#and other ocs i tend to make to fit a prompt or story

[lurkofyourlife]

Pssss pssss pssss talk about your ocs? Pssss pssss pssss

-peachesandgore 🍑

WELL.

SINCE YOU ASKED SO NICELY.

@peaches-and-gore

(i'll be honest, so many of my ocs are from fics or rp and i don't want to drag my friends that aren't aware of my brand spankin new nsfw blog into this without their permission, so it's all gonna be under a readmore and i'll try to be vague about friends' characters lol)

OK SO ANYWAY. My main girl i keep thinking about, thanks to this blog, is my dbd final girl oc Sam, because she's just *chefs kiss* my favorite sad girl/mad girl, i stick her in so many aus, i give her so much trauma, ugh i love her!

(i can't draw, but have gotten commissions and picrews, so have a few of those)

(TW SUICIDE, ASSAULT, SELF HARM, below the pics)

She's a suicidal depresso teen all grown up (ranging in age depending on the au, from 18 to 24, but primary dbd verse she's just shy of 21). In universes without supernatural shit, she's attempted suicide a few times and never fully succeeded (but has tattoos to commemorate her attempts, including dates). In universes WITH supernatural shit, there's maybe a *reason* she can't die (she started as a character made for a rp where she was supposed to be the embodiment of the mythical phoenix).

In the Dead By Daylight universe, she got to the Fog by killing herself (her choker covers a scar across her throat, and she usually wears long sleeves or sweatbands to cover scars up her wrists), and one of her abilities is literally rebirth on bleeding out. Basically, I wanted a character who wants to die but isn't being allowed the peace of death. It's all about resilience, baby, it's all about catharsis and the purging of emotion through anger and pain and sex ok sometimes also sex.

Her main fic she's paired with Legion (Frank) and it's literally the source of my unfortunate puppy kink (he calls her puppy to be an asshole; she hates it; I love that for her). I got to write the intimacy of murder and I fuckin loved it. And then I made a rp blog, and she got to have soooo many other fun interactions and flirtations and fucked up ships (it's not snuff if they come back, okay, it's just a little murder in a universe with impermanent death), including an EXTENDED RELATIONSHIP ARC of hundreds of pages with a friend's ghostface muse [henceforth murder bf]— and then we did a ton of aus with those muses, including a college au before she became quite so jaded (so pre-institutionalization), and a couple different 'yoinked and chained up in a basement' aus that i adore, and a purge au where murder bf stages someone to come assault her so he can look like a hero for killing the guy and then offer her a place in his bunker for the night, and—

MY FAVORITE au, that I swear I'll turn into a novel some day, where they're both shapeshifters and we created an entire societal thing where shifters make up like some fraction of a percent of the population and there's a lot of fucked up oppression and societal discrimination and Sam is basically the most complicit-in-her-own-oppression self-hating werefox, who ran away after biting a guy who was harassing her, and ends up going lowkey feral and collapsing and needing to get nursed back to health by murder bf who's a human-hating lone wolf (literally) with anarchist/terrorist aims when it comes to humans, and the goal is for them to temper each other a bit (tho still end up more toward his side of center tbh)—

Okay look. I could talk about all of the shit I've put Sammy through. I love her. She's my baby, I want to see her suffer, I want to see her put through so much pain only to come out the other side, I just love her so much. And I probably love her too much to make sense about her, tbh. 😅 I will happily send links to the dbd fic (unfinished, whoops, I'm bad at finishing things) in DMs if anyone is interested, but don't really want to link it now cause I'm trying to keep accounts separate for the time being lol. It does include a knifeplay scene that becomes an assisted suicide, in a weirdly feelsy manner. I made these memes for it.

But as someone who is incredibly proud of my own writing, I'm just gonna... just gonna drop an excerpt from a fave scene... [proceeds to copy two full pages of text and realize that may be too long] fuck it, screenshots (for context: murder bf had her stab through her hand - he helped her by putting her on his lap and helping hold the knife - and the pain broke through her usual stony exterior to hit that agony inside):

I mean that's just one. I also have some fun stuff where she's pissed off 'Spiteful Sam' and is just a ball of fucking fury, a self destructive mess that is willing to hurt herself just to hurt others. Oh, here's a good example of her getting angry! For context: months later, once murder bf and Sam are officially a thing, she's even living with him in the Fog and everything, a friend and I arranged for her to get kidnapped by a rival ghostface killer, tortured to taunt her ghostface bf, and the rival ended up gouging out her eyes and collaring her before killing her so when she respawned she hadn't gotten the eyes back and is still locked in a collar. So yeah, she's stuck eyeless and frustrated because she wants to fight with her bf to kill some of that anger, and he was being too nice.

OKAY. OKAY.

NO MORE SAM.

(for now)

OTHER OCS!

I've been writing a supernatural action/drama/romance where I have a vamp boy oc who got exiled by his coven and they filed his fangs down, but pre-exile he was basically treated as an attack dog, mostly fighting and fucking as rewards or punishments based on what his Sire wanted him to do. His name is Cain, he's a former addict (drugs, then vampire venom while he was basically a lackey/whore to get a fix of the intense high and aphrodisiac effect of vampiric venom), now trying desperately to be reformed, laden with so much guilt, and a pathetic excuse for a vampire who has to cut to feed with no fangs. I'm still getting comms of him, but my fave is this fan art by my friend of pre-exile Cain (back before he, how did a former coworker of his describe it? oh yeah "one day decided… what? To grow a conscience? That he was tired of raping and killing and being used like a pet?") (i love a dog motif, i really do).

Anyway, Cain's main universe he's got a complex relationship with a monster hunter (the former quote is from what we dubbed the 'mid-season finale' when she found out he was a vampire and SHOT HIM). But he also has an au where he found another lone (non-coven) vamp and they're slutty switches together and do some fun play with intox (his venom works on his partner by spitting it in his mouth) and telepathy (his partner can project images and feelings into his head). I love him as well, and have appx 600 pages of rp with him lmao.

I also have various OCs I've made for fic, like my Arcane OC Ivy, and then I have THESE FUCKERS I've been meaning to make a whole story about, Santana and Ridley, my cyberpunk crime girlfriends

Santana is a crimelord's daughter (and future crime boss herself, when she eventually breaks out from under her dad's thumb), and Ridley is her bodyguard/girlfriend trained from childhood to be a companion and do everything in her power to keep Santana safe, but she ended up falling REAL FUCKIN HARD for her charge. They have a whole planned story involving attempts on Santana's life, Ridley kicking ass, and Santana becoming part of an experimental program to log her consciousness, and when she eventually does get merc'd (spoilers? i mean it's not even written yet, this is just a plan), Ridley uploads Santana's incomplete AI into her head a la Johnny Silverhand and it's heartbreaking because it's her but it also ISN'T, and it's just overall a tragedy...

