#i can even burn salad

[sarandipitywrites]

Happy WBW, Saran!

Please pretend it's Wednesday, because I just found a single spoon on the floor and am gonna use it before it's gone: So your DRDW is based on a video game I know absolutely nothing about. How much of the game did you keep? Is it the same setting, same world, or something new?

Happy WBW, Elli!

"I found a single spoon on the floor" is such a mood though (I'll get to your other asks at some point, I promise - this just looked like one I actually had the brainpower to answer lol)

The quick answer to this is that the essentials (characters, setting, magic system, some plot beats) are there, but very heavily changed and expanded upon, to the point that I don't actually think you'd need to know anything about the games to understand what's going on in DRDW. The long answer is... a lot longer lol

(Putting the rest of this under a read more for spoilers for a 20-year-old game and because infodump mode was activated)

The Jak & Daxter game series is - and i say this with all the love in my heart - completely fucking bonkers. In summary: in the first game, Daxter (a human) falls into a pool of Evil Magic (dark eco) and turns into an orange otter-weasel-thing, which sends Jak on a quest to change him back. While they don't succeed at changing Daxter back, they do find a time machine (?!) which they take into the future, where Jak is promptly arrested and subjected to magical mad science experiments and injected with dark eco (this is the start of the second game). This does not, notably, turn him into an orange otter-weasel-thing, but does give him the ability to turn into a demon (and anger issues. It also gives him anger issues). He then uses these powers to overthrow the dystopian future government and save a kid who's destined to save the world because the kid is also Jak (because Jak's originally from the future, of course). He then sends the kid back to the past to repeat the cycle.

I won't get too into the third game (except for how you find out that the otter-weasel-things are actually a race of spacefaring gods, and Daxter has technically been a god all this time because Reasons?!) because DRDW doesn't cover that, but i can assure you that it is also a trip.

DRDW was originally meant to follow the canon a lot closer than it actually does. As it stands, though, I've scrapped pretty much all the events of the first game (Daxter in DRDW does not turn into a weasel god, although he did get to keep a bit of magic-ability-worldbuilding i gave him as an explanation for why dark eco would turn him into a rodent instead of a rage monster), including the time travel.

For the setting, this means that I smashed together the settings from two different time periods into one map, as well as moving things around and adding new locations where it made sense. As far as time period goes, I went for the Jak 2 time period (a little bit of 'recovered ancient tech,' but mostly modern-futuristic tech).

Without the time travel, the kid being young Jak doesn't make sense, so his story got completely changed. A couple characters didn't have anything to do, anymore, so they've been excluded (although I'm considering bringing them in for other roles in another story). This also affected how the main characters (Jak, Daxter, and Keira) grew up a lot more significantly than I expected, so while the core of their characters is similar, there are significant differences from the canon (plus i wrote them as being more explicitly neurodivergent than they are in the games [although in the games they're already pretty heavily ND-coded, in my opinion]).

In this version, Daxter also takes a bit longer to find and rescue Jak (because. Look. You give me an excuse for prison/experiment/post-whump, I am going to run that shit as far as I can, ok) - because of this, Jak is pretty much stuck in magic demon mode. So plot-wise, there are a lot of parallels to the plot line of the first game as they try to find a way to change Jak back (but it's complicated, because of course it is).

The magic system got a total overhaul - in the game, magic (eco) is very... well, video-gamey. Green heals you, blue makes you go fast, dark turns you into a monster/orange rat, etc. I put a frankly unnecessary amount of work into figuring out what eco *is* - where it comes from, how it forms in different environments, how it interacts with people, how it's used in connection with technology, etc. Tbh I spent so much time on this part that it made me consider spinning this whole story into original fiction. But when I tried, it just Felt Wrong so I put it back 😂 Really though, I think the magic system rewrite is one of the bigger factors in making this fic actually kind of comprehensible without knowledge of the games - I'm really proud of it 😊

Thank you so much for the ask (and the chance to infodump about my favorite games and favorite project 💜)

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Damien, from @i-can-even-burn-salad 's series Undeserved

[little-peril-stories]

Happy STS!

