#i have the outline planned i just need to decide if i want to include a certain event

[sonarsunbeam]

need to make a checklist for myself for what fics i have that im working on

[hahaifolded]

141 x POC!GN Intelligence Operative - The Contract (Long Drabble) Author's Notes: Once again playing with something new. Not gonna lie, hated this because this was more work than I had expected. Next one will be more narrative for my sake Warnings: MDNI, Angst (ALSO PUT YOUR AGE IN YOUR BIO CAUSE I DO BLOCK)

Contract of Employment - Intelligence Operative Name: [Retracted] Address: [Retracted] The basic terms and conditions of your employment are outlined in this Contract of Employment and the Employee's policies. Duration of Contract: Your employment with the Employer under this Contract started on [Retracted] and will end after 12 months after the initial date. Contract can be renewed after the Employee ends in good standing with the Employer after the 12 months and the Employee deems it a good fit.

Job Title and Hours 3.1: You are employed as INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVE for [Retracted] reporting to "the Captain." 3.2: You are expected to perform all duties outlined below starting at 0800 (8:00am) to 1700 (5pm) Monday through Friday. 3.3: You must be available for any extenuating circumstances past these hours. All emergencies will be informed by "the Captain" and "the Captain" only.

Price: Need you to review the plan for the next mission before the meeting tomorrow.

Ghost groans after reading the message. Price just had to ruin his Sunday night. Realizing that his plan to sleep in was just ruined, he decides to text you. Seeing that you normally got in around that hour, maybe you could join him?

Did he deserve that? God no. But, he missed you. So he sends the text and waits... and waits... and waits...

Next thing he knew, his alarm was ringing, signaling the new day. He checks his phone and sees there are no new messages. It didn't matter. He'll see you around soon enough.

But soon enough comes around and you're nowhere to be seen. Were you running late? Shit, your car. Maybe you were walking again? He sends you a text, but again, no response. He's so worried that he can't even focus when looking over the plans. It's not until he sees you walk in for the meeting exactly at 0800 that his mind eases. Surprised to see you walk in late, he decided to check up on you after the meeting.

Knock, knock

You glance up from your monitor. "Lieutenant?"

Lieutenant? Sure, that was his title, but you always called him Ghost. Something didn't feel right.

"Sorry, I just wanted to check up on you."

You stop typing and completely turn towards him. "Why?" Your tone is accusatory.

He stumbles a bit. You were never short with him. "C-cause you came in late toda--"

"I did not come in late. If you look over my contract, you would see that my start time is 0800, exactly the time I clocked in today." You turn back to your monitor and continue to work.

Ghost takes a big gulp. "Oh. I- uh... I sent you message last night and this morning."

You let out a heavy sigh and stop typing. "Was it an emergency?"

"No, but--"

"Good. I can't waste any time here, have to make sure I put all of my energy in my work. So if you don't have anything else of importance, you can leave." And with that you continue to type.

Ghost walks out of your office and closes the door. Why did it feel like it wasn't just your door that was closed here?

Job Responsibilities 4.1: You are responsible for all work that requires intelligence which includes analysis, gathering of intel, and presentation of said intel. 4.2: You will not participate in work that falls outside your jurisdiction.

After today's meeting, Gaz was weary of the plan. Despite being checked by Ghost, he couldn't help but feel like it needed to be discussed further. He kept in his thoughts during the meeting as he wanted to process them further.

Now after thinking about it all morning, he realizes he needs one more brain to help finalize his thoughts. Not just any brain, however, yours. If he wasn't so caught up in his thoughts, he would have realized that he no longer had any entitlement to your help. But alas without a second thought, he rushes to your office.

He knocks on your door and walks in before you have a chance to say anything. "Hello, hello!" he chirps. And, instead of being greeted by your warm smile, he is greeted by nothing. You don't even bother to glance at him.

Without removing your eyes on the screen, you say with no emotion, "Sergeant Garrick, what do you need?"

Sergeant Garrick? Ewe, that sounded so wrong coming out of your mouth. You always called him Kyle... Gaz if you felt cheeky. Feeling nervous now, Gaz hesitates to speak.

"Sergeant, I really don't have time for your shenanigans. Do you need something?" You quickly glance up and shoot him a sharp look.

That look brings Kyle to the present. "Sorry, yes. I was hoping you would..." You finally look at him, but instead of easing his nerves, it only exacerbated them as you looked at him with annoyance. "If you can, obviously, help me go over the plans for the next mission. Something about them just seem off and I could really--"

You interrupt him. "I have to stop you there. No." And just like that, you turn back to your monitor.

"Why?" he asks without thinking. He catches the way you took in a sharp breath.

Without looking at him, you respond, "I have never been in the field so what use do I have for you? Besides my job is in intelligence and in intelligence only."

He cringes at his own words. He tries to get another word in, but you're clearly not listening. Feeling defeated, he walks out your door.

"Sergeant?" you call after him. He quickly whips around. Maybe you changed your mind?

"Close my door."

Job Responsibilities 5.1: You have jurisdiction over all work that deals with intelligence. 5.2: You have complete authority to discipline officers of lower ranking or similar rank if their actions interfere with your responsibilities.

Soap doesn't know how it happened. He has been in his office all day, working. Sure, maybe he spent more time than he should have thinking about you, but everyone else does it. Now he was scrambling, trying to finalize the schematics for the explosives needed for the next mission.

Low on time, he rushes to your office to beg for your help. He knew he was in deep water with you, but he really had no choice. He hoped your caring heart would pity him this one last time.

He barges into your office, calling your name out. You immediately shoot up from your seat, worry apparent in your face. You hurry to the front of your desk to reach the panting Scotsman.

"Sergeant MacTavish, is everything okay?" Johnny can hear the worry in your voice. Good, you still might care.

"It's an emergency. I need to finish these blueprints by today or Price will kill me! Help your favorite Scotsman out?" he begs. Soap nearly whines when you take a step back from him.

You scoff. "Are you being serious right now?" Okay, maybe you don't care.

"I know, I know. But I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate," he cries. His entire body shudders when you scoff at him once more. You shake your head in disbelief and return to your seat.

"Please, get out."

"Please, it's not even a lot. Just go over--"

"No, Sergeant. I have my own work to do."

"It won't take a lot of time, just--"

"NO!" you stand up again, slamming your desk. "Sergeant MacTavish, it is not in my contract to babysit fools like you." He winces. "If you cannot handle the work that comes with being in Special Forces, I recommend you to consider other careers. So leave my office before I write you up for insubordination," you hiss.

Soap quickly apologizes and leaves your office. He bumps into Price on his way back, but it doesn't phase him. Your utter disappointment in him plays back in his head over and over and over again.

Breach of Contract 8.1: If Employer deems the work of the Employee as unsatisfactory, contract will immediately be terminated. 8.2: If Employee deems the Employer is breaching any of the parts outlined above, Employee has the right to terminate the contract without any repercussions

John didn't take Soap crashing into him personal. It was clear his sergeant was lost in his thoughts. What did pique his interest was where he walked out of. It seemed like every member on his team had a chance to pop in your office today, but him. Refusing to let any of those muppets get in your good graces before he does, he decided to pop in.

Since Johnny left you door open, he just knocks on the doorway before letting himself in. "Hopefully, I'm not disturbing?" he jokes. The clacking of your keyboard stops and you slowly turn to look at him. You take in a deep breath, almost as if you're trying to contain yourself.

"Captain Price," you announce plainly, "do you need something? I'm almost done with today's report."

"No, not at all. Just wanted to check up on you. See how you're doing?" He doesn't quite catch what you mumbled under your breath. "Sorry?"

You roll your eyes. "Nothing," you pause. "I'm fine. Just trying to get my work done before 5pm."

"5pm? Have an appointment or something?"

You stare at him for a bit and remind him of your contracted hours.

Assuming that you were worried about not finishing on time, John assures you that you can always stay in late or pick up again tomorrow. "It happens to the best of us."

Your eyes go cold. "It wouldn't have happened to me if your men and yourself weren't adamant in harassing me with matters that frankly do not pertain to me." You readjust yourself in your seat. "I advise all of you to go over my contract to avoid further misunderstandings. I would hate to leave mid-mission."

John goes cold. You... leaving. He looks in your eyes to see if there was any hesitation. There’s none.

Employer Signature: [Retracted] Employee Signature: [Retracted] Date: [Retracted]

After that day, the 141 realized what they had done. They had completely crushed your spirit and pushed you to be the epitome of professionalism. You were still a phenomenal Intelligence Officer, but you were just that. You were no longer their team mate... their friend.

But you're still here so that's fine... right?

Word Count: 1732

More Thoughts - Next Thought

[lyssasdrafts]

unrequited love — azriel x reader

description: you’ve always gravitated towards azriel, suspecting him to be your mate. however, he might be too closed off for one to realize.

includes: angst, unrequited love, rejected mating bond, cassian being your wingman

let me know if i should write a part two with a happy ending 🤭🤭

(part two)

you couldn’t keep your eyes off him.

azriel, who was cold and intimidating. azriel, who you were supposed to be scared of. azriel, who does unspeakable things for a living. azriel, who was so beautiful to you.

you could barely find it within yourself to hold his gaze. the coldness in his eyes that softened when he looked at you, those sparring glances and longing gazes. it was so easy for you to distract yourself whenever his hazel eyes watched you. azriel rarely smiled, but those rare moments you heard his laughter made your heart stop. his laugh compelled your heart, tugging on a string in your chest that you’ve never felt before. it was the way his lips curled and he threw his head back, the way the wind blew his hair as you watched him fly, the way you’d felt drawn to him like it was magnetic.

there was something about his beauty that struck you. it was the subtle way his shadows danced around you and called to him. how badly you wanted to know the thoughts behind his tired eyes when he looked to the ground. how his scars and battle wounds stuck out to you, making you want to hear his stories. you avoided looking at his lips because your first thought would always be to pull him closer. you wanted to trace your fingers along the outline of his figure, you wanted to hold his shoulders and wake up in his embrace.

more often that you’d like to admit, you thought of azriel when you closed your eyes at night and still couldn’t sleep. you stared at the darkness and wondered what he would be doing right now.

perhaps it was love at first sight. this wasn’t the kind of attraction that felt like an explosion; no, it started with a spark. it was fleeting, just like those moments you had with him, and it lingered. it lingered the way a poison makes its way through your body, killing you slowly. it lingered the way a bruise could only heal overtime, yet it still hurt in the smallest ways and left a mark.

but perhaps you would never heal.

you suspected azriel was your mate after the first time you saw him. from the longing that consumed you, to the plaguing thoughts of azriel refusing to leave your mind, to the spark in your chest.

perhaps he would notice it too.

but he never did. everyday, azriel showed you a new face of indifference. if there was ever a chance for you to be left alone with him, he avoided that opportunity.

a part of you told yourself that he was just scared. he didn’t like to open himself up to others, and he barely even knew you. but perhaps if you’d been patient with him and stuck around longer, he would realize. he had to realize, right? there was no possible way he couldn’t feel your pining through the mating bond, he couldn’t sense the attraction in your eyes when you glanced at him.

for now, you would keep your distance. you would give him space. but sooner or later, you needed to talk to your mate. you needed to confront azriel.

you had always confided in cassian about your feelings for his brother. besides the fact that he knew azriel better than anyone else, he was one of your closest friends. cassian had laughed at first, not believing that anyone could be attracted to his friend who was so cold and distant towards everyone. but cassian had been wrong.

after some pleading on your end, cassian decided that he would help you talk to azriel. you could have a more personal conversation with someone that azriel was already comfortable with. you wanted to know more about azriel other than your previous small talk and mission reports. you hadn’t planned on confessing your feelings or revealing too much, you just wanted to see how azriel would act around you.

it’s a shame that cassian isn’t good at being subtle. first, he brings you over to azriel and formally introduces the two of you. azriel blinks, as if he hadn’t already known who you were. but then you notice how he’d laughed at one of your jokes and figured there might be something there.

“any plans for tonight?” cassian breaks any feelings of awkwardness for you. if you had spoken to azriel alone, you doubt you would he made it this far. you trusted cassian well enough to know he could carry a conversation. “i’m going out with nesta. it’s date night for us, you know, because we’re mates.”

the word leaves you frozen, eyes widened and shocked. you had left out the part where you suspected azriel was bonded to you, leaving cassian to simply assume you just had a dumb crush. he was clearly trying to tease you by pushing the subject with azriel.

“do you have a mate, y/n?” cassian gives you a large grin. you held back a sigh, he definitely was your professional instigator.

you tried to laugh it off, remembering that you conveniently hadn’t told cassian that you thought azriel was your mate and might as well be falling in love.

“no,” you lie. then you realize the chance you have, and you glance towards azriel hopefully. “what about you, azriel?”

“i don’t have a mate,” azriel says coldly. “and i don’t want one.”

you try to ignore the pang in your chest. it felt like azriel had tugged on the string that potentially connected you before ripping it apart. he doesn’t want a mate. you think about all the implications of this. azriel had never suspected anything from his end, he had never thought anything special about you. you hold back your tears when you realize your loss and the feeling of rejection stings you. you seemed to have finally found your mate, only for him to not want you back.

your lips purse, fighting back what you really wanted to say next. you excuse yourself soon after, cassian following you closely behind.

“i’m sorry,” cassian awkwardly tries to give you a smile. “you wouldn’t like azriel anyways,” he waves his hand. “he’s cold, and doesn’t like to socialize. he wouldn’t have gotten along with you.”

you nod in agreement, keeping your head down as you stared at the ground. the feeling of emptiness, of losing your mate, it plagued you. cassian offers to walk you home, to which you want to politely decline in your sadness. however, you could use someone to cheer you up.

it’s not until you’re completely alone, back in your own room, that you allow yourself to grieve. you shut the door tight and lean your back against the wooden surface, sliding down to the floor. it’s not until then that you start to cry at the loss of your mate. not because azriel was hurt, but because he’s rejected you.

[sunderwight]

contemplating an SVSSS fic where Airplane transmigrates into Tianlang Jun instead of Shang Qinghua.

he wakes up before Tianlang Jun was about to walk into the HH Palace Master's plot, but too late to really do much about Su Xiyan's situation or the frame job. of course, being Airplane, he doesn't go face down the sects and get sealed under a mountain. but he also doesn't know what to do about the whole situation with Luo Binghe.

he was too vague in his outline and especially in his actual story. finding Xiyan or possibly some random washer woman who lives along the Luo river is a needle in a haystack situation, and he didn't ask for any of this to happen to him, so he just ends up leaving it alone. Tianlang Jun goes back to the demon realms with his confused (but relieved) nephew, and works on consolidating his power there and on thwarting the attempted incursions of Huan Hua Palace.

