#I learned a lot by researching while I was writing this thanks anon

[fellowshipofthenoodles]

do you have any favourite hot snakes? obviously not to work with!

PSA for everyone - LEAVE THE VENOMOUS REPTILES TO THE PROFESSIONALS: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO INTERACT WITH VENOMOUS IF YOU’RE NOT SPECIFICALLY TRAINED AND SUPERVISED

Oh man do I. I’ll do three otherwise I’ll be here all day.

Boomslangs! Aka “Dispholidus Typus”.

[id: 1 green and yellow boomslang with black eyes, and 1 brown boomslang with bright green eyes]

Liddol guys! Look at their faces! What do you MEAN this cutie could kill me by making me essentially turn into a blood fountain, I don’t believe it. Maybe it’s worth it. They’re so beautiful too.

They’re colubrids (so the same family as kingsnakes, cornsnakes, hognoses etc), and while most colubrids aren’t venomous, there’s a few that absolutely are, and fewer still that can kill you. This particular snake has venom that’s a hemotoxin, meaning it causes just TONS of micro clots, which then makes it so that you can’t clot anymore and you hemorrhage and can start bleeding out of eyes, gums, etc. And it only takes a small amount of venom to be fatal to a fully grown human! Fortunately, all they want is to be left tf alone and biting is a last defence when they’re being harassed.

Samar Cobra “Naja Samarensis”

[id: black cobra with bright yellow markings and hood]

Look I tried to find pictures where they don’t look like an affronted shoelace but they just do. I love most cobras but look at their face. They’re like bro. Can I fucking HELP you. 100% is supported by the fact that they’re sketchy as fuck, if you look at them wrong they’re like you know what buddy, I’m gonna spit my venom at your eyeballs.

They’re elipads* that are indigenous to the Philippines, and despite being skeeved out by humans they like hanging around places like rice fields because it’s where things like rats like hanging out. Their venom causes a delightful number of effects like paralysis, respiratory distress, and necrosis if bitten, and if you’re unfortunate enough to get it in your eyes after being spat at, it can cause blindness as it wrecks your eyeball tissue. Fun!

* elapidae - snake family that have permanent fangs out, like this dude below, a king cobra that’s found their home at the St Augustine Alligator Farm in Florida!

[id: skull of a king cobra]

Bush vipers!

[id: 3 types of bush vipers; a brown and orange tia hairy bush viper, a bright green west African bush viper and a dark blue variable bush viper]

I can’t even choose a subtype. They’re legitimately one of my absolute favourite types of snake. I would kill I would DIE to be in the presence of one. They’re mini dragons! Mini extremely venomous dragons!

They’re from the viperidae family, which contain over 200 types of viper. Like the elapidae family, they’ve got fangs at the front and venom glands stored in their heads. Viperidae fangs are foldable back in their mouth rather than constantly having them locked to the front like elapidae, and viperidae fangs are longer, and there’s differences in the types of venom they have too. They also have one lung!

Bonus: gaboon viper. What is this. Ridiculous animal. He is TRUNDLING. Chugga chugga of death.

[fefern]

Hello!! I'm in love with your Wuwa hcs and writing in general and I'd love to put in a request, if you're still open for them :0 <3

I'd like to request some fluffy hcs for Jiyan with an s/o that's part dragon, has horns and tail and maybe some scales like Mortefi(forgot if you spell his name like that I'm sorry😭 the red scientist guy). The s/o is super protective of him but also aloof in public, super cuddly in private when the time is right, brings him rocks and flowers as gifts and all that cute stuff, basically courting him by "dragon standards" hajsjdjd

Thank you for your time!<3

✧˖° his reaction to a dragon hybrid lover. | jiyan headcanons.

⋆ ˚☁️ ⁀➴ synopsis: look in the sky! it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a... dragon hybrid reader? just how will jiyan react to being courted by you, and how does he love you as someone who's part dragon?

⋆ ˚☁️ ⁀➴ characters involved: jiyan and gender neutral reader.

⋆ ˚☁️ ⁀➴ warnings: none!

⋆ ˚☁️ ⁀➴ notes: hello hello hello! i hope you are doing well lovely anon!! thank you for sending in an ask, and i hope this fufils what you were looking for ;;!! sending lots of love, and as always, requests are open! ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ jiyan ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

your tail would be so so pretty, decorated with scales that had colors that mimic the colors of the clouds and skies. 

your horns would be cute on the top of your head, a bit pointy and glowing in the night. 

jiyan has come to adore your dragon features, finding them both unique and absolutely beautiful. he’s caught often staring at the way your scales on your face, neck, and tail all catch the sunlight just right to create a glimmer like nothing he’s ever seen before. 

he’s quiet in the way he admires you, gently curling a piece of your hair behind your pointy little ears and smiling whenever you look over at him when he does. 

he didn’t have time to confess to you about his feelings though, he was caught up with being a general and of course, he also had to consider the fact that he didn’t really know if you would reciprocate them back. 

would you prefer mating with another dragon hybrid yourself? is that how these things work?

after a few months of being around you though, he began to notice some… strange things. 

for example, whenever you two were walking around the city, you’d always be on the defensive, not letting anyone get too close, not even the chef when you’d go get lunch together. 

then, sometimes, when he comes back from long patrols, you overload him with rocks and flowers that you’ve gathered for him, and he always says thank you, even though it’s a bit difficult to bring back to his home.

(he keeps them in his room forever to admire when you’re not around.)

also, lately, you’ve been much more affectionate with him, rubbing your cheek against his and getting very touchy as well, always wanting to be close to him physically. 

he expresses his confusion about your behavior to one of the researchers when he stops by one day to gather some intel for a mission for his rangers. 

one of the researchers directs him to a shelf that discusses about dragon hybrids, and the man spends almost the entirety of one day learning more about you and your species. 

the way he feels his cheeks flush a soft pink when he realizes just what it means for you to have been doing all these actions. he feels like he had a revelation, but at the same time feels stupid and dense. 

he’s quick to come back to you one day with flowers and your favorite food in hand, giving them to you and confessing his love for you on top of a quiet hill with a beautiful view of the starry night sky. 

“my pretty dragon, you’re prettier than anyone in all of huanglong, and i have loved you for quite some time. will you do me the honors and be mine?”

when you say yes, he feels overjoyed and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you into a tight hug as he’s careful not to hit your horns or tail while doing so.

after the successful confession, a few things change. 

for one, when you begin sleeping over more at his place, he begins to gift you dozens of fluffy blankets and pillows. he organizes them in a nest-like position for you to cuddle up in, and finds it adorable when he comes back to the sight of you curled up in the fluffiness. 

jiyan will cuddle with you more often now, guiding your tail to wrap around his strong muscles so that you get your fix of touching as much of his skin as possible. jiyan likes to run his hands over the smooth scales to coax you to sleep.

he enjoys pecking soft kisses on the scales of your face and neck; it’s his little reminder to you to not be insecure about something so beautiful. 

overall, you’re jiyan’s most beloved treasure. he will do anything to make sure his little dragon is safe and loved.

[koolades-world]

hey! I really like your writing and was curious if you ever did a brothers react to an MC w/ dermatillomania? Like, an MC who might pick at their skin/scabs when they’re stressed or overwhelmed or just bored.

Thank you <33 have a fantastic dayYyY

~ Anon

hi! sure thing :)

i honestly didn't know that was a thing but i've been doing this my wholeeeee life. did some research and everything makes so much sense now. i pick at my lips the most without even thinking about it, and i only realize when i find dried blood on my hands later, but i'm also really bad with picking at my acne and cuticles too. working on this request has made me hyper aware about just how much i actually do it. usually, i just try to keep my hands busy but that can only do so much. next time i go to the doctors, i'll bring it up if i remember haha. thank you anon!

enjoy <3

Mc with Dermatillomania

Lucifer

no matter the cause, his door is always open if you want to chat

he's got connections everywhere in the devildom if you find human world treatments aren't really helping

whenever he sees pens out while shopping that look like you'd play with, he buys

that way, when you write, you'll be just a little more likely to play with the pen instead of pick

Mammon

the first time you showed up with a bleeding lip, he was so worried

he was ready to beat up whoever did it to you

it sure was a shock for him to learn that you did it without thinking about it

tries his best to help you out, but also always has tissues on hand to clot the bleeding

Levi

i feel like he'd also pick at his skin

he knows saying to just stop picking doesn't help and can get annoying

so, if he realizes either of you are picking, he'll try to get your hands or mind busy

has lots of fidget toys for you to pick from!

Satan

lowkey i also feel like he would pick especially with his cuticles

he didn't know his actions could be explained, and just thought it was a thing he did until you showed up

you've only been a positive light in his life

eternally grateful for you

Asmo

tries his best to help you out where he can!

if you're taking meds, he makes sure you've had them every night

if you're picking, he'll hold your hands to keep them busy

he only wants the best for you!

