#based on a discord conversation lmao

[frosteaart]

it's time for more Doe! and this time we're making it double!

[Note: this version of leo uses she/her pronouns, goes by Doe and was created by @sad-leon ]

[versegm]

I think you've mentioned a number of time that you want guda to eat a dude ? though that wasn't in a romantized context, but it sure paints a picture of being ~weird~about cannibalism. also, you keep mentioning a novella 'the blood is compulsory' and the title definetely read like you like your erotica a little fucked up ? so it's not a stretch. also there's that post by captain-lovelace that you reblogged the 25th february. fit very well with the rest of your vibe so i didn't even question it.

Oh I don't deny the cannibalism allegations I write a LOT of cannibalism but as far as I'm aware most of it's more of the "cannibalism for survival/cannibalism to showcase that someone isn't human anymore" than "cannibalism as romance" hence my confusion. As for The Blood Is Compulsory I'm really sorry to say this erotica is painfully vanilla there's only some blood drinking happening.

[toomanyideasandfandoms]

Physically Unable To Love

Jiyan x Reader

Notes: Reader based off of oc (written with reader inserts), gn reader, they/them used, gnc Rover (uses any pronoun), Chixia being the worst wingwoman, extreme romantic pining, unresolved feelings, possible ooc Chixia (I'm going off of vibes from what I've played)

Yet again this man has invaded my head and so I shall write more. Also title is more dramatic then what's actually written lmao.

-

"Come on! It can't be that hard to just ask him on a date!" Chixia exclaimed, frustration evident on her features as she stared at the person across from her. "The worst he can say is no, [Y/n]!"

"And that's the problem! I can't handle a no!" They yelled back, keeping their hands gripping their hair. "I'm self aware enough to know that! It's better if I just get over-"

"Oh hey there he is." Rover casually announced, looking over in the direction of where the general was. [Y/n] was quick to slam their head into the table, cursing as the pain flooded their system.

"Now's your chance!"

"Chixia no-"

"Hey General!! Over here!! We have room if you need a table to sit at!" The redhead called out excitedly, gaining the attention of the man. He carefully walks over, studying [Y/n] who refused to put their head up in greeting.

"Sorry if I'm barging in."

"Not at all." Rover quickly replied, nudging his elbow into [Y/n]'s side. They hissed, glaring at them before sighing as they lifted their head to meet Jiyan's eyes.

"You're fine, General."

"You alright? Are you having one of those moments again?" He asked, sitting down across from them. His eyes studied their tense muscles, brows furrowed in concern. "If you want I can-"

"I'm fine!" [Y/n] interrupted, raising their voice a bit. They flinched once they felt eyes of the other patrons on them, gently resting their head on the table again. "You don't need to do that thing again."

"That thing again?" Both Chixia and Rover asked, their eyes moving back and forth between the two. [Y/n]'s cheeks burned at the memory, practically being cuddled by the general when they grew overwhelmed one evening. They didn't want to remember it, for it only made their heartbeat even more rapid around the man.

"Anyway!" They quickly said, moving the conversation along. "It's a rarity to see you in the city Jiyan! Means times are a bit more peaceful huh?"

"Yes, there's not as many Tacet Discords showing up lately. It's good for the soldiers morale too, since many weren't able to see their families during the threat of the Threnodian's rewakening." The conversation then drifted off, with [Y/n] barely interacting with Jiyan. Chixia and Rover both tried to make them join, but it was to no avail. After some time the general said his farewells and left the group.

"What was that?!" Chixia yelled. "You literally only talked to him like once!"

"Well sorry! Once the food got brought in I suddenly grew overwhelmed!"

"What she means," Rover began, placing her hand on the redhead's. "Is that we just want to help with you-"

"Look I just can't!" They screamed, slamming their hands on tbe table. They flinched once everyone around them grew quiet, sitting back down. "It's not that simple guys. I just...I'm not ready to hear a rejection okay?"

"And what makes you so sure it will be a rejection?" The dark haired person asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Because why wouldn't it be? Even if it's not because he doesn't see me in that way, which he totally doesn't by the way, it's because he's too busy with being a general. I know he would just see himself as a burden like I do with myself and think a rejection is better than a potentially dead partner!"

The two look at them in silence, digesting their words.

"You really thought about it that much?" Chixia asked softly, narrowing her eyes in concern. "I mean I'm sure-"

"I know you're trying to help, but please. Just let me...get over it. It's better than experiencing heartbreak. Besides I have my own as to why I can't be in a relationship." [Y/n] smiled sadly. "I have to find some way back home to my world after all."

[juniper-clan]

Do you have any tips or recommendations for someone who wants to make their own comic based on their ClanGen save?

Hi! I answered this about a month ago when I was early on in JuniperClan. I'll cover stuff I didn't cover there, or that I've learned from experience.

Now your mileage may vary on this, but

Play the Whole Story Through

What I mean is, if your clan is going to have a story for 100 moons, play those 100 moons and take an agonizing amount of screenshots.

Not only do you know the ending, but you can hint to the ending or future events early on. You can also play around with your pacing -- If you think a character should come in a few moons early to participate in an event that would shape their character, you will have ample room to figure out how to do that without mucking up the story or making it confusing.

I'm aware of my pace, and know that JuniperClan is going to take over a year to complete, likely. That leads us to ...

Accommodate Yourself

If you don't have storytelling knowledge or are unsure if you want to tackle a huge Iliad of a cat story that could take years, just do a little 30 moon mini comic (or novella!) and see if it's to your liking.

And while I had covered it in my prior writing ask, emphasis mine upon:

INTERACTION

Make friends. The Clangen community is pure and untouched by most discourse. It's just people playing God with pixel cats. You don't have to be besties, but comment on your mutual's work and build up a repertoire. I remember the usernames of the people who comment on my work and I always like talking with them. I joined a Discord Server and while I am not very active it is very inspiring to see other people working on their own.

The only other thing that comes to mind is writing dialogue. If I'm alone I'll talk to myself and see if the dialogue sounds natural and genuine. I'll be driving to work and have a whole conversation from the comic repeatedly to try and get the language right for each character lmao it looks insane

Thanks!

[problematicfactive]

Fruit Salad is a new discord server. They are a fun. Welcoming community. Too bad they're actually not accepting of anyone they don't agree with and believe trying to come to an understanding is "unproductive"

If anyone is able to provide image IDs, that would be amazing, I'm physically incapable at the moment

The first red flag was their rules saying something along the lines of "be respectful to sources, of a source is problematic, report it in a ticket" surely that will go well.

