#I think if you make a lot of overpowered ocs the natural progression is that you learn to give your regular ocs more credit where it’s due

[writing-for-life]

Tell me more about your OC, Thalia! How did you get the idea for her? What’s your fav part about her? Any thoughts about her as a character that ended up on the cutting room floor?

I love those questions! My OCs are my babies, I love talking about them!

I’m super used to writing OCs since that’s usually all I write (The Light of Stars is actually my first fanfic, believe it or not, but I’ve written original stories for literal decades).

Funnily enough, Thalia started with… the name. I knew from the start there would be a lot of references to Greek mythology. Too much to mention here, people who read the fic will know, but I had this idea about Psyche’s journey to the underworld I wanted to reference at some point, and I also wanted a reference to a muse. Thalia had the nicest ring to it while being somewhat referential. Sometimes it’s really as simple as that 😂 I pronounce her Tah-lee-ya btw (it’s a less common pronunciation of that spelling, but it exists. I just didn’t want to spell her Talia for obvious reasons, but she totally sounds like it. And now I’ve destroyed the sound at least half of my readers had in their heads 🙈).

Thalia is the muse of comedy, and I wanted some of that in her. She has this intelligent sense of humour that is both genuine but also a coping mechanism, and it made for an interesting dynamic with Morpheus, who is always so serious. Her humour is, albeit observational, warm. She’s not a cynic although she has every reason to be, and I guess he knows that because he knows her story and what she’s been through, and it probably makes him think. He finds her challenging, but there is also an honesty and emotional openness to her, especially about her own hurt/darkness, that he finds intriguing. And that honesty also extends to how she relates to him—she is someone who actually sees him in the truest sense of the word, and it’s something he both needs so desperately but also finds impossible to trust and fully give in to for a very long time, and for a lot of reasons.

I guess the idea was to find someone who is in many ways like him (only in terms of shared human experience) but has a completely different way of dealing with it. It is, although a love story, at its core an exploration of trauma, loss and grief, of second or even third chances at life (however you might define the latter), and I’d long wondered what would happen if he met someone who is NOT trying to change him. They have their problems and conflicts, yes, but ultimately, this is about a deep mutual understanding that hinges on acceptance. And that acceptance is possible because it was there from the start, for reasons that I won’t give away here, but they are deeply rooted in how she always related to who and what he is on a conceptual level. And now I’m writing the sequel, and it becomes even more important.

My favourite part about her must be how she has the ability to make him laugh? Like, little by little, from something that barely makes him cock an eyebrow to a tug on the corners of his mouth to little smiles that get more frequent. And that moment when he sees the painting and actually realises he *is* like that around her was weirdly emotional to write because it wasn’t planned.

Plus, that she gets him to the stage where his laughs are actually audible, and they’re *not* weird. Well, at least not *that* weird. And from a writer’s point of view, it felt like a really natural, gradual progression that just happened, so it wasn’t something I had plotted. They just did their thing, and I wrote it down 😂

The stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor was mostly related to the no mortals rule. I explored a lot of different angles but ultimately didn’t want her to be a goddess or witch or somehow overpowered to circumvent that, it just didn’t sit right with me. So I spent a lot of time on setting up different beats that might look like one thing or another, but without giving too much away: The whole story hinges on her humanity and mortality, and it was ultimately the only thing that made sense.

Thanks again for the ask. It was a really good opportunity to talk about character creation/development, because so often, people seem to believe that all OCs are straightforward self-inserts, and nothing could be farther from the truth (OC fics aren’t reader fics). It’s impossible for characters not to have little bits of us because they come out of our brains, but they aren’t mirror images. I sometimes give characters little bits I’m confident in writing authentically without having to do a lot of research. For Thalia, it was drawing/painting. I had other female OCs that rode a motorcycle or did a martial art I’ve been familiar with since my childhood, others again were professional performers. I find I can write these things without overwriting them because I know what they feel like. Because sometimes, people will research these things and write them like an instruction manual. And while the detail is correct, someone who really *does* these things would never describe them that way. But that’s often really as far as it goes. It pains me to say that I’m far more like Morpheus than like Thalia, but I didn’t need to self-insert for that to be the case 😂

And now I want to know: What’s your favourite part about her and their dynamic? Other readers are welcome to chime in, too.

[excelsi-or]

your type (pt. 9)

Hello wonderful people!! I started a summer job and have been reading a SHIT ton, so I haven’t been writing as much. But I’m kinda back into this story again, and we’re about past halfway so I think we can get this done. :) I hope you’ve all been well~~

w.c. 3.1k (yeah, i’m not apologizing for length anymore. i hope you’re all cool with that lol)

pairing: jihoon x OC/reader

pt. 1; pt. 2; pt. 3; pt. 4; pt. 5; pt. 6; pt. 7; pt. 8

“You have a new boyfriend,” Jungkook says the next time they meet up for lunch in the fall semester.

She shrugs, studying her mug. “I guess so.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “You’re still apprehensive.”

“It’s only been 2 months.”

“That’s enough time to know, don’t you think?”

She shakes her head. “It really isn’t.”

Jungkook rests his chin in his palm. “I told you I loved you after two months.”

“We were young and naïve then.”

With a smirk, he doesn’t bother to point out that that first ‘I love you’ had been only three years ago. “Well, how does he feel?”