Okay I should stop lmao. I could talk for hours about this. I spent probably an hour writing this 😅

[noctilin]

Hi noctilin, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY love your art its so good and I adore how cool your artstyle is, and you've inspired so much of my art. Just wanted to ask how did you get the ideas for your ocs? Currently struggling with some sort of art block and I need to find inspiration

Also jasper(was that his name?) the cat with wings I love him and I want to squish him and hug him he's just so cute

hi! thank you so much for your kind words!! i'm happy to know my art has a positive impact on you :)

as for your question, to be honest i think my answer isn't particularly groundbreaking... i tend to just go by my tastes and what i have an itch for at the time.

it also depends on what you mean by "ideas for ocs," is it designwise or storywise? because if it's the latter, i'm not the best at making stories for ocs hehe it's why i tend to rotate between the same 3-4 characters i have. i'm not skilled at storytelling, much less crafting them, so most of my ocs just start off as small projects based on what i'm fixating on at the time and they just gradually grow throughout the years.

cimmorro, for example, started out as a vague idea of a cleric who's obsessed with his deity to the point of the desire to court her romantically and please her. wifeguy but for his goddess. and that was the time i was really taking a liking to arjuna's (fgo) design. i also went with cleric because we had no healer in our party so i was like, ok sure why not. that's basically the little stepping stones i used to work off of.

designwise, i'm not particularly adept at designing characters, but i love making outfits so i just tend to think of an outfit and decide what kind of character would wear it, if i don't already have a character that would fit.

i also tend to make characters if i find a name i really like and want to use. cimmorro (and his clones) is pretty much the only character i made without a name i already had in mind. however, my other oc, valley, started off with the prompt of "cowboy bard" and the name "valentine." i was also obsessing over satyrs at the time. that's all what mostly i worked with.

stories are usually the last thing on my mind. i'm not sure why, but when i start on a story before the design, it's much harder for me to get anything done. i guess it's because it overcomplicates things too much for me as opposed to working with 3 simple prompts to get the ball rolling. i have a tendency to be paralyzed by my own indecision, having too many options is overwhelming. so working small and limited is the best way for me to snowball things eventually. after i'm satisfied with the visual energy my oc is emitting, that's when i can figure out what story i want them to have.

so anyway, i guess the advice i can give for this type of art block is maybe try challenging yourself with limited options? i do like doing that as an exercise from time to time! ask some friends to give you some random prompts and themes.

and yes her name is jasper! based on the gemstone and cimmorro's goddess, wee jas ^-^ she's his little baby girl

[spoodlebat]

DAY 5 - REDESIGNED

Day 5 - Redesigned OC Still playing catchup; no further forward but no further back aha. At least I'm staying consistently far behind :'D Cmon spuddy, these were meant to be simple...!

Rather than like last year where, for this prompt, I took an old character and updated them, I chose to interpret it as being a character that has changed physically over time. With it being relevant to their species and lore as a whole, I think Knoop fits this bill quite well.

Character ramblings, as well as their other forms, below the cut <3

Knoop's species (known as voidlings) can reformat their bodies in times of dire need, ejecting their inner core from the outer shell and laying dormant until danger passes. By then absorbing biomass from the surroundings, voidlings can forge a new, armour-like hollow construct that the darkness within then operates to move around. It's an instinctive process that occurs whilst unconscious; shaped by the sleeping mind within, these forms tend to grow more complex as a voidling ages and matures, reflecting their worldly experience as well as one's own character traits.

Knoop themselves has reformed many times in their long life, but they have had 3 main forms over the course of their story.

Their first form predates their original 'death' and subsequent entanglement with the Divines; its main traits were dexterity and resiliance, useful in their role as a Galactic Federation Patrol officer.

Following their Divine Quest, Knoop was rewarded with knowledge of their origins, and a planet to call their homeworld. Despite the comfort of Elysium, however, something called them back into adventure. Attacked by creatures of darkness, their reformation was poorly supplied and woefully incomplete; Knoop's physical shell was corrupted by raw void, and their fragmented soul was irreversibly altered. With exposed flesh, unintentionally-embedded objects, and weakened armour, this form was made for desperate survival above all else. It took a great length of time for them to learn how best to use its unique strengths, as well as to become numb to its chronic pain.

The final form Knoop took before their eventual death, this shell is a great many things; a much overdue understanding, the relief of long-awaited completeness, a thousand years worth of forgiveness. Above all else, it is a physical manifestation of the love they now hold for themselves. A being now of two halves, those that call themselves Well and Scribe now co-exist within Knoop's body and mind, wrapped endlessly in the sheer joy that is their own existence.

Their core is no longer hidden away, burning brightly through the raw void that makes up parts of their body. Knoop can now repair themselves at a level far surpassing that of their fellow voidlings, able to manipulate the very matter that makes up most of reality, in order to break it down into material for their body. This power also grants them several abilities, such as manifesting hardlight digits or weaponry on command, as well as energy attacks and shadow tendrils.

And, just for fun ;w;

After their death, Knoop ascends to the Divine Realms. They finally shed their shell, free to exist as they truly are. Their form is typically quite nebulous, light and dark orbitting their core. However, they can take on a slightly more humanoid form if desired. Regardless of their shape, their two halves are ever winding around one another~

[autumnslance]

Do you have any preliminary headcanons for your character going into Dawntrail? If not, have you ever had ideas for your character(s) based on upcoming expansions and how did they morph/change as you played through the story?

I actually, really don't!

I don't plan out how/why my characters pick new jobs up; I want to see how the new job plays and what it's lore and story actually is before deciding how and why my gals might get to it, or if I want to tweak it at all. I'm not spending too much effort on baseless plot and NPC speculation and making intricate plans that will be jossed by level 93 and how MSQ actually does unfold.

The closest I ever came to pre-planning anything for an expac was "we're going to Thavnair; I'll finally get lore to flesh out some of Aeryn's family stuff and decide how to fit in my headcanons for them" (as I purposefully made them a minority ethnic group in Thavnair for the reasons we had only a little lore for so many years, and no nation is a monolith anyway, and then the writers' discussion at previous FanFest 2023 panels really drove home how they tried to make Thavnair a diverse melting pot culture due to its history and trade position, so that worked out). But even then I waited until I actually played through MSQ to really decide what to adjust or keep.

A reason I go through with Dark Autumn first is to just enjoy the story (or not) as it comes, to get my own knee jerk reactions and feelings out of the way. And then I go through again on Aeryn or C'oretta and see how the story's constructed to reach the finale, and consider my WoL's reactions, thoughts, and feelings, and where that takes her story. Sometimes my opinion on certain things may even change, or I get a different idea for how it looks and works when seeing it again and considering the IC angles on that new run.

I might still do so when going through my 3rd or 4th time on alts or in NG+, even years later, as I've changed since then and also seen later storyline and how they go together now.

And then I probably spend a few years playing within those lines and scenes and ideas in my fanfic. But I also tend to keep my WoL fairly close to the canon storyline for the most part and with as close as I can get to the canon depictions of the NPCs. Other, own story stuff tends to happen based on interactions with friends and their writing, or random ideas at random times and deciding if they work or not (like Corran's history and Avengret hitting me out of nowhere based on prompts).

Also it's kinda nice to just open the expac on Day 1 with no real expectations or preconceptions, just letting story and gameplay roll in and sweep me along with them. Frankly, I think more folks really ought to give that a try, instead of pitching fits over how the expansion wasn't all they hoped and dreamed and so was a giant disappointment based on...what? Fanon? Headcanon? Speculation? Hopes for complicated plans they made for their OCs based on out of context lines and screens from FanFest and the trailers?

Just try experiencing a story for what it is and what it's trying to do, not self-hyped preconceptions, in any direction.

I dunno. A lot of words to say that I just like seeing how the world is written and presented, as it hits my characters and determine their plots that way, not ahead of time. I want to be inspired by the gameworld, not try to twist it into something it isn't (and will never be) when I can just write in my own original settings for that. My creation in FF14 is fanfiction on the story and characters presented.

Also I really am just tied up in my original writing at the moment, new MSQ will be a break and brief bout of new fandom creativity.

[dragonologist-phd]

OC Mannerisms

tagged by @cassynite to fill out this prompt! thank you for the tag, this is a fun one! i'll leave this as an open offer, to anyone who wants to fill this out themselves!