Someone finds your google history for your wip. How much trouble are you in?

Happy STS, Elli! Thanks for the ask!

Uhh, I'm just going to count TPOT and TQOL since they're in the same setting etc. and there's overlap in some of the things I've had to google, plus I'm writing one and editing the other right now so whatevs.

1880s chocolate (I wanted to know if it was commonly eaten. for a simile. that's it. not even a scene involving chocolate. I still don't know specifics on how it was packaged so I made it up.

can ivory be a verb (no. I mean, I guess I can do what I want. but I didn't)

things that are green (okay. I was tired. it also didn't help. I had to use my brain anyway.)

market vs marketplace (as it turned out, it didn't really matter in the sentence I was working on)

viselike or vicelike (never be Canadian, you will never know which version of English to use)

when were safes invented (I don't remember but I determined I could keep the safe and still have a smidgeon of historical accuracy)

brocade curtains Victorian (I wanted to know what colour options I had)

alternatives to fuck you (pointless search, learned nothing)

things to use as a sling (informative but oddly enough none of the suggestions were appropriate for Victorian times)

amid vs amidst (I think they're interchangeable but as it turns out I forgot what I learned here)

Okay that takes me to the beginning of October. I don't think I'm in trouble this month. There have definitely been times where I've googled sketchy stuff. However, if it's real sketchy, I use incognito mode in case hubby ever needs to use my laptop 😂.

Here's the chocolate simile. It's still a bit clunky but I like where it's going.

She looks around, watches the flicker of a gas lamp—Gysborne, that lucky fucker, he gets real light in here, apparently, while some of us have to slowly go crazy staring at a fucking torch all day long—and the yellow glow reflects back at me, turning the colour of her eyes from that of Christmas chocolate to the shiny paper it comes wrapped in.

[whumpshaped]

6 What do you use to keep your place when you’re reading a book?

11 Do you wear glasses or contacts?

26 Can you cook or bake? If so, what are some of your specialties?

33 Headphones or earbuds?

42 Do you have any games on your phone? If so, which one(s) is/are your favorite?

6. i either memorise it or use a bookmark! i have a bunch of pretty bookmarks, i love to use them. though i mostly read online now :(

11. glasses all the way, i've never tried contacts and i don't think i will

26. i can cook whatever i need to sustain myself. which means pasta and that rice/bulgur thing i usually make. it's just a bunch of bulgur/rice, fries, chickpeas, onions and corn. it's Amazing. i can also make breaded cheese. and uhh... what else... i can make a good mac n cheese from scratch! i mean the sauce from scratch. store bought macaroni. and ummmmmm. hm. that's all i can remember now.

and actually i just baked two kinds of cakes! the depression cake duo, choccy and vanilla. they turned out good i think :)

i also baked a sacher cake sometime back. it was good too i think

33. earbuds if anything at all. but it's a little annoying, for some reason they keep falling out of my ear. that's why i'd never get wireless.

42. i use duolingo as a game. other than that, paper.io. sometimes i take it out and try to beat a level and then i put it away for another month lol

[fern-writes-whump]

🪳Who’s your OC that just won’t die? Why????

Hello!! That title goes to Theo who was literally cursed so he can't die :D The fun part is that he can /technically/ die but he comes back every time.

I haven't worked out a super solid explanation for how it works yet but the jist of it is: when people die their soul is supposed to leave whatever current plane of existence their body is in and move on to wherever it is souls go. But! because of the curse Theo's spirit gets caught in the transition between one dimension and the other and then yeeted back into his body. (fun fact! That also makes it very unpleasant to cross any sort of portal!)

hope that makes any sort of sense, thank you for the ask <3<3

[whumpacabra]

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

For any you'd like to talk about :D

Anyone who has seen Chuck (2007-2012) will find some familiar names in Freelancers. When I first started writing the Post-Retirement arc I had no names for anyone, not even David, so I lifted Casey, Sarah, and Dr. Awesome from that show. Sarah and Dr. Awesome are the most like their namesake, though they obviously have original backstories and traits (Sarah comes from a family of agents and is trans, Dr. Awesome is from Nigeria and moved to Cali after meeting and working with Katie, etc.). I did almost name Harrison Chuck or Charles to complete the team, but I felt that would be pushing it lol.

