#I'm trying so hard not to infodump about my characters yet. I will make a proper post. I WILL make a proper post.

[hurricanek8art]

So! Update on my SWTOR woes! I figure putting it in the main tag makes it so everyone that helped me sees it. Thank you everyone for your advice! I was so nervous about asking and you guys are so cool!

I'm planning on just doing Voss and Corellia for now to keep from burning out! This is like attempt three at me making a Jedi Knight because I wanted her to be my Outlander and then I'd freeze up and panic because I wanted it to be "perfect" but y'know what? Perfect's overrated anyway, this is supposed to be fun! I'll keep the other planetary storylines on the backburner in case I need to level up any further, but since I hit level 50 before I was out of chapter one and I thiiiink I hit 54 last night finishing Maelstrom Prison, I don't think I need to worry about my level being too low for a while. 🤣🤣🤣

(side note—thank you so much @greyias I GOT THE STUPID WHATSHISFACE COLONEL GUY WITH THE EYEBEAMS FINALLY 🤣 I do not know why I didn't think of using those crates as a shield before, I am so dumb :P)

You guys were so helpful and nice and I don't know what else to say I'm so bad at this 🥴🤣 but thank you! All of this actually helped me work up the courage to maaaaaaybe share my stuff? At least screenshots and backstory rambles because I have to share it somehow. I can only yammer my brother's ear off about it for so long, and he's the only other person I know IRL that's as into all this as me, so y'know. 🤣 I might make a masterpost to introduce everyone but I gotta gather up all my screenshots first and I'm kinda meh about getting good ones, so :P we'll see. And condense about two and a half/three-ish years of my brain hurtling backstories at me faster than I can write when I'm supposed to be writing other stuff into readable paragraphs. Uh... yeah, maybe don't expect it too soon. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I'm queuing this for tomorrow because I only got the chance to actually sit down and write this at midnight here, it's been crazy. Thank you again, everyone! I'm so bad at social stuff I don't know what else to say but thanks!

I don't know how to end this, so uh... Here! Unnecessarily adding all my Republic side characters in because I love them and I constantly want to infodump when it's not the time or place! 🤣

Aja Verdona, my Jedi Knight; Reilly Hawkins, my Smuggler; Ataraxia Kestis, my Consular (and my smuggler's twin sister); and Ijaaka Ordo, my Trooper. They have permanently rewired parts of my brain and I love them all dearly even though I accidentally play favorites with Aja. 🥴

[ambrosiagourmet]

I notice no one has asked yet so for the character thing: laios! Or if you want to go for a less common one: the winged lion

Laios!!!!!!

First impression

Honestly its hard to even limit this within the confines of starting the actual manga. I genuinely think I'd have to say my real first impression of Laios was the "autism be damned, my boy can work a grill" joke that gets passed around a lot 😭

Impression now

Older brother.

Loves his friends and family so much. Let him infodump!!!!! A guy that can character arc so hard he becomes a king because its the only way to deal with the things he can no longer let himself look away from. A guy who wants to eat a good meal. A guy who wants everyone to eat a good meal.

A guy who can be all that and still kind of pettily complain that he doesn't get to hang out with monsters anymore & can mope about it soooo annoyingly. A guy who decided to eat the concept of all-consuming hunger because it was the only way to deal with the problem so he might as well try. A guy who can completely change his life by deciding to share his special interest. A guy who can imitate a dog really well.

Favorite moment

Don't make me choooose... okay I'm gonna do three:

1. Assembling Falin's bones with Marcille

The humor. The patience. The slow realization that, despite how absurd of a task it is, it is actually all possible. The moments of admiration for the way skeletons work, the love of the details, the care of assembling all three skeletons just to make sure they get Falin right. Iconic scene.

2. Killing Falin

"Unable to make myself accept. Unable to make myself resist" lives in my soul now idk what else to say. Life is so vibrant and horrifying and raw and beautiful and to let yourself fully be a part of it you must take up space. You must consume. You must fight. You must take and be taken from. Ourgh

3. Talking Marcille down

I love that he looks so goofy on his way up to her. I love the context of how much he refuses to give up on her leading up to this, and how he refuses to give up on her now. I love how everyone is part of this scene, but he's the first one to cross the threshold. I love how she almost blows him up but can't do it (fun fact: this exact situation/post was how she killed Mithrun a couple of chapters ago. It was close).

I love the way he appeals to her mostly just with messy honesty, and I love the silly three rules callback. It's such a sweet chapter.

Also honorary mention for the final page of the story, which gets me every time.

Idea for a story

I'm actually currently fiddling with a longer story concept dealing with the question of Laios needing an heir. Dungeon Meshi is grounded enough in politics that it genuinely feels like a question that the characters will have to grapple with at some point. At the same time, there's no way that like arranged marriage and even having kids in general are not messy topics for Laios and I don't think anyone involved would want to force him to be miserable.

(I also don't personally like the idea of Falin as his heir ftr, bc I think forcing Falin into that role sucks and I don't think anyone would go for it)

So how DO they deal with the issue? Idk! I might write a long meandering story about it! Maybe! I want to, at least.

Unpopular opinion

Ughhhh I don't realllly want to poke this with a stick but yeah I definitely think my most generic (apparently????) Unpopular Opinion with Laios is just that his relationship with Marcille is meaningful and loving. I personally don't view it as romantic and they mean a lot to me as a platonic-life-partners kind of thing, but I also think that dividing relationships in general into Ships TM and Definitely Not Ships isn't really appealing to me personally. I just care them.

(at the same time I really do worry about trying to write about them and it being taken as romantic despite me very intentionally not framing it as such. idk, navigating this stuff is complicated.)

Favorite relationship

UGHHHH LIKE. It is probably him and Marcille. But it's so hard to rank that against him and Falin. Both relationships mean a lot to me and I love them and I love to think about them.

Because him and Marcille have more on the page interactions to dig into and because I don't see them discussed as much, I do tend to gravitate to Marcille & Laios stuff above all else. But like.... don't make me actually commit to picking.

Favorite headcanon

I can't think of a strong answer for this so I'm going to make one up on the spot: I think he giggled to himself soooo much when he included the winged lion in his king outfit but made it so that it looks like the wolf head is eating it. I think he continues to giggle about it years later. I think he gets dressed in the morning and puts on his cloak and goes "get ate, idiot" as he fastens it around his shoulders.

Oh actually for a more genuine headcanon related to the story thing I mentioned above: I think Laios is really good with kids but would be scared of having any of his own. I think he'd have trouble with the classic "I don't want to mess them up the way my dad messed me up" abused kid struggle.

[caviiday]

Get infodumped, Punk; In An Immortal's Despair, the characters who are gods are:

Sun - Xander

Stars - David

Love - Whit (tomatoes are thrown at me)

Health - Arturo

War - Levi

Time - Eden

Sleep - Rose

Knowledge - Min

Beast - Nico (God of animals-- beast was the only name i could think of)

Music - Hu

---

The others are:

Teruko (Human/Immortal)

Charles (Human/Mortal)

Ace (Cervitaur*)

Veronika (Human/Witch)

J (Harpy)

Arei (Siren)

---

*deer centaur

---

I can see a scene like this happening at some point, as well, if i were to expand on the story even more;

Love kicked his legs as he stared at Time. She had looked rather down the past few days, but it was nothing he couldn't fix-- he handled everything when it came to emotions. Humans knew him as Love, as did most other gods, for that is what he specialized in-- But hatred, sorrow, and joy were all also feelings he handled.

"Sooooo... Clocky, Tick-tock," He tried both nicknames on his tongue with a hum of dissatisfaction. No, no, neither would do. "What's been on your miiind? You know you can tell me, my mouth is shut tight!"

