#and still can be kinda spoilery so keep that in mind!

[obsidianpen]

Tell me Tom is bad at feelings without telling me.... Loved your new B&G chapter, kinda knew that we'd have to see the Dark Lord version of Tommy sometime soon, but didn't think it would be THAT soon. I want my fluff back.

Anywho - kinda funny that he's all in Hermione's face about being her 'Master' when he's quite literally a slave to that WAP. I think Hermione needs to put him in his place ASAP. Here's hoping that whatever they see in the vision really shows just how 'worthy' she is of being his equal.

I am also honestly jealous of all the people that are able to fantasise about the ending - I honestly have no idea and I'm loving it.

My only (silly) question is - will the lines ever stop spreading? It's clear that they are literally everywhere (thanks Tom), but surely they are running out of space to spread?

Also - the hand shaped mark on Tom's chest that Hermione did - are they somehow connected? Sorry I know that's 2 question.

Feel free to ignore them if they are too spoilery! x0x0x

okay I’m glad someone else sees this too haha! Yeah, so not to get to into revealing toms inner turmoil (if you don’t like knowing what’s going on in his head stop reading this),

but I’m totally about to ramble big time because I think a lot of people are missing this. Lots of comments like ‘he’s such an asshole!! How dare he!!!’ Well. Toms definitely spinning. And can you blame the guy? He went from getting a bouquet of symbolic wildflowers from hermione that was even sweeter than she realized (he often gave flowers to his clients as a shop boy, and he even stole some for her accidentally - never imagined once in his life that he’d ever get any - yes because he’s a guy but also because he has a lot of hang ups, he is not used to gifts, he gives things to manipulate and he takes the things he wants), and after deciphering all that realizing (even if he wouldn’t say as much) that he’s fucking down so bad for this witch, fully enamored, must keep. And THEN she’s sick and THEN she doesn’t take his nice ‘take a nap, love’ potion and THEN she gets kidnapped by Dumbledore and the freaking MACUSA and THEN he’s pleading with freaking Hepzibah like some lovesick peasant for help and THEN, when he’s knee deep in imperious curses and dark marks and internationally kidnapping metamorphagi bartenders, THEN, while retrieving her wand from the Ministry despite how tricky that is (like a true gentleman)… he finds out this bitch stole his ring. Which means she knew about his horcrux (well it was horcruxes but he didn’t know that then poor lamb) and in his mind, the only reason anyone would go after a horcrux would be to destroy it. Tom had to process a lot, still had to save her because he can’t have this seer who knows all about him in Dumbledore’s clutches, had to short term delude himself into pretending everything is totally fine until he gets her out, that whole grand escape thing happens, and THEN she wants to give him a blowjob??? Which he’s never trusted anyone to do, let alone this witch he’s obsessed with who destroyed his SOUL??? Who at this point he thinks is a world class psychopath, btw - but he lets it happen because even in his most crazed moments, he’s actually exactly what you said. And he knows it deep down, but can’t accept it, so yeah, he’s doing the whole ‘have to reassert my dark lord dominance’ thing, and while a lot of people reading seemed really hung up on him being a manipulative asshole (rightfully so, this is him), there was also a lot of pretty blatant worship in that chapter too (and in case this has also escaped the general notice, Tom is actually obsessed with pleasing her)

[passenger-girl]

Echoes of Wisdom spoilery thoughts on world building below!

I love the EoW Dekus! Love to see them in their wet jungle home. Probably the best place to put them, it fits with the swampy aesthetic they've been known to inhabit before. I also love how they, the ones living in the jungle, call everyone else "bumpkins."

The interactions between the two types of Zora was also something I had always wanted to see. I can see why, for a game keeping younger audiences in mind, they chose to keep the conflict between the two as simple as musical taste. The River Zora were kinda originally designed to look conventionally ugly, they were originally monsters as early as Zelda 1, so it very easily could have gone much farther with them being seen more monstrous than the Sea Zora. I suppose with the way Zelda timelines work you can assume that with these two types of Zora existing at once, any of the possible in-world racism around the two was already worked out in the past so as not to be depicted in a game. It's amazing how much of a difference just giving them the same dot eyes as any other of the races does, they're actually very cute this time around!

Seeing more Goron traditions is always neat as well! They're still as Goron as ever, and I think they did a good job with the Gerudo as well.

As for the map, I love that it is very clearly based on ALttP. It's pretty much 1:1, the main differences I noticed being that they extended the area past where the map cuts off in that game to put homes for the races that weren't in that game of course, but ALttP Kakariko Village looks like it is now some ruins in its place and they moved their new village closer to where the Gorons live. Oh and Link's house is no longer just south of Hyrule Castle but in that new Suthorn Village they added in the newly extended map area. This leads me to believe that this game is very clearly in the downfall timeline somewhere, likely a good bit after ALBW for that Kakariko to be in a ruined state. The map being extended like this also makes it seem like maybe those races existed back during those games as well, Link just never needed to explore so far out as to come across them.

A bit surprised to not see any Rito though, those guys still seem to be a mystery outside of the adult timeline and of course BotW/TotK, probably by design. They're probably meant to be a pleasant surprise to WW fans whenever they do manage to appear.

Grezzo hit it out of the park with the world building in this game in my opinion. I'm absolutely looking forward to seeing them make more games like this one, whether they work on more Zelda or set them in worlds entirely of their own design!

[einsatzzz]

Hello ❤️ I have some meta asks for your ocs

Kana: What controversies/drama would your character incite in fandom?

And (yes she gets two because I am biased and looking for crumbs)

What is the quote between your character and their love interest/whoever they might be shipped with that their fans would latch onto?

Kurumi: What would be the ‘incorrect but wildly popular’ interpretation of your character in fandom?

Yui: If your character had a breakout show/film/comic, what would the plot be? Who would be in their supporting cast?

- 🍎

Hello 🍎Anon 🫶✨👀 Thank you for sending this over and enabling me to yap more about my blorbos 🥰🥰🥰 I only know what to talk about when I draw them, but for pure text posts I often blank out on what to say, so I love asks! I will try my best to give you Kana crumbs too!

🍎Kana: What controversies/drama would your character incite in fandom?