“Not sure.”

“Trust your instincts on this,” Jungkook encourages. “You have amazing intuition. You told me before I’d even fully moved in with Taehyung that I’d probably wind up dating him.”

“I said that because Taehyung is a good looking, intelligent man and anyone would date him if they were in his proximity long enough.”

Jungkook snorts. “I guess that’s a fair point. But come on. What’s your gut telling you?”

“My gut says that it’s confused,” she replies honestly. “I can’t gauge how honest he is with me.”

“You can’t compare him and Byunggu. No one knew that Byunggu was going to blindside you like that.”

She chuckles. “Do you know how much he’s come up in the last few months? I haven’t talked about him in forever, and all of a sudden, he’s just the topic of every conversation.”

“New boyfriend will do that. Especially after what happened last time.”

She runs a hand through her hair.

“As someone who has dated you, trust me when I say, you’re an all-in kind of lover.” He nudges her fingers with his. “So just go all in.”

“Go all in? And then?”

“Well, if you get hurt in the end, we’re here. You have people around you to hold you up and take care of you. But you can’t go into every relationship anticipating an end.”

She studies the chai in her mug, the way it ripples when she moves her hands even a little. “I guess you’re right.”

Jihoon (13:41)

Hey, lemme know when you’re done at lunch.

Got some stuff I want you to hear before we head home.

Jungkook nods his head towards the phone lighting up at her elbow. “Is that him?”

She nods.

“Are you going to reply?”

“He wants to know when I’m done with you so he can show me something he’s working on.” She fires off a quick text.

“Works in progress?”

“I guess they’ve been less and less finished, yeah.”

Jungkook hums. “If Yoongi hyung were here, he’d say that means Jihoon really likes you.”

She finds Jihoon in the studio an hour later. Bumzu, one of the TAs, had directed her to the studio when she’d appeared in the music building.

“You’re legendary,” Bumzu had said. “Anyone who’s had Jihoon’s attention this long is legendary.”

She’d had no response for that.

Gently, she touches Jihoon’s arm to make him aware of her presence. Jihoon looks up at her and slides his headphones off. Wordlessly, he passes them to her, and she takes a seat in the spare chair. With her feet up, and her knees hugged to her chest, she listens.

“Can you bring up the sound of the piano? The bass seems to be overpowering it.”

She does this for an hour, and he adjusts as they go along. By the end of it, Jihoon is thoroughly pleased with how the song’s turned out.

“I wish I was as useful for your chemistry research,” Jihoon chuckles. He takes the headphones and puts them on the desk. “You going home?”

“No, I actually have dinner plans.”

Jihoon tilts his head at that. “You do?”

“Correction, we have dinner plans.”

“We do?”

“Jihyo told me to tell you that we’re going for dinner with her and Seungcheol.”

Jihoon’s sweet questioning face quickly changes into something of disgust. “Ew. A double date?”

“I think Jihyo wants to tell me something.”

“And Cheol and I need to be there? Why?”

She shrugs. “I have no idea.” She kisses the top of his head as she stands. “But you need to be ready by 5:30, okay? So, no spending the night here.”

Jihoon hums his agreement. He catches her hand and tugs her back towards him. He pouts up at her until she concedes to a kiss, a bemused smile on her face.

As she closes the studio door behind her, she bumps into someone. Stumbling away from her is a girl she recognizes but can’t place.

The other woman recognizes her first. “You’re Wheein’s friend, aren’t you?”

It takes her a moment. “Byulyi?”

Byulyi smiles at her. Her eyes dart to the door she’d walked out of and the smile on her face falters. “How are you?”

“Good. Just heading home.”

“You taking a music class this semester?” Byulyi asks, her eyes flicking to the door again.

“Oh.” She gets the meaning and the looks. “No. Just visiting someone.”

“Lee Jihoon?”

She holds her breath for another story and Byulyi doesn’t fail her. They start to walk towards the exit.

“If you’re friends with Wheein, you must be a nice person.”

She questions the connection, but doesn’t press that point. “And?”

“So,” Byulyi smirks, “why are you hanging around Lee Jihoon? The man’s manipulative and a swindler. He’ll con you of the love you have to give and leave you heartbroken.”

They push out into the sunlight, enveloped by the dying heat of the day. “He knows the right words to say and he knows exactly when to say them to get to you.”

If she hasn’t learned that already, then she’s an idiot. With a deep breath, she thanks Byulyi for the anecdote and the information. Byulyi is on the list of women Jihoon’s dated. These women follow her around now; the stories are variations of each other.

And at this point, she really doesn’t know what to do with them.

“I heard another one.” She sets her backpack down at the end of the dining table.

Jihyo glances up from her evolution flashcards. “Who?”

“Moon Byulyi.”

It only takes Jihyo a second to place the name. “Wheein’s music friend?”

“Yeah.” She empties her backpack on the table and then takes her water bottle to the sink to refill it. “I don’t know what to make of it. Apparently other people know Jihoon and I are…” She struggles to find a word.

“Dating?” Jihyo chuckles.

“I haven’t told him that his exes keep telling all his secrets.”

“I promise you, the look on his face when he looks at you isn’t one of a man who’s in for the sex or even just for the chase. He’s in. For all of that and all of you. I promise you that.”

