#(because even with my original projects I've got a few different ones to choose from)

[greenplumbboblover]

[WIP] TS3 UI "Krystal"

I figured it would be cool to finally publicly share what I've been working on behind the scenes, as well as some mockups!

A few of you on Patreon or Discord may have already seen sneak peeks/given feedback. I kept things quiet because I wasn’t sure I’d even do it in the first place as a next modding project, and I didn’t want to let anyone down.

Luckily, @lazyduchess’s Monopatcher made the job ten times easier. The biggest hurdle was that I would've had to make a core mod to override UI code (I’m normally anti–core mod), but the patcher solved that and let me push ahead.

(Psst, if you're looking at seeing the mockups bigger, I also posted this post on my site: Simblr.cc 😉)

Creating the Mockups

Fun fact: I actually have a degree in UI/UX design! (for websites) While principles like “How wide should this padding be?” or “Which colors send the right signal to the user?”—game UI is a whole different beast.😬

Main Menu

I started with the main menu:

Cut the SimPoints clutter and the “Buy TS4!” banner—after a decade, we get it exists 😉.

Grouped items into clean blocks

Added a text-free “Create New Family” icon

Swapped lot thumbnails for family shots (still baffled by EA’s original choice).

Dropped an options gear in the bottom-left; might label it if it’s too subtle.

Different backgrounds: one solid blue, one closer to the classic gradient.

A lil' sneek peek of where I'm at:

She's not finished, but it's definitely getting there! 😉

Load Screen

Not much has changed here! It's just less... busy I suppose, lol!

2 Different backgrounds to choose from

Moved the Game Tips to the bottom, so the main focus stays on that loading bar 😉

I also have a third option but I'm strongly leaning towards just having the loading bar as it's the most clear!

Live Mode

The hardest of them all lol. Kudos to EA for figuring that one all out! I really struggled with this one in regards to shape and what to even move around/remove!

I figured, it should be nice to pull really into that glassmorphism I've been using over the Mockups! Now I do realise that it can hamper user experience in the sense of not being able to read anything. But these are pictures! So that should be all fine and dandy.

The active item in the queue will now be more "visible". The queued item however, you'll see look a bit more "unactive" compared to what the current version has.

I also completely overhauled the thumbnails for your sims, showing their moods a bit better, and giving the active sim a tiny plumbob! :D

And now the real deal: The control panel! You might notice it's not the whole thing, but I'm still working on that part.

I removed the camera controls from the panel. However, upon feedback, I did hear that it's better to have them as some people are limited in their hand movements on their keyboard and that those controls are really useful. So I will make sure to share 2 versions :)

I also realised I completely forgot the Build/buy mode buttons 😬 So, err, stay tuned for that? lol.

Notifications I really just tidied up :p

I am aware that the space where the text is and the thumbnail is huge, and normally I'd wrap the surrounding text, but apparently in TS3's UI stuff that's practically impossible. Hence that they got this "2 column" effect to them 😉

About releasing the UI:

I'm hoping to release them all in bits and pieces! So first up is the Main Menu (and possibly the Loading screen given it's simplicity).

After that, I hope in my second "update" to release a big portion of Live mode, but that's a bigger task on it's own of course 😉

Any feedback at this point is also completely welcome by the way!

[novella-november]

Not to harsh your joy regarding your personal project, (which does sound awesome!) the fact that you keep answering the "can I do fanfic?" questions with "technically yes, but have you considered not doing that?" does not actually *feel* very fanfic friendly. (Especially for anyone who enjoys fanfic as a hobby and isn't also an ofic writer. For example, I personally write almost exclusively character studies that are an explicit reaction to canon; there is no real way to write that sort of thing except as fanfic.)

Which is just a long-winded way of requesting that you maybe consider less of a caveat with the FAQ if you make one, please.

oh that was definitely not my intention, thanks for the ask! I think it was mostly just because I got that same question a few times in a row from various anons within the same time span (including some that were not published publicly), it just happened that I was thinking of my own project(s, plural now) in the last day when I answered those two, for those who want an extra creative challenge.

There's a reason my own original thing has been in my head for the last ten years without me actually writing it while I've written and posted tons of fanfiction, and even now some of my original works are going to be based on Arsene Lupin, so they'd technically be considered fanfiction since they're based on and use an established work for the characters and settings --

--writing completely original fic *is* harder, and that's exactly why I'm *suggesting* (not requiring!) that people consider taking 1 out of short story 4 challenges to look at their work in a new light.

90% of what I read and (until I actually start and finish my original works) 100% of what I've written in my life is fanfic. I have nothing against fanfic, otherwise I woudn't even be interested in creative writing.

But its also not a diss to say "Would you consider looking at your [fanfic] writing from a new angle and try to figure out different ways of going about it?"

Honestly, being able to even consider this option *as a fun extra challenge* is meant to help improve your writing and creative skills; it's not meant as a cheap shot at people who choose to write fanfiction because I my self write and read tons of it,

it's me saying "if you want even more practice at creative writing during these monthly challenges, try branching out a little bit from your comfort zone, you may be pleasantly surprised."

People who write and read fanfiction already have tons of creative experience, and if people like me and many other fanfic writers who one day dream of being published authors, want to broaden our horizons and seek new experiences, one of the easiest exercises is to take something we're planning on writing or already wrote, and see what we would change to make it brand new and standalone--

-- something that not only helps you come up with new ideas, but also will help when it comes time to *edit*, which can be, depending on the length and complexity of your story, can be a complicated process:

whether that means having to delete scenes entirely,

changing what a character says,

altering an aspect of the worldbuilding to fix plot holes

, re-writing your character so they're not overpowered because it was ruining the stakes and tension,

changing the POV of chapters because it was ruining the flow of the story,

etc etc etc.

I love fan fiction.

I love reading it and I love writing it, and for many people who take on monthly writing challenges, it is a way to test ourselves and gear ourselves up and prove to ourselves that not only can we write x amount of words, but it proves to ourselves that we are *capable of creating*, and for many creatives, that ultimately leads to crafting our own unique stories;

if you're already taking place in a monthly writing challenge, why not push the bounds a little bit *if you're so inclined* and test the waters? Especially when you're surrounded by a community who is cheering you on, every step of the way?

Every Nanowrimo I ever won was fanfiction. Heck, even not during November I once did 40k words in two weeks for a fic.

I always stalled out when I tried to write original works;

it is much easier to start small with a single short story than it is to try to write an entirely original novel, and my encouraging people to try baby steps by *experimenting* with one short story out of four in a month is not meant to be a diss against fanfiction,

but an *encouragement to those like me* who were so eager to write original works but floundered when I tried to jump into the deep end and felt disheartened.

Many fanfic authors aspire to write original fics, and thats who that challenge is for, for the people who want to write original works but are too afraid to fully commit; I'll still be writing and posting fanfiction even if I become a published author, even If I just have to come up with a few new pen-names to post them under.

There's absolutely no judgement on anyone who wants to write fanfiction for these challenges, my "caveat" as you say, is only there as encouragement to those like me who are afraid to take the first step, or uncertain of how to even *begin* that first step, not any kind of condemnation.

TL;DR:

I did not mean for my responses on the "can I write fanfiction" to come off as rude or looking down on fanfiction, its meant to be an encouragment to all the people like me who love fanfic and started out writing fanfiction, and dream of writing original works to take the first step, with a community of like-minded people all taking the same challenge.

Like every other challenge aspect of these events, taking a fanfic idea and turning it into an original short story is completely optional and meant as inspiration, just like following prompts for events is not mandatory, and even completing the 30k word goal is not mandatory; the goal for this month is to create, get in the habit of creating, and having fun with it!

[pensat-i-fet]

Hiya! A bit of a long update today so get ready. First, let's look back at the past week and mention that we got 3 new chapters of Not Enough and…the series ends next week 😢 I had the best time posting this series so the feeling is even more bittersweet than usual. And I also posted 2 new chapters of First Love. I've been working on part 3 and stay tuned for the author's note on this one because the way this story changed from the original idea 😭 wild! But I'm very happy with how it's turning out.

