little clumsiness.) He is slightly more attracted to men than women, but he is open to relationships with either.

Where to Find Him

This depends heavily on the verse and the plot you have in mind. In general, he can be found in his print shop, or at the local tavern. He was also a lover of books, so a bookshop would be another possibility. There are still other possibilities, of course. Just ask, and we can figure something out. :)

Verses

Just because a verse isn't listed here doesn't mean I'm not interested in writing it. I adore all kinds of AUs, and welcome the chance to get creative with my muses. If you've seen a verse that another of my muses has, and you'd like to see this muse in something similar, let me know. You can also check out my 'Plot Ideas' tag, too. ^_^

Main Verse (American Revolution):

Isaiah Thomas was a real-life historical figure born in 1749. Leading up to the American Revolution he was a newspaper editor in Boston and printed a Patriot paper known to most as The Massachusetts Spy. He was good friends with the likes of Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, and John Hancock and many historians suspect his shop was regularly used as a meeting place for the Sons of Liberty.

Modern Verse

Isaiah is a freelance journalist who also writes and publishes an anti-establishment newsletter (yes, on paper – it’s harder for them to track him that way) He also runs an amateur travel blog that has a decent number of followers.

Urban Magic Verse

Same as Modern verse, but he also has the ability to make print appear on any surface he wants, and can alter things that have already been printed. He occasionally moonlights as a forger.

Night at the Museum Verse

While the American Antiquarian Society is under severe renovations, Isaiah’s printing press has been moved to the Smithsonian as part of a new exhibit on the written word throughout history. The museum creates a wax likeness of his Revolutionary self and the next night Isaiah ‘wakes’ into a whole new world of information.

Hogwarts Verse

Isaiah was sorted into Ravenclaw and, like his other verses, he has a passion for the written word. However, he’s not a fan of The Daily Prophet because he believes they’re corrupt and a poor source of news. The Quibbler is a guilty pleasure. He secretly publishes a monthly Hogwarts newsletter - not sanctioned by the professors - and then leaves them around the school for people to find. Only a select few know he’s behind it... most of them are writers and illustrators for the newsletter.

Current/Ongoing Threads

If your thread with Isaiah isn't listed here it's probably because it's been long enough since your last reply that I thought you'd dropped it. Message me to let me know you're still interested, and I'll happily add you to the list (with no pressure for a reply.) ♡

Kelly:

In the Most Unlikely Places (Main Verse) (American Revolution)

Kettu:

Promises to Keep (Main Verse) (American Revolution)

Stuff That's Good to Know Before Starting a Thread

This blog is not (and will never be) 100% historically accurate. Think of it as historical fiction, an alternate reality, historical fantasy, or whatever else you choose. I make no claim to be an expert on Isaiah Thomas or the time period in question. However, I have read a great deal about him and his time, and intend to use my knowledge to the best of my ability while RPing.

In regards to my face claim - I've only found ONE painting of Isaiah, and one sketch in profile, both from his late 60s. Since Isaiah was in his mid to late 20's during the Revolution, I took some liberties. He was described by his contemporaries as being "tall, slender and well formed, stooping slightly in his gait." Plus - I've been wanting to use Mr. Quinto for some time now and this seemed like an excellent opportunity. ^_^

Links

Please keep in mind, this blog is an ongoing work in progress. Not all of these links may lead somewhere, but they're here because they link to potential tags for this muse.

All Things Isaiah

Headcanons

Drabbles

All Threads

Ask Replies

Meme Replies

Aesthetics

Face

Special Links

Original Blog

Isaiah’s Appearance

Isaiah’s History

Isaiah’s Home

Return To Full Muse List

[salem-manga]

SALEM Volume 1 - SEED 1 - Salem, WV. - Chapter outline

structure of this breakdown will prob change a lot depending on whether or not I've got a panel-by panel storyboard in mind or just want to get the idea of the page out of the way

Damien - Bat dude.

Jimbo - Possum dude. They're best friends.

Page 1

Panel 1 - Damien stands in the middle of a pathway leading into town, backpack with camping gear on his back, dufflebag in one hand and folded up map in the other.

Panel 1a - Jimbo runs up behind Damien, soon after, look of dazed amazement crossing his face as he looks over the town

Panel 2 - Shot of damien's face, slight look of excitement as he looks over the town he's about to move into

Panel 3 - larger shot of the town ahead of him, caption of "SEED 1 - Salem, WV" near the top of the page

Page 2

Damien walks down the path into town, disappearing behind the hill, in the first panel. we get our first look at some of the buildings in town as he walks along the main road, the pair looking on in anticipation at what their new home will be like

Page 3 - single panel - long shot of the town from the main road, with the college in the distance, Damien mentally takes note of what he can see, talking a bit with Jimbo along the way

Page 4 - more of Damien walking through town. Prob a shot of the town bar and convenience store as he passes by them, taking note of each as he passes them, talking more with Jimbo about the town. something like "aw shit man, this place actually has like, stores and stuff". "I know the place is small but did you not think there was gonna be some sorta like, store here or something? I mean it's like a college town man". This conversation sort of takes place over the last page and this one.

Page 5 - Damien walks further down the main road, passing by part of the suburbs to get to the college. Jimbo picks up a half-smoked cigarette that looks like it's been sitting on the ground for a while. "Wew, free cigs, this place fucking rocks", followed by "dude what the fuck, throw that shit away it looks like it's been sitting there for like, a fucking year or something"

Page 6 - Damien arrives at the college, some shots of the walk in, Damien and Jimbo looking around the place as they walk through

Page 7 - Damien walks through some hallways in SCC, some shots of the gym room, and some other plot-relevant rooms, idle conversation as they walk through the halls, Jimbo remarking, amazed at how clean the place is despite people smoking in the school, and some cig butts on the ground around some of the classroom doors

Page 8 - Damien takes mental note of the college's layout as he finally comes up on the school's single auditorium, where Orientation will happen tomorrow. He then marks it down on a physical map of the school on a brochure, handing that to Jimbo, who will probably need directions

Page 9 - They walk out of the school and around the back a bit, passing by a tree which, unbeknownst to them, someone is living in. shot of that person reading some textbooks in a little tree-platform

Page 10 - They walk a little further past the campus, approaching a small, sketchy wooden bridge over the Salem river that leads to a path into some Suburbs, Jimbo giggling as he picks rocks up off the ground and tosses them in the general direction of the river and at some smaller trees along the way, final panel has them finally walking up on the bridge

Page 11 - full page shot of a few bloated, decaying bodies floating down the stream, maybe like 2-3, each body in a varying state of decomposition, (might have this be a full-color page or something, not sure about that yet, will have to see how hard that is to publish since i'm already doing the whole crimson gimmick later on in the story) The water an obvious off-color, foam and signs of pollution very relevant along with the decaying bodies. one of the bodies looks pretty recent as it floats by, the other two bloated, some bones poking out, covered in maggots, dead and alive, with hundreds of insects flying and fluttering around them, hundreds of dead ones surrounding the bodies, as insects that touch the toxic water die nearly instantly due to its acidity. There are also notably no dead fish floating around, maybe just a small animal or two. This is because the water has been so badly polluted for long enough that the fish are already long dead, with any small animal that falls into the water dying within ten minutes or so of being in it.

