#(but everything always has a happy end because I cannot write anything else. Literally. My mental health isnt able to)

[m-s-justice]

all of the above is #trye

Ultimis Richtofen was never well intentioned. He joined 935 on behalf of the illuminati (which is genuinely insane for me to type) and even though 935 was cultish, he still experimented on pows, Samantha, and corpses. All of 935 were bad people, especially after they worked with the literal fucking nazis to make weapons for them. Regardless of if Richtofen himself disagreed with the politics of it, he was prideful enough in his weapons to want them **mass produced**. And he's entirely unrepentant. If you want to argue "oh the voices" I feel like that does a disservice to his autonomy and free will (which Monty does confirm human beings have) and I raise you one Primis Richtofen who also had the voices yet didn't experiment on people or blow up the earth or seek absolute power.

Ultimis Richtofen is explicitly clear in Tag. He admits he is a simple man who wants power, "preferably absolute". Also in Tag he refuses to apologize to anyone and readily says that he didn't regret any of it. he was "having the time of his life".

I think Ultimis Richtofen needs to be put down like a dog.

Primis Richtofen however?

his sin really is egocentrism. He is DESPERATE to be important and needed and revered. His belt literally has his name on it. He is full of hubris. Yet at the same time he suffers immensely from self pitying. He's always the victim and always the savior, even though he's the one making the problems.

The cycle I think encapsulates this well. Originally, Primis was going to do something similar to his Ultimis counterpart, use the other three to get his soul secured and then abandon them. However, he comes to care for his team and then proceeds to "save" them. That's what the "I felt something with Dempsey, knew I had to save them with Takeo" means.

unfortunately, since he's so egocentric (and bo3's writing is bad) he decides this unilaterally. HE must save everyone else from the problem HE created. and EVERYONE MUST trust him and follow him and like him. It's why he's always asking if the crew's opinion on him has changed. he NEEDS them to love him as he's come to love them. but he is categorically wrong in his approach and the ending is representative of it. Edward is not transparent, he is not trusting, he is even cruel and condescending to the others (especially dempsey) and it winds up with him stuck in a doomed ending where they will all die without having really gained anything. (except Richtofen who gets cryogenically frozen under alcatraz which is. such a terrible shitty concept I cannot even begin to imagine how treyarch thought that would be fulfilling). And while we don't ever get a peek into the Great War, I don't think the rest of Primis would be all too happy getting stuck there to die while Richtofen gallivants off again to get to Alcatraz somehow.

Primis Richtofen is just as selfish as Ultimis Richtofen but his actions stem from an intense need to be loved and to have his love reciprocated as compared to the latter's megalomaniacal motivations. The only reason the cycle ends is because Primis Nikolai is willing to end it. He's willing to let go, to let everyone and everything die. Richtofen could never do that because he's selfish. He doesn't want to let go. He doesn't want to die and doesn't want his friends to die either. (which is my huge sticking point with Post Revelations Richtofen because for him to be there it means he lost his fatal flaw and *let go* of his crew to serve the greater good.)

half of the things in zombies wouldn’t have happened if ultimis richtofen took accountability for once and got his head out of his ass primis richtofen too but he needed to take his balls out of the kronorium so did nikolai

[respondedinkind]

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔?

Fire Writer

You burn. In the night, under the hot sun, you burn. You shine in the darkest nights, bringing to your readers an immortal fire. No one is able to portray feelings better than you. Emotions burn your characters, making them matches in dark rooms, lighting up everything, and burning from their own hands. Your best is shown in short stories, where the flames of your character’s souls can burn brighter than ever, and become ashes. Your stories hold the most passionate love, soft sighs whispered against a lover’s skin, and the neon lights of a night club. Pain is your second name, and you don’t mind it. Wars, betrayal, yearning, a/b/o and enemy to lovers are your favorite tropes. But when you decide to comfort, the fierce fire that burns in your soul becomes the warm hug of a blanket in a cold day. Established relationships, per-relationship fluff and medical fics are great at showing this softer side of you. Keep burning, and show everyone how hard a fire can burn, even in the coldest of the nights.

tagged by: @paramounticebound | @noblehcart (thank you both ♥) tagging: whoever hasn't been tagged until now and sees this is NOW tagged!

[toppamplemousse]

your fic (insane for your ballet fic btw!!) and fic recs are always immaculate is there anything you’re reading now/read recently that you love? wips are welcome too. the lestappen tag especially is booming rn and its hard to find the good stuff

omg YAY (promise last ch of ballet is in the works!) and YES i was just thinking about some fic recs actually. please see below for varying levels of lestappen freak!

beholden to no gods by nicoledilona / @chock-and-bates literally like. one chapter of this and i am a feral barking dog i love nothing more than obsessive pushy desperate max. HOT. (everything this author writes could be included lets be real)

been blooming alone (over you) by hist24jpcs i usually dont care for hanahaki because its too wacky but this.... THIS is something else. its angsty and fiery and theyre hooking up from the start..... its delicious.

and something darker preens, stirs, roars by @larryhaylik could link every fic in their lestappen sundays collection -- each one has such a simple, interesting premise and they're so good. things i would never think of and just done so so well, without being too sickly fluff. huge fan.

the mystery knight by @reythemandalor i read this on the plane and literally couldnt stop smiling and giggling. SUCH a perfect game of thrones au and even though you kinda know where it's going, its SO perfectly executed. max and perceval.... i love them.

your future had a voice (and it spoke like me) by saltshaken one of the BEST! fics i have read in a while. like.... the premise is fantastic. the way the author conveys the different ways other people think and how max "sees"/hears them thinking is so so good. the characterisation of max and charles is just CHEFS KISS. huge rec.

and if this is all i get, then it's enough. by THE_cake couldnt be a fic rec list of mine if there wasnt some sad gut wrenching painful fic! androidcharles develops autonomy. incredible.

are you into it, baby? by narryfavoritejiall for my charlos and lestappen lovers... this is present day charlos with toxic exes lestappen and its PERFECT. like... a charles who is happy with his kind boyfriend carlos but he cannot shake his toxic ex max who's still chasing him...... i wait like a dog for these updates.

end of the line by @eaurouge-sangnoir i mean who would i be if i didn't rec eaurouge-sangnoir.... this fun little "meeting on grindr" fic is hot and steamy and sexting and feminization..... what more could i possibly want

and if you havent already read this banger or perhaps this long winded thirty thousand words of struggling then perhaps..... i'd recommend those also. i have been loving all of these so pls read + support and lmk if u have other thoughts!

[skyfallscotland]

I don't like, talk about it often (just kidding, I do), but I'm really struggling with the friendship aspect of life right now. I've been thinking about it a lot today because of the things that are coming up both in my personal life and online, and it just...really sucks.

I saw this morning that Ali Hazelwood deactivated her instagram account after basically being bullied off the internet for something she said kind of 'off the cuff' about the Hunger Games characters. I knew she'd said it because I saw her post on stories last night begging people to at least stop commenting mean things on posts other authors were tagged in, because she was concerned about them.

In her story she said that she'd thought they (her and an interviewer) were joking around and she hadn't meant it in the literal sense, and asked for people to be patient with her because she's really 'not good at this stuff' and for a moment I felt so seen because it feels like I can never get it right either.

Either I think we're joking around and I manage to offend someone by saying something stupid, or I think it's obvious I'm being literal (or not literal) and it apparently isn't, or my opinion offends someone when I'm not asking anyone else to take it on, I'm just saying literally how I feel. I don't know. If there's a happy medium, I just haven't found it.

Like I'm not saying I've never said anything thoughtless, or stupid, or even downright mean—I know I have. I'm just saying there seems to be an expectation now that in every interaction big or small, with one person or an audience of a thousand, that we consider how it might come across negatively when that experience is also dictated by the recipient. It just feels impossible. Communication isn’t a linear process. Other people’s experiences form their reactions too, not just what we say and how we say it.

It's worsened my anxiety to an untenable degree and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do besides not comment on anything, ever, and hold myself at arms length from everyone. Whatever happened to discussion? Because it feels like that's just...not a thing anymore.

I'm at my wits end with this. No one ever agrees with everyone on everything, no one ever goes through any friendship without thinking 'that was a shitty thing to say' at least once, but my philosophy has always just been to move on. I wouldn’t like, give someone the silent treatment over it or cancel plans or anything.

I don’t know, I feel like I can admit when I’ve upset someone and I always apologise because I really do think you don’t get to decide how you make other people feel, but I also think if you can’t have differing opinions on fictional characters, or writing, or celebrities then what’s the point? I know people attach a lot of meaning to the arts and fandom, but if you have to second guess what you say about those things as well as the serious things, all that’s left to talk about is the weather.

The real kicker to this is that I have a degree in this shit and I still apparently cannot figure it out, and all my therapist can say is ‘no, I think you handled that ok’ and I’m like???

Like I’m sorry we don’t see certain things the same way but I’m kinda tired of being treated like I’ve killed someone’s cat. Many people’s cats. One after another. (I’ve never killed any cats). Thank you for coming to my TED talk x

[gears-twisting-and-turning]

Plot twist I'm asking for the Bochum Engines this time. (Just for some variety) The first time racing with them, as their S/O on top of that. The world finds out that coach/truck/ freight reader is dating a champion racer on their first race together.

(As always you don't have to do all of them)

😘❤️❤️❣️

You know what? It might be a lot, but just because I haven’t done anything like the internationals yet I’m still doing all of them. Call me stupid, but I feel like it.

This took so long and I’m very sorry. I’ve been going through a lot lately and even though I love Stex I’ve also fallen a bit out of the fandom, but I’ll most likely still accept requests. They will remain closed for now. I did see a show in London lately and it reignited the feeling to get back to writing so yaaaay :] it was amazing and shout out to my friend for getting me a ticket and being so amazingly sweet for it <3 

Also I was fighting demons to try and make all of these somewhat different from one another-

---

Coco

This is one of the proudest women in the fucking world. So the fact that you’re behind her makes her even more insufferable in that regard. To the others that is, she cannot stop bragging- That’s just a plus for you though

She has no doubt in her mind that she’ll win together with you. You’re perfect for her after all so there is no way that you will slow her down in any way. You two will win together and you will celebrate with each other’s company in the end

This might be the first time riding with you, but the two of you know each other so well by now that she knows, not thinks, knows that it will go perfectly.

Then you have the others finding out about you being Coco’s S/O. They’re actually shocked, what do you mean Coco has a partner? And one she debuts during a race?!...

Actually that’s very in character for her and the moment the others realize this, they all just kind of. Deadpan? I think that’s the best way of saying it. They do congratulate you and her for being together.

The only one who has a problem with it is Bobo. Because how dare his sister not tell him that she has a partner?! He’ll act super obnoxious and dramatic about this fact. Coco just tells you to ignore him.

In the end Coco is just proud of you for being behind her and supporting her like that. She’s so immensely happy that she could show you off like that. Especially because she knows her partner will be the spotlight in every single room.

No, you cannot convince her otherwise. Don’t even try, she might just show you off anymore. Or do if you like being paraded around and the attention you’ll get.

Bobo

“FINALLY!” Yeah no he’s been waiting for a long time for the next race or in general the fact he could race with you behind him. He absolutely loves the fact he can show you off and is literally no better than Coco, even though he’d like to try and deny it often.

He’s making sure everything is absolutely perfect for this and the moment the announcement comes in calling out your and Bobo’s names, he takes all the applause and points at you to get the audience to clap for you as well.

Nobody is surprised that Bobo has a S/O because he literally will not shut the fuck up about you. He absolutely loves talking about you, showing you off, reminding everyone you exist that the moment he shows you off it’s kind of a long time coming.

Coco just greets you after the race, as she’s seen you before and has to hear Bobo constantly talk about you. Please save her, she’s sick and tired. She wishes to talk about literally anything else, even though you’re wonderful.

Either way he’s honestly at his best when you’re behind him, easily swerving and going through the motions of the race. Before you know it, it’s the end of the race and the two of you did amazing as expected.

He will shower you in attention afterwards and is just so happy that you would race with him. Careful though if you’re not much of a racer, he’ll just kind of look at you with batting eyelashes until you’re ready to do it again as he loves racing with you.

Bobo would never push you into doing what you don’t want to do, but he is a bit of a whiny baby about it, trust me. 

Espresso

Will absolutely attack you in kisses the moment you want to race together with him. Oh he would be so incredibly happy and honored and he could just eat you, you’re so cute.

You’d think he’d not be able to be more extravagant with his acts of love and such things like that, and yet here he is making himself shine even more than he usually does, just to look perfect for you when he races with you

Please ask him to do your makeup for the race, trust me he’ll love it so much. He’ll make sure to put extra details in there to make you so beautiful that you’ll definitely take the breath of the audience away.

