#after all it is about learning and honing skills isn't it

[buckleydiazmp4]

do you mind if i ramble in the tags about my weird relationship with making art in fandom for a second

[nyancrimew]

You do a lot of really cool stuff and you do it As You. How do you overcome the fear of being Perceived and Known? Especially when the stuff you're raising awareness about is controversial or big? I have anxiety and while the "fuck it we ball" mindset has gotten me fairly far, I still find myself regretting putting myself out there or regressing back into a shut in.

i feel like what helped me kinda deal with getting pretty well known is probably not really applicable to many other people, because most of it really was that ive just been slowly more and more exposed to a bigger and bigger level of fame since i was like 16 or so. long before i was at the point i am now i was a really well known person in the android modding community and then the broader and broader tech community, i definitely didn't deal super well with some of my first minutes of fame and there's lots of stuff i regret (i def let it get to my head for a while and because i was also slowly burning out at the time i was quite an asshole to a lot of people). i don't think that was necessarily the best for me at the time, but i learned some lessons especially about community building and i did a lot of media work already at the time so ive been honing my communications skills for almost 10 years at this point.

i first started blowing up with hacktivism related stuff around 2019, and then everytime i did again it was bigger and bigger, making massive international headlines for the first time in 2021 (with the verkada story). i still fucked up a lot and got very stressed at that time, especially with my mental health being extremely abysmal and paranoia growing as state repression became inevitable.

after the indictment in 2021 i did more and more press work again (there are lots of portraits of me from that era) but still wasn't like A Celebrity except for those brief moments, which (as i took a break from hacktivism) gave me some more time to grow and learn. by the time the no fly list hack happened in 2023 i had been spending a few months already doing various smaller cyber security related work and working with many of my journalist friends in the industry. in a lot of ways the no fly list leak and the media reaction to it was just routine work for me already at that point, which i think allowed me to take in all the social fame way better as well. it still all felt quite surreal, but i was already mostly media trained, had quite a bit of experience with working with an audience already so it was just kind of a matter of adapting to my new environment.

this isn't to say i was like specifically working towards fame (especially this level) but ive always cared about community/audience building and media communication. i don't think im like "fake" or whatever, but you do have to consider that despite my laid back style im still someone with an autistic special interest in personal branding and media communications. i just don't wanna do that for corporations or for profit and instead use it for my activist and journalist self advocacy to give things a platform.

[dduane]

Salutations and good wishes to you. I am an Indie Author seeking to go Pro. Some good advice and guidance might help minimise the mountain of my anxiety about doing this. I know you got your start with fanfiction, but did you find a publisher/agent through that door? [lots sneer at these days. Still] How many rejections did you suffer before you found your place in the literary world? Thanks for your time and sorry for bothering you <3

Hi there! And don't sweat it: this is no bother.

I have to apologize in advance, because my own career arc isn't likely to serve as much of a good example. In terms of how I got into this business, I'm a serious outlier.

Quickest and easiest to discuss: my agent and I got together after my first book was already bought and published. (Which back in the day was seen as a good enough way to go forward, and then still entirely possible.) He was recommended to me by one of my editors, as—like me—he was just getting started in the business: a likely-looking newcomer then scouting new talent. We met up and chatted, and it seemed to both of us that we'd be a good fit for each other. After forty-odd years of working together, we still are.

About the fanfic: (Adding a cut here so as not to carpet people's dashes with wall-to-wall text...)

What writing all that fic did for me—from about age sixteen onwards—was give me a whole lot of practice in getting the initial garbage associated with a story written and out of the way. Best to admit it here: we all have plenty of crap writing in us. And yeah, even long-term professional writers do. Whether you're at the beginning of your career or right in the middle of it, this is what "zero drafts" are for. You tell yourself the story, first time out... and routinely at this stage a lot of what proves to be unusable stuff emerges, and can be discarded in rewrite. (Of course crap writing can also emerge without warning in the later stages of a project, but there are many reasons for that, all beyond the scope of this discussion.) And you learn even more from reworking the material after you've gotten rid of the dross.

During the period when I was executing what might have been, oh, half a million words of fanfic—Trek originally, and then LoTR—and while reading a whole lot of everything, as I'd been doing since I was first allowed to go raid the town library by myself at age eight—I learned a fair amount about writing without realizing it. Some of it was simply about writing inside a set of rules. (Which I hadn't been doing previously: between eight and sixteen I was writing original fiction, mostly fairy tales.) Naturally in fanfic you have to obey the laws of whatever universe you're working in... or even if you wind up flouting them consciously, you do have to be conscious of them. But this work also led me to something that I hadn't really spent a lot of time thinking about: the concept that fiction writing as a whole had rules. I realized I'd better find out what those were.

The best stuff I found out during this period was what I picked up by direct example from other writers, whom I'd immediately start imitating and then sort of leave by the wayside when I found others I liked better; at which point I'd start imitating them. (This being a great way to learn and hone new skills, and to start getting a sense of what a writer's "voice" is and can come to mean. I think every writer does this, to some extent: because it's really, really tough to learn how to write without reading. And the more extensively the better.)

I have to emphasize here, BTW, that the fanfic that came out of me as I started slogging up this learning curve was all almost uniformly terrible. All of it, mercifully, along with my earliest original fiction, is gone now: long since burnt, shredded, composted under many layers of time. Trust me, it's just as well. Gah was it awful! Nobody else ever saw the stuff, for which I thank great Thoth every time I think about it. ...What's interesting, too, in its way, was that I didn't even know that what I was doing was fan fiction. I had as yet no contact with any kind of organized fandom, and it would be a long time yet before "online" was invented. I was working in utter isolation, unaware that anybody else might have been doing the same thing. (And it's difficult to describe the sense of astonishment and joy that hit me the first time I went to an SF convention, saw fanzines for the first time, and found out that I was not alone. All unsuspecting, I'd stumbled onto one of my tribes.)

But somewhere along the line, as the years went by—as I finished high school and went to college, and then from there to nursing school, and graduated and started working as a psychiatric nurse, and kept on writing—at some point, as I started writing original fiction again, as well as fanfic, the quality of the output began to improve. The combination of constant practice and voracious reading of better writers outside my chosen genre was slowly having an effect. Trusted friends who saw this later material started saying, "This isn't bad, you should try to get it published!" But since none of these folks were writers, I didn't pay too much attention to their opinions.

I did pay attention, though, when my good friend and mentor David Gerrold said something similar on reading my first novel in 1976. And when that was bought by the first publisher who read it, I had to admit he might have had something there.

This too, though, is unfortunately also a way I'm an outlier: I haven't had a lot of rejection. (Even in my TV work, where rejection is pretty much the rule rather than the exception.) Speaking very generally, just about anyone I've pitched something to in the prose market has bought it—or if they didn't like the idea I came in with, they've immediately said "But would you like to do this instead?" And often enough, what they've offered or suggested has been something that sounded like fun. That's how I wound up doing the Star Trek: Rihannsu books, for example: they were "instead of" a Romulan dictionary. Paramount essentially ringfenced an entire AU-area of Trek and gave it to me to play in, which struck me at the time as amazing. And continues to do so.

Now all this may make me sound almost unfairly lucky. But things do tend, slowly or quickly, to balance out. Over time the universe has made up for its relative kindness at the rejection end of things by making sure I knew plenty about the non-rejection forms of writer-career pain: projects from which I was not rejected but which went terribly wrong (wheels come off a huge deal just before signing, promised actors or directors fail to materialize...), projects where I did the work but didn’t get paid, or where I was brought on board and then got fired/ghosted unreasonably or for no reason at all, or sometimes (mortifyingly) for quite good reason. And let's not forget how, as what could seem a very pointed shot across my bow when my career-vessel was just pulling out of port, half the print run of that very-much-buzzed-about debut novel wound up being pulped in the warehouse because another, far better-established writer's new book needed the pallet space that mine had been taking up. (insert rueful smile here) Believe me, entropy is running, and will catch up with you one way or another. So make yourself as ready for it as you can.

I don't mean to increase your anxiety. Yet that said: you're preparing to enter a business in which, for a freelancer, at least some level of anxiety is more or less part of the basic ground of being. You are going to have to develop ways of dealing with the everyday forms of that to keep it from routinely derailing your work.

I find it helps a little if you can come to consider this as a modern form of Going On An Adventure. Good things will happen; bad things will happen; and all of these will be in service of building your career. Think of yourself as being on a quest.

Your job now becomes the business of suiting up with the best equipment and advice you can find (ideally not from outliers like me). The web is full of useful pages on subjects such as how to query and how to find an agent.

Here are links to some.

Compare these resources one against another to see how their different kinds of advice seem to stack up, and which ones are the most congenial for you.

Then use this data to start drawing your personal roadmap across the terrain. Get as clear as you can in your own mind about what you're trying to get out of being in this business: what kind of writing you want to do and what results you want to produce. Then set out, redrawing your road map as necessary as you keep moving forward through the new terrain.

And I wish you good fortune on the journey! (Because luck, as you can see from the above, can definitely be part of this... but fortune favors the prepared.)

Meanwhile, get out there and have a blast. :)

[just-jordie-things]

[part seven] to build a home - gojo satoru

word count: 3.3k warnings: !!manga spoilers!! swearing, jjk-verse style fighting series summary: when (y/n) (y/l/n) catches wind that the notorious sorcerer killer, toji fushiguro, has children, she makes it her personal mission to find them. the catch being she couldn't tell a soul about them- the risk of the zen'in clan learning about them was too great. keeping the secret isn't the hard part, it's lying to her friends, shoko ieiri, geto suguru, and of course gojo satoru, that she struggles with. especially when satoru has suddenly become so keen on keeping an eye on her lately.

series masterlist

[part seven] : "Shikigami" ___

The next month, (y/n) thinks, is the best month of her life.  She finally relaxes, even with everything on her plate, she seems to fall into a decent routine to balance it all.  Somehow, everything seems to work out.  And she enjoys her time of peace.

She’d thrown a small party for Tsumiki’s tenth birthday, complete with a homemade two-tower cake that might have been a little slumpy but she and Megumi enjoyed it nonetheless.  (y/n) had spent most of her earnings from her tutoring on a smartphone, and when Tsumiki had shred the glittery pink wrapping paper from it, she’d screamed so loud that Megumi had clamped his hands over his ears.

It was expensive, but it was about time that they had an easier way to communicate with each other.  Ever since, Tsumiki always made sure to keep her updated on what she and Megumi were up to, and she also sent plenty of pictures.  (y/n) particularly enjoyed the ones with Megumi’s hands in front of his face- which were most of them.

She visited them more regularly, and always held herself to that schedule.  Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and the weekends, were reserved for them, and then only.  After a while of this being a normal occurrence, her friends seemed to stop wondering where she went.  They never asked what she was doing, or where she was going.  She did find this odd, but she decided to accept it as a sign of things working out.