If Kana were a canon character, Kana and controversies/drama are like blood brothers, like soulmates. They are a set package. It wasn't there at the start or perhaps there will be initial discourse about her gender. But fandom will find out eventually that they have bigger fish to fry. As more and more layers of her character gets revealed, the more fandom discourse there is. She is certainly not a character for people who view things in a black or white manner or those with low reading comprehension 😭🤣😭🤣 *looks at those gear grindingly loud mfs on twi//ter*

On the surface, she would prob be reduced to either a some kind of siscon (memes included) or straight-up a cruel/heartless character with ulterior motives ("maybe her love for Kurumi is just a facade? and she has ulterior motives?"). If you peel off the first few layers, you will see that she really does genuinely love Kurumi and her family, for better or for worse. If you peel off more layer, you will see an asshole. If you peel even more layers, you will see an even bigger asshole banned from hell.

Also do you know that one meme where they keep putting Oi\\kawa (from Hai\\kyuu, a VOLLEYBALL series) in a line up of actual villains/war criminals?

Kana would be there, except she kinda deserves to be there. People who don't get the joke would complain about why Oi//kawa keeps getting included in these fuckass lists that includes Kana and other messed up characters lmao (truthfully i didn't get it at first when i saw it and was lowkey pissed since im an oi//kawa oshi lmaooo now it's just funny every time i see it. still crazy to see him lined up with characters like d//io or aiz//en or gri//ffith like damn wwwwww)

Did you know? My favorite character from Monster is Joh//ann Lieb//ert hahahaha nothing important, just wanna say it haha,,,hahaha,,,,, pls ignore if you don't know Monster sdkjfsdhvfsd

🍎Kana: What is the quote between your character and their love interest/whoever they might be shipped with that their fans would latch onto?

The least spoilery thing I can come up with on the spot on is Hibari telling her "You're so stupid (affectionate & relieved)" after she does (and says) something objectively very stupid that could even give YuiRumi&family a heart attack & a stroke simultaneously.

Short, simple, effective. ME, personally, I will lose my mind and latch onto it even on my deathbed.

If you want something that could potentially come from a Kana POV, I do have a quote like this saved:

🎀Kurumi: What would be the ‘incorrect but wildly popular’ interpretation of your character in fandom?

For Kurumi, I think modern fandom would focus too much on her gender? There would be a divide in the fandom based on how they interpret the "Gender: ?" in her profile lmao We can see a lot of people insisting that she's non-binary. That's fine and all, everyone is free to interpret characters as they like (except if the creator has reiterated clear rules and boundaries for it). The problem is that we can also see people say that you can't refer to her as anything else but non-binary sjdgbhjsdfvhjsbfd

🤖Yui: If your character had a breakout show/film/comic, what would the plot be? Who would be in their supporting cast?

My understanding of this question is that it's asking for a Yui spin-off where he's the MC! It would be in a light novel format under the romantic comedy genre (with some sci-fi, perhaps? because he loves making robots hahaha inb4 it becomes a mecha story). The story's main couple would be him and Hiyori, because that's what Yui would've wanted. He is delusional and down bad.

In terms of shipping, we actually have three main ships we've committed to. It's just that I often end up posting about the two CanonxOC pairs more sjkdfjskdf but the third one is an OCxOC pair between Yui and Hiyori (YuiHiyo). Sowwwwyyy Yui! uwu Hiyorin is holding me at syringe-point and telling me to shut the fuck up about it.

[dia-smthidk]

if this is too spoilery to answer that's fine-!!! but I'll ask anyway!!

is ragatha friendly, and just so happens to be infested with centipedes? or does she control them and make them kill you on purpose?

i love the au!!!! keep it up :D

she is quite friendly, it’s just the centipedes aren’t big fans of people going near their home

Still kinda debating on if she can control them or not, so for now they’re just minds of their own

[storytellers-and-co]

Ya boys about to hit Shadowbringers

I got through Stormblood post-game last night and BOY what a ride it was!? I could barely put the game down, even when I was trying to pace myself so I don't leave certain friends too far behind. Adding spoilery stuff below the cut, because I know one of 'em reads this blog (I just need to gush a little while things are still fresh in my mind)

Okay so. All the revelations of Garlemald and how, WHY it was created? I loved that, it so easily explained why a whole ass country has been the default 'evil conquerors' for so long without any real challenge or change until now. Because the real man behind the whole thing is STILL AT IT. Change don't happen if the original reason, the original driving force is still kicking about.

Also I wanna kick Solus. I wanna kick Solus so hard. Props for the animators, writer and Rene Zagger, it's on sight now old man, I'm coming for your kneecaps!

Speaking of voice actors, Luke Allen-Gale! Hot damn did he do a good job as Zenos (and the possessed Zenos)! I have complicated feelings about Zenos, ngl - He's one of those characters that I know cannot be saved, fixed, or redeemed, but I can also see why he's such a popular character? Personally it's the voice and certain lines that did it for me. Got some shivers out of certain line-deliveries.

He's actually a character that makes me kinda sad - it's a reminder that there is some characters that are doomed by the canon, they'll never be good people, and yet you can see a glimmer, a potential of what-ifs, could-have-beens and all that. A road that was there but refused by the character because that's just not who they are.

Also Varis is also on the kick on the face list. Black Rose is bad. Stop it.

AND NOW ON THE LATEST THING that actually got two of my friends laughing: The final fight against Zenos-Zombie! Zenbie? Zomnos? The- the dead body possessed by the Ascian who I keep calling Ildi because names hard. Ildinos.

So the final fight against him. One, I absolutely loved being Hien for a moment, he quickly became one of my faves through the Stormblood (he's such a fun, up-beat character that takes the life by stride while also not being a pushover, and that's such a good quality to have!).

Two.... GOD DAMMIT WHOEVER YOU ARE, COULDN'T YOU HAD PICKED A BETTER TIME FOR YOUR BLOODY HOUSECALL, YOU NEARLY COST ME MY HEAD! If it wasn't for our local stray cat of a dragoon, we would've lost then and there and you would've lost your chance to have the WoL helping out on the count of NOT HAVING A HEAD, pick your times better oui raatmacc raqan! (This is a joke I know he couldn't have known I was locked in a death-match. I hope.)