Our host clued into it, and immediately opened a ticket to ask what that meant. of course they claimed they knew Introjects don't choose their source BUT problematic introjects have to source separate.

Fellas, is it appropriate to claim that any introject, problematic or not is "parading" their source by simply. Existing?

Now I will admit. When we were asked "what we were trying to do" we assumed they meant "why are we having this conversation" and did our best to explain that. However, looking back, this may not have been the question they wanted an answer to. The question feels too vague to answer, and we did our best. It also seemed like they were just trying to change the topic of conversation because they didn't want to be face with the fact that they were wrong and we had a good point.

Again, I don't understand what they want to know when they say "what is your end goal" my end goal is to know what's okay so I can know if I'm safe in this community.

To be as insensitive as to make a joke about using a discord bot being torturous when I had just been talking about abuse of individuals is what told me I wasn't safe. Someone after that when said "LMAO" which I skipped over to make the whole conversation fit better

And this is actually a problem I've been having for a while so I have something that people need to get through their heads and we need to help people to understand

No one has to disclose a SINGLE BIT of information about their system to ANYONE. If a mod is trying to coax the information out of you or shaming you for not giving it, you need to call them out for being innapropriate because asking these questions and using your position to ask these questions or shame for not answering is a absolutely innapropriate

Now I have explained this before, but I will explain this again and probably 100 more times. When my system found out who my source was, I was abused. at the same time, I was forced to undergo name changes and identify under different faces. It was a terrible and isolating experience and absolutely a part of the abuse I endured. And while another system can easily say "okay, whatever, Ted can be Dan in this server" we can't. Because I can't. Because of the abuse I endured I can't lie about who I am it is torturous to me. It leaves me unhappy. It leaves me feeling sick. I don't deserve to be exposed to old abuse I endured because you relate source separation to keeping your old name.

Guess what, a name is a word someone calls to get your attention.

And a pic of you is what you look like

And neither of these things have anything to do with what i support or enjoy

Stop acting like my worth is based on my source and start acting like it's based on what I do for my system. People who show up to the hypocrite competition go home when they see people like you (directed at people like this not any reader) because you're the all time champion and that's not something to be proud of. Don't run system friendly spaces if you think source connection comes from how much like you your pfp looks

[googledetective]

the theories that have been presented on this cast + one of my own :)

I do want to mention that I strongly believe this is a prequel due to a conversation I had with a bunch of people on discord earlier. (Everyone was 16+, dw.)

I haven’t seen anything about the first two at all so far, so I’ll be skipping over them and onto the third guy (oh my fucking lord).

(Also this post from @nesisamess helped a lot)

Staring onto the third dude,

(both posts are made by @zitherwaifuus :)

It seems that here this guy has some sort of relationship to XF-Future Tech, which if you’ve seen Min’s side story, you’d know is the company that came into her life and groomed her to be the Ultimate Student. She received special tutoring for them and worked her ass off for that title her entire life because of that. Next, this guy shares the same tie pin she does, and it’s also very notable that she dresses up with the same button down and tie in her MV. Not only do I think she is linked to the company now, but she might be working there before she was in the game. Who knows, though.

Next, I have not seen anything on the fourth girl besides a bunch of people on discord theorizing what the dandelion in her hair could mean. Unfortunately dandelions have different meanings from different cultures all over the world, so until it’s specified about where she’s from, I don’t think there’s many assumptions we can make yet.

Number Five, the purple guy.

Everyone seems to think so far that this is Elliot Cuevas, Charles Cuevas’s deceased brother. Now let me tell you that although I can’t see it based off design, the way he looks (playful and kinda weird but happy) and the way he was described by the creator in the latest qna (a popular joyous dude), can definitely make me see this being real. The only thing that is super far fetched about this is that we know he died a long time ago, and so if this is a prequel, it would have to be at least 15 years before drdt even starts.

Here’s also some more evidence from @sunlit-haru supporting the ‘that’s Elliot’ theory.

Now we’re up to the protagonist, who mind you is definitely my favorite so far. I will eliminate the rest of you protag dickriders so I will be the only simp left.

ANYWAYS, in the about page for this, it’s stated that this is a fangan for someone who wants to be the perfect teacher. Now with the hidden quote on the drdt tumblr page about this teacher…

( @demodraws0606 ‘s post)

Uh oh. I think we’ve figured out who this mysterious teacher might be. As for who is talking to them, I’ve personally got a few ideas, but they are not backed with any evidence.

1. The mastermind from this first killing game

2. Mai Akasaki or David Chiem still

3. The mastermind of the drdt killing game

Whoever it is, I think that these games are surely related and that each current kg participant does have a relation with one of these cast members. And that previous killing game’s end is why this one is happening.

Then, based off the post up top and a few others, people seem to think this is Teruko’s brother. I’m going to give a wild theory (no evidence) that Mai Akasaki knows him, only bc of the red in his hair. Then I think Mai would’ve found Teruko, and she would’ve been trying to reconnect them. Just a theory, though. There’s no evidence based around that this guy might be Teruko’s brother though, sadly.

Last but not least, @1moreff-creator pieced together some of the text on his badge:

I’m just gonna say that I’m seriously impressed with your efforts cause I have no fucking clue that could even be readable lmao.

*UPDATE ON TEXT: holy mother of god, @xmicrophonyx is a fucking god, and deciphered it. Here you go, and we all have got to give a serious thank you to them.

Sadly I cannot link the image of what the phone number gets to, but it gets linked to a yellow pill. I don’t have any ideas on how it would relate to the game, but I think it does. It’s used for high blood pressure and heart failure. If he’s really related to Teruko, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had high blood pressure lmao.

Also, the area code for 555 is just North America.

Here’s what I found on Wikipedia:

“The telephone number prefix 555 is a central office code in the North American Numbering Plan, used as the leading part of a group of 10,000 telephone numbers, 555-XXXX, in each numbering plan area (NPA) (area code). It has traditionally been used only for the provision of directory assistance, when dialing NPA-555-1212.

The central office code is also used for fictitious telephone numbers in North American television shows, films, video games, and other media in order to prevent practical jokers and curious callers from bothering telephone subscribers and organizations by calling telephone numbers they see in works of fiction.”

I don’t understand the first part, but it seems that this is a fictional number. If someone could explain to me wtf that first part even memes, I might be able to give more info.

Anyways, it seems that this guy ended up being a teacher at HPA, before or after the killing game. But I think this was very worth mentioning.