“What’re you thinkin’ about?” 

Gojo Satoru was sitting on the common room’s sofa beside her.  The movie they’d been watching together long ignored as he propped his elbow on the back of the cushion, resting his head in his hand to better look at her.

(y/n) looked up from her phone, clicking it off as she met his gaze.

The lights were off, and with only the dim light of the television screen, Satoru had his sunglasses hooked into the collar of his shirt.  It wasn’t often that he left them off.  (y/n) felt a sense of honor, that he was comfortable enough to sit before her, exposed.

She had a feeling that if she reached out to touch him, she’d be able to.

“I guess nothing” She replied, the message she’d just received from Tsumiki still on her mind. 

It wasn’t the usual picture of Megumi.  In this one, there were two small puppies on either side of him.  One white, and one black, with shikigami symbols on either of their heads.

[(y/n)]: i’m so proud! i can’t wait to come and see in person tomorrow.  Be safe &lt;3

Her response hadn’t been a lie, she was incredibly proud that Megumi was starting to get a grasp on his cursed energy.  Summoning shikigami wasn’t an easy feat, and (y/n) had never really tried her own hand at it.  So a part of her felt insecure in her ability to help young Megumi hone this skill.

But more than anything, she was overwhelmed at the realization that he was growing up, growing into his cursed energy.  Soon she’d have to figure out a way to teach him how to use it.  She’d have to teach him properly about curses, and about jujutsu sorcerers.

She gnawed on her lip.

“Really?” Satoru asked, quietly.  “Cause it looks like somethin’s bothering you” 

(y/n) dropped her gaze to her lap, at the black screen of her phone.

“No, I’m alright,” She feigned a smile.  “Hey, you know much about shikigami?” 

Satoru’s brows furrow, and there’s a slight smirk on his lips.  What in the world did she need shikigami for?

“You want a pet, sweetheart?” He jokes.  “You could just ask, I’ll get you something” 

“No, I don’t want a pet” (y/n) laughs at his instant desire to buy her something.

“You sure?” Satoru checks.  “Kitten? Turtle? Parrot?” 

“No,” (y/n) repeats between her laughter.  “When would I have the time to take care of a pet? I’m too busy taking care of you” 

He gives her a toothy grin.

“Well then what’s with the shikigami?” He asked.  “Not like you need ‘em” 

“So you don’t know anything,” (y/n) sighs, defeated.  “That’s fine, I’ll just ask Suguru or something-” 

“No no no, no need, I’m your mentor, aren’t I?” He cuts her off, making her chuckle.  Of course he’d jump at the opportunity to help if it meant she didn’t go to someone else.

“I wouldn’t say mentor-” 

“Summoning shikigami is all about your own cursed energy,” He speaks over her.  “Think of it like play-doh!” He adds, scooting closer to her on the cushion as his hands move in front of him, making a ball shape.  “It’s all about having an image in mind, and using your cursed energy to make that image reality!” 

(y/n) nods, twirling her phone around in her hand as she thinks about it.

Megumi didn’t just summon one dog.  There were two.

“Why the sudden interest?” Satoru asks.

(y/n) shakes her head.

“Got a paper on it” She mumbles out the lie, the gears in her mind occupying all of her thoughts.

If Megumi were able to summon even more… 

She doesn’t want to think about it.

Then the Zen’in Clan might start looking for him.

“Boring paper,” Satoru scoffs, leaning back on the couch.  “You should write about something cooler.  Like me,” 

(y/n) chuckles, he’d effectively distracted her from her troubled thoughts.

“What?” He asks, offended.  “I’m interesting! I’m the most interesting thing that’s happened to this dying community in decades! Maybe even centuries, (y/n/n)”

(y/n) rolls her eyes at him affectionately.  He always had a way of condemning the jujutsu society, even though it was the very society that practically crowned him.

“Sure you are” She deadpans.

He gapes at her.

“You don’t think I’m interesting?” He asks, holding a hand over his chest in mock offense.

“Satoru-” 

“I can’t believe this!” He cries out, throwing his head back.

“Satoru-” 

“You’ve wounded me, (y/n)!” He gets louder each time she tries to make him shut up.  “I can’t believe I trusted you- you’ve broken my heart!” 

“Satoru!” (y/n) grabs him by his shoulders, and just as she suspected earlier, he’d let her touch him.  

He’s cackling, laughing at his own jokes.  It’s almost annoying, but he’s grinning ear to ear as he brings his head back up, meeting her gaze, and she can’t find it in herself to be irritated with him.

For once, his stupid mouth is shut.  He’s just staring at her, intently, like he was waiting for something.  (y/n) raised a brow, in silent question, but he still didn’t say anything.

“What?” She finally asked, eyes flickering between his.  

Despite herself, she gets lost in the deep oceans of his irises.  She knows that he knows they’re beautiful, but she wonders if he knows just how trapped in them she could get.

They were his greatest weapon, in more ways than one.

He still doesn’t answer, but his grin softens, and her heart flips over in her chest.

Was Gojo Satoru really reducing her to this? 

She suddenly notices how close she is, with her hands frozen on his shoulders, and her face just inches away from his.  If someone were to walk into the room right now, it would surely seem like a compromising position.

Was she losing her mind, or did he just look at her lips? 

Sure, she’d had a few more than platonic thoughts about him in the past, and surely he’d known this too.  Gojo Satoru lived to be a charmer, a flirt, a tease- he collected phone numbers (and probably other small trophies) left and right.  

(y/n) had seen it first hand, and it used to frustrate her to no end that he would distract himself from an assignment just to throw out a cheap pickup line and a wink.  It was more frustrating that it worked.  But now she wonders if she was annoyed by this behavior for other reasons.

All at once, Satoru took her wrists, dropping her hands from his shoulders, and moving back to his spot on the couch to put distance between them.

It wasn’t right, he told himself, looking back at the television and pretending to suddenly be interested in the movie he’d barely watched.  She was seeing someone.

Maybe he hadn’t proved it yet, she hadn’t given him any tangible evidence that it was a boyfriend she was visiting in Tokyo, but the odds of it being anything else were growing thin  For the last month he’d been giving her the space to do as she pleased, and she had chosen to use that space to go into town more frequently, and on a regular schedule now, too.  This led Satoru, and Shoko and Suguru as well, to believe it had to be a guy she was visiting.

There was a knot between (y/n’s) eyebrows, as she regarded Satoru’s sudden distance.  She’s not sure why he’d recoiled away from her, as if she’d somehow done something venomous.  She tried racking her brain to figure out what it could’ve been to make him do such a thing, but she didn’t dare ask why.

Instead, she gave him his space.  They sat in complete silence until the movie ended, and as soon as it did, she stood and excused herself to her room.  Satoru didn’t protest, he didn’t say anything.  Just sat on the sofa while she walked away.

When she was gone, he dropped his head back against the cushion, letting out a groan of frustration.  For some reason, his mind wandered to the little spat he’d had with Nanami, the day he’d punched a wall.

She doesn’t belong to anyone, the blonde man’s voice was dry as he’d spoken, but somehow it made his words all the more harsh.

The white haired sorcerer dragged a hand over his face, shutting his eyes and wishing he was able to distract himself from his own ridiculous angst.

She doesn’t belong to anyone.

Satoru wasn’t sure that was so true. ___

“It was just weird,” (y/n) shook her head, happily snatching the cigarette from Shoko’s hand as soon as she’d slid it from it’s carton.  “I’ve never seen him be so quiet for so long.  Honestly, I didn’t know he was capable of it” 

The brunette chuckled, producing a lighter from the pocket of her white coat, and leaning over to light the cigarette that hung between (y/n’s) lips.

“You must have stunned him to silence” She mused.

“I don’t know,” (y/n) shrugged, taking a drag once the cig was lit.  “I think he was just… upset” 

Shoko hums.

It wasn’t smart to be smoking in the dorms, and surely if someone smelled the distinct scent of smoke, (y/n) was going to be in grave trouble for it.  But it was a little chilly outside, and the pair didn’t feel like shivering in their usual spot on the roof.

(y/n) leans back on her bed, kicking her feet towards her pillow, and hanging her head off the edge of the mattress.  Shoko sat opposite of her, with her back to the headboard, and her legs crossed at her ankles.

“You two have been spending more time together than usual,” The brunette comments, “Somethin’ I should know?”

(y/n) lets out a short chuckle, blindly passing the cig back.  Shoko leans forward to pluck it from her fingers.

“Absolutely not” 

“Hm,” Shoko hums around the cigarette between her lips.  “Doth protest too much,” She says with a small giggle.  “You used to despise one on one time with Satoru.  Remember when we first met?” 

(y/n) smiles fondly at the memory.  A few more trickled into her mind.  Their first year together at Jujutsu Tech had been a fun ride.  Messy, but fun.

“Of course” 

It’s quiet for a few beats, both girls lost in their own memories.  (y/n’s) not sure if she thought so back then, but life was so, so much easier.  It seems now she carries the weight of the world, of her choices, consequences, regrets, a heavy chain that binds her of every mistake she’s chosen, every wrong path she’d walked.

Back then, all she had to worry about was exorcizing curses, getting stronger, getting her homework done on time.  Her eyes fall shut, and she lets out a sigh as she remembers the old days that were a mere few years ago.

“Shoko,”

Her voice is barely above a whisper.  Her friend hums in response, and hands the cigarette back, feeling like (y/n) needed it more in that moment.

“You asked me once what I think I would do if I wasn’t a jujutsu sorcerer” 

Shoko hums once more.

“You’ve finally thought about it?”

She wonders if (y/n) was finally about to admit to her rendezvous with her secret lover.  

“Yeah,” (y/n) replies.  “I think I’d like to be a mother” 

Shoko doesn’t reply right away, a bit stunned.  That wasn’t anything like she was expecting, and as she wrapped her mind around the thoughtful choice, she felt a pit in her stomach begin to grow.

“You could still be a mother” She informs.

(y/n) tilts her head up, peering at her friend from the end of the bed.  There’s a smile on her face, but Shoko can see as plain as day that it was empty.

“I could never bring children into this world” She says.  Her voice is solemn, final.  As if the notion would be the cruelest thing she’s ever heard.

“Too selfish?” Shoko muses.

(y/n) drops her head again.  Her hair hangs low, almost touching the ground.

“Something like that” (y/n) agrees in a mumble.

“What makes you think of that now?” Shoko asks, flicking the cigarette over the ashtray on (y/n’s) bedside table.

She’d had it for some time, a little ceramic dish with a pretty, flowery design.  It was almost perfectly clean.

“I don’t know” She murmurs back.

Her eyes shut as she raises her arms over her head, letting them hang down towards the ground until her knuckles rest there.  She knows fully well why she thinks of it.

“Liar,” Shoko purrs.  “We’ve been friends a long time.  Not once have you learned how to lie to me” 

(y/n) chuckles, dragging her fingers over the rough carpet on her floor.  There, she traces designs mindlessly.