Now if ya wondering why I am not more outraged about the fact they've effectively kidnapped my friends, I uh. I actually felt a huge surge of sympathy at the start for the character. idk something about the voice painted a picture of someone desperate and... sad? Upset? Distressed? Something like that just got my empathy flaring up. So while I am mad that I keep getting these calls and everyone around me is panicking in fear, I also want to get to the bottom of this because apparently my empathy levels are far too fucking high.

(Yes I am the type of person who wants to help everyone in any of the games I play in. It's my ultimate power fantasy, being able to help and comfort folks without my actual personality coming in the way)

I think that's all for me now folks, I am taking a small break before heading to Shadowbringers - I have few alts that need to catch up to HW at the very least, and a laundry-list of things for my main to go through. Like all the gathering side-quests, Eureka, unlocking all the primal fights and fixing my glamors etc. We're also trying to get a house for Storytellers, so i gotta help gather some extra funds + items.

[azaracyy]

what color does your love feel like?

tagged by @einsatzzz thank you for tagging me! reading the results for your OCs are so fun (and the accuracy based on parts that i know too? holy cow??) in this post i'll also be putting the result with elise, along with my thoughts kept under cut so for once i'm not gonna be yapping in tags lmao

elise: warm burnt orange

Riding off into the sunset, the hope of a happy ending, the bitter after taste that still in it's own way smells kinda great. Your love is all bitter hopefulness, all about a broken heart that refuses to quit, all about the unshakable knowledge that a burning fire has a great comforting warm and a soft glowing light, all about the way when the sun comes down there's a beautiful starry night. It's stubbornness, it's the refusal to give up, the clutching of broken shards despite the searing pain and being adamant that dammit you can still make a beautiful stained glass window out of it. Yours is a screaming heart, a pleading love, a bitter and almost belligerent hopefulness that things will still work out even if you have to roll up your sleeves and make them. And god, aren't you tired? Isn't your heart heavy? Is all your hard work worth it? Don't you just want to curl up and let it be? Let the fire turn to ashes and the sky turn dark and let love die down and watch people leave? But you don't, do you? You're the bravest out of all of us, so you pick up the pieces and you keep going, you keep believing and you keep your heart full of hope because some day. Some day you know you'll get it. You keep riding off into the sunset and you keep filling my heart with hope as you go because god, how do I wish you finally get it too.

thoughts:

ein wasn't wrong when she mentioned some of the results were spoilery for her OCs because honestly, same?? 😭 except i haven't even gotten to share anything plot relevant about my OCs the mention of "hope" is spot on for elise because if she were to be assigned a crest like the adventure kids, hers would be hope. elise is for the most part not that attuned to the concept of love. especially when it's related to romance, she's in fact leaning to frigid - though calling her ice-queen-like isn't right either. though, if she were to reach that point with (for?) someone, i'd say this sounds about right. i don't mind that this doesn't make any sense to people right now, perhaps one day when it becomes more relevant, this post will get dug up once more from the depths haha

[justaduckarts]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAJSHDUSBSISBSJSHSH DUCK HOW COULD YOU DO THIS

I've finally read the most recent chapter of OWHAS and I'm heartbroken. I feel so bad for Star Holder, they're just like the rope in a tug of war with gods and people on either side, and it seems some have started pulling them in other directions too :(

Also, this is, what? The second time Eclipse has interrupted an important moment for the Star Holder? But this time I'm actually upset. I can't wait for the next chapter! You're writing is just so good, it's better than any food to ever exist or ever will exist, I'm sure.

But I've been putting off asking some questions for the sake of going through your other asks to see if anyone has asked my questions before, which has led me to forgetting my questions more than 10 times already. So I'll just do it now before I forget everything tomorrow.

You said this story has a happy ending, and I'm glad it does because my heart can't take losing anyone in this story, I've grown too attached (except for peepaw Willy and Aurelia, hate them both). Does Peepaw Willy ever get taken out of Sun? I don't know if that's the correct way to phrase the question, but that's the best I can do. And I know that that's most likely going into spoiler territory, so I understand if you can't answer that at the moment. Do we ever get to see Sun happy, like genuinely happy again? Do we ever get to experience any sweet moment with him and Star Holder? I don't like what he's become, but I know it's not him, it's the stinky rabbit. But I still want the best for him and Star Holder, I want them to get along when peepaw willy is gone. Has Pluto taught the Star Holder how to keep other gods from pulling out the star? I know she said she will while the staff is making, but I'm kinda slow, and I just wanna know if she's taught them that already.

AND LUNARRRRR! Never thought I'd simp for Lunar, given his first impression in the story and how he's been appointed by Sun to be our friend (as a distraction but still), I thought I'd only see him as a friend. But stars above, you must use magic because your writing and drawings seem to make the impossible happen. And I don't know if the burnt place Lunar showed Star Holder was their village or not, but if it wasn't, then does Star Holder ever get to see their first home again? Do they ever get to see the ocean? Do they ever get to experience childlike wonders and heal their inner child? Because I know it's broken. And do they ever get to have a familiar? And since they're a god, does that mean they get eternal life until offspring(s) happen?

Once again, your writing is amazing and this au has taken almost every part of my brain. Every time I think "Well this is already amazing, how can it get any better?" You always just come back with even more and it's so mind blowing just reading any of your works. You're doing an amazing job, I hope everything goes well for yyou, and don't forget to take breaks whenever you need, eat and stay hydrated! We'll all be here for you Duck, and thank you for blessing us with your writing. :)

Hello!

WOW this was a big ask! So many questions!! <3

I'm right there with you. Our poor star is so overwhelmed and doesn't know what to think <:(

Yeeeeah Eclipse does have some poor timing. :) A shame. <3

Yes! This story will have a happy ending... eventually. Onto your questions. <3

Does Peepaw get exorcised? Hmm.. Can't say. Too spoilery. But given that it's a 50/50 chance, the odds are good, right?

Do we ever get to see Sun happy, like genuinely happy again? Yes. :)

Do we ever get to experience any sweet moment with him and Star Holder? Also yes. Eventually. :)

Has Pluto taught the Star Holder how to keep other gods from pulling out the star? No, but it's not needed. The Star will become fully merged with the star holder over time. At that point the only way it could be taken is if the Star Holder were to die. :)

And I don't know if the burnt place Lunar showed Star Holder was their village or not, but if it wasn't, then does Star Holder ever get to see their first home again? It wasn't their village. And, yes, they will get to see their village again... Eventually.