Unfortunately I’ve seen nothing about the next two, but I want to say that the girl in all pink (#8) I think is Felicity Giles, if that’s even possible. I just feel that’s Arturo’s sister. I know, I’m a weirdo. Even if #7 looks more like Arturo, I just cannot see it.

Moving on, nine and ten! If you look at them closely they’ve got the same eye pattern, suggesting they’re siblings, or likely twins, since they’ve got the fire/ice scheme going on.

Lastly, eleven which oh my god, Arturo’s dream girl! But she’s been theorized to be Whit’s mom. Here’s the post that argues a pretty convincing reason of why.

Oh boy. That woman is pretty cool and is very elegant, and has the same shade of blond hair that Whit dyed his too. I don’t think she’s any coincidence.

But joining along on that last little paragraph of this person’s post, it’s starting to seem a lot of characters do have connections to this cast and are seemingly mentioned quite a few times.

UPDATE: oh my lord, @accirax literally went on a deep dive for us and gave us a pretty good explanation and educated guess on everyone’s talents. I’m not going to link it because they covered pretty much every logical point as to why they have their guesses. Here’s the post if you haven’t already seen it https://www.tumblr.com/accirax/728687594893885440/drdt-new-character-talent-analysis

Anyways this is just the sum-up of everyone’s theorizing + a bit of my add on to it, and huge kudos to everyone who’s been making theories so far. I’ll be updating & crediting if there’s anymore notable things that come out.

Thanks for reading!

[throwaway-yandere]

I want to be honest (no this has nothing to do with fics lmao youll get it as scheduled)

This post is an explanation as to why I consider myself as "retired". I know I've said it's because of studies, but that'll be 1/3 of the truth. I want to talk about the true three real reasons why, and I'll do my best to be straight to the point. This isn't a cry for help (I swear to the heavens it is NOT). This is just to clear out assumptions.

Here's the other two reasons:

Grief & Mental Health

Writing itself & interactions

Grief & Mental Health:

I'll pour my heart out, so I'm sorry if it's long. As I said, I'll be straight to the point, so: my grandfather around the first week of June. I remember how I received the news so vividly. I was listening to Two Birds while washing the dishes at 12 AM. My mom went down the stairs with my father, crying as they tell me the news that he's gone. We drove half an hour to the hospital where I get to pat his head one last time. I remember mindlessly wandering the hospital halls— I remember mindlessly using the free alcohol attached to a wall. I remember breaking down as I realized I just cleansed away the hand that last had contact with him. I remember every detail, from the ride home where I messaged my good college friend to tell her that she needs to be a good nurse because the public healthcare system in the country is awful. I remember silently hating everyone and everything. I remember thinking about how cruel it was that life took away the one relative who genuinely cared about me and I was sure was related to me by blood. I remember thinking how much I'm distant to everyone else on my mother's side except him. I remember feeling so empty. I remember not sleeping for two days straight.

But let's back track for a bit. Before his death, I did have one final conversation with him. He was sedated and tubed miserably. Deep down, I knew his time was coming. So, I just made jokes about how grandma was growing senile and mistook me for a nurse for ten whole minutes. Then, I thanked him for everything he's done, and told him I'll become an engineer. Just like him.

And now here I am, dorming 3 hours away from home. I dormed because I had nearly decided my life meant nothing after lack of sleep through daily commutes and workloads. But I am lonely and unwell. I don't know what I want in life. I don't know what I actually want to be, but I already shifted courses as a chemical engineering student. I was so stressed to the point I've accidentally cried to my chem professor in a phone call. I don't know what I'm doing with my scholarship and education if it's for no one. And I am scared that I'm draining my parents' already limited resource for nothing. That I'm wasting the scholarship my country had given me nothing. That I am wasting my people's taxes for nothing.

It was only when another friend told me that I seem to live my life based on other's decisions and opinions did I notice just why I'm incredibly miserable.

I know I don't have dreams for myself. And even if I did, how the hell will writing and drawing feed me in the future when the industry in this 3rd world country is absolute garbage?

I guess Asians really do the things they hate so they can get what they love. Okay, I'll stop making jokes.

I miss my long-time friends, Phitre and Frost. I also miss my old blockmates when I was a BSEd-Math student. I am too used to eating alone, studying alone, walking alone. I am too used to being an outsider. But I'm not used to silence. I'm not too used to hearing actual silence.

All I have is Discord and Messenger.

And even then, it's quiet.

Writing itself & Interactions

I love writing and drawing. I just hate posting it at this point, which is why I made another account that's purely interaction-based.

I love writing a lot— my happiness is turning shtposts into something terrifying. I don't like writing romances, I like the thrill instead. I like laughing like I'm Hubert from FE:TH after thinking of an evil plot twist.

But I hate posting it. Because I know, no matter how much effort I put it, it's not enough. No matter how long it is— no matter if you learned basic coding for it— drew art— made interactive google forms— it's just not enough. I literally made two long separate fics with different endings depending on your choices and it just performs less on something I didn't actually put anything on.

Lord.

Lord I hate Creative Differences for that. I finally understood why bands hate their hit songs because of that lol.

Don't comment something like "oh, you content creators are just whining—" I am whining. Why? Because we don't treat artists and writers like they're human enough. Like we're just uploading content and that we don't want to hear what the others have to say. I remember there was one ask telling me how they're gonna miss traumatizing their friend— and I'm just sitting there wondering "why didn't YOU tell me their reactions? Why are you making me feel like I'm talking to a brick wall for 2k words and more?" It's not their fault. I am not mad at this anon. They've done nothing wrong, but lord do I hate feeling like this.

I could follow "part 2???" requests, finish all my drafts for the events. But I know. I know the chances of the person who requested them won't actually answer after all the effort.

[insert Berkut's "all that effort, what is it all for?!" voice line from FE:Echoes here to lighten the mood]

But that aside.

It's just silence. Just notes, when I feel like comments are what matters more. I'm used to being alone, but I really hate silence. I hate it so much. That's why I'm always so grateful to the people who do interact often, and don't say that's not true because I can prove it. You can see me make content just for them, dedicate fics, art, everything. I love them, I love the "noise".

I know we all have lives, I know we're all busy, I know. I respect your time, I respect you.

And I think it's just time I respect myself as well.

So that's why I'm retired. No pressure on events (idol and letters), no pressure on anything. I'm actually taking my time in End Of Year Blues. It's nice.

Edit: I forgot to mention

My father hates that I write. He constantly tells me to stop it, to prioritize my academics, when writing is my only way of coping.

So.

Haha, what the hell do I even do anymore, right?