Beel

he doesn't quite understand it at first

but of course, he's a great listener and soon he's an expert just like you!

if he even sees you getting worked up and picking more, he helps you calm down

anything for you <3

Belphie

he's pretty blunt with his approach of trying to help

like asmo, he'll hold you hands, but he yanks them instead

his goal is to totally put your attention on him instead

it's a win-win, what's not to like?

[lovinglokilaufeyson]

The Devil You Know - A.A.

Pairings: Spawn!Astarion x Fem!Reader (Mephistopheles Tiefling! Raphael’s Daughter)

Warnings: Abandonment by parent, implied loss of parent, BG3 Spoilers (set sometime in Act 2), Angst, Conflict/Yelling/Disagreement between Tav & Astarion, Past Trauma, Not Proofread

Wordcount: 1,364

Summary: You are Raphael’s daughter, who he disowned for her good nature. You are abducted from Baldur’s Gate and receive a tadpole in your head. You have bonded with Astarion, but you are not about to let him ask your father for help.

A/N: Requested by anon! I loved loved loved this prompt so so so much God! Thank you for requesting this, I loved writing it! Also, I did some research as to what race Tav would end up being. From what I understand, if Raphael (Cambion) had a child with a human, it would be either a Tiefling or a Cambion?? (Still really muddy for me) Therefore, Tav/Reader is a Tiefling for the sake of this story, and to make the fact that she is “good” more realistic. There will definitely be a part two of this (with substantial fluff, maybe even smut).

It had been years since you had spoken to your father. He was on the verge of abandoning you when your mother gave birth to you, a Tiefling. Raphael would have preferred you to be a Cambion, as he was. You still had similar appearance like he flourished, but you showed an innocence that juxtaposed his own behaviors. He tolerated your presence for a while, but the time came when he was unable to process you frolicking through fields of flowers, basking in the sunshine, the pure happiness that radiated from you. He tried to destroy everything you loved: the flowers, the light. And yet, you were still happy.

He hated it.

He dropped you off at the orphanage at once, you were maturing, but not fast enough for him. That, and he practically despised you. Perhaps, for what Raphael himself lacked. However, who ever claimed that devils were self-aware was definitely a devil themselves.

You spent much of your childhood wondering what you did to deserve to be dropped off at the orphanage that day. The truth was you didn’t. You didn’t deserve to be abandoned by your father. You were just too dissimilar, and that was something Raphael couldn’t handle. You spent a bit of your upbringing attempting to enhance your magical skills, your father had rescinded the vast majority of your abilities upon plopping you at the door of the orphanage with no explanation. However, you were able to regain a lot through your studies in Candlekeep. You were a bookworm, and you loved learning, not only that but you had an innate proficiency with arcana. You became well-versed in magic, but you didn’t know that your adventures had yet to begin.

You had a tadpole placed in your head, and suddenly you felt a kind of freedom you hadn’t felt previously. Then, you were able to escape, with the help of your Githyanki “friend” (you had grown closer over time, she could tolerate you now) Lae’zel. You recruited Shadowheart, Astarion, and Gale along the way. Later on, you met Wyll and Karlach. Karlach was most similar to yourself, being a Zariel Tiefling. Her skin was darker than yours, warmer, but if a stranger met you two they would have thought you sisters.

One person that you didn’t think you would bond with was Astarion. Astarion had his walls up very high from the very beginning, but something within you tore them down. Maybe it was your giddiness, or your general inexperience, but he felt the need to protect you, in a sense. Sure, you had fucked up in battle more times than they all could count, but you tried your hardest, anytime you misfired a spell you would study it over and over again with Gale until you could do it right 100% of the time.

You were perplexed on how you bonded more with Astarion than Gale, but the further you dug with Astarion the more you wanted to know. You had slept together a few times; little did you know that Astarion mostly pursued you for his own gain. He figured that if he got on the good side of the fearless, well-liked leader, she and the rest of the party wouldn’t turn on him. What Astarion didn’t realize was that he didn’t have to sleep with you to get on your good side. He just simply had to be him. You enjoyed his sass, his quips, the bantering that he tried to pursue with you. It never lasted long, which invigorated him, you were simply too easy going. A lover, rather than a fighter.

You were like a ray of sunshine. If he could, Astarion would douse himself in your rays every moment. Similarly to his newfound love for basking in the sun, you were intoxicating to him. Astarion hadn’t met many people who glowed as you did. Ironically, your contrasted, dark correspondent, your father, Raphael, had been following you and your crew around for the past few weeks. Of course, given the whole tadpole situation, the group reeked of desperation. And devils loved desperation. Desperation would lead to deals.

You were adamant that that would not be occurring.

It became evident, one night, that Astarion would be pushing you on that boundary. Astarion’s former master, Cazador,  had written a piece of infernal text on his back. You didn’t think much of it until Astarion became fixated on it one night. You could tell him what it said, but that would mean releasing the information that you were indeed Raphael’s daughter to the rest of the party, which you would have preferred not to do.

This, in itself, was a big step for Astarion. Talking about his past, his troubles, all of it. He felt comfortable around you, perhaps partially because you had shared so little with him regarding your past. You analyzed the scars on his back, running your fingertips over them as you did. “So, darling?” He inquired, pondering if you had an answer for him.

“I can tell you its written in infernal” you spoke simply, only giving him a glimpse into the answer he truly wanted. You bent down on the ground, drawing it on the sand for him, “here.” “I’ve never seen it before” Astarion spoke, and you nodded. “Infernal, you say?” He questioned again, as if an idea was coming to mind. You gestured in approval yet again.

“Darling, thank you. I believe we need to seek out Raphael, that devil who has been creeping on us the past few weeks. I bet he could tell us the meaning of the scars Cazador left on me.”

“Astarion, you can’t possibly be serious. Raphael is a devil. Devils always require a deal, and there is always a catch. You can’t pay that price.” You argued. You had wanted to do something nice for Astarion, given the horrific situation, but you knew one thing for sure. You would not be approaching your father for anything, not even over your own dead body.

“Darling, please. I’m not stupid. I need to know what these marks on me say, and Raphael can do that for me. We can adjust the pricing, I’m sure. You’re just inexperienced.” He quipped, and you gasped at his remark.

“We are not talking to Raphael, and that is final, Astarion.” You were worked up now, Astarion could see it. Gods, even the owlbear across camp half asleep could see it.

“It’s not your decision to make, Tav. It’s mine. If I want to make a deal with the devil, so be it. You can stay out of it.” From across camp, you could hear both Wyll and Karlach trying to intervene and talk some sense into Astarion. He wouldn’t take it anymore. He was his own person, and he could make his own decisions outside of what Cazador – or anyone else – decided for him. You looked at Astarion with glistening eyes, on the verge of tears. He knew he had hurt you, as well as hurt his position with you. But part of him didn’t care anymore about that.

“You’re just too naïve” he spat, and with that, a Barbarian-like rage emanated from you, your typical glow radiated into a powerful force that was nearly too much for Astarion. Your eyes were glowing most prominently, your hands formed into tight fists, and your teeth gnawed against one another. “You want to know what the damned scars say, Astarion?! Do you!?” Astarion, for the first time in weeks, was mildly scared for his life.

He nodded ever so gently, careful not to push you further. “It’s a contract. One between Cazador and Mephistopheles. The rite of profane ascension to a fate similar to godhood, but for vampires. He needs seven thousand souls, and you’re one of them.” Astarion had to bite back a chuckle. You had to be kidding him, right? This was a joke. Right?

“I’m dead fucking serious Astarion.” Your eyebrows were shifted downward, reciprocating your tone of voice.

“How would you know?” He quipped, anxious to break the pattern of seriousness and – perhaps lies that you were spreading. He didn’t want it to be true.

“I’m Raphael’s daughter."

Part Two is now out! Read it here.

[tenjikufag]

HI THIS IS VIRGIN LAIOS ANON

I enjoyed your post on the topic a lot, so thank you for responding :}

I had another interesting idea that I wished I would've said at the time but I REALLY like the beginning stages of the slow build up to the initial like you talked about

To me, when I think about the nerdy or scientific side of it ("experiment", like laios), I like to think about you or Laios is so intently focused on the other's body, poker face and cool, while the other is a MESS, red, looking up trying to gain some baring, hand over mouth

I can't explain it, but personally when I get focused I just go into my own world of Research BrainTM (shortened; locked in XD)

I'd imagine Laios would be the person to just, observe, taking all kinds of mental notes of how you like this, that, and the stars above

I'm rambling so sorry if it's pretty incoherent, but I'd like to hear your thoughts!

No, thank YOU for sharing your big brained thoughts. I absolutely adored writing it all out.