Time looked over at him with pursed lips and sunken eyes. She knew she could tell him, she knew he wouldn't spill a word, but it hurt to think about. She kept following the human she adored, in hopes her affection would eventually be shared, but it never was. It made her heart ache.

When the goddess did not respond, Love stretched his arms out above his head and let out a soft groan. "Welp! Not gonna force you. New question! Think you can make someone immortal for me? See, there's this cute little human! Wants sooo hard to be a warlock or something... Not sure I can help with that magic-stuff, but I do like him a lot."

Many words came to her mouth at his words, but none of them slipped from her lips. Some words sounded like what may be said by Teruko, her beloved curse-bearer, which made her tear up and sigh. Hopefully it will pass, she thought sorrowfully as she stared at Love.

He just kept talking about the mortal, describing the features he had and describing the way he talked. She did not interrupt at all, but if the mortal was anything like Teruko... Oh, she worried she'd make another mistake.

"Sooo... Hmm... Well, i'll also ask him if he wants to be immortall... But think about it, alright? Preeetty please?" Love flashed Time a pleading pout, as well as what looked to be his attempt at puppy-dog eyes.

In turn, she just snickered into the side of her fist and waved her other hand in dismissal. "Fine, fine! I'll think about it."

bRAINWAVES HOLY SHIT, I'm so jealous of you I wish I could write as good as u.....

I wanted to make a panel for this but I got lazy :( have this

(I'll maybe draw my designs for them)

I really really like how you emphasized that Eden was scared to gift any mortal with immortality because of what happened with Teruko. immortality was the ultimate gift you could ever get from her, yet Teruko treated it as a curse, a hex. She didn't want this, she didn't want this.

No matter how much Time follows Teruko, she will always run, like she always does.

"what do you even see in me?"

"Everything."

—

I really want to draw designs for ur fic... It's so good I swear, I'll try to once I have a little more free time......

Siren Arei harassing Harpy j every time she goes to the sea to catch some fish, I should draw this someday....

[anulithots]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

I haven't been asked this question before, so thank you for asking!

I'm not sure if I'm going to run over ten, so I'll include duos/dynamics as well. (That was a mistake.. this is soo longggg. Thank you so much for asking but I don't think you knew what you were getting into. /pos.)

(In no particular order.... and I've written a lot about most of these characters, sorry if it's a bit long <3 )

Just a note that my JJK analysis's are up to the Hidden Inventory arc. I keep rereading that one to avoid the pain of the Shibuya arc... but I should be on my last reread for now!

Character quick list:

Donnie and Mikey from Rise,

Teacher and Shiva from The Girl from the Other SIde,

Itadori yuji, Megumi Fushiguro, and Nobara Kugisaki from Jujutsu Kaisen,

Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto from Jujutsu Kaisen

Inej Ghafa and Jesper Fahley (sorry if I spelled thier names wrong!) from Six of Crows

Emma, Norman and Ray from The Promised Neverland

And I really liked Roz from the Wild Robot, and The Magnus Chase series, but It's been a while since I've read them. Currently reading 'A tale for the Time Being' and I like Nao's deep thoughts and unabashed honesty. She's also quite dark and casual about dark themes, and it does feel like how my brain used to be... dark stuff is casual there.

I do like Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games. I watched the movies but have not read the books yet, and I want to before I start analyzing. I also want to read Sherlock Holmes so... yea.

#1: Donnie and Mikey from Rise of the Teenage mutant ninja turtles

Donnie is literally me. From the way he pronounces random words from his theater kid energy to his obsession with science. (I don't like physics but I'm writing a fanfiction on biology soooo....) I have a need to be useful otherwise I'm wasted space (because the information is more useful and important than the individual), go on infodumps for hours, get irritated and defensive easily and overall, I've never related to a character more. I just don't have the same empathy levels. For that I share traits with Mikey. I like being overly nice and trying to listen and make everyone feel heard. I also get very emotional very fast and constantly need hugs.

Also his relationship with Mikey reminds me of two of my siblings.

Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles took me out of a depressive period with the most intense hyperfixation I've ever had, and it's the first time I've read fanfiction (Like father like son..... sobs)

#2: Teacher and Shiva from the Girl from the Other Side.

They have the most wholesome found family relationship ever. The pain they give me is insurmountable. Every time I reread the manga I have the widest, dopiest smile because the wholesome scenes are so so so pure. I don't see a lot of stories that let the mundane be that special.

Also the way Shiva's written is just.. chefs kiss. Because she isn't written as an annoying child. She thinks she's being helpful, and she is helpful. All she wants is to keep everyone together, and for everyone to be happy, and the thing she hates the most is people hating her/being scared of her.... and the guilt. The most depth-filled child character in existence here.

And teacher... Just... *screams*. His overthinking and endlessly caring demeanor. The way he second guesses everything he does and worries so much that he gets worried about worrying. He's also quite hard on himself.

And I think they are supposed to represent the two sides of loving others. Shiva is the 'they make me happy and I can help them' part. The wholesome, childlike side.

Teacher is the worrying side. The side that tries so hard to protect the others that their anxiety drives them crazy.

(I got up to the second delux edition.)

#3 The Tokyo Trio (Itadori, Fushiguro, and Nobara) from Jujutsu Kaisen. (my most recent hyperfixation.)

Itadori: His fear of regretting his life, using a role to avoid that, making sure not to think about his execution or his death too much. Him trying so hard to help others in a way only he can do. Using 'dying a natural death' to justify to himself that he's okay with this (he isn't). Fearing death that he doesn't have control over. Structuring his life around caring for others. The sweetest bean here.

Fushiguro: HIs morrallittyyyyy. The way he needs to be the one to deliver fairness because the world isn't fair to him. The way he thinks bad people shouldn't be saved, that they deserve retribution, and that good people will let themselves suffer because they are good. So Fushiguro is going to protect good people as much as he can (see Itadori.) Itadori and Fushiguro's morality struggle is sooo interestingggggg aaaa-

Nobara: She's the strategist of the group, the one who'll keep emotions out of the missions so she can enjoy herself later. Kill people? Well, it's part of the job, she's not going to let that effect her. She tries not to get attached to people, and values enjoying herself in Tokyo. ITADORI AND NOBARA'S DYNAMIC IS SO FUNNY (and she would've gotten along with Gojo... I just want an episode with them accidently meeting each other on a shopping trip and getting into trouble.)

And I'm sorry in advance for all the writing I'm about to include:

Fushiguro:

Nobara:

#4 Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen

(Also I love Shoko despite how little screen time she gets. )

I've analyzed them here and I'll include my notes and written analysis... but overall...

They encapsulate a comfort and trust and love for each other that I rarely see. It's something indescribable and special. They truly transcend labels for each tother and just.... yeah the relationships and dynamics in JJK are on another level. I've ranted about them before <3

AND I'LL RANT ABOUT THEM MORE:

#5? Inej Ghafa and Jesper Fahley.

(I read this before I started writing my analysis's down. Everything from here on out has less writing. Thanks for being patient with me <3)

(I prefer book them to Show them tbh... although I haven't watched all of the show and I prefer books/manga to shows sometimes because it's easier for me to analyze as I'm reading and reread)

Also it's been a while and I'm doing some analysis from memory so I apologize for any inaccuracies!

Why I like Inej: Her making herself a tool for others so that she could survive. She put her own wants and past to the side so she could become dangerous, so no one could take advantage of her again. Her growth to chasing her dreams, living for herself, saying that her heart aims true for making the world better. She has such a good arc.

Why I like Jesper: He's impulsive and silly and him not being able to get rid of his addiction to gambling even though he's aware of how it's making his father more in debt. Him using a skill he has (sharpshooting) to express his Grisha powers and not wanting to acknowledge that he's a Grisha. ALso him and Wylan. Adorable.