Do they ever get to see the ocean? Do they ever get to experience childlike wonders and heal their inner child? Askin' the real questions. Yes and... yes? I'd like to think so.

And do they ever get to have a familiar? Can't say for spoiler reasons. Again, odds are good.

And since they're a god, does that mean they get eternal life until offspring(s) happen? Only if they can maintain strong bonds with at least two of the other gods <3 Even then, they don't have an unending flow of magic to sustain them. If only they had worshippers...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Thank you sm <3 <3 <3 I'm so so glad and flattered and honored and fghiopwheogeb :') <3 <3 <3

I hope these answers were fun for you and thank you for this ask! You take care, too <3

[nerdierholler]

October Writing Day 3

I was tagged by @serenpedac and @evilbunnyking for WIP Wednesday and right now I'm working on prompts for the October so here's my Wednesday offering!

Sticking with Baldur's Gate Prompts and Kerric, here's the aftermath of the first major spoilery Dark Urge camp event. Followup part tomorrow!

Control (or lack thereof)

There’s no doubt in Kerric’s mind as to why his hands are covered in blood. He knew it as soon as he saw the body. This was him and him alone. Like so much else, he has no memory of what he’s done. Perhaps that’s for the best. Seeing the aftermath and finally knowing what he’s capable of is enough, remembering the deed would make little difference. 

Kerric sits down beside Alfira and waits for the others to wake up. At the very least he can watch for predators who might be attracted by the scent of so much blood and attack the camp or try to steal the body. Their gnashing jaws could hardly do more damage than he’s already done but Alfira had been through enough, she didn’t deserve that indignity in death just as she hadn’t deserved the brutality he’d inflicted upon her to end her life. 

The others begin to wake, he hears their shifting movements in the tents as they ready themselves for the day. Kerric waits. There’s no hurry. Not that he’s trying to delay the inevitable, he almost welcomes it, he would be deserving of any punishment the other’s found fitting. He wouldn’t even fight back. No, it’s mere practicality that keeps him silent, there’s no reason for the coming confrontation to begin with everyone else sprinting over alarmed and in their underwear. 

After some time has passed, Kerric calls out, “Over here! There’s something you need to see,” and stands, dry bloodied hands folded in front of him, comfortable with the idea that the next few minutes might be his last. 

I just think it’s weird that even if you decide not to hide the body or clean yourself, that the game kinda still acts like you did. You don’t get the option to be all, yeah that was me, I did it. Either in a proud or distraught way. And then you can still try to say what happened to Alfira wasn’t your fault in individual conversations. Kerric is like, “Nope, I did it. I understand if you hate me and want nothing to do with me. I don’t remember anything that happened or why but clearly something is wrong with me and you have every right to be concerned. I know that my feelings of guilt do not change the facts of what’s happened.”

[softpine]

Would it be too spoilery to ask if you can reveal a plot or two that would have gone differently if you weren't worried about people's reactions? I've been so curious ever since you said your characters are meant to be way worse people

oh sure!! it's not always that i'm worried about people's reactions, sometimes it's just because i dropped the ball or had other stuff going on. i just don't want anyone thinking they made me feel this way!!

the biggest one is that caroline and beth were supposed to get a divorce 🥴 back when they were fighting a lot over asa's worsening condition because caroline was adamant that asa was seeing ghosts while beth thought he was having a mental health crisis. but when asa went into another coma, they ended up reconnecting and slowly rebuilding their relationship (mostly because caroline stopped pressing the ghost issue). it felt natural to me and i think it worked out fine, but i wish i had gone with my gut.

my original plan was for them to drift even further apart when asa went into his coma. caroline would've gotten REALLY desperate, like séance / psychic medium kinda desperate, and beth would've gone the opposite direction and start contacting every doctor she can find. finn would've watched them fight and felt guilty for "destroying" asa's family, who seemed pretty damn perfect in finn's eyes. finn would wake asa up as normal, but the damage was already done, so caroline and beth would continue fighting. finn would beg asa to stop messing with ghosts/time travel and focus on his family (of course it should never be a child's responsibility to save their parents marriage, but finn spent his entire life placating his family and feeling guilty for their actions, so naturally he feels this way). asa is stubborn and doesn't listen (like usual). so that actually drives a wedge between asa and finn too. at the same time, danny and mikaela were not on the best terms because danny lied about going on tour. so everyyyybody was fighting 😭

in the heat of the moment, caroline would've suggested they get divorced, expecting beth to disagree and keep trying, but beth went completely silent instead, and it was an "oh shit this is really happening huh" moment for both of them. they would separate for a while, things still wouldn't get better, so they start talking to divorce lawyers. finally, asa steps in and does some light time traveling (lol) and revisits a bunch of his parents' best moments together so he can go back to the present time and drop hints, like "hey mom who taught you how to swim?" "did you guys have a favorite coffee shop?" "is it true you worked at the diner before i was born?" etc. just little comments that make beth and caroline remember the good times without being too obvious. and it kinda works?? caroline is waiting with her lawyer one day when beth shows up in a fancy dress and says "get up, we're going on a date". everyone is like ??? but beth explains that although they've known each other their whole lives, they never really got to just date each other, because asa arrived so soon after they got together. so they go out to dinner but they pretend it's a blind date. and they get really drunk and do karaoke to 'love is a battlefield' because duh. the next morning, they both call their lawyers and say oops never mind about the divorce thing :') and they stay separated / casually dating for quite a while, still building up their relationship. it would've had a happy ending, but it would take much more work to get there!

overall i just thought this story line would be too bleak and frustrating rather than being "fun" drama, but idk... i wish i went for it anyway. it would've been fun to deal with adult drama rather than teen angst for a change. i still have a bunch of leftover dialogue if you're curious!!

later, after they've been fighting for a while:

this was the other option that would've had basically the same function as the scene above:

i repurposed this sex planner discussion here lol:

[vermillioncrown]

eh, it doesn't really read as sanctimonious. makes sense. do you do anything in particular to develop the internal worldview of characters and how they "tick", besides writing interactions? do you keep character profiles or anything of the like? have a good day, and thanks for answering the first ask :)

okay good, it might have sounded a little "touch grass" for a minute there...