I have some ideas for this too! I didn’t want the initial post to be too all over the place so again THANK YOU for sending in more thoughts that I can bounce off of.

-read under the cut! AMAB Anatomy mentions, NSFW (MDNI), rambles rambles and headcanons. Not proofread.

Even with the slow build up, you’re absolutely correct in thinking that Laios would be more than attentive in the reactions you gave. As you said, “locked in”, most you’re getting from him is the random shiver of excitement he gets from eliciting a new sound from you.

The first time he heard you moan, it felt like a breakthrough to him! Playing with your dick, he would brush his fingers along the underside and watched your face with blown pupils- examining how your hips would stutter the closer he brushed against the tip, using the tip of his finger to pressure down a soft prod. Inhaling deeply when the head of your dick let out a faint sheen of pre.

Your dick was his favourite to play with, whether it be because he was someone who was good with his hands, or because of his oral fixation. During your ‘experiments’, he would simply lay your dick in his mouth, not doing anything but keeping himself suctioned to you. The desperation that painted your cheeks red was not something that went unnoticed. Sometimes, your dick would soften just a tad in his mouth and he would softly suckle to keep you hard- creating a whine in your throat.

Other times, with you in his mouth, he swirls his tongue around it- feeling it pulse and twitch in his mouth when he lapped over areas. Even prodding his tongue softly in the slit of your head- his mouth following you as you tried to escape the feeling of his hot mouth.

Much to his dismay, he had to experiment with spitting out your load to see if you cared about that at all- and to his surprise, you did! When he swallowed, you gave him a soft smile and caressed his cheek. In contrast, when he spat it out in a towel beside him or got up to the bathroom to spit it out, you seemed almost pouty. Still, you pet his head but it wasn’t a caress- really, he would be swallowing regardless but it was interesting to see that you actually cared about that part.

NOW! THE ASS PLAY, this was more specific, he knew it wouldn’t be as easy to observe proper results if you weren’t comfortable, having to learn the ‘art’ of preparation he made it a point to have an abundance of different methods to prep you.

It started out with lube, it took far more work and with his hands not used to using specific muscles and joints he also realized he needed to find a way to strengthen his own fingers and wrists. But, he enjoyed watching your legs twitch and try to close on him while he did no more than stroke his fingers around the ring of muscle.

During this, he would actually ask you inquiring questions- if you felt anything, what you felt, and when/how long it usually took for it to feel good.

You could be making the most lewd noises and faces, clutching the sheets beneath you with tears streaming down your face and while he would make note of it and glance at you from time to time- his real focus was on the way your ass sucked up his fingers, how your walls clenched down on the digits, when you bucked your hips or would grind down on his hand. When removing his fingers, he’d watch in a methodical satisfaction seeing how your ass clenched around nothing, seemingly hungry and desperate for more.

Once in awhile, he would try toys on you. Despite not being his favourite because he couldn’t actually feel you- it was a worthy experiment and did give him some good information. How easily overstimulated you became, how your legs would shake and your body quivering with the vibrations that came from some of them. Butt plugs having loosened you up throughout the day and making his prep less extensive (but oddly enough, he did not like that aspect.) Really, toys were just a fun novelty thing to try for him. He wasn’t all too sure how he felt about them when it was just him playing with your body but he did make mental notes that it may be fun in the future to play together. For now, they’re in the bottom of his drawers- it wasn’t as fun for him and he noticed that you didn’t enjoy the less personal touch. Toys are cold.

Sometimes, he would experiment with foreplay. Like massaging your thighs, feeling up and kneading your ass, or thrumming his fingers on your hips and pelvis. He would also experiment with playing with your nipples, seeing if you had any reaction to it- he knew nipples were sensitive but just how sensitive were they? Laios loved to trace lines where he could feel your ribs, whether you’re a plush and plump man or not, feeling the cage under your flesh and massaging against them was interesting to him. The same goes with your back, he would trace all up and down your spine- observing which areas you reacted to, was your tailbone a pressure point that he could get a reaction from? Did the vertebrae’s that met the back of your neck tickle?

He’s all over you, seeing how your body reacts. How do your muscles twitch and tense under the pressure of his hands? You being a blushing and whimpering mess really meant very little, how your body reacted was what he was after.

[entropicbias]

Last couple asks has me wondering what kind of johndave rep DO you like to read/see? Any examples you can think of in fanworks? And just your own interpretation. Thank you

i have got to reiterate that this is just a me thing. i'm not saying this to police anyone on their writing! i'm just really specific about the way i see these two get portrayed.

this is gonna suck and i'm gonna ramble about it for a while cause i'm mentally challenged. i have a hard time explaining my own thoughts with accuracy. sorry i can't keep this short and sweet. i am the type of person to just know when something is done right. i can't tell you why, but i'll try for you, anon. if you don't want to read all this here, i summarized it.

even more simplified

this is so crude. canon dave is really hard to nail for writers for some reason let alone the specific way i see him. i like a more chillaxed dave. some of the things that really throw me off with dave writing is missing the mark on how annoying he is and dumbing his character down to either angst, obama and apple juice jokes, or him being gay. i think john also encounters this issue. not enough research goes into their interests so writers can only represent them with the bare minimum. nicholas cage, con air, and 'dave i'm not a homosexual'. john and dave are assholes. they tease each other and aren't shy of doing that to other people. not that they're bad people! they care about each other and their friends a lot! but they're not afraid of being really honest about their thoughts or overexaggerating something that doesn't really bother them to poke fun at someone. they can make mendacious remarks to be polite, it just doesn't occur to them as often as just blatantly stating their thoughts on something or someone. i also like seeing them have more naturalistic dialogue. for some reason, when i think of that i think of zach from oneyplays or his character charlie from smiling friends. which is dumb even if it gives you an idea. i feel like a lot of this kind of banter is missing from these fanfics i read. at least, in the way i want it to go. think powerup comics.

gay part upcoming. i think the john and dave's relationship is best portrayed as a childhood crush that is unspoken of. a term i recently learned was "demiromantic", and i think that very perfectly describes how i think john's homosexuality would work. i mean, he doesn't really have a problem admiring dudes, which in itself could be called gay but that's not why i think he would be attracted to dave. i think it's kind of hilarious when people attribute john's homosexuality to him being "romantically interested in cage". john's idols are more like heroic figures to him. i don't like it when that is used as evidence that he's gay unless someone is making fun of him. this is the part where i talk about how john insists on the fact that he's straight. i'm not doubting that at all i think john still likes women and it's easier for him to do so. but he can also develop feelings for someone like dave. hence why i think he's demiromantic in that regard. this is exactly what my sexuality is like, so maybe i am projecting. i like to imagine i'm not projecting incorrectly, though. i think he'd only be able to develop feelings for dave in a setting where he is really a prominent figure in his life. earlier acts of homestuck were like this, but unfortunately the johndave relationship wouldn't work out on john's end with the way homestuck went. their friendship was kind of forgotten after a while, which sucks. in an ideal world, they would have remained in contact and then gotten close again in earth c. but dave was written to be with karkat and jade, which either nulls his feelings for john or opens up a whole new avenue of internalizing it. which is dumb and convoluted and i don't care about postcanon.

dave on the other hand would think about his feelings towards john a little more. i like to think that homestuck dave definitely had feelings towards john. i like to imagine they both developed a crush on each other around the same time, but unlike john who doesn't give it the time of day or even considers it as a crush, dave would. and he'd know that but he wouldn't want to act on it because of a plethora of reasons. probably to retain their friendship and his self image. i guess that could give them some 'angst'.

but you know what? i don't even care for romance all that much! they're bros before they're anything else! and that's all that matters to me! just nailing their friendship in itself is gold. john and dave mean a lot to each other in a platonic sense. even if they pursue other romantic avenues or don't, i don't care! i just like people putting them in a similar setting and showcasing their awesome bromance!

fig. 3, i also like davejade. thinking of iterations of him and john in fanworks that i like is really hard cause i don't read much in that department. what comes to mind is mr. tambourine man and some of deacon_blues's comics. kgtac has a really good dave and karkat too. cole is a spectacular writer. but i've finished neither of those comics so i'm just basing it off the very little i've read. also, none of these examples are particularly johndave related. i just wanted to note down examples of john egbert and dave strider writing i enjoyed. i read like, one comic faygos made but that was also pretty good. pinballhazard is also a phenomenal writer and artist. especially for john! you guys should check all these guys out. anyways, thanks for reading all that!

[misc-obeyme]

Hello omg can i request waiting + solomon? Thank you i love you and i love your works have a wonderful day ✨️

Hello there, anon!

Aww, thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying my writing and I love you, too!

I can't pretend I didn't get into my feels with this one lol. What can I say, I love Solomon so much.

Thank you for the request!