#6 Emma, Norman and Ray from the Promised Neverland.

(last one for now!)

Emma's caring nature and will not hesitate to beat you up if you're being self-sacrificial. (I wish they went more in depth with Emma's disregarding other's emotions to do what is best for them. Could've been cool conflict). Her wanting to save everyone no matter how hard it will be, loving her little siblings so much. The betrayal of Isabella towards her. ('She didn't like the tests, but she liked her mother's praise'). How scared and conflicted she became. How much she mourned her old life.

Ray's cold cut nature, practical, resourceful. His backstory in which he had to live with the death of his siblings for years, to the point where he resolved himself to save only Norman and Emma. His preparation for years and years to make sure they were safe. Not wanting to save all of the Grace field children because it would doom them all.

Norman knowing that they might not be able to save them all, but wanting to try for Emma. How much he strategized, how hard he tried. How he's in between. How scared he was for himself, how much he admired Emma's care for others, how he tried to strategize for all of them. How he hid his pain and fear.

______________________________________________________________

ThANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK!

and to all my mutuals/followers, @mylee-sketches, and anyone else who stumbles across this post...

yes I hyperfixate.

[blubushie]

ABOUT ME

READ THIS BEFORE YOU SEND ASKS/INTERACT. ASK BLU ANYTHING DAY (ABAD) is on the first full weekend of every month!

MINORS: Block the "#blu lewd" tag OR I WILL BLOCK YOU and do not DM me unless it's to ask to join Blucord. This goes ESPECIALLY if you're 16 or under. Adults on the internet are not your friends, and I am not comfortable speaking with you privately without a third party present.

G'day fellas! You can call me Blu, and I can be invoked like some Lovecraftian horror by mentioning Sniper in the TF2 tags. King of Sniper Lore (and Australia), Messiah of Bludaism, also known as the "Sheepshagging Roorooting Horsehumping Mountainfucking Melonpiping 13x-Divorced Breastmaster Hitman Inenrt Dingoboy Piss Cheese Jorts Bludysseus Blu'nt Bushgod Sniper Blog" despite not being a Sniper blog (and not actually shagging a sheep or rooting a roo or being married to start with or caring all that much for cannabis, I'm a psychedelics bloke). I'm just Like This.

Been told I'm the "Sniper kin of all Sniper kins." Not sure what a kin is these days but from what I've heard I'm content with not knowing.

This is my only blog. I have three sideblogs. One is @blu-doods, where I post my shitty stick figure art for laughs, and the other two are @art-reblugs, where I reblog art on (I reblog art here too, but the pickings are far more slim) and @post-reblugs (same as art but for text posts).

Again, not a Sniper roleplay blog. That said feel free to call me Sniper as a joke because I do very much enjoy it. Just keep in mind that I am my own person and not a fictional character. There's a real person behind the screen.

Sometimes I go on tangents and start infodumping. You can find the masterlist here. Also please read my DNI list and check out my pronouns page (I spent so much time on it).

My ask box is always open to whatever you want to say. Questions, comments, infodumping, or whatever else comes to mind. I particularly enjoy things relating to TF2, astronomy, nature, classic cars, and weapons. :]

If you find a weird animal or plant and want to know what it is, send me a picture with the location and there's a fair chance I can ID it! ("Location" doesn't need to be city, just state or general region!)

If you're looking to do art or something of me, please see this post for a guide to what I look like and this post for my rules on what is and isn't acceptable!

We now have a Discord server! If you want to join just DM me, but please ask only you and I are mutuals or we interact often :]

My avatar was done by the incredibly talented @grumpygrumblet!

SOME INFO ABOUT ME

I have autism, selective mutism, and some other issues that aren't really important. Point is that sometimes it can be hard for me to talk or properly put my thoughts into words. This makes me come across as cold sometimes. I'm not good at communicating with words and I'm better at expressing it in person where I can rely more on touch. I apologise if I seem rude because I'm not trying to be. Let me know and I'll try to articulate what I mean to say in a gentler way.

I'm 23.

Bushstraight. AMAB transmasc. Weird bloke.

I grew up in Alice Springs and spend most of my time in the NT. On the first Friday of the month there's a good chance you can find me at the Daly Waters Pub. CU in the NT! (Not now though because I'm stuck in America for the foreseeable future. Oops. Try me again in 2025!)

I hunt professionally for pest control. Usually it's invasive animals like pigs, cats, or feral dogs. I'm also licenced to occasionally deal with nuisance native wildlife like crocodiles, but aside from assisting in relocation efforts I've yet to be called out for a crocodile. I'm alright with this—I really don't want to shoot a crocodile.

I also hunt to feed myself and my dog. Her name is Misty and she's an Australian Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix. You can see her here or by checking out my "mistyposting" tag.

I used to participate in kangaroo culls and by law I have to shoot them in the head so if you ever want to know what it's like to pop skulls, reckon you can ask me. Also on the kangaroo thing: if you're Australian and from 2020-2021 ate kangaroo or bought kangaroo dog food or leather, there's a chance I'm the one what got it to you.

I'm a bushie. This means I'm a survivalist who lives out in the bush. I technically live in a van (ute + camper in the tray) but if there's good weather I'm usually sleeping outside unless it's an area with a lot of dingos (they don't usually bother people but I'm not going to take risks with my dog). I have no permanent residence and I move from place to place for work. Occasionally I have to go into cities for work (I'm looking at you, M*lbourne) but these are thankfully rare occasions and only when I'm strapped for cash.

Sometimes while clearing a squatter's land I'll find Psilocybe mushrooms and take them back home and get high when I'm done working. It makes for an interesting experience and my favourite thing to do is lay on the top of my van and watch the stars for a while.

I have a mullet and I am awful proud of it. It's easy upkeep since I can cut it using the mirror of my van.

I've drank my own piss on more than one occasion. The first time was because I was dying of dehydration out in the bush and it kept me alive for 2 days until I found water. The second time was for science. Certified Piss Kink Guy. (Editor's note: I do not in fact have a piss kink.)

I have infinitely large balls.

I am a bogan. I am proud of that too. Viva la boganism.

I am Ameristralian. I was born in the US and came to Australia when I was 2 years old—both of my parents are American but my parents lived in Australia for work. I grew up in Australia but when my parents split Dad went back home to California to buy back my grandfather's station and I spent most of my high school years in California (years 10-12) and lost my accent. I now live in Australia with a very thick American accent so I get the "lost tourist" spiel a lot and I reckon I'm never going to stop having to prove I'm Australian. It's gotten me into pub fights before and will continue to do so. I had a stroke in 2023 and now have my Aussie accent back LMAO

I've been told I'm "Sniper IRL." (Cheers, bloke I met in a Sydney pub, for getting me into TF2 by telling me this.)

I fucking love crocodiles to a possibly dangerous degree. Technically I love everything nature and especially animals, but crocodiles are just something special to me. I blame Steve Irwin and the fact my favourite thing to do as a nipper was go up to Darwin with Mum during the dry season and go croc spotting.

I like TF2, nature (particularly plants and animals), astronomy, and history. My special interest is sniping. I also love science and medicine. PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT THESE THINGS BECAUSE I LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THEM.

I swear a lot. I will not apologise for it. Fight me, cunt.

Please ask me about the shit I've seen out in the bush. I have so many stories. Actually, just ask me anything. Just talk to me in general, please. I need it.

I like knives (penchant for Bowie knives and machetes), firearms (penchant for antique bolt-actions), and old cars. I think pre-1970 Land Rovers are pretty spiffy. I can alternatively be invoked by incorrectly stating what model of Land Rover Sniper drives. It's a bloody 1965 Series IIA!

DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THE SHIT YOU SEE ME DO ON THIS BLOG. I AM A PROFESSIONAL AT WHAT I DO—ATTEMPTING TO REPLICATE IT IS LIKELY TO RESULT IN SERIOUS HARM AND/OR DEATH. DO NOT GO INTO THE OUTBACK UNLESS YOU ARE WITH A GROUP AND HAVE AN EXPERIENCED GUIDE WITH YOU.

If you wanna learn the rest of the lore, you'd best delve the blog. ;]

I can also be found on AO3 also under Blubushie.

A GUIDE TO MY TAGS

IMPORTANT BLOCK TAGS

blu lewd: Horny asks and reblogs of suggestive art. I'm making a tag for this since I've been getting so many asks from thirsty anons (I love you, thirsty anons). MINORS: BLOCK THIS TAG OR I WILL BLOCK YOU.

haemocyanin: Usually reblogged gore art (blood is not included in gore, I'm talking viscera). Also includes discussion of gory topics. THIS TAG IS STRICTLY GORE. Please block this tag if that makes you uncomfortable.

blu slew: Discussion of hunting. May contains photos from hunting. This includes animal death/animal gore, so anyone who is uncomfortable with seeing this PLEASE BLOCK THIS TAG.

blu a fuse: Angryposting. Will include venting—if that bothers you, block this tag.

blus blues: Venting/sad hours/personal, generally depressive, journals. Basically me screaming into the void about how shit sandwich my life is. May include discussions of trauma so if that bothers you, block this tag.

blu jarate: Anything that mentions piss in referral to urine because it's brought up a lot on this blog (not in a kink way, just in general). Block this tag if piss makes you uncomfortable.

blu boos: A personal medical journal of sorts. Block this tag if talk of injuries disturbs you.

Postbin: Hate asks. Will probably include transphobia or homophobia or intersexism because people pick on the easiest things ay? Block if you don't want to see people clowning on me.

GENERAL TAGS

💙: Random thoughts or stuff from me. No worries, I don't ramble often. Also contains reblogs of things I just Vibe With that don't fit any of my other tags. Formerly #bluposting

💬: IRL quotes. Usually things between me and my father, but sometimes includes other people.

blu news: Updates on my life. This may include failsafes.

blu whos: Answered asks. Please send me asks or talk to me in literally any way as I often spend weeks without even seeing another human out in the bush and let me tell you it is NOT good for one's state of mind. I may not like people but humans are social animals and it's a terrible Catch-22. Ask me about my work or life or my fic or about TF2 lore or Sniper or literally anything please.

abad: Discussions or asks from Ask Blu Anything Day, a monthly... Event? Where some of my ask rules are suspended. ABAD is your licence to go nuts in my ask box, and the rule of ABAD is that I have to answer everything honestly.

mercposting: Catch-all TF2 tag. As I get asks about TF2 often, this is the tag used so I don't clutter the main tag.

blu drew: My sketches. I don't do digital art so all of it is traditional and usually of varying quality. It's typically animals or plants I see out in the bush.

blu bushie: My adventures in the wilderness.

🍄🍄🍄: Contains discussions of drugs.

🍄: Triposting! These are trip reports from the times I get high on various different drugs, but usually mushrooms. Also contains any posts I reblog or make while under the influence of drugs. (Formerly #blu flew)

🍺🍺🍺: Contains discussions of alcohol.

🍺: Drunkposting! Contains any posts I make while under the influence of alcohol.

learnin the blus: Random thoughts/rambles regarding my fic.

blu hoohs: NOT MY ART. Just stuff I've REALLY liked and reblogged. My own art is never tagged with this.

blus clues: Me speculating on headcanons and lore, usually about TF2. I love lore speculation.

sniperposting: Shit specifically about Sniper since I seem to talk about him so much. Also things from my life that Sniper would also probably do.

bushman: Reblogs relating to survivalism, bushcraft, camping shit, and general bushman activities. Also includes reblogs of things related to these.

blu planet: Reblogs relating to nature and the natural world.

blu zoo: Discussions of animals and plants. May contain pictures of things I see on my adventures!

stockman: Discussing my former job as a stockman.

blu pew: Weapons, mostly firearms and knives.

true blu: Things specifically relating to Australia. Usually cultural things.

code blu: Things relating to medicine. This especially applies to bushmedicine.

blursed: Reblogged shit that I think is cursed. Usually text posts, sometimes images.

blusome: Just uplifting things I see and reblog. Everybody needs some added light every now and then.

blu spew: Funny things. Titled for me spewing out my coffee in the morning when I see them.

blu polls: My polls.

blu views: The VERY rare occasions I discuss politics. Most of this is either about firearms or rarely nature conservation.

mistyposting: Posts relating strictly to Misty.

moonyposting: Anything relating to Mundy, my emu. On this blog he's referred to as "Moony" so as not to have him confused with Mundy from my fic (or canon Mundy).

blu tunes: Anything relating to music.

blu chew: Anything relating to food.

recipe: My recipes and recipes I've come across. :]

ford blu: Anything relating to cars.

blu id: Posts where people ask me to identify animals and plants.

blu marbled jack: Anything relating to Jack. This is because I once saw him eat an entire block of cheese.

ask game: Ask games I find.

answered asks: Answers to things I've asked.

blubook: Posts relating to literature. It's a pun about the Australian boobook, a type of owl. Get it? Because owls are smart? And it's reading? Nevermind.

fanart: Art specifically of me because I get a lot of it (and adore it when I do)!

blucord: Discussing things that go down in the Discord server.

blu muse: Poetry I write (because apparently I'm doing that again).

blu misc: Anything that doesn't fit into the rest of these tags.

blu queue: Queued posts.

blu reviews: Submitted posts.

bluroarer: Things I'm tagged in.

smoke signals: Back-and-forth discussions in reblogs.

dozposting: Posts about my lovely lady, @eyes-like-iron-fangs-of-rust

horseposting: Me talking about horses. I fucking love horses.

dream journal: Where I log my dreams.

eminence: Me infodumping about DND/my DND character Redd (cuz Redd + Blu = eminence purple).

PMP: Info relating to my job as a pest management professional.

matildaposting: Me discussing my late 70s Dreamer camper or other campers.

🌌: Wereshitposting—late-night blogging I get up to when the world is quiet and I can't sleep.

Also I'm writing a Speedingbullet fic on AO3 because it's boring out here and I have brainrot so go read that I guess, cheers. Chapter 10 is my magnum opus.

Here's the link to the original F/M version of the fic, and here's the link to the M/M edited version of the fic. The M/M version isn't as good and there may be pronoun errors here and there because the F/M is my primary focus and how the fic is originally written. The M/M version is also discontinued at Chapter 7 as I couldn't work Jesse's backstory properly into Jake. Sorry, folks.

If you're looking to do fanart or something I have a reference for Jesse and Suki. I also have an appearance detail for the rest of BLU team. (If you do fanart of Jesse and Mundy together I will love you forever and ever.)

[camlannpod]

hi I’m the person who asked about character creation advice in the listen along stream. My internet went funny so sorry I couldn’t specify on stream!

I meant characters in general! I really want to get into writing stories (books, podcasts, film, I haven’t really decided yet) but I’m struggling a bit with fleshing out my characters and I often feel like they’re all kind of the same person.

I really love the characters in Camlann so advice would be great!

Hi hello! Thank you so much for joining us for the stream, I'm sorry for your internet difficulties!!

Hm, this is an interesting and tricky question which I want to preface with a quick disclaimer:

Everyone writes differently. There's no one correct way to write, and whilst there are tool sthat you can use for writing - just like there are tools in visual art and music, learning which tools you want to use and how you want to use them is, I think, a big part of learning how to write well and in a way that's enjoyable for you.