The boys are already sat at a table when the girls arrive. Seungcheol pulls Jihyo’s chair out, and Jihoon looks conflicted as to whether he should do the same. Smirking, she slips into the chair next to him. She doesn’t kiss his cheek like Jihyo. She grabs his hand under the table and gives it a squeeze.

“Have you looked at the menu?” she asks him.

Jihoon shakes his head. “Not yet.”

She studies him for a moment. “Do you trust me to order for you?”

At this offer, Jihoon tilts his head. “Go ahead.”

Conversation is light. They play rounds of cards while they wait for the food. When Jihoon wins the last round of Shit Head, Jihyo and Seungcheol roll their eyes.

“You guys can’t win every game.”

She laughs. “You guys just aren’t good at games of speed.”

“Or strategy,” Jihoon adds with a smile.

Seungcheol stacks the cards as the food arrives. She leans towards Jihoon as she names the various foods before him. He’s pleasantly surprised at the range. There are foods that he will definitely eat, and a few that are out of his comfort zone but aren’t off-putting.

“So, what do you have to tell us?” Jihoon asks once everyone’s tucked in.

With his head bowed towards his plate, practically shovelling food into his mouth, Seungcheol answers, “We’re dating.”

Jihyo hits his arm.

“What?” Seungcheol lifts his head slightly to look over at Jihyo. “Did you want to make it a big deal?” He straightens up and looks at the couple across him. “We have decided that we are only going to see each other. Be exclusive.”

It takes a lot of effort to keep from laughing. Jihyo hasn’t had any other man over in the last month and a half. This isn’t surprising. The formal announcement is.

“That’s great.” Jihoon’s focus also seems to be on the food as opposed to the actual conversation. She nudges him with her elbow and he puts his chopsticks down. He mimics Seungcheol’s formality. “Seriously. This is excellent news.”

With a good-natured roll of her eyes, Jihyo meets Jihoon’s gaze. “The way you’ve committed, Jihoon, it’s really made us reevaluate.”

Jihoon furrows his brow at Seungcheol, but his friend won’t look at him.

Later that night, back in the safety of their apartment, Jihoon demands, “What the hell did you tell Jihyo?”

Seungcheol raises his hands in defense. “She asked me last month what my take on your relationship was! I couldn’t just tell her you were in it for a bet! I actually like Jihyo. I wasn’t going to tell her that your relationship was a façade. The only reason she decided to even give me a chance is because you’d been given a chance.”

Jihoon’s gaze could level mountains. “You straight up lied to her.”

“It was that or tell her that we bet on your relationship. You don’t understand how protective they are of her.”

Jihoon shakes his head in frustration. “What?”

“Byunggu?”

“Holy shit. What’s wrong with him? Isn’t he an actor or something?” Jihoon is almost tired of hearing about this ex-boyfriend.

“They threatened to ruin his entire career by blasting it on social media how awful a person he is. The girls have receipts. Even if your girl’s deleted all the messages and rid him from her life, her friends are holding onto them.”

Well, at least Jihoon knows the other man’s definitely not castrated.

“So, yeah, I lied a little about how real your emotions are.”

“Jihyo’ll be furious when she finds out!”

“What else was I supposed to do, Jihoon?” Seungcheol watches Jihoon begin pacing. “I like this girl. Genuinely want to make this work. Even if I only get a few months with her, it’ll be worth it to me. And if I can show her that I genuinely want to be with her in the time before we’re revealed to be the biggest assholes of all time, then maybe I can keep my relationship.”

Jihoon shakes his head in disbelief. “You and Soonyoung put me up to this bet. I told you guys I wanted to back out months ago.”

Seungcheol remembers that day. He was so sure that he would never be one to settle. At least not for years to come. “You can still back out. We can just give up, tell the others that your game isn’t as good as we thought it was. And if we end the bet now while everyone can get away relatively scot free, maybe we should.”

Jihoon shrugs.

Seungcheol catches his friend’s eye. “And I’ve seen the look on your face, Lee Jihoon. You have real feelings you’re scared to admit to.”

He rolls his eyes. “Did it not occur to you that I have to pretend otherwise this won’t work?”

“Whether you’re pretending or not anymore, I don’t know. But what I feel for Jihyo is genuine.”

Hansol (14:21)

You still on campus?

Late lunch?

It’s October and the air is getting crisper. She steps out onto the green with a scarf wrapped around her neck. She finds Hansol at the campus coffee shop. There are two sandwiches on the table, one for each of them.

“Seungkwan?” She slides her bag onto the floor next to her.

“Yeah. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to have lunch.” He grins up at her, all gums and bright eyes. “I can’t eat two sandwiches.”

“Why doesn’t it surprise me that Seungkwan gets upset when you don’t finish all your food?” She starts to eat and nods in his direction. “Was there something you wanted to talk about?”

“Hmm?” There’s a ball of food in his mouth and his questioning eyes make him look adorable.

Chuckling, she says, “Well, we’ve rarely eaten out without you asking me something.” She juts her chin in his direction. “What’s up?”

“I, uh…” His cheeks start to redden. “Have a question about a girl.”

Her brow furrows slightly. “That’s new. You’re usually pretty confident about that.” She chews a bit. “Shoot.”

“What made you decide Jihoon hyung was a good idea?”

