#glittercat

[moonssugar]

i think sam and em should have warrior ocs. yea theyre gonna have warrior ocs and fan clans

[something-pithy]

Heyo, glittercats and kittens! So chapters 6 and 7 of an echo, a stain are up! And starting this week, I'm going to start including story notes along with the link.

I'm a note writer lol. Part of how I even begin to keep track of all the wildness of writing something longer than a grocery list is to write about it before I start writing it, if that makes sense lol. Character sketches, ideas about why certain things are happening, backstory, setting details, etc.

I'm pretty verbal about my writing process because -- well,  I like writing about writing a lot, and also, I think it improves both the work and how I get there. Anything might end up here -- character sketches, ideas about why certain things are happening, backstory, setting details, etc. I don't really wanna be leaving like eighteen thousand words of notes on every chapter, so here we are!

Sometimes I think they might add some interesting context for readers, sometimes it's information that I think is important but it's too much for the notes section on the story itself, and sometimes it's just so I have a document of my progress for this story. So here are my notes for chapter 7! ---

Chapter 7's title is from "Come to Me" by Bjork, which is definitely one of my Astarion / Tav falling in love themes for when I'm up in these flashbacks, back before Astarion Ascended (and he still had a soul loool).

The notes from previous chapters had promised a Shadowheart & Tav conversation in this chapter. This is not the Shadowheart & Tav chapter I promised, but it is the one that continued to demand to be written until I capitulated. 

And also, honestly, the one that's going to benefit that other chapter that was supposed to be 7 and the story as a whole in the long run, so I hope you like it! 

I was getting really stuck with my original plan, and so I just started writing -- well, this. And the chapter after this. And possibly the one after that. Loooool there is a LOT going on at this point in these kids' lives.

The original plan is still 100% happening, but I think I needed to 

1. explore the foundations of who these people have become (by these people of course I mean Tav and Astarion, but also friendship is magic, so our beautiful OG friendgroup babies) 

2. what the relationships between them look like and 

3. some clues, at least, as to how they got there. 

(tl;dr we're purposefully time-jumping, and I'm having fun with it, so I hope you will, too!)

But never fear, Shadowheart and Tav will of course be chatting when we return to the story's present. And it won't be in just one chapter.

OR

hey y'all, we're gonna be doing some purposeful (and hopefully at least coherently executed) flashing back and jumping forward (or up! or laterally! OR WHATEVER) in/on/around this story's timeline!

Final note, but an important one, on Tav's identity: 

I tried to keep Tav ambiguous for the first few chapters because I know that sometimes a really detailed and specific-looking or backstoried Tav can make people disengage from the story because they don't relate to the identifying details provided. (also, it's me, I'm people, or at least one of the people lol)

But at the end of the day, as soon as I started even thinking about writing a BG3 fic, I started really digging into and developing this Tav, who does reflect the dialogue, action, and relationship choices I've made in my current playthrough of the game with her, yes. But in having spent / continuing to spend some time thinking and writing about who this Tav is.  I'm not going to lay them all out here, but I think when you want to play in a sandbox as fucking ginormous and intricately, infinitesimally detailed as Faerun / The Forgotten Realms / DnD,  a little story/character-relevant contextual frontloading can help readers have as much fun with it as the writer does. 

Also, and I'm just going to say it, Tav is a queer, first-generation Baldurian child of two immigrants. She's the Faerun / Baldur's Gate equivalent of a BIPOC, with parents who were born in places very different both from Baldur's Gate and each other's home cities / kingdoms. Also, she's mixed-heritage elf (sun, moon, sea -- yeah, I'm that guy, come at me bro loooool). All this context is key to who Tav is as a person, as a creator, as an adventurer, and just in general.

I want anyone to be able to read Tav and be able to understand who she is, if not be able to relate to some small part of her -- but in my mind, people like Tav are essential to the story of a place like Baldur's Gate, and I really enjoy exploring what that looks like.

I'm having fun with it, so I hope you will, too!

[decadebattle]

So sad I missed the beginning, I would have suggested Lavinia (Princess Sara), Sisi (Code Lyoko), Cera (The Land Before Time), Diamond Tiara (mlp), Trixie (mlp), Georgette (Oliver&Company), the Glittercats (Centaurworld) and probably other ones I don't have in mind right now

.

[estelian-01]

let’s make this a tag game! Why? Because why not!

No Pressure Tags: @ladye-zelda, @pickpocketwatch, @glittercat34, @evablueblanket, @karmaisdue, @majorproblems77, @wanderlustmagician, @rosehipandroots, @hotcheetohatredwastaken, @somer-writes, @anime-obsessed, @needfantasticstories

Ladye: friendly person I kept bumping into and am finally to know!