Also, I posted an imagine last Saturday so if you haven't checked it out, you can find it here ☺️

Now, I promised last week that Micky's series was coming soon and…it'll start next Tuesday 🥳🥳 I need to draft the first chapters and find a photo for the cover but the most important part, the writing, is sorted so happy times!

I know not everyone will read everything I write. I know some people do, and I appreciate that more than you can imagine ❤️ though it's understandable that people will pick and choose what sounds more appealing to them. But still, I want each series to be different and feel different. So if someone wants to read Not Enough, First Love and Micky’s story at the same time, I hope they can get something different from each series. And that they don't feel they're just reading the same story but with different names, you know?

So Micky's is a bit more of a lighthearted series compared to others. First Love is a bit more intense, more dramatic in tone and subject matter. And don't get me wrong, Micky's series will have conflict as well and it's got a lot of heart. But…the feel of it is more cheerful, with banter, a lot of fluff, …I don't know. More rom-com, basically. I really enjoyed writing it because, to me, it feels like the most unique thing I've written for fanfics. Something I personally haven't done before. And that's fun!

Apart from all these ongoing projects that you're already reading or will be reading soon, I'm working on two other series. The writing never stops 😅 I'll keep you updated on that too ☺️ honestly, I'm just so happy nowadays with all the writing done and the love you guys show me when you read the stories ❤️ a few months ago, I was made aware of some dodgy stuff and it kind of made me a little sad. Regarding people copying others and such…not a fan. But the current positivity revolving around my writing is everything 🥰 so thank you to all who are part of this amazing community. 

[cola-canine]

Haven't done one of these in awhile as I just haven't been gaming a whole lot lately - been busy with personal projects, work, etc. But I've just finished Star Wars: Outlaws...

In summary: It's fine. I got something out of it but it's definitely not a Jedi: Fallen Order/Survivor in terms of a great story. It's not as bad as something like Battlefront II's campaign, either - it was really refreshing to have a character that just didn't want to side with either the Rebellion or the Empire; Kay was just content with doing her own thing. She aids the Rebellion only when it really serves her greater purpose but otherwise stays out of it.

I guess I'll get my complaints out of the way first:

I was expecting the syndicates to have a much larger role in the story rather than just being the "watch out for these people on this planet." Yeah, you can get on the good and bad side of each syndicate, but it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Really the only reason to be on the good side of a syndicate is to 1) not get shot at on their territory and 2) get cosmetic goods and other upgrade resources. Narratively, they serve little purpose - choosing to side with one faction or the other really boils down to "well, do you want good reputation with this syndicate for the cool shirt or do you wanna side with the other for a pair of pants that'll be available at one of their vendors."

I really wanted to learn more about Crimson Dawn and Qi'ra but Outlaws offered very little on that front. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed Solo: A Star Wars Story, I was hoping for a sort of continuation in parts of that movie's narrative. Qi'ra runs Crimson Dawn while Maul lurks in the shadows but, as I mentioned before, syndicates are just more of an encounter in passing rather than a main story element.

Speaking of syndicates, I feel like the Ashiga and the planet of Kijimi could've been cut out entirely. You spend very little time on the planet, the Ashiga are never really seen again (unless you're doing side missions) in the story, and what little time you do work with them it's almost immediately wrapped up. The Pykes, Hutts, and Crimson Dawn are really the most prominent factions seen throughout every planet - I feel like the Ashiga were kinda forced in last minute because they needed a tie-in with the sequel trilogy. Which, don't take this the wrong way: I keep saying we need the sequel trilogy expanded on more and establishing factions and revisiting areas from the sequels is a great way to elaborate on the lore of the sequels but I'm not kidding, you maybe spend a couple hours on Kijimi before you're shuffled off to Akiva and Tatooine. Kijimi isn't even an explorable planet, it's just one small city you get to wander around with some Crimson Dawn presence. It stands out, and not in a very good way.

ND-5 is such an interesting concept that's also done very poorly. A reprogrammed BX Commando Droid turned smuggler is fun but man, you do not get to spend any time with him outside of a few moments. 90% of the game he's just sitting in your ship while you do all the dirty work. Narratively, he's supposed to be keeping an eye on you as you take on a job for his original partner, Jaylen - what better way to keep an eye on you than to just let you run off on little exploration trips. I was expecting a much more active role on his part, a sort of companion in combat throughout most of your time in the game but no, he just kinda exists.

So what did I like?

I liked the exploration of different planets and how it kept things interesting. Tatooine isn't boring like I thought it'd be - you know, the planet we keep revisiting and feel like we've seen everything it has to offer. No, quite the opposite - Tatooine is probably one of the best portions of the game. Sure, you have the staple areas like Mos Eisley and the outlying moisture farms but once you get into the canyons of Tatooine that's where the fun is. Lots of fun areas to snake through both on foot and your speeder. At night, the planet is very atmospheric with the distant sounds of Tusken Raiders and howls of Tatooine's night life. Akiva is so densely packed with different tombs and ruins to explore. You can navigate the planet by land or by river, stumbling upon hidden camps and bases to pillage. Toshara reminds me a lot of Dantooine, with it's open fields and sort of farm-like atmosphere - it's definitely a "starter planet" with a much more basic approach to speeder navigation and gang territories but it doesn't make it any less interesting with the abundance of small caves, farms, and cities that are just packed with characters and special items.

The space combat is a lot of fun. Getting in to dogfights with the Empire or pirate gangs inside giant nebulas or debris fields is insanely fun. What's cool is that sometimes you'll pick a fight and get in over your head, and stronger cruisers show up to support the fight against you and you have to target specific parts of a cruiser in order to cripple it - reminded me a lot of OG Battlefront II.

Sabacc matches were always enjoyable. I think back to my time with Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 and how I just actively avoided any and all card games or other "step away minigame" types as they were just a little to difficult for me to learn. Every time I discovered a new sabacc parlor I made sure to play and clean house. I loved using the different shift tokens to completely screw over the other players last minute and turn a bad hand into a winning one. The addition of different cheating tricks made matches intense, never knowing if my slight of hand would benefit me in the end or not.

Overall, Outlaws is enjoyable but it probably won't be something I replay anytime soon.

[jaderimehardt]

I am back with another post~! 👋🏻

Mother's day is coming up and so is my Mom's Birthday, so I've been working with this tiered jewelry box mold. Originally I got it because I thought it was cute with endless possibilities but after thinking about it for a while it occurred to me, "we have a ton of jewelry too" 😅 "why not make us some?"

So, here I am, with a few bottles of her favorite colors in acrylic paints, trying to figure out how I want to go about it.

There's a "technique" I want to try, that I've never seen anyone do before. I'm fairly positive it'll work in some fashion, but I have no idea how it'll turn out, because again, I've never seen anyone do it before.

In my brain I'm thinking "man if only I could hit the record button and upload this somewhere, but I don't have a stand or rod for my phone" 🙃 "I'll just have to settle for photos and upload them to Tumblr"

[If you've done this before and have a vid out there, feel free to link it. If you're going to make one after, and/or need any info, lemme know, I'd love to see how it goes 😊]

I'll preface this with, I firmly believe in Occam's Razor; it's a principle in problem solving that suggests the solution to an answer is often the most simple one.

I choose to dye my ResinCrete with Acrylic Paint and Mica Powder as they're most available to me and the most affordable (I guess you can see these as the variables?)

That would then make the problem to solve, how to use these in my ResinCrete? This might seem easy to the average person; "Just mix them." Yeah... no.

Mixing acrylic in, you get a plain color, you cannot marble. Attempt to marble, you end up with dried up rubbery bits that can literally be pulled out later and leave behind holes OR the colors can be washed away with water and still leave behind holes. I've already tried this.

Mica Powder isn't much different. You can mix in mica but if chunks are left in, they "blend out" and leave chunky holes behind in your ResinCrete (sometimes that's a desired effect for geode/rock themes) but if you're aiming for a marble effect, it doesn't always work.

I've even tried Concentrated Pigments but it comes out the same as Acrylic paints, only, obviously more concentrated, lol 😅🙃🫠

What's the obvious solution then? Easy. Mix everything with water before adding it to the ResinCrete powder.