=

hmm...i don't do formal "character building exercises" or the like. even those character questions tire me out.

but yeah i keep notes. example of older notes that have little points of character development or relevant parts of them popping up per chapter, vs the overall notes above the timeline (tim and jason were harder to nail down so i needed notes vs dick):

or as @rozaceous has laughed at me... tallies and excel sheets, but those are so spoilery it's not even funny, but it'll be very funny to show when we get there bc. yeah.

not organized like a profile, but the main drive to write is something about this character sticks out at you (if fandom-related), thus let yourself imagine whatever scenario about that character with that salient point as a start.

example: dick grayson accidental child acquisition bc he's the one nice enough for a "child" to approach + looks old enough + plausible reason to be away from oversight -> build out connection to his job, history, where he is in canon, current connections. and i didn't figure out everything since ch 1; it's like peeling an onion lol. and as long as you don't overdo what you depict, you always have room to reveal and develop more

(example, i didn't think too hard on his relationship w bruce, tim, and jason until i had to. but the room i left in how it was only about his interactions with korvin + him being someone mission focused out of necessity and habit means you don't have to constantly sadboi introspect)

(another thing is...people usually don't introspect too deep if they're decisive and take action a lot. they can't afford to. and people don't completely know themselves, so it's okay to be wrong, as long as their wrong answer leads to a logical wrong conclusion)

(or you're writing someone completely bonkers and loose, then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but they still have their internal logic)

i balance between "lol wouldn't it be funny/sad/emotional if..." and vetting for the blorbo in question to connect it back to their canon. because the first part drives the desire to write, and the second makes the what-if have impact imo.

(you can kinda see that process happen simultaneously when i answer au what-ifs--unless something got posed where the central conceit was too far removed from the original point of the divergence)

when i don't need to iron out details i usually don't note it down, because i can always refer back to my previous bits or it's very obvious to me from the canon. if it's a difficult aspect to nail down, i take notes and keep them as an example to refer to.

i also walk a fine line between depicting idiosyncrasies vs flanderization. people are creatures of habit, right? but it's too easy to use that as a way to easily make characters distinguishable that it's like an overwrought performance rather than one of many traits in a complex individual. i keep habits in mind bc they're usually easy enough to remember by the time i'm writing out a whole thing vs note taking.

e.g. i wonder if you notice that in dick in my chapters doesn't swear much until he's under duress? he's very controlled, very practiced in keeping the mood light, such that it's just part of his internal narration.

Vs. babs, i have her more readily to be sharp and swear bc that's indicative of someone who's less outward facing on the daily compared to dick (she's only 2-3 years out from her injury and becoming oracle, and you need to imagine how someone who used to be so able as to be batgirl would feel to lose use of her legs. even if she does eventually accept her new state of being, it still sucks to say the least)

he's also an adult with a job (haha real life example), so his immediate concerns are very different from tim's as a comparison point.

=

there's not a hard formula. just take notes as you think (notepad, phone, computer), use the fun of blorbos and fandom to motivate you, and don't be afraid to revise and correct yourself. and don't let organization paralyze you (don't let perfect be the enemy of good).

uh...the easiest things for me to keep in mind are: vocab (internal and external voice), initiative (active/reactive or passive person), and mindset focus (do they introspect more or spend more time observing others)? -> and then i build out from there

and when you finally write something, read it out loud to yourself. make different voices. it's pretty easy to find when someone will say a thing vs if no one on their life would say that vs only an anime character would say that

[basslinegrave]

you know when you see me on tumblr while the movie isnt even over yet you know i have a lot to say about it. well. can be spoilery so dont read

just to keep it shorter i had my expectations way too high for some parts and while i did get some happy surprises theres also a serious lack of Something, which obviously, isnt good, its also a very weird or lacking setup for that something

theres some of it left but i dont think there will be anything thats gonna blow my mind. honestly im kinda over it, first half was fun, second started adorable but then i got bored? maybe im just in a poor mindset but it just didnt feed my cravings. plus some reference things were funny but were shown like Too much! one thing made me laugh but showing it again was kinda lame. another is like, an extremwely weird choice that i would have done soo differently but if it will make someone happy. why pick that specifically? huhhh... oh just realized we also didnt get to see what ppl were theorizing about, at least not yet, can still come so im off to watching

last thing, i would make some scenes shorter because there was absolutely no tension anyway. this movie is Not scary. instead i could imagine a hundred other scenes to add honestly...

[chordsykat]

I just finished Dethkomic and can't say enough about how cool it was! Do you have pointers for how to write like that, so things feel like they're really epic from the start? Really I can't wait for the second comic for that reason.

That word "epic" gets thrown around a lot, does it not? I appreciate it, though. It's definitely one of the adjectives I'm going for when I write. :)

As I've said in previous answers, I do fully intend to go into more detail about how I write and keep everything together for longer stories. But since you asked specifically about high-stakes fiction, I will give you a few things I've picked up over the years:

#1 - Kill your tank.

Well, maybe don't kill him/her. But take them out in a capacity that lets your audience know the looming threat, whatever it is, is not only very real, but probably going to be made all the tougher to disarm without the heavy.

I do this right out of the gates in Dethkomic II, because we're in that in-between of seasons 2 and 3 where Charles is dead -- but that won't be all I'll be doing in order to tip the scales in the bad guys' favor. You'll have to wait and see what I mean, but suffice to say, I kill a lot of tanks pretty early on.

Uh. Again... probably best you don't take that too literally. I know I'm kinda getting a reputation ever since I killed my own character but I'm not a monster...

Probably.

#2 - Mind your pacing. Mind your direction. Don't give your audience a chance to brace for impact.

There's a reason drama seems amped up ten-fold in a comedy, and it's the complimentary nature of both genres to build up a sense of security in what starts as a lighthearted romp, and ends with the floor falling out and everyone clinging on to what they can grab as shit suddenly gets serious out of nowhere.

This is why I like to write Dethkomic so much, and if I had to guess, why so many of us like MTL in the first place. If you're always surprised by what happens next, then you're going to be compelled to keep watching.

#3 - Do a musical number.

Music/singing/dancing is an immediate cue that some serious emotional turmoil is about to go down. If you can manage it, and if you're musically inclined, why not try to incorporate an original song with some foreboding lyrics into your story?

