#i love little details in the worldbuilding. it's more than the game okay i NEED this to be written in a more fantasy-like setting So Bad

[risingsunresistance]

i'm still so obsessed with the rising sun poster laying on the ground there in front of dante (this render was posted to the hypixel twitter so it's canon as far as i'm concerned)

so. someone was going around trying to hang up propaganda during all this. goons on constant watch, half the people here are against you and you don't know who can be trusted, it's just *($&#@*%^(*@#^&%* i love the idea of someone absolutely BOOKING it through the hub covered head-to-toe in whatever armor or coverings they could find to make them unidentifiable, slapping posters onto the walls of anything they run by. the goons have to go around later and try to rip them all off, throw them away, do anything they can to stop the message from spreading. despite the posters, they still haven't found out where the resistance is gathering up their members...

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Neo Bowser City (aka Koopa City in PAL regions)

Debut: Mario Kart 7

Do you ever think of all the weird locations we only ever see in Mario Kart games? Despite being the biggest of all of Mario's spin-off franchises, when you really get down to it, remarkably few Mario Kart courses are actually based on established Mario locations!

It's not none, there's the occasional Donut Plains and Tick-Tock Clock and Airship Fortress, but most of the courses are these weird one-off locations we never see outside the context of that specific racetrack.

But have you ever taken a moment to step back and like, think of the Lore Implications of some of these places?

Like okay! Bowser just owns this whole dang cyberpunk city and we only ever see it in the context of Kart Racing! How messed up is that?!

One day Mario and Friends were looking for new places to race, and Bowser must have said something like "Gwah-hah-hah! I bet you puny punks could NEVER beat me in a race in my cyberpunk metropolis!" and right then and there it was established that Bowser owns a cyberpunk metropolis. Neo Bowser City is a city that exists in the Super Mario World and aside from returning in other Mario Kart games, it hasn't been acknowledged before or since.

Neo Bowser City first appeared in Mario Kart 7, as the third course in the Star Cup. Despite its flashy visuals, it actually doesn't really have a whole lot going on. It's a difficult track with some tight turns made more difficult by the rain making things more slippery, but besides that it doesn't really have any of the Wacky Obstacles that define so many Mario Kart courses.

Then it returned in Mario Kart 8 looking more gorgeous than ever! The bright colors really pop out, and the whole track is just oozing with detail that really emphasizes the scale of this city!

But like, the emphasized scale really only further raises the question of where this exists in the Mario World. Clearly, the fact that Bowser is plastered all over the billboards and the fact it's named "Neo Bowser City" helps us deduce that this city probably belongs to Bowser. Is this located in Bowser's Kingdom? Just how big is Bowser's Kingdom? And why does he own so many separate castles?

Maybe Neo Bowser City exists in the future? Is this a bad timeline? I mean, Mario Kart is allowed to have time-travel shenanigans. There's a Splatoon battle arena and that exists thousands of years in the future so sure, dust off Mario's Time Machine and head to the bad future where Bowser wins. Should've pressed that New Super Mario Bros. big yellow P-Switch!

I asked my friend Mod Chikako for their input and their theory is that Neo Bowser City isn't the future of Mario's world, but of our world. Clearly Bowser just couldn't take Wreck-It-Ralph losing the Oscar vote!

But in that case I guess it's a cooler cyberpunk future than the one we're living in right now. Corporate monopolies that run mass-surveillance with little government intervention due to their extreme wealth giving them extensive political power? No thank you! Neo Bowser City has bright neon colors, and flying cars! If I'm going to live in a dystopia, I want it to be a fun one. The only advertisements I want to see plastered everywhere are ones advertising Bowser!

Boo! That's the bad guy! Thumbs down!

The course returns again in that pitiful mobile game with another redesign, this time letting us see his Coney Island Disco Palace off in the distance. Does Bowser live in his Neo City? Is this worldbuilding we've been missing out on for decades, finally answered by a kart racer? Is this the capital city of Bowser's Kingdom? Am I once again falling victim to my perpetual hubris of overthinking the Mario franchise?

Really, I can't offer too much in terms of wacky fan theories, because I'm still thinking about this location existing in the first place. I'd love to know the Lore and worldbuilding here, but I guess the nature of Mario's canon is that it doesn't need to be over-analyzed. Bowser simply owns a cyberpunk metropolis, we'll only ever see it in the context of kart racing, and maybe that's okay.

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention Dinohattan from the 1993 Super Mario Bros. Movie, which we've barely talked about on this blog somehow. You see, when the meteor hit, some of the dinosaurs escaped into a parallel timeline where they then evolved into humans, and then they built Dinohattan instead of Manhattan. Get it? Yeah, that movie is all sorts of bonkers. I wouldn't say it's very good, but I kinda love it. I'd recommend checking it out, if only to see a vastly different take on Mario than you'd be used to.

Anyway I bring this up because it's a completely separate instance of a version of Bowser building a large cyberpunk metropolis, and it actually predates Neo Bowser City! Do you think they could be connected? Are Dinohattan and Neo Bowser City one and the same...?

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: Falin's Back! Everything Will Surely Be Okay Forever, Now

the bath scene is so good and not just for shipping reasons, honestly. Falin going, "I hope you guys didn't go to too much trouble to save me? That magic circle looking kind of fucked up..." and Marcille going, "NO IT'S FINE, EVERYTHING IS FINE NOW AND WAS WORTH IT, WE'RE GOING TO LOOK BACK AND LAUGH."

And Falin going directly to offering mana, in a way that's clearly standard for either mages in general or at least Falin to Marcille, and Marcille very reasonably freaking out because by all logic there's no WAY Falin should have any energy to spare right now - she must just be being self-sacrificing! And even if she does have a smidge of energy, who knows how soon she'll need it again! She died in her last fight!

.

Lolll Laios (twice Chilchuck's height, width and weight) is more of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.

.

*delighted jazz hands* Practical Worldbuilding & Considerations By The Characters! See, THIS sort of detail is why I'm reading the manga.

.

Consume! That! Which! Would Did! Consume! You!

.

I love this casual dinner discussion. They're all so deep in the weirdness now. Of course, Laios immediately proves that he still has them all beat, but it's really been a full-party descent into being absolute freaks by the standards of basically everyone else in the world.

.

Chilchuck's side-eye game is really impeccable.

.

That's such a fond little big brother smile, I'm gonna cry!

.

LOOK THEY WERE HAPPY AND TOGETHER, EATING DINNER AND HOLDING EACH OTHER FOR UP TO LIKE THREE HOURS! I could just stop here...they'd be happy and reunited if I just stopped here...

.

Obsessed with how the cover of the next volume implies that Falin is going to be, like, a real character now, rather than almost immediately resuming her role as elusive mcguffin/white whale/sexy lamp.

.

This is so fuckin' cool, and creepy for them to wake up to. All the flesh is just melted off!

.

The dragon ribs and giant pool of blood, with monsters forming out of it. the floating book, single gesture and en pointe pose. Falin helpless and somehow corrupted in the background... AESTHETIC.

.

Nothin' but #thatbitch from my "school's first ever genius student"!

Srsly I could spend all day watching Marcille ancient magic!counterspelling these blood pterodactyls one by one. Her research is validated, and not just with an arguably self-serving resurrection! She has skills that are vital to saving all their lives! She's so fucking good that the Mage drops them all in a pit rather than continue to uselessly throw monsters at her!