HHP has egg on their face because they riled up the other sects and got them into this alliance/ambush plot and then the heavenly demon they were supposed to fight didn't even show up. hasn't even been seen in the human world since. while HHP tries to spin it as them being so strong and formidable that they scared him off, the other sects feel like they're just blowing hot air and trying to take credit for something that never even happened. was that head disciple of theirs even involved with a demon at all? suspicious how she just disappeared, too. maybe it's a cover-up. no one's particularly impressed or convinced after the fact that HHP's claims are on the level.

which at least means that there's no concerted effort to wage a war or anything. Tianlang Jun meets a young Mobei Jun and Airplane decides to expend a lot of time and energy in helping the young prince consolidate his own power, so that's a whole thing. there's no system so Airplane's not obliged to preserve the plot, but he still knows it's out there and he's gotta skirt the line between giving MBJ absolute power on a silver platter and not setting MBJ up to be killed by the protagonist one day.

there are benefits and problems to TLJ mostly leaving Luo Binghe's whole journey untouched. on the one hand, he anticipates that everything around Luo Binghe will continue just like in the novel, so that's easy to predict. but on the other hand, that means he's in for some trouble when the blackened protagonist emerges all super-powered and unbeatable from the abyss and starts taking revenge on everyone who wronged him (a category which potentially includes the deadbeat dad who abandoned him for years).

so as the time of the immortal alliance conference approaches, Tianlang Jun starts to think that he needs to get ahead of this.

the most logical solution is to prevent Luo Binghe becoming quite as OP of a protagonist as he'd been the first time. since TLJ is plenty powerful himself (one of the things Airplane enjoys! as well as being very rich!) LBH really does need every edge he could possibly get to be a threat to him. so, why let him gain those edges?

this leads to TLJ's brilliant plan: just don't let Luo Binghe get thrown into the Endless Abyss! no blackening, no all-powerful weapon, no gauntlet of monsters to hone his skills, just a run-of-the-mill heavenly demon hybrid who could never in a million years take his old man in a fight!

TLJ decides he can two-birds-with-one-stone this situation by capturing Shen Qingqiu. then, one day if LBH does still make it to his doorstep, he can present him with his hated scum villain as a peace offering. like well son I know I abandoned you to suffer on your own, but plausibly I didn't even know you existed, so here, have your abuser to dismember in cathartic violence as you please! become a filial son and this old man will help fund whatever massive harems you want to build!

genius!

so, shortly before the immortal alliance conference is set to take place, TLJ goes and steals himself a peak lord.

Shen Qingqiu is... kind of different from what he expected? but oh well, it's been years since he wrote the novel and lots of characters have turned out somewhat different in person from how they were on the page, and the guy was always a mess of contradictions anyway. TLJ hands him over to his servants with strict instructions to keep him locked up, but not to harm or kill him (revenge is reserved for the protagonist, after all!)

Zhuzhi Lang, who witnessed the last debacle where his uncle took a sudden keen interest in a cold but beautiful human cultivator, makes entirely the wrong assumption (as do a lot of the palace staff) and figures that TLJ has just become more pragmatic about pursuing his lovers. Shen Qingqiu is given appropriate chambers (and restrictions) and word soon spreads that the Demon Emperor has captured a human cultivator to serve as his concubine.

so, this version of SQQ has actually been Shen Yuan since Luo Binghe joined the sect (and also doesn't have a system and thus had zero plans of throwing LBH into the abyss), and he is desperately trying to figure out what kind of changes he has unwittingly invoked here that Luo Binghe's father should be still alive, and free, and also kidnapping him to be his goddamn concubine?! that has to be a misunderstanding, right?!

Mobei Jun is mad. and jealous. and mad. but a concubine isn't an empress, so that job posting is still available, right? it better be, he has been waiting more than a decade for the official proposal!

TLJ meanwhile decides he's going to go secretly watch the immortal alliance conference just to make sure that the universe doesn't contrive to drop LBH into the abyss anyway, but weirdly enough, Luo Binghe isn't even there. listening to rumors, he gathers that uh... some stuff has changed? like Luo Binghe is head disciple of Qing Jing Peak? and apparently went crazy when Shen Qingqiu disappeared? except that some people think they might have eloped???

maybe he shouldn't get his rumors from Xian Shu disciples, those girls remind him of rpf conspiracy theory shippers from his old life. they're probably just way off base! hahaha... ha...?

well at least TLJ did a pretty good job of covering his tracks, so there's no reason for anyone to suspect that he captured Shen Qingqiu. or there shouldn't be, until he goes back home to find that every single demon seems to believe that Shen Qingqiu has been taken by him to be his lover. where did anyone even get that idea?! TLJ has been dutifully pining in his unrequited and inappropriate love for the young Mobei Jun for years now! whenever anyone asks he insists he's still mourning Su Xiyan! it's been a whole thing!

but oh shit, truth aside, there's no way those kinds of rumors have remained strictly contained to demon ears. both demons and cultivators have their spies after all, and even if they didn't, news moves along the borders.

sure enough, TLJ barely has time to try and dismantle this misunderstanding before a young Luo Binghe arrives on his doorstep, along with Yue Qingyuan and the very-much-still-alive lord of Bai Zhan peak, for some reason, all of them extremely pissed off at him!

[evertidings]

Hello~ I have a question about the writing/development process, if that‘s alright? What method do you use to keep track of choices/branches? I‘ve been debating on writing an IF, but the choice/branch thing seems almost more daunting than the coding 😭

I’ve answered this before but I love talking about this haha so I’ll explain it again.

I should start off by saying I’m not very Type B, so I don’t really need a rigid outline before I start writing. A lot of my best scenes are happy coincidences, and I come up with a lot of ideas on the spot. That said, having a vague idea of what you’re doing is always nice, especially since an IF is not a linear thing.

— FLOW CHARTS

When it comes to planning out various branches, I think the easiest way is to see it visually. I have a dedicated notebook for WTS, so when I start a chapter, I whip it out and conjure something like this (the flowchart above). Mine don’t go into detail about every choice that I want included in the chapter, but at the very least, I get a rough idea of how I want the chapter to begin and end, as well as how I am getting to that final checkpoint.

I also tend to write jot notes on the side of various topics I want to cover and scenes where that can happen. Again, I’m very flexible with my writing so having the freedom is useful to me, but it may not be for you.

— CHOICES & IF STATEMENTS.

Then, the writing. I start all my chapters in Word, which to most people will look crazy, but once you get used to it, you’ll find it’s actually quite organized. I’ve attached my layout above. The “Choice Placeholder” is, as you can guess, where I’d put the text for the choice players would choose. Everything in the bullet point would be text that only that route sees, and anything after it is common text that all the routes merge into.

I also included an example of how I set up my ‘if statements’, aka flavour text, in my Word document. While I usually write it in code, but for the sake of simplicity, I left it out. These aren’t reallyyyy necessary when you’re first figuring things out, but having flavour text can be nice for customization reasons. Like having your MC bump their head if they’re too tall for a doorframe, for example. I write these in a slightly different shade from my choices and on a different bullet point line just to make it easier on my brain and eyes.

Word (I’m not sure about Google Docs) allows you to create headers and collapse them, so if this looks a little too crazy for you, that’s always an option.

— CHARTS

If you need a little more structure and can’t just, like, freestyle your choices in a document, you can also make a chart. I do this to keep track of my variables. This one, for example, is from Chapter 8. I obviously crossed some things out, but you get the gist of it. While I’m not sure this would be the best method for organizing branches, it definitely helps in other areas.

Either way, I find that having a spreadsheet like this is the best way to keep everything in one place. If you have a lot of flavour text like me, it’s also good for when you want to reference something from a previous chapter. Because of that, I only really include variables I think will be useful for the future; if I put every variable I’ve ever created in a chart, I think I’d explode.

— OVERALL

I don’t think branches should be something that intimidates you. It’s very different from the traditional, linear way of writing, for sure, but I think as long as you keep it simple, it’s not that difficult. First chapters tend to have a lot of choices on customization and there is little space for flavour text since you have no previous text to reference, so you can always use that as a ‘trial run’ before getting into more complicated things.

If you decide to go through with it, good luck!! Let me know if you have any more questions too (and hopefully this answered your initial one).

[sanguinesky-if]

[Dev Log] May 2025

Hello, I hope you're doing great!

As for my progress, here's a quick overview of my activity over the past month and my plans for the current one.

[Announcement] Patreon billing will be paused starting May 25 for one month to finish the update.

The work on the update is well underway, and since I've decided to add more content that was discussed in this post [public post on Patreon], I'll need one more month to finish it.

That said, the early release of Chapter 3 Pt. 2 is scheduled for the end of June.

At the end of May, I'll share more sneak peeks [for Morgan's, R's, and I's scenes], and reach out to the readers who have helped me with grammatical mistakes in the past to ask if they'd be interested in beta reading.

I hope this will help ensure the update contains fewer grammatical mistakes before it's released on Patreon and then publicly.

What was done last month?

▹ Chapter 3 Pt. 2: finished working on Morgan's and R's scene + made some improvements.

Aside from finishing the ROs' scenes, the list of improvements includes:

Making the small sex scene with secondary rivals available after some of the ROs' scenes.

Previously, the small sex scene with secondary rivals was only available as a separate scene that had to be selected instead of the scene with one of the ROs. While working on the update, I realized that was a very poor decision and coded it differently, making it available as a choice for the reader at the end of the scene with some of the ROs.

Adding the opportunity to unlock certain jealousy moments using alignment [approval] points.

While I was reviewing one of the completed scenes, I saw an opportunity to code a specific narrative variation involving jealousy using alignment [approval] points. This made me reconsider all planned jealousy moments, and I've decided that starting from Chapter 3 Pt. 2, readers will be able to trigger some jealousy variations if they have enough romance or alignment points. The alignment requirement will always be higher than the romance one [+1 or +2 compared to romance points]. I hope this change will be appreciated by the readers who don't want to flirt with other ROs but still want to experience at least some jealousy moments, even though it will be very occasionally.

What will I be working on in April?

▹ Chapter 3 Pt. 2: outlining and coding [I's, T's, and S's scenes].

In addition to that, the bonus content on Patreon that will be released this month will include:

▹ K's Short Story. ▹ T's POV [Chapter 3 Pt. 1].

Author's Note.

Just like in the previous dev log, I want to thank everyone who sent me messages and apologize if you didn't receive a reply.

Right now, my mind is completely focused on finishing the update, which makes me less socially active and attentive than I should be.

After the update, I'll try to be more active here, since I already have plans for what's next [some of which include NSFW content for both Patreon and public releases 😏].

Also, some of the questions I've received are already answered in the Q&A post, so please check there first to see if you can find the answer you'd like to know.

Thank you for reading to the end! Wishing you a wonderful week and days after that! ♥

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Honestly, I like the idea of Gabriel sacrificing himself to save Nathalie in Season 5’s finale. I think it could’ve worked if Paris didn’t treat him as a hero posthumously and if Chat was present.

(And also if the wish didn’t canonically rewrite the whole universe.)

If the writers had always been consistent with making him sympathetic, it could’ve been a powerful ending for his character.

Thoughts?

I don't disagree, though I would argue for a different sacrifice from Gabriel. So long as the wish doesn't rewrite the whole universe, then I'd fix season five's ending by having Gabriel wish for Adrien's freedom, making Gabriel into a sentimonster while Adrien becomes a real boy.

The reason I'd take this route over the Nathalie one is that saving Nathalie is horribly anticlimactic. Canon didn't build up to saving her, it just randomly happens. The show wouldn't feel incomplete if Nathalie suffered the consequences of her own fully-informed choices. She was only saved because Adrien needed a new mommy and Emilie couldn't come back without outing Gabriel as a villain to Adrien, so he gets Nathalie instead because heaven forbid the wish do something interesting. Five seasons of buildup and all it does is maintain the status quo of Adrien living in the mansion with Nathalie overseeing his life. What an asinine way to end the Agreste arc. This is not how you tell a satisfying story!

To explain what I mean, let's talk about my fix for a bit and how it actually fits the story we've been watching for five seasons.

Two major focuses of the show's first five seasons were Gabriel controlling Adrien and Gabriel choosing Emilie over Adrien. Saving Adrien is how you show Gabriel having a change of heart that demonstrates actual character growth. The sacrifice canon went with doesn't mean shit for Gabriel's character because he still picked his wife over his son without a single thought for what it would mean for Adrien's well being. It is not brave or kind to abandon your kid to your villain partner who never expressed interest in being a mother.

You want Gabriel's sacrifice to feel meaningful? Then it needs to be something that actually costs him happiness or that actually increases Adrien's happiness. Saving Emilie at the cost of his own life would be better than what canon went with because at least that would see Gabriel being willing to be apart from her for the sake of their son! Dying to be with her is not giving up on his goal of being reunited with his wife!

For the curious, here's a rough outline of how you could do this fix while leaving season five mostly intact:

Adrien and Marinette learn each other's identities during Kwami's Choice and start dating.

Gabriel is fine with them dating and even likes Marinette, but views her as a non-serious first relationship. He and Adrien conflict over the fact that Gabriel is not willing to let Adrien include Marinette in major life events. For example, Adrien is banned from bringing Marinette to the Diamond Dance not because of Adrigami, but because Gabriel doesn't think the relationship is serious enough to let Adrien bring her around his rich friends even though Adrien will be miserable without Marinette there. Gabriel is also still planning to ship Adrien off to London in spite of Adrien's protests. In other words, focus the conflict more on Gabriel respecting Adrien and his choices without needless complications like Adrigami. Really hone in on Adrien's personal freedom as the defining theme and let Adrien be the one to fight with Gabriel, not Marinette. Adrienette should not feel like the source of the conflict.

Marinette learns Gabriel's identity from Felix and immediately finds Adrien to tell him and figure out next steps. They decided to face Gabriel together right as the Alliance bullshit goes down.

Chat Noir's identity is outed to Gabriel during the conflict because the sight of Emilie's body gives Chat Noir's identity away. Gabriel immediately uses his newfound knowledge to control Chat Noir, freezing him in place so that he can't help Ladybug. Before Gabriel can think of another command, Ladybug takes the ring of the black cat and becomes BugNoir leaving Adrien to watch the fight between his father and his Lady. He will be watching this fight from his mother's side.

Because Adrien knew his father's identity going into the fight, he's more lucid than he was in Chat Blanc plus the command Gabriel used didn't stop Adrien from being able to say what he's feeling. He's constantly calling out encouragement to BugNoir and begging his father to stop this madness. Gabriel tries to command Adrien to stop, but BugNoir never lets him finish a command.

We get to the scene where Gabriel uses the bee on Marinette, only this time that happens because Adrien is present. It's not his fault, it's just that him being there is why she tries to reason with Gabriel. She can see and hear her boyfriend's pain and it's killing her, making her take a risk she really shouldn't.

Gabriel goes to make his wish while looking at Marinette, Adrien, and Emilie's body. Before he can make his wish, he sees and hears Marinette and Adrien talking. Marinette is crying and apologizing to Adrien because she couldn't help him. She wants to free him, but the senticommand is still active, leaving him frozen in place as he tells her to run away or some other emotional scene focused on Adrien's lack of freedom. Cue a flashback to a near identical exchange between Gabriel and Emilie from when she was dying from the peacock and he was desperate to free her.

Gabriel suddenly realizes just how messed up Adrien's status is and that is what gets through to him, not some dumb video telling him something he'd doubtless heard from Emilie before. On the heals of this realization, Gabriel is given the option to make a wish. One wish. One change. He looks between Emilie and Adrien and picks Adrien. Adrien becomes a real boy, Gabriel becomes a sentimonster and ascends into the light with Emilie.

Cut to the canon ending. Nathalie and the Gabriel statue are gone, but other than that it plays mostly the same. Everyone is happy, Amelie is Adrien's new guardian, and Adrien is being allowed to stay in Paris because she's willing to live there until he comes of age or because the Gorilla agreed to stick around. After all, being someone's guardian doesn't actually require you to be present

End of outline

There are better ways to do this fix, but those would require larger changes to canon and I wanted to show that canon could have done this fix without massive rewrites. Yes, the love square would be revealed, but so what? Who even cares about that anymore?

