#i decided not to include non-fiction to make it easier

[heartofstanding]

tagged by @nebylitsa - Nine of my favourite books (well, 13 really since I included two trilogies in omnibus form), in no particular order.

tagging: @skeleton-richard, @oldshrewsburyian, @shredsandpatches @themalhambird @ardenrosegarden @themidnightcircusshow No pressure if you don't want to though!

[dreamlifebunny]

bunny's ✨digital detox✨ + manifestation challenge!

hi friends! i've decided to do a little "dopamine detox" so that i can become more present in my day-to-day, connect with myself and my passions, and apply the law. instead of leaving you without any posts, i thought i would turn this short absence of mine into a challenge so that you can join me if you're interested! this is going to be a very simple challenge that mostly focuses on regaining joy in your life, but i hope it can bring you inspiration and peace.

purpose of challenge: to help your brain enjoy simple things again and fill your life with more joy, to get off of social media and apply the law, and to manifest anything you desire. as you can see, this is mostly a challenge to reconnect with ourselves and what brings us joy, but manifestation is the added bonus of this challenge!

step one:

delete or hide apps on your phone or laptop that involve mindless stimulation. for me, this includes tumblr, social media, checking things that give me notifications like my email, etc. normally, tumblr wouldn't be included in this because i use it for learning about the law, but part of this challenge is about getting offline and actually applying the law, so for now i will be deleting it.

step two:

make a list of activities that bring you joy that don't involve mindless stimulation. here are some ideas of things that i like to do if you're having trouble coming up with your own list:

scripting my dream life and coming up with cute scenarios in my head

writing a letter to a friend and decorating it with my own art or stickers

reading a fiction book and getting lost in the story

reading a non-fiction book to learn things about my passions and interests

singing and playing instruments

journaling or filling out writing prompts

going for bike rides or long walks with music

playing fun video games, but not for hours on end like i normally would heh

step three:

decide what you are going to manifest and choose your favourite methods to fulfill yourself! remember, this challenge is about connecting with yourself and what you love, so pick the methods that make you smile. i really enjoy daydreaming about my desires and feeling every emotion in my body that comes up and knowing that my desire is real.

REMEMBER: this challenge is primarily about doing a digital detox to give our brains more happiness. the main goal isn't to manifest, but it is SO much easier to manifest when our brains aren't constantly stimulated and consuming information. our desires manifesting is an added bonus for this challenge!

step four:

as you engage with your life and connect with awareness (who you are at your core) and as you enjoy activities that bring you joy, remind yourself in whatever way feels best to you that you have all of your desires, and that this extra space you're giving your brain is allowing more space for your lovely desires to show up in your life

step five:

report back during the end of any three-day period from when you start this challenge with your results! results could include how you feel, what you learned about yourself, what you manifested or realized about your manifestation, how your days looked without constantly stimulation, or anything you wish to share!

important note:

detoxing from constant stimulation is a HARD THING TO DO! they design apps to make us addicted, and your need for constant stimulation is not your fault. if at any point this challenge brings up feelings of shame or struggle due to the addiction of constant stimulation, make sure you are compassionate and loving to yourself; you're doing a wonderful thing as a gift to yourself and are a good person who is doing something very tricky, and you should be proud that you are even giving it a try. you are strong and badass and deserve the world and all of your desires! if at any point you need to dip out of this challenge, make sure to pat yourself on the back and thank yourself for trying it and know that you can always do it again in the future if you want to c:

love you friends! i am so excited to see the results of this challenge. i am proud of you, i am inspired by you, and i can't wait to see you all soon! 🥰

lots of love, bunny 💕

[autisticsupervillain]

It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

Sans the Skeleton vs Alastor the Radio Demon!

Conditions:

No Restrictions.

Scenario:

Flowey during one of his runs decides to summon Alastor out of hell for his help in obtaining the Six Human Souls and defeating Asgore. Alastor takes the deal and, being who he is, decides to take the bloodiest route possible to his goal. Sans stands in his way in the midst of his slaughter of Snowdin.

Analysis: Sans

The man. The myth. The legend. It's the King of Tumblr Sexymen himself: Sans.

For everyone who's been living under a rock since 2015, let me give you a quick rundown. Sans is a Skeleton Monster who lives underground in the town of Snowdin. He works as a Sentry with his brother Papyrus on the look out for humans, though Sans puts considerably less effort into it than his younger brother. He appears to be nothing more than a lazy bag of bones who simply can't be bothered to try to capture Frisk.

In truth though, he's much more than meets the eye. Sans had some kind of relationship with the Underground's previous royal scientist Dr. Gaster and is strongly implied to be an accomplished scientist himself. He's aware of the effects of DETERMINATION and knows that Frisk can reset time at will. Knowing that all of his decisions can be reset by some alien entity at a moment's notice has turned Sans into an apathetic nihilist who can't bring himself to do the bare minimum of his job anymore.

As such, Sans instead acts as the Judge, watching the human from the shadows and observing their actions. Sans remembers every friend they make and sees every life they take, and he will hold them accountable for each. Though, it's only when the human makes it clear that they're a threat to absolutely everything and everyone, everywhere, that Sans steps into the ring himself.

Sans is the weakest enemy in the game. 1 attack. 1 defense. Maybe even 1 hp. And despite all of that, he's still more than capable of kicking your ass. Firstly, his attacks directly hit both body and soul, to the point of completely destroying the soul in seconds as he ignores your physical durability. Secondly, his attacks come from nearly every direction simultaneously, putting the Player through hell as they have do dodge attacks that spring out of the ground beneath them, alongside lasers that spin all around them from his summonable Gaster Blasters. And third, Sans is remarkably fond of abusing his teleportation. Not to dodge mind you, as he's fast enough to side step everything Frisk throws at him, but to attack. He doesn't need to touch his foe to teleport them around the battlefield, even into his other attacks if need be.

It helps that he is easily the fastest monster in the Underground, capable of dodging attacks from a Sea Tea amplified Frisk even in his sleep, who can dodge lightning.

But the most damning ability in his arsenal is his KR. KARMA is a soul poison that infests the target's soul as soon as they make contact with any of Sans' attacks. The common theory is that it does more damage to the opponent depending on how many people they've killed, as implied by the name and the text when you get hit by it "You can feel your sins crawling down your back".

Sans also has Blue Mode, where he increases gravity on the target's body and soul to pin them down and make them easier to hit. Sans uses these in conjunction his blue attacks, attacks that only do damage if the target is moving when they get hit, do disorient and rapidly obliterate his foe before they can think. Overwhelming assaults are the name of Sans' game and he'll pull any trick he needs to in order to win. Including things that are.... hard to quantify.

See, Sans is somehow capable of attacking you... even when it isn't his turn. He completely ignore the rules of the RPG world he lives in to attack you on the menu screen. Which, as you can imagine, is a hard thing to translate to a non-rpg fight. Do I just assume all encounters monsters follow rpg-rules? There's genuinely an argument that can be made for it, I suppose. One thing I am willing to give him however is his ability to pause the battle by just... not taking his turn. Even when all his other tricks fail, Sans can force a deadlock by just doing nothing until you give up and go away... unless, of course, his opponent is capable of doing the same kind of meta bullshit that he is. When Frisk also breaks the rules by attacking twice in one turn, Sans is caught out by it and dies. Which leads me into Sans biggest weaknesses...

He's still the weakest monster in the game. Monster Kid is stronger than he is. For all his memetic qualities, he's physically the weakest fighter to appear on FTF thus far. Not to mention, his own apathy keeps him from fighting unless he absolutely has to and his laziness completely tanks his stamina.

Even with those factors though, Sans has earned his memetic reputation as a ballbustingly hard boss. When you hear those first few notes, you know you're fucked.

Analysis: Alastor

Hell. The final punishment. The ultimate torture. A landscape of fire and brimstone where all your greatest fears and pains torment you for all eternity. A never-ending gang war where any day could be your last and the only way to truly survive is either carve out your own territory or to sell out your servitude to one of the nefarious Overlords waging to control Hell's Pride Ring.

As such, it might suprise you that some never wanna leave. Why would they when Hell offers you all the slaughter and mayhem you could ever possibly desire? Such is the philosophy of Alastor the Radio Demon.

Alastor was a radio talk show host who moonlighted as a serial killer in life who was sent to Hell after being mistaken for a deer and shot by a hunter while burying a body. When he awoke in Hell, he delighted in the opportunity to openly relish in his sadistic tendencies, quickly rising up to become one of Hell's scariest Overlords. Overlords are sufficiently powerful Sinners who are strong enough to carve out their own territory in the Pride Ring, where all Sinners reside and wage war on each other. Broadcasting the screams of his victims over his radio show before cooking them up and devouring them. Even without the use of holy weapons to destroy their souls and permanently kill them, that fate is enough fo make any Sinner terrified.

Come the modern day and Alastor has grown bored of engaging in his worst desires. There was no variety anymore. No sport. So, for reasons known only to himself, he vanished for seven years, returning only when the Princess of Hell herself announced her latest project: the Happy Hotel.

Alastor would enlist himself to help in her cause. Not out of any guilt or moral code, but to satiate his never ending boredom. Or so he says. Behind that sharp unshakable grin, Alastor's true motivation is a mystery. All we do know is whatever agenda he's pushing... might not even be his own.

Regardless, Alastor is a rather private person, with a strange, inscrutable moral code. Any who try to follow the strings he's tied to may just find that grin to be the last thing they see.

Alastor is one of Hell's most powerful Overlords, with a plethora of terrifying powers. He's impossible to record on modern cameras, he can summon and manipulate an army of shadows, inlcuding even his own, and can grow into a colossal giant to ripe people apart and devour his victims whole. His tendrils are powerful enough to rip apart Sir Pentious's airship and he can create explosions big enough to nearly dwarf the hotel itself.