[wyked-ao3]

Writerly Questionnaire

About Me

When did you first start writing?

Started shortly before my 22nd birthday I'm 23 now...I had done a few attempt's before that but never posted them.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

i love a variety of genres and hope to branch into other soon..I'm working on my first original story currently

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

everyone has their own style no two writers are just alike. I could list dozens of author's both published and not that I look up to. I have not been compared to anyone that I'm aware of.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

usually the couch. With my dogs and a blanket since I'm often cold.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

play some music or read something. If that doesn't work then I go back to what I have written and go okay what you crazy character's up to now

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

🤔🧐

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

i tend to give traumatic backstories to at least one character in my books but usually it's a game of find the one who doesn't. I'm also prone to writing family drama 0_o

Do they surprise me? Not particularly since they are usually the characters I like most in a tv show

My Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

Oisìn for this book. Oisìn is a kind person with a bit of a quick temper, he is sarcastic but usually level headed unless you mention his hight Jade is the MC for the second book and my current favorite it might be the kicked puppy factor 0_o

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

Adoh or Jade both are quiet but in different ways...

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

0_o that be a long list lol, without giving spoilers Kia, Rhiannon, Nereza

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

I think about what the storyline needs and they start knocking on the door and more show up as I write. Only a handful were planned out in great detail in advance and they kinda blew that out of the water, which is why I had to make new charts yesterday.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

tragic backstories and loyalty with found family aspects.

My Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

i started writing my first fanfiction when I had a head cold I also edited and posted it during that time...it was what built up the confidence to post something lol, I can say that the next time I posted, I about had a nervous breakdown but now I'm not so nervous when I post. I suppose the reason I write is it is a form of connecting with other people and a escape from reality in a way.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

I love all comments i get even constructive criticism, as it tells me where I need to work on improving next.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who “gets” the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

😵‍💫 nope just nope, social anxiety activated by a question

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

dialogue

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

humour and dialogue

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

I have improved a lot over the last few months but I still have a lot to learn :) I accept the fact that practice is required to get there, although I'm aware no one's writting is absolutely perfect although some are closer than others.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

yes. I like the stories I tell.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

its a bit of a mix but mostly what I enjoy reading but I do add way more punctuation for the readers. My writing style would probably cause people to have a breakdown, since it's mostly quotation marks for when they speak and nothing else perhaps a comma here or there if it seems to long. Then I go back through and edit it after I have finished writing the storyline.

Open tag from @the-golden-comet then tagged by @kaylinalexanderbooks adding in @ink-flavored (I'll fill out the other one soon I like the questions) @thecomfywriter

@sableglass

+open tag

[calamitaswrath]

Cal Lucia plays Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: Chapter 10

Ranulf's back! Does he join us now?

Ohh, catboy's got money for us! That's a start.

Guess he doesn't join us yet. But Lethe and Mordecai do! That's pretty nice. Though I suppose it won't be long now before I have to pick and chose who to deploy for each battle, which is always a bit of a tough one in older FEs. Definitely leaning towards using Lethe in my "main party", though.

Base conversation with a generic soldier that has Ike experience racism. Nothing too noteworthy, but a nice little worldbuilding detail

Marcia continues to flirt with Ike, and he doesn't care. There's no way that this man is straight. Interesting note about Marcia's brother though - I suppose he's encountered later on?

Now that I'm aware that this game also has the five support maximum, I have to admit that I am a bit more hesitant to just do supports as they become available. For example, I have unlocked the C support between Ike and Titania, but I'd really rather not do that one for fear of missing out on others

Mist and Rolf on the other hand, I think I can do. I want to save Mist's A support for another character that joins later and I know about, but she doesn't have any others yet, so I guess I can do this. And it's a pretty cute support - who would've thunk that sending children onto a battlefield could be bad for their mental health, though?

. . .Damn, Begnion takes up a lot of space on the map. Kinda surprised that they only really come up now, but I guess that's sort of to be expected

Ohh, we're actually shown on the map where our route takes us! That's cool.

. . .Wait, so Ranulf's travelling with us, but he's not playable yet? Am I understanding this correctly?

Ah. So, this chapter is basically a new recruit shopping trip? And a stealth mission?

New character, Volker! Goodness, that's a German name if ever I saw one

. . .I better not have to pay those 50.000 in terms of gameplay, or so help me

. . .Okay, that's definitely a unique way to do this. Hiring Volker to open cells. . . well, I haven't really used my funds that much yet, so let's do it

And now we are at the chapters where I have to pick and chose who to bring. . . that's gonna be a tough one, like I said. I'd love to just keep all of Greil's original mercenaries in my active party, but that's probably not very feasible

Now, let's see who I can get on this map. Sephiran - definitely heard of his name before, but I couldn't really put a design to it. Kevin - unfortunate name (and apparently also just a part of the German localization?? Huh??), but I suppose he's Oscar's counterpart. Brom - ohoho, that's peak character design. Nephenee - HER! I've seen her a lot in fanart already. Definitely a cute design.

Okay, after reading up on the recommended strategies for this chapter - which I did precisely due to the supposed stealth elements. . . yeah, screw stealth. Sounds like more of hassle than it is worth. Shame about the bonus experience, but I get a master seal out of it, so that's good.

. . .I did not expect the reinforcements that can move on the same turn as they spawn, and got Mist killed. At least I'm starting over from the first turn, urgh. . .

Okay, Kieran's definitely more out there in terms of personality than I would have expected. Quite the surprise, but a welcome one!

Hah, Soren's retreat quote telling Ike to watch out. . .

. . .Hold on, in order to clear the map I don't actually need to have everyone escape. Just Ike works! That means I can at least get the bonus experience for the turn count, so that's neat.

Due to the strategy aid pointing out that freeing Sephiran is completely optional, I didn't free him. So, his appearance after the chapter is the first thing I'm actually really seeing of him. . . and he is just being ominous for buggering off. Okay.

Oh, we actually get a choice whether Volker (side note, I think this may be another instance of the German localization at work? I think the Wiki calls him Volke) stays with us? I'll let him stay with me, then.

[rowanmgrey-author]

Writer Q&A Tag Game

Thanks to @mthollowell-writes for the tag! Find their original post here.

1)What motivates you to write?

Mostly reading fantastic stories and becoming inspired with ideas about my own work. Also the people in my life like my sister who is also a writer; her vivid words inspire me all the time. I am also heavily motivated by my love of my characters, and a little bit of my guilt that I have not finished one of my novels (the first one) that I have been writing for soooo long.

2) A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

Shared my own work from Bloodlines.

Every day she fought the wolf for control. Every day to stop herself from hurting anyone. The wolf was the worst, most animal parts of her, and most of those dark parts wanted nothing more than vengeance. To cause the chaos and suffering done to her. Before Eron and her suspension from The Order three years ago, that’s what she did. The wolf that now sulked beneath her flesh missed the blood. Every day it tried to take control, to turn her back into a monster.

3) Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

Jackal Bellare from my WIP Bloodlines. He is always my answer because he is just so fun to write. He is that character that came fully formed. Nothing to change, nothing to define, he just appeared. He is a smartass, deceptive and manipulative. He at first is very selfish because he was forced to grow up fast and was abused by his father for many years. He pushed him to achieve his own goals and basically taught Jackal that no one would love him, not even his own family. So he grew up thinking he couldn't trust anyone and that everyone he met would be angling for something. He is also ridiculously powerful as a demon and can be impatient and even petulant. And he's classist too, thinking he's better than anyone who's not at his power-level. These are all fairly awful traits, but I love him still because I know the depths of his character and that all he truly wants is friends that he can trust, a surrogate family that actually gives a shit about him.

4) What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

I love the discovery/investigation phase best I think. Imagining the world and then researching and defining what I need to. I love to learn new things, and I always do in that stage.

5) What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

I would say action scenes and dialogue are my greatest strengths. I can plot as well, but I am more of a character focused writer so most of the plots are pretty simple in concept and execution. I am also not too shabby with the NSFW scenes, but I don't write detailed smut. It's not my thing anymore.

6) What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

Doing tag games! no really. I love answering questions and seeing other's posts about this stuff. I also just appreciate the vibes, everyone is very friendly and inclusive and it's refreshing.

7) A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Microsoft Word has always been my go to. I really appreciate the formatting and how easy everything is. It's also great for editing. I have also used fighter's block to help me reach my goals in a fun way.

8) A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I would say Pandemonium from my novel Bloodlines. This is the planet where demons live. I really just like the lore I have built around demons in general because they are inspired by lots of things but not tied to any real-world religions or mythology. Also in that story one of the types of demons are dragons (Draconem) and they have the power to shapeshift from their real form (dragon) to a human, and change their mass even. There are also these garbage disposal-like demons that have no heads and a mouth on their chest. These are heavily inspired by Blemmyes. I even have a separate dominion for Hell, which in my series is unusually referred to as Gehenna. The realm is a prison obviously, but instead of one place, or several levels like the circles, each Hell is a separate dimension governed by Warden that has a particular specially for punishment. I also have demons that are kind of like Valkyries, they are basically the law enforcement and are super scary even to other types of demons because they can make you tell the truth just by looking into your eyes. There are Demon Kings (which in my novels is a non-gender term, just go with it) and each one has a different rank and they serve as military leaders as well. They also have cool titles, like King of Slaughter (he's the war general and most powerful warrior). I could go on for ages. I spent a lot of time on the lore around demons because originally the novels were going to take place there exclusively and the main character was a Demon King.

9) What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

I usually step away for a bit, and look at it again later. Sometimes it sparks new ideas and even makes me appreciate what I have already. I would really just advise that you don't be too hard on yourself. It's better to go slower and work smarter, so you don't burn out and end up in an uninspired state of procrastination. Goals are important too, but don't compare yourself to other writers. Make goals you know you can achieve and set times and make space to work.

10) Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters:

Obviously @dyrewrites needs to be first. She is my sister and was the one that got me on writeblr in the first place. And what an amazing community! I haven't been here long, but I can say that I get a lot of attention and really cool asks from these amazing people:

@stesierra - @aziz-reads - @digital-chance - @mthollowell-writes - @quantumlandbooks - @anonymousfoz - @another-white-hole @inkytealeafwriting - @schepper-wubs-wips - @hottubraccoon

You all are lovely people and if you want to join in on this tag please do.

[furryprovocateur]

i'm not sure how i feel about disco elysium tbh. i obviously like it to some degree but i do feel like i'd be a bit of a poser if i said i loved it. i really dislike how the most arbitrary shit will damage you and nothing feels shittier than losing like 40 mins of progress because you engaged with a random thought that happened to do health damage when you had no more healing left because you were near the end of the day. and like, i really like the plot, but i've also kind of gotten a little fucked off by the voice acting and the sheer amount of like. . . content. like okay, work with me, sometimes it feels like the game goes into painstaking detail over stuff that, as far as i can tell, will have no pay off. and on the one hand, that's obviously very cool, but on the other, with DE being a game that operates on a timer and also me having limited real life time, sometimes i don't need worldbuilding flavor shit that's never going to matter. and like, DE is a very funny game, but i really wish it were more focused and concise. this game is consistently throwing mountains of text at you and parsing through all of it and determining what matters is the point, but it also doesn't make for that enjoyable of an experience at times. idk. i'm still meditating on this but it's a somewhat conflicting game.

[shadowshrike]

for the ask meme, 30, 7, and 39

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

I pretty regularly write outside my comfort zone if for no other reason than writing is extremely uncomfortable to me. To answer less literally - almost anything I've written for Ace of Diamond is outside my comfort zone due to the setting. I'm a very casual baseball fan, have never had the opportunity to go to Japan, and very rarely write anything set in non-fantasy settings.

Probably the furthest I've reached outside my comfort zone was Unspoken, which is a fic with no dialogue. Do I love it? Not really, but I'm glad I tried it. As someone who hears and sees the characters in my head first, anything spoken is a huge crutch for me while writing. I regularly write entire fics of just conversations and then have to build prose around it, trying to get the rhythm of words to evoke the mood I'm going for while still carrying enough information to tell what's going on. Also, Endless Song was a huge departure. It is both the only thing I've ever written in 1st person, and is inspired by Xianxia; a truly crazy combination for a fic about baseball kids.

As far as how this writing has impacted me - it's made me more okay with following inspiration rather than factual nuance when writing. I'm a detailed world builder, so playing in a place where I'm not 100% confident I know what things are 'really like' has been freeing. I still research to anchor the space, of course. I just spend less time freaking out about leaning on the occasional literary shorthand of stereotypes to keep things moving in casual, small fics where the world is not the focus.

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

Veridian Sky is no doubt the king of this for me. I had so much fun researching to piece together an Almyran culture, and I still think about it (and the final two missing chapters...) regularly.

Honorable mentions for other fandoms to: Endless Song (Ace of Diamond) - unfortunately not very visible in the fic due to it being unfinished and in 1st person, but I have a crazy amount of notes for it since it's completely fantasy and therefore needed an entire world built. Asylum Obscura (Fire Emblem: Fates) - also unfinished, and being years old it's something where I don't love all the writing. However, deeply exploring the commoner cultures of a world you barely see in game, especially how it clashes across national and class borders, was really fun. Life, Loss, and Bearfaced Lies (Baldur's Gate 3) - just finished this, so it's fresh in my mind. The worldbuilding is so insanely complex for this one, and it makes me a little sad that it's tied to a premise which almost no one but me would find interesting in that fandom. I may end up writing some other things that are more accessible to play with this world some more.

39. Is any aspect of your writing process inspired by other writers or people? If so, who?

I honestly am not involved enough in the writing community to get a ton of inspiration from others' processes. That said, I do borrow quite a lot from fic writers I admire stylistically. Ones like you (mareza) or now OAKtoONT in the Daiya space have me re-reading what you write from time to time and trying to identify what feels so good about the words or stories you've chosen. It has me often adjusting my own flow or trying to come at a fic idea from an angle I hadn't considered before.

[stillwill76]

Alright, I know April’s almost over but as it is still Autism Acceptance Month, I wanted to talk a little about it. Just wanted to share what being autistic is like for me and some of my special interests.