The tension around the reveal came from how it impacted the romance, but Adrien and Marinette are happily together on the side that lets them date freely, so the reveal isn't even going to be fun anymore. The most it will bring is depressing complications because of the events of the season five final and I doubt canon will pull those complications off well.

The secrets between Adrien and Marinette should have ended with season five because, at this point, Adrien and Marinette having secrets keeping them from happiness is boring, awkward, and makes their relationship wildly unhealthy. From what I've heard, it's not like the secrets are even getting that much focus in season six. The secrets could be gone, season six could be about figuring out the new team/dating drama, and the show would probably be better for it.

Since it was in the ask, I'll note that saving Nathalie would work if you rewrote the show to make it feel like character growth for Gabriel. As is, saving Nathalie is completely in character and requires no growth. You'd also want it to feel like something Nathalie deserved through a change like actually letting her try to stop Gabriel in season five. Those are some massive changes making saving Adrien the easier fix by far. It's also the only way making him a sentimonster works in my opinion. A big dramatic removal of control is fitting for a kids show with a theme of parental control.

[goddessinnerglow]

Become Your Best Version Before 2025 - Day 13

Financial Planning and Budgeting

Hello Goddesses! I know that talking about money, can feel scary or boring, but after working on our stress management tools yesterday, it's perfect timing to address something that's often a huge source of stress for many of us: finances.

First things first: if thinking about money makes you want to hide under your blanket, you're not alone. But taking control of your finances isn't about becoming a math genius or never buying another coffee again. It's about making friends with your money so it can help you live your best life.

Let's break this down into bite-sized pieces that won't give you a headache:

Start Where You Are

Remember when you first learned to ride a bike? You didn't start by doing tricks, you started with training wheels. Money management is the same way! First step: just look at your current situation. Open those banking apps you've been avoiding. Take a deep breath and look at your statements. Knowledge is power, even if it's a bit scary at first.

The Money Map Exercise

Grab a piece of paper (or open your notes app) and let's do something simple:

Write down all your income sources

List your regular monthly expenses (yes, including those sneaky subscriptions!)

Don't forget those irregular expenses like annual fees or seasonal costs

Look at what's left (or what's missing)

Congratulations! You've just created your first basic budget outline.

The 50/30/20 Guideline

Here's a popular way to think about your money:

50% for needs (rent, groceries, utilities)

30% for wants (fun stuff, shopping, entertainment)

20% for future you (savings, debt payment, investments)

These numbers might not work for everyone, especially depending on where you live. The important thing is to have some kind of plan that works for YOU.

Smart Money Habits You Can Start Today

The 24-Hour Rule: For non-essential purchases over a certain amount (you decide the number!), wait 24 hours before buying. You'd be surprised how many "must-haves" become "maybe nots" overnight!

Bill Calendar: Set up a simple calendar with all your bill due dates. Future you will be so grateful!

Automate Your Savings: Even if it's just $5 a week, set up automatic transfers to a savings account. It's like hiding money from yourself!

Track Your Spending: For just one week, write down every single purchase. No judging, just observing. You might find some surprising patterns!

The Emergency Fund Challenge

Let's start building that safety net! Even $500 in savings can make a huge difference in an emergency. Start with a goal of saving just $25 this week. Too much? Start with $10. Too little? Make it $50. The amount isn't as important as getting started.

Money Goals That Make Sense

Instead of vague goals like "save more," try specific ones like:

Save enough for three months of basic expenses by December 2025

Pay off one credit card by summer

Create a "fun fund" for that hobby you've been wanting to try

Your financial journey is exactly that, YOURS. You don't need to compare yourself to anyone else. The person on Instagram showing off their investment portfolio might still be paying off massive debt. Focus on your own path!

Your mission for today:

Look at your bank statement (I know, scary, but you can do it!)

Pick ONE money habit from this post to try this week

Set ONE specific financial goal for 2025

See you tomorrow for Day 14! Remember, every financial decision you make today is a gift to your future self.

[mozillavulpix]

Okay let's go

The Wonderful Precure Complete Book interviews, vaguely written out by me using Google Translate on the japanese text

anything in [square brackets] is personal commentary so don't take it too seriously

If anyone actually knows Japanese and wants to translate this properly, go ahead, I can give you the raw text. I just don't know if anyone else is insane enough to do it. it's pretty long

Masanori Sato (Series Director) x Maki Tahakashi (Series Producer) x Yoshimi Narita (Series Composition)

[Composition as in 'head writer' not music]

Q: Please, tell us about the beginning of the production of "Wonderful Precure" (Hereafter refered to as "Wanpuri"). First of all, how did you gather the production staff?

Takahashi: Actually, due to various circumstances, the production of Wanpuri started much later than the previous series "Hirogaru Sky Precure" (hereafter "Hiropuri"). However, the broadcast date had been decided, so we needed to quickly gather staff who knew the basics of Precure production and could also work quickly. It was around that time that we heard that the script for "Otona Precure" had been completed, so we asked Narita to join. Sato had been in charge of directing the movie "All Stars Memories", so we thought that he could create a new Precure that wasn't bound by the assumptions of a TV series, so we consulted him. We had little time to spend on planning discussions for Wanpuri, so it was a prerequisite that they could understand and accept the outline of the story we had prepared. It was an extremely heavy order with a tight time frame, but both Sato and Narita accepted it without hesitation and brought a breath of fresh air to the project. I am very greatful.

[People are speculating these 'various circumstances' might be related to the 2022 ransomware attack on Toei Animation, but we don't know for sure.]

Narita: It was decided dogs and cats would appear as main characters, and the dog would be the protagonist.

Sato: When they approached me, Narita was already in charge of series composition, and it had already been decided that the theme would be animals, and a love story would be included in the story. Character designs had already been ordered, and I recall the main character was a Papillon called Cure Wonderful/Komugi Inukai. The colours of the Pretty Cure characters had also been decided.

Narita: The Series Director decision was made much later than usual, so I kept thinking to myself, "Has the director been decided yet?" (laughs)

Takahashi: There were a lot of different circumstances that came together, and it took a long time to make the decision. Sato also had a lot of things going on. Since the decision came late, we wanted to fulfil as many of the things he said he wanted to do in the main story as possible.

Q: "Wanpuri" is the first Precure series to have an animal as the main character. How did you feel when you heard about this theme?

Narita: At first, I couldn't quite accept that the main character was a dog. How would a dog act as the main character? Considering the setting, I thought Cure Friendy/Iroha Inukai would be more suitable as the main character. However, when I actually wrote the scenario, it surprisingly suited me. As I continued writing, it started to make more sense to me, and from then on I was able to write the scenario smoothly and enjoyably.

Sato: On the other hand, I was able to accept that the main character was an animal. It didn't feel strange at all. However, since the main character would be active in three forms - an animal, a human, and a Precure - I had to think about how to balance them. Also, another theme was "Precure that don't fight", so I thought if I did that, it would be difficult to create a showy action scene. Instead of fighting, there would be a "chase". When I heard that they would be incorporating what is known as "chase action", I began to think about what to do with the climax of each episode.

Narita: The purpose of Precure was to save the animals that had turned into Garugaru, so the fact that Precure didn't fight wasn't a problem for the drama. However, I thought that it would be quite difficult to make the action scenes exciting without them fighting.

Sato: Come to think of it, initially there was an idea of them having to work to free captive animals.

Takahashi: Yes, there was. There was also a bit of discussion of whether the story should have a 'good vs evil/morality' theme.

Narita: It was decided this route wouldn't fit well with the direction and characters of Wanpuri, so it was switched to the current route at a very early stage.

Q: Detailed characters of the four Precure. Who came up with the setting?

Narita: It was me. When I was approached about the job, it was already decided that Precure would be made up of four girls, so I started to create the characters from there. Cure Wonderful was something that was very easy for me, as I originally had a dog. As for Cure Nyammy/Yuki Nekoyashiki, I spoke with people who kept cats and read books about them to reflect the 'tsundere' nature of cats in the character. Friendy/Iroha is a bright girl who wants to be friends with everyone...things went smoothly with her, but Cure Lillian/Mayu Nekoyashiki was a challenge. To be honest, when I first started writing the scenario, I hadn't envisioned Mayu's high-tension behaviour, and I had imagined her to be a much quieter character. But as I was writing the scenario, she became more and more lively (laughs) , and the direction of the story further enhanced that, resulting in the cute and fun Mayu we know today.

Q: Each of the four Precure has their own unique personality, but what was it like animating them, Sato?

Sato: I drew the storyboard for Episode 1, but at that point I hadn't fully grasped the character's personalities. So I started with Friendy/Iroha who is sociable, cheerful and a bit clumsy, and in a sense the easiest to understand. After that, I animated Wonderful/Komugi, who is full of emotion and says "I love you, Iroha!" and she came out looking like a dog very smoothly. (laughs). So it was relatively easy to solidify the image of the movements of the "dog group". For Nyammy/Yuki and Lillian/Mayu, the storyboards expanded the possibilities for the pair. By playing around with their movements and expressions, the characters moved better than I had imagined, and I think they became a really fun pair.

Q: Until the middle of the story, Nyammy stubbornly refuses to say "Wonderful Precure" and says "Nyanderful Precure". Was that Narita's idea?

Narita: That's right. After Nyammy became a Precure, I asked for her to say "Nyanderful" for a while.

Takahashi: Considering Nyammy's personality, this was a reasonable course of action, so I think I immediately gave an OK to the suggestion.

Q: How did you decide on the names of the Precure after they transform?

Takahashi: Since it was a four-person group, we initially discussed naming them after the four seasons. However, various things came up and the idea was scrapped. As we thought the idea from scratch, we first decided on the name "Cure Wonderful", and the name of her partner Precure was decided on as "Cure Friendy", but then we got stuck again. In contrast to how smooth the dog group was, we had a lot of trouble naming the cat group.

Sato: Even as production was progressing, we still hadn't decided on the names for Nyammy and Lillian after they transform. The name of Lillian hadn't even been decided at the time of the casting auditions.

Takahashi: I struggled with naming Lillian, but I also really struggled with naming Nyammy. Wonderful was decided on so easily - dog -> wan -> wonderful - and since she was a cat, I decided on 'nyan', and...then what? I was stuck.

Narita: I was hoping for a name that had the nuance of a cat's meow, like "nyao", but I couldn't think of a definitive name.

Takahashi: So after much deliberation, we decided on the completely coined word "Nyammy".

Q: By the way, does "Wonderful" have any meaning besides the "wan" of a dog barking?

Narita: Yes. In fact, it comes from Iroha's catchphrase. I started writing the scenario for Episode 1 before Cure Wonderful's name was decided, and Iroha's catchphrase was "Wonderful" at that point.

Takahashi: The catchphrase was already in place at the plot stage.

Narita: That's right. That's why she became "Cure Wonderful". Story-wise, it went that "Komugi, who is always with Iroha, remembered her catchphrase and said it when she transformed."

Q: I heard that the Precure cast was decided through auditions. Can you tell us how that was done?

Sato: The first one to be decided was Lillian/Mayu.

Takahashi: The Lillian played by (Reina) Ueda was just like how we imagined it.

Sato: In the audition for Lillian/Mayu, I asked them to act out her shyness and her excitement when she calls the cat Yuki cute, and I was surprised that everything about Ueda's performance, from the tone of her voice to the way she portrayed the difference in her emotions, was exactly as I imagined.

Takahashi: We all unanimously decided on Ueda. I remember that the moment we heard her voice, we all burst into a commotion, saying "It's just like Mayu!"

Sato: The next one to be decided was Friendy/Iroha.

Takahashi: Wonderful/Komugi and Friendy/Iroha were decided around the same time.

Sato: (Atsumi) Tanezaki is known for playing a lot of characters before her audition, and all her acting was really well done. That's why I really wanted her to participate in Wanpuri as a main character.

[This sentence isn't translating well, but I assume Sato is referring to the fact Tanezaki has played a lot of very well-known, well-received and diverse characters, such as Anya in "Spy X Family", Dai in "Dragon Quest: The Adventures of Dai", and Frieren in "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End".]

Takahashi: We had pretty much decided on Maria Naganawa for Wonderful/Komugi, but we were a little worried about the voice of the main character. But Sato said with confidence, "If it's Naganawa, it'll be fine. Komugi is Naganawa-san." So we got the push we needed and decided on Naganawa.

Sato: I'd heard Naganawa's acting in other anime before. She has a wide variety of acting skills, and I knew she had a cute voice and a wide range of acting, so I thought it would be fine to leave the role of the main character, Komugi, to her.

Takahashi: The one that remained undecided until the very end was Nyammy/Yuki.

Sato: It was really undecided. But as I was struggling with the decision, Takahashi, and (Takashi) Washio, the executive producer of the Precure series, suggested to me, "Perhaps Satsumi Matsuda would be good for the role."

Takahashi: Matsuda is a voice actor who excels at playing boy roles, but she had participated in the previous year's Hiropuri as a female character called Berriberri, and I knew she was also great at playing 'older sister' characters. I thought with Matsuda's acting ability, she could surely play an older sister character with a different flavour, so I recommended her to Sato.

Q: In this work, the climax of each episode is purifying the Garugaru and returning them to their original animal state. How did you come up with the purification method?

Takahashi: The idea of hugging Garugaru to purify them was Narita's idea, and that setting was there from the plot stage.

Narita: Yes, I remember going through that pretty smoothly.

Takashi: At first, there was an idea to wrap the Garugaru in a swaddling cloth when purifying it, like how a baby feels safe when hugged.

Sato: Based on that, we came up with the Friend Liberale design, where the Garugaru is wrapped in a ribbon.

Takahashi: Originally, we were aiming to create something that wouldn't harm animals, and the ribbon was the result of our constant search for different ways to express ourselves.

Sato: Things like locking them in a cage or tying them up with rope wasn't allowed.

Takahashi: We lifted the ban a little in the second half, but in the beginning of the story, especially in the first cour, we didn't want to include any such images. We also wanted to make it clear that this is a story about the bond between people and animals.

Narita: There were quite a few other things that weren't allowed.

Takakashi: Yes, there were. There were detailed rules on how to hold a leash, and Daifuku had to be properly leashed before going outside.

Narita: Yes, I created a scenario where the leash should only be taken off in dog runs and parks, not in city areas.

Takahashi: Even when we let Komugi off the leash, we had to make sure there were no large dogs around, and we were particularly strict with these rules in the beginning. In the second half, they were relaxed a bit, because the amount of fantasy elements increased.

Q: With all these limitations, how did you plan on portraying the Gaou group that came with such open anger and hostility?

Sato: Actually, when Torame and Zakuro were introduced, we talked about allowing kick and punch motions in the action.

Takahashi: But we decided not to do that after all. We thought it would be better to be consistent and "contain" them, so we changed course.

Q: How did you go about creating events and a story structure for a year of broadcast?

Narita: I came up with the outline of how to make things more exciting, and that's what was basically adopted.

Takahashi: I had thought about the timing and content of the season, and I had organised what I wanted to do and the points I wanted to portray, so it wasn't too much of a problem, but what was unusual was that it took 30 episodes for Nyammy and Lillian to fully join the team.

Narita: It was quite a long wait. I mean, it took Nyammy that many episodes to understand Wonderful and the others and to decide they could become friends.

Takahashi: It couldn't be helped, considering the character's personality, but it still took quite a long time, so we were all quite nervous.

Narita: And then Nico-sama turned into a human. That wasn't originally the plan.