“Not once have you been bothered when I lie to you” She whispers back.

Shoko lazily shrugs a shoulder, smiling to herself.

“I’m not one to need to know everyone’s business,” She says honestly.  “I like a little mystery.  Keeps things interesting” 

“Guess you’re right” (y/n) mumbles.  Her fingertip drags in a straight line, watching the short fibers of her carpet be spread apart.

“And I know if something was important, you’d tell me,” Shoko adds.  She waits for a response, patiently.  Asking (y/n) to open up was a difficult task, but if anyone was able to make her crack, it was Shoko.

(y/n’s) finger halts on the ground, and she stares at the spot for a moment.

“Right?” Shoko’s voice is smaller than before, almost uncertain.

(y/n) lays her palm flat against the ground, leaving it there for a second before sliding it over the line in the carpet she’d made.  With her palm, the fibers stand straight together again, erasing any evidence that she’d separated them. “Of course,” She says, as confidently as she can.  “You know I would” 

Shoko nods, chuckling awkwardly to herself.

“I know,” She replies.  “Just making sure, I guess” 

You’re getting better at lying, Shoko thinks, looking at her friend who couldn’t even look her in the eye.  But still not good enough for me to believe you.

“Shoko,” (y/n) whispers after a beat of silence.  “What do you know about the Zen’in Clan?” 

Finally, she lifts her head, propping her elbows on the bed to keep her body angled up just enough to properly look at her friend.  Shoko looks utterly confused, her brows furrowed and her lips pressed into a line.

“Not much…” She trails off, her head tilting to the side as she regard (y/n) with clear and utter concern.  “Why?” 

(y/n) shakes her head, turning to stare at a spot on the wall so she wouldn’t have to lie to her face again.

“Just wondering”

“(y/n)...” Shoko leans forward a bit, just off the headboard, enough to bring her friend’s gaze back to hers.  “What business do you have with the Zen’in Clan?” 

(y/n) gulps as Shoko’s eyes prod into hers worriedly.

Only a child that’s rightfully theirs, she thinks.

“I thought it was more interesting to not know everything” (y/n) throws her words back at her, but there’s no tease in her tone.  She’s quiet, hesitant.

The reversed cursed technique master chews on her lip, troubled.

Was she seeing someone from the Zen’in Clan? She wondered.  Is that what all this was about? It would certainly explain the sneaking around, the sudden need for her to keep things private.  If she was hooking up with a Zen’in, it was definitely wise of her to not have told Satoru.

But a question still remained in Shoko’s head.

Why?

“They’re a force to be reckoned with, (y/n),” Shoko cautions.  “If you do have business with them…” 

“Cut it off, right?” (y/n) lets out a bitter huff of a laugh.  She drops her head to stare at her lap.  She’d known that since day one.

“I was going to say, tread carefully,” Shoko says, and (y/n’s) eyes meet hers once more, surprised.  She’d thought for certain that her friend would try to pry, to talk her out of what she was doing.  “I don’t want you to get hurt” 

“I won’t”

“When it comes to the Zen’ins, you probably will,” Shoko says, a bittersweet smile tugging on her lips.  “They’re bad news, (y/n)” 

“Trust me,” (y/n) sighs.  “I know” 

The subject was dropped after that, both girls curling up in (y/n’s) small bed as the night grew near.  Shoko smoked one last cigarette, scrolling mindlessly through her phone.  (y/n) laid with her back to her, staring at her wall as she processed what the next step for her had to be.

She’d known for a while that as he got older, it would be harder to hide him from the Zen’in Clan.  The growth of his cursed energy was bound to happen.  She’d just never thought it would happen so soon.  And now she was backed into a rock and a hard place.  Training him to properly hone his ability, while also concealing it, was going to be quite the chore.  She wasn’t sure if she was the right sorcerer for the job, if she was strong enough to protect him alone.

Her hands gripped the edge of her blanket, pulled close to her chin.

Even if she wasn’t strong enough, she’d have to be. ___

Gojo Satoru glared at his reflection in the mirror, or more specifically, glared at the bags under his eyes.  It wasn’t unlike him to have a bad night’s sleep, most nights he was lucky to get a couple hours, but the dark circles were not a welcome addition to his otherwise perfect face.

The knock on his door disturbed his thoughts, but it was welcomed.  He needed a break from focusing on the only physical insecurity he’d had in a while.

When he swung the door open, Shoko stood there, and instantly invited herself in.  She spoke before he could say anything, or react to her sudden visit at all.

The brunette plopped herself down in his desk chair, crossing her arms and staring at him with a serious look in her eye that Satoru didn’t often see.

“It’s time to talk about (y/n)”  ___

xoxo ~ jordie

[writingquestionsanswered]

I was wondering, why does it feel like I can't write good original fiction or original characters, but my fanfiction is great (imo anyway, which I never feel for my original fiction)? In some senses, I get it, like I feel I really know the characters in other people's fiction after seeing them through their story, but like....ugh. It's really frustrating. Do I just not understand how to develop an original character? Am I overcomplicating things?

Fan-Fiction: Struggling with Writing Original Fiction Characters

All of the above... ♥

So, yes, you're probably overcomplicating things a bit, but also it actually is hard for a lot of writers to make the switch between writing canon characters and developing their own original characters. In other words, what you're experiencing isn't unusual and it's absolutely surmountable. :)

One of the things I love about fan-fiction for newer writers is it allows you to focus fully on the mechanics of writing without having to divert effort toward things like world building and character development. The problem with that, though, is once you make the switch from writing fan-fiction to writing original fiction, you might find that your world building and character development skills are lagging behind. It sounds like this might be the situation in your case.

This is why I think it's a great idea to experiment with writing OCs, or in other words "original characters" as part of your fan-fiction. You don't even have to post these stories if you don't want to--write them for yourself, for practice. But, creating an original character to join your favorite canon characters is a great way to get practice in character creation and development while still within the comfy zone of your fan-fiction. Just by virtue of having to exist in the canon world, you have a little bit of a template to follow as far as who this character can be and what they can do. But, you have some freedom with things like back story, internal conflict, and character arc. Writing OCs in fan-fiction helps you hone those skills and learn to create characters you love without tossing yourself into the deep end.

And, if you need practice with setting development/world building, you can do that within fan-fiction, too. Try moving the canon characters into a new time, world, or situation. For example, what if the characters of The Hunger Games were survivors of a modern day shipwreck in the South Pacific? Or, what if the characters from ACOTAR lived in a Dune-like world, with different planets and starships and great houses? In this scenario, you can focus more on world building and plot without having to worry as much about character design and development.

So... no matter what, the reality is you'll just have to be patient with yourself. Whether you choose to hone your character development skills through writing fan-fiction OCs, or whether you keep at it with original fiction characters, it's going to take some time for you to develop those skills. It will be frustrating because you'll know that these characters aren't hitting the mark you want them to, but that's also good, because knowing they're falling short means you can try to figure out why and what you can do to fix it.

And, if you need additional help, you can always visit my Character Development master list of posts.

I hope that helps!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[tobiasdrake]

who do you think is the best teacher in Dragonball?

That's a tough question. But I'm leaning towards Mr. Popo.

Our journey through teachers begins, of course, with the Muten-Roshi. Goku's only with Roshi for about eight months so we don't get to see a lot of his teaching, even though other Kame-senryu students are with him for longer. In that time, he's able to instill a very important philosophy in Goku that will guide him through his life.

It's the Muten-Roshi who imparts Dragon Ball's central theme of never being satisfied with yourself and always striving for self-improvement. He went to great lengths to instill that in his pupils - lengths so great that even Roshi questions whether they were truly necessary.

And he does have other good things to teach. Most notably, he's the one who teaches Goku the value of mental discipline and rest.

This well-balanced approach to self-improvement is something Goku carries with him. Part of what makes him so exceptional as a martial artist is that he understands that training and technique honing is only part of the process.

One of the things that makes Goku a great martial artist is that he understands your body needs time to recover and grow after exertion. That is the turtle master way.

But for all his benefits as a mentor, what the Muten-Roshi sucks at is fucking teaching martial arts. In terms of philosophy, he has much to impart. But when they ask him, the Muten-Roshi, the Old Heavenly Master of Martial Arts, to teach them martial arts?

He just gives them bodybuilding instruction. Roshi tells them that this is all the Kame-senryu is: Extensive strength training to become so physically tough that you can knock out a foe with one punch. He is, however, full of shit.

Despite claiming that martial arts is just being really strong, his fight against Goku in the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai sees him pull out all kinds of esoteric techniques and skills to level the playing field against Goku's insurmountable might and analytical brilliance. The Muten-Roshi knows a ton of practical martial arts technique. He's just not sharing.

I'm half-convinced he held all this stuff back on purpose just so he'd have a few aces up his sleeve in the tournament proper. Which even Roshi isn't sure was actually necessary.

His next teacher is Karin, the God of Martial Arts. Karin has some useful wisdom to impart with regard to anticipation.

And he introduces one of the most important items in the Dragon Ball series.

Thank you Viz for the redundant translation of "Holy Hermit Bean Bean". I don't get enough migraines from the dub constantly calling them Senzu Beans. This is the Chai Tea of Dragon Ball.

Goku is with Karin for about three days, and it goes pretty well. Karin presents Goku with a challenging test to overcome, which he must do by getting lighter on his footwork and learning to anticipate Karin's moves.

But for the most part....

It's still just strength training. Tenshinhan's out there learning secret Tsuru-senryu techniques to levitate in the air and nobody's willing to do more for Goku but bulk up his muscles. Speaking of which.

This guy tried to murder his own students because they wouldn't do an assassination for him. Fuck this guy. He sucks. Get out of here!

When you get to the moon, tell Toninjinka that his mochi needs wo-- Oh, wait, the moon's gone. Uh. Have fun in space.

Goku's next teacher would be God. Or at least he would be if God ever bothered to teach him. Which he didn't. Goku has never studied under God.

He made Goku stay at his Temple for three years to prepare for his rematch with Piccolo. But he gave up on that after deciding Goku didn't have what it takes to do what he felt must be done: Kill Piccolo and let God die with him. Goku's soft heart wouldn't allow him to do it.

So he dumped Goku on Popo and went, "You deal with this, I'm busy," and then went off to pursue the Mafuba/Evil Containment Wave instead. Goku's training was a scrapped project for him.

Nonetheless, Goku grew substantially during his time in Heaven. (Look at him! He's so much taller-- No, I jest.) Popo is the first teacher to offer Goku something that isn't strength training.

It's almost like he's never had a master teach him spirit or skills before. It's almost like.

Mr. Popo doesn't offer Goku more strength training. Instead, for the first time, Goku has someone who wants to teach him technique.

This is some of the most game-changing instruction Goku ever receives in his career. Over the next three years, Popo sharpens Goku not just physically but spiritually.