[redfoxwritesstuff]

I asked Nyx, and I asked Red, and now, I’m asking you. Share your thoughts to me (and the whole of tumblr) what your thoughts are on a detachable dick for Vox. Like he would just detach the thing and give it to someone.

Confused? Blame Nyx! She started the conversation.

— World’s most expensive spice, Saffy!

This is OOOLD VoxTek Discord lore lmao I know well the theory that his dick is detachable and can be switched out for whatever his partner wants at the time.

I personally really like the idea that his body becomes more organic as he transitions from his head down his neck and shoulders, with there being some tech based internals until about mid torso and then it just being visuals after that.

[haro0o]

For anyone that see this

Im sorry

Miguel O’Hara x Titan Atlas

This is based on a Discord conversation lmao

[yawnderu]

🐝🏜️ 🪐

From this game!

Hii!!

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

@moosch I fucking LOVE moosch I love talking about Keegan with her. Our discord conversations and comments are literally full of Keegan stuff NFJKGFRJHBK and her art is so fucking amazing so go check that out too! Her Keegan art is literally my Roman Empire <3

@hereisrachel actual queen w the most based takes, I love reading her stuff and actually one of the first mutuals I had in here, fueled my Makarov addiction BJHFEHBJEFHJBFE

@actuallyhiswife one of my first mutuals too!! I love her stuff sm and that fucking Neil video is actually another Roman Empire for me NEFHBJEFHJBK always lovely to see her sharing stuff and posting<3

@kenthegaefrog ACTUAL KING!! My husband from VERY far away, literally always get so happy to see him in my asks<3 I OWE U THAT ONE ASK BUT I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS IN MY HEAD RN EHFJBEHBJF

@naivegh0ul have u guys ever read her posts? actual queen who writes THE juiciest smut and is supportive af!! I love seeing u in my mentions HBJFEHJBFEJHB

I'm mentioning the mutuals I interact the most with but I always see the same group of people always liking and reblogging my posts and I fucking LOVE U SO MUCH<333

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

Besides the unhinged tags and reblogs, I deadass love any compliments on the way I write certain characters! I like to write tender love and yearning, so receiving compliments of people who enjoy that always makes me really happy<3

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

This one has me thinking good and hard BUT it was easier to think about than before which makes me happy

I have great friends around me and I finally have a hobby that I enjoy.

I got out of a toxic relationship after years of clinging to that person like a lifeline, and I got to experience a completely different life that I hope I can one day have for myself,

I'm working out more and more and the muscle is more defined, which makes me happy since I can see my progress<3 taking the chance to post a pic of my quad pump when I reached my 352lbs/160KG PR on leg press! tattoo reveal too LMAO

Thank u for the ask<3333

[qetalos]

enchanted | 제이크

ー🎮 🕹️

"all I can say is it was enchanting to meet you, sim jaeyun"

p: non idol!Jake and non idol!female oc

warnings! cursing, angst, "we couldn't be anything and you still broke me", reader is called Choi Areum. This one shot is based on the backstory of Enchanted by Taylor Swift, extracts of it's lyrics are included. Kind of open but closed ending? It didn't end well for them so idk you see what your mind wants to choose ;)

note: this is dedicated to the loml Maty, Ilysm 🤍

At the beginning I thought of this as a long series but it turned out being an angsty one shot, enjoy 🫶🏻

"this was the very first page"

It all started when I was bored while scrolling on Tik Tok oh how i wish i never was bored back then and saw a video in which they left a link for people to join a discord server to talk and make video calls just to lose the time and make new friends. I thought about it and decided to join, at first I didn't feel comfortable there. It was all new for me as I didn't know anyone there, until a certain someone noticed my user name on the chat, saying that I had joined the server and now was part of it. I still remember the user "jkesimm_", he noticed me there.

Jkesimm_: Hey! arqmizz you're new in the server?

Arqmizz: haha, yes I am

Jkesimm_: Oh nice, let's talk on priv!

He sounds nice, I thought to myself. I received a text and saw it was him, I quickly replied.

Jkesimm_: Hey! It's me from the discord server!

Arqmizz: Hi! Thank you for noticing me... It was wild in there...

Jkesimm_: I know! I'm glad I could at least find someone

Arqmizz: Have you been there for a long time?

Jkesimm_: Ah yes, but sadly I didn't get to talk to much people, honestly.. 🥲

They're all busy talking between them that they don't notice new people there!

Arqmizz: oh really? Well I'm glad that we could get together between that mess 😭

Jkesimm_: ikr!! You sound really nice although it's the first time we talk haha

Arqmizz: lmao 😭 it's okay you sound nice too!

Jkesimm_: sorry if it makes you uncomfortable but may I know your name? If you don't wanna tell me it's okay !!

Arqmizz: Oh, it's okay

You can call me Areum! What's your name?

Jkesimm_: it's pretty obvious from my user but you can call me Jake. Pretty name, Areum 🫢

Arqmizz: haha thank you Jake!

"The playful conversations start"

And that was our first conversation, we could go hours just of talking and joking. He was really nice indeed. We started doing audio calls too, while we played games. That was our first move to a more close friendship, we didn't show our faces yet but we did audio calls and spent evenings together. He also told me a bit about himself, that he was Australian but was actually living in south Korea, he has a dog named Layla and a lot more things about himself.

In one of those audio calls I accidentally turned on my camera in an attempt of turning on my mic instead and in that moment Jake was talking. He went silent a second after I had turned my camera on and off back again quickly, we had never shown our faces to one another before and I accidentally showed myself for the first time.

"Uhh I'm sorry I didn't mean to turn my camera on" I said awkwardly. "No no, it's okay. If it makes you feel better I can turn mine on too okay?" He said "Uh? No n-" and before I could continue talking he had turned his camera on, damn he was handsome and left me out of words. "Haha I know I'm not in my best look but I turned it on so that you would feel that bad for turning yours accidentally" he said and I smiled softly to myself. Unsure, I went and turned my camera on again, showing my face awkwardly before laughing and hiding myself in my arms. "Hey! What's so funny?" He asked and I looked up looking at the camera "This is new for me, I had never shown my face to anyone I had met online" I said and I saw him smiling "Well, it's my first time too so don't feel awkward!" He said "Also, you don't need to have your camera on always if you don't feel okay doing so, I don't mind" "Thank you for the reassurance Jake, but I think I'll keep it on as we already know each other since some time ago" I said and he nodded "Good for me, I'll keep it on from now on too"

"Shifting eyes and vacancy vanished when I saw your face"

Three months passed already and my friendship with Jake had gotten more and more close. We would call or text each other at least once a day, I had started to work at a café and had a packed schedule until 4 p.m so I couldn't text or call him a lot. Still, he always found the ways of texting me after I had gotten home back from work.