At this point the competition needs sunglasses with how shiny and bright the two of you are. Which honestly would work in your favor so don’t change anything no matter what anyone says.

I will say that I feel Electra in the background would be so offended that you two are more shiny than his LEDs and like that’s funny so continue to rub it in, it’ll be funny.

With Espresso people finding out about the relationship is the same exact thing as with Bobo: Nobody is surprised. Like at all. He constantly gushes about your beauty and your shared interests and how cute you are when talking about interests he doesn’t understand for a moment.

Doesn’t stop him from continuing to show you off, his talks about you now finally being able to be viewed by every and all trains in the yard as well as the audience. He’s so proud to call you his and he’ll continue to show it off.

Ruhrgold

Super honored, but does give you a bit of a warning with how dangerous it is to race. Especially after last year when he almost was thrown off the railing by Greaseball and absolutely beaten, he’s very hesitant to let his S/O do anything honestly.

After a lot of convincing and ensuring that you’ll be okay, he does agree in the end. He does love the idea of having you behind him, it makes his day even. Be prepared to be very protected though, because he won’t let anyone touch you before, during and after the race. 

People are actually quite shocked about the fact that Ruhrgold has a partner. Everyone would just be surprised as he does seem the one to be open enough to share he has one, but honestly it would just be things slipping his mind as other things are more important to talk about at that moment or other understandable reasons.

Honestly they’d love to meet you though! I think it’s the only proper introduction you’re going to get in this line up honestly. He introduces you to all the engines, kind of blocking you still in case someone thinks they can snatch you away cough GREASEBALL AND ELECTRA COUGH COUGH. 

In the end though he enjoys the race with you. After realizing that you won’t just go down by a little hit he feels a lot better and does his best with you behind him. He’s incredibly proud of you and although he won’t know how to properly say it, he’ll definitely show you how proud he is!

Manga

Very honored that you would want to ride with him. The moment he asked he played it cool, but you could see a spark in his eyes light up as he agreed to race with you.

Will be extremely humble about it and honestly would talk to you about how you would like to be treated during all of this. Would you just like to join him behind him and enjoy the moment like the normal races go? Would you like him to go a bit out of his way to show you off?

The moment the two of you come out, he’ll stick to what you two discussed. He’s polite like that. Although you can practically see him beaming for you to be behind him as the two of you get announced. 

I don’t think people are surprised by the fact that he is together with someone. Manga is pretty mysterious and so people don’t know much about his private life, because of this they know to not expect anything, but also not to cross anything off.

Either way everyone is rather nice to you. Outside of the race that is, we all know how crazy the races can get… and do get.

Manga truly enjoys racing together with you and is just happy that you two participated. As long as you two are safe and have fun, that’s all he really cares about. Obviously he’ll do his best, but he won’t throw a tantrum if he loses. 

He’s just happy he didn’t crash this time-

Turnov

Honestly a bit unsure, after all if you look at just how crazy and intense the races are, you’d understand why he wouldn’t be too happy to just thrust you into that position. After all, if you're a threat, people will want to get rid of you.

After a bit of back and forth he does eventually cave and let you race behind him. Be warned though, if someone even slightly touches you he’s throwing hands. This man will fight for your honor, do not test him.

Honestly I think people would be surprised to see him together with someone. He isn’t really the person to be showing off, so for him to like let the entire world see his partner behind him in the race? It’s shocking to say the least.

The two of you absolutely kill it in the race. As you two are completely in sync as well as a power couple. You won’t let people get in cheap shots and Turnov would rather crash than let anybody touch you.

In the end he shows you off a bit, proud of you. After that he needs to recharge though, instead of celebrating he’ll grab you and have a night in. Enjoying your company.

He’s really sweet, but rather quiet when it comes to post race stuff. He needs to regain his energy and so he makes sure to just take it easy with you so he can properly celebrate with you.

Brexit 

Man’s so happy that he can finally race and he gets to race with you? Double win for him. After all the last time he tried to race he kind of had to drop out so the fact he gets to actually do this now.

Oh how he’ll talk non stop about how he’s super excited to race with you. It’s just so thrilling, the races, with other worthy opponents and with you behind him. He can picture it so clearly already.

The moment the race is on and the two of you get announced I feel most engines are rather shocked at the sight of Brexit together with anyone, but they get over it quickly as they decide to just focus on the race.

Both of you work together rather perfectly and smoothly, but due to the way the race goes you guys don’t particularly win. 

Brexit does not really give a shit though, he was just happy to have raced with you. Normally he cares a lot more about winning and yet he can’t seem to give himself a shit when he’s with you.

He celebrates the race with you either way, winning or losing. He’s just happy you’ve had your first race together and can’t be more proud of you and himself. Expect him to spoil you a bit after everything

Electra

It wasn’t a given that you were going to race with them?- Well. Eh. You’re racing with him, I don’t think you have much of a choice with this diva.

She wants to win, but also looks pretty. You’re her partner so you’d work perfectly with them and you’re fucking eye candy come on you’re racing with him, get your ass in gear.

The first time officially racing with them is still something rather special though. So he makes sure to be extra shiny and such to make sure you are completely pampered before the first race you two will go into together.

Not going to lie the components really pamper you as well and it’s almost like you’re going to prom more than going to your first race with Electra, not that you’re complaining though.

The moment you step out together with them the only shock that comes to everyone, is how Electra pulled another component out of his ass- They truly think you’re one of the components at first and that he had you be home for some reason.

Electra is almost offended, but then again the idea of you as his component rings absolutely right in her ears. Either way she didn’t bother with the other engines and is just set on winning.

The race is everything he wants it to be. Both flashy and fast. Electra is absolutely happy with the end of it and decides to immediately pull his entourage behind him together with you to celebrate. He doesn’t even bother with interviews this time, aren’t you a lucky carriage? 

Greaseball

Oh you know that he would love for you to be behind him while he races. I feel if you’re the one to ask he’d like practically spit out anything he was drinking and then try to keep it cool.

Either way he’d be like practically waiting for you to race behind him. We all know how much he likes showing off his partners. Especially in something as flashy as the races. 

Why didn’t he ask himself? Well he has a pride and reputation to uphold and since he’s seen as the whole heartbreaker he waited for you to ask. As well as he totally didn’t want to accidentally force you- what Greaseball being thoughtful? Unheard of.

Either way he’s happy to finally have you behind him for the race. He’d probably be even more pleased if you end up matching colors with him, oh he’d be almost on his knees. Figuratively of course, can’t have people thinking he’s a simp.

As for people finding out. People are honestly really baffled. Everyone was thinking that he was dating Dinah- Since when? What? Hah? They’re confused to say the least. A shock factor that might help in the race.

Then for Greaseball he’s extremely proud to be showing off as the one behind him in the race. Like look at his amazing partner, they look so amazing and you’re gonna look even better when he wins the race.

After the race he decides to spin you around while picking you up and carry you to a celebration together. The two of you deserved it and nobody will tell him otherwise.

Rusty

He’d be so excited and happy! He’s someone’s first pick? Oh he’s so happy, he lets out a few whistles of happiness and says that he won’t let you down. He’s not about to show that you shouldn’t race with him again, he’s going to show you made the right choice.

He’ll even try to shine himself up as much as he can so you just have a partner you can be proud of being behind. What he doesn’t realize is that you’d love him either way, he doesn’t have to do good in the race for you to enjoy yourself.

When you come out with him I think people would actually be a lot more respectful due to the last race, so they won’t like to harass you for being with a rusty steamer. You can't help to see some side glances and hear some under their breath comments, you don’t pay attention to them though.

Honestly with you behind him I think Rusty kind of crushes the competition, he’s just so set on proving to you he’s good to race behind, as well as so happy that you are behind him. In the end he’s just like “See? Told you that you wouldn’t regret your decision.”

Just hit him with a “I would’ve never regretted it, even if we lost Rusty.” And he’d be all blushy and cute. He’ll definitely celebrate his win with you and doesn’t really care for all the official victory laps and such things like that. 

He’s so happy he got to race with you.

[khywren]

For your get to know your fic writer questions!! ❤️❤️❤️🫶🏼 (Again, sorry for so many!)

13, 14, 18, 32, 33, 54, 56, 58, 65, & 77!

don't apologize, my friend! i'm always more than happy to answer these! ❤️❤️❤️ (questions are from this post.) 13: what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

so the thing about this one… i don't actually know if i follow any "common" writing tips (or any at all, really); i just kinda do what feels natural to me and hope it all works out. i am absolutely not gonna tell anyone to do that because it's a recipe for chaos, but! i can give you tips that have become habits for me instead. so one thing that has helped me immensely when writing either a chapter or a one-shot is that i almost always start with the dialogue. it gives me a good structure for where everything is going and almost always serves as my outline. like, i have a general idea in mind for what i want to accomplish, but getting the dialogue down is kind of like coalescing some of those ideas into something tangible. so my entire WIP at that point will just be lines of dialogue in sequential order. then i write everything else around the dialogue. i know that's kind of a cracked way to do it and won't work for everyone, but i think the general takeaway is that you shouldn't be afraid to start a piece literally anywhere; you don't have to start with the opening sentence and end with the last sentence.

14: how do you write emotional scenes? do you ever feel what the characters feel? do you draw from personal experiences?

if i'm writing a scene that's similar to anything i've experienced in my personal life, i always draw from personal experiences as i feel like that makes the emotion more authentic. i do try to feel what the characters are feeling regardless of that; if i can get a sense for that, it makes finding the words to describe those emotions accurately. when i write those scenes i like to think about what each character is feeling, why they would be feeling like that, and what it is about their personality/backstory that would make them feel that way.

18: do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

titles are the bane of my existence. i hate them. i almost always title my fics after i'm done writing. many times i'll look to song lyrics because i find them helpful, but they can also convey the tone/general gist of the fic better than i can most of the time. i wish i was better at this, but alas. 😭

32: name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

ONLY three? 😭 i can and will gush about every single one of my moots all day long, so to make this easier on myself i'll pick three people based on my favorite thing(s) about their writing, kinda like separating them into genres or categories i guess? each of these people are incredible and amazing and i am very fortunate to have met them. go show them some love if you haven't read their work!

if you're looking for comedy, banter, and hijinks, look no further than @nerdallwritey. her series beauty and the bard is currently five parts long and has something for everyone! there's fluff, there's smut, and there's so much fun! her fics never fail to put a smile on my face and seeing a new fic in my inbox is like christmas morning to me. i adore the way she writes astarion, but everyone else always feels so genuine and perfectly in character as well. i've reread all her works several times and i cannot recommend them highly enough!

one of my favorite tavs belongs to @verbenaa; her longfic to eden is easily one of my favorites and one of the major sources of inspiration that got me to finish developing and writing for my own tav. if you're looking for incredible smut and a sassy, loveable tav, here you go! her prose are fantastic and the relationship she has between rin and astarion is such a treat to read. they play off one another so well! the last chapter really put me through the ringer in the best way and i cant' wait to see what else she has in store for us. she's also written some other one-shots and every single one of those i've read has been stunning!

one of my favorite all-rounder authors is @shewhowas39. her longfic juniper and starlight is a wonderful version of the game featuring her tav, June (who is an absolute delight and i love her very much). if you're looking for a wonderfully written durge fic you can really sink your teeth into, you've found it! there is always so much love and care and emotion in everything she writes, and it makes her work a true joy to read.

33: do you want to be published some day?

i think it would be fun! it's never something I've ever thought about actually doing, but i think having an actual book out there in the wild that i wrote would be really cool. who knows, maybe i'll have an idea for something some day.

54: what’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

hmm… this is tricky. for me, i really enjoy just getting an idea i'm excited about on the page and being able to share it with other people. i always feel accomplished when i finish a piece because it's very satisfying to create something from nothing; even if no one reads it, it's still exercising my creativity and engaging in a hobby i enjoy.

56: what’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

i'm not sure what parts of my writing are better than others, since i can only perceive it from my personal, limited perspective. however, as someone who came straight from academia and had never written fic until my first one-shot last august, trying to find my voice and seeing myself make genuine progress with that over the past year has been very rewarding! there are a few of my pieces that i really don't think hold up very well anymore, but knowing that i've improved since then is a good feeling. i always want to get better and hope i can keep doing that in the future!

58: what part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc.)

definitely the brainstorming. i love daydreaming and thinking about all the possible ideas i could have for chapters or one-shots. i love thinking about stupid little jokes i could add in, or emotional scenes that make me kick my feet like a teenage girl or do 50 psychic damage straight to my brain. plus, there's far less stress involved in that process, since i don't have to actually commit anything to paper at that point.