She tilts her head.

“I have a reputation like hyung’s, but mine’s not real.” He studies the contents of the sandwich. “And I just… I don’t know how to convince her.”

“Ah.” After spending the last four months with the boys, she knows whose reputations are real and whose have been garnered by association. Hansol is the latter, not really dating all that much. The girls he pursues are particular, which must mean this girl he’s interested in is amazing.

“You could just tell her the truth.”

“Do you believe everything hyung says?”

She takes a bite, allowing herself some time to think through her answer. She decides that Hansol deserves her honesty. “Not at the beginning, no.” She lowers her sandwich and holds his gaze. “But a relationship doesn’t work unless you trust that the other person’s being honest. And it gets really tiring to second guess everything your partner’s saying.”

Hansol’s cheeks redden even more this time, the blush creeping up to his ears and down his neck.

“Have you lied to her already?”

Hansol’s eyes widen. His voice is tight, practically squeaking out, “What? No.”

She makes a face. “You’re blushing.”

“Oh.” Hansol’s brain scrambles. “I just… uh…” How does he avoid telling her that her relationship is a bet? “Talking about her makes me nervous.”

She lifts an eyebrow, impressed. It’s rare to see Hansol nervous or outside his comfort zone. “You must really like her.”

“Uhm… yes,” he fills his mouth with sandwich, “I do.”

“Then… just be honest. You’re not your reputation.”

Lettuce gets caught in his throat. “And she’ll just… buy that?” He coughs.

“If she’s smart? No. She won’t. But actions help. Prove to her you’re not your reputation. You’re a good guy, Hansol.”

Hansol stares at this woman who he has grown to like. Her company is great, she’s awesome at games, and her humour matches the group’s well. As conversation veers towards classes and research, Hansol can’t help but think about how the bet will end and how hurt she’s going to be. Four times over the next hour, his tongue almost slips. Almost letting out a secret that will definitely end her relationship. Not just with Jihoon but with every one of them.

She checks her watch. “I gotta get back to the lab. The NMR should be done now.” She slips out of her seat and pats his shoulder. “I’ll see you later.”

“Are you coming for dinner tonight?”

She bends down to pick up her backpack, slinging it back over her shoulder. “It’s at yours, isn’t it?”

Hansol nods.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

As soon as Hansol walks into his apartment, he says to Seungkwan, “We need to call off the bet right now.”

Seungkwan has his pink apron on that the boys got him as a joke. “I’ve been saying that for about four months now.”

“Well, we really need to call it off.”

Seungkwan waves his spatula at Hansol, but his eyes fall to the iced Americano in his roommate’s hand and he calms down. “We both know that the guys aren’t just going to do that. Not when they know Jihoon’s this close to winning.”

“What?”

“Do you just ignore all of noona’s feelings? The look on her face when she looks at Jihoon hyung? She’s fallen for him already.” Seungkwan huffs and then takes a long sip from his drink. “It’s just a waiting game now.”

Hansol shakes his head as he heads to his room to drop off his things. “Tell everyone to come early. We need to talk about this bet right now.”

Hansol rarely asks for anything from the others, so when they receive his text, they’re there in thirty minutes.

“What’s wrong?” Jeonghan asks upon arrival. He slips out of his shoes, his eyes not leaving Hansol’s face. “Who’s dying?”

“We’re assholes and we need to call off the bet now.” Hansol grabs his hand to help him over the one step into the house. “If you guys want the money, I’ll give you the money. But I don’t want to see noona get hurt.”

Seungkwan counts heads. “Where’s Jihoon hyung?”

Joshua has his phone out. “He got stuck in the studio.”

Hansol immediately calls Jihoon. When Jihoon answers, he puts the phone on speaker and sets it in the middle of the small dining table.

“What’s going on, Hansol-ah?” They can hear a mouse clicking on the other end. “Dinner’s not for another hour. I can’t make it right now.”

“I want to talk about the bet and you need to be here.” Hansol leans closer to the phone. “Can we just call it off? Hyung, you already know that she likes you. And if she,” he glances at Seungkwan, “if she hasn’t fallen for you already, she’s falling now. So, can we just end this before anyone gets hurt?” Hansol tips his head both ways. “Or more hurt.”

“Yes!” Seungcheol pushes through to the front so Jihoon can definitely hear him. “Let’s call it off.”

The ripple of agreement through the group is comforting to Hansol, but everyone listens when Jihoon’s voice comes through again.

“You guys thought I was still faking it?” His voice is soft, vulnerable. He’s even stopped clicking around on the computer. “Guys, I,” he pauses, trying to bring himself to admit it, “I stopped faking months ago.”

Seungcheol slams his hands down on the table. “We got in a fight last month about this. What the hell are you saying?”

“You told Jihyo without consulting me first. I wasn’t going to tell you that you were right.”

Now, Jeonghan slams his hands onto the table. This second smack causes Jihoon to swear. “So, this is real? Lee Jihoon has a girlfriend?”

“Hanging up now.” They can hear the smile in his voice. “See you guys later.”