Notably, he's far stronger than some of his fellow Overlords. Take the TV Demon Vox for instance, who is powerful enough to destroy volcanos, requiring roughly 182 kilotons of TNT.

Source:

None of this however, competes with Alastor's most terrifying ability. His power over souls. Should someone attempt to make a deal with him, they risk losing their soul to him, giving him completely control over them as his slave. He's conned fellow Overlords into falling for this ruse before, exploiting Husk's love of gambling to swindle him out of his free will. Notably, this makes him uniquely capable of potentially killing a fellow Sinner, as Sinners can keep coming back to life in Hell so long as they have their soul, no matter the damage.

But, despite this cunning mind and terrifying power, Alastor is not invincible. He's overconfident to a foolhardy degree, from deliberately trying to piss off Lucifer himself to battling Adam, the First Man, without even a holy weapon and nearly getting himself killed. It's possible this overconfidence is what led to him selling his own soul to an unknown party, playing the pawn in someone else's game.

Still, don't count Alastor out yet. Now that he's exploited Princess Charlie Morningstar's desperation for a "favor", he fully intends on finding a way out of his chains. Only then, will we see what the Radio Demon hides behind his shark toothed grin.

Stay tuned folks~

Throwdown Breakdown:

There are a lot of complicated variables to this verdict.

Both characters have a misplaced reputation as being unstoppable badasses within the scope of their franchises, but that simply isn't true when one examines the actual facts of their canon. Sans would not stand a ghost of a chance against any of Undertale's strongest characters and Alastor, even back in the pilot, was never even close to the strongest being in Hell. So, let's strip them of their reputations and mischaracerizations to see how these too would actually engage, shall we?

On the stats side, Alastor blatantly one shots. Most people do. It's Sans. That's his whole point. But, just as with the Player, Sans is fast enough to dodge Alastor for a very long time. Alastor is faster that run of the mill Sinners like Angel Dust and average Imps like Blitzo, who are fast enough to dodge bullets and automatic fire. But Frisk can outright dodge lightning, which can move hundreds of times faster. Alastor has an advantage in AOE, with his minions, tentacles, and explosions forcing Sans to rely on his teleportation due to their sheer range, but Sans's sheer reaction speed would allow him to process that fact before Alastor's attacks have a chance to land.

"Oh, but Sans didn't use teleportation to dodge Frisk-" Shut up, hypothetical straw man. Frisk was swinging a knife in a straight line. Teleporting would be a waste of energy in a fight where Sans is already running low on stamina, so he doesn't. He's not gonna stand there and get blown up if he can avoid it.

Personality wise, both of these characters are going to be trading wise cracks and zingers all fight, but I find it more likely for Sans's banter to effect Alastor than vice versa. As shown in his duet with Lucifer, the people who get under Alastor's skin are people who completely undermine his intimidating fascade and who he can't just bully with his power and reputation. Sans dodging all his attacks while making terrible puns with big smug grin will gradually drive him up the wall. He's not likely to explode into a rage, but his frustration at Sans refusing to take him seriously, combined with general overconfidence, will undermine him as the fight continues. Alastor's best bet to get under Sans's metaphorical skin is to really lean into his "I slaughtered your whole town" routine, but even that can be countered by Sans's knowledge of timelines and resets that Alastor would have no knowledge of or power over.

The big thing working is Sans's favor here is how his abilities are perfectly tailored to undermine Alastor's. Sinners can't be killed unless their souls are destroyed... and every attack in Undertale can destroy your soul, bypassing Alastor's durability and immortality completely. In fairness, this is nothing new to Alastor. His fight with Adam shows full well he can play evasive and defensive when he knows someone is fully capable of killing him.

The problem here is threefold. Firstly, he still lost that fight with Adam despite that. And Sans's attacks are much more varied, underhanded, and clever than Adam's relentless onslaught. Secondly, Alastor's mobility is going to be tied down by Blue Mode flinging him around. Thirdly, he doesn't know that Sans can do this, meaning he's at risk of attempting to simply brute force Sans into submission and get killed.

Finally, Sans has better meta-narrative fuckery on his side. Alastor's 4th wall leaning is strictly limited to hijacking other character's musical numbers, leaving him with no answers for when Sans elects to simply not take his turn or attack in the middle of Alastor's. He likely wouldn't even understand what's happening, just that neither of them can move suddenly.

Alastor's best chance, beyond carpet bombing with AOE, is to outlast Sans's low stamina, forcing him to heavily exert himself with an overwhelming onslaught until he wears down. But, in doing so, he forces Sans to play a trump card that Alastor has no answer for. Once the stalemate tactics been pulled, Alastor's only remaining option is to manipulate Sans into a deal....

Here's how I see this fight roughly playing out.

Alastor tends to fall into one of two modes while fighting. Either "obliterate with raw show of force" or "outfox and evade". With no reason to suspect he needs that latter, he defaults to the former. After a trade of barbs and a deer pun that has Alastor roll his eyes dismissively, Sans's eyes widen as a massive green explosion stretches out towards him, forcing him to teleport away in a snap. He responds in turn with a Gaster Blaster onslaught that Alastor barely thinks to dodge, turning into a shadow to slip between the sea of bones. Initially caught out by a foe he underestimated surviving, Alastor immediately swaps to evade mode to dodge Sans's retaliatory onslaught. Tentacles pull him between Gaster Blasters, zipping him around across the sky to try and counter the Blue Mode pulling him in all directions. As a cabnibalistic serial killer from hell, KARMA would absolutely tear through his soul the second he gets hit. If he gets hit.

The fight continues at this pace for awhile. The two sides alternating between putting everything into evading the other's barrage and throwing back a storm for the other to weather in turn. Back and forth it would go, as Sans's puns and ribbing gradually get under Alastor's skin. That damn skeleton is wearing out. He can feel it. All he needs to do is press him a little harder, hit him a little faster. Until...

The fighting stops. Alastor braces for an attack that never comes. Nothing happens. They stand there.

"What just happened?"

"it's not your turn."

"Turn? What?"

"and it's never gonna be."

So.... Alastor makes a deal. Keying into the fact that Sans's smile is hiding some dark secrets just like his own, Alastor offers to share the souls with him. To work together to break the chains holding them down. Sans seems to consider it, nods, and they shake on it.

Alastor hears the whoopie cushion just as a sea of bones rises to entomb him. As his soul shatters into oblivion, three words echo around him.

"geeettttttt dunked on!!!"

This Throwdown's Winner is...

Sans Undertale!

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

A little explanation of Metaphor

Link to the fic (nsfw)

A copy of this explanation is pasted as the second chapter of the fic, if you find this easier to digest.

I decided to detail the double meanings I had in mind for this fic. Please read it first, so you can experience it on your own; and rest assured that if your interpretation is different it's not necessarily WRONG, as fiction exists in the eye of the beholder...

Note: The first few explanations are very long but the rest are easier to understand and much shorter.

I was inspired by Neil Gaiman's A Study In Emerald to write a fanfic about Elysia being an eldritch being.

There are three layers I intentionally inserted into the conversation between Elysia and Mei.

The literal layer

The "Elysia is aware of and talking about the narrative" layer

The “I am talking about what happened to Mei and Elysia’s characterization in the main story” layer

I will quote and then explain the text step by step.

“What is nature? The original intent of you, or what is made of you? Does it even matter when it’s all in the eye of the beholder? Nature isn’t meaningful for people like us.”

Literal level

As a non-human being who is trying to be a human woman (much like her canon counterpart), Elysia identifies with Mei's transness: they both choose to be what they feel is deeply right for them, regardless of what seemed to be "intended" by their original identity/form.

Meta-awareness level

What is the nature of a fictional character? What makes them "in character" or not? Is it real? Does it matter, if you consider that the reader is the judge of whether a character is "themself" or not, that they exist solely for the purpose of the beholder?

Elysia argues that there isn't "one fundamental truth", but a truth that is constructed with interpretation. In other words, the author is dead, and what you make of what you read is the "true" character, regardless of intent.

Admittedly this probably shouldn't apply when you're straight up misreading something, balance is important, but I'd say it remains a solid belief to have so long as you're doing your analysis honestly and rigorously.

Commentary on canon level

This line is also commentary of whether the “true” Elysia or Mei are what they were originally intended to be written as, or what they were eventually badly (my opinion, but one I know is shared by quite a few others around these parts) written as, and the answer is neither because the reader is as much a part of their character as the writing.

A fanfiction writer is both a reader and a writer, as well, which means that I am writing the “true” Mei and Elysia just as much as the main story or ER did, because they are fictional characters, their nature is what I see of it.

To briefly go back to the meta-awareness level, they are not real, objective quantities. Therefore, to ask who a fictional character truly is, is not a meaningful question, because there is no objective truth and reinterpretations by authors paid for it, authors who are not paid for it, and readers, are valid (so long as they are honest and rigorous, at least).

“Humans live and die all alone in the world, only able to connect with the world indirectly, through their senses. Because perception is the everything of humans, the changes you choose to make express your nature, so nature can only be what is made of you— and because you are alone, your nature only exists in the eye of a beholder, whether that beholder is you or me.”

Literal level

First, Elysia points out that, unlike herself as an Eldritch being who is capable of perceiving the world in a more objective way (in a sense, she's reading the story too), humans are bound to their senses to experience the world. Therefore, she believes only the "exterior" matters between humans, as it's all they can communicate, including self-perception (which she sees as "beholding yourself").

Following that logic, changing as a person is simply refining and expressing your nature better.

This further uses the fact that Mei is trans in the story as a step-stool to make the point that “nature” does not mean “original state”.

For example, a baby is probably the closest you can get to your "original state", prior to any influence from the world. However, a baby is quite literally an unfinished human, and it has no sense of identity, yes? You grow, change, start having your own tastes and personality, preferring some of your toys, picking your favorite colors, dressing in your own style...