Piper Chanterelle

BASICS

- NO. OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES >> 2 and some change (Taldane, Infernal, and a collection of phrases in various languages she's picked up through the years)

- TONE OF VOICE >> high / average / deep 

- ACCENT >> Mendevian (though she can imitate many more pretty convincingly)

- DEMEANOR >> confident / shy / approachable / hostile / other

- POSTURE >> slumped / straight / stiff / relaxed

HABITS

head tilting / swaying / fidgeting / stuttering / gesturing / arm crossing / strokes chin / er, um, or other interjections / plays with hair or clothing / hands at hips / inconsistent eye contact / maintains eye contact / frequent pausing / stands close / stands at a distance / expressive tail (all in all, she very rarely stands still)

COMPLEXITY (Fill in the circle’s as you wish)

- VOCABULARY >> ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️ (no formal education, but as a bard she collects all kinds of stories, and she's built up a decent vocab)

- EMOTION >> ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️ (she can dial it down when needed, but her default state definitely tends toward the expressive)

- SENTENCE STRUCTURE >> ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️ (she can be pretty verbose, and she talks in long sentences with poetic, flowing language. a bit of razzle dazzle in language can go a long way in being persuasive)

PROFANITY

- FREQUENCY >> ⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️ (varies depending on the company she's with, but usually not often)

- CREATIVITY (in regards to profanity) >> ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️(if she's gonna do it, she's gonna make an art of it)

BOLD THAT APPLY

arse / ass / asshole / bastard / bitch / bloody / bugger / bollocks / chicken shit / crap / cunt / dick / frick / fuck / horseshit / motherfucker / piss / prick / pussy / screw / shit / shitass / son of a bitch / twat / wanker

THIS OR THAT

straightforward or cryptic? / finding the right word or using the first word that comes to mind? / masculinity, neutrality, or femininity? / formalities or with abrasiveness? (neither- familiarity) / praise or equivocation? / frankness or flattery / excessive or minimal hand gestures / name-calling or magnanimity? / friendly or blunt?

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

- DO PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME HEARING OR UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHARACTER? almost always / frequently / rarely / never

- DOES YOUR CHARACTER’S POINT COME ACROSS EASILY WHEN THEY SPEAK?

 almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never

- WOULD YOUR CHARACTER INITIATE CONVERSATIONS?

almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never

- WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE THE ONE TO END CONVERSATIONS?

almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never

- WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE ‘WHOM’ IN A SENTENCE?

yes / no / only ironically (lol this option cracks me up. yes Piper would absolutely do this to make fun of stuffy, overly formal nobility)

- YOUR CHARACTER WANTS TO MAKE A COUNTERPOINT. WHAT WORD DO THEY USE?

but / though / although / however / perhaps / maybe

- HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER END CONVERSATIONS? 

walk away / ask if that’s everything / say that’s everything / give a proper goodbye / tell their company they're done here / remain quiet / they don’t

- WHAT SOCIAL CLASS WOULD OTHERS ASSUME YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS TO, HEARING THEM SPEAK?

upper / middle / lower (she can be a social chameleon, but generally lower-middle class)

- IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE WAY YOUR CHARACTER SPEAK STAND OUT TO OTHERS?

accent  / vocabulary / tone / level / politeness / brusqueness / it doesn’t (tone is the best fit of the ones listed here- basically, she approaches everyone with a very familiar and friendly attitude, as if she's known them for year; shrewd people make pick up on the fact that it's all kind of part of her performance)

Anything that wasn’t touched on?

Piper's very touchy and physically affectionate! It's actually a problem when I write her, because I am not and I keep forgetting to write that in for her because it doesn't naturally occur to me. But Piper is always casually touching people, hugging, linking arms, kissing cheeks- you get the idea.

She also tends to come up with nicknames for the people she spends time with- some teasing, some affectionate, some a little bit of both)

[pr4yerp0sition]

   #𝐩𝐫𝟒𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:  A   deep   dive   into   multimedia   works   varying   from   Tite   Kubo’s   BLEACH,   G.R.R   Martin’s   House   of   the   Dragon,   Anne   Rice’s   Interview   of   a   Vampire,   original   creations,   along   with   Dragon   Age,   Baldur’s   Gate, Riot's Arcane.   This   is   a   case   study   into   the   manifestation   of   grief   as   love,   generational   trauma   treated   as   a   curse,   the   mourning   song,   the   hope   at   the   end   of   sorrow   and   love   that   shall   transcend   time   within   itself.

CARRD / OC INFORMATION / ROSTER LIST  beloved by, Cereza (they, them, 25+ more tired than you)

 

If you do not specify a muse, one will be selected for you. This is a hard rule that will not bend, if you do not like the starter or prompt, you must contact me in order for a rewrite which I am more than happy to oblige. THIS BLOG IS EXTREMELY SELF INDULGENT / FRIENDS / GOOD BUDDIES VIBES ONLY. I'll rarely follow first but if we're gucci with each other on my other blogs, then feel free. I'm fine with new followers just HIGHLY selective.

I believe strongly in critical thinking along with an appreciation for literature while agreeing to disagree. We all have squicks, triggers, ect. This blog contains media that is on the heavy side and I do ask those who follow take precaution before doing so. I also write strongly queer representation with various nonbinary, lesbian, to trans muses. Trying to have them fit a narrative that is more on the conservative end is an instant hard block. I have no time, no desire, or energy to explain the reasoning why.

I WRITE ADULT CONTENT, sexuality, the exploration of such, violence, chemical dependencies to alcohol dependencies, mature themes are the normal. If this is something that makes you deeply uncomfortable, rethink before following.

I am a mun that is more than fine with NSFW content, though, if you’re only here for that you can leave. Fetishizing my muse, oversexualization, continuously harping on physical attributes rather than the story tend to squick me out. Yes, I enjoy writing erotica but I am within my right to turn down whoever I chose.

There is a difference between writing whump material while handling heavy subjects with grace, respect, and understanding. I am incredibly cautious when dealing with topics of DV, SA, ect. Primarily, if your muse hinders on the constant usage of such subjects while contradicting the writing, I will block and move on. I do not write dead dove material, I do not write whump, I handle everything with the critical thinking skills one needs to operate such heavy topics && assure that the dash is comfortable while being respected. This is not to say I ignore these topics but, I can tell the difference between someone romanticizing && glorifying these subjects versus someone who is using them to properly narrate a story that they wish to convey a message.

If you are blocked, there is a high key reason. Harassment of any kind is not warranted or welcomed, please respect basic boundaries. Furthermore, I am someone who does believe in callouts for exhibiting behavior that is dangerous to the community at a whole. Protecting yourself or others is never beef or drama.

Hello, I am Cereza, 25+ / Latino / Chronic Depresso / nonbinary friend with a love for heavy metal, cinema, literature, and coffee. I’m an extremely introverted person so don’t take my silence for not being personally invested I just burn out. For disclaimer: I have Asperger's, thus I can be absent minded or things tend to go over my head but I pride myself in being able to speak logically with a clear understanding so if you ever feel like we must have a conversation that is of importance; I’m your person. Btw, I work from home but because of that while I am available, I am not at the same time. Family always comes first in my life while having a social life is very important to me, those who can't understand that, well, you know what to do.

Graphics by: sereg0re

[shion-yu]

Day 28 - Oxygen Deprivation

Can't breathe. Whumptober 2023! I’m using the @ailesswhumptober's prompt list. This story is about my OC Albert - here’s his profile if you’re so inclined: https://toyhou.se/23743193.albert 

CW: Acute on chronic illness

Al had had a fever for a week now and Theo was getting worried. At first they thought it was just his scheduled change in antibiotics, but that usually only lasted for a day or two at most. Then he thought maybe Al had caught a little cold, but this seemed worse than the sniffles. Al was currently tucked into the side of their couch propped up on several pillows and wrapped in a blanket cocoon that did little to quell his trembling. His face was blotchy with fever and his coughing sounded more like he had just woken up, when in reality he’d already done several breathing treatments and his vest twice today. Theo winced as Al broke into another painful sounding fit that ended in a whine.