"For real! Today one customer came to me and asked for a super weird beverage we don't have and they knew it but asked anyways! And after I told them we didn't have it they became all mad at me, why? I don't know!" I said and laughed at the stupidity of one of my customers as I told Jake about my little story from today's schedule. "Woah! That's a Karen for real!" He said and I bursted out laughing at his comment. After I had calmed down a bit I looked up at the screen and saw him staring at my camera silently, unsurely I asked "Is something on?" "I really wanna meet you Areum" he said out of nowhere and I opened my eyes widely, surprised. "What?" "I said that I really wanna meet you in real life, you're so fun and nice" he said and I felt my cheeks burning at what? I don't know! Jake didn't say anything to make me go that shy but he still made me feel shy nonetheless. "I think that too, maybe when my schedule loosens a bit we can meet, jaeyunie". And that was the last time we talked about meeting each other.

"2 a.m who do you love?"

Shortly after, I realized that I liked Jake. At night after our video calls I laid down and thought about us, about him. I thought about all the time that has passed and how much closer we had grown to each other, how kind and nice he seemed to me now. But then, the thought of him having someone else came in. Was he in a relationship already? Did he have a girlfriend? Shit, maybe he did have one. He was one in a million and I didn't question the fact that he might have somebody waiting on him. And I should accept that, after all he's my friend. Nothing else, right?

He's the nicest man I've ever known, he always care about me and calls me after he knows I'm at home after my schedule at work. He's always considerate and asks me if I had eaten something, how could I not fall in love? But that was a problem for me too.

Slowly, I started to distance myself from him. The thought of him in a relationship filled my mind and made me think that he just saw me as a friend, and I didn't want that. I didn't think that he noticed that, after today.

"Are you okay? You seem off... since a few days.." "Oh- I'm sorry, it's just that I'm having a lot of work lately.." I lied, in fact it was him who made me want to distance myself and end our friendship. "Are you sure? You know I'm here for you" he said and my heart burned at his sweet words "Yes jaeyunie, I'm okay. Thank you for asking" I said and he smiled softly at me through the screen. "Areum?" "Yes?" "I wanna meet you, in real life" he said and once again, he left me out of words. I wanted to meet him but I felt a strange feeling deep inside me, full of what if's. "Are you sure about it?" "Yes, I really wanna meet you, do you?" He asked and I nodded almost instantly, ignoring those strange feelings "Yes of course I wanna meet you, jaeyunie" and after that we had set a date and place for our meeting. I was so excited about it, finally meeting that one person who had become really special for me in the last time.

"Please don't be in love with someone else, please don't have somebody waiting on you"

Today was the day that we were going to meet, we decided to meet at the Han river. Surprisingly we didn't live afar from each other but still, we didn't live that close either.

I wore my best outfit, trying to ignore those intrusive thoughts about him probably having a girlfriend as I put on a nice black top and a pair of jeans, a thin jacket on so that I wasn't way too exposed, keeping it simple. I waited for him as I sat down and scrolled through social media until I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind, turning my head I saw a blonde guy with a mask looking at me. Before going out we both described our outfits so that we could find each other easier. He was wearing a hoodie with a pair of jeans, so simple but it still made me feel butterflies. Was it wrong?

"hey, you're Areum right?" He asked and I got up from the bench and smiled shyly "Yes, you're Jake?" I asked and he nodded "It's nice to meet you finally, Areum" he said and I smiled softly. I don't know where did this sudden confidence come from but I went and hugged him softly, not saying anything. He stayed still for a second before wrapping his arms softly around my waist, we hugged for a while and when I tried to separate he tightened his embrace, muttering a soft "not yet". Chuckling I hugged him again and after some minutes we separated, he smiled at me and I did the same to him. "Should we walk around a bit?" He asked and I smiled, nodding "Yeah sure" I simply replied, we walked into the Han River, looking around and talking from time to time. "Do you wanna grab something to eat? I know a place near that sells really good food and boba" I said and looked to my right, waiting for Jake's reply. "Yeah sure" he said and took my hand in his, I looked at him surprisingly "You take the lead" he said and I chuckled, nodding "Okay" and started to walk to the café. Soon after we arrived and chose a table. We looked through the menu to see what we were going to order "What are you going to order, Jaeyunie?" I asked while looking through the menu, trying to chose something as I couldn't chose between the options, everything looked good to me. "I don't know, probably some boba and a piece of cake? I'm not sure yet, what about you?" He asked and I tried to guess my own choice "Mmm, probably boba, too. And I'm trying to see what I should order to eat" I said and Jake nodded. Finally we could decide and the waiter came to us and took our orders, when they went away we started to talk again.

"Choi Areum huh" he said teasingly as he looked at me through the table, I chuckled "Sim Jaeyun huh" I said, copying his tone and actions. I heard him chuckle before taking out his phone "Let's take a picture, to capture the moment" he said and I nodded, scooting closer so we could fit in the frame. Slightly smiling he took the pictures, after it he looked at his phone and smiled "Send them to me too!" I said and he nodded, chuckling.

After our outer, we walked together to the train station. Jake had to take a train to go back to his house so I walked with him there, as I didn't need to take the train but just a bus. We talked a bit more before reaching the station, he stood up in front of me and smiled softly. I walked to him and hugged him, I felt him hugging me back tighter "Have a safe way back home, Jaeyunie" "You too, I'll miss you" he said and I chuckled, ignoring the heat running through my cheeks. "I'll text you tomorrow before my schedule, okay?" I said and I felt him nodding through our hug. The truth is that I couldn't bring myself together to ask him if he was dating someone already, so I had lots of thoughts running wild in my mind, but decided to ignore them. We wished each other a good way back home and after waiting for his train to go I went back home.

"And now I'm pacing back and forth, wishing you were at my door"

Later that night, I received a text from an university which I had signed up for it some months ago and thought I wouldn't get called, until then. They had sent me a message saying that I got accepted there but not in the Korean place but the American one, I had to leave. I had signed up to be studying in the Korean university but actually got called to the American one, and my first thought was Jake. Should I tell him? I knew very well that this was going to hurt the both of us but I knew I still had to let him know, I wouldn't let that possibly pass by it was now or never. I was worried too, about my friendship with Jake. I didn't want to give us up after our first meeting face to face but, it was the university of my dreams. I was sure he would understand if I told him I had to leave to study abroad, and that I wasn't probably going to come back.