He technically doesn't learn to sense ki here; He gained a rough comprehension of it from drinking rat poison earlier that day. But as Popo demonstrates here, there's a world of difference between "Oh cool I can sense your ki" and "I feel Yamcha's ki 700 km in that direction. He's sitting in his home eating breakfast Wheaties and scratching his butt. Puar's preparing to make eggs aaaaaand now he's a frying pan."

This is where Goku makes the transition from martial artist to Heavenly Martial Artist, and the difference is stark. When he shows up to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, he's on a whole different playing field.

He no longer experiences reality the same way as everyone else. He's ascended to a higher plane of understanding. All because of Popo, since God abandoned this project and ran off to do his own thing instead. Goku is literally the "Dr. Gero's computer kept working and completed Cell anyways" of martial arts.

Great work, Popo. Gold star.

Kaio is next on Goku's list of mentors. He's working on a bit of a time crunch; Goku only has six months to spend with him. Kaio's training emphasizes two things. One is, of course, more strength training though this time there's an interesting twist to it.

Planet Vegeta's gravity is at least as strong as the gravity on Kaio's world. This is where Goku's introduced to the concept of gravity training for the first time - Something that, ironically, Vegeta would cling to more heavily than Goku. Goku's been doing weight training since Roshi, but the idea of increased gravity as a substitute for (or in addition to) weight is introduced by Kaio.

Goku himself would incorporate this gravity training into his later efforts to more fully master the Kaio-ken on his way to Namek. Speaking of which, that's the other thing Kaio imparts on him. From him, Goku learns the Genki-Dama and the Kaio-ken.

Kaio pretty much became Goku's forever teacher after this point, but we rarely see him do more than supervise. Which makes sense, since Goku officially became a Master himself as of the Namek arc. Though all of Goku's teachers will always be looking out for him, his art becomes truly his own from this point onward.

That brings us to Piccolo.

Piccolo comes from the "My Daddy beat me and I turned out fine" school of shaping young minds. It's to be expected; He was literally Evil Incarnate just eight years ago.

While Piccolo's journey of redemption is heartwarming to see and he does succeed in honing Gohan into a weapon, his skills as a mentor leave something to be desired. He fails to consider Gohan's psychological needs. He builds Gohan's strength and teaches him technique, but fails to grasp that this four-year-old child does not have a warrior instinct to get out there and throw hands with planet-killers.

He throws Gohan into the deep end and Gohan sinks like a stone. Failing to develop his bond with Gohan and offer the kid the encouragement he needs to get out there and do this is a fatal error in his training.

Piccolo pays for this mistake with his life.

Finally, that leaves Goku himself.

As a Master in his own right, Goku has so much to impart onto Gohan. At least, whatever Piccolo hasn't already. As a teacher, Goku is encouraging of Gohan and offers him clear and unmistakable guidance.

He talks things over with Gohan, explaining ahead of time what their goal is and how they're going to achieve it.

Like Popo, Goku's pretty great as a teacher. There's just. One. Small. Problem: He fails to consider Gohan's psychological needs. Yeah, that's right, Goku walks face-first into the same error that Piccolo died for, which is why Piccolo freaks out on him for it.

It helps that Piccolo not only has personal experience making this exact same mistake, but also the wisdom of God now.

Like. It's important to note that it's not that Goku misunderstands Gohan. He knows, intellectually, what kind of person Gohan is. He knows Gohan's passions lie elsewhere.

Nonetheless, Goku sees too much of himself in Gohan, overlooking the reality that Gohan was so gung-ho about training with Goku because he thought he was helping his dad. Despite clearly conveying the mechanisms and goals of their training, Goku never even thought to broach this topic with him because he just. Assumed.

Even though he knew Gohan longed for academia, he assumed Gohan also had the spirit of a martial artist in him. That Gohan was still driven by the same fire that he is, compelled to push his limits and test himself against mighty foes. He makes that fatal mistake that so many parents make, of projecting himself onto his child.

Goku pays for this mistake with his life.

Android 16 is able to salvage Goku's mistakes and make this work, much as Goku once salvaged Piccolo's. And to his credit, Goku learns and is able to offer Gohan the emotional support and direct coaching he needs to finish the job.

I particularly love "Show me the power that we made together" because it puts the emphasis on his and Gohan's bond, rather than Gohan's fighting. It demonstrates the expansion of his understanding of Gohan's motives.

Nonetheless, this was a pretty significant error too make as a teacher so I can't give Goku full marks.

With that in mind... I gotta give it to Popo. Popo took God's castoff dumpster-project, poured himself into it, and gave Goku some of the greatest instruction of his entire career. A+

[pandoa]

rook hunt is ripped with muscles and here's why

because some of you guys don't give him enough credit and my brain is rotting; let me live

i'll get straight to the point, i've tried out archery to see what it's like in the past—learned the basics and such—and for those who have never held a bow in their life, let me tell you it gets extremely tiring after shooting for more than an hour or so. so imagine how strong you must be to be shooting bows and arrows since you were a child. that is Rook Hunt, who was practically born from the womb with an archery set in his hand /j

bows have different draw weights that affect the speed, force, and distance that is needed to shoot an arrow. typically, children use bows with a 10-pound draw weight, as young adults and adults use bows with 20 pounds or more. to put this into some sort of perspective, i remember my stamina with the 20-pound bow lasted me about half an hour until my arms began to weaken and shake with how out-of-shape i am but anyways 💀

i've heard that the typical draw weight for hunting is about 40 pounds. and assuming with how long Rook has been an archer, i can imagine that he is physically well-fit enough to exceed the 20-pound draw weight and move onto more efficient bows for hunting like the 40-pound.

think about how developed your muscles must be if you began shooting with 10-pound bows since you were just a kid, moving onto 20 pounds as you get older, and eventually using the 40-pound draw weight as you gain more strength and hunting skills. knowing with how much Rook uses his bows and arrows, it's safe to assume that he most likely hones these skills by practicing archery quite often (i can see him going out to practice at least once a day; don't quote me on that though, this is just a thought i have considering that other hobbies also require daily practice to maintain a person's skill).

there are so many muscles involved in a human body's shoulders, back, chest, and arms that you must use when drawing a bow. exercises focusing on the muscles needed for archery are often done to strengthen an archer. this is where Rook's very toned figure comes in lol.

with the numerous muscles needed to carry out his hobby on a constant basis, Rook would need a strong set of biceps and shoulder muscles to keep up with the bow's general weight and stamina for however long he goes out hunting for. bro has built up muscles, man. built up muscles.

in game, though, i will admit his body does look on the more slim and slender side. i can see why some people in the fandom don't see him as a character with buff arms, but i would like to respectfully disagree. Rook Hunt has scrumptious arm and back muscles i'd shamelessly stare at as his magic hands do whatever wonderous things they do with his bow OH AND GUYS HIS LEGS I MEAN-

ahem. anyways.

i know many in the fandom tend to bully this observant hunter—with his questionable haircut and uh huntsman habits of his—however, these targets for harmless memes cannot overshadow the fact that Rook Hunt is ripped. from head to toe, this man is most likely relatively high among the list of twst characters that are incredibly strong (with Jack trumping them all) and is probably covered in toned muscles, which he maintains with his hunting.

this isn't even me simping anymore; it's just simple logic if we all go by what we know about the Pomefiore vice housewarden. i'll defend this man with my life—and that includes writing a useless essay on why Rook is more muscular and buff than we may think lmao

so in conclusion, Rook has beefy arms that the world is not prepared to talk about just yet. the end.

[yaut-jaknowit]

It's All About Size

Pairings: Mai'tuiudh (Male Yautja) x Male Reader

Warnings: very suggestive themes, HEAVY size kink, sprinkles of praise, mlm, horny reader

Word Count: 1981

Summary: You're new to the realm of living out in space, stuck with only one other person on the ship. A large, blue Yautja, who trains on a regular basis. He easily dwarfs you. You're tall for a human but not for this Yautja. It's been brewing within your mind for a while now, ever since he picked you up from earth. Mia'tuiudh isn't as oblivious as you may hope he is. You won't be complaining in the end.

Author Note: I was scrolling through the Yautja tag when I stumbled upon an amazing idea. Yautja's and size kink. It's a main thing about them. Also, if you guys got ideas, don't be afraid to shove them into my inbox. It's currently open. I'm happy to write!

P.S. I'm still new to writing same-sex relationship's. If you guys can give me help, that would be amazing! Thank you

Dedicated to @kissmyaft. Thank you for this wonderful idea! You should check out my masterlist, wink-wink. Most of my stuff is gender neutral, just look at the pairings :)

Masterlist

Ao3

The calming noise of a blade sliding through a sharpener washed over you. It’s handle held firmly within your grasp. You weren’t no hunter, compared to the bulky beast honing his skills before you. That didn’t stop him from teaching the ways to be a hunter. If you were going to be on his ship, share his bed and food, you were going to learn. That’s what he told you on the first day.

Said alien danced before you, knocking a drone away from him. Another came up to zap at his glistening scales yet the Yautja was already in motion. Your eyes watched as he easily defended himself from these sparring drones.

Blood started to head south within your body. Even as tall as you are for a man, Mai’tuiudh towered over you. You haven’t met any others of his kind. It made you wonder if he average or not for his own height. Not that it bothered you. Not at all.

Red dusted your cheeks once you felt your pants tighten. Curses already formed within your head as you spun around. You faced the workbench in the back of the sparring room and focused on sharping the hunting knife in your hand.

Mai stopped what he was doing when an ambrosial scent washed over him. A drone was able to zap him on the back. Pain shocked through his system, but he didn’t even feel it. The smell drawing him in.

With a short click of his tusks, the drones stopped moving. They quietly returned back to their holes in the wall. His eyes shot over to the only other being on his ship. A minute smirk growing on his mandibles. Mai has had theories about the ooman. But this sealed his fate to Mai.

Long strides of powerful legs carried Mai easily over to oblivious ooman. Mai was a Yautja of action. He wasn’t about to dance around the ooman. But at the same time, why not tease you? Have some fun along the way. Oh, that thought made his chest rumble.

You tensed at the impossibly close noise, head snapping towards the origin. A gasp almost tore at your throat. There, in all his glory, stood Mai’tuiudh. His navy-blue chest rising and falling with each deep breath. Moisture stuck to his scales like a second skin; not sweat but humidity from the ship. Burnt orange eyes set on you. Your lips pressed together at the sight before you.

It took all of your willpower not to let your knees collapse underneath you. That didn’t stop them from shaking. “Hey-hey, uh, hey. Um, so. What’s up?” God, you were a mess. Just at the sight of him and you were acting like you were asking a girl out back in middle school.

Yet, the blue Yautja didn’t say anything. Mai just kept watching you with those striking eyes of his. His mandibles barely twitched.