He brought Al a hot mug of tea, the simple warm drink tending to ease the pain in his throat more than medication usually did. Al thanked him hoarsely and took it with trembling hands. He had to rest the mug on the arm of the couch right away or it would have spilled.

“Maybe we should go to the hospital,” Theo said worriedly. He knew how much Al hated going there, but he was starting to suspect this was more than they could handle at home. Al just coughed in response and took a small sip of tea. His curly dark hair wilted close to his head, dampened by cold sweat. “I’m nervous,” Theo added, biting his lip. It was already bleeding.

“Leave your lip,” Al said, instead trying to turn the conversation to focus on Theo. “I have to kiss those lips.” That was something Al said frequently, a running joke between them. Theo couldn’t bring himself to smile about it this time, though. 

“Please, Ally. I’m worried about that fever.” 

Al shook his head stubbornly. Theo, always one to avoid confrontation, just sighed. They’d already called the doctor twice, who’d sent them steroids and made an appointment for Al to be seen first thing Monday morning. It was now Saturday afternoon and Theo didn’t know if they could wait that long. Al had dealt with this condition his whole life though and Theo told himself that Al knew his body better than anyone. If he thought it was okay, it would be okay. It had been okay all the other times Theo had fussed over Al only for it indeed not to be that big of a deal. But Theo couldn’t fully ignore his instinct that something just wasn’t right here - and it was stronger than usual.

Later that night, he regretted not pushing harder. Al woke him up - something his boyfriend never did on purpose. He was sweating profusely and looked positively white even in the dark as he shook Theo’s shoulder hard. “Al?”

Theo heard the sound of noisy breathing. Gasping, really. He shot up in terror, immediately on alert. “Baby? What’s wrong?”

Al was sitting up in bed and had one fist clenched tightly against his chest. He seemed to have trouble speaking and forced out, “Can’t… breathe…” His words were accompanied by a high pitched wheeze.

Theo’s blood ran cold. He called 911 right away, not caring whether Al intended for him to or not. Al was literally fighting to breathe, there was no way that was okay. After making sure an ambulance was coming, Theo sat Al up higher in bed and positioned himself behind boyfriend, holding him upright. Knowing he was safe to do so in Theo’s arms, Al slumped bonelessly against him. “Stay awake, baby. Deep breaths. Just try. In and out…” His instructions were useless. Al could probably teach a class in proper breathing techniques. But Theo didn’t know what else to do. He was crying as he tried to keep Al awake until EMS arrived.

They lived close to the hospital on purpose and an ambulance came quickly, although those fifteen minutes felt like a year. They didn’t need to ask what the problem was - it was obvious as soon as they walked in the bedroom that Al was struggling to breathe. His eyes rolled to the back of his head every so often as he temporarily would lose the battle to stay awake. His oxygen saturation on room air was 69%. Al was loaded onto a stretcher in the back of the ambulance and immediately given oxygen. It worked quickly and soon Al’s O2 was at least back up to the 80s, and then they were off. Theo drove behind the emergency vehicle like a madman, not even considering if it could get him pulled over or not (thankfully, it did not).

He’d never been so scared before.

By the time they arrived in the emergency room and Al was placed into a small room, he seemed a bit more with it than before. No wonder, Theo thought in horror. With an O2 that low he felt lucky that Al had had the capacity to wake him up for help. He swore to himself that next time Al was sick he wouldn’t sleep at all. It was an unrealistic expectation, but Theo didn’t care about logic right now. All he cared about was that Al was okay. Although less acute than as they raced to the hospital, guilt and fear had a tight grip on him.

It was a long few hours in the emergency room. Theo kept Al’s hand tightly in his, even though Al was asleep for most of it. His oxygen was back up to the 90s on four liters and so Al finally let himself rest with the reassurance that if he did stop breathing, he was in the right place. His blood pressure and temperature were still high, but the most important part was covered for now. He was getting IV Tylenol, antibiotics and would be transferred to the floor as soon as there was a bed available for him. Theo didn’t let go of Al’s hand for a single second.

Once Al was settled in a room - Theo helping fill in all the admission questions because Al was too groggy to answer them, thank God he’d remembered to grab the folder that had all of Al’s medical information in it on the way out the door - he looked a whole lot better than he had at home. Sure he was in the hospital, but it was definitely where he needed to be right now. Theo sat in a chair next to the bed and let himself cry in earnest, finally.

Al’s eyes fluttered open and he watched Theo silently for a few seconds before he moved his hand to rest on Theo’s knee. Theo wiped his tears away and took Al’s hand, still hiccuping. “I was so scared,” he said.

“I know,” Al said quietly. “Me too. I’m sorry.”

Theo shook his head. “Next time, we’re coming earlier.” Al knew better than to argue right now, especially because he’d only just inadvertently traumatized Theo by being stubborn. It’d been many years since he’d been sick enough to warrant an ambulance ride; Al genuinely hadn’t expected to get so sick so fast. But maybe that was part of getting older. Al knew his lungs weren’t going to hang on forever, but he didn’t like to think about it if he could help it. It was too much. Too scary.

He stayed in the hospital for a week getting IV antibiotics, steroids and some serious PT before being released home - for the first time ever, with home oxygen. Theo stayed with him the whole time, listless and worn out. Al felt horrible knowing he’d done this to his boyfriend and so didn’t complain, even when he felt his heart clench with unhappiness when they showed him how to manage oxygen at home. It was only temporary, they told him. Hopefully. Al didn’t want to trust that too readily lest he be disappointed. He knew it was a step that many CFers didn’t go backwards from.

It wasn’t until they were back home in their wonderfully quiet apartment, showered and in their own bed, that Al told Theo, “Please stop sulking. I promise it won’t get this bad again.”

“You don’t know that,” Theo said, hugging himself. The nasal cannula hooked over Al’s ears was difficult for him to look at now that they were home. It represented more than he was ready for - the looming threat of Al’s illness, ever progressive in nature.

Al sighed. “You’re right,” he said tiredly. “I don’t know. But we can’t start living like it’s all already over.”

“I’m scared,” Theo admitted, voice breaking. “I know you’re probably more scared but I’m scared. I don’t want anything to happen to you. What if… what if you hadn’t woken me up?”

“But I did,” Al said. “And we’re gonna be more careful from now on. I promise.”

Theo sniffled, trying not to break into full tears yet again but it was hard. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Ally,” he whimpered.

Al gathered him into a tight hug. “I know. I feel the same way. But we just… The only thing we can do is keep fighting, right?”

“I guess you’re right,” Theo said quietly. It didn’t seem like enough, but it would have to be. He hugged Al tighter. “Don’t let go of me,” he said.

“Never,” Al promised.

[zenkindoflove]

How do you determine the heat/spice level of your chapters/fics? What other types of fics can you see yourself writing with Eris?

Thanks for the questions, nonnie!

How do you determine the heat/spice level of your chapters/fics?

I guess - I don't. LOL. Mostly, I decide will this have smut in it, and then I go from there. Most of the time the decision is more how in detail will this smut scene go? Which the answer is almost always a lot of detail. My inclination/style seems to lean more is better in terms of trying to make the smut scenes immersive. Sometimes, especially if I'm writing chapter fics with a lot of smut scenes in them, I will make decisions over whether certain scenes just need to be a little glimpse rather than a full scene. But the details in that little snippet tend to be as spicy as the full scene, if that makes sense. If I'm not going to write smut at all, that gives me a pretty good inclination that interactions may only be cute/tension/romantic/a little heat/fade to black.

