#I'm sure this fanfic has to exist somewhere already

[aofelis]

my new Lestat Dorian Gray headcanon

Lestat came across Oscar Wilde a couple of times towards the end of the 19th century, forced some therapy sessions on him, thus inspiring The Picture of Dorian Gray. Dorian Gray is what Oscar Wilde pieced together from his impression of Lestat and his wild rantings about Armand. I don't remember the exact timeline in tvc but I know it was towards latter half of the 19th century that the whole Theatre de vampire/Claudia burning thing happened, and then he had to recover for a little while before going to ground back in New Orleans towards the beginning of the 20th century? Wikipedia tells me that Dorian Grey was published around 1891, so what I reckon happened: Lestat comes across Oscar Wilde in Paris or London just after Claudia dying in Paris, looking a little worse for wear. Oscar is grossed out but a little fascinated, because Lestat can't help being charismatic, but they don't really chat that much, aside from some mopeyness from Lestat. A few years later, just before he goes back to New Orleans (maybe he's come over from Paris, waiting to catch a ship across the Atlantic), he catches Oscar, who's surprised by how much Lestat's recovered, showing a little glimpse of his former glory. Lestat, finding an audience, unburdens about Armand, but still keeps specific details about vampire stuff back (it's before Louis talked to Daniel in Interview with the Vampire, so he's at least *trying* to be discrete, as much as Lestat can be). He mentions Marius a bit too, y'know, he paints the pretty young boy, some classical references, etc. Maybe it's muddled in his ranting about Nicholas, but he can't bring himself to talk for extended bits about Louis. He doesn't tell him about how Armand looks, just that he's just as pretty as he is at his best (taking time to impress to Oscar that he really really is magnificent usually), but a little younger looking, even though he is older than himself. Oscar needs to sit down to process this experience has to just piece together the wild ranting from this crazy french guy, and voila, The Picture of Dorian Gray.

[olderthannetfic]

I found AO3 pretty intuitive. Took me like 5 minutes to realize how all the little buttons work. They're pretty straightforward. Apart from the AND filters - took me a while to realize what type of filters AO3 used. Beyond that, I'm not sure why people have a hard time? Wattpad and FFnet are way more of a pain in the ass.

--

It's all about familiarity.

I mean, look, AO3 works how my brain works. When we first set it up, it was what we were all used to, more or less, but an upgrade. It was hard to even see how it could ever be unintuitive because this was just How Things Were. From the style of trope tags to the fact that there's an index of fandoms by media type, it was all familiar.

But that thinking is a trap.

It's easy to say "Oh, well, that person's just an idiot", and sometimes, the problem really is laziness or sleep deprivation, but a lot of the time, it's different cultural context.

By the time we were designing AO3, I'd had many rounds of formal instruction in how to use library catalogues of various sorts, familiarity with Delicious, years in LJ slash fandom whose assumptions form the metadata structures of AO3, etc.

There's nothing strange about going "Why are ship types a top level system of organization?" or "How do I search for genre X in any anime fandom but not in non-anime fandoms?"

It's strange to me, but it's not strange in the context of people who read fanfic overall.

It's not just about learning the search features that do exist: it's about unconscious assumptions about what metadata must exist.

If you don't know to look for something and you aren't coming from a culture where poking buttons is encouraged, you're going to take a lot longer to find things than if you already have a good idea of what's probably there somewhere.

To pick two very obvious examples:

If I were designing a gen-focused archive, I'd make genre a top-level organization system, like on FFN.

If I were designing a more x-reader-focused or One True Character-focused archive, I'd make the ship searches work like Character X/Anyone instead of having to click on each ship of your blorbo or each ship with Reader.

If someone has years of experience searching for some bullshit 'trickyfish' style nonsense ship name because they're on sites with garbage searches, they'll go to AO3, plug some words into the search bar at the top, and then feel like they can't find any relevant results because everything that turns up is just that word in author's notes on an irrelevant fic. They might even go to advanced search...

...and then totally miss that the sidebar filters are the best part of AO3, and they don't appear when you do a search search as opposed to starting from a tag.

Isn't Advanced Search the most... well... advanced search? On every other website, it is, but not on AO3.

--

Each new site/technology/culture/etc. a person has to learn takes time and attention. If you're exhausted and burnt out, that's hard. Even if you're not, it takes at least some effort. It doesn't Just Happen, not for every person and every new thing.

We should tell people to read the damn FAQ, yes.

But I can't say I always do that myself on every site unless I'm both having a problem and invested enough to care about solving it.

--

On an average day, most of us don't need to care why some people have a hard time figuring out AO3.

But if anyone is planning to design a site or needs to teach a bunch of kids how to use the library or something, it's worth keeping in mind just how many unconscious assumptions are hiding behind the idea of something—literally anything—being "intuitive".

[ghoultyrant]

Anime Sakura vs Manga Sakura

I first got into Naruto the way a lot of English-language fans very clearly did: by virtue of the anime starting to run in my region. More specifically, I got into it partway through the first Toonami airing of the Wave Country Arc -which, for those who don't know (or don't remember), lead to the anime looping back to the beginning as soon as that arc concluded while localization worked on getting the following episodes localized.

I was sufficiently hooked that this wasn't really enough for me, particularly once the anime got back to the episodes I'd already seen, so I checked out fanfic, became aware the series' original form was a manga, and started reading that. This confluence of events resulted in me becoming aware of something I suspect a lot of fans never notice:

That the anime actually changes a lot of early scenes.

Some of this is actually quite appreciated. For example, in the manga Naruto's classmates don't exist in the first chapter: Sakura and Sasuke don't exist until it's time for team assignments in the second chapter, and the rest of Naruto's classmates don't exist until they show up in the Chunin Exams -this is why Naruto breaks the fourth wall and gives an intro for each of them when they show up there, even in the anime where we actually saw them all in the very first episode. The anime adding them in to the beginning is nice!

By a similar token, the manga actually skips the fight between Tenten and Temari, so jarringly I actually had to double-check and make sure I wasn't missing a chapter somehow; the anime giving us the actual fight in detail is also appreciated!

Other changes are sort of random-feeling if you're not familiar with the tendency for anime adaptations to overtake the manga they're rendering in animated form, but understandable if you are familiar with this point: for example, there's an entire episode dedicated to Naruto having a Wacky Adventure in trying to get to the Chunin Exams' final stage on time, involving silliness like running from an entire stampede, which... has no relevancy to the larger plot because it's an anime-only filler episode to stall for time, not based on anything from the manga.

And then there's how Sakura gets changed.

This is kind of weird to describe, because the anime doesn't cut anything or completely rewrite any scenes: it only ever adds bits. The problem is, the bits that are added are... problematic. Consistently, up until about her Chunin Exam fight scenes. But since it is only addition, I'm going to start from just describing Manga Sakura, then explain the changes.

In the manga, Sakura starts essentially exactly as she does in the anime; she doesn't like Naruto, she's pursuing Sasuke... the only 'difference' is that of course Ino doesn't exist until the Chunin Exams and so the whole Ino/Sakura rivalry thing doesn't come up.

However, in short order Sakura starts changing her mind about Naruto; she attempts to confess to Sasuke, it doesn't work out, and she finds the rejection a fairly unpleasant experience and then connects this pretty immediately to her own rather harsh rejections of Naruto's requests for dates and resolves to not be such a jerk to him in future.

And she does in fact stick to that for... at least everything I read. (I've yet to get fully through the Shinobi World War Arc, so I suppose it's possible she goes back on her word somewhere past there)

This is how Manga Sakura goes overall; she starts as a bit of a shallow, thoughtlessly cruel person who isn't really taking this whole 'life and death battles as a ninja' thing adequately seriously, but tends to be quick to engage in introspection, resolve to change such behaviors, and then stick out this resolution; the Sakura we see in the Chunin Exams is something of a culmination of how Sakura has been progressing this whole time.

Anime Sakura still has these moments, but... they get undercut. The date thing is the bit I still vividly remember: Anime Sakura makes her resolution to not be so cruel to Naruto-

-and Naruto immediately shows up, asks for a date, and Sakura punches him out and goes 'never mind' about her resolution.

There's a lot of moments like this with Anime Sakura: 15-45 seconds of content added to otherwise-faithful-to-the-manga scenes where said added content is 'comedy' moments that horribly undercut Sakura's character development. Taken seriously, they make her into an incredibly unpleasant person who intentionally rejects opportunities to become less unpleasant; it's little wonder that so many of the fanfics I saw in the early days really did not like Sakura.

Once the Chunin Exam starts these added bits of unpleasantness stop occurring, but after so long seeing Anime Sakura do things like make resolutions and immediately break them, I imagine lots of viewers found Sakura's Big Resolutions and Major Character Development difficult to take as intended; if I'd not read the manga, I know I would've been expecting these moments to not really stick.

The whole thing is particularly frustrating for how easy it is to overlook; if I'd not been experiencing the manga and anime near-simultaneously, I never would have realized these quick bits of character assassination were anime-only additions. And if you go look at a wiki or the like, you're not going to trivially learn this info, unlike how basically everyone knows that the Anime Filler Arcs are, in fact, the Anime Filler Arcs.