Takahashi: That's right. The original plan was for Nico to remain in her unicorn form until the very end. But we wanted her to play a part in creating excitement in autumn. Keeping interest during autumn is always a source of worry for Precure, which airs throughout the year. In the Precure series, power-up techniques often appear in autumn, and the producers are always racking their brains over how to generate excitement after that. As a result, we decided to have Nico transform into a human. The story had been going pretty well up until Episode 30, but we wanted to give it an extra boost, so we used everything we could.

Narita: I understand that feeling. When I took on this job, I wanted to include everything I thought was interesting and everything I learnt up until now. But looking back, Nico's transformation and the appearance of the wolves were in the same episode, so I worried it might have been overstuffed. But when I saw the finished product, it was really well-done, so I was glad.

Takahashi: I'm sorry I caused so much trouble for Sato.

Sato: Personally, I thought it wasn't necessary for Nico to become human. (laughs)

Narita: It was unexpected. But the power of the character designs was a great help. When I was shown the design for Nico's human form, I knew I could make it work.

Sato: The key point about Nico is the contrast between her character when she's in human form and when she's in her small unicorn form. In her human form, she's more god-like, so she doesn't move in a flashy way, but in her small unicorn form, she moves in a very flashy way. I could play around a lot with that.

Takahashi: Sato is very good at animating mascot characters. He was able to bring out Nico's cuteness, which was a great help.

Narita: Although it's the same character, I wrote the scenario to have a distinction between Nico in her unicorn form, who is a smiling character who loves to entertain everyone, and Nico in her human form, who is mysterious.

Takahashi: Kana Ueda's acting really helped a lot. Thanks to the clear distinction between Nico's human form and her mascot form, I think we were about to portray Episode 44, about saying goodbye to a pet, from a much more comprehensive perspective.

Q: Mey Mey, the butler who serves Nico. What kind of character was he created as?

Narita: Actually, at first, I was planning to make Mey Mey a more mysterious character. But I decided to make him a character that would liven things up. His character is very distinct, so after a while he started to move naturally without even thinking about it. I messed with him a lot, but I love Mey Mey!

Sato: I think it would have been nice to have more fun with him. He's a great character.

Takakashi: I felt that the directors had a lot of fun directing the episodes in which Mey Mey plays an active role. They did a great job of making it comical. In the beginning of the story, we needed someone to keep the plot moving, so I think they did a great job balancing that with his brilliant tsukkomi.

['Tsukkomi' is a japanese comedy thing, basically translates to 'the straight man'. As in, the one trying to take things seriously and pointing out all the absurdities of the situation. Also yes, google translate kept 'tsukkomi' untranslated so that's why i'm explaining this]

Q: Speaking of Mey Mey, he's known to be a big fan of the character of Satoru Toyama, but what kind of character was Satoru created to be?

Takakashi: Actually, in the planning stages, we were thinking of having a boy Precure, and Satoru was the prototype for that character. However, due to various circumstances, the idea of a boy Precure was dropped, and instead Satoru was designed as a character that would support the Precure. Satoru and Daifuku transform like Precure in the movie, and that's how it came about. Also, the original plan was to have them transform in the TV series, so instead of ending it with the movie, we decided to have them transform in Episode 49.

Sato: Actually, I wasn't told that Satoru and Daifuku would transform in the movie (laughs).

Takahashi: When Sato joined the production team, it was around the time it was decided there would be four girl Precure, so the idea of a boy Precure hadn't been communicated to begin with.

Sato: I thought their transformations would be a special event that would only happen in the movie. I was very surprised when I heard they would be transforming on TV, too.

Narita: I also didn't have an image of Satoru transforming. I thought he would always be in the role of the Precure's advisor or assistant. On the other hand, I thought Daifuku would eventually be able to speak, so I gave him an 'older brother'-like personality from the beginning. Combined with his good voice and cute looks, I was happy that he became popular. I liked his manly personality and wanted to write a TV scenario for him, so I was glad that we were able to have the two of them transform in Episode 49.

Q: Speaking of Satoru, the love story between him and Iroha became a big topic of conversation. Could you tell us how this story came to be included?

Narita: This was my suggestion. Since the characters are middle school students, I thought it would be okay to have some depiction of love. I also thought it could be a way to bring excitement to the story around autumn. I made the suggestion without much thought, but fortunately I got the go-ahead, so I decided to carefully depict the flow of how love comes to fruition, and I made it into three episodes.

Takahashi: This was the first time Precure has depicted love, so we thought very carefully about it, such as where to set the goal for love.

Narita: We decided the goal would be 'holding hands', and little by little we built up the romantic stories between Iroha and Satoru as we worked towards that goal.

Sato: Speaking of portraying the romance between the two characters, Iroha and Satoru have quite different romantic feelings. After Iroha finds out about Satoru's feelings, she becomes increasingly conscious of him, but Satoru has liked Iroha from the beginning, so his way of treating her doesn't change. He's liked Iroha since the first episode, and he's always been conscious of her in his actions. So, when depicting the romance episodes between Iroha and Satoru, I was mindful to make sure that this point wasn't mistaken. In addition, I wanted to make sure that Satoru's attitude towards supporting the Precure remained consistent. Satoru doesn't just want to help Friendy/Iroha, he wants to help all of the Precure. So I tried to make sure he never wavered on that point.

Narita: I also wanted to make sure that Iroha and Satoru's love story wasn't just about the two of them, so I got everyone around them involved. Mayu was at the forefront of this, but Yuki and Komugi were also there to support the couple. What's more, the story is set up so that the classmates are actually aware of it as well. In the original story, it wasn't planned for the classmates to be involved, but the directors for each episode had been developing the characters of the classmates up until now, so I made full use of that and created a story that would bring out the best in them.

Q: How much about the classmates had been decided at first?

Narita: When I joined, the class seating chart and surnames had already been decided. Since the story takes place in Animal Town, everyone has the kanji for an animal in their name. I wanted to reflect that in the scenario as much as possible and have everyone play an active role, but there were some kids who couldn't make it, which is a bit disappointing.

Takakashi: There were some characters that couldn't be portrayed as animals.

Narita: Yes. I was paying attention to Ryuzaki-kun (laughs). I was thinking of an episode where he keeps a seahorse, which is then turned into a Garugaru, but unfortunately, I couldn't include it. Also, I couldn't include Satoru's parents in the main story. Since the episode where Nico-sama transforms was added, I had to focus on that, and I also had to consider the length.

Takahashi: We had a few discussions about Satoru's family.

Narita: I also thought about the occupations of Satoru's parents. There were various ideas, such as influential people in Animal Town, politicians, or bigwigs at IT companies. Also, Satoru had an older brother. This is just my imagination, but his older brother is even more talented than Satoru and is studying abroard.

Takahashi: That's the first time I've heard that! (laughs)

Narita: I also thought that maybe the Toyama family was a clan that was in conflict with the wolves in the past...but it was just a fantasy.

Q: Did you come up with the setting for the Inukai family as well?

Narita: That's right. The Inukai family runs a veterinary clinic, and I wanted the parents to be a veterinarian and a groomer. When I was thinking what professions the father and mother should have, I decided to go against the general image and make the mother the veterinarian and the father the groomer.

Takakashi: I had heard that groomers do heavy physical work, especially with large dogs, so it didn't feel that strange to have the father as a groomer. I remember that character designer Yoko Uchida and costume and prop designer NaSka had a lot of fun designing Iroha's father. I was surprised that he was more muscular than I had imagined, and that he was wearing a really cute apron.

Sato: At first, there were two designs for Iroha's father's apron. I thought the design was great, so I suggested combining the two, and that's how the design came about (laughs). Also, Iroha's father has been cooking meals and taking care of Iroha since the first episode, so viewers have been saying that he might be a full-time househusband.

Narita: I wanted to make Tsuyoshi (Iroha's father) my idea man (lol). A muscular father wearing a cute apron who does all the housework and takes care of his daughter is just the best.

Q: How did you decide which animals would turn into Garugaru?

Narita: Since it had been decided the product would be linked to toys, we received around 40 original designs from the toy side and were able to choose from there. Among them were the tsuchinoko and the Tyrannosaurus, and I thought they would make the story more interesting. I remember thinking "I wonder if I can make a story like this?" Also, since the subject matter was animals, I wanted to weave in some trivia about the animals into the story. I thought it would be great if you could naturally absorb knowledge about animals after watching Precure. The writers for each episode did a lot of research and were able to incorporate that information into the script very well. Also, at the end of each story, I added some trivia notes about the animals that appeared, and other writers saw them and gradually started writing their own. Thanks to that, we were able to share our knowledge and have fun writing the story.

Takakashi: Sato was very particular about the design of Garugaru.

Sato: That's right.

Takahashi: Actually, at the beginning, there was an idea to design Garugaru as a monster. There are two-legged and four-legged animals, but if we were to use that setting in the anime, it would inevitably cost a lot to draw it.

Sato: But I didn't give in on that point. Since the story is themed after animals, I thought it would be better to consistently depict Garugaru as an animal, and since the habits of animals are the hooks of each episode, I thought it would be difficult to come up with a strategy for the chase action if the Garugaru didn't move according to those habits.

Takahashi: Looking back now, I think Sato's decision was the right one. The action was more varied and more convincing, and each episode was well worth watching.

Sato: To be honest, there were a lot of bird-like animals, so it was difficult to differentiate them (laughs).

Takahashi: The owl, duck and bat turned out really cute, so I think it was great.

Sato: Also, in the chase action with the Garugaru, we made it possible to use the power of Kirarin Animals as part of the variation.

Takahashi: During our meetings, we discussed things like "Wouldn't it be awesome if Kirarin Swan could fly using its power 'to grant them the ability to fly'?"

Narita: Actually, the most powerful thing was the Panda's power to put the opponent to sleep.

Sato: I struggled a lot with how to incorporate the power of the Panda into the action.

Narita: The episode where Kirarin Fox's power was used caused quite a stir when Wonderful transformed into a tire (laughs).

Takahashi: (laughs) and Nyammy transformed into a giant cat toy.

Narita: It was a lot of fun, and I would have liked to see the humans transform as well if possible.

Q: Gaou's true identity is Subaru, a human who once shared a heart with the wold Gaou. Was this decided on from the beginning of the project?

Narita: That's right. By having the final boss a human, I wanted to avoid a structure in which Precure and animals are enemies. Also, I thought that the emotion of an animal resenting a human is very human in of itself. At the same time, it didn't feel right for us humans to so easily write about the feelings of animals; it seemed very pushy and unnatural. For that reason, I made Subaru the final boss. But actually, at first, there was the idea that Friendy/Iroha could talk to animals.

Sato: After Iroha transformed into Precure, she would gain the ability to talk to animals.

Narita: Yes. But I quickly abandoned that idea. I felt like the ego of the human side would inevitably come into the dialogue of the animals.

Takahashi: Even if we tried to eliminate human ego as much as possible, since it is we humans who create the stories, there was always the possibility that it would show through the dialogue.

Narita: That's right. So I stopped having animals speak human language directly, and instead had Wonderful/Komugi act as an interpreter from time to time. I think that by creating that setting, Wonderful/Komugi's character became more prominent and made her feel more like the main character.

Q: While the story is generally fun and cute, there was also a serious scene that left an impression on me, where Friendy/Iroha is shocked to learn that humans had driven wolves to extinction. Please tell us why you included such a scene.

Takakashi: In drawing Precure, which has an animal theme, I felt that it was inevitable to consider the history of humans causing the extinction of many animals. However, I didn't want to convey it in a way that would hurt the children who watch the anime.

Narita: I was a little worried because the wolved that appeared in Episode 29 looked a little scary, and I wondered if it was okay for Gaou and the others to continue directing their anger at the Precure. But by this time, the four Precure had become more united and the way they embraced the Garugarus had definitely made me realise that. This gave rise to a sense of persuasiveness, so I trusted them and wrote the climax without worrying.

Sato: On the contrary, I wasn't particularly worried about depicting that part. That's because I had already decided to end the story with Gaou saying "I'm glad Subaru was there." What should have been depicted in the climax wasn't the conflict between the species, but Gaou and Subaru connecting with each other once again, so I thought that would be fine.

Takahashi: But I was quite worried about those scenes at first. A sad story can be painful for the viewers.

Narita: I think I got through that by trusting the viewers. I knew everyone was excited about Wanpuri, so I believed that even if there were some tough moments, they would still watch until the end.

Takahashi: I think that if you watched up until Episode 40, you would know that it would be okay to entrust our feelings to them.

Q: In the final episode, after Komugi and Yuki lose the ability to speak human language, they are able to talk to Iroha and the others again with Nico's power. What kinds of discussions did the staff have about whether or not they would lose the ability to converse with humans?

Takahashi: Initially, I had envisioned the ending being one in which Komugi and Yuki could no longer speak, and I supported that idea. I thought that even if Komugi and Yuki lost the ability to talk to people, they would still be able to connect with each other emotionally.

Narita: However, considering the atmosphere of the work, I thought it would be a bit odd to end the story by suddenly losing the ability to talk to Iroha, Mayu and Satoru, when they had been able to talk happily up until that point. I felt a fun and bright ending would be more suitable for Wanpuri than a lonely ending. So in the end, even though they can't become a Precure or a human, they gain the ability to talk with people and continue to live happily with Iroha and Mayu.

Takahashi: In the story, Daifuku says "Even if we can't speak, best friends are still best friends. But speaking is more wonderful." It ended up being exactly like that.

Q: After the broadcast of all 50 episodes, the "Wonderful Precure Thanksgiving" was held. At the event, character shows, live performances, and reading plays were shown, but the reading play that depicted what happened after the final episode attracted the most attention. I heard Narita wrote the script for this episode, but what was you intention in creating it?

Narita: The reading play was shown at the evening premium performance, so I wanted to show everyone that "Komugi and the others can't become humans anymore, but they're still living happily together." I wanted everyone who had been supporting us for a year to know that Komugi and the others are living happily, and that they're the same even though they don't transform. Also, Mayu played a big role in the boyfriend-girlfriend stories that were sprinkled in and out of the character show and reading play (laughs).

Q: With "Thanksgiving" over, please tell us how you feel about "Wanpuri" now that you have completely let go of it.

Narita: I was so busy during production, but I looked forward to watching the broadcast of Wanpuri every Sunday morning. I knew the story, of course, but I enjoyed the direction and the voice actors' performances. It was a really good year, both writing it and watching it was fun.

Takahashi: I was really busy during production. But I was really happy that everyone, including Sato, Narita, the writers for each episode, the cast, the many animation staff and the sales staff, came together as "Team Wanpuri" to make the series a success, and I really felt like we all made it together.

Sato: There were some hard times in creating the techniques, settings and transformation scenes, but after that it was a lot of fun. The dubbing was done by really good people, so I was able to leave it to them and have a relaxed time.

Takahashi: Everyone has a broad perspective and is very creative, so when I make a suggestion, they accept it warmly. I was also very helped by the fact that they were okay with additional suggestions as long as they were within acceptable range.

Q: I'm sure it's very difficult to choose, but which episode was your favourite or most memorable episode out of the 50?

Narita: My favourite is Episode 1. I cry every time I watch it, but it was a key point in creating the script, so it left a strong impression. Also Episode 29 and Episode 50 are memorable/

Sato: Like Narita-san, the most memorable episode to me was Episode 1, which I did the storyboard for. The story was a bit challenging, with Komugi only being able to say "wanwan", but I heard that some people cried after watching it. I was impressed not only by the script, but also by Naganawa's acting, who was able to convey her feelings to the audience with just "wanwan".