Page 12 - Jimbo sees the bodies and runs over to riverside near them, giggling a little to himself as he grabs a stick and pokes one of them, Damien cringing a bit. "dude, come the fuck on, those are full of diseases and other nasty shit" as he walks towards Jimbo to pull him away from the bodies.

Page 13 and 14 - the stick punches through the body jimbo was poking, causing gasses to burst out of the body, spraying a bunch of nasty shit towards Jimbo as damien grabs the back of his hooidie and pulls him away, narrowly missing the stream of rotting blood and guts. both of them falling backwards into the mud, Damien seething a little as they both get up and brush off the dirt and mud. "Dude what the fuck, I told you not to do that shit back in Chiraq, you're lucky none of that got in your mouth. Fucking gross.", Jimbo laughing his ass off. "idiot, we're covered in mud now, hope you've got change for the laundromat, asshole.", Jimbo still laughing his ass off as they brush off the rest of it and keep walking.

Page 15 - They cross over the bridge into the suburbs, Damien making a mental note that it's odd to see so few bodies here, but not unwelcome, as the bodies float further downriver and out of sight.

Page 16 - They cross into the suburb finally. "We should probably find a house before sundown, I don't really feel like camping for another night.". Wider shot of the suburb as they walk down the road, the houses closer to the college clearly already occupied as they walk further down the road.

Page 17 - they start passing by some houses further down the road, Damien starting to take a mental catalogue of the houses as they walk by. They pass a charred, collapsed house "def not here". They pass by a house with a collapsed porch. "this could work". They pass a house covered in graffiti that seems to suggest some sort of gang safehouse, with a sketchy looking dude holding a crowbar peering at them from a window. "yeah, no."

Page 18 - they pass by a house that seems to look pristine from the outside. "yeah, this looks promising". They go into it to find the interior rotting away, covered in black mold, rushing back outside, both pinching their noses shut. "fuck that."

Page 19 - they find another house that looks promising, only to walk around the side and realize that only the front of the house is left standing, both giggling to themselves a bit. "yeah, nah. Fucking comedic."

Page 20, they finally come upon a house that seems like it could work as the sky begins to darken. structure looks a bit sketchy and some of the windows are either broken or boarded up, but they go inside to check the place out anyways, finding it to actually be in decent shape on the inside once they walk into the lobby.

Page 21, 22 - They talk idly while looking around the house, exploring the first floor on this page, finding the kitchen - "Camp stoves for sure", looking around the livingroom, filled with some moss-covered furniture. "this looks aight", and then the bathroom. "Hope you're chill with pissing out the window", and then a smaller office filled with random furniture and other garbage, before finding the slightly sketchy stairway and going up to the second floor.

Page 23, 24 - They explore the second floor, looking around some of the bedrooms, and another totally fucked bathroom. They look into one bedroom to find it also filled with random furniture, the bed covered in moss and clearly rotting away. "nope.", they check the next bedroom, only to find the bed covered in some sort of animal shit and some more ruined furniture. "nah.", and then into the last room, which they find to be mercifully clear. "this will work".

Page 25, 26 - They Decide to set up shop there for the night since it's getting dark out, remarking that they should probably see if there's somewhere a little less fucked sometime tomorrow. Damien and jimbo set up their lamps and sleeping bags, Damien pulling a chair over to the window and watching as sun fades away behind one of the mountains and the sky darkens, some fog rolling down the road they just walked down. "wew, spooky."

Page 27, 28 - full two-page spread of an aerial shot of the town, with fog pouring in down the mountains, rain pouring in with the fog "This place doesn't seem so bad, does it Jimbo?".

Page 29, 30 - "Nah, this place fuckin rules". Jimbo lights up the cig he picked up off the ground earlier, Damien cringing a bit as he puts it in his mouth and lights it, sitting down on the chair damien was sitting on earlier, opening the window a bit and blowing the smoke outside, as rain begins to pour down, Damien slipping into his own sleeping bag and laying his head down, shutting his eyes as he hears a gentle tapping coming from near his head, looking over, cringing again a little bit as he sees drops of water landing near his head.

Page 31, 32 (final pages in this chapter) - Damien moves his sleeping bag, an irritated expression on his face. Jimbo giggles a bit - "Hey, if your sleeping bag gets wet you can share mine~" "yeah, you wish, fucker". Damien finally slips into his sleeping bag, and after a long day of hiking into town and exploring the place, closes his eyes and checks in for the night. "Night Jim, seeya in the morning" "Nighty night.", ending on a blacked out panel with the two lines of dialogue.

[adamnedmartyr]

At some point I will type this up more in a story format like with Kurama's about page, but until then, here is a summary of his backstory with my OC, @intheheartofariver :

The first time he met her, he was a very young kitsune who had been caught in a trap. She helped him despite that fact that he had bitten her when first she tried. As soon as he was free, he ran away and was puzzled when she didn't chase him. She only smiled and waved.

The second time, Yoko had found a dragon so terribly tangled up in a fisherman's net that there was no way it would manage to escape without assistance. He debated, but, for some reason he couldn't name, he chose to help free the creature––only after securing its agreement that it would do him no harm. [ A regular 'the lion and the mouse' scenario. ] After all, dragons are powerful beings. Perhaps it might be of some help to him later. "How different you look than last I saw you, little fox," the creature had rumbled once free, yet, before he could ask what it meant, off it flew.