You do the same thing when baking, mix all the wets with wets, and the dry with dry, and then incorporate the two together when you're ready.

I made three different things last night, but I'll only show a couple examples. ⤵️

One of my projects required 500g ResinCrete + 150g Water and the other required 200g ResinCrete + 60g Water.

Note: When you add Acrylic paints, it says you can add 1-2g more water (I'm assuming per 100g, but it doesn't specify).

[I personally do add the extra water because it comes out thick and gloopy with more bubbles when using acrylic paint if you do not and has a chance of flash curing. Just be careful not to add too much water because your ResinCrete can become brittle.]

Each project I took away about 10g of water from the overall amount of water being used and added it to another cup to blend with what I'm going to call "Mica Water". You can see in my above picture that all I did was literally add a bunch of mica powder to it and stirred until it was thoroughly stirred with no clumps. This "Mica Water" is going to be what causes the "Marbling".

I did the same with the rest of my water but added my Acrylic Paint to it, until I reached my desired color. This is my "Acrylic Water". Keep in mind that this is going to be severely lightened due to the ResinCrete powder. The shade will be knocked down like, a dozen shades, lol. Again, thoroughly mix this.

I wanted to get pictures of me mixing the ResinCrete but mixing this stuff is a time crunch. I always start with the Water. Then add powder to it, like in baking. Then I add in my Mica Water last. Don't worry about being gentle, or folding in the Mica Water.

At first I folded mine in, thinking "oh I have to marble this because it's mica" but then I remembered "there's water in this". So, no. You have to thoroughly mix it in for that reason (I don't mean stir for like, 3-minutes. Just blend it in quickly, 5 seconds or whatever 🙃)

You start to see the magic happen when you pour it into your mold.

I don't know if it's because Acrylic and Mica are two completely separate mediums that they just... naturally separate from each other. I don't know if it's because Acrylic is heavier and Mica is lighter, so when you mix the two with water like this, Mica floats, and Acrylic sinks- and they separate making both of these pair perfectly together like this 🤷🏻‍♀️

The other thing I've noticed is, you can actually SEE the shimmer from the mica with this in some areas. It's in areas that are not against the mold, but you can still see it. It's making me wonder... what if I add some glitter to that Mica Water? What about some other things, like chameleon flakes, or I don't know... guess I need to think more on that one.

And if it works this well on large molds, I want to see how it works on some smaller ones, like cabochons, gem molds, or pendants. I haven't gotten around to those yet.

Last and Final Note(s): 1. When you mix more than one Acrylic paint together, sometimes the color of your piece will change color on you after a day or two. I mixed a purple acrylic and a blue acrylic together and it went from super blue, to super purple after 3-days time. (I mean, the color will change shades/tones regardless as it cures more, but this was a drastic change from one color to the next.)

2. Your pieces can bleed on to each other when they're still curing, don't let them touch. I stacked some of my purple pieces (thinking they were done curing) next to some minty-green pieces. Checked them a few days later and my minty-green pieces had acquired some purple tinting 😆😅

3. Making this "Mica Water" will 100% dye your silicone cups 😅🫠. In the three instances last night when I made my mica water, each time it dyed mine and I cannot remove the color from my cups (so use cups you're prepared to have this happen with).

[alottalotta]

The Second Outcome: One Year Later

Hi! I'm alottalotta, the author of The Second Outcome, the fanfic linked in this post. It's been a full year since the last chapter has been uploaded, and I wanted to talk about how I've felt about it since then, because I've been thinking about it a bit. So get cozy, cause this is going to be quite a long post.

In February of 2024, I discovered a comment on a video called 'Why "The Untold Story of Pecharunt" is a Lie' by gmedley,

where I found a comment by a user named Okeana Aster (who at the time went by Oceane on YouTube, but has since changed their YouTube name, so I will be referring to the user as Okeana from now on) talking about the story, when in a reply they made a reference to an AU they were thinking of, where the main difference was we told Kieran about seeing the ogre at the festival instead of keeping it a secret from him. They went into large detail as well, going into depth about all sorts of scenes that changed as a result, even as far as Mochi Mayhem, with a completely changed ending. I thought a lot about that comment, and when I saw that it was only an idea, I decided to write about it myself (I asked Okeana about writing it down in another post on the official Pokemon YouTube channel, and they never got back to me, so I just made an assumption that it would be okay to write about it as long as I make it clear it wasn't my idea). Some time later, I started writing a draft of it while working on other things, but it ended up in a lot of procrastination and rewrites, until early March 2024, when I got the story finalized and finally begun writing it. The protag was unnamed in Okeana's version, but I decided to use Florian as the protag for the AU, simply because I hadn't seen many people writing Kieran/Florian fics (this was in early 2024, Kieran/Florian didn't even have a proper tag at the time). However, you are absolutely free to substitute Florian for Juliana if you so choose, considering I didn't characterize them separately. One month later, I finished it, and uploaded every chapter daily.

After writing it, I tried to capture that same success that the fic got by writing two sequels, adapting Indigo Disk and Mochi Mayhem, respectively. I was able to use more of my ideas for the Indigo Disk adaptation, mainly because Okeana had no major ideas for it put into words online, but in the case of Mochi Mayhem, the ending was actually written down already, so I adapted that. Unfortunately, both of those fics failed to receive the same success that the original fic had, which was really demotivating to me, and I think it might be a big contributor as to why I decided to just stop writing; I got hooked on the praise and success I got from The Second Outcome, and continued to write hoping to reach that level again. It just wasn't really fun anymore, I was out of ideas, out of motivation to write, and I just kinda moved on. Looking back at it now, I shouldn't have let the lack of hits and comments get to me; I should have appreciated the audience I had gathered while I did. I want to start writing again, but I also don't want to get my hopes up thinking I'm going to get the same kind of success I had before.

After a few more months and a couple of interactions with Okeana over YouTube comments, I started to realize that we didn't really see eye-to-eye on things. They despise Carmine, and I don't. In their version of the AU, they likely demonized her, and because I don't, I tried to make Carmine more sympathetic and understandable, which I don't think they would appreciate. I later found out their reason for hating Carmine so much, which I will not disclose out of respect for their privacy, but it's something we disagree on regardless, and something that likely would have a major impact on the story, considering that Carmine is the villain in this case.

If I do pick up writing again, it will likely be for other fandoms (looking forward to writing a Pikmin fic sometime soon, love that franchise, amazing games frfr), but at some point I would like to start writing for this fandom again, because I enjoyed interacting with this community that got me started. A major shoutout to dipplinduo for getting me into writing fics in the first place, and for signal boosting one of my fics that I wrote, very kind of you, and I appreciate you for that. To the rest of this community, thank you so much for checking out and supporting my fics, I'm really grateful to have had the audience I developed, and I hope to make more content in the future.

[thegoddesswater]

👽👍and🫂

Thanks Lano!

👽- What do you think is the weirdest thing about your WIP is?

There are a few things I could choose here from specific WIPs, (like the fact that there's essentially magical Instant Messaging in Talentless, or Val's entire genre-inappropriate divine existence in Miadhachain Legacy) but something that is weird across ALL the WIPs is my predilection for reusing or having extremely similar names for characters in unrelated works. - Pretty much everything has a James somewhere. - I've got Lys and Lise (both said like "lease") - Glenn Blakeny and Glen Barrick (still can't believe they have the same damn initials that was not intentional) - Cyrus and Cyri (These feel further apart because one's a man and the other's a woman, but STILL)

👍- What was the first piece of creative writing you ever did? How do you feel about it now?

Okay, so in second grade, I DISTINCTLY remember writing a story about a princess and a unicorn that my teacher loved. And I look back on that now like "Ugh. Why, me?" But I also remember how excited I was that the teacher loved my story and tried really hard to put a correctly coloured unicorn sticker on it when she gave it back (it was white instead of pink, but she tried).