Pickpocket: fantastic and weird posts!

Glittercat: Downfall Duo Fics!

EvaBlueBlanket: sweet wonderful friendo!

KarmaIsDue: wacky memes!

MajorProblems: a bunch of LU fanfics!

Wander: friendo who likes writing prompts!

RoseHipAndRoots: twilight Lu fics!

Cheeto: BDOR, and 😤 Miracle Wip!

Somer: twilight WHUMP fics, uses Mayonnaise like a normal human being!

AnimeObsessed: Also lots of goofy memes!

NeedFantasticStories: writer + art friendo!

[wanderlustmagician]

💌 send this to the twelve nicest people you know or who seem to have a good heart and if you get five back you must be pretty awesome

Thank you glittercat! <3 <3

[bandnameserver]

Glittercats

[mightycockblock]

Dreaming of Mewshroom for a better time. . . . . . . . . #cat #rainbows #clouds #glittercat #mewshroom #dreaming #chickenunicorn #unicorn.

[glittercat34]

its the right glittercat!! thanks for the tag stormy <3

I did a mermaid!! purple, of course. not a particular character or anything though

tags! @wanderlustmagician @rebornofstars @noorahqar @hotcheetohatredwastaken

hehe look at this cute picrew!! I'm literally in love it's so cutee.

here if y'all want to try it! (warning: doesn't have diverse body types I'm sorry about that, it's okay if you don't wanna try it. No pressure!) @silkcorpsedoll @sugarcandydoll @insaneinpink @local-lover-boy @daughterofthesea111 @huellitaa @orphicseraphim @entyill @escarghosted @escapingpurgatory @elissbabby @blessed-bruises @messyfuxia @cold--carnage @rebel-grrrl444 @smittenseraphim @sw1tez1anka @stwberrryblonde @sweetl4mb @dollcemitery1 @scary-friend @girldigitaldiary @gravesiteprincess @waifspiration @wintvies @lanadelreystan101 @xmoonshardx @coffin--coffee @vampyr3wife @naturalbornluvr @disturbedog

[justherefor000]

Love em

[mimithesketchfigure]

Happy Halloween :)

[something-pithy]

Notes and an Update: Astarion, Tav, and Trauma in Stories

Pictured above: actual footage of trauma response from Astarion (j/k! kinda!) to catch your eye :D

Hey glittercats and cosmic kittens!

So I've definitely been neglecting the updates here, which I'm going to try to do better with.

We're up to Chapter 11 on this bad boy, and I've adjusted the anticipated chapter count to 30 (but honestly it's probably still all lies because I have absolutely no sense of how much writing each point on my outline ends up being loool).

I have a DOPE beta who's fucking amazing both in terms of conventions and idea partnership and I'm telling you right now, this story is so much better for having their hands and eyes on it.

SOME CONTENT WARNING STUFF RE: THIS CHAPTER:

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

.

.

.

MORE DETAILS ON THIS -- SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

So hopefully that's enough room for people who don't want to be spoiled to escape!

So I'm going to copy/paste the end note on the story, and expand on it a little bit.

So, although Tav is a "good drunk," as Frank Gallagher might put it, she is 1000% engaging in pretty serious substance abuse, or to be more specific in this chapter, alcohol use disorder. I'm not going to go into the way this story is going to approach mental and behavioral health disorders and trauma; hopefully it will speak for itself. Suffice it to say substance abuse and trauma are not the central subject of this story, but also, Astarion and Tav as they exist in this little pocket dimension of the BG3 universe have been impacted by the trauma they've each experienced both together and as individuals. In general, the impact of trauma can look and feel a lot of ways. Sometimes it's horrifying, sometimes it's heartbreaking, sometimes it's rage-inducing - but let's be honest, sometimes that shit is funny, too, because humor is such an incredible survival tactic / coping mechanism. Even if sometimes we're laughing at shit that shouldn't be funny. (Maybe especially then.) This story isn't going to be an after-school special or a PSA. It's a story about people, and sometimes people are fucked up (literally and figuratively). Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. If this has activated you, or you have earnest questions or concerns about what's going on in this story / with these characters, or you just want to shoot the shit, hit me up on my tumblr. There might be more notes there on this eventually, but for now, this chapter actually took a lot out of me and I'm still out here with these perpetual COVID symptoms, so... lol NOT TONIGHT. As always, thank y'all for reading, kudosing, and commenting.

