#//meaningful rp relationships i've ever had

[strangersteddierthings]

Wiggly Wednesday 🧠🪱

I was tagged by @carolperkinsexgirlfriend two weeks ago, but I didn't have any ideas wiggling around until now, so I'm cashing in on that tag haha

For those who don't know, Wiggly Wednesday is a nice excuse to post those ideas you've had rolling around in your head, whether you plan to make it into a full fic or not.

This Wiggly Wednesday is inspired by the current Steddie RP I've got going. It's a bit on the spicier side of things, so even though it's not explicit, still going to say Minors, Do Not Interact!

The idea being that Steve and Eddie start a relationship and it doesn't take long before Eddie wants to branch out in what they do in bed. And it's like, Eddie has had ideas in his head about BDSM. Has had ideas since he got his license and went to Indy and got to see the BDSM scene but only briefly and as an outsider.

Never learned enough to know about safewords or aftercare or subdrop.

So, it goes they get into that kind of relationship. Dom Eddie, Sub Steve. But there's no aftercare. Not in a meaningful way, not in the way Steve doesn't realize he needs.

They don't have the knowledge to set up a scene, so it's just spontaneous sex where Steve doesn't know if they're going to take it slow and gentle, or if he's going to end up handcuffed while Eddie says mean things that leaves Steve feeling bad and wrong. There's no safewords. Steve never backs out of something causing him unease because he's too worried about ruining it for Eddie. Is afraid Eddie won't take what he has to say nicely and that'll be the end of their relationship. And so, when Eddie does check in, which is more along the lines of 'you like that baby?' instead of 'are you okay with this?' Steve just says yes because what other answer is there?

So, the fic would be heavy and explore how to navigate that kind of relationship without having any knowledge of it. Featuring Accidental Bad Dom Eddie, because he didn't learn to check in. No one has ever made it seem like he needed to, and Steve's never said anything otherwise, so how would he know?

Steve would need to learn to speak up, because Eddie will only learn what Steve needs if Steve tells him.

And that's about all I've thought about, but it's been floating around my brain for a few days now.

Just going to tag one person, @skepsiss, because I think she'll appreciate the thoughts. Otherwise, if anyone wants to do this, go ahead and say I tagged you.

[fktonofwhatnow]

Is anyone else absolutely terrified of how SJM is going to write Elain's book because I AM

I think it's time I finally actually try to put a cohesive post together about the world building of this series because uhhhhh it's BAD.

Ok so, pretty generic epic dark fantasy setting right? Pinnacle of Pinterest fantasy boards with high contrast-low exposure pictures of fancy dresses and knives and men's abs and vague enough cultural references that it's not enough to be appropriation but you know it's ethnic and stolen images of people's dragon age elf OCs--

Anyways, this all ties into Elain, and her powers and stuff. Bc if your world is build just on the aesthetic, your magic system will suffer. It would be okay to not have a thought out magic system, and there are ways to have a vague magic system (e.g, The Chronicles of Narnia, LoTR, stuff like that) that work, but uh... Not if you give every single one of your characters epic magical powers. It... Kinda has to make sense in order for the story to make sense, you can't just pull this shit out of your ass, hate to break it to you. If your magic doesn't have rules, then your world doesn't have rules, and then your story doesn't have rules. And then why do we even care about the conflict, can't the characters just idk, blast their enemies into oblivion, since they can do whatever they want? You see what I'm saying?

Like ok, Nesta's power already makes no sense. I thought Feyre was the most powerful ever but now Nesta is the most powerful ever and I'm concerned to see how Elain is gonna top that.