[ask game]

[gala1981]

Hello! :)

😍 One of the earliest whump scenes/stories you enjoyed

Hi and thanks for the ask!!!

One of the first I remember enjoying was the classic Batman series from the 1960s. Where I live it aired for the first time in the late 80s and since my brother was a big fan of it got to watch it together with him. And OMG, all the perils and the way the dynamic duo found themselves tied up one way or another on a regular basis blew my 7 year old mind😆😆😆

[befuddled-calico-whump]

SKDBRJKRKR this is fantastic

[ID: The "You guys are getting paid?" meme format, showing four panels with different people looking incredulous. The first one is labeled Kell, saying: He broke my hand and it never healed right. The second one is labeled James, saying: He cut off my weak hand piece by piece. The third one is labeled Damien, saying: I blew up my strong hand and they had to cut it off. The last one is labeled Lex, saying: You guys get to keep a hand? End ID]

I remember @dont-touch-my-soup sent me one like these aaaages ago, so I had to offer that spot to Kell <3

@befuddled-calico-whump Got out of bed to make this :p

[tenwhiteandalusians]

so no one was going to tell me if i got literally one episode further tenax drops that he’s the one who saved scorpus from his mom’s pimp AND that he’s intimately familiar with scorpus’ dick when he was younger. guys. guys.

[antisocialxconstruct]

You already made me play shadowrun, convince me to play elden ring as well 👀

oh HMMMM an interesting challenge :o

In one sense it might be an easier sell to you personally, I know you're more into fantasy than scifi to begin with and Elden Ring is definitely a familiar "swords and dragons and magic" kind of setting, albeit with the gothic and eldritch sensibilities you'd expect from FromSoftware. In my opinion this is a major selling point, it feels distinctly high fantasy without just feeling like, y’know, Skyrim But Harder. (And considering I'M someone who's definitely way more into scifi than fantasy, I feel like it's noteworthy that I was still really compelled by the setting.)

The infamous Soulsborne Difficulty is obviously the big sticking point for most people. I can't confidently compare it to other Fromsoft games, but I can say that as someone who doesn't have a ton of experience with soulslikes and generally doesn't think of them as a genre I'd actively seek out, I DID eventually get extremely comfortable with Elden Ring. It can be challenging if it's not a gameplay style you're familiar with, but especially early on you have a lot of opportunities to experiment and mess up long before mistakes start feeling really costly, so it's a good time to try a lot of things. Look up guides, read the wiki, skim some recommended builds... that way if you realize you picked a starting class that doesn't have optimal stats for the skills and weapons you want to use, you can reroll early (unlike me, suffering with a steep faith handicap despite it being like the second or third most important stat for my build =_=) Also, just approach the game with the knowledge that you WILL die and you WILL have to try things more than once, especially if you're not well versed in the genre. I feel like it's much easier to have fun with this kind of game if you approach the challenging fights as earnest attempts and experiments to build a strategy on, rather than "failures" that just mean you have to Do Better. And of course, if something is just too hard to be fun... you can go somewhere else 🤷 hardcore fans might be horrified by my approach but often I would drop one thing that was too hard and wander off somewhere else, get caught up in some other quest line or dungeon or something, and come back to the first challenge so long later that I would be comically overleveled and just get the satisfaction of steamrolling it.