GN!MC x Solomon with prompt Waiting

Warnings: juuuust a little hurt but it ends happy hee hee

Sometimes it felt like he was always waiting for you. Waiting for you to come home for the day, waiting for you to make pacts with the brothers again, waiting for you to see that he's always been there for you, waiting for you to touch him, to reach out, to trust him…

Solomon had to redirect his thoughts when they began to wander this way. He tried to occupy himself with a book of spells while he waited for you to come home to Cocytus Hall. He found he didn't really like being there without you. It was large and it was empty and it was cold. He needed your voice, your presence, your sweet laugh to fill it, to make him feel whole.

When had he ever become so dependent on you? He had spent so many years on his own. Solomon had a lot to focus on, plenty of magic to learn, research to perform, demons to make pacts with. He didn't allow himself the time to feel his own loneliness.

It was different now. How quickly you had invaded his heart, taking over and growing where there had been nothing but a hollow before.

Solomon sighed, setting down his book and leaving his room. He paced in the main entry hall, frustrated with himself for being unable to think of anything but you. Could he pretend that he was just worried about you? That you should have been home by now? But no, it was still early, you were normally at the House of Lamentation for a little while longer. He had no reason to go after you, no reason to see you now, other than the fact that he missed you.

He missed you as if he hadn't seen you just that morning.

As the time passed, he puttered around Cocytus Hall, doing little chores here and there, trying to do some research, picking up a different book every few minutes. He couldn't focus on anything, but he knew he just had to wait.

The moment you walked through the door, he felt a flood of relief rush through him. You looked as tired as you usually did when you got back and all he wanted to do was take care of you. He was so desperate to hold you, but he held back.

"Welcome home, MC," he said as you put down your things.

You turned to him and smiled. And suddenly he felt he was finally home. "Solomon," you said. "I missed you."

These words took him by surprise as you collapsed into him, throwing your arms around him and leaning your head on his shoulder.

The stab of feeling that ran through Solomon's heart was something he couldn't quite define. He put his arms around you, leaning his head against yours.

"I missed you, too, MC," he said. He said it quietly and you didn't seem to think it was a strange thing for him to say.

But Solomon had been waiting all of his long life for this feeling. He had been waiting all of those years for you.

the original prompt list

masterlist | Thank you for reading!

[merakiui]

not the same anon but i would actually love to know more about you :) like what your hobbies outside of writing are, what type of music you listen to, if you're a gamer since you play twst and genshin, etc

AAAA thank you so much!!! (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈) I'm honored you want to know more. 💖

I have lots of hobbies outside of writing, but I'm most passionate about fashion/makeup, thrifting, reading, exercise, gardening, photography, researching and learning new things, watching anime, collecting keychains and strange plushies!!!! Sometimes I draw. I'd like to get back into sewing and crocheting!! It's been some time, but I used to make pillows and blankets for my plushies when I was younger.

As for music,,,,,, it's a lot of genres. I like to listen to all kinds of music because the variety is exciting and you can never get tired of it when there are so many styles! My latest song obsession has been the extended version of Dance With Me by Sir, Please. It's become my unofficial "wake up in the morning with a dance while I brew tea" song. It's just,,,,, SO GOOD. OTL I want to write a fic based on it with either Cater or Floyd because it reminds me of them hehe.

I'm not Idia-level gamer,,,,, ;;;; I truly wish I was, but I can't afford a fancy gaming set-up. >_< I have my tablet for mobile games and a nintendo switch for other games. I hope to buy Cupid Parasite at some point and play it once I finish my semester. :D

[ddarker-dreams]

Hellooooo I have been DYING to know this from you 👉👈. You know how there's a lot of tips for writing stuff? Well do you happen to have any tips for reading stuff? I want to read the books you recommend but I fear I'm just too dumb 😭 and won't understand what is going on let alone the themes and philosophies discussed. I feel like I would be insulting Dostoevsky by reading his work looool. We were never taught this stuff in schools ;O

I'm talking about critical thinking and analysis skills, media literacy, being able to picture and visualise sceneries; characters' voices/appearances etc., and just overall being able to comprehend one sentence that doesn't use the most basic active voice structure 😭 thank you if you choose to answer!!!!

SWEET ANON !!!! YOU ARE NOT DUMB !!!!

this is coming from a survivor of the american education system, so it might not be universal, but my experiences in middle/high school made me dislike reading books. no joke. i didn't see the point and thought reading the classics was a waste of time. i'm sure that's partially teenager arrogance, but from the conversations i've had with others, reading was rarely framed in a way that stoked intrigue. we're not given the tools to engage with the text so i'm rarely surprised when i see the worst takes imaginable on a piece of media i enjoy from a 14 year old.

i'm still learning myself when it comes to media literacy, it's an ongoing journey. when i read notes from underground for the first time last year i was literally so confused. i can normally read anywhere from 80k-100k words in one day if i'm motivated enough, but NFU, a novella at around 43k words, took me over a week.

i say all this to reassure you that you're not alone!

some advice that comes to mind when reading a dense work:

do some background research on the author. i know teachers hiss at wikipedia for some reason but reading a few paragraphs about the person's life, beliefs, politics, etc really helps put their writing into perspective.

look into the time period it was written. what were the pressing social issues at the time? who was in charge? what conflicts were ongoing/just ended? what was the predominant religion? books don't exist in a vacuum, a lot of the classics are filled with jabs at ideologies the author doesn't like (i'm looking at you, dante).

if the author's from a different country than you, getting a basic grasp on the culture helps a lot. with reading dostoevsky specifically, historical events like the emancipation of the serfs was an entirely new concept to my american brain.

not everything is going to make sense. sometimes the cultural/historical layers go so deep you'd need to have been alive at the time to immediately get it. fortunately, there are nerds with degrees in book who do extensive research and can give insight. i'll think i maybe understand a book okay, go to read a journal article on it, and go ??????? wat???? page 632 paragraph 3 references euclid's optics?? how was i supposed to know that.

finally, you're not going to like every book you read, even if it's well written. there's a difference between persevering and actively torturing yourself with words. if you dread picking it up again, there are other books to check out instead. there are some classics that i don't care for much (some of edgar allen poe's short stories, the fall by albert camus, no longer human by dazai osamu, to name a few).

ask yourself questions while reading. why did this character do that? is there a reoccurring motif throughout the work, and if so, why might the author be trying to highlight that? what perspective is the work from? is the protagonist lucid, are they an unreliable narrator? what themes are being explored here?

i hope some of this helps dsfhgkdjshgks there's a lot to be said on the subject but i didn't want this post to be miles long.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Hello! I'm new here, and english is not my first language so I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense.

You know the trope Wisdom, Strength, and Heart.

So the farmers are triplets that have magic but have different ways of using it. One who always studys and wants to learn everything and everything, One who trains both physically and spiritually so they can protect their love ones, and One who knows healing spells, makes remedies and only fights in self-defense and/or if a love one is being harmed.

So...

What are the reactions of the Guild members to the farmers?

You don't have to answer this right away. Have a good time of day you are in.🩷🩷🩷

Honestly, this is the first time I’ve heard about this, but your idea about three Farmers, each of whom has a certain magic, is very cool, dear anon!

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure which Guild you mean exactly: the original Adventurers Guild, where it's just Marlon and Gil (aaaand probably Wizard, though he's kind of unrelated to the Guild in vanilla SDV), or the Guilds from Stardew Expanded, like the First Slash? Soooo, in this question I will leave the vanilla members (if you meant both SVE and RSV too - feel free to write again!). Thank you again for the ask! 💕

(In this ask I will refer to these Farmers as Battle Mage, Researcher and Healer so as not to confuse them together.)

_________________________________________

Marlon still couldn't understand how he had managed to become a father figure to the three new farmers who had joined his guild. Not that the one-eyed old adventurer is complaining. After all, not only are the trio skilled wizards, each a master of their craft, but they are also wonderful people. But sometimes the boisterous youths can grate on his nerves if they get rowdy. Especially a Battle Mage and a Researcher. The Healer is at least quiet, but the other two farmers make Marlon have to constantly write reports to the others Guilds about how one member of his guild nearly burned down half of Stardew Valley, or how another farmer accidentally (not really) opened a portal to another dimension.

Haha, Gil be damned! Three gifted young farmers who will make excellent adventurers and magicians. It also means triple the trouble for his friend Marlon and more amusing (and not so) incidents with this chaotic trio. All the old adventurer has to do is sit back in his chair and laugh at the next magical incident, hah! But despite his carefree appearance, Gil will look after the youngsters and help with advice in times of need. Especially the Healer, telling them how to properly defend themself from bulling if the other siblings/friends aren't around. He also teases the Researcher a lot, so that they can finally get their noses out of the book and have a little fun with other peers while they are still young. He gets along best with the Battle Mage: brave and determined - the makings of a good adventurer!