So I've long suspected lots of people are unaware that Sakura comes across very differently in the early anime vs the early manga.

[blakbonnet]

Artist of the Week!

So last weekend, I announced that I'd like to feature an artist every weekend for both new fandom joinees who might not have seen some of this art and older fans who like the nostalgia. This week's artist is Ash @aha-my-villainous-thoughts 💖 who also, wonderful that they are, agreed to answer a few questions for me!

Which App Do You Use To Draw When I’m at my big set up I use Clip Studio Paint, I love it so much. It’s very straight forward to dip straight in, has all of the bells and whistles you need from an elite drawing program, and the community elements where you can see assets and brushes is a lot of fun - although I still to this day have no idea how to earn coins to buy assets?! I use a XPPen Artist 15.6 Pro Graphics Tablet to draw into the program, although my best tip with graphics tablets is to get a screen protector, mine got covered in marks before I noticed. Recently I also got an iPad 10.9 to use as a digital sketchbook I can carry around, and while I am enjoying Procreate, I think CSP is a better art program overall.

Fave Brushes? On iPad I stick to the technical pen, studio pen and the soft airbrush, along with the textures and the light pen. I don’t think Procreate has great ‘painting’ brushes, whereas on CSP I would marry the Gouache brushes, I love how they blend and texture as you work.

Your favourite piece you’ve drawn? I’m a super self indulgent artist, I try to draw the kind of stuff I like to look at, so it’s a lot of colour, a lot of fabric and details. My fave piece for detail is the one I did for the OFMD RBB last year - Crescente Devotione, there’s a blushing sentient stool in it! For colour I’m in love with this sleepy time Ed in a lil negligee and a Holly Golightly eyemask, he's my lock screen because I'm trash.

Who harder to draw: Ed or Stede? Oh for sure Stede. I love Rhys Darby, but the man has like no lips. I stand by this meltdown.

One essential tip for beginner artists? Comparison is the thief of joy, don’t measure yourself against others - particularly when you’re finding your groove. Be self indulgent af. Also get a screen protector for whatever digital screen you draw on, and BACK. THINGS. UP. Whether in an online account, or on an external harddrive - or both?! BACK THAT SHIT UP.

Why OFMD? I’ve been in a few fandoms in the past, always as a pretty passive enjoyer, little fanart here or there, little fanfic sprinkled around, but there’s just something about the way this fandom feels? It feels like a group of friends who’ve got their own lives and their goals, but they still exist in each other's orbit, it’s like this feeling of returning home to somewhere you’re always welcome. There’s so many good moments in the show for both comedy and some gut wrenching pathos. Sign up for the hot guy in leather and get got by this beautiful delicate little love story. It’s something about queer joy of thriving, not just surviving. Something about finding love and romance no matter your age or what’s past before. Something about found family, and unlikely friendships, and community and silliness. I was already a goner when Taika put on the wig, but then when he teared up in a blanket fort while trying not to die? Excuse me sir, I did not need feelings that powerful. It was literally waking me up at night thinking about his last shot weeping in the nook - like are you kidding me?! I’m supposed to finish watching and be normal after that??

[zombtropolis-central]

Ramble about the lore of the funny plant and zombie game below. Its basically gonna be me going

for like a few paragraphs

I know PvZ's timeline and lore is already weird (its literally a predestination paradox, and they explain nothing ever) but I always think about how the world just handled zombies before there were sentient plants, and the plants themselves and how they became a thing. Now I know there's that 'The Guide to Protecting Your Brains' that has some info, but much like a lot of non-game content for this series, I can't find an actual full scan of it outside of a few low quality pics of some pages on the wiki as well as the transcipts of plant and zombie descriptions from the wiki. So if the book clears up anything, I wouldn't know. (why is it so hard to find supplemental material for this series) I'm mainly going off info from the few scattered iceberg and lore vids on youtube, mainly choopo's video.

First, the zombies. Now we know they've existed for so long because of PvZ2's predestination paradox and Zomboss putting them there. But how did humans deal with them? I assume pre-plant era humans used normal weaponry; and because I doubt Zomboss stayed in the past eras after you beat him in PvZ2's adventure mode, that any zombies left behind in the past kind of just became a non-threat with nobody to command them.

But then we get to the Zombie War of '76. Yeah, Imitater's PvZ almanac entry mentions that there was a zombie war, and its so weirdly specific that I doubt its a joke or not meant to be taken as lore. There's a lot to unpack here.

We know that at least some plants fought in this war, as Imitater was apparently a part of it, and Bloom and Doom Seed Co. was establisted in 1968; but none of the plants we know in PvZ were in that war; because that generation of plants were made by Dave. Now Dave is assumed to be at least thirty six, and NMT has him state that he was a kid in the eighties, so he had to have been born in 1973 (according to my shitty math). So I have to assume Bloom and Doom Seed Co. had plants of their own in the war against the zombies during the '76 Zombie War.

Maybe there were some humans in it too, maybe it was mostly humans and the plants were like some hair-brained back-up plan, given we don't have many plants in the series who could have been in the war aside from Imitater and maybe Colnel Corn. (given his lore in GW2, but I have no evidence for this) I have no idea if this is true, but somebody in the comment section of choopo's PvZ lore vid said that the zombies are immune to bullets, but if that is actual lore then I can imagine why the plants would be there.

Here's another thing about this Zombie War that also fucks with me: Who was in charge of this zombie faction? Because I'm like... 98% sure it was not Zomboss. Now we know that Zomboss and Dave are somewhere in th same age range, because of the science fair incident, and Zomboss does age like a human does from that same science fair (and Bully for You); so he probably came into existence at the same time Dave was born. Now I know the counter could be "Well time travel is canon" but only in PvZ2, and there is not a single world in PvZ2 or PvZ2 China that is even close to being in a 70s war setting, so I can't consider that as a remotely canon-compliant explanation.

And the zombies have been shown to not be able to organize themselves for shit without somebody to command them, there had to be some kind of commander there. I'm sure it probably was Zomboss and Popcap just never bothered expanding on any of this Zombie War, but this random bit of lore compels me so much.

Like where was this war fought? What were the stakes? What was the zombie army like? Did people die? If it wasn't Zomboss leading the zombies in this war, who did? Or was it like a World War Z type 'war' where the zombies just swelled in numbers and overwhelmed whatever location they were in? And most importantly; has anybody made fanfic based on this concept and if so, where can I read it?

[snugglesquiggle]

hi again! I have another question😭 do you have any tips on writing pre-existing characters? (while still adding more to the table of course.) How do you keep it in character? like how you write J or Uzi for example.

unfortunately, this is an area where my expertise is more intuitive than theoretical.

before i'd ever written a word of Hostile Takeover, i had watched murder drones a few times and read many fanfics (in addition to being moderately versed in character writing already), so i already had a decent knack for holding a character's idea-shape in my head and rotating it into new configurations.

but let me try my best.

there are two different things you need to grapple with when writing an established character. it's simple enough: you need to understand them both internally and externally. but let me explain

external understanding is easiest to recognize and for me, easiest to pull off. it's the character voice, style, and vibe. for J, it's the buzzwords and condescension, for Uzi it's the sardonic teenage lilt and the insecure grandiosity.

for this, i recommend getting the episode transcripts and reading them. copy/paste all of the lines for the character you're studying into a personal notes document, and pay attention to how their lines are constructed. what words do they use most often? how do they structure their sentences?

there are some broad spectra you can clock dialogue on right away. what sort of vocabulary do they use? is it simple or complex, formal or slang, gamer or sailor? do they speak concisely, or at rambling length? confidently or insecurely, politely or rudely, passionately or callously, convincingly or deceptively, literally or flowerily?

these are generic buckets, but even if you treat them as dichotomies, ten yes/no binaries is already enough to write a thousand subtly different characters. and i already know you can think of specific vibes i didn't list out here, because there's so many to choose from

sometimes, when i'm writing J, i feel my command of her voice slipping, and i just write her as an archetypal Articulate Dominant Lady. but to a first approximation, that is J. she's confident and she comports herself with sophistication. not every panel of a comic will or can have a character fully rendered, and not every frame of animation has them completely on-model

another thing to note here is that just how a character sounds depends on who they're talking to; J won't address Tessa the same way she addresses N, nor V the same way she addresses Uzi. so the possibilities i listed off aren't even true spectra, because a character falls differently on them in different scenes, in different moods

it's something you should consider practicing, the way musicians practice scales or artists do gesture drawing. can you write someone who sounds angry? how do you write an expert vs someone ignorant? how do you write someone talking to someone they deeply respect?

if you can get a handle on the general principles of portraying characters, it's a skill that'll generalize pretty broadly.

but don't just practice this. you'll struggle with certain emotions, certain mindsets — everyone does. what you want to do is be on the look out when you're reading and watching stuff — try to catch a writer pulling off what you struggle with, and think about how they did it

if there's a fic that captures the characters about as well as canon, don't be afraid to make a note of it, quote it somewhere where you can study it (but be sure to keep it labeled and sourced; don't plagiarize. it's for reference, not tracing). you have my permission to dissect my fics if you think it'll help you

but enough about general character writing advice. how do you practice writing specific characters? here's an exercise. take some lines of dialogue from somewhere, the more the better, and think. how could you rewrite it so that it sounds as if the character you're studying said it? what words would you have to swap around, what sounds all wrong and needs a rephrase — would they even say it all, and if not why?