I was diagnosed with ASD and ADHD when I was 8 years old. Back then, I was technically diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome but that was merged into ASD in 2011 so I’ll just refer to it as ASD. Anyway, I didn’t really know what that meant until I was seventeen and actually did some research. Learning that a bunch of my behaviors and certain feelings I had were actually because I was autistic was…. I don’t know, relieving? Things started to make more sense. Before this point, all I knew was that I didn’t understand social cues and I was very specific about what I liked and disliked. It did not help that I was also on ADHD medication that exacerbated the negative parts of autism. Since that day, I’ve learned so much more about myself and I learn new things about autism everyday. I’m not angry or upset that I’m autistic. I was (and still kinda am) mad at the people who didn’t explain it to me properly when I was younger but that’s beside the point. I’ve learned to accept it and I’m a lot happier because of it. I don’t need people to be aware of me. I just need people to accept me.

Okay, that was a lot. Hmm. Anyway, SPECIAL INTERESTS, LET’S GO!!!! 😃

My primary special interests are manga, anime, and video games. And within those special interests are even MORE special interests. For example, some of the manga I have a huge interest in include Bleach, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist and Jujutsu Kaisen. There’s a lot more but there are too many list. On the flip side, the anime I like differs slightly. I don’t always like anime adaptations of manga I like. For example, I really don’t care for either the Bleach or One Piece adaptations (Bleach TYBW is the exception). There are certain scenes from each that I really enjoy watching and they both have great soundtracks and great voice acting in both the original Japanese and the english dubs, but weird choices that differ from the source material and huge pacing issues make them hard for me to watch. On the other hand, there are certain adaptations that I prefer to the source material, such as Demon Slayer or Mob Psycho 100. These two in particular take the original material and enhance it greatly. What’s more, there are certain series where I really like both the original manga and the anime (Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen to name a couple). Also, I love original anime, like Space Dandy, Oddtaxi, Gurren Lagaan, Appare Ranman, and Vivy: Flourite Eyes Song. It’s really cool to see original content in a medium that is primarily adaptations.

Starting a new paragraph for video games. This might be my big special interest. RPGs, Metroidvanias, platformers, action games, puzzle games, party games, etc. I really love video games. Favorite series include but are not limited too: Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, Pokémon, and Xenoblade Chronicles. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a big Nintendo person. If I had to pick a genre, I’d say RPGs are my favorite, whether they are turned based or action oriented. My top three favorite games of all time are Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Kingdom Hearts II. Favorite Pokémon generation is three though Scarlet is my current favorite game. I could go on about how I love different combat and level up systems in different games, how I love that the sidequests in the Xenoblade games add to the worldbuilding and give them so much depth, how I love watching videos analyzing background lore in games like Hollow Knight or Breath of the Wild or videos going into detail about how dark series like Kirby or Splatoon are, or how even though the story is insanely stupid I adore Kingdom Hearts for how sincere it is. But I feel like this has gone a bit longer than I originally intended.

Anyway, a couple of notes really quick about Autism Acceptance Month and autism in general:

Don’t support Autism Speaks. They are a hate group focused on trying to “cure” autism.

Don’t use the puzzle piece when talking about autism. It is ableist. Use either the gold infinity symbol for autism or the rainbow infinity symbol for neurodiversity.

Vaccinations don’t cause autism. Whoever came up with that can burn in hell.

I think that’s everything. If whoever is reading this is autistic, I hope you had a great Autism Acceptance Month.

[jpeg-dot-jpeg]

questions for a fic writer ask game ask!! 5 for Having a Me Party, 7, 33, 42, and 44 please!! <3

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about Having a Me Party? Answer it now!

Okay, honestly, it's been so long since I posted this?? It was one of those things that was more of a writing exercise than anything else, and it blew me away how much people liked it. To this day, it is one of my most popular fics and I want to ask, what is it about that story that people like so much? Is it the angst? The drugs? The relationship between Jason and Tim? I'd love to know!

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

Besides all of my corefour stuff (which is soooo much fun to write and I'm pretty proud of it) I'm giddy about a fic I haven't actually posted yet, but will be coming up very soon, which is an urban fantasy BatFam fic ft. vampire Tim. Here's a sneak peak <];)

He took extra care to ensure his undersized fangs went in at the right angle. There was her soft hiss of pain, the rush of venom out through his fangs into her body, then he began to drink. They let out twin moans, Tim from the flood of hot liquid over his tongue, Stephanie from the high of vampire venom hitting her system. “Ahhh, that’s the stuff,” she groaned, melting like butter into the couch cushions. The venom did its work triggering her muscles to relax and her brain to release a wave of oxytocin. The extra erythropoietin proteins would encourage the stem cells from her bone marrow to become red blood cells to replace what she had lost. With that extra kick to her system, it would be safe for her to give blood again in just a couple weeks, as opposed to the 2 months it would take without venom. As much of a parasite as he felt like depending on others to keep him alive, the benefits of his venom were undeniable. They kept vials of it in the batcave specifically for times when grievous injuries on patrol resulted in extreme blood loss. Vampires’ natural immunity to most blood borne diseases also came in handy. Tim wasn’t opposed to weaponizing his biology either. Whenever someone - usually Bruce or Dick - refused to take a much needed break, Tim would be sent in. He’d bat his eyes and say, in the most bashful, sheepish way possible, “I’m really hungry. Could I, umm, feed from you? Just a little bit?” And his dear family members would fall for it every time, offering their arms to him without hesitation. Then, the second the venom hit their systems, they’d be out like a light.

33. If you write chaptered fics, what’s your ideal chapter length to write? Is it different from your ideal chapter length to read?

My ideal chapter length to read is as much as the writer is willing to shove into my gaping fic hungry jaw (though I generally hope for anything upwards of 2k words). My ideal chapter length to write is probably 3-5k? I get really proud of myself whenever I manage more than that, but at least 2k is what I shoot for.

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

I love and appreciate every single comment that comes my way, even if it takes me 3-5 business months to respond to them lol. It always makes me excited to get a comment from another fic writer, bc that is some top notch validation right there. I really love any comment that engages with the content of the story and asks for more details, my thought process, or what I'm going to do next.

My most memorable comment, however, was one a long time ago for a fic I can't remember, but the commenter saw a chapter update and was like 'lol its 2 am and i have to get up at 5 to drive somewhere but i saw this update and had to read it immediately' and i was like 'lol thank u i love actively making my readers lives worse <3' and then the next day they were like 'i crashed the car.' I was like hello??? but then didn't receive a follow up comment on that, so that exchange just lives in my head rent free

44. If you take/write prompts: do you prefer dialogue or scenario/narrative prompts?

I think I'd prefer more general prompts. I like encouragment that gives me lots of wiggle room, especially if its enough to work the prompt into a story I already have going. I have sooooo many wips and ideas, so I really appreciate the motivation to focus on a specific one at a time <3

[thornescratch]

this boy wants the stick and loves to puck - i need more details stat

So there's these novelty shirts with the "this girl wants the stick and loves to puck" text and usually a team logo on it, and they're not to my taste but no judgement if they're yours. Ovi's stick collection is well known by now (here, here, and here if you like) and I always thought it would be kind of hilarious to see stick swapping as, like, a feature of trying to find your soulmate/soulbond, because any time you can mess around with the weird OCD sports rituals as a function of something else, you gotta.

It actually started as a casual porn thing, which was just bb!Ovi being told by one of his teammates as a joke that stick swapping requires sex. And bb!Ovi being, "OKAY.” :D :D :D And then cheerfully banging his way through the NHL in a variety of ways for sticks. He figures it out, of course, by the end of his rookie year. But Ovi frankly likes sex, is good at sex, doesn't mind having sex with most people, and is more than happy to take advantage of using a stick swap request as a pick up line as well, so why not.