Confused, maybe a little worked up too, you slowly turned back around to the work bench. It wasn’t unusual for the Yautja to be silent. He was a hunter after all. Yet, you were suspicious of his actions. But, these knives and whatnot won’t sharpen themselves. He’ll either get bored or finally speak when he wanted to.

Hands rested on your hips. Warmth washed over your back as a blazing body pressed up into you. A gasp finally scratched at your throat. Your hands slapped down on the metal bench and try to grasp it. Heat raced through your veins at the feeling of him. “Ma-Mai, what a-“ his claws start to press into your skin. You force yourself to bite your bottom lip to stop from moaning.

Your growing erection jumped at the feel of Mai. Said alien made it worse. Mai tugged you flushed with his moist scales and placed his jaw on top of your head. One of his arms slid around your torso and held you there. Shit, he’s so big.

He tasted the heavy air and let his chest rumbled. You smelled divine, right for the taking. Yet, he stayed there. “Aren’t you suppose to be sharpening my weapons?” he purred into your ear. Your entire body trembled, one that he relished in. Mai felt his own body behave in return at yours.

“It’s, it’s really ha-hard to focus… when you’re pres-sed up against me,” you stuttered, hands shakily reaching out to grasp the sharpener. Paya, if he knew you were going to react like this, he should’ve done this a long time ago. He’s had his suspicions for awhile now. It was many rotations after you joined him.

Mai ignored what you had told him. “Tell me, why are you behaving this way? If you do, I’ll let you go.” You didn’t want him to let go. On the other hand, to save yourself the growing embarrassment, you would be forced to tell him. If only the ground would open up and swallow you whole. Worst of all, it had to be the truth as well. Mai could smell when you lied.

A short purr rumbled from his chest. The vibrations rolled over your sensitive skin before hitting your hardening cock. Your eyes rolled back, throat closing before any sounds could escape. You bite your bottom lip so hard you tasted blood. Oh fuck, you were in some deep trouble now. You couldn’t trust your voice now, without making a noise that would embarrass you.

The Yautja made a soft noise and peered over your shoulder to look you in the eye. When you absolutely refused to do that, head turned away, he purred again. Same reaction from your body.

Fuck! You had to get him off of you. Now. He was far stronger than you, had the height advantage, and skills to put you face first into the ground. God, that made everything worse.

With reddened cheeks and no dignity left, you spilled what you hidden deep. “Size kink!” you shouted at first, voice two notches higher. “I have a-a size kink, alright?” Those words were said with such defeat. At the same time though, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off of your shoulders. Though, the embarrassment now would kill you.

Since you finally exposed yourself to the only other being on this spaceship, you believed he would release you. No, he didn’t. Mai tightened his grasp and placed his chin back on your head. “Hmm, you like the fact I’m bigger than you? Stronger than you? The fact I can easily dominate you?” He was loving every second of this. One of your hands grasped at the one on your stomach. His claws biting into your skin when you did. How did he know? Those words…

“Ever since I’ve been to earth, I’ve done my fair share of reading. A smart hunter researches before the hunt,” he mumbled. The hand on your stomach petting at the skin there. Your hormones were going haywire at this point.

That means he’s known almost this entire time.

Since that day, things have changed. You had spilled your hidden secret to him, one he’ll forever tease you about. You, a ooman, loving his size and strength. Though, nothing happened afterwards. You were nervous on the whole ordeal. That doesn’t stop him from randomly coming up behind you, hands skating over your skin. Purrs vibrating your skin. It makes you ache for him. But you never had the balls to ask or even suggest such a thing.

Water dripped down the toned body of Mai’tuiudh. The blue Yautja shook his head, droplets splashing about in the washroom. His dark tresses slapping against his hide. Your eyes refused to move away from his handsome frame; no matter how hard you tried. Everything about him screamed power.

His perfectly shaped ass was facing you as the Yautja bent over to pick his discarded loin cloth up. You would happily take a bite out of it. Your eyes widened at that thought. With a disappointing huff to yourself, you refocused on the tablet before you. Sometimes you could be unhinged.

The familiar musk Mai produced washed over you. You took in a deep breath at that and softly closed your eyes. It’s heavy and fills the room due to the humidity.

There was the soft pitter-patter of Mai’s wet feet as he moved around. Mai dropped his loin cloth somewhere to the side then headed towards you. You didn’t think much of it as you opened your eyes and continued screwing about on your tablet. A simple game pulled up for the fun of it. You have to keep yourself busy or else you’ll go made out here in space.

Two blue legs appeared in the edge of your vision. A brow was softly raised at this but you held strong. If you happened to look up, you might get caught looking. He would tease you all over again.

Mai just stood there, burning eyes set solely on you. His hands twitched at his sides. He wanted you to want him the same way he does. The ache that resonated deep within his bones. It made him want to touch you, tease your softer skin, lick it. Draw out those light noise you believe he doesn’t hear while you’re in the bathroom alone. He wanted to fill you, keep you close in his arms. Be his mate.

With two easy strides down further into the concave bed, he knelt down between your open legs. You kept your eyes glue to the device in hand. Your body tensed, hands grasping the tablet a little too hard. What in the world was he doing?!

Blue fingers wrapped around the top of the tablet and pushed it down. When you still refused to look him in the eye, he used that same hand to tilt your chin up at him. Your eyes locked onto his almost immediately, biting your bottom lip at the sight.

He continued to crawl forward, staying on the balls of his feet. As he did so, you were forced to lay back on the pelts around you. “Good boy,” he whispered and placed his free arm next to your head. At those words, your brain short circuited. All you could hear was him chuckling.

When a warm palm touched your thigh, you snapped back to reality, gazing up at the large Yautja. Mai snaked his hand up, pushing up the hem of your t-shirt. Claws skated over your sensitive stomach before stopping. His entire paw covered almost all of your belly, thumb gently stroking the skin there. He leaned down, creating a curtain with his tresses around the two of you. “Tell me to stop if you don’t want this. I’ll stop,” he clicked lowly, eyes boring into yours.

You took great notice of him. His bulky body hovering over yours, easily swallowing you in his shadow. Hand able to take up almost all of your stomach. If he wanted to, he could easily pin you down and fuck you with his size alone; plus his strength, you would never stand a chance against him. No, instead, he was asking.

One final look into his burnt orange eyes. You reached out, discarding the tablet to the side, and hooked your arm around the back of his neck. “Please don’t stop.”

[savage-rhi]

Ffxv headcanons whatever type you want just share with the class

Noctis: When he was a kid, he used to lift up rocks to see what critters lived underneath them. He stopped around nine or ten when he accidentally pissed off a snake and got bit. It spooked him so bad that he didn't do anything like that again until he went on the frog side quest. Now that he's over his fear, Noctis is always flipping over rocks and ushering Prompto to come over and take photos of the animals and bugs he finds.

Gladio: There's a saying among the kingsguard that, "if you give Gladiolus a beer and a mic, you're gonna have a GREAT time!" He's quite good at karaoke, and despite the gruff voice, he can hit high notes. Singing was something Gladio and his sister did together while growing up. While Gladio didn't like her taste in music, being the big brother, he still sang her favs to and with her. He tried to keep this hobby a secret until he had one too many drinks with his comrades. He's since embraced his reputation over the years, and isn't as embarrassed about it.

Ignis: There are a few things in this world that can make this man mentally break, but Feng Shui nearly destroyed him. Ignis got into the practice initially in an attempt to get Noctis to have better organization in his apartment. Per usual, Noctis didn't appreciate the principles, but it rubbed off on Ignis to the point where he became obsessed with Feng Shui. He did it to all the rooms in the palace, much to King Regis's chagrin. It all backfired when Ignis attempted to Feng Shui his own residence. Nothing satisfied him, and after he didn't come out for almost 10 hrs rearranging furniture, Noctis had to give him an intervention. After that, he swore off the practice. Sometimes, he'll get irritated if he hears about it in passing.

Prompto: In his spare time when he's not with a camera, Prompto is on a computer learning to code. While he's not the best at it, Prompto enjoys the process cause it satisfies a mental itch (he gets that from his father...haha). It's his dream to one day make a game like Kings Knight. He has pages of concept sketches for apps, and other social media ideas he'd like to try creating one day. He seldom shares his passion with the boys, assuming they'll think it's too nerdy.

Lunafreya: It isn't considered "proper" by an means for someone of her status, but Luna enjoys watching duels on TV or in person. Ravus from a young age was always taught how to be a warrior, and she felt left out on numerous occasions when he'd be sent off to learn sparring lessons among other trainings. As a kid, she used to sneak away from her home in Tenebrae to watch people battle for fun. Observing others helped her hone in her own skills, and she's memorized different stances and techniques over the years. She also used to place bets on people who fought, and did get into trouble at one point because of it.

Ardyn: He's very aloof and no one knows what the hell he does in his spare time when not running a country. He has the craziest of rumors made up about him, and he ravishes in how it all scares and fascinates people. What people don't know is that he often sneaks around Niflheim and observes others for his sketchbook. When he was a healer, he had a book of medicinal plants that he'd catalog and sketch out himself. It's one of the few things that soothes his mind anymore with the daemons he has in his head. For a few hours, Ardyn can silence them by focusing on capturing the details from another person or thing in his work. It's also his only means of connecting with humans given how far he's gone. His style is kind of like Da Vinci's, very detailed with lots of notes here and there. When he's sketching its also the time where he'll snack on something sweet like candy from his pocket. In general he'll always have candy on his person, but he likes savoring it without an audience.

[deadbydangit]

Hi! Hello :D

First i want to say that I really love your writing ❤️

If you still take request can you do Leon, Wesker, chris and Jill reacting to a reader/survivor that is written like Yor Forger (Spy x Family; she's an assassin). Where they witnessed her strength and somehow knocked out a killer (like nemesis or pyramid head) with her kick with ease, or using her golden needles as a weapon against killers?

I've uh, never actually seen Spy x Family (I know, I know). So I'm going to tweak this a bit. I only do three characters per request, so I'm going to leave Jill out.

With a reader who is really strong.

Leon, Mastermind, Chris

Leon S Kenney

Leon knows for sure that he isn't the strongest around.

But he does know a strong person when he sees one.

Years of combat experience have taught him to spot people like that.

So when he saw you punch Michael in the face, he wasn't too surprised.

But he also was surprised.

I mean, it was Michael Myers.

You didn't knock them out, but still.

It's Micheal Myers!

And you punched him.

But he's also very impressed.

Not just with your strength.

But with your bravery and skill.

Brute strength is nice.

But you have to have a means to control it.

Otherwise it's all wasted.

Despite still having a high skill level, he's still going to help you train.

You can never stop learning how to be better.

How to be stronger and improve your skills.

His training sessions are intense, but not overly brutal.

He knows when to stop and when you've hit your limit.

He would never want to push you too far.

He just cares about you and wants to see the best out of you.

Mastermind

You were actually in a trial with him when he first noticed your skills.