65: tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project.

i'm looking forward to getting over my current writer's block and finishing my kinktober prompts still! i'm very happy with 7/8 of the ones i've published so far, and even if the other 4 i was working on don't currently meet my standards, i'm confident i can come back and fix them up once i relax a bit and stop putting so much pressure on myself. i was having a ton of fun putting them together and i'm glad i participated this year.

77: do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter?

since you didn't specify a fic, i'll just write about something from my longfic, adrift~ i'm quite partial to the lake scene i wrote for chapter 6, when ysera finally gives in and opens herself up to astarion. on the one hand, it's a sweet moment of vulnerability for her, but also tragic in the sense that it's the moment she started to fall for astarion who is at this point very much still fully intent on using her for his own means. there's just a lot going on there for both of them and i enjoyed torturing myself while putting it al together.

[redrosydiaz]

writer questions

thank you to the lovely @atlasblue85 for tagging me in this!! i loooove to yap about my writing so this is ✨perfect✨ tyty 🫶🫶

1. How many works on AO3?

128!!

2. Total AO3 word count?

726,147 - which. w o w. that's. a big fucking number omg.

3. Top 5 fics by kudos?

good for my boy - steddie, stranger things (5157 kudos)

can't hide the way you make us glow - steddie, stranger things (3586 kudos)

i want to hold your hand - steddie, stranger things (2479 kudos)

sloe gin fizzy, do it till you're dizzy - steddie, stranger things (2349 kudos)

the world will follow after - steddie, stranger things (2187 kudos)

4. What fandoms do you write for?

right now i'm writing for 911!!

but i have written for stranger things, marvel, skam, it, challengers, good omens, supernatural, love simon, and shameless in the past!

5. Do you respond to comments?

YES!!! i literally JUST finished replying to a whooole bunch of 'em. i always think that like if someone took the time to leave a comment and say something nice i'll always always always take the time to reply!! mutual love babeeeeyyy 🫶

6. Angstiest ending?

oh man. well. i am uhhh NOT known for writing angst lmaoo. in fact, i rarely ever write it (even though i DO love to read it). also i am a FIRM happy ending always kind of gal, so even if i DO write angst it ends happily.

soooo i suppose the angstiest ending i can think of is probably from lily white, hold me tight which is a stucky fic in which bucky was actually drafted and didn't choose to join the army and steve finds out and like they have a little argument about it but then fall asleep curled up together. so like. mostly happy ending, but there is still the looming reality of bucky having to go off to war sooo...

7. Fic with the happiest ending?

really, truly i cannot answer this. simply because ALL my fics have the happiest endings and there really is not one that stands out to me as the happiest.

you want a happy ending, take a look at literally any fic in my library 😂

8. Do you get hate?

nope!

9. Do you write smut?

yep! not as often as i'd like to tbh, but i always seem to get a little stuck on it when i am writing it so it takes me longer to do :/ but i've got like. 3 or 4? smut wips rn. wish me luck on finishing them!!!! lol

10. Do you write crossovers?

nah, not my thing.

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

not that i'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i don't think so? i think i've had at least one person ask me before, but i don't know if they actually did? bc i never heard anything about it after that?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

i have not, but i have tried to a few times! lol. although, me and my bestie liam are trying to co-write something rn!! it's been. slow going on my end (as in i've barely looked at it RIP) lmaoo but we are trying.

14. All time favourite ship?

oh man this is another one of those questions idk if i can answer!!! bc like. my all time favorite ship is probably going to be the ship i'm most obsessed with at the moment bc like my brain is a constant loop of that and drowns out everything else. but ALL TIME??

i guess if i HAD to choose i'd probably say stucky, just bc that ship never gets old and it's a classic and it's just soooooooo fucking GOOD, there's so much meat on that ship's bones yknow?

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

ha ha ha. too many. waaaaay too many to list out.

16. Writing strengths?

ooh i like to think that i'm pretty good at getting characterizations right!! it's something i really try hard with when i write, because i know how much characterization can make or break a story. like i always say if you've got the characterization down, you can put your little guys in ANY situation and make it work. so i focus on that a lot in my writing!! and i've gotten lots of compliments on that across my fics before so it sounds like i'm doing a good job with it!!

17. Writing weaknesses?

i tend to get in my head about action tag type stuff the longer i'm working on a fic. like, i feel like i start out strong with the action descriptions around dialogue when i first set out to write but the longer i'm writing that same fic the more i get in my head about that lol. like i always tend to feel like i'm being sooo repetitive about that kind of stuff like omg how many times did i describe what his eyes are doing or how many times did i say he smiled. in reality, i think i'm probably overthinking that and its NOT as egregious as i think it is, but you know how writer brain gets haha.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

don't force it!!!!!!!!!! if it works with the characters and the dialogue, it can be fine, it can be done right, but if you're trying to shoehorn a second language pet name or throw in some random line in another language just to indicate the character speaks it when it DOESN'T fit or when the character DOESN'T use that language in that way often or at all (which, unfortunately, is something i see sooooo much) then don't force it!!!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

skam!!!! BELOVED!!!! 🫶🫶🫶

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

oh my god i literally cannot choose??? this is like asking someone to pick their favorite child fslkjgs.

i don't have one single favorite, it's impossible, but i will pick two that i really really love that i think about often ksljfsf.

first, in the way only you could which is a challengers fic!! i just really really love the atmosphere i built up for this fic, i feel like i did a really good job making it visceral and real and that scene setting has stuck with me!!

second, keep me on a rope which is my tommy hagan pov steddie hs reunion fic!! i love this one because it let me play with tommy and carol and the elaborate lore i created for them in my head lmaoo and oh my gOD was it FUN getting into tommy's head and digging into the dynamics of his relationship with carol and steve.

if you've made it this far TY you're a star! lol. now, i'm going to tag: @withacapitalp @livingincolorsagain @twobirdsonesong @playinginthunderstorms @semperama @evanbuckleyshands @fastcardotmp3 @inell @closetfascination and anyone else that wants to jump on this!!

[wolfiemcwolferson]

Helllllooooo, I was tagged by @duquesademiel and also @vicsy and I feel a bit deranged but here we go.

1. How many works do you have on ao3

I have 73 fics up on my f1 ao3 account.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 

Please do not judge me for this, god, oh my god - 1,331,441

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I currently write for F1.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

well we can settle down (Maxiel)

I remember when I met you just before September (Carlando)

so take it from me (Carlando)

I will wait for you at the end love (Maxiel)

I feel your body call on me (Piarles)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do not respond to comments and it makes me feel really horribly guilty. To be honest, I did not do it when I first joined the fandom because I was overwhelmed and then I wanted to and it was too long and I think one of the things I want to do is start...responding to comments...I just never know what to say.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I think it's this Carlando. But you just have to read it. Trust me.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I don't think I can answer that because I am a certified happy ending writer. I have a few fics that I desperately want to write that I won't because they're not happy endings, but if I have to pick...it's got to be the Blue Neighbourhood series. That's a complete circle ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no one has ever left me explicit hate on my fics. some of y'all get wild in my inbox which is why I don't have anon on

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. Uh. I don't know how to answer that.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not a big fan of crossovers <- Vicsy is right

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No and I made a Wattpad account after Briony had one of her Maxiel fics posted to there for the second time and now I religiously check because I am deranged

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge - wait, once Sol said for exam practice she was translating bits of my fic and I had a little cry about it but it's not posted anywhere.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

HAVE I EVER. I genuinely have too many to individually tag, but I have written with @river-ocean in the past and I am currently posting the Alphabet Dating Season fic with @chaesonghwas and @duquesademiel - and we all know that Sol and I are always always always writing fic together. I have something in the works with someone else and I think it's a secret, so I won't say anything about that. And then @miamierre and I are literally putting the finishing touches on the promised insane fic we cooked up together and I cannot wait for you all to see it. This is the year of collabs for me and I'm loving it tbh

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Despite the stats on my fics

Piarles

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a fic for an old fandom that is languishing away and I feel guilty about it because it was good

16. What are your writing strengths?

I write fast.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I suffer from "can't shut up" and sometimes my fics don't need to be a long fic.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I am so so so nervous about it. everything that I write I double and triple check and I still get it wrong a lot of the time. I think it's fine and people should do whatever the fuck they want.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter because of course

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

This answer literally changes every single day. Today it's the sugarbaby fic that I wrote for Phoebe because I am very very proud of that fic and I think if you hold it against the stuff I was writing two years ago, you really see how far I've come as a writer.

Everyone tagged in this that hasn't already done it should do it, but I'm also going to tag @gaynfl

[sukirichi]

Omggg sukiii is rin the end game???

It’s giving rin the endgame I somehow subconsciously knew he would (I’m being delulu)

I loveeeed the chapter omggg 😭😭😭 I loved how they argued it was so movie worth it and how bad ass yn is “I’m still the general’s daughter” “they won’t shoot” “but I will” okay??!!! Weird way to propose but yes without question…(rin’s thoughts probably)

You know what forget rin or omi I’ll just self ship with yn she is her own person now 🤭🤭

But on a serious note…

I’m so sad for omi can he get his own person to be happy with???(not trying to pressure on anything !! All jokes!!) 🥺🥺🥺 like even tho I said I’ll be happy for both endings I’m still sad in thinking how sad and heartbroken he will be when he finds out Yuzuru chose rin again and again and specially when he finds out she openly shot one of the cars as a symbolism of more betrayal toward the country….

On the other sideeeee I can still totally understand why she chose Rin, it’s kinda like I mentioned before, rin is that one person she knows in depth and the one person that knows her, I guess I might be wrong but for yn is a subconscious decision that just tells her is the right decision, she is doing the right thing not because she is in love or is a romantic view, more because she will always be drawn to him as a partner she married him and she made vows to always be by his side.

Again I might be wrong and delulu because there’s mores chapters to go and there’s always room for plot twist heheh😈

I’m genuinely ready for all the drama you decide to graces us with I will always repeat how much I love your writing 🥰🥰🥰🥰

This is kinda long I’m sorry!!! But I hope you don’t get bored with all this text lol, anyways…

Stay hydrated!! It’s important specially with this heat and good luck with uni as well!!! I’m sure everything will turn out great, you are literally so smart 🤭🤭🤭, we uni students have to support each other, college is such a fraud 😭😭😭

Much love to you sukiii!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ muack muack 😘😘😘

P.s.

I’m in my kuroo era with this business degree and the insane amount of pages they make me write like damn 😭😭

-🐝

HMMM IS RIN ENDGAME… that’s a good question. AGSHJKA its okay to be delulu but the question is do you guys want him to be endgame!! (ik a lot of people don’t buTTTTTT honestly we’ll see!)

AFGHJKSA so many people liked that shooting scene and I’m so happy!! I really do like how dtd!yn is a badass in her own way <3 soft hearted but won’t hesitate to shoot lol. LMAOOO NO BECAUSE I JUST KNOW THAT RIN WAS LOWKEY SMIRKING TO HIMSELF WHEN WE SHOT THE CARS CHASING AFTER US like I know he was proud!! “that’s my wife,” he probably thought ugh he’s lowkey a simp

no pressure at all nons no worries!! and oof as much as I’d like to spoil on what’s going to happen for omi so I can give the omi stans some comfort, I’m gonna have to keep my lips sealed for now </3 and yes!! her shooting the car was really a symbol that she’d really left omi and the country behind. when she pulled that trigger, that was already a huge declaration that she was going to choose rin and she’s not turning back now. I do get that it was sad she had to leave omi but… what other choice did we have </3 if we went back to him, we’d just put him in more danger

“rin is that one person she knows in depth and the one person that knows her.” yes yes yes!! I will not go around saying they were a healthy duo because they aren’t!! rin has hurt us many times and we keep coming back to him, and it’s not really good for our mental health BUT we cannot deny that these two have always had a bond that they couldn’t replicate or feel again with someone else (even with omi! falling for omi, choosing omi, it was a conscious decision – a conclusion that we arrived to after so many months of contemplation and beating ourselves up for feeling that way.) we weren’t like that with rin. we fell for him headfirst and we just kept falling and falling because we knew he would catch us!! and he did, even if it wasn’t genuine at first. the thing about yn’s dynamic with rin is that a lot of our decisions towards him just come instinctually, like… we don’t have to think twice about it. it’s like “ofc its rin” but for omi it was like, “yknow what… I should have just chosen him.” idk if im making sense but there is a difference and im so glad you noticed that bit!! ALSO yes it wasn’t always romantic, especially at the end of the story – we didn’t choose him because we were in love with him. as you’ve said, we’re drawn to him as a partner and we stuck to our vows to always be by his side. we chose to spend these dangerous times with the person we knew the most and it doesn’t always have to be bcos of romantic feelings! (because atp there’s like. almost none with rin. our romantic feelings are more for kiyoomi, but we’re most familiar with rin.)

alsooo omg it’s okay!! I don’t mind long asks hehee I EAT TEHEM UP ACTUALLY. and aah thank you so much, please stay hydrated as well and take care of yourself!! OMG YEAH we uni people gotta be supportive like we’re all in this together (suffering together) n much love to you too bee anon!!