The changes you make to reflect your identity express your nature better than what you used to be. This applies to gender, which is one of the most obvious ways this manifests, but other things, too.

Elysia's thesis statement is that what you become expresses your nature, and it is therefore not a "secret truth to be found at the origin", but the result of your changes that best represent who you are. She's a girl because she chooses to be one, just like Mei.

Meta-awareness level

Because people and especially characters live in the eye of the beholder, their perceived nature is the only nature that will ever be accessible.

Of course it would be a mistake to fall into relativism with this reasoning— there’s always things that people decidedly are not even if “who are you at your core?” is a meaningless question. For example, I'm currently not a deep-sea crab, and you'd have to be lacking in a lot of either honesty or diligence to claim otherwise.

It is not true that a "core" doesn’t exist, but because as humans we only have access to subjective perception, it cannot be grasped as an objective truth, that’s all.

You and I are definitely something, but to be seen a light must be shed on us and that always paints shadows: We will never be perceived accurately in our entirety.

(And that’s okay! That’s the beautiful way humans live in motion, a dance with the shifting lights)

Commentary on canon level

Characters don't have the agency people do— Elysia can't choose to do anything in the writing sense because she is a construct of writers and artists. She cannot express her own nature, and it only exists because we choose to create it.

Therefore, the Elysia that is written and read only exists in the eye of the beholder.

“You relate to me.”

Literal level

Trans women are women, as an act of self-realization and not one of genetics. Simple.

Meta-awareness level

Elysia relates to Mei as an audience relating to a character! She's talking to you!

Commentary on canon level

Mei is pointing out that fans may relate to herself (Mei) as a character in general. I know I do on a number of topics!

“You’re such a smart girl, Mei. Ah… this is why I like you so much already. You’re right. Don’t you think we’re exactly the same?”

Literal level

Trans in this specific story, in their own way (Eldritch -> Human girl counts here).

Meta-awareness level

Both characters in a story, puppets of the same strings.

Commentary on canon level

Tongue in cheek reference to canon getting accused of making Mei a pseudo Elysia lately!

“You could be anything, and you want to be a girl?”

Literal level

Trans narrative. You can be anything you want, but you choose to be a human girl? (Why not an astronaut?) Inviting the question of why people choose to be the gender they are, why it's important (or not).

Meta-awareness level

Mei pointing out you can read to be anything, and you choose to read about the lesbians game!

Commentary on canon level

References the canon narrative of Elysia being a Herrscher who wants to be a human girl, of course. As clumsy as I found it in canon, it's not without interest.

“Aiya, I simply like cute girls too much!”(…) “We are twisted mirror images, flat yet aggrandized, complex yet warped to shadows with the same problems. Despite this, beheld in just the right light, puppet and human, we are one!”

Literal level

Elysia is a trans lesbian eldritch monster in this story, and she relates to the human Mei.

Meta-awareness level

One way of describing fictional characters: mirrors of humans, but flattened and exaggerated, yet simultaneously complex and imperfect systems. Despite this, they are read as humans when written well enough.

Commentary on canon level

The canon’s writing problems: flattening Elysia while making her sound perfect, and Mei being a huge mess because the writers have a complex character they don’t know what to do with. Despite this, they are still perceived as people by players, who may even get mad at THEM for the way they’re being written (Elysia especially) although that's absurd since, again, they have no agency.

Elysia isn't responsible for anything because she is a fictional character, and yet, we project onto her, get mad at her as if she were a person. In this way, she did succeed in becoming human?

This also calls back to the earlier point about nature and what you see of it: there is no difference between a character and a person in the "right light", such as within a story.

“Mmm, Mei, Mei, do you think I’m doing a good job being human?” “Not always. Not never.”

Literal level

The, well, literal meaning of the exchange. Elysia's human act is flawed, but she is perceived as a person regardless within the framing of the story.

Meta-awareness level & Commentary on canon level

Characters, Elysia in particular, aren't always written well enough to seem like believable human beings. (but they are not "never" perceived as such, either).

Here are blinking stars and emptiness and yearning and pages and eyes and branches and sleep and teeth and pixels and love, the all-consuming amour of all things—

All levels

Mei realizes (and the narrative points out that) her reality is made of love and words being written and then read on a screen. Literally. I'm doing it again right now, and you're reading it right now. Amour is french for love, it feels more real to me in my mother tongue.

Mei was also created by Mihoyo out of the same ingredients.

Elysia was still there, but the outlines of her body looked faint, superposed with shifting light and darkness that passed through the furniture and Mei’s body like words.

Literal level

Mei starts seeing the world like she’s reading the story instead of living inside of it.

Meta-awareness level

You may be mentally picturing the scene, but you're really just reading words on a screen. This paragraph explicitly points this out.

She could only babble a simple name that could persist in a human mind collapsing on itself, dictated by circumstances— Elysia, Elysia, Elysia…

Literal level

Eldritch influence is literally fucking with her, and Elysia is all she can hold onto.

Meta-awareness level

The circumstances is that it’s an elymei fic! So she really only has Elysia to rely on- there are no other characters that directly appear.

Commentary on canon level

The way the canon handles Mei has her always with Elysia’s name on her lips in Elysium Everlasting and a bit later too. Tongue-in-cheek again, maybe.

The two of them came together, because they had become inextricably tied by a narrative, and the curtain dropped.

Literal level & Meta-awareness level

The story drops any pretense of not being told in a meta way as Mei's perception stops being merely human.

Commentary on canon level

This is a pun— they showed up in the game together a lot, and became tied together in the canon plot, to the extent that one without the other feels more shallow. (Yes, even if you didn't like the arc.)

“...it’s alright. I’ll always be next to you like this. It’s as I always say— I’ll stay by your side no matter how long the road is.” The world and the future had faded into static, blank like an undescribed scene, but hearing Elysia’s gentle words, the prostrated girl felt herself gain substance. Elysia sat down next to her, and the bed she had been sitting on all along materialized.

Literal level

Mei was shaken from having realized she is in a story and the story is ending soon. However, interacting with Elysia brings her back to her senses a little.

Meta-awareness level

Surroundings in a story only exist when described, so the featureless dialogue of this scene did not manifest a room for them to be in, not until it started being described. Mei's perception is the same as the reader's here. No description? She only sees an empty void. Spooky.

Commentary on canon level

At the time, part 1 of Hi3 was not over yet, and the reader may have felt anxious about how it would end. Remember, people used to claim Kiana was going to die (pretty sure that was even the original plan, but they clearly have other ideas now). Elysia's words were also meant as reassurance in that sense, using the same conclusion that she did in the canon, that the story would stay with the reader even with a sad ending.

“Are you scared of our sendoff? I am, too. That’s alright.” Elysia leaned forward until they were forehead to forehead, so gentle that Mei almost believed she was a real human being. “Please don’t be too afraid. There will always be more stories.”

Literal level

Mei is still trapped by the knowledge she’s in a story, but Elysia leads the narrative into a physical description instead of simply speaking her dialogue lines, giving their world and the scene substance.

This way, Mei can feel more real in their last moments.

Meta-awareness level

The story is ending but there will always be more stories for them to exist in, and you can even reread this one! Also pointing out stories humanize the concept of characters via inducing such a perception of them, which is a throwback to the earlier points.

Commentary on canon level

This line was meant to reassure the reader (and myself) about the end of part 1, and writing decisions of the canon in general, because no matter how it turns out, there WILL always be more stories to read or tell. If it sucks, or if it's good, ultimately, life goes on, and that's okay.

Final words

If you've made it this far, I'm thankful! I was planning to post this in JANUARY, but you can tell that didn't happen because it's the first of July for me now.

It was important to me to complete this, though, so albeit late, here it is. This will be cross-posted between tumblr and ao3 for better accessibility.

[cloudycleric]

I saw your “how the byler community decided to handle the situation” post and while I agree the fandom handled it (and still is) terribly and so wrong, I have to be honest, things like the recasting will jokes - or even others being serious about it - really didn’t help the situation as a whole. even if it was just shock of the moment coping with it. it just amplified immaturity and furthered inability for people to separate character from actor because it makes them think recasting is something that has to be done or is expected for you to follow. when the truth is a large bunch are happy to continue on business as usual knowing we’re only interacting with the fictional characters and show but feel pressured, or hold back from posting in fear of being attacked for doing the very normal thing of separating. but yeah, all this to say I hope there isn’t another wave of fancasting jokes or serious replacements because no one a) looks even close to as good or b) has the sweet baby will vibe, it’s just not necessary to do… if people can’t look at will’s face maybe step back for a bit yeah? thank you for speaking up about how awful the fandom handled the situation though, you were real for that!

the aim at the time was to kinda do a twist on the miku thing that people do sometimes, like “miku wrote harry potter” stuff. i didn’t think about it this way though, good point, it was all just for goofs & i can see how i was a bit hypocritical. but yeah they were only trying to be my twist on the miku jokes but i understand what you mean & now that it’s been a bit since the situation i’m sure it’s become easier for everyone to separate the actor from the character.

plus there’s the whole situation of growing up with your whole life influenced by your religion & having little to no understanding of actual events due to that. & i’m not saying that completely excuses him but i grew up very close to two different cults so . (not saying judaism is a cult, i very much identify with being jewish culturally, i’m just talking about the sort of non-questioning nature religion can influence.) maybe if everyone had more sympathy in the situation, including me, we wouldn’t be here!!!

[markcrtwoeridge]

Woeridge Update 5/14/2024

---------------------------------------------------

Time for me to ramble once more <3

Despite cramming for finals and having to work, I've still been able to find some time to actually work on Woeridge. So that also means I can give more updates!