Takahashi: For me, the introduction in Episode 30 is what made the biggest impression on me. In fact, up until this episode, there were no episodes where we could have fun. Even during summer vacation, there was a lot to do, such as having to raise Nico-sama's egg. In the Precure series, it is customary to be able to play a little outside of the main story during the summer vacation episodes, but that was not possible in Wanpuri. However, it's precisely because they carefully built up the story in this way that these 30 episodes have become so popular. I am deeply moved to have received this offer.

Narita: Even when I was writing the script for Wanpuri, I felt like it was chock full of episodes (laughs).

Takahashi: That's true. There were only about 20 episodes between the appearance of Torame and Zakuro and the final episode. Episode 40 was a fun episode in which humans transformed into animals, but even this episode, which at first glance seemed like a playful episode, contained important information, so I thought we couldn't let our guard down.

Narita: There really wasn't a single episode that wasn't related to the core of the story or theme.

Takahashi: In Episode 26, "It's Too Hot!", just when you thought it was about them having fun playing together, they suddenly started talking about how to prevent heatstroke in animals.

Q: Finally, please give a message to the fans who have supported 'Wanpuri'.

Takahashi: Thank you for your support. Even after the 50th episode, Komugi and the others are still the same. They will continue to be wonderful in the same way. If we ever have the chance to meet again, I hope you will come and see us with a smile.

Narita: Thank you all for supporting Wanpuri. I have heard your comments and it has been very encouraging. I've been working hard on the theme of "a wonderful world that everyone loves!" and I'm glad that the viewers have come to love the show too. Thank you so much for watching the past year.

[Narita here is saying Cure Wonderful's introduction speech, "minna daisuki suteki na sekai!"]

Sato: Thank you for loving our work. The story began with Iroha and her friends going for a walk, and ended with them going for a walk. I think Komugi and Iroha will continue to find wonderful things in their daily lives. I hope that you too will continue to find wonderful things in your daily lives.

[rocksibblingsau]

How did you come up with the idea for I'm Gonna Make This Place Your Home? What was the process like?

So the initial idea of "What if Barb adopted Branch" was a random idea I got after I got deeper into the fandom. I came into the fandom thanks to the third movie showing up on my TikTok feed and did a deep dive into the other movies and media and fell in love with the second movie and the different tribes. I love fun villains and Barb was really fun. I don't know why I thought she'd be the perfect big sister for Branch, I think I was trying to combine a fix it AU with my favorite character.

After I had the initial idea of Barb adopts Branch, I ran to AO3 and couldn't really find anything that fit what I was looking for. There really weren't any fics that had Branch being adopted by anyone other than the bros.

I sat on it for a day or so and went "What the heck, what if I just wrote a lil bit of how I thought that would go?" and wrote the first chapter. I had intended for it to stay private and it'd be something I'd tinker around with randomly but after writing it I went "What if I put this out there?"

I sat on it for a day or so and went "Oh alright, I'll post this." and put it up on AO3 on anonymous. I started getting comments and I decided to put out the Poppy intermission. I was getting a lot of good reception on a fic I thought would get a max of 7 kudos so I decided to try and put out a few more chapters.

When I was working on the third chapter or so, I stopped and went "Okay, I guess I'm doing this. I need an actual plan."

I sat down and opened up a word document and just started typing vague plans for the fic. I decided when and how Branch would get his colors back, what would happen with the movies and a few other milestones I wanted in the fic, like the one year anniversary. I cannot stress how vague the initial plan was.

As I started putting out the next few chapters, I began to plan more thoroughly. I went over how I wanted characters to get introduced, scenes I'd like to write and the lore of the world. I have a very messy notepad of just random bits and pieces. Some chapters were just made up on the spot, some I put a little more thought into. The more I wrote, the more I started to figure out the scenes I did and didn't want in the fic.

I still have things very vague. Right now I couldn't tell you when we'll get to the first movie except that it's looking like chapter 80+ now. Some big events I also still have no plan for, while others have a vague concept and "wing it" underlined in red. I kind of let the characters lead the way a bit, which is how Billy became so relevant and how Dickory got introduced. The original outline had 0 Dickory and that's a shame.

A lot of the ideas I get come to me from very vague ideas that I think would make a cute chapter or I think are needed. Branch's hang out day with Barb for example, I knew I wanted Branch to try to hang out with Barb in a special way, and I sat down and tossed around some fun ideas for the two to do. Branch almost did bumper cars instead of laser tag, which would've been a shame because laser tag is his THING!

Some chapters are made because I want to share lore or world building. Branch's school for example, I thought it would be fun to show off what Rock School is like, as well as show how Branch would react to that environment. The New Years chapter as well, I had random world building ideas and wanted to show them off.

Sometimes I have ideas that just don't make the cut, and I have to consider what makes for a good story. One of my initial drafts for Barb bringing Branch home included a song, but I looked at it and went "Branch asked her not to sing, and I think Barb respects that. Barb wouldn't do this, I just wanted to see it." Some scenes are cool but make the fic a little clunky. I save them in a word doc just in case, and so I can look at them later.

A lot of ideas I get by turning on music and just daydreaming about the characters and letting my mind wander.

I think one of the most helpful things to my writing is experiences. The arcade chapters I drew from a trip I took to an arcade, and if I'd never went, I might not have come up with the idea of having Branch go to an arcade. Not every chapter is an experience I've had, I've never gone to a haunted house, but I did get scared at a house I went to on halloween as a kid and I ran outta there so fast.

I think for me there's a middle ground of planning. If I had no plan for the ending, I think I would have gotten demotivated and quit writing. If I planned everything too much, I think I'd get frustrated with it as I came up with new and better ideas that there were no room for. Right now there's still a lot of wiggle room for changes in the fic.

[limes-sagau]

Starting My Sagau Writing Journey

Ok Im wanting to dip my toes into the Sagau writing scene and I wanted to put out about 3 ideas I have and plan on writing. Each idea will be outlined below and people are welcome to take inspiration off of them just make sure to tag me in the writing. There will also be a poll at the end where you can vote for which one you want to see first. When I finish writing each chapter they will be put up on AO3. 

Shimeji AU: 

For those who don't know, Shimeji is a browser extension that spawns a chibi version of a character onto your browser. This character can then move around and climb on the borders of your web page and just be a cute little distraction (I know this might sound like malware but its not I've had a Venti and a Lumine Shimegi for a while now and haven't experienced anything that can imply they are malware) 

This would be more of a drabble and less of a full fic. 

Basically the characters in genshin become aware through their Shimeji and then begin acting up in your browser when you're out of the game (when you're in game you're fine).

If you leave your web browser opened when you leave your computer you will come back to it being on a weird page 

Like Venti looking at a wine website 

Diluc somehow ending up on a streaming service watching Batman 

Yae Miko finding your writing 

I'll likely start off with characters from Mondstadt and go down the list for each region.

Kidnapped by the Harbingers (not the final title): 

Exactly as it sounds, in the middle of the night you are taken from your college dorm (or room I likely won't specify) to Teyvat after the harbingers find a way into our world. 

Haven't decided which harbinger will be sent (leaning towards Childe because I feel like it would fit best and he'd be down for that type of experiment). 

Most of it will take place in a separate castle from Zapolyarny Palace. 

If you want to know my specific location I have in mind their is a visual novel called Dottore And The Spy where you become Dottores apprentice (highly suggest this visual novel) but its main story takes place in a castle in the middle of a frozen wasteland away from civilization where both Pantalon and Dottore live. This will be the main location for the story. 

I'll also be adding in Capitano as another permanent resident of this castle because I want to write about a big strong man who is the emotional intelligence of the three main harbingers present. 

The other harbingers and the Tsaritsa will appear but they will be much more understated in their role.

I want this fanfic to go into the mental load that being locked away from the world has on a person's psyche.

Readers' powers will slowly awaken, making it harder for the Harbingers to keep us a secret from Teyvat and specifically Celestia.

This won't be a full blown yandere fic with the harbingers, they will be slightly possessive but it is more about your safety since Celestia doesn't like you. 

Celestia will be the ultimate enemy over all but the story will not be focused on shooting down Celestia from the sky as readers powers will not ever reach the strength needed to face Celestia alone. 

Harbingers plan will not have changed; they are still working to take down Celestia.   

This will be taking place after Sumeru (so no Scara or La Signora and their will be less clones)

The story will also include 

Getting to know and bond with your castle staff like maids or ladies in waiting (I know these are typically only given to female presenting reader but I want to write about gossip and forming friendships so this is what I'm going with) 

Quality time with each harbinger

Impressing Dottore with your basic levels of knowledge on Astronomy (since Teyvats sky is fake)

Eventually a runaway arch

Lots of tears and mental breakdowns, but don’t worry there will be comfort as well

Shenanigans 

Possibly NSFW after reader finally convinces everyone to stop calling them “your grace”

To Make a Haven (Title might change):

Imposter (but reader is the real deal) AU

Reader gets killed once by a mob of NPCs 

I want it specifically to be NPCs so the reader still has emotional attachment to the playable characters

Reader seeks out a safe and secluded place  

Teyvat awakens to readers distress and opens up a hidden area of the map to the reader that can only be accessed through very specific means. 

Reader eventually starts bringing in Hilichurls to what for now im going to be calling “the Grove” 

Reader will begin messing around and experimenting with her powers and finds a way to somewhat heal the hilichurls 

This isn't a full fix it will be like layering a curse on top of a curse in order to negate some of the effects of the original curse

The hilicurls will not return to being human they will become something else (human like but not human) 

This fic will contain way more original characters 

Reader will be more spiteful in this fic but less in like a “make everyone suffer” way and more like “lets shake up the system and make everything more challenging for people because they tried to kill me” 

This fic will span over a larger span of time in world with the reader building a full city in the hidden area Teyvat made for them.

Well those are my three ideas! after this poll is done I'm hoping to get the first chapter out with that week, but I'm a college student and it been a while since I have written fanfiction so i make no promises.

[nondelphic]

hey! i was wondering if you have any advice for me: I am wanting to write an epic/high fantasy book, and i started with my worldbuilding, then i moved to characters and their individual arcs. my main struggle is coming up with the overarching plot, the main conflict. any tips for coming up with ideas?

thanks for the ask, anon!! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) ♡⋆𐙚₊˚⊹

tbh i don't have a lot of experience writing fantasy, but! just because i don't have "a lot" doesn't mean i don't have any!! i was in a similar situation to you literally just a few weeks ago when i started worldbuilding and outlining a fantasy plot :D

so!! i'll just tell you the process of how i came up with my plot!! i hope it can help somewhat!

♡ pulling from your worldbuilding

the beauty of worldbuilding and having complete characters is that you literally have everything you need to START writing. but as you said, coming up with an overarching plot can be difficult. i don't know how extensive your worldbuilding is, but for me, my planning included a list of major historical events/eras in my fantasy world. from this, i just decided "okay, the plot is gonna take place during the *insert historical era from my fantasy world*."

then i'd think "okay... what was society like during this historical period?" what kind of power struggles, conflicts, or changes were happening at that time?" from there, the plot practically started writing itself! by narrowing down a specific time and place within your world, you're essentially placing your characters in a pressure cooker of events that are naturally going to generate conflict.

♡ character-driven plot

another approach you can take is to look at your characters’ arcs and ask yourself what situations would force them to grow or challenge their beliefs. think about what each character wants most in life—what would happen if they couldn’t get it? or what if they got it, but at a great cost? you can build the main conflict around these personal stakes, and that can really help drive your plot forward.

for example: say you have different species in your fantasy world, and one of your main characters belongs to a species that’s an outlier in their geographical area. maybe this species has been historically oppressed, or they’re seen as a threat due to some misunderstood ability or ancient conflict. you could focus on how your character fits into the world—they might struggle with their identity, trying to prove their worth in a society that fears or rejects them. this inner conflict could be the spark for a much larger plot, like starting a rebellion or becoming the key to resolving a long-standing feud between species. their personal journey, then, could naturally tie into the broader conflict of your story.

the key here is to use the uniqueness of your character's background and situation to fuel the plot. how they navigate the world around them can lead to choices and events that shape the entire story!

♡ external threats

sometimes the easiest way to spark an overarching plot is by introducing a big external threat. it could be anything from an invading empire, a natural disaster, or even a rising rebellion. something that shakes up the world your characters are comfortable in and forces them into action. this external conflict can intersect with their personal journeys and create some interesting tension.

♡ combining personal and world stakes

the most gripping plots often combine both personal and external stakes. maybe your character is fighting for their home or family, but there’s a much larger political or magical conflict brewing that they become a part of. it’s not just about saving themselves, but the entire kingdom or world. the trick is to make sure the personal stakes are always tied into the larger conflict, so it feels cohesive.

♡ take inspiration from your fav fantasy works

don’t be afraid to pull ideas from the things you love! if a specific scene, mission, or plotline really stuck with you in a book, game or movie, ask yourself why. for example, when i came up with my fantasy plot, i was inspired by a mission in the witcher 3 where geralt and triss are navigating the tunnels under novigrad. triss, living in secret as a mage, is forced to use these hidden passageways to carry out her plans. i remember thinking, “hmm… tunnels or catacombs are a great way for people with secret missions to carry out said missions!” that one detail sparked an entire subplot for me, where certain characters use an underground network to secretly move around, gather intel, and plot revolutions.

you can take bits and pieces from your favorite stories and use them as springboards for your own original ideas. sometimes it’s a specific setting, a character dynamic, or even the vibe of a scene that can get your creative wheels turning. the key is to make it your own and let it evolve naturally in your world!

i hope these ideas don't sound too "obvious" or like "well, duh," but rather a reminder that you've already done the worldbuilding, so use it!!

good luck with your epic fantasy!! sending digital hugs filled with all the creative energy i have left today to you and anyone else reading this (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

[ohcorny]

hey corny. so i always see people recommending to outline their story before starting it, but could you talk a little bit more about what that means? what is an outline and how do you structure one? how long are the ones you write, depending on the project? do you focus on plot beats or feelings? how specific do you get? can u recommend any readings for learning more?

up front i don't have any resources for this, only experience. and outlines feel like one of those things where it's like... there are a million ways to do it and the way that works for me might not work for you. i have a friend who writes out all his ideas on index cards and that, for me, is insane. but he's also a better writer than me so who can say what is right or wrong.

anyway an outline is essentially a sketch but for a story. you go through the whole thing, start to finish, and figure out what goes where and what happens when. the idea is that this is the stage where you work out all the big picture stuff and make sure it all fits together, now, and not after you've drawn twenty pages and suddenly go "wait shit that doesn't work" and have to do it over. it is much easier to delete and rewrite a paragraph than to redraw several pages.

doing anything more, ie including dialogue or feelings, depends entirely on how useful that information is to you at that point in the process and whether the purpose of the outline is for your own guidance, or so somebody else can tell what you're trying to achieve.

this got really long with multiple examples

here is an excerpt from the original outline i used to pitch Hunger's Bite to publishers. this one had to be polished to a professional standard, because somebody else was going to read it and decide whether they wanted to give me thousands of dollars to tell this story. (also several of the details are no longer accurate. for instance it now takes place 9 years earlier lmao)

this paragraph represents the first eight pages of the book. the final book is 264 pages long, and the outline was 12 pages of paragraphs as dense as this one.

it establishes where we are, who's there, and what they're doing. i describe their conversation, but i don't commit to the dialogue. i will occasionally include snippets of literal dialogue, but usually only if it's Important Dialogue, or i just don't want to forget a good idea i had while outlining. it's not expected at this step.

an outline written as part of a pitch to a publisher should tell the whole story, with all the important details, and leave nothing ambiguous. they need to know the tone, shape, and the arcs. no secrets! all the spoilers. outlines for yourself should do this too, but outlines for others need to be as clear about your vision as possible. again, an outline like this exists for the purpose of getting you paid thousands of dollars. you should write it like that.

in comparison, here's an excerpt from the outline i wrote for revisions to my WIP prose novel, so i could show it to my agent (who already read the draft) to be like "do these changes sound good?" i'm not selling it to anyone yet, just making a guide so i can have a conversation about it. so it doesn't need to be neat, it just needs to be functional and clear. the first chapter was entirely new stuff. the second bit was just writing down what was already in the chapter that existed.

i have historically been very bad at outlining things when i don't think i "need" to, and only wrote this one after having written like 60k words of the book without any overall plan. i gave what i had to my agent for feedback and then sat down and figured out how i could apply it. it's made the whole revisions process significantly less daunting. now i have a checklist for things i need to do! this one was a paragraph or two for each chapter, with the ones that needed a lot of rewriting given a bit more detail.

lastly, here's a bit of the outline for the first roger crenshaw book. i was the only person who had to see this, and since the story was planned to be very short i didn't have to worry about a whole lot. as long as i knew what was supposed to go where, it would work. honestly it's not a whole lot different from the previous example.

this one was like five paragraphs and it did the job, and this story was like 15k words. you only need as much or as little as will actually help you on the page.

basically if you take nothing else from this, it's that there are multiple ways to write an outline, that it does not need to be perfect if you're doing it for yourself, and that it only needs what you think is important (unless it is for other people. then it should have everything). and also it's a good idea to do it earlier in the project than after you've written 60k words or drawn--jesus christ i got up to 12 chapters in never satisfied? it's amazing i didn't quit sooner

[r3dcam3llias]

Brainstorming Ideas for Step 5 Mod...