LMAOOOO NOT THE KUROO ERA AGAHSJKAA they really have you writing up so much huh I heard kuroo was looking for a junior journalist hehe

[tothepointofinsanity]

the new pmmm movie trailer has brought back my Brainrot for the show so ive been re-exploring the pmmm corner of tumblr and

oh my god???? oh my fucking god???? oh holy shit???? oh my goodness gracious your art is so pretty??????? hello???????????

the way you draw sayaka is just fhfhfhfhhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhhfhf. yk? the english language does not have the words to articulate how much i love you art and the style of your art. i am going insane. i am losing my mind. every piece you've made featuring sayaka just captures her essence so well and it makes me feral.

sayaka's not my main favorite of the show (sorry sayaka, you rock but kyoko is just too cool with her Christian Guilt) she's a very close second and it makes me so happy to see an artist who just understands her character so well. she's a foolish girl blind to her own fate, desperate to do something special and be someone worthwhile but she's ultimately just a footnote in the grand plan of the universe, she wants to be just and righteous and kind so badly but she's too wrapped up in her own despair to truly be selfless, she can be selfish and callous but that's just because she's human, a human who realized her existence is ultimately an exercise in futility and that fact burns and it hurts so she does whatever she can to make the pain go away but it never does because she's just A Normal, Flawed Girl and that hurts so goddamn much-

i have so many Thoughts about sayaka. she makes me insane on a daily basis and your art just feels like it captures all the screeching in my brain and puts it in the form of some beautiful images. they're so great. you're doing great.

Ah, thank you for the kind words [♡] I appreciate the time you had taken out to write and send this long scroll of a compliment.

I have been told by others that the way I depict Sayaka is "so real" and that it captures her essence most of the time, even though I am not sure what particular elements about her that people in the audience like unless specified. I suppose, personally, whenever I am drawing her, I have to enter her shoes of not just "the frustration of a lovesick teenage girl", "my perceived sense of justice was flawed", but also to accept that resignation is a highlight of her character. A young girl who believes she is unloved despite her desire to do everything Right. A mermaid who cannot swim - futility and uselessness contribute to why Sayaka is a realistic and compelling person to a lot of people watching the show. Whenever I draw her, my brain paints a sketch of her sadness before anything else. The despair of "no matter what I do, this is the outcome" is true to the canon of Sayaka turning into a Witch in every timeline she tries to accomplish this Goodness by being a magical girl, reflecting the reality at large the helplessness girls in general experience on a daily basis.

It is why I find people who hate Sayaka to be...strange, since their prescribed reasons for dislike are mainly how "foolish" her wish and outlook in life was, and how she became irritating to those around her as though Sayaka isn't literally a paragon of not just deteriorating mental health, but to me, people with personality disorders as well, given that there is always a "sense" that the inevitable ending involves everyone actively avoiding you and you will eventually just...fade away into non-existence; a bad memory that no one wants to speak about. It makes me sad. Sayaka is sick, and everyone can smell the rot of magic off her.

Everytime I draw her, I want to capture, perhaps, this exact feeling of resigning to this disease. I don't want to always make the drawings beautiful since her struggles are ugly and difficult and tiresome, and shouldn't be trivialised as a result. She's always trying her best to regain control of her own life, thus being so unmatched in terms of how relatable she is to a lot of people.

I am glad that someone appreciates my works, even if they aren't always consistently quality. •́ ‿ ,•̀

[betweenthings2]

OK HI im sorry for taking years to send this but i lovelovelove the new chapter!!! (and apologies in advance for how Terrible and long this ask is going to be LMFAO)

Matty's not sure how much trying count in the grand scheme of things. Every time he sits down to write, every time he looks at the new headlines for the day, it seems like it gets worse. Someone else died. There's another war going on somewhere. Another group of people are starving. There was another horrific attack somewhere. Someone hates someone for something they can't change. It takes Matty all of about ten minutes to wind up horribly depressed and thirty to give up. When he gives up, he winds up thinking about everything and then he ends up spiraling further.

the way u wrote this is so !!! obsessed. i really like "Someone else died. There's another war going on somewhere. Another group of people are starving. There was another horrific attack somewhere. Someone hates someone for something they can't change." that part! the way u expressed the like. repetitivity? and how everything just SUCKS and somehow it keeps getting worse like omg no i just love how u wrote it!!

Everything ends up being George, really. There's George when they met, George when they started the band, George when he broke his shoulder. There's George deciding not to fill the prescription for painkillers and Matty deciding to go fill the prescription himself, adding what should have been George's prescription to his stash. There's George yelling at him backstage at Latitude. There's George at Matty's bedside after he overdosed, apologizing.

omg the switch in this like. george going from angry to apologising so quickly like neither of them expected it i LOVE omg omg omg. but "Everything ends up being George" is real. same

exasperated and fond.

i have NEVER been able to word that emotion or look or whatever it is and u have just ?!??!?!?! done it in three words ?!??!?!?!??!? this is what i mean when i say ur a god

"I know," George murmurs. "And I'm proud of you."

"Why?"

I LOVE THIS ☹️ george immediately telling him hes proud and his first thought isnt like. thank you. its just "why???????" because he literally cannot see anything positively OH i need this tattooed

That wasn't even a year ago. In hindsight, it's a good thing they didn’t adopt the cat. He'd have just failed the cat, too.

puffball mentioned i hear about it and i awaken like a sleeper agent. anyway. i, again, love love love how u worded this! the snappy sentences with mattys hopelessness it just omg it works SO well, i love !!!!! the fear of failing everybody is making my heart ACHE oh lord i love him

"I don't. I don't deserve anything. I don't deserve you."

im for real gonna burst into tears and die im so. so. SO. obsessed with this. matty no pls u deserve him u deserve love and joy and happiness and a life of no pain PLS ☹️

"You deserve good, Matthew. You deserve someone who adores you and wants you to be happy."

oh the use of his full name he is Extra Truthful. this is a long way of george saying U DESERVE GEORGE BEDFORD DANIEL!!!!! but aaaahh no he's so :((( the way he just knows what to say and mattys still completely lost ooohhhh:((((( love love love

"Who am I when I get home?" Maybe they should have gotten the cat. He could come home to the cat. He could have been a person who has a cat.

im gonna vomit my guts up in some. hellish sadness. willingly. i LOVE this. the way hes gripping at the smallest things like literally just having a cat to let himself know he could be somebody and not just. empty. im actually genuinely obsessed i need this in all the textbooks

"You're Matty. You're always Matty. You're my Matty."

YOURE MY MATTY ☹️☹️☹️ miss betweenthings2 i am politely asking u to stop this madness u are going to kill me (do not stop). hes so:((( im gonna cry i love this i need to be able to give more than one kudos

"I don't know who that is," Matty insists. "I don't know where he belongs."

I DONT KNOW WHERE HE BELONGS i need you to write a book so i can buy at least seven copies of it OH this is so. aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh:(((((( i just love how u manage to convey that . almost manic hopelessness? hes so desperate to be someTHING that hes just got no idea of Anything At All im going to DIE

"She did. She got adopted by a family with two little kids who probably adore her and she's probably happy."

this is going to make me Scream And Cry. 1 puffball lore and 2 AABNDNDNDN ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️ i genuinely am so so so so so obsessed with this u dont get it

The shadows on the wall still take a cat-like shape and Matty can't help but still wish they'd gotten a cat.

☹️ CAT ☹️ as much as i love cats, he is. maybe not the best person to have one. actually no yes he is he can do anything hes like barbie its fine. anyway. i love this so much i CANNOT put it into words like every word on that chapter (and everything else uve posted) id GODSENT its like. beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!! okay enjoy ur day and i hope law school is fun 🧘‍♀️

(also while im here i was 🕸 anon and ive realised i Cannot keep up with being an anon . so apologies for that. ANYWAY okay bye bye for real now !! enjoy life !!!!!!)

Hello!! First of all, never feel like you have to apologize for long asks! I love asks so much and I love know what people think about about what I write!! 💚💚 Also, you're spiderweb anon?!?! Welcome Back! =)

Thank you so much for the compliments!! This first paragraph about the news is simply me projecting onto fictional!Matty, to be entirely honest. I have a love/hate relationship with the news--I like to be informed and know what's going on, but it's all so awful all the time. I also really love repetition as a tool for creating that kind of misery and hopelessness you point out. I'm working on the next chapter and I've been using the exact same pattern.

Fictional!M+G are going to sort things out, but they're not quite there yet. Poor, sad fictional!Matty loves fictional!George so much, but he's also so miserable and he keeps watching the news, which absolutely does not help. Everything comes back to fictional!George for fictional!Matty right now, but he's also so miserable and completely believes that he really doesn't deserve anything good.

Exasperated and fond!! They adore each other, but fictional!Matty is kind of an idiot sometimes. And I appreciate your compliments so much, thank you so much!! You're going to give me a big ego at this rate.

Fictional!Matty is so sure that he's the worst person person ever and sooner or later, fictional!George will realize it and leave. If fictional!Matty can make him leave first, he'll at least be prepared for it. Fictional!George just wants him to be ok.

Puff Ball is back!! Sort of. Puff Ball is back in this chapter because I was l trying to link chapters and create a cohesive, if non-linear, narrative and create emotion. I kept rereading this chapter and thinking it needed something, so fictional!Matty got to be angsty about a cat he doesn't have.

He's so sure he's The Failure of all time. He thinks he's failed fictional!George and his friends and anyone who's ever relied on him or cared about him in anyway, so of course he doesn't deserve anything, let alone someone as wonderful as fictional!George.

Fictional!George is trying so hard. He's angsty and upset when they get off the phone.

This bit about fictional!Matty not knowing who he'll be when he gets home is also me trying to create continuity. The summary on Ao3 is about place, so everything else has to be about place and belonging, so fictional!Matty got to have an identity crisis. He could be a person that has a cat. He's not so sure he should have anything that relies on him, but he could be A Person Who Has A Cat. I'm very touched that you think my work is something to be learned from, but I have to say that I hope I don't see my own work in my textbooks. That would be concerning for me.

He's George's Matty!! It's not getting happier yet. Chapter Four is going to be sad. Chapter Five will be a little bit happier, but Chapter Four will be sad. I'm only a little bit sorry.

Poor fictional!Matty is a little bit suicidal here in a reckless kind of way, the way someone who thinks that have nothing left to lose is. He thinks he has nothing. He doesn't know who he is and he's stuck and so, so desperate to be something and someone and have something, but it all seems so hopeless. (If I ever write a book, I won't shut up about it ever. You can all know my real name and I'll still hope that I don't know any of you in real life.)

Puff Ball!! Fictional!Matty feels very soft and emotional about her and he's not really sure why. He's not really a cat guy but he accidentally let himself get attached.

He just wants something that's his and makes himself feel like he has some kind of value. Fictional!George is trying so hard to get him to understand that he's important no matter what, but fictional!Matty is pretty sure he's wrong.

Thank you so, so much for the ask and the wonderful compliments!! I think Chapter Four will be up in the next few days and it will be angsty and a little bit soft. School is going well--I learned today that in legal fields we like the Oxford comma, which is a win for me.

