#i don't know much about devon but i really am in for the idea of nicole having many girl bffs

[randomcinematicuniverse]

Here's another "My Two Dads" Behind-The-Scenes story by Staci Keanan shared over the "Step By Step" podcast, "Keanan and Lakin Give You DeJaVu".

In this story, Staci shares how her real-life best friend, fellow child actor & "My So-Called Life" star, Devon Odessa ALMOST got the role of Nicole's best friend on M2D, beginning on Season 2.

In Season 1, Nicole had a best friend named Nina, portrayed by Alitzah Weiner. In Season 2 & 3, Nick's best friend is Shelby Haskell, portrayed by Amy Hathaway. In this story, Staci talks about how everyone on set knew Devon as Staci's BFF IRL and they originally wrote the BFF character around Devon and was also going to be called "Devon." However... some things got in the way and Devon was not cast and renamed the BFF character as "Shelby."

[candysweetposts]

Episode 8 review (long af)

I want to start this by saying that I will include some talk-points I saw in other posts and that I don't hate the people who made them just the opinions and that we shouldn't fight each other but try to reach the company for improvements. Let's go! This includes spoilers btw.

The episode itself was pretty bad just because the premise was... I guess childish. From the moment I finished Ep 7 and saw the preview for Ep 8 I thought about a moment from HSL, specifically Ep 12 where Candy (Lynn) spies on Lysander to see his back tattoo. When I played that episode I was a teen and I thought it was exciting. Our Candy was also a teen so we can say that what she did was more justifiable since teenagers do crazy stuff all the time. Plus, Lynn's intention was pretty innocent, she just was curious about this boy's tattoo that happened to be on his back. Here is completely different. I am not a teen anymore, and neither are Ysaline or her co-workers. They're probably in their late 20s (at least some). I find this scenario a bit too much for a bunch of adults. I don't care that they're friends, friends should respect each other's boundaries. A good friend wouldn't pull this kind of shit. They all acted as if they were going so see a magic trick or a concert or a famous person, not their friend naked. Why would you want to see that? Just because he "implied" that he's fine with it? What did they expect would happen? Did they though he would laugh out and be like "Haha, you got me" fully naked? This feels like what a bunch of bullies would plan to do with someone. The rest of the episode was ok-ish but having all around this weird stuff it makes me hard to like anything about it. I must admit that there were moments when we would talk about other stuff and it was truly ok and nice, but this is like finding the needle in the haystack.

This goes back to what BV originally planned for this season, to be set in high school. I bet this was a concept for an episode when that was still going. Would be more ok if these people were teens? Maybe... or maybe not. Do you know why? Because most of us are adults and that's why BV made a game with mostly adults having adult life with jobs and stuff and let's not forget... NSFW. And as an adult, I know better than spying on a naked man is creepy and illegal.

Now let's talk about the characters.

Let's start with Roy. He was very nice in the whole episode. He tried to play along but it really looked like he was uncomfortable at some point. And I bet if he could, he would tell others more firmly to stop but he's just such a sweet guy and probably endures for the sake of his friends. He's always sweet and even when he pulled the prank on everyone he even had the idea for all to play with water guns. He acted so nice. We love you, Roy! <3

Speaking of his BFF Devon who just disappointed me. I really thought he would be the first to speak up against this, not the one who started it. I get you're like bros and stuff but AGAIN, do you want to see your bro naked? And if yes, why? Do you have something to confess? What's so funny about embarrassing someone? I didn't get a good look at this route so I can't tell how he is with Candy, but this is not ok. Please, make this better BV.

Thomas. He was an absolute menace. Going from childish remarks to planning all of this to acting like he's in a spy movie (I didn't mind that part but CONTEXT). As I get to know him more and more I realize that he's more of a villain. Knows stuff about people and uses that against them. I get that he's like Mr Robot, but at least in his case, he did what he did because he thought he was doing something good. Thomas just likes to fuck with people. I get it, his moment was pretty cute and moments with him and Candy are cute generally, but let's not sweep this thing under the rug. He likes to lie, remember? I really hope this was a one-time thing. Pls BV. Like he has based moments and this runs it.

Amanda did really grow on me in this episode. Like if before I couldn't stand her now I'm on her side. Whatever you need girl, I'm here for you. She was the first one to step in and say no which was nice. She also said some other nice stuff to us proving she's a girl's girl. I hope this is not a one-time thing because if she goes back to her bad attitude the next episode I'll just hate her again. Sorry!

Jason was very himself this episode. Nothing to note. I liked his moment but I hate how Candy went overboard and basically imagined them making out. What? Is this how you develop feelings for a person? By fantasizing about kissing them? That came out of nowhere. I mean yeah, she could talk about how he makes her feel and stuff but straight up imagining a fanfic on the spot? And I hate the direction his route goes. Candy always being in distress and vulnerable, and this gentleman shows up to save her. Cool, but when do we have a mature moment... and not that kind of mature. I guess we have to wait and I hope it's worth it. I want to know about him more. What's with his dad and mom, his family in general, his past, you know. So let's stop doing weird shit and start exploring these characters BV.

Girl 1 and 2 were very not nice. They just went along with the plan, especially Elenda, who... let's just say I don't like how she's presented most of the time. I get she's s fun bubbly girl, but idk... it's just the situation that makes it worse not her as a person. Brune... You're asking what's wrong with Roy? What's wrong with you?

The illustrations were fire. I must admit, I love them. I see a lot of improvements. The lighting and colors blend very well. Props to the artist/(s?). My favorite is, you guessed, Thomas'. Yeah, he always has nice illustrations. Although, I don't get the whole going naked with him on the beach. Like, we barely know the guy. Same for the others, except Amanda, because she's a girl.

Now, let's talk about the community response. I feel like, at first, everyone was pretty upset, and rightfully and some were just "We're not that upset because it's just a game guys, shut up. You're just hating". Well, of course, some are going to exaggerate but most of us have valid reasons to be upset. Saying that this is just a game and we should leave if we don't like it it's just straight up BS arguments. I've seen this argument everywhere and I am sick and tired of that. I won't leave no matter what because not only do I love this game, but I also love the community and everything that makes it. It's not just a game, it's something I invested time and money and I won't let that go to waste. Also, I can use the same arguments against those people. Most of us here want to just enjoy this game and chat about it. Stuff like this will appear all the time. Let's just say what we have to see and hope the game gets better. And you're lucky I don't remember every single one of these people's arguments because I would said more. Also, WE KNOW that MCL is not representative of reality or that is has some sort of educational purpose. We're not asking for realism, we're asking for a decent plot. It's that so hard to do?

Lastly, BV made a pr response on the forum where they said that they saw the backlash and that they can't do anything about the episode or the other episodes but that will improve in the future. I.. I want to believe them. Truly. So, please, for the love of God, don't pull this sort of stuff again. Ok? Please.

That being said, Thank you for reading this. It was quite long, but I like writing long ass texts. Sorry!

[seirei-bh]

I'm trying to calculate or at least approximate in headcanon the ages that I think each character is in New Gen

First according to ep 5, Ysaline is 22 years old, since she says that she was 9 when her sister Tasha was 3, and now her sister is 16, (although since each sucrette is customizable, I think each player can have the freedom to decide what age prefer to imagine that they have their sucrette in New Gen, and that's what I'm going to do with mines)

Anyway, this also gives us a clue as to at least Thomas's current age. And also this other important fact: Thomas is 10 when OldSucrette (Lynn) is 17. So they are 7 years apart.

And there's supposed to be a 3-year time jump after Love Life to the special crossover ep. Since Lynn is 26 in LL, she is 29 in that special ep.

If we subtract 7 from 29, then Thomas is 22 years old. The same one as supposedly Ysaline canonically.