I'm slowly working on getting the backlog of Chapter 2 together, but funny enough it's not drawing the pages that's causing slow progress, it's the Field Guide.

This guide has sort have been the way I go about planning out the nature aspect of Woeridge. It's also how I decide what plants go where and what makes the most sense for the area, given its setting.

Now was writing a comprehensive Field Guide to the entirety of the Woeridge Area that includes maps of trails and information about the local Flora and Fauna necessary? I mean, I could have just slapped anything anywhere and called it a day, but my brain has firmly decided that if I have something where it shouldn't (even if it's a fictional setting) then that's BAD and I must pay for my sins.

Example:

The Black Walnut Tree (Juhlans nigra L.) grows typically in the eastern United States, needs an average annual temp of 55 degrees F, and requires direct sunlight. Now Woeridge, despite getting a ton of sunlight, has an average annual temp of 40 degrees F and is often quite cloudy due to Monsoon season, resulting in most of the plants in the area thriving best with partial shade.

Now while I could technically put a Black Walnut Tree IN the Woeridge area, it wouldn't make any sense from a botany perspective for it to be growing there.

And it's not just the Flora that's slightly holding the Webcomic progress hostage, it's also the Fauna of the area. Same deal as the example I gave. If I put a species of animal that literally cannot properly thrive in the climate of Woeridge IN Woeridge, then it wouldn't make sense from a Zoology perspective to have it there.

BUT! Progress IS being made, it's just taking me a ridiculous amount of time to do so. As I said in the last update, I will not be giving a set date for the beginning of Chapter 2, but it will be starting sometime in 2024.

I'll try to do an art stream later this week working on some non-chapter related artwork for the Comic, and will attempt to get a video update out on my YouTube for those who do not like to read my rambles/have an easier time digesting verbal announcements than written.

I will now be going to bed because it's like midnight over here.

Please behave and take care of yourselves.

- Mark CRT

[chacusha]

One year of my Quark-x-Odo dA art group

It's been just over a year now since I created a fanart group on DeviantArt, so I wanted to give an update on how it's been going.

So one thing about trying to run an art group on dA is that, if you want to add other people's art to your galleries, you basically need to send a request for every piece of art every two weeks, because requests expire and become non-actionable after two weeks have passed... Not only that, but it seems like after some unknown longer amount of time, dA actually removes the expired request from an artist's notifications entirely, so a user may not even be aware that a group has asked in the past to add their art to its galleries. dA sends no email notifications for gallery add requests, so as you might expect, most people don't realize they have requests that need their attention and often have no ability to even follow up either. I'm... really not sure why dA makes you jump through so many hoops for what is essentially just free publicity/a fancy labeled hyperlink that doesn't actually affect the artist or original art in any way, but... well, that's just how dA is.

Anyway, so I've been resending these requests every two weeks, and sometimes people accept, occasionally someone rejects, most just don't respond either way. The result of this regular renewal of requests has been that gradually people add their art to our galleries. To give you an indication, this was our status after about 3 months of the group running:

Right now, having run for a full year, those numbers are: Total works: 134. Total artists: 69 (nice). Total pieces requested to be added: 328 (note: these numbers don't include rejected pieces). Response rate: 41%. By folder: Quodo: 46%. Quark: 44%. Odo: 35%. Ensemble: 39%. Fiction: n/a. Miscellaneous: 0%.

As you can see, the longer I keep these requests active, the more likely it is the artist will eventually respond accepting the request.

However, without going into too many unimportant details, dA has recently updated their groups functionality so that it is no longer practical for me to tell when someone has rejected an add request. So rather than risk pestering artists who might have rejected add requests, I think the best thing to do here is for me to just stop doing this thing where I renew requests. It's been a year anyway -- it's a good timeframe to decide that if an artist hasn't responded by now, they're probably not going to show up. So from now on, I will only send out a request to add a piece of art once, and if it expires, it expires.

It is a shame, though, as it means that I have much less ability to showcase older art that still exists on dA, especially since dA also removed the ability to have group favorite galleries (which are ALSO basically just fancy labeled hyperlinks, just ones that DON'T require artist permission for groups to curate art in galleries -- what's the difference, you ask, and why wouldn't you just keep the favorites functionality over the gallery functionality then? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). But I guess this is fine -- the focus of this group will just have to pivot from trying to archive all the Quodo art that exists on dA to highlighting the art of artists who are at least somewhat active on the site. So far, I've been getting a decent amount of response to my requests to add newer art, so maybe in ten years' time, this group will actually function as an archive of older art! But for now, I will just focus on making it a place that encourages artists to make Quark/Odo art and provides them a place to showcase it.

On the plus side, the update to groups did make our front page snazzier and more customizable. Here's what our group page looks like now after I've fiddled with some of the options:

It's not bad, and I'm able to highlight important information easier. Also, I can actually randomize which art appears on the main page, which is something that just wasn't possible before! (Because... dA has always been kind of broken...)

As you can tell, the main thing missing from the page is a cover/banner image at the top. I would like to use that space to highlight either some fanart or screencaps from the show. If anyone has art they would be fine with me using (preferably in a darker color palette to match the general dark mode of the page), I would love to use it!

Anyway, happy 1st birthday to this community! Even though I feel like not many people really appreciate using DeviantArt as a fanart platform, this group has kind of been my baby for the past year, and I've been enjoying maintaining the galleries and regularly updating the group despite dA's efforts to thwart me at every turn. It's been nice having a little space I can putter around in. This dA group almost feels like having a Neocities page(?) but with simpler functionality and easier to use.

(Sometimes maintaining a Tumblr blog feels a bit to me like a rat race, like I collect all these shinies and then they're gone and I never see or think about them again, and you go away from the site too long and you've missed so many shinies, and I don't know why I'm doing this. But this dA group has felt more like having a little virtual house that I gradually decorate and add more things to each time I visit to make it feel a bit more welcoming, which is very satisfying. And maintaining a Dreamwidth comm feels a bit like editing a wiki: fairly easy to do, SO much writing involved, results in an incredibly organized set of resources afterward.)

[darlingpoppet]

What inspired you to start Where The Dead Forget? Also can you tell us some more about your PZA Dreamers AU? (e.g. what your favourite thing to write has been so far, things you look forward to or struggle with, or anything else you like). Thanks!

As for WTDF, honestly it pretty much all started with this tweet where I expressed interest in the concept of Patroclus Hadesgame losing his memories. I had seen such fanarts already so I was curious if there were fics out there too (there are of course! I have since found some, lol!) But a friend in the comments was encouraging to the notion of me writing one myself and I pretty much immediately began spiraling from there (I tweeted this the same day I posted Once More and also about a week before I posted Upon A Lazy Bed, so at the time my brain was on fire and I was constantly brimming with ideas!) The entire story from beginning to end pretty much came to me immediately and I’ve been expanding on it ever since! A lot of my inspiration has been fueled by the experience of consuming every depiction of Achilles & Patroclus I could get my hands on, as well as countless academic writings with various analyses on the characters. Also just the entire meta tradition of storytelling with folklore characters in general, where there’s no one “definitive version”, and thinking about how that might work in-universe where things like memories, bias, human fallibility, etc make objective truth difficult or impossible to obtain. Films such as Rashomon and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind that explore similar concepts to WTDF also inspired me!

As for the PZA Dreamers AU!! I can’t remember if I’ve ever properly explained the concept in a public post but for anyone curious: the whole thing was born out of me seeing a parallel/synergy between the themes of the film The Dreamers and certain interpretations of the Iliad (the Homeric version itself ofc but also particularly Shakespeare’s Troilus & Cressida.) The characters in these stories exist in this symbolic & narrative liminal space where they’re shutting themselves off from the outside world so they can Live Laugh Love—and in all the stories, reality catches up with them eventually, usually in tragic ways. I’m making it a modern AU (a vaguely 2010s period piece?) because as a millennial I also see parallels to my generation (& Gen Z) where as a whole our own lives also seem to be stuck in a figurative liminal space academically, economically, socially (especially in the era of covid where we were all shut-up in our houses finding there was more to life than The Grind, simultaneously reveling in simple pleasures & also going insane from the ambiguity of it all until we were all forced back out again) And at the same time our generations have this fascination with liminal spaces as an Internet meme (including vaporwave which also coincidentally appropriates classical Greco-Roman imagery in its aesthetics.) I’m reading serious non-fiction books like Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher and Retromania by Simon Reynolds in service of what at the end of the day is just a horny fanfic LMFAO.

Because getting back on track to what you actually asked me: I’m not gonna lie, my favorite parts of writing this story so far have been the sex scenes, haha. Like the whole vibe of the story is supposed to be just this completely unfettered dreamy indulgence, and even things like sex have a liminal quality to me (where time seems to stand still and people are joined together transitioning through several physical states) hopefully I’ll be able to pull the whole thing off the way I’m envisioning it! The fact that it’s a modern AU is probably what makes this both easier and harder to write—things like dialogue can have a more modern sensibility but it’s probably the more flowery prose that’s giving WTDF its own dreamy, liminal quality so it’s tricky figuring out how to balance it. I’m also having a hard time deciding whether I want to dump this entire high-concept, novella-length story as a one-shot (or at least split up into 2-3 parts that are published all at once) or if I should stick to a more traditional (for fanfic) serialized publication schedule ahahaha. I guess if anyone reading this has any preferences or insight feel free to let me know your thoughts!

Oh and as for the PZA of it all: writing Closest To My Heart was probably what reminded me of the existence of The Dreamers in the first place (I had seen it years and years ago) because I realized that film has a similar dynamic of an “outsider” falling into an erotic triangle with a pair who are essentially soulmates, and ends up biting off a little more than he can chew in keeping up with the two of them… I decided I wasn’t quite done exploring that dynamic and I wanted to write about it more! Though don’t worry, I don’t think this story is gonna be quite as dark as Closest (uh oh wait this might be a lie actually), and also Patrochilles are MUCH nicer to Zag in this story ;)

(Also I didn’t even mention Hadesgame itself where the entire underworld is a liminal space Zagreus passes through to reach the surface/self-actualization and how he is constantly dying/resurrecting… Zagreus is a very liminal character! But this is already an ETA so I shall leave my thoughts there for now, lol.)