The next day I woke up and all these thoughts came back, Jake and the university. But I had to focus, I had work. I quickly prepared and started my schedule, from time to time I remembered Jake and the news but tried to ignore them and the knot made in my stomach. How should I tell him about it?

After my schedule I went home and texted Jake, he told me he was a bit busy and I decided to give him some time so that he could text me after, and then again those thoughts came back. I should tell him face to face...

"There I was again tonight forcing laughter, faking smiles"

I decided to make the first move and tell him to meet, to let him know what was happening. We arranged our meeting in the same place as before, the Han River. I tried to look good and dressed up nicely, like the first time we met. It was unbelievable, for me, how could we go from our first meeting to this one, the second one, the last one too. It hurt so much, because I won't be able to see him anymore. I tried to spend a lot of time with him, calling and chatting a lot. Now, it was a week before I would leave to America, to the university I wanted so bad. But leaving the best person behind and a part of me in Korea too.

I waited on that bench again, scrolling on my phone. I felt my hands shaking slightly as I felt a tap on my shoulder, like the first time. I turned around and tried to make a smile, trying to hide the pain too. "Hi jaeyunie" I called and my heart broke even more, the crack in it, growing every second. "Hi Areum" he said and embraced me in a hug, why are you making everything harder for me, Sim Jaeyun? I hugged him back and after a while we separated, I saw something different in his face. Love.

I looked at him and saw that he looked at me differently than the first time, more lively. I shrugged it off and said "Let's walk?" And he nodded, taking my hand in his, again. "Let's go" he said and we walked around, our hands entwined, making my heart sting even more. Why was it so hard? "You know Areum... I have something to tell you" he said smiling softly to himself, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. "Oh really? Well... I have something to tell you too" I said bittersweetly, looking down. I saw Jake looking up expectantly. "Oh is that so? Tell me what it is, then. I'll tell you what I have to say after you" he said and I felt my heart breaking even more, I was going to hurt him. I stopped walking as we stood under a tree, I looked down at our hands and slowly separated them. Taking a deep breath I tried to make my own words "I don't know if you're going to like this... Jake" I said and without looking up I continued "I have to leave... To America..." I said and squeezed my eyes shut tightly "What do you mean?" He asked and I tried not to cry, continuing "I got a message from my dream university saying that I got in, I never told you about it as I thought I was never going to get called after months... And because I would get called to the one that's here... In Korea.. but I guess not" I said "I hope everything goes well to you, Jaeyunie" crack "I hate to admit this but I like you, but I know that you might have someone waiting on you... I'm sorry" crack, my heart continued breaking. After I had said that I let a tear escape my eye, slowly falling over my cheek, being followed by another and another one. "What the fuck you mean I have someone waiting on me Choi Areum?!" He said, slightly shouting... Voice cracking "I've been waiting for you since day one! I don't even care if you have to go but... I fucking love you Choi Areum! Why did you keep it in?! I literally love you and now you're telling me this?! Really?! When are you leaving..?" He finally asked, a bit more relaxed. "Next week" I said quietly and heard him let out a soft sob, as he sighed "Fucking Choi Areum! Why are you doing this?! Really! I...." "I really wanted us to be something, Areum! I wanted to be your fucking boyfriend!" He said and I cried harder, knowing damn well I should've told him this before... "I-I'm sorry.. Jaeyunie" I sobbed "No! Don't call me that! Just... This is hard to swallow and you're making it harder!" He said, I looked up taking a slight glance at his face and saw him crying... A completely new sight for me. "I grew so damn close to you for you to do me this?! To do us this?! Please..." "Why couldn't you tell me this before?! Just... Areum! Why did you just tell me about this just now...." He said and I sobbed harder, I tried to calm down but I couldn't. I saw him sighing before looking up "I... I don't think we should continue talking, Areum" there it laid my broken heart, on the ground. "If we continue talking this will only hurt each other more... Let's leave it here. Have a nice trip to America" I couldn't believe his words, his dry tone... Why was he like this? "Okay" I said between sobs "Good bye, thank you for everything, Jake" I said and he nodded, looking away.

"It was enchanting to meet you, Sim Jaeyun"

thank you for reading ♡

do not copy, repost on other socials or translate. all rights reserved to @/stqrlite.

[cha-melodius]

hi! ⭐️ for love is a losing game pretty please?

HELLO I didn't mean to leave this for an entire day lol, but I've barely had a moment to breathe today and I wanted to be able to sit and think about this one.

Ok, Love is a Losing Game! So as I mention in the fic notes, I decided to write this fic after @eavos posted something in the tmfu discord server about The Queen's Gambit and how it'd make a good setting for a napollya AU. At first I didn't really think that much of it, but then I WATCHED The Queen's Gambit and the idea took hold of me like woah. Before this fic I'd written one long-form AU, and I certainly didn't expect this to become my longest ever fic, nor how MUCH I'd end up putting into it.

I've never done more research for a fic than I did for this fic. I planned it out using actual chess tournaments in the 1960s (whereupon I quickly learned just how fictional The Queen's Gambit was lol), getting into the nitty gritty of how many players and from what countries actually played them. Most of the chess games in the fic are real—I read an absurd number of tournament recaps in old archived issues of Chess Life magazine. I also got some information about grandmasters' lives and careers from various articles in there, as well as other stories online.

Illya's career wasn't really patterned off of any one player, but Napoleon's is roughly based on that of Bobby Fischer (this is one of the big reasons why, every time I think about 'filing off the serial numbers' of this fic, I reject the idea—I fear it would be written off as 'what if Bobby Fischer was gay', even when there's nothing of Fischer's personality in this). And don't get me started on the research/planning I did for the World Chess Championship at the end; I had spreadsheets to figure out the points and how to make it work out like I wanted it to.

Since this was the early days of me planning fics, I didn't have a great sense of chapters, nor did I have a very detailed outline. I'll post it here, in fact (behind a cut for spoilers, just in case).

Before I drop the rest, if anyone who's not a TMFU fan ends up reading this far, here's my tiny plea: If you love my fics, give this one a chance. You don't need to know anything about the fandom, I promise; consider it an original novel lol. But I still think this is among my best works, and it deserves to be read more than it is.

Ok, the outline. This was it—the championship, the date, very brief note about what was happening, and who won the tournament (tournaments in parentheses happened offscreen). I do not now recall what the asterisks mean lmao.

