#i just love how interconnected (lol) this game is

[pownicmania5000]

Appreciation

[blushingdread]

The thing about Cold that gets me the most is that Cold barely gives a fuck about any of the vessels, the only one he feels anything about is Fury, and he talks about how he hopes your actions put the Adversary's spark out. This man is a little asshole who doesn't care about anything. Anything but change

What does Cold hate the most? Boredom, endless nothingness, doing the same thing over and over again... which is sorta of what he is. Both in the sense that he's a part of the Long Quiet, God of all those things, but also because Cold is the most stagnant of all the voices. He's resistant to pain, emotions, changing, everything except boredom, really. The only time he's ever changed changed is in Molment of Clarity, where he's a lot more terse and seems annoyed the entire time

On top of that, Cold is the most comfortable and intuitive about your godly nature. Poping in at the Tower Fury fight when she calls you noting and he immediately is like "yes,". When going into oblivion, he says it feels like home. He seems to be kinda subconsciously aware of what you are in a way the other voices aren't

So, Cold. The voice that most embodies stagnation, being frozen in time if you will, that seems to grasp the true nature of TLQ the best absolutely hates boredom and is constantly seeking out change. He's constantly seeking out their other half, the Shifting Mound

I think that in the same Wild and Stanger are "a smaller version of me" and "a peek behind the curtain" to the Shifting Mound, Cold is like that to the Long Quiet. He is kinda like TLQ at its most basic, cold, and unmoving, constantly seeking the waves of change to crash upon him. Constantly seeking her, while she constantly seeks him, going around and around getting what their missing from each other

But thats not all!!

Cold talks like the Shifting Mound. They share similar thoughts on what exactly "the end of the world" means

They also feel similarly about all the horrible things that happen during the game

Cold doesn't care if what he's doing is good or bad, good or bad don't even register on his radar. The only thing that matters to him is new and interesting experiences

A perspective that's also surprisingly close to how the Shifitng Mound feels except she's affected by her emotions and about the other person in this lol

I don't really have an end point with this, I just think the Cold and Shifting Mound are neat

It's just. So !!!!!!! that the most Long Quiet nothingness voice is both super into their other half as her entire domain and not just a single vessel and sees the world in a parallel way

What if there was a part of me that was so much like you that loved you more than anything that seeked you out in everything??? What then

BTW, can you imagine Cold and Wild together? Cold being plugged into eveyrhing? Connected to the Princess in the most direct way possible. Change would be constantly happening around him because he'd be interconnected to her. He'd be able to feel it all, and maybe her powers would even push through his eternal apathy and make him feel something like Fury did, but even more

Would Wild like that? Like him? Having a rock to wrap around and anchor herself to? Cold doesn't really feel hate except for the Narrator, so him getting mad at her wouldn't knock them out of being connected to each other. Would she drop her sorta mind control that made the voices much more willing to go along with being one than they frankly would otherwise because of this trait of Colds? Would she find his apathetic temperament comforting and grounding, able to keep her from violently trashing from calm to agitated

Unsure, but it think they'd have an interesting dynamic

[misc-obeyme]

Wait a minute, Barbatos listens to heavy metal? In which of the games is the sacred chat that included this juicy little fact mentioned? Is it a daily chat or is it obtainable from a card?

Affinity with heavy metal suits him very well, honestly.

I absolutely love when a character's personality is founded on a particular 'theme,' a specific range of generally interconnected interests, as well as a determined set of qualities—only for an unrelated/unexpected trait, quirk, hobby, talent or interest to sneak up and add a quaint pop of entertainment and relatability to their person.

Barbatos adores tea, likes cleaning, and tends to tiny demons, which are all things that give a sort of serene, domestic tinge to his figure. Yet, he indulges in the genre of heavy metal. And I think that that's such a satisfying, realistic shade to his personality palette because the truth is that one individual can hold so many differences within them, and some of those differences may at times be starkly opposing. And that is so intriguing.