Then, ugh, it grew plot and worldbuilding. So, it's sorta all about stickswapping as a way to find your soulmate, and Alex Ovechkin cheerfully collecting sticks and giving the hockey world conniptions over whether or not he's got a soulmate, and putting pictures of his stick collection on instagram, and Don Cherry having mouth-frothing sessions about how GOOD CANADIAN BOYS DON'T JUST SHOW OFF THEIR STICK COLLECTIONS LIKE THAT WHAT IS HE SOME KIND OF STICK SLUT. HE NEEDS TO SETTLE DOWN.

Occasionally Ovi gets snide rumors about him sleeping around with swapping. "Dude is so desperate for a Cup, he's doing anything to find a soulbond." (There are Ovi and Crosby truthers, who insist they're soulmates but that they're hiding it for some reason, since they totally swapped sticks and even jerseys. Crosby ignores it, and Ovi actively trolls it.) There are different cultural things around soulbonds and stick-swapping, European vs. North American traditions, what it means if you swap sticks across positions, if you ask on or off the ice, if it happens at an All Star Game...

As with everything I write, it’s a big ol’ pile of self indulgence.

"Maybe it's a goalie," Willy suggests a few days after the SportsCenter segment airs and the mood in the room has stopped cautiously tiptoeing around the elephant in the corner.

"It's not a goalie," Alex says.

"Maybe it's Lundqvist," Burky adds on, his eyes big and round.

"It's not Lundqvist," Alex says a little more irritably. "Anyway, I have his stick already, you know that. It's not him. We say so, if yes. We not."

He doesn’t bother to point out that with the number of times they’ve matched with New York in the playoffs, of course he would have fucking said something by now if it was true. He would also have taken out ads in all the New York papers and possibly hired a plane to fly a banner over their hockey arena just to be really obnoxious about it.

“Shouldn’t you be on the ice already,” Nicky says to the kids, and they scramble out with the appropriate amount of urgency.

Alex snorts when they’re the only ones left in the locker room. He tosses a tape ball in Nicky’s direction. “You don’t need to.”

“I like to,” Nicky says. “Shouldn’t you be on the ice?”

“You know me, I gonna touch all sticks while everyone not here,” Alex says. “Like pervert. You know.”

“Maybe lick them too,” Nicky says with a completely straight face, and then he smiles and it breaks up the last of the sharp edges that have been rubbing inside his chest ever since the stupid fucking segment aired, and Alex smiles back.

[themousefromfantasyland]

Fairy Tale Laws: How Fairy Tales and their Worldbuilding work

Who follows me knows I'm mega into mythology and folklore. One of my favorite pieces of folklore and fantasy literature is the Fairy Tale. Since I was a child I was always draw to the magical world of Disney films and their darker literary counterparts.

I love fairy tales, yet in my opinion they continue to be one of the more misunderstood and neglected genres out there.

So, as a Disney fan and avid fairy tale reader, in this essay I show how the genre itself generally works and which principles rule their whimsical world

Fairy Tales, Myths and Fables

The thing that fairy tales, myths and fables have in common is that they all find their origins in the oral tradition.

They were fantastical tales, not told specifically for children but deeply enjoyed by them, that were transmitted through generations.

Both fairy tales and myths don't follow real world logic, instead following their own dream-like logic, in a sequence of weird and fantastical events, that are magical and intriguing to the listener, but essentially normal to the in-universe characters.

Often than not there aren't any explanations of why these events happen and their impact of those in-universe societies, they just happen. Animals talk, mythical creatures live along with human societies just fine, inanimated objects come to life, people seem to turn into animals all the time, etc, and nothing of that seem to ever change the status quo.

The thing that differentiate the fairy tale from the myth, is that the myth is supposed to have happened in our world, but in a far off past. They are supposed to explain how our world came to be, and they have a very strong religious importance. The fairy tale on the other hand is not supposed to be took seriously. It's a fun story that the older generation tell to the younger generation. It can pass deeply important life or religious values, but that's not their main point. They are fairy tales, not fables.

The point of the fable is to transmit a moral. The point of a fairy tale is to transport the listener into a fantastical journey.

Fairy Tales vs. Oral Stories

Although many folk stories became immortal fairy tales, not all fairy tales came from oral tradition. Actually, some can be traced back to specific authors.

The Little Mermaid, the Ugly Duckling and the Steadfast Tin Soldier are all considered immortal fairy tales, yet they were all created by famous danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. A lot of his stories are authoral, and all are considered true fairy tales.

The term "Fairy Tales" actually comes from the french "conte de fées" and was coined in the 17th century by Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy, the Madame d'Aulnoy, a french writer who wrote about a world where love and happiness came to heroines after overcoming great obstacles.

These stories arise from the Préciosité, a French literary style in the 17th century, from "les précieuses", intellectual, witty and educated women who frequented the salon of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet. Themes presented in these stories are the ideals of feminine elegance, etiquette and courtly Platonic love, all hugely popular with female audiences, but scorned by men.

Telling fairy tales was a popular préciosité parlor game, and they should be told as if spontaneously, even though they all were carefully prepared. This style served as influence for Charles Perrault and Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.

Villeneuve herself was the original author of Beauty and the Beast, and although the story is heavily inspired by older legends like Cupid and Psyche, it still is an authoral story.

Even the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, who were famous for being collectors of tales from oral tradition, gave their own twists and embellishments to their tales. For example, in many Cinderella tellings it's her mother's ghost who helps her. The Fairy Godmother is Perrault's invention.

So more than been just stories from the oral tradition, fairy tales as a literary genre are the reinvention of the old tropes found in the folk stories under a more sophisticated polish, for a new public.

Fairy Tale as a literary genre

In a way I consider the Fairy Tale a sibling genre to Magical Realism. As TV Tropes puts:

"In Magic Realism, events just happen, as in dreams. [...] Magical realism is a story that takes place in a realistic setting that is recognizable as the historical past or present. It overlaps with Mundane Fantastic. It has a connection to surrealism, dream logic, and poetry."

Both use a surreal, almost poetic internal logic with little to no explanation. Magical Realism is the occurrence of a fantastical event in a realistic setting, in a fusion between the mundane and the magical world.

Fairy Tales are similar because they often deal with very domestic topics and subjects. The protagonists often are normal people with very mundane goals. They don't want to save the world, they want to save themselves and their loved ones.

Cinderella and Snow White for example, are more concerned with escaping from their abusive families than being cultural or legendary heroes like in the myths. Hansel and Gretel are trying not to die from starvation, and Red Riding Hood is trying to visit her sick grandmother. Regardless of class status, these are people with their own problems that find in the fantastical events a escape from them, or a even worse danger.

This is not a universal rule, as some characters are more heroic and there's more in stake, but generally the heroes are domestic heroes and it's only their lives that are in stake.

The difference between the Magic Realism and the Fairy Tale, is that while in the Magic Realism you can easily point where the realistic setting ends and the magical one begins, the fairy tale goes even further, and the lines between the worlds are way more muddled.