Now, it is much more difficult to estimate the age of the other characters. The only clue we have is that Elenda said in ep 4 that she was 6-7 when Devon was 10-11. Taking into account that many stories in video games, books and animes sometimes tend to use even and round numbers in big time-skips so that readers can easily remember the dates, it makes me assume that 20 years have passed since that time. So Elenda would be 26-27 and Devon about 30-31. Now the problem is that we don't know if Roy and Devon are the same age or if Roy is younger, we only know that they went to the same high school and so did Elenda, and these three met each other since they were kids, but I'm inclined to think that Roy and Devon were more like friends in a sense of older-younger brothers, since Devon seems older due to his features and behavior, so perhaps Roy is the same age as Elenda. I can be wrong though, and Roy and Devon being the same age, but this is what I think for now~

We also don't know Amanda's age, but due to her features, she appears to be around the age of Thomas and Elenda. Although Elenda in a scene from ep 3 defines herself as "the fairy godmother of Devenementiel" and says that she was there from the beginning, while Amanda seems like a recent member of the company, which makes me think that perhaps Elenda is a little older than Amanda.

Jason could be either Roy's age or Devon's age, but I'm inclined to think that it would be more convincing for Jason to be Devon's age, given his features, and since they are both company bosses and direct rivals, it would make sense for them to be the same age, and olders than the other crushes.

And Brune seems from her features to be somewhat older than Elenda, but perhaps not as old as Devon.

So my final conclusions are:

Thomas: 22 (the only age probably canon for now) Amanda: between 22-24 Roy: 26/27 Devon: 30/31 Jason: 30/31

Elenda: 26/27 Brune: 28~

There are other possibilities, of course. But the only thing we can be quite sure of is Thomas's age, being 7 years older than Lynn and the same as Ysaline, and that Devon is 4 years older than Elenda. It's also possible, for example, that they are all 22 except Devon and Jason being 26, but Rayan Zaidi is 33 in UL and Devon and Jason's features seem -at least from my pov- closer to that age than in the middle of the twenties~

Anyway, I'd like to know the opinion based on these calculations and/or headcanons of other players regarding this topic 💜

I guess we won't know until they confirm it in the game, if they confirm it in future eps, however if it is never revealed, I'd really like to know what the canonical ages of each crush are. So @chinomiko if you ever see this, please it'd be wonderful if you could answer this some day, or at least if these ideas are close to the canon. I know that the age of each character is something that doesn't have too much importance since everyone can imagine what they want, but I am especially curious about Jason and Devon <3 Besides these details are always useful for fanfic material.

[edapparently]

Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat - My Thoughts

So I'm doing another book "review" post. I'm mainly making this because of how strongly I feel about this book, there will be many spoilers, so if you are only part way through or are intending to read Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat then you should not read this post I bought Dark Rise out of a desire to try something new. If you know me, then I don't need to tell you how much I adore Comedy Science Fiction. But Dark Rise is a Dark Fantasy, a genre I am new to, and I was willing and open to giving it a shot. I had also bought it from the small library section of "The Gay Shop" in my city - a store that sells things specifically for and about the LGBTQ+ community. And I had figured that even if I didn't enjoy the story, I could at least get a little kick out of the queer elements of the story. After all, who doesn't look forward to the prospect of some kind of gay Fantasy Romance? Even if it is weaved into a larger and darker plot. However, I finished the book last night and found myself not only dissatisfied, but annoyed and disappointed. The first half of the book, I have no issues with, I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. However, this first sign that things would start going downhill struck me in Chapter 17, which is not long before the book's halfway point. The chapter begins very well and it was probably the only time in the book I found Katherine entertaining to read about because of her perspective and how her own expectations of what a Lady is supposed to be, based on "polite society", weigh upon her mind. The problem I have comes when Will strikes up an immediate romance with her. They meet once and we are expected to want Will and Katherine to get together. I don't like this for two big reasons. The first is that it feels forced, Katherine had only appeared once in the whole story beforehand and only for a single chapter. Not only that, but Katherine and Will kiss the very next time they meet (Chapter 23), and that one meeting they have does not spark any kind of a convincing romance between them. The second reason is that it is extremely irritating to see the Heterosexual romance allowed to be shoved into the forefront, but any kind of queer love is reserved for quiet whispers, implication, villains or the dead. In a book that loves to occasionally wink and nod about two men being romantically interested in each other, there is actually little to almost no actual gay romance within the story. Sure, we meet gay characters, plenty of them. Most of them die before they do anything, however. There is never once a kiss, or even a hand held between two men. The closest thing I can think of is the scene of Devon and Tom in Violet's house while she's snooping, but that never goes anywhere because we never see Tom again after that. It feels strangely passive aggressive, though I don't believe that to be the intention of the author. Something that feels like a real slap in the face though, is the final chapter. Will and James meet, alone, and they basically flirt. The idea of them being together is brought up, they think about it... and nothing. The book just ended. It is aggravating, to say the least. The worst part of it all is that Dark Rise had a lot of potential, I didn't go into it wanting to dislike it, I even enjoyed it for a while. But as a gay reader, I think I had my expectations too high for Pacat's intentions for her queer characters. I don't think I will read the sequel, Dark Heir, unless I hear better of it. If I really think about the time I had reading Dark Rise, I don't want to think of this book as bad, but regardless, it did very much disappoint me. In conclusion, if Dark Rise was a plane I would describe it like this: "It has a promising, even wonderful, take off. Shame about all the bodies they found at the crash site, though."

[riverie-cetus]

Limb By Limb Head canons and thoughts :]

Spoilers (obviously /silly)

-The first people Daas goes to after escaping the mine is Devon's house. It absolutely scared the shit out of their dad- but after the initial freak out- her dad helps take care of them and makes them soup and sandwiches.

-It takes a few weeks for Daas to go back to school, but once they do- they're phrased as a new student with a vertigo. Jessica C helps show them around the school and ends up being good friends with Daas.

- Daas had to go to therapy for a couple years, both Physical Therapy to get used to their new body, and mental therapy.

-It takes a few days for Daas to get up the courage to actually shower, it's awkward at first, looking at all of their new body (and still probably processing) but in the end, they all feel better.

- Daas is still covered in doodles done by Alex (and sometimes Devon)

(I am not a system and I don't fully understand all the terms so if I get something wrong I apologize and plz let me know)

- Daas acts very much like a system (for obvious reasons) and most of the time, everyone has control of a certain body part, but there are times when one or two people control the body at a time. For example- Whenever they're around Devon's family- She's usually in control of the body- or when Daas needs to go to cheer practice- Summer usually takes control.

- Whenever the body is asleep, the four of them all chill out in headspace, (which I think would be a mixture of all their living rooms or comfort places) they can still sleep while in their headspace and can still dream.

They're all able to go into headspace while the body is awake- they're all still aware of what's going on around the body while in there, but just not in control. Kind of like when your in a car listening to music, you're aware of your surroundings but not really focusing on it.

(I like the idea that headspace has windows, and the windows represent what time of day it is- so they all know what time it is while in headspace. (If it's daytime outside of the body, then it's daytime for headspace as well. Same with nighttime)

- When Summers parents found out about Daas, they were disgusted- and tried to disown Summer, but Devon took control and defended her with Alex joining in. Alice and Summer both retreated into headspace, where Alice tried her best to comfort Summer.

Limb By Limb is giving me so many funky thoughts and feelings- :3

(Hey so I had this in my drafts and while I was editing it- it got posted- idk how that happened but okay??)

[shirasuchiru]

My Candy Love (MCL) - New Gen Ep.02 - The Law Of The Jungle - Roy & Jason Walkthrough

!!— Please make sure to check the answers and the points they give! Unfortunately, you can't get both of their CGs in a single playthrough.

—

- Hello, are you the owner?

