#i did have the first 3 or so entries completed in my drafts before i posted part 1 juat to make sure i didnt have them all too far apart

[sharkneto]

hi!!!! I was rereading the shifting mirrors and holding it together since you finished joining together recently (it’s SO good, it’s so so SO good, your writing is always so well done and flows so well) and I had a couple questions. Sorry if this is weird - if you don’t want to answer them feel free to ignore this ask, I’m just curious!

1.) did you start writing joining together while you were still posting holding it together? a lot of the details I noticed in HIT were referenced in JT, and I was just kind of like ‘that’s a LOT of details to remember’ so I was wondering if you were working backwards !!

2.) have you ever thought about what happens at the end of HIT? do you think they would actually end up stopping the apocalypse, or would the commission try to come and correct them? I thought that was interesting - that the commission said they were done with five, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re done with the offshoot timeline ; if they hadn’t interfered prior, that would mean they were still on track for an apocalypse, right ? I like to speculate about this. with sheer strength of will I think that five would probably end up stopping it, mostly because he knows how to work through his rage rather than act on impulse again - and now he has the knowledge to try and connect the others so that viktor doesn’t feel so isolated.

3.) what was your favorite part of writing the story / what kept you motivated to keep it going ? I’ve started a couple chaptered fics, and then I get three or four chapters in and lose it completely.

I love, love, love the world youve created - I love the characters youve built and the personalities behind them. the dedication youve held on to to keep the series going is admirable; I can barely write 20k, much less hundreds of thousands of words. I was actually thinking of asking your permission to maybe write an offshoot of your offshoot (it might be the thing that gets me back into writing for tua) but idk if I’d have the imagination or creativity to make it nearly as compelling and fun as yours. Congratulations and great work on finishing it !! <333

this got long - feel free to ignore it if it’s overstepping or weird, lol !! I hope you’re doing well - have a great night, shark :)

Hey Toby! Glad you enjoyed it all so much and thanks for the kind words! It's a little surreal to have it done, JT has been a WIP almost as long as I've been into TUA.

I started writing JT before HIT. This whole series was supposed to be a Just For Me Fun Project while I rotted alone during the pandemic that I ended up sharing with permission from orsumfenix and encouragement from friends. I was a bit into JT, I think, when I started thinking about how fun it would be to get more siblings in here, and those musing became HIT. HIT got posted first because it had a lower barrier for entry, with more focus on the Hargreeves we know instead of OCs. So, because the stories were written more-or-less simultaneously, it was easy to reference one or set up something for the other. Working forwards and backwards, with the end of JT already written (in a rough draft) when I was writing HIT, so I knew where Rob, Sarah, and Number were coming off of at that point. (The tiny detail I'm most fond of is Allison in HIT noting that Number broke his nose at some point, and then in JT we get to see the stupid scenario in which he broke his nose.)

(rest under a readmore because I ramble)

I do have thoughts on what happens after HIT! More of a time jump, to Number's Apocalypse Week, and I've got words in a WIP started about that (and a few snips shared in my snip tag, although some I think I've changed some of the details, now). It goes... less smoothly than it should, for a guy who has (almost) all the details he needs. If motivation continues, I'll share that eventually. If it doesn't, I'll word-vomit an outline so at least people who are interested can know how it goes down. I don't see the Commission coming back - the people obsessed with Five are dead, and the organization is done with him. They don't have the resources to spare to keep going after him, so at least in Five and Number's timelines, they're out of the Commission's scope.

What kept me going was a combo of things. 2020-2022ish, I had a fuckton of time. I only worked three days a week because of covid protocols, I couldn't go anywhere because of covid, and I couldn't see anyone because of covid. I had four days a week to fill, and a lot of that time got filled with writing - all of HIT and the first draft of JT happened during this time, plus all the other fics I published throughout that time. What kept me going is that I was having a ton of fun writing and fun interacting with other people about my fics. Love, love, love talking about them (so never apologize for an ask like this, every fic writer is begging for an excuse to ramble like this). I liked thinking about the characters, thinking about Number doing mundane things I was doing made them more interesting, I liked thinking about Rob and Sarah's little romcom life, and I'm fascinated by Five's whole deal. My favorite part of writing these is Five (both versions of him) - thinking about him and how he'd react to x or y, how others react to him. I love that, at his core, he's kind of a loser. I love what an incredible vehicle for grief he is. He's a character of all time for me.

How to keep going, I don't have an easy answer for it. Some people outline, so they have the skeleton of what they're doing and where they're going. I'm not one of those people, I have an idea of the general shape and trajectory of the story and go from there, splitting up chapters as needed. I think it's important to not force it, or the writer's block gets worse and then you're stressed about writing instead of having fun with it, and that's no good - the point is to have fun. If you run out of steam, you run out of steam and you have to take a six-month hiatus until life calms down and you have words again (as a hypothetical example). Don't be afraid to poke at other ideas even if you have a giant fic unfinished. For having 25 fics on AO3, I have 35 other WIP files on my computer. Some of them have a couple hundred words, some have tens of thousands of words, some of them I'll come back to finish, some of them I won't. Such is life - some ideas have legs, others don't. I don't set out thinking "Oh this fic is going to be 50k words with 10 chapters". I just write until it feels done; sometimes that's 2k words, sometimes it's almost 200k words. The point I'm trying to make, here, is that we're all just fucking around having fun, and words flow easier when I'm remembering that and not stressing about being done or trying to finish for a self-imposed deadline. You've got it :)

Feel free to write in my little world! Would love to see what others are thinking about, what stuck with them. Just give me (and orsumfenix, if you use Number) a shoutout if you share it! And don't sell yourself short - I'm sure you've got great ideas and the chops to write them out. Don't compare yourself to me; you might write in a world I helped shape, but you've got your own voice and style to give it. I, for one (if you end up writing and sharing it), would love to hear your version of it all :)

[foxes-that-run]

Holy Ground

Taylor has described Holy Ground as reminiscing on a past relationship, which the final is. The draft lyrics in the Lover Journal do not refer to it as a past relationship however, that was added later. The album arrangement of Holy Ground is upbeat, fast tempo, with State of Grace it was part of the anthemic opening of the Red Tour. In the 2019 BBC Live Lounge which was recorded in NY Taylor played it slow and sad:

Red Secret Message "When you came to the show in SD"

The Secret Message for Holy Ground is "When you came to the show in SD." Which may be Saint-Denis, the district and canal in Paris very close to Le Zenith which Taylor played on 17 March 2011.

They had the opportunity to meet when One Direction and Taylor were both in LA in 25-30 January 2011. This may be the referred to "first glance". Begin again shows them texting each other. From then until the 16 March they toured different countries.

One Direction had a 3 day weekend 16 - 19 March. Harry left Brighton the morning of 17 March. Taylor was in Paris on the 16, 17 and 18 March. Taylor then went to Madrid and Harry re-appeared at the O2 on 19 March. Thank you @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim for these links.

This was the first show on the Speak Now Tour that Taylor played Fearless and Train's "Soul Sister" in a mash up, which appeared on/off for the rest of the tour. Soul Sister was Harry's X-Factor audition song.

They were then both in London and on Wednesday 23 March Taylor wore a white dress similar to the cover of Begin Again. Taylor was in London many times for the rest of the year

What about San Diego?

People have theorised that SD is her show in San Diego on 20 October 2011, suggestion Joe Jonas attended, however he was in Paris on that date. One Direction did have time off then though.

Why Paris? Paris features in the music videos for Begin Again, Everything has Changed, Falling, Paris Lyric video and the Love on Tour Images for What Makes you Beautiful.

What Taylor said about the song

In the Red album talk Taylor said she wrote the song about a past relationship and appreciated the relationship for what it was. Of note, she pauses *a lot*, like 6 times in 10 seconds, and pinches her hands, in the part where she says it was a past relationship.

Taylor said she wrote Holy Ground after seeing the muse in February 2012. In January, she had been 'holidaying' in London (having spent months there the year before) being papped walking alone. She left London the same day as One Direction, 27 January, ahead of Harry's 18th birthday 1 February 2012. See 2011 timeline. More thanks to @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim

She speaks with no pauses once she talks about the production. She mentioned Jeff Bhasker, who worked on the song and went on to be one of Harry's main collaborators.

On 3 February, the day after Harry's 22 Tweet Taylor Liked a Tumblr post of Holy Ground Lyrics also.

Lover Journal

Taylor also shared a Lover Journal (book 3) entry for March 16 2011, where in Paris, she said "My life is so beautiful right now. Every once in a while I have to remind myself to breathe and take in the view", later a Lyric in Paris and something Harry said on the Jonathan Ross show 16 November 2013.

The original lyrics to Holy Ground are on the next page (dated "February 2012", and not yet complete) with Love Story on the adjacent page. These February 2012 Lyrics are quite different, "Back when" and the last verses with "dust on every page" are missing, it is reminiscing, but not after a break up. It is likely the song was further developed when recorded mid-year and their relationship changed.

Live Performances

Holy Ground was on the Red Tour setlist and then only played a handful of times:

30 June 2015 - 1989 Surprise Song in Dublin, followed a Clean speech:

Everyone here tonight has [...] things that haunt them. [...]. Memories you wish you didn’t have. Memories you wish you could forget. [...] whether you lost someone you never thought you’d lose or you lost yourself. Or you fell in love with a person or a habit that was bad for you, and you couldn’t quit. [...].

22 October 2016 - her only live show of 15 songs that year, played between Style and an Enchanted/Wildest Dreams mashup. Harry and Taylor had been in New York.

22 May 2018 - Reputation Surprise Song in Seattle, first show after their anniversary.

29 August 2019 - BBC Live Lounge recorded in NY (above) one of 6 songs. Harry was in London, on the 19th he lost the Rose Ring.

27 May 2023 - Eras Surprise Song, NJ, in a green dress with False God. "I feel pretty good about this song for tonight, it's called Holy Ground". It also replaced EHC in the recorded Red intro when the Joe Break up was announced in April 2023.

Lyrics

I was reminiscing just the other day While having coffee all alone, and Lord, it took me away Back to a first glance feeling on New York time Back when you fit my poems like a perfect rhyme

The first verse includes drinking coffee alone, coffee being a theme. Here Taylor drinks coffee alone, similar to Is it over now? “let's fast forward to 300 takeout coffees later" it is post-break up. This is in the original lyrics, but separated by distance.

The second half remembers a brief meeting and includes that Taylor and her muse travel a lot and share a love of poetry and rhyme.

The original lyrics differ here, importantly "back when" is missing, the relationship was still current and Taylor felt completed by the person. It was "Back to the first glance feeling on new time, you were the last word filling out the end of the rhyme"

Took off faster than a green light, go Yeah, you skip the conversation when you already know I left a note on the door with a joke we'd made And that was the first day

This second verse hits themes in Haylor songs of how quickly they fit:

Lover "Have I known you for 20 seconds or 20 Years"

Labyrinth "Never trust it if it rises fast / It can't last"

Message In A Bottle: But time moves faster, replaying your laughter, disaster

You Are In Love: Time moved too fast, you play it back

Coney Island: The fast times, the bright lights, the merry go

Also skipping conversation is a theme of not communicating

The note on the door is visualised as a piece of paper on a hotel door in the lyric video. It reminds me of The Very First Night's "Didn't read the note on the Polaroid picture". This lyric also reminds me of Begin Again "I think it's strange that you think I'm funny, 'cause He never did"

And darling, it was good Never looking down And right there where we stood Was holy ground

The Chorus is the end of the February 2012 lyrics. "Holy" ground has always confused me, but I think the clue is in the secret message, it was "Saint" Denis.

Down is in a lot of songs, this is just some:

Come Back... Be Here "And now that I can put this down"

IKYWT "'Til you put me down, oh"

Style "And when we go crashing down, we come back every time"

IWYW "We're a crooked love in a straight line down"

Wonderland "Took a wrong turn and we / Fell down a rabbit hole."

Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress We had this big wide city all to ourselves We blocked the noise with the sound of 'I need you' And for the first time I had something to lose

tee hee Dress: "Only bought this dress so you could take it off"

Question…?: Good girl, sad boy, big city, wrong choices

Need is in:

Come Back… Be Here: I guess you’re in New York today, I don’t wanna need you this way

This Love: When you’re young you just run but you come back to what you need

New Romantics: We need love, but all we want is danger

End Game: I’m one call away whenever you need me

Don’t Blame Me: Shaking, pacing, I just need you

Need "Oh, It's a need, it's a need I would go anywhere that you lead"

And I guess we fell apart in the usual way And the story's got dust on every page But sometimes I wonder how you think about it now And I see your face in every crowd

This verse is clear the relationship has ended, but was added after February 2012. Fell apart is also in:

The Very First Night: Back then we didn’t know we were built to fall apart

Out Of The Woods: "We were built to fall apart, then fall back together"

Taylor has also made the story/page reference is a theme in many songs

New Year’s Day: "Don’t read the last page, but I stay"

Death By A Thousand Cuts: "But if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?"

Paris: "Privacy sign on the door and on my page and on the whole world"

Tonight I'm gonna dance For all that we've been through But I don't wanna dance If I'm not dancing with you

There is a lot of dancing in Haylor songs:

22: Everything will be all right if we just keep dancing like we’re 22

The Very First Night: Danced in the kitchen, chased me down through the hallway

Out Of The Woods: To move the furniture so we could dance, baby, like we stood a chance

You Are In Love: You two are dancing in a snow globe 'round and 'round

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: If I could dance with you again

Cardigan: I knew you, dancing in your Levi’s, drunk under a streetlight

Cowboy Like Me: And you asked me to dance, but I said, “Dancing is a dangerous game”

Maroon: And I chose you, the one I was dancing with in New York, no shoes

Glitch: I thought we had no chance and that’s romance, let’s dance

and bonus Dancing, after this she learned to Dance alone:

Shake It Off: I’m dancing on my own, I make the moves up as I go

New Romantics: We are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet

[sweetashblog]

Draft from 4/3

Okay-

I just listened to the Project Meridian plotline for the first time and HOLY SHT

Spoilers below!!

This had me in a CHOKEHOLD ALL DAY.

Why don’t people talk about this more?? Literally all I knew was that James had a spouse and that Marcus was a weird guy that kissed a robot.

I didn’t know that we, the listener, were the robot! AND that we were a yandere robot!!!

I don’t like yandere plots, usually, because they feel horrific in a way that is way too close to reality (having a stalker is not something I wish on anyone), but the way this was presented CAPTIVATED me.

The gradual progression from unhealthy interest to extreme obsession was phenomenal. Especially because, while I knew he was a creep, I did not see Marcus as inherently Evil at first.

At first, I viewed this as more of a sci-fi horror, where Marcus was the catalyst, and it was ultimately his fault, but still a character I had empathy for. I thought “asset” was going to go down a darker path and that James was in danger.

It wasn’t until “Your Owner Takes Matters Into His Own Hands” that I realized how disgusting Marcus truly was. Then “Your Owner’s Log Entry” cemented that completely.

“Confronting Your Technician” was PAINFUL. I had such a hard time not feeling bad for Marcus, (bc who tf let Erik be such a great actor???) but James really shone through. He was blunt and confrontational and made it clear exactly how gross Marcus truly was without a hint of bias. I gained a new respect for his character that I hadn’t had before. Especially with how kindly he spoke to Asset afterwards.

And I LOVED the reveal of all the trigger words in the code!!! I didn’t catch any of them at first and had been really confused during A Talk With One of Your Devious Owners, but once everything came together I LOST IT.

I’m really grateful I got to listen to this with little to no spoilers. I was able to feel exactly what Erik was trying to invoke every step of the way and enjoy the immersion in the story.

I will never be able to get over Erik’s brilliance in writing and acting. How he is not a full-fledged voice actor, I have no idea. Everything he puts out is so well thought out and captivating, and somehow it stuns me every time.

AND ANTON— I love him with my whole heart and I’m going to personally track down Marcus and kick his teeth in I stg. I can’t wait to see how his plot develops 😭 Let him come home 😭

Anyways, thank you for coming to my TEDTalk. I think I need to make a new side blog for Redacted posts.

[manonamora-if]

March Check-In

Lol. We definitely were not back on track here. We tried and SUPER FAILED at going back to the schedule.

Will March be better? Let's find out together...

Onto the usual index:

Recap of last month’s progress

IF Events in the Next Month

Plan for the next month

Still long post under the break. If you want a mini version, head over to itch.io!

February Progress

Welp... there wasn't much of a list in the January Check-in, since it was the retrospective, which included the yearly plan. Still, I did make a mini one on itch. Put together we'd get:

Play more IF and maybe review. ✅

Finish the coding of Harcourt Ch5 ❌ and editing of Ch6 ❌

Fix one of the semi-completed games: ❌

Complete the Vamp/Smoochie jam entry✅

Heyyyy 50/50. Passable grade!

I've passed the very funny number of 420 reviews on the IFDB recently, mainly working my way through the French games (since there are very few reviews and French IF peeps are neat people). There are 300+ games left on that side, it will take me a while to get there but I'm making progress (almost done with 2023!). If my pace continues... I might be able to reach 2nd place in the ranking before my 1 year anniversary of reviewing games (mid-may). Also somewhat related, I've been trying to rate more games on itch too :)

I said I would finish the coding of Harcourt... and then didn't. But MelS was more productive than me, and he finished the first draft of Chapter 6 earlier than planned... which I haven't finished commenting on either... So :/

I also didn't fix any semi-completed games. So there.

But I managed to make it for the Queer Vampire Jam and the Smoochie Jam with Teatime with a Vampire ! A 20k-long trippy game with a hot vampire and a weird show...

AND AND I finally fixed my website and my itch.io profile. It has a cool feature on the front page. And we did a little AMA a few weeks ago!

Honestly, I thought I would have been done with Teatime two weeks before it actually was completed. So that threw a wrench in the rest. And probably having to moderate a few events at once...

And the extra day clearly didn't help.

EDIT: I TOTES FORGOT, but I updated DOL-OS for an extra QOL screen at the start.

What’s happening in March?

There's always something happening in the IF world. I don't think I ever find all that happens anyway... but. Here's the ones I know!

Today is the last day to submit a Spring Thing intent! (ranked)

he Queer Vampire Game Jam ends in about three weeks. Got a vampire/human story with a LGBT+ cast? Then this is the event for you! (unranked) Also they are doing a fundraising/matching donation with submissions!

The SeedComp! (Sprouting) extended the deadline for a few more days! See @seedcomp-if for more info ;) (ranked)

Concours de Fiction Interactive Francophone 2024 se termine Lundi! Viendez faire des histoires en français!! <3 (ranked, duh)

The next @neointeractives mini-jam will all be about bringing back old jams... Check out the Revival Jam !

The Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2024 just started! It will be looking for "parser for beginners" entries until May!

Note: @neointeractives will have jams all year long. One a month/or so. And the next Planting Round of @seedcomp-if will start as soon as the results are dropped.

The PLANtm for March

Busy plan once again. Here are the thing I'm hoping to do or finish this month:

Complete my French Comp entry. The deadline is in 3 days. Will I make it? Probably. Will it be good? Probably be not because I've been writing it only in the past two weeks. You can expect some "love" letters though...

Complete my SpringThing entry. It will be all about fixing typos and potential bug. The code will be ready next week anyway. Maybe slap some cool-er animations.

Play more games! Consider this done. There's the Smoochie Jam, the SeedComp! and the FrenchComp right there...

Finish the Code Ch5 of Harcourt and edit Ch6. At least one round of edits would be good. So I can put MelS to work again.

Finish fixing The Roads Not Taken. I'm so sorry babe. I'm not avoiding you I swear. I actually haven't bee on the computer with your files this month...

LET'S DO THIS! WE CAN DO IT!

~

The 2024 To-Do List:

I have done nothing here. So here's the list again for nothing.

The hopefully maybe easy to handle To-Do:

fix the bugs in EDOC + overall the French version to match

fix the bugs of TRNT + find a way to add the missing pieces (giving up on the translation)

fixing the interface of LPM and the popups + check animal interactions

figure out the One-Button JavaScrip/jQuery issue...

edit the loading screens of the completed tiny games to include the program/format logo at least.

The 'Need a Bunch of Content to update but it's planned!' To-Do:

Update my website (bunch new title - also I don't think the logo clicky thing work...) + redo my itch page

Finish TTATEH (MelS dependent - this year should be it - for real)

Finish Exquisite Cadaver (half-way mark by this summer - manif)

Finish P-Rix - Space Trucker (main path at least)

Update CRWL (it's been almost two years... I'm getting ashamed)

The Unlikely But it Would be Dope To-Do

Finish The Dinner as it was planned (and translate)

Finish In the Blink of an Eye as it was planned (and retranslate)

Finish The Rye in the Dark City

Fixing TTTT (at least fixing, maybe try adding some storylets)

And finally The 'It's impossible, but one can wish' TO-DO:

Remaster SPS IH (if I managed to start this after completing the rest... I'm going to eat a whole sheet cake).

Start the IFComp project (2025? Might end up being a ST?)

[brennustheskeleton]

Hello howdy! I gotta say your artwork is fantastic!

Though I wanted to ask, are people allowed to doodle your aus? Do you write at all :)? I’m a swatchton gal myself and I’d love to doodle them sometime!

Thank you, I'm pleased to hear you like my art <3

And YES I’D LOVE ART ABOUT MY AUS. You are all completely allowed to. Just credit who made the AU obviously xD

I do love to write but it's not something I share online much at all. I'm not on any fanfiction sites. You can see elements of my style of writing in captions and on my toyhouse. I mostly use writing as a tool to help me draw. For example, for every instalment of Eternal Winter, there is usually a written novel-esque draft of the scene before I even touch my stylus. It's by no means my best work but it assists me in developing the pacing, atmosphere and dialogue.

Here is the written draft for the first ever instalment of Eternal Winter

ALSO once I wrote a diary entry from the perspective of Spamton writing about the “dream” he had. He accidentally visited the windows xp wallpaper with a tree lmao

“The way I'm about to write this out feels stupid but I just want to express this the way I felt it as much as possible.

I had a dream long ago where it felt like I woke up in a strange new dimension. The sky was so bright I covered my eyes with my elbow. I realised that my jacket was not on me as my eyelids made contact with the white fabric of my cuffed shirt, the heat of my forearm traversing through it. The fabric started to absorb the tears welling in my eyes at how painfully luminescent the world had become. I started to feel every discomfort my senses could feel at that moment. The ground I was lying on was wet and poked at my back but I felt too heavy to get up. I extended an arm out to my side in this new world. The ground seemed to be covered in coarse hair or fur. I curled one of my hands around a strand and snapped it at the root. Suddenly a chilling wave passed over me, making me shiver and curl up. Did I anger some ancient beast when I ripped one of its hairs out? How could I have woken on a creature? I'm sure it was a dream with how fantastical this is. But with how sensory the experience was, it makes me keep doubting myself.

I rushed the strand to a cusped hand covering my eyes to get a closer look at it. The strand was green but not just a solid shade of green, the root was lighter in colour. It wasn't round as a normal strand of hair would be, kind of flat with a more solid pole(?) structuring it. I tossed the strand to my side and took a deep breath.

Even the air seemed different, colder and aromatic but more filling. My hand traced the green hair above my head where I meet a sudden obstacle. A solid object with rough, almost cement, skin. The main structure reached way higher than my arm could reach and scout for me. So I decided to finally uncover my eyes. I almost regretted it as my eyes watered again but the sight I saw was worth it. The rough object was a towering cylinder that reached way higher than I ever could. It seemed it was trying to touch heaven, dividing, spreading and sprawling itself like a spider diagram. The overwhelming amount of dark beige and green appendages were blanketing the sky for me. I realised I have not even looked at the actual sky this whole time. Tilting my head, I witnessed the expanse of this world. The multi-shaded green ground stretched endlessly to the blue horizon. Unlike the gradient green of the hair, the sky was a solid baby blue, one that would paint a nursery. I suddenly felt so much smaller. That this realm seemed to expand without me, indifferent if I were there to explore or not. It possessed endeavours and desires that surpassed me. Ever growing and breathing on its fruition.