all the better if you do this with multiple characters at once: then you can see side by side how their voices differ and how to distinguish them. (as well as what they have in common — sometimes it's surprising)

but speaking of distinguishing them, a great exercise is to try writing a scene that's just dialogue. not even with he said, she said tags, just the quotes. how can you make it clear who's speaking from their cadence alone? (hard mode: do this with more than two characters)

i've been pretty laser focused on dialogue so far (i suppose it might be why my dialogue is what everyone compliments), but it's far from the only thing that constitutes an external understanding of a character

body language and small scale action are key components of a character. J glares and puts her hands on her hips, Uzi balls her fists at her side, N salutes. in a sense, "body language" generalizes to the style of how they approach actions. V famously takes every excuse to crawl on the ceiling; is it really Uzi if she isn't going for style points in combat?

this depends on the medium, somewhat; the techniques for portraying character in prose are different from those of a visual medium.

people (myself included) always say the mark of good dialogue is that you can tell who's speaking without needed it attributed. rarer, in my experience, for someone to assert that you should be able to tell who's acting without a name or face. but shouldn't you?

and more importantly, what does it take to make actions characteristic? understand this, and you understand how to present characters

still, an external understanding of character is only enough to carry you through a scene or two at best. you can't effectively tell a good story if this is all you have. what we've developed so far is less a character than an aesthetic tendency.

what an external understanding gets you is a way to ornament and present words and acts so that they evoke a certain character. what it doesnt get you is the worldview and motivation that generates those words and acts

to truly write a character, you need to know what they value — no, you need to know what they're afraid of.

every character is a story. now, every story has a beginning, middle, and end. (or as i spelled it out in my last answer to an ask of yours, presentation, transition, and conclusion). so, my assertion there is a little bit misframed, because characters aren't really like this.

rather, every character is an incomplete story. beginning, middle, and to be continued. they have a backstory, their current entanglement in the plot, and the future directions they could go.

in my previous answer to you, i suggested stories should start in a state of falsehood. an example was that story of Uzi killing N, where she's thrilled at first, only to later realize she's feels kind of guilty. and i think this lens is the perfect one for understanding character arcs, and characters in general

the inciting incident to a character's life story is a problem that demands some resolution or cope to deal with, and a character is defined by how they deal with that problem. even (especially) after they're no longer dealing with the problem, those coping mechanisms remain

let me be more concrete. take Uzi for example. why is she Like That? her mom was killed by murder drones, and her dad neglects her. so she acts out in class for attention, so she comes up with a brazen scheme to win her dad's respect, so she's brash and insecure. because she's isolated, she'll never get anyone's recognition unless she fights for it

or consider Khan. he watched everything his people built be torn down, and the only way for things he cares about to survive are if he builds something protects them. why wouldn't he be obsessed with doors?

Doll's another clear case. she watched her parents be killed, so she must grasp for purpose and power by plotting revenge. but i think the important part of the trauma here isn't the injustice of it, or even the loss, but specifically the loss of control. V violently reshaped her life, nearly had the cheerleader at her mercy — and thus, the revenge plot reasserts her control.

this distinction matters, because i think when she's killing the prom court, she isn't thinking it's an unfortunate means to an end, she's relishing that for that moment, she's the one in control, and killing V represents finally returning to the way things were and are supposed to be. not morally, but a order with Doll securely, comfortably, at the top.

you can trace an interesting throughline, and imagine that before V happened, Doll enjoyed a position at the top of the pecking order, unchallengeable with Uzi and the other losers beneath her.

throughlines are why i find this reading so compelling: because how else do we explain what happens after prom, where Doll quietly ditches the priority of taking revenge on V in favor of the solver plotline?

one analysis is to parse it as, structurally, distinct. the story of Doll the Avenger has reached its conclusion; and since every character contains multitudes, you can tell a different story with the same body. Doll the Afflicted, thus, would be one with its own separate beginning, middle, and tragic end.

but isn't it more compelling to notice that one concern echoes in both stories? they're both about control. before Doll fully understood her plight, she viewed V as the thing that had torn her life out of her own control — but after taking a bullet to head, after searching for a purpose in the wastes of Copper-9, after meeting "Tessa", she comes to understand (almost) the truth: the Solver is what's threatening to take total control, and thus is her true enemy and goal. her demanding a patch to exorcise the possession is then simply a maturation of the same thing she was attempting when she subjected V to rebar-cruxifiction.

the key to this model of understanding characters is knowing that every character has a theory, a logic that defines how they view the world.

a character believes. i have a problem, that problem is this, and i have to do something, if I do that, then everything will be fine.

remember what i said about falsehoods? you can tell a lot of great stories by having the character be wrong somewhere in that core logic. maybe they're wrong about what their problem really is, wrong that their approach to solving it is the best or only solution, wrong that their approach would even work.

there's more to be said about how this theory of character informs how you should write character arcs, but i realize this is getting a bit abstract and removed from the problem of how to characterize them.

but take that model of doll, for instance. if we're right that her overriding theory of life is that being in control is the most important thing, how does that inform how she talks to other characters? one obvious consequence is she probably wouldn't care about them except insofar as she could use them.

no matter how good your formulation of a character in these terms is, you can't reduce everything to it. Doll is a cheerleader, she likes fighting with kitchen knives, she's russian. you can tie a lot of character details back to their fundamental traumas and beliefs, but there's a line to walk between insightful and boiling everything down to low effort archetype-matching

still, knowing what logic a character believes in deepest of all is huge. another way to put this is — you know how they say every character thinks they're the protagonist of their own story? a corollary of that is believing you have a life story means believing you're in a certain kind of story. it's driving a certain conclusion by certain tropes.

if you want to know what a character would do in a certain situation, look at it through their story-lens, and ask what the obvious next chapter would be. if Doll thinks she's in a story of regaining control, she tried to do whatever would give her a sense of security and superiority.

this, i think, finally brings us to the real thing i want to offer. studying a character's speech tics and mannerism can help you on the line by line level, and figuring out a character's inner philosophy can illuminate their arc and core motivation. but despite being important, i don't think either is the most important thing, structurally.

what lies between the two extremes? what marries the gap of abstraction? how do you decide the broad strokes of what a character does in a scene, in a chapter, in an arc?

the best way to think about characters, i think, is in terms of verbs

you can't understand uzi purely through the lens of seeking recognition, but you can broadly group the things she does and the ways she acts into behavior patterns.

uzi rebels against authority. uzi hacks together and into technology. uzi blushes and stammers when boys are nice to her. she broods angstily and quips sarcastically and she theorizes conspiratorially. she gets scared and needs someone on her side. she gets manic and ready to kick everyone's ass.

that's not everything, but that's a pretty expansive palette to work with, isn't it?

every one of these tendencies is contextual. to rebel, uzi needs to be confronted with authority. she can't be scared if there's nothing to be scared of. key to writing a character, then, is to look at what's going through their mind, and figure out which of their preset scripts they'll try to fall back on.

this is a place where limitations breed creativity — so it can be better if your list of verbs isn't all-encompassing, at least if you know how to get creative in how you interpret them. for instance, imagine if Uzi encountered a person that she thinks is best talked to like a hacker trying to crack a system (imagine her talking to J like this :3)

but i've been yapping for a while, and if i don't wrap this up soon my evening walk is about to become a night walk.

in summary, to understand a character:

study their dialogue and actions and try to imitate it. practice different moods, different scenarios, and keep an eye out when you're enjoying other stories for stuff you can mine and repurpose for portraying characters

once you've taken a good look at their external components, try to group them into a broad but specific verbs. think about what situations prompt what behaviors, and see if you can't collapse different behaviors into expressions of the same impulse

once you have a effective summary of a character, think deeply about what trauma or dramatic incident prompted this behavior. what must they believe about the world for their behavior to not only make sense, but seem like the only sensible way forward?

if you manage to pull all that off... well, i can't tell you if you really understand how to write that character — but you'll be doing as well as i am, at any rate

P.S.: you'll note i didn't really talk about J in this essay. consider it an exercise for the reader. if what i said made sense, if the concepts are understood, you should be able to break her down, too.

in a way, doing this for her is both easier and harder than all the others. be careful out there — my friend tried to understand J and wound up with over twenty thousand words of character study. this J shit is serious. but it was also some of the best fiction i've read, so maybe it's worth it :3

[ghostkingart]

Doodle idea or general ask/prompt! I saw Our Flag Means Death as a fandom you’re into. How do you think Astarion or one of your OCs would look or function in that universe? Would they prefer Black Beard or Stede as a captain? What would their job on a pirate ship be? How would they dress?

What a beautiful prompt! I absolutely adore pirates and, fun fact, I've got an ongoing Black Sails fanfic on my ao3 🤭 kinda on hiatus due to BG3 brainrot but it's out there!

I'm gonna put up a trigger warning here for: discussion of abuse, prostitution and sadomasochism, and I'll put my reply under the cut (it turned out very long yet again).