Yoba, give him the patience... It's not enough for the Wizard to have one chaotic Farmer, now he has three. Yes, they are gifted in both farming and sorcery. Yes, Rasmodius has grown attached to them, and treats them like he's a father/father figure/uncle/caring teacher for them. But every day, every damn day, some catastrophe happens that never fails to give him a headache. A Battle Mage sets fire to the roof of his tower while trying to demonstrate a new way to quickly create a fireball, or a Researcher accidentally moves the wizard and his tower to the Pelican Town (everyone is freaking out). Even the mild and calm Healer managed to grow carnivorous flower cannibals with magic instead of healing herbs (well, it happens). Rasmodius teaches, protect and tutors the young talent as much as he scolds them for their mistakes and careless attitude to magic.

[thequietkid-moonie]

So sorry to ask👏👏 I know you already did something kinda similar to this but could you do an Assassination Classroom x Reader with a reader who has anxiety or generalized anxiety. I really like your writing and I think you would portray it really well

Class 3-E with a classmate with an anxiety disorder

[ HEADCANONS ] [ Class 3-E ]

[ Assassination Classroom / Ansatsu Kyoshitsu ]

Of course dear ~ don't worry, is completely fine! I know I already wrote for reader with anxiety but not with Class 3-E so is completely fine!

I actually have a anxiety disorder so this is kinda comforting ❤️ thanks for requesting this anon!!

Maybe this isn't my best writing but I tried my best, sorry

When Koro-sensei started to be the teacher of Class 3-E he decided to be the best teacher he can be, that is why he pays close attention and plans to have a good relationship with every single of them, try to befriend them without forgeting his role as the teacher

Koro-sensei is incredibly smart and observant (and he is proud of it) so it won't take him long for him to realice how nervous (or anxious) you tent to get sometimes, even if you don't show it much he will find out soon or later. At first Koro-sensei doesn't think much of it because all of you are teenagers and are under a lot of pressure for the school system, and not just that but you are in your third year of high school it would normal for anyone in this situation to feel anxious, but as the time pass he notice more and more hints that you feel anxious even in what could be consider normal situation

This truly worry him but before trying to talk to you about this topic he does a deeper research of the topic, wanting to make sure to know all he need before confronting you. When he does aproach to you to talk about this topic he, first of all, ask you how do you feel and what exactly makes you nervous, after confirming that what you feel is anxiety he ask you if you already are seen a profesional for help or not

Koro-sensei clarify that there is nothing bad about having a anxiety disorder (it could be generated while trying to protect yourself from something), is actually pretty common (sadly) and is completely natural for people to feel anxiety in situation that make people feel stress or even in danger, however with a anxiety disorder is something deeper but you can learn how to handle it

Koro-sensei will prepare an specially class to talk about anxiety, not just to help you indirectly but also to help everyone to learn to calm themselfs since in this assassin class all of you will face diferent situations that could bring a feeling of anxiety, and if you learn to handle that you can handle everything outside the school. He goes from explaining the feeling to completely explain the disorder and the anxiety attacks, as well to teach different techniques that help you calm down during one, breath and calm down is the key to handle anxiety!

You can open up to them about having an anxiety disorder or not, in any case they (specially your closer friends) will find out on their own, or at least notice when you are feeling anxious and are always willing to help you (at least to guide you through the technique to be able to calm down and focus)

Some of your classmates, like Kurahashi, Maehara and Fuwa, tries to help you with it in a more joking way, using jokes to help you distract, while others, like Hara, Kataoka and Isogai, are more direct and try to help you calm down

In the other hand some of them tries to help you but start panicing a little if they see you in a anxious state, like Okuda, Kimura or Sugaya, while there are others that say in a no so joking way that you have nothing to worry since they are the real danger (like Karma, Nakamura or Hazama)

[j0kers-light]

Hi Chaos,

You literally inspired me to get a tumblr account. You’re work is sooooo good xx

Could you write a one shot with J and a Celiac reader ( someone who can’t eat gluten)

Thank you! Don’t overwork yourself and take as much time as you need xx

HI MY BELOVED ANON!!! 🖤✨

I feel beyond honored to have inspired you to create a tumblr! My job here is done. I cannot thank you enough for reading, so I'll keep writing! (p.s. I am terribly sorry for the wait!! 😔)

Now as for your request. I could not extend it into a oneshot so please don't be upset with me, I converted it into a head canon. Let's discuss gluten free! 👩🏽‍💻

Here is the credit I referenced as well as asking Mama!

Celiac Disease: an illness caused by an immune reaction to eating gluten. Gluten is a protein found in foods containing wheat, barley or rye.

The universe must truly hate you because you cannot digest precious bread normally. It sucks that there's no cure, but at least there are alternatives so its not life threatening.

Bless Gaia for gluten free ingredients, without it you risk weight loss from vomiting and constant trips the bathroom doing you know what. 👀

You are aware of your diagnosis so the solution is simple. Don't eat gluten.

Over the years you learned how to adapt and avoid any possible flareups and integrate new safer nutrition sources into your diet.

You are vigilant when eating out, always looking for that GF logo on menus and if its not listed, you alert the staff of your condition.

That means you typically research the restaurant beforehand to check if they cater to celiac eaters.

While cooking at home, you use special flours, avoid certain condiments, and processed foods, and you are big on cross contamination.

If someone else cooks, you are asking what ingredients they used to protect your immune system reacting.

It’s not being rude, this is your health at stake!

Joker hardly notices your condition because you tend to keep it under wraps. He just thinks you’re just very food conscious or hip to trends.

Joker will make fun of your fancy artisan bread or whenever you make food from scratch though.

The only time it becomes a problem is when Joker drinks. You already know how that's gonna go.

You weren't planning on watching the game tonight but lo and behold, the tv is on.

It was honestly just background noise until Joker came home, surprisingly to watch said game. He was already rowdy as he landed on the couch with a slight bounce.

You gave him the side eye when he cheered loudly at a score being made. "I didn't know you watched sports, J." you said.

Joker snickered. “It’s ah.. en-ter-tain-ing.”

A distinct crackle rang out in the room as Joker popped open a beer. You turned your nose at the can. You haven't had beer in years since being diagnosed.

Joker on the other hand downed it in one gulp before opening another. Of course he had a low alcohol tolerance. Why were you surprised?

You must've chuckled because Joker's green eyes were instantly on you.

"Something funny, doll?" He arched an eyebrow at you waving him off. "Its nothing, J."

"Ya want one?" He was offering you the forbidden wheat. Did he know that you were celiac?

"Uhhh no thanks. I can't."

Now that got his attention away from the tv. He seen you drink alcohol before, why couldn't you drink some today? Unless….

You could practically see the complex math symbols floating around his head. Your big baby was so confused.

“I can't drink beer because it’s made from gluten." you explained.

It still didn't click upstairs. "Didn't know you had a thing with gluten, Bunny." Joker mused.

"Yeah well, me and her got a love/hate thing going on. I'm not mindful— she lashes out and makes me sick. It sucks having a malfunctioning immune system."

Silence fell over the two of you as Joker processed what you said.

He kinda understood what you meant but he was still at a loss. You ate bread. A lot in fact.

Was it a special kind? How could you separate the good bread from the bad? Was he overthinking this? Probably so, but now he had some research to do tonight while you slept.

Joker needed to know everything about his Light.

If you were secretly beefing with gluten, he needed to know study possible tactic to join the fight and protect you properly.

“I’ll … ah protect you from the bad gluten, Bun.”

You eyed Joker after hearing his random comment. He looked so unbothered— already focused back on the game as if he didn’t declare war on a protein.

Maybe he couldn’t hold his beer after all.

You just giggled and climbed into Joker���s lap as the two of you finished watching the rest of the game.

[catprinx]

I know art is all about practice and trying out new things and not being afraid of using references, but do you have any advice for newer artists about areas to focus time on? Especially for learning digital art/colouring? I've always loved your art style so any advice you have would be valuable.

hi anon!!! Thank you for the kind words :)

There's no one good answer to this because art is about a lot of things. So rather than give you clear-cut actionable items to do, like a checklist, I'll just write down my own philosophies about art exploration. I've also been thinking a lot about this in terms of my own improvement.

(Also for everyone reading this I am by NO MEANS a teacher so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm simply someone that just enjoys thinking about art)

I think art is a lot about the combination of technical skill + visual language + concept.

Practicing technical skill, as you said, involves using reference and doing studies. I think an important thing to remember is you need to know what you're trying to learn. Here's a good example the former is a traditional still life of grapes, the artist probably intended to make a piece with a good composition and an impressive rendering technique. While the latter is definitely more of a value/color study. I'm certain this artist could have gone into detail rendering those grapes but being realistic isn't their intention/style. So when you're doing your studies I think simply asking "what do I want to work on?/what am I trying to communicate" can be helpful.