This said! People often make jokes / comments about 'plotters vs pantsers' or 'architects vs gardeners'. A lot of writers fall into one of two categories - meticulously plotting detail before writing, or just kind of going with the flow. I personally am very much in the latter category, so I'm afraid I don't have a lot of specific tools or exercises I can give you.

This said, I'm going to do my best. Ursula K Le Guin is, in my opinion, one of the best writers of the 20th century, and she writes a lot of wonderful essays about the imagination and writing which I find really inspiring. I'm paraphrasing because I can't find the quote, but she once said something along the lines of: "If I can't close my eyes and have a conversation with a character, then I'm not ready to write their story yet."

That's a lot how I feel about writing characters. Some of it is conscious. I identify traits - flaws, strengths, quirks - in myself and others, and I give them to my characters. Dai is hyperactive and excitable because I'm hyperactive and excitable. Perry infodumps because I infodump. Morgan is stressed and protective because I am both of those things. But they also all have elements I don't have - Morgan is a lot more understated and pragmatic than I am. Dai is much more confident and reckless. Perry is significantly more organised and self-disciplined.

As a rule, I personally find it best to avoid ever trying to write 1 for 1 either yourself or a friend into a character. That way lies hurt feelings and honestly an inability to see them clearly, because it's very hard to see yourself objectively. Instead, I think of it like putting puzzle pieces together, or a patchwork quilt, or planting seeds. People often say good writers are good eavesdroppers. Phrases that people say on the tram stick with me. Strangers in shops. People dancing. Expressions and ways of speaking that filter through to characters I write.

Once I've identified a small handful of key pieces, I leave them to grow in my subconscious. This normally takes a few months. It's like...moulding a piece of wet clay for a few hours - ok, I don't want them to be X, I do need them to do Y - and once you've got roughly what you want in the right places, putting it in the kiln that is your mind and letting it cook. I just...think about my characters a lot - daydream about them, imagine them in different situations etc. Once I feel they've had enough time to settle, I start writing.

I honestly find one of the best ways to get to know a character is just writing them. For me that always feels like a conversation. And not just writing - editing and rewriting and rewriting - learning what they would or wouldn't say, thinking about how they'd react in different situations etc. There are...minimum 7 drafts of the Camlann scripts? I got to know the gang better just because I spent a lot of time with them.

Finally, for audio specifically, always always read your scripts aloud! If you can, rope in a friend or two. The way people speak out loud and the way they speak in our heads when we're reading is very different. Something that's incredibly moving in prose can feel awkward and stilted in audio. So read it out loud - start getting a sense of your character's vernacular. Do they say 'don't' or 'do not'? Do they swear? Do they use slang? Are they flirty, shy? I always find that my characters start coming to life when I can hear their voices. If I can hear them speaking to me, they're ready to be written.

This is all a little wibbly wobbly, and very personal to me, but I hope it at least helps you think about how you want to write. Good luck, and have fun!

[sailorsplatoon]

How do you think your version of the agents (including the idols and Acht) would react to meeting and feel about my oc Alex? his info dump is pinned on my blog

First of all can I say that I just read the infodump and I love all the work you put into him! He's a very cool character and I can tell you've spent a lot of time developing him and making his story a good one!

Okay, now onto actually answering the question. This is going to be long so I apologize in advance.

Captain would be a little hesitant at first, since she's kind of naturally distrusting of most people (similar to how she was when she first met Acht). However, after she sees that Alex's rough exterior is mainly due to all the stuff he's been through, she lightens up a bit. I have barely developed Captain's backstory, but she's definitely been through some rough things too.

Four likes him immediately. You mentioned that he has a soft spot for childish and hyper people, which is kind of Four to a T (though he's your oc so you'd know better what he'd think of them than me). Either way Four would be excited to meet him and want to get to know him better.

I am yet to talk about this on my account, but my Agent 8 has social anxiety, so he'd be pretty of nervous about meeting someone new. He wouldn't really talk that much at first, but he certainly tries to show kindness through his actions. After a while he get's comfortable opening up, but it takes him a bit. He does want to get to know Alex more, he's just shy and anxious. That has less to do with Alex and more to do with who Eight is as a person.

Neo thinks Alex is super cool. It's especialy fascinated by the amount of scars he has. It understands that he probably doesn't want to talk about what happened for him to get them, so it never asks. But Neo does assume that he's super tough, seeing how much he's been able to survive. It hopes to face off against him in a 1v1 Turf War at some point to see how well he fights.

Acht would be able to tell immediately that Alex has been through a lot. Because of that they make sure to treat him with extra kindness. They tend to be a more quiet and reserved person, but as long as they have Four nearby they're okay with opening up more. They take time to talk with Alex about pretty much anything, wanting him to know that they're there for him if he ever needs it.

I'm assuming at least a few of the idols have met Alex in your universe (since you mentioned Marie knows him), but in mine they obviously haven't yet so I'll talk about how the ones in my universe react when they first meet him!

Callie and Marie are mostly just worried for him. They can see how much he's been through and how it's taken a toll on him. They really just want him to be okay.

Pearl and Marina both find him interesting. They want to know more about him, but they also understand why he'd be hesitant to open up to them. They take a similar approach to Acht, which is just treating him kindly, though they also see how hard he is on himself and they make an effort to encourage him to take care of himself.

Shiver, Frye, and Big Man feel similar to Neo, thinking that he's super cool. They would challenge him to a fight if they didn't think he would kick their asses. They are 100% behind the idea of Neo trying to fight him though, mainly because they think it's going to lose horribly and they want to see that happen.

Thank you for the ask!!! I wrote a lot... your oc is amazing!

[sappho-of-space]

20 Questions Writer Meme:

I was nominated by the lovely @ashilrak to participate in this. Answering the these questions was a fun- a little walk down memory lane and a reminder of how much I've grown.

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

47!

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

189419

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Percy Jackson at the moment! I've written snippets for The Magnus Archives and Danny Phantom. I've also contemplated writing for Marvel for a while.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1. A God in Chains (3151)

2. At the Armrest of a God (3149)

3. we both have bad taste in men, but at least we have each other (2073)

4. cookies aren't the only hot thing here (1713)

5. you and i until eternity (1705)

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

Complicated answer. I did in the past until I dealt with some harrassment/negativity with a previous fandom. It scared me away from interacting with any that I didn't really know on my own fics. I've found a lovely new community, so I'm trying to respond to comments more to show everyone how much I appreciate them.

6. What's the fic you wrote that has the angstiest ending?

I actually had to skim a few of my fics to remember their endings, lol. My answer is probably:

another flower in a garden of tragedies

Or

Of New Blood and Old Hyacinths

7. What's the fic you wrote that has the happiest ending?

I've written a lot of fluff with happy endings, so I'll just answer this with the fic with my favorite ending.

"we both have bad taste in men, but at least we have each other" is a win for the lesbians and was just so much fun to write. I've gotten a lot of requests for a continuation of it, and I've had some ideas, but nothing enough to put to paper.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Lmao, yes. I've orphaned about 7 fics from a previous fandom because of the toxicity of the fandom (My Hero Academia). It was everything from demanding updates to trying to 'cancel' me for no reason but because they didn't like how I portrayed a character. On my most recent fics, there hasn't been much overtly negative- just jokes/comments that don't land well. Overall, I'm happy with my new community.

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

Yes, lmao. I write hedonistic shit that would make even the most stone cold nun blush. Looking through my fics makes me realize I really enjoy temple/altar defilement.

10. Do you write crossovers?

None yet, but I'm not opposed! I enjoy reading them when they tick all of my boxes, but I will admit, I can be pretty picky.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

None that I know of, but I wouldn't be surprised.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Just one. I thought it was very sweet and adored the fact that someone liked my writing enough to spend time translating it.