[nibeul]

Saberstaffs: A Guide for People Creating Jedi/Sith OCs

I posted this on Instagram a while ago but I figured I should post it here too! This is basically my analysis of saberstaffs paired with some history and extra info. I’m by no means an expert, just a SW weapons nerd who enjoys rambling about things, bonus if people find it helpful :) most of the general info is backed by the wookiee for anyone curious to give it a look

The History

Saberstaffs are rare among the Order, and while a decent amount of it has to do with how hard it is to master, its origins also play a part in this fact. Originally known as the “Sith Lightsaber”, saberstaffs were created by the Old Sith Empire (as the name suggests), serving as weapons of aggression with the ability to easily overwhelm and overpower. The design had been pretty much unheard of until it was wielded by Exar Kun during the Great Sith War, the fallen Jedi having modified his original lightsaber using schematics from Sith Holocrons he had found. It was forgotten shortly after, trading off from hand to hand before eventually making its way to the Order for safe keeping (this is obviously a very simple explanation since I don’t want to dwell on it too much). The design became popularized among the Sith during the Jedi Civil War, and was even wielded by some skilled Jedi, though the Council frowned upon its use as the staff was a weapon of aggression purely designed to kill more effectively than the standard saber. The Order’s prejudice against the weapon remained a constant even into the waning days of the Republic, and as a result, very few Jedi utilized it. By the time the Invasion of Naboo rolled around, they’d faded into almost complete obscurity, so you can imagine the surprise of Qui Gon and Obi Wan when Maul pulled one out.

Schematics

The original saber staffs were much more complicated than the ones seen during the Clone Wars, consisting of a singular lightsaber mechanism that had two emitters, Exar Kun’s modified staff fitting this design. The more modern staffs, such as Maul’s, were made up of two, standard lightsabers that were melded together at the pommel in order to form one, elongated hilt. I’m actually not sure what the exact reasoning for the simplification was since the original was more effective, though I assume it has to do with the loss of the original holocrons and a change in wielding styles as the years progressed. The Council was right though in the fact that they were made for better effectiveness in combat; two ends meant faster attacks, and rapid assaults could be dealt out by the wielding with minimum movement. On the flipside, it was also good for defense—specifically in dueling, I’ll get to combat against blasters later—because it covered more area with less effort. There was also a psychological impact that comes with most unorthodox weapons, as tracking two blades is obviously a lot harder than one, and either end was often thought of as separate weapons instead of one.

Of course, there were still weaknesses, and with great killing power came debilitating flaws if put in the wrong hands. Wielding a staff without training was fatal in most cases, and it was likely that an inexperienced user would slash or bisect themselves trying to utilize one. A prime example of this comes from Antos Wyrick who accidentally impaled both himself and his daughter when trying to kill her. The minimum movement needed also came at a cost when it came to attacking and parrying because it’s impossible to simply adjust positions, as someone using a standard blade might. The sun djem contact mark could be employed by an opponent with little experience, and due to the length of the hilt, it’s hard to defend against. The best comparison to a saberstaff in terms of modern weapons would be the quarterstaff, though it’s not completely adequate because there’s only so much area for the user to put their hands whereas a quarterstaff, you have the entire length. The weight is also different as the weight of any lightsaber is condensed at the hilt while a quarterstaff’s weight would be evenly spread throughout it. Because the user’s hands have to be positioned at the general center of the weapon at all times (the hilt), power that would be possible with a quarterstaff is lost with the saberstaff.

Wielding Styles/Forms

Next, we have a breakdown of wielding styles, and to do this I’m going to be using Maul and Krell.

Maul

There’s apparently some controversy over what lightsaber Form Maul uses, though based on what I’ve seen from the show and the movie, I think that Juyo is the closest form to compare his fighting style too. Maul’s lightsaber is an extension of his body; he was raised for one thing, and that was to kill Jedi. He is, in the simplest sense, a killing machine, and his fighting style is reflective of that, martial arts interwoven with his strikes and parries, etc. etc. Maul, while obviously capable of defense, is a very aggressive, offensive fighter, and this is abundantly clear in his duels against Ahsoka, Obi Wan, Qui Gon… I’m sure there are videos floating around for each of the duels, I recommend giving them a rewatch if you’re curious. His power comes from his hips, and he relies on straight up striking power and prowess in combat in order to overwhelm his opponents. His style is pretty similar to how one would wield a quarterstaff, which is incredibly effective when it comes to melee combat against one or multiple opponents, but an open battlefield is a different story.

The biggest problem for Maul’s fighting style when applied to an open battlefield is the lack of maneuverability and the uncovered area that makes up the hilt of the staff. In a lightsaber duel, he has full coverage of his body since the blades are pretty one dimensional (I’m not sure if that’s the right word to use, but I’m using it anyways) while against blasters, there’s more open, uncovered area that he’s not going to be able to defend. I don’t recall seeing a lot of blaster vs lightsaber action with Maul, not when it came to his staff anyways, so it’s hard to determine what he’s capable of when it comes to that. I’m just applying what I’ve seen to a hypothetical situation—the bottomline is that Maul is likely a more effective duelist than anything else, and his use of the saberstaff plays into that strength.