The third time they met, he was wounded following a rather vicious exchange with a displeased relative of someone from whom he had stolen. He was cleaning the wound at the stream when a woman addressed him from… the river itself, asking if his wound was a bad one. He hadn't seen her there when he arrived and he had bared his teeth, ready to fight her too if she gave him cause. She only smiled and propped her arms on the bank. "So distrusting you are, little fox. Do you think still that I mean you harm?" That was the first time he realized that the distant memory of a creature who had once done a small kitsune a kindness was the same as the dragon to whom he had given aid… was the same as the woman who had pulled herself from the river itself to ask about his wound. They were all the same. A river spirit. Still, she smiled and then, slowly, she held out her hand, the water from the river––her river––following from the surface to her hand as she placed it over the wound. When she moved her hand away again, the wound was gone… and when next he looked up, to ask why she had helped him, she, too, was gone. He passed the river several more times, on occasion, over the centuries but he never saw her.

The fourth time, he was small again, though not the same as when first they had met, neither as the two times they met after. Centuries had passed, and he looked different. His name was different. Minamino Shuichi. He was ten and it was winter the next time he walked along that river––or, at least, what remained of it––and green eyes spotted someone sitting along the steep retaining wall containing the river, keeping it to its narrow flow. He knew her immediately. She looked exactly the same and not at all. She looked wilder in her appearance, now sporting modern clothes almost threadbare. How young she still looked and yet how worn, tired, eyes listlessly staring down at the murky and polluted water. The years and progress had not been kind. He cautiously approached, uncertain of her attitude now towards humans or her state of mind… but… he drew near to her and offered her his coat. He could tell Mother he lost it. The moment her eyes focused on him, she smiled. "How different you look than last I saw you, little fox… But then I suppose I look very different, too." She wouldn't take his coat, only shaking her head before she shakily stood and offered her hand to him… He took it and she walked him almost to his home before she stopped. "Be safe." He walked the rest of the way and only once he reached his door did he turn back to see her wave, and then to disappear.

Despite walking along the banks of the river several times over the years, he didn't see her again for over a decade, in fact. Not until he was running a successful and popular flower shop and thus had helped to spearhead a community project to beautify the banks of the Shibuya river with greenery. He had thought she faded away, her strength and health too far deteriorated by the pollution and neglect of her river… He had meant it as no more than a kindness to remember one who had been a strange constant, her and her river, over the years. "I had missed the trees. Thank you, little fox." He looked up from where he had been planting the last in a row of flowers and there she was, still pale and gaunt… but there. He asked if she wished to help, and she smiled and for the rest of the afternoon until the sky began to darken, they and those who had come with him, planted flowers along the retaining wall.

[phoenixyfriend]

Jedi arranged/political marriage pretext I'd like to see more of: Jedi DO leave the Republic, and the marriage is of a Jedi, probably a council member, to secure the safety of their members on their new home planet.

The Mandalorian angle has the benefit of being less closely tied to Republic rule, and could be very tasty and easy to justify with either Obitine or Jangobi, both of which I enjoy. Depending on where in the timeline it happens, the spouse varies.

But I think that if it's Mandalore, especially Jangobi, a heavy part of the argument for getting the Jedi settled and making up for 'draining resources' is shoveling as many people as possible into Agricorp work on the deserts of Manda'yaim.

As an Obitine fic that takes place between TPM and AotC, it's really easy to justify?

Like just. The Jedi Council going "okay do we have any planets where we could move, and there's a primary ruler that would be open to marrying a Jedi for protection from the Republic and… wait. Someone get Kenobi."

(This also works for BailObi, but Alderaan is unfortunately still staunchly Republic territory, while Mandalore's status is a lot more vague.)

With the Jangobi angle, it would be a lot more "Mand'alor Fett captures a Jedi because he's been hearing rumors about them expanding their influence, gets the story that they're actually looking to move, and are basically going to be refugees, and decides that there would be no power move that would secure Mandalore's independence from Republic bullshit like getting their best warriors on his side, but he needs to prove that he's in control to the Death Watch-style extremists, so he's going to have to marry a Jedi for. Reasons."

IDK it's arranged marriage fic, we don't need a whole lot of justification.

God it's so easy to make these about Obi-Wan (consider: Quinlan/that one force-sensitive Stewjoni prince he saved and messed around with a few years ago), but it would be really funny to make this Anidala by shifting ages around a bit or starting the war later. Just like.

Naboo, the planet the Chancellor of the Republic is from, has taken in the Jedi, threatening secession, and refusing to give them back. Senator Amidala has married one of them. Everyone has questions but none of those questions are getting answered. Count Dooku of Serreno has made overtures to join the CIS but Naboo is uninterested. Amidala has been unavailable for her comment due to being on her honeymoon. Master Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi has only offered that this entire situation is a headache and he'd love to know where he went wrong.

I'm trying to figure out what other ships I could do with this. I think "senior padawan Barriss saves Tatooine's accidental ruler-through-incredible-violence Anakin from an attempt at retaking the planet by the Hutts, spills some personal woes while tending to his wounds (she can't leave the planet yet anyway and wasn't even supposed to be here), and he wakes up like 'hey if you need to move somewhere you can come to Tatooine, I'd marry you in a heartbeat'" would be a fun one, and also immediately collapse as like. A'Sharad overhears Barriss's report and goes to fight Anakin about it personally for inviting more settlers to a planet that's already trying to crowd out the native populace. That would need some tweaking... maybe Anakin's actually already done something similar, and led an exodus of Hutt slaves from Tatooine and settling them on a new planet, and needs help keeping Hutts and other slavers away from trying to take back their slaves? Not sure Anakin would suggest a marriage, though. Someone else might, but not him.

I considered Blyla, but IMO the plot only works if the Jedi are in decent standing (instead of suffering from war propaganda) with the galaxy at large and only need to escape the Senate's influence, not widespread hate.

OH wait if Anakin took over Tatooine when he was a teenager and then gave control to his mom, because she's the smartest obviously, and Qui-Gon survived Naboo, then maybe Qui-Gon/Shmi???

I'm struggling to think of more ships or pick one to drag on an AU adventure. Help. My brain is trying to argue that Obi-Wan marries Hondo and the entire Temple ups and leaves for Florrum.

[zeta-in-de-walls]

The perils of explaining away plot holes.

Hey guys, have a bit of a meta post.

So when it comes to stories, you often get plot holes. These are things in the story that don’t really make sense, and aren’t sufficiently explained. 

While plot holes obviously aren’t good, if they’re sufficiently minor and in the interests of chasing some bigger goal, they’re not really a big deal. For instance, if a character is canonically a few hours away from something and gets there in a few minutes, it doesn’t make sense but its nice to have them there and they’re serving a purpose in the story so you’re not gonna stress about the issue, even though it is an example of a somewhat badly constructed plot. 