Worldbuilding in Fairy Tales

Now, that's the most important part. Fairy Tales are a sub-genre to Fantasy, but while in the other genres the magic world is described in the minimal details, often with rich details about the in-universe cultures and their rules, the Fairy Tale maintain the magic world as vague as possible. That's because it uses what I call "soft-worldbuilding".

Part of the appeal of the fairy tale is to transport the reader in a fantastical journey, but in order to do that they use as little details possible, allowing the reader to try to fill in the gaps. That's in order to avoid the magic world of feeling too real or too close to reality. The reader needs to have a sense of wonder and intrigue, and if you started to describe your world in all its details, it will become too grounded, and the wonder and the intrigue will be lost.

Said that, you need some basic rules, otherwise everything will be incredibly incoherent. You reader needs to understand how the magic world works and their rules, but they also need to be slightly lost, discovering all the details along the way and be amazed by them, lost in a mystery that they will never find all the answers.

To illustrate this, look at the differences between the Middle-earth and Narnia. One is a standard fantasy world, the other is a fairy tale world. J.R.R. Tolkien drew inspiration from the epics, C.S. Lewis drew inspiration from fairy tales and childhood stories.

The Middle-earth is grounded on its own rules, with their own races, cultures, languages and myths. Narnia is a playground were everything magical is allowed. Greek mythology creatures? Okay. Roman gods? Okay. Father Christmas? Okay. Jesus? Of course!

One is worried about all the small details, the other wants everything as vague and simple as possible, as to ensure the wonder and the intrigue will never be lost the reader.

When you're dealing with a fairy tale world you have way more freedom than the standard fantasy world. You don't need to think too deeply in the details. You can use the Rule of Funny and the Rule of Cool as much as you want, as long as it's minimal consistent and coherent

Fairy Tale Laws

This are some basic rules and principles that I believe rule over the fairy tale genre

Establish rules of how the world works. Keep it consistent and coherent. That's your base

Not every fantastical event needs a deep explanation, and magic is not allowed as an universal explanation

Keep it simple. Don't worry too much about the small details.

You don't want your world to be too grounded in reality. A little escapism is key

Poetic logic and surrealism reigns

Have fun with all the weird and magical things that crowded your world. "Rule of Cool" and "Rule of Funny" reign

Never reveal too much to your reader. They need to constantly feel as if there is something more happening off the limits of your story

Domestic heroes (As Narnia and the old dragon slayer stories show, this is not an universal rule)

The overall tone can be darker and edgier, softer and lighter, or somewhere in the middle

[wyverewings]

Wyvere Talks About All The Fics/AUs/Original Settings They Want To Create

so!  I figured I should talk about all my writing stuff in a post, at least my main projects, because I do have a few side projects that I’m not as passionate about

everything’s under the cut because this is long

Fics/AUs

Indigo Leaves: A Pokemon fanfic, specifically a rewriting of Kanto.  I know, that’s been done a million times, but I feel I could do a unique take on it.  One major part I’ll be focusing on here is Pokemon biology, like behaviors and taxonomy and all that good stuff.  Also, the main protagonist is Leaf, which I think is rather uncommon in fanfic, though I’ll also have other protagonist in the group, including some which will probably surprise people with who they are.  The story has some rather dark themes, but I’ll try not to go all grimdark.

Pokemon fan region: Another Pokemon fanfic, this one is, you guessed it, a fan region rather than anything canon.  I’ve got a lot in mind for this, so I’ll just say the main premise of the story.  Basically, the main character is a Pokemon/human hybrid who wants to figure out their past and how and why they are who they are.  There’s gonna be a lot of fakemons, including some regional forms and another form of variation of existing mons, so that’ll be cool.

Dark Scales: Not a Pokemon fanfic, this is Fire Emblem, specifically Jugdral.  This is a rewrite/AU of the Jugdral games where a lot of the characters, mainly Deirdre and Arvis, are dragons.  A major part of the story details the lore of the dragons, and also how they’re hiding from human society.  Also, there’s more focus on Deirdre and Sigurd’s relationship and they don’t fall in love in a single day.

The Void Wyrm: Okay, I would want to talk about this here, but the explanation is filled with spoilers for Hollow Knight, and I do not want to spoil that game.  I’ve got a description for it here, so if you’ve played Hollow Knight, you can read it.  If you haven’t played Hollow Knight... please play it, it’s amazing.  Just keep in mind that it can be tough as nails.

Super Paper Mario Without Mario: As the name says, this is Super Paper Mario with all the Mario elements being taken out (well, moreso most because I doubt I can take Merlon and Merlee out).  The prophecy with the heroes who stop the void is still there, but the heroes are Bleck's minions and also Fracktail because I need dragons.  Also Dimentio’s still a manipulative jerk who kinda just goes along so he can trick people into helping his best interests.

DnD homebrew setting: Okay, let me just admit something: I heavily dislike a lot of canon DnD lore (mostly 5e’s Forgotten Realms because that’s the setting I’m most familiar with).  So I want to make a homebrew setting to fix some of that stuff... except I barely understand dnd game mechanics oof.  Anyway, I plan to have wyrmlings as a playable species, and also goblins are Lykoi cats.

Original Settings

Dragon sandbox/Metroidvania: This project is... like my baby.  I’ve had it in mind since I was very little, though it’s evolved a lot since I’ve first came up with it.  I would explain it, but the problem is... serious worldbuilding is kinda hard.  Also, I don’t know if I should start worldbuilding or actual game development first, and I haven’t a lick of understanding of how you even make a game to begin with!  I do have some idea of what it would be about though, with bug people and elemental themed locations and creatures (as in magic elements like fire and ice, not the periodic table stuff).  Though maybe that might already be too much planning before I actually start developing...

Monster RPG: This will probably be the first game I develop, since it’s gonna be a top down RPG, which (I think) are some of the most easy to make games.  Anyway, it’s about monsters who are trying to defend themselves from the evil humans trying to kill them.  This’ll probably be pretty cliche in the story... but hey I just like monsters okay?

Fantasy Kaiju: This was inspired from me reading about some kaiju stuff and wondering “wait... what if there was a kaiju story set in a medieval fantasy setting?”  I mean, giant monsters are awesome pretty much anywhere!

[procrastinatorproject]

Fic writer review, thank you to @thelaithlyworm  for the tag <3

how many works do you have on AO3?

Ten? Oh no, it’s actualy 12 now!

what’s your total AO3 word count?

86,468

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Grand total of 1: Star Trek: Picard - although my latest offering might branch a bit into other Trek as well.

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

“Passengers”

“And a Barrel of Gagh”

“CMO’s Log”

“Preparations”

“Game Night”

Which is actually kinda interesting. I wrote Passengers, Preparations, and Game Night while the fandom was still a lot more active (especially in the Aramis in Space corner), so that makes sense. The CMO’s log has had chapters added every few months, giving it probably the most exposure of any of my fics. Barrel of Gagh, though? I think I’m gonna attribute that to Thimblerig turning it into a truly, TRULY brilliant piece of podfic. Also the fact that it’s whump involving a character played by Santiago Cabrera. ‘tis A Thing..... :D

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I really try to! I love talking with people in the comments and just... thanking the people who found the time and energy to leave comments. But especially in the last few months I have gotten very bad at keeping up with the comments and now there’s about two dozen that I have neglected to reply to for a painfully long time 🙈

But I will get there! Because I love that kind of interaction!