(US National Championship & Zonal, New York 1965 – Napoleon)

Hastings International Chess Congress 1966 (Jan) – Meet for the first time (Illya, Ch)*

Mar del Plata, Argentina 1966 (March) – Begin off-book games (draw, Co)

(World Chess Championship, Moscow 1966 – Illya)

Piatigorsky Cup, Santa Monica 1966 (July) – Affair begins (1–1, Illya Ch)*

Chess Olympiad, Havana 1966 (Oct) – Discovery (Soviets)

Palma de Mallorca, Spain 1966 (Nov) – Napoleon absent (Illya loses)

US Championship, New York 1966 (Dec) – Illya shows up looking for Napoleon*

Monte Carlo Tournament, Monaco 1967 (March) – Napoleon returns (Napoleon, Co)

Canadian Centennial Grand Masters Chess Tournament, Winnipeg 1967 (Oct) – Illya misses (Napoleon)*

Sousse Interzonal, Tunisia 1967 (Nov) – Napoleon wins

(Hoogovens 1968; Monte Carlo 1968; Chess Olympiad, Lugano 1968; Palma 1968)

World Chess Championship, Reykjavík 1969 (June) – Illya v. Napoleon (Napoleon)*

San Juan International Tournament, Puerto Rico 1969 (Oct) – Defection

Some of the early ones really ballooned, like Mar del Plata and the Piatigorsky Cup, because I really needed to give their relationship space to develop. And I'm so glad I did, I love all those moments and conversations they have. Sometimes I feel like I'm rushing through fics more these days, and this one was one I just allowed to grow, which is part of what makes it so delightful.

Anyway if you ever have questions about this fic please feel free to ask, I will never not want to talk about it. I love it so so much. Thank you for asking!!

[aurheatum]

toa anniversary mun day

under cut

Name: 

Nel, i mean it’s Sarah technically, but once you start getting multiple notes in the mail with Nel on them I think it counts. Nelfes works too. I respond to most anything tbh

Pronouns:

she/her or they/them

Birthday (no year):

Dec 6th Saint Nicholas Day : )

Where are you from? What is your time zone?

Chicago. CST [GMT-5].

Roleplay experience:

Over ten years, started on Neopets and other forums. Moved to Gaia Online and then Tumblr indie space some time in 2011.

Got any pets?

Baby boy

Favorite time of year:

Springtime or Autumn

Some interests and things you like:

I’ve always been super into mythology, all of them. I used to think that Carl Jung was onto something with the collective unconscious but then Anthropology and the reality of multilineal evolution ruined that for me (college will teach you things); but that’s alright because humans their ability to create and interpret their surroundings with equal parts love and fear is still pretty cool.

Some funfacts & trivia about you:

-Agnostic but i work in an occult library (it’s pretty quiet; the new age bookshop across the street has all the events)

-One time on Gaia Online I was kicked out of an Okami RP bc I didn’t make my posts aesthetic enough, and I thought it was just the most heart wrenching thing -I’m not sure what people stand to gain back in Ye Old Runescape luring new players out into the wild and PKing them but I was gullible enough to follow some other players at like 7 yrs old and this would have happened to me if i wasnt SUPER good at clicking my mouse and running out of there. Surviving such a harrowing experience made me think i was truly invincible.

-I was supposed to write my final paper for my Japanese Buddhism class on… surprise, Japanese Buddhism but I really wanted to talk about Kenji Miyazawa’s writings instead so I spun it through a lens of his Nichiren conversion and its impact on his poetry. My prof saw right through me but I still got an A.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play?

Tales of RPG series raised me as a person so u know. I like Persona 1-2 era SMT though I’ve played Nocturne and IV as well. What else? Okami, LOZ: Twilight Princess, farm sims and visual novels. Genshin, on and off.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon:

Psychic; wooper family (clogsire im so glad u joined us)

How did you get into Fire Emblem?

My neighbor would bring over Path of Radiance so I could play it on my gamecube with my own save back in the day

What Fire Emblem games have you played?

Tellius duology. Sacred Stones, FE 13-16; currently doing Blazing Blade. Archanea one day.

First Fire Emblem game:

POR

Favorite Fire Emblem game:

Tie between 3 Houses and Radiant Dawn

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 

It’s rhea okay. I wont lie and i wont pretend it isnt evidence of my spectacular taste either

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Tiki (first S support was olivia bc i wanted a pink haired kid)  - Fates: honestly i’d have to revisit, i know i first married niles as m!corrin - Three Houses: I married each lord on their route tho it’s much funnier if you dont i think (First route was Crimson Flower but I saved at the split so I could marry Rhea first lmao) - Engage: Saphir 🥰

Favorite Fire Emblem class:

War Cleric or Qi Adept

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class?

I’d be the mage you have to drag around and treat with baby gloves only to learn like a single good spell I think

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation?

Leicester Alliance tbh

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with?

Based purely on mechanics bc i love them all prob Soren dlc, Sigurd, Celica, and Lyn.

How did you find TOA?

End of 2020/beginning of 2021 I was really trying to get back into rp but couldn’t get into the various systems on discord. One community that I was trying was affiliates with The Officer’s Academy and an active tumblr community rly caught my interest. The rest is history!

Current TOA muses:

Rhea 3H, Micaiah Radiant Dawn, and miss Hortensia engage

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again?

This blog right here! I put her down for a bit and probably will again but. It’s not like she ever leaves, instead of brain there is Rhea u see (i bear this burden so u do not have to)

Have you had any other TOA muses?

I played Sephiran for a hot sec and Ingrid for around a yearish iirc. Both very fun

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards?

Not really? I need to be able to connect with them on some level obviously, and I tend to prefer characters who have like a clear childhood or background for why they are That Way. Micaiah was actually p difficult for this reason but being able to really shape her based on what little we know also made me ever more fond. ♥️ I love to stare at pegasusknight and serenesforest supports pages late at night tehe

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most?

I don’t particularly plan ahead but I really love when threads reflect past character development whether in a thread with the same muse or different. TOA extended universe… I’d like to do that more I think but first I have to actually make a support page huh? Since Rhea’s back she’s made more bonds though and that makes me happy.

Favorite TOA-related memory: Definitely Unlocked 2021! It was my first event after really starting to warm to the TOA community and i was an awe of the scope of the events. The mods thought this far ahead?! We can do this?! Every event since has just been even more fun but the surprise and intrigue i felt then really stayed with him

*How do you pronounce TOA?