Other times, the issue is so glaringly obvious and distracting, that it ruins the immersion for you and harms the cohesion of the story. Where your limits on this fall actually varies from person to person and often depends on how immersed you are in the show. If you’re not that immersed - probably cause the work isn’t engaging you emotionally enough - a more minor plot hole can be more distracting. But even if you love a story, some things are so stupid, they’ll be hard to overlook. 

So, fine. Plot holes are bad writing - what of it?

Well, there’s two kinds of plot holes. Those that don’t make sense but could be technically be explained even though no explanation was given and those that are more-or-less impossible to explain because it contradicts something explicitly. So, I mentioned the idea of a character a few hours away. If said character has not been shown in a little while, you might be able to come up with your own explanation that suggests maybe they were on an unexplained visit. If they’re explicitly far away and there’s no room for them to have travelled, then there’s no possible justification you can make. 

Now the former might seem better than the latter, but not by much. That’s a trap a lot of fans fall into when it comes to analysis, I find. 

They feel that if they can come up with a headcanon to explain away a plot hole, then it’s not really a plot hole. 

...

And like, I get it, I do. If you want to write a fanfic or make sense of the world for your own needs, then it’s great to come up with a decent explanation if you can. Fanfictions are great for trying to make sense of a fictional world in a way the parent series might’ve not needed to as it focuses on different things. 

But if a story has you making leaps of logic to explain away a seeming inconsistency, and no explanation is provided in canon, not even implicitly, then it is still a plot hole and it is still a case of bad writing. That you can figure out a way to explain it is cool, but does not absolve the work itself of the issues. 

This can become even more jarring later, if you come up with some sort of explanation for yourself in an ongoing series to explain it away. And then later canon suddenly contradicts your solution because it was never canon. And now you’re angry at canon for disproving your theory. 

This is all to say: headcanons are cool but they are not actually canon! If they’re used to address bad writing, then the bad writing is still a canon problem. 

When it comes to analysing stores you like, they’re bound to have flaws. You can love something and still appreciate their strengths without trying to hand wave away their weaknesses. It’s often way better to just accept that yes there’s some plot holes and bad writing in places. And yet overall you may still find enjoyment in it. 

[thebibliosphere]

So I'm currently unemployed because I got fired for taking too much sick leave (it was legally sketchy blah blah blah but in the end I just can't work and take care of myself and investigate my mystery health problems at the same time). So I've been spending more time writing!

I really admire your writing and loved Hunger Pangs. I'm looking forward to the poly elements developing and I'm wondering if you have any advice for writing about poly. I've made one of my projects a snarky take on "write what you know" ... Apparently what I know is southern gothic meets Pacific northwest gothic, chronic illness pandemic surrealism, and falling back-asswards into threesomes.

I know this is a very open-ended question and I don't expect an answer, I'm just curious about it if you have the energy. As a writer, trying to write honestly / realistically about polyamory/enm, I'm curious if you have any thoughts on what's different about portraying monogamy or nonmonogamy in books, romance or erotica or otherwise.

I'm trying to read examples but it's hard to find examples that fit the niche I'm looking at. Excuse me if this question is nonsense, it's the cluster headaches.

I'm sorry to hear you've been dealing with all that and solidarity on the cluster headaches. But I'm glad you're finding an outlet through writing! And I hope you're happy with an open-ended ramble in response because oh boy, there's a lot I could talk about and I could probably do a better job of answering this sort of thing with more specific questions, but let's see where we end up.

There's definitely a big difference between writing polyamory/ENM (ethical non-monogamy) and what people often expect from monogamous love stories.

Just even from a purely sales and marketing standpoint, the moment you write anything polyamorous (or even just straight up LGBTQIA+ without the ENM) you're going to get considered closer to being erotica/obscene than hetero romances. It's an unfair bias, but it's one that exists in our society. But also the Amazon algorithm and their shitty, shitty human censors. Especially the ones that work the weekends. (Talking to you, Carlos 🖕.)

So not only do you start out hyper-aware that you're writing something that is highly stigmatized or fetishized (at least I'm hyper-aware) but that you are also writing for a niche market that is starving for positive content because the content that exists is either limited, not what they want, or is problematic in some fashion i.e. highly stigmatized or fetishy. And even then, the wants, desires, and expectations of the community you're writing for are complex and wildly varied and hard to fit into an easy formula.

When writing monogamous love stories, there is a set expectation that’s really hard to fuck up once you know it. X person meets Y. Attraction happens, followed by some sort of minor conflict/resolution. Other plot may happen. A greater catalyst involving personal growth for both parties (hopefully) happens. Follow the equation to its ultimate resolution and achieve Happily Ever After. 

But writing ENM is... a lot more difficult, if only because of the pure scope of possibilities. You could try to follow the same equation and shove three (or more) people into it, but it rarely works well. Usually because if you’re doing it right, you won’t have enough room in a single character arc to allow for enough growth, and if ENM requires anything in abundance, it’s room to grow.

And this post is huge so I’m going to put the rest under a cut :)

There's also a common refrain in certain online polyam/ENM circles that triads and throuples are overrepresented in media and they may be right to some extent. Personally, I believe the issue isn't that triads and throuples are overrepresented, but that there is such minuscule positive rep of ethical non-monogamy in general, that the few tiny instances we have of triads in media make it seem like it's "everywhere" when in actuality, it's still quite rare and the media we do have often veers into Unicorn Hunter fetish porn. Which is its own problematic thing. And just to be clear, I’m not including this part to dissuade you from writing "falling back-asswards into threesomes." If anything, I need more of it and would hook it directly into my brain if I could. I'm just throwing it out there into the void in the hope that someone will take the thought and run with it, lol.

I’d love to see more polyfidelitous rep in fiction, just as much as I’d like to see more relationship anarchy too. More diversity in fiction is always good.

Another thing that differs in writing ENM romance vs conventional monogamy is the feeling like you need to justify yourself. There's a lot of pressure to be as healthy and non-problematic as possible because you are being held to a higher standard of criticism. Both from people from without the ENM communities, and from the people within. Granted, some people don't give a shit and just want to read some fantastic porn (valid) but there are those who will cheerfully read Fifty Shades of Bullshit and call it "spicy" and "romantic," then turn around and call the most tooth-rottingly-sweet-fluff about a queer platonic polycule heresy. That's just the way the world works.