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

Just one, but I'm very open to doing more! I've written in a rouns robin, but I think I would prefer doing a full co-write with one or two other authors.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Very hard, but probably spideypool. I've had a Spider-Man fixation for about half my life, and I simply love Deadpool. Besides spideypool, probably perpollo or jonmartin.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but don't think you ever will?

I don't think I have one? I have 4 wips currently. One has an ending well in sight. Another has 15k words already, and I refuse to let all that go to waste.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Descriptions and pacing! I've been told a few times that people enjoy reading my au's because I don't infodump all at once, I make the gathering of information feel natural and comfortable. I personally love my visual metaphors.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Time management. I'm generally very busy and get easily distracted. Getting myself to sit down and actually write is a pain.

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

I try to write around using another language if I don't know a native speaker who could help me. Writing in German would be no problem for me (I studied it in college), but I would shy away from anything else.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Attack on Titan (I was in 8th grade, lol). I published it on Wattpad, and it did fairly well before I deleted it.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

This is almost impossible to answer, but I loved writing "And Spring Will Come Again." It was for a fic exchange that I pinch hitted for. I went a bit overboard with the nature imagery and metaohors, but I had fun researching folklore + mythology. Anything that requires research is very fun to me.

I, sappho-of-space, hereby nominate @celestialepiphany .

[sam-glade]

9. Are there cultural or lore specific aspects to their identity? If applicable, does their species affect it?

Give me an infodump >:3

15. Do any of your ocs use neopronouns? Which ones?

Thank you, Feather 💜 Answering in reverse order, since the info dump will get lengthy ;)

(For the Pride ask game)

15. Do any of your ocs use neopronouns? Which ones?

None at the moment, unless you count the Sun King using He/Him as opposed to he/him (or They/Them, depending on the time period), analogously to the Judeo-Christian God ;).

9. Are there cultural or lore specific aspects to their identity? If applicable, does their species affect it?

Tl;dr: the Sunblessed Realm has always, throughout its history, been a queer-normative society, so the idea of a 'queer' identity doesn't exist in the same way as in the real world - i.e. defined in opposition to the allocishet norm.

Sexual orientation:

The assumption in the setting is that you're pansexual/bisexual unless otherwise specified (and that's a fair assumption for my characters. Being attracted to a particular gender is pretty comparable to simply having a strong type, so letting someone down by saying 'sorry, I'm not into men' is polite enough, though of course people can still get salty and disappointed ;)

On a personal preference note, I like to define my characters as having a preference (strong or weak or none at all) for masculinity/femininity, so a character who in our world would consider himself a gay man isn't going to have second thoughts about having some fun with a drag king or a very masc woman. He may decide he's not 100% into that, but hey, it was worth a try.

And yes, there are no gender restrictions on marriage or on adoption. We also have at least one example of a polycule on page from a recurring character (Renna of the Sixth Tree), though I didn't need to figure out how the wedding ceremony works then. Yet (eyeing The Truth Teller warily)

Relatedly, given the in theory indefinite lifespan, averaging around 270-300 years, during the period from reaching adulthood at 35 to the cusp of their first century people are free to experiment and decide what they want out of life. Family? Adventure? Are they more of free spirits and don't want to settle anywhere? This also covers what sort of relationships they want.

Gender identity:

I'm using the baseline of 3% of people being genderqueer - it's really hard to find reliable statistics, since it's impossible to tell if the respondents are being honest. That still means that if you live even in a small rural community of 70-100 people, you will probably know a couple of genderqueer folks, so while it's rarer than being cis, it's still fairly common knowledge. It certainly helps that Anthea, a head of state, is trans and that's public knowledge.

Children (up until the age of 35) are considered genderless. Only when they reach adulthood, they choose a name for themselves, which tends to be gendered, thus declaring 'hey, I'm a man/woman/something else/both/neither'. As a rule of thumb, feminine names end in -a or -is, masculine in -m or -n, though it's just a custom, not a requirement, and people from other regions (e.g. Nikols) won't follow it. More on the coming of age ceremony here.

Fashion is also different between genders, in that it tends to highlight the physical appearance and characteristics people tend to find appealing about the given gender. Hence, women's gowns will be slightly cinched at the waist, emphasising the hips, while men's will make their shoulders look a little broader. This also means that trans women can easily add rolls around hips and pad their bodices to have more of an hourglass silhouette, while trans mascs... 🥲 *Cries over a bust too big for a binder*

Ehm, anyway. Gender non-conformity is also considered not scandalous, so we've got e.g. Erya, who's by our standards a butch, never wearing jewellery, and if you tell her to put on a skirt you run a serious risk of ending up with a knife in your gut.

Other than that, the current (as of Days of Dusk) fashion is that men are clean shaven. Hair length is correlated to digital status more than gender, not none of these are hard and fast rules.

Aromanticism and asexuality

Again, it's hard to tell how common these identities are irl, but I wager that more than 9 in 10 people enjoys romance, and so we've got some courting rituals as you might expect. It's not impolite to try flirting with someone and be told 'no' without an explanation (not into you? not into this sort of relationship at all? just not looking for anyone right now?), but it would be rude to press the advances further.

As for anyone ace, there are at least two notable figures who haven't entered into a long-term romantic relationship even once over their millennia-long lives (the Prince of the West and Claren the Nightingale, Ianim's tutor), so that hopefully sends enough of a message that you don't need to pair up with someone to have a fulfilling life. Also, given the long lifespan, I imagine a lot of people (e.g. parents who want grandkids) accepting that there's no need to rush to get married and have children. Maybe their child will change their mind later in life. Maybe they'll form other bonds and e.g. become the glue that keeps a community together.

It's also worth mentioning that sex work is legal and regulated by a guild, much like any other trade, so if anyone is wondering 'do I like sex at all' can easily go to a brothel to find out. Similarly, aromantic allosexuals (*cough* Gullin *cough*) may be frequent clients.

[carmsgarms]

hi! I've seen you talking about your Astarion origin - I was debating playing one, but I've not done an origin yet. Is there comparatively a lot less voice lines? Because I feel like not being able to talk to him in camp etc, you'd loose HOURS of his content. Is it like using him to talk to NPC's, which you can kinda do on a different run, and he's just missing from camp?

I also struggle to see him as any kind of leader, especially in act 1 & 2, bless him 🤣 but that's another issue.

so, tl; dr, your results may vary but I am having more fun doing other origin stories. If you want to really dive into his inner turmoil, and if you're interested in seeing other characters have unique dialogs with him, at least give act 1 a shot and see how you feel. But I really missed not being able to just walk up to him in camp and hear him being a silly little guy who always has something to say.

long answer with some mild spoilers -

I'm going to be so honest, I didn't enjoy it. But I think it was my own fault. Him not being any kind of leader or having the ability to make his own decisions makes role-playing him hard, and you /do/ lose out on a big chunk of his voice lines and Neil's physical mocap acting. A lot of the physical movements you see are the standard tav reactions to things.

You can hear his overworld dialogs (("don't touch me" "ooh what's in here")) more often and some little quips that usually only tav would say, like some general observations about whats going on ((things like "well it looks like we have to do x to accomplish y" and those do have a fun little bit of Astarion flourish to them). There are some interesting astarion-only cutscenes (you actually do get to see him having nightmares about Cazzy in act 1) and you /do/ get some fun dialog choices that are unique to him as well as some unique responses from other characters, but I feel like you really lose out on seeing his growth in response to someone else's leadership.

I did enjoy act 1. I feel like I got the most unique options from it because you can choose when and how (and to whom) to reveal that you're a vampire spawn. Act 2 is where I started to feel like I was losing touch, especially because he doesn't have any sort of strong reaction with Araj besides being like "ew no."