Hopefully all that answers your questions, anon! Thanks so much for the ask <3

[itsdark0ut]

„No One Sleeps At Night”* [Info panel]

[*or „It’s Dark Out”]

Mcyt AU by: @littlescammer & @pvmpkim

Ilustrated by: @pvmpkim & @ari-axis

Basic info:

- - -

What caused the apocalypse?

Due to unknown reasons Earth has stopped moving around its axis. It caused half of the globe dive in non-passing night while the other half become dry and burned because of the sun.

- - -

Why is the action taking place only on the non-passing night side?

Despite the darkness, most of the survivors decided to fight for their life on the night side, because it is easier to find water there. It is also possible to grow plants in greenhouses thanks to that. You only need to find a good source of energy (other than solar energy).

- - -

Is this world build more in Minecraft world of more classic postapo world realities?

Due to the fact that postapo is a science fiction sub-genre and the situation with the Earth just stopping is unlikely to happen, we decided not to include the classic mobs that can be found in Minecraft as an everyday element, so that we can get closer to real life world. Therefore we will put redstone connotations and the story will most likely include [SPOILER ALLERT!]:

- minecraft origins (or at least those that managed to survive ehe) which will be refereed as “hybrids”* and “races”**

- Warden (:D), Ancient City and Deep Dark stuff

- overgrown spiders, phantoms and new additions to the Earths fauna and flora. 👽👍🏻

- - -

Hybrids and Races case

For example - Jimmy is a hybrid because he has human and non-human genes, but in reality he is a different race because he is an so called avian. He has many changes that make him unlike a human, despite having a partially humanoid appearance.

Races that have human genes in them can be called hybrids (although some may be offended), but not all hybrids can be called a race. There are cases of mutations that are too few to be passed on to offspring, or to create any at all. Changes to the appearance or function of a hybrid that is not eligible to start a new race are lost with them upon their death.

It's too early to tell yet, but it is suspected that by stopping the Earth, hybrids' ability to procreate has decreased, thus preventing races from settling, which may explain why is it easier to meet a one-of-a-kind hybrid than a representative of a particular race.

- - -

Who will be included in the ido/nosan series?

Minecraft personas mostly from so called Hermempires (Hermicraft + Empires), maybe NewLife SMP, don’t know yet. I don’t plan on adding anyone from DSMP or QSMP.

- - -

How will the series begin? How will your posts look like?

I ( @littlescammer ) will be posting here something similar to chapters or diaries if I feel a need to show you how a single situation looked in mind of a character. The “chapters” will mix of different POVs of various groups or duos starring in the series and I will be using omniscient narrator for that. Diaries will be posted as 1st person narrator, obviously.

Also sorry for my mistakes, this is my very first time writing something like this in English which is not my native language. 🙏🏻 Fell free to correct me. 🧍🏼‍♂️❤️

So I am the writer and @pvmpkim & @ari-axis are illustrators. 🤝

Btw we are starting with ranchers POV, because the illustrator 1 said so. ;)

- - -

How should I call the series? “It’s Dark Out” or “No One Sleeps at Night”?

Well… First name for this AU was “No One Sleeps at Night” and it was my idea. I liked it, because it sounds nice and poetic in my native language and it was pretty spontaneous. Also the acronym for this in English translation is NOSAN which sounds like “no sun” which is… Correct. XD But before I noticed that @pvmpkim decided to call the AU “It’s Dark Out” (instantly in english) because it’s more clear and plain. So yeah…

I guess we will be using two for now and we will se which one will work better in future. Maybe I will make a pool if the series would gain more attention.

- - -

This post will be edited to add more info! :D

[ear-worthy]

The Intimacy & Challenge Of Audiobook Narration And Audio Fiction Acting

Quick. Name some of the greatest actors of all time. Olivier. Garbo. Streep. Nicholson. Those GOAT actors are movie actors. How about the best actors in audio fiction. You know, podcasts or audiobooks?

While voice actors in audio fiction may not be as high-profile as their visual counterparts like Tom Cruise who can drive a motorcycle off a cliff, actors of note and talent -- sometimes mutual exclusive categories -- are leaping into audio fiction. These actors are not thespians who are desperate for work. No, these actors are well-known in the acting community. 

Here's a brief list of well-known actors now acting in audio fiction podcasts: Anthony Anderson (Black-ish, Law & Order), Alan Cumming (Instinct), Betty Gilpin (Glow), Helen Hunt (Mad About You), Justin Min (Crazy Rich Asians), Will Sasso (Mad TV), and Billy Zane (Titanic).

Some od the most notable and talented audiobook narrators include: Anni Arndt, Robin Miles, Frank Muller, and Bahni Turpin.

The questions driving this article are straightforward. Do actors narrating an audiobook in an audio fiction podcast need specific skills that they may not have learned or encountered during their non-podcast acting careers?

 What specific skills does it take to succeed on audio fiction podcasts? 

To get answers on audiobook narration, Ear Worthy went to an accomplished voice actor, Curt Simmons.

Curt is a semi-retired stage actor and has also produced and performed several audiobooks over the past few years, one of which received the Earphones Award for Exceptional Audio Performance from AudioFile Magazine.

Curt is still active as a stage actor.

 Q. How did you break into the audiobook business? Do you audition to narrate? A. Well, first of all, thank you for the interview. I appreciate the exposure very much. And it’s just fun to talk about. But to answer your question, I did some research about how it worked, technically, contractually, promotionally. I built a little recording studio in my closet, opened an ACX account, submitted five or six auditions, was offered a Romance novel, and started recording. I also have a background in Radio and TV, as well as live theatre — acting, directing, producing and editing audio, which helped a lot. I’ll talk more about that later. Q. Do you read the book before narration? Or as you go? A. Yes, I do read the entire book prior to starting narration. It’s important for me to know what’s coming because, while surprise developments in story and character are great for keeping the reader/listener interested, they can be problematic for the narrator if they’re somehow incompatible with the narration that’s already in the can, so to speak. For example, when I’m familiar with the character arc, the obligatory scenes, the plot twists, the changes in the overall tone, etc. I can set them up better and finesse them more effectively. I think it makes for a more enjoyable listen. Q. How do you prepare for audiobook narration? A. Well, as I mentioned earlier, I read the entire book before I begin. Throughout the process, I might even read the entire book more than once. My goal is to fall in love with the story. That makes everything so much easier. When I’m in love with the story I don’t have to work so hard for story elements like characterization, pacing, emotional content, finding the author’s voice and such. It all adds up to the meaning of the story. I need to decide within myself why the author wrote this story. What are they saying? What is the theme? I want to be able to answer the question, “what is this story really about?“— The vanishing American dream? The price we pay for the life we live? The insanity of family politics? What we’re willing to do for love? It’s not always obvious. I cast myself as every character in the story. Doing audiobooks and short stories are great for developing an actor’s characterization chops. I try not to “report” the story. To me, that’s boring. I do try to act the story. If I’m engaged, the listener is more likely to be engaged. I decide what each character wants. I choose a voice for each character, including the narrator. A lot of these things will overlap and get developed simultaneously. Q. How do you infuse such emotion into an audiobook narration? A. A couple of things. I rely on my training as an actor, particularly techniques I learned utilizing emotional memory. But the main thing is just really being engaged in the story. I think of each story has a performance, not just a reading. I want to “tell” the story as if I were remembering it or relating my experience out loud, and not just read it. I know that may be a bit controversial, but I can’t help it. It’s what I do naturally. But It really boils down to the material, though, in most cases. If it’s a well written story, and I am truly engaged and paying attention to it, the emotion just comes out naturally. The thing I try not to do is push the emotion when it really isn’t there. Faking emotion is a big no-no.

Q. Did your radio experience help? If so, how? A. Yes, my radio experience is very helpful, as is my acting, directing, and editing experience. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Radio-TV and a Master’s in Theatre. And I started acting in stage plays as an undergrad. So I have at least a conceptual reminiscence of audio production, acting, and directing. I grew up splicing magnetic tape, so now, with waveform editing, I feel like a kid in a candy store. I also produced and hosted live and pre-recorded radio programs that would be considered podcasts today. Q. Do you have a favorite audiobook narration story? If so, can you relate it? A. Well, when I go back and listen to my first audiobook, the twelve-hour Romance novel I referred to earlier, I am truly embarrassed. I have to think of that production as my audiobook boot camp because I very nearly bit off more than I could chew. I was reacquainting myself to mic technique, learning waveform editing, signal processing and mastering on the job. Plus— The narration included fifteen characters, including teenage boys and girls, as well as four languages in addition to English, and three distinct European accents. What was I thinking? It nearly killed me. Well, not really, but it was very, very difficult. Took me three months. However, I learned a lot. And as a result, my next project was a bit easier, as each successive one has been since.

Q. Can you name audiobooks you've narrated? A. Three of my best are: Vacation by JC Miller Taking On Water by David Rawding Omari and the People by Stephen Whitfield (Earphones Award winner for Fiction AudioFile Magazine) (Photo: A younger Curt Simmons and his beautiful wife Faye) Curt Simmons adds: "I’m currently focused on live stage acting and on my Substack podcast, Classically Speaking — doing audio short stories from the public domain. I love it. Each piece is much shorter. I get to work with famous authors who are no longer with us, but the material is fantastic. And I don’t have to pay royalties. Although, I haven’t started monetizing it yet, because I’m not sure I can sustain it with everything else I have going on in my life. A good problem to have. Right?"