(Pro-tip for author life in general: never read your own reviews; that way madness lies. I glimpsed one the other day that tagged Hunger Pangs as “ethical cheating” and just about had an aneurism.)

And while that feeling of needing to justify yourself comes from a valid place of being excluded from the table of socially accepted norms, it can also be to the detriment of both the story and the subject matter at hand. I've seen some authors bend so far over backward to avoid being problematic in their portrayal of ENM, they end up being problematic for entirely different reasons. Usually because they give such a skewed, rose-tinted perspective of how things work, it ends up coming off as well... a bit culty and obnoxious tbh.

“Look how enlightened we are, freed from the trappings of monogamy and jealousy! We’re all so honest and perfect and happy!”

Yeah, uhu, sure Jan. Except here’s the thing, not all jealousy is bad. How you act on it can be, but jealousy itself is an important tool in the junk drawer that is the range of human emotion. It can clue us in to when we’re feeling sad or neglected, which in turn means we should figure out why we’re feeling those things. Sometimes it’s because brains are just like that and anxiety is a thing. Other times it’s because our needs are actually being neglected and we are in an unhealthy situation we need to remedy. You gotta put the work in to figure it out. Which is the same as any style of relationship, whether it’s mono, polyam or whatever flavor of ENM you subscribe to* And sometimes you just gotta be messy, because that’s how humans are. Being afraid to show that mess makes it a dishonest portrayal, and it also robs you of some great cannon fodder for character development.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to my current pet peeve in how certain writers take monogamous ideals and apply them to ENM, sometimes without even realizing it. The “Find the Right Person and Settle Down” trope.

Often, in this case, ENM or polyamory is treated as a phase. Something you mature out of with age or until you meet “The One(tm).” This is, of course, an attempt to follow the mono style formula expected in most romances. And while it might appeal to many readers, it’s uh, actually quite insulting. 

To give an example, I am currently seeing this a lot in the Witcher fandom. 

Fanon Netflix!Jaskier is everyone's favorite ethical slut until he meets Geralt then woops, wouldn’t you know, he just needed to find The One(tm). Suddenly, all his other sexual and romantic exploits or attractions mean nothing to him. Let's watch as he throws away a core aspect of his personality in favor of a man. 

Yeah... that sure showed those societal norms... 

If I were being generous, I’d say it’s a poor attempt at showing New Relationship Euphoria and how wrapped up people can become in new relationships. But honestly, it’s monogamous bias eking its way in to validate how special and unique the relationship is. Because sometimes people really can’t think of any other way to show how important and valid a relationship is without defining it in terms of exclusivity. Which is a fundamental misunderstanding of how ENM works for a lot of people and invalidates a lot of loving, serious and long-term relationships.

This is not to say that some polyam/poly-leaning people can't be happy in monogamous relationships! I am! (I consider myself ambiamorous. I'm happy with either monogamy or polyamory, it really just depends on the relationship(s) I’m in.) But I also don't regard my relationship with a mono partner as "settling down" or "growing up." It's just a choice I made to be with a person I love, and it's a valid one. Just like choosing to never close yourself off to multiple relationships is valid. And I wish more people realized that, or rather, I wish the people writing these things knew that :P

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled enough. I hope this collection of incoherent thoughts actually makes some sense and might be useful. 

----

*A good resource book that doesn't pull any punches in this regard is Polysecure by Jessica Fern. It's a wonderfully insightful read that explores the messier side of consensual non-monogamy, especially with how it can be affected by trauma or inter-relationship conflicts. But it also shows how to take better steps toward healthy, ethical non-monogamy (a far better job than More Than Two**) and conflict resolution, making it a valuable resource both for someone who is a part of this relationship style***, but also for writers on the outside looking in who might have a very simple or misguided idea of what conflict within polyam/ENM relationships might look like, vs traditional monogamous ones.

** The author of More Than Two has been accused of multiple accounts of abuse within the polyamorous community, with many of his coauthors having spoken out about the gaslighting and emotional and psychological damage they experienced while in a relationship with him. A lot of their stories are documented here: https://www.itrippedonthepolystair.com/ (warning: it is not light material and deals with issues of abuse, gaslighting, and a whole other plethora of Yikes.) While some people still find More Than Two helpful reading, there are now, thankfully, much, much better resources out there.

*** Some people consider polyam/ENM to be part of their identity or orientation, while others view it as a relationship style.It largely depends on the individual. 

[serpent-of-the-silver-plumes]

would you mind talking more about bart and unreliable narration? I always hear people say unreliable narration but I've never seen any concrete examples from media I actually consume so I'd love your thoughts

Oh absolutely!! I actually wrote a thing about this a while back but then went 'this is not well written' and it got buried in my drafts, so I’m glad to have an excuse to pull that up and rewrite it. (Also sorry, this got really long.)

Basically, at one point I was listening to a podcast (Be the Serpent, ep 4), and they categorize different kinds of unreliable narrators into three types: the narrator who knows they are lying to you, the narrator who is lying to themself (and therefore you), and the narrator who is lying because they are missing some key information. I would argue that the three main pov characters of the Bartimaeus Trilogy each represent a different type of these unreliable narrators.

Going in backwards order, Kitty is the narrator who lies because she is missing some key information, at least until the third book. As a commoner, even one who is part of a resistance movement, her knowledge of magic is extremely limited and biased. Were we to go off of her point of view alone, we would get an inaccurate view of this world and the power dynamics that exist within it: that magicians are somehow special in holding magic and that they have evil demons who work alongside them in shared mischief/hunger for power/whatever.

However, because the books include other points of view, the full impact of that unreliability is not realized.

Similarly, Nathaniel lies to himself, especially in the later books. He ignores how much he personally contributes to upholding a system that depends on the oppression and slavery of other sentient beings, and squashes down the last traces of his moral compass. I don’t think he ever really questions the system of government or if it should be there and work the way it does.

To some extent, we do see through his unreliability as well, because Bartimaeus is around to keep a check on him and tell the reader that no, the magicians and their imperialism are bad, that spirits have very good reason to hate humans, and give us other world building details that contradict what Nathaniel believes.

But some of it is about what is going on inside Nathaniel’s own head, so there is also a lot that can’t be fully seen by an outside perspective that has to be assumed by the reader. Like he will deny the sentimental feelings he has towards Ms. Underwood and the guilt he had over Kitty’s supposed death and the fact that he even remotely cares about Bartimaeus, but actions speak louder than words.