Granted, I made a lot of choices that I don't think Astarion would make (like saving the grove and generally being a good person) because I wanted to romance Karlach and Halsin. I origianlly was romancing Gale and I kinda wish I had stuck with that route but I REALLY wanted my bloodbear moment. I think it would be more fun to do an evil run, or at least do your best to roleplay him and make choices you think he would make. Every choice I made felt wrong trying to make him nice. I think if I go back and be just a touch more evil it would be more enjoyable.

I have a lot of opinions about doing the Astarion origin run, but as I'm going through my evil durge run and seeing how many things you can do differently, I might give it another shot at some point. I am really enjoying my evil durge and my Karlach origin run (it's easy when you can just always pick the good and nice options lol)

Also! thanks so much for asking!! let me know if you have any other questions! I'm happy to continue to infodump about what my origin playthrough was like ^^

[butthead7]

hey hey hey who wants some supporting character personalities and goals and other facts and junk from the TMNT Musical! AU

-Irma: resting bitch face for days, and her face is adorned with Cat eye glasses. April's best friend, who has dreams to be a journalist. Usually wears sher hair in a bun. She usually always has some retort, or quick witted remark. Never short on insults. However, she has a heart of gold, and loves her friends. She and April have been friends for years, and Irma literally comes to her house unannounced and April's dad is like "Irma, my second daughter, are you hungry?" It's great.

-Timothy: he wants to be like his dad, Baxter Stockman; a scientist. He, more than anything, wants his father praise and pride, but his father is usually at work, or just too busy for him. He tends to raid a certain junkyard, where he tends to see a silhouette of someone doing the same thing as he is. They became friends from afar, waving to each other when they see each other, and they make piles of things that they may not need, but the other might. They have never seen each other up close, however one time, the lights of the yard came on, and he saw a flash of green and purple duck behind a pile of junk. He's on his schools robotics team, btw.

-Mona Lisa, aka Monique Lisa: she had always wanted to go to space; to be an astronaut. When she was mutated, she thought she had to say goodbye to those dreams. However, Raph gave her hope, and she kept up her studies, hoping to make it to space one day. She never passes up an opportunity to infodump about space, but she loves when Raph will tell her a story. She especially loves it when he tells her about anything relating to Artemis. Mona has unending patience when it comes to Raph; he was the one who saved her, after all. He comes to rant and vent to her, who sits and listens. Then, when he calms down, she asks him for a story, which he gladly tells. It works out very well.

-Casey's mom: I don't have a name for her yet (I'm leaning towards Jackie) but she is going to be a doctor. She and Casey moved to New York from a reserve (their Native American) to get a better job. She felt bad about making Casey so upset, but she had to do it. She feels that it's what's best for him. She loves him more than anything, and would give anything for him. It's hard being a single mother with a job where she can't see her son all the time; but she makes an effort to never miss a hockey game, and to stock the fridge with food he likes, and try and keep up with his favorite current bands and friends. (Can you tell I love her)

im working on Leatherhead, Mondo gecko, Bebop, Rockssteady, etc.

[hurricanek8art]

Okay I can't stand it that post about the hairstyles in Star Trek Picard has activated an autism hyperfixation infodump.

I love Rings of Power and the Hobbit movies. This is not an anti-Rings of Power/Hobbit movies post or bashing either thing in any way. If you're looking for that kind of post, please keep going, I don't want to engage with that. If you're trying to avoid that kinda thing, this is mild criticism at best.

While I am fascinated with Galadriel's Rings of Power** portrayal, the lack of styling with her hair is bothering me a little bit. Like I know it's in character since her hair is extremely important to her character and the lore itself, and even in the PJ movies they kept her hair relatively simple compared to the other elves.

But, Rings of Power Galadriel is different from PJ movies Galadriel. This is a Galadriel actively participating in war, as opposed to the PJ Galadriel that is mostly working behind the scenes except for Dol Guldur. And yet, even as she's riding into what she knows is going to be a big battle for the Southlands, all that's really done with her hair is a loose, kinda messy French braid.

And like don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and very Galadriel and I am filled with jealousy because I had to trim my hair after a while without a haircut and I miss my long, loose messy French braid, but even if RoP was trying not to ape the PJ movie aesthetic completely, they still share a lot of the same visual language and those movies gave us so many examples of Elvish braids for battles/conflicts.

(side note: why is it so flipping hard to find good shots of the male elves from the side so you can see their hair?)

I'm not saying go nuts with it, far from it. But there's a way to keep it simple and Galadriel-esque without losing that visual language. Pull the hair on top back with some lace, rope or Dutch braids then braid the loose hanging hair below. Or do something similar to Haldir from Two Towers and pull it back in a simple half-up French, leaving the rest loose. Heck, even just making the braid a French fishtail to keep that sleek Elvish look but still be something that can be easily messed up for the post Mount Doom go Boom* scenes might've looked more visually Elvish than what they did.

I'm no Tolkien expert in any way, shape or form. I love the books but find his writing style somewhat of a struggle to comprehend personally, so I don't know the books inside and out like my brother does. I do love the movies and I love Rings of Power, flaws and all. I'm no hairstylist either, but I love braiding hair and mentally deconstructing how the movies did their elf hair. So, in short, I guess this is my nitpicky Tolkien adaptation opinion. Thank you for attending my TED talk.

(*and yes I know it wasn't technically called Mount Doom yet but that was the first and only thought that went through my head during that scene and I think it's funny, so.)

(**Sorry I had to mildly edit this because i glanced at it and realized I wasn't clear, this is specifically about RoP Galadriel, not movie Galadriel. But really I like all the Galadriels so *shrug*)

[fruitytrollroll]

I gotta say that your grasp of Woodman's personality is top notch! How do you write so well for him? He seems like he'd be hard to write for

thank you for the compliment! :D wood man has been a very interesting writing challenge i've been undertaking for the past two years; I guess answering this ask as I pen the final chapter of to the counsel of fools a wooden bell is appropriate, since otherwise I might forget some of the more salient details.

the narrative voice i use for wood man is a little ponderous and meandering in a way I think suits his easygoing nature, which is a slight departure from my usual writing style (though I suspect it has influenced several of the other fics i've written in the interim, particularly anything that's "cozy" or "fluffy"). it's not quite Catcher in the Rye levels of colloquial slang, but imagining him speaking leaves plenty of room for stuff like, wry asides in the narration itself, and playing a bit loose and conversational with the grammar. he's literally such a chill dude, it would be a crime not to let that seep into the narration. and in general it's more forgiving of contractions and sentence fragments, as long as one can imagine them being spoken in his calm, smokey timbre. :3c writing for wood man has made me realize that ensuring the narration resembles the thinking patterns of the perspective character goes a LONG way toward making the writing feel personal, and specific, and persuasive! which plays into making the rest of the characterization feel authentic.

then, of course, there's his dialogue. trying to write for wood man is honestly a master class in implementing the adage, "never have your character say what he means". he rarely gives straightforward answers to questions, mostly because he thinks it's funny, or he doesn't want to reveal personal information about himself, or he has a hidden agenda. he lives in the moment with a sort of visceral gratitude for sensory pleasure--sunshine, the sound of rain, pleasant music, a good book, good food and drink and company--and he WILL make his satisfaction regarding them known, in the interest of encouraging their future remit: be it with a satisfied sigh or a verbal compliment. wood man knows what he wants (at least in terms of sensory pleasure), and of all the OTHER things he plays close to his chest, he's usually not shy about saying what those things are.

another thing that has really helped drive the narrative and wood man's moment-to-moment choices is the character arc i've given him. i'll happily say more once i've published the final chapter, but paying close attention to wood man's canon behavior reveals some interesting predilections. he lies, cheats, steals, cracks jokes, is naturally curious, and he enjoys sharing stories and knowledge about spirits and the natural world. it's a little funny, how reticent he is about his own nature as... a guy, considering how infodumping about spirits and magical creatures is also his favorite thing. yet he doesn't know everything, either. hilda is the one who summons the draugen for him by whipping up a storm. wood man's idea of a social solution to a problem tends to be tricking someone, not asking for help; luckily hilda (and in my fic, the bell keeper) is there volunteering often enough that wood man doesn't have to.

wood man is, essentially, full of contradictions, and having a long-term narrative end-goal for where i want him to land on that back-and-forth between "unhinged forest cryptid who drinks mud" and "a guy who likes books and drinks tea", while still being mindful that he is very much both of these, tends to steer my hand straight with regard to writing him in a way i'm satisfied with.

thank you so much for this kind ask! answering it was a pleasure. i hope you enjoy the final chapter! :) (coming soon!)