And the thing about that IS: Elain is gonna have to be the most powerful in her own book right

It's actually an issue I've noticed in a lot of people who make characters: their characters always have to be the best and the strongest. I used to rp with a few friends, and I stopped doing so bc their characters always had to be better than mine, regardless of how good I established my own characters were, or how good my canon muses canonically were. My friends wouldn't let my characters be better than them. (They also always blamed my characters for every misunderstanding like conflict doesn't drive plot and my characters didn't also have thoughts and feelings of their own cough couGH sound familiar Mrs Maas)

In the entirety of ASOSF, I was out here BAFFLED by the amount of time SJM spent trying to prove that Nesta was the new strongest and best ever, while also trying to make sure that we knew that Feyre and Rhysand (mostly Rhysand bc Feyre was preggers uwu) were the still the strongest and best ever, and at some point I was like "why do these people still have problems" bc Briallyn was a plot point for like half a chapter before they straight up kicked her ass and then the next biggest problem was Feyre not being able to have a baby...? I though y'all were the strongest and best ever, can't y'all just reset the entire universe if it suits your fancy JJBA style at this point?

Ok so back to Elain....

Yeah so like, my question is: How is Elain's super vague and cryptic and horribly written poetic "Seer" power gonna top all this? (watch her be the one who can open fuckin portals n stuff just watch)

I would absolutely love it if Elain's book is just a slow(er) paced love(ish) story and it's soft and gentle and we don't need to demolish kingdoms and create portals into the multiverse and find random vague magical items with little to no sound worldbuilding behind them besides a keysmash of a name and another ancient war

It would be so cool if Elain gets to be the one doing the rebuilding, maybe she goes to help the Summer Court out, or maybe even the Spring Court! Maybe she meets sweet new friends and forms long lasting and meaningful relationships! My girl needs to feel needed, and she needs to help those in need.

But watch them have to find even more weird artifacts and stuff that only Elain can control or whatever and there's some new random enemy with no sound worldbuilding behind them either bc SJM Couldn't pull a character plot twist to save her damn life like god FORBID Eris actually have ulterior motives and be like evil or whatever nah we have to hear all about this random new guy who is terrorizing the Night Court now and then there's an ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS love triangle/square with Lucien in there bc I guess he really hasn't suffered enough yet and also Gwyn even though she's new BUT Azriel looked at her like twice so its fair game I guess-

Or maybe the whole book will just be about Azriel and how he's into a bunch of kinky shit idk I bet it will be tho-

[autumnslance]

Aeryn, I was wondering looking at your short stories fanfiction for your characters, how do you balance the written version of them and the in-game version? I have tried to write but then I tend to level up faster than my writing side can keep up. How do you get the written Aeryn to translate into XIV? Many characters have been deleted due to I can’t get the two versions to match up. I’ll take any advice or suggestions!

You'll almost always level faster than you write. I don't write chronologically; if I did, I'd never get writing done. I go back and forth in the timeline, based on what feels right at the time.

I take notes; grab important/meaningful quotes, my reactions/thoughts on a particular story beat, maybe a blurb of Aeryn's thoughts and feelings. I keep a rough timeline of notes of how the various parts of the game unfold for Aeryn (and my other OCs). I have a rough idea of who she is at points and track it that way.

I have a lot of blurbs and notes in my WIPs and drafts. Sometimes only a half page long, sometimes several pages. Lot of them are story reactions in the moment that I then sit on and go back to playing the game.

Sometimes a prompt sparks something taking place in ARR, while another prompt suits EW. Sometimes I want to write about a particular moment in her relationship with Thancred. I think about the expac in question, maybe check my notes and blurbs, and write from there.

I play MSQ through on Dark Autumn first. I just enjoy the story, get my reactions out and done. Then when I play on Aeryn, I can get into her mindset and reactions a bit more--but I'm still playing the game, looking at the story again knowing what comes next, but taking notes now with that second play perspective, plus Aeryn's own. Setting up the timeline of events, so when I do write a story for this period, I have an idea of who she is and where she's at. I'm working on who Aeryn is in my mind as I play, lines of dialogue, her reactions. Maybe write little scenes, bits of dialogue, but not full stories. That comes later. They go in the drafts and WIPs notes folder for the expac.