OK, so I may have lied about the no notes part... but honestly, in re-reading that note, I think it kind of gets to the point.

But ALSO...

I've been a geek on the internet for a long, long time. I've engaged with different fan-based writing and roleplaying communities (tabletop, chat-based, forum-based, butt-based -- EVERYTHING) for pretty much the entire time.

"The Tragic Backstory" seems like it's been A Whole Thing since people started creating characters whether for roleplay or stories.

I think times have changed somewhat, but back in the day I ran in circles where a lot of thoughts about writing, creating characters, roleplay, etc. coexisted somewhat peacefully, but an old chestnut that consistently (maybe without fail) turned up in any conversation that involved Writers of Quality was a contingent of folks who had deep disdain for The Tragic Backstory.

I'm talkin' some deep, scathing, elitist shit, my beautiful people.

And I'm not gonna lie to you! This is approximately ten thousand years ago (no but seriously, decades), and honestly, I was up in those conversations, too, throwing around my disdain, assured by my fellow elitists that even though I frequently employed some form of Tragic Backstory, it was OK when I did it because it was good.

I mean in retrospect, it's kinda bullshit. There's always gonna somebody who's gonna think your shit's good, and there's also always gonna be somebody who thinks they're a Better Writer Than You who's gonna think your shit is... well, shit.

Not gonna lie, I still have very strong and particular preferences when it comes to the fic I read in general, and that includes backstory.

But over time, I got progressively less insecure (not just about my writing, but in general) and consequently less concerned with judging writing that's not my flavor as "bad" or "shitty" or "juvenile" (looool seriously, I was a dick) and more concerned with finding and creating writing that is my flavor.

However, and I don't think I'm going to apologize for it, some dickish tendencies linger in my soul. I'm going to try and frame these thoughts in terms of what compels me in a story I'm reading and what I do (or try to do) in my own writing.

This is a very long way of saying if something I say (or have already said) makes you feel like I'm coming for your neck, please know that I'm not.

My thoughts and/or opinions may cause you or someone you love to feel Some Type of Way. That is not my intention. I have no desire to:

Yuck anyone's yum

Contribute to or activate the crippling self-doubt that plagues almost every creative I've ever met

Be a dick.

Having said all that, I do have Thoughts on This Matter.

People write for a lot of reasons, but I'm fairly convinced that nobody's doing it with any level of purity. There are tons of incredible, beautiful, moving stories that feature a whole-ass Self-Insert, maybe even the dreaded Mary Sue.

(lol lookin' at you Dante's Inferno, Tyrion Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire, and countless others lol)

People write to explore topics and themes that interest them, that compel them, that they see recurring in the world around them and/or their own lives.

One of those things is trauma.

In my writing, I approach trauma, disordered behaviors, dysfunction, dysregulated emotions, etc. (topics both of great interest to me and, not coincidentally, ones with which I have a great deal of personal experience) from a place of wanting fervently to tell the truth.

And I'm pretty good writing some things that feel true.

But I know that in some ways, I've shied away from harder truths; from using my writing and the characters I create not only as reflections of what I see in the world, but as accurate (rather than idealized) reflections of myself.

Because of this, while I've explored redemption arcs in roleplaying games (where being cheesy or facile or juvenile or fulfilling personal fantasies felt much safer than on a page), I've skirted neatly around it, I think, in my writing (for the most part). Because I absolutely was the girl who wanted to "save" or "fix" the wounded (and emotionally unavailable, and/or abusive, and/or toxic) lover. I wanted stories about it. I wanted to roll around in that narrative, bathe in it, eat it up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

All while occupying the role/perspective of The Good One / The Good Girl whether in a game or in a story I was consuming.

But it's not the truth. Not the whole truth, at least. Not for me, anyway.

My admiration, respect, regard, and all the other good words for the writing and acting in Baldur's Gate 3 cannot be overstated. Each of the "origin" characters (and honestly, any character "Tav" has the opportunity to even have a conversation with, much less spend a significant amount of time with) is thoughtfully and truthfully written. I see this more in some than others, but that depth and breadth of understanding about human beings -- sorry, sentient beings -- shows up all over the place and honestly I almost can't stand how much I love it.

I'm not going to say that there's no character I feel this as deeply with as Astarion, but... idk, sometimes.

But there's no need to quantify this. Astarion is one of a number of characters from the game that I'm low-key obsessed with.

As such, when I decided to take on the story outcome in which, in my opinion, he throws all the growth, all the processing, all the truth and reconciliation I saw him moving toward in the game into a fucking woodchipper, I did not want it to be easy.