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

So far, none of them have had angsty endings. Angsty middles, yes, but not endings. I’m just a sucker for everyone being happy in the end. Or at least on the way to being better, and supported and cared for on that way.

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven’t yet, but I’m definitely not opposed. One of the threads of my 200k unpublishable whump scenes takes place in a continuity that has existed in my daydreams for... I wanna say six years at the very least, probably longer. It’s mostly straight-up Star Trek, but with the twist that it involves the Wraith, the telepathic, hive-minded alien race from Stargate: Atlantis that suck the life force out of you with their hands? Or, well, at least a variation thereof.

I once typed up the world building for that particular setting and it took me three hours to try and make it all make sense. So it’s... involved. But not necessarily “crazy”. And I’m not sure I’m ever actually going to publish any of the stories I have set in it (not least because that would envolve finishing any of them and bringing them into a form that is interesting to read for anyone but me...)

have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope.

do you write smut? if so what kind?

Hm, not yet. I do enjoy reading smut, but only under very specific circumstances. I think I may eventually try my hand at smut, but the inner prude is still very strong. Writing about Rios and Xyr making out (which, honestly, was really tame, all things considered) made me melt in a puddle of blushing embarrassment, so full-on smut is probably beyond me at the moment. One day!

have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. Though litigating that in a fandom like ours would be... tricky. ST:Pic is way too small to steal stories outright. But similar or the same ideas pop up all the time. And it’s a complete coincidence. Reading the book that recently came out and that has a kinda similar setting to a lot of my stories (pre-season 1, early in Rios’s history as captain of Sirena, dealing with original characters, holo shenanigans, friendship with Raffi, etc.), I was struck by just how many elements, both scenes or story beats and little details, were similar to things that have cropped up in my writing. And it is entirely coincidental, because I am beyond certain that the author doesn’t read fanfic. Just... for legal reasons. Not to mention I wrote a bunch of the things I saw parallels to while the book was already in production, and some of them are only in my drafts.

So there is a ton of convergent evolution going on in this particular section of the fandom, and trying to litigate who came up with certain plot ideas or character beats when would be a sysiphean disaster. Some things are clear and whenever I use any of them I give credit where I can, but people will have very similar ideas. It just happens. So no, I haven’t had either a full-on story or “an idea” stolen, and I might change my tune if it ever does happen, but so far, I’m trying to practice equanimity, so I’ll be better at it should I ever need it.

have you ever had a fic translated?

Sadly no. My dad keeps complaining that all my fic is in English so he can’t read any of it, but honestly? I’m kinda glad for this very convenient excuse. Maybe if I ever feel like I want to practice my interpreting skills, I will give translating the stories into German a shot. We’ll see. Otherwise, if anyone feels inspired: Have at it! Just let me know, okay?

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not quite. I have a draft of off-the-cuff worldbuilding that I wrote on Discord with @curator-on-ao3 and that I would love to turn into an actual short fic (letters from a conference on holo-ethics), but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

what’s your all time favorite ship?

I don’t really do shipping.

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I WILL NEVER ACCEPT DEFEAT!!!! One day, I will write the next installment of Star Trek: La Sirena! I have so many ideas for that continuity and those characters. I’m not going to abandon them!

what are your writing strengths?

Hmmmmm. Probably detailed worldbuilding? Ask me something about, say, a technological or cultural aspect of Star Trek and chances are, I have thought about it in the past or will come up with three different sets of intricate lore within half an hour. (Things like... the architecture of San Francisco, or Will there still be taxi drivers? or the treaty between IKEA Intergalactic and the Borg Collective, or the Universal Translator, or Emergency Services or Why There Are Very Few Ambulances On Earth Anymore etceterah etceterah...)

I’m also good at slapping together off-the-cuff plot ideas (if, say, you need an explanation for how Seven and Agnes ended up stranded on a desert island, I could probably give you three different scenarios pretty quickly. Just don’t ask me to make them poignant or actually write them.

I’m also very, very good at beginnings.

what are your writing weaknesses?

Everything that isn’t a beginning. Especially endings, or rather: finishing something, but also just... keeping momentum.

I think my dialogue is somewhat samey and not distinct enough between characters. (Also my witty banter is... let’s just say it doesn’t come to me naturally...)

And I also struggle with keeping things brief and to the point. I can write you 30k of whump covering a span of three hours, but fitting a whole story in the same space? Much more difficult!

I have also avoided writing full-on action so far, but where it has crept in it has always been a struggle and been workshopped a lot with the indefatigable beta.

Otherwise, I don’t know. My self-perception is always a little warped, so I’m not sure what other people would say my weaknesses are.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Oof. Well. I have used Spanish sentences in my fic and done the thing where they’re translated in the end note, but I’ve mostly done it sparingly. I’ve also done the ‘“What do you want?” he said in Spanish.’ It’s tricky. But I will likely keep doing it in some instances, even if it’s a bit annoying.

(It also really helps to have a native speaker of Spanish as a beta, even if it’s Spanish from a different region than you’re character.)

Speaking of regional: I’m also torn about the whole “phonetically writing out accents” issue. Some people love it, some people hate it, I’m really unsure because I’m not a native speaker of English, so I’m not even sure I’m consistent in my narrative voice’s regional quirks. So far, I’ve mostly gone with describing that an accent is happening, and only writing out when phrasing actually differs from standard English. Like Ian (Scottish) saying “dinnae” but not writing “I” as “ah” as you’d see on, say, Scottish twitter.

Though it can be a very useful tool if, for instance, you want to indicate a characters accent getting stronger as they get tired or upset. 🧐

Anyway, I don’t think there is one right or wrong answer here and everyones milage will vary.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Published? ST:PIC

Actually first? Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Pretty much simultaneously, though I did write more for LotR. On graph paper, mind, with my fountain pen turned upside down so I could write smaller. I still have folders worth of those stories that I urgently need to digitize before they fade and I lose them forever...

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I’m going to quote @thelaithlyworm here: I Love All My Children Equally! I honestly couldn’t say. They are different and I love them for different reasons but I love them all.

Thank you for the tag! ❤ I’ve kinda lost track of who all has done this already or has already been tagged, so feel free to ignore me! But I tink I’m tagging @curator-on-ao3, @aini-nufire, @29-pieces, @flowers-creativity, @highfunctioningflailgirl, @cristobalrios and @the-goofball. And anyone else whom I forgot or who feels inspired to do this!