I do want to go back and do a proper full NG+ playthrough on her to rework and solidify some points and moments. But mostly I just made notes and plotted (and revised) the timeline as I went, and worried about writing stories later. I try to keep consistent with earlier writings...but if something ends up being a rewrite cuz I've learned new things about my WoL, or simply came up with something better, I can also roll with that. None of this is set in stone, I can change it.

I have some friends who plowed through the game beginning to end, and then tried to sort their WoL's story; sometimes in bits and pieces here and there, sometimes now going back to write it chronologically. I also know someone who had RP stories, but then things happened and now they're rewriting and reworking their OCs and their fanfic stories and finally figuring their OCs out after playing them for years.

Point is though we simply enjoyed the game as a game; the stories and characters blossom from that ground, but are not tied to it. OCs are ever-shifting, and can surprise you (goodness knows Aeryn has surprised me) if allowed the time to percolate and grow in their own time.

[staboteur]

Munday meme - 🐶📝💘🔪

It’s Tuesday, but do I care? Not Really (accepting)

Send  🐶 for a role play related pet peeve.

//omg there are so many but like,, ok one of my biggest pet peeves is like if you want. To ship. With Rene. Just tell me. Or like bring it up in a thread idk, like have your muse ask him out in a thread we set up. At least at that point he can rebuff you if he’s not interested or he can be like “eh maybe” and see where it goes. I hate the whole song and dance of skirting around the edge just bc i put “highly highly selective shipping” in my rules, like it’s not subtle, and I’m not missing it. My radar for picking up cues that someone wants to ship is really sensitive, but I don’t usually take the first step bc i would rather we wrote together a little first, then discuss shipping. Establish how they work together first, in an IC setting, then talk shipping, like I won’t ship with people who have never written with rene before, like IC, i have a bunch of rp memes that are good for first interactions in my drafts rn i can post a few of them??

Send 📝 for a rule you think is important when it comes to role playing

//communication. I hate it when people ghost, block, delete, otherwise cut contact without even trying to resolve the problem. Anxiety isn’t an excuse, and frankly, people who do use anxiety as an excuse aren’t compatible as rp partners with me anyway. This is a communication based hobby, and if you can’t communicate with me, we won’t rp, full stop.

Send 💘 for your policy on shipping with your muse(s)

//THIS WENT LONG LIKE EVERY TIME I TRIED TO EXPLAIN IT HGABGKSJGDALHFKJHSKJGBDFJLAHKSHJFKJ IM JUST NOT SURE HOW TO QUICKLY EXPLAIN THAT SHIPPING WITH ME IS LONG AND CONVOLUTED and that people shouldn’t get their hopes too high for a romantic relationship with Rene since he’s extremely picky and requires a deep emotional bond with someone before he considers dating them and even then, the feelings have to be mutual for the ship to happen and obviously that doesn’t always happen so yeah

//the crux of the thing is that we need to have an ic and ooc connection and trust each other lots. I also have preferences for certain ships over others and that influences rene’s trust of muses who are a certain class (also based on team, he’s more likely to trust teammates than enemies, etc). Oh and I want long term ship partners. I also want the relationship to feel special, like all of Rene’s romantic relationships should be. This means i want every plot point possible, not just first kiss/falling in love plots. I want fights, i want making up, i want the messiness that comes with real relationships. This also means Rene’s not here to be another character to add to your collection. I want each ship to be equally meaningful, and it’s hard to believe a ship is meaningful to my partner if Rene’s like the 5th in a line of BLU Spies on someone’s blog. However…

//he’s open to casual hook ups, no strings attached, all they have to be is compatible in bed (any questions, DM me or ask for my n/sf/w blog, since I don’t talk about risque headcanons here). This is the only time it’d be okay to add René to a collection, bc that connection doesn’t go much deeper than that on either side.