What other types of fics can you see yourself writing with Eris?

Oh, that is a great question and gets very much into what I intend to do for Eris Week 2024. I have 2 solid story ideas to fit the prompts (War and Hounds) but might come up with more. I don't want to give too much away with those quite yet but they will be Eris x Alexius focused. Also, in between Summer Heat and my sequel fic, I do plan to write an Eris x Alexius short fic - likely a few chapters, so they can have their own solo story. Basically as a little tease - Eris strikes a deal with Helion and in return, Helion requires Eris to go to the continent for him. But of course he wants his trusted (sort-of) nephew and emissary to accompany Eris ;). All of my Eris ideas really fixate around Eris x Alexius because probably like most people who create an OC for him, I'm essentially obsessed now. I just think there is so much fun that can be had with their dynamic. And hopefully others really like it too.

[lostbutterflyutau]

(The picture is old, but it's the only one I have)

With Fruits Basket Mondays coming up and me wanting to do some of the prompts, I figured I should introduce y'all to my Furuba OC. Because in my mind, there is no Fruits Basket without her, so you'll be seeing a lot of her in my upcoming ficlets.

*** Shima Sohma is an aspiring writer and Shigure’s younger sister who joins his household shortly before Tohru, Kyo and Yuki begin their second year in high school. Though she is initially regarded as a side-character in Fruits Basket, she plays a major role in the events of my headcanon sequel, After Story.

Personality Shima is a gentle, reserved girl who tries to keep a positive outlook. She doesn’t like when other people are down and will always do her best to make them smile when they are. She also joins her brother in making jokes when she’s not scolding him. However, she’s also shown to have a rather serious, secretive side due to her knowing the darker sides of the Sohma family and the Zodiac curse. As a result, she forces herself to keep her emotions in check and has been known to suppress her own desires in favour of family interests. Early on, she is described by Tohru as having a hidden sadness in her eyes that betrays her loving, happy smiles.

Despite her need to often swallow her own emotions, Shima is shown to be rather loving and affectionate to those she cares about. She is unwaveringly loyal and can be rather overprotective over certain members of the family. She absolutely hates seeing others hurt and will go to the ends of the earth and back to make it right if she has to. With the affection also comes a caring, motherly side that she shows first in her worrying over Kyo, Yuki, Tohru, Isuzu and later on, the girls of the Flowering Trio, especially Seiya. She offers advice when asked and always seems to be there when someone needs a hand and a shoulder to cry on. It’s been speculated that this may be part of her way of dealing with the awkward position of being outside the Zodiac circle, but also not a full “outsider” due to being in the main family. It’s a way for her to feel useful when she’s lost in the shuffle of things.

Following the breaking of the curse, Shima begins to drop her secretive, reserved side and begins showing off her positive fun-loving side more, revealing herself to also be a bit of a flirt in the process.

Fashion Note    Shima prefers casual, comfortable clothing that’s both durable and fashionable. She usually wears dresses and skirts paired with either layered tops or simple shirts accessorised with cardigans or jackets. In the cooler weather, she adds leggings to these outfits and, in winter, opts for tights, only donning pants when she absolutely has to. Colour wise, she is typically drawn to pinks, blues and purples in varying shades. She tends to gravitate towards plainer styles and doesn’t particularly like wearing patterned clothing or gaudy accessories.

Role in Canon Shima is Shigure’s junior by seven years and was largely ignored by him for the first few years of her life. He was rather indifferent to the idea of having a sibling and didn’t even have anything to say the first time he saw her after she was born. To him, she was just there one day. And also an occasional inconvenience the few times he was charged with watching over her.   

However, despite his early indifference towards her, once she got older and started showing an interest in stories and books, the shared interest combined with them often being left to their own devices due to their parents’ busy schedules, led to them forming a close bond. Or as close as Shigure will let himself be to someone. She is one of the few people we do not see him manipulate, though it is speculated this is more because she’s never fit into his larger plan, even if her presence irritated Akito when they were younger.

Part of the reason that Shima clings to her brother is that he is her only real, true friend. She had trouble making friends at school due to her living on “the inside” and having to follow the rules that disallowed outsiders. The other girls at school decided that, because of her family status and the fact she never invited them over, she didn’t want to associate with them and thought herself above them. This led to her being outcasted and sometimes bullied by her classmates.

In her first official appearance Shima shows up on the doorstep of her brother’s house one early February afternoon and is greeted by Tohru, however, before she can introduce herself, Shigure walks by and is subsequently ambushed and transformed by this girl who Yuki identifies as “Shima.” A brief conversation reveals her as Shigure’s sister and a second-year university student who transferred to a local school after having trouble fitting in at her first choice. She declares that she is going to be living in the house, having been promised a place by Shigure the previous semester. However, he reveals that a lot happened and that since Kyo and Tohru moved in, there’s little space, forcing Shima to share a room with her older brother after some thorough cleaning and organization.

Following that cleaning, Shima accompanies Tohru on a grocery shopping trip in an attempt to get to know her a little better. During this trip, Tohru learns that despite not being part of the Zodiac, Shima has her own set of troubles that come with being the “normal” sister of one who is cursed. However, before she gets too far into the story, Shima cuts herself off and tells Tohru not to worry about it.

From that point on, Shima spends much of the series alternating between being an observer and a player in the main events of the story. She is revealed to be attending university alongside Kagura and is studying literature with the hope of becoming a proper novelist like her brother.

Shima, Kagura and Isuzu attended the same middle and high schools. However, despite Shima’s constant attempts to form a true friendship, Isuzu has typically regarded her coolly, presumably because she was simply afraid of and confused by Shima’s advances and kindness with her own history of abuse and Shima’s closeness with her manipulative brother. As a result, Isuzu constantly pushed her away, even though, deep inside she wanted to accept Shima’s affections.

Despite the distance she put between them, Shima still watched over and worried about her, even visiting her in the hospital against her wishes. It isn’t until after Tohru manages to soften her heart that Isuzu finally begins to open up to Shima, who not only rushed out to help comfort her as she clung to Tohru but also assisted in making gelatine, which she identifies as one of the few foods she’ll eat while in hospital.

After spending time with Isuzu following an altercation with Akito at New Years in which, after a chance meeting in the hall following the incident with Yuki, an already enraged Akito grabbed and proceeded to swing her around by her hair until Kureno and Shigure stopped it, Shima becomes increasingly curious over the secrets and plans that her brother is keeping when Isuzu reveals that she went to ask himabout breaking the curse. She also points out the fact that he’s always been close to Akito as reason to be concerned – especially after what happened to Shima a few nights prior. However, for all her efforts, Shima finds that she just can’t figure out what he’s doing, not until she overhears him speaking to Tohru at Kazuma’s dojo while on her way to visit Isuzu. Coming around the opposite side of the house, she stops and slinks back behind the building when she hears his voice, and though Isuzu does see her, she says nothing.  

The following night, though Shigure is out late, Shima waits up for him. When he slides open the door to their room, he’s greeted by Shima sitting in his chair. She turns her head in his direction and, using his full name – which she only does when she’s angry – says they need to talk. She then continues on to say that she overheard him at the dojo and questions if not only what he said about the ending of the curse is true, but if he’s actually been using Tohru as one of those “changes” the whole time. He doesn’t answer, but the look he gives sets off an emotional tirade that ends with her claiming that, “This isn’t a family. It’s a goddamn circus act! And you’re trying to be the ringmaster!”

Shima then goes to smack him, but Shigure catches her hand and tells her to mind her own business. Knowing that there’s no more to be said, she pulls her hand from his grasp and goes to leave, stopping only to say that she doesn’t believe he – or anyone else in the Zodiac – is a monster.  