When I woke up, my home was so much darker than I remembered. I stumbled and tripped in my once familiar store. My heel kept hitting every box of merchandise I placed that day before. Everything seemed so much more...silent and dead. I found my mounted mirror that morning and used it to look at my back. There were the same greens of the fur that once prodded and poked me smeared on my shirt like paint. My eyelids still beckon me to return to this realm of light to this day. But every time I sleep I can't seem to ever return to it.

I sound insane, I’ve been told that my whole life. But experiences like these in my life are the ones that make me afraid of forgetting, losing myself to nothing and the darkness. I want to see this world again but I don't think I ever will.”

[hobbit-the-starfleet-padawan]

Dincember 2022 - Day 6 Hot Chocolate

I did miss a couple days since the last entry for this :( but I said I was gonna try every day and I have :3 AND today I managed to write this! :3

uh it turned a little more sultry than I expected lmao

it's not reader insert this time, I couldn't get used to doing it for today so I ended up doing it this way with a female OC (not named as this is just a drabble). Next time I write an entry, I'll try with a male OC :3

previous entry

prompt list

please excuse this being a first draft, there might be some grammatical errors and weird language stuff 👉👈

The campfire sparked, one solitary yellow orb shooting up toward the sky for just a millisecond before disappearing. Nights were cold on this planet, but fires still helped enough to make it through the night without an extra layer on.

Grogu was fast asleep in a little makeshift bed. Din had done nothing more but place a small blanket on a piece of rope he’d fidgeted around with enough until it became a little bed for the kid. The only ones still awake was Din and her.

She was Din and Grogu’s elected guide through the forest and one of the inhabitants of this planet. She was clad in leather armour that looked like it might not protect her in the slightest. She wore a belt that accentuated her hips.

And he had been watching her hips the entire day as she guided them through shrubbery.

Now, he actively attempted to focus his gaze on his rifle, taking it apart to clean it (although it wasn’t necessary in the slightest).

But when she approached him again, kneeled before him in the orange, flickering light from the fire… accentuating the curves of her face and body alike, showing off the beauty she held… well… Din forgot all about his rifle.

In her hands, she presented a cup to him. Whatever liquid was in it was dark, steaming… and looked inviting not just because her beautiful fingers held onto it.

“What is it?”

She didn’t reply. Actually, she didn’t talk at all. Whether she couldn’t speak any language he could, or whether she was mute, was unclear.

But the darkening of her cheeks as his gloved hands reached to cup hers holding the drink up to him was enough to stir emotions within him that wouldn’t have been there if she’d only spoken the truth.

She was just as attracted to him as he was to her.

And she hadn’t even seen his face…

Had she too took note of his hips and waist?

“I can’t. I can’t remove my helmet.” With his hands over hers, he gently guided the cup away from him. He gestured to his helmet and shook his head to try and communicate his words to her.

Her face fell.

He immediately regretted taking any Mandalorian vows ever, even if he tried not to think so dramatically – he’d only known her for a day.

“Hot chocolate.” The words left her lips so beautifully… He thought words wouldn’t stir any emotions in him, but her voice did. Her gaze flickered around uncomfortably, holding the cup still.

Instead, she took a sip herself.

What was chocolate? – Din couldn’t ask this question, he wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe he wanted to show he was intelligent, well versed in cultures (or more specifically, her culture) so she would like him more.

Maybe he was just stubborn…

Or maybe he was completely entranced with the sight of her lips pursing to take a drink, touching the liquid she had offered and wanted to share – a liquid he now definitely wanted to try, even if he didn’t know what chocolate was.

“Okay.” Din half-said it to her, half-said it to himself as he convinced himself to take a sip after all. “Turn.” He made a notion with his finger, and she caught on.

Exchanging the cup to him, she turned and gave him privacy. Lifting his helmet enough so he could take a sip, he tasted the sweetness mixed in with a familiar taste of milk. It burst into a million tastes within his mouth, causing him to take a moment to calm down his taste buds before trying it again.

He wasn’t a fan of chocolate.

But he was a fan of drinking from the same spot as her.

When she turned back around again, he made sure to present the cup so she knew… that they had shared a little kiss.

And she blushed, smiled and stared at him for a long while before forcing herself to shift back to her own spot to continue drinking in silence…

all entries will be compiled into a Dincember post on this blog's Ao3 eventually <3

reblog, leave a comment, buy me a coffee, send in an ask, or follow me to support future writing <3

[akindofmagictoo]

manuscript search tag game

another from @diphthongsfordays :D (actually, two!)

my words this time are tragic, entry, bland, unnatural, fall // dust, pile, note, sing, breath

tragic

entry (Hurricane draft 3) (tw misogyny, condescension)

“You can go now, sweetheart. You have your orders.”

She’d also have to deal with fees; Grimmur wouldn’t be happy if they paid more than they had to, but the deposit they’d paid on entry to Kings Cove would be a bit more than one night’s stay. There was also the question of… “Sir?”

“Yes?” He folded his arms.

“What about the men getting supplies?”

He sighed. “Wait for them. Then bring the Marquess back out into the bay. Not difficult, darling. Now go.”

She turned to leave. “Sorry, sir.”

His voice floated out into the corridor. “Shut the door behind you, sweetheart.”

Stomach twisting uncertainly, she did so.

bland

unnatural

fall (Dragonsong draft 1) (Isi no)

“Isi, if we keep going much longer, you’re going to fall over,” said SB.

“I’ll be fine.”

Silence from SB.

“How are Ebele and Cole?” They’d walked a fair way. SB was partially right: Isi was beginning to get tired, and a little lightheaded, but the others had to have it worse. Isi was young and fit, even with Robin on her back. She’d survive. For now, they had to get as far from the prison as they could. Pursuit would follow as soon as they recovered from the mages’ sleep spells.

A rest and some food would be good, but not if it got them caught and thrown back into prison.

When Ebele and Cole began to struggle, they’d stop. But if those two could keep going, they should.

“I would answer that, but actually I don’t think it matters.” SB overtook her and stopped dead, hands on hips, forcing Isi to either stop or crash into him.

She stopped.

dust (Hurricane draft 3)

Again, he was quite content to let Aella do her own negotiating. He stared out the window, enjoying the sight of the round fluffy clouds that sailed across the sky. The thought from earlier—what if he never went home?—tugged at the edge of his mind. Worry began to rise in his gut. He did his best to ignore it. Instead he concentrated on the clouds and the dust that danced in the rays of sunlight streaming through the window.

pile (Dragonsong draft 1)

Robin hesitated, then said, “No.” He was silent for a moment before raising his eyes to meet Isi’s. There was an urgency there she hadn’t expected. “But Isi, you don’t understand. I—I never told you what happened to my leg.”

Isi said nothing, leaving him the space to elaborate. She’d thought she’d known; she’d been the one to find him, legs pinned by a pile of ceiling stones, crying out for help. She hadn’t asked about the exact cause, but it hadn’t seemed relevant. She’d been focused on reassuring him, trying to distract him from the pressure and the pain, until more help arrived to dig him out.

note (Hurricane draft 3) (Aria and Tempest my beloveds)

Aria wasn’t finished, though. “If any of us had thought it was a bad decision, you know we’d have said. Cai certainly told you she disapproved of chasing Anvindr in the first place.”

Tempest had to smile. As usual, Aria was right. And she knew exactly what to say to help. Even if she couldn’t shake the feeling of doubt, it was reassuring to know that even if she wasn’t confident, Aria was.

“On a completely unrelated note,” said Aria, “I detest bandaging shoulders.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll get the next drunk idiot with a broken bottle to hit me somewhere else instead.”

Aria snorted. “Please do.”

sing (Dragonsong draft 1)

As a trainee knight, Isi had studied dragons for a few months. Most old writings on them had been destroyed long before Isi was born, but some had been saved and used for education. Sometimes they mentioned dragons singing, but mostly they’d been annotated to amend it to shrieking or roaring. At the time, she’d assumed the original writers had just gone for a poetic approach, that shrieking was a more accurate description.

The original writers hadn’t been poetic. She knew that now. But just like she had no words to describe it properly, so neither could their words really encapsulate the sound. Nor the crackle in the air, the shiver down her spine.

breath (Hurricane draft 3) (tw blood, injury, death mention)

Aella landed hard on her back, knocking the breath from her lungs. For a second, she felt nothing. Where was she? This must be the landing she’d passed earlier. So the stone above her was the ceiling.

All at once, the pain set in.

The point of her hip throbbed, along with the cuts on her eyebrow and arm. Her cheekbone swelled, oddly warm as blood rushed to it despite the cold air around her. The skin of her arms was raw and torn; every tiny bump in the stone beneath her grated brutally. She took a deep breath of stale air.

Pain lanced through her ribs and she let all the air out in a gasping cough. The metallic taste of blood lingered in her mouth. She spat and put a hand to her side. 


Her ribs had only just healed after last time. Aria was going to kill her.

If Anvindr didn’t kill her first. 

passing this along to @zmwrites @ellatholmes @vellichor-virgo if you’re still around! your words are tragic, bland, unnatural, legend

[alecatmew]

Reflections on Tableturf

This blog post goes through a few of my Tableturf inspired artworks from 2023, ending with a quick timelapse of this painting:

With the launch of Splatoon 3 came a new game mode, Tableturf! I got quite into the idea of Tableturf, even being a part of coordinating an art collab project – Arty Siege – which paid homage to the in-game cards. I did lots of work for that – creating various design elements, having fun data merging artwork in InDesign, thinking about how the physical game would really play out, coordinating artists and creating artwork!

The art that I worked on included assets for the card backgrounds, and I illustrated one of the cards.

These background images were ink paintings traced from game screenshots. After doing a little photography tour in the game I exported the screenshots and used the Find Edges filter in Photoshop. I printed these reference lines to carbon paper and transferred them to watercolour paper.

After scanning the ink paintings, I applied some gradient map adjustments to them to adapt them into the card background.

I chose to illustrate the Splattershot Jr. as my designated card for the project. I’ve drawn the newbie squid before and as a Junior player (I became a Junior main because of having to unlock kits on many, many systems) I just feel a certain connection to the default loadout.

During initial project advertising, I used this artwork. The pose is taken directly from the pose of the original Tableturf card. With this version of the artwork, I mocked up the first version of how the cards would appear, including tweaks to the card UI and creating a 3D view of the card.

My motivations for changing the UI were to make the Arty Siege cards distinct from the in-game works, but also to think about what would make sense for a real card game. The original cards put all their important information at their base, but I wanted to make all the pertinent information visible easily from a fanned out hand of cards. So I moved the grid and special costs to the left side.

I also straightened the alignment of the block grid. The angled grid was cool, and saved a little space, but I felt that when looking down at the game board and determining how to make a move, it was easier to visualise the move you wanted to play by having an aligned grid. Maybe that was just me, it’s not like things in the real world would be completely squared anyway.

Anyhow, relatively late into the project I started feeling a bit insecure about that version of the Junior being my entry into the project. I was surrounded by an incredibly talented pool of artists and felt like I needed to step up to the standards of my peers! I still like my original artwork but I also felt inspired by the work I’d done on the backgrounds to do a piece in ink and use gradient mapping to add colour.

This time, I based the pose on some promotional artwork from Splatoon 2 – I wanted to show off the square ink tank because while the flat ink pack of Splatoon 3 features in some of the cards, many of the other ones seem to take cues from Splatoon 2’s fashion options.

Here’s the final version of the Splattershot Jr. card. Please do check out the Arty Siege website for all of the other works!

One of the things I did at the end of this project was to print out all the cards, which was a lot of fun! I felt like I built a new connection with each of the artists and their artwork in the process of printing, cutting and sleeving the cards.

While wrapping up Arty Siege I had a vague idea of running a promotional Tableturf tournament – maybe something in a casual vein, or with a bit of a team gimmick to allow a mix of player skills among drafted teams. The team angle was influenced by my favourite anime – Chihayafuru – a show that features a competitive karuta game based on the Ogura hyakunin isshu.

Chihayafuru is beautiful, and the way it depicts friendly competition really hits home. And there’s just something so great about the earnest enthusiasm of the players – they’re engaging in a pretty niche hobby so having the opportunity to play is something they’re truly grateful for. Coming from a grassroots Splatoon scene, I feel the parallels between the competition depicted in the show and some of my favourite times being a member of the Australian (and broader) Splatoon community.