If we're talking about the first 'mature' or 'semi-mature' creative work, that's pretty much a toss up between my two oldest fanfics: AFRaT (I cringe every single time I use the and proper full title, so I do not) is still my baby. It is my darling, I love it (title-based wincing notwithstanding). I love the characters I let myself play with, I love the characters I made for it, I'm still so proud of how it turned out. Heart of a Warrior is a little wincey. It makes my skin itch. I didn't have a grasp on proper plotting and characterization is iffy. But I look at it and can still see what I was trying to do. And I have promised fourteen year old me that I'm going to finish it for her (I think fourteen year old me would be VERY excited by where I'm taking it now).

🫂- What was your inspiration for your WIP?

For the three Original Fic WIPs (because I think my Fire Emblem and Jak and Daxter fanfic inspiration origins are self-explanatory) the inspirations came from different places.

Talentless was a classroom joke that got out of hand, honestly. The project probably wouldn't have gone anywhere if I had not revived it a year later with a "Okay, but what if I took this seriously instead" and roped one of my classmates back in for shenanigans. Talentless has now very much taken on a life of its own and almost nothing of the old version exists.

Miadhachain Legacy honestly started off as a terribly characterized fanfic written between myself and my then best friend (and eventual abuser). Eventually it was SO divorced from the source material that we just name swapped what lingering canon characters there were and continued on. Rereading old drafts of ML, is rough because I can track the abusive turn the friendship took through the character interactions, and "my" characters had their personalities get more and more diluted. The new version of ML isn't so much based on those old drafts as it's me saying "I believed that this story and these characters were worth fighting for, even if I wouldn't fight for myself. I can make this something better than it ever was."

Project 404 came about from a friend's roleplay forum. I'd created a nifty little background character just to help populate the world, but then he got Interesting on me. One of the other friends on the forum told me "Glenn needs to be a main character in his own story and you need to let him be" and everything has spun out from that point.

[cheritzssebba]

I'm working on the Nameless books and it's going very well but I've run into a problem 🤔ᴴᴹ what shall I name Nameless for the very end of the game, where Eri finally remembers his name? Because I'd like to keep it as accurate to the original game as much as humanly possible. But the only name that Nameless has is either Bear or the one that the player gives him. To my knowledge, there isn't actually a canonical name given to Nameless, but I feel it wouldn't do the game justice without including the scene in which Eri remembers Nameless' name. So I've come up with a few options:

Option 1: I go with the name I gave Nameless when I first played the game. The pros of this are that it is Nameless' name that I did give him. A downside of this is that my first doll was a baby girl so he's got a girl's name 🤔ᴴᴹ it might suit him tbh tho, idk

Option 2: I choose a name which had something to do with his name in the game files: Bear. Maybe the Korean word for bear or a different name that means bear or something..

Option 3: A name that means Nameless/empty/etc

Option 4: A name that references him being Eri's first doll, so something that means "first" or "original" or "eldest"

Option 5: My personal favourite - a name that calls back to him being a teddy bear but not just calling him straight up bear. Do you know the origins of the teddy bear? I explain:

Former president Theodore Roosevelt was once out hunting but couldn't find any bears to hunt. A bear was caught for him and tied up for him to shoot, but Roosevelt refused to shoot it.

This story reached the news and Clifford Berryman made a comic about it:

A toy maker saw this comic and, inspired, made "Teddy's Bear", the first teddy bear!

This is the story of the teddy bear. After the first one was made, it became very popular and was mass produced and so now we all love teddy bears today!

So I thought that for Nameless, I could name him something that references the origin of teddy bears, Teddy Roosevelt's name - something like Theo or Rue

I don't really know if I'd go with the name Theo since I want it to be accurate to the original game and I'm not sure if a Korean kid would name their teddy something like that? So I thought of changing it to Teo but we already have both a Teo in a different game and a Tei in this game so I don't really like that..

But I do really really like the idea of calling him Rue instead

Option 6: This is one that I've just thought of, as I was writing this post. I could choose a name that doesn't reference him specifically but something else of importance in the Cheritz games; such as Angel or Dandelion or the name of a character from a different game or something referencing Eri's grandpa/family or even the Wizard. I really like the sound of Angel tbh, the number 1004 occurs a couple times across the games

Option 7: I dig deeper into the game and find out if he has any other sort of canonical name.. Perhaps there's concept art of him with a different name? There's not much I can really do in the way of this but if anyone knows anything that might elude to a name of his I would love to hear it

Option 8: I ditch the whole idea and leave the scene.. Nameless is nameless, that's kind of the point of him, and it'd be a slight injustice to him to give him one specific name when the fact that he doesn't have one means that he is a beautiful blank slate for individual players to project their own childhood toy onto. I wouldn't really like to do this but it is an option

Option 9: Something I haven't even thought of yet. Pls help. Struggling. 😅 I'm really leaning towards Rue, Angel or Dandelion/something similar but am definitely open to suggestion!!! Persuade me!!!! ^^

[rubistella]

Regulations

Private & Selective Owing to time constraints and the demanding nature of roleplay, I'm highly selective about whom I write with, as I firmly believe in valuing quality over quantity.

This is not a self-insert/projection friendly zone The title says it all! Projection and self-inserts make me very uncomfortable, so I will terminate interactions immediately if I catch whiff of that.

Dashboard Stuff I often overlook the dashboard since I rarely check it. When I do, I might choose to engage with a few people, but it's pretty infrequent!

Adults Only (21+) Given the mature and dark themes my writing frequently explores, as well as Astarion's past, this roleplay blog is not suitable for minors. I personally prefer that only those 21 or older engage. Every potentially triggering content and/or interaction will be put under tw; dddne and "ask to tag" for blacklisting purposes.

Astarion & Headcanons My portrayal of Astarion will stay unfiltered. For more details, click here. Also, please don’t assume Astarion will choose your muse— there are other people in camp (NPCs) he could be feeding from, or other plot devices we could use instead.

Duplicate Friendly Space While I love connecting with fellow Astarion enthusiasts and sometimes follow duplicates, I avoid reading their headcanons to keep my portrayal unbiased. Any shared ideas or plots are purely coincidental—great minds and all that!

Credits & Disclaimer This blog's avatar is by artbyvi, and the graphics were commissioned from ilithid-psds. Some icon screenshots aren’t mine, so if one is yours and you want credit or prefer I don't use it, just let me know, and I'll make the changes.

Unfollowing & Re-following I'm mutually exclusive: if I don't get a follow back in a few days, I'll unfollow. I also unfollow blogs inactive for over a month without notice. If you return and want to be mutuals again, just drop me a line, and I'll gladly follow back.

The Mun I'm Milky, 21+. I like cats, tea, a good book and playing video games with my friends. Even if we can't, for whatever reason, roleplay together, feel free to send Astarion IC asks or approach me OOC for a chat. :) Toodles!

[drowning-in-cacophony]

5, 19, and 27 for ao3 wrapped! (- thinkingisadangerouspastime)

[A03 wrapped ask game]

Thanks for the ask, Amy! 💛💛 @thinkingisadangerouspastime . As usual I rambled on a bit, but I can't help myself when it comes to writing!

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

A fic I wrote for thasmin (13th doctor/her companion yaz)! My fic blue hour, which also happens to be my favourite fic I've published all year. It's a quiet, introspective sort of bed sharing fic - not much plot or actual conversation between the two. It's a thoughtful piece without that emotional or romantic peak, so I didn't know if people would be interested as much as one where they confronted their feelings. But the reception was so overwhelming - I had such nice comments of people who really got what I was trying to say with the piece, and just such nice compliments too. It really warmed me, because this really is my favourite fic, so the fact that I got so much more feedback than expected/hoped for is just so perfect.

[for anyone interested: I do my thasmin/dw blogging from @my-ghost-monument]

19. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

This one's sort of at a draw, actually, between maiko (my beloved) and thasmin (also my beloved). Obviously, my love of maiko is a consistent thing, and there are two works from my mai week fics (here and here) which intrigue me to what could come next, and I'd like to explore those opportunities - especially since they're both au's, so there's a lot of different things to play around with there. How do our beloved couple come together like they do in canon in an alternative universe?