If your goal is working on color specifically I think it would be important to practice values, hues, and temperature control. Those things are the basis of color and after that you can play with more stylistic color. In the end my advice is to do a lot of studies, and look at a lot of art! Doing these studies digitally is just a matter or practicing and familiarizing yourself with the art programs (it takes time). If you have an artist you like you can probably look at their work and breakdown what you like about it. For example the narumitsu art I was working on here is kind of a study of @/rei_17's art (from twitter). I love her use of non-local colors and colors that are very close in value but the depth comes from the hue/temperature shifts in color. It's so masterful to me!!! So, now that I know what I'm looking at it becomes easier to break down and put it into practice for my own art.

Visual language usually refers to "style". To me, it can mean a lot of different things but for the sake of this long ass text post let's say it's just about "art style". My tip is to...copy! Copy what you like and figure out what it is you like about it. I feel like your hand will guide you towards your own art style in the end. I don't view myself as someone with a particularly interesting or unique art style but I can breakdown my influences a little. I'm someone who grew up with anime/shoujo influence but also copied a lot of popular tumblr styles back in the day lmao. I want my anatomy to "feel" correct even though it's rarely realistic and I don't really exaggerate form too much because I don't have a preference for it. I'm someone who values drawing speed and clarity of form over details. And all those things added up are the reasons I draw like I do. You can totally make a style by more intentionally riffing off others, and you can also develop a style just by doing your own thing. Your art will always have an identity of its own even if you don't know it at the time!!!

Concept is just your idea/intentions/narrative etc. I really think concept can be anything you want. Some people can go really in-depth with their concept with studying and research and etc, and other people can make something visually interesting simply by going "I want to draw a cute girl". Everyone is different! I wouldn't take concept advice from me personally because I don't make original illustrations. Fanart is easier to work with because usually you're interpreting someone's existing narrative and you can churn out something cool from that. Maybe my advice is draw more fanart???

[msmargaretmurry]

any advice on how to not get overwhelmed at the prospect of writing a longer fic? 😭😭 i freak myself out with “ohhh what if i get too far in and then it turns out it sucks” and “i’ll have to do so much research for certain canon compliant things” etc etc

hi anon! i would be happy to share some of the things that work for me! we all know i love to talk incessantly about writing. thank you for giving me an excuse to. ❤

standard writing advice disclaimer that this is indeed all just stuff that works for me personally. it might not work for you, or you might have to tweak it to work for you, because different things work for different people! like all writing advice, it is best approached as suggestions and not as rules, so while i think this is all stuff worth trying, i also think that if you find it doesn't work with how your writing brain works, you should absolutely chuck it out the window.

firstly: get comfortable with the idea that the story is going to evolve as you write it. when you're writing something long, you ARE going to get far into it and realize you fucked something up at the begininning, or realize you left something out, or realize you need to change or cut something from earlier for the story to work. this does NOT mean that you're writing badly! recognizing those things is actually super smart of you! you are not beholden to what you wrote a week ago or a month ago or six months ago in your WIP. you can simply change it to better suit this story that you now know more about. no one will even know that you originally wrote it differently except maybe your alpha reader or pal you've been bouncing ideas off of, and they're legally required* to take that information to their grave. i will touch a little more on editing long fic in a minute, but i really do think this is maybe the most important piece of advice: accept that your story will change as you write, and think of it as a good thing.

(*i am not a lawyer)

writing your long fic is going to take a long time. that's a huge part of what makes it such a nerve-wracking undertaking! writing long fic is dedicating a huge amount of time and energy to a creative project that you have a lot of feelings about, and it can be really hard! but it can also be so rewarding and so worth it to see all that work turn into the story that you really wanted to tell. just the sense of accomplishment of FINISHING a long-term project like that is really cool and gratifying. it's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking "what if i put in all this work and then it sucks" but i think it's helpful to try to reframe that thought as something like "i'm going to put all this work in and learn so much about this story, and figure out how to make it the best that i can make it at this stage in my writing journey."

also, again: your first draft is not going to be perfect. it might be deeply, deeply flawed. you ARE going to have to edit. that doesn't mean you were writing badly. that is a normal and even essential part of writing. your story doesn't suck if the first draft is kinda fucked up. your story is NORMAL if the first draft is kinda fucked up. especially with long fic, getting the story out and then editing holistically to make it all work is really where the magic happens.

(i know there are people who post chapter by chapter while they write instead of writing the whole thing and editing it altogether; i cannot speak to their processes because i cannot write like that 😂)

if you are lucky enough to have a trusted friend or two willing to read as you write, cheerlead, and help you pick through tough spots in the story, i do recommend you take them up on it! because it can take so long to write a long fic, having people who are excited about your story and to provide that gratification can be really helpful. two things to keep in mind here are to make sure your alpha-readers are people you can trust not to flake on you and who will be reliably able to give pretty quick feedback, and to try to resist the urge to call on them to read every single time you write more. i usually go to mine in 5–10k chunks of long fic draft. obviously this isn't a hard and fast rule at all, but i think it a) gives them meatier chunks of story to give me feedback on and b) helps me get and stay comfortable with writing for longer periods without feedback, so i can concentrate more on the story and be less distracted thinking about how other people will react to it.

on the research front: research can be really daunting!! unfortunately i am a nerd who loves research so i usually see it as a fun challenge. but i think there are a couple of things that might help. when you're getting ready to dive into your long fic, make a list of things you're going to need to research, then divide them into things that you NEED to know to write the story (e.g. dates of important games, for pacing reasons) and things that can wait until after you get the first draft down and are editing. like, if you're writing something set in a city you're not familiar with and want to include local details, you don't need to do that research up front. use placeholder tags to fill in during editing — [RESTAURANT] or [STREET NAME] or [DESCRIPTION TO COME AFTER I LOOK AT GOOGLE STREET VIEW] — or just leave yourself a note to come back and add descriptive details later.

also, remember that fic readers are often super willing to let some inaccuracies slide for the sake of a good story, so it's okay if not everything is perfect! you are also allowed to elect to ignore canon when it does not serve you. like, in HAW, i simply said hello we are pretending that matthew re-signed in calgary, that there were no notable roster changes from the previous season, and, on a smaller potatoes level, that brady is still living with timmy and josh. because that's what i wanted for my story (and also because the matthew trade to florida happened when i was already about 70k into the draft and i was like, fuck it, we're doing it anyway 😂). which is all to say that it's okay and even good to find a balance between doing research/committing to accuracy and saying fuck it for the sake of your story.

on the editing front: try to limit the amount of editing you do while you're writing. you can get so caught up in forever tweaking what you've already written that your forward progress completely stagnates. leave most of your line-editing for after you have a draft. if you notice something that you want to change, leave yourself a note and do the actual changing after you have a draft. if you notice thousands of words in that you totally forgot that one character has a dog, leave yourself a note to go add the dog in later, and continue writing as if the dog has been there the whole time. no one will know that the dog in the first half was added in later.

the amount of STUFF that goes into a long fic can feel pretty overwhelming, so i am big on leaving myself notes and making lists when writing long fic. i know i am not going to remember every thought i have, but i know i will TRY TO remember them and will get totally bogged down. leaving a note or making a list de-bogs me so i can come back to that detail when it's time to deal with it. two essenital lists that i keep in my notes app while i'm working on a writing project are:

a list of ongoing subplots, themes, motifs, and/or mini-arcs that i want to make sure i thread evenly throughout the fic. i do not trust myself to remember these without writing them down. this is super helpful especially if i get stuck, because i can go to the list and ask, okay, what is one of these that i haven't revisited in a while, because that should probably happen next. a HAW example of this is quinn as a side character — at least once i looked at my list and was like, oh, quinn hasn't shown up in a while! i should figure out how to do a scene with him next!

a list of things i will want to review and edit for after i finish the draft. if i stop and edit in the moment i lose momentum; if i don't write the thing down, i might forget about it. so i'll just quickly add it to the list and be able to go back to it when it's editing time! a HAW example of this is me writing on this list "make it more clear that matthew is kind of a mama's boy" and eons later paying close attention to that thread in editing and adding a little more of their relationship to the story.

again this is not a hard and fast rule! sometimes i'll run into an issue with my fic and be like, oh no if i don't go back and fix this then i won't be able to figure out how the story needs to go from here. so obviously in those instances i immediately go and edit that thing! i think it takes practice to be able to tell the difference between "edit now" issues and "edit later" issues but i also think that like 90% of the time it's an edit later issue.

also, always keep a dump doc. (instead of deleting stuff from your draft, cut and paste it into a separate document for safekeeping. this makes it easier to kill your darlings since you are not actually killing them but re-homing them, and can come in handy later.)

one last thing i want to touch on is writer's block or getting stuck in the middle of a draft. with shorter stories, you can sometimes get them out in one or two creative bursts and this can be less of an issue (although obviously not NOT an issue. i am not trying to suggest that people writing shorter fic don't deal with this, lmao. the scale is just different.) writing something long is more about sustained creativity over a long stretch of time, and you are going to have highly productive periods and less productive periods because you're a human being who needs to refill their creative well sometimes. when this happens, try not to panic or despair. sometimes you run into a snarl in your story and you really just need to take a few days to ponder and let the solution come to you. however, if you get stuck and you are getting frustrated trying to figure out what comes next, here are a few things that i find helpful:

get outside and go for a walk or a run. listen to music or a podcast or audiobook. let your brain relax.

talk to a (fannish) friend over the phone/videochat or in person about it, over coffee or dinner or something. sometimes talking about it out loud helps process things in a different way than typing.

figure out what the next big plot point you want to get to is, and then look at where your story is now, and think about what needs to happen to get them to that point. does character A need to trust character B more? devise a trust-building scene. does character A need more self-confidence? think about what kind of scene would help them build confidence.