P.S. OFMD friends I'm sorry this is showing up in your tags. To briefly explain we're talking about a crossover between OFMD and Baldur's Gate 3. Feel free to skip 🫶

I do think Astarion would prefer the old school Blackbeard as his captain, maybe Valeriy would also, but Veles would definitely prefer Stede. However, at the same time, with learning vulnerability being a big theme for all these characters, I think either captain would be fine for all three of them.

Tangent but I think Veles being in Stede's crew would help him so much with his feelings of inadequacy and his desperate need to be useful at any cost. Stede would show him that it's okay to just exist and be yourself.

I imagine Astarion and Valeriy would have followed Blackbeard until he meets Stede (where Veles would be) and then, just like in the show, Stede and Veles's side would teach Blackbeard, Astarion and Valeriy's side to be gentler, kinder and more vulnerable.

I can see Astarion, Valeriy and Veles being in a polycule in this AU but get this: Valeriy and Izzy. I'm obsessed with it now omg.

Fun fact: some of Valeriy's original backstory versions include him being a pirate. This never fit into the overall story/lore however, so I scrapped it.

I'll yap about this more later but let me tell you what I think each of them would do. First things first, I'm honestly not sure what Astarion would do, I don't think he'd be ranked too high, but I also don't think he'd be ranked too low. Somewhere in the middle imo.

Valeriy would be like Izzy's own right hand man and/or ranked just below Izzy. They have a similar ruthlessness to them.

Veles would be a master of navigation on Stede's ship I think.

I think I'll draw them in this AU actually, but I'll come back with that later.

I think Izzy and Valeriy in particular would work so well together because, just like Veles is distinctly a masochist due to his backstory, Valeriy is a sadist, except that Valeriy has a much healthier approach to his sadism than Veles has to his masochism. I've talked about this sm already but Veles's masochism transcends sex and he most certainly sees himself as an object. Valeriy is nothing like that, he's very careful, gentle and communicative if there's any sadomaso play going on, and he keeps it all in the bedroom.

I don't think I need to explain why Valeriy's sadism would work well with Izzy, OFMD fans have talked about it enough for me haha. But I wanna reiterate that I imagine it all being consensual and mindful, honestly very much unlike Astarion and Veles where at times it gets super messy due to them both being messed up in their own right.

How about how I imagine they became pirates? I mean it's a pretty simple answer. Historically it's pretty accurate, to my knowledge, that people on the margins of society escaped to become pirates. It checks out because Astarion, Veles and Valeriy are all a flavor of queer (bi, gay and pan in my hc). But also, all three of them have some type of abusers to run away from as well as an overall bad life situation (think Valeriy who's already escaped his father, but has only landed himself in prostitution instead. he'd like to leave that behind).

Random bit of a headcanon here, I think Veles would be a person of color in a non-magical AU, and I think that because of the racism towards drow analogy in DND. I'd probably completely redesign Veles for a non-magical AU, but all in its time.

I think Veles would be super cool with the rest of Stede's crew. He'd be very shy at first I think, but he'd find acceptance within the ranks.

I'm also thinking about, once the two crews join, Valeriy would really enjoy listening to Stede or Lucius read to him. Another fun fact: Valeriy reaaaally likes books, he simply can't read them on his own. Meanwhile I don't think he'd have many opportunities to be read to in Blackbeard's crew (this isn't an Ed is illiterate thing btw, this is an Ed has a reputation thing).

I think that's all I have for now! If you have any more ideas for this AU pleaseeee send me another ask!! This was so fun :D

[phlurrii]

Theory for Noes atrocity in Dialgas eyes, I'm assuming it's specifically time based because I can't see Dialgas caring too much about anything else and while showing up early probably ticked him off a bit I'm thinking for the actual crime it might be related to that betrayal from humans

My thinking is Noe in an absolute fury after making sure Meau was somewhere safe just grabbed the leader of the village/ring leader of what happened and is like "You want to see what you could've had?!" and proceeds to drag them through into the future (assuming Noe can time jump if not pft this falls apart regardless) and drops them at the feet of the ruined village overgrown by vines structures reduced to rubble as Noe glares down at them hatefully " Your lineage does not grow strong, your town is forgotten your people forgotten your existence GONE, the only creatures that will recall you are us and we will hold you in distain. Your betrayal has brought you nothing." cause oh you wanted to control Meau for yourself? To make yourself great? Did you think it would bring your civilisation further growth? You are incorrect you have doomed everything you loved to die here, the only thing that will see this place is the wind. And Noe just, leaves them there. To be trapped in a future they can't survive in to die in a future with nothing and no one because Noe is just angry and hateful to them rn making them see it was for nothing worse than nothing it ruined everything and having them stay there and Dialga was absolutely furious because it's ONE thing to take someone from the past to the future and give them an existential world view destruction and crisis it is ANOTHER to leave them there to die this breaks all kinds of rules and could cause so so SO many issues if that human breaks containment and is found by modern people it could get messy quickly. So Dialga is furious over Noe very much violating rules of time in a fit of rage. (while loudly ignoring Ingo in Hisui)

I'll admit this one did get away from me a bit XD more fanfic than theory but hey hope you enjoy

Oooo~ Actually, credit where credits due, you got a lot right actually! As we get closer to the arc, I’ll be a bit looser lipped since the main reveal is pretty early one, the rest is just well deserved answers in a visual format X3

For starters, Missingno. does make sure Meau has a place to rest before going back to the village, of which, we’ve actually already seen this village. It holds a lot of significance to both Meau and Noe due to what happened there and what it did for their relationship as a whole.

As for what Missingno. did when he arrived back at the village, he didn’t bother attempting to communicate with them. As Meau tried and failed to do so, he simply did what he thought was best and moved on. What he did there did not anger Dialga, nor was the atrocity that did anger Dialga.

Mind you, you’re correct in what happens to that village because of what they did to Meau. Their lineage does not grow strong, they do not prosper, and they are forgotten by all except Meau and Noe, who do not remember them fondly.

But there was not time shenanigans with the village, though I LOVED this lil theory!!! Very, very enjoyable X3

[logicgunn]

🛒, ✨, 💋, 🎶, 🛠, 🍦, 💖, ❌, 🎃, 🎨, 🦅, 🤗, 🎉, 🤯, 💥, 🤭, and 🥰, please?

Thanks for the ask! Phew! *stretches fingers*

💋&🎶answered here!

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

Coldness. Domesticity. Whump. Challenging gender roles (according to Bun).

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

I've gotten skilled at characterisation and turning "s/he would not fucking say/do that" into something plausible.

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

Online: Microsoft Word

Offline: Libre Office.

I am open to suggestions if anyone uses anything other than these and GDocs, which I tried and hated.

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

Cinnamon Bun (The Language of Love) for sure!

💖 What made you start writing?

Time, boredom, depression and watching Stargate Atlantis for the first time and catching feels for McShep.

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

I can't imagine ever writing an omegaverse fic. I would have said high school/collage AUs, but I did write a Laura & Rodney teen fic that had a high school setting. Probably a one off though.

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

I have written a halloween fic, a christmas fic, and another christmas fic. Holidays are good inspo. I think I have a couple of unfinished valentine's wips in a folder somewhere I should look at.

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

There's some very cool podfic covers of some of my fics that rock my socks!

�� Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

Shorter ones just happen, but if they start to expand or I already know they're multichap or a series then I definitely make a plan. Plans change a lot though because sometimes when I write it goes off in an unexpected direction.

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Just write. A crap draft can be edited, a blank page can't. Start with the idea that's burning in your mind. Expand on it later, in both directions if you want.

There's a tumblr post going around that says if you are stuck in a scene, go back a few lines, the problem is there, I've found that to be true more often than not.

Sometimes a story is just a single scene, and that's enough. I wrote an OFMD fic that I intended to be a 5+1, but ended up posting as a oneshot instead and it was better for that choice than it ever could have been if I'd struggled on.

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

Hard to say. I get immmense satisfaction in finishing a fic. Sharing it is nervewracking, but if a few people kudos I'm thrilled. We all want validation on some level. 10 kudos and I stop worrying!

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

Genres aren't so much a problem for me, I'm up for most things. Some are easier than others, like angst and whump and fluff, but there's nothing I think of as a struggle. The things I struggle with a more grammatical than thematic.

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

I get asked that a lot so I wrote a thing on my AO3 page.

"Concrit

If it can be fixed in five minutes, let me know in the comments. If I'm skirting the edge of something without the delicate touch it requires, please DM me, I only bite bigots. If you hate everything I've written from present tense to an au setting to queer themes, I might not be the writer for you..."

Most of the "concrit" I've had has been bigotry, and I'm sure everyone already knows my tolerence for that. If something's posted, I'm pretty much done with it, except when I go back and reread it after posting and find a dozen typos that did not exist in my final draft!

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

My most used additional tags are fluff, post-apocalypse and survival, so make of that what you will!

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

Absolutely!

[astaralys]

it is I, simplesnowflake!