I wish competitive video gaming was filled with people as kind and grateful for the opportunity to play with others as the karuta players in Chihayafuru.

— David Michael Kinne (@Mewd462) May 18, 2019

This kinda sums it up!

Although I didn’t end up running a Tableturf tournament, the imagery and the idea for an art piece stuck with me.

As much as I adore Chihayafuru, I’ve never felt brave enough to try to tackle fan art for it. The gorgeous scenes, the sense of movement, the game that I only have the most superficial understanding of… it all felt quite intimidating.

But Splatoon, I feel comfortable in that universe…

(A universe which coincidentally seems to have a version of karuta already!)

However, my painting is not an attempt to retcon that karuta into Tableturf. In my headcanon, the two coexist. I just wanted to borrow the aesthetics of karuta for my Tableturf scene. I was inspired by the glowing sunset scenes of karuta which I associated with the characters practicing in the school clubroom, but also by the tournament games played while wearing kimono.

Before starting this painting I did two “mood studies” – just getting a feel for whether I could tame the contrast of yellows, oranges and purples before I started. Watercolour can be a tricky medium, and it’d be hubris to walk into this kind of endeavour without a plan.

That first image is sort of a Chihayafuru fanart, I guess – the scene is most likely Arata sitting alone with his cards – but that wasn’t the purpose of the sketch. I wanted to get a feel for how I’d depict the trees in the windows, and the light entering the room. The second sketch really sets up the composition that I’d ultimately use for the final piece.

After deciding on that sketch, I made simple 3D version of the scene in Blender.

A digital sketch then filled in the character details

Which was then printed out and transferred to stretched watercolour paper, then painted over the span of a few weeks.

I also wrote a poem to go with this painting. It’s based on poem 77 of the Ogura hyakunin isshu. Here’s one blogger’s translation and writeup about the poem (I chose to highlight this blogger because they also have a post about the Karuta that appears in Splatoon 2!)

The translation included in that post is credited to Joshua Mostow,

Because the current is swift, even though the rapids, blocked by a boulder, are divided, like them, in the end, we will surely meet, I know

Other translations summarise the scene as

Swift waters parted by the jagged rocks are joined at river's end.

The overall mood that I get from this poem, having only experienced it through translations, is a mix of urgency and yet steadfast certainty that comes from love. Apparently, the “swift currents” were not in the original poem, and were a later edit, but I think the imagery is certainly much stronger with the idea of rapid waters.

I felt the scenario could be mapped quite closely to the energy and movement of Turf War, and by extension, Tableturf. The rapid currents can be whirls of paint instead, and the boulder standing in the way of the lovers could well be a grey block, created in Tableturf when both players play their cards over the same squares.

I chose to write my poem following the rough syllabic rules of the original poetry, the lines having 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. But I put a western poetic spin on them as well, making use of rhyme throughout.

Our rapid advance, Blocked by chance or wit wherefore. Must we halt our dance? No - surge forth in this turf war! We'll unite our ink once more.

The rapid advance describes that rush to claim turf, as well as for the rivals/lovers to meet at the middle of the map. “Chance or wit wherefore” refers to how the grey block ended up in their way. Was it coincidence that they played in the same tile, or was it cunning strategising from one of the players? With this obstacle in place, the shape of their relationship (whether it be a rivalry or a romance) is affected.

The ending couplet describes the characters choosing to rise above (or work around) adversity – in-game the boulders would not be passable at all, so they must certainly have some grit! Like the swift waters in the original poem, they’ll be sure to meet again.

I love how this artwork and poem came together. Reflecting upon them I feel all those warm fuzzy feels from all the ways that Splatoon – and more recently Tableturf – have made their impact on me. I’m grateful to have had another great year of art, friends and community and I’m looking forward to more good times in the future.

"Reflections on Tableturf" was originally published on Proairesis

[what-dat-ritalin-do]

#1 (Originally Recorded 8th November, 2003)

Wednesday, 8th Nov 2023.

9:35 AM

Psychiatric help is expensive

I went for my first psychiatry session today. I was about an hour long and it was mostly evaluative. Dr. J said I might have Asperger's as well (as ADHD). After taking into account Ayd's diagnosed mild autism and Gold's very possible autism, he said I have some mild traits, but not enough for a full-blown diagnosis. Either I've gotten a little better at condensing my Life Story™  or he's just really good at knowing what to ask. Probably the latter.

He set me up with Ritalin

3 x 10 mg tablets

Taken every morning with or after breakfast

For 1 month

He said I might experience some heart palpitations and suppressed appetite, so I'm going to eat a bit before I try it. He also said that it may be addictive. So I'll take it with precaution. He did say he hasn't had any problems yet, though.

He also suggested I let S know we should start doing full CBT in our sessions.

5:43 PM

Because the session was at 8 AM, I'm very hungry, but the food at the place I'm in isn't too nutritionally balanced. So I'll eat enough to stay satisfied, then do some groceries. I'll have a balanced meal at home, and then try it. I will update then.

It has been approximately 3 hours and 25 minutes since I took my first dose of Ritalin.

I went on a grocery store run after my last entry and only reached home in the afternoon. I had lunch consisting of the following:

Rice

Fried chicken

Sambal

Cucumbers

Fried tofu

Fried tempeh

Peanut sauce

Chocolate cake ball

Not the most well-balanced meal, but at least it covers all the bases. I took the medication with water

10 mg Ritalin x 3

The medication started to effect about 5 minutes after taking it. As expected, I was told it would be fast. For about 10 minutes, I felt an intense uptick in blood circulation. I could feel blood circulating in my veins. I could hear blood pumping in my head. It was like getting stuck in an ocean current, swept away by a strong, uncontrollable force.

And all of a sudden, it was quiet.

I can hear the blood in my body

And the "current" came back. And the chest pains started. For the next couple of hours, I experienced, consistently, waves of an intense rush of blood flow followed by an equally brief period of complete lucid control. I will describe the states:

A. "Current"/Flurry State

My hands shake involuntarily

Periodic chest pains (ranging from slight to sharp)

Sharp back pain

Occasionally lose focus in vision

Instability (difficulty getting up), loss of balance

Dizzyness

B. Clear State

Enhanced ability to make decisions.

-> I am not frozen/caught in between wanting to do two things at once. I just pick one thing and do it. I clear things (eg: Rubbish) immediately. I don't need to "reason with myself".

Mental clarity to accept some of my tasks are not feasible.

-> Related to 1(B), I can quickly evaluate the tasks I want to completely and choose which one is easiest to complete. Immediate execution.

It is now 6:46 PM. According to Dr. J, the effects of the medication should be wearing off. He said they would last for about 4 hours. I can feel myself coming down from the rush. I can feel a low, restless hum rising but I think it will pass soon. I will return tomorrow with another log.

My thoughts get faster. I am able to structure my thoughts more easily to the point where I could visualize myself presenting them to an audience. I have not felt this way in years.

-> I spent a whole hour documenting my experience and detailing my mental health journey to my friends in our group chat. For once, it was easy to structure my words. I didn't have to draft them out in my Notes app first to make sure it made sense. My messages were coherent as I was typing them out.

-> It felt like my thoughts moved faster than my body. My handwriting feels messier, more rushed. I'm writing like I'm afraid my thoughts will fly away if I don't capture them right now. Even when trying to speak my thoughts, it feels like my mouth can't enunciate the amount of words that want to come out at the speed I want it to. My breath can't keep up with my phrasing.

[babygirlaffirmations]

11-19-23

Things to journal about yesterday

DND - sexy time and naps: sucking Master's cock. Distracting him and making him moan during. Laying down and having 10-15 cummies by his foot. Feeling content with mischief and taking a nap. ❤️ The cheeky process. Master starts removing his pants without me even needing to say anything. I cheekily slide the kneeling pad over. Then put down my phone on the table. And remove my glasses.

Zoo - zoo lanterns. Very pretty. Was sad Master wasn't present in the beginning due to texting. But we got a cute photo together and it was gorgeous. We got overwhelmed together and it went by fast.

Permanent bracelet - Master taking the tool and putting on the bracelet that doesn't come off. Around the same time as contract. Gorgeous. Matches my collar in a different color. Another sign of his ownership over me.

Contract- contract is officially signed. Officially under contract to my amazing Master.

Monster under the covers- First time playing monster under the covers with Daddy. I loved it. He started touching my princess parts under the cover. Told him to tell Daddy when the monster attacks and to be quiet. Daddy asked if the monster had gotten inside me as he fingered me. I giggled and said no. And we both laughed really hard. Clearly the monster was inside. So Daddy had to use his cock to fight the monster. I told Daddy he had to breed me for the monster to be gone for good. Was so hot. Hoping to make a fet writing about this one. Delicious.

Burger date- Took Daddy for his first date at habit Burger. Was cute. Got to snuggle together in the booth for a bit while he caught up on my fetlife writings and Tumblr journals.

Up movie date in bed- Daddy introduced me to one of his fav movies, UP. It was cute. Sad. Hilarious. I loved it. I asked for a pause before the end of the movie. And then Daddy gave me like 20 cummies. Asked for Daddy's cock to fuck me. He wasn't in the headspace. Completely okay. But now I'm lusting for him to fuck my pussy again extra. 🤤🥴

Watching true and the rainbow kingdom- we watched the spooky special episode together. It was really cute.

Things to journal about today:

Sadness in packing and waking up- we always prepack most of the stuff the night before due to 7am wakeup those days. Was sad packing. Doing last sleep in his arms. Last cuffs he did where he could grab the chain and make me a whimper and made my pussy tingle. And say Mine if he desires. Doing last walk through. Last Master dressing his babygirl for a while.

Cute hair braids- Master braiding my hair at the class site. Two small braids. And one big braid. Butterfly hair piece semi close to the bottom. And 3 tiny butterfly clips. Yellow, green, and pink.

Yogi- cute time with Daddy showing me the YouTube channel I'll be using for my new obedience daily habit. And us both doing it horribly. Looking at his butt. It was fun. Silly older Daddy. 😉

Bonding in the classroom with data entry- sitting on my pet bed on the ground at his feet while he played a game. Did data entry. And then we did a quick update to his fetlife profile. Master gave me I think 3 verbal cummies today in person. And one was as I hugged him behind while he sat in the chair. And he held my hands to his chest during.

Daddy hugging me tights- big crunchy Daddy hugs and snuggles in the morning half asleep. And in my apartment before he left. I already miss his sweet messy bed head. Looking over at his cute face occasionally in the middle of the nights.

Big sads- lots of panic attacks today. Editing this at 11:11. Just made 11:11 pm wish just now. He left me at about 1:30. Last time was closer to 4. Was a bit sad about that. But we had class not show up today and got extra time for data entry and stuff. And another empty class before where we drove to it and had the hard talk. Did pros and cons list etc. And read that chapter of Kushiel's dart and Master explained it to me a bit while he did contract rough draft.

Target adventure with toys and food- bought 2 minis for me. Food for us to eat in the car in the parking lot before he left. Introduced him to Oreo cakesters and we split a pack. Also dino teether that's also a fidget. Excited for that one. Got to hold his hand. Had the weirdest cummies on the way to target. I think 11. But most I was cumming but overwhelmed knowing he was leaving soon so I was crying. Seeing Daddy lick and suck his fingers after he gives me cummies and finger fucks my pussy is always so hot. Daddy and I need more kissies. He's such a good hot sexy kisser. Takes my breath away. And gives me butterflies.

Last Starbucks and Starbucks brefast- Daddy had a coffee and two ham and cheese breakfast sandwiches. I got one for squeezy baby food. A muffin. And a bagel I couldn't make myself eat.

Going home in Daddy's sweater- mwahaha. Victory. Haven't taken it off yet. Just sniffed just now. Daddy scented and feeleded.

15 cummies today. 290 total. Holy fuck.