(this might also involve looking at what you've written already and going, oh, i could build that character beat into that scene from last week! and suddenly everything works better.)

go to your dump doc — is there an abandoned snippet or idea in there that's of more use to you now?

look at your list of ongoing themes and subplots! if there's one you haven't touched in the draft for a while, figure out what's going on there!

you might not get it right on the first try and that's fine. there are scenes that i've completely re-written 4–5 times before they felt right enough for me to move forward. that can be frustrating, obviously, but it doesn't mean you're a bad writer! it takes skill to recognize when a scene isn't working!

okay, i think that's all i've got for now. i really do think that the most important thing with writing long fic is to embrace that it's going to be a long-term project, with ups and downs, productive periods and recharging periods. let the story grow and evolve as you write it. you're not going to get everything right on the first try and that's normal. it is actually so fun to be writing a scene in the back half of your story and suddenly realize you can pull the whole plot together way better by adding two sentences into a scene you wrote three months ago. writing a long fic is not like digging a tunnel, all forward progress to get to the light. it's like building a house and then rearranging the furniture and decor inside until it looks and feels the way you want it to.

i hope that some of this was helpful! good luck with your writing!! 💕

[ultfreakme]

Cn I ask your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them? Thanks....

Hey anon!!! Thanks for the ask!! Favorite fics...I've written. You've given me too much freedom by asking my why I like them I am so sorry for the wall of text about to hit.

To Veer The Tides

It's a fic for Kuroko no Basuke which is basically just me slapping the character names onto a WILDLY different fantasy setting. It's for Akashi x Furihata. An arranged marriage AU where Akashi is the son of an emperor who went too power hungry and wanted to consolidate 7 mostly independent states(provinces??) into one, but he was defeated by the remaining states and to control Akashi, he is arranged to marry far below his station to Furihata, son of a destroyed noble house which is under the rule of Kagami's state. So it's about Akashi climbing back to power with Furihata initially thinking Akashi is pure evil but he soon realizes that maybe Akashi and his family aren't as evil as the people believe.

I ended up doing so much research, world-building and character expansion. It's more political intrigue than romance, lol. I still love that fic to death, I think I honestly peaked there for world-building, at least. I wrote it immediately after reading and watching Mo Dao Zu Shi and being first introduced to the concept of cultivation as a magic system and really wanted to put all my faves in flowy robes and long hair.

I want to get back to it, but I've discontinued it because I am simply not qualified to right about Dissociative Identity Disorder, systems and alters. Akashi has a terribly stereotypical portrayal of it in canon and I thought maybe I could research enough to write that, but I just, I don't know any systems and I felt like if I can't respect it, I didn't want to do it.

But it's still my favorite in terms of the world and aesthetics I had going on for it.

2. Tell Me Your Story (I'll Tell You Mine)

My current baby. The one I incessantly post about and draw for. Single-handedly over saturating the kyoshi warrior sokka x blue spirit zuko market. It's set in the canon world but I had to do so much research for this one too. I learned a lot, I think, while writing this. Big lesson being never ever write in present tense but if you're 200K+ words into it there is simply no going back RIP.

It started as just a silly romance because I thought it'd be funny to have Sokka and Zuko be completely oblivious to who they like. But as I began plotting and writing, it transformed into me projecting all my issues with colonialism and using the ATLA setting as base to dip a little bit deeper into the themes the show itself brings up, and some issues that it doesn't. Like, how colonialism uses your own culture against you, how it makes you fear who you are, makes you do things you don't want.

I deliberately chose that title because lots of indigenous communities in the world have lost their stories because of colonialism. Oral traditions and tales that are forgotten because people were killed and forced to never repeat them, forced to forget their languages. And that, really got to me. How colonialism slowly strips you of what makes human beings what they are; stories, art, music, dance, etc.

So this fic ended up being about how colonialism steals from you, uses what is yours AGAINST you and how it is important to embrace who you are and fight back.

3. Tell The Neighbours I'm Not Sorry

It's for Jon and Jay from DC Comics and Superfam. I wrote it when I was seeing a lot of biphobia against Jon and racism against Jay. As a bi asian, even if it was towards fictional characters, it was getting to me. People kept talking about how there's a specific way to be bi. Why did Jon never have a crisis about being queer? Why did Jon and Jay move so fast? Is Jay manipulating Jon just to get what he wants? It was all filled with a lot of stereotypes and biases.

Superman comics especially often taken up real world issues and puts it into the story. So I took all my anger and frustration from the biphobia and racism and wrote it into a fic.

It's about how there's no one way to being queer, and about how immigrants and non-white people are immediately classified as some kind of 'other' and 'bad' with zero grounding. It's also a little bit about colonialism on Jay's end. It's so charged with me going "FUCK IT!" and still somehow came out okay as a fic and I think I like that I managed to turn my anger into something productive.

Bonus

4. An Itajun fic I have not published and am still writing

It's my first JJK fic! It's an absolute mess in my drafts right now but I really like it, it's very fun for me. Junpei starts seeing and sensing curses far earlier because of built resentment from his bullies going too far and severely injuring him, his mom finds out and they move to Yuuji's area of Tokyo to get away from the school since they won't do anything about the bullying. Yuuji and Junpei run into each other and meet early at school. So the dynamics are kinda reversed, where Junpei is the one who is into the world of curses first while Yuuji has no clue, but they slowly interact and come together, forming a tight bond.

Junpei trusts no one and is dealing with all this curse nonsense trying to understand what it means. Yuuji is seemingly happy and chipper but he's going through tough times because his grandpa got hospitalized. It's both of them supporting each other and making sure the other isn't alone.

[airasora]

Oooh I want the last anon but I’d LOVE to hear more about your thoughts on AI. I currently consider myself pretty neutral but positive leaning with it and am curious as to what the pros are in your opinion! I’ve only really learned about it through chat bots and the medical technology so far!

Thank you for asking and wanting to learn more about it! I will try not to ramble on for too long, but there is A LOT to talk about when it comes to such an expansive subject as AI, so this post is gonna be a little long.

I have made a little index here so anyone can read about the exact part about AI they might be interested in without having to go through the whole thing, so here goes:

How does AI work?

A few current types of AI (ex. chatgpt, suno, leonardo.)

AI that has existed for ages, but no one calls it AI or don't even know it's AI (ex. Customer Service chat bots)

Future types of AI (ex. Sora)

Copyright, theft and controversy

What I have been using AI for

Final personal thoughts

1. How does AI work?

AI works by learning from data. Think of it like teaching a child to recognize patterns.

Training: AI is given a lot of examples (data) to learn from. For example, if you're teaching an AI to recognize cats, you show it many pictures of cats and say, "This is a cat."

Learning Patterns: The AI analyzes the data and looks for patterns or features that make something a "cat," like fur, whiskers, or pointy ears.

Improving: With enough examples, the AI gets better at recognizing cats (or whatever it's being trained for) and can start making decisions or predictions on new data it hasn't seen before.

Training Never Stops: The more data AI is exposed to, the more it can learn and improve.

In short: AI "works" by being trained with lots of examples, learning patterns, and then applying that knowledge to new situations.

Remember this for point 5 about copyright, theft and controversy later!

2. Current types of AI

The most notable current examples include:

ChatGPT: A large language model (LLM) that can generate human-like text, assist with creative writing, answer questions, and even act as a personal assistant

ChatGPT has completely replaced Google for me because chatGPT can Google stuff for you. When you have to research something on Google, you have to look through multiple links and sites usually, but chatGPT can do that for you, which saves you time and makes it far more organized.

ChatGPT has multiple different chats that other people have "trained" for you and that you can use freely. Those chat include chats meant for traveling, for generating images, for math, for law help, help creating gaming codes, read handwritten letters for you, and so much more.

Perplexity is a "side tool" you can use to fact check pretty much anything. For example, if chatGPT happens to say something you're unsure is actually factually true or where you feel the AI is being biased, you can ask perplexity for help and it will fact check it for you!