I rebranded to astaralys now that I'm shifting into original projects but I'm very much still the same snow sisters supporter. I've just levelled up with an interest in game dev and picked up pixel art as well, so you'll be seeing less frozen content and more me content

you can find me on these places: twitter (listen I am not calling it X): https://twitter.com/astaralys bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/astaralys.bsky.social ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/astaralys I'm part of a studio! have you read our webcomic oneshot, Midnight Hour?: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/midnight-hour/list?title_no=872088

But what's happening with TNU, you ask? I admit I have much less time for fic now but still very much enjoy TNU and hope to see it to completion. It's something that sporadically crosses my mind, and when I reread what I've written, I fall in love with the story all over again. So I pick at it during my commute and lunch breaks. We'll get there slowly!

in the meantime, please enjoy this wip chapter 23 scene join me in my struggle to remember what happened in ch 22, it's been 84 years

As always, thank you so much for following my journey and reading my stories. I really want to finish writing TNU for us, and hope you wouldn't mind sticking around for my foray into original stories beyond that. I've been writing fanfic for over a decade (oof my back ached typing that) and knowing every word I've written has been read and enjoyed by at least one person has made me the writer I am today. Thank you for finding my words!

------

There was nothing quite like the slipperiness of blood. A slickness that smeared and clung to everything and anything, as if it already knew there was no way to return to the veins from which it had gushed. Its new purpose was to stain and horrify. If it could, with its sheer, crimson volume, petrify those that had evicted it from its rightful body, then its existence had purpose. A river, it would become. 

“Your Highness! Are you hurt?” Ronny. A familiar face. An anchor.

“I… y-yes. I mean, no. The… the blood’s not mine.” Kristoff made to get up and slipped. Instead of hitting the marble floor, though, his knee crunched into unmoving flesh. It was a small blessing he hadn’t speared himself on one of the dozen crossbow bolts protruding from the man’s torso like a pincushion. 

Herman dragged him upwards and back, none too gently. “We’ll guard the prince! Make sure these bastards are really dead.”

“Wait—” Bile overtook words. Kristoff dropped to all fours and retched. 

Scattered words swirled around him as his guards waded through the bodies. “—that big talk about their military. These idiots fought like lumps of wood!”

“Any news from the general? Did we manage to intercept their fleet?”

“Still can’t see a thing out there; the fjord’s completely covered in mist after the wall fell. How did they break Princess Elsa’s magic—”

“Forget that! The queen and princess are missing—we need a search party—”

“With what men? We’re already stretched thin as ice—”

Ice. If he’d kept his head down and continued hacking at the frozen tundra and going home to his family of trolls, he wouldn’t be here, crouched in a lake of dark red. Staring at a canopy of death spattered across the hallway like the reaper itself had danced with a conductor’s wand. How easily could he have been one of those bodies splayed out across the same floor Anna always slid down in her socks, laughing and crashing into his arms? Where was Anna? What if she was lying in a ditch somewhere, just like—

“Oi! Got a live one here!”

“You telling me this runt was the commander of this freak show? What, did you use your own soldiers as meat shields? You cowardly little—”

Kristoff looked up to see his men crowded around a huddled figure. If these southerners hadn’t brought swords and bloodlust to Arendelle… if they hadn’t spilled mortality in these sunny halls… 

Don’t be pathetic, Bjorgman. 

“Let me talk to him,” Kristoff rasped. 

“Sir, this scum tried to kill you—”

“Trust me, I’ve noticed.” 

The soldiers quietened. A few stepped away from their quarry, blinking like they had snapped out of a trance. Kristoff knew them all by name, but when they had come to his rescue in a flurry of unforgiving steel, he momentarily couldn’t recognise them. But he recognised himself in their sudden cruelty. They weren’t baying for blood— they were afraid for themselves, their families, their homes. They needed a leader, and Mattias was out the fjord. 

Come on, Lord Regent, he could hear Anna teasing. You’re in charge when I’m gone, remember?

But you’re not gone, Kristoff thought. You’re safe with Elsa somewhere, and you’ll come back to me. 

He rose to his feet. He’d kept his balance on cliffsides and frozen lakes; he could stomach standing on solid ground, nauseatingly slippery as it was. He stopped before the only survivor of the Isles’ ambush party.

“Let’s hear what the crown prince of the Southern Isles has to say. That’s you, right? Jesper Westergaard?”

Spindly shoulders jerked. Bitter memories of another sneering, auburn-haired prince made Kristoff’s fists and jaw tighten. 

“Your father sent you into our tunnels to secure the castle, didn’t he? Bet he didn’t expect us to be waiting for you. He’s probably sitting on the fjord in his big ship, waiting for you to open the gates for him.”

The prince’s sword tinkered on the floor. Herman pushed Kristoff behind him, but Jesper made no move to attack. He only kept his head bowed and rocked slightly on his heels, clenching and unclenching his hand on his sword. Staring down at him, Kristoff realised their adversary was more boy than man.

What would Anna do?

Giving Herman the standby signal, Kristoff knelt down in front of Jesper. “Calm down. Work with us, and no one else needs to get hurt.”

Jesper’s glazed stare remained unerringly fixed on his shoes. Kristoff saw pale lips moving, though. He cautiously leaned in.

“Hurry up hurry up hurry up…”

Kristoff waved a hand in front of the prince’s face. “Hey. Can you hear me?”

“… up hurry up hurry—” The frenetic whispering halted abruptly as Jesper’s head snapped up. Dilated pupils locked on Kristoff’s, swimming in fear and adrenaline and… triumph?

A shiver slithered up Kristoff’s spine. 

Freshly spilled blood could melt snow. Yet it only struck him now, as his soldiers let out shocked cries and whipped out their swords for the second time, that the blood he had been kneeling in was icy enough to chill him to the bone.

Jesper finally met Kristoff’s eyes. He wiped his nose on his sleeve, a wicked smile spreading on his face. “Be a good sport and remember to scream, yeah?”

[hischierlovebot]

A, Z and a wildcard of your choice for the fandom asks, pls and thank youuuuu! If you've already answered them or they do not spark joy for any reason, feel free to swap them out for any and all things that do appeal!

A - Ships you currently like a lot

Just answered that one, but currently they're Roope/Wyatt, NicoJack and Quinnbrady! I can get behind almost anything though

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go!

I just posted a fic I've worked incessantly over a month and was a little bit terrified of posting, but I was still very excited to post and I just love how fandom allows us to connect with one another. Art itself does that in its every form, but there's something special about finding inspiration in a pre-existing media and having that allow you to connect with others through your creation. I'm not sure if I'm making sense, I just think it's something really cool that makes me really emotional too. Before I jumped in the fanfic pool, I hadn't written in a couple years, and now it's been a handful of them that I've been writing at least 100k per year consistently, and it's all because there's a joy in it, a community that you can't find somewhere else and I think it's beautiful (and that we should nurture it!! Not take it for granted)

J- Name a fandom you didn't think about until you saw it all over Tumblr.

The obvious answer would be hockey but I came here with my eyes wide open because I kept seeing tumblrs on the fics. However I never expected to see such a fandom for f1. Very cool very nice, the first Fernando Alonso fanvideo had my soul leaving my body, that was like seeing my neighbour on tumblr (not really my neighbour but that man has been on TV since I can remember so I had never thought about him in a fandom kind of way)

[arabella-s-arts]

Welp, I just came up with a Destiel fanfic idea, anyone want to steal it from me? Because I sure as hell ain't writing it.

Basically the idea is a soulmates au. But that's the only change to spn universe. Anyway, people are born with their soul mark (idk, will probably be a pretty design thing, and where on the body varies, though deans would probably be on his shoulder now that I think about it). When Cas was created he had a soul mark, and Chuck was like "hell no" to that because it's not that angels can't have romantic or platonic feelings or whatever, but that isn't their function. So Chuck gets rid of his soul mark and Cas doesn't remember it. It would probably work best to the plot if Chuck didn't know Cas's soulmate is Dean (he would never ask Cas to fetch him otherwise), I mean after all, Dean is still a millennia away. Anyway, when Dean is born he doesn't have a soul mark (because if the mark is off one, it's off the other). I'm not sure if everyone in the world has a soul mark except Dean (I feel like platonic soulmates exist in this au), or if some people don't, and it's not a big deal. But I feel like either way, it's going to make Dean feel really crappy about himself, because he already doesn't get any support at home. And there's supposed to be this one person in the universe who understands him, and will be there for him, but he isn't even good enough for that (obviously not true, but we all know Dean doesn't necessarily have the best self esteem).

Sorry for the scatterbrain mess way of explaining an idea. This is why I could never write a fic, I would never be able to fully plan it out. Also, I would probably never finish it. I just wanted to get the idea out of my brain and somewhere else .

[bijouxcarys]

hey! I was interested in writing an story but I'm sooo nervous on doing it. Can you give me some tips? Such as pacing, sequencing, descriptions, plot, grammar, punctuations, etc

i'll been reading your roman fanfic and you're a great writer

Hey! So sorry this took a minute to answer, but I've been away and I wanted to make sure I gave you a meaningful response!

First of all, thank you so much for the kind words about my Roman fic; I'm really enjoying writing that, so it means the world when people are enjoying it too :)

Okay, in regards to your question:

The first thing, and the most important thing, is to remember that when you're writing... write for you, and no one else. 10 years of writing fanfiction, and only learned that last year. Write what you want to read. If that makes sense. Don't worry too much about the response from others, because somebody somewhere out there is going to love it! If you're having a good time writing, you've already succeeded.