You actually punched him.

Pretty hard too.

Instead of being angry, he was impressed.

Okay, he was a little angry.

But mostly impressed.

So much so that instead of hooking you, he wanted to learn more about you.

He'll approach you outside of a trial, making sure you know he's not trying to be hostile.

He simply wants to know more about you.

"Where did you learn that technique?"

"Who was it that taught you?"

He's not trying to be intrusive.

He is genuinely curious.

It's not everyday someone is strong enough to punch the great Albert Wesker (Chris Redfield being the only exception).

"Perhaps, we could train together sometime. It would be beneficial for both of us to hone our skills on different opponents."

AKA. He wants to make sure you're never able to punch him again.

But, he won't do it exclusively for his benefit.

Someone like you deserves to learn more combat skills.

You have a real talent for it, and he wants to watch you thrive.

Chris Redfield

It's going to take a lot to impress Chris.

This man punched a giant boulder and actually moved it.

So impressing him with strength is pretty damn hard.

But, if you do actually manage to catch his attention, that means you must be something else entirely.

Are you even human?

He doesn't mean that in a rude way, he really doesn't have much of a filter.

He's just in awe of your strength.

So much so, that he thinks he might be in love with you the first time he sees you punch somebody.

Especially if it's Wesker.

You have lots of raw talent.

And he isn't about to let all of that go to waste.

You'll be training with him whether you like it or not.

And his training sessions are intense.

They can last hours.

You'll have to remind him that not everyone is like him.

He'll ease up after that.

It's just his way of showing he cares about you.

Hey, give the guy a break, he's kind of a blockhead.

But he's a blockhead who loves you.

[umbraastaff]

Occasionally, the Starblaster lands in a place that's actually receptive to their dire warnings. On one such world, with their society being accelerated by the Light of Creation, they even began making plans for how to combat the Hunger.

Barry goes to visit a convene a few months into the year, and finds them developing and honing skills they'll need to detect the Hunger - and to fight it when it arrives. To keep its destruction at bay until it follows the ship to the next planar system.

The skills they train are unlike anything he's seen before. Their healing appears as divine as any cleric's, but without the aid of gods - so cutting off the Celestial Plane won't stop their magic. And they fight, too, infusing that same magic into their weapons, powered by the force of their belief. They call themselves Watchers.

Barry trains with them, just the basics. They teach him how to draw power from the force of belief. From the memory of the Hunger consuming his world, and the promise that he'll do anything to stop it consuming others.

Anything.

Lup would do anything. He's sure. They're all incredibly fortunate to have someone like her onboard - someone who wouldn't ever let them destroy a world just to make this easier (and oh, he wasn't there, but he knows he would have been on Davenport's side about destroying the crystal).

He doesn't take the oath. He can see the way it codifies their belief into reality - the way it powers them, makes their souls divine. He wants to be that person, but he isn't. He doesn't put this foreign world above himself.

(But still, the magic takes to him. His senses sharpen to the Hunger's influence, letting him catch sight of the scouts without Blink. He can raise friends from unconscious mid-fight with just enough healing magic. He's dedicated, he believes, even if he won't commit and tie his soul to it.)

--

For a time, he leaves it there. There's so, so much to do and learn and see on this journey. He stays a level one rogue while Magnus trains up more dexterity and stealth, and he stays a level one paladin too, for now.

On Faerûn, Barry commits hard to an imperfect plan. And when he falls, already dead, from the ship, he already knows - on top of finding her - that he's going to have to defend it.

He's trapped in a cave for months at a time. The thing about plans is it doesn't really take three months to concoct one, no matter how granular he gets (and really, he needs to stop himself getting too detailed - it's hard enough getting his living self to follow basic instructions exactly how he wants). So he takes up other studies in the meantime.

He can't use weapons as a ghost, but he can practice the movements, ingrain the knowledge into pockets of 'muscle' memory. He's no cleric, but he can study their magic, see the ways their spells overlap with that training he underwent all that time ago.

He won't risk asking any god on Faerûn for help with the Raven Queen after him - he's not close with one like Merle is - but he already knows he can pull similar magic from inside himself. And some of the most basic spells look really useful, when he's only ever had wizard spells before.

Even when he doesn't remember, when he's just some guy who couldn't cast a spell to save his life, he feels it: the promise, the belief that drives him. He doesn't remember where he learned to fight, but he knows how to move a weapon like it's a part of his body. He knows when he's really, truly desperate, when his adventuring party of the week is on its last legs, his weapon glows with that fury and hits harder than it ever should otherwise.

--

He appears in his workshop feeling sick and furious, lightning lashing off him. All he can hear is their voices, so casually dismissing the dead guy they'd found the umbrastaff on.

Lucretia knows too. She must know, and she hasn't done anything about it -- still leaves Taako without the knowledge of just how fucking important that thing should be to him.

He drags himself back to some semblance of composure, ignoring the new burns and cracks he's put in the walls. Lup is out there somewhere. Lup still exists in this world, along with Merle's children and Magnus'... well, extended in-laws, and--

And she wouldn't let them flee this world, not with their families rooted here, and she wouldn't let Lucretia destroy this world.

And neither will he.

He's going to find her. He's going to bring them all together. He just needs their trust, and he's sure some echo of that century will get them to listen to him. He can bring everyone together, and once he does that, they'll find some way through this. They always do.

The bonds that tether his soul pull taut, burning now with divinity in the heart of an unholy abomination. He knows now how to change the shape of his soul, how to let its form twist around newfound power.

On the discipline of a decade's routine, on sleepless vigilance, on undying loyalty, he swears his oath.

This world will not be consumed.

[shavynel]

Writing comments for fanfic

tl;dr -- Write one thing you liked about the fic (a phrase or moment) and how you reacted or made you feel! Also, keep it fun! Make no demands of fic authors who write out of love and Owe Us Nothing.

It took me a while to figure out how to write comments. I went through an evolution. There's lots of stuff on how to write stories, probably even giving crit and feedback, but commenting? Not nearly as much. So here's my not so short ramble on writing comments for fic. Includes my Ways of commenting and Tenets of commenting.

Examples here will be T-rated (by AO3 standards) and most are taken from or newly written with specific fics in mind. They are, ahem, almost all Genshin Impact.

Commenting is, I believe, a personal thing. I've been told I have a bit of an enthusiastic presence, so what feels true to you may vary. I also like to write words (can you tell?). And smash keyboards.

Leaving comments is, in fact, effort! But it's also a skill that can be learned and honed. And honestly, I think my fic experience is improved by it. I don't always leave a comment. But, I don't know... that random internet person authored a Whole Thing. For Free (likely). And I just get to read it?? Yeah, I'm going to leave a little appreciation. Just a little snack in return for this fulfilling meal you have fed me.

I also find writing a comment is also a way for me to just bask in a fic a little bit longer, linger in that feeling of oh, wow, this was so good, and I don't want to leave yet. (And then sometimes there's a response, and then I get a bonus dose of nostalgia!)

Ways of commenting

These are roughly ordered by amount of effort required. I would say the comments I leave are a mash up of these, really. There aren't actual hard lines between them.

1. An extra kudos.

Kudos are nice. Knowing the kudos button isn't enough is one layer deeper! Comments like

"Thanks for writing!" "<3" "i mash kudos button but no more kudos come out what's wronnnnggg????" "yay an update!" "this is so good"

Level of effort: slightly more than a kudos.

Honestly, copy-pasteable. Personally, I would always write these out. Somehow, to me, as a commenter, feels more real if I tippy tappy the letters myself even if Author can't tell. It's a nice way to let an author know you're coming back chapter after chapter when we can only kudos once on a fic. I like to leave a little something more, but I still often start or end with this.

2. Fic reaction.

Sometimes a fic just leaves me a certain way. Invoked a particular mood or visceral reaction. So, I let the author know!

"Awww, my heart is warm!" "Jaw on ground. WTF!" "Literal chills." "My eyes are wet. How did that happen?" "This fic is pure comfort." "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" "Heart on floor, smashed." "WHOLESOME!" "This has left me completely feral and ready to punch something."

Level of effort: you need some emotional intelligence or other awareness of you reactions.

As a starting point, was the fic -- wholesome, sweet, chaotic (in a good way), funny, heartwrenching, sad, delightful, shocking, calm, peaceful, I just want a hug now, terrifying, creepy, comedic?

How do you then turn this into a comment? "This was so ___!!"

Honestly, my crutch here is to just keyboard smash. What does it mean? Your guess as good as mine. I'm speechless, and I cannot words properly, but please participate in these Feels I'm having.

3. One detail I like. (My default comment style)

This one covers a lot of scope. If I read to the end of the fic, there's probably something I liked. Maybe

a turn of phrase. "Diluc drinking grape juice like a man chained to an interrogation table. sfjfskkdz" "Bedsheets twisted up like cooked spinach is SO accurate." "Itto-to is such a cute mashup name!" "We have years ahead of us. That was just one day in the past. The feeeeeelllssss" ":) as punctuation" "Barbatos and Nobles as a bookstore. Sdjjsfjdw I love it"

a particular character moment, action, interaction, or dialogue. quote or paraphrase it! "Diluc kicking Childe into the water was hilarious." "Childe is such an adrenaline junkie. I can't believe he would lean out the window while he was driving." "I'm so proud of Zhongli for actually admitting his feelings!"

some specific moment you emotionally reacted to. I've only recently trained myself out of stoic facing through fic. I mean, it's a useful skill, don't get me wrong (especially in public), but it's less useful when it's just me by myself. I now laugh at 3am reading fic, and my life is brighter for it. Comedy fic writers, you are my fave. "Can't get over when Diluc walks in on Kaeya and Childe. AHHHHH!" "Qiqi drying Childe's hair was so sweet!"

Level of effort: you have to actually remember something you liked or reacted to.

The number of movies I watch and number of times someone asks how's my week, and I just stare blankly because I know it was good but don't know anything else? High. So yeah, this isn't trivial.

I've gotten to the point where usually while reading I notice a moment of "wow I love this!" I don't go looking for them (because I want to stay in fic headspace not comment material hunting headspace), and I don't spend much effort trying to remember. If I forget, that's fine. Not like I'm not writing a book review for a grade or anything.

Just, what's a moment you just got to call out? (And bonus, what's your reaction?) Authors out there seem to like to make us feel things. Show them we're just dangling from their puppet strings!

I usually leave comments like this. Just popcorn style, as many things as I remember, whatever comes up as I recall it. I'm aware that sometimes I end up basically quoting a fic back to its author completely out of order interspersed with commentary or keyboard smashes. I'm occasionally embarrassed by how much I'm smashing into their comments, but the reception seems overall positive.