[angelamontoo]

Grading every Peter Lorre character from a movie I've seen on a scale of 1-10 part 2

•Roderick Roskolnikov-Crime and Punishment(1935)

Naturally, it's nice getting to see Peter play a leading man. It's a shame he didn't get to play such characters more as we really feel for Roderick with his guilt, fear of getting caught, his feelings for Sonya, his protectiveness over her and his family and of course, his lack of faith in humanity. The scene that sticks out to me the most is when he falls to his knees infront of his mother and she tells the story about the kitten he nursed back to health as a child. Partially because it mirrors the scene where he does the same thing to Sonya, but also because I find is striking how the story contrasts with Roderick as we see him in the film. And I'm not even necessarily talking about how he killed someone at that point. He just seems like such a broken man and its both heartbreaking to think of him as once being such an innocent and sensitive child, yet also believable, giving how hard he tries to take care of his loved ones. Not to mention, that scene where he takes care of his sisters creepy, dickhead suitor is nothing short of iconic

6/10 I'm starting to feel guilty for how low I'm rating such complex characters, but the heart wants want it wants

•The Hairless Mexican-The secret agent(1936)

The general is a fun character. Definitely the most enjoyable thing about his movie, although that's nothing you can't say about any Peter Lorre character. Still, THM has some great qualities of his own. His unique fashion, all of the images of him with the dog, him being called a lady killer and replying "not just ladies" and my personal favourite moment, when he makes his lady friend do that shrill squeal and then mimics it. Idk why, but that moment just tickles me. If there's one thing that sours me to this funky guy, it's the fact that images of him and Joel Cairo sometimes get mistakingly used interchangeably. Not saying thats a flaw with the character or his film obviously, just grinds my gears and this seems like as good a place as any to whine about it. 5/10

•Colonel Gimpy/Baron Rudolph Maximilian Taggar-Crack-up(1936)

The thing I love most about Gimpy is that he allows Peter to play both a funny, adorable, seemingly innocent nitwit and a suave, cunning criminal mastermind in one film. Sure, there are other characters Peter plays who have elements of both types of characters-such as Cairo, whos attempts to seem like a capable, respectable businessman are undermined by how others treat him aswell as his frequent temper tantrums or Polo who's a good natured, sensitive dope who's capable enough at tricking people to keep performing the same scam with Tanya and Andre, but even when playing a part is still a sensitive, chipper klutz. However, unlike those two, who's true personalities show through their acts, nothing of Baron Tagger is visible to people who only know Gimpy, the harmless eccentric with the trumpet. His act is so convincing he can admit to shooting a man seconds before that man's death is announced on the radio and because Gimpy is obviously a harmless eccentric, the whole thing will be brushed of as an eerie coincidence

7/10. I'm gonna be saying this a lot, but Peter was too good for this flick

[lunaslovelyrambles]

It's canon that Levi is very self conscious about his handwriting since he came from Underground. BUT it's also canon that his handwriting is neat. So how about Levi writing his crush a letter but then decides not to give the letter last minute but too late! His crush saw the letter in his hand and they basically have a tug of war over the letter 💀 I hope this is okay. Thank you ❤️

of course it’s okay!! sorry for the long ass wait.. but thank you for sending this in! it’s such a cute request :)

went w a scenario bc i’m rusty with them! as always feedback + reblogs are appreciated :3

——

levi ackerman

He was screwed, wasn’t he? Yeah, he was totally, and wholeheartedly screwed. The second he felt the wavering in his heart and fluttering in his stomach he knew he was screwed.

Because Levi Ackerman - Humanity’s Strongest Soldier - has a crush.

Levi wasn’t one to focus too heavily on his emotions. Oftentimes he’d dismiss any unusual feelings without any second thought. He didn’t have time for that: any sappy, mushy feelings. He was a soldier first and foremost. That was his duty, and that was his priority above all. He should focus on the fight for humanity and that solely.

So why, why was he so hellbent on getting your attention?

Because he liked you, that’s why. But he didn’t want to admit it. He could die at any second and so could you. Like hell he’d want to form a relationship under those conditions.

Still, pushing his feelings toward you aside didn’t help in the slightest. Every day as he watched you laugh with some of the other cadets he felt his hand clench around his cup. He wanted to sit by your side, hear your beautiful laughs and be with you goddamnit.

Why was this so hard? Why was liking someone romantically so hard?

These thoughts permeated his mind as he stared at his paperwork. His pen had been sitting on the table for quite a while now as he thought, once again, about you. He had long forgotten about what he needed to get done for the night and was purely lost in his thoughts.

Should he tell you? No- what if you rejected him? He’d be crushed and not only that but things would be awkward then.. but what if you said yes? Then he could finally get this off his chest and-

He groaned heavily as he laid his head on his desk, causing some of the papers to crinkle underneath. He couldn’t stop the thoughts from growing louder and louder in his mind. They were all too loud and distracting for him to do anything.

But he couldn’t just go and confess! That wasn’t the kind of person he was! He wasn’t the type to just do something like that.. To him, it was way too embarrassing.

As he laid with his head on his desk an idea suddenly entered his mind. One that would save him some embarrassment while also conveying his feelings perfectly. Well, less embarrassing than directly confessing that is.

A letter.

He could write you a letter. The perfect way to confess his feelings. He could write exactly what he wanted and completely avoid the awkwardness of him telling you. It was only an added plus thay writing a letter was seen as sweet and romantic to most people.

Levi finally picked up his pen and started writing on a new, clean sheet of paper.

-x-

It had been several days since he initially came up with the idea to write you a letter and Levi still hadn’t written one that he liked.

Several balled up sheets of paper could be found stacked in his garbage can, and even more burned in the fireplace.

For some reason he just couldn’t get the wording right. Every time he wrote it it just didn’t seem... right. It didn’t feel good enough, it was too blunt, it was too wordy. Every draft he was just unhappy with. And he kept trying only to be continuously dissatisfied.

He sighed as he set his pen down another time. He looked at the singular sheet of paper and began to reread it.

“Dear (Y/N),

I just wanted to say that - ”

“Whatcha got there?”

Levi nearly fell out of his seat. Standing in the doorway was none other than you. And you were very curious to know what he was holding. For a split second he thought about balling it up and chucking it at you, but his body reacted quicker and shoved it into his desk drawer.

“Why didn’t you knock? Didn’t you learn any manners?” he quickly retorted, but he was still caught off guard by your entry thus causing his words to come out quicker than he would have liked.

You rose an eyebrow and walked further into the room, closing the door behind you.

“I did. Several times actually,” you responded, “What was that paper you shoved into your drawer?”

He swallowed thickly. It would be hard for him to maneuver his way out of this one.

“Why are you here? Do you have something to report?”

“...no. But you haven’t really been out of your office all day. Now answer my question.” As you spoke you inched closer to his desk before standing on the side - the one closest to the drawer with the paper in it.

He didn’t answer. Shit. You were not gonna let this go.

He half expected you to keep harassing him with questions until he either forced you out or gave in. But you chose a third option, which was one he wasn’t expecting.

Which was shoving yourself between him in the drawer, effectively blocking him as you grabbed the letter out. Luckily for him, he regained some sort of mind to fight with you for the paper as it left the drawer.

You tugged on one end and he grabbed the other, neither of you showing any sign of letting go. He really started to begin to regret training you to be so strong.

As he gave one harsh tug, and you doing the same, the letter finally ripped in half from the tension. He had the top half and you had the bottom.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you always go through other people’s stuff without permission?” he looked down at the paper and back up at you. Naturally he was angry with you for taking out the letter without asking, but when he looked up at you his anger slowly dissipated.

Your mouth was slightly parted and your cheeks were slowly heating up as you finished the letter. Your eyes then flickered from the letter up to him. You turned around the letter to face him and pointed at the words on the bottom.

“I really like you, (Y/N), and I’d love to go out with you sometime.”

“Is this... for me?” you softly asked. His mouth formed a thin line as he avoided your gaze, his cheeks now dusted with a faint pink. There was no way he could say no, it wasn’t for you, because your name was literally on the note.

He was beyond embarrassed. He was mortified. His feelings were out in the open now and there was no going back.

Just as he was about to leave the room to avoid the uncomfortable sting of rejection, he heard you giggle. The noise made him glare back at you, and it was that that made you full on laugh.

Now he really felt humiliated.

“I just can’t believe that you fought me tug of war style for this,” your laughing died down a little, “Did you convince yourself that hard that I’d reject you?”

Levi didn’t know what to think anymore.

“I mean.. kind of, yeah,” he still spoke softly, still not looking at you.

“You’d be wrong, then.”

He finally stopped looking at the floor and back at you. You were smiling at him, a big toothy smile and one that he loved seeing every day.

“I thought that letter was, like, you kicking me off your squad. So I thought ‘hey I’ll bite the bullet and take it out even if he’ll hate me for it’ or something I don’t know. I’m sorry for going through your stuff-”

Before you could finish your apology Levi had uncharacteristically pulled you into his chest. He had felt like someone crushed a building on him when you stole that letter out but now? He feels like he just got the best night sleep.

“Don’t. Don’t even worry about it. I’m.. glad you took it. It’s okay,” he smiled into your shoulder as you returned the hug.

Maybe he’ll write you letters more often.

——

masterlist || rules page

[fandomscombine]

Exploding Stink Bomb

Platonic!Weasley Twins x Reader

BG: Chaos ensues when the twins steal your latest prank invention. How much worse could it be when innocent people are caught in the mess?

WC:1744

Entry for @feetoffthetable​ 's 500 writing challenge. A week late I know-sorry! Cause I lost the initial draft. (Note: Do NOT trust auto save that much) So I had to rewrite it.

The prompts are taken from Random Prompts List No. 4 and No.11. (Are in bold in the text)

4. “…Are they dead?” “I don’t know! Why don’t you ask them!”

11. “You’re being remarkably calm about this.” “Thanks, it’s the shock. Give me fifteen minutes, the screaming will happen.”

>>>MASTERLIST<<<

Fred Weasley, George Weasley and Y/n L/n, also known as 'The Pranksters Trio' of modern day Hogwarts.

It is the winter of senior year, and your stress levels are increasing by the day. NEWTS are to be held in a couple of months and you have managed to procrastinate completing your mock papers. At this rate, you would get a passing grade but in all honesty you know that wouldn’t cut it, you know your abilities. If you actually put effort in your subjects you can bump a level up.

You've made a deal with your parents that if you had completed your practice papers, you could spend the last week of the Christmas holiday with the Weasleys.

Which you are; 3 days in, 4 days left till school.

'What your parents don't know won't hurt them...' You mumble to yourself as you stir the bubbling green mixture clockwise.

See you haven't finished the potions assignment yet. Your parents thought you did last week, but in reality what you were working on was a little fantastic smelling concoction that could contribute to the twins' upcoming new joke shop merchandise lineup!

During the journey to King’s Cross, Fred had come up to you and asked if you could help brainstorm a new product that would blow people's minds away. Of course you agreed, a multitude of ideas already brewing, you would do anything to help out your friends.

That night, it was all you could think about. Naturally you are itching to get started, before the thought flies away. Pushing your potions textbook aside, you got to work. It took 18 hours of no sleep but it paid off. The product was now in your hands.

A shiny burgundy shimmering marble-like sphere. The final product was smaller than the blueprint- the amount of ingredients you had on hand in your muggle household were limited- you do a mental note on raiding the potions supply closet once back in school for dragon hide.

But when you do finally have all the resources, the sphere should be the size of a baseball.

For now, at 30% of the ideal size, this mini test sphere could stink up a small bedroom. Which is enough to do damage but also has a small enough impact that you fix if anything were to go wrong.

BAM! You knew the quiet was too good to last.

“y/n/n, my dear!” Greeted Fred, waltzing into Ginny’s room.

“Are you--” George placed his hand on the door, stopping it from slamming back to his face. “Oi! Why’d you have to kick the door so hard? You could have ruined my handsome face!” He shouted to his twin.

Dropping your quill back into the ink bottle you sighed. “Nooo, how many times do I have to tell you? I’ll be finished when I’m finished. Most likely tomorrow, the earliest.”

“Why can’t you just let US test it though?” voiced George.

“Because I came up with it and it’s the only one we’ve got!” You reasoned. “I wanna see it when it explodes!”

Right then, the boys’ eyes lit up.

“IT EXPLODES?!?!?” They exclaimed in union.

“SHIT!” It was too late to cover it up. The secret is out.

The twins shared a look, you don’t really believe in twin telepathy but in the case of your 2 best friends and mischief, they almost always are on the same page.

You are sent flying sideways off your chair and hit the air mattress. “Offph! George! Let….me….go!” With all your might, you try to push George off you but to no avail. The muscles built up during quidditch training are to his advantage.