The equally infamous Oblique Soulsborne Storytelling is probably the OTHER major sticking point, and on that I have to say... it is extremely oblique lmao I think @axperjan got way more out of the lore than I did because they actually stopped to read item descriptions and such, so I guess my advice there would be take the time to read item descriptions if you want to know who the fuck everyone is and what they've been up to. But even with the minimal amount of lore I was actually absorbing, I still felt like I was absorbing the ~vibes~ and a lot of the time, that was enough for me to feel like I understood the kinds of struggles and conflicts I was dealing with and how I was meant to feel about them. I got very invested emotionally in several specific characters, and actively want to play the game again in order to absorb more about others and understand them better. Overall I really enjoy the tone of Elden Ring's narrative: there's an unavoidable sickness and despair to the world you're exploring, but an equally clear and distinct note of hope and optimism, a feeling that everything is on the brink of a dramatic change and an earnest desire for that change to be for the better, even if the cost is high.

The game's soundtrack and art direction are beautiful, and MOST of the combat encounters (especially boss fights) feel elegant and satisfyingly structured, so even if you never engaged with the story or lore even a little bit you would get the pleasure of playing through an expansive and competent work of art. There are definitely some recycled maps and enemies that can feel a bit tedious after the first couple times, and some sequences that feel just a little too mean-spirited to be fair, but maybe that's a bit inevitable and in my experience even the ones that made me rage-quit for a night were never enough to sour my opinion of the game as a whole.

I think Elden Ring is a great soulsborne game for people who WANT to like the soulsborne genre but are intimidated by its reputation. It's not so much "easier" that it feels like a disingenuous introduction, but it allows you to be a little more patient and go at your own pace long enough to understand what the genre is actually asking of you and start engaging with it on its own terms. I'm only two boss fights away from finishing the core game and I'm excited for the dlc, which is further than I've ever gotten and more time than I've ever invested in any other soulsborne/soulslike.

Also you get a cool goat-horse and you can feed him snacks while you're riding around 🐐

[sarandipitywrites]

Till Death: come for the tree-impaling, scream internally for the unconditional love and acceptance

or, saran raves about Till Death by Elli Eberle

"Love is hearing the bells, and knowing that I am safe because you are here."

alright, so i actually finished reading this like. two weeks ago. and it's been running around, gnawing on various parts of my brain ever since while i tried to articulate what about it i'm clinging to, and... it's everything. this book is what i needed, when i needed it, and i just can't say enough about that. so let's start with the basics.

Finnian's a healer whose healing magic doesn't work the way people expect it to. given that healing's his job, this already causes him a lot of grief, but because that wasn't enough (this is whump, of course it's not enough), it also results in a figure from his past rallying an angry village to assault him and leave him for dead, impaled on a tree. he only survives due to the intervention of Eilis, a recluse with plenty of secrets of her own, who finds him and nurses him back from the brink of death. this is their story: about trauma and healing, finding trust and love in the darkest places, and learning to love and accept oneself.

a low-magic fantasy setting is the backdrop for this whump tale, and it's as vibrant and intriguing as its cast. the pacing at which Eberle reveals Finnian and Eilis's backstories is masterful; while they always leave the reader intrigued and wanting more, they never leave us confused. both main characters are deeply resonant and full, and the traumas and false beliefs they hold about themselves feel honest and are treated with care.

the whump scenes are masterfully executed as well: with striking imagery and often-visceral detail, Eberle uses staples of the genre to lean on her characters' weaknesses and insecurities until they're forced to confront them, or break (or both). this forced vulnerability allows the characters to open themselves and grow in ways they otherwise wouldn't dare, and makes for some of the most cathartic scenes i've had the pleasure of reading in a long while.

the personal journey Finnian and Eilis take from internalized ableism and guilt to finding a place of belonging and acceptance is hypnotizing and breathtaking. the fact that the characters and their relationship are nonbinary makes the story all the more poignant: no matter what your family, society, or anyone else says about how you live and love, you are enough. always, in every way, You Are Enough. and that's something i think we could all do to remember more often.

i cannot recommend enough that you read Till Death FOR FREE here, and follow Elli here at @i-can-even-burn-salad.

Elli, if any of this isn't ok please lmk and i'll take it down/edit it right away. i just loved this a lot and needed to gush about it 💜

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Happy STS, Calico!