Except in this case, I don't think Barbatos's appreciation for heavy metal is 'unrelated' to him per se or even a difference at all; in fact, it's woven with his being and who he is. Because of course, despite the calmness, fondness for tea, and intricate skills in making all sorts of sweet and savoury delicacies—aspects that craft an almost soft, meditative aura around him—he's also a thinker with a sense of wisdom and a badass who displays a multitude of talents while appreciating a musical genre famous for its loud intensity (which at first glance 'opposes' his general calm image and eloquent manner of speech).

So this is where I point out that this very 'difference' is perfect, since it's also a core similarity in and of itself; after all, Barbatos is intense and thoughtful, just like heavy metal itself (even though the genre has this unfair, unfortunate stereotype of being 'aggressive noise only'). What I mean to say is, this preference Barbatos has is merely an extension of his self and a representation of the parts of it that are not immediately apparent. It may seem startling at the beginning, but in my opinion, it makes so much sense that he would appreciate heavy metal.

He has lived for a very, very long time and that existence came with thousands upon thousands of experiences that shaped his mindset, temperament and wisdom, as well as gave him depth. I assume he found that heavy metal resonates with him in some ways. Perhaps it is not only admiration for the deep lyrics or relation to them, but also how the intense volume might help him vicariously express certain emotions.

In all honesty, it would be nice to see what young Barbatos was like. Now it's just rats that make him lose his marbles and go from 0 to 100 in the course of a millisecond. His anger is often pretty much covert otherwise. How interesting it would be to catch a glimpse of his wild days of youth—Barbatos being outwardly wrathful, spitting out what's on his mind without restraint, immediately resorting to violence, and even getting jealous because he's still young and hasn't yet attained the wisdom and maturity all that experience has to offer.

This is way longer than I intended it to be, but the subject piqued my interest, I love rock and admire the depth of thought in it and heavy metal, and overanalysing and overthinking are best friends of mine lol

The chat is from OG and I'm like... 99.999% sure that it's with the group The Fantastic Three. I remember Lucifer apologizing for Asmo who decided to perform some heavy metal at an event or something. And Barbatos was like, actually I like heavy metal. And Lucifer and Diavolo were both like ???

But for the life of me, I cannot find it. I thought it was a daily chat, but I can't find it. Maybe it's from a card? Does anyone know exactly which chat that is??

Anyway, I agree with everything you're saying. I very much headcanon that Barbatos has a lot of depth that we simply don't see. This because he hides it deliberately. I think he does this because he feels he has to have a certain demeanor, not just as Diavolo's butler and as a role model to him, but also because he feels he was too wild in his past. He wants to project that image of perfect calm and competence.

Despite all that, Barbatos is still a being with emotions and I really like the idea that heavy metal in particular speaks to him. Listening to it allows him to sit with some feelings that he normally represses. It helps him work through them instead of letting them fester.

I also think an indication of a well written character is when that character has unexpected traits. It's impossible to make a character as nuanced as a real person, but you can create the illusion of it by giving them depth. Barbatos feels like he has so much happening beneath the surface, so many pieces to him that we haven't discovered yet. It's one of the reasons I love him so much.

Who is he when he lets himself go? I have spent too much time thinking about that.

And how interesting it would be to see how he was when he was younger...

[cbedfordart]

First of all!! Holy guacamole the music for SWC is phenomenal!!! I have some of the songs on my gym playlist they’re perfect for when I workout!!