Send 🔪 for a fandom you refuse to associate with

//oh there are so many but the main ones are he.tal.ia and st.eve.n u.niv.ers.e. Mostly bc the fanbase can be super toxic, so I tend to only associate with people on a case to case basis. I also don’t really write in either of those fandoms so eyy yea (but I do have an su verse for rene and will sorta in the backlines…. i’ve had rene and will for so long that i’ve got a verse for pretty much every major fandom/idea you can get out there–sometimes multiple versions of the AU)

[topcatofficial]

1. Why do hate dibble wife? 2.if jazz was in Jellystone does it make you happier? 3. Do you hate Mr. Big?

1 - i can't very well hate a character that doesn't actually ... exist as a character. yes, she's mentioned periodically so we know that she exists... but she isn't a character who ever makes any kind of official physical appearance that we can confirm is her. so she has no name, no known design, no official personality, and her relationship with dibble is... not really discussed at any meaningful length? and i have reason to believe they divorced based on context clues, anyways.

so i've got to ask myself a few questions:

"what kind of person would dibble find himself drawn to?" - to which i said, well, someone whose personality would be tangentially comparable to the personality of someone we constantly see him drawn to regardless of the circumstances in canon (that would be top cat) so give her a few traits that he possesses. i decided the traits they share are mildly manipulative tendencies, and greed.

"what kind of person would marry dibble and then divorce him?" - to which i said, someone who expected something out of dibble, and he wasn't able to deliver to her expectations, of course.

"what kind of character would be interesting to explore in the context of a failing marriage and divorce?" - to which the answer is, well. its the 60s, before no-fault divorce. it'd be so easy, and so unsatisfying, to make her a victim. but like... the entire core of dibble's character is that he's kind of pathetic, easily manipulated, and has a big heart. so who is more likely to do something that would result in divorce? dibble, or a nameless, unseen figure?

2 - i don't care about jazz, personally. he could make an interesting antagonist if he had been a recurring character, but he wasn't. they're not likely to make a top cat reboot - and jellystone does not focus solely or primarily on top cat so they're not likely to bring back every single character from top cat no matter how much i really, really want them to. so i'm just kind of like, ah, yeah, that guy exists. i have ideas for things that could be done with him in hypothetical reboots, but, im not that invested in them because he's not my favorite character.

3 - i don't care about mr. big. he's not an interesting character. he exists solely to be a source of conflict and is not memorable to me otherwise.

... it has occurred to me after typing all of this that you may have somehow got the impression that this is a rp blog and i'm in-character as tc, which i'm not, so none of those answers may actually be satisfying for you. but, so sorry to say this, despite my url, i am not top cat or roleplaying as top cat, i just really like top cat the show

[staboteur]

Long, Salty Post Ahoy (aka all about shipping with René and René mun)

Answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog. REPOST. Don’t reblog.

under a cut bc shipping is a fucking long-ass subject that I can really really rant about because of how selective I am with shipping and how easy it is for people to immediately fuck it up (which is only the fault of the mun sometimes; usually it’s just that rene isn’t compatible or that we the muns aren’t compatible). First impressions, y’all. I’m not gonna say no pressure bc this is me putting pressure on y’all. Don’t come for me for ships. Come to me for interactions that will develop our characters in interesting ways that are not limited to just a romantic relationship or a pre-established relationship that was not discussed with me in any way, shape or form (which has happened before and trust me, it makes me feel pretty shitty, like I don’t mind your muse seeing my muse through a stereotype, but don’t make my muse see yours in the way that you want to. He isn’t gonna be magically attracted to anyone just bc they put a generic statement in their muse’s bio that is targeted at some description that René fits into).

1. WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE?: Uh... Originally I really wanted to ship René with canon medics that I came across but they’re all gone nowadays I realized that having an “otp” for my muse is really limiting, and I don’t really have one anymore, although of course, Alois will forever be René’s bf (at least in the background) bc they’ve been together for a realllllyyyy long time now I guess? And while I understand having an OTP for your muse, I find that... Well at least personally, in the beginning it was just wish fulfillment. Admit it, we all wanted to bang medic when we first entered the fandom. And now I’m looking back and thinking ‘god what was I thinking? i don’t want any of these guys like that. why would i ever think so? oh wait... fanfiction.’ So I’m always a little squinty when people say they have an otp between their muse and a general canon, and y’know, people can do what they want and I’m not gonna make them stop, but... Still a little squinty bc I feel a little wish fulfillment behind it, which isn’t a bad thing inherently, I just don’t like it too much. I have more notps than otps for my muse, and those notps are generally just lines that I draw in the sand to keep myself comfortable. I just personally feel a little suspicious simply because I feel bad about my past behavior and experiences.

2. WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING?: Uh... I like AUs and stuff (especially like fantasy and stuff) but rping other stuff really depends on the mood. Too much pda without a plot feels kind of yucky to me, and angst is really really selective for me since most of my Bad Feelings can be traced back to a previous relationship that fell apart more like imploded. I honestly just like plot that moves somewhere instead of meaningless, soulless angst or fluff or anything.

3. HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?: Uh... I’m not looking for a physical age gap, I’m really just looking at a mental age gap, bc y’know so long as it’s legal in the US I’m up for considering it. So long as the other muse is like physically over 25 or something, I really don’t care too much as long as our muses click and I’ve discussed it with the other mun and we come to a mutual conclusion.

4. ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?:  Extremely, mate. I’ve only got like 3 romantic ships for René ever, out of all the people he’s interacted with. One of them got dropped when the other mun changed fandoms, one is over IMs, and another is... Slowly, slowly, slowly moving forward bc I love a good slow burn and René tends to be in denial for awhile.

5. HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NSFW?:  Personally, I set the limit at once things go down past the collarbone. Otherwise I’d never do make out scenes which... i don’t really do anyway? But as long as there isn’t any detail, I’m willing to say in the rp “they do the thing” or something along those lines to keep the rp flowing smoothly, but this doesn’t happen very often bc, like i put before, I am super super super selective about rene’s ships 

6. WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH?: Oh boyyyy well rene’s first ship was Amadeo (@blood-butfashionable​) who has been inactive bc the mun moved to the fandom of which I won’t speak of bc I harbor a lot of salt for that fandom. Next up is Alois (@not-so-solemn-vows​) who we’re still rping with, but over IMs instead. In addition, A (@meetthethiefa​) is a potential ship partner, but they haven’t quite gotten there yet. And finally, Janvier (@ask-blue-spy) is also a potential ship partner (and we’ve shipped privately before), but it hasn’t been fully plotted out publicly yet.

7. DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?:  Please ask first, and by ask, I do not mean sending me lewd anons or asking me lewd questions or making me question whether you want to plot with me or if you just want something from me that I cannot give to you smut. The asking phase also comes after we’ve done some interaction. The easiest way to ask is “Hey, I see some potential for a ship between our muses, and I’d like to explore that aspect of it in our rp. What do you think?” and I’ll give you my two cents, which will either be “I don’t quite see it yet, but I’m willing to keep going with this thread and see where it takes us” or “I see it too, and I’d love to keep exploring this relationship between our muses”.

8. HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP?: Idk? I don’t ship that often, but god, sometimes I meet someone that René really seems to genuinely like a lot (which is rare), and sometimes this someone ends up as more than a friend (which is even rarer).

9. ARE YOU MULTISHIP?: Yes, I technically am, but like I said, I am so, so selective I might as well not be I guess? 

10. ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS? I am so fucking jaded about shipping that I just keep my shippy dreams and fantasies in my head to save for later, and I only ever really think about the ship with Alois and A haha...Also I just noticed that all of René’s shipping partners (past, present and future) have names that start with A... Is that supposed to concern me? My name starts with an A too. Is that bias on my part? Do I just like the letter A? But in summary, I ship less. I don’t really like shipping shit fast, and... Well it’s just hard to find someone to ship with bc René and I are both extremely guarded and anxious individuals, a combination which turns into outright paranoia at times I mean 90% of the time I feel that paranoia creeping up behind me.