The conversation puts a wedge between the siblings. Shima retreats into herself and becomes rather aloof and far more quiet than usual, as his reaction marks the first time in a long while Shigure has outright rejected her, leaving her feeling left out and useless. This rift appears to be silently mended following Tohru’s fall from the cliff and everyone’s focused shifting to her as both seemingly realise that there are more important things at stake. She also previously ran off with Yuki to find Kyo and along with the former, is the one to find Tohru at the bottom of the cliff, covering her with her cardigan after being the one to lean over and confirm that she’s breathing. And, during Tohru’s hospital stay, Shima assumes her household duties on top of her own without a complaint and reassures her during a visit that while she is missed, for the time being, the house is running just fine.  

During the breaking of the curse, Shima is shown with Shigure at the house, and when she notices his change in demeanour and goes to ask what’s wrong, he grabs her wrist and pulls her towards him, saying that he knows how long she’s “waited to do this” as he hugs her for the first time. However, he also says that there is one more thing and, shortly afterwards, Shima is introduced to Akito as a woman in a private meeting.

After learning this and listening carefully to her story, she offers a hand of friendship to Akito that the other woman reluctantly accepts. Shima is then seen leaning against Shigure with her own book in hand after Akito reveals herself to the younger members of the zodiac. After hearing the footsteps, she silently reaches up and tugs on her brother’s shirt to get his attention, he gives her a look and she stands without a word, only pausing to give Akito a smile before exiting the room.

Finally, in the last chapter and episode of the anime, Shima and Akito are out shopping together and engaging in playful banter to which Shigure comments that they’re “Getting along as fine as ever” with the girls commenting that their tiff is just “part of being besties,” signalling that, not only has Akito accepted Shima’s friendship, but that they’re close enough to be considered best friends. 

[holocene-sims]

Seven Sins Challenge Which of your OCs fits pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. Then pass it on…

oh this is such a cool challenge!! it's perfect for thinking of & utilizing my characters differently. thank you so much for sending this prompt my way <3

pride - grandma aoife. she has an IMMENSE amount of pride. anything that makes her look even marginally weak, out of control, or wrong gets an immediate and very visceral reaction, and she takes pretty desperate measures to preserve her outward appearance, whether that is literally the way she looks or perceptions of who she is. like she cannot live without the protection pride brings.

greed - honestly? it's grant's dad juhani. i know, i know, we don't see him much, but he's definitely the greedy one (other than mary.) he cares a lot about making money, as evidenced by that one dinner post in the story when he, mary, and their friends were trying to convince grant into being a doctor because it's a profession for the wealthy (and that the money matters more than helping people...)

wrath - hey mother mary, this is the place for you, you monster! i got nothing to say for her except she's an extremely evil and vengeful woman. nasty nasty nasty

envy - hmm, this one was the hardest for me to decide on without repeating a character because i think SO many of my sims could fit in this category. but i would actually say kelly, grant's sister. i don't want to spoil too much because i have plans for addressing the family backstory more, but just based on what's already posted, you can see she's very envious of the way elizabeth (the other sister) was treated, and she does some wack shit to try and receive the same treatment.

lust - we all know who this is! it's miss santa fucker päivi & her cheating ways!

gluttony - let's be real, it's grant. he's a perfect fit because he's the dude with previous (and nigh fatal) drug and alcohol addictions, and who still to this day has a penchant for binge eating to fix his feelings because he can't (and won't) use chemical solutions now. he is far better now but i think that urge is always going to be in him. it's just been a coping mechanism for so long and the particular mental health ailments he struggles with are co-morbid with these not very helpful coping strategies.

sloth - this is colm. he tends strongly towards being very lazy (unless it something is 100% interesting to him, at which point he'll get shit done.) but usually, he puts everything off, even the stuff he's at least semi-interested in. he's kind of all or nothing.

[theimperialnuisance]

FFXIV Write 2023 || FFXIV Write info\\Prompt list\\Character info \\Master post ||

Prompt 19: Weal

a raised mark on the skin caused by being hit or injured

Character(s): Atticus Wolfram  Cw: very mild injury and blood descriptions but really only mentions of it, no major detail Word count: 695 Notes: all of my oc’s fit this one so in the true nature of an indecisive person, I did a random name generator! It landed on Atticus so have a soft and angsty story of some pre-arr hcs :3 Sorry if the ‘event’ is vague here but I plan to elaborate it further later on cause it is canon to his backstory but I didn’t have the time or brain space to type it all out XD 

“You’re reckless, you know that?” 

Atticus wanted to laugh in response but that soon cut off with a hiss through his teeth as a cold cloth was gently pressed to his cheek. As much as the coolness should have brought relief to to fresh cut on his skin, it ended up stinging much more. 

“Keep hold of that to stop the bleeding and I’ll tend to your other wounds.” 

Atticus obeyed, knowing better to not argue with the woman who had been looking after him ever since he arrived to Ul’dah. She was much older than him, a short and stout hyur woman named Ryelle who ran a local herb and remedy shop. “I’m no healer, but I can make a damn good potion,” she had told him when he first stumbled into her shop nearly three years ago. Ever since then, it became almost second nature to go to her when he needed a potion or two to numb the aches and pains from his job since he had no affinity to healing magic either. And over the years, she began to look out for him more than just selling a remedy or two, becoming one of the few people who knew about his past and his current occupation, the real one and the under the table one.

“What did you do this time?” Ryelle asked in quiet exasperation as she gingerly lifted his arms one at a time to examine the scratches and weals that decorated them, some already bruising underneath the dried blood. “Gunbreaker business, or Reaper business?” 

Atticus didn’t respond, the wound on his cheek still made it difficult to talk. Even so, he didn’t think he could talk about it just yet, the mere thought of having to recount the previous event to someone made his throat tight and his eyes sting. Though he tried to keep his expression stoic, Ryelle was too observant and caught on. 

“You don’t have to hide it Atticus,” she said softly as she took over the cloth again still placed against his cheek. “but you can tell me when you’re ready.” she pulled the cloth away, discarding it now that it was red with blood and gently brushed a thumb near the raised skin, still reddened and raw but at least the bleeding had stopped. “This will probably scar,” Ryelle tutted and Atticus winced a little at the contact. “I’ll at least get you a potion to help aid the pain and healing process but without any sort of healing magic, you’ll have this as a reminder every time you look in the mirror.”

Atticus swallowed the lump in his throat, finally finding his voice. “I want the reminder.” 

What he had to do today would be forever burned into his memory and the physical reminder of his mistake would be enough to not let things get out of hand again like they did today. That was his thought process, at least. One that probably made no sense to the woman in front of him but it was enough for him and that was all that mattered. 

Ryelle let out a sigh as she gave the Elezen a fresh cold cloth to press to his cheek again before standing up. “Stay put with that, I’ll grab the potions for you and then we'll stitch and bandage you up.” 

Another silent nod as she began to retreat to the front of the store. “Oh and Atticus?” A quiet hum in response. “After I’m through, I’m closing up early and making you a nice dinner and you’ll be staying here for a few days to rest, got it?” 

Atticus looked up at her, a small grateful smile spreading across his face. “Thanks Ryelle,” he really didn’t know how or when this whole mother/son relationship between them became so strong but he didn’t want to question it. It was something he had craved since he fled his homeland and he wanted to hold tightly to it as long as he could. 

Ryelle smiled warmly in return. “Think none of it, love.” She then disappeared to the storefront to gather her supplies to finish patching him up. 

[ifonlyitwasmidnight]

Not really a request, but more like a question. Do you have any Tokyo revengers oc? I post my oc, but I’m kind nervous what will other people think of her and I’m worried I may have made her too boring. I also have other Tokyo Revengers oc, but I been struggling to find a look that will match her personality any advice?