What is something that makes its way into everything you write? A character type, a scene, a trope, anything?

Is there something you really want to include in a story at some point, but haven't had the chance yet?

And do you ever hide easter eggs in your writing, even if chances that anyone will find them are low?

Thank you! 🥰🥰

Something that makes its way into everything I write?

Probably injuries with long-term consequences, especially in whump writing 😂. Every single one of my whumpees has a prosthetic, or nerve damage, or chronic pain on some level

In all of my writing, I can't get away from morally gray main characters (if not the protagonist, it's always one of the others, and if they're not directly gray, they're battling with gray areas in their lives). Also ace characters lol

Something I want to include in a story that I haven't yet?

Better foreshadowing 😭 /hj. Most of my writing is on here, and I post as I go, so I don't make a lot of room for this.

I also desperately want to write a future corporate dystopian satire but somehow can't make the time. I've had ideas for this for years

Do you hide easter eggs in your writing?

A few? Nothing big enough to note really. I think at most a few characters reference other goings-on in their world. For the most part, if it's mentioned, it's there for a reason, so not really an easter egg lol. Chalk that up to things I want to add to my stories I guess

[little-peril-stories]

Happy STS, Kate!

The year is almost over. What are your plans for the new year? What do you hope to start, continue, or finish? Anything you are excited about?

Happy STS, Elli! Thanks for the ask! My 2024 writing goals, as of Dec 23, 2023, are...

finish angsty heist wip

rework and edit Book 1, hopefully do a second beta round, perhaps even get ready to query

finish angsty heist wip

finish TQOL

self-publish TPOT

finish angsty heist wip

nah not really excited about any one of them in particular

[whumpshaped]

7 CREATION - What was your first (officially written as whump) WIP? 17 EYES - How many planning documents do you have? 27 ICE - Are you cruel to your characters? 🤣🤣

7. my translation of felix and dmitry's story, seven minutes in hell! i had a BUUUNCH of it written in hungarian before i found the whump community, and then when i wanted to upload i translated and reworked it and wrote a bunch more to it :)

17. planning... planning documents..... i just started to plan my stuff,, no one look at me. i have one for accountability bc im working on the revamp and i have one for silence with some plot points and worldbuilding and i have some ideas haphazardly scribbled on the bottom of my poisoned ivy document

27. never. my characters are completely fine /j

[emelkae]

Happy STS, Emel!

What's your opinion on writing challenges like nano or monthly prompt lists? Have you ever participated in one? Do you plan to?

I've participated in a few! But I've only ever actually finished one 😅 I won NaNo in three weeks back in 2019. I really liked the concept of that story, but it'd need a rewrite if I picked it up again.

[imaginativemind29new]

Happy STS!

When you make up a character, how many details do you note down before you drop them into your work? Do you stop at the basics, how they look, their personality? Do you think about details, even if they might not come up, like a birthday, an exact age, likes and dislikes? Do you make up more stuff on the fly while you're writing?

Thinking of all the ask games going around, do you care about your characters' favorite colors and fruits?

Thanks for your ask and happy STS!

When I come up with a character I usually create a word document for each of them where I note down their profile, including the physical appearance as well as backstory and personality traits.

The profile of my main characters is more detailed than those of side characters tho with my current WIP that’s only partially true because each member of my pirate crew got a quite detailed profile. 😊 I do include details that may not be mentioned in the book including the ones you mentioned like birthdays etc.

I feel the better I know my characters, the better I can write them, tho there is always stuff for me to add to their profile while I write because I only get to truly know them while I write them. Like take my pirate captain Baz for example, I didn’t create him with the idea in mind that he was bi, it was just clear that he is as soon as he stepped onto that blank page and I was like alright then, I get it 😄

Oh I definitely care about the little not so relevant to the plot details about all of my characters, I just love for them to have more depth and sometimes I‘ll add a little detail in the story like Derrick (the ship’s cook) trying to get his hands on lemons when they stock up on supplies, because he knows they are Tylan‘s favorite and remind him of home.