I took up narrating and producing audiobooks to keep my creative juices flowing and marinating between stage roles," Curt explains.  "After eight or nine audiobooks in the can, I realized how lonely I was in the studio being my own producer, narrator and technician. At the same time, I found that I did enjoy editing, processing and mastering, having put myself through college working at local radio stations, both on air and in the editing lab, and I’m talking cutting magnetic tape. It always felt like a playground to me. Curt adds: "I knew I needed to be in a more collaborative storytelling environment. So I've stayed focused on stage work for the next couple of years, which is my first love, Theatre, specifically acting, which I am still engaged in."

Curt tell us that, "My wife and I recently relocated from Seattle to Colorado Springs to be near our daughter and grandkids. At the same time, I’m still pursuing theatrical work. I never thought I could be so busy in retirement. But I am. And that’s a good thing." When we talk audio fiction then, let me toss out a name for you. Tal Minear. Tal is an Southern California-based actor, sound designer, and producer. They're the creator of Sidequesting, What Will Be Here?, Someone Dies In This Elevator, and several other productions, and Tal can be heard in audio fiction shows such as Tales of the Echowood, Circles, Deconstructive Criticism, and more. They do sound design for Seen and Not Heard, Surreal Love, Wizard Seeking Wizard, and their own podcasts. They also write about audio drama production on Medium, and The Simplecast Blog.

"It takes, like with most things, a lot of patience," begins Tal. "Auditioning is really the job. Beyond that, I think being able to portray emotion with your voice and finding different ways to read the same lines will really help you go far! If you have the option to send multiple takes for an audition, do a read for the second one that is different, weird, or simply out there. Variety flourishes in audio fiction!"

In 2019, a scripted sci-fi podcast, Cryptids, was released to strong reviews and healthy audience numbers. The podcast was developed by Wild Obscura Films (WOF) and produced and directed by Devin Sheperd and written and created by Alex Thompson.

"The audio medium allows the imagination to take over in ways that no visual medium can, so there was a lot of fun and tension to be mined in letting the listener fill in some of the blanks for themselves," says Thompson, who was interviewed during the podcast's initial release. The podcast director, Devin Sheperd, knew it would be a challenge. “As a director, it was definitely different," Sheperd says. "A lot of the actors haven’t worked in the audio space before. Our actors are based in theatre so with a podcast these actors are now working in an enclosed visual space.” Alex Thompson also acted in the Cryptids podcast, and he notes, “As an actor, I’ve done some voice-over work so I’m comfortable with the mic in front of me. The continuing challenge was to make sure that the acting came through in my voice. So in the visual medium, I can use acting mannerisms and physicality to get into the role but in the podcast that had to be channeled into my vocal chords. Even then, is the story you’re telling in the room the story the audience is hearing on the tape? It was more akin to a theatrical performance than film acting.” As the director of a podcast, Sheperd found that she would have to turn away from her actors while they were performing to ensure that her eyes weren’t influencing what she was hearing. “Often, I would listen to the actors with my headphones on, looking away,” continues Devin. “In the audition process, we found that the actors we loved in the audition room while watching them, we didn’t love as much when we listened to just their voice later on. Their physical performance would give us a totally different read than the audio performance. That was hard to adjust.”

There's a bias toward video over audio. The enthusiasm for YouTube and video podcasts (oxymoron?) is evidence that there's a long-standing belief that video is more complex than audio.

 However, listening to an accomplished audiobook narrator like Curt Simmons, audio fiction actor Tal Mineal, writer / actor Alex Thompson, and director Devin Sheperd, we understand that listening to an audio fiction podcast or audiobook is an intimate experience between you, your ears, the narrator and/or actors. It's like inviting these people into your brain. They stay for a while, maybe an hour, and then leave you with some info, a few insights, a kernel of a new idea, a funny story, a tale of woe, or the sense that the wrong person was convicted.

[freya-development]

Character Design

Our first Games Art assignment of the year was to begin to develop designs and worldbuilding for a basic platformer video game which we will be reskinning.

The first thing that I thought of was a basic concept. My favourite genre is high fantasy closely followed by sci-fi, which I wanted to lean into. My initial idea followed a non-magical protagonist in a magical world, in which the world's innate magic had gone wild for an undecided reason, spawning monsters from non-sentient things with magical properties, such as slime, enchanted trees and so on. At this point, I was still unsure as to how I would incorporate sci-fi elements.

Following this, I started making some basic silhouettes for body types. I didn't go through too many iterations of this as I found one which I was happy with quite quickly.

Next I moved onto some more more complex silhouettes in which I experimented with outfits without too much regard for detail. At first, I started experimenting with more modern clothing styles, as I still wanted to leave room for science fiction within the world. As I continued, however, I found I was more drawn to the fantasy elements and was struggling to incorporate a second genre, therefore I opted to lean into the fantastical armoured designs instead. I also added small horns to the silhouettes during this, as I found I liked the shape of them alongside the longer ears.

My original idea for the story evolved as I was designing outfits and their silhouettes. I knew from the start that I'd wanted the protagonist to have rocket boots, as the jumps in the platformer game went very high with not much attention paid to gravity. As I'm not a programmer, I decided to lean into it and incorporate the long jump time into the character design.

Adding bags to some of the basic designs gave me the idea of a postman or delivery person due to the envelope-shaped pattern I added for the flap of the bag. I quickly decided that this was something I was set on as it inspired further ideas for what the overall concept of the game could be.

I went through several iterations of potential outfits before deciding, which I did through process of elimination. 1 and 2 I decided against due to their more modern looks, which I didn't think would fit the setting very well. 5 was because the design was too angular and almost spiky, connoting hostility, which was not what I wanted. 6 I liked a lot but had concerns about how to animate the skirt for a character that would be descending mid-air from a tall jump, so I decided against it. This left 3, 3.5 and 4, which I was really torn between. My reasoning for picking 4 was because of the supposedly hazardous world that the protagonist lives in, a more armoured approach would make sense.

This then helped me develop my concept further, in which the protagonist shifted from a generic hero character to a very dedicated postmaster whose job is to deliver letters and parcels despite the dangerous state of magic throughout the world. I also considered giving them two prosthetic legs with rocket boosters built in instead of just boots, which they have due to a previous accident on the clock. I still like this idea, however including it depends on how clear I am able to make it in the sprite.

I then went through a few quick hairstyles. These were easier to narrow down - I decided against something long and flowy, such as long braids or loose hair, both due to animation capability as well as practicality. Somebody with a dangerous job would not have loose hair in case it should get in their eyes, caught somewhere or pulled on in combat. This left tighter updo styles. My current favourite is 3 as it still has shape whilst keeping out of the protagonist's way, though I also like 4 and 5, so those two still have the potential to be part of the finalised design.

Lastly, I drew a quick portrait of the character combining some of the parts that I'd drawn, including armour and hair. I drew facial features based on what I thought could match their personality, so I opted for softer, rounder features to come across as friendly and outgoing.

This isn't necessarily the final design for my game's protagonist, however I wanted to come up with a first iteration to have somewhere to go from.

[datcammi]

About Me 2022

Hello Traveler, and welcome to my little slice of the internet. My name is Cammi, I’m a nearly 30 demigirl (AFAB; she/her or they/them). Honestly this blog is for my benefit as a place where I can work through my thoughts, as it’s easier for me to process things if I feel like I’m talking to someone. That said, this is my space and I will work in it in the ways that are most beneficial to me.

I'll update this as I think of relevant things, or things change.

Starting with some key things about myself

I'm an 'elder' emo with strong yallternative leanings. I've been identifying as emo since the early 2000s. I've been identifying as goth since the 2010s.

I'm a pagan witch and my practice is solitary. While I can appreciate the benefits of a coven, it's not for me. The things I work with are often considered taboo, dangerous, 'dark'. I am not love and light. I do not follow the Wiccan Rede. I do not believe in the so-called '3 Fold Rule'. My practice is eclectic but is based in personal experience and ancestral work. The individuals I work with and honor are minimally documented if not undocumented.

I am mentally ill/unwell and neurodivergent. I've struggled with ADHD-C my entire life and was part of a case study for what it looks like in girls in the late 90s. I was then diagnosed with BPD at 19, received a C-PTSD, OCD, and MDD diagnosis in my mid-20s, and at nearly 30 have additionally received a GAD diagnosis. Recently learned that I'm probably autistic, so tests for that will be coming soon.

I cannot remember the majority of my life before age 14 sans a small handful of things. I've recently begun remembering more through intense shadow work and different types of therapy, including hypnotherapy.

I do believe there can be benefits to medication and have been trying to find the right ones for me for the last couple years. Unfortunately I have been unmedicated since October 2022 due to negligence by my previous doctor who decided to abruptly stop filling my medication. Checked myself into an in-patient Behavioral Health Center (BHC) for nearly a week in early to mid December 2022. I got a new cocktail of meds, so we'll see how this goes.

I partake in psychedelics and identify as both a pothead and a psychonaut. I strongly believe there are great benefits to the proper use of both.

I'm a psychology student with a focus on the use of 'alternative' forms of therapy and medication, such as psychedelics, and their use in long-term growth and healing.

I'm an extrovert and love being around other people, unfortunately the feeling is rarely mutual and as a result I have spent a long time alone. I have no friends from childhood or highschool, and my online group has long since abandoned me after I chose to leave my abusive ex-husband. Now, I am overly independent, cynical, and untrusting of other's intentions. I refuse to be the only one putting in all the work again.

I pretty much constantly have music playing. I had 40,000 minutes of listening time just on Spotify in 2022. I listen to all genres and a multitude of artists.

I don't believe sex and romance are mutually exclusive. I am of the belief that the parameters of one's relationship(s) are defined by the individuals directly involved, and no one else. For some non-monogamy is what is healthy and happy for them, and for others monogamy is their thing. I don't think there's anything wrong with either, as long as the individuals are happy. I, personally, practice non-monogamy.