Secondly, it's very helpful to have some kind of idea how many chapters your story is going to be, if it's even going to have multiple chapters etc... That way, when you're thinking about your story arcs and key events, it'll help with your pacing. You don't want to have too quick of a pace if you're planning to have, say, 25-30 chapters. Development is essential, and that can be achieved through sub-plots, interactions between minor (small, not children lol) characters, etc...

However, if you're wanting to write a one shot for instance, pacing is all dependent on how long you're wanting the one shot to be. I tend to write 7-10k word one shots, and my pacing is relatively slow for a one shot. If you are wanting to write a shorter one shot, my advice is to focus on the action, not so much the characters. It's easier when it's a fanfiction, because you don't need to focus too much on telling an audience who that person is, seeing as they're reading it because they already, assumedly, know them. With the OC, sometimes it can be easier to start by writing a x reader fic, but if that's not your thing, it can be helpful to establish a brief backstory in the intro of your one shot, just so that the audience gets an idea of who this OC is. Obviously, if you're writing a longer one shot or a fic that has multiple chapters, it's usually best to "drip-feed" backstory throughout.

A lot of grammar, punctuation, descriptions tend to improve with practice. Looking at my fics now, you wouldn't think it was the same author of my fics 7 years ago.

PLOT... my god, what a topic. First of all, remember every author that you enjoy runs into issues regarding the plot of their stories. Don't be afraid to change the direction your story is going in, it's your story and plot is flexible. As long as you have an idea of where your story is going to end, or how it's going to end, the bits in between are easier to set up. I know exactly how I want Ties That Bind to end, so figuring out the journey is a little easier. That being said, it's very useful to keep a notebook, or a word document, of all your thought process. Things that you want to happen throughout. Sometimes even drafting out a specific scene you've thought of, and then going back to it when or if you decide to use it down the line.

You didn't specifically ask about this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway: WRITER'S BLOCK.

It happens a lot. To every writer that's ever existed. And it's frustrating. You will get annoyed at yourself when it happens. But, throughout the past 10 years, I've learned that for me, the best way to overcome it, is to step back from it, close the folders on your laptop/whatever you use, and revisit it the next day after a sleep and with fresh eyes. Something else that helps me is creating playlists for the fics! It really does get you thinking about your story and the characters (you can even make playlists dedicated to characters), and at times it's even inspired me to add something else to the story. It also gives you something to listen to that's relevant whilst you're actually writing your story, if that's something you like to do.

Just remember, there's no formula to being a writer. And there's no shame in writing fanfiction, if that's what you're wanting to do. Write for you. This is your time, your moment, your hobby, your thing. Like most things, comfort comes with time and practice.

I hope that was helpful! Please feel free to ask any more questions, if there's something I missed or didn't clarify!

<3

[nv-archives-archive]

I'm bored, and I have some Town of Salem screenshots stored in my phone.

Why don't I share with you their stories? =)

Oh hey! I have a fanfiction written about this one! But because it only tells the end game, I'll tell the whole story here :P

It all began when I roll Arsonist.

Night 1: I get jailed. I claim Lookout and ask who they are and if they'd like me to be on them as though I don't already know who the Jailor is.

Day 2: I keep quiet most of the time, but I do try to contribute to discussions. I notice that 1 claimed Trans somewhere in midday, so I conjure up a plan: play around with my douses using this Trans.

Night 2: I attempt to douse 1. In my will, I am writing up a will pretending to watch the Jailor.

Day 3: I notice that the only person doused is still Jailor. They died to an SK they jailed. I was about to grumble about having only one douse, but then I had a realisation.

I whisper to 1

Did you trans yourself with 7?

Lookout N1: jailed N2: 7 vb 1

Yeah I did!

Checks out

So I am an LO in the eyes of this Trans, and Jailor died to SK so that means no TP was on them. Still, I refrained from posting publicly just in case a random visited the Jailor.

Night 3: I try to douse 1. 1 transd themselves with 5

Day 4: I send them my n3 to keep up with the lie, wherein I said I "watched" them and that I "saw" them visit themselves.

Night 4: I finally douse 1. 5 fucking dies.

Day 5: It is now me, the SK, and the Trans left.

My absolute tarnation bumfuzzle brainfarted and accused Trans as Maf.

Bruh you saw me visit myself

Oh.

I gotta hand it to SK for trying though. They were fighting so hard in this losing battle, insisting that Trans was Hypno.

So we lynched SK, and Town blew up on dead chat after getting slapped in the face with an Arso win. Trans left within seconds without saying a word.

You know what would've been funnier? If I lynched Trans instead and feasted on the mass reports lmao (my account is still clean as of 507 games)

I also have a fanfic written for this one.

I don't feel like sharing the whole story. The only interesting part was this Vet 1v1 with Amb. I just thought the will was funny.

This one has a very uninteresting early game. I only screenshot this because of end game.

Basically, I played silent SK and claimed Doc because Invest existed.

By the end, it was me, WW, and 2 Mafs alive. In their eyes, I was still Doc, so I said to Maf that I will side them and that I will lynch WW for them. WW didn't really argue and left after getting lynched.

Before night started, I taunted them.

I still have a self-heal left :)

By morning, photo happened.

I

Y'all don't need a story or context for that

Maybe except for the fact that my friend as Vamp always tries to bite me first night, so I whispered this to the Jailor before they died.

Also, I was Esc.

I have a fanfic and comic strip reserved for this one ;)

Ok, I saved the best for the last.

Get ready because this is gonna be one hell of a long pillion ego trip.

Once upon a time, I roll my favourite NK: Arsonist

Night 1: I was roleblocked. That's fine. At least I still get a douse through passive, and I know who rb'd me.

Day 2: No Maf kills. Esc was hellbent on getting me lynched there and then thinking I was MK. I managed to pull through the accusations by demanding that Esc visit me again, that I was a "Sheriff" trying to do his job.

No lynches were made that day.

Night 2: As expected, I was roleblocked again, but lookie here, I have another passive douse.

Day 3: Esc dies to Amb. Maf has made a kill. I made sure to rub it in their faces that Amb could not visit fellow Maf, and Maf got a kill thus nullifying the accusations on me. Sheriff began to push Cons. No lynches were made.

Night 3: aheheheheHEHEHEHE

Day 4: I hard push Amb, saying they were sus. Sheriff fights for spotlight and tries to get Cons out instead. Town favours me and lynches Amb first. I am now semi-confirmed.

Night 4: I get attacked AND HEALED?

Day 5: Sheriff whispers me asking who I "checked". I waited a bit for Doc to come out. Thankfully, Doc whispered me because I was about to take a 50/50 and almost accused Doc as Maf.

As soon as I said that my other passive douse was sus, they left the game. I am now hard confirmed.

Sheriff finally gets Cons out after my embarrassing rant about Jailor not exeing Cons when they were getting rb'd by another Cons. In my defence, Jailor was silent as hell. I didn't know who they was.

Night 5: I attempt to douse 4 who died to Jailor that night.

Day 6: Sheriff whispers me again who I "checked", and we apparently checked the same person.

We lynch last Maf claiming Survivor.

They thought it was GG. It was only me, Sheriff, Doc, Jailor, and Surv left. All hard confirmed... except for one.

It's the Surv claim! Exe them!

I felt bad for saying that, but I had to save my pillion first in case Jailor tried something.

Then, whadd'ya know. The whole town is in fire except for me and the Surv.

[btscontentenjoyer]

Rereading this brought me back to when I started reading bts fanfic on tumblr a year ago :') So many moments from this story have stayed with me this whole time and it was also a great read after a day at the beach, just a 10/10 experience.

"It belongs to a blooming, floating island, pleasant and hot. Wildlife chirps hidden behind trees, calm and welcoming. There are waterfalls that must be somewhere in the middle of the island – you’re not quite certain anymore, since your memory of the place has weakened over time." These descriptions feel so magical! Exactly the way remembering an important place from your childhood feels. Because back then everything looked a lot more whimsical, and even if you don't remember the specifics, you remember all the emotions it stirred in you and the atmosphere overall.

"And this heart – it was bigger than the universe, too big to fit into that small body. Because he enjoyed your smile; made sure to keep it plastered to your face. One time, he pointed to the horizon and told you that there’d come a summer when he’d be big, old and strong enough to wade through the waves. Arrive at the edge, the big Behind of the ocean, and that he would dive back to you and bring you a handful of stars." Well, I'm already going 🥺🥺🥺 and it's only the beginning, it's probably a good indication of how I'm going to be the whole time. Probably with some teary eyes thrown in too.