- (I didn't say anything. He'll end up leaving eventually, right?)

- Hahaha! Yes, thank you, I know. ( + with Jason)

—

- After your little ditty when I got here, I think I believe them, Jason... ( + with Roy and Devon, / with Jason)

- Maybe we should play his game...? ( - with Roy and Devon, + with Jason)

- (I didn't say anything. Clearly, I don't have all the information...) (If I remember correctly, this should give / with Roy and Devon, - with Jason)

—

- Don't listen to him, Sir. We know very well what we're doing.

- Don't mind them, Sir. I apologize, they don't know how to behave.

- Jason, maybe you can calm down with the cutting remarks? ( + with Jason)

—

- Don't speak too soon, and may the best win! ( - with Roy and Devon, + with Jason)

- As long as everyone follows the rules... ( - Jason)

- It is for me, now. We're going to crush you! ( + with Roy and Devon, - with Jason)

—

(After some dialogue, you can go to the cafeteria to start Roy's chat. I think it doesn't matter who you encounter first.)

- Yes... I would have preferred him to ask me directly if I had any ideas, but hey...

- Yes, it's very nice of him not to leave me on the sidelines.

- At the same time, he didn't hire me to twiddle my thumbs! ( + Roy)

- At the same time, the client seems to have as much ambition as Amanda, right?

- And you don't ever work on anything else? (You can choose this one to learn more about Roy! Except that, it's natural.)

- Yes, I was planning to go see her too.

—

- So really, your job is to be nice? That's cool! ( / with Roy)

- Cool! I hope you'll help me to meet lots of people! ( + with Roy)

- It's funny, I thought you'd have a much more aggressive approach.

—

!!— Choose the outfit with tie and black boots. It is the correct one for both Roy and Jason.

After some dialogue and one choice (you can get Devon points with the energetic answer), choose "Great, I'll ask Roy if he wants to help me." if you want to get his CG. It doesn't matter who you choose for Jason.

—

(You can get a special scene with Roy for 120 Gems. If you have enough affinity and the right outfit, you can get the CG!)

(For to get Jason's CG, please continue to read this thread!)

—

- I see that someone is a sore loser.

- It seems to me that's still better than having lost. ( + with Jason)

- It doesn't matter, it's still a win...

—

- ( I restrained myself from hurling a few colorful insults at his back.)

- (Perhaps it's up to me to be smarter for all of us, and hold out a hand to him.) (Choose this one to get CG!)

- (And I did the same, resuming the evening with my new colleagues and friends.)

—

- (But I swallowed my pride to better focus on the evening.)

- (You pay for everything sooner or later... His turn will come.)

- (No way am I going to leave things there.) (Choose this one go get CG!)

—

(You can get a special scene with Jason for 120 Gems. If you have enough affinity, correct answers and the right outfit, you can get the CG!)

[chronicallyweirdlady]

TLDR: I read Dark Heir and it was awesome!

Holy 🐄! I just finished Dark Heir last night and it was amazing. The book is so well written. All the plot twists and parallels are crazy. I love Will so much, and I just want him to be happy. The last chapter... 😭 I am hoping for a happy ending for Will and James. Things that really got me were James pov during the collar scene. Poor baby! And Cyprian and Violet's kiss only for him to be like you have to kill me after. Violet's, "Later, she'd remember Will was the only one trying to stop the dark army." Oof. This is our little grain of proof that Will is NOT the big bad guy, right? I actually think none of the old world characters were all the way bad or all the way good. It just seems like they all wanted power and went to war for it. Sarcean just got a lot of the blame.

What was the deal between Devon and Visander? Like their relationship was weird to me. But Devon and Tom seem cute. "I like him". I say 'seem' because I am concerned Devon is going to be a big bad guy next book.

I also have no idea what actually happened between Sarcean and Anharion in the past, and it's driving me crazy. And don't think I missed the word "consort" used in the book when it refers to Anharion. I have two theories on their relationship.

1. The 'try to run' line is a code between them. After Sarceans arrest, I am thinking the sun king prevented Anharion from getting to him. What if the collar broke the sun kings control over Anharion? I'm thinking that Anharion wanted to be with Sarcean, but it got messy. But we know they end up together. Now the collar and the chaining to the throne thing?? Maybe they were kinky things? lol that would be funny if it was kust their sex game and then thousands of years later everyone thought some crazy stuff went down. But I thought that maybe it was a trick! Like S and A were tricking people into thinking that A was being controlled by S. I very much think that is a possibility.

2. I think that the only other plausible theory is that even though they loved each other, A ends up being convinced S is bad. There's war. Anharion is captured, but they end up getting back together. Evidence for this one is in James pov as well. His part about his memories is very conflicting and doesnt give the reader enough information. It also reminds me of that Greek mythology story. I think Helen of Troy? Like she's so beautiful and she's stolen from the king or something like that. In this sense I would think S used the collar to get A to come back to him.

Something I thought was funny was that every time Sarcean is talking about the lady or visander, he is always comparing them to Anharion. Like he tries to find him in both. Anharion lives rent free in Sarceans head lol. It just seems like it was Sarcean views the world as it consists of Anharion and then everyone else.

Sarcean also reminds me so much of Laurent from Captive Prince. So smart and so sneaky. And of Damen because of the blondes lol. Pacat loves writing a bi character obsessed with blondes, and we love them for that!!

Anyways, I can not wait for book 3!!

[sphaxcca]

My Candy Love New Gen ep. 4 Review

Here I am after finishing the last episode of MCL New Gen ready to give my honest and unasked opinion about it. Fasten your seatbelts cause we are about to start and i'm not gonna be gentle

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT...

So the episode opens with Elenda who's basically trying to drag us so bad to the Cosey Bear because apparently Castiel was serving there ( No judgement toward Elenda, i wanted to see my husband too). Unfortunately for me and her, he already had left when we showed up to the Cafe. >3>.

Seeing Lynn animated was so cute and a little bit nostalgic but nothing compared to the GASP I emitted when she started talking to Thomas and he told her he was in love with her. GEEEEZ, now i get why that kid was a pain in the ass and RUINED my pic-nic date with Tomato head, THE DOTS CONNECTED. Btw it was a very cute scene and a tribute to Iris that I hope she will show up in Thomas' route.

Moving on, inspired by Thomas' love confession, everybody starts talking about their love life (expected since the episode's name is hearts looking for love). And this is where things went horribly cringe and outrageous: Ofc i'm not talking about Elenda and Devon ( It was cute to know that she had a crush on Devon and, about him, a little peak to where the story is possibly going to lead - a busy man that works his ass off so bad for Devenementiel and has no time to date)or Amanda but about ROY and BRUNE.

Hoooooly shit, the chill of second hand embarassment that I got just by reading the interractions between these two was undescribable I swear( Elenda became basically my guide spirit: her reaction was the same i had. ). Everything was so outofcontext and nonsense that I'm actually wondering why Beemov decided it was a great idea to give space to something so....childish? I mean, we're talking about (almost) 30yo people.. and they got together because they were...desperate??????? - "Yeah with my exes things weren't doing good so we decided to date even tho we don't talk, don't touch and fell uncomfortable with each other" - COOOME ON, BFR, you guys ok? Also, I really hope that we're gonna discover something deeper about Roy (or that he's going to get a development at least) that makes him more that what i can pick up and feel from him right now: childish Gymrat fixed on pool that give us nothing. I'm genuine deluded about the way they handled this.

Moving on to JASON PART. He basically shows up when we're still talking sitted by the table. I was obviously expecting the part where he was going to be pointed out as a "womanizer" but what I DID NOT EXPECT was the reaction he had when he overhears our conversation: I felt him being sarcastic as usual but at the end i felt he was kinda....hurt??? idk if you get what i mean, he literally said he had REASONS why he doesn't want to be in full term relationship and this opens my mind to an INFINITE AMOUNT OF THEORIES

Connected to what I've read on some theories here, someone said it's because of the condition ( or the pathology) that made his hair go white...