In the other side of the room, Fred is rummaging through your trunk, eagerly looking for the mysterious and highly sought after invention.

Although he may not know what it looks like, Fred is still one of your accomplices in sneaking prank items to school, meaning he and Geroge know all the secret compartments in your trunk. As do you with their trunks.

This setup made sense, it was a precautionary method devised so that in a matter of incoming danger or when suspected of something, the others could easily get rid of any incriminating evidence.

The system is perfect! Well expect now when it backfired on you.

“AHA GOT IT!”

Your face snaps to the direction of the voice. Cursing internally, right there, raised high above Fred’s head is the prized Exploding Stink Bomb.

“WICKED!” cried George. While the twins are reveling in their success, you took the chance to push George off you and launch towards Fred.

While George was caught off guard, Fred had the few seconds in which you got up to process what was happening and sprinted towards the door.

“IMMA GET YOU FRED!”

“LET’S SEE THAT SMALL LEGS!”

“GOT YA! AHHHHH--” One moment you had your hand on Fred’s shoulder, next you felt a tug on your waist. “GEORGE LET. ME. GO”

“No can do y/n/n.”

His hold wasn’t enough to hurt you, but it was certainly tighter. “Learned from your earlier mistake eh” You teased.

“Just caught me off guard” George reasoned.

Fred walking backwards, bids his farewell. “See you Suckers!” He shouted, taking a bow. With that he disappears round the corner.

A THUD.

“Ginny!”

You and George shared a look of confusion, what was going on?

Arriving at the scene, you are not surprised to see a sneering Ginny.

“That’s what you get for going in my room!”

What you’re more surprised to see is a frantic Fred. You knew that Ginny is fully capable of being terrifying but this was all in good fun right?

Slowly George walked up to his brother. “Freddie what’s wrong?”

“The ball… it slipped”

Eyes wide, your heart starts to beat faster. “Where…?”

You barely had gotten the question out, the answer is given.

As if on cue, you hear shouts coming from your right, Ron’s room.

Ginny being the closest, beats all of you to the door. When it opened, you catch the faint bit of purple smoke before it completely clears away, no other evidence of the stink ball in sight-you smile at the result, hard work does pay off.

‘Now is not a time to be happy y/n’ you told yourself. Your gaze reached the unconscious bodies on the two beds. “Well that’s…..uhh... new...”

Here are 4 guilty looking teenagers looking at the scene of the crime.

Ginny gingerly poked Ron’s side, keeping a fair distance away just in case he jolts back. “…Are they dead?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know! Why don’t you ask them!” George paused his pacing to point his finger at both you and Fred.

“Hey! I am not the one you had thrown the stink bomb into the room!” You said defensively. “Besides I told you to test it when I’m ready! BUT NOOOO… you two wanted it now WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IT’S FULL CAPACITY AND RESTRICTIONS!”

“I…..I…” When George couldn’t come up with a come back, he changed tactics. Turning to Fred he challenges. “You’re being remarkably calm about this.”

Fred, who was still standing rooted at the entryway, replied. “Thanks, it’s the shock. Give me fifteen minutes, the screaming will happen.”

“What the heck happened anyway?” asked Ginny.

“Yea, I thought it was just a stink bomb that could explode!” added George.

“It is just an exploding stink bomb!”

“Then why are they unconscious?” George’s panic becomes more evident as in addition to his pacing, his voice is now an octave higher.

“I think that the stink bomb was too powerful for such a small room.” Sighing, you gestured to the closed windows. “There’s no adequate ventilation too. Must have cause them to inhale a larger concentration”

“How long will they be out?”

“I don’t know Ginny…really.” You shrug. “It could be hours, one to two at best.”

“TWO HOURS?!?” The twins say in union despite one clearly in utter distress while the other scarily unmoving.

Fred gripped his hair, placed his head in between his thighs and let out a scream that could rival a lion.

George now having lost hope of his brother functioning, took charge. “Mum is gonna be back any second now. What are we gonna do?”

“Well, first…we’re gonna check the boy’s condition again for progress” You suggest, dragging Ginny to check on hair while you check on Ron.

“Then..we’re gonna say..”

“GOT YA!” You 4 shout, finger guns at the ready.

“Wait.. WHAT?!!?? WHAT’S HAPPENING?” George looks at Harry and Ron- who are surprisingly alright and laughing their heads off, to you and GInny looking very smug.

Fred tilts his red face up to the commotion.

“YOU JUST GOT PRANKED! SAY CHESSE!” You announced, indicating to Ginny with the camera.

“Cheeseee” murmured the twins in defeat.

~

“How’d you do it?”

You knew that they would be back with questions. You keep them on the edge as you finish up your potions essay.

"You lot are predictable."

"Predictable?" George scoffed.

Tidying up the study table you continue "Mhhhmmm hmmm. Predicted that you would test it out on Ron, knew that you would try to steal it from me cause you both are very impatient- especially you Fred."

"Heyy!"

"But how did you wake up Harry and Ron?" Piped George. "We shook them but they were still unconscious!"

"Ah George ever the curious. It's simple really." You lay on the bed with hands behind your head, enjoying this moment of outsmarted the boys. "Your siblings were all very tired of been pranked so when we saw an opportunity to have you taste of your own medicine we grab them chance."

You glance at them.

"The time of you setting off the stink bomb is unknown but we were ready. I've made a nose blocker chewing gum while I was tinkering with the foul smell of the stink bomb."

"No sense of smell, no effect." stated Fred.

"Exactly, the rest I'd just improv and acting! The boys weren't actually unconscious, just a temporary numbing spell which Ginny and I reversed when we checked on them."

Sitting back up, you continued.

"What I didn't predict was how crazy you with react. I've never seen you two gone off the rails scared shirtless like that before." You admitted. "Priceless."

"And now you have a photo of it" grumbled George.

"And video too!"

"WHAT?"

Taglist [All/General]: @gruffle1

HP Taglist: @onlyfreds

[reddeadreference]

Blog Progress Update Travel Blog Style #21)

Drafts: 89 Queue: 37

I love the drunk night cutscene (hate what comes after) I love how much Charles has come out of his shell.

-

Sadie: I’m seeing triple

John: Then shoot the three bears!!

-

So fucking badass how John makes it up the other half of the mountain all by himself.

Idk if this was on purpose.. but a single rat ran out just before Micah came out..

I’m having flashbacks to MGS3 with Ocelot only Ocelot was actually good with his guns…

“You betrayed me!”

Me: DID NOT AND YOU FUCKING KNOW IT!

Okay.. I aimed for the head… and I know it’s scripted but.. How the fuck would he take those last few steps?!

Love the lil scenes in the credits in case people hadn't found the gang members yet ^-^ Mary-Beth got her desk! Tilly! Oh man, Pearson looking at that photo made me tear up.

I NEVER realized the two people getting on the boat in the epilogue are Edith and her son!

I'm going to make a post for all the credit lol scenes as gifs (if Tumblr lets me..)

Uhhhhhhhh why does Uncle’s subtitle now label him as “Uncle 2” … >.>

Alrighty now all story quests are done I just have to do the Evelyn Miller Stranger Quest line, get screenshots of John seeing everyone who lived, get my John Squirrelson, and anything that's changed now that it's 1907 (ex: Braithwaite ruins is now overgrown).

I thought that the perfect birds I got as Arthur would have carried over (which it makes complete sense why they didn't) so that sucks I gotta go get that dang bluejay again.. John not being able to swim is really gonna fuck me over.. (To Annesburg!) really annoyed the 7 gold bars I had didn’t carry over either.. but I guess I gave them to Tilly so I’m okay with that.

I'm gonna "Speedrun" (main story only - Like I’m even gonna avoid studying and picking things I don’t need so John can draw them.) another playthrough so John can do the stranger Quests and get the POI he doesn't have yet (I have a print out checklist - yes I’m that kind of person - so I don’t mess up and miss something). Now that I don't have to get screenshots I can skip cutscenes and it'll take a lot less time cause I'm also not gonna run around Saint Denis for weeks. I’m pretty sure I got all the Legendary animals so I’ll leave those for John, I know I didn’t get all the fish so I’ll let this John get the fish and use a chap 6 save to let Arthur do the fish stuff.

That's this week's goal. In no particular order:

-finish second playthrough (I'd say it'll take 2-3 days maybe less if I actually try to Speedrun) 

-get all Stranger Quests done as John (maybe take me a day)

-get all POI posts made and into the queue

-set queue to 5 posts a day (maybe if I get a lot more done I'll up it to 10)

-finish up the mobile index posts for chapters and journal entries by chapter

-complete as many index pages as I can so I can start making them into app friendly posts (and I have to redo/edit my nav post cause I realized if you're on desktop or mobile browser the links in the nav are redundant. The nav post should just be the app mobile links.)

THEN I can focus on more photos, finishing Lemoyne first still. New Austin and Southern West Elizabeth is now available as an option for me to focus on after if needed.

[kurofai-olympics]

KuroFai Olympics 2021 - Sun Vs Moon - FAQ

What are the KuroFai Olympics?

The KuroFai Olympics (or as I usually end up typing, Olympfics) are a friendly team-based writing competition between two teams writing opposing themes of fiction, based around the same set of subthemes or prompts.

This year, it is Team Sun and Team Moon.

Each team will have the same number of competitors, and each competitor will square off against the other team’s competitor using the same prompt, with both posting their fics on the same day as determined by the posting schedule.

Where are the Olympics held?

The home of the Olympics is the KuroFai Dreamwidth community. You can also keep up to date with us on Discord, Twitter and Tumblr. We also have a collection on AO3 and you contact the mods via kurofai.olympics@gmail.com.

Roles within the Olympics

Moderators: a small dedicated group tasked with planning, coordinating and overall, doing what they can to make this year another success.

Writers: wordsmiths ready and willing to write a story where the main focus is about KuroFai, will be either fluffy or angsty, and fits into the subtheme.

Artists: folks with a passion for the visual arts. While each year, we are blessed with an Artist willing to create a header for the year's Olympics (this year, we thank ValdrickV), for the tenth anniversary, there is an additional role for Artists. To create art based around the prompts. This can be done based on one's interpretation of the prompt or in coordination with a Writer.

Betas: A second pair of eyes for a Writer, offering insight, advice and or a grammar check in exchange for an early reading of the story.

Pinchhitters: Brave and generous folks willing to take on the role of Writer should the need arise.

Read and Reviewers: Lovers of KuroFai who participate by reading the posted stories and then afterwards, leaving a Review for the author. Let's face it, Kudos is wonderful, but a review leaves a greater impact.

Scorers: by popular demand, rather than leave a Review with a score, Scorer fill out a brief survey where they score the fic. A form of online presence will be required - no going entirely anonymous allowed.

What are Pinch-hitters?

A stand-by writer, in case someone who signs up with a team has to step down for any reason (life obligations, sick, believe they won't finish on time, etc.) so they will step up to write for the prompt left vacant. If a competitor feels they need to step down, please let a Mod know as soon as possible, and the Mods will then ask a pinch-hitter to take over their prompt. Should you be unreachable for two days after a scheduled check in, a pinch hitter will be called upon to take over.

To give a Pinch-Hitter the most time to write, their posting day will be moved to the last posting day. Should two need to step down, the first Pinch Hitter and their competitor will get the day before the last and the newest Pinch Hitter and their competitor will have the last posting day

Posting Dates?

The posting schedule for the Olympics starts on the 8th of August. Each of our sub themes will be assigned a posting date with the first fics being posted on the 9th of August.

The schedule is prone to change but the mods will ensure that all writers know what date they will post on. If a Pinchitter is called upon their prompt will always move to the end of the schedule.

Time zone for posting?

We are currently considering what Timezone to use. This will be updated once it has been decided.

That said, time zones are an illusion we gave ourselves, so as long as you post within an hour or two of midnight on the day of your posting, you won’t be docked points. If you post after the next competitors’ have started posting for their prompt, however, that late penalty card comes into play.

Checkins?

All writers and artists will be required to checkin with the mods three times during the creating period. These checkins are just to see how you are going and to figure out if the posting dates need to be altered. While participants can reach out to the Mods at any time if issues arise the checkins are just a formalisation of this process.

Can I write a joint fic?