"That place… you don’t recognise it anymore." The way that the island's changed just like Jungkook and OC's relationship has. But yet they still find familiarity in some of the places they used to frequent, just like they do in each other's presence 😭😭😭

"On the way to your hotel, you spot a pathway leading to the forest that you seem to recognise. Even the tree looks somewhat familiar to you – and when you step closer, you realise why. It has your name eternalised on it – you think Jungkook did it back when you suggested carving your existence on this island." Reminders of them everywhere 🥺

"In your slight tipsiness, you roll your eyes, wish her a good railing and walk on." Lmaoooo

"What?” she wonders, eyes wide, but then her expressions relax as she adds, “I’m fucking gloriously, thank you!" Lmaoooooooooooo

"Maybe he heard your voice… or the utterance of your name. Maybe he knew to step out just now – because when you meet Jeon Jungkook’s gaze after more than half a decade, he doesn’t freeze the way you do." The way I still held my breath at this even though I knew it was coming. All of the build up is even more exciting when you know what will happen, honestly.

"You still recognise all the moles you used to count. The pout of his lips and the dark hair, longer now. His strong arms, tattooed today; the same slow blinks of his eyelids as when he listened attentively." Descriptions like this of Jungkook will always get me, no matter what. I just love looking at him and admiring him and reading descriptions like these is second best to that. Also THE MOLES YOU USED TO COUNT????? 😭😭😭😭😭😭

“At the tide pool today,” he explained, so eternally proud and thrilled, “I put it out of the clam, because clams are overrated. It looks cooler on a leaf.” Waaaaay too cute.

"I would have. I just chose to seek refuge in your presence.” I am meltinggggg 🥺🥺🥺

"And then, a summer tumbled in when he became a snarky teenager, rolling his eyes at you, flicking your forehead before pulling you into a suffocatingly tight bear hug. Jungkook liked to hold you, and he held you closest before you lost his affection that year. After that, it was your heart that became the bleeding wound." 😔😔😔

"I got scared?” Jungkook bites his lip, looks at you with remorse and questions in his eyes. “After knowing you for years, I shouldn’t have been, though. And if you want to know what it is… I can totally take you out for a drink once we’re back in town. And show it to you.” I remember being sooo invested in what the gift was!!!

"There was a particular way Jungkook looked at you. He knew you knew – or at least, he assumed you knew. Spring doesn’t just let flowers bloom… he thought you noticed. And he thought he saw something in the shimmer behind your eyes, too." This is why assuming you know someone's thoughts on something without actually talking about it gets you nowhere 😭😭😭

“That must have been the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done.” Man, teenage years are really different, because how do you hear that and not try anything afterward? It's a confusing and uncertain time for sure, has you questioning even what's right in front of you 😔😔😔

“Hmmm,” he hums, “everything else around me kept changing. If I’d changed too, I wouldn’t have recognised the world anymore.” Hmmm I feel like that's what makes growing up the most confusing, the changes happening within yourself. But one thing that didn't seem to change within them is their love for each other 🥺🥺🥺

“I really missed you,” he reveals in a half-whisper. Your heart breaks through your lungs and ribs and falls into your stomach. “I know you don’t believe me, because you think I abandoned you, but I missed you.” I feel like nobody is to blame for the fact that they drifted apart, right? If they were going to keep holding their feelings back the whole time, I feel like it was bound to burden their friendship at one point. And we also all know the painful way life has of getting in the way of old friendships and relationships once you get into adulthood too... :((

"A plate of cookies; your favourite snacks. And Kookie. Your Kookie." 🥺💕🥺💕🥺💕🥺

“I was so in fucking love with you and… part of you never fucking left me.” He lifts his hands to rub his face; the colour of his skin has changed to a light red. He’s holding back tears, unlike you. “And I just… I fucking hate you for it." Ah the confusion that comes with young love… it can really turn it into a bittersweet thing that sometimes feels more bitter than sweet. The feelings of wasted opportunity and the constant thoughts of what if can be really haunting honestly.

"Whispering your name, he murmurs, “I’ve lived half a life without you and… never stopped missing your lips.” He still reads his novels… you can tell. Still picks out metaphors and things people might not say in real life. But this is real life – and he’s saying it to you. So many people in this world, and he’s saying it to you." This is all so 🥺🥺🥺

"Jungkook and you aren’t just fucking. And he’s not just indulging in the general feeling sex consists of. He’s adoring you. Making love to you, worshipping every piece of your skin as he thinks you deserve. Always, always set out to make you feel good… happy" Such a gentle and caring smut scene. You can really feel the years of history between them, the years of tenderness and feelings pent up and overflowing.

“I’ve always been in love with you,” he interrupts. Stops your heartbeat, sends a spark of electricity through your blood vessels. His pupils flicker, jabbing your soul deep behind your eyes. “You know that, right?” 😭😭😭😭😭😭

“Yeah!” he responded, nodding wildly, almost as energetic as you. Somehow, you always found the most power to wade through the day when you left the island. “And I’ll show you my new pencil case.” “Okay. But it can’t be cooler than my bag.” “I know.” The cutest!!!

"You trap your lips between your teeth, keeping your chin from quivering as you listen on, “When we came back, I asked a jeweller to clean it up for me. Bought a golden chain to go with it and then wanted to give it to you. I even had it all planned out. Like, I wanted you to close your eyes, and then place it around your neck. I was gonna kiss you and—” I love him and his little romantic heart </3

"Everything about this moment feels like the adult version of the pearl and tide pool incident. The waterlife… the scolding… the white twinkle on a leaf – not in a clam. Like the dozen gifts that’d put a smile on your face as a kid, he’s brought you another shining piece of his heart." He had been bringing her pieces of his heart with every gift and now she's ready to accept them fully, ready to see them for what they are 🥺🥺🥺

"And you also think that… if Jungkook stays with you this time… if he keeps looking at you like that… You’ll never have to swim to the horizon to keep the stars close." This truly is such a sweet melancholic story. As I said before, so much of it has stayed with me and I constantly think of it on summer nights and it makes me smile fondly 💕💕

stars behind waves | jjk (m)

Summary: With a decade’s distance between Jungkook and you, your paths cross on the same island you deemed your second home years ago. And you realise once again – the ocean can never compare to the twinkle in his starry eyes.

➳ pairing: Jungkook x reader ➳ rating: 18+ ➳ genre: estranged best friends to lovers, vacation/beach!au; angst, fluff, smut ➳ warnings: so so much yearning and pining, gentle fuckboy jk cos i’ve no control over myself, a bit of jealousy, the first kiss, arguments/fighting, unresolved issues, heartbreak, angry confessions; explicit sexual content: making out, asking for permission, dom & big dick jk, handjob in the shower, oral (m. & f. receiving), some clit slapping, some biting, squirting, jk loves her tits… and her ass even more, fingering, protected sex, soft and rough sex, body worship !!, jk is SUCHHH a goner, he comes on her ass, aftercare, praises; so many emotions; lmk if i forgot smth! ➳ wc: 22.7k ➳ a/n: here we gooo !! @missgeniality​​ & @voiceswithoutlips​​ my angel betas, as usual, i’d be lost without you 😔  i’m really happy with how this one came out, so i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i did writing it !! as always, don’t forget to drop a message in my inbox – it makes my day <33 ➳ yaila’s beach art 💙 

➳ listen to the SBW playlist for the full experience 💙  

TAGLIST | MASTERLIST | WIPs 

There is a long lost beach somewhere at the end of the world.

It belongs to a blooming, floating island, pleasant and hot. Wildlife chirps hidden behind trees, calm and welcoming. There are waterfalls that must be somewhere in the middle of the island – you’re not quite certain anymore, since your memory of the place has weakened over time.

You do remember the sun that descended there, though – you always used to say it wasn’t the same as the one you admired at home, watching from your garden.

Jungkook would always reprimand you, tut at you, throw tiny little shells at your bare thighs until you, furied and irritated, abandoned him at the beach. He would stay there until the moon rose from the east, and you would watch him from afar.

Keep reading

[nonstoplover]

my own superman ~ sebastian vettel (sv5)

my masterlist | my f1 masterlist

pairing: sebastian vettel x female reader

summary: crash, boom, burn, flames. waiting frozen, impatience, relief.

words: 2.2K

warnings: race car accident (not graphic), basically a near death experience from the outside

a/n: i had a dream. well, long story short recently i got back into f1 and my obsession has been growing ever since (hungarian grand prix 2022, yeah, that recently). started watching drive to survive too. and i haven't even reached S03 when i had this dream (i guess it was my unconscious going ahead). but when i woke up in the middle of the night my first thought was 'okay i need to write this down' because honestly my mind was literally spinning with thoughts. yeah so this is what happens when a fanfic writer has an f1 related, crazy dream.

it might be a bit too rushed at the end and i'm not sure this is realistic in any way but i'm still so caught up in this dream i had that i just had to write this.

you can say it's somehow inspired by bahrein 2020 and romain grosjean (even though as i said before, i had no clue about that happening when i had this dream)

please don't be a ghost reader! any feedback is well appreciated!

People often think it's the utmost pleasure dating an F1 driver. But (y/n) can say for certain now that it isn't at all times. It can be the worst suffering instead.

Most times it's fun, sure, but there are those days when it's like a hand cold as an icy winter day is gripping her heart so tight that she can't feel it beating anymore. The days when it feels like her soul has been ripped from her body, just floating in the air above her, waiting for the final verdict to see if it can move back to its place or instead it should just leave and never come back. Needless to say, these days are the ones where something, even the tiniest thing goes wrong. Because in this sport, in this life, even the tiniest things mean life or death.