This is a really good point but I genuine think about something else that is connected to this and the SHOCK NUMBER 2: Why Devenementiel hates Jason so much?

Apparently our "proud and superior" man with an incredible fragile ego had PLAGIARIZED the project the would have helped Devon to found Devenementiel and, because of that, he was fired and disqualified by the contest. So...first things first: PIECE OF SHIT. Secondly, I genuine would have never thought about him doing something like this and that's the reason why i don't think he did it because he wanted to but perphaps he WAS PUSHED to do so.

Another theorie said that probably he was helped by a third person that played dirty and suggested him the same project Devon did

And I have to admit that this is something very likely, but stil don't really convince me too much.

We can clearly see that Jason has a lot of money, A LOT, and by the way he has so much money i'm assuming he comes from a family that at least has the same amount of capital he has now. We got told that he was basically working as an employer (if i remember correctly) so why trying to steal something from others if you are satisfied and don't need a job? perhaps because you NEED that first place to REDEEM yourself and PROVE someone wrong at least so that.. THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS. That's where his family and the white hair make their part: A Dad Ceo that basically disgraced his Son because he couldn't follow or keep up with the family business or - he wasn't good enough- for the role ( and that's why the white hair, because of the stress) . Another thing that might prove this is the fact that Devon told us that he had "private investors" and...i mean, if you're broke, i don't think you can find them just by snapping your fingers and make them appear in front of you, especially when you get fired and disqualified in a competition. He could have use the "family" name and hi charisma to persuade the investors to help him found Goldreamz. And THIS leads me to the last point: Why no long term relationship? Because his family has to end with him and he's scared of the consequences that a partner can have in his life. This reminded me so much Simon from Bridgerton btw. So yeah...I might be wrong (99%) but i want to think that he's a piece of shit just because he's hurt.

His special scene was normal i guess, i love the way my candy was looking at the instagram photos be like - "i'm just studying the enemy...not doing something wrong..maybe".

In the end i decided to try for the Thomas illustration and nothing to complain about, the scene was genuine one of the most cute one in the game so fare and the ilusstration 10/10 chef's kiss and handshake by the president.

[nicascurls]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but...

As much as I love BarclayPierce, I don't necessarily want them to be canon in the franchise.

Don't get me wrong, I am desperate for them to interact more in the show. Teaming up and becoming friends after they knew about each other for so long and never got to meet but I would rather see them interact as friends and then read into the performances.

This is because after looking back on the entire franchise I have come to a conclusion:

Don Mancini can not write a healthy romantic relationship to save his life.

Think about it:

Chiffany speaks for itself.

Andy's foster parents in CP2 weren't too bad if it wasn't for the fact that Phil was an asshole (at least in my opinion).

Andy and Kristen in CP3 were sweet, but realistically, it was a teenage crush, and we know for a fact didn't last for whatever reason.

Jesse and Jade seemed cute on the surface but then instantly started accusing the other of murder with no evidence.

Barb and Ian's marriage was obviously awful, and by extension, so was Barb and Jill's since Barb was cheating, and they both knew it.

Both Lexy and Junior's parents' relationship was toxic in a way, with Michelle and Logan being narcissists and constantly ignoring or shutting down their sposes opinions.

Lexy and Junior's relationship was pretty similar, too, with Junior even admitting that he was afraid of Lexy.

Jake and Devon started off cute, but as I've said before, with all the conflict in Season 2, it seems that they are more in love with their idea of the other person rather than the person themselves. Even in season 3, we haven't really seen them emotionally connect, it just keeps being overly sexualized scenes (which is a whole other conversation)

Grant and Lexy (if they count) it is basically all manipulation since Lexy apparently can't stand Grant and is only pretending to like him to get to Chucky, with it only hinting that her opinion may have changed on him after he opened up about losing his brother. (Let's not even start about the fact that Jackson was 22 and Alyvia was 15 when they filmed that kiss scene.)

And finally, James and Charlotte Collins, where it has been revealed that James has previously cheated on Charlotte and she is still with him even after finding out.

I'm not even counting Niffany as a relationship since it is purely Tiffany abusing Nica.

So, yeah. Personally, I don't trust Don to not mess BarclayPierce up if he did decide to make them canon so I would rather get excited about their little friendly interactions and see what Alex and Fiona would do with their performances.

[len-the-neverending]

WIP Ramble: Ashlin's List

It's that time of year: the time when I try to start a new WIP and post about it on Tumblr. Things are finally starting to settle down in my real life and I need a project, so here's my new idea:

Ashlin's List is (going to be) a fiction podcast about Ashlin Caruso, resident Regular-Ass Professor whose boyfriend, Devon, has recently been murdered. To cope with their grief and find a connection to Devon after his death, Ashlin starts following a list that Devon left behind for them of locations in the city that he wanted them to explore together, since he was really interested in urbex. Unfortunately for Ashlin and the normalcy of their life, the locations on the list turn out to be gates to other universes, which Devon, as part of a secret society known as the Guardians, was tasked with protecting. After being found and scooped up by the few remaining Guardians, consisting of an immortal being with a weird attachment to Devon's family, a transplant from another universe who's been not-so-successfully keeping tabs on Devon for a while, and the ruthlessly pragmatic Head Guardian who will stop at nothing to maintain the stability of the gates, Ashlin joins up in order to protect the multiverse from the (yet unnamed) supernatural force trying to collapse the gates between universes and send the multiverse into chaos, and its Acolytes, or human servants.

The story is told (at least in season 1) via voice memos of Ashlin's adventures, and it's (hopefully) going to be a 3-season project.

Info about characters and Picrews under the cut!

CHARACTERS

Ashlin Caruso (they/it)

The main character. An extremely unreliable narrator, and right at the center of the "liar-oblivious-in denial" triangle. Very, very tired physics professor in their late 30s. Has attack-dog tendencies lying in wait for when it cares a bit too much about someone.

Devon Bell (he/him)

The local narrative haunter. Ashlin's ex-boyfriend. His mother encouraged him not to get involved with the family business (fighting eldritch creatures and trying to stop the multiverse from getting destroyed), but he Did It Anyway and got murdered about it. He also never told Ashlin about any of this. Incredibly enthusiastic about pretty much everything he's ever done. Very outdoorsy.

Emery Dean (he/they)

We all know that one transmasc who's especially vulnerable to instabilities in the multiverse, am I right? Emery's been slipping back and forth between universes since he was young, but he was usually able to get back to his home universe, universe 43: that is, until he wasn't. His attempts to get back via Shady Multiverse Fuckery not only failed but destroyed his home universe completely, so now he's stuck here in universe 86. Dated his universe's version of Devon, and once he got here wanted to see if they fell in love in every universe: unfortunately for Emery, they did not. So he's just been trying to keep an eye on and protect Devon for quite a few years, which failed completely. Sort of a Guardian, but he doesn't like labels. Impressively the closest thing to a good person of the lot. Confident and sunshiney, unless you ask about his past. Don't do that.

Aracelis (she/they)

A member of an immortal species known as the Timeless: one of them was born in every universe to protect it from the Claws, but the vast majority don't bother with that. Except, of course, for Aracelis. Aracelis loves humans and humanity, and because of that would really rather the multiverse not collapse because that would mean most of the humans would die. Has had a string of failed relationships with mortals, one of which was Devon's great-great-grandfather Arthur Bell, the original Guardian. When Arthur was killed, his last request to Aracelis was that they take care of his family and make sure the Guardian organization continued, which is exactly what she's been doing for several generations. Totally did not indoctrinate all of his children and grandchildren into Guardianship. Laid-back and detached by human standards, but very caring by Timeless standards.