4. Between the lines and spin off thoughts.

Sometimes fic make me think. I mean, canon makes me think, and then people go and make fanworks off of that, so of course I'm bound to run into fic that makes me think. Sometimes the things I notice or think about aren't directly in the text, but implied or spin out thoughts. An interpretation, a mini analysis, or a reflection. Like,

a new thought or take on a character. "Aro-ace Venti! I like this take!" "Please don't break Klee. She's just trying her best to hold all the adults together. Oh no. You've already broken Klee. T_T" "I bet Jean is the only person who could have kicked Diluc's ass, and he really needed it." "Kaeya what are you doooinggg?? Why is he like this???" (An extra note, it's cool to disagree with a character, but not the author. Character did that makes you want to scream? Go for it. Author wrote the character in a way you disagree with? Don't comment. Leave the fic if it bothers you that much.)

noticing foreshadowing or a detail that isn't fully explained / only alluded to. "Is that Scara working at Scarabucks???" "Wait, something about what Venti said makes me think this isn't just a modern day AU ..." "Did that count as a geo construct for the purposes of the contract?"

some sentence or moment somewhere that just hits you in the brain. This one I don't actually know if author's like. On the one hand, I can imagine it being flattering. On the other, maybe it's too personal? I'll usually center these on the characters, kind of like character analysis. "Diluc sharing his anxiety with Kaeya, and that being what made Kaeya look at his own anxiety... really hits. Like, I don't even think Diluc could have said something sooner without Kaeya running, which says so much about how Diluc loves Kaeya. And the fact Kaeya can see this as a mirror of what he's doing and learns something from it. Just. Oof. Wow." "The conversation between Zhongli and Childe is just so real. Like Zhongli is trying so hard but his ass just can't understand Childe just wants him to tell them things and his not telling things is Not Helping even though he just wants to protect the boy!"

Level of effort: some amount of analytical thinking, reflection, or willingness to share when you get sucker punched by words.

This one I absolutely never go looking for, so I don't leave many such comments. When it does come up, it usually smacks me in the face, and I let it (roll with the hit and into the comments). On occasion I am wailing in the comment box when the revelation (like having broken Klee) just dawns on me. Am I Feelings Processing in comment boxes? Uuuhhhhhh, no comment. (Don't mind the lack of delivery on the pun.)

I'd like to think authors appreciate when we reflect back to them we get their interpretation, but I can also imagine it might be a little too much for authors if we get too personal. In which case, sorry. Your work is great! Please take it as my intention to flatter you since you've touched my heart or brain or soul with your words.

5. Craft appreciation.

This one, *head scratches* yeah, I don't often end up here. But sometimes it's not one moment, but something about all the moments, something underlying, or something in the way it was all put together. If I do end up here and write a general statement, I like to point to specific bits that made me think that (which is where I lean back on One Detail I Like). Actually, yeah, usually I use this as flavor to One Detail I Like, but I think it's sufficiently different to pull out separately. It's a writerly meta layer. What falls here?

dialogue. "Your dialogue is so good. I can hear it in in the VA's voice." "I love the contrast between how Zhongli talks and Childe talks."

imagery. "Can't get over the imagery of Childe releasing dandelion scenes. Such a kid!" "Childe sleeping with Tranquil Statlight is just so peaceful."

characterization. "The little nuggets you give characters like Rosaria doing community service at the church for Crimes just gives me life." "I love the way you write Childe. He's so aggressive!"

setting, world building (more for AUs but wow there are some authors good at expanding on canon lore). "Your world building is so cool. Like the abyssal graffiti on the walls?? HNNG!"

writing style. "Your style is very dreamy. <3" "This is genuinely so heartwarming, and yet at the same time what is this underlying feeling of something is wrong????" "I feel like people appreciate the art of comedic one liners but you've got angst one liners. AND THEY SLAY."

pacing, timing. "This fic reads like a high speed express train. It just never stops or slows down!!" "What is this cRaFT! Like. Para 1, comedic. Para 2, thoughtful. Para 3, WHY DO MY HEARTSTRINGS HURT."

use of language. "Using he for POV character and they for the other is LINGUISTICALLY MIND BLOWING." (Please, I want this to catch on more. I do absolutely respect people's pronouns. These fictional characters (and people who have pronoun flexibility)? She and they instead of she and she?? THE CLARITY WE COULD HAVE??!? I'm incredibly greedy for it.)

premise. "Pierro Dad gives me so much life." "The Bachelor but it's Diluc?? Let's go!!"

plot twist, or cliff hanger. "The reveal!!! *screaming*" "I can't believe you would do me like this." (No, I can't in good conscience leave a specific example and give a fic away. Yes, I am thinking of specific fics still.)

Level of effort: be able to map details you like to writer's craft.

Let's not pretend we're here to do crit. Even if we're using writerly words, we are not here to do crit. Well, I am not because I don't believe the comments box is the right time or place for it, but I am happy to lay on the praise and point out the things that worked for me.

Usually, I think it's harder to look across a fic and be like, yeah, the dialogue hit, or this writing style or pacing really does it for me. It's more nebulous. And sometimes it kicks you out of fic reading headspace and into a writerly meta land to notice, so I don't, and I just let the fic wash over me. And if something here strikes me, I will offer my praises. Again, I think it helps to think of this more as an additional kind of One Detail I Like.

Tenets of commenting (and a little of reading)

Okay, so those were some do's, but I also have don't's. These are my boundaries that I keep. Maybe yours are different. I suspect most of these stem from the place, Author did this for free and Owes Me Nothing, so that's the one real tenet. I keep these in mind so that I can keep fic a nice, fun, safe place for me (and hopefully the authors too).

1. I will never ask for updates. I never expect a next chapter.

I've seen enough content creators stressed out and burnt out about putting something out over and over again. I feel for them. That sucks. They probably just started doing it for fun, and now ... The demand and expectation they continue to perform for free? Yeah, it's not going to come from me.

Once upon a time, because of this and a desire to have complete stories, I wouldn't read incomplete fics. I now am The Biggest Fan of incomplete fics. Yes, hang me off the side of a cliff. I will scream at you. And if you don't haul me back up? Well, fine. I'll live. Some other author's got my back. Probably. There's still so much to love between world building, characterization, good moments, jokes -- and you sometimes get the experience of seeing familiar faces screaming at the fic with you update after update. It's precious. It's fleeting. I could go on, but maybe a different day. Back to commenting!

Flip side, as an author, I will say the desire for more is, in one case, why I plan to continue a fic from years ago. I was very firm at the time I would not be extending the one shot, but I guess time changes things, and the fact people were like, I would read more story contributes to that.

So this one is very much a personal tenet. There's some line between I love this so much I want it to continue, and expecting there to be more. Where is it? I don't know. So I just stay away. Surely Author will get I want more if I just say how much I love everything and have commented on their latest chapter. Rather than leave snacks that taste like burn out to some authors, I will focus on other flavors of comments!

2. I will not say what I dislike.

Not my ship? I probably won't read. Not my preferred ship dynamic? Tropes I don't like? Characterization not hitting it for me? Paragraph formatting not doing it for me? I just x out of there, find something I do like. People be writing things for free! Let them have their fun!

If I did read it, snd I stayed, something else must have grabbed my attention. I'll focus on that. Writing style not quite doing it for me but I love the details added to the world? "Wow, the world you flesh out is so complex." No mention about how much of a drag it is to read, because hey, I still read it, and I had reason to not put it down!

3. I will not give corrections.

Authors (and maybe a beta) have put in tremendous effort and time, and to be like, "you missed a typo" or "actually, the canon lore says X" often detracts from the beauty of the shared fic experience. I interpret random grammar and misspeaks and typos in daily conversation and texts all the time. Surely I know enough to employ this skill. And if I figured it out, other readers probably will figure it out too. If I can't, I usually assume the author was too big brain for me and skip merrily along to the next sentence. (And if it's too much for me to handle, I click out.)

Yeah I get it! I get the urge to want to be helpful and contribute to other people's experience! I know that feel! Because, well, I learned this one from experience. I tried once. Watched an author wilt a little when what I wanted was to be helpful. Yeeeaaah, not doing that again.

So, I suspect this often comes off as a little entitled that just by that bit of you say something and kinda underlyingly expect the author to do something about it, and again, Author Owes Me Nothing! Even if the author is asking for a beta, I'd reach out first and make sure they are now in a headspace to be expecting beta thoughts from me.

Wrapping it up

I love fic, the world is rich with it, and I am full of love for authors and their craft. It fills my heart with joy to know I can return a little smile to someone who has let me hop on their ride for free.

It does take effort. Writing comments, turns out, is writing. Writing is a skill, therefore writing comments is a skill. And writing takes practice to improve, so, guess what, writing comments takes practice to improve. Who would've thunk. (Not me, I assure you.)

I've wanted to write this for me for a while, capture what I've learned because I noticed my ability to write comments change over time. Then recently, I was rec'd a fic and told to definitely leave a comment because the author deserves it and I write good comments. Dispatched because I write good comments! Now my commenter feathers are fluffed up, and so I have actually written this. But I definitely didn't start out the comment writer I am today, so I wanted to share that, surprisingly there is a progression path! (Maybe this is only surprising to me.)

I do find commenting adds to my fic reading experience. And I love reading other people's comments. Sometimes other people notice things I didn't or have very cool interpretations, and that is an extra wow right there. (And look at all these other people who like the thing I like!)

And if I leave a comment, sometimes I get a reply! Author noticed my little comment! Extra dose of happy for everyone!

And sometimes, sometimes, (and again I would never expect it, but it is a gift much like fic itself is) an author will write back full of their notes and what they were thinking about writing those moments, and I treasure that so, so much. It's both a delight because of the usual Author saw my effort commenting and I get an extra behind the scenes! The craft behind the craft! (Now how do authors leave good replies? That is still a mystery to me.)

Sometimes I write a lot and then it goes into a black hole, and that's sad. Hmm. I'm pretty sure this is what authors feel when we don't leave comments. Hmm. Guess it's time to write more comments! (Sometimes, like fic updates, replies show up months later, and that's honestly <3)

So, let's go leave some comments and show those authors love and tell them how much they delighted us! Or ... how they smashed our hearts into the ground with angst/no comfort because sometimes that's just what one wants to read.

[blackopals-world]

Shark in the Water part 1

Part 2 Part 3

OnsenOwner!femYuu x Azul Ashengrotto

Part 2 of the Onsen!Yuu series (part 1)

Azul isn't a fan of competition, especially when they steal away his best girls to work for them. He'll have to learn to share if he wants the benefits of having a business partner.

It was a good day for business so far and the girls were drawing in a crowd. Not that Yuu was slacking or anything. Entertaining guests was something of an art and training up proper hostesses took time.

Honestly, these boys may not know much about women but even they know empty flattery and fake compliments. The Pomefiore trainees are too used to being praised rather than praising others. Some guys are into that but most aren't. The Octavinelle girls so far have exceeded expectations and their customer service skills are properly honed.

"Goldien fix your posture, " Yuu reprimanded "and Volx keep those ears turned up. If a customer sees those droopy fox ears then they might lose interest."