Hey!

I do have an OC for Tokyo Revengers! She's a single mom who bumps into the Toman boys, and they bring her into the fold. She's a newer one, and I'm slowly building her backstory and look. My OC fics tend to be quite long, so I don't know if they are traditionally Tumblr-fed, but I hope to share her someday.

Personally, I love OCs, and I love reading other people's OCs. Fanfic, at its core, is purely self-indulgent, and creating OCs is the perfect way to engage in those thoughts and wants as you explore your way to find your escape, feelings, or unbridled love for the media you are creating the OC for.

The stigma around OCs is hard to overcome, especially since they tend to be so much closer to your heart than just a reader insert or y/n fic. But your writing is for you.

The best advice I have ever received in the industry is this: Your writing is not boring. You know the story's outcome and where it's going, so it can seem boring and predictable to you because you know what will happen.

That being said, your writing isn't boring. But! It is also okay if it is "boring." Boring doesn't equate to "ugh, this is so boring," like we would say when we are understimulated. Sometimes it isn't a traditionally climactic part in the story, it's set up/backstory, or it's a downtime in the second half of the story arc before the reveal. Slow parts are necessary to writing to give you and your readers a moment to breathe away from the action and recenter with the characters. I know you asked about boring characters, but the thought of boring characters fits in with a boring story.

As far as a boring character, you can always sit down and have what I like to call "coffee chats" with her. Figure out what she loves. What's her ideal date. How does she respond to a stressful situation? What's her dress style, favorite food, and favorite movie. To make dynamic characters, you have to know them like the back of your hand. Is she frugal, or does she spend money when she gets her hands on it? It's like going on a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd date with your OC, where you ask every question under the sun to try and get to know her. There are a lot of really great prompts out there where you can fill out character sheets that will help you get to know them. When you think your character is boring, it's probably because your brain has a question about them that you still need to figure out.

It can be shocking what you find out about your characters when you sit down and really think about the nuances and ticks. It brings you much closer to them, and you don't wind up with a character that feels discombobulated where you have to stop and think just how she would react to a situation she's found herself in.

Finding a type match can also be a journey. With my OCs, I tend to think, "what kind of person would I want to surround myself with" and work from there. I've pulled from many influences before to create characters. Sometimes they just appear in my head as "single mom, overworked, looking for an escape, found family," and then I build from there. To be honest with you, I've written myself into an OC before and ran with it because, at the time, my soul needed it to heal. Again, character sheets will work wonders here. You start small and work up from there. Sometimes when you figure out their personalities, their physical looks will come to you because you will find out what matches them based on that.

We write what we know.

And that's okay.

Sorry, this turned out to be so long. Writing at its center is my passion and, ultimately, my job, so I tend to be long-winded.

P.S. I saw the post of your OC, and she is gorgeous. I can't wait to meet her.

[autumnslance]

(@driftward) Let's see. Let's Get ((REAL)) fic writer asks, for.. ✨, 💫,🎀,🎀,🎀,💌

*screeches*

Someday I am making a prompt list and there'll be no numbers or letters or symbols, just the questions so folks who aren't menaces have to put the full text in the Ask.

Anyroad. Scheduling maintenance on our local bot later. For now:

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

Fics like "When Everything Changes" and "Where the Skies Are Safe" are works I'm quite fond of, but are hard to sell to fandom readers either here or on Ao3; they're from the perspective of my OCs as small children, and very few people want to read kid fic.

But a chunk of my literature studies were in YA and Kid Lit, as I originally was dual-majoring an Education degree, and I've always found getting into a child's (or pet's) mindsets and perspectives to be an interesting exercise as a writer, and finding what new info it can reveal that an adult POV won't notice or would see differently.

💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

Any and all of them, but incoherent screeching is always fun, as are rambles about what someone liked, maybe even the why if they can articulate it (if not, that's cool, just copy-pastes of favorite lines with keysmash responses are great too).

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

x3?!

FINE.

-I am a decent mimic; I can copy a style and voice patterns pretty well, enough to make what I'm writing read or "sound" like the style I'm playing in. The attempt in many of my works to feel like quest text or the official stories on the Lodestone is intentional, and I feel good when I get comments on it cuz that's the goal.

-I can drop some evocative, pithy lines to make one giggle and/or break one's heart.

-My constant replaying and revisiting the text, and talking to/reading about others' canon-centric takes on characters and situations, means my NPC characterizations tend to be good. Which is good practice for making my own OCs distinct people that fit into the world well.

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

(Again, with the caveat I've been in a bit of a slump break since BSotP, here's a bit of more the Thancred in the First fic I don't...think? I've shared? If I have, what of it! Below the cut cuz someone asked multiple questions so this got long.)

“So can you build it?” Thancred asked.

The blacksmith looked over his crude drawings and the schematics pulled from the Tower’s archives, as well as the detailed descriptions Thancred had painstakingly written with Gridick’s aid. “I think so; enough to get a prototype working, and then we can go from there.”

Thancred nodded. “Do let me know,” he said, offering his coins for the initial deposit.

It had been several months since that first disastrous patrol. Thancred had been on a few other patrols since, as well as forays into the forest on his own. The more common wildlife wasn’t much of a problem, but the sin eaters, when stumbled across, left him feeling as if his simple blades were no longer adequate.

So he had delved into the Tower’s archives, seeking out weapon schematics. The Exarch couldn’t say which time period the Tower had come from when summoned to the First, but Thancred figured it had to be later than his own, since the Tower was still in Mor Dhona from his perspective.

Days of searching had found not only equivalent Allagan plans, but also a few Garlean and even proper Bozjan examples for the sort of gunblade he wanted. The weapon would still allow him his speed and dexterity, but also was far more defensive, for himself and others.

The only trouble was going to be the cartridges, as Thancred could not imbue them himself. That was a bridge to cross later; for now, he would see if the Mean’s artisans could even create a workable gunblade.

He made his way across the Crystarium toward the markets before returning to his apartment. He wanted to stop by the city’s single barber.

Thancred still wasn’t the best at shaving daily; his schedule was still too easily thrown off, he was often in the field, and frankly it wasn’t much of a concern. His hair was getting far too long and ragged, though, enough that something had to be done.

In another moon, he would count a year on the First, though the mirror still showed only a day had passed on the Source, which was the smallest of comforts. He helped the Exarch search the Tower’s archives as the man tried various spells and counter-effects to send Thancred’s soul back to his body, but to no avail.

[sheriff-t-money]

Hey, everybody!

So, I've been seeing quite a few posts about people having an interest in RPing. I thought I'd write a quick little guide to help those interested get started! This is not, by any means, an exhaustive guide. Nor is it rules. It's guidelines, folks, so you can take and ignore whatever you want. It's mostly just to cover the sort of etiquette that has developed within the roleplay community over the decades.

First, it's a good idea to choose a character you feel connected to or have a deep interest in writing. That might be a canon character (someone who actually exists in the media, i.e. Travis, Jacob, Ryan, Emma from The Quarry), or an original character (OC) who does not exist in the media but who you develop yourself. Canons do tend to get more love in the roleplay universe, but there are writers out there who are happy to write with OCs, too.

Second, once you've decided on a character, it's time to make a blog! Most RPers won't write with you if you're writing on a personal blog. It tends to be a personal preference. I don't care, myself, but if you want to make headway in a fandom, then you might want to consider making a sideblog, at the very least, for your character.

Third, the trickiest part is finding people to write with. Fandoms ebb and flow with activity as time goes on. Old fans leave and new fans discover it and join. You can search Tumblr tags for a particular RP fandom (i.e. "Quarry RP") or look through the various tumblrs devoted to RP hunting and requests. You can even submit your own requests.