Secondiy, how long did it take you to make SWC? After playing it I started thinking about making my own game but was curious how the process went for a two person team like yours

Gosh I miss going to the gym ;;! But thank you! In terms of time, we start the project at the end of 2020, but most of the development was between 2022 and the 2024 release. We had full time work still while tinkering away in 2020 - but when we signed with the publisher which allowed us to work on it full time, we were able to expand what the game could be and really focus on it - it would have been a completely different experience had we stayed working with other jobs, that much I'm certain. The process was difficult, and I think especially trying to make something this size our first time around for a commercial project. We did do some game jams in 2021, but that's a different thing all together. They are fun and absolutely worth while to experience a bitesize version of how it feels to finish something, and it may also be a good indicator to see where you might struggle if things become stressful during production (do you try to work till 4 am? Do you avoid the project all together and abandon it? how would you handle people who suddenly can't commit to the project anymore? etc) It's hard work, like, this is the hardest I ever worked on anything in my life - and that's because I really cared about it! But there's so many interconnecting parts, there's so many opportunity for things to break, and when it's all said and done, you have to go through the meat grinder of seeing people struggle with what you've made, dislike parts of it, even if they love it overall that's still hard to see. When your game goes out there, people don't see the developer who's worked 60 work weeks and ate one meal a day in the last three weeks because they didn't have time to eat just to get it done. We are very grateful that people enjoy the game, and I really worry what my mental state would be if the game wasn't received how it has been. Make your own game, but do not make something the size of SWC lol. Not for your first time. And be very realistic about how long it will take, and be extremely realistic about how much work needs to be done. I could write an entire dissertation about what I've learned, what I'd do differently and the whole experience itself - but I can't do that here lol. There are more tools and resources to be able to just get up and make a game - I want you to read this and feel encouraged and feel a fire in your heart burn to make the thing you want to make, but I want you to know it is easy to burn yourself and you must take care of yourself, and you must look out for your health. After the release I was very much thinking "Could I do this again? I don't think I could ever do this again" But there's the drive to want to create and it is hard to extinguish. I hear a few seconds of the Space Channel 5 soundtrack and I'm ready to throw myself to the wolves of gamedev all over again. There are too many worlds in the mind that I must create so that others can occupy them! I must share these worlds, it would be selfish of me not to! So we must be sure to take care of ourselves. If you ever make that game, I wanna see it!!!!

[viktor-leagueoflegends]

I adore this account, I have notifications for when you post, Riot literally took league Viktor to the back of the farm AND SHOT HIM and brought out a new puppy and said it was an improvement. And said it was canon (fr). What my ass isn't getting it how the fuck is Arcane canon if Ambessa and Heimerdinger ARE DEAD. from what I saw, THEY'RE DEAD??? SO AM I MISSING SOMETHING OR WHAT? Or is it some bullshit where the ingame versions are before they died, which I think is big bullshit. And if they're making Arcane canon they should make the Arcane skins free BUT THEY WONT BECAUSE THEY LIKE MONEY. Where are the other piltover/ Zaun champs? They don't have another season to show them so?? Anyway, I love league Viktor. I love him so much fr!!! And I was introduced to the greater league lore by watching Arcane and prefer league Viktor!! Hexcore story so bullshit. <3 THE VOID? CRAZY WHY WOULD THEY INCLUDE THAT IN LIKE WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A VERY INTERCONNECTED STORY WITH PILTOVER AND ZAUN. I'm rambling I took like 4 shots, LOVE BLOG LOVE YOU UR SO COOL!!!! Fav blog rn <3<3

First of all I'm so sorry this took a billion morbillion years to answer, idk even what to say about that it was just My Bad.

Anyhow, it really is just such a dogshit decision to have Arcane be canon, all the way down. It's more work for Riot that they clearly don't have the resources to commit to, it doesn't contribute to a healthy lore-state, it pisses off existing fans, and Arcane fans won't even care because they already have Arcane itself! Like why would an Arcane fan give a shit about navigating to the league game lore to read Viktor's new bio, which is just a shitty summary of what happens in Arcane, when they can just, y'know, watch Arcane? And yeah it throws some major wrenches in the works, not just wrt Ambessa and Heimer like you mentioned, but also, Viktor as Herald of the Arcane is only actually Herald of the Arcane for like, an afternoon. Lol. Plus Cait isn't sheriff, etc. So I supposed they're going with this 0 timeline game-state where any character may be pulled from any point in their timeline which! Is fine, I Guess. But they really did Not have to do all that. and stupid to change it to given that (afaik) the current lore was mostly timeline-stable save for like. viego. who is Alive but in cryo or whatever