But wait, in a comic? Who would be crazy enough to...

#4 - Have compelling characters in the first place

This is easier in fanfiction than it is in original fiction, for sure. People are already following you because they find the canon material and its cast compelling. OCs too, get a pass I feel. Even if people don't love them immediately, they'll tolerate them so long as you're giving the main characters hell and putting them through crazy scenarios.

But don't neglect giving your OCs interesting backgrounds or fail to put them in equally frightening situations because you're worried about distracting from the canon. That's the stuff that'll get people on their side faster than anything. I guess, don't be afraid to write your own babies with all your heart.

So! I'll have more on this at a later time, I'm sure. It's a great question and one worth several journal entries, I think.

And now, if you're still reading, I'd like to take the time to respond to another anon query I got but cannot answer, publicly due to the question itself:

Jesus. I am forever damn impressed by you guys and how hardcore you all are about picking up these little breadcrumbs I've left behind in the things I post about Dethkomic.

To that end, I'm sorry I can't post your question in full here, OP. It's too spoilery.

But the answer is yes.

[formula-fun]

Ugh, can’t wait for the final chapters and the sequel!

I swear, your writing is so good and detailed that sometimes I think I’m watching a real good show based on real life events and not reading a fic. How does your mind keep coming up with so many incredible ideas?! I bet you’re a genius and a kick-ass arch student!!

I wonder if Max would hold growing up without his mom against Charles? Project his trauma, loneliness and exasperation of being a new parent to a newborn baby and staying at home with her onto his relationship with Charles and unconcsiouly guilt him (like he needed more of that) for being mostly away and not being a “proper” mother? From missing doctor’s appointments, milestones to the baby not feeling as comfortable with him compared to Max.

I feel Charles not being able to calm the baby and the baby possibly not recognizing him, would maybe be more painful than the pressure of the external sources and Max? Like moms are always expected to know what’s going on with their baby at all times and God forbid they miss something.

My guess is their internal battle is still going to be at the center but for different reasons this time.

Anyways, I’m too excited and I’m sorry if none of this makes sense but I’m typing this at work thinking of ways to kill time so I can go home after thinking about it all day yesterday instead of my final presentation for school. So yeah.

Lots of love and virtual hugs to you!!! 💛💛💛💛💛

Hi my dear, so sorry for the delayed response!!

That's so sweet of you, thank you so much <3 I'm definitely super detail oriented at this point in my life, but it's probably having a positive impact on my writing so i dont mind so much dfjdfjkdfkd I'm so glad you like my little fic though!! its my favorite distraction from school so it makes me really happy other people are enjoying it too.

Kinda spoilery answers ahead so i'll put a cut!

I think the answer to that question probably relies more on Max's relationship with his mom than his relationship with Charles! if his stance is that his mom did NOTHING wrong and he is definitely NOT fucked up from his childhood then he's not as likely to hold it against Charles, plus at this point he'd do anything to make Charles happy. That's not to say this definitely won't be an issue, but he's more likely to worry about himself fucking up as a father and primary guardian than he is to blame Charles for wanting to continue his career. Mostly though he probably just really, really misses him

You're definitely right about Charles and about motherhood though, that's going to probably be most of it! Motherhood is hard, not being around is hard, missing Max is hard, traveling alone is hard and then there's also the issue that any postpartum effects he's had have had to be shoved aside in favor of getting back into the car as fast as possible. I'm not gonna get too into the team and the sport and all that but a lot of his internal conflict is going to be about whether or not this is worth it.

Thank you so much for the ask!!! I hope your presentation went well, or if you havne't done it yet good luck! would love to hear about it either way <333

[vivispec]

so. absolution. i watched it last night and boy howdy am i a fan. i’ll give my non-spoiler thoughts above the read more, and then some more spoilery thoughts under the cut, keeping in mind i’m pretty easy to please. like golden retriever levels of easy-going.

first of all, can i just say what a wonderful surprise? when I first heard netflix was in charge of this, I was not exactly hopeful. the team did great, though. the whole thing was very respectful to the world bioware built, while still being unique and interesting. they used the lore to build a great story, and didn’t seem smothered by it. 

honestly my high point? the action scenes. they were incredibly well-animated, and had an amazing flow. easy to follow, but still packed with movement and stunning. i usually don’t give two fucks about fighting scenes but these were mesmerizing. the dialogue was quirky, but i didn’t find it annoying. honestly, felt pretty da to me, like banter. characters were well-written (though it felt a bit rushed. like everybody else I wish there had been more time to set them up, but they did a lot with the 6 eps they were given) and there were lots of twists and turns, but they weren’t surprises for the sake of surprises. i feel like everything was foreshadowed pretty well, kinda in the vein of solas’ whole deal: hard to see it until you know, but once you do its so fucking obvious. still, might bother some with how much whiplash you get.

as said by many before, the pace is a little wonky in the first episode, but the rest of the series really smooths it out. they had to estabilish already built relationships and characters in a way that made you care for them from the start, and they did it pretty well, if awkwardly. but i can’t see it working any other way. 

my stepdad, who only ever played origins all the way back when it came out, seemed to enjoy it with very little context. most of the episodes seem to be enjoyable for people who don’t know a thing about dragon age, but the final reveal of the series will not be very impactful if you haven’t played/watched da2. it’s such a small portion of the series, however, and i would still recommend it for anybody who wants to watch it before playing da:d, but who doesn’t want to play da2.

okay here’s my real actual spoilery thoughts yippeee

i am so sorry fairbanks you and your wife deserved so much more

can i just say how chilling the conversation between rez and hira is after we know the truth? like got damn. that was....something holy shit.

i actually really like rezaren as antagonist. i was kinda rolling my eyes at his whole deal when they set him up like he was going to be sympathetic but...then he just. turned, when miriam didn’t do what he wanted. and it was chilling. he is an evil, evil antagonist in a series that loves moral middle ground and i love it. 

and that one line he says, oh my god. something like ‘how many lives taken to control one beast’. and you can’t tell if he’s talking about miriam or the dragon. chilling. maybe one of my favorite moments for that reason alone.

and i loved that neb turned away from rez like that! and towards miriam! he knew!