With thasmin, their end on doctor who has just come and gone, but I've still got so much I want to explore with them. There's a lot of missing scenes I want to build in (especially with the knowledge of when they canonically confess their feelings, meaning to be canon compliant I can't have them do it earlier, but can build so close to it, which excites me).

But, as a really weird wild card, I keep getting some slight ideas for batcat - i.e. Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle from the dc universe. Very surprising to me, but recently I've found myself sort of dipping into the dc fandom and found that there's not much batcat fic out there that hits the exact vibe I'm looking for, and you know what they say: if you don't see what you want to read, write it yourself. I don't know if I will get to explore them - I find the dc universe a little hard to get to grips with honestly, and I'm never that great at writing about stories that take place in cities (I often just throw a warehouse or alleyway in as every place something happens, and it never feels that smooth) - but I'd like to explore them at least.

27. What do you listen to while writing?

This year I've really been getting into those 'writing playlists', or 'collected feelings' playlists you can find on youtube. You know, the 'your character and their forbidden love dance' or 'people who feel this should listen'. I've found it a great way to discover new vocal music pieces without much effort, and a curated playlist means I don't have to stop and think about what's playing, so I just concentrate on the writing. I don't usually tend to match the emotion/feeling the playlist's about to the scene I'm actually writing - I can use a real somber one for a happy scene, and romantic music for tension - but it's more of what I'm personally feeling at the moment.

And just because I'd like to: the favourite songs I've discovered through these lists are Obvious by CHPTRS, State Lines by Novo Amor and Last Chance also by CHPTRS

[not-poignant]

What made you decide to host original fiction on AO3? You're the first (favorite) author doing serial original fic online that I think of these days, though I've not dabbled since independent domains were the most common strategy. I'm hoping to make progress on a project of my own in the soon, but am having trouble finding sites without fairly restrictive content policies--are there/were there other contenders for hosting Fae Tales that would have let you go so dark, or is it AO3 or bust?

Hi anon!

I think from your tone, you're starting off with the assumption that I was trying to be a professional writer and then chose AO3, and that's not the path I took at all!! No one in their right mind generally chooses AO3 if they want to make a profit off of their original writing for a lot of reasons, and a lot of fanfiction authors leave AO3 so they can make a profit off their original writing (and some do both - write fanfic under one name, and original fiction under a completely different name. My path isn't even the mainstream fanfic writer's way of breaking into original fiction, lol).

So my journey was basically that:

I was writing fanfiction on AO3 that became quite popular in its small fandom, and I put two OCs (Original Characters) into that story that got especially popular and started getting fanart during the fanfic. A few people at the time said 'I ship these two' and I was like 'eh I don't want to write it.' And then in typical fandom fashion eventually I was like 'okay I'll just give it a try.'

I wrote several PWP hatefucking chapters mostly to see if they even really worked as a couple (they did!) - since they weren't a couple in the fanfic, they were mortal enemies, lol - and these chapters popped off among a very small number of people and I thought 'you know what, these characters deserve an actual story, because I don't want their tale to have a tragic ending' (which it would have done).

So I wrote more of the story, and eventually I got a message from a reader saying 'hey can you open a Patreon account so we can support your original writing, because it doesn't feel fair that we're getting all of this for free.'

So I opened a Patreon account.

And then about 3 years later I thought 'actually...I think I can turn this into a proper job.' And I...tried lol. It's not a very 'proper job' by the standards of people who started original writing purely for income, but it is quite a proper job for me, lol. I still write fanfiction because I love it.

I never chose AO3 as a place to build a career exactly, I just put original fiction there because that's where the readers were who already liked the original characters, and it didn't make sense to put it anywhere else. I also never expected at the time to make a formal leap into original fiction, I was actually planning another fanfic and then got completely derailed because we were all enjoying Fae Tales so much.

I stay there because I can post any fictional content I like pretty much - no matter how taboo - without fear of reprisal from the site or fear of having my account banned etc. for content. I stay because the warning and tagging system is the most sophisticated in the world. I stay because the search system is also the most sophisticated in the world. I stay because I love the spirit of fandom, and the people who find my original fics there already understand reading serials and WIPs and ongoing stories. I stay because I really enjoy AO3 comment culture, which is uniquely different to anything else anywhere on the internet, but especially other free serial sites like Wattpad, Royal Road, Inkitt and more. I stay because having to invite people to come to my Tumblr to see my posts and excerpts and sometimes find out about Patreon is a feature and not a bug, because it means the people who eventually find their way to my Patreon probably want to be there more than the average reader who never needs to leave AO3.

I stay there because Wattpad needs incredibly short chapters and I like longer chapter lengths (and long serials). I stay there because the comment culture of Royal Road is a lot of 'um, actually' folks alongside some decent folks, and you really have to love constant constructive (and not so constructive) criticism even on your most viral stories, and I am baby. I stay on AO3 because my friends are there, and so are many other folks who I enjoy the thoughts and company of.

To my knowledge, the only other place that allows really taboo content officially (i.e. not 'it's against the rules but everyone does it') is probably Ream, which is a subscription site like Patreon. And they're very recent. I will be setting up a mirrored version of my Patreon account there for all the folks who can't access Patreon due to like...credit card / bank reasons.

If you want to write a super dark, taboo serial, there aren't many free serial sites in the world where that's truly okay. I'm going to take some risks on Wattpad soon with the Fae Tales canon and we'll see how we go, lmao. AO3 is particularly unique because it started for many of us fanfiction writers who were getting banned and censored on other fanfiction and fandom platforms (like Livejournal Strikethrough, which was a huge historical event in fandom around censorship), so it literally - in many ways - was invented to protect and give space to the people who are writing adult or taboo fanfiction (and then later also original fiction). It is designed to be a safe haven for those of us who understand that fiction is just fiction when it comes to sexual fantasy content.

In the past year I have considered other dedicated serial sites for my content and frankly I don't believe any of them are 'safe' for me re: the nature of my writing (I don't feel my writing is as dark as some, but it certainly has 'rape as titillation' quite a bit, and pretty broad scale dubcon). Royal Road doesn't suit my genre/s, Inkitt is possible, but I'm not sure if my work will do well there, Wattpad is a risk but is huge and I'm not mad if my account gets banned there, Tapas allows some taboo, but is very clear that it wants no serials intended for the purpose of sexual gratification and requires 500-1500 chapters maximum, which is a bit of a downer for someone like me who has 3-10,000 word chapters, lol.

If you want to be a professional writer of adult sexual/taboo content who makes money off your writing, I wouldn't recommend hosting your works on AO3, I'd recommend publishing novels and when you have enough of a backlist, potentially offering chapters of future novels as early access on Ream (Patreon will actually also ban accounts with taboo content if you're hosting it on Patreon - and while most of us are safe at the moment, they get stricter over time).

AO3 is, imho, a great place for original authors who already love writing fanfiction or reading fanfiction, and already love fandom, and want to participate in the culture with original stories. Readers on AO3 are very savvy, clued-in people who are overall likely to be suspicious rather than welcoming of original fiction on AO3 in general (many refuse to read it outright), and who also can tell when a newcomer author is just there to try and make a profit off them. But they are also some of the most ride or die, wonderful, best readers in the world once they love your work. (I know this from experience as a reader too, lol, I am ride or die for a few authors there myself).

That doesn't mean it can't be done, it just means there's a steep learning curve re: fandom etiquette (thoroughly worth it, do recommend it, it just will take some time - months, not weeks - to feel it out). AO3 also strongly prefers/requires all original fiction there be posted 'in the spirit of fandom' - which has broad interpretations, but it does mean an effort needs to be made to at least understand and enjoy fandom.

But yeah if you're purely professional career focused, AO3 is not a first-line strategy imho. That's why...there's not many people doing it this way - even viral fanfiction authors don't do it this way, anon, when they decide to writing original fiction based off their fanfiction success. Use Smashwords, Ream, your own host site for direct sales etc. there are erotica and dark fantasy authors who are making WAY more money than I am using paths like this.

I love my path, I love it, and I do believe more people could use it and make it work, but I'll be honest with you - I know I could be making more money if I chose different paths, I'm on this path because it's fun.