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?: I... I guess Freedom Fries is an excellent ship simply bc it’s my main (Soldier) and my fave (Spy)? I have far more notps than otps lmaooo I really really despise two of the top 3 ships in the entire fucking fandom and heavy/medic is not one of these two just take a look at AO3 under the most popular ship tags and you’ll see which ships I’m talking about. I’m not gonna write them here simply bc i’d like to not fully descend into the salty depths of my soul. I’m kinda “whatever” on ships these days, but I have some ships that I really really get salty about but that’s not for this post haha this is supposed to be positivity but my jaded ass turned it all negative again... Maybe bc I’m tired and jet lagged. 

12. FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?: Please at least talk to René first before asking for a romantic ship. Also, please do not immediately gross him out or generally be a dick towards him upon meeting, bc your chances after that reach zero unless you pull an exceptional feat out of your ass (which is what Amadeo did). If it’s in character to do either of the above and not attempt to apologize/repent for it, I’m sorry but there is no chance and I’d rather discuss other types of relationships between our muses. I’ve had so many people who have approached René immediately act like a dick to him and then expect him to magically like them immediately afterwards (I mean within two or three replies) and somehow see the “good” buried deep within them. That’s not gonna happen. René is shallow and cautious, and first impressions is the most most important part of shipping with him. Once that first impression has gone sour... I wouldn’t expect much, and if a ship is what you came for, I recommend considering other options such as “rivals” or “antagonists” or “enemies”. Also, another criteria is... Please don’t come to my messages and ask me explicitly for a ship immediately upon following me or before any interaction has even happened. I don’t do plotted ships. Ships happen most naturally when I, the mun, can feel comfortable putting René in a situation where nothing is expected from him. I always go into an rp expecting nothing from the other rper (by nothing I mean I don’t expect the other muse to react in a certain way and I don’t try to influence the other muse to do anything. I simply state the facts, generally from an unreliable narrator that takes René’s perspective). It’s a huge pet peeve of mine when it’s really really clear that the other mun wants René to react in a certain way, like someone might write “my character was just a dick to René because they have Crippling Anxiety and they are secretly crying inside and Broken, and they really just want his attention” in the actual reply, and little red flags will pop up in my head because René knows none of these facts. They are notifying me, the mun, to potentially get me to change René’s reaction (which would be to react negatively towards the other muse*). Well, I’m afraid they’ll get the same reaction from René regardless of whether or not they put that in the reply. He’s gonna either walk the fuck out or he’s gonna give them a thrashing (verbally or physically). Plus... I have so little sympathy for people with depression and anxiety, especially characters who have these traits and the mun tries to use them to justify an action or gain pity points from René (but usually through me by sending me ooc messages saying so). René gives no pity for people with depression bc he understands what it’s like. He’s going through it. I’m going through it too. I understand that depression makes you act in ways you will not act if you didn’t have it, but it’s no fucking excuse for me to baby the other character after the mun has told me ooc that their character has depression. If you have a major problem with the way René is acting, please let me know so we can drop that thread and start a new one with a different plot that is heading in a different direction, because his behavior is not going to change. We can work around it, but his behavior is not going to change.

*if your muse wants sympathy, they’d be better off with my ray of sunshine, Will, who is the opposite of René in this respect and is generally sympathetic and kind-hearted. He’s the paladin, and René’s the rogue, after all. Just tell him what’s wrong and he’s happy to lend a listening ear and all the sympathy that I can write. Will, unlike me and René, actually has a heart. In a way, think of Will and René as the two halves of Gemini: the nice twin and the mean twin. The mean twin is the one I express most, but the nice twin is there if you ask for him.

anyway, this got really really long, but I’ve got a lot to say about shipping.

TLDR: I’M A SELECTIVE SHIPPER and I’m looking for meaningful interactions which is not limited to romance, because in fact I find romance rather distasteful in large quantities.

tagged by: @shield-wielder​ tagging: @ask-blue-spy​ @meetthethiefa​ (unless you guys have already done it then just ignore me lol) and whoever else wants to do it