The firey fox strained to keep her ears perked as she continued her training.

Yuu sighed, tea serving was an art but it was lost on the trainees.

"Why does all this matter. If we are doing our job why do we have to be so stiff?" Volx asked indignantly.

Yuu narrowed her eyes at the impedance.

The fox's mind suddenly caught up with her mouth as she bowed lowly with her forehead to the floor.

"Sorry, Mistress! I didn't mean to insult you." She said meekly.

Yuu didn't give her permission to raise.

"I suppose that is a fair question. Do you think this Onsen runs on hopes and dreams? It runs on profit. The springs alone don't make enough to pay your salaries. We make money on our services and that requires labor. If you girls perform half-heartedly who would return? You need to charm them into coming back again and again. You need more than just looks. You need charm and you were chosen those unique charms. " Yuu explained but had to cut it short when one of the hostesses notified her of a guest.

As Yuu made her way to her waiting guest she greeted customers. Each of the hostesses bowed their heads and acknowledged their Mistress.

Yuu asked one to bring her a bottle of umeshu.

Waiting in Yuu's office was none other than the Octavinelle Warden himself who was no doubt going through her things but pretending to be gazing at the decor.

"What a surprise I wasn't expecting a guest, let alone one that pretends to come alone." Yuu was no fool, Leech twins were here somewhere.

Azul shrugged, pretending to know nothing.

"Who knows, they were quite intrigued with your Onsen and wished to try it." He said taking a seat.

"Azul, you are not amusing. If you intend to intimate me its not working. If you are trying to shake down my girls I want you and your men out of my spa. If one of their hairs is out of place you have my word that this ends badly." Yuu didn't play with Azul of all people, not when the situation was dangerous.

"You have my word that they mean no harm." He said with little sincerity.

"Your word means little to me," Yuu said coldly.

There was a crash from down the hall. and girl's cry.

Yuu immediately bolted to see poor Tilly sprawled out on the floor, a bottle of umeshu shattered and Floyd standing over her.

This looked bad.

"Out! Out! All of you, out! You are banned from stepping foot on my property again!" Yuu screamed as she help the mouse girl up.

The tweels felt a cold chill crawl up their spines after the long quiet walk back to their dorm. Azul was silent the entire time.

"So," the warden began as the doors to the lounge closed "What part of just look around don't you get? We needed information and you got the bright idea of just tripping a girl?!"

Floyd threw his hands up in surrender

"I swear she tripped on her own! It's not my fault she's clumsy." Floyd whined, for once he was innocent.

"Might I add, their boss seemed pretty upset already. Azul might have already ticked her off." Jade said

Azul sighed, either way, they could no longer investigate the hot spring themselves and the girls they sent there were tight-lipped. Leave it to Octavinelle students to look out for their best interests first.

The next day an apology letter fell on Azul's desk. The misunderstanding was cleared up and while Yuu was willing to have another meeting it would have to be somewhere on neutral ground. Like a nice Italian restaurant in town, tonight at 8.

[fangsandfeels]

It's probably a very unpopular opinion, but initially, I liked Wulbren when I encountered him in the game. And how couldn't I? The lad greets us with an escape plan up his sleeve and that plan includes breaking the tieflings out! A true blessing for any Tav who never intended to cooperate with the Absolute and got a headache from thinking how they would get out all of the prisoners. What Wulbren did was badass and spoke a lot about his principles and priorities.

Now, a less-then-lukewarm reunion with Barcus was something I expected because nothing could be that easy, and from what we've seen, Philomena too abandoned her girlfriend for The Idea without even bothering to break up with her. So, at that point, I had a reason to suspect that either Wulbren was a dick or he tried to keep Barcus away from whatever he was brewing so he won't get caught in the fallout (he has a propensity for getting himself in trouble, after all).

But come Act 3...

...and Wulbren is presented as an irrational, vengeful prick who refuses to look deeper into the matter. We can follow his vision and blow up the Steel Foundry without looking into it, inadvertently causing more destruction, or going against him.

However, after what I learned thanks to @y-rhywbeth2 here (hope you don't mind me tagging you) is that the reason for Wulbren's innate distaste for Gondians may lie even deeper than "they worked with the tyrant, they must pay".

Wulbren's clan follows Gaerdal Ironhand, the lawful good gnome deity. His followers are militaristic and devoted, committed to protecting the gnome community and dealing with internal and external threats.

The best defense is unswerving vigilance. Serve Gaerdal with absolute dedication and devotion. Defend and protect gnome communities against all invaders both obvious and hidden. Never cease to hone the skills of war, and take the opportunity of relative peace to pass such talents on to gnomes at large.

While Gond isn't mentioned as Gaerdal's adversary, their dogmas contradict each other. Despite being a patron of inventors and craftsmen, Gond is so dedicated to creating inventions ("wonders") and spreading them that he has no concern for safety or consequence. Gond also welcomes all alignments and approves of his followers forcing their way into power, subtly controlling leaders and destroying any opposition, so they could promote their inventions and creations. Accumulation of power and personal wealth is smiled upon.

So, Gaerdal Ironhand is all about caring for the community and taking any measures necessary to protect it - even if such threat comes from fellow gnomes, Gaedral's followers are supposed to undertake the grim duty of being the judges and doing what's necessary. If Wulbren is a dedicated follower of Gaedral, it's understandable why he has so much contempt for the Gondians: they are careless, irresponsible, so obsessed with the "can it be done?" they forget about "should it be done?" - and look at where it got them. Play stupid games, and win stupid prizes.

Of course, he would take any accusations of being too harsh as an insult - especially given that he literally lost his fellow clanspeople to protect the city.

Given all that, I wish there could have been a more complex resolution. Showing Wulbren the door minimizes the fact that he wasn't just obsessed with killing the Gondians, but also was ready to die for his people (he didn't expect anyone to save him and he was planning on saving himself and others). He organized a guerilla movement that was effective enough for Gortash to put him on the Wanted list. If Gondians started working with Gortash of their own volition (I didn't explore the game enough to find any tangible proof or content that debunks this theory), but then found themselves shackled and enslaved, that would add to his bitterness. Being treated as a local madman for fighting the threat everybody else is idiotically blind to tooth and nail affects you. Heavily. Bitterness and spite become part and parcel of your struggle and when someone tries to tell you you're being unreasonable or not kind, you snap at them - what do they know?

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that Wulbren and Barcus should kiss and make up.

But having the option to point out to Wulbren that Barcus has been actually upholding Ironhand's ideals all this time and went to great lengths to do the right thing; make him finally acknowledge and respect his friend would have been nice.

Also, by admitting that Barcus was right, Wulbren could have seen where he was wrong or unable to see things differently - which would have prompted him to put his trust in Barcus even if he still instinctually wants to oppose and cuss him out for being so naively tolerant.

Because, I think Barcus deserves some recognition from Wulbren - even if they don't remain friends, going simply to colleagues (mostly because Barcus decides he did enough and it's time for him to stop running after Wulbren, especially now that he is safe). And also, because the entire Ironhand clan story needs more polishing, given that its premise in Act 1-2 was so interesting.

[chaifootsteps]

RE: https://www.tumblr.com/chaifootsteps/734099029865250816/what-deeply-tragic-about-viv-as-a-content-creator?source=share

Honestly, this is something that has been bothering me for a while now and that's how people (but especially artists) think writing is easy and something they can jump into headfirst just because they're literate. That's like if I went up to an artist and said: "I can hold a pencil and draw a stick figure, so I can draw just as good as you".

I don't know why there's an inherent devaluation of writing specifically as you really just don't see this sort of thing with other creative mediums. Yet somehow, every motherfucker who got Cs in English thinks they're capable of rivaling or even besting writers who've worked their ASSES off to hone their craft.

Now this isn't to say that it's not possible for non-practiced writers TO get good at writing. Ultimately, that Ratatouille line is right: "Anyone can cook."

At least in that, ANYONE can learn to cook and a good cook can come from ANYWHERE, but no one is born just knowing how to cook and it's the same shit for writing. Knowing how to put a sentence together is the equivalent of turning on a burner and boiling pasta in that it's the first step toward developing your skills. But going further requires you to actually dedicate your time to it as a serious artistic endeavor.

And sure, not everyone has to treat writing or drawing or any art as a serious hobby (fandom does it for fun after all). But I dunno...for people like Viv who are trying to write a TV SERIES, it's just fucking insulting.

TL;DR: I just wish people respected writing more and didn't act like it was an "easier" artform that people can just casually "pick up" the skills for without actually devoting time and effort to learning them.

As someone who's had to endure Vivzie and also children's book after children's book written by celebrities? The lack of respect for writing as an art form sometimes keeps me up at night.

[writingquestionsanswered]

New Writer Worried About Dull Writing

Anonymous asked: I’m relatively new to writing creatively and fear my work is too beige - is this a problem like so many people say? Or is there a market for my blunt speaking (I do include metaphors/similes, btw). I read books like [popular series] and the writing style is similar to my own, but I still feel somewhat insecure.

If you're a newer writer (meaning you have not been writing for years and do not have numerous completed and critiqued works under your belt), it's far too early for you to worry about the quality of your writing. Far too early. One of the biggest misconceptions about writing is it's something you're just instantly good at... that quality and style are innate, and that anything you write should instantly be publishable. And that's just not how writing works...

Writing is an art and a craft. And like any other art and craft, most people don't sit down to do it for the first time or the tenth time or even the thirtieth time and find they've mastered it. If you take up baking, you're probably not going to have artisan bakery quality products after a few months. If you decide to learn the guitar, you're probably not recording an acoustic guitar album after a year. If you decide to learn karate, you're probably not going to earn your black belt within two years. Are there exceptions? Sure, but it's super rare.

Even when you hear that an author "hadn't written much" prior to writing their breakout debut novel, most of the time you find out that, in fact, they had written a lot. They wrote in college... maybe even have a degree in English or communications... they took creative writing classes or attended creative writing workshops... or they were prolific fan-fiction writers, bloggers, journalers, or even journalists. But they don't think to count those things because they're not original creative fiction stories or novels written with the intention of publication. But the thing is, it all counts. All writing is practice. And all writing that is shared and receives feedback from at least one other person helps you grow and improve your craft.

So, if you're new to creative writing--even if you have experience as a blogger, journalist, communications writer, etc.--the best thing you can do is focus on getting a body of creative fiction under your belt. Your quality and style will improve and develop over time. When you're ready, seek feedback from others... from alpha readers, beta readers, critique groups, critique partners, or post your stories on fiction sharing sites. Feedback will help you see where your strengths and weaknesses are and will help you hone your skills. And as your skills improve, so will your confidence! Which isn't to say you won't still sometimes have doubts... even the very best writers do... but you will learn to believe in your writing and your skills as a writer. ♥

(↓↓↓ Because it's expected at this point... ↓↓↓)

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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