[darklight-owl]

3,5,7,10,11,16,22 and 13,you said 3 years but what has changed since nice then?

EEEEEE tysm for the ask!!

3.) any recurring images/elements?

I'm not really that good at using motifs tbh, but I have a lot of scattered feathers deliberately placed in a few scenes. Smoke as well, even though I haven't illustrated any of those yet. I'll leave the interpretation to the readers :]

5.) pick a theme song for the tv adaptation.

Laplace's Angel by Will Wood! (this has been the theme song from before my Will Wood phase started, it's just got very similar themes)

7.) how would you describe the relationships between the characters in the story within eight words or less?

Not friends, just people sharing the same pain.

10.) if your story is titled, why did you choose that title?

It was always going to be called after whatever I named the organization. I had this idea of a kind of cultish group of assassins who worshipped a god of hunting. Since all the characters are animals hunting is pretty much just murder in this world, after all. My placeholder name for it was Artemis' Children, but I wanted to create my own mythology since I know virtually nothing about irl myths. the name Ullyca (and Ramedin while we're on it) was a result of me mashing words together at 1am until it sounded right. (I think it sounds cool though)

11.) give a general summary of the plot/world/characters.

Set in a world populated by several species of anthropomorphic animals, a serval named Umbra finds herself covered in blood, a body at her feet. With no memory of what happened, yet desperate to keep her involvement in this event from coming to light, she winds up making a deal with an organization of hitmen known as the Children of Ullyca, and by the time she realizes she's in over her head, it's too late to turn back.

16.) imagine the entire story takes place but in the meantime the characters all also have tumblr. what kind of (terrible) tumblr posts would happen?

Ahhhahahaha yk I'm pretty sure Fier has a tumblr (if anyone in this series does it's them) but for the other ones I'm absolutely sure Amala would be blazing Umbra's vent posts all the time, Hadron would do nothing except rb the worst takes known to mankind, Rena would have a bait account and Uriel just uses his to promote his fanfiction. Not sure what Kan would use his for, but something tells me he keeps getting blocked because he never made a profile and everyone thinks he's a bot.

22.) you have been given unlimited funds to make two adaptations of some sort, however you cannot make any other adaptations of any other sort. which two formats do you choose?

Ohhhh this is a tough one. I've always thought CoU would make for a banger animated series but for the second adaptation? Maybe a novel. I would have really loved for it to be a novel (even if the comic medium does fit better)

13.) how long have you been working on this project? what has changed from the outset?

SO much has changed in the past three years. Hell, not even joking this thing started as a bunch of Beastars ocs until I realized they didn't have anything to do with Beastars anymore and I was just a furry. Now, aside from the anthros and the canniballism, they have absolutely nothing in common.

The architecture has changed, it used to be just normal human cities but somewhere between the original chapters and the Call to Action entry I changed the buildings to use more natural elements like trees and cliffsides. I still struggle with it (a lot) but I love how lively and a little wild it looks.

Some designs have also changed, the uniforms used to all be plain dark grey jumpsuits but now all of them have their own unique design for each character for different purposes (Kan's uniform has armor plates, Rena's is a wetsuit, etc.) Out of all the characters, Kan has changed the most physically. I didn't know how to make the "grizzled war veteran" look I wanted so he just kinda looked... weird. Also he didn't have any scars which I later realized was stupid, he's been an assassin for 20 years.

Speaking of characters, Umbra's character has changed a LOT. She used to be the definition of an edgelord, a cold hearted killer with no remorse. However that was boring as shit and I thought it would make for a more compelling story if she really didn't WANT to join the CoU but was pressured into it.

I used to post pages on Instagram (i know, ew) but I realized the story was very disorganized and stopped to work on the script. I'm remaking the first chapter bc my art has... definitely improved. This is 2021 vs. 2023:

I know they say don't redraw old pages but... I think you get why I started over in this case lol

[checkmatein3moves]

heeeeeeeey I NEED to say how much i love your story.

1. The fucking plot. How? How do you make it so original and amazing????! I mean - most authors start with “hello im (input name) and i am (input characteristics) and i love (choose your crush)”, but you.... you.... ....... i am speechless. Not only do you not munch everything to readers like we are kids, but even more - it really feels like you just got a glimpse into some beautiful story. Like characters were alive before you came and you are just an observer(in the most positive way). Just the way you supply information makes me think that “creative thinking” exists, and some people are so fucking talented, without crazy needs to write plainly for the popularity of it(mmmmnh im not saying THOSE people are bad but DAMN look at you0_0)my God its so easy to become immersed and addicted to the plot and characters with how incredible and unique they are.... thank you from the bottom of my heart.

2. Characters! Come on - every character is their own person, and have their flaws, and quirks, and uuuuuuuh they are so Not Cliche - you just cant have a favorite 🤍🤍(again in the best way possible) They feel like people, smell like people, you cant just understand them the first meeting you have, and that makes you read every line they give you in hope of understanding them a bit more - JUST like real life people (but again with sooooo different and fascinating backgrounds that make you understand their personalities and beliefs)... and! every character has their own beef and bonds with others that don’t concern you... ahhhh be still my heart🤍🤍🤍

Ookay enough fangirling...

Last bit - HAPPY B-DAY Godlike Author have as much happiness as your story brought me everyday and know - you are a sunshine ☀️

( yes the text is huge you are welcome i am well aware that people LOVE reading huge texts and yes im proud of it you can put it in a frame over your bed i allow you)

the best thing about this community is the pure variety in the creatives here imo. people write about so many things, all with their own techniques and passions and narrative voices and any story that can leave an impact on even one person is so important. i came up with the bare bones of this plot over a few days, mostly cobbled together through specific scenes and mental images that i felt had a lot of value when it came to aesthetics, emotions and tension. some of the character skeletons are things i've been working on for a bit longer — my characters usually always come before the story, then i put them into an environment where i can best utilise their personalities and motivations. a lot of people do the same, or the inverse, or something different entirely, and there really are so many different ways to be inspired.

i consider this project pretty ambitious because while some authors are so good at choosing their niche and settling into that, i have the tendency to want to do like, everything. i'm kind of jealous of those that can write so well for others and bounce between different narrative voices to present different stories, because that's a skill i lack for the most part. when i started checkmate i knew i was writing because of the fun i would have creating and setting up the world and mystery; i naturally hoped that people would enjoy it (of course!!!! and i’ve received so much positivity, more than i imagined, and that makes me very happy) but admittedly, this plot is far less watertight than a lot of others on here and i can understand why the sheer level of Everything in it might not be what some people like. 

thank you a lot for enjoying checkmate!! i’m not sure i can rightfully be called godlike, though, LMAO. just the fact that you took the time out of your day to think about my story on this level and send this to me is just astonishing to me. the encouragement really helps to hear, but i don’t consider myself set apart from many of the brilliant authors on here, especially knowing just how much effort goes into writing anything that’s above 100k words. 

[reallypheelingit]

hey pheel!! if you could choose 3 of your ocs to be your all time faves, which ones would they be? :>

hi!! omggg..hardest ask of my life dsfasdf spent way too long figuring this out and changing my mind a few times but i think i got three i can go with! might not be picks people would expect either haha,, I went for characters that I've taken through multiple universes which eliminated almost my whole flight rising lair for example sadfds

this will get long so i'm gonna put this under a cut!

so let's start with... number 1! the one who honestly the easiest choice by far, even if she was appeared on this blog woefully few times. but before 2016, she was without a doubt my most longlasting and important oc so here is.........

Amanda! Of course it'd be an Arcanine OC hahah. She was definitely a top contender immediately because not only is she one of my oldest OCs (I made her around when I was 10), she's endured throughout my life and holds the honor of probably being in the most different AUs of any of my ocs - I didn't draw all her versions here but there are at least 3 others haha.

In her original form, she's a human girl who secretly is also an Arcanine, and she has three sisters who are other Pokemon. She tends to be kind of a moody know-it-all, a bit bitter and angry, but deep down is passionate and caring. And also she is a big dork who loves The Sims and 80s music hahaha <3 she's not a self-insert but I definitely have projected some of my biggest interests onto her, while also making her pretentious as hell about them. And I love her for it.