💚💚

[missusdiary]

july 19th. 2024

i’ve found myself doing more research into the art of detachment recently.

for a while now i’ve attempted some semblance of detachment by just ignoring the things that happen to me and then try to forget about them. sometimes i would think about how they made me feel, and what i could do to stop feeling that way, but i never actually solved what was ailing me and moved forward from it.

i ended up carrying things with me, despite my wanting to move on because i didn’t actually work through it. thinking about things over and over doesn’t do that, and while it seems simple when i write it out, it’s so hard to tell if i’m convincing myself that i’m getting over something versus actually getting over it.

somewhere along the way -i guess this might stem from trauma- i suppose i stopped analyzing and listening to any emotional turmoil and forced myself to get over it because i wasn’t receiving any support or comfort from it. maybe because when i was younger, and people brushed off my, well, everything..i stopped actually listening to how i felt and just tried to forget about it.

i remember i recognized the pattern around 13 or 14 but could never decide if i wanted to change it or not because at the time it kinda worked for me. i was unhappy and i always felt misunderstood but as long as i knew how i felt, it didn’t really matter.

thus, i’ve grown into an adult who holds grudges for years and years instead of speaking up about things when they happen. things i will never confront anyone about because i’m a coward.

so, in comes the art of detaching properly!

i’ve wanted to work on this because of the problems listed above as well as just not feeling like shit and overanalyzing things i cannot control. it’s exhausting and i’m so sick of it. i want to learn how to not think about things or take things personally and all that.

for a while i thought i was doing pretty well and i was pretty chill but i’m all fucked up and i want to be better.

this next part is kinda the catalyst to all this.

i am surrounded by couples, have been for years now, and the one i’m closest to are open. one has a crush on their friend whom they introduced to their partner, and now both of them are crushing. they don’t know this person’s exact orientation or type.

my closer friend was kinda joking but also serious saying “oh y’all cant meet” because what if the person likes me?

my closer friend of the couple claims they have romantic ish feelings for me and we’ve entertained the thought of being together casually for a couple years now, and have kissed a couple of times. they’ve expressed that they want me, but i think the problem is that i do not want them. not because they’re unattractive but, because i want someone to myself.

i’ve been single forever. literally. every little fling or situation-ship i’ve had has crashed and burned and i keep hearing that certain things are better when you have someone you care about to do them with.

okay, cool. i don’t get out much, so i doubt i’m finding them anytime soon. whatever, i need to work on myself anyways.

however, it’s lonely as fuck not being someone else’s first priority. not having someone just for me, not being able to share things only with one another. my own person who actually likes me.

pair that with literally everyone else having some kind of personal support system to themselves and boundaries between us, while also being their emotional support?

bruh.

so when they were like “what if they like you?” i was like

“idk, what if?” i’ve never met this person, idk anything about them, so i’m not really really thinking about it.

in passing, before this conversation -because i’m a lonely bitch- i thought “omg what if they’re my soulmate?” and then i was like “if it happens it happens” and of course i’ve got a bit of hope in my soul because i’ve waited long enough have i not? don’t i deserve to be happy as well?

but i wasn’t planning anything. i really just brushed it off. then we had the conversation and i was like, well if someone else thinks there’s a chance it could happen, mayhaps? but the thing that bothered me was, while i know they have their crushes, i do not know this person. this person is not a thing to put dibs on or internalize plans to woo them.

i just felt kinda weird about the whole thing, because what if? and my question wasn’t really answered.

i felt like, because of my friend’s romantic feelings for both of us, they were kinda trying to fit me in a place where they could have me and have the other person as well. it was just such a weird conversation and i’ve been thinking about all that’s been implied from it.

for now i’m just gonna say i’m reading too much into things, and keep with my “whatever happens, happens.” mindset because that’s all i can really do regarding this.

there are more pressing things to attend to.

[ciaossu-imagines]

For the sleepover

Ronin Warrirors

Character Talk, or really anything. Admin choice. Big into the fandom and love to see thoughts, character talk, ship ideas, anything and everything.

Oh my gosh! I am almost screaming on the other side of this screen because you don’t even know how happy this ask makes me! Nobody else I know has ever watched the show or is interested in checking it out, where it’s so old. I love it dearly though, but have never really met too many other fans or been able to find people in the small fandom it has who are interested in talking to me. So this is just very exciting for me! Do you have any favourite characters? Moments? Thoughts on the characters? While I don’t really ship, do you? Do you have OC’s for the fandom or are you canon only? I’m so interested. I’ll do the character talk meme, at least some of them, because you mentioned it, but always up for any talk!

Why do you like or dislike this character?

So, I will say there’s really no characters that I actively dislike fully from this fandom. Even Talpa has his charms and while Yuli can piss me off at times, he’s a literal child and he’s acting like a child would in a scary situation.

I really like Ryo. I think that while he’s stubborn and a little foolish at times, he’s very brave and he does genuinely care about people. He’s got a big heart and I personally have always just gotten the vibe that he’s very simple as a person, not very materialistic or judgmental about others based on class or looks.

Sage is an interesting one because honestly, I remember hating him as a kid when I first watched this. He was easily my least favourite character but he’s grown on me through the years. I think it really was just how stoic he is in comparison to some of the others that threw me off him as a kid but as I’ve aged, I really love how mature he is as a person. Learning the story of how he got his armor also endeared him to me, because that’s just a really cool story.

Cye is adorable. I love how calm and even-tempered and just kind he is, and his affinity to water has always appealed to me. Despite moving around a lot, I’ve been blessed in that a lot of the places I’ve lived have only been, at most, a couple hour’s trip to either large lakes or to the ocean. Currently live close to water – it’s something that relaxes me and that really appeals to me as a person, so he’s always been my second favourite probably because of that.

Kento amused me the most as a kid when I first watched this and there hasn’t been any rewatches where he hasn’t made me laugh at least once or twice. While he can definitely be stupid, you can tell he genuinely cares about people and he comes across as one of those well-intentioned, slightly stupid extrovert himbo friends and as I have the extreme privilege of having a couple of those in my life, cannot say how much that energy can make a life better.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Rowen was among my first fictional crushes and has been one of my longest fictional others. I love everything about him, plain out, and though I see his flaws, he’s perfect.

Mia got the short end of the stick because of the time Ronin Warriors came out. Honestly, she got a little better writing than a large majority of the female characters at that point because her story wasn’t made a huge romantic thing and she did have some use and was shown to be very intelligent. It’s just that well-rounded, incredibly fleshed out female characters with goals, dreams of their own, and lives outside of the boys of the story weren’t really part of straight shonen in the 90’s. I think she deserved better but I see a lot of positives as she is.

Yuli, as I mentioned, does piss me off at points but at the same time, I do see him as being an interesting character. He had a lot of potential but again – he’s a kid in a very scary situation and honestly, it’s amazing how brave he could be at times.

The Ancient One…always been kind of neutral. Extremely plot important but I really wish we’d learned more about him.

I want White Blaze as a pet.

Talpa had that voice and I loved it.

I remember, again, as a kid, hating Lady Kayura. Kind of felt jealous of this really pretty, super strong, badass girl. I’ve grown to really enjoy her over the years though and I think having a strong female who could fight and had this great storyline was really great for the show, especially as (kind of mentioned) the female representation at the time wasn’t great all around.

Anubis had one of the first ‘villain redemption’ arc that I remember ever seeing and he’s a large part of why I love that trope and those types of story arcs.

Kale is…just kind of there for me. Honestly, he’s cool enough, but he’s not someone I think a lot about.

Sehkmet had one of the coolest character designs of the show. Also love his snarkiness.

Dais had the coolest powers. I remember thinking that, despite being a bad guy, he was one of the coolest characters and honestly, his power set is still really great to me. I found his fighting scenes really enjoyable, probably the most out of all of them.

Favourite canon thing about the character?

I love the fact that Ryo is more of an introvert than you’d expect someone of that character archetype to be. He definitely comes across as the guy who needs his alone time the most and I think he gets that alone time by being in nature.

Sage really has this incredibly rare and wonderful sense of honor and a real strong sense of right and wrong and I wish at times that I was more like him. He’s also not too proud to take the fall for someone else, to save their honor.

Cye had the most gentle heart and he really felt like he was the one who kind of facilitated and helped build the friendships I do see the Ronins having with each other. I feel like he’d be the guy that all the others would share their secrets with.

I adore the fact that Rowen enjoys mystery novels, but that’s coming from someone else who really enjoys that genre and likes imagining recommendations he’d give and talking about our favourite mystery stories together.

Kento seems like someone who really does try to make everyone happy and comfortable. He feels like the guy who would notice someone being left out in group gatherings and who would go out of his way to include them.

Mia really is insanely smart and hard-working and I admire that greatly about her.

Yuli really did want to be helpful and he was always trying his best to be brave.

The Ancient One tried his best.

White Blaze is perfection.

Talpa had a great voice and wonderful hair.

Lady Kayura was the first really bad-ass female character I remember.

Anubis had a great story arc all around. I recommend watching just for that alone.

Kale’s character design was actually pretty cool.

Sehkmet never gave up. He definitely seems like the kind of person who doesn’t let anything keep him down, at least not for long.

Dias would have made a killing as a Vegas magician, just saying. He seems like he’d have the charisma and showmanship to really rock that career too!

Least favourite canon thing about this character?

Ryo had a real issue, at points, with being almost borderline arrogant and stubborn.

Sage was almost too proper and needed better communication at times.

Cye definitely needed better communication skills.

Rowen, for someone really smart, had a real annoying habit of just blurting out super obvious stuff (I like to blame it on some maybe subpar writing at points).

Kento needed to learn to look before he leaped because he pulled some stupid shit that he would have realized wasn’t for the best if he’d thought for just a couple moments.

Mia needed to stop putting herself in danger.

Yuli REALLY needed to stop putting himself in danger.

The Ancient One could have stepped in a lot more than he did (I have always held that he was kind of under-utilized and I would have loved to see him explored more).

White Blaze is perfection, fuck finding a flaw.

Talpa was obviously a crazy megalomaniac, so there’s that.

Lady Kayura…okay, but she’s 12, why did we need a shot of her bare ass.

Anubis obviously had some arrogance issues, however, he was able to work on them so go him!

Kale was too loyal to someone who he had no right to be that loyal to, but I actually love that. It’s just the only flaw I could really find to talk about. I think it makes a lot of sense for his character and for the kind of relationship the Warlords and Talpa had.

Sehkmet felt a little one trick at times in his attacks but that’s okay, he was trying his best.

Dias….needed to be explored in terms of his personality more.

If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Short and sweet, not going to lie, I put every fictional character into a KHR! Crossover-verse at some point. I definitely love thinking about the Ronins and the Warlords as part of Mafia family, with the Warlords in particular being a family of elite assassins who kind of have a rivalry with the Varia. The Ronins are a smaller family being targeted by this group of assassins who turn to the Vongola for help and protection.

What’s something you have in common with this character?

With Ryo, we are similar in that we are more introverted and we both love nature and animals. I don’t have a lot in common with Sage, though I’d like to think I act with honor and have strong morals. I feel I have the most in common with Cye, not just the love of the ocean, but the gentle personality and the slight tendencies to go along with our friends and to keep things calm and peaceful and happy with them. Me and Rowen share a love of science and books. Kento is pretty much my opposite, though I like to think that, though shy, I’m quite friendly and try my best to make others feel happy and at ease. Like Mia, I’m hard-working. Like Yuli, I can sometimes run off at the mouth without thinking about it. Like The Ancient One, I’m not around a lot. Like White Blaze, I’m quite silent. Like Talpa, I stick to my goals even when I suffer set-backs. Like Anubis, I can learn to admit I’m wrong. Like Kale, I have some cool looking scars. Like Sehkmet, my makeup game is strong. Like Dias, I love magic.

What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like & 8. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I honestly have not been able to be in the fandom enough to really see what’s largely done with the characters, so no opinion here!

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

I feel like I could easily be roommates with Cye, Rowen, Ryo, Mia, and maybe Kale. The rest of them maybe not.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

I feel I’d have the closest friendships with Cye, Rowen, Kento, Ryo, and Mia.

11. Would you date this character?

I would date Cye and Rowen!

12. What’s a headcanon you have for this character?

Ryo takes really fantastic photographs, thanks to living with his father. It’s just that photography never ended up sparking any passion for him but given a good camera, he can take good pictures. It’s only the crappy quality cell phone cameras that he just can’t seem to grab good pictures on.

Sage follows his father into the legal sphere in a way when he grows older, getting into law. He becomes a criminal prosecutor.

Cye knows how to sail, can paddleboard, and has gone white-water rafting.

Rowen has hypoglycemia that gets worse as he ages and in his later years, he has to use a glucometer and properly treat the condition.  

Kento really loves pro-wrestling.

Mia honestly has a real guilty pleasure for young adult romances, especially things like Twilight. She was definitely Team Edward.

Yuli makes good grades in his school years and graduates in the top three of his class in high school.

Talpa gets songs stuck in his head super easily and hums when he thinks no one can hear him.

Lady Kayura, at some point, learns to ride a motorcycle. She really loves seeing just how fast she can go on them and has had some close calls, though she has never actually crashed.

Anubis, despite having really long and thick hair, doesn’t really do anything special to take care of it. He’s definitely one of those ‘3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner, body wash’ guys and because of that, his hair is really dry and prone to split ends.

Kale, despite how fearsome he looks, has a real soft spot for cute baby animals.

Sehkmet would be a fan of celebrity gossip.

Dias would be a huge Pen & Teller fan.

13. What’s an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

Ryo and Rowen both call more than they text and when they text, it’s very minimal. Ryo sometimes uses the thumbs up and 100 emojis.

Sage never uses emoji’s. He types very properly, with proper capitalization and punctuation.

Cye uses very basic, starter emoji’s, like the smiley faces and hearts that he knows for sure what they mean. Some of the emoji’s people send him he gets really confused by.

Kento uses gifs way more than he uses emoji’s. He’s got anime reaction gifs for everything.