Toe-uh. Like Dee-En-Dee. you know.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day that you’d like to share? 😉 

I think I mentioned I muse Hubert before, and also that I can't really seeing myself maintaining a blog for him? So other than that, no. I do think Nimh could be quite a bit of fun though *laughs*

[stellabfly]

[ Based on a discord conversation saying both Stella and Mim would totally do a Lisa Frank-enstein costume. Did both color palettes (but mostly bc i started coloring based on the reference pics and forgot i was doing a lisa frank thing lmao)]

@madmagicmim

[themysticsword]

Quitting RoR2 Modding

(posting this in case anyone who plays my RoR2 mods isn't in any of the discord servers lol)

So, basically, yeah, I'm done with Risk of Rain 2 for good. Don't wanna associate myself with the game. Just really want it gone from my life. I don't want to think about it.

All of the mods I made out of my personal interest are now marked as deprecated, and potentially will even be deleted later. The only things that will stay are projects that were either made for friends, had contributions from more than just me, or are funny enough that I feel like they should stay.

Why? For a lot of reasons.

The Community Manager

So, SeventeenUncles (or Suncles, as we all call him). The guy may seem like a chill person on the twitch streams, but god. He's Bad at server moderation. Everybody in the server knows it. And if somebody has any kind of complaint about that moderation, he silences all the critique and tells to open a ticket via Modmail, which will not result in anything because why would he care lmao he's the community manager and he makes all the rules.

Like this one. I wrote a proper, consise ticket about my mute (which was unfair, by the way!), expecting to either get unmuted or at least get a response or have a conversation as to why they think it was fair. Guess what I got.

you're welcome suncles.

There's a lot of problems with how he's running the server, which I'm not gonna talk about, because, luckily, someone else has already done it, in detail! https://www.tumblr.com/gabrielultrakill-bigboobs/723312859455651840/the-official-risk-of-rain-discord-and-its-hellish?source=share

A lot of nasty stuff. In the official server, mind you.

But yeah. He represents the company Hopoo Games, and who am I to support a company with a prick as their representative :)

The Community Itself

Now, I know this is a dumb reason to quit over, but it's not the reason. It's just one of them.

It's toxic. Elitist. And, most importantly, way too controllable. We have, like, 4-5 mainstream content creators, and almost all of them manage to give the worst tips to newbies despite sinking hours into the game and, supposedly, having a lot of experience and knowledge.

It's so bad to the point where some youtubers call out the wiki for giving "false information", so their fans go on the wiki and make edits while parroting whatever Mr. Youtuber said.

Picture this: you're a new player, and you have unlocked a hard character. You struggle with them, so you go to the wiki, and the first thing you're told is that you actually need to unlock a different ability for them to make them playable. And only 7-8 paragraphs below, the wiki tells you how to use the base abilities properly. You know. The ones that you have right now, as a new player. While also making them sound weaker than they are in reality. Doesn't this sound like imposing someone specific's preferred playstyle onto everybody else?

Constant arguments. You open the discord server, or the subreddit, or a youtube video, just about anything, and you'll see people disrespecting each other over a video game. These arguments usually stem from someone being incorrect, them getting corrected by others, and that person fighting until the end of times just to prove that they're actually right, because, for some reason, they can't accept being wrong.

And I kept seeing these arguments. Engaging in them. When you want to interact with the community of a game on this scale of popularity, you just can't not encounter the bad parts. Statistically impossible.

Oh, and you know why the community partially is like that? Because the devs and the moderators are fine with that behaviour. The devs are known to be all mean and like "massive trolls" or whatever. Meanwhile, you don't see this shit happening in the A Hat in Time or Celeste servers.

Other Projects

Lastly, I've been meaning to quit RoR2 for a long time now. I want to move on and do something else. I've been making RoR2 mods for 4 years now, I think? It's a shame I have to leave like this, but eh, whatever.

If you're reading this, I hope you're doing well! I'm doing well, because I got rid of the part of my life that's been bothering me for way too long :3 See ya in other games that I'll mod!

[noco7]

Hi hope your well! I was just wondering — your fics have a lot of dialogue and as a writer myself that’s something I struggle on… how do you know what to make them talk about/introduce certain conversations? does it just come to you?

I am well! A lot of things have happened (not in a bad way), and I am single no longer. (Yippee!) (And our relationship is nothing like the one in NCi7 lmao... not that it hasn’t had it’s share of miscommunication tensions.) Anway... as for dialogue that’s a tricky question. One part of NCi7 having so much dialogue is that Noah and Cody are quite talkative characters themselves, and that helps. Especially Cody. Especially Cody when he likes someone. He wants to ask questions, he wants to flirt, he wants to show off. Everything. Chatty lil’ man. Noah is a bit more reserved, but he will never miss a chance to snark. It’s why they have such good banter. Additionally, NCi7 is a fic based on “communication.” The whole point is for them to become better communicators, so the story just HAS to have a lot of dialogue. So I can show their bad communication and how it slowly becomes good communication. But how do I know what to make them talk about? Well... that’s an odd question to me, because what they talk about is just the story. So for me, coming up for things for my characters to talk about equals coming up with the chapter outline. In NCi7′s case, I wanted the characters to change how they thought about physical affection, sex, sexuality, guilt, relationship roles, gender, career, family, etc. Just the whole shebang. So ... I had a lot of things for them to talk about. That’s probably my best tip. If you want your characters to talk more, give them something to talk about! If you don’t have much plot (which is fine), then maybe think about ... Dialogue as a characterization tool. What kind of words are the characters using? What kind of tone? What do they think is appropriate conversation?  What questions do they ask? The more in-character you make it, the more fun it is. And dialogue is so, so useful with backstories. It’s one thing for a character to ruminate on what happened in their life. It’s another to see them say it out loud. And what kind of snap-judgements will the other person make? I wish I could give more specific advice, but I don’t know what story you’re writing (feel free to DM or discord me about it, I’d love to hear) but without specific details, I don’t have specific advice. Lastly, how do I introduce conversations? Honestly, I don’t remember. I do remember sometimes writing a chapter, not knowing how to transition to a topic, and putting in [INSERT TRANSITION HERE] so I could fill it in later. I would say try to use the environment to your advantage. If you need your characters to argue over PDA, bring in a public place. If you want a character to relfect on their parenting, have them see/do something that reminds them of it. Have a character notice something’s off with the other and ask.  Give them a reason to speak.  Anyway, thanks for asking this question! If you want to send me your work so I could read it, I’d love to. It doesn’t even have to be an advice thing, I love seeing how other writers write, and there’s a huge chance I could learn something from your writing as well. But it can be a suggestions/advice thing if you want it to be.