I sadly didn't feel like trying to color any of the drawings for this, but it's important to note in all three forms here, she has a lime green 80s hair scrunchie. The scrunchie first appeared when I made her Hunger Games AU Growlithe form and I retroactively gave it to her human version - before that she just had a mullet which I think is also worth mentioning omg. Her Arcanine/Growlithe forms have buzz cuts, big ears, and a snaggletooth! And W's on her front legs because her last name was originally Walkup, but is different depending on the AU (ex. In a homestuck AU, her name is Sara Duran because 80s music safsd)

i really need to make some better refs for her. she deserves to be on my artfight i think hahah..

and now for number 2! I decided to go with...

Anattawam! One of my original 2015 dragons, and while I love all 6 of them, Anattawam is definitely my favorite design-wise, and she's fun personality-wise too I think. She's the unofficial leader of the bunch, stoic, good at planning, and able to keep a cool head. But she's also secretly a soft dork who loves soft things like her fuzzy turtleneck sweater C:

In terms of design, I think she is a quite distinct looking, with her serpentine bipedal form, and she's also really fun to draw! She took light inspiration from Quetzalcoatl (which also reflected in her human design being Nahuatl and her gryphon design being a quetzal/jaguar hybrid!). She also bore a slight resembled to the flight rising breed Coatls (which..given what I said makes sense haha) so I took on a long breeding project to bring her into my flight rising lair where she's a diplomat! Her design also is of note because she's very reminiscent of some bipedal dragons OCs I made when I was in middle school which was a fun throwback for me. so technically she has a longer history than my other dragons!

She only exists in two AUs (her gryphon/human forms are the same universe as her original dragon form) which is small compared to the other choices and other contenders (especially since she isn't even prominent in the flight rising one), but considering my original dragons are what got my to start my art blog, I think it's more than fair to let her slip through. one of my dragons deserved to be here at least ahaha. and I do adore her so much! in fact i'm literally commissioning a plushie version of her right now safsd (and she would secretly love it because her aforementioned affinity for soft things <3)

and ok lastly, for number 3, which i struggled the most picking and still am thinking of so many others i could have picked but dsfasd I ended up going with...

Avastly! While I made Amanda an Arcanine because Arcanine was one of my favorite Pokemon, Gliscor became one of my favorite Pokemon because of Avastly haha. I think that's something worth noting

Avastly's a fun Gliscor who started as the main Pokemon of my flying-type elite 4 member Avery! (before Pokemon took the name Avery from me. and didn't even use it for a flying trainer :/ ) She's very strong and knows it, and has a highly competitive spirit, thinking of pretty much everyone as a potential rival. Mostly she just comes across as an overly judgmental bully and she struggles with solid friendships as a result, but she thrives when she finds others who are also competitive and fun and willing to put up with her haha.

She played a villain (starring with antihero Amanda!) for my Hunger Games verse in her Gligar form, which helped give me more appreciation to that Pokemon too since I largely overlooked it in favor of Gliscor for awhile haha. i also doodled her gijinka version since i used to do high school gijinka aus back when I was in high school myself dsfdsf i always liked her design with her silly cape/mini skirt combo and she has big bright orange hipster glasses to match her gliscor eyes. said glasses also appear in her punky fae form! i haven't done much with her in flight rising but i like having her there c:

so that's my top 3! all their names starting with A was a funny coincidence dsfadsf

for fun here are some runner ups! using some old card things i made awhile ago because i dont feel like making any more new art tonight dsffg

First we have Eloise! She was an incredible solid contender and honestly part of me still really wants to go with her but..I eliminated her for being too similar to Amanda and Attawam in demeanor sdfsda i guess i have a type,, notably Eloise's main goal has always been to meet kyurem so of course she's an important character haha. she's shown up in a few different aus and has occupied my head a lot in general c:

then there's Jessamine! a fun poison type gym leader! she was my initial backup after I eliminated Eloise since's she similarly important and stands out for actually being a bubbly protagonist (unlike the three i did pick fdsf) but she failed my multiple-AU criteria and thus felt wrong. she's only ever been in my primary pokemon universe, too pure to throw into my high school career spanning hunger games au fdsfg and thus never gaining a pokemon form i could use in subsequent pokemon-only aus haha,, her biggest downfall... she did end up in my flight rising lair though! ....i've done nothing with her there.

and of course i have to mention Kronch..definitely a super strong contender! they have multiple AUs which is impressive for an oc of mine who only was made in 2017 but they still just feel slightly too new compared to my other options and thus just didn't make the cut :( plus they're just so known and iconic in my tumblr-blogging era that i thought lesser known picks would be fun to show off asfsd

thank you for the ask!! i hope you enjoyed this absurdly long asnwer i spent hours writing up sdfsdfsdggh

[ofstormsandwolves]

#1 for writing asks :)

1) Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

Oof, I have a few. 😂 I'm gonna focus on the ones that haven't yet been put up online at all. (I actually had to go and have a look in my files because there are so many I can't even remember). These are all Buffy because most of my other stories for other fandoms are ongoing stories I'm already partway through posting.

Buffy comics AU #1- In this universe, Buffy was raised and trained by Jenny and Anya as her Watchers. Giles refused to become a Watcher, but still wound up on the Hellmouth as a history teacher, leading to him training Willow and Xander to fight after students started going missing. Cordelia and Gunn run Chase and Gunn Investigations in L.A, but start to notice a worrying number of calls coming from Sunnydale.

This is one I've been working on/ batting around for a while and was one of a number of ideas I threw out on tumblr to see if people were interested. Mostly I'm just super excited about the different dynamics, particularly as it's set in a kind of AU s4/s5 so the Scoobies are all in their late teens and already out of high school. The first chapter is done, but it hasn't gone up yet because I can't think of a damn title for it.

Buffy comics AU #2- Willow as the Slayer who has just moved to Sunnydale, and meets Xander and Buffy who have spent much of their lives on the Hellmouth.

Ok, so I started this not long after Hellmouth came out because I loved the idea of switching up roles in the Scoobies and seeing how that changed group dynamics, but I somehow initially missed that they were out of high school because Buffy was working at a bar. So this is set during high school because 1) I like what I'd already written and 2) it's taken so long to write that 'The Vampire Slayer' comics are coming out and rendering my stuff obsolete, so I'm now just going full AU and enjoying it. Expect some awkward Giles and Buffy scenes as he is under no obligation to tutor this random kid who is totally flunking history, and some interesting Willow and Xander interactions as they actually have to get to know each other.

As-yet-untitled s6 AU- When Buffy returns from the dead, thanks to her friends, she finds that life really isn't how she left it. During her five-month absence, Giles and Jenny's son has been born and Buffy is left to wonder where exactly she fits in to this new dynamic.

This came about in part due to a conversation with @dreadfulcalendarwoman regarding Buffy and Giles and their dynamic. Jenny is inexplicably alive because I said so. Joyce is dead, Dawn's around. Buffy tries to figure out where she fits in not only with her friends wanting her to just bounce back from what's happened, but also with being 'replaced' in Giles's life by a new, actually-related-to-him-and-legitimately-his-kid kid.

Take me back to the start- Following season 6, Giles recuperates in Devon and starts to question how he has handled the Scoobies over the years. Between Willow's struggles with magic, Xander's insecurities that led to him leaving Anya, and Buffy's struggles with adulthood and slayer-work balance, he comes to a decision. He needs to put things right, and should have done things differently from the start. Cue Giles asking the Coven for help throwing him back into his season 1 body so he can approach the situation differently and guide the children better. Only problem is, he hadn't factored in that getting a second chance with the children also means a second chance with a certain dark-haired technopagan...

Originally intended to be part of a group of fics I wrote about various Scoobies making a wish without realising it (with the first fic being the Make a Wish stories), I realised that it made more sense for Giles to actually choose to do it, so this became a time-travel fic instead. I'm still working on the prologue and haven't yet gotten to the season 1 stuff, but I've already got some interesting stuff lined up for character interaction.