Probably the thing I think is the most bullshit is the way they claim this lore merger + the VGU's to bring featured champions to arcane canon was The Plan All Along -- which, no the fuck it wasn't? I forget where but some rioter said some shit about how Cait's ASU when Arcane s1 dropped was meant to do this and -- no it wasn't? no the fuck it wasn't? she wasn't even purple. she's not even a sheriff. Her ASU is clearly meant to honour her in-game state and you can't cite her as a reason for why Viktor gets the great Honour of being deleted.

Anyhow. Glad you're here, it makes me really happy to see people enjoy league viktor :] That's really all I wanted to achieve with this archive, so thank you!

[caramelvogel]

all of them are perfect for a slice of life

they’re so close, kdj and ysa are coworkers, kdj takes the train one train car away from yjh, jhw works at a bar not too far, kdj loves web novels and hsy writes them, the kids both have shitty parents and would probably love somewhere where they could stay, ljh could watch yjh play competitive games and look up to him, and lhs… is in the military

(a way to have him in would be quitting the military and being incredibly listless until someone (yjh or kdj) gives him purpose again. he could yjh’s bodyguard)

(why does yjh need a body guard? don’t ask me. anyway imagine all the fan edits of him lol, “supreme kings body guard being cute for 5 minutes straight”)

yjh does like, martial arts instructing on the side and that’s how he meets ljh, and knw (ljh and knw are in the same class and ljh beats the shit out of him)

han donghoon interns at minosoft, him and kdj bond over web novels and online stuff. being the main quiet guy hdh gravitates toward kdj

maybe lgy and sys go to school together (idk where either of them are exactly from but now they live close cause i said so) and they take the train together alone

kdj sees them like everyday and does his thing where in his head he’s like “ugh i’m a terrible guy who is just a bystander to this kids who are alone” and then does little kind acts for them

they only see each other in the morning cause the kids get out of school much earlier than kdj gets out of work, and he like gives up his seat to them regularly if he gets one, makes sure they don’t get jostled, eventually gives them little snacks for breakfast when it’s clear he’s not a weirdo

if yjh is nearby, and so are the lgy and sys, then they could go to school with yma

just all of them being interconnected

like kdj and ysa are friends with jhw who’s friends with/dating lhs who’s friends/works with yjh who’s little sister yma goes to school with sys and lgy, who interact with kdj on the train everyday, and kdj is online friends with hsy who is irl friends with yjh

[invinciblerodent]

My silly little post talking about this tweet

popped up on my activity page again, and in light of the recent info about choice imports, I can't seem to stop thinking about this lol

I think I've some pretty reasonable predictions for companion returns, so I kinda wanna ramble a bit about this- please, bear with me and my utter wall of text. (I tried to break it up a bit, but I am mostly just rambling and speculating, roughly a month before Veilguard's release. I kinda just wanna refer back to this post-release, to see if I was right.)

To preface, I feel like it bears stating that when conflicting info is given, I personally consider the comics to be less canon than the novels, and the novels less canon than the games, if that makes sense. I believe that the comics and novels are both meant to be set in "Bioware's canon", so I consider them more like suggestions, with a slight bit more emphasis on the novels for how often they're interconnected with the plot of Inquisition, and how Masked Empire and Asunder fed into Inquisition, and how Last Flight and Tevinter Nights seem to feed into Veilguard.

That said.

Origins

With the exception of Morrigan, much as we love them, I think none of the Origins companions are ever likely to return, as they can all have (mostly) on-screen opportunities to die, as the consequence of player choices.