[neuroticboyfriend]

Tysm for the post about how interests are fine as long as they make you happy and don't have to be "productive", it's something I already know but even still I've been feeling kind of guilty about it recently. My own interest is Really Strong, like, to the point that I fully want to and would, in a heartbeat, commit my entire life to it, and it's just. Tough to not feel guilty when it's a pretty stereotypical fandom interest and not the kind of thing that's really "productive" in any way.

Anyways, I will also take the opportunity to just infodump about my interest, since you offered! Not too much, I already have an entire group I can talk about it with (pros of doing things for my interest, I mod the server for it <3) but it's still special to tell people about an interest when they don't know anything about it!

Basically, I'm just really obsessed with this fantasy webseries, it's so special to me in so many ways and I adore it on such a deep level. We've only got the first season so far, but that one season alone is so fun and good.

There's two main characters, a human guy who's never left his hometown before because his dad is super overprotective and the mysterious elf guy he finds in the woods around town one day who's a runaway from a corrupt institution ruled by a tyrant god-king. The series is basically them adventuring around together, it's got both strong comedy and a super interesting and emotional story!

But the thing that has me the most wild about this series, and this is going to be hard to explain out of context but I'll try my best. Is that. The two of them run into a person (they're canonically nonbinary, another cool thing) who used to be the elf's best friend (and heavily implicitly, romantic partner) in a new town they go to. They're an antagonist at first, because they still work for the corrupt institution that the elf ran away from, but the three of them do start to work together and get along, and. They all start feeling very polyamorous around this point. Nothing is explicitly canon yet, but they flirt with both of the main characters, the three of them get into a lot of stereotypically romantic situations (ie: the three of them do have dinner together at a fancy restaurant at one point to get to know each other better), and all three of them are shown to deeply care about each other in a way that feels like it's not quite solely platonic. And in addition, the showrunners are loudly supportive of shipping them too! Not to mention that the throuple is the most popular ship in the fandom, and it's super rare to see someone who only ships two of the three together without the third, to the point where I haven't really actually met anyone who does anymore. It's just so special and comforting to me that the fandom is a space where polyamory is not just accepted, but supported.

Sorry if this ask is super long, I'm horrible at trying to be brief lol-

Yooo thats awesome!!! Ive been wanting to get into webseries for a bit actually, but I never know what ones to read. Would you mind sharing the name of this one, cause it sounds really cool and like something id be interested in!

[raccoon-eyed-rebel]

Director's commentary on Taking cues please 👀

Also, I take every bit of information about 179cs, of course 😘

Whahah ok so this is a little long...

I'm laughing just a tiny bit because there is exactly NO commentary available for Taking cues! I watched that video, saw what @captainsy-cookiemonster said about it, opened a doc and just rattled that down in maybe 2 hours tops? There was no thinking involved in making that at all - only the horny.

Now 179CS... God why do I need to think about this so hard because I could talk about that series for hours probably?

I slightly regret tossing EIGHT of the boys in that house, because I can hardly keep up with my own life, now I'm also managing their agendas, and honestly, I feel like I need an assistent!

I made Elena left-handed on a whim, and then I had to look up whether left-handed violins exist. (They do, although 'left-handed violin' would be a misnomer, because you already hold violins in your left hand, that being said there is virtually no good reason to use one, especially when you play in an orchestra or whatever because it turns into a logistical problem to have your bow arm be your left arm! Also, you can't just play a normal violin reversed, because it's not a symmetrical instrument.) (I'm sorry for this very concise infodump on violins.)

I have special things planned for NYE, and I might try to write some (if not all) of it from the perspective of the guys? There's some interesting stuff coming up w/ Marshall, that I can't talk about yet, because I don't want to spoil that particular storyline. I do predict that y'all aren't going to like me for some of the NYE things I have planned....

I have a half-finished essay in my drafts about August and Anjelica's relationship. The first chapter with them started of kind of strong, and because the series is structured (hahahahahaha ok...... I'll never go as far as calling that 'structure' again, sorry) the way it is, there haven't been a lot of details given about that yet. NYE might change that! I know the dynamic is quite heavy, but I just wanna assure everyone that Ange needs whatever happens between them as much as August does.

Some commentary on some of the characters that may or may not be new to people: Mike has ADHD, both Sherlock and Elena are autistic. Elena is bisexual. She's not my only queer character, but I can't talk about that yet... Dani has anxiety issues.

Eh... I mean I'll take any and all questions about this series, tbh, so if you anyone is wondering about anything....

[thissliceofnonsense]

Wow look, more drawings!

Here's Anuli, the main character that would be better off a side character, or not a character at all as far as fae is concerned. Fae doesn't know why fae can't just read other's stories and not have to deal with faer own. Why can't fae just be without messing something up?

Also also, fae is very much in faer head and has the. hardest. time. trying to stay present and aware, leading faer to use storytelling metrics to fill in the gaps and make sense of the world. Fae has been told that fae acts clueless or doesn't care and fae doesn't know how to fix that.

And fae thinks fae might be a fallen fairy - doomed to destroy everything around faer. Anuli is trying to get faer own redemption arc to justify staying alive, but its.... difficult. Fae thinks fae may just have to run away.

Here's the quotes because handwriting is hard to read.

"I can fix my mistake, get you the happy ending I ruined."

"I know I sound delusional, but delusions are how I make sense of the world"

"What do you want me to say?" (Anuli is not that great at keeping conversations that don't somehow get faer in trouble. Fae often has to ask what the other's want faer to say. Otherwise fae will infodump, and that never ends well.)

"No. I'm not upset because of overthinking. My thoughts have crashed. Overthinking is my usual."

"No need to explain yourself. Just tell me the moment that defined your backstory (childhood) and I'll understand."

"The world makes more sense in my head"

"I would like to make the disclaimer that....yes. I am 'that clueless'. It is not an act. " (Fae doesn't know how to act anyways, and fae gets nervous and acts overdramatic anytime fae is nervous, leading to everyone else thinking that Anuli is trying to be lazy or has some ulterior motive. Fae doesn't. Fae is just eternally confused and doesn't want to be a bother.)

"Sometimes I wish I could read this story instead of participating in it."

"If I hurt you, know it was unintentional but should be expected" (Fae makes so many disclaimers about faerself and yet other fairies STILL get upset. Anuli thinks fae may need to find a better strategy)

"I don't know how I messed up. I just know that I became their antagonist"

"Wait! You can't stop now! I DESPISE open-ended stories." (unless it is faer own and fae doesn't have the motivation to finish it.)

"Don't listen to my nonsense, okay?" (Fae likes talking to faerself as if fae were talking to others because it feels nice to sort out faer thoughts but then the others think fae is trying to start a conversation).