To Start Again- Third in the 'Make a Wish' verse, Buffy goes to college, Giles and Jenny try to figure out their relationship, and the Initiative lurks under the UC Sunnydale campus.

I've got the first chapter and a half written, and pretty much everything planned out, it's more a case of actually WRITING it. I'm pretty damn excited about some stuff I have planned, though, because I've been setting the groundwork for certain things that will come out in this story, plus I've changed some stuff around in terms of plot and am not sticking quite as close to the episodes as I did in the second story.

ask me writer questions!

[lovee-infected]

twisted wonderland theories part 3 : Opening explanation and parallels

Well well , hope you guys enjoyed reading the previous two parts of twst theories so far

Anyways , this is the third part . I decided to go through the opening and original disney animations and also black Butler anime references one more time so this is the combination of all I've found this time , together with some stuff you might've missed

Twst's official opening was pretty mysterious and is most likely giving us hints of the upcoming adventures during the storyline . Well here's the link to opening with eng sub and also the summary of the main character references that were given to us:

1) Ace and Deuce's rivalship : We talked about this one a lot back in (part 2) so let's skip this one

2) Leona's sadness and pain : Leona's tearn falling to the ground and the Ruggie and Jack coming for him ; that's just how he always is : mentally sad and broken with a horribly frustrating past , but will avoid expressing himself and letting anyone see his pain anyway . Not really weird that these two are always around him , Leona does really need to be looked after ...

3) Azul's seek of power : He just looked...mad in this scene . Ursula's shadow on his fave and that creepy smile totally freaks anyone out. It really explains how great his desire of power is . His neglected self in the childhood and pretty poor talent got him to this point...

4) Jamil's cold and kinda confused self : Well this one isn't really clear yet since ch 4 isn't out . But perhaps depression has this guy... spending his whole life serving the the nasty Kalim he might've grown the same characteristics as Jafar , who was so long sick of being the second one in everything . But still his ideal of life is much different from Jafar's . We saw him hypnotizing Kalim in order to make him force students to do better at school . He's trying his best to leave up to his promises as the vice dorm leader but still , having the nasty Kalim as the dorm itself is making it a lot harder for him so he's got no choice but to hypnotize him...

5) Idia's severe anxiety and his protectiveness toward Ortho : This one was mentioned in s rather old re blog but here e go again : Well with how the rumors of the "cursed Shroud family" , Idia's anti-society self might be a bit explained . This guy's overblot is surely going to be EPIC ... we just know very few about him and yet that's more than enough for him to overblot at once . Also the mention of the process of bringing Ortho back to life was a bad hit...His family curse might've been the reason of whatever thst has happened to Ortho

6) Vil's anger of not being the fairest and breaking the mirror: This one's been pointed out a lot . His anger being the same as evil queen's and also the fear of him actually poisoning someone to become the fairest one more time....**

7) Malleus' isolated self and his hidden evil aura : This one's being shown too obviously . The lonely dark prince exposing his evil side under the full moonlight . All alone , beyond the forest of thorns (Lol how ironic) while the others are running to save him before it gets too late...***

(note : **,***: Vil and Malleus' description will be continued undercut)

Very well these were the general hints found on the opening , but don't miss the final seconds which included the biggest hidden facts you could've missed

Firstly , the splitted ink (This one was previously discussed on part 1 but still...) : We talked about how in the "Epic Mickey", Mickey accidentally splits the magic ink over the kingdom and which led to the creation of "shadow blot". This sight seems to be much similar to what we had here in the epic mickey

Well this parallel might be more than just an accidental one and finally and it might actually be that overblot is kinda Crowley's fault , too

Crowley crosses the mirror , turns into an actual crow and flies away...(DaMn YoU bIrDiE wHERe ArE yOu gOinG I'M noT doNe YeT-)

Well the reason he suddenly runs away isn't clear yet but being a fan of black butler for years , I was suddenly reminded of how Undertaker disappeared all of a sudden at this scene from the movie :" Book of Atlantic "

pretty similar , aren't they..?

In Book of Atlantic , Undertaker revealed his original identity as a reaper and the mastermind behind the "Bizzare dolls' " project after pretending to be a just a crazy cookie lover for so long . And at once , he comes up with his stunning sudden self-reveal , leaving everyone in the room speechless

Now now , what do we have with Crowley?

A principal who keeps hiding his face (remember that Undertaker hid his eyes , too?) , telling everyone "how kind he is" many times ... also:

1) In the opening , he was standing smiling in the mirror hall while the seven dorms were burning through seven mirrors

2) He didn't ever try to stop anyone from overbloting ; even Riddle whose overblot occurred right in front of him

3) In the beggining of the game, he asked the mirror to choose the right one and then! and MC was chosen ! MC took the hand of the one appearing through the mirror (seemingly Dire Crowley) and came here. With all said , so why did the mirror reject MC afterwards?

Also , how couldn't he help MC return to Their own world and didn't know about it if he himself brought MC here..?(Could it be that...MC doesn't remember how she/he was brought here?)

4) If he literally is THIS useless and can't ever stop or help anything, then why would he be the principal.....?

Sooooo enough with Crowley ; but what's with these two....?

The spindle wheel & the poison apple ; Sleeping beauty and Snow white

Well it seems that Diasomnia and Pomefiore are going to play a greatly important role in the storyline . We were kinda sure of Diasomnia's but Pomefiore's...? What's so special with it?

(A few hours earlier)

(Me : Hmmm ... the black mirror...where have I seen this before..? *googling - searching Snow White- going to the magic mirror scene* Me : Uh...)

Well... here it is : The Crowley's beloved flower of evil , back at his days with evil queen

feeling old yet ...?

Btw , just how important is being "the fairest one of all "to him ? How 'far' would he go to be the fairest...? With the bitten apple in the last few seconds of opening , it most likely seems that he IS gonna 'kill' to be the fairest again ...Who would he kill ? We don't know . But how about our pretty small guy Epel? Could it be him ? The stubborn freshman who refuses following Vil around and is usually mistaken with a girl......?

Also , why would the original mirror be so important to Crowley? If Vil's supposed to represent evil queen , why isn't 'he' the one owing the mirror...?

And now , the spindle wheel .Great maleficent's legacy , in the hands of Crowley...Well well this is 'too' much . Malleus' family treasure being kept hidden in NRC... pathetic

Also , the mirror which Vil broke in the opening . Well well seems like he isn't having the original magic mirror , afterall....

But wait , if there's the spindle wheel , who's gonna be the evil witch to pull the sweet princess to eternal sleep..? Right , there's only one who might be...

Well we talked about all we'd got so far , but what about Grim ? Isn't anyone going to mention his importance or why he was also mentioned in this chaotic final seconds of opening ???

So... this is what we had in the final seconds :

1)The apple

2) Crowley

3)The black ink

4)Grim

5)The spindle wheel

We talked about all of them except nu 4 . But before that , I've got the same question as before : Why is it "Sleeping beauty" & "Snow white"..?

We discussed the "overblot Grim " hints in (part 2), but here's another thing :

Very well , ever heard of "Grimm brothers"...?

In the case that you don't know who they are , here' the point : They are the authors of 'original' versions of sleeping beauty & snow white; two of the darkest , deepest and possibly creepiest stories of their own throughout the history

I believe that most of you are familiar with the original versions , but you may like to take a look at these two if you haven't yet heard of them check the two of these stories out : (note: I'm aware that there are darker , deeper versions of these too but I'm not gonna mention any of them because : 1)They aren't written by Grimm brothers & 2) They include overly sensual and inappropriate content which has no place in my posts . If you care to know about them , check them at your own risk)

Alright , if you ever wondered who was Grim named after , I guess we've got it now . Mentioning Grim , Snow white and Sleeping beauty together at once is too direct to be a coincidence ...but it's also terrifying ...

Thinking that Disney is actually referring to the original books written by Grimm brothers is a bit too dark... Original stories are really horrible and a great way to ruin one's childhood , but all these hints fit each other way too great and now , they may no longer be just a coincidence...