Sehkmet throws together the most random combinations of emojis just to fuck with people, so they’ll try super hard to try to figure out what he means.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Ryo dresses really simply, honestly. He’s very much a jeans and t-shirt, maybe a henley long sleeve shirt in the fall, a sweater in the summer. He’s drawn to reds and other vibrant colours. He doesn’t really like socks a lot and wears a lot of sneakers. He’s the type who wears his clothes completely out before he thinks about throwing them out and replacing them.

Sage has a more proper, almost preppy sort of style. He’d be the type to throw a blazer over a t-shirt and some well-fitting jeans, to fancy up an outfit. He wears a lot of natural fabrics too. Polyester and cheap materials don’t appeal to him and he doesn’t really bargain shop. However, like Ryo, he does wear his clothes until they’re in such a bad state that they need to be thrown out, so it’s not like he’s wasteful with the money he spends on clothing.

Cye has a very pastel, beach-casual sort of style. He likes capris, linen, blue hues, and dockers. He prefers pull-over sweaters to hoodies, and has no problem wearing board shorts around town.

Rowen switches his style fairly often, honestly. He can’t settle into one particular style but just kind of buys what he likes, making an eclectic mix of different styles. He’s not really all that great at colour coordination though, so some of his outfits kind of aren’t that great, not going to lie.

Kento’s very relaxed in his style. It’s muscle-tops, t-shirts with the sleeves rolled up with jeans or overalls. He lives in his sneakers, loves crazy socks, and has a couple different baseball caps.

Mia has a sort of preppy style. I honestly feel like she’d wear anything Blair wore on Gossip Girl.

Yuli kind of copies the style of the older boy’s a lot. He goes through phases with all of those styles until he really figures out what he likes and what suits him the best. He’s very experimental with fashion and it takes him a while to figure that out.

Lady Kayura seems like she’d rock leather pants, just saying. I feel she has two moods – goth girl or dainty princess and sometimes she even mixes those two together. It’s really all down to how she feels that day.

Kale seems like he’d kind of dress like a biker. Like, that’s really the vibe I get from him.

15. What’s your favourite ship for this character, 16. What’s your least favourite ship for this character & 17. What’s a ship for this character you don’t hate but it’s not your favourite that you’re fine with?

I honestly don’t really do canon shipping. I admit to having some self-ships in the fandom and I used to have a friend who was into the fandom and whose OC I really shipped with Kento! Honestly, I cannot not ship my friend’s OC’s with their canon characters of choice because I love my friend’s OC’s and seeing what they do with them.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

I have to say that I really love Cye and Kento’s friendship. I find Ryo and Sage’s friendship interesting, along with Ryo and Rowen’s friendship. I wish we’d seen a lot more of the dynamics between the different warlords as well, because that’s something I’ve always been really interested in and would love to hear people’s opinions on!

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don’t like?

I know a lot of people see Ryo and Mia as a couple but I just never saw it and really don’t feel it, but that’s just me.

21. If you’re a fic writer and have written for this character, what’s your favourite thing to do when you’re writing for this character? What’s something you don’t like?

I really love writing self-inserts for this fandom, though I keep those only for me because I know they won’t interest the other fans. I love doing headcanons for any of the characters, getting the chance to dive into who they are, what they enjoy, all the different parts of their characters. I also love thinking about and writing the platonic little things in between the characters and trying to figure out what relationships they would have between them, both platonically or who wouldn’t get along, who would be kind of frenemies, rivals, etc.

22. If you’re a fic reader, what’s something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don’t like?

Honestly, I love all fics, though I do tend to skip the super shippy ones that focus only on romance, with no other plot points. I will happily take any and all fic recommendations for this fandom, not gonna lie.

[jovenshires]

okay wait less vibes more what i actually think you were looking for below the cut bc i don't think i can read:

spommy: so i... came to this ship as one of my most-brainrotting-ever-of-all-time for a lot of reasons. in part, i'm honestly projecting on both of them DKDMMFMNFKN i relate to both of their personas a lot and a lot of what i write and think about is just. me. but anyway, they've both talked a lot about their insecurities and their flaws and they just so... perfectly match up to me. they just make sense. smth smth ik tommy said spencer is the worst person to date BUT i don't think so at all. spencer is grounded and analytical and tommy is passionate and extroverted and i think they just bring out the best in each other. not to mention their senses of humors are SO aligned. like half the time tommy is the one to laugh at spencer's terrible jokes, and spencer is the one to rise to tommy's bait. like they always meet each other at every level. anyway. lots of thoughts about them.

shaymien: i really think there's something so wonderful about a person who's seen you through everything and loves you anyway. just someone you can come back to for everything, who makes the effort to understand you, who makes the effort to ebb when you flow. like they are just so gentle and kind and soft and. idk. i need me a freak like that you know.

amangela: the bickering old married couple of smosh... for me, they seem so secure about each other you know. like they just know that they work. even when they fight, even when they're at their lowest, they're still so sure that it's them.

courtivia: i.... im emotional even thinking about it. you really get the vibe that everybody judges olivia, you know. she's the weird one; she's a little freak (affectionate); you never know what's going on in her head. and yet courtney will defend her with her dying breath. that's olivia and she loves her thank you very much. it doesn't matter if she understands her! it doesn't matter if olivia is cold or strange or weird or silly! courtney Loves her!

koah: smth smth someone who knows every piece of you and loves every piece of you. honestly i hype up a lot of these other ships but these bitches are soulmates. like i've honestly never seen friends like them. they just click so well and so instantly, and they are not afraid to show how much they love each other. i have never seen them together not talking about the genuine love they feel for one another. it honestly makes me insane.

shackie: every time i've seen them interact has been one of such genuine respect and friendship and i love it so much. like he holds her to such a high regard, and sure, she teases him, but at the end of the day they just boost each other up. that basis of respect is smth i would love to have one day. anyway shackie stans rise up our time is now--

kimney: they're just so!! they make each other so happy. so grounded. they feel like they could be anywhere and still be happy because they're together. like one of them just walks into a room and lights it up for the other person.

jamien: i am not immune to jackie's propaganda! i just think... comfort when i think of them. like if anything bad happens, the other will be there to hold them through it and pick up the pieces. i always think of that one episode of eioyi where jackie had to eat bugs and she wanted to hold damien's hand. a love that comforting. anyway.

choah: there is SOMETHING IN THEM. i cannot explain what it is. it's like they Do Not Want to like each other and YET. they keep falling back in. i know this is literally nothing but vibes i have nothing else to say for it but they are SOOO

arangela: okay follow me here: angea is insane. right. just absolutely batshit. and arasha? is also insane in a different direction. a cool, calm, grounded kind of insane. they are like if college girls were supervillains. does this make sense. no but they spark each other up While cooling each other down. they're fun

ianthony: smth smth you feel like coming home........ i really don't know what to say about them that hasn't already been said but i will say this: anyone who can fall apart that hard and yet still find their way back to each other? that's a special kind of love.

interested to know whats the Specific Vibe you think spommy/shaymien/amangela/other ships you like give off aside from the usual “friends to lovers/same brain” tropes!! i feel like i have descriptive vibes that explain why i like their dynamic

HMMMM okay i know Exactly what you mean. there was a post like this that went around Ages ago (different time, different ships, different fandom really) and i wouldn't know where to find it even if i tried so kudos to them, but this is My Take on the vibes of a few of my faves:

(EDIT: ya know on second read through of your ask im not sure this is what you wanted. i can reblog with full actual thoughts later perhaps)

spommy: late-night dinners, ill-timed laughter, sharing clothes, cupping someone's face, cozy nights in, music in a quiet apartment, being taken care of

shaymien: greasy diner food, high top converse, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, playing video games until your eyes hurt, bulletin board memories, passed notes, the color green

amangela: rom-coms, scrunchies, neon colors, arguing over nothing (but knowing it's not really an argument), the sound of a party from the next room, laying your head on someone's shoulder and closing your eyes, drinks in dive bars

courtivia: lemonade, pinky promises, red lipstick on your cheek, sunrises, talking on the phone for hours, whispered secrets at a sleepover, long summer days

koah: lingering hugs, shotgunning, love at first sight, car rides to wherever, sitting in the back of a movie theater, sneaking out to see each other, laughter that stems from nothing

shackie: fallen leaves in autumn, reading aloud to each other, slow-dancing in your kitchen, candlelight, quiet teasing to make someone blush, fresh red roses, giving someone your jacket when they look cold

kimney: the smell of cookies in the oven, notes in your lunch, the beach, the color yellow, doing something nice just because, overalls, smiling into a kiss

jamien: love letters, pressed flowers, a hand on your waist, journal entries, petrichor, uncertain confessions, intertwining fingers

choah: knees pressed underneath the table, pop music blasting from the radio, twilight hours, sour candy, itching to touch someone, the hollow of your throat, the smell of bubblegum

arangela: shared smirks, conversations that keep you up, a full moon, takeout food, feeling like fate is guiding you, glitter, dancing under flashing lights

ianthony: sweaters, comfort foods, laying down face-to-face, the feeling of coming home, inside jokes, sunlight filtering through a window, coffee in the morning

[bailey-writes]

So You Want Your OC to be Jewish

So you’re writing a story and you want to make a Jewish character—great! I’m here to help. I always want more Jewish representation but I want good Jewish representation, so this is my attempt to make a guide to making a Jewish character. What are my credentials? I’m Jewish and have been my whole life. Obligatory disclaimer that this is by no means comprehensive, I don’t know everything, all Jews are different, and this is based on my experiences as an American Jew so I have no idea, what, if any, of this applies to non-American Jews. 

If there’s anything you want me to make a post going more into detail about or if there’s anything I didn’t mention but you want to know please ask me! I hope this is helpful :) Warning, this is long.

Jew PSA

If you are Jewish you can use the word Jew(s), e.g. “She’s dating a Jew.” If you are not Jewish you cannot use the word Jew(s). This is not up for debate. Non-Jews calling us Jews has a negative connotation at best. Don’t do it and don’t have your characters do it.

Basics, Plus My Random Thoughts that Didn’t Fit Anywhere Else

A confusing enduring issue is, what is Judaism? It’s a religion, but some Jews aren’t religious; is it a race? A nationality? A culture? A heritage? The only constant is that we are seen as “other.” There’s a lot of debate, which makes it confusing to be Jewish and as such it’s common for Jews to struggle with their Jewish Identity. However many people agree that Jews are an ethnoreligious group, aka Judaism is a religion and an ethnicity.

Temple/Synagogue/Shul = Jewish place of worship. Shul is usually used for Orthodox synagogues.

Keeping kosher = following Jewish dietary rules: meat and dairy can’t be eaten together and you can’t eat pork or shellfish. Fish and eggs are pareve (aka neutral) and can be eaten with meat or dairy (but again not both at the same time.) When eating meat it has to be kosher meat (e.g. kosher Jews are allowed to eat chicken, but not all chicken is kosher. I know it’s kinda confusing I’m sorry.) Kosher products in stores will have symbols on them to identify them as kosher. If someone is kosher they’ll probably have separate sets of utensils/plates/cookware/etc. for meat and dairy

Shabbat/Shabbos/Sabbath = holy day of the week, day of rest, lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Depending on observance Jews might have Shabbat dinner, attend Shabbat services, or observe the day of rest in its entirety (making them shomer Shabbat)

Someone who is shomer Shabbat will refrain from any of the prohibited activities. These can easily be looked up but include: working, writing, handling money, cooking, and using technology.

Bat/Bar/B’nai Mitvzah = tradition where a Jewish boy/girl becomes a man/woman. Celebrated at 13-years-old for boys, 12- or 13-years-old for girls. Girls have Bat Mitzvahs (bat means daughter in Hebrew), boys have Bar Mitzvahs (bar means son in Hebrew) and twins or two or more people having one together have a B’nai Mitzvah. They will study for this for months and then help lead services and, depending on observance level, read from the Torah. The ceremony is often attended by family and friends and followed with a celebration of sorts (in America usually this means a brunch and/or party.)

Goy/gentile = non-Jew. These words are not slurs, they are literally just words. Plural of goy is goyim and is a Yiddish word, plural of gentile is gentiles.

Jewish holidays follow the Hebrew calendar, meaning that according to the current solar/Gregorian calendar the dates of our holidays are different each year.

Jewish law recognizes matrilineal inheritance. This means that Jewish law states your mother has to be Jewish for you to be Jewish. This is because of reasons from biblical times that I can explain if you wanna come ask, but as you can imagine is a bit outdated. While Orthodox Jews might embrace this idea and only consider someone Jewish if their mom is Jewish, many Jews are more flexible on the idea (and yes, this does cause tension between Orthodox Jews and other Jews at times.)