I love, love, love to read, write, and worldbuild. It keeps me sane, honestly, and I believe every work of fiction has a grain of truth to it.

I'm obsessed with my hair, it's like the one thing about myself that I am genuinely proud of. I do intense research on all products I use on it and do strip testing before using it on my whole head. "It'll grow back" is genuinely something I HATE hearing and makes me incredibly, intensely angry.

I do not tolerate liars, ever. Just be honest, it's not hard. If you can't be honest with someone then you don't respect them or care about them. Also, lying by omission is still lying.

I make lots of vague references to little things I've come across that give me the happy chemical.

[interact-if]

goodday! I was curious if there are any IF that features a disabled mc? this might be odd but as a physically disabled person, its always nice to see some representation :)

[ID: Anonymous ask that reads: “Hello! Thank you all so much for taking time to run this page. Can I ask if you have any IF recommendations that has representation for people with disabilities? Can be ROs or customizable MCs. Thank you! :)” /end ID]

[ID: Anonymous ask that reads: “any if with a disabled mc?” /end ID]

Hi! since the definition of disability is rather broad, we decided to take this opportunity to turn this into a master post encompassing both physical, mental, and neurological disabilities. We will divide everything into subcategories so it’s easier to find what you’re looking for!

and remember, if you find that any work of interactive fiction is missing from this list, please, let us know :)

[ID: Anonymous ask that reads: “Hey, do you know any IF where you can romance a deaf character or where the MC can be deaf? I’m craving the representation but I can’t find any :/” /end ID]

[ID: Anonymous ask that reads: “Are there any IFs that you can think of that let you play as Deaf/HoH or have a Deaf/HoH RO? Thanks so much!” /end ID]

[ID: An ask by user p-e-a-r that reads: “Hello. Do you know if there’s any IFs where the MC is mute and/or deaf? Or just uses sign language?

If you know any if a mute of deaf IL that’s also good” /end ID]

Deaf/HoH

MCs:

180 Files: The Aegis Project (optional) by Karelia Hall

Remembered: The Past (optional) by Kristin Jahu

The Eight Years Revolution (option for hearing aids) by @eight-years-revolution

Varðir (option for hearing aids and option for communicating through sign language will be included in the next update) by @vardir (discontinued)

When It Hungers (upcoming option to be HoH in rewrite) by @roast-ifs

ROs:

Fields of Asphodel (Alekto) by @asphodelgame

Hollowed Minds (Alonzo - not specified in the demo yet) by @shai-manahan

Powered (Simon) by @powered-if (no demo)

Project Hadea (Ki-Ha) by @nyehilismwriting 

Twin Coves (Lir ) by @twincovesgame​

When It Hungers (Nico) by @roast-ifs

You Live And Fern (Char) by @beetlebethwrites

Other characters:

The Brighter the Dawn (MC’s father) by @dawning-games

The Northern Passage (Branwen) by @northern-passage​ 

[ID: Anonymous ask that reads: “Hi :) I was wondering if youse know of any stories where the MC can be non-verbal/silent? If not all then time then partially? If this is too niche of a request please don’t feel pressured to answer. Thank you for all the hard work youse do for the IF community, it’s so awesome <3” /end ID]

[ID: Anonymous ask that reads: “Hi! I know this is sort of a niche request, but do you know of any IFs with a mute (any kind) MC? Or IFs where there are options to make the MC respond non-verbally and it’s something the game keeps track of? I’m not sure if I’m describing the second option well, but basically, if we’re regularly choosing ‘silent’ options, it actually makes a difference” /end ID]

Non-verbal/silent

MCs:

Hollowmoon Valley (option available to be silent) by @hollowmoonvalley

Legend of a Savior (One of the planned routes is an MC without a tongue) by @legend-of-a-savior-if (no demo)

The King’s Hound by @the-kingshound (18+)

Varðir (option for communicating through sign language will be included in the next update) by @vardir (discontinued)

ROs:

The Twilight Order (Désiré) by @exn0bisstudios (18+, no demo)

Wolfwater (Lux) by @carrs-universe

Other characters:

All Paths Lead to the Underground (mute secondary character) by @pol-writes​

Crimson Rose & White Lily (mute secondary character) by @manonamora-if​

Lost Birds (Ghost) by @if-lostbirds

The Brighter the Dawn (Ranada is selectively mute) by @dawning-games​

Other physical disabilities

MCs:

Event Horizon (MC experiences psychosis) by @if-eventhorizon​

Greenwarden (Options of giving the MC albinism and astigmatism, and making them diabetic or celiac) by @fiddles-ifs

Hollowed Minds (MC will have more frequent migraines over time) by @shai-manahan​

Lost Birds (Prosthetic arm and leg) by @if-lostbirds

Remember, You Will Die (Prosthetic options for MC) by @vapolis 

The Ballad of Devil’s Creek (Option for MC to be missing an eye) by @devilscreekballad

The Brighter the Dawn (Malcolm is missing an arm) by @dawning-games​

The Eight Years Revolution (prosthetic option for MC) by @eight-years-revolution

The Floating City (MC has prosthetic legs) by Felicity Banks

The Twilight Order (MC can have prosthetics and/or be blind in 1 eye) by @exn0bisstudios (no demo)

Twin Coves (Lir deals with chronic pain, Eli is an amputee with a prosthetic, Azriel has very poor eyesight ) by @twincovesgame​

Until the Colors Bleed Gray (blind MC) by @until-the-colors-bleed-gray

Varðir (MC can chose to wear glasses, use a walking cane or have a prosthetic) by @vardir ​

WALL (MC can have a prosthetic hand or leg) by @notesfromwall

ROs:

All Paths Lead to the Underground (Balzac, blind in one eye) by @pol-writes

Body Count (Ellis has EDS) by @bodycountgame (+18)

Digital Drive (Isa has a prosthetic arm, Vic has an artificial eye) by @pol-writes (no demo)

Event Horizon (Eris has one arm) by @if-eventhorizon​ 

Herotome (Griffin uses a wheelchair) by @herotome

Magician’s Voyage (Luc has prosthetic limbs) by @magiciansvoyage

Nevermoore (Sterling is blind) by @asteristories  

Perfumare 2 (Alan has glaucoma) by @pdrrook​ (no demo)

Peripety: At Its Essence (Dominik is fully blind) by @gamingperipety​ (18+, no demo)

Sentinel (Amari has a prosthetic arm) by @nyehilismwriting

Serpentine (blind RO) by @serpentineif

Snakeroot (Mal has a prosthetic leg) by @cerberus-writes  

The Ballad of Devil’s Creek (Charlie is missing an eye) by @devilscreekballad​

The Everheart Thief (A is paraplegic, uses a wheelchair) by @everheart-if (discontinued)

The King’s Physician (Lisandro uses a cane, Tesias has chronic pain & nerve damage) by @fiddles-ifs

The Nameless (Magesmith has a prosthetic arm) by @parkerlyn

The Northern Passage (Merry is blind in one eye) by @northern-passage​ 

Tournament of Souls (D is blind in one eye) by @maxdes

Varðir (Vígríðr has a prosthetic arm) by @vardir​

Wayfarer (Calla has a prosthetic arm) by @idrellegames 

Witches of Ferngrove (W has a prosthetic arm) by @witchesofferngrove

Other characters:

All Paths Lead to the Underground (the bishop is blind) by @pol-writes

Attollo (Deadlock has migraines) by @attollogame​

[ID: Anonymous ask that reads: “Hey! I was wondering if you knew of any IFs with neurodivergent (preferably autistic or ADHD) MCs or characters, other than When Twilight Strikers. Thanks in advance!!” /end ID]

Mental disabilties and neurodivergencies

MCs:

Greenwarden (the MC has C-PTSD, and experiences panic attacks, paranoia, dissociative episodes, and suicidal ideation) by @fiddles-ifs

Our Life (option for MC to be on the spectrum) by @gb-patch​

Peripety: At Its Essence (MC has migraine) by @gamingperipety (18+, no demo)

The Twilight Order (MC can have dyslexia and/or dyscalculia) by @exn0bisstudios (18+, no demo)

Twin Coves (MC has PTSD) by @twincovesgame​

When it Hungers (MC has migraines, insomnia, and PTSD) by @roast-ifs

ROs:

Ace of Spades (A is on the spectrum) by @steph-writing

Advenio (Sifra has ADHD) by @adveniogame

An Angel’s Song (Saori is autistic) by @melkstudio

Diaspora (Sangarinus) by @diasporatheblog

Fields of asphodel (MC and other important characters) by @asphodelgame

Greater Than Gods (Evan has ADHD and Wyatt is autistic) by @technicangels​

Greenwarden (Bautista, Nazeri and Devin have C-PTSD, the later has also depression) by @fiddles-ifs

Hollowed Minds (Alonzo has PTSD) by @shai-manahan 

Our Life (Cove is autistic) by @gb-patch 

Perfumare 2 (Flavio has insomnia) by @pdrrook (no demo)

Powered (Daniel has ADD, Ilide is autistic and Jake has ADHD) by @powered-if (no demo)

The Brighter the Dawn (Lichtenberg and Twelve are autistic) by @dawning-games

The Golden Harp (Gray is autistic) by @thegoldenharp​

The Hunt: Demon Eyes ( Theo (Depressions) and Lupita (ADHD) by @thehunt-if

The King’s Physician (Sibir is autistic and Tesias has PTSD) by @fiddles-ifs​ (no demo)

The Northern Passage (Clem has ADHD) by @northern-passage

The Starless Throne (Quill is autistic) by @illonius-if (no demo)

Twin Coves (Cass has ADHD) by @twincovesgame

When it Hungers (Nico has ADHD, Isla has PTSD) by @roast-ifs

When Twilight Strikes (A has ADHD) by @evertidings

Witches of Ferngrove (Jules has PTSD, C is neurodivergent) by @witchesofferngrove

Other characters:

Hollowed Minds (Raine-ADHD; Vincent-OCD) by @shai-manahan

Fantasy/sci-fi disabilities

MCs:

Hollowed Minds (recurring hallucinations that may worsen over time depending on decisions—partly involves science) by @shai-manahan

ROs:

Project Hadea (Imxa has missing limbs) by @nyehilismwriting 

The Chosen One [Italian demo] (Rascia is completely colorblind) by @kal-writesif

When it Hungers (Danny) by @roast-ifs

[sublimecatgalaxy]

❄️ The Home of My Blog ❄️

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Welcome everyone!