I get wanting it to be easy, and there are delicious, delicious fics out there that go this route. I think anybody who writes Ascendant Astarion at least flirts with it.

And it's not a binary; it's not either, "OMG this is completely uncomplicated, I love you I'm your spawn and it's just like if you hadn't ascended except your SUPER EXTRA POWERFUL AND SEXY AND HOT AND WHOOPS THERE GO MY PANTIES" (which, tbh... lool I'm not mad at) or "ASTARION IS IRREDEEMABLE LET ME WRITE OF HIS TRAGIC DEMISE AND TAV'S TRAGIC WITNESS TO IT / ENGINEERING OF IT." Which I'm ALSO not mad at, because THOSE THINGS CAN BE TRUE.

But while I'm subscribed to some stories that follow those paths or ones like them, and when I get that notification it's time to STOP THE PRESSES bc mama needs to READ, for me the challenge of this is if I'm going to continue Astarion and Tav's love story (or rekindle it lol), I want to honor the four years of intense character work Neil Newbon and Stephen Rooney and honestly the whole goddamn BG3 team from soup to nuts have done by considering "What would really happen here" as brutally as possible.

Komo, my incredible thought partner-cum-beta, can tell you about the pages of back and forth between us about "fml, how can we make this story work and maintain fidelity to the integrity* of these characters???? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

*not personal integrity -- meta shit. The integrity of their arcs, development, personalities, histories, traumas, etc.

SO. Back to trauma.

I said in my end note for chapter 11 that this story is not an after-school special (which looool probably at least some of you are like wtf are you talking about my dude and I'm like looooool omg life before kids were a whole target demographic unto themselves - kind of lol) or a PSA.

Which alludes to the fact that YES, I want to tell the truth about the ugliness of this relationship and the individuals in it with nuance and empathy and sensitivity; that I want to write about the pain and harm and longing and ache and all of it in ways that are neither hyperbolic nor diminishing.

But also, look, my darling motherfuckers, my comrades in fuckery, whoever's made it this far into this rambling monster of a -- whatever the fuck this is lool -- PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRAUMA ALSO HAVE FUN.

SOMETIMES EVEN WHEN THEY ARE ENGAGING IN BEHAVIORS THAT ARE DESTRUCTIVE TO THEMSELVES AND/OR OTHERS.

I don't think I've sufficiently unpacked this part to dig down much deeper into it, but what I will say is that this is not going to be a passion play about Poor Tav or Drugs Are Bad, Mmkay? or anything else.

What this is going to be (or at least, what I passionately want it to be) is -- framed with a delicious little fake-dating muffin of an emotional MacGuffin -- a portrait of some people in all (or lordt jebus please let me achieve at least MOST) of their complexity.

ALL OF IT.

Lordt Baby Jebus, Allah, Milal, Great Spaghetti Monster, ANYBODY

(not Lolth lol)

hear my prayer!

Aight, that's all I've got for today. <3

If you made it this far, PM me and tell me something you want to see in the story! I'll make you a treat.

And if it don't fit in the story, I might be able to make a li'l drabble happen.

COMING SOON to Writing Notes Storytime:

Identity in this story and in stories in general

The Good, the Bad, and the Neutral: Alignment and Astarion (and some other ppl, too!) in BG3, DnD, and This Story lol

Stuff I'm forgetting bc I'm STILL not over this never-ending COVID fuckery

[hex12345678910]

Part 7

Galaxyangel/galaxyangels/galaxyangelself

Galaxy/galaxy's/galaxyself

Gale/gales/galeself

Gaslit/gaslits/gaslitself

Gemangel/gemangels/gemangelself

Gemcat/gemcats/gemcatself

Gem/gems/gemself

Gendercurious/gendercurious's/gendercuriousself (for days when I don't know how to describe my gender)

Genderfull/genderfulls/genderfullself (for days when I feel multiple genders)

Genderless/genderless's/genderlessself (for days when I feel no gender)