All fics entered in the Olympics must be new, original works written for the appropriate prompt by a single participant. You may ask your teammates/friends/family to help you out with coming up with an idea and you can ask anyone even Mods to beta your fic once it's written, but you have to write it.

Can I reuse an older piece of work?

No, you can't take a draft fic you had prepared earlier and jazz it up for the prompt. (We may not have proof but this is where your honor comes in. Write something new for your honor.)

Fic outlines are acceptable and allowed so long as you have not begun writing fic for it before you receive your prompt.

Length of fic?

There's no minimum or maximum length of entries; if you can tell a story in a thousand words, more power to you, and if it takes you fifty thousand, that's great too. However, a word count of between five thousand to twenty thousand for the length of your fic is generally recommended.

Can I share my work before posting day?

You can share up to 10% of your work as a teaser on various social medias before your posting date. You can of course share your work with your Beta and Team Mates before hand if you like.

Do I have to post my fic on Dreamwidth?

The fic, not necessarily. But you will need to make an entry post on Dreamwidth. That is, a post where you either post under a cut or provide a link to the location where your fic is posted. A template for fic entry posts will be provided closer to the posting date.

How do I post on Dreamwidth?

You will need a Dreamwidth account to post your entry and be a member of the KuroFai Dreamwidth Community. Copy and paste the template provided into a new Dreamwidth post making sure you choose HTML and not Rich text for editing. Also remeber to chose KuroFai community as it is easy to accidentally post it to your own Dreamwidth. Example of last years template post https://kurofai.dreamwidth.org/131379.html

Do I have to submit my fic to the AO3 collection?

While we would love for you to put your fic in the KuroFai Olympics 2020 collection it is not a requirement of the competition. This year collection is 2021_KuroFai_Olympics

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/2021_KuroFai_Olympics

What if I can’t write competitively?

There is nothing to prevent you from writing a fic of your own to match the theme or a prompt you really like. We simply ask that you don’t post it during the Week (give or take) that the Teams will be posting theirs.

How can Artists get involved?

This year artist can sign up to do Art for the various prompts. The lovely Valdrick has created our banner art this year. Once prompts have been assigned to the artist there are no restrictions beyond relating to the prompt and KuroFai. Any size, any medium, any colour what ever takes your fancy.

How are fics scored?

By popular demand, this year rather than leave a Review with a score, the reader will be asked to fill out a brief survey which will be linked to at the end of the fic. A form of online presence will be required - no going entirely anonymous allowed for scoring.

Rules for scoring a fic?

Mods will not be allowed to leave a score but can still read and leave a review.

All Writers will be allowed to leave a Score EXCEPT on their fic and the corresponding fic from the other team.

Betas, Artists and others who aided in the Olympics and are not Writers or Mods are free to Score any fic.

People from across the fandom are free to Score any fic but will be required to leave a form of contact in the scoring survey.

The Scorecard

With 1 being the very worst and 10 being the very best, how well do you think this story did?

1. How well did this fic fit the prompt?

2. How well written was the fic?

3. How much did you enjoy the fic?

And please answer Yes/No

4. Was this fic tagged properly?

Questions 1-3 will have a maximum of 30 points available (and when you divide that by 3, you could get a solid 10 Pointer)

Regarding 4, if the Yes outweigh the No, then +2 Points. If the No outweigh the Yes than -2 Points.

Penalty Card

If the Penalty Card had to come in for Late and or Unfinished, then those Points will be taken out when we do the scoring.

No Story Posted: While this has happened due to unfortunate circumstance, it does result in a total loss of points. A zero for that story.

Late but Complete Fic: 1 Point Docked.

Incomplete Story Posted: 1-2 Points docked from that story.

Not Tagged Properly: 2 Points.

Not Tagged Properly?

Because of the sensitivity of subjects, all of these subjects MUST be clearly warned about should they appear in your story. At the bottom of the story under the cut is not clearly warned about.

Non-Con, Sexual violence, Dub-con, Underage, Sexual Kinks, Omega verse, Graphic Violence, Self Harm, Suicide or Suicidal thoughts.

Things like Language, Drug Use, Implied (sensitive subject), etc. are not required but are welcome to make the story that much more reader-friendly.

While not mandatory, stories featuring material from the events after Acid Tokyo, AU or Canon based, have a new tag available to them. It’s called NSFN (Not Safe for Nick/Newbies) and will make this even more reader-friendly.

Failure to comply with the Must be warned about rule results in a 2 Point loss for that story.

[planesofduality]

Full Transcript edition:

“The Story Behind Solas with Dragon Age Lead Writer Patrick Weekes” by Dialogue Wheel/Video Game Sophistry

Reblog of one of my first posts ever. I didn’t understand how tumblr worked back then really, and long story short, I split the transcript of this interview  into 3 parts :) I’d probably do things differently now. Reblogging it as a single transcript for my own convenience, as I still refer to some of the things Weekes said here from time to time!

Interview is from before Trespasser DLC; posted to YouTube 12/20/2019 

Note: pseudo-reblog

“Interview with lead writer for Dragon Age Patrick Weekes years ago about how the enigmatic character Solas was created, here is what that magic elf could have up his sleeve for us in Dragon Age 4.” Not my interview, just wrote transcript of questions and answers for reference. 

Full video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFx1nCdZFjw&t=1s

Time: 2:54

Solas, tell us about little old Solas. Talking about your other characters you created we always start at the beginning. Pen to paper - How did the idea of Solas first start? What was that first iteration?

So actually Dave and Mike both, you know, we - everyone knew who Solas was - everyone knew what the ending was going to be with him. And, you know, Dave and Mike said, “Well Dave is writing a ton of the crit path, the main part of the game. Dave really wants to do Dorian, that’s very important to him, and are you comfortable writing this guy? Are you comfortable writing someone who is going to be, in some respects, deceiving the Inquisitor for the entirety of the game?” And, honestly, how do you turn that down?

Time: 4:02

So really it was that simple then - from there, in the way you described it, they already had some ideas and some concepts about what Solas needed to bring?

Oh, yeah. Originally, one of the most difficult parts of writing him - and, you know, I said Iron Bull was the one closest to how I originally planned him - Solas and Cole are probably tied for least like how I originally wrote them. And, really, it was getting past the secret. It was getting past Fen’Harel.

Iron Bull: badass former spy, the opposite of Sten.

Blackwall: awesome Grey Warden who is not actually a Grey Warden.

Solas: He’s Fen’Harel…

Okay, can he tell you he’s Fen’Harel? No.

Okay, well what are we going to talk about?

[Pretending to be Solas:] “Hey Inquisitor, I’m still not Fen’Harel, do you have any questions?”,  “I will not take any questions about whether I am Fen’Harel.” That was the big stumbling block of writing him.

I remember the first draft… the first draft all we talked about was elves. It was elves all the time. Every conversation went “Elves, elves… Elves were awesome back in the old days.. Everything was great with the elves.” And then you’d go, “You really like elves huh?” “No, shut up - I’m not Fen’Harel.” And we all kind of looked at that and went, that’s not really much of a character hook. You cannot have a character hook built on something that you only reveal after the play has watched the credits. That is how we got to Fade expert. That is something where, if something had gone terribly wrong, if we were six months from shipped and we decided not to do anything with elves in the future, we could have taken the Dread Wolf out of the equation entirely and a mage named Solas who loves the Fade, is an apostate but without all of the fear and anger that you think of when you think of an apostate, but is just this guy who wants to travel through dreams and find mysteries and explore… that was a good enough character to stand by itself. That is what it took us a couple of drafts to get to.

Time: 7:04

You mentioned the first two phases of Solas - share with us a little more of that journey, when you finally go to this character that could stand on its own. If you don’t mind, a little more of that journey- was it just those first two and now everything’s cool?

First draft was “ ‘Elves, elves’ but ‘I don’t like elves’”. Second draft was about how much to tell. I think in the next draft it was significantly closer. Anyone who looked at that draft - and, you know, I apologize to anyone who looked at that draft - but, anyone who looked at that draft you would find places where “Oh okay that’s the Solas I know and love. There he is. He likes the Fade.” That’s something that’s actually interesting. But, he lied a lot more. And it actually really weakened his character. We played it so close with both Blackwall and Solas - both characters are the liars who don’t actually lie. They will tell you almost truths. With Blackwall - he never actually flat-out says “I am a Grey Warden.” If you ask him what it’s like being a Grey Warden he will say "Well  a warden embodies this and a warden embodies that… I’ve been blessed in my travels.” You know, he never actually quite says “I’m a Warden.” With Solas it’s the same way with the hand wave of ‘in the Fade’. I would start putting ‘in the Fade’ at the end of a lot of sentences.  “Yeah turns out that all of the stuff you thought was true in history was wrong… because I saw it…. in the Fade.”

In revision 2, he lied a lot more. On the one hand it worked, on the other hand it made him less tragic, more of jerk when we got to the reveal. So that is how we got to what we made him into: this character who is intelligent, wise… Solas will think very carefully before he tells you anything and anything he tells you is exactly as much as he wants you to know. That actually led to one of the funny little game moments - one of the last things we do is add the places where characters will approve or disapprove. I think what I want Solas to approve us is you actually asking questions . He’s kind of unique in that regard -  What Solas approves us is people who are interested in finding out knowledge. Whether they are finding it out from him or they’re talking with other people, Solas wants people to explore, he wants people to find information, he wants people to learn. What he disapproves of, honestly, more than what you do, is in many ways how you do it. You can do the thing that he wants you to do, but if you do it in a knee-jerk way, Solas hates that. He wants to know that you are carefully considering your options and taking a measured approach.

Time: 12:16

When it comes the characterization of a character that you’ve already been give at least some sort of name to. We know that this character is some sort of trickster god - when you were trying to develop and make him some a stand-alone character, did you ever have to rely on what the mythos already established of this particular kind of eighth-seat god that maybe a lot people hadn’t heard a lot about?

Well, I think, like we talked about before, one of the great things about the Dragon Age universe is everything that you learn in a codex entry is something that someone else heard in a story and wrote it down somewhere and you’re reading half of the book. So the good news on that is anything we wanted to do with Fen’Harel, there was so little and what was in there was already so sketchy that we had all the freedom we needed to play with him.

That turned out to be a nice thing because I think if we had someone that was completely by-the-books, already established, their character already given, it would feel like more of a letdown to write that as a character or you would have to play against type, you’d have to do something completely different to show he wasn’t just what the stories wrote about him. And, you know, in some ways that is both liberating but also disappointing to people who might have liked  the original stories. This was a fun experience of getting to fill in some of the gaps.

The only thing I think we had to struggle against is that anyone who hears “trickster” or anyone who hears “oh, he’s chaotic and unpredictable” it feels like there is a natural urge to go to “He’s Loki in the Avengers. He’s the guy who’s gonna make large grand-standing plans.” Or, you know, “He’s the Riddler, who’s gonna leave clues to test you.” We had to get away from that: “Let’s tone that back a little bit, let’s not have him be the Jack Nicholson Joker version of the Dread Wolf.”

That’s quite a quote.

You got Dorian as a large, grandiose , extravagant figure and it would have been easy to have him go that way. It was fortunate that we had Dorian as the mage who had the larger-than-life persona already to make Solas be the quiet one.

Time: 15:21

Was there ever an instance where you were really pushed with giving some indicators to the player that Solas may have some connection to this going through the gameplay? Because you do see a lot statues of Fen’Harel. There’s many instances of where you’re discussing it, you’re traveling through those lands. Where do you walk that line, how do you walk that line, or do you just completely disregard it whatsoever?

The goal we had is we wanted the very careful players, the very sensitive players, who were playing attention and watching every scene with Solas to know that something was up and to want more answers and then go to “OH MAN” as soon as the stinger after the credits rolled. But we wanted most players to just go “Oh, okay, he’s like ‘Fade nerd.’ He’s like ‘hippie guy.’”

The other thing we wanted was everyone on their second playthrough, as soon as they talked to Solas to be like “Oh, man, he’s just saying it. He just flat-out said it right there and I missed it completely the first time!” I think we called it the “inevitable in retrospect”- or the “slap the forehead on the second playthrough” style of writing, where we wanted people to see that the most interesting thing about the trickster god is he’s not actually that great of a liar - He is almost telling you a lot of the time. And, you know, some of the tragedy is it that you never had the chance to actually ask, “Wait -are you Fen’harel?”