Judaism =/= Christianity

Some people think Judaism is just Christianity without Jesus (some people don’t even realize we don’t believe in/celebrate Jesus so newsflash, we don’t) and that’s just wrong. Yes both religions share the Old Testament, so they also share some history and beliefs, but the entire ideologies of the religions are different. In brief, they are similar in some ways but are not the same.

What seems to me to be the biggest difference is that Christianity (from what I understand) has a heavy focus on sins, more specifically repenting for/gaining forgiveness for your sins. In Christianity you are born tainted by original sin. In Judaism we believe everyone is born pure and free from sin and everyone is made in God’s image. Judaism has some concept of sin, but doesn’t focus on them and instead focuses on performing Mitzvot (plural, singular form is mitzvah. Direct translation is “commandment” but basically means good deed or act of kindness. It also relates to the commandments, so following the commandments is also performing mitzvot.) Examples of mitzvot include anything from saying a prayer or lighting Shabbat candles to helping a stranger or donating to charity (called tzedakah). One of the main tenets of Judaism is tikkun olam, which directly translates to “repair the world” and means exactly what it says on the tin. Instead of focusing on being forgiven for doing bad Judaism focuses on doing good. The only day we focus on past wrongdoings is Yom Kippur, one of our most holy holidays, discussed below.

Holidays

Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year, occurs around September and lasts for two days, though Reform Jews often only celebrate the first day. Day of happiness and joy, celebrated by eating sweet things for a “sweet new year” (often apples dipped in honey) and circular challah to represent the end of one year and beginning of another. Also celebrated with services and blowing the shofar (rams horn.) Some spend the day in prayer and/or silent meditation. Possible greetings: chag sameach (happy holiday; can be said on almost any holiday), Shana Tovah, or happy new year (which is what Shana Tovah means, some people just say it in English.)

Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement. Occurs ten days after the start of Rosh Hashanah. One of if not the most solemn day for Jews, but also the most holy. The day is spent reflecting on yourself and any past wrongdoings and atoning. The day (sundown the night before to sundown the day of) is spent fasting, a physical way of atoning. We do this in hopes of being “written in the Book of Life” and starting the year with a clean slate. The shofar is blown at the end of the holiday. Most Jews will end the fast with a grand meal with family and friends. Most common greeting is “have an easy fast,” but happy new year is still appropriate.

Sukkot – Celebrates the harvest, occurs on the fifth day after Yom Kippur and lasts seven days. Celebrated by building a temporary hut outdoors called a sukkah and having meals inside it, as well as shaking palm fronds tied together (called a lulav) and holding a citrus called an etrog. Very fun and festive holiday. Possible greetings include chag sameach or Happy Sukkot.

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah – Some Jews (mostly Reform Jews and Jews living in Israel) combine both holidays into one day while some celebrate them as two separate days. Either way they occur immediately after Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret is similar but separate from Sukkot and features a prayer for rain; Sukkot is not mentioned in prayers and the lulav isn’t shaken but you do eat in the sukkah. Simchat Torah celebrates finishing reading the Torah, which we will then begin again the next day. It’s a festive holiday with dancing and fun. Some Temples will roll the entire Torah out and the children will run under it. Appropriate greeting for both would be chag sameach.

Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah are referred to as the High Holidays.

Chanukah – We all know about Chanukah, celebrating the reclaiming of the Second Temple and the miracle of the oil lasting eight days. The most represented Jewish Holiday there is. Unfortunately it’s one of the least significant holidays for us. Occurs around November or December and lasts eight days and nights. Celebrated by lighting candles in the Menorah each night with a prayer and kids usually get gifts each night. Also celebrated with spinning tops called dreidels, fried foods like doughnuts (sufganiyot in Hebrew; usually the jelly filled ones) and potato pancakes called latkes. Greetings: happy Chanukah or chag sameach.

Tu B’Shevat – Birthday of the trees, basically Jewish Arbor Day. Minor but fun holiday, sometimes celebrated by planting trees. Occurs around January or February.

Purim – Celebrates how Queen Esther of Persia defeated Haman and saved her people, the Jews. Occurs in Spring. Festive holiday traditionally celebrated by dressing in costumes, eating sweets, and giving tzedakah (it’s also technically commanded you get drunk so woohoo!) Whenever Haman’s name is mentioned you make a lot of noise, booing and using noisemakers called groggers. Greetings: happy Purim, chag Purim, or chag sameach.

Passover/Pesach – Celebrates the Jews being freed from slavery in Egypt. Occurs in Spring and lasts eight days. The first two nights (some only celebrate the first night) are celebrated with seder, a ritual meal with certain foods, practices, prayers, and readings from a book called the Haggadah and often attended by family and friends. Most famous prayer/song of the holiday is the four questions, which ask why that night is different from all other nights and is traditionally sung by the youngest child at the seder. The entire holiday is spent not eating certain foods, mostly grain or flour (the food restrictions are complicated and differ based on denomination so look it up or ask a Jew.) We eat a lot of matzah during Pesach, which is like a cracker kinda. I personally hate it but some people actually like it. Greetings: happy Passover, chag pesach, or chag sameach.

Tisha B’Av – Anniversary of the destruction of the Temple. Occurs in Summer. Very sad, solemn day. Some celebrate by fasting from sunrise to sunset. Not the most widely celebrated holiday. Some also commemorate the Holocaust (also called the Shoah) on this day as it was the destruction of a figurative temple.

Denominations

There are a bunch of denominations in Judaism, we’ll go into it briefly.

Religious denominations:

Reform/Reformed: This is the least religiously observant level. Often Reform Jews don’t keep kosher or observe Shabbat, their services on Shabbat will use instruments. Reform Jews probably attend services for the high holidays at the very least and probably had a Bat/Bar Mitzvah. Might say they consider themselves more culturally Jewish. Their Temple/Synagogue will be the most “liberal”—aka have more female/diverse Rabbis and a more diverse congregation. I’m Reform and my Temple’s lead Rabbi is a woman and we used to have a Rabbi who’s a queer single mother.

Conservative: More religiously observant and more generally traditional. Might keep kosher or observe Shabbat, but not necessarily. Services likely won’t use instruments (not supposed to play instruments on Shabbat). Most likely had a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, but girls might not read from the Torah, though this depends on the congregation. They do allow female Rabbis, but in my experience it’s less common.

Modern Orthodox: Very religiously observant but also embrace modern society. Will keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Men will wear kippot (singular=kippah) and tzitzit under their shirts. Women will cover their hair (if they’re married), most likely with a wig, and wear modest clothing (only wear skirts that are at least past their knees and long sleeves). Emphasis on continued study of Torah/Talmud. Parents will likely have jobs. Might have larger families (aka more children) but might not. Services will be segregated by gender, girls won’t read from the Torah publicly, and female Rabbis are very rare. Children will most likely attend a religious school. Will attend shul services every Shabbat and for holidays.

note: there are some people who fall somewhere between modern Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, or between any two denominations really. as you can imagine people don’t all practice the exact same way.

Ultra-Orthodox: Very religiously observant and not necessarily modern. Will keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Men will wear kippot or other head coverings and tzitzit under their shirts, and are also often seen wearing suits. Women will cover their hair (if they’re married) with a wig or scarf and wear modest clothing (only wear skirts that are at least past their knees and long sleeves). Emphasis on continued study of Torah/Talmud. Men might have jobs but might instead focus on Jewish studies, while women most often focus on housework and child-rearing. Don’t believe in contraception (but this is kinda nuanced and depends). Will often have very large families because having children is a commandment and helps continue the Jewish people. Might be shomer negiah which means not touching members of the opposite sex aside from their spouse and some close family members. Services will be segregated by gender, girls won’t read from the Torah publicly, and there won’t be female Rabbis. Children will attend a religious school. Will attend shul services every Shabbat and for holidays.

Ethnic denominations (the different denominations do have some differences in practices and such but tbh I don’t know much about that so this is just the basics):

Ashkenazi: Jews that originate from Central/Eastern Europe. Yiddish, a combination of Hebrew and German, originated from and was spoken by Ashkenazim and while it’s a dying language it’s spoken among many Orthodox Jews and many Jews of all levels know/speak some Yiddish words and phrases. Majority of Jews worldwide are Ashkenazi.

Sephardi/Sephardic: Jews that originate from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and southeastern Europe. Ladino, a combination of Old Spanish and Hebrew, originated from and was spoken by Sephardim. It is also a dying language but is still spoken by some Sephardim. After Ashkenazi most of the world’s Jews are Sephardic.

Mizrahi: Jews that originate from the Middle East and North Africa.

Ethiopian Jews: Community of Jews that lived in Ethiopia for over 1,000 years, though most have immigrated to Israel by now.

Stereotypes/Tropes/Controversies/Etc.

There are so many Jewish stereotypes and shit and I ask you to please be mindful of them. Stereotypes do exist for a reason, so some people will fit stereotypes. This means your character might fit one or two; don’t make them fit all of them. Please. Stereotypes to keep in mind (and steer away from) include:

All Jews are rich.

All Jews are greedy.

All Jews are cheap/frugal.

All Jews are [insert job here]. We’ll go into this more below.

All Jews hate Christians/Muslims/etc.

All Jews are white. 

First of all Ethiopian and Mizrahi Jews exist, many Sephardi are Hispanic, and today with intermarriage and everything this just isn’t true.

All Jews have the same physical features: large and/or hooked nose, beady eyes, droopy eyelids, red hair (this is an old stereotype I didn’t really know existed), curly hair.

Many Jews do have somewhat large noses and curly hair. I’m not saying you can’t give these features to your characters, but I am saying to be careful and don’t go overboard. And don’t give all of your Jewish characters these features. As a side note, it is common at least among American Jews that girls get nose jobs. Not all, but some.

Jews are secretly world elite/control the world/are lizard people/new world order/ any of this stuff. 

STAY AWAY FROM. DO NOT DO THIS OR ANYTHING LIKE THIS. If you have a character that’s part lizard, do not make them Jewish. If you have a character that’s part of a secret group that controls the entire world, do not make them Jewish.

Jews have horns. If you have characters with horns please don’t make them Jewish.

Jews killed Jesus.

The blood libel. Ew. No.

The blood libel is an antisemitic accusation/idea/concept that back in the day Jews would murder Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals and sometimes even for consumption (did I mention gross?) Not only did this just not happen, but it’s actually against Jewish law to murder, sacrifice, or consume blood. Yes these accusations really happened and it became a main reason for persecution of Jews. And some people still believe this shit.

Jews caused The Plague.

The reason this conspiracy exists is because many Jews didn’t get The Plague and the goyim thought that meant it was because the Jews caused it/cursed them. The real reason Jews didn’t get it is because ritual hand-washing and good hygiene kept them from getting it. Sorry that we bathe.

Jewish mother stereotype.

Ok, listen. I know stereotypes are mostly a bad thing but I have to admit the Jewish mother stereotype is not far off. Jewish moms do tend to be chatty and a little nagging, are often very involved in their children’s lives, and they are often trying to feed everyone (although they don’t all cook, my mom hates cooking.) They also tend to be big worriers, mostly worrying about their family/loved ones. They also tend to know everyone somehow. A twenty minute trip to the grocery store can turn into an hour or two long trip because she’ll chat with all the people she runs into.

Jewish-American Princess (JAP) ((I know calling Japanese people Japs is offensive. Jews will call girls JAPs, but with a completely different meaning. If that’s still offensive I am sorry, but just know it happens.))

This is the stereotype that portrays Jewish girls/women as spoiled brats basically. They will be pampered and materialistic. Do these girls exist? Definitely. I still recommend steering away from this stereotype.

Names

Listen. Listen. There are some names that Jews just won’t have. I won’t speak in definites because there are always exceptions but you’ll rarely find a Jew named Trinity or Grace or Faith or any form of Chris/Christopher/Christina etc. Biblical names from the Old Testament? Absolutely Jews will have those names they’re actually very common.

I’m in a Jewish Sorority. My pledge class of ~70 girls had five Rebeccas and four Sarahs. Surprisingly only one Rachel though.

When it comes to last names I have two thoughts that might seem contradictory but hear me out: a) give your Jewish OC’s Jewish surnames, b) don’t give your Jewish OC’s the most Jewish surname to ever exist.

By this I mean I would much rather see a character named Sarah Cohen or Aaron Levine than Rachel Smith. Just that little bit of recognition makes a happy exclamation point appear over my head, plus it can be a good way to hint to readers that your OC is Jewish.

On the other hand, please don’t use the most stereotypical Jewish names you’ve ever heard. If you have five Jewish OCs and one of them is Isaac Goldstein then fine. If Isaac Goldstein is your only Jewish OC I might get a little peeved. There are tons of common Jewish surnames that are recognizable and easy to look up, so don’t revert to the first three that come to mind. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it yucky, for lack of a better word.