Because both of these characters’ unreliability stem from a lack of understanding, having other perspectives in the book in some ways cancels out their unreliability, and actually ties their unreliability more to their character development than as a plot/narration device. Kitty grows more reliable throughout the series while Nathaniel gets less so until the end. This doesn’t make that unreliability useless though, especially in a series aimed for children. By getting each character’s point of view, we can see where they are coming from and how the knowledge and views they have affect the way they act, but there is also someone else to point out how they are wrong, to make you question how true what each individual says is.

Bartimaeus is entirely different from the first two characters. His narration is told in first person, unlike Nathaniel and Kitty’s third person. He talks directly to the reader and goes off on tangential footnotes that are not necessarily part of the events currently happening in the story. Because of this narration style, he also has the power to lie more directly to the reader than any of the other characters.

Given his life, it is understandable how he has gotten into the habit of lying. Every moment of his existence on Earth is spent under the power of someone else, so he lies in order to protect himself. There are some instances where he lies to his masters in order to escape punishment or to lead them into danger so he can be set free, but he also lies about his feelings because he cannot afford to be emotionally vulnerable.

For the most part, I think it can be assumed that the dialogue and most actions that happen in his pov chapters are told as they are, since much of that lines up with what goes on in the other characters’ perspectives, and also there are at least a few things that show him in a less-than-flattering light that he would probably leave out or change if he could. Instead, the lies he tells are largely about his past and his emotions, often done through exaggeration or omission, and cannot be collaborated by others.

When lying about his past, Bartimaeus frequently exaggerates his prestige and role in history. In Ptolemy’s Gate, Bartimaeus says that he talked to King Solomon about Faquarl’s tendency to brag about his historical importance. Even beyond the obvious irony, in the prequel we see Bartimaeus’s time at Solomon’s court, and while it isn’t technically impossible for him to have talked to Solomon about Faquarl, the timing and circumstances make it extremely unlikely. Although his other stories cannot be proven or disproven with what we know, this instance and his general tendency to brag outrageously makes it very likely that Bartimaeus at the very least embellishes.

However, despite being super showy about his past, Bartimaeus doesn’t actually include much important information. He very rarely talks about his great feats as a thief or assassin or anything else. When he lists his accomplishments, he describes building walls and talking to important historical figures. There’s a post somewhere (if I find it, I’ll link it) that explains this as being a way for Bartimaeus to try to take control of his reputation and therefore his life; by associating with safer jobs, he is less likely to be summoned for very dangerous and morally reprehensible jobs.

He does generally try to portray himself as clever and collected and just generally more cool than he actually is. There’s a moment at the end of the first book where he describes himself as trying to calm Nathaniel who is freaking out, and then the next chapter is from Nathaniel’s pov which describes him as being the calmer one while Bartimaeus is a fly anxiously buzzing around.

I don’t remember the exact line, but in the second book there’s an exchange that goes something like this:

“____” I said calmly.

“Stop your whimpering,” Kitty said.

The way Bartimaeus portrays himself is straight up contradicted by the more factual account of the words and actions of someone else. And presumably there are plenty of other times that we do not see contradictory evidence where Bartimaeus straight up lies about how he is reacting to something.

But one of Bartimaeus’s most unreliable points centers around humans. Throughout the books, he constantly talks about the ways he has killed and would like to kill his masters, if given the opportunity. Nathaniel is an exception, one that Bartimaeus does admit to the reader, but even in the third book when he talks the most about how he would kill Nathaniel or even join a demon rebellion if Faquarl offered right then and there, Bartimaeus does not actually follow through on these threats when he gets the chance. Despite all of his talk about how much he hates humans, Bartimaeus has as much of a positive relationship he can have with as many humans possible, given the circumstances.

A lot of his unreliability centers around Ptolemy, which is what some of Bartimaeus’s biggest lies of omission are about. In the first book, we do get the sense that Bartimaeus has a soft spot for at least some humans. His excuses of saving and looking after Nathaniel in order to avoid Indefinite Confinement, while likely not entirely false, do fall a bit flat. We even get a mention of “a boy I had known once before, someone I had loved.” Although this is not explicitly connected to Ptolemy at this point, mentions of brown skin and the Nile make a pretty obvious connection to Ptolemy, especially as Bartimaeus describes taking on Ptolemy’s form several times later on. There is a less obvious hint too, “I sat on the ground, cross-legged, the way Ptolemy used to do.” Even without knowing much about what kind of relationship Bartimaeus had with Ptolemy, that kind of detail shows ‘a devotion to detail that could only come with genuine affection, or perhaps even love.’

It isn’t until the third book until we learn anything substantial about his relationship with Ptolemy, and even then he doesn’t tell the whole story. The fandom jokes about how Bartimaeus just casually mentions in a foot note that he prefers a lioness form because the manes are annoying, and it’s not until the flashback that you find out that the mane is part of what got Ptolemy killed. And even with the flashbacks, you still never see the time that Ptolemy visited the Other Place.

There are a lot of posts on this site that talk about how Bartimaeus absolutely was idealizing Ptolemy, and how there’s some evidence that he isn’t the perfectly sweet never-did-anything-wrong innocent child that Bartimaeus describes him as (notably that part where he was vaguely annoyed that people kept coming to him to ask for help and interrupted his research). Not that Ptolemy secretly sucks or anything, but it’s really easy to let nostalgia skip over the less dramatic details of Ptolemy being an actual human being with flaws.

In summary, I would argue that all of the trilogy protagonists are unreliable narrators to varying extents, and Jonathan Stroud is a genius for how he manages to make it all work.

[shihalyfie]

With Digimon Ghost Game starting, I thought about how different it is from previous Digimon series, though it's still undoubtedly Digimon... and then I realized all Digimon series are like that. So I wonder, what do you think sets each Digimon series apart from the rest?

I think both Ghost Game but also the reboot have been a wake-up call for people in terms of realizing that likes, dislikes, and tastes are subjective, and I think it's especially important in terms of this fanbase that is so obsessed with this idea you can objectively rank things by quality -- especially when each series is often deliberately trying to have its own identity, so it's arguably apples and oranges -- and forcing this idea of what's Good and Not Good on everyone else (especially when there's a nasty double standard phenomenon where Adventure and often Tamers get to be so impervious to criticism that people conveniently forget they're perfectly capable of being scrutinized for a lot of things they're weaker in). Very frustrating to see everyone who likes less popular series treated as if they have to accept that they like a "badly written series" for some things and everything else is a guilty pleasure, which I find to be incredibly dumb.