(Timeless can look however they want. Above is Aracelis's default appearance. They're the only one who bothers looking human: most Timeless prefer to be spheres of light or four-dimensional figures or creatures that don't actually exist.)

Noa Kivikko (Kivi) (they/them)

Intensity in human form. Has been running the Northeastern Guardian headquarters by themself for about a decade and is very, very good at it, thank you very much. Will stop at absolutely nothing to maintain the stability of the multiverse, up to and including murder. A Finnish immigrant who moved here to devote their life completely to guardianship. Their family has no idea where they are. No one knows their first name and they'd like to keep it that way. For whatever reason, Aracelis loves them with all her heart and trusts them immensely.

Henrietta Bell (she/her)

She made a deal with the aforementioned supernatural forces to help bring about the collapsing in exchange for immortality, and now she's the shadowy leader of the Acolytes. She's been alive since the 1870s. She's been killed 5 times, four of which were Aracelis and none of which stuck. She was married to Arthur, and though she genuinely did love him, she ended up killing him after they had a daughter because they were on opposite sides of the conflict. The most entitled 150-year-old white woman you will ever meet.

Sophie/Ezekiel Dean (she/her, later he/him)

This universe's version of Emery. A transmasc egg who feels trapped in the monotony of his life and wants things to be different, for reasons he totally does not know, not at all. The reason Emery's always been so vulnerable to universe breakages: since he was young, he's been (consciously or subconsciously) trying to bring alternate versions of himself here to see if his life could have been any different. The whole "total collapse of reality" thing appeals to him because he wants to burn everything down and start over. Very, very good at breaking through universe barriers. Henrietta is a toxic mother figure and terrible influence to him. (The fact that he's Emery, and that he transitions eventually, is technically a minor spoiler, because he's so deep in the closet he could find Narnia for all of season 1, but since those of you who are looking at this are likely here from guess-that-ship and you already know all of that, I'll let it slide)

Irina Bell (she/her)

The perkiest trans goth girl you will ever meet. Born into Henrietta's side of the family and indoctrinated into Acolytehood, but around age 17 decided "fuck all that" and ran off to join the Guardians. The baby of the bunch. Desperate to prove herself to everyone. Especially Kivi.

There's also a few other minor characters, but I unfortunately have neither Picrews nor character bios for them. Maybe I'll make another post at some point.

Tagging @quackerjack and @sharidragonwood because I know you guys were interested, and also tagging @creation-help because I ended up using one of your name lists for Kivi (it's their last name, but it's what they go by, so it counts). Thanks to everyone who's asked about this, and if you want to know anything else about these guys, please ask me: I love talking about them.

[marchiveeee]

Thoughts on MCL NG EP.3 pt.1 (?) BC I'm fkn late✨

To summarize, I have 2 accounts for now: my Brazilian account, and my US account.

For the Brazilian account, I'm aiming for Jason, but since he only appears once in a while I'm trying to get the illustrations with the others that match my outfit (most of the time is Roy bc I don't have enough affinity with my boss 😭😭😭 I hope he doesn't fire me)

For the US account I'm aiming for Amanda, because wow.

But istg this woman is pissing me off on my Brazilian account!!!!!!!! Since I have to do the party at Candy's house to get the illustration with Roy/Devon, I couldn't choose the option to do it at the park and little princess just decided NOT TO SHOW UP?!??!??!! A wise woman once said: "Bitch?! You better be joking!!!" I know it's against the tradition to do at a place other than the park, but like?! How old are youuuuu? And why did the others not show up?????

Anywayyys, that being said. I'm still aiming for her on my other account because I'm gay and because she danced with me and I'm weak 🥹 but if she's still annoying, Thomas is my other option!

Anyways 2, it's interesting to see "both" sides of the story. That is, if you decide to go for Amanda and if you decide not to.

Anyways 3, omgggg I love Elenda so much, guys!!!!! She's an icon ✨ I loved how she responded to Devon at Candy's house kkkkkkkkk

The 1st one:

Eng: "Ah, that's true, no! You don't bring work back home!" (??? I have no idea if that's the right translation)

She said this because Devon suddenly decided to start talking about a new client.

The 2nd one:

Eng: "If you were really past that age, you would be capable of starting conversations"

The way I SCREAMED when she said this KKKKKKKK

For the ones who are just as late as I am, contextualizing her comment: there was a really awkward moment of silence BC no one knew what to talk about and to solve the situation Elenda showed her cards game that she uses to break the ice. Seeing her game Devon says something like "Are we not past that age (of playing the game) yet?"

[simmerdowndee]

#HAPPILYEVERHAYES EPISODE TWO PART THREE

Today is the day! We are all headed to Willow and Wren to find my dream dress. I really hope I find the perfect one. 

My mom and I arrived first. Then Dakota shows up. She says Theo is with Micah and they are going to have a guys day out. That’s cute, they are going on a date. Tori and Devon stroll in last, but at least they are not late. 

Tori: You ready? Blake: Absolutely. I’m so excited. 

Everyone goes and sits down and then we get started with the dress try-ons. 

Dakota: Remember to pick a dress you love.  Blake: I will. I want to pick a dress I love and one that I know Micah will love.  Dakota: Trust me, he’ll love any dress you pick.

I go back to pick out a couple of dresses and then I come back to try them all on.

*First Dress*

Dakota: That one suits your figure perfectly, but do you love it? Tori: You look beautiful.  Devon: I know you, and it’s cute, but I know something is missing. Blake: Devon is right. Something is missing. 

I go and try on the next dress. 

Devon: I don’t think that’s you at all…. Tori: I agree. Angela: I also agree. Dakota: I tried that same dress on and my party thought it was hideous. 

I tried on a few dresses and none of them were it. 

Blake: What about this one?

Tori: If you want it, get it. Angela: Blake sweetie, this is the 10th dress….. Devon: I like this one… do you? Blake: uh……. Dakota: I have an idea…. Dakota whispers in the consultant's ear.  Consultant: I have one more dress..

The consultant takes me back and then I come back out with one last one…

Dakota: Oh Blake, that is the one.  Tori: Blake, you look so beautiful.  Devon: Really beautiful.  Angela: I’m going to lose it.  Blake: Please mom.  Consultant: I take it, this the one? Blake: Yes, this is the dress!!

I’m so excited I found my perfect dress.

While everyone was ready to go, I asked Devon to stay behind. 

Devon: That was so fun. You looked so beautiful. 

Blake: Thanks D. I had so much fun with you guys. 

Blake: I’m gonna go change and then I wanted to talk to you. 

After changing, I go back and sit with D. 

Devon: I’m so happy for you. You looked so beautiful in your chosen dress. Blake: Thanks D. Devon: Well I should get going…. Blake: Did you want to be in the wedding?

Devon: Seriously? 

Blake: Yes.  Devon: I would love to, really.  Blake: Good. I want you there. Devon: Really? That makes me so happy, you don’t understand.  Blake: I miss you, D. 

Devon: I miss you too. I really do. 

Tori walks over

Tori: Good, because I am not cut out for a maid of honor… Blake:??? Tori:: This was Devon’s position, it always was. Devon: I’m just happy to be a part of it.  Blake: Would you want to be my maid of honor? Devon: YES.  Tori: Oh thank goodness. This is too much work. Blake: Tee? Tori: I love you, I promise.  Tori: But this was always D’s spot.  Devon: If you don't want me there, I understand completely. 

I always pictured my wedding with D as my MOH…..

Blake: If you are my maid of honor, you have to show me more attention than Tori….

Tori: HEY.  Devon: I’ll make sure everything is perfect, I promise. Blake: Then it's settled… 

I missed my friend guys.. and I found my perfect dress. Today couldn't be any better!!