Recently, I've been in my finalizing planning step (it's messy) for this mod, and I wanted to brain-dump some ideas for the logistical side of things. I decided there would be two main routes to focus on right away: Pregnancy and Adoption. While I plan on making a 3rd route to let players choose neither and just have fluffy, child-free moments with their husband/boyfriend Cove, that is not my main focus for the mod initially. Additionally, I would LOVE to make a surrogacy option, but again, it is not my main focus and will have to be something I consider after the 2 main routes are finished.

Also, for simply the sake of maintaining my sanity, Step 5 is going to have to be fully linear, meaning moments will happen in chronological order. Although they will still be able to be fully skipped and will include content warnings (if applicable) at the beginning of each one! (with the exception of a few key moments, to be expanded on later…) Now to get into the brainstorming itself, I'd like to share the outlines I've cooked up for these routes:

Pregnancy Route

During the pregnancy route, the MC and Cove will be able to have a biological child together through the MC becoming pregnant. This route is only avaliable if the player chooses that the MC was assigned female at birth or is intersex and assumes the MC still has female reproductive organs and anatomy conducive to pregnancy. Although the player can choose during gameplay whether or not they ever developed breasts/had them removed. I plan on making this route be split up into five optional moments, over the course of 9 months, with at least one optional moment before the MC becomes pregnant (not related to pregnancy at all) and at least two non-skippable moments after their baby is born. Additionally, I want as many people as possible to be able to play and enjoy this mod and also be comfortable and feel represented while doing so!!

Because of this, I know not everyone is comfortable with in-depth depictions of things such as pregnancy or talk of medical conditions, yet still want to have the experience. While obviously, there will be no outright graphic or disturbing things in the mod, I still want people to be comfortable playing. For this reason, I want to implement a “Safe” mode that cuts out any and all potentially triggering subjects for a fully wholesome, discomfort-free experience. When the mod is finished, I plan to have full documentation of what these moments are so players can give a quick read-through at their discretion before playing. Additionally, I may implement an additional system to cut out small, unneeded references to the MC’s pregnancy by family members, Cove, etc, for those uncomfortable with the fact being shoved in their face during gameplay, allowing a sort of “High” or “Low” reference mode (similar to initiative levels, I suppose!).

Adoption Route

I don't have a whole lot to say on the adoption route, as I feel like it's a whole lot more straightforward (and will give me less headaches hopefully...) But I plan to give it a similar story structure to the former. This play style will be open to any MC, regardless of identity. The MC and Cove do not need to be married for this option to occur, but they have to have been in a long-term relationship at least since before Step 4. Like the pregnancy route, there'll be at least one optional moment before Cove and the player decide to adopt a child, followed by 3-5 moments as Cove and the MC make this decision and navigate the process of becoming parents. They will be followed by at least two moments after their child is adopted. As for the child Cove and the MC adopt, I'm considering making their appearance randomized from a few looks and you'll also get to decide to do a domestic or international adoption, although this won't have an impact on their child's looks. ANYWAY... That concludes my rants, thanks for reading. Do you have any concerns, comments, or questions? Suggestions for how I could make this mod better/more inclusive?

[kaylopolis]

Alastor's Shadow (18+) - My Fawn & My Shadow: Chapter Eighteen

Alastor x F!Reader

Synopsis: There’s a new Overlord in town and it isn’t the Radio Demon. Six years after you fell into Hell, you have finally earned your seat at the table as Pentagram City’s newest and baddest and with the Extermination coming six months earlier than planned, it is now time to implement your ultimate endgame. After all, who doesn’t love a bit of power and chaos? Your plan brings you to the doorstep of the Hazbin Hotel as Charlie’s newest Redeemer, but who you find waiting for you will not only turn your entire plan upside down but also challenge your grab for power… 

Tag List: Slow burn, rivals to lovers, eventual smut

Masterlist Link: Masterlist

(Let me know if you want to be added to the Tag List!)

____________________________________________

Author note: Dear Hoteliers,

Why 2 alternate endings? A few reasons; the main reason is because I wrote this first part with Angel and Mikaela and FELL IN LOVE with it. It was so cute and adorable I had to include it somehow. Also, because not everyone loves a pregnancy trope. I, particularly, was genuinely torn. I could not decide how I wanted things to end. "My Fawn and My Shadow" will include a pregnancy trope but "Paris" will not.

I will say, the epilogue I have planned for "My Fawn and My Shadow" had me crying (were they happy tears? were they sad tears? Is she foreshadowing? IDK!) - but, that being said, to each their own. Should you choose to read both, be aware that some sections are straight up copy and paste. The Epilogues will obviously vary greatly.

P.S. Ignore the timeline for the pregnancy trope. In reality, this is not how biology works. But someone *cough* author *cough* forgot to factor in the timeline by the time she got to this chapter... It was part of my original outline, but I got carried away *insert upside-down smiley face here*

<3 Stay smutty

My Fawn & My Shadow:

Chapter Eighteen

Content Warning: Unwanted Pregnancy, Suggestions of Abortion, Self Harm

T-6 Hours Before the Portal Opens...

“Angel!” you practically screamed, falling into the spider demon’s destroyed room. Well, technically, it was not destroyed; this was his normal state of being. 

You fall onto the bed, your foot catching on a wadded-up sweater on the ground. You got a face full of Fat Nuggets before Angel jumped up and almost punched you in the stomach. 

“What the fuck are you doin’ in here, Hairclip, screaming and scaring the shit out of me this early in the mornin’!?” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. You noted the time - it was ten in the morning - not that early. Well, early for Angel. 

“I need you to come with me somewhere,” the anxiety was bubbling in your chest, overflowing into your words.

Angel paused, “Is everything okay? Is it the Extermination? Did they come early!?” 

“Angel,” you bite. “Please?” 

He looked at you, trying to read behind your eyes, before fully seeing how serious you were. He nodded before pushing Fat Nuggets to the side so he could get up and dress. 

“So, uh, where we goin’?” He asked as he pulled on a pair of pants. The demon struggled a bit, be it the sudden cessation of slumber or the booze from yesterday, or both, you didn’t know.

You curl into yourself on his bed, knotting your hands together to stop the shaking. “Wrath.” 

Angel froze, his eyes alight with shock. “I’m sorry, toots, I don’t think I heard ya’ right. Wrath? As in the Circle of Hell?” 

You nodded. 

“Wow,” he gawked. “This is serious… Wait, I can’t leave Pride, so how…” 

You snapped your fingers before he finished his sentence, amassing a portal in the middle of his room. The Circle’s familiar orange glow illuminated his white fur. 

Angel jumped backward and fell on the ground, his mouth gaping at the interdimensional crack you just punched into his bedroom wall. “Holy shit fuck!” 

Oh, you forgot only Alastor knew you could do that. Desperate times, however…

“You can, actually,” you shrug. “Just gotta take a different door.” 

Angel looked between you and the wall a few more times before shaking his head and finished dressing. 

Your mind was numb, your thoughts all jumbled into a knotted mess. How could this have happened? It wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t…

“Hey,” he put a hand on your knee, pulling you from your thoughts. “Ya’ okay?” He looked down at you with wide eyes. Angel was the only one you could trust right now. 

You nod before taking his hand. 

Wrath was a time capsule, stuck in the ages of the Wild West: the American Frontier. Fitting the place named for anger was a desert. 

Despite the change of seasons in the world above, Wrath was scorching. Although the Harvest Moon Festival was still a few months away, the locals were skittering about the small town in preparation. They were so busy they didn’t think twice at the two strangers zipping through the traffic, hidden under hoods and glasses. Angel protested at first, but once you pointed out that Wrath natives were imps, then he understood - the spider demon would stick out like a sore thumb. 

The demon ducked under the doorframe - probably three times the height of an average imp, but you couldn’t help that. The imps stared but not too long. 

“A convenience store? You dragged me all the way down here for a candy bar?” Angel spun in circles, taking in everything. 

God, he was so obvious.

“No,” was all you could manage. 

Being a Native Heaven born you were subject to certain… biological processes that Human Sinners were not. No surprise the Pride Ring didn’t sell the necessary products to aid in those situations, so you’d slip down here, grab a few things and head back up. 

But this…

You headed down the aisle labeled “Feminine Products” and stopped deadpan at what you were looking for. There were so many options, how did you know which one was the right one? 

“So hey, how about we check out a bar while we’re… Oh,” Angel came to a stop next to you, noticing the blood drain from your face at the things you were looking at. “Oh, shit, Hairclip.” 

“Yeah,” your voice cracked, trying to hold back tears. 

Angel’s hand found your shoulder. He shook his head. “But how? I thought Human Sinners couldn’t… ya know?” 

“Reproduce.” You filled in the blank for him. “Me neither.”

Angel was silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. 

“But…” your lip quivered, “then I remembered my brother and Lilith. Where Adam was the first human soul in Heaven, Lilith was the first human soul in Hell, technically, and they had Charlie. I’m an Angel, like my brother and Al is a Human Sinner so…”

“Shit,” Angel breathed. 

Then you started to chuckle, “I don’t even know which one to buy.” 

Angel pulled you close, “Me neither, dollface, but we’ll figure this out together. I’m assuming you got money?” 

You nodded, the anxiety bubbling over into silent tears on your face. You started hiccuping, the emotional wave too much for your frazzled mind to handle. 

Angel grabbed all five of them, paid for them with the Native money you pulled from your pocket, then dragged you into the bathroom and locked the door. 

You sat on the floor, Angel starting a timer for the three minute countdown. Longest three minutes of your life. 

The spider demon sat cross-legged across from you. “So, why bring lil’ ol’ me and not Smiles?” 

You hiccuped, bringing your knees to your chest and wrapping your arms around yourself. “The Extermination is today. I can’t… He can’t be thinking about me. He has Adam to deal with. He can’t…”

“And what about yous?” 

You breathed, “I’ll be on the field with you guys, just like we planned.” 

“But…”

“No.” You stopped him. “No, Angel. No matter what happens, Al can’t know. Not until after. Please,” you begged. “He can’t know anything is wrong he…” you hiccuped. “Al isn’t as strong and invincible as he seems.”

“Wow, here I thought you thought he walked on water.”

You dropped your face into your knees and gave a small sob. The memories of the fake Radio Demon being held hostage at Voxtech flit through your mind. And, although it wasn't actually Al tied to the chair, he was still a Human Sinner. Which meant he could die. You could as well but not as easily...

“Hey, hey,” Angel crawled to your side and pulled you into your arms. “Okay, okay, I won’t say nothin’.” 

“Not around radios either,” you sniffled. “They work both ways with Al.”

You had tested it in passing the other day. Just to see what would happen. Although Al was not happy about the dirty comment you made into his speaker - as it pulled him from important business in one of his territories - he didn’t seem too upset when he pulled you through his shadows and properly snogged you in the Hotel hallway.

“Shit, seriously? If that’s the case then that man’s heard a lot of things from me he shouldn’t have. A lot of fun noises, too.” The spider demon wriggled his eyebrows, making you giggle. 

Angel always knew how to bring a smile to your face. 

“So, can I ask ya’ somethun’?” Angel’s tone turned serious, making your heart skip a beat. “Is the sex good?” 

You snorted, drying the tears under your eyes. 

“Look I ain’t judging, Hairclip, but ya’ always come down with these bruises and… marks. Don’t get me wrong it's hot, but I just wanna make sure he ain’t like… hurtin’ ya’ or nothin’?”

“No, no Angel. Al is a gentleman, I assure you.” A small smile formed on your lips. 

“So?” He nudged you.

“Insanely,” you giggled. 

“Figures. He’s hung isn’t he?” He winks.

You snorted into your hand. “Angel!” 

“Oh, come on. You ain’t gonna tell me the Radio Demon ain’t packin’? No way, I don’t believe it.”

“Well…” your face turned a bright red.

“I fuckin’ new it!” Angel cheered. 

RING! RING! RING! 

You stopped breathing completely. Angel shut off the alarm, before turning to you. “You want me to…?”

You nodded, your eyes staring off into space, the only thing you could hear was the pounding of your heart in your ears. You couldn’t look up as Angel checked the tests, didn’t dare try to read the expression in his eyes and mouth. 

The demon grabbed one, wrapped in a paper towel, and knelt before you.

“Before I show you this,” he turned the test upside down so you couldn’t read it. “Tell me what you’re thinkin’.” 

A shaky breath escaped your lips, “I…”

What were you thinking? Fear, definitely fear, but were you devastated? Excited? Filled with hope or filled with dread? You didn’t know what to feel. You didn’t know what to feel because you didn’t know how Al was going to react if it came back positive. 

Would he be angry? Would he be excited? Would he even react at all? 

No. Your heart sank. No, he wouldn’t be excited. There are two things Al cares about: power, and chaos. There wasn’t room for anything else… or anyone…

You’d have to get rid of it. 

“I think, no matter what, I’ll tell Al after the Extermination tomorrow.” 

Angel nodded and flipped the test over. 

____________________________________________

T-3 hours until the portal opens…

“Okay, okay, I got this!” Collin breathed. 

Cletus banged him atop his head, “Just open the door!”

The sheep shot a dirty look at the… baby?... before drying his sweaty hooves on his overalls. 

This was it. This was the moment Collin had been waiting for his entire life. He has only ever seen the famous General at a distance and worshipped her from a far during meetings and through photographs. He had every single one of her fan club t-shirts and collector’s pins. He knew her battle strategies inside and out and scored perfect at every trivia night. He was the ultimate fan-girl and this was his moment to shine. 

And he was terrified. 

“Oh, my gosh!” Kennie shoved past him. “I’ll do it!” She prostrated before pulling the bedroom door open. 

The group froze, stunned by the sight of the yellow-eyed Angel ready and waiting for them on the other side. Mikaela Morningstar sat in a clothed chair perfectly perched in the entryway to her bedroom. The Angel had just finished the top laces of her leather boots before the Cherubs burst through the doorway. 

Mikaela had been waiting for them. 

Collin’s jaw audibly hit the floor at the sight of the warrior, legs crossed, one eyebrow perched in question, staring down at the three of them. She was like a goddess in material form - not to disrespect the Maker, of course. Her beauty practically radiated off of her in golden light as captivating as her irises. Although she had changed her hair and her wings were tucked out of the way, she was a vision. Collin couldn’t help but drool at the sight of her. 

“About time the three of you showed up,” the Angel laughed. “Talk about keeping a girl waiting.”

“You…” Cletus stumbled over his words. “You knew we were here?”

“Knew?” The Angel tipped her head in question. A habit she had picked up from a dear… friend. “You’ve been following me for days. Nifty’s collection of wool can only grow so much before a girl gets suspicious.” Mikaela laughed it off as if it was a joke, but Keenie’s head was still very, very sore. 

The Cherubs had no answer for her. 

“What can I do for you?” With hands perched in her lap, the General inspected the three of them, lazily soaking in their forms as they collectively entered the room. 

Wow. Mikaela Morningstar had expected them. Well, duh! Of course! She was God’s General! How could she not have seen them coming? She probably knew about everything: the phone call from Velvette, the orders from Rachel, their banishment from Heaven. She was, after all, an Archangel. Collin still couldn’t comprehend the situation. 

“Ms. Morningstar,” Collin began. Did he sound as nervous as he felt? “We have been sent from Heaven to return you to the Seraphim.”

The Angel blinked, but didn’t respond. Her face remained neutral as Collin spoke and even for a few moments after. He wiped his hooves on his pants again. The Cherub was thoroughly drenched in anxious sweat, which, hopefully, no one noticed. 

“Why?” 

“Why?” Kennie shoved her way forward. “Because you belong there? You’re Mikaela, the General, Heaven’s Archangel. You’ve been gone for over a hundred years doing…”

“God’s work.” Mikaela interrupted the sheep. 

“What?” Cletus asked. 

The Archangel chuckled. “You didn’t seriously think I just ran away from Heaven on a whim, did you?” 

The three Cherubs looked at each other for an answer, but it was the sheep who spoke first. “No, of course not!”

“Thank you, Collin,” Mikaela smiled. 

The Cherub’s heart jumped right out of his chest. “You know my name!?”

“Of course,” her eyes softened. “Why wouldn’t I know one of my biggest fans?”

____________________________________________

Yesterday…

“Hello, thank you for calling, C.H.E.R.U.B., how may we bless you today?”

“Hi! I’m calling about a loved one back on Earth who needs some help. It seems he’s lost his way a bit and I’d really rather not see him down here.” You twirled the cord in your hand.

Alastor sat across from you, a cup of tea in hand, one leg crossed over the other as he enjoyed the dyling light of day. 

“Of course! Can I get a name?”

“Well, actually… I’m quite protective of him, you see, and I want to know that you are sending your best.” The sweetness in your voice was practically sickening, but it made Alastor chuckle. “I was wondering who would be going. Would it be the three from the television commercial?”

“Cletus, Collin, and Keenie? By golly, no! They don’t work for us anymore.”

“Interesting…” You smiled. 

“Can I get the name of the person who needs a blessing?”

“No,” and you hung up the receiver. 

Alastor chuckled as he sipped his tea. “You make this look too easy, my doe. If it weren’t for the circumstances, you'd be running the place.”

This place... As in all of existence.

You grabbed your jasmine tea and clanked your cup with his. “How unfortunate the plan is to destroy it all instead.”

____________________________________________

Now...

The Cherub nearly feinted. 

The Archangel leaned in, speaking to the sheep directly. “You have to promise to keep everything I tell you a secret. No one can know that I am here.”

Collin blinked the stars from his eyes, “Of course! I would never!” 

In a whisper, Mikaela continued, “I’m on a secret mission from God. I can’t go into any detail, naturally…”

“Naturally!” Collin was nodding his head so hard he could have been mistaken for a bobble head. 

Mikaela leaned in a whispered, “... I’m here to find Roo.”

Collin stopped nodding. “Roo?”

“Roo.” Mikaela repeated, as if that answered all of their questions. 

“Wait!” Cletus interrupted once more. “You’re telling us that you are supposed to be here? Cavorting with demons!”

“Shhh,” Mikaela shushed. “Yes.”

Keenie scratched her sore head. “To find someone named Roo?”

“She’s the biggest threat against Heaven. Rumor has it that she’s planning an uprising against God. That’s why he left with me and went into hiding. Couldn’t have him unprotected while I hunted down this rebel.”

Too much information? Nope! Who the fuck is going to believe a bunch of banished Cherubs anyway? They can’t get back to Heaven and no one in Heaven would take them seriously even if they did. Negatives of fucking up with the Upstairs Management but a positive for you.

You could have told them any story that convinced them to leave you alone, and it would be no sweat off your back.

“Oooooooh,” Collin nodded. “That makes so much sense!”

“What!?” Keenie and Cletus echoed each other. 

“What?” Mikaela looked confused. “Do you think I’m lying?” She laughed. “Come now. I may be surrounded by demons, but I am still an Angel.” 

The three Cherubs blinked at her. 

“Oh.” Cletus awkwardly scratched his large head. 

Heaven Natives are so naive. Were you this gullible way back when?

The Angel adjusted the tie on her leather bracer. “And the three of you are interfering with my plan.” 

“What!?” Collin gawked. 

“I can’t exactly have Heaven stalking my every move while I’m on the job,” Mikaela rises from her chair, a towering figure over the tiny Cherubs. 

“Right! Right!” Collin was already headed for the door. 

Mikaela quickly ushered the other two out, ignoring the look of disbelief on their faces. 

“Thanks for understanding, guys.”

And then door shut behind them. 

Collin continued to drool in the direction of the doorway. 

“Now what?” Keenie asked as she dragged him by the collar down the hall.

“She’s so cool,” Collin gawked. 

Cletus smacked his face and rubbed the tension from his temples. “We return to Earth. I need time to think about this and I’m starving. I sure as fudge am not eating anything down here…”

____________________________________________

You shut the door behind them. 

“See,” you turned to the shadow at the back of the room. “I told you they’d believe me.” 

Alastor materialized from the darkness. With his cane in hand, he snaked the other around your waist and pressed a kiss to your forehead. You tried not to shutter at the contact, tried not to think about your stomach pressing into Al's…

This was not the first time you had run into one of Father’s minions. With Eve’s wild party streak, the two of you didn’t exactly keep a low profile. In fact, it would be odd for the two of you to not run into one of the Ishim or even a few Cherubs while they were on the job. You were recognized - because of course - and typically played it off as a happenstance run in while on a mission.

After all, the rumors in Heaven were that you were on some top secret mission with Father anyway. What were they more likely to believe: you were being a good little “Golden Girl” or playing Armageddon with Eve?

Eve on the other hand, either slept with the Holy invader if able, convinced them she was mortal if they were too young to know her face, or simply disappeared leaving you to fend for yourself.

What a friendship the two of you had…

“I never doubted you, my doe,” the demon mumbled into your hair. 

Trying to distract your mind before it decided to focus on the adventure from this morning, you grabbed for Alastor’s lapels to pull him down and…

“Alastor, what’s in your coat pocket?” Your fingers met something hard and boxy. 

The demon ignored your question. Instead, from the Void, Alastor pulled a hair clip - a new one. The metal was red, and pointed, with a small “A” pressed into one of the tongs. 

“I had Carmilla make it,” the demon holds the clip between the two of you, pushing you back so you are no longer pressed so closely together.

Which greatly helped the nerves. 

The red was a perfect match to Alastor’s eyes. 

How intentional… 

“Thank you,” you reached for it, but he pulled away. 

The demon was distracting you, but you allowed it. Your nerves were shot anyway and Alastor felt… off…

“Allow me?” He offered. 

Turning towards the mirror above the dresser, Alastor flipped your hair into a bun, clipping it at the back of your head perfectly square with your shoulders. 

You stared at the demon’s reflection in the mirror, noting the lack of music playing on his radio, noting the loss of static in his voice. He was nervous… 

“Al, everything changes after today. This is where the Endgame plan truly begins.” You tested the waters to see if that was what was bugging him.

“Hmm,” the demon continued to inspect your hair, his mind clearly stuck on something else. Not Armageddon playing his thoughts?

“But,” you turned to him, your back leaning against the dresser. “If I know war, and I do, there is always a lull after a battle. Perhaps, if just for a few days, we get out of here?”

“Oh?”

“I have safe houses in every Ring of Hell and in a few major countries on Earth - including an emergency backup in Heaven if things end up truly terrible… I have an apartment…” God, why were you so nervous? “In France.” 

The demon’s eyes sparked. 

“It’s in Place de l'Estrapade, not a far walk from the Pont Neuf bridge, just across the way from Jardin du Luxembourg*. I know it’s not Louisiana, but… There’s this adorable bakery in the square that I know you will love and…”

The demon swallowed your words with his lips. “Mes valises sont déjà faites. My bags are already packed.”

Right, why did you ever think Alastor Hartfelt would turn down a trip to France? 

Alastor’s shoulder slacked just a bit.

Then it hit you.

It was the after that was bugging him. After the battle that is. He comforted you last night in regards to your qualms with the battle, but funny how facing imminent death felt like an everyday for the Overlord.

But the after made him nervous.

The after…

Fuck, you promised Angel you’d tell Al after.

Your stomach turned itself into knots and threatened to spill all over the carpet. How would you explain that one to the demon?

Fuck.

Did you tell him now that you and Angel went to Wrath? Tell him what happened? Your mouth watered bitterly at the thought that you were lying to him - you had promised no more lies - but were you truly lying? This was for his own good. This was for his protection. If anything happened to Al, it would be your fault.

Your fault.

YoUr FaUlT.

YOUR FAULT.

The air was suddenly sucked from the room.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“You lovebirds done shackin’ up o’ what?” Angel screamed from the other side of the wall. 

“Seriously?” Husk scoffed. “You called me up here for this?”

“What? Come on, Whiskers, you love spendin’ time with me,” Angel teased. 

You could practically hear the disbelief on Husk’s face through the door, “I thought you wanted me to help you bring something down, not hold your fuckin’ hand because you’re too scared of the Boss.”

“I ain’t scared of nothin’!” The spider demon protested. 

You smiled at Alastor, grateful for the spontaneous distraction. The demon pressed a kiss to your cheek and melted into shadow. 

Throwing the door open, both Husk and Angel jumped back in surprise before they realized it was just you. 

“Ha!” Angel crosses his arms. “See yous was scared, too!”

“I..!” Husk’s face turns red. “I was scared because she fuckin’ appeared outta nowhere, not because of…”

“Me,” Alastor melted from the floor, appearing behind the two of them. 

Angel jumped into you, grabbing onto your arm for support, while Husk remained utterly unphased. 

“Yeah, him,” the cat crossed his arms. 

You giggled at the sight of the two of them, the laughter breathing life back into your chest.

Just don't think about it... Yeah? Yeah! Don't think about it. Everything is going to be okay! It's fine. Everything is fine!

Taking a deep breath, you planted a smile on your face. “Come on, boys, we have an army to ready.”

You snuck a glance at Alastor, who looked distracted, wholly unaware of the nerves in your belly. Whatever was captivating him, you were thankful for it. It was quite uncharacteristic of him, but then again, you’ve never seen Alastor in the hours leading up to battle.

For whatever reason, you were disappointed in the last few remaining private moments you might possibly have with the demon. Not that you were expecting a big declaration of love from him.

Holy shit, you still hadn’t even told him you love him!

Oh, no, no, no, no.

You put the brakes on.

You’d been so distracted about this morning that you completely forgot about everything from last night! “Al, I need to talk to you-“

“There she is! There’s my little tomatuh!” Rosie had you in a hug so tight one would argue it was a chokehold.

“Rosie, dear! How delightful to see you!” Alastor pressed a kiss to the top of her hand. “Is that a new scarf? It looks astonishing on you darling, absolutely astonishing!”

The Overlord’s eyes shined like stars, “Oh! Al, stop! You flatter me.” Rosie ran a hand through her new purple boa.

“It isn’t flattery if it’s true!” Al came to stand beside you, his hands wrapped around the top of his cane.

The smell of the forest after rain calmed your nerves.

It’s okay. After. You can tell him after because there will be an after.

There will be an after.

Heading down the hall you ignored Angel's worried eyes on you. You ignored Alastor's shadow swirling about your feet with concern. And you ignored Husk's offer for a drink. For you had too many things to focus on right now...

A battle to win...

An identity to keep hidden...

A Human Sinner who still didn't know how you truly felt about him...

And a secret to keep...

Welcome to the Endgame.

____________________________________________

T-1 minute until the portal opens…

“This is it,” you press your forehead into Alastor’s. “Al, I -”

“Shh, my doe. Entre deux cœurs qui s’aiment, nul besoin de paroles,” and then the demon melted into shadow, to find his place atop the Hotel.

Goddamit, the demon switched between French and English so fast you couldn’t keep up half the time.

Charlie appeared next to you, a hand on your shoulder. “You’ll get a chance to tell him.”

You blinked. But how did she…?

“Uh,” Vaggie cut in. “I don’t mean to break up this moment, but we have Angels incoming.” The ex-Exorcist pointed her spear at the sky, where a large portal had cracked through the walls of reality.

Fixing your hood atop your head, you summoned your two short blades from the Void and readied yourself next to the Princess.

On the other side of the portal, you could make out the beautiful golden glow of Heaven. God, you did not miss it.

Two figures stepped through: Adam and Lute.

And then the onslaught began - but not before Alastor summoned his dark shield. The mass of magic covered the Hotel in a dome. Some of the Exorcists made it through, but the less fortunate ones bounced off in a wave of broken bones.

“It’s working!” Charlie screamed.

Until it wasn’t.

With a flick of Adam’s wrist the shield melted and then the exorcists fell through.

It was a dance of a battle. A beautiful pirouette of savagery and desperation, impregnating the air with the stench of golden iron.

You would have found yourself riding the high of battle had you not had Charlie to look after. Yes, Vaggie could well protect her on her own but it was the deal with Lilith that ensured no harm came to the princess.

As the princess shot sparkles you shot daggers. As she sang apologies you delivered death. Constantly you were forced to grab her by her wrist and twirl her from danger. It was hard work, one that captivated all of your attention.

Good. You needed the distraction.

BOOM!

Cherries’ explosions began, the next line of defense before the Exorcists reached Sir Pentious and his battery of cannons.

This was good! Things were looking good!

Fuck you might actually all make it out of this thing.

BAM!

The next thing you knew, you were on the ground, a pain so powerful ripping through your core it blinded every sense, every fiber of your being.

Green light exploded from the scar which cut you from neck to hip, a beacon of agony which temporarily halted the onslaught from Heaven as Human Sinners and Angels alike were forced to shield their eyes. The wall of light shot up into the atmosphere of Hell before dispersing into a rainstorm of sparks that fell upon the whole of Pentagram City.

You felt, rather than saw, hands upon you. The green had burned your retinas, completely blinding you. Your body healed fast, however, but not fast enough to clearly make out the fuzzy grey/red blob shaking your shoulders.

“Come on, kid! Come on! Don’t quit on me!”

The pain numbed your body, but your Angelic blood quickly fought against it. Your fingers and toes tingled as your mind reset itself over and over again. Where are you? What happened? The memory of pain threatened to spill as the ability to breathe found your lungs, as your eyes remembered how to blink.

“Holy Hell, what da fuck was that!?”

“I don’t fucking know, but both Boss and her went down at the same time.”

“What da fuck kind of Voodoo shit did he do ta ‘er?”

You forced your mind to clarity, forced the blurriness into - somewhat - sharper objects. A vague outline of Husk and Angel came into view, along with a background of Exorcist Angels flying overhead. The fighting had resumed despite the interruption.

“Husk?” You mumbled. Grabbing onto the cat’s paw, you slowly pulled yourself into a sitting position. Despite the pain which had surged through your scar, no wound was visible. You hadn’t been struck after all. “What…?”

There was a pull behind your navel - it was weak, oh-so weak.

Alarm bells immediately went off.

Alastor.

Without a thought, you shoved away from the cat demon and shot into the air, not caring that your wings were now on full display for the entire Angelic Army to view. Not caring that the hood Charlie helped make you was now shredded to pieces.

You hit the roof, landing practically on top of the red and black mass crumbled in a heap of blood. Using your black wings, you attempted to shield as much of Alastor as you could.

You couldn’t make out Alastor completely, your vision was still sluggish to return despite you willing your blood to heal as fast as it could, but you could feel him. You could feel his heart beating wildly, feel the pain with every breath, feel the one ounce of panic the Overlord allowed himself to feel in this moment as he watched you take up a defensive fighting stance over his prone form.

The demon was hurt and bad.

Like a panther protecting her wounded mate, you unleashed the full force of your power. Dark and twisted horns grew from your skull as you morphed into your demon form. A spiked tail uncurled from your backside, your fingernails sharpened into claws, and your fangs elongated to a point. The sclera of your eyes flashed black as the rune on your back was unlocked, the text from the Book of Knowledge melting into your hands, forming an exoskeleton of Newtonian fluid that flowed over your appendages.

As your vision healed, the Angel’s stupid helmet sharpened, a look of pure shock reflected in the metal. Adam had his guitar and Alastor’s blood was still fresh as it dripped off the blade.

“Don’t…” Alastor protested, but his sentence was cut off with a cough.

“Mikaela?” Adam’s jaw dropped.

Your only response was a low growl. Pure instinct had kicked in. You were more animal than Angel.

You felt the coldness of Rolf wrap around your ankle, but it was barely a whisper compared to how solid the shadow normally felt. The shadow tugged, threatening to whisk you away from the rooftop, but be it the weakening of Alastor’s magic or your stubbornness, you did not move.

“Holy shit, it is you! How you doing, sister?” The First Man smiled, lowering his sword.

Behind you, you could feel the blood flowing from Alastor’s chest as real and as solid as it would your own. It only added to the panic and anger and desperation you were feeling in this moment.

“Where’s Eve?” The Angel looked around as if the Second Woman might turn the corner at any moment and join the conversation.

“Dead,” you bore your teeth and growled, your voice laced with Alastor’s radio static.

“What?” Adam did a double-take.

You pulled your sword from the Void, your blue fire licking the steel’s surface as small green bouts of static danced its way down your arm and disappeared into the heat. “And you’re next,” you threatened, your voice filled with static.

“Wait,” Adam narrowed his eyes, his pupils darting back and forth between the two of you as he slowly put the pieces together. “Wait. Wait. Wait.” He put up a hand. “You’re defending this loser?”

You growled, your teeth itching to sink into flesh.

Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. A voice rang in the back of your head.

“Woah, there, sister. We’re on the same fucking team!” Adam had a look of pure terror on his face.

From your crouched position on the ground, you moved forward.

Adam immediately dropped his sword and began backing up. “Listen! Listen! Listen!” He stammered. “Let’s just take a fucking second and talk like bros. Okay?” His laugh was strained. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for why you’re down here defending the scum of existence? Ha, ha. Right?”

Kill him, the voice commanded.

You growled again and attempted to take another step forward, but a clawed hand wrapped around your tail and tugged. Finally, you turned to face Alastor and the sight knocked you out of your bloodthirsty trance.

The demon was pale, a deep gouge sliced right across his chest in an exact mirror image to your injury from Velvette. You felt the anger flee from you then, only to be replaced with pure terror. You met Alastor’s stern eye and the look he shot you stopped you dead in your tracks.

But it was already too late. All of Heaven had seen. Mikaela Morningstar was alive and well in Hell, defending Lucifer’s daughter in a battle against Heaven. You had killed Exorcists. A war was brewing, and you were a part of it.

The demon shuttered out a pained breath, one you felt reverberate through your own chest. You dropped your sword, the steel popping back into the Void before it even made contact with the ground. Falling to your knees before Alastor, you cupped his face in your hands and pressed a soft but shaky kiss to his forehead.

“What, the fuck?” Adam gawked behind you.

Every part of you was screaming to rip the Angel limb from limb, but you fought the instinct, and instead channeled that energy into the connection that had ripped open between you and Alastor. You let your magic flow through your inky fingers and into the demon, willing his heart to beat faster, to slow the blood seeping from his wounds, to staunch the pain in his chest.

Alastor’s eyes fluttered closed as he took a deep breath, already the color returning to his cheeks.

You turned to Adam then, your black sclera burning pure hatred into the Angel’s heart. “I won’t be the one to kill you today, Adam.”

“I am so fucking confused,” the Angel scratched his head.

“Adam!” Charlie appeared atop the rooftop, royally pissed as she hung from the Hotel sign.

And with that, you shadowed the two of you from the rooftop, landing in the only place you could think of to go right now: Alastor’s radio tower.

Atop the balcony, you pulled the clip from your hair and slit open your wrist, dripping a waterfall of golden blood into Alastor’s wounds.

“Stop,” the demon tried to shove your hand away, but he was too weak at this moment to do anything other than lay there and breathe.

Clenching your jaw shut, you didn’t let up until you watched the first stitches of skin begin to form. Jesus Christ, the wound was deep. It had cut through several ribs but, thankfully, had not nicked his heart. Alastor would have been dead before you had even landed on that rooftop had it gone any deeper.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! You knew! You fucking knew this was going to happen!

A tear fell from your cheek and landed in the mixture of black and gold liquid swirling atop the demon’s chest.

“Stop,” Alastor said more forcefully. The demon wrapped a hand around your wrist, the golden liquid bubbling through his fingers. He pulled you down into him and pressed his forehead into yours. “I’m alright, my doe.”

“This is my fault,” your voice cracked. Green static danced across your skin, your demon form still out in full force. Sucking in a breath, you forced yourself to your feet. Sinking your inky hands into your hair, you paced the floor, your wings dragging behind you.

Alastor’s magic jumped off your form in sparks. Which was impossible but you didn’t have the mental room to even consider why.

Alastor had almost died! He could’ve died! Adam almost killed him!

“My doe,” Alastor attempted to sit up, but the pain from the wound was too much, his body demanding every ounce of power to heal.

“My fault,” you shuttered. “My fault. My fault. My fault!” You bent over the handrail and threw up.

Alastor jumped to his feet then, one hand wrapped around his middle to stop his insides from spilling out. “Mikaela!”

Using his cane for support, the demon forced himself to stand next to you. His red irises bled into your soul, his brow crinkled with worry.

Your entire body was shaking as he wrapped his arms around you. “It was not your fault.”

“We almost lost you,” you mumbled into his coat jacket, drenched in blood.

“We?”

____________________________________________

Somewhere Else in Hell…

“Ha, ha,” Striker plucked the cigar from his mouth and tapped the lit end into the cement lining of the roof.

The imp pulled the rifle to his shoulder and aligned the scope with his eye. “Too easy.”

And pulled the trigger.

____________________________________________

You saw the bullet before you heard it.

BANG!

The metal object soared towards you as if in slow motion, the iconic swirls of Angelic Steel clearly coating its surface.

But the bullet meant for you did not hit its mark.

For Alastor shoved you at the last moment, appearing between you and the shooter.

Red irises met yours, “Mourir d’amour, vivre de haine…”

The bullet met its mark right between Alastor’s eyes.

Dying for love…

“Nooo!”

The demon went down, his cane smacking against the metal balcony in an explosion of green sparks.

You spun, immediately knowing where the bullet originated from. You didn’t care who or what was on the other end. Fuck you didn’t even care why.

Kill, the voice echoed as a blast of dark ink shot out from your hand. Like a wave of a tsunami, the mass collided with the building the shooter was perched atop of, taking out the top twenty floors. You swung down, collapsing the building in on itself in one fell swoop.

Whoever it was - plus the inhabitants of the building - were dead.

“Alastor!” You screamed as you collapsed onto the ground next to him. Dark blood pooled beneath his head. The wound between his eyes steamed with green as his magic desperately fought to heal.

But fought in vein.

You watched as Alastor’s eyes fogged with the veil of death.

“No! No! No!”

And felt his Soul fade from his body.

“Alastor!”

You screamed. You begged. You cried.

“Don’t!”

You even heard yourself begging with God to let him live.

“You promised you wouldn’t leave me again!”

But you could do nothing as his Soul slipped from his body…

“No! Don’t! You can’t!”

… and faded from this world entirely.

“Don’t leave…”

Alastor was dead.

“Don’t leave us…”

____________________________________________

You don’t know how long you lay there.

Minutes?

Hours?

Days?

Years?

Long enough that Alastor had grown cold next to you. Long enough that the blood began to crust against your skin. Long enough that your joints hurt and your body begged to move.

He was gone.

Alastor was gone.

You curled into him, praying somehow your warmth might leech into him and warm his cold body back to life. Praying he’d brush a hand through your hair and tell you everything was going to be alright.

Praying this was just a dream.

Praying that you were the one dead instead.

Praying that you were both dead and this was some sick version of Purgatory Father had concocted for you as a punishment.

“Al…” You mumbled into his jacket, your fingers curling around his lapel as if he would fade beneath your touch entirely.

Too soon. Too fast.

And all your fault.

All your fault…

And then your fingers brushed something hard.

In his jacket, hidden away in a pocket you didn’t know he had, was a small leather box.

Fuck.

No. No. No. No. No.

Sitting up with alarm, you dropped it on the balcony and scooted away.

That better not be what you think it is.

Open it.

You jumped.

A young woman with hair as brown as mud and eyes to match sat across from you. Cross legged, arms folded neatly in her lap as her curls pooled down her back, the girl stared intently at the small leather box.

Open it, she repeated.

You didn’t respond, your mind was too preoccupied with trying to comprehend how this was happening.

It’s a ring, obviously, but you already knew that. You think that’s why he was so distracted today? She motioned to the blood. So distracted he didn’t even notice the fawn growing in your womb. How pathetic…

“Shut up!” You bit, your throat raw from years of crying.

Ouch. Is that anyway to greet an old friend? Oh, wait, sorry. Were we even friends? I mean, you did murder me and all. Did Alastor…

“I said, shut up, Eve!”

Her eyes found the box once more. Do you think he’s an emerald man or a diamond man? Emerald is more classic for the 30s but diamonds! Ugh, I’m just dying to know, aren’t you?

She went for the box, but you were faster. You held it against your heart, “Don’t touch it!”

Eve gasped, Is that why he asked you to take him to Louisiana to visit his Mother!? Awww, he stayed behind to tell his Mom about the ring. How sweet. Too bad she wasn’t actually there. - ya know, being in Heaven and all. But I suppose it’s the thought that counts.

“Why are you here?” The words seeped out from behind clenched teeth.

She smirked. Because you let me out.

You followed her eyes to your hand, still black from the ink. You never sealed the power away after desecrating the building.

Fuck, you were still in your demon form.

You’ve never let me out this long before. Figured it was time to stretch my legs and finally introduce myself. She stood and made her way to you, stretching her limbs as she went. Holding a hand out to you she made to help you stand.

Hello, I’m the Book of Knowledge, but you can call me Eve and we are going to have so much fun together.

You didn’t take her hand.

Your eyes found the dark jacket seeped in blood laying a few feet away.

You went to him, your fingers brushing the curls away from his face. With his eyes closed he looked as if he was sleeping - so peaceful.

Even in death Alastor smiled.

The girl frowned, clearly annoyed that you weren’t giving her your full undivided attention. What about power and chaos, and all that jazz? What about revenge!?

To power and chaos…

Your hand found your belly. “There is no power and chaos without him.” Pressing a kiss to his forehead. You whispered, “I love you, too.”

Wait, so that’s it? Eve threw her hands in the air. The plan is over? The big Endgame we’ve been planning for over one hundred years is just done!?

You stood, “New plan.”

New plan? Eve scrunched her nose. What new plan?

You smiled softly, the dark ink slowly invading your arm, “The one where everyone dies.”

Oh! Oh! Oh! I like that plan. Where do we start?

You turned to the pile of rubble 100 yards away. “Greed.”

*Yes, this is totally where Emily in Paris is shot lol

Annnnnnnd yet another cliff hanger. Come on guys you know me by now. Not everything is as it seems!

Hang in there :)

-> My Fawn & My Shadow: Epilogue

Tagged Hoteliers: (Let me know if you wish to be added!):

@sirens-and-moonflowers @wonderlandangelsposts @saccharine-nectarine @goyablogsstuff @mommymilkers0526 @eris-norwega

@missgirlsstuff @alastor-the-radio-demon @sillywormtrixareforkids

@its-a-dam-blue-brick @cloverresin20 @blue-bird251 @speedycoffeedelight @littlebluefishtail @sawi1987 @mopeyghost

@beelz3bub @fraugwinska @minamilinaqueen @demoarah @diffidentphantom @divineknightmare @animecrazy76 @sleepykittycx @graunta @reath-solia @satansdaughter123 @mysticatto @freshonyourpages @chibistar45 @rapunzelbro

@stephydearestxo

[sanguinesky-if]

[Dev Log] September 2024

Hello! I can't believe how quickly the last month of summer went by. I hope you spent it wonderfully and had a great time!

I'm currently preparing Chapter 3 Pt. 1 for the Patreon release on September 7th, so apologize for not responding to any messages and asks, but I'm grateful for all of them. I'll do my best to catch up after the release.

Now, for the news about the update.

What was accomplished last month?

Added more content that wasn't originally part of the update.

While I'm still not happy that I postponed the release, it did allow me to add more features and variations that make the storyline more flexible. [All technical notes about the content will be included in the post announcing the release of Chapter 3 Pt. 1.] This is something I'll likely need to continue working on next month. I want to ensure that no specific choices feel overly necessary or forced just to access more content with the chosen RO.

Added an option to choose outerwear for your MC.

Now, you can choose outerwear for all clothing styles except for 'edgy', since the 'leather jacket' has already been included there from the start. Although… what could be cooler than the MC wearing a leather jacket? The MC wearing two leather jackets.

About my plans for the current month.

Chapter 3 Pt. 1: fixing discovered bugs and errors.

Romance System: updating the main post with some important clarifications.

L's Side Story: translating and outlining.

Main Story: implementing a new vice for the MC and adding more flavor text.

A detailed content release schedule for Patreon can be found here.

About the Patreon content: since I posted the poll a bit late, I'm still waiting for the results to decide which ROs will get the content this month [NSFW Alphabet / Short Stories].

Thank you for reading to the end. I'm very grateful for your support, questions and messages!

Have a wonderful week and days after that! ♥