The most important take-home here is that the fact each series has its own identity is always going to be the main factor in what makes it "good" or not to you, not some arbitrary bar of comparison that's based on some narrow-minded view of "good writing" (which is usually unreasonably based on Adventure). For instance, the reason why 02 is so important to me is because (see below), to me, it has the highest amount of meaningful, important life lessons and themes that it wanted its audience to remember, to the point that I frankly do not care about where the plot goes in comparison. That may not be the case for everyone else, and that's fine, but should my tastes be called unreasonable for that? I think we're also coming to realize that because of Adventure (and kind of 02)'s precedent, so many people have been judging series purely by how intimate their individual character development style is, but this is unfair because Adventure and 02's ridiculous level of character depth to psychological detail is extremely unusual and unrealistic to expect of others; Adventure and 02 only achieved this by practically considering the plot utterly subservient to its character arcs, and it's arguably why they have some of the weakest "plots" in this franchise. It's so bizarre that I can see character development in other Digimon series that outstrips even most kids' anime on the market, but it's not as much as Adventure's so apparently it's bad. And, moreover, as it turns out, some people have priorities other than characterization; just because Adventure had that as its strength doesn't mean that's the only thing anyone should care about. Is the plot fun? Is there a meaningful message besides characters (also important to me)? Do you vibe with the tone being dark, or being silly? How much do you care about resourceful usage of Digimon lore? That kind of thing. Everyone is different, so that's why everyone has their own priorities. If you’re someone who prefers darker content, you may not realize that writing good and well-timed comedy is actually a very, very difficult task, especially when said comedy simultaneously has meaning (in comparison, it’s surprisingly easy to write “dark” but shallow content).

I think it's fair to like every Digimon series for its own thing, depending on your personal tastes. I can't speak for everyone, but my impressions are that it has to do with the following:

Adventure: Significantly easier to understand than 02 due to its more straightforward plot, and focus on individual character development ("individualism" being a strong point here). In terms of characters, it goes a lot into some very real social problems (the divorce around the Ishida and Takaishi families and the pressures surrounding Jou, for instance) in a very realistic manner. Also, it has that sense of mystique and absurdism to the Digital World that's both whimsical but also mysterious, and while 02 has it too, Adventure's the isekai story that has it the most.

02: The first is its focus on the importance of human relationships and the compelling group dynamic unparalleled in this franchise, and the second is its important themes and life lessons that I think are some of the strongest in said franchise. I have a whole tag for the ridiculous amount of nuance packed into every detail and dialogue line for this series, and I think every time I've rewatched an episode I've learned something new about it because there are so many things that clearly wanted to be said in each line. The entire series is basically an unpacking of the feelings of insidious self-hatred and the crushing feeling of being subject to society's expectations, and ones that are so deep-seated that you often don’t even have a single answer to how to unpack it (for instance, Miyako hardly has a tragic single event in her backstory, but she says and does a lot of things that'll be painfully familiar to those who have experienced chronic anxiety). Almost every plot point can be said to connect to each character arc in some way, and the mantras for appreciating and treasuring your own life and living life the way you will make this, in my opinion, the strongest series in terms of speaking to those who struggle with this kind of existential crisis for reasons of depression or otherwise. (Oops, I think I went too passionate about this; my biases are obvious...)

Tamers: I think it forms an interesting study and unpacking of the kinds of things you take for granted in Digimon or the monster-collecting genre in general, and an examination of how they'd work in a real-world context (although 02 had a focus on daily life, it didn't quite merge the Digimon and the real world factors until very late in the series). Also, probably the second highest on "hard sci-fi" (the only one that outstrips it is probably Appmon, but Appmon has a very different, more simplified take on it).

Frontier: A series that lies somewhere between Adventure's scale of individualism and 02's scale of group dynamic, and one more discussing the feeling of having your heart hardened from being an outcast, and what it takes to accept the idea of opening yourself up to others again. Recommended for those who like transforming hero and magical girl stories, too. From the Digimon perspective, also the one with the most detailed and consistent Digital World mythos.

Savers: I think this is the series that most drives home "life is complicated" (i.e. there isn't a single mastermind behind everything) in the most tasteful manner, because while it drives home the point that you can't just simplify everything into a good side and a bad side, some bad things really are evil (hi, Kurata), and it doesn't change the fact that everyone's responsible for cleaning up the fallout. The portrayal of the evils of government bureaucracy is probably the most realistic out of any of these series.

Xros Wars: For those who like fun, most of all! For those who like seeing Digimon finally get more of the spotlight and individuality since so much of it had been geared and biased towards the humans prior to this. For those who really like worldbuilding, and, after all, this is called Xros Wars, so it's interesting to see shakeups on the usual formulas in the form of the different factions and their priorities. Hunters is very different in tone, but I do think they have some of these aspects in common; that said, it being closer to having single partnerships brings it a bit closer in line to conventional Digimon partnerships, and it also has more of a picture of daily life. Also, as much as Tagiru is probably your-mileage-may-vary since he's not exactly a very nice kid (I get it if you don't vibe with that), which may also rub those hoping for not nice kids to become nice the wrong way, I do have to say I find him to be one of the funniest characters in this entire franchise, and you'd be surprised how hard good comedy is to write.

Appmon: Probably one of the strongest theme narratives besides 02, since it has a very clear and obvious theme about the importance of kindness in a world where technology is dominating and we're almost encouraged to strip the feelings out of everything. (Bonus for more straightforward plot than Adventure or 02 while still retaining a lot of its elements in terms of how to characterize them.) Also the first series to be speculative about the near future instead of taking place around the time it airs, and it's very obvious it wants to provide important and necessary commentary about what we need to do in the incoming era, especially as a lot of what it has to say becomes increasingly relevant.

Reboot: For those who like Digimon mythos and null canon -- this is probably the only series to show it off in this level of detail -- and the kind of cool action fights that would usually be saved for the climax in prior series (and animated in much more intimate detail with battle choreography than prior series would have). There are a lot of people into this franchise who felt like it genuinely was not making enough use of its Digimon roster and its potential because it kept going back to the old standbys (especially Adventure-based ones), so it was a huge relief for that crowd to see attention finally being paid.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

If Bella was a boy (with Bella's gift. And he would be ​Edward's singer). What would change? What do you think?

So, I gave a fairly detailed response to this already. The long and short of it being that, depending if Beauford’s the right kind of guy, he and Edward will essentially end up in a romantic relationship neither realizes is romantic. Then Edward eats Beauford at some point.