which btw....spirit neb was so pretty. god i wish he wasn’t a corpse.

speaking of middle ground antagonists, i won’t claim i saw her betrayal coming from the getgo but i was getting strange vibes from hira from the start. i think they handled her really well, all things considered? you can tell she legitimately cares for miriam, but that her desire for revenge is just. too strong. not unlike a couple other mages i know and love.

like, does being a mage just make you the most passionate motherfucker on thedas by default or? 

i was going to ask if it was the oppression but she’s still a tevinter noble so. not quite the same as somebody like, say, anders. who really went through it huh.

on that note, because everybody has opinions about miriam wanting to stay with hira....i really do think its in character. they seem to legitimately love each other, and miriam hasn’t known love like that before. she’s desperate, and so very hurt. she just lost her brother a second time. i think it’s very in character

that doesn’t mean i want to see them together again. hira trying to sell her back into slavery is something you don’t get over. even if sapphira gets some kind of ‘redemption’ (next season? in da:d?) and they’re friends again...i think that trust should be gone. but that’s just my two cents.

i maybe possibly am on the qwydion/miriam train though so i am possibly maybe biased. legitimately don’t know yet if i ship them romantically or platonically though, either way i just. want them to be together and supporting each other. i love them i love their hugs. 

i love love love seeing their interpretation of the demons and shades. memory was super cool, too. and the fact that you could tell what spells the mages were using? they could’ve opted for just ‘ah yes fireballs and lightning’ but they chose to use abilities that are pretty specific, like crushing prison. 

going back to what i said before, where you can’t tell if rez is talking about miriam or the dragon, i really like them releasing the dragon like that at the end. you can tell just how painfully euphoric it is for her, to see something that had been shackled and chained and used as a weapon be recognized as simply a living thing that wants to be free. to be treated with kindness, and understanding, and love when all to often it is instead feared and hated. i wanted to cry, such a beautiful scene.

and the fact that its qwydion doing the healing, and releasing. the fact that she was the one who freed it in the first place? foreshadowing maybe? not my lil wlw heart jumping on this ship and setting sail. romantically platonically i just.....want them to be together holy shit

and finally, that fucking ending. holy SHIT. i was watching it with my stepdad (who only ever played origins, back when it came out) and i could not stop yelling. i think i scared him. when i heard her voice i lost my shit. like it makes sense: lyrium has a connection to the fade, red lyrium has some restorative abilities, and if i remember correctly there have been reports of regular lyrium holding onto memories, so...i could see it being that the red lyrium trapped her spirit before it could make it into the fade and restored her over the years, or a number of alternatives. but damn i did not think that i’d see her ass. poor hawke and varric. can the tyrants they kill just. stay dead, pls.

bioware seems to be acknowledging da2 a lot more and can i just say i am living for it. 

i do think it was very evil of the writing team to make me think that we were going to see varric when hira said she had a contact in the hanged man and i do not forgive them.

and lackland? holy shit. i didn’t say anything about them here because what more can i say. their dynamic is so good, i love how roland teases and flirts but is seemingly just as invested as lacklon is. despite how little time they get the team did such a great job of building up their chemistry with the training and fighting scenes, which isn’t easy when there’s so. much. action going on. really, truly, they used what little time they were given so efficiently. they heard that we wanted a dwarf romance and boy did they deliver.

[icharchivist]

As someone who has never played FF7 its always kind of funny to see FF7 characters be talked about, because I am aware of a bunch of the big general plot beats but also I know a lot of the cultural images of the FF7 characters from years of fan characterization and spinoffs so trying to reconcile the characters as symbols with the knowledge that the characters are characters can get kinda funny.

Zack's the biggest example of this, I think, because I only found out about his plot beats from cultural osmosis after years of the cultural image of Cloud and Sephiroth's toxic yaoi thing. So with him especially its hard to think about him and focus on the stuff I academically know actually matters.

So people talk about Zack and I go, yeah yeah The Tragedy and all that. But I also immediately think of how the Kingdom Hearts series does Final Fantasy character cameos that never really have major plot stuff going on, and they put Zack in a prequel game full of doomed characters because like. Of course. But because it's just a cameo Zack comes out of that game fine, except for an ominous black feather that floats down near him in the credits sequence.

So in my heart Zack's kind of like. An ill omen in presence. I see Zack and he feels like someone doing tarot readings flipped over The Tower. And then my brain catches up and goes "Well that's just because he is himself the protagonist of a doomed prequel" but its too late. It's like with Aerith where I see her and I think about The Obvious and then go "Well she's also a character in the game before That Happened".

oh god, yeah, i sure imagine!

ff7 is kind of a legendary game and i think that a lot of plotbeat have been talked about so often people just know it. Like Sephiroth's homoerotic obsession for Cloud gets brought up everytime Cloud gets added to a crossover game because Sephiroth is sure to follow (hi Smash bros), the Aerith's thing has been brought up time and time again, and then there's the KH games that had peppered some of the story lore here and there.

But i also think that players actually don't talk about a lot of the plotbeats. Not to mention the shipwar that ends up completely eclipsing the story and its themes at times.

(im vaguing a bit but this may be spoilery)

Zack is in this really weird position, especially before the remake came out, because Zack is simultaneously Square Enix's most popular male character (across all the games) and also a character who's massive element is that he had to remain a mystery for the longest time. (and it's why i have a problem with the remake just spoiling it right from the start).

Like, even i was introduced to the game by Zack's tragedy, but i didn't know about it going in, so to me i really jumped in to his last scene and then lost my mind.

But even so personally i played Crisis Core first, so i have a very distinct image of Zack in my head. Of the charming, cheerful, sweet, even if not the smartest boy, who joined in to follow his dreams only to realize he signed on for a nightmare he had no way to sign out of. To me Zack is the guy who tries to be so optimistic, blindly at first, then forcing himself to shut his eyes to be optimistic, then who realized he couldn't keep is eyes closed to it but he had to still hold on to hope, only for it to run him into the ground by the end of the game and he's just breaking under the weight of it all.

there's a lot of tragedy to Zack way past just How It Ends, and it fascinates me personally. But i also have a "got obsessed about Zack Fair when i was 12" disease so i have so much i could say for those last 17 years of stuff to talk about.