[love-is-a-pearl]

That's a lot of work, re: making a whole summary of relevant things, but I 100% get the insanity and overanalyzing, that's my jam. Lucky for you, I'm not totally clueless as the small percentage of people who have deep dived into Pokemon lore. I'm taking about memorized NPC dialogue, flavor text for items, creator interviews, design inspiration and mythology, every bit of side/beta/unreleased/scrapped content, theories and inter-game connections. Yes, I know Amber2 and the Champion's League with their Elite 4 Cup mentioned in the DP anime. I'm just sad about it because what do you MEAN after my old draft outlined the chapters I have to DELAY the Elite 4 challenge until ANOTHER LEAGUE? I named those chapters so specifically as a nice, smooth transition and callback 😭 Granted I guess...it also kind of works. If you have ideas on what it is, how it works, or when it takes place? I might be able to implement it. I don't know if its another League with strong trainers or specifically battling the E4. 1) Ash-Guzma talk, gotcha! I think there's something to be said about how Guzma isn't another meglomaniac Ash had to face, and how the feelings of loss can be understood by Ash...I was just reading your write up on the parallels with Alain and how Ash's Unova self was a set up for his Kalos self. In my rewrite, although the story isn't focused on Ash and friends, I figured I try to give everyone their due anyways, and my biggest grip so far is keeping the anime for what it is and treating it's choices seriously VS altering them. Sure, I COULD disqualify Tobias for using legendaries, I COULD have Ash beat Alain, but...same reason why I can't undo Ash's pity badges. It's a part of his journey. 2) Iris MC arc, good point. There's no reason to off-screen her becoming a Champion. Not sure how I'll do it tbh, and it'll probably extend the time we spend in Unova (I really want to get to Kalos haha) but it could be nice. Mm, maybe I can have Iris meet other dragon masters from the regions...maybe I should rewrite the Plasma arc tbh, I think they changed N's character entirely in the anime? And make up an original episode for when Team Rocket was in Unova (the one that didn't air) and use that to lead to a near permanent shut down? Give Iris key moments there? 3) Real. Anime is kinda misogynistic about the girls. trainer!Lillie, with S/M style Lusamine, yay or nay? I often wonder about which aspects of the game characters to transfer over. Like, I want to bring in Will and Karen too although they don't exist in ani...I was thinking Ash and friends would have a plot similar to Substance R from the Detective Pikachu movie. Pokerus/Mewtwo's Beserk Gene/the forced evolution experiments/mega evolution? trying to get it all reconciled. They'll meet Karen in a similar underground tournament as in the movie I think... 4) Gary-Ash rivalry...they're no Reguri, but might as well give em something. Silph Co takeover, during Mt. Moon some Rocket defects with the fossil Pokemon (after they're revived at the Cinnabar's lab, which like in the game, the technology suspiciously works.) That's how Devon gets their own fossil revival tech we see. Stolen research. Aerodactyl was too wild, so uh, while attempting to use it at Silph (which went so bad the grunt was like "aight imma quit in the chaos.") Gary ends up catching it, and this starts his interest in fossil Pokemon research we see in the anime. 5) I have a gameverse AU too, so trying to find a 2nd origin story for the executives and Team Rocket is the dreaded </3 ignoring the chronicles japanese opening cameo, Silver does not exist. tragic, I love him, but what on earth am I gonna do, I can't repeat the AU storybeats. As funny as the TRio and Silver interactions might be. I guess this is always subject to change, but soooo much emotional investment in characters already exists that I had to keep anime!Bill instead of the other...very sad.

Yeh yeah, the tags weren't targeted at you specifically. it just gets me the amount of people who watched the OG anime as kids and think they know all that there is to know about it. Pokemon youtubers who played the games and start to target anime viewere when very obviously not caring for it get on my neves sometimes orz

And no, no! It's not another league! I'm pretty sure that what the anime calls champions league is actually just the elite four (or rather a name for challenges between trainers on elite four level, like we saw with Flint vs Cynthia sometimes). You don't need to worry about changing your fanfic SORRY!!! I just tend to ramble a lot in tags, don't worry about it 🙏

Oof, I get you. While Pokemon in general is my special interest and I love knowing anything about it, the competitive side of it (the whole IV-EV thing, smogon and showdown) are things I just can't bring myself to care about :V

Ohh, I understand the struggle. While the anime has some fun ideas and themes at times, there's some stuff that just begs to be changed.. I think it would depend on what kind of story you want to tell.

For my AU personally I'm taking what the anime did and kinda fixing the things I disliked while taking advantage of an older Ash and certain themes I want to explore. For instance, I'm having Ash use Primeape while he is traveling alone and focusing more on his pokemon, and that gets him to realize he never tried knowing that monkey at all. Ash traveling alone is something I always wanted but is not something that works in-anime and in a fanfic like that I can explore underated pokemon much easier than just idk, shoving Primeape into the JNs team.

But if you plan on rewriting everything post DP league (if I'm assuming correctly) and perhaps get Ash to age as the story goes, it does makes sense to change some big things as league resuts. Like, there's the joke "he would not say that" when people make characters OOC but is always good to remember "what would cause him to say that?". As in: if things change enough, if you write a story that deviates a lot from canon, then even certain outcomes and character reactions can change.

Like, an Ash that wins in Sinnoh probably won't be as affected by the Unova loss as canon Ash. And that Ash would be much more relaxed at Kalos, etc, etc. I guess it all depends on how you write (and what you want to write more than anything. I can't reiterate this enough, but have fun with those stuff!!)

Ohh, I have been talking to a friend about Unova and Kalos a lot, and one of the recent things was this idea of taking advantage of the fact Unova has more than 8 gyms in-game. Like, if you do want Ash doing gyms there still, I think having Iris do the other gyms that are introduced in BW2 would be an awesome way to start her gym challenges on-screen. We even talked about the concept of Iris and Ash and Cilan all meeting in Striaton gym! With both Iris and Ash going there to challenge him and since that gym has 3 leaders, Iris could get to battle one of the brothers while Ash battled Cilan.

Yes, the Plasma team and N and their connections are very different in the anime. Honestly if I could recomend you to research about anything out of the anime for reference, it would be Plasma Team. The way they're portrayed in the games is very interesting in how they pretend to care for pokemon, telling people that pokemon are better off alone and that holding them in balls/battling with them is abuse! And that's one thing I get very very sad the anime didnt take advantage of.

Ash is a character that would be so easily dissuaded by that kind of talk if done right and would be interesting seeing him questioning himself about that sort of thing SPECIALLY AFTER PAUL!!

And going back to Iris. Have her be more confident in her relation to pokemon because she was raised in a village of dragons, where human and pokemon live as one and let her take the role of main character and prove that Team Plasma are not as good as they pretend to be. Show how her connection with pokemon is that of a champion or something yknow?

SM Lusamine is always a Yay for me ;w; I love love love how she is portrayed in that game ♥ evil bitch of a mother, but so so good story-wise. And makes Lillie becoming a trainer even more meaningful too.

Yeah, I get it. Specially for timeskip stories, is hard to know how to balance Anime and Game characters. I.. don't have a tip for that tbh. If there's no anime equivalent, I tend to go with characters I got attached in-game or that are generally popular in fandom. I mean, if I can get attached to a random NPC from 2 dialogues in the game, then it means they're special right? But usually elite fours that haven't appeared on the anime (nor the manga) are not that memorable at all so Idk what to say about Karen and Will.. But I guess introducing them like that could be interesting. Karen has that kinda "strong pokemon, weak pokemon. it doesnt matter which you choose as long you trust them" quote that would make her interesting if portrayed as someone that is very against pokemon abuse. And if you make Will into a spy (since he has that magician vibe and i guess could be used as an excuse for him to work in TR's game corner undercover or something), it could be fun for them to team up to stop evil orgs like that on their own :V

BRING BACK THAT POKEBALL FROM JOHTO LEAGUE FOR ASH-GARY! I dont know what to do with it, maybe they could take it to someone to fix it and discover it belonged to someone and they both go search for it or whatever. But it was an interesting thing to AshGary that the anime just pulled out of nothing to explain their rivalry and never did anything else with.