Worry eats away at her whole existence as her eyes stay glued to the screens in the garage, her figure frozen as if someone hit pause on time and left her unable to move in her rigid state perching on the couch. Her glance follows the movements happening on screen, not even breathing anymore, just silently, mindlessly praying to whatever higher power that may exist that that worst day hasn't come, not just yet.

Seconds feel like hours, minutes feel like days as she stays motionless. No one moves around her either, but it's not like she'd notice anyway. Her mind doesn't – can't – wrap around single things like her surroundings anymore. Not until she can finally catch sight of him, moving. She wouldn't even mind anymore if he didn't stand up and walk out like nothing had happened. She just needed one movement.

One single movement that could show her that he hasn't left. That she still has him. That his heart is still beating. Though it certainly feels like that in this very moment her own heart has stopped beating all in all. She can just feel a tiny bit of fluttering somewhere deep in her chest – her heart refusing to stop fighting, refusing to stop for as long as there is still hope that his heart is doing the same. Beating for her. And hers beating for him.

She didn't even notice how much her lungs have started to burn before – just as a loud wave of relieved sighs rolls her way – she notices him moving on the screen. Finally she breathes again, filling her lungs with that well desired oxygen as her eyes, hungry to see more, to see him being okay, follow his movements.

And it's like he's not even human, not mortal. She can't help but wonder if he ever was – there certainly have been times when she doubted that in the past already. But in this surreal moment, he moves out of the smoke, out of the flames, one arm thrown over his saver's shoulder and slightly limping, but still, walking. On his own feet. The way his body moves is still so recognisable, even through the obvious pain his existence radiates to her from the screen. She could never not recognise it.

Tears roll down her cheeks in fast waves, but she doesn't even notice them until the drops start hitting the backs of her hands that are still lying on her lap, intertwined, white as chalk as she held them impossibly tight and under pressure. They are teardrops of absolute relief.

Then her body moves on its own accord and she shoots up from the couch as if she hasn't just spent the past several minutes frozen there like a perfect marble sculpture. She moves closer to the screen, closer to the other people, trying to find out what's next. Where do they take him now? How can she get there? How can she be with him as soon as possible? She needs to be with him. Just as much as he probably needs her too. This man... Her very own Superman.

- - - some time later - - -

"You could say I'm kind of a rotisserie chicken now," Sebastian glances up from the bed they forced him to lie down on.

"Oh, shut up, Vettel," the girl standing by his side glares at him angrily, her fingers tightly wrapped around her baseball cap he gave her just the day before, in order to stop (or at least conceal) the extreme shaking they're under. "Idiot," she mumbles mainly to herself, eyes darting towards the ground.

"Wow, you're really giving me the last name now?" He can't help but chuckle quietly, a chuckle that leaves him coughing, face crunching up from the sore feeling in his throat the smoke he's breathed in left there.

A minute or so passes in moderate silence, with only him letting out a small cough every once in a while, smaller and smaller until he stops coughing all in all, thanks to the sips of water she's helped him to.

"Two can play at that game," Sebastian speaks up again eventually, continuing his previous thought. After a momentary pause he joyfully adds two more words, "Mrs Vettel."

A grin is playing on his lips, but it's obviously not the same he usually wears, face a bit distorted from the experience he's just gone through. His eyes, those icy crystal blue eyes are shining exactly the same though as he's looking at her – and that alone is enough to make her heartbeat slow just a tad bit, somewhat closer to normal.

(y/n) shakes her head, playful disbelief expressed on her face as she listens to her husband's antics. "Stop joking around, this is serious."

"And I am serious." One more glare from her is enough to make him sigh before confessing the obvious. "Okay, fine, I'm not. But I just want to make this easier for you. I can see how shaken you are."

"Well, that's not so surprising though, is it?"

"No, but everything's fine now. I'm here, see?"

Sebastian beckons with his hand for her, trying to get her to come a little closer, to help her be more at ease now that the initial danger is gone. As she sits down on the chair next to his bed and her fingertips gently caress his upper arm, suddenly her vision gets blurry and she can feel a teardrop bubble over and roll down her cheek, followed by another and another and another–

"Shh, it's alright," he gently speaks, noticing the fallen drops as they darken the colour of her shirt where they land. It doesn't take long though before tears are gathering in his eyes all the same. All of a sudden the weight, the reality of what's just happened is crashing down on him.

What if he weren't so lucky?

What if?

When the nurse comes back to check on the driver, she stops abruptly in the doorway, noticing the couple leaning close to each other, soaking their clothes with the teardrops flooding from their eyes. She decides to back straight out of the room the way she just came in, as silently as she can manage, leaving them to let go and cry out what they need to.

- - - a couple days later - - -

"I'm just saying that I would completely understand if you said you didn't want to race this weekend."

"But I want to, I really do."

"Have you talked to (y/n) about it?"

"No. I mean, kinda."

"I think you should."

"I know."

(y/n) puts down the bag in her hand on the kitchen counter with a little extra noise and as she expected, after a faint gotta go, talk to you later coming from their bedroom, her husband appears in the doorway leading to their kitchen.

"You're home!" Sebastian smiles, not stopping until he reaches her and can wrap his arms around her body. He holds her tight, tighter than he did before the– before, she can't help but notice, even though she's been only gone from home for about an hour or so. It's not like she's complaining though. She does the exact same, snuggling as close to him as humanly possible, until she basically can't tell where one ends and the other starts.

"Who called?" (y/n) mumbles into his chest.

"Doesn't matter, just team stuff," he replies, and she can feel the tiny shrug in which the muscles in his shoulders move.

"Seb, I heard the word race," she sighs, lifting her head from its comfortable position only to find support for her jaw on the very same spot, making it possible for her to gaze up at his face.

"You did?"

His wife hums back, fingers mindlessly moving on his back, tracing invisible patterns on the material of his T-shirt.

"Damn it, I'm never gonna take a call on speaker again," he mutters, and she can see the way his lips twitch as he bites back a chuckle.

"You wanna go back this week?" (y/n) pushes on when she doesn't get any real answer from the man.

Now it's his time to hum as a response, his eyes travelling to her face, connecting with her orbs easily. "Only if you don't mind. If you don't want me to, I can stay at home and wait a bit longer."

Her eyes widen a bit as she hears his words – she didn't think she had that much of a say in matters like this. It's his job, his career, his dream, his life. Yet it seems like he put her and her opinion above even that. She can feel her heart give a tiny flutter at the thought. It's not like he doesn't express his feelings and what she truly means to him, hell, he does so every single day, reminding her efficiently in case she'd ever forget (would that even be possible though?). But still, this new knowledge, this incredible information means even more to her than she ever thought it would.

"It's not that I don't want you to," she says, jaw pressing harder and lighter into his skin with every syllable, depending on her lips' movements. "I just want you to be one hundred percent sure and confident before you sit in that car again."

"I am."

The girl only raises an eyebrow, asking him without words to elaborate.

"I honestly am. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I think this is the right choice. I mean, I'm perfectly fine. Healthy. Not a scratch anymore."

"Yeah, and it's a miracle in itself. Doesn't mean it's gonna happen like this again if something goes wrong." Her words are followed by a shudder as even the mere thought of that is enough to bring back the memory of terror she experienced that day, the way she stood frozen in front of the screens with her breath held back.

His arms tighten even more around her fragile torso, holding her now truly impossibly close in a way to make the shuddering go away – along with all those memories he knows she's thinking of right now.

"Look, I'm just worried that if you're not in the completely good mindset, then it can mean a bigger chance for something like that repeating itself."

"I can promise you that my mindset is perfectly fine, just like it was a week ago or before any other race weekend," Sebastian smiles gently down at her before moving his head closer and pressing a soft kiss on her forehead, right at the spot where her hairline starts. Her eyes flutter closed at the intimate touch.

They stay like that for a few minutes, both deep in their thoughts, trying to come up with a sentence that would calm both their ruffled minds.

"(y/n/n), I can feel that you're still worried. You're all tense," his voice breaks the silence eventually, not really knowing what else he could say. "If you even the tiniest bit don't want me to go back to racing so soon, just say it. It's okay, I won't mind."

"Of course I'm still worried, when have I ever not been before a race?" (y/n) opens her eyes, smiling up at the love of her life. "I knew what came with dating an F1 driver the very first day, and I signed up for the whole package. Worrying has just always been a part of it."

She giggles at the same time as his lips curve into a smile wide enough to split his face nearly in two.

"So it's okay?" he asks, needing to hear the exact words to be completely sure of her choice.

"It is, Sebastian, but if you ask me once more, I might change my mind," laughter bubbles up from her throat, somewhat breaking the peaceful quiet in the kitchen with its loudness, but neither of them minds. It's probably his most favourite sound on Earth anyway, her laughter. "Go back and show them what a miracle you truly are."

"Thank you, dear," Sebastian leans further down to capture her lips with his own, mind slightly spinning and heartbeat definitely speeding up from hearing her define him as miracle.

"You're welcome, Superman," she mumbles into the kiss cheekily, arms moving around the back of his neck to gather just that bit more access to him.

.::the end::.

my masterlist| my f1 masterlist

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