Krell

Krell—who I know you all love—uses Jar’kai and I want to say hints of Form V based on his aggressive way of fighting while also on the defensive against dozens of clones. We unfortunately didn’t see a lot of fighting from Krell until he was slaughtering the 501st and 212th, so I don’t have a whole lot to work with here, but I do know that he used the Force in tandem with his staffs which was something that was made easier by the fact that he had four arms. Unlike Maul, Krell doesn’t face the problem of lack of coverage when it comes to fighting on the battlefield—because of his anatomy, he’s able to fully rotate the blades in a manner that covers him entirely, though something important to note about that is the change in power. The power from his strikes come almost entirely from his arms, which is clearest when he’s fighting the clones up in the tower. He’s able to cut through men without putting a huge focus on power, 1) because he’s already naturally strong and 2) because of the reach of his lightsabers. He’s outnumbered, but his sheer combative prowess with his lightsabers allows him to keep an edge during the entirety of the fight until he’s ultimately taken down by Tup.

I think the most important thing to note about Krell is that he constantly makes space, which is a tactic commonly used by staff users specifically (it’s also used when handling other weapons of course, though that’s when it comes to multiple opponents; with a staff, you constantly want space so you can strike from afar). He makes space to prevent himself from getting overrun even when severely outnumbered, and this tactic allows him to employ the deadliness of his lightsabers on an open battlefield, whereas Maul would have more trouble doing so thanks to the differences in their fighting style. Because I haven’t seen Krell in a duel, it’s hard to say how he would combat someone else with a melee weapon, though I want to say it’s likely similar to Grievous’s way of fighting. The sheer amount of blades he holds makes it easy to overwhelm an opponent, and because of his stature, he doesn’t have a need for extreme power behind each swing, which allows better maneuverability (as we see when he’s spinning his lightsabers).

General Pros and Cons

So, I’ll just finish this off with the main pros and cons after breaking everything down and giving my input.

Strengths:

• Offensive and defensive capabilities

• Faster attack rate

• Bigger surface area for deflecting/parrying

• Unorthodox/Uncommon

Weaknesses:

• Hard to store

• Exposed hilt

• Dangerous to user

• Often requires both hands to wield

In general, staffs are best for characters who are older with more than a couple years of training under their belt due to how hard it is to master and the dangers of inexperience. These characters tend to be heavily combat focused since the staff was pretty much made for killing. However, this is just a general breakdown I did for fun, so don’t let that stop you from giving your characters whatever weapons you see fit :)

[imagines-forthe-soul]

Please some fluff alphabet for himiko? Thaaanks

Fluff? On my blog? How absurd!

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Himiko Toga:

Activities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Himiko loves to just spend time cuddling with her s/o and doing some online shopping with them. She thinks its a good way to pend time together since she gets to be close to them, wrapped in their arms and kept warm in their company as well as get their input on which things she should buy. Having her s/o pick out some of her clothes is basically what she does to let them know that she trusts them and values their opinion. it also just makes her pretty happy knowing that she is buying/wearing something that her s/o likes and thinks she looks cute in.

Beauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

She admires her s/o kindheartedness and their confidence. She would love it if her s/o was compassionate and could put themselves in another person’s shoes to understand their side of things. She’d also love someone who is sure of and is happy with themselves enough to not let the words of others sway their opinions and mood as they do her. These are two traits she lacks and would love it if her s/o could teach her to be more compassionate and confident. Something she finds beautiful about them above these two things are the fact that they find the good in her even though she can’t exactly see it herself or understand that. She loves that her s/o can read her better than she can herself.

Comfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

She is rather good at cheering other people up. She makes herself as small and soft as possible as to not startle or make her s/o uncomfortable before approaching them. She’ll take their hand in hers and put it above her heart, letting them feel her heartbeat as a means to calm them down and let them know that she is here for them. if they are up for talking, she will do her best to mention topics she knows they like to get them more comfortable and to ease their tension and nerves. When they have finally calmed down, she’ll offer to cuddle with them and let them vent to her about any and all of their worries, doubts, and frustrations.

Dreams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

She doesn’t really voice her dreams or wishes for the future since she knows that the life she lives now will most likely lead her to a different future than she would like or had hoped for. However, she secretly wishes to one day find someone who loves and accepts her for who she is, not judging her for her quirk. She wants to be able to grow old with that person, to live with them in a cute little house with maybe a kid or two and live a happy life together. The though of being a mother and a wife makes her so happy. To be able to make lunch for her husband and her kids and see them off to work and school is something that makes her heart swell and gives her some hope that maybe she can have that one day.

Equal - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

She is rather passive in any relationship. She likes to be her s/o’s calm, bringing them down from any elevated emotions that they have and helping them see reason once again.

Fight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

She would find it rather hard to forgive her s/o, no matter the type of offense. She expects her s/o to be loyal to her and her opinions and if they go against anything she likes or believes in, then she thinks that her s/o is against her. She’s a bit irrational in this sense, usually escalating small situations and causing tears in her relationship with her s/o. She is the type of person to not back down from a fight even when she is wrong and will use all forms of manipulation to make you agree with her. More often than not, her s/o will have to be the one apologizing to her for one reason or another.

Gratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

She is pretty grateful for the things her s/o does for her. She may not realize it initially that they have done something she should be thankful for, but once she does she makes sure to thank them kindly. She usually shows her gratitude by making her s/o a nice home cooked meal and showering them in affection.

Honesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Yes. She hides many things from her s/o but expects them to tell her everything. It’s pretty selfish but that’s just her nature at times. She will withhold information from them for months if she doesn’t feel like or can’t tell them something and expects them to simply understand that. if her s/o get upset at her for this, she takes it as them going against her and trying to be mean, sneakily shifting the blame to her s/o and saying that they are the reason she didn’t want to tell them anything. However, if you were to do the same thing to her, Gods know what’ll happen to you.

Inspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Her s/o has changed her in some ways, but none that would typically help her with other people positively. Going back to her s/o teaching her how to be more confident, she would use this new found confidence to feel more justified in hurting people and doing the other things that she does to get back at society.

Jealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Yes, she gets jealous quite easily and is never sorry for it. Making her jealous is awfully easy too and leads to many fights within your relationship with her. Talking to someone else for too long or if you seem to be getting to close with another person are just two of the many reasons as to why she gets jealous. The way in which she deals with this jealousy is usually by physically fighting the other person or you, kicking and screaming, and yelling at you for supposedly “cheating’ on her. She tends to be very irrational when it comes to things like this and expects you to see things from her side.

Kiss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

She is a rather good kisser. Her lips are always soft and glossed up so she is always ready for some smooches. She likes to take things slow at first, giving her s/o tender, playful kisses before getting into to something more serious and passionate. She’ll cup her s/o’s face and hold them close as she shares a kiss with them, humming in sweet delight each time the kiss progresses into something more fiery.

Love Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

She’s the type to send her s/o a letter as a means of confessing. She thinks it’s a lot cuter and more traditional than confessing in person, especially for a girl. She’ll find a clean piece of paper, a cute gel pen, and use her body penmanship to create an adorable love letter to her s/o. She’ll go into great detail about what she likes most about them and how she can’t stop thinking about them everyday. At the end of the letter, she’ll tell them to meet her somewhere so that she can hear their answer in person.

Marriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Yes, she’d love to get married. Like I said, it is a dream of her’s to get married but she mainly keeps it to herself due to her line of work. She won’t be the one proposing since she believes that a woman should be proposed to instead of the other way around. However, she would love it if her s/o proposed to her “somewhere romantic after a candlelit dinner with flowers and a band playing in the background”.

Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

Baby cakes

Love angel

Hunny Buns

Sweetums

Honey Biscuit

Baby

On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

She becomes obsessed with the person she has a crush on and it is pretty obvious. She becomes invested in their day to day life, wanting to be apart of it and occupy every moment of their time. She’ll constantly talk to them, asking them question after question just to hear their voice. In any situation where people need to be grouped together, you’ll always find her with her crush, holding onto them in some way (this is why Diesel [my OC] ended up dumping her. He likes his women calm, put together, and named Momo).

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

She is very upfront with her relationship with her s/o. She lets the whole world know that she is dating her s/o and shoves that fact into eve conversation possible. Showing off her s/o is basically an occupation for her since she loves to hype them up and shower them with affection no matter who she is around or where she is. If she thinks her s/o and her relationship with them needs to be known, she’ll make sure that people know.

Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

It’s more beneficial to her rather than her partner but she is good at manipulating people. She can manipulate her s/o or other people for her s/o. When she is doing it to her s/o, it’s usually to get them to agree with her on something or make them feel bad about saying something to her to make them stay. It happens pretty constantly, enough to make her s/o confused and feel a little overpowered. When it comes to manipulating others for her s/o’s gain, she tends to only do it so that her s/o can get what they want.

Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

She is extremely romantic. She likes being affectionate and showing copious amounts of love for her s/o, both through words and actions. She is pretty cliche when it comes to showing her s/o affection since she wants to mirror what it is to be a housewife or a doting girlfriend. She’ll do things like make her s/o dinner, draw them a nice bath, give them a massage, and other things of that nature.

Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

She does what she can to help she s/o achieve their goal, though she does this more so through emotional support rather than physical (unless it’s sex). She believes that they can do anything they put their mind to and will give them all the emotional support she can to help see them through to their goal.

Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

She prefers to stick to a routine in their relationship. She would like it to be perfect and straying too far from what she wants will set her on edge. She likes waking up in the morning to a sweet text from her s/o, then spending certain amounts of time together and away from each other, eating together, cuddling, and so on and so forth. She basically has a set schedule in her head for you both to follow to make sure that the relationship she has always dreamed of goes smoothly.

Understanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

She knows her partner very well. She made it her goal to know her partner inside and out well before they got together. It’s something she does pretty well since it actually helps out with her quirk as well as helps out in her relationship with her s/o. She isn’t necessarily empathetic but she does feel some sort of confused emotion when her s/o is upset or hurt.

Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

her relationship with her s/o is extremely important to her. She would give up a lot to make sure that her and her s/o stayed together for a long time. Her relationship is one of her most important priorities and will sacrifice a lot of things and people to have it last. However, if her relationship with her s/o gets in the way of her line of work or puts a wedge between her and the league then she will not hesitate to let that person go.

Wild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

She has multiple folders on her phone with pictures of her s/o in them. Each folder has a different form of picture taken in them, ranging from pictures of how you sleep, to pictures of you smiling, crying, laughing, and (her favorite) bloody for some reason or another. She constantly looks at the pictures throughout the day and even has one of the bloodiest ones as her screen saver.

XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Yes! She is very affectionate and loves to kiss and cuddle with her s/o. She’ll do either and both any chance she gets because she loves to shower her s/o in affection.

Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

For the most part, she is okay when her s/o is gone. She’ll be a lot more pouty the days her s/o are gone but she won’t put up much of a fuss. She’ll just set her focus on league plans and distract herself with other things until her s/o comes back.

Zeal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Like I said before, she is willing to do and sacrifice a lot to keep her relationship with her s/o going. She has no issues beating, maiming, or killing anyone that hurts her s/o or tries to get in the way of their relationship. She will even use her quirk to change how she looks if it makes her s/o happy and makes them stay with her. However, she will never go against The league to save her relationship. She will shoot down her relationship with her s/o in seconds if it meant losing the league.

[stephicness]

I sometimes find it difficult to write and embed the story of one of my oc's with another, any ideas?

Kinda like readaptation? I know how that is, and it’s actually quite common for alot of writers, I feel! If there’s a character they really enjoy, revising them to fit the lore of another tale can really be fun, and definitely alot easier than starting from a new cast overall. But I think I have a few tips that might help!

1) Learn to Compromise

I feel like this is the BIGGEST tip I can give because alot of writers (me included) are challenged when an important trait that shaped a character’s back story or personality sometimes just doesn’t fit with the lore of the story they’re being readopted to. Sometimes the big obstacle is transferring them from different time eras, different genres, etc. But the one thing you can do to make it several times easier for yourself as a writer is being able to accept change for your character’s story. It’s alot harder to do than it seems, especially when you don’t want to ruin a character’s integrity just for the sake of putting them into a new world.

But if your character’s a dragonborn scaly giant being moved into a modern AU setting, then maybe you have to change a little bit. But be creative with how you can adapt them! Keep them tall! Let them wear chainmail because they love medieval stuff! Make them be a fire enthusiast! Think of the tiny details that can keep your character’s personality and appearance, but get creative in how you can portray these things in other diverse ways.

2) Let Things Be Natural

For me as a writer, I find that the best characters that I write about are the ones that fit rather naturally into the world around them – interacting with characters, living in the world, that type of thing. So a good idea if you’re having a hard time fitting your character into a story is to just see where they maybe want to fit in at. If they were an ice mage in one story, but you’re putting them into a sci-fi space drama, then they’re probably want to be in an ice-like environment, right? Maybe turn them into an ice alien so they can keep their traits of an ice mage, even!

Think about the lore of the world around your character, and ponder ‘Where in this world would this character appear in?’ Not ‘How will I make them fit?’ If you think about how they function in this world rather than trying to confine them to a role, it’s a whole lot easier to handle.

3) Be Wary of Changing the Lore

The number one issue that I see in writers for characters that are readopted is when a character’s introduction ultimately changes the premise of a story. Unless a story is explicitly written like that (like the Isekai scenarios and stuff), then it’s actually more of a challenge for the writer than it is something that’ll help the character. You know how the story progresses, and so if you introduce a character that throws it all out the window, then you’re basically stuck writing a new plot and a new story that just leaves you more stressed than you wanted to be. You have to come up with a new plot line, figure out how these previous characters will work with it, figure out all these minor details until you finally realize that you strayed so far that you just became lost. It happens alot, and it’s something to really be careful about!

So if you find yourself with this issue, then don’t be afraid to just write your character along for the ride! Let them bring in some influence and change into the story with their own subplots, but also don’t be afraid for them to branch out on their own too! They don’t have to be subservient to the main plot, but neither do the main characters of the original world you’re readapting to. Your character’s there to help shape their story, just as they’re there to shape your character’s.

4) Obey the Laws

By this, I mean the laws of the universe your character is going to reside in, because there’s definitely alot of conflict with the accuracy of a setting when this happens! If your character uses natural magic in a world where magic is artificial or non-existent, then you might need to change some things so they can obey the universe’s laws. When a character doesn’t follow the laws of the universe, then it often just leads to conflict, questions, and overpowered characters that tend to not have the same weaknesses and limitations as everyone else in the universe. So be careful with that!

But also don’t be afraid to bend the rules a little bit too to spice it up. If your research on the world’s laws says that the Plaxiar are the only species who can generate light from their fingertips and you want that, then say that your character is a Plaxiar hybrid who got the finger thing from their dad. Play with the laws, make it spicy! It’s fun! But again, if you bend them too much to where it seems implausible, then you’ve probably taken it a wee bit too far.

5) Have Your Own Adventure

So if you’re still having a hard time figuring out how to put this character in, why not make them into their own subplot/story in the universe instead? I find that this helps because then they’ll have their story, but if they decide to make a cameo in the same universe/become a bigger character, you’ve already established how this character fits into the universe! Stray away from things that are a bit familiar, and make a character who lived with giant birds and learned how to hunt from the mountains. And when the bird person meets civilized human beings, they’re a bit awkward to be around. It’s your chance to shape the world a little bit more, but this works out the best when you use the world around you to your advantage. Make the world your setting in its own area and twist the lore into your favor for your own adventure!

Just be careful with this one too, because you still abide by the laws of the world you’re readapting your character to!

Overall, the character is yours to play around with, and whatever feels best for your character’s story is what’s best. But definitely play around with the world and ponder about how well your character’s story can unfold in the world around you, and just let it happen as it happens! Sometimes the natural feel for the character can be the best~ :D