Time: 17:13

We talked about leaving breadcrumbs, what that meant. Now the big turn, the big scene at the ending:  How did this come about, were you really involved in that sort of process and are you happy with it?

Oh, I’m absolutely happy with it. It went through several iterations,. Mike was hugely involved. The writing was definitely done by Dave; it was a huge crit path moment. He had me give a look at the Solas voice, I think I looked at it, I don’t think I actually changed a single word in the final one.

We had versions where after the main plot it was actually going to be a full plot where you the player went and were actually present when Solas confronts Mythal. We had a part where we said, “Wow that’s too big, a lot of players are gonna miss that, we’ll make it a DLC.” So it was gonna be a separate DLC where that happened. At one point we said “No, this is too big, we actually - let’s cut it and address it next game.” So it was going to be this thing that we pushed off into some future content.

I am really happy with what we went with, because, I think, you know, for my money, that short, little Marvel-style, after-the-credits stinger is what we needed. We needed something so that everyone who was paying attention and everyone who was really invested could go “oh my god!” And go, “Okay, so, just in case you were wondering, we’re not done, we have more stories to tell, and we are confident enough in what we are doing that we are willing to throw that ball.” That stinger is essentially us throwing a football to future us, trusting that we are going to catch it. Because, you know, at the end, we had that level of confidence. We felt that we had that level of confidence, we felt we made a really good game. Dave led an amazing team of writers, and I’m really touched that he has the confidence to believe that I’ll be able to carry that on for him.

Time: 19:49

When we spoke to Dave, one of the big moments that he mentioned, was when he created kind of a long-term idea for what’s going to happen in the Dragon Age universe. And to hear him say it, he mentioned that what he originally wanted for Dragon Age: Inquisition couldn’t happen - it was far too big - it wouldn’t work. And you guys had talked about  taking that concept, finishing Inquisition somewhere in the middle of that concept arc, and then using at least an influence or something like that to affect the franchise going forward.  Speaking with you now, as someone who has taken up the reins, do you know what I’m talking about? Am I talking crazy? Where do you see it going?

Um…

Reasonably - of what you can say on this.

So here’s the last scene of the next game… (laughs). I think there’s an extent to which no plan really survives contact with the audience when it comes to video games. We look at how fans react, we look at what hit, what rang true with everyone. You know, it’s funny, having people react angrily actually isn’t as bad as having people ignore things sometimes. Having people react angrily  means they were definitely emotionally engaged, so you know you hit something there. Whereas having fans go, “I don’t know, fine, I guess, whatever” and move on means, “Okay, I don’t know if that’s what we want to go back to. We didn’t actually get anything from them there, they didn’t actually remember that later.” So that’s a phase that comes after every game we ship. We look at what hit, what missed, and where we want to go from there.

Now that said, Dave’s future plan is, I think, fantastic, epic, and heartbreaking. Our plan is to use that as our starting point. To look at where we want to go, what we want to do, and it will not be - and I, you know, Dave and I have talked about this - it will not be the story that Dave would tell if he were still here as lead writer. Because it could never be that. We can get into that when we talk about Cole a little bit, but if I tried to do that I would just be doing a bad impersonation of Dave Gaider and no one is ever going to be as good at that as Dave is. My goal going forward is to, as lead, put my own spin on that process, put my own spin on the plots going forward, on the thematic elements, while keeping those same thematic elements that we had. Because, I think, what Dave has set in motion in three games, countless DLCs and expansions, is something that can endure: The idea that no choice is ever really that easy and that the great events always stem from human-understandable motivations.

So, that is where I think where we are going to go, as vaguely as I can say.

Time: 23:30

Speaking of specifically to Solas: His continuation of the story. Adding that little “Marvel moment” at the end - what do you think that did for the crit path and the overall arc of the story that players experienced in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Do you think they would have been more satisfied if there was  a DLC or is that just us gamers complaining because we can’t get everything we want right away?

Well, I think you want to leave people wanting more. “Man I wish you guys had done more” is a better problem to have than “Man I wish you guys had done less.” So, I think, looking at it from inside the studio, we didn’t have the resources to do much more than we did. So it was never going to be the big moment right then anyway. From my perspective, the reason I’m really happy we have it is, like I said, I thought it was a vote of confidence. The team is still the Dragon Age team and it is still the writers and designers who did everything else, who made such wonderful characters and were responsible for such fantastic plots.

Time 25:10

Well, again, looking at that in its completion, it’s good to see that even a character that needed to give you a stinger in your estimation didn’t take away, I guess, from the overall story you were trying to tell.

Well, thank you. Yeah it was obviously the moment we were building toward, but again, the goal was even if we didn’t have that stringer, he was still an interesting enough character that people would have not felt cheated that he was in the party.

Time: 25:35

One of the most beautiful scenes I think in Dragon Age Inquisition is the scene that you get with Solas if you play as a female elf Inquisitor. Talk a little bit about that choice to have this romance option very, very specific. It’s race- and gender- specific. Why that scene - what that scene meant and a lot of the subtext, because it is a very rich sequence of scenes, not just one. And, I think it’s really one of the most interesting romances in the game.

I love that scene because that scene for me shows how far we’ve gone past - not the make myself irrelevant anymore - but how far we’ve gone with the digital acting. Jonathan Epp the cine-designer for that scene put it together and when you take everything that Gareth David Lloyd - the voice actor - everything he did on his lines. And just putting so much tragedy, and making it clear in every line that he wants to say more than he can. And with Jon Epp the cine-designer, just in the wordless scenes: showing the tragedy, showing the heartbreak, showing how much he does genuinely care against his better judgement, and how he finally forces himself to step away.,

You know how I said when we were talking about the Iron Bull - everything, every major moment we do, is there for a specific type of player fantasy fulfillment. And you know, not all types of fantasies are the happy ones. There’s a reason why The Phantom of the Opera was on Broadway for so many years and it’s not because it has a happy ending.

The Phantom of the Opera isn’t exactly the theme for the romance -  the razor was something closer to almost professor and student in some ways. He definitely comes across as a mentor in some ways. When he finally steps back it is him beating himself up, not you, saying “Wow what I have done here is actually really unfair to you, and you, player, at the time don’t know that I’m beating myself up because I’m actually  1000s of years old and not the person you think I am and it’s disrespectful to you for me to continue this relationship.” So it’s a very moral perspective for our ancient, quasi-evil, trickster god to come with.

Time: 28:41

And it’s amazing because it’s another instance of content that so few players would actually get an opportunity to see. When it comes to making it that specific, I guess, why was that choice made? Because usually a lot of your content - most of the Dragon Age content - it’s very easy to get really rich, wonderful characters right in your face and have those wonderful “eat-em-up” experiences, why for this one was it such a steep price to get in?

You know, I won’t lie, a lot of it came from some of our designers. Some of the women in the design department really, really loving his voice and saying, “You are absolutely fools if you do not make him romance-able in some capacity.” And, really, his story overall is - and, you know, I think we’ve only hinted at that but I think we have hinted at it enough that I can at least say this part of it - his story isn’t a happy one. His story is one, where, if you look at him and Mythal, there is clearly some grief, there is clearly some tragedy. And, adding in the option - even for players who don’t take it - on my end as a writer,  knowing that some players will have this as a star-crossed, forbidden romance, you know, it makes him more sympathetic. It’s important to me as a writer because when you’re writing about someone who, according to Flemeth, is at least somewhat responsible for the bad guy getting the magical item that he used to blow up half a mountain in the prologue, it’s important to have something in there that you can always have, as a writer, look at as your touchstone and go “This is a real person. This is someone who experiences sadness. This is someone who falls in love.” Even if he doesn’t do it with that Inquisitor on that playthrough, this is always someone who can be like that.

Time: 30:58

Where do you see a character like Solas ending up?

(Big sigh) Musical theater.

(laughs) Right when we reach those beautiful moments, Patrick!

I think that it is fantastic that people have emotionally engaged with Solas and I hope we get a chance to explore that in some future content.

Alright and that’s the most that we’re getting right now.

Time: 31:37

Oh, and here’s a little tie in: Here Lies the Abyss, the demon that spoke to Solas - what was all that about, what was that going on?

Oh yes - the demon who speaks perfect Elven!

Yes perfectly to him, and if you remember any of that - did you have anything to do with that?

Yes, Here Lies the Abyss was mine. It was a fun plot. It was a terrifyingly difficult plot, because - I’m not sure how clear this is to players that have one done one playthrough or with one import state - but your key characters throughout the events at Adamant Fortress and then the events of the Fade, it’s a customizable Hawke. Which means it could be a male Hawke or a female Hawke and within that, Hawke from Dragon Age 2 is characterized by one of three different attitudes: friendly, grim, or sarcastic. So, that’s three attitudes times two genders, that’s six different Hawkes and three different possible Grey Wardens: Alistair, Loghain, or Stroud.  So, the process of going through Adamant Fortress and then going through the Fade was a crazy juggling act of trying to keep track of “Okay, now one of these five people, these five Schrodinger’s cat quantum people, will say this line, and then another of these five Schrodinger’s cat quantum people will respond with this line.”

It’s important to remember that as we went through everything in Adamant Fortress and the Fade was taking place in that contest. There was a long period time when we were looking at that really going, “Okay, I just have to hope this actually makes sense when it’s nothing but Alistair and my sarcastic female Hawke.”

But, to actually answer your question. As I recall, the Nightmare, who as a friendly, chipper guy was basically - I do basically two types of villains: I do the villain who thinks he or she is the hero, and is misguided and has opposed goals, and is kind of tragic and tortured in that way. And then I do the mean-girl villain who says snotty high school insults.

That’s it - that’s the gambit.

Well, just about, yes. I’m looking forward to see who writes the villain in the future Dragon Age games - so get ready for either tragic pathos or really, really good high school mean-girl zingers.

As I recall, he was speaking Elven to Solas and if I remember right, he said, “Your pride is responsible for everything that has gone wrong” and I think he said “You will die alone.” And then Solas said something that translates to either “Nothing is known for certain” or “Not necessarily.”

And what does all that mean?

Well I think it’s fascinating that people are emotionally engaged, and I hope we have the chance -

It was a very asked question - it was a question that was asked a lot. Specific to that.

Oh, I’m not surprised, and I hope one day that we can tell you. But, obviously, that demon knows that Solas is hurting and Solas feels guilty about some stuff and really wanted to dig in there, and Solas was shouting back.

Literally just describing what happened (laughs). All right, so something that will clearly be talked about in other games.

TIme: 36:22

Dealing with this particular quest I really think that this was one opportunity to involve the Grey Wardens in a story, and a world, that kind of progressingly, after the first game had less and less of a need to exist - let alone in the world - but in the main characters arc. Talking to David I remember initially there was some idea for this particular mission they would just fall into the hole and be hanging out in the Deep Roads, and having out with the dwarves, so tell us a little bit about this creation.

A lot of the process of writing these large plots, like I talked about the razor, you figure out what the core concept is, you always start with a lot of things, and in most cases what you then end up having to do is cut. And if you’re not someone in the studio, talking about having to cut things sounds like you’re losing awesome content, you’re ruining what would have been clearly the best part of the plot. Inside the studio though, most cases what you’re cutting is the stuff that didn’t actually help tell the story you wanted to tell.

So yes in the original version, in a very early draft, actually this was before I was actually on the plot - this predates me - there was, yes, going into the Deep Roads, and when you fell in instead of ending up in the Fade you ended up down in the dark. And finding out what the Grey Wardens in this version of the story had been involved with the Architect from Dragon Age: Awakening. It was an interesting direction, and it was, I think, a very cool direction, but it did not help tell the story of the Inquisition. It was more a story of “Hey, if we wanted to do more with the Hero of Fereldan, here is an interesting place we could go” and it did not help tell the story of “What is the Inquisition doing?” “What is Corypheus doing?”, “How do these two organizations bounce off each other and who’s caught in the middle?” So trying to come to terms with the Grey Wardens in this game not being the protagonists, not being the group that is in the center of the action but being the group that is caught in the middle of this power struggle was something that led to us having to eventually do the re-jiggering that got us to the plot you saw.