Ge/gir/girs/girself

Glae/glaes/glaeself

Glow/glows/glowself

Gheistcat/gheistcats/gheistcatself

Gheist/gheists/gheistself

Ghostangel/ghostangels/ghostangelself

Ghostcat/ghostcats/ghostcatself

Ghost/ghosts/ghostself

Ghoulcat/ghoulcats/ghoulcatself

Ghoul/ghouls/ghoulself

Glaciercat/glaciercats/glaciercatself

Glacier/glaciers/glacierself

Glimmer/glimmers/glimmerself

Glitch/glitch's/glitchself

Glitterangel/glitterangels/glitterangelself

Glittercat/glittercats/glittercatself

Glitter/glitters/glitterself

Gloomy/gloomys/gloomyself

Gloom/glooms/gloomself

Glow/glows/glowself

Godcat/godcats/godcatself

Goddemon/goddemons/goddemonself

Goddevil/goddevils/goddevilself

God/gods/godself

Goldenshadow/goldenshadows/goldenshadowself

Goldenray/goldenrays/goldenrayself

Goldshade/goldshades/goldshadeself

Gold/golds/goldself

Goo/goos/gooself

Gore/gores/goreself

Gothical/gothicals/gothicalself

Gothic/gothics/gothicself

Goth/goths/gothself

Grave/graves/graveself

Gravity/gravitys/gravityself

Greed/greeds/greedself

Green/greens/greenself

Grey/greys/greyself

Grim reaper/grim reapers/grim reaperself

Grim/grims/grimself

Guardian angel/guardian angels/guardian angelself

Guardian/guardians/guardianself

Gut/guts/gutself

My pronoun hoard part 1

Aan/aans/aanself

Abandon/abandons/abandonself

Abomination/abominations/abominationself

Absence/absences/absenceself

Absent/absents/absentself

Abstract/abstracts/abstractself

Abrstra/abstras/abstraself

Abysmal/abysmals/abysmalself

Abyss/abyss's/abysself

Acidic/acidics/acidicself

Acid/acids/acidself

Action/actions/actionself

Adventure/adventures/adventureself

Aem/aems/aemself

Aeon/aeons/aeonself

Aeth/aether/aethers/aetherself

Ae/aer/aers/aerself

Ah/ahs/ahself

Air/airs/airself

All/alls/allself

Alone/alones/aloneself

Amethyst/amethysts/amethystself

Anarchist/anarchists/anarchistself

Anarchy/anarchy's/anarchyself

Angelcat/angelcats/angelcatself

Angel/angels/angelself

Ang/angs/angself

Anomaly/anomaly's/anomalyself

Anonymous/anonymous's/anonymousself

Any/anys/anyself

Apocalypse/apocalypses/apocalypseself

Aqua/aquas/aquaself

Arachnid/arachnids/arachnidself

Arach/arachs/arachself

Arctic/arctics/arcticself

Arc/arct/arcts/arctself

Arson/arsons/arsonself

Art/arts/artself

Asce/ascen/asces/asceself

Asch/aschs/aschself

Astral/astrals/astralself

Astrim/astrims/astrimself

Astro/astros/astroself

Atar/atars/atarself

Auti/autis/autiself

Aut/autumn/autumns/autumnself

Aut/auts/autself

Au/aus/auself

Avii/aviis/aviiself

Avi/avis/aviself

Av/avs/avself

Awr/awrs/awrself

Azure/azures/azureself

Aze/azer/azeria/azerias/azeriaself

Aze/azes/azeself

[thelindblog]

Nothing beats drawing a cat and covering it in glitter. ✨ Also all of my markers are drying out. 😭 Edit: Reposted a brighter version ✨ 💙 ✨ #spacecat #spacekitty #glittercat #glitterkitty #art #artaccount #artistsoninstagram #artistsofinstagram #doodle #doodlesofinstagram #cutedoodle #catdoodle #glitterillustration #copicart #copicmarkers https://www.instagram.com/p/B0kABvkg44C/?igshid=19dlpj2r6slyn

[feelingsocatsby]

@taylorswift

Story time: The day before Easter I was decorating eggs with glitter. I walk away for LIKE THIRTEEN SECONDS!!! and my CAT decided to knock it over and roll all in it. So now my Cat Sweetie who is a boy now has pink sparkly glitter all over him. So fast forward (and we’re taking on the world together) these past couple of days including today we keep finding little specks of glitter ALL over the house.

[esquivelle]

"...my understanding is that they locked Rainbowtron and the funniest of the Rodimi in a barrel with a bunch of actual tarantulas."

Raf sighs. "It was a mean thing to do to the tarantulas, but I think that Rodimus is going to keep one. Now they're all harassing Rainbowtron about being afraid of spiders, but I. D. K. --to me that sounded like a trauma reaction. Anyhow, I have to say, sometimes I think there have to be two Rainbowtrons, because the guy I hear about from Jack and the guy I hear about from Glittercat cannot possibly be the same person."

“What the hell is going on.”

[rabbitic]

i crushed cringe culture with my tiny gay hands

glittercat sona. glittersona. what do you call it