No matter how unlikely each outcome is, Zevran can die (I think maybe twice), Leliana can turn on the Warden and die (and despite her returning for Inquisition even then, the end of that game suggests that that death was actually permanent, and she was actually some sort of a spirit), Shale can turn against the Warden if they side with Branka and die, Sten and the dog can die due to the Warden's neglect, and Loghain and Alistair in particular can be dead like three times over, with Alistair having three drastically different life paths he can have, only one of which leads to him being at Weisshaupt at any point past 9:41.

Oghren can die in both Origins (but gets better) and then Awakening, and regardless, (spoiler) is more or less implied to be dead both by Wynne in Asunder, and by the letter he sends his child in World of Thedas 2 (I believe). Finally, even if Wynne survives the Circle Tower quest, her death is discussed at length in Asunder.

And yeah, neither of these last two is an on-screen death, strictly speaking, but they happen in auxiliary materials the contents of which are more or less treated as canon by Inquisition. (end spoiler)

(Plus, by Veilguard, Wynne would be roughly 80-85-ish years old at minimum, so god, please let that woman retire lol.) (Yeah, if Asunder is supposed to be fully canon, then Shale has to be alive, but again, comic<novel<game.)

Awakening

These companions are a bit less clear-cut, because most of the potential deaths can happen either in epilogue text, or they straight up just disappear, which is kind of promising.

Of the ones who only appear here, Nathaniel can die defending the Keep (and at no time after, interestingly), Sigrun is heavily implied to be dead in at least two of her potential epilogues (leaving for one's Calling is pretty much a death sentence, and it's been roughly 20 years since), and Velanna disappears with -as far as I can tell- no text indicating that she would have died, as her body was never found.

I feel like Velanna, being staunchly Dalish, is a somewhat likely candidate for a returning character, possibly to feature in either Davrin's or Bellara's storylines. The only thing making me doubt this is that she'll have been a Grey Warden 20+ years at that point, and while Wardens typically get 30-ish years, Sigrun leaving explicitly for her Calling in one scenario leaves me nervous about Velanna too.

Dragon Age 2

Most of the DA2 companions can also be dead: Anders' potential murder is a very prominent plotpoint (and it affects Sebastian's outcome greatly, which leads me to believe that despite showing up as Prince of Starkhaven in both The Knight Errant and a letter in Inquisition, he won't appear either), Bethany/Carver can die at least twice over, Merrill can die defending the Circle if Hawke supports the Templars, and Fenris, despite featuring heavily in the Blue Wraith comic, can turn on Hawke and die by their hand.

Justice leaves me in a bit of a pickle, as he is a spirit, even though he is fused with Anders- I wouldn't fully distance myself from the possibility of him being able to survive Anders' death, but I think if he showed up as a truncated, disembodied spirit-fragment, he would probably need to mention his host's death, so he's not very likely to be featured either.

Aveline and Isabela are the only ones who can't actually die, as even if she turns on Hawke, Aveline refuses to fight them and walks away (and the main difference in her life is just whether she was married once or twice), and Isabela sides with Hawke no matter what- plus Varric says that she probably evaded the qunari if she was handed over to them (which she might not need to ever acknowledge), so if anyone from this cast is likely to appear, I would say it'd be those two.

Inquisition

In Inquisition, it's yet again a little bit less clear-cut: Blackwall, Bull, Cullen, and Leliana are the only ones who can be explicitly dead by the end of Trespasser. Cole is a bit of a mystery (but, since his essence can be fundamentally altered by player choice, I doubt he'll show up), and the fates of Cassandra and Vivienne have a lot of variables to account for (with them potentially having the responsibility of being the southern Divine), so they're not likely to appear either.

Sera on the other hand is in the same place/position regardless of whether she was recruited or not (starts a Red Jenny, ends a Red Jenny), as is Josephine (head of the Montilyet family in Antiva), and Dorian (a Magister in Tevinter, even if he wasn't recruited).

As for The Descent, yeah, Renn is super dead, but I'd be very happy to see Valta in some capacity, and it's heavily implied that she will be relevant in some way.