Adding to what you already have, I could see Gary maybe taking a "Red role" and going after Team Rocket after getting his ass handed by Giovanni's Mewtwo. Like, I don't think he knew that was "Team Rocket's Giovanni", but adding to your idea and him discovering from one of the grunts that that gym leader was the boss of this evil organization could make him interested in knowing and stopping that guy since he saw how powerful the pokemon he used could be. And then if you plan to have Ash there for the TR endgame, they could meet and team up against Team Rocket and from that learn to respect eachother as equals more!

Oh, that's a whole nother beast I never dared to deal with. I have a special love for pokeani so I'm only focusing on that, so I can't begin to imagine how complicated it must be to balance two universes based off the same thing.. I have no tips on that lol sorry but maybe… seeing how things are handled in different games? I mean red/green, firered/leafgreen and letsgo are all from different universes, so maybe seeing how gamefreak themselves twist things may help with inspiration?

[theradicalscrivener]

I’m an aspiring writer who really wants to improve how much finished work they actually write, but I struggle so much with either my ideas being too large to write (too much planning ahead, too much time spent on it, too much preliminary research before I get to writing, general scope creep) and with not feeling able to return to a WIP if I don’t finish it in one go. Do you have any tips for dealing with those?

And do you do any regular writing exercises to keep yourself limber and avoid feeling “blocked up”?

Any advice is appreciated! And thanks for sharing so much of your great work for us to read 🙏

Everyone has a different process so it's not like I can just give a blanket set of advice for anyone who wants to write, but I do have some things that I have found helps me.

First off, writing is very much a mental thing. It's a mix between imagination and the actual physical process of writing. As such, I have found that I need to take steps to keep my brain happy or else I cannot write. Sometimes, if I go through a dry spell and can't write, I take a step back and do like a checklist. Often times, if I can't write it's because I am stressed about something (often stressed by my inability to write which makes a feedback loop of even more stress). I've had times where I realized that a lot of my problems were I hadn't been sleeping much, so I'll like take something to help me sleep and then pass out for 12+ hrs. (really shouldn't have let myself get that bad in the first place, but sometimes I have to do a hard reset for my brain.) Sleep deprivation is definitely one of the biggest issues I face on the reg.

As far as your first question about how to get into larger projects. Honestly, just start writing something. It doesn't have to be the beginning. It could just be a specific scene that you wanted to try. It sounds like you're getting so overwhelmed with your own prep that you're getting paralyzed. When you actually start to write a bit, you might realize that things don't go the way you originally expected. Like, some of the world building you created doesn't quite jive with what you are trying to write or things to that effect. This is not a bad thing. I don't think I've ever had a situation where the story I write ends up exactly like what I had planned in the outline phase. The more you write, the more you get a feel for how much prep works for you. Some people do really well having lots of intense prep and then when they get to the writing phase, they can just burn through it. Some people do better with a loose framework and then just feel it out as they go. I kind of shift a bit each time. I definitely do a bit more fast and loose on short stories and one-shots, but on longer projects like novels, I will try to keep things close to the original idea.

Again, however, it's hard to predict exactly how things will play out. I used to get really upset when the scenes wouldn't work like I had hoped or I couldn't get the characters to play by the rules I had laid out for them, but I've kind of eased off the reins. Part of why I like longer form serials is because once I get a feel for who a character is, I can kind of just turn them loose and see how they react to Situations. Like, with Troy and the twins, I have written them enough that I can just set them loose. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have characters like Devon and Ashton who I try to put in situations and then they refuse. Like, what was supposed to be a short interaction spiraled into it's own full-length novel nestled within short stories featuring other characters in the series.

It's definitely different doing a short story (even ones that are directly linked) vs a novel. Like, when I am writing a short story or a standalone chapter, I rarely know what I want to do for the next chapter. Just using Trevor and Acorn since they have been the two main projects these past few months. The end of each Trevor chapter is technically an ending. The current scene is over, and there's room for more afterwards, but if the whole story ended there, things are more or less in a position that I could leave it and be satisfied.

Acorn, however, I have plot beats already laid out. I know how I want it to end, and I have ideas for the finale that I want to do. The end of each chapter is a bit of a cliffhanger. Not in a doom and gloom and there's no telling if everyone is OK sense, but there's just enough of a hook at the end to sort of tease what comes next since I already know what the main plot beats are. Although, it's more of a loose framework and not a rigid outline. There's still plenty of room to explore the space. Like, the original story I thought would be four or so chapters. It was a novella at best, and a lot of the extra substance came from characters not behaving like I had envisioned when I had the rough framework down. The original base story was just Travis gets a new job and it's him adjusting. Curtis wasn't a major player. He was just the guy that Travis kind of knew that gave him a job req. You might notice if you read the earlier chapters, it's kind of vague if Curtis and Travis are really good friends or just classmates which was kind of retconned/explained as Travis being such a skittish anxiety case that he couldn't realize/accept that a hot guy was hitting on him.

This is just a recent example to give you an idea of what I was saying when I mentioned to start writing and don't worry if things start to veer in a different direction. It's great to have larger plot points and like world meta-lore, but also accept that all that stuff is malleable. I'm in a bit of an odd position since I post everything (mostly) as I go, but I do A Lot of writing that I never post. I've got some sfw stories kicking around that maybe someday I'll get published, but that will require me to spend less time on my normal stuff, so we'll see when that happens.

Some other tips and tricks. As mentioned, a lot of it is learning what works for you. I sometimes find that I get frustrated and am hitting a wall. Sometimes, I need to power through. Sometimes, I need to work on a different story. Sometimes, I need to do something else entirely.

I like video games. Depending on how I am feeling, I'll do different styles. Puzzles, soulslikes, JRPGs, etc. There's different degrees of mentally engaging. Sometimes I need something mellow to just turn my brain off. Sometimes I need something with a story to engage with on a mental level. Sometimes I need something with a bit more of a blank slate to let my mind fill in the gaps. If done in healthy doses, hobbies outside of writing can actually help.

Imagination doesn't just exist in a vaccuum. Everything you think is derived from something else. It's hard to say what or where you will get inspiration, and trying to constantly drum up new ideas when the well has run dry will just lead to burnout. TV shows, movies, games, book. I find that when I read something, I'll often sort of play out the scenes in my mind, and then when I take a break, I will replay the scenes and start to fill in some of the blanks. It could be stuff like imagining these characters during the downtime or putting other characters in similar scenarios. It's all using your imagination, and that's a skill that you can play around with. Imagination/brainstorming/plotting/outlining are all different facets of the same skillset.

Again, this is all just me rambling on about various things that I have discovered work for me. Everyone's process is different. Everyone's needs are different. The main advice I can give is just try to write. Like, I've shown screenshots in the past of my open WIPs. I'll often have 5-10 open word documents of different stories that I am bouncing around. I'll try to do a little bit every day or so. If I don't have a specific story in mind, I'll open one of my WIPs and reread the last page or so and try to add another paragraph or two. Sometimes I spend an hour or two and only have a few lines to show for it. Sometimes, I manage to break through the part that is giving me trouble and smash through it.

The source of the writer's block itself is often difficult to pin down. Sometimes, I feel like I am fighting my characters, and I have forced a character too far out of there own personality. In that case, I'll often realize this when rereading what I wrote. It's a "he wouldn't do that" scenario, but often I can find out under what circumstances would he do that? In those cases, adding a few lines leading up to that moment will make the rest flow smoother because suddenly, the character is in a situation that makes sense for them. Sometimes, the scene gets scrapped completely. Sometimes, I have to put it on hold and add a lot of stuff to get the character into a position where they are ready to do that scene.

Sometimes, I just needed a breather. Taking a break helps a lot. Sometimes, I just needed to think on it more. So like, I'll lay in bed and scroll twitter or something and let my mind wander. I also let my mind wander a bit when working out or doing other low mental impact tasks.

I feel like I've kind of danced around your main questions without addresssing them directly, but a lot of that is because it's hard to give specific advice for how someone should handle these situations because it's different for everyone. The best I can do is sort of give examples of what I would do in that scenario. The only real actionable advice I can give is just to write some. Don't think of it as making a finished product. I don't really think of any of the stuff I do as "finished" because it will never be 100% what I think it's capable of being, but I do reach a point where I have to tell myself that this is a good stopping point.

But yeah. Just have fun with it. Play in the space. Even if you don't end up showing off the finished project, just having some fun with it will help you understand what works for you. If you're not ready to commit to your big novel/if you don't think that your pre-prep is done enough for you to actually work on the big project that you want to do, treat it like fanfiction of your own world. Just write something to see how it feels to be in that space.

[dichromaticdyke]

Kloktober Day 20 - Original character or self-insert

Abigail gets to know her regular bartender.

she’s not a self-insert, she’s nothing like me—she doesn’t have heterochromia.

anyway, at first this was just gna be shameless mtl lesbian smut but then i figured most ppl wouldn’t want to read about an oc they’ve never heard of fucking abigail. so i made it two chapters—first chapter is totally tame, just serves to have them meet, second chapter isn’t necessary to read at all it’s just sexy times. it’s oc/self insert day i’m gonna be as cringe as i want.

and under the cut i put some more character details and a shipping chart, if you’re interested. <3

Devon Amalgamedle

any/all pronouns, no preference

white, short red hair shaved at the sides, brown eyes; fairly muscled frame, has gotten top surgery

black and red floral sleeve tattoos on both arms; facebones tattoo, not visible unless they WANT you to see it

eyebrow piercing on left eyebrow, snakebite piercings (studs), several ear piercings, tongue piercing

black t-shirt tucked into dark jeans, belt, chain wallet, black boots—wears a battle vest at shows that is so covered in patches that he just safety pins on so that he can remove them or mix them up when he feels like

bartender at the Mastodon

metalhead, closet dethklok superfan—at one point considered becoming a klokateer but never followed through, though she does show up during the climax of aotd (has a horizontal scar on their left cheek from that)

music autism but can’t play a single instrument or sing to save their life

tries hard enough to be cool and casual that they pass as exactly that, until meeting someone from the industry (happens a LOT at the Mastodon, still hasn’t gotten used to it)

has served dethklok multiple times—would pretend he doesn’t know/care who they are while working, but then would run in the back and scream after they left

eavesdrops on conversations between musical professionals, sometimes sends anonymous tips to gossip magazines/the Dethklok Minute—was the one to tell the press Pickles doesn’t drink as much as he lets on, for example

eventually develops a serious case of “don’t meet your idols” syndrome with dethklok in particular. will absolutely still listen to all their music and go to all their shows and buy all their merch still though.

the below shipping meme goes into their character a bit more, including ideas of how their relationship with abigail might go. we obviously know very little about abigail, and i am . NOT shy about taking some creative liberties with her (my day 5 fic lmfao—which is canon in this universe btw). that extends to this. i also used the same picrew maker to make an abigail in casual clothes and so that they match <3

i feel like their relationship is probably pretty boring compared to others' oc relationships (i love all the deranged shit y'all write w ur ocs btw <3 <3 <3), but i kinda did that intentionally, to an extent. they don't get together until during aotd, so i really just want abigail to have a good easy time after everything she's been through. i could also definitely be down to writing some devon stuff that would happen during canon or just interactions between them and dethklok in general.

aahhhh it's all just the idea of, if people are interested in this character, i'll make more stuff. i'm very happy to, but i also know they might not be interesting to people, and as true as it is that i write for myself before anyone else, it's hard to want to write stuff that i know people don't care about. so 🤷🏻 que será, será.

[undisputed-queer-a]

AEW doesn't do stories

I don't know if you saw...but AEW Fans “Don’t get more storytelling across the board”. This comes from the well respected source Bully Ray, and for starters I want to address what Mr Ray...Mr Dudley said rather than just talking about the headline. Bubba said that Tony Khan is a 'matchmaker' and that is the reason why AEW fans don't get more storytelling across the board. And to a certain extent he's right. Ok...ok...ok I know Devon, Spike and Big Dick's brother is certainly wrong but just for a second cast your mind back to this years' revolution. The Elite fought The House of Black and the story for this match was simply 'The House of Black showed up and challenged The Elite' that was it and it was amazing! That show kicked arse and it was in my top three matches of the night, a night that featured Danielson/MJF's hour long spectacular, Hangman/Moxley's psycho sexual deathmatch (I'm a Hangmox supporter), the final burial and the tag fatal four way and Joe and Wardlow's HOS fight.

This match was great...this is why Buh Buh Ray is missing the point. Tony quite often does book matches that people want to see and then just let people get themselves excited and use that for build. And you know what that's fine. Because it bloody works. It sells tickets, it sells PPVs and people have a good time with it. Literally Forbidden Door 1 & 2 have been mostly been built on this.

But certainly our favourite TNA wrestler is certainly wrong and AEW fans have had a large amount of storytelling and there's lots of stories I could talk about and I'm sure you are thinking of some and obviously the name I am about to say is who you're thinking about...

...

...

...

Brandon Cutler...and...Peter Avalon.

No explanation needed. In 2020 AEW launched their now defunct AEW Dark show. Now newer AEW Fans might know it as the show where AEW shoved like 12 meaningless matches every week but originally it featured actual stars like Pretty Peter Avalon (no but like seriously the YB were on it often at the start among other stars mixed in with less experienced or exposed wrestlers.) Pretty Peter Avalon and Brandon Cutler are both on losing streaks they are a heel and face respectively, and after having both incurred countless singles losses Avalon's manager Librarian Leva Bates suggests that they form a team. Brandon thinks the idea might work, Peter takes more convincing but eventually they form 'The Initiative'. Their first tag match is against QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes on AEW Dark #36 which they lost. They then lost to Jurassic Express. Well...Jurassic Express AND SCU and then the Young Bucks and then the Dark Order and then the express again and then the Butcher and The Blade and then The FTR and then Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss and then TH2 and then Chaos Project and then Private Party and then Avalon turns on Cutler.

Peter tired of losing realises that the only way to stop losing is to fight a loser. So the stage is set for the 52nd episode of Dark, Avalon versus Cutler losing streak versus losing streak. And I'll tell you this...it's a double count out draw! So they have a rematch a few weeks later. a rematch that ends in a double DQ. So 'Tony Khan' (the Young Bucks probably, really, if we're honest) organise a contract signing between the two on Being The Elite for a No Count out No Disqualification match between Pretty Peter Avalon and Brandon Cutler in which Brandon Cutler finally breaks his losing streak and beats Peter Avalon.

There you have it. It was a simple story told...pretty much perfectly. That's my proof that the brother to the Reverend is wrong. Even with AEW's youtube shows AEW fans get great storytelling. (I know AEW storytelling isn't always perfect, I'm not saying that AEW storytelling is always good but I'm saying that as fans we've had an ample amount of storytelling and AEW stories can be great even when just on Dark and BTE)

I don't know. I hope this illustrated my point well

This has been Undisputed Queer-a.

Slay The System, Shock The Cis-tem