But, since we’re here, I suppose we can enter imagination land and get into some more details.

Caveat that I haven’t read Life and Death and have no desire to, so we’re actually ignoring some strange alternate universe canon that never made much sense anyway. Shocking, I know, and very unlike this blog.

Beauford Swan and a Kid More Messed Up Than Even Bella Swan

In order for our love story to even start, Beauford has to be the kind of guy that Edward’s into (or can project that he’s into). Well, we know Edward’s into Carlisle (he projects pretty much an idealized version of Carlisle’s personality onto Bella and actively wants to look like Carlisle as to him Carlisle’s is the face of holy perfection while Edward looks like a demon) and given what he says he likes of Bella’s personality we can extrapolate from there.

Edward’s not going to be into an Emmett or anyone remotely resembling Mike Newton. He’s going to be into a quiet, kind, misunderstood, sensative, intellectual who probably looks some level of frail and in need of protection. Essentially, what he saw in Bella, subverting the Madonna complex he has for her a bit (Beauford will be a kind of Madonna, sort of, but not quite so blatant).

So, we have Beauford, who looks a lot like male!Bella and by that I mean he keeps her pale skin, her big dark eyes, and general look about her that she could break with the slightest contact. Basically, he’s a very pretty guy the likes of which typically comes from a shojou anime. He’s also likely still debilitatingly clumsy.

So, you have this guy who’s awful at sports, as in each time he tries he probably ends up in the ICU. Is an intellectual in that he reads old books, an odd amount of Jane Austen at that, but isn’t actually an artist or writer. In fact, other than reading, he has no real hobbies. Has a larger than life mother who constantly needs looking after. And has nothing in common with his peers.

As bad as Bella had it, I posit Beauford would have had it worse. He’s not going to get along with 90% of boys until... probably college. He’s always picked last in kickball, shares 0 interests with most other boys, and is probably ruthlessly bullied for all of this and more. Worse, being so pretty, he’s going to attract a lot of romantic attention, especially from preteen girls who are very into that look and Beauford’s sensitive artistic nature. This is going to get him so much shit from other guys.

Add on top of this Bella’s original difficulty socializing and I imagine Beauford is just as depressed if not more so.

Fast Forward to Forks

Beauford comes to Forks for a similar reasons to Bella, because he felt like a third-wheel in Renee and Phil’s relationship and that his mother was better off without him. I can also see him just not knowing how to act around Phil, who probably expects a stepson who’s more... sonnish. Beauford’s not going to play catch with dad in the yard and I can see Beauford wanting to avoid all of that entirely.

He enters Forks and has a vaguely similarish reception to Bella. Only, there are some key differences.

I imagine Mike, Tylor, and Eric quickly sour on Beauford as he goes from being potentially cool new bro to a guy that can pick up every girl in this school. He’s like the Cullens, but less incestuous and creepy and therefore a thousand times worse. They desperately don’t want Beauford sitting at their lunch table where he can potentially pick up all the babes. 

In other words, Mike is the new Lauren, and Beauford knows it. But it’s either eat with these guys or eat in the bathroom, and Beauford’s not at that level of desperation yet.

Jessica’s probably into him, having been into Edward (another pretty, sensitive, guy), but unlike Bella I imagine Beauford has a little better social intelligence in that he has seen this game before and he knows where it leads. So, he desperately, actively, doesn’t flirt with anyone. Which makes him a terrible conversationalist, and he just comes off as really weird.

Beauford, therefore, actually is a Cullen 2.0. You don’t want to be a Cullen 2.0 (Bella is the only one in that school who thinks the Cullens were in any way popular).

I imagine Edward notices this, plus Jessica’s interest, and gives a Nelson laugh from across the room. Now someone else can have the joys of Jessica Stanley’s lust. Though he does notice he can’t read Beauford’s thoughts, which is strange.

Like Bella, Edward undoubtedly thinks Beauford is at first highly overrated, just like all the other mindless teenagers in Forks, and rather plain (from his narration, Edward likes blondes and lighter eyes). 

The Rest

Biology happens, it’s a disaster, Beauford has no idea what he did to get Edward to loathe him so much but this time Mike isn’t in any way sympathetic. Instead, Mike just can’t believe he and Cullen seem to agree on something for once.

Edward flees to Alaska, decides he won’t lose to Hamburger, and comes back to do damage control. And we start mirroring canon a lot here. Edward has varying conversations with Beauford, is intoxicated by his very scent, and starts projecting an almost saint like personality onto him. Edward grows increasingly obsessed, starts creeping into Beauford’s room at night to protect him from spiders, etc.

The difference being that Edward is utterly convinced that what he and Beauford share is the highest platonic ideal of friendship. They are platonic soulmates, all other friendships pale in comparison to them, they are intellectual peers and artists.

This is even when they still go to the meadow, Edward kidnaps Beauford in Port Angeles for Italian dinner (despite Beaufrod not having been nearly raped without Edward’s intervention), Beauford is invited to the Cullen house, and more.

Beauford, being Bella levels of oblivious, also has no idea this is a romantic relationship. Likely, what he feels at first and is driven by is a strong sense of kinship with Edward. As Edward is also an intellectual outsider hated by the male half of the school. Beauford’s been there, bro. 

However, like Bella with Alice, he appreciates small details of Edward’s vampiric physical appearance, enjoys staring at Edward’s perfect face, and really digs that vampire smell.

I imagine, beyond what happened in Twilight things like the following occur: Edward constantly sketches Beauford in unintentionally (but secretly intentional) erotic positions with no clothes (this is art!), Edward leers at Beauford changing in his bedroom because “we’re both men”, Edward insists on discussing Beauford’s future bride with Beauford and imagines the most perfect woman in the world while also imagining smashing her head in like a melon.

But I imagine most of the Twilight plot points happen. The difference being that everyone is very confused on why these two can’t admit they’re dating. Rosalie probably bringing up very valid points of “Edward, if you want this guy to go date someone else then you can’t monopolize his life” and Edward telling her to stop being so petty and jealous of Beauford’s beauty. Aro, I imagine, just dies in New Moon and has no idea what to say when Beauford returns from the dead because it’s not, “Oh look, the lovers reunited! Ah, right, I forgot, they’re just friends. Yes...” 

The other difference being, as I strongly suspect that without Renesmee Edward would never have turned Bella (Renesmee really forces that issue as Bella actually dies before Edward turns her), that he would have eventually eaten Beauford as Alice predicted.

But he’d be so delicious.