Jobs

We all know there are certain jobs that are stereotypical for Jews to have. We’re talking lawyer, dentist, doctor, banker type stuff. To an extent these stereotypes exist for a reason, many Jews go into those careers. Do not make these the only careers your Jewish OCs have. Stereotypes might have reasoning behind them but it doesn’t mean they aren’t harmful. If you have multiple Jewish OCs some of them can have these careers, but not all of them. I do know a lot of Jewish lawyers, dentists, and doctors. I also know accountants, people involved in businesses (“mom, what does Brad do?” “he’s a businessman” sometimes there just aren’t more specific words), people involved in real estate. I don’t actually know any bankers personally, and with money and stuff being one of the most common and harmful Jewish stereotypes I would suggest steering away from that.

These are common fields for Jews, but Jews can have literally any job. Please feel free to get creative. And if you have more than one Jewish OC you can think about making one of them a Rabbi, but DON’T do this if they’re the only Jewish OC. Please.

Yiddish

So I mentioned Yiddish earlier. Like I already said, it’s not a very widely used language anymore but there are some words and phrases that are still used by a lot of Jews (in America at least.) Here’s a list that is absolutely not comprehensive:

Oy vey = oh no

Shvitzing = sweating (but not just a little bit. Shvitzing is like SWEATING)

Kvetch/kvetching = whine/whining or complain/complaining

Mazel tov = congratulations; this is the same in Yiddish and Hebrew

Chutzpah = nerve or gall (e.g. “He’s got a lot of chutzpah for breaking up over text like that”)

Kismet = fate; I just learned this is Yiddish

Bubbe and Zayde = grandma and grandpa

Schelp/schlepping = drag/dragging, can also mean carry or move (e.g. “I had to schlep the bag all around town” doesn’t mean they literally dragged it)

Schmutz = dirt or something dirty (e.g. “you have schmutz on your face”)

Schmatta = literally means rag but can be used to refer to ratty blankets or clothes

Plotz = collapse (usually used in the sense of “I’m so tired I might plotz” or “she’s gonna be so excited she’s gonna plotz”)

Schmuck/shmendrick = both mean more or less the same, a jerk or obnoxious person

Shtick = gimmick, routine, or act (can be used like (“I don’t like that comedian’s shtick” or “he always makes himself the center of attention it’s his shtick”)

Spiel = long speech, story, or rant

There’s so many more so look them up and think about using them, but don’t overdo it. A Jewish person isn’t gonna use a Yiddish word in every sentence (or even every day or every few days.)

Israel

In my community at least it’s very common that by the time your college-aged that you’ll have been to Israel at least once.

Israel is a controversial topic within the Jewish community and in the world. It’s sensitive and complex. I really, really suggest not getting into it. Just don’t bring it up because no matter what you say someone will be unhappy. Just don’t do it.

Ashkenazi Disorders

Ashkenazi Jews have some sucky genes (I’m Ashkenazi so I can say this, you cannot.) These sucky genes cause certain disorders to be more prevalent for us. Children only get the disorder if both parents are carriers of the disorder, so Jews usually get genetic testing done before having children. If both parents are carriers the risk of the child getting the disorder is high, so parents might reconsider or have some indecisiveness/fear. Some of these are:

Tay-Sachs

Cystic Fibrosis

Canavan Disease

Familial Dysautonomia

Gaucher Disease

Spinal Muscular Atrophy  

Fanconi Anemia

Mucolipidosis IV

Niemann-Pick Disease

Torsion Dystonia

Bloom Syndrome

Ashkenazi Jews also have a high prevalence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer in women and increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer in men.

Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Lactose Intolerance are also very prevalent

In a dorm of like 40 Jews, six of them had Crohn’s.

Ways to Show Your OC is Jewish

Wears Jewish jewelry, e.g. Star of David (also called Jewish Star and Magen David), Chai symbol (means life), jewelry with Sh’ma prayer, or hamsa (but beware this symbol is used outside of Judaism).

Mentions their temple, their Rabbi, having a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, going to Hebrew School, Shabbat, or a holiday coming up.

Have someone ask them a question about Judaism.

Have someone notice they have a mezuzah on their door. 

Most Jews will have a mezuzah on the doorframe of the front door of their house/apartment, but they could even have one for their dorm room or whatever. It’s traditional to kiss your hand then touch the mezuzah when walking through the door, but most Jews don’t do this every time, at least not most Reform or Conservative Jews.

Have them call out antisemitism if you’re feeling spicy

The end! I hope this helped and if you have any questions my ask box is always open!

[prof-peach]

if fans wanted to include peach in stuff they write, would that be okay? and how would they write peach's personality? aside from "FIGHT ME" anyway, i think that much is a given lol. i only really write the anime characters 'cause that's what i know, but it sounds like it'd be kinda fun to try making a version of ash that fits into this blog's universe! nerf'd Obviously, but i think she'd probably appreciate how hands-on he gets when training his pokemon!

Ok, I get a lot of these messages, and I often hear folks wanting to throw peach into their stories and comics and writings, and I will always simply ask that if it’s published online publicly, to be linked to it so I can snoop and enjoy the content too. If someone asks about her in your work, let them know about the blog I guess? But literally I love that people take this stuff, these characters and stories, and make new stuff with it. No ones making money off my work here? So where’s the issue? Go for it buddy, knock yourself out, I’m all for it.

For you, and all the others out there who want to add peach, and other characters to your world building, I will give you a detailed rundown of the main lot, and how they behave, what they do, how they function. You can use that, use bits, or use none of it, I do not mind at all. If you’re creating something, you’re in control, not me.

So, peach doesn’t actually fight people as much as you’d think. She’s very aware most cannot and do not want to do that, and so she likes to keep to herself with regards to that aspect of her life, she doesn’t ask to spar with people, or even bring it up at all, but people ask her all the time, even if they clearly would lose or become hurt should she miscalculate during the fight. She looks at people like they usually create problems, and often has a somewhat reserved nature to other humans. You have to work quite hard to get anything more than formalities out of her. She will dead-pan handle people with blunt and very to-the-point statements, aid whenever possible, but very quickly get back to handling the Pokemon she so carefully tends. Her focus is clear, she’s all about hard work, her very small select family, and the Pokemon.

Her brutal, loud and brash personality only comes out with friends, family, difficult humans, OR any Pokemon. She will joke and laugh and play with Pokemon, but clam up around humans, maintaining tight body language and generally will be a little cold by regular standards. She does however have some weaknesses in this emotionless shield she puts up. When peach was young she was always angry, which swung so fast to sadness, back and forth. Her teenage years it just got worse and worse, it was crippling at points. She is to this day, full of fire and rage, even sadness, but now she has learnt to control it, to use it. When she sees that in others, it’s familiar, and she is pushed to drop the front, and be very real with the person. Underdogs I suppose, people who get bad reps, but deserve the same as everyone else. She can’t ignore it.

Once you start to pry open her personality, you’ll find she’s a lot more laid back and fun than originally appeared, you just have to work hard to find that side of her. She will meme reference, can’t dance to save her life, loves her coffee, and can be caught in quiet contemplation while gardening. This hobby is her calmest, and often is why she can stay so level headed when her quiet rage boils up again. Without time outside she will become grouchy, a little snippy, and lethargic. Will not go in the ocean for any reason other than life or death, is fine with ponds and rivers, or water at wading height. Likes the rain.

With regards to her training others, they usually have to tolerate her somewhat strict nature. She is a little....unforgiving, holds a grudge if you make a lot of mistakes, and has no tolerance for ignorance in the age of information that we all live in. In previous posts I’ve mentioned she’s only recently selected two students, after many years of testing kids who want to learn from her. Hundred tried out, only two have ever been approved. How she teaches is very fast paced, be prepared to get some scrapes and bruises, she will test your physical and emotional tolerances with intense tasks, carefully watching students like a hawk. Bad posture in your stance? She’ll be the first to tell you to sort it out. Not hearing your Pokemon partner? Right, now you spend the day without using words trying to communicate, let’s see how you like not being listened to.

This is a woman who has spent her life saying very little, and watching everything, she watches Pokemon and can see an issue from a mile off, and in battles, her observations are why she can react fast, and chose effective strategy to avoid damage and achieve results. Don’t let her body fool you, her strongest asset is analysing, watching, planning. Those skills have over the years transferred to people too. As a student, mistakes don’t go unnoticed with this professor.

Her methods are harsh but fair, and should you prove yourself, she will protect you with her life.

Because of her disinterest in kids and lots of noise, she does pass the training of students on to the other staff members whenever possible. Grey takes on the lions share of battle lessons, he is far calmer, more open and friendly, with patience for people, and an empathy that peach sometimes struggles to have. When you go through a lot of harsh training, and difficult events, it’s hard to change how you feel or think, with peach, well, she’s been through it. Most do not come out the other end in one piece, but she did, and it made her strong. You may think I mean strong like buff and big, and yeah sure she is, but I mean it mentally more than anything. Peach will not quit. She has learnt to destroy the boundaries that stop people getting hurt, gone is the fear that freezes you in your tracks, that feeling that you’ll pass out if you go one more step. She’s learnt to ignore it.

This means she’s a little forgetful at how it is to be normal, to be vulnerable and soft and squishy like students so usually are.

She has her issues, but for the most part, visitors get a laugh, a smile, a calm assertive confidence, and facts. She will indulge those who have genuine interest, or show a connection with nature, an understanding of the balance that needs to be struck for everyone to live well together.

Despite her many flaws, she’s fiercely protective, and will go above and beyond to defend the island, it’s staff, the Pokemon and the visitors. Injustice is her biggest gripe, along with littering, and she doesn’t stand by quietly if something happens that seems unfair.

You will not see her without Valka, her vulpix, close by. That Pokemon doesn’t like to be touched by strangers, at all, and will run the second someone comes at her with that intent. Peach will scold you for pushing yourself onto her, should you persistently try to get close to pet Val. They are in sync, if peach is sad, Val is sad, if Val is stressed, peach is stressed, and so on. They are inherently connected, it’s just been that long, the psychic bridge between them has been built, and reinforced over the years.

The only other Pokemon who follows her so endlessly is Booker, a teddiursa who’s pretty rough looking. He quietly trots behind, grouchy and stoic, they fight closely together a lot. He lost his mom a long time ago to poachers, and peach took him in, and changed her whole life for him. Not many people know, but Booker was the reason she left the rangers, changed career, and got so strong. Will tolerate people petting him but isn’t keen at all, grumbles a lot and tries to move away.

You may also need to know about the others, for the sake of writing, she here a few more bits that may be important to you, or others wanting to do this.

Grey is very tall, very burly, composed, tells bad dad jokes, is a bit of a goof if allowed to be. If he sees a pun, he’ll say it. Can’t help himself. Very nice guy to work with, good at keeping people calm and grounded. Pokemon are drawn to him like a moth to a flame, he gives off warm energy, and has inhuman amounts of patience. If you wrong his family however, he will snap back.

He grew up in the city, loves to swim and hike and cycle, can snowboard, is really sporty. A total brain box with held items, and boosting stats. He will explore many paths, to make sure visitors and students get the information they need, in a way that can be remembered and retained for later. Is a huge guy, but will get on the floor to play with a tiny Pokemon. Treats big “meaner” looking species like babies, very good with all pokemon.

His free time is spent either tinkering, swimming, or trimming his bonsai trees. This guy stares at screens a lot, so appreciates time away from them. Peach built him his own little greenhouse for his trees and tools, which he keeps clean and loves dearly.

His methods as a teacher are built around fun and games, he makes hard work easier to do by distracting trainers from the difficult bits, and focusing in on something more interesting or compelling.

His most commonly seen Pokemon would be a houndoom, Saxon, old battle veteran, retired now to herding and being a good boy. Very gentle, loves a pet.

Pari, now a fully fledged nurse, often oversees the labs front desk and pokecentre features, such as healing pokemon, and informing trainers who come to visit. Her skills with eggs and hatchlings is high, she’s great with younger Pokemon, and hands out good advice to trainers a lot. She’s not a fighter, never was, but can find any file, any study, any book, and any refrence you may need. A true bookworm, loves her romance novels, chat shows and upbeat celebrity gossip mags. Will cry at a lot of stuff, be it sad or happy.

She’s got a seriously upbeat personality, but if caught off guard or shocked, she gets a little flustered. Too much chaos will overwhelm her, but usually she’s on top of things. The years spent on the island have made her better at maintaining composure in emergencies. With lots of siblings, she’s very competent with others, and has a good ability to disarm cagey people with her jolly nature. Because of this, she can sometimes gain information from trainers that some of the more harsh professors may not have access to. Charming is a word for it.

Her partners are an eevee, and a happiny. They are quite sweet and well adjusted, the eevee gets a bit bouncy if you get it too excited.