[gffa]

I finished Light of the Jedi last night and it’s the first Star Wars book in awhile that I’ve been at all excited about, even if I thought it had some pretty big hills to get over, considering all it was trying to do and be. This book is the setting stage for the High Republic era, which means it has to balance the plot, the introduction to the backsdrop of the world it’s set in, introduce an entirely new set of characters, and do a whole lot of worldbuilding on top of that.  Which means that sometimes the book becomes so fast-paced that it doesn’t really let its scenes breath as much as I’d have liked, it slides into tell-rather-than-show here and there, but that overall Soule’s strength in knowing Star Wars shines through, that I found this to be an incredibly minor complaint and one I was sympathetic to. It helps to go into the book looking at it as an introduction, rather than looking to get as much out of it as you would a book focused on characters and a time period you already know, where it doesn’t have to spend pages and pages giving you information about how this era works.  In that light, Light of the Jedi balances the tremendous tasks it has before it, the multitude of balls it has to juggle, really well! By the end of the book, I came to genuinely enjoy the characters and would like to have more stories about them in the future!  I would like to know the futures of the characters, I want to know more about Avar and Elzar growing up together, I want to know more about the early days of Bell and Loden’s Master and Padawan time, I want to know what it was like on the Starlight Beacon for those positioned there!  I want to know more about the main villain’s backstory and why they’re doing what they’re doing!  The last quarter of the book is when all of that really came together, everything before that was almost a little too fast-paced to really get emotionally invested, but that last quarter?  Where the action all comes together and everything explodes exactly as planned?  Yeah, that’s the stuff, that was where the book got me, I love a good “omg I have to know what happens next!” story and Soule really brought his A game for me at the end there. The book is billed as being about the Jedi, which it very much is don’t get me wrong, but it’s also about the Republic and what the galaxy looks like with someone much more good faith in charge, how that changes the dynamics between the public and the government and the Jedi.  The Jedi, who by and large are almost exactly the same as in the prequels--there are little moments of background info woven in, where they’re adopted as children, where you have to make a choice between marrying someone else or marrying your Order, where attachment (even if the book tends to go with the “attachment = anything permanent” definition, rather than Lucas’ “attachment = the grasping, clinging need to possess someone because you’re so afraid to live without them you’d burn the galaxy down for them”, it’s not egregious) is still Not Done, where 90% of the things the High Republic era Jedi do are ones I can point to in the prequels era Jedi having done a similar thing as well.  And I like to think this is at least somewhat deliberate, given that the Jedi Council scene felt very much like it was defending the Jedi’s choices to get involved more intricately with the rest of the galaxy, in a way that was perfectly applicable to the prequel Jedi’s situation. If you look at this book as an introduction or the first chapter of a much larger project, it works really well.  There’s a lot of joy to be found here, that there’s a sense of delight and wonder in the author getting to explore the Force in a new era, where they’re not constrained by having to stick to leaving room for others writing those same characters, they can be definitive in how one character sees the Force here!  Things can happen, characters can die, the political landscape can change, and that creates a tension that’s very enjoyable.  The background details felt really well done, I actually went through and was making screenshots of the book the entire way because I want to write up a post about Force powers exhibited in the book, which is how you know I really enjoyed something. Will fandom use this book to shit on the prequels Jedi?  Yeah, fandom will always take that chance.  But I honestly felt like this book was a solid support for them if you look at just the content of what’s actually in the book.  While I was reading, I had an amazing time imagining Mace Windu or Obi-Wan Kenobi or Kit Fisto or Shaak Ti interacting with these Jedi and all of them getting along so well.  I would love to see Avar Kriss and Mace Windu have tea.  I would love to see Obi-Wan Kenobi and Loden Greatstorm being obnoxiously hilarious at each other, each with a twinkle in their eye as they throw their Padawans off a ledge because they believe in them.  I would love to see Bell Zettifar and Ahsoka Tano sitting down to have lunch together and complaining-slash-praising their Masters. Soule created some really great characters, really got me in the final quarter of the book (mileages are going to vary, but I thought the ramping up tension was really well done), and it just felt really nice to have a book I genuinely wanted to examine the politics and dynamics of again, that I want to yell, “OKAY, WHO HAS FINISHED THIS BOOK AND CAN  YELL WITH ME? :D” in all caps at my tumblr dash.

[sepublic]

Ivy on the Run!

           Okay, so I want to do this week’s duo of episodes separately. Lemme tell you, this season is NOT disappointing… I know I’ve said it before, but does anyone else just find Season 2 even better than the first one? Not to say the first was bad by any means, it was great- But Season 2 just… Something about the locales, the charm, the little worldbuilding touches, the humor and timing… Even beyond the additional ‘plot’ episodes, there’s something special to even the ‘filler’ stories in this season! If Season 1 was great, Season 2 is even better!

           Like, the tiny little details with the bugs. The sleeping bug being Ivy’s alarm clock, and also I love the foreshadowing gag of seeing the “Do it, you coward!” poster in the background, and THEN it comes into play when otherwise it was easy to miss! That was small but neat and subtle and well-handled! The bee telephones were also hilarious and great, and I love how Felicia is like, lowkey terrifying and hyper-competent in this episode, until she openly IS during her battle with Ivy! That scene where Ivy shuts the door and the Frog China begins to fall, I expected the typical trope where it shatters and just worsens things, but then Felicia managed to catch it effortlessly in time- That caught me off guard and WOWed me! Between Ivy and Felicia and Sylvia, and the Sundews are a REAL match for the Plantars in terms of chaos!

           The subplot with Anne and Polly learning martial arts was funny, and hopefully a prelude to Anne’s own skills in combat. I love One-Eyed Wally just being there, no particular reason; I love him a lot so any reason to have him included is wonderful to me. I felt bad for Polly though, she has no actual limbs, and I can see Wally’s travels making him well-learned in combat… Which of course ties into Felicia, who’s ALSO travelled and is skilled! Ivy doing everything her mother does, and not actually abysmally failing, but just missing that special little touch, was a big mood… And that beetle-catching segment was great and reminded me of beetle-hunting in Breath of the Wild! That iridescent Opal beetle…

          Love this season’s vibes for that game, I hope Amphibia leans even further… Lowkey Amphibia gives me Hollow Knight vibes as a world where this smaller animal is the typical populace and how that changes things up, the knights and royalty, the mystery, and of course the abundance of bugs either way! I’d love to see an action-adventure game, maybe even a Metroidvania, fully set in Amphibia’s setting and world and allowed to go hog-wild with it.

           And, don’t worry Sprig- I don’t think Ivy really needed you to have actual friends, she just needed an excuse to get out, and you’re enough for her! Actually, thinking about it now- Sprig was upfront and honest about his lying for once, which is a wonderful improvement of his past mistakes, especially the one from the previous episode! You love to see his character development, and likewise, I love how this episode is a continuation of the last one with Sprig and Ivy’s date! Nets and slingshots seem to be very complex devices actually in this world, which gets me into my musings on like; A game for Amphibia and gameplay mechanics, perhaps weapons and tool and crafting… But I digress. Also, Felicia talking to her on the phone, only to manifest like THAT when Ivy said no, was both hilarious and genuinely scary. I love Felicia in this episode…

           Anne’s mom was hilarious, I saw that gag but it still played so well, and it’s always a delight to see On (my placeholder name for Anne’s mom because she’s voice by On Braly, Matt’s real life mother)! I like the sense of this show that Wartwood’s inhabitants each have their own hidden backstories and nuances, more to them than meets the eye; It reminds me of the town of Gravity Falls, which makes sense given Matt’s past work in that show. Mrs. Croaker was a former assassin, Stumpy is possibly a veteran, Loggle has his mad experiments, Wally is Old Money; And of course, Felicia! I wonder if we’ll ever get that lore for the Sundews, if Sylvia has anything to comment… I like how the Sundews are lowkey shaping up and being developed with its own memorable cast like the Plantars. Speaking of backstories, we know Mayor Toadstool has an upcoming arc, I wonder if we’ll see anything with him- This is all getting quite sonder, I like it. The finesse of proper manners –which I imagine IS difficult and graceful- going into Felicia’s combat was great, as was that teasing boop.

           All in all, a great episode! Now, onto the next…!