(also the feather in KH is a reference to two things: first, Zack's obsession with wings that follow him through the Prequel, and second, the implied fact both Sephiroth and Cloud have reason to be looking for him. in the KH mobile game from the way back they even had Cloud grabs the feather Zack was last seen in in the credits. and obviously that went nowhere since KH3 didn't include any of the FF characters in it. But i still remember.)

But i think Zack is also in a fascinating position because people don't want to talk about what's up, yet people mostly know he mattered to Cloud for an instant, and it makes going through the OG with just the knowledge "Zack mattered to Cloud" genuinely earthshaking.

I remember watching a let's play of a guy going into ff7 totally blind, he didn't know anything about it, and he took everything Cloud said at face value as you do without the benefit of foresight. And then Zack was namedropped, and Cloud reacted in a way the let's player didn't expect. And i remember the actual shock in the voice of the guy going "but. but wait isn't Zack the guy the prequel is about? what the hell is going on, why is he namedropped now, why is /this/ happening."

And, in the sense Zack haunts the narrative, is that if you know Zack exists, you'll start picking it up and it'll make you approach the game differently.

Zack was made from the start to haunt the narrative, meanwhile Aerith was there to be alive first. Everyone knows what happens to her, and sometimes people see her as a doomed figure, but people fail to realize that she is this doomed and sad /because she was so alive/, because she had so many plans for the future.

Another one who gets to be different than you'd expect at first is Sephiroth, because everyone knows how he is about Cloud /in the movie/late game/in the others content they appeared in/, but Sephiroth doesn't start out like that, neither in Crisis Core nor in the OG. And it's why i have beef with Sephiroth in the remake because it's "late game Sephiroth", not early game Sephiroth showing up.

And i think people know Sephiroth is a villain of legends that they just take it at face value, but it's not how he works. I was discussing with a friend who started ff7 by the remake and came to me really dubious because he thought a lot of things didn't make sense or broke the momentum and he was asking me to clarify. And the thing that took him out at the time was that he didn't understand how this Sephiroth is supposed to be anything "legendary". Like, nothing about his appearance in the remake was interesting to him and he was really peeved about it. The moment i told him "because Sephiroth doesn't appear in this part of the game originally and he has a slow built and doesn't start obsessing about Cloud until after their encounter in Junon" he understood everything, the moment i explained HOW Sephiroth was built of he got it. People know Sephiroth is a homoerotic threat to Cloud but people don't know how it actually built on that regard.

FF7 exists a lot in people mind in the way they think they know about it from what was told online, but trust me it's not the actual experience of the game. But how can you properly interreact with a game so legendary that it influenced so many new tropes? How do you come back to it? and so forth.

People in general will put it therefore in this type of gaming pedestal everyone has some idea on, seeing the characters more like archetype than they would know them.

but, yeah, personally i got into ff7 when i was 12 or so. I don't see them as archetypes as much as i see them as my friends. The plot of this saga is really dear to me in a way that runs way too deep (so deep i had to explain the plot to my therapist because it comes with "here's what you need to know about me")

ANYWAY i got lost in the sauce, but *coughs* i really do love how you explain the way you see Zack in particular though. Like, the way he's an omen. You are actually super right in a way you can't even imagine. Everything we know about Zack brings a reckoning and it's just. He's really my favorite example of "haunting the narrative". Once you know how he does, everything builds up only for it to explode when it comes to it.

Anyway. I could ramble about that all day long i have so many ff7 thoughts. There's def something about "what people expect from decade of cultural osmosis" vs "what's actually in the game", all of which also got muddied by the additions to the franchise.

but. yeah. man.

anyway very glad to be your window into what it is when you've been made insane by ff7. There's so much i could say, not enough time,

But thank you for reading o7

[awsydawnarts]

So I will definitely not be making more of these any time soon bcs school is kicking my ass, but I dug up this drawing from months ago that I kinda felt like sharing??? You get a gold star if you guess who they are without clicking for more lol

Contrary to what the stuff I reblog might lead you to believe, I really don’t inherently hate the concept of reboots, they just have to be *done right*. This is probably not an example of that lol, but I have a little au sitting in the back of my mind about the Magic School Bus characters aged up and attending college, and this is my first attempt at getting an idea of what the girls would look like (we’re going back to the og cast with my girl Phoebe obviously, Jyoti can have a cameo or something). I haven’t actually drawn the guys and I probably won’t any time soon bcs like I said, school’s kicking my ass, but I have Thoughts about them as well. I kind of want to save my full detailed thoughts for if I ever get around to making individual character sheets with outfits and stuff, but who am I kidding that’ll probably never happen so here’s a brief rundown:

Phoebe’s always been big on animal rights and whatnot, so I took that and ran with it. She’s this chill bi vegan chick who lives in an rv and has like five pets that she rescued. I’m not super sure what anyone’s studying just yet (except Keesha) but I’m thinking Phoebe’s somewhere on the environmental science side of things.

Speaking of Keesha, I kind of want them together 👀 Keesha’s getting her BFA in dance with an emphasis on ballet. One of the episodes has her mention a dance class and as a dancer myself that’s all I needed lol (just realized how hard I’m projecting here, since Phoebe was my favorite character growing up).

D.A.’s probably the most thought out of this group. She’s great at pretending she’s put together but she’s actually a huge mess. She’s a perfectionist about every aspect of her life, to the point where is starts taking a serious toll on her mental and physical health. Maybe she needs a certain former classmate to help her realize she doesn’t always have to take everything so seriously 👀 I don’t know what she’s studying yet but it’s some obscenely difficult thing lol, she’s probably trying to get her PhD in like five years or something

Wanda I’m thinking doesn’t have a major decided on just yet, not because I don’t know but because she doesn’t know (I could be convinced otherwise). I feel like she’d grow into a bit of an adrenaline junkie and get a motorcycle and shit. She’s pan(?) with a heavy preference towards women. I’m most sold on her hair but least sold on her face shape, so I guess we’ll see. I have her personal life worked out pretty well but that’s kind of spoilery and not just about her, so I’m probably not going to share unless I post more for this. Maybe knowing that I still have things to tell will keep me invested and creating for this lol.

That’s the girls!!! Maybe over spring break I’ll do the rest of the class? Maybe not. It’s a mystery to everyone.