Four, after you found a few blogs, it's a good idea to check their tumblr for rules. Some people will make a pinned post (people who are much better at tumblring than me, for example) while others will have a link to the rules post on their actual tumblr profile. Look them over and make sure you're a good fit for that person. A lot of adult writers, for example, will not write with writers who are under the age of 21 or 18.

Five, if the rules check out, then it's time to make contact. First, follow the blog and wait for them to follow you back. If you get a follow, then that's a sign that they have an interest in writing with you. This is where having your own blog for your character helps. Most writers won't follow back personal blogs.

Six, if you get a follow back, then it's time to discuss plots. There are usually two methods for this. The easiest is to simply send them a message. Let them know you're interested, see if they want an interaction, too, and if you really want to show them you're motivated, perhaps suggest a few possible storylines. Nothing too involved, just basic ideas. If they say no or don't respond, then try not to take it personally. There are some characters that just don't interact well with other characters in the sense that it can be difficult to think of organic interactions that they might share. The other way is to send them a prompt or meme through their Asks. Double-check the rules to ensure they're okay receiving those without prior interaction.

Seven, after you've plotted, it's a good idea to determine who is going to write the starter. For some plots, it might more sense for one character to start things off than the other. If the other writer tends to be busy, and you're not, then you can also always volunteer to write one. Often, the hardest part of getting a story going is simply starting it.

Eight, when it comes to formatting, Tumblr is the wild west. You'll find most veteran writers formatting their posts in some way. They'll pretty up the text and use some stylized icons. You can do as little or as much formatting as you want. I keep things pretty basic because I just don't have the time or energy to devote to making my posts look aesthetically pleasing. You're more than welcome to make yours as gorgeous or as plain as you want. Most writers tend to care about the quality of the writing over how pretty it looks.

Nine, and that brings us to quality. Writers all have their own standards. I'm old and I've been writing for almost two decades now, so my standards tend to be on the higher side. Others are a lot more lax. And some have standards even higher than myself. The quality of a post comes down to a few things. The first is authenticity of the character you're portraying. If you're doing things wildly out of character for no reason, then that can be jarring. Secondly, is how well you engage the other character. For example, the best writers tend to be able to give something for the other writer to build on. It may not be possible for every post, but in most cases, if you're only giving one-worded sentences that don't drive the action, then you're making it harder for the other character to interact with you. What's keeping them from just having their character walk away from yours, for example? Thirdly, grammar. As a professional writer, I tend to be a grammar whore (although typos are totally fine, I do them all the time). How a person formats their posts might interfere with some rules of grammar. For example, it's standard practice to write dialogue with double quotation marks, but some writers might use single quotation marks because of how they want to format their posts. That's totally fine. If English isn't your first language or you struggle to write well, then I have the trick for you. Chat GPT. Get a free account, copy and paste your reply in it, and then ask it to edit the post for you. You have yourself a--mostly--error-free reply!

Ten, have fun. Roleplaying is two-parts fun. The first is interacting with others but the other is really developing your character yourself. Think of headcanons, develop playlists (both songs ABOUT your character and songs they might listen to themselves), write little ficlets, read fanfiction, explore fanart, and just enjoy who you're writing.

If you have questions, feel free to hit me up! As always, this is just guidelines! Take what you will and enjoy this lovely bit of escapism with the rest of us.

[glasswinggames]

6. My character creation process generally tends to be a bit unstructured 😂

Il for example came about after listening to a song! But generally I will have an inspiration or something that triggers an idea for a character, and then I go through several iterations of making them on picrews until I'm happy with the general traits.

With defining personalities, I choose one of my existing ocs, grab a random prompt and then write them interacting until it feels like I have a solid personality down. It also helps define the og ocs personality too.

Then I take about ten years to actually draw them and then voila 😂

When it comes to deciding where I'll use them though, that comes from what story I want to tell with them. If they're not a villain they're not cool enough to hang out with the eats crew, but they could fit in one of the two other ideas I have!

I nabbed this from @prikarin on bluesky! But thought this could be super fun!!

For every like or reblog I'll answer one of these!

[oddeyesarcpendulumdragon]

I was late to my own event but by god i’m still gonna do it!

drawing some updated designs for my Tokyo Mew Mew nextgen team! Most are retcons of old characters, but one of them is brand new. I have info about them under the cut if you’re interested!

First, in the black outfit, is Riko Aoyama, aka Mew Licorice. Her original name was Miyoko, but I changed it to Riko to fit more of the food naming theme (”riko” is just the first half of “rikorisu”, the pronunciation of licorice in Japanese). She is the daughter of Masaya, Ichigo, and Lettuce, and she is infused with the DNA of the Javan Leopard. She’s a little bit hard to get to know, as she can be a little prickly and introverted, but she’s very determined and has a strong sense of justice. She is 15 at the time of her infusion.

In the pink outfit is Mochi Aoyama aka Mew Mochi. She’s changed quite a bit from her original design; she used to be a blond infused with a labrador retriever, with a black and white outfit, and her name used to be Kanna. I decided to go for the three-colored mochi design for her instead, and she’s now infused with the DNA of a Darwin’s Fox. She is also one of Ichigo, Masaya, and Lettuce’s kids (the trio has two other kids, Takumi and Suika, who are not mew mews.) Mochi is shy and nervous and tends to hide behind her big sister Riko most of the time. She is 11 years old.

In the blue we have Kazumi Aizawa, aka Mew Mooncake. She is the adoptive daughter of Mint and Zakuro, and she took Mint’s last name to avoid the spotlight of Zakuro’s. She has a twin sister who is not a mew mew named Mai. Kazumi is infused with a Japanese Crane, and she’s 16 years old. Kazumi is very cheerful, kind, and enthusiastic; she works as a model and would like to become an actress. In her original iteration, she was the daughter of Zakuro and Keiichiro for some reason lol, and she was originally infused with a Mexican Gray Wolf, but I decided I had too many canines lol.

In the green is Suān Chéng Fong, aka Mew Lime. She is one of Taruto and Pudding’s kids, one of triplets. The other two are called Yòu Zi and Níng Méng (their names are all just words for citrus fruits: lime, lemon, and grapefruit). In her original design, Suān Chéng was named Kiseki, but I thought in hindsight that it was really weird for the daughter of a Chinese woman and an alien to have a Japanese name. She also used to be infused with a Chinese dragon, cause I thought dragons were cool, but I decide to make her infused with an okapi instead this time around. She’s very cheerful, energetic, and takes after her mother quite a bit. She’s 13 years old.

In the white is Sugiri Meguro aka Mew Currant, the only son of Berry and Tasuku. He’s probably changed the MOST. His original color was light blue, but I didn’t want him to overlap with Kazumi, and in his original iteration, his name was Sora and he was the son of Kish and an OC of mine lol. Since I’m detaching these kids from the original OC-centric story they were going to be the sequel too, that OC isn’t canon to this universe, so I decided to slide him over to another couple instead XD. He’s infused with a black-footed ferret (instead of the original wolf I had assigned to him). Sugiri is very adventurous, a little bit reckless, and definitely one of the most supportive people you’ll ever meet.

Then finally, in the purple, is a brand new character I made just this year, Makkaron Fiala, aka Mew Macaron! She’s actually an alien, and she’s the adopted daughter of Pai and his life partner (another newish oc of mine named Fran). She’s infused with the DNA of a roe deer, and she’s a very sweet gentle girl who loves cute and soft things, and loves to visit Earth to collect flowers.

And that’s them!! I’ll do a few more things with them with the OC week prompts (Even though I’m late) but I’m just very excited to have new designs of them!!