I decided to make a nice, big post regarding everything on my blog. I figured I would stress myself out and take the time to make this for your guys ease and comfort.

Everything you could ever possibly find will be on this page, anywhere from my masterlist to my DNI list.

I want to take full advantage of this blog and use it for multipurpose reasons, the biggest percentage of it being dedicated to writing (duh).

Happy browsing and don't forget that my mailbox and ask box is always open to those with questions, taglist joiners, concerns, ideas or one who's in need of advice.

New Schedule

LINK TO NEWLY PUBLISHED BOOK!!! PLEASE GO BUY AND SUPPORT!!!!

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• • • • • • • • • • • Links • • • • • • • • • • • •

List of Works: Blurbs, one-shots, multi-part works, and everything in between. This will most likely be updated on a regular basis, every few days, twice a week sometime around that time.

Prompt List: This is a list of different quotes and different situations/tropes that I created for you guys to pick from to hopefully make requesting things easier. All you have to do is copy and paste the quote and say with what character you want or you can just put the number next to the quote or situation.

Character List: All the people I write for, fiction and non-fiction from all types of works and genres. This will most likely be updated on a regular due to my fascination of new books, movies and television shows.

Little Bit About Me: This is just a little thing about my past with writing, my past in general, my pronouns, my relationship status. Things that if you wanna know, it's here, if not, I don't mind either.

Instagram- @ elizabeth.a.scott

Back Up Account- @sublimecatgalaxies

• • • • • • • • • • • • Info • • • • • • • • • • • •

Do Not Interact List:

Hello! Below you will find a list of things that I will not write, no questions asked. Please read this carefully before making requests.

Negative sexual situations- This includes rape, non-con, or anything revolving around mean/angry sexual situations, it's extremely triggering. Occasionally I will get bothered with writing smut as I am a victim of rape and sexual assault.

Anything too dark or bordering on abusive.

Threesomes- The only three-way/polyamorous relationship I write is steddie x reader.

Self harm, addiction or active eating disorders- I don’t have to explain this, it’s triggering and something that I, and a lot of people, struggle with. I don’t want to romanticize it by making an “x reader” revolving around an eating disorder, addiction or self harm. This will depend on how I'm feeling and what I'm experiencing so bare with me.

Suicidal ideation and/or vivid thoughts of suicide- I'm not in the right state of mind, ever, to write this so please do not request it. It makes me severely uncomfortable.

Anything yandere related

Cross Fandom Fics: Even with AUs, I like to stay wuthin the fandoms so this includes mashups of different fics.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Request List Information:

Requests will close after my inbox has reached thirty requests. Even if that means requests are open for a day and a half, if it hits thirty, I will be closing them.

Do not send me a book of a request please. I like to have wiggle room to actually be creative but if you guys just send me paragraph after paragraph, it's hard to actually do anything with it, expand upon anything and it's so overwhelming.

Have your ideas ready to go when they're open and I will put out a notification telling everyone that they're back open when they are!

Please be patient with me in this realm, my life is very up and down and I try to keep up on it as best as possible.

Also. I don't do shoutouts.

• • • • • • • • • Helpful Links • • • • • • • • • •

Crisis Text Hotline: Text HOME to 741741

Alcoholics Anonymous: Website Here

Narcotics Anonymous: Website Here

National Domestic Hotline: (800) 799-7233

National Sexual Assault Hotline: (800) 656-4673

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: (800) 273-8255

National Suicide Prevention Hotline (deaf or HOH): For TTY Users: Use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 1-800-273-8255

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[thelarriefics]

FAIRY TALE FIC REC: Below you’ll find fics that have fairytale elements to them. 

📖 Collision by @tequiladimples (226k)

Mythology/Fairytale!AU in which Louis is a dainty fairy with a temper who wants to be intimidating and Harry hurts people. Naturally, they hate each other.

(Featuring Liam, the big and not-so-bad wolf who’s got a thing for humans, Zayn, a human with supernaturally good looks, and Niall, the cupid who just wants his job to be easier.)

📖 into that goodnight by @thedevilinmybrain (62k)

Once upon a time, there was a boy. But not just any sort of boy. This was a clever boy, the cleverest of them all.

📖 take my hand, wreck my plans by @daggerandrose (38k)

a cinderella abo au with a twist 

📖 Under The Waves Is Where I Am At Ease by @ialwaysknewyouwerepunk (35k)

They're all mermaids. Harry gets taken. A rescue operation includes mermaids, sea witches, pirates, mere mortals, and so much more!

📖 chances under the purple sunrise by @wlwmermald (28k)

Or the one where Harry is a merman, prince of the Atlantic Ocean, whose curiosity and healthy envy takes over him and he steals Louis' shoes every time he fishes

📖 The Prince and the Thief by @jaerie (19k)

Harry is an omega prince locked in a tower and Louis is the thief sent to kidnap him. Nothing turns out as planned.

📖 So familiar a gleam by @softfonds (18k)

Harry has spent all his life moving from village to village with his aunts, never really feeling like he belonged in one place. But when he ends up stuck in an enchanted castle with a mysterious owner, he doesn't expect to find out secrets of his own past and just what home means.

📖 True as it Can Be by @beelou (11k)

a Beauty and the Beast au, but make it girl direction

📖 You Make The World Taste Better by @loveislarryislove (10k)

Or, a story based on Hans Traxler’s fictional non-fictional text, The Truth About Hansel and Gretel, which is based on the Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel.

📖 Aeon of Sacred Souls by @thehltwoghosts (9k)

You’re the soul mine’s awaiting, the miraculous match in a sweet symphony

📖 The Bandits of Sherwood Forest by @chaotic-bells (8k)

A Robin Hood AU

📖 Someday My Prince Will Come by @princelyharry (8k)

A handsome boy named Harry Styles, takes refuge in the woods in the little cottage of the two dwarfs with his beloved Huntsman to hide from his father’s brother, King Simon. The evil King is jealous of Harry’s youth because he wants to be known as “the fairest in the land” and Harry’s beauty surpasses his own.

Or an AU based on Snow White.

📖 Set It Up, Spin Me Round by @becomeawendybird (8k)

When a new sex club opens up in downtown Boston, Louis decides to check it out. She's dabbled in the scene before and is always down for a good time, but she never expects to make such a strong connection with the mystery woman sitting alone at the bar.

📖 This Could Be Something by @vintageumbroshirt (6k)

After a hookup gone wrong, Harry keeps getting sick at random times without reason. That is, until Louis shows up at his door with a wild explanation.

Sometimes, "happily ever after"s come in the strangest forms.

📖 been lost for too long by @lookslikefairytale (6k)

or, the one where Harry gets kidnapped and Louis rescues him. Kind of.

📖 Live Like There Is No Midnight by @sarahswalls28 (5k)

A modern-take on the well-known fairy tale that touches all of our hearts, Cinderella. This incorporates a range of modern and social acceptance themes.

📖 Melancholy by @louistomlionson (3k)

After waking in a stranger's bed, Louis tries to piece together what happened under the light of a full moon.

Or: An Early Victorian AU.

📖 the most fantastic things by @greenblueish (2k)

When he reads a fairy tale today, and it’s one about love, Harry will find himself in it. Because in all the fairy tales about love that exist in the world, he knows that a little part of Louis and him is written in between the letters, hidden between every page that curious fingers turn.

or, Harry's version of the fairy tale Thumbelina, minus marrying toads or moles, plus waxing poetic about Louis.

[cripplecharacters]

hello! currently working on a disabled character who uses a cane because of a disorder that weakened the joint on his left knee. i didn't really give a specific term because this is a completely fictional alien world but i did base it on a form of osteoarthritis after doing some research

i wanted to give him more of an active role so i decided to make him the group's resident sharpshooter/sniper and gun expert. however in some situations he might need to book it or be generally physically active and while he can walk and stand for a bit without his cane that wouldn't necessarily translate well or at all in fast paced action scenes since the character is disabled and normally can't move super fast.

i thought of giving him extra gadgets that would make it easier to get him around in these types of scenes, such as a hoverboard, or even giving him leg braces, but i also just wanted general advice on what to do or what is okay because i don't want to make it look like this disabled character "suddenly recovered" when the situation calls for it and then going back to the usual. thank you in advance!!

Hey, anon! I think giving your character gadgets and tech would be a logical response in this case-- characters who are doing a lot of fighting tend to have specialized gear (and the funding it requires). If your character’s knee joint is weak, it would also make sense for him to use a knee/leg brace to stabilize his kneecap and/or keep the flexion (bending) of the joint within a safe and non-twisted range of motion. Depending on your character’s balance and lower body strength, a hoverboard could be a cool futuristic idea! Additionally, you could have your character choose to use the environment to his advantage, rather than running, such as climbing objects or hiding-- both things I personally find easier than running. Finally, when/if you do have your character run, including the recovery/aftermath of a physically taxing experience (for example, being out of breath for longer, experiencing more pain/weakness than usual in his knee). Happy writing!

- Mod Teeth