Suno: This AI specializes in generating music and audio, offering tools that allow users to create soundscapes with minimal input

This, along with chatGPT, is the AI I have been using the most. In short, suno makes music for you - with or without vocals. Essentially, you can write some lyrics for it (or not, if you want instrumental music), tell it what genre you want and the title and then bam, it will generate you two songs based on the information you've given it. You can generate 10 songs per day for free if you aren't subscribed.

I will talk more about Suno during point 6. Just as a little teaser; I made a song inspired by Hollina lol.

Leonardo AI: A creative tool focused on generating digital art, designs, and assets for games, movies, and other visual media

Now THIS is one of the first examples of controversial AIs. You see, while chatGPT can also generate images for you, it will not generate an image for you if there is copyright issues with it. For example, if you were to ask chatGPT to generate a picture of Donald Trump or Ariel from The Little Mermaid, it will tell you that it can't generate a picture of them due to them being a public figure or a copyrighted character. It will, however, give a suggestion for how you can create a similar image.

Leonardo.AI is a bit more... lenient here. Which is where a lot of controversial issues come in because it can, if you know how to use it, make very convincing images.

ChatGPT's answers:

Leonardo.AI's answers:

I will talk more about the copyright, theft and audio issues during point 5.

3. AI that has existed for ages, but that no one calls AI

While the latest wave of AI tools often steals the spotlight, the truth is that AI has been embedded in our technology for years, albeit under different names. Here are a few examples:

Customer Service Chatbots

Professional Editing Softwares

Spam filters

Virtual assistance

Recommendation systems

Credit Card Fraud Detection

Smart home devices

Autocorrect and predictive text

Navigation systems

Photo tagging on social media

Search engines

Personalized ads

The quiet presence of AI in such areas shows that AI isn't just a future-forward trend but has long been shaping our everyday experiences, often behind the scenes.

4. Future types of AI

One of the most anticipated types of AI that has yet to be released is Sora, a video AI tool that is an artificial intelligence system created by Google DeepMind. It’s designed to help computers better understand and generate human language. Think of it like a super-smart computer assistant that can read, write, and even understand complex sentences. Sora AI can answer questions, translate languages, summarize information, and even help with tasks like writing or solving problems.

Unlike traditional AI systems that mostly focus on text or images, Sora AI can create short videos from text descriptions or prompts. This involves combining several technologies like natural language understanding, image generation, and video processing.

In simple terms, it can take an idea or description (like "a cat playing in a garden") and generate a video that matches that idea. It's a big leap in AI technology because creating videos requires understanding motion, scenes, and how things change over time, which is much more complex than generating a single image or text.

The thing about Sora AI is that it's already ready to be released, but Google DeepMind will not release it until the presidential election in America is finished. This is because the developers are rightfully worried that people could use Sora AI to generate fake videos that could portray the presidential candidates doing or saying something that is absolutely fake - and because Sora is as good as it is, regular people will not be capable of seeing that it is AI.

This is obviously both incredible and absolutely terrifying. Once Sora is released, the topic of AI will be brought up even more and it'll take time before the common non-AI user will be able to tell when something is AI or real.

Just to mention two other future AIs:

Medical AI: The healthcare industry is investing heavily in AI to assist with diagnostics, predictive analytics, and personalized treatment plans. AI will soon be an indispensable tool for doctors, capable of analyzing complex medical data faster and more accurately than ever before.

AI in Autonomous Systems: Whether it’s in self-driving cars or AI-powered drones, we are on the cusp of a new era where machines can make autonomous decisions with little to no human intervention.

5. Copyright, art theft and controversies

While AI opens up a world of opportunities, it has also sparked heated debates and legal battles, particularly in the realm of intellectual property:

Copyright Concerns: AI tools like image generators and music composition software often rely on large datasets of pre-existing work. This raises questions about who owns the final product: the creator of the tool, the user of the AI, or the original artist whose work was used as input?

Art Theft: Some artists have accused AI platforms of "stealing" their style by training on their publicly available art without permission. This has led to protests and discussions about fair use in the digital age.

Job Replacement: AI’s ability to perform tasks traditionally done by humans raises concerns about job displacement. For example, freelance writers, graphic designers, and customer service reps could see their roles significantly altered or replaced as AI continues to improve.

Data Privacy: With AI systems often requiring massive amounts of user data to function, privacy advocates have raised alarms about how this data is collected, stored, and used.

People think AI steals art because AI models are often trained on large datasets that include artwork without the artists' permission. This can feel like copying or using their work without credit. There is truth to the concern, as the use of this art can sometimes violate copyright laws or artistic rights, but there's a few things that's important to remember:

Where did artists learn to draw? They learned to draw through tutorials, from art teachers or other artists, etc., right?

If an artist's personal style is then influenced by someone else's art style are they then also copying that person?

Is every artist who has been taught how to draw by a teacher just copying the teacher?

If a literary teacher, or a beta reader, reads through a piece of fiction you wrote and gives you suggestions on how to make your work better, do they then have copyright for your work as well for helping you?

Don't get me wrong, like I showed earlier when I compared chatGPT with leonardo.ai there are absolutely some AIs that are straight up copying and stealing art - but claiming all picture generative AIs are stealing artists' work is like saying

every fashion designer is stealing from fabric makers because they didn't weave the cloth, or

every chef is stealing from farmers because they didn't grow the ingredients themselves, or

every DJ is stealing from musicians because they mix pre-existing sounds

What i'm trying to get at here is that it's not as black and white as people think or want it to be. AI is nuanced and has its flaws, but so does everything else. The best we can do is learn and keep developing and evolving AI so we can shape it into being as positive as possible. And the way to do that is to sit down and learn about it.

6. What I have been using AI for

Little ways chatGPT makes my day easier

I wanted to test how good chatGPT was at reading "bad" handwriting so I posted a picture of my handwriting to it, and it read it perfectly and even gave a cheeky little answer. This means that I can use chatGPT to not only help me read handwritten notes, but can also type out stuff for me I would otherwise have to spend time typing down on my own.

I've also started asking chatGPT to write hashtags for me for when I post on instagram and TikTok. It saves me time and it can think of hashtags I wouldn't have thought of myself.

You might all also be aware that I often receive bodyshaming online for simply existing and being fat. At least three times, I have used chatGPT to help me write a sassy comeback to someone harassing me online. It helped me detach myself from the hateful words being thrown at me and help me stand my ground.

And, as my final example, I also use chatGPT for when I can't remember a word I'm looking for or want an alternative. The amazing thing about chatGPT is that you can just talk to it like a normal person, which makes it easier to convey what it is you need help with.

Custom chatGPTs

I created a custom chatGPT for my mom with knitting recipes where she can upload pictures to the chat and ask it to try and find the actual knitting recipe online or even make one on its on that could look like the vibe she's going for. For example, she had just finished knitting a sweater where the recipe failed to mention to her what size the knitting needles she had to use, which resulted in her doing it wrong the first time and having to start over.

When she uploaded a picture of the sweater along with the recipe she had followed, chatGPT DID tell her what knitting needle she had to use. So, in short, if she had used her customized chatGPT before knitting the sweater, chatGPT would have saved her the annoyance of using the wrong size because chatGPT could SEE what size needle she had to use - despite the recipe not mentioning it anywhere.

I also created a custom chatGPT for my mom about diabetes. I uploaded her information, her blood work results, etc. so it basically knows everything about not just her condition, but about HER body specifically so it can give her the best advice possible for whenever she has a question about something.

And, finally, the thing you might have skipped STRAIGHT to after seeing the index...

My(un)official angsty ballad sung by Holli to Lina created with suno.ai

Let you be my wings

7. Final personal thoughts

While AI is absolutely far from perfect, we cannot deny how useful it has already become. The pros, in my opinion, outweigh the cons - as long as people stay updated and knowledgeable on the subject. People will always be scared of what they don't know or understand, yet humanity has to evolve and keep developing. People were scared and angry during the Industrial Revolution too, where the fear of job loss was at an all time high - ironically ALSO because of machines.

There are some key differences of course, but it was the overall same fears people had back then as people have now with AI. I brought this up with one of my AI teachers, who quoted:

"AI will not replace you, but a person using AI will."

While both eras involve fears of obsolescence, AI poses a broader challenge across various sectors, and adapting may demand more advanced skills than during industrialism. However, like industrialism, AI may lead to innovations that ultimately benefit society. And I, personally, see more pros than cons.

And THAT is my very long explanation to why my bio says "AI positive 🤖"

As a final thing, for anyone wanting to stay updated on AI and how it's progressing overall, I recommend a YouTube channel by Matt Wolfe. He was my AI teacher's recommended YouTube channel for anyone who wants to stay updated on AI: