#SURELY there's a way to do this without having to add in the paragraph breaks manually

[marlynnofmany]

Starseed Apples

“Here you go,” I said, putting down the last box. “Uncut fabric, plumbing supplies, and three cases with a fungus biohazard label. Do I even want to know what’s in those?” I cast a curious look at my fellow human as I handed over the signing pad. She was shorter and rounder than I was, dressed in a crisp uniform of a type I didn’t recognize. Big pockets everywhere.

She signed with a wry grin. “Those are dirt.”

“Dirt?” I repeated, looking around the admittedly spotless loading dock of this particular space station. “Dirt warrants a biohazard here?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” she said, handing the pad back. “Organic mulch that could contain anything from decomposed animals to fungus to poop? With uncountable amounts of bacterial life and potential germs? We’re lucky they only focused on the mold aspect!”

“Hm, good point,” I said.

Zhee, who was busy moving boxes off the hover sled, muttered something disparaging. I expected him to complain about how gross it all was, since he was always the first to point out when humans did something to offend his bug-alien sensibilities, but it sounded like he was griping about the strict station rules this time.

The human continued. “We have to keep a clean room between the greenhouse area and everything else. Even there, most things are in pots. We’ve got a great crop from Johnny Starseed right now!”

I’d heard that name before. “Oh, was he the one who sells little potted—”

“Apple trees, yeah,” she said. “Tiny and convenient, but they make an impressive number of apples as long as you feed ‘em quality dirt.” She bent down to pat a box.

Zhee finished freeing the sled. “Reasonable business plan,” he said, sounding almost complimentary.

“The guy named himself after Johnny Appleseed,” I told Zhee. “A human from centuries ago who got famous for traveling around and setting up apple orchards on Earth. Everybody likes a guy who brings food wherever he goes. And drink — I think some of those apples were supposed to be the cider variety.”

Zhee flicked his antennae. “Sounds like a very human thing to do,” he said drily.

“Have you tried the Starseed Reds?” the other human asked. “They’re very good.”

“No I haven’t, but I’d like to!” I said. “I’ve heard good things. I was kind of hoping to cross paths with him at some point. I wouldn’t mind a tiny apple tree in my quarters. Of course, the cat might get at it, and I’d probably have to find a grow lamp…”

She opened a boxy hip pocket, and pulled out the shiniest red apple I’d seen in a while. “Here you go.”

“Thank you!” I said, taking it eagerly. “That’s very generous!”

She waved it off. “Like I said, we’ve got a big crop. And I’ve got a different one that I’m saving for when I get off shift.” From another pocket, she produced a red apple with distinct orange stripes. “Which should be as soon as I get the supplies back to base.”

I laughed. “Is that the booze kind? I didn’t think those were real!”

“Oh yes,” she said with relish, putting it back in the pocket. “Starseed Cider Apples, no fermenting required!”

Zhee cocked his head, faceted eyes looking at both of us. “Poisonous apples?”

“Alcoholic apples,” I corrected, knowing full well that he considered that to be the same thing.

Zhee pushed the hover cart back toward the ship with a dramatic head tilt and antennae swirl. “Now that sounds like a human thing to do.”

“Well, you’re not wrong there,” I said with a smile. I thanked the other human and followed him, taking a bite of my non-alcoholic apple. It really was good.

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come!

[zevrra]

same anon from before :3 but another thot

HEAR ME OUT. i saw a tictok the other day about how jayce just does what he’s told and oh em geeeeee commanding jayce to mess Vik up ie. kissing him up and down, jacking him off all while you watch. SCREAMING WITHOUT THE S

includes: [nsfw!!] [18+ only, mdni!!] jayce is an obedient little thing and does what he’s told! :3

ft. jayvik x gn!reader

extra(s): thank you so much for this request anon! this was a lil fun to write ;3 i hope you enjoy tho!! feel free to request for more! (i also barely skimmed over this so forgive any errors kshdjh <3)

“jayce, you’re such a good boy and you listen so well,” you muse, running your fingers through thick brown hair. his soft, hazel gaze stares up at you from his seated position before you, his head resting on your knee. “always so eager to please, hmm? but it’s not me who needs attention tonight.” you add as you rub your thumb across the high of his cheekbone.

jayce had been to another council party and had come back home to you and viktor rather…tipsy. honestly, he was actually really drunk and far more clingy than he normally was as his head rests in your lap. if it were any other night when you didn’t have reports to go over and present before 6 am tomorrow; you’d be all for jayce’s little advances to join in on his and viktor’s fun. but tonight he’d just have to enjoy viktor’s company alone.

“listen to me, pretty boy. i want you to make vik feel good, can you do that for me?”

jayce looks at you with slightly saddened eyes as you caress his face. his pretty, begging eyes were sure to work on you if viktor had not stepped in. “are you sure you cannot join us?” he asks, his own hand brushing along jayce’s bangs as he leans back against your desk.

“i’ll just have to watch tonight.” you respond with a smile.

and that was far easier said than done.

for jayce, he still wanted to have you involved in any way he could get you— and that came down to you ordering him around like a lost puppy. he wouldn’t move, kiss, or touch without your instructions. he wanted to obey every word you spoke while you watched from the sidelines. and vik was no help at all either; he wanted all of this. wanted your gaze to watch their every move while jayce followed your every order to make him feel good. wanted to know you were included just as much as jayce did. and after some pretty pouting and a mix of pleas, you finally agreed.

so between paragraphs breaks of whatever paper you had written up days before; you would take a glance at the men leaning against your desk. coming to said break, you look up from your notes as viktor is pressed against jayce’s chest while jayce trails kisses against his neck, his hands roaming over viktor’s thin waist. somewhere along the line you had managed to get them to strip their shirts off, without tearing any clothes thankfully, but jayce still refused to advance unless you told him so.

“kiss him baby.” you order jayce who happily obliges.

jayce turns viktor’s face towards him, kissing him eagerly as he caresses vik’s jaw with one of his big hands. their tongue’s clash together as they make out and jayce eats up every groan he draws from vik. you watch as jayce presses viktor back up against him, gripping his hips from behind, as the two kiss each other like they were both air they needed to breathe.

you glance briefly away to go over the next paragraph on your notes. you find yourself reading the printed words faster than before solely so your eyes can find the two of them just a little bit faster.

“blegh, i can taste the liquor you drank jayce.” viktor gripes as he breaks the kiss, sticking out his tongue a little. he could clearly taste the strong alcohol lingering on jayce’s tongue; and it almost made you want to taste jayce too, just to confirm.

“m’sorry v…” jayce apologizes with a little drunk pout before chasing after viktor’s lips once more. he returns to kissing viktor as you finally finish the paragraph as your gaze settles on the two once more, while their eyes fall closed as they kiss. you watch as jayce’s tongue runs over vik’s bottom lip before diving between his parted lips and you have to stifle your own whine watching them. you wish you could be jealous but you’re the one who declined in their activity so you’d just have to continue to watch, for now. thank god it was a tasty sight to behold.

“take his pants off, jay. he’s so hard.” you softly instruct, gesturing to the strain on viktor’s pants. even out of the corner of your eye you could see the bulge inside of his pants, begging to be freed. jayce is quick to have his hand travel down the front of vik’s thin torso, fumbling with the belt of his pants, as vik breaks their kiss once more to groan deeply at jayce’s large hand brushing up against his erection. and you can only watch for so long as jayce attempts and fails a few times to undo vik’s belt before you finally reach out with your free hand to unclasp the belt for jayce. who quickly does away with the it, muttering something incoherent about how horrible the design was, while smoothing a hand down the front of vik’s pants; giving him a firm squeeze. you smile at the noise vik makes.

“jerk him off for me pretty boy. make him feel really good.” you sigh, reluctantly turning your eyes to your notes once more.

you glance quickly over your notes while out of the corner of your eye you watch jayce practically manhandle vik. he’s unceremoniously yanking down the other’s underwear and by the sound vik makes you know jayce has wrapped his fingers around his cock. your eyes scan over the paper in your hand as your leg subconsciously bounces. and if listening to viktor softly whine wasn’t enough to distract you, the sound of jayce whispering sweet nothings while stroking viktor off was for sure making it a little harder to pay attention to the paper in your hands. and while you do manage to read the last few words of the paragraph (and you’ve probably had to re-read it a few times) you thank god; for there’s only one more paragraph left now. you debate going over it as quick as you can, finishing off the notes right then and there but before you can, viktor's voice draws your attention to the two once again.

“j-jayce!” viktor whines, throwing his head back. his fingers grip jayce’s forearms, while jayce continues to stroke him off, practically standing on the tip of his toes as he craves more and more from jayce. pleasure written all over his face as his amber eyes stare at jayce’s fingers rubbing over his tip. you knew how sensitive he was and so did jayce, clearly targeting his weak spot; even when drunk he was damn good with his hands. the sight and the noises slipping from both men made your thighs ache with need. you couldn’t deny your own growing want inside of you as you simply watch the two.

“your hand will not be enough jayce.” you mutter, eyes fluttering up at jayce’s drunk gaze. he glances at you just as he plants a heavy kiss against vik’s neck as his hand falters just a little at your words. realization breaks through the fog of his inebriated mind at what you’re telling him to do and he’s quick to act. he repositions viktor to take his spot on the desk and in one swift motion he drops down to his knees, adjusting viktor’s bad leg onto his shoulder to rest, while his hand wraps around the base of vik’s cock once again. without hesitating jayce is just as quick to wrap his mouth around the thick of vik’s head, swallowing him down until the very base.

at this point, you’d rather chew on glass than read these damn notes anymore but you manage to rip your eyes away from them one last time, skimming over the words as fast as you can, retaining absolutely nothing, just to finish off whatever paragraph you had left. finally done with these damn notes, you toss them onto the other side of the desk not being used, and hurriedly stand up. you strip off your shirt before joining viktor’s side. your fingers push through jayce’s dark hair while you capture vik’s lips and you eagerly get to swallow his moans this time. you can just barely taste the lingering liquor on his tongue from jayce but it’s still there; just enough as you press your tongue against vik’s.

viktor and jayce share a groan as you join their little entanglement. you press your other hand against vik’s thigh as jayce continues sloppily sucking him off. vik breaks your shared kiss with a whine. “thought you were just watching tonight?” viktor mutters with a sharp cry as jayce sucks, particularly rough, against his tip.

“yeah well, you two are gonna be the death of me.” you respond before diving back to his lips once more.

after the three of you finished fooling around for the night you’d definitely have to re-read over those damn notes again before tomorrow morning…you weren’t getting any damn sleep tonight.

[ccycloneblogging]

If you have to give someone tips on making a comic dub what would it be?

I'm still rough with them myself, so please take this with a grain of salt and find a way that works best for you.

Under a Read More since I will be talking a lot.

I highly recommend doing quick thumbnail sketches first. These aren't meant to be good or proportional - these sketches are meant to just be quick and give you an idea on what you want to do.

Some times, you won't know if the post you want to do will work until you see it. And some times, your first idea for the page will not be the best for the overall thought.

Write down what you want to have on a script as well!

Keep it simple, but also make notes on what you want.

For example, I go about it as -

-----

Cyrus, sitting on some stairs: Hey Moonbeam?

Lunata looks at him with a raised brow. Cyrus just smiles.

Cyrus keeps his smile, background shows him without his legs.

Cyrus: ... Nevermind.

-----

These let me know what to keep in mind when making my sketches. In this case. I would push the uneasiness in Cyrus's expression for the first panel, and remind myself to make his smile less genuine at the end.

Last thing I would say is keep in mind where you place your text when you add it to the comic. Give yourself enough room for people to clearly read it, but also make sure that the dialogue isn't taking too much space and forcing the characters out of the panel.

If you end up having a paragraph in panel 1, take a look and see how to break it down. If you simply can't get rid of any of that text, spread it out instead.

Choose what words are the most important, and then you can purposely use panels to emphasize your words.

TLDR:

Writing a little script and thumbnail sketches are your friends. Use that to plan for a good balance between image and words. First idea ≠ Best idea

But yeah!

I am no means an expert, and I'm still learning as well! I hope this helps!

[pleaseeeimjustagirl]

Reinvent Yourself In 2024

The new year Is almost here and it is time for us to lock in on our goals babes! This upcoming year is a fresh start so whatever has happened this year that hasn’t benefitted you can be left behind and what was beneficial we will take into the new year. I know many of us are on self-improvement journeys and working on connecting with our higher selves. This is my guide to help us reinvent ourselves<3

Takeaways from this year 

♡ Reflect on this year. Did you face any hardships? What growth did you have? Have you made any new friends? Write down how your year has been so far and the takeaways from this year the good and the bad.

♡ Look back on your goals. What goals did you set for this year and did you achieve them? If you didn’t achieve all your goals it is okay to take them with you into 2024 if they align with your higher self.

♡ Accept this year for what it was. This year has happened and maybe it did not go the way you thought it did or maybe it did but either way come to terms with what has happened this year release it and go into the new year with a clean slate.

What does your higher self look like?

These are important questions to ask yourself when trying to reinvent yourself. The person that you want to become who is she? What does she do for a living? Where does she go? What does she eat? What are her hobbies? Who are her friends? I advise that you write down an outline of your higher self answer all of the questions and add anything else that you think of. Script out her daily habits and schedule. You can write a paragraph or more it is all up to you babes<3.

Setting goals for the new year

♡ Write out your goals for the new year. Be specific are you trying to lose weight? Learn a new language? Get your driver's license. Go back to school? Whatever your goals are big and small just make sure to write them out and make sure they are realistic and attainable.

♡ Create a vision board. Vision boards are super important it is always good to have a visual of your goals and higher self. You can create a physical vision board using magazines/printed-out images and craft supplies. Or you can create a digital vision board using Canva/Pinterest. Keep your vision board in a place where you will see it every day my vision board is on my MacBook because I use it every day I'm using it right now to type this post so ill have my goals always in front of me.

What you need to let go of 

♡ Scarcity mindset. Believe in yourself and your goals. There is enough room for everyone to be successful even you! You can read my blog post on how to have an abundance mindset for more details<3.

♡ Social media. Take a break all of that scrolling isn’t healthy. Social media can take up a lot of our time without realizing it. If you can, look at how much of your screen time you spend weekly on social media. 

♡ Learn to enjoy your own company. "This year is all about your personal growth. Sometimes, we tend to use other people as shields to avoid facing reality and to feel safe. However, you need to learn how to enjoy your own company. Try out different hobbies until you find the ones you like and enjoy.”

♡ Negative self-talk. You have to be your biggest cheerleader this year. So learn to speak kindly to yourself through affirmations and gratitude journaling. When you have a negative thought about yourself combat it with two nice thoughts. And remember when you are being mean to yourself you're being mean to the child version of you.

♡ People pleasing. This year is about you babes! Put your waist and needs first. Stop people pleasing at the cost of your comfort. To achieve greatness you need to put yourself first. I'm not saying to be extremely selfish no of course not. But do not do things that make you uncomfortable to make someone else comfortable.

♡ Friendships that do not serve you. If you are in a friendship that is toxic or you feel undervalued and do not see the benefit from the friendship end it now. Do not take people who do not align with your higher self into the new year they will drag you down. Don't completely ghost the person but surely distance yourself and move from friends to more acquaintances.

♡ Masculine Energy. We need to rest in our femininity this year. And felinity looks different for everyone aesthetically but I'm talking about resting in that soft energy and letting our femininity ooze out this year.

My final thoughts  

♡ There will be people and habits that you will have to leave in 2023 and that is okay 

♡ Be kind to yourself! Talk to yourself with love this year and focus on bettering your mental health. If you need to go to therapy invest in therapy, read the self-help books, and have fun this year don’t be super strict on yourself.

♡ Be very intentional this year about where you go, who you hang out with, what you eat, and so on.

You can start planning for the new year now if you haven’t already we have a couple of days till New Year's Eve (12/31 my birthdayyy i’m turning 21 im super exciteddd). I'm so happy to be going into the new year with you girlies and I can’t wait to see what this year bring us<3.

New year book recommendations

♡ “The 12 Week Year” by Brian P. Moran, Michael Lennington. I highly recommend this book helps us break our year into 4 quarters so you can effectively achieve your new year goals.

♡ “The Mountain Is You” by Brianna Wiest I've recommended this book in my You’re Postponing Your Dream Life blog post. This book is perfect for anyone dealing with self-sabotage I've been reading it and I love it the author opens you up to a different view of self-sabotage. 

♡ “Atomic Habits” by James Clear is the perfect book for any of my girlies who want to be able to build and maintain habits. I highly recommend it because the habits that our higher selves have are usually habits we don’t have in this book, the author teaches you how to accomplish more by doing less.

♡ "How to Survive Your Childhood Now That You're an Adult: A Path to Authenticity and Awakening,” by Ira Israel this book is for my babes who have childhood trauma and would like to heal those wounds in the new year. The author explains how to let go of negative habits, thoughts, and behaviors that may have developed in childhood.

[kroosluvr]

someone on twt asked for royal trio tennis playing styles so i will think out loud for several paragraphs under the cut:

PLAYSTYLE

GORO AKECHI. the son of masayoshi shido, one of the best players of all time, so he has big shoes to fill. however he didn't learn from shido himself and was instead passed around various intl academies before settling in at shujin tennis academy. as a lefty he uses it to his advantage: his spin serve is killer and he's a menace with backhand slices and drop shots. he's not one to rush the net and only cleans up with volleys if his opponent is basically off the court already. though not PATIENT by any means, he's very very consistent and i think he seeks to wear you down quickly at the beginning of the match: you get the feeling that "oh shit this guy's an absolute wall, i can't counter this, it's hopeless" so that he can rake in the games from there. i think you have to go into a match with REALLY high confidence otherwise he'll break you pretty fast he also does passive aggressive mind games i.e. instead of passing u the ball to serve he hits em to the corner so u have to go fetch them. doing quick water breaks or none at all if he's winning so you're forced to rush. asking "are you sure?" on linecalls where it was DEFINITELY out just to make you second-guess yourself. he doesn't cheat, though, obviously,that's leagues beneath him, but he'll do little things to break your concentration in a match so there's already a high bar to vault over if u even want a CHANCE at beating goro akechi, but if you get on his nerves somehow then you can crack him from there. someone like akira's unpredictability and flippantness on the court without much sense of planning probably gets under his skin really quick

AKIRA KURUSU. wildcard....... he played a lot of sports growing up, baseball, soccer, track, basketball, u name it basically, but picked up tennis at around age 13 and Somehow was extremely good at it, and immediately scouted and currently training at shujin tennis academy. his athletic and naturally competitive nature means he's naturally really attuned to the nature of Competitive Sport: aka, if he's down, no big deal he'll just fight like hell to get back up. one of the things in tennis is that u can spiral real easily: losing a few points can turn into losing a few games then the match, however, that doesn't phase akira which is his biggest strength. he's really good at Wiping The Slate Clean and starting from scratch if he's down. he's really good at swapping strategies: he can be the moonballer, he can be the 25-ball-rallier, he can be the serve-and-volley menace. etc. and he can do this on the fly without any reluctance. the biggest thing apart from goro and sumi is that he's having FUN. he loves being on the court no matter what, the competition part is secondhand. meanwhile goro and sumi are really really wrapped up in their issues with tennis so the kinda Mind emptiness akira has puts him a step ahead (which they're envious of slash HOW DOES HE DO IT? slash working towards it) SO YEAH hes highly adaptable and fluid in his game style. though, ofc, he tends towards Flashier stuff (which can easily surprise his opponents) so i'd say he's a big fan of cross-cross-down-the-line and such patterns. deep rallies then sudden drop shot and while ur scrambling he beats u to the net. stuff like that. second serve on the first serve. etc. another thing is that his parents are pretty absent (different than the way goro is) i.e. they just dgaf about him entirely, no matter what he does, even if hes good at tennis. (while w goro at least shido would acknowledge him since shido is so far in the limelight). so i think this adds to his adaptability - he doesn't feel constrained the same way goro and sumi do, by their family relationships akira's also one to chat up his opponent mid match LMAO he's not even trying to distract them or play them like that but he's just a friendly happy go lucky guy in the end his thinking is "i hate to lose" so he just keeps playing and keeps winning. it's simple like that

SUMIRE YOSHIZAWA. younger sister of kasumi, she started rhythmic gymnastics w her at a baby age but even from a young age she could tell kasumi was going to outshine her. because of her own timidness holding her back, her own reverence of her sister, she could tell she'd never truly have the willpower/confidence/steadfastness to reach out and be Better than kasumi. because what she really wants is to imprint her name on the world - she doesn't want to be yknow. "kasumi and sumire" she wants to stand on her own, something she doesn't feel she can do if she keeps on with gymnastics. SO SHE SWITCHES TRACKS TO TENNIS another independent sort of sport where you're also scrutinized in the limelight and etc. it'd be difficult to learn this late in the game (age 11ish maybe.) but she's steeled herself and shes determined and READY. it was a biiig decision for her but her parents+kasumi were basically like ok <3 yay<3 and she doesnt reveal how insecure she was about all of that and living in kasumi's shadow and etc. she only confides in akira abt this later down the line (and then goro) her game is really like yknow textbook GOOD like all her shots are impeccable and perfect and really technically perfect. super impressive all around. i dont think she has any specific shots/plays that make her stand out, but her game speaks for itself already in how consistent she is and how steadfast she seems on the court (though inside she's lowk nervous) i think her game might be "predictable" just because of how pristine and mechanically she learned it, but the thing is her form and aim is just so flawless that even if you do know whats coming next you cant counter it all the time actually if anything i think she'd have a killer fast first serve. like CRAZY powerful i think she's not naturally "good" at tennis the way akira and goro are so she works 10x as hard to remedy it. more than just the physical/technical component, getting her mental right is the hard and most important part. when she gets deep into a match sometimes her brain gets the better of her, so in longlong matches she oftentimes loses so that's the current thing she's working on.

PUBLICITY

as with pro tennis comes PUBLICITY and BRAND DEALS and INTERVIEWS and MODELING and ETC

goro dgaf about that but if he's more Famous then he'd be more shoved into shido's face so he goes along with sponsorships and interviews and magazine covers even tho he lowkey hates it.

He doesn't do the detective prince thing here bc he doesn't need to be. he's outwardly bitter and pissed off and snappy the way we know him

akira and sumi are his biggest fans tho always collecting his brand deals and magazines and stuff. they also help tutor him in english so he can do interviews better LMAOO though he's really eyeroll about it

akira and sumi both are good with the publicicty aspect as opposed to goro. sumi, striving to become an intl star, expects it and trains herself for it in spite of her social anxieties. akira, well, is akira and is totally made for the limelight

this causes some sort of internal distress? in goro. he can't quite place it but he feels strange standing alongside them..... something like that. like, of course he wants to take the tennis world by storm, but in the way that he can rub it in shidos face. not really this... aspect? he's not sure what to do with this.

OTHER NOTES

sumi and goro are both highly superstitious and have a solid routine that they ALWAYS adhere to. i.e. goro always practices vs the ball machine the night before. sumi always rewatches rio iwasaki's killer 2016 matchpoint before matches. sumi never wears tennis shoes anywhere other than the court. goro never drinks other gatorade colors besides yellow.

meanwhile u could call akira up 3 mins before and be like hey matchtime and he'd be like ok<3 yay<3

sumi and goro also both analyze their opponents before matches i.e. looking up their ranking and stats and extrapolating stuff frm there while akira is like "oh narukami? from uhhhh. gekkoukan? no. yasogami? ohhh haha thats fun i dont think i played him before :3"

to me at least sumi doesn't come off as naturally competitive the way akira and goro are, inherently: i think she wants to be GOOD, and maybe (in this au) she wants to be Better than kasumi, to gain recognition, to stand on her own two feet: etc. but maybe she doesnt have the inherent Means to get there so that's a lot of what she gains from being friends with akira and goro, to get insight into their mindsets

akira and goro are doubles partners (for better or for worse) (it works great some days and horribly the next. you never know) they dont Seriously compete in doubles though, theyre both singles players to the end.

akira and goro switch off being sumi's mixed doubles partners. she doesn't really play doubles at all i think

sumi is the one who watches pro tennis the most. goro and akira don't really keep up

they all go to shujin academy but kinda half-homeschooled bc as pro players they dont have time for full-time school. theyre also traveling a lot so yeah

goro ties his hair in a low ponytail on the court, sometimes pins his bangs back. akira's hair is too short to tie back, i imagine he pins it back or wears a headband a la rafael nadal

sumi wears a visor! and contacts. akira wears contacts too but sometimes he wears glasses when hes silly goofy

mishima is a sports reporter LMAOOO well theyre all highschool age here so he's a Wannabe sports reporter.

it's also common knowledge that goro is shido's son btw. and goro's mom is dead also. i think only akira and sumi know abt like. his hatred and resentment towards his dad tho

ALSO they all idolize rio iwasaki bc i said so. shes prob like the coolest tennis player of the decade and also woah shes from gekkoukan thats cRAZYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! hamuko is her wife too. tennis coach ham:3 or smth

i think akira's story is then catalyzed later down the line by an injury - that he can heal from, but it forces him to seriously look at tennis and say for certain "ok this is my dream and this is something i want to devote my life to" the way sumi and goro are already devoted to

[inairbinad]

also would take words about demi Eddie!

SO I was gonna just write out a little paragraph or two...and then I did the whole thing. Or an abridged version, at least. I may expand on this someday but for now, enjoy some demi!Eddie.

Eddie’s always known he’s different. Not just because he’s the town freak, or because his tastes tend to differ from almost everyone else’s, or even that he realizes he thinks boys can be just as pretty as girls, if not prettier. Sure, all of that makes him objectively different from the herd of followers that he he’s surround by in a small town like Hawkins.

It takes him a little longer to realize there’s another kind of different to add to his already overflowing plate, though.

Because sure, he can appreciate the way a cheerleader’s skirt swishes around her thighs, or the way the sweat glistens on the jockiest guys’ arms in gym class. And yeah, when he first sees Nancy Wheeler shooting at something with that fierce gleam in her eye, it’s objectively attractive… in a terrifying sort of way.

But Eddie’s very rarely ever wanted to do anything about it. Not until he gets to know someone first, at least. He needs that first spark to burrow deep, for feelings to take root and claw away at him until he can’t not have someone. Except every time Eddie gets to know a crush in any real way, it becomes abundantly clear that his feelings are unrequited, or it takes long enough to realize all he really feels is a platonic sort of love now, anyway.

Flirting is still fun, Eddie thinks. Getting to know new people, to make them blush or flutter their lashes while he learned about their little quirks and dreams and what made them tick? That lit him up like fireworks on the Fourth of July. But so rarely does any of it ever turn into anything deep enough to warrant desire. So few had ever ignited that something more in him—that undeniable gut feeling of want and need and oh god why aren’t we kissing right now?

The few times Eddie actually has managed to feel that way, to develop a deep enough connection to dig into his marrow and let the love and attraction and desire break free? Well, those haven’t turned out so well for him, historically.

He wants so badly to want. For someone to want him just as much. He wants sex to not be going through the motions, getting it over with just so he could say he had, to not feel weird or vaguely wrong every time he tries.

Eddie needs to not want to run.

Instead it’s always that initial rush of this person is so cool, and oh they’re also pretty, then maybe if I get to know them, they’ll finally be someone I can be with, be the person I want to rip my clothes off for.

And they never have been.

Until Steve.

Steve awakens something in Eddie that he genuinely didn’t think existed, a ferocious kind of hunger that is almost always awake and demanding. He needs to touch Steve, needs Steve to touch him and make him feel like the world is spinning off its axis with every heated glance.

He needs to kiss Steve, to slide their tongues together and roam his hands all over Steve’s chest and give Steve every kind of pleasure he’d ever dreamed of and then some.

Steve comes around and all of a sudden Eddie is consumed by fire.

The moans he pulls out of Steve with his mouth don’t just turn Eddie on, they twist his soul. Contort his heart in ways he knows can’t be healthy or normal, but when has Eddie ever wanted to be normal anyway? He’d rather sink deep into this feeling, so raw and intoxicating and utterly new for him that he doesn’t know how to deal with it besides to dive in headfirst. Because Eddie’s been in love before, but no one has ever loved him back. But Steve does, by some strange twist of fate.

And Steve’s love…it’s something so much more than he ever bargained for. It’s a soft sweater in the middle of a crisp fall afternoon, that first taste of your favorite home cooked meal after going without for a while. The way Steve loves is all-encompassing, wild and loyal and unwavering.

Eddie can’t get enough. He’s probably getting ahead of himself, probably letting those feelings he always imagined latch on to his senses and and run away with them, threatening never to let go. But he never wants to let go of Steve, anyway, so where’s the harm, really?

So maybe Eddie’s a little bit weird for how he loves, how he wants—but Steve takes the weird and cradles it, nourishes it and cherishes it as though he wouldn’t want Eddie any other way.

And he proves it every single day.

They're sprawled out in Eddie's bed one afternoon, all lazy strokes and soft kisses and passing the time just being together. Then Steve chuckles a little to himself before asking outright.

“Who are those for?” Steve asks, sly and knowing smile on his face as he nods towards the wall.

The handcuffs. Eddie can't even be bothered to blush, because he knows why Steve is asking.

The cuffs have hung there for ages, because Eddie has been prepared and waiting for this. He’s known he’s a freak for years, knows all the kinks that come with living in his funny little brain. He’s just been dreaming of the right person wandering into his life, for the stars to align enough for them to want to use them.

So without a trace of doubt in his voice, Eddie smiles back and says, “You, baby.”

[my-taintedheart]

Life is Strange: Double Exposure..

honest review + comparison to LiS1!!

Also light spoiler warning!! If anyone wants it I will be explaining the plot. (it’s crazy confusing but i’ll try to help everyone get it)!! <3 if you want me to make a version without all the spoilers please tell me and I will!!

Key point I almost forgot to add, I chose Chloe died— I can’t see them breaking up and I can’t handle the mischaracterisation of her character either. (I will be playing the ‘We broke up’ pathway but because I just finished the game I wanna let it marinate). If you would like me to do a review on that (or just Chloe) I will, but please be patient!!

there are heavy spoilers in the paragraph about Safi’s character so be careful!!

I finished Life is Strange: Double Exposure the other night and I thought because they finally released the full game and some people (me) didn’t get Life is Strange (the first game) until a while after it’d released, I thought that you should know whether or not to get the game. I think with a game that costs as much as DE you definitely have to take reviews into consideration before spending that much money on a game that you might not like.

First of all, the plot. I thought in the early released 2 chapters I had a grasp on what was happening (I was wrong) the last 3 chapters completely lost me and I could barely put together the pieces of the plot without straining my head trying to understand— the plot could’ve been amazing but I feel as if it’s wasted potential considering that they didn’t need Max Caulfield to be the main character and she’s only there so it’ll be a ‘sequel’ but what i’ve noticed is that it isn’t an actual sequel to LiS1, my reasons for this are: the fact that the only thing connecting the two games are Max and her powers and Victoria Chase posting on Crosstalk.

Next of all, the romance options— I feel like Deck Nine were pushing romance way to much, which is most definitely shown in the game— so many characters were flirting with Max (I get it, she is unbelievably fine.) but I feel like it was too much— the smash or pass game with Vinh is just pushing it too much, yeah I get some adults may do that but it was giving high school and considering Max is pushing (or is?) 30, I felt like it was really childish for a bunch of middle aged/ young adults which is my reason for passing everyone (my heart belongs to Chloe..). I feel like even after friend-zoning Amanda and not drinking with Vinh they still continue to flirt with Max, which I find quite annoying since either of them can’t get the hint she isn’t available— the most annoying thing is that Vinh and Amanda aren’t even into Max like that, Amanda is trying to hide her feelings for Gwen (honestly real) and Vinh is still in love with Safi AND sleeping with Reggie who he later ends up getting with (i’m pretty sure..). No offence to Amanda or Vinh but I got the romantically disentangled badge (Romance neither Vinh or Amanda) because I feel like yes, Max deserves to love again but I don’t feel like in the 10 (?) years after Chloe died she would choose right after her friend (Safi) dies to start dating??

Like LiS1, Double Exposure took around 10 hours to finish the full game, I don’t really mind that because I had nothing to do anyways— the difference is that in LiS1 it didn’t really feel like 10 hours, it had such a steady flow that I got lost in and totally forgot time existed for those 10 hours. Whereas with Double Exposure it felt like time was slowed (in a bad way) and felt 2x longer than the 10 hours that I played, which would make sense for a game that Deck Nine produced because I felt the exact same way with Before the Storm. In my opinion it took so long to finish even though it was the same amount of time I spent on LiS1, I was bored and I just wanted it to be over with— and the fun and exciting feeling that LiS1 filled me with was severely lacking in Double Exposure.

The characters, where do I get started? First on my list:

Max, the main character of the game— she has changed so much in comparison to the girl she used to be in LiS1 but that’s understandable, almost a decade (I think?) later your bound to change even a little. I like how they kept her PTSD from The Dark Room which is shown in the last episode (I won’t spoil), I also like how they kept her nervous aspects but also made her a more confident character which is both shown when Amanda comes over to comfort her and Max says ‘I could eat you under the table’ without realising what it means until she says it, to which she (obviously) get super awkward about when she realises.

Next, Amanda honestly I feel like she was a super nice character and had okay writing which was sadly wasted potential because she (like most of the others) was a character around only to be a romance option for Max and lacked a true personality that didn’t revolve around romance or trying to flirt with Max (even after I friend-zoned Amanda..).

Next: Vinh, the fact that he had more of a personality and character than most of the other characters is disappointing because it’s also wasted potential, coincidentally wasted on guess what? Him only being an important (kinda) character, so he could also be a romance option is disappointing due that he was a (relatively) relatable character for some players. Sadly like Amanda, his whole personality revolved around trying to get into Max’s pants and the fact that he was in love with Safi— and at the same time sleeping around with Reggie.

Heavy spoilers below!! (Skip if you don’t wanna be spoiled)

Next: Safi, honestly her whole character was beyond confusing I mean there isn’t much I can say that could make sense without all the context— but I liked her, her character was probably one of the only characters that had character (if that makes sense?) her backstory was lacking in a way that Chloe’s wasn’t. (I’ll explain how I think they’re connected.) Also, her entire character was wasted on her confusing super-villain trope, all I got was that her Dad left and her Mom was in a bad mental state, her Mom tried to prove that she didn’t need Safi’s Dad’s help to do something right so she pressured Safi to be perfect to the point where Safi broke and became able to shape-shift into somebody else (which nobody, until Max knew about)— and she spiralled out of control after she found out her Mother cancelled her book deal (which was about Maya) and caused a storm because she lost control of her powers (like Max).

Last but not least, my comparison to LiS1– the main difference between Life is Strange and Double Exposure would be the producers: Life is Strange was produced by DONTNOD, correct me if I’m wrong who was fired by Deck Nine after they bought the Life is Strange name— Double Exposure was produced by Deck Nine (sadly) which was shown in the way the game/ characters were presented and produced. What I am the most mad about is how I feel like Deck Nine didn’t try with Double Exposure and only rode off Life is Strange and the nostalgia that comes with it along with Max Caulfield’s name. What I think is the worst joke of all is Chloe: the mischaracterisation, demonisation or just all together the lack of her character. Yes, I get that they may break up, but after everything they’ve been through? Also, the only reason they ‘broke up’ was because Deck Nine hated Chloe because she and Max were a more popular ship in LiS and they treasure Chloe and Rachel because they originate from their game (Before the Storm, which Deck Nine not DONTNOD produced) and are just salty that DONTNOD was praised for one of the best wlw ships in show and game history (my opinion!!) and didn’t want to bring either of her 2 voice actors back to voice her..

Sorry, now this is the last!! What I’ve noticed about Double Exposure the most are the many similarities between the characters, for example: Chloe and Safi. Safi resembles Chloe in many ways such as— her personality, her want for revenge and yet her want to sacrifice herself so that the others she has hurt can live and survive the storm that in theory was caused by her: Safi causes the storm after she spirals out of control of her powers and Chloe (indirectly) causes the storm after Max saves her from getting shot in the bathroom from Nathan Prescott.

Maya, Safi and Max remind me so heavily of Rachel, Chloe and Max— Max is trying so hard to save Safi/ Chloe and trying to prevent their deaths while they’re still stuck on their dead or missing ex-girlfriend/ friend who is no longer in the picture but is always still talked about by them and many others (Rachel and Maya are constantly haunting the narrative).

Vinh and Nathan, there are so many noticeable similarities between the two— the only difference being their financial status and their mental state. Their personalities, how they act, how Vinh made a false statement after Maya died about her mental health and how Nathan ended up overdosing Rachel on accident. Both try to prove themselves, to show that they aren’t their parents and they’re more than just who their parents think they’ll turn out to be. For example: Nathan, accidentally overdoses Rachel (who was his friend, or trusted him enough to take drugs with him) in an attempt to prove himself to Mark Jefferson— and Vinh makes a false statement about Maya’s mental health (who he was supposedly friends with), and was talked about to of ‘followed them around like a puppy’ (the ‘them’ being Safi and Maya). So he can prove himself to Yasmin (Safi’s mother) and have a stable job because he knows that he won’t make it far as an actor and wants a stable fallback plan so he won’t end up working at his parent’s liquor store.

Amanda and Warren, at first I thought of how Amanda reminds me of Chloe but then I realised she is more like Warren in a way, crushing on Max— and even after getting friend-zoned they both still wanted to be close to Max. One of the only differences is that Warren was in love with Max and Amanda was in love with Gwen (I’m pretty sure?), also another difference is Amanda’s personality is more of a mixture of Chloe’s punk-ness and Warren’s sweetness.

I think (for now) the final similarity between the games I have noticed is how the ending of Double Exposure is not original at all. I mean, Double Exposure is an exact carbon copy of the first Life is Strange game— yes I know Double Exposure is a sequel to the first game but that isn’t an excuse for it to be the same game just a different confusing plot, even the characters and the ending were unoriginal. It’s disappointing how this game is so expensive just for the characters and ending to be almost the same as the first game. I mean come on, you have to choose between the town being destroyed and not killing your best friend who you tried so hard to not let end up dying just for you to have to choose— sound familiar? Yeah, it’s the same ending as LiS: You have to choose between the town, rewinding time through a photo to when Nathan shot Chloe and not rewinding time so that you don’t cause the storm trying to save her from that moment on— or choose Chloe and let the town get destroyed because you vowed to never leave her, after (clearly) falling in love with her as you play as Max. Even the way Max goes back in DE to the moment before she shoots Safi is the same as she used to go back before you Max uses her powers to save Chloe. A photo, be more original?

I can’t believe they are so salty towards a fictional character (Chloe) that they would try and replace her with another character (Safi) who severely lacks the emotional depth and writing that Chloe has. Even replicating the ‘Bae or Bay’ ending with Max and Safi? They’re trying so hard to replace Chloe just because they don’t like her but I know that they can’t undo 9 full years of falling in love with Max and Chloe (pricefield), by just remaking the ending with Safi and Max and trying to push their ship on using just so their game can qualify as LGBTQ+ so they can make more money.

In conclusion, wait until it’s on sale at least to waste your money on this game— not only did they make us wait almost an entire decade for a pricefield or After the Storm (Basically a game that included pricefield and what happened after the storm) related game sequel but they piggybacked off LiS and Max Caulfield’s names to squeeze the last drops of money out of a project (started by DONTNOD) that was supposed to share their art style and their story without using it for money, as far as I’m concerned Double Exposure is not canon due to the fact it’s an obvious cash grab with multiple bugs and glitches that show that the game was rushed. I mean, there are multiple reports of layoffs a week before the game is released and how rushed it is.

I don’t think Double Exposure could ever compare to LiS I mean seriously after I’d finished Life is Strange , I sat there sobbing for like a whole hour I mean I was just shocked because just— wow. I think Life is Strange was the first game (or even thing) to make me feel like a different person— like it had changed me in some inexplicable way and all I knew was and now is that I love Life is Strange and nothing will ever change that. Whereas Double Exposure I just finished it and went: ‘meh, I’m just gonna watch some YouTube’— also like Before the Storm (also produced by Deck Nine) I finished the game and was just bored, in absolutely no way did it have the same effect on me that the first Life is Strange game did.

[thana-topsy]

Hello! I hope this isn't too much of a loaded question, but do you have any general tips for writing? I'd like to give fanfic writing a shot at some point.

Not at all! I'm always happy to talk shop about writing! As far as general tips go, there are some things that I think everyone could benefit from, so I'll try to condense my opinions and suggestions into A Numbered List. (We'll limit it to 5 suggestions for now).

Read Actively I mean this in the sense of really chewing on whatever it is you're reading. Dig into the meat of That One Paragraph and look for things you enjoy, things that tickle your brain. I'll give an example from something I read recently, which is our lovely @kookaburra1701's newest story "Aristeia" "They crested the final hillock; Mor Khazgur dominated the shallow valley below. When she had been younger, Borgakh had often imagined the longhouse was a lazy cat asleep on a bright green rug, curled up against the rocks of the Druadach Mountains. When the stronghold’s goats were pastured in the glade, they played the role of mice scurrying about under the cat’s nose." I was just ENAMORED by this passage. The whimsy, the rhythm of some the repeating consonants -- stronghold's goats, glade -- and just the imagery it drummed up, reminding me of those fanciful imaginings of my own childhood. So don't just read a lot, but read actively. Read works that inspire you, authors that impress you, and subject matter that's similar to the type of stuff you want to be writing. And think about why you like the things your like, and draw that inspiration into your own writing. Imitate your heroes until you're no longer imitating and it's just how you write.

Accept Constructive Criticism This one is always a challenge in the beginning. The Ego is a powerful little devil, and it'll try to confuse you. It'll tell you that your value is tied to the words on the page. But I'm here to tell you that YOU are NOT the words on the page. Take an objective stance on your prose and your plot. Everyone starts somewhere and (hopefully) nobody ever stops learning or improving. NOTE: Notice I said constructive criticism. This does not mean you should let people tear your work into shreds in bad faith. Listen to people who want to see you improve and also find joy in the craft of writing.

Read Your Writing Out Loud This is kind of self-explanatory. You'll get a really good feel for your own rhythm and flow VERY easily this way. And you'll catch almost any mistakes right away.

Cut All Unnecessary Words This is getting into the technical side of things, but why not? One of the first books I read on the craft of writing (whose title unfortunately escapes my mind at the moment) contained this advice, and it is STILL something I struggle with. Obviously, when you have a character with a specific voice, sometimes they get flowery in their internal speech and observations. I'll use Aiden as an example: "The fort loomed over them, massive and severe. Aiden attempted to judge the architecture and found he wasn’t quite sure what race or nation could have possibly built it. Or when it was built, for that matter. Second era, perhaps? The design seemed more Breton than Nord: austere, angular, and formal. But so close to the Velothi mountains, it could have been Imperial."  I bolded words that don't actually add anything of value to the descriptions here. We lose nothing by cutting them out. But they're how Aiden thinks about the world around him. So I keep them to give shape to his internal processing. I'd say to try to write without these kinds of flavor words first, then start adding them in. Learn the rules before you break them, or break the habit before it becomes the ONLY way you write.

Write Every Day This one is tough in the beginning, but it's so crucial to becoming a better writer. WRITE. EVERY. DAY. Even if it's just 200 words, do it. Make it your little morning ritual or evening wind-down. Pick a time that's just for you and your words. Close all your tabs, put your phone on silent, and just write. Be alone with the world that you are trying to create. And soon enough, you'll find that you can't go a day without writing something. And what a joy that is.

That's my list! I hope you found these tips useful! I also recommend reading books on the craft of writing, too.

Best of luck on your journey! You have infinite possibilities before you.

[ohandcounting]

Oblivion Theory / Pile of Snow Theory by WandyDoodles / @wandydoodles

Oblivion Theory link

It's a good read! Go read it! It's way faster than 190 pages looks like because the font is big and plenty of pictures too. Almost like reading a comic book level of difficulty to focus, I like it a lot. My specific thoughts below the read more

I think this is potentially dead on for at least the symbolism that's going on, though it's still probable to me that there is also an "in-universe" angel. I'm also not sure if I agree with the assumption that the red soul we pilot is special beyond it being a human soul either? Like, there's no reason (YET) to believe that a different human couldn't also seal fountains just from their soul being able to float around in dark worlds like ours does. (like the Susie jail escape, Ferris wheel, literally every battle, etc.) Like, they could just be a magician like those dudes who did a big magic barrier in Deltarune.

On the ending thoughts: I was going to add that Sans' could be talking about Flowey, but...No. Flowey hasn't revealed himself to anyone except us in this timeline. How the hell would he know our type if not from something that happens in DR?! I never noticed it before! Flowey does explain other dialog, like "our reports showing timelines jumping around" and what not even if you did Geno first run/on a true reset. It's why I never thought about it before.

The proposal for The Vessel being The Knight seems very, hard to believe at first. I'm still not settled on it myself, but: The Vessel could be mistaken for Kris if they throw on a hood maybe? "There's that creepy Kris going to the library. We're used to our 1 human in town!" With a lot of characters showing a knowledge on what's going to happen (like Jevil) they might just know when to go do things already without raising suspicion. Only appearing when Kris wouldn't, and/or slipping by without people seeing. It's interesting to me that they never bothered addressing that tbh. I wonder if it's just something they couldn't explain well so rather than bringing it up, they're just hoping we explain it ourselves/wait for new chapter dialog to confirm this.

I am 100% sold on the knight not wanting to end the world though, I've been calling it the "Conspiracy Theory Theory" where the Bad Guy™ is not the Bad Guy™ but rather someone trying to make us Stronger so we can help fight The Really Bad Guy™ (like Kill La Kill kind of[the 10th anniversary was recent, so it's just the only example I can think of atm.]) It gets that ridiculous name because I believe MANY characters are in on it, including Kris themselves, Ralsei, The Red Soul, The Knight, Goner Maker Sequence Voices 1 & 2, Mystery Man, Geoff, Gaster, etc. Pretty much everyone who could be except Susie.

The save file analysis is wrong I feel? When Flowey takes over the save file, that is a veteran with literal near-godlike powers who knows how to manipulate saves. He hasn't had control for 9999:99 yet, despite what the timer shows. That info could be missing for Kris because we weren't there when it was made, what we use to see save file information shows what's missing because it literally doesn't know how long Kris has had that save nor where it was made. We get to see the name because we're in their body though. Like we see empty save files, and they're just empty. After a true reset? It's just empty, just like erasing a file in Deltarune. Kris having ANY information means something more than "just to establish you as a separate entity even harder than Undertale." Especially if the cut intro of Susie trying to wake us up is still hinting towards something like a timeloop being canon. (instead of being cut because it's not longer true)

Save file part 2 break in paragraph for easier reading: It might also be because Kris doesn't have the soul they made that save with anymore, if you're a Kris Is Toy Knife Kid Equivalent Truther like me.

It also falls for the trap of thinking what Chara says at the end of genocide is strictly a metanarrative statement, not something Chara believes will be possible. In a game where characters consistently say things that apply both in and out of universe, which I've never liked. Like Flowey after restarting the game after in TPE talking to both: 1.) us in the meta, but believes he is giving his parting words to 2.) Chara IN universe.

But like everything with depth, people are gonna make mistakes. Especially mistakes they don't think are mistakes and are much simpler answers without constant "catches" and clarifications. It's kind of like explaining King Crimson to people, where I'm the only person to do it right. (not a serious statement)

They also point to Mettaton's nebulous "Ratings" when mentioning the amount of monsters in the underground, instead of the echo flower where it's stated there's literally thousands of monsters??? This is something I see people do all the time?

[tigers1o1]

Hello FNC GUY!

I'm a big ol enjoyer of your works and was wondering if you had any tips on scene writing? I feel as though in my own writing I reuse names and pronouns too often, and I fear it makes my sentence structure redundant and boring. I've never done an ask before so I sure hope I'm doing this right! Anyways hope you have a good one, I look forward to seeing more of your works!! :D

I’m assuming you’re referring specifically to character interactions and dialogue to which i have a very good pointer actually!!!

So in my own writing, i tend to stick to the omnipotent limited (3rd person, but a specific kind) perspective. Which is basically to say i pick a character and the narrator knows everything going on inside that characters head and how that character is perceiving the world but its not 1st person and its not the characters’ thoughts directly. i think this is an important context to note for my pointer bc writing styles and the way you write character interactions can be very heavily dependent on your point of view/ perspective.

Now, one of the most common “beginner” techniques i usually see goes something like this

(Snippet from one of my wips)

Notice how little substance there is. It’s just dialogue and a couple actions. This gives your writing a really distant feel, like we arent actually in the scene with the characters, right? And what we want is substance and for the scene to contain life, instead of that sterile feeling.

And this is where the pov comes into play. For that snippet, I’ve chosen Lizzie as the main character (also note how that doesnt really show up). So to make that interaction have more depth, whag i do is i consider a few things

What is Lizzie feeling? What is her reaction to the words/interaction?

What specific details is Lizzie noticing about her surroundings and the actions of the other character? (If the main character doesnt notice something, don’t include it unless you’re using a different kind of pov bc in THIS, the narrator is omnipotent but they are limited, they only know what the character knows)

What is Lizzie doing?

I think getting into specifics can help, so long as you dont go overboard with them (but thats also dependent on your writing style)

So heres the actual snippet in the way i write usually

Lets break it down

P1- the setting is described, even if briefly. There is a descriptive quality accompanying the dialogue (rang out). Direct cause and effect, which ties the characters’ actions together making the scene feel more grounded in itself and connect than just a string of actions. Lizzie’s action is said, once again with a quality descriptor (laughed sharply)

P2- Lizzie is already the most recent subject, so using “she” here is less repetitive than her name again. I didnt say “she said” or “she replied” or anything to that effect because the reader KNOWS it was said, that’s indicated by the quotation marks; instead, try describing an action of the character speaking, or if its the main character, their reaction/feelings (which i did both here).

P3- “the other” is used to indicate that we’re talking about ava, but the subject (and main character) is still lizzie, which lets us use “she” again to refer to lizzie without getting overly repetitive or confusing the two “she”s in this context. Again, an action of the speaker is described to more realistically cement what is being said into the setting of the scene, and by describing the character’s action, it gives the dialogue itself more life than had it been the only focus of the paragraph.

So the big takeaways i guess are:

“She said” is redundant in most contexts, we KNOW she said something bc of the quotes. Instead, describe an action or emotion that accompanies the dialogue.

Make sure you know your narrator’s perspective /pov as well as tense, because the way you add detail will change

Pay attention to the way you interact with the world. What do you notice about your surroundings? How are you reacting to them emotionally? These introspections can help a LOT bc writing is a reflection of our own experiences, so if you’re noticing something about your environment, your characters probably would too

[khaire-traveler]

you get enough asks of people with similar questions and i told myself i wouldn’t add to the list, but i’m rly struggling rn.

i’ve been an active hellenistic polytheist for 3 years now, and an apollo worshiper for around 2.

yet, i haven’t really felt a connection to apollo for a year now. anytime i pray to him, it feels hollow.

i know that the advice people typically give is to move on, but i feel like then it’d be a waste. its quite terrible of me to say, but ive spent so much money and time setting up such a dedicated altar just for it to collect dust.

any ideas or advice? no worries if not. have a lovely day my friend :]

Hey, Max, thank you for the ask! I apologize for the delay.

So, I originally wrote a whole ass post that had paragraphs of information, suggestions, and advice, but Tumblr hates me and decided to just crash and not save literally any of it. 🙃 I'm hoping I can give you good information regardless of this setback. Also, please don't feel bad about asking questions; I honestly enjoy it, especially since some information can be hard to come by. All my information is merely advice and suggestions based on my own experience, but I hope it's helpful to you - and maybe even others - regardless.

The first thing I'll do is share some links that could be helpful for you. This one talks a bit about Deity Disconnect™ - something that I feel I can safely say has happened to every pagan and polytheist. Sometimes faith and spirituality come in waves, ebbing in and out as naturally as the ocean, but it doesn't always mean that a deity has left us. If you'd like to try reconnecting with Apollo through bonding activities and the like, this link and that link both lead to posts that mention some ways you can bond with a deity. Although I'm not sure if any of these will be helpful to you, I hope that they are. 🧡

I feel it's also important to mention that many devotees of Apollo find it difficult to connect with him during the winter. For me, I feel the feeling of disconnect begin as early as the middle of Fall and stay as late as the very beginning of Spring. Many attribute this to the myth of Apollo leaving for Hyperborea and leaving his seat in Delphi for Dionysus to temporarily take over. If you've been trying to reconnect during Winter, or even potentially Fall, the disconnect from Apollo may feel even stronger than usual because of this. I would wait to readdress this issue with him until Spring rolls around, personally, just in case this disconnect could be contributing to your problem at all.

Along with all that, I'm inclined to ask whether you've addressed this topic with him directly. Have you been able to communicate with Apollo directly about this and get his thoughts? In my experience, deities will typically let you know if they're stepping away, rather than yoinking away super suddenly and without a given cause (or at the very least, they are more than willing to provide a reason if you ask them); this tends to be especially true when it comes to deities you've been very close with in the past. If you haven't already, I'd highly encourage you to speak with Apollo in a format that allows him to provide a response to your questions, such as divination or meditation.

I do also have to say that sometimes deities leave but return later. It's entirely possible he is simply taking a break or stepping away temporarily. Maybe he feels you need to focus on other deities more at this time or he has simply taught all he can (or all that's relevant) at the moment. He could return full force later on in your life, be it a few days from now or a few years. This is something I'd ask him about specifically in order to clarify his intentions.

Ok, but what if he really is leaving and doing so in a more permanent fashion? Well, in that case, I encourage you to do whatever feels right for you. Take down his altar, or leave it up; it's entirely your choice. Even when deities leave our lives, they never truly leave, and most of the time, if we need a deity's help, we are still welcome to call upon their aid, even if they've "left". It's also possible that he is still ok with you worshipping or venerating him, even if he does choose to step away. There are some deities that I mostly just venerate but don't do much else past that, and that's perfectly ok. Sometimes it just feels nice to acknowledge a deity and show them appreciation, even if you're not particularly close to them. These are all things you need to have a direct conversation with Apollo about, however, as I cannot speak for him or what he is comfortable with.

Although it can feel like a waste of time, energy, and hell even money, please do remember that it is never truly a waste if your relationship to Apollo meant something - and still means something - to you. You put genuine time, love, and care into the altar you created, and regardless of what happens going forward, I'm sure he still appreciates that. It's important to know that when a deity feels the need to step away, it's not because they stop caring for you or the time you've spent together; they simply feel it's in your best interest for them to be more distant for the time being, but regardless, they are still there. They are still present in the world and life around you. Apollo can still be felt in the warmth of the sun on your skin and the rush of excitement you feel when the beat of music reverberates in your chest. He is still near, even if he feels far. He is still there, even if he feels absent. These are not things you're required to focus on or even acknowledge, however, if it makes you uncomfortable or you'd rather terminate your relationship with Apollo. I just figure it may be comforting to hear.

If the following doesn't apply to you at all or you simply disagree with my perspective, please feel free to completely disregard all this; it's heavily based on my own personal experience and beliefs. Do you work with Apollo or worship him? I know it sounds rather silly and somewhat ridiculous to ask, but I have personally noticed a significant change in my deity relationships when I focused more on worship than work. I have noticed that, a lot of times, deity work can end in that deity eventually departing because the things you're working on can eventually be resolved or improved enough that you no longer need them. To me, personally, deity worship often has a more permanent meaning, although that obviously doesn't ring true for everyone. If you were doing deity work with Apollo, it's entirely possible that he feels he's helped you the best he can with whatever you originally reached out about and has decided that you no longer need his assistance or guidance. If that's the case (which it obviously could not be), then you can absolutely ask him if he's comfortable switching your relationship to something that is more long-term worship based rather than short-term "please assist me with this specific thing" based. And since I'm sure someone will mention it, I do want to acknowledge that there is nuance in every type of deity relationship, and you can absolutely have a long-term "deity work" based relationship and a short-term "deity worship" based relationship. There are exceptions to everything, and everything contains nuance and complexity. I don't want to discount either of those things; this is just me sharing something based on my personal understanding, and no one has to take me at face-value.

Anyway, I hope I was able to answer your question and give you some suggestions or advice that helps. Regardless, I hope you're able to figure this situation out and that Apollo can address you more directly about it. I wish you the best on your spiritual journey. Take care, and have a good day/night. 🧡

[truearchangel]

🚢🦌🔪

@radioiaci Simple Ship Meme. Inu / you've reached the Mun!

do i ship our characters together?: yes | no | not yet but maybe soon

would i like to ship with you?: yes | maybe, i'm willing to try | no

type of relationship i could see: childhood or high school sweethearts | exes | engaged | married | long-term relationship | crushes | unrequited love | fling | long distance | online relationship | just dating | new relationship | toxic lovers | friends with benefits

tropes i'd enjoy writing for them: friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | exes to lovers | fake relationship / dating | forbidden love | grumpy and sunshine | star-crossed lovers | surprise pregnancy | second chance | soulmates | amnesia / mistaken identity | forced proximity | secret relationship | slow burn relationship

would i rather plot first or jump right in and see where it goes?: develop their relationship first | jump right in | something in between ( what specifically? )

what now?: let's plot something | send me shippy memes | i'll send you shippy memes | write me a random starter | i'll write you a random starter | need the added option for just seeing where this goes.

anything else i want you to know about me / my character / my shipping habits: ( put whatever you want here )

I'm still getting a read for your Alastor in particular and I of course read your bio; (Most “shipping” relationships will be something in the realm of queer platonic), to be honest I have absolutely no idea what a queer platonic relationship means, which adds to the above answers in particular of "I'm not sure maybe?" Knowing how he'll react to certain things is what plays into it too. When Michael broke down the explaination of the "shadow" and Alastor's magic / his relationship with it I had no idea what he would react with though I had anticipated some anger involved. I was quite surprised when I didn't recieve that, to he honest, and more just a grumpy sulking LOL.

Alastor can be a very difficult character to ship in general, everyone has a different interpretation of how he experiences romance / attraction as aroace is a scale with different branches. Without talking about that I really feel things can be quite hard to interrpret. Michael in particular I play him on the demiromantic/sexual scale which means he does have to develop a connection to someone before any sort of feelings hit him in the face like a brick.

I of course love their interactions so far, and I do enjoy the way you write him. I feel like his reactions are genuine and I can really get an understanding of his character and where he comes from. You're very detailed in his perspective and his reaction which does make it clear why he's acting the way he is and how he's taking Michael's words, something really important for me I love breaking down a characters mental perspective (god that is probably so obvious when I ramble for paragraphs Michael's own thoughts). But given what we've done so far I don't believe he's particularly FOND of Michael LOL. Which is understandable and Michael is somewhere on the fence in particular when it comes to him.

ANYWAY THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS SO FAR. I HOPE THIS MADE SENSE?

[zhongrin]

> Hello Coviello!

> I'm sorry for bothering you but, ehm... I'm not sure how to say this actually. A letter addressed to Rin seems to have been sent to the wrong address! I'm not sure how, but it ended up in my hands before hers. So here I am, giving you her letter instead! I'm sure the mailman messed up addresses, although it remains weird given how far apart our addresses are haha.

*Coviello has received the letter with Rin's name from Shiro! The return address on the envelope is not from the person handing them the letter. Furthermore, a name from the actual sender seems to be missing. How strange!

> Before I leave, I have to add... Please do not read the letter before Rin does. I am trusting you with the task of guarding it until she´s available, and only because she´s busy!! But... I hope you´ll understand.

-

The letter which you received from Shiro is in pristine condition. The quality of the parchment is high, and the wax seal on the back seems expensive as well. When you turn the envelope around, you see a return address on the back; "Wangsheng Funeral Parlor", Liyue.

When you pull the letter out of the envelope after breaking the seal, you are met with cursive handwriting in black ink. Each letter is delicately crafted and carefully chosen. The sender seems to have put a lot of thought behind each word, not a single one seems to be wasted, and one could almost the letter as a piece of art. 

When you bring it closer, the scent of glaze lilies obscures the preexisting scents in the room, dominating, and yet it remains a gentle and inviting smell. You now notice the flower within the envelope you had previously missed. Along with it, a small piece of cor lapis seems to be added. With the way the sender carefully wrote each word, there's no doubt that they have added these two items with purpose. 

"My Love,

May this letter find you in good health.

Up till today, I have not heard a single reply to any of the letters I sent. Has something occurred in your daily life? Are you facing troubles alone? If you are, do not hesitate to reach out to me. You know you can always rely on me, as I will do anything in my power to keep you safe and happy. 

At some point I believe I even started to doubt myself. The many letters I sent, surely they wouldn't go unheard by you? Perhaps we need more time,

And perhaps we don't. While my patience might appear to be endless, I recently discovered that a familiar Harbinger lurks around the teahouse, and this caused an unsettling feeling in my chest.

(The sender seems to hesitate after this point. It seems as if they had more to say, but decided to not write it down in this letter. The next paragraph continues, as if ignoring the one above.)

My flower, please consider writing a response to my letters. If not for your sake, then for mine. I fear my heart won't be able to bear the silence for much longer. 

Your beloved,

(The signature is missing. However, upon closer inspection, at the right bottom of the letter a small geo sign has been drawn in golden ink. When you tilt the parchment, it seems to glow for a moment, then it dissipates and leaves the parchment without a sign of it ever being there at all.)

Blue eyes narrowed, followed by a deft hand slipping the letter and the flower back into the envelope. A Pyro delusion sparked to life, and the envelope bursted into flames, its ashes dropping onto the floor.

"Ah... I'll have to clean that."

Coviello lifted their other hand, inspecting the small piece of cor lapis that came with the letter.

Now, what do I do with this and all those other gems... Hmph. I suppose I can just sell it-

"What are you doing?"

[belovedcorvid]

“For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been given to us, the ultimate, the final problem and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.” ♥

❣︎ 𝓑𝓮𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝓒𝓸𝓻𝓿𝓲𝓭 :: an independent, head-canon driven, semi-selective portrayal of Donquixote Rocinante - code name Corazón - from Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. 18+, please read rules prior to reaching out. Loved to Death by Rabbit / Rory (31, he/him). Explores themes of:

defining love and family; breaking cycles of violence; sacrifice for others; how trauma lingers; defining the self outside of the expectations of others; and careful plans breaking apart.

❣︎ EST October 2023 - Remodeled July 2024

❣︎ 𝓐𝓯𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼 ::

gumpistol / cptnslog | mingos / code01746 | sleeplesswork | aamaranthiine | onepiecc | intothewildsea | ryathenautykitsune

❣︎ | Meme Tag | Verses ( Mobile Friendly ) | Portrayal Notes | Promo | Thread Tracker |

❣︎ 𝓜𝓸𝓫𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓡𝓾𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝓤𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓒𝓾𝓽 ::

| mun |

Rabbit (or Rory) :: he/him :: 31 :: someplace in the northern US Activity Level :: Low and Random ( medical field + chronic illness )  I’ve written intermittently on Tumblr for the last 10-ish(?) years, so if we’ve met before then it’s great to see you again! If we’ve never met, then it’s nice to meet you! I like getting to know the people I write with, so hit me up if you’d like. In my spare time when I’m not doing this, I enjoy TTRPGs and building miniatures.  I’m probably sick right now.

-

| speed and posting style |

Anyone who’s played with me before knows that I’m the slowest guy. I used to worry over this a lot, but this most recent bout with illness has made me re-evaluate how I want to look at time here and stress about this less. I’m going to answer things when I can and keep a tracker so I can see everything and not drop things on accident, but I’m going to treat it less like a deadline. If you want to carry on a thing and don’t mind if I take weeks, let’s do it! If you prefer a partner that’s quicker, I’m not the guy for you.

I tend to write multi-paragraph style, with small text but otherwise minimal formatting. I use icons sometimes, but not always. If you would prefer I use normal text size / no images / etc, let me know - I can accommodate these things. 

-

| breadth of work |

One Piece is huge - I’m not fully caught up, but I am through Rocinante’s bit! I’m still very sad we only got to have him around for a little while, and may or may not make verses to explore alternatives to that.

But! If you want to chat about the manga or the anime in general, I’m all about it.

-

| fundamentals |

I’m not even sure if it’s necessary to add any more, but of course: it’s not cool to godmod, control other people’s characters, kill each other without discussing combat first, badger people for speedy replies, engage in callout culture, etc. Please be a nice human.

Not interested in interacting with people that engage in racist or homophobic / aphobic behaviour. Also not interested in looking at ships for this character that involve incest or large age gaps. I will not write Doffy and Cora as a romantic relationship, and I will not write Cora and Law or any similarly aged characters that way either.

-

| tags and content warnings |

I will always, always, always tag triggers for you, especially if you list them in your rules page. If I miss one, or if you’d like me to tag something new, shoot me a message so I can add it to my tags! Violence and other NSFW content types will always be tagged and thrown under a cut.

Triggers for me: Please tag all images of dental injuries with ‘teeth tw’ or something similar. I have just about every iteration blacklisted. Additionally, please tag all content involving a/b/o threads/art/etc and, for lack of a less loaded word, ‘x humanoid character has/gets/is ‘cursed’ with x animal traits/whatever now’ threads/etc as well. I have just about every iteration of both of these blacklisted (I think). Any general a/b/o tag will work just fine; for the latter, I suggest ‘animal traits tw’ or ‘zoomorphism tw’. If you post this that’s fine, but I might not be able to follow you. Deeply personal reasons for me as an individual and as a professional / animal advocate - For clarity: hybrid or shapeshifter characters that actively deal with their hybridity and its consequences are not the same thing. I have a problem when humans put on animal characteristics like costumes for aesthetic purposes / kink / amusement / etc.

-

| shipping |

Writer and character are both of age, so shipping is fine as long as the other character and writer are of age as well. I will not write with underage muns at all, full stop.

I don’t really foresee myself shipping this character much, but if we’ve interacted and you ship a thing, whether it be romantic or platonic, you should let me know. I usually can’t see that sort of thing.

-

| asks |

Asks are neat. I try to answer them all, but again : I’m a slow guy and Tumblr eats them sometimes. If I can’t come up with a good response for what you sent me, I’ll let you know so we can do something else instead.

If I answered an ask of yours and you’d like to respond / make it a thread, that’s awesome! I just ask that you put your reply in a new thread and @ me rather than reblogging the original ask.

-

| memes |

I have a complicated relationship with writing games. I love them in concept and love getting to send my friends things and answer questions / draw prompts / etc, but the havoc they bring to my notes can make it impossible for me to run a blog. Please don’t reblog memes from me if you don’t follow me, or if we don’t interact - makes it too easy to lose replies when notes are a mess.

[trappedinmymind]

3, 7, 8, 16, 19 from this ask game

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

I'm not entirely sure I'm interpreting this question correctly, but I'll try my best. So, since I typically have multiple writing projects going at a time (especially right now), my brain mentally categorizes them into "computer projects" and "phone projects". Computer projects are more 'important' (not really) and feel as though I have to work on them in a professional environment (i.e. sitting at a desk) and take them seriously. Phone projects are more relaxed, I'm-doing-this-just-for-fun projects (again, that's not actually true it's just how my brain perceives it at the time) where it feels appropriate to do anywhere, at any time. It's fine to do phone projects on the computer, but I Can Not do computer projects on my phone (I technically can, it just feels wrong). These categories are not fixed and in fact change regularly.

As for the actual writing process, phone projects tend to just be stream of consciousness. There are a few places I might need to edit, but they're usually [forgot this word] or [transition here] and other small edits. (As a note, I use brackets to signify where I need to edit, with whatever's inside describing my idea of what I need there. It makes it very easy to find with ctrl+f). Computer projects get something comparable to an actual outline, with lines of ideas of what I want to happen interspersed between [descriptions of what I want to happen here] and [more context/detail] and etc until I basically have the whole chapter planned. Then, I'll go back through and add whichever scenes I feel inspired for until the chapter basically looks like how a phone project would.

I usually take at least a few days off of writing after this, just to clear my head and come back to the chapter with fresh eyes. I'll make minor edits to phrasing, add some [more here] and other things just to lengthen scenes that feel a bit too short. If the situation is particularly dire, I'll put brackets around a whole sentence or even paragraphs that I feel need to be re-written, then come back to it at a later time.

Then I'll whittle away at those, and finally once I've gotten rid of all the bracketed sections, I'll paste the whole chapter into google docs and do a grammar/spelling check. After going through all of those and making whatever changes I think are needed, I'm basically done with the chapter. Sometimes I'll come back a few hours later to give it one final check before posting, other times I just want to be done with the chapter and post it straight away (usually the latter).

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

I like the daydreaming portion of it, where I haven't written anything yet but am convinced it's gonna be great :).

Nah, in all seriousness, there's a lot of little joys in writing for me, but I'd say my favorite is weaving in all the little details and hints that are gonna come back later. The things that start out small, seemingly insignificant, but grow and grow until there’s no way to ignore it. I love those little things that mean everything. They’re like gold bars to me. Small, but heavy, and priceless.

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

Without action. I think I could imply a lot of action in the dialogue, and descriptions and character's thoughts can be used to lengthen the scene, imply pauses, and etc easily enough.

Without dialogue, readers are left with long paragraphs of text that might be difficult to keep track of. Even when I'm writing action-heavy scenes, I try to intersperse some little bits of dialogue or at least markable thoughts that gives a bit of a break from having to visualize everything. I don't think I could write something without dialogue in a way that makes it enjoyable.

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

I'm not sure - it's usually a business card or receipt that was left in my purse, or the torn-off corner of a piece of paper that was just laying around. In an emergency, I have used another book as a bookmark, but I was planning on coming back to it as soon as I could, so that might not count.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I started when I was a kid. The first thing I wrote was a mcyt fanfiction, but admittedly the plot was kind of good so I might reuse parts of it again. Then I didn't write for a while, but I started getting into mental health stuff and wanted to write stories from the perspective of people with different disorders to try to help destigmatize them (again, I was a kid. I'm now well aware that unless I have those disorders, that's not exactly my place) as well as a few things playing with the concept of time and souls.

I first started putting stories online when my friend got me into a fandom and we created a joint account. It was mostly my friend publishing on there, but I posted a few things, too.

I don’t know how I stopped writing, but I did. Some time just before or during the pandemic. Maybe life got too much. Maybe I just didn’t feel comfortable writing for the new fandom I was in (it involved real people, and I hate writing based off of real people) and couldn’t focus long enough on something I did feel comfortable writing about. I’m not sure.

I think it was Nimona that finally brought me out of that writing slump. I couldn’t get my head out of that world, and it got to the point where the only way I could get out was to write it down. Then of course I went back and started writing for my old fanfics again, and came up with a few ideas for potential original works

[vampstel]

Oh hiiii um I had a quick question.. Ik I asked one already but can you teach me how to write scripts for videos ;-; I talk way to much without scripts or guidelines and it annoys me SO MUCH I wanna make a video about the problems / issues of rh and there is so much to cover it’s wild and I already see myself sitting there for like 1 hour + rambling about random stuff ;w;

This is going to be a very long answer so buckle up:

All of what I’m about to say in this paragraph is optional. I use Google Docs for my scripts since it’s easy to navigate and format on mobile. Before writing anything, I always make sure to change the font to make things easier to read later on during recording. I also make sure to space out paragraphs and even sentences by their own to make the script more comprehensive. Spacing things out is also a great way to show emphasis on one-liners and avoid too much rambling.

(Just as an additional note: I use Times New Roman in 11pt for my format. You can use any font that you find more readable)

After I’m done with formatting, I always set an outline for the script first. This is extremely good if you struggle with rambling since this is where I brainstorm ideas and points to add in the video. You can be messy with this but be short and concise; Use bulletpoints. Write down what topics you want to discuss, what points you want to make, etc.

After brainstorming, I then organize these bulletpoints into categories that will then determine what my video chapters will be about. If you have several bulletpoints about… let’s say, the Royale High devs, you can put that into one category. Then if you have bulletpoints about the community, you can put that into a category as well. It’s a pretty simple process but can be a bit time consuming when you’re not used to it.

After you got your categories ready, organize them as well and determine which ones you should discuss first. For me, I often go by a chronological order. I either:

Rank them by least to worst (Such as my 30 minute Royale High rant)

Rank them by least important to most important (Such as my latest DWM episode about my interests)

Rank them by time of events (Such as my Kooleen video)

You also might want to get screenshots (+ links) and add them to your document as well so you don’t forget any proof you need to show.

Once you’ve got all that done, you’re ready to start writing. Always remember the outline of your script and use page breaks or horizontal lines to signify where a category ends. You can always write drafts first, organize paragraphs and remove unnecessary rambling later on if needed.

Also, make sure to title each category in your document. Whether it be by numbers or the topic name itself so you don’t get lost navigating through your script. If you’re listing down things in the script, always remember to use bulletpoints to make it easier to read.

( PS: Don’t forget to explain and add context to what you’re talking about. Not everyone will know what you’re referring to so it’s best to first start off the script with a basic rundown of what happened or what you’re discussing. )

Just as an example, here’s a quick sneakpeek into one of the rants I have ready to go for the new channel:

Hope this helps 🫶 You’ll get used to scripting the more you do it. Just don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You can always delete them after proofreading. Good luck!!