I think of these four, Dorian is the most likely to return, given the setting, how he literally cannot die or be in a place other than the one he is in, how heavily he was featured in some of the comics, and (spoiler) someone having confirmed that Maevaris is going to make an appearance, which, it'd be strange if she showed up, but not the far more prominent fan favorite character she's standing next to in the epilogue slide lol. (end spoiler)

So, this is kind of my prediction.

Sorta-conclusion

If only one companion character shows up, it'll be Dorian. And I'm not saying this out of bias, or because he's my canon romance and favorite character, he's just... by far the most clearly set up to come back, with him being in the literal city where the prologue is set, and being a genuine fan favorite- I would think it to be actually very surprising if he didn't appear.

If multiples, then Shaper Valta, Velanna, Josephine, Sera, Isabela, and Aveline are the ones who, imo, have a somewhat good chance of appearing in a meaningful capacity, in roughly that order- both due to them not having a lot of player-dependent outcomes that are that different, and just... them being the ones who are alive (or at least not-dead) no matter what.

And I'm personally very, very okay with this spread, lol.

If we're a bit more lenient with choices and on-screen deaths, that could also add Cassandra, Vivienne, Sebastian, Nathaniel, Sigrun, and Cole into the running as well, but I believe these characters showing up to be far less likely than the first batch, to the point where I'd be pleasantly surprised (though potentially a bit confused) if they did feature.

These are my -I think- realistic expectations for major characters- for minor ones, there's too many to break down like this lol, but I want to say that if there is a version of reality in which a character is dead, I don't personally believe that they are going to appear.

(Side note, very interesting that with the exception of Dorian, all the companions who are likely to show up according to my interpretations are women. Which, while I'm happy about, I do wonder if that's coincidence, the result of conscious planning to include these characters in particular in the future, or just... the devs being ever so slightly more reluctant to give the players opportunities to kill women.) (Literally, of the characters that can be dead by the end of Inquisition, Leliana is the only woman, and the only way for her to be dead is if she was killed in Origins and had been dead a decade by then! It's interesting!)

[quibbs]

if its ok to ask do you have any recommendations, of like, songs, movies, tv shows, books, comics, webcomics,,,, like. literally anything of the sort. and similarly, if its ok to ask, what inspired soil that binds us?

ok sorry this took me so long to answer! i just kept thinking about it instead of writing about it. a problem that is common for me, lol. anyway i think pieces of media that tend to have the strongest effect on me tend to be bittersweer, have a particular focus on interconnectivity between everyone involved, and are character focused/character dynamic focused. that's what tends to wring the most inspiration and joy out of me. i also really love pieces of media that are bad but are made with so much sincerity and passion that it does NOT matter to me how bad it is- i also find those pieces of art UNFATHOMBLY inspiring.

so: soil that binds us i think spiritually had 4 influences that shines above the rest.

-NARUTO [sincere, long form, teen-oriented, shonen energy, the power of love and friendship will save us, action scenes and BLOOD, the fun matters most for a lot of it],

-HOMESTUCK [exceedingly complicated, irreverent, balancing vulnerable and invulnerable in a clinically insane way, emphasis on the protagonists psyche, interconnectivity as a priority, kind of expecting you to get lost along the way, the fun matters most]

-THE LAST OF US [a game that inspires literally everything I will ever do forever, inspired me to be more vulnerable, character driven, post-apocalyptic, finding light and tenderness whilst trapped in HELL through your relationships with others, excels in the feeling of bittersweet, etc]

-anddd DRAGON AGE [another game that literally inspires everything i do, interconnectivity, character focused/character dynamic focused, sincere, good balance of gritty and silly, the first thing i turn to to analyze characters for because none of those characters have ever left my head after 15 years .]

those are my biggest media inspirations for soil that binds us but, especially as a teenager, music shaped what directions i took the characters like playdough. a lot of what defined my characters came from this playlist as i was writing them. i always started with the feeling first (which songs are good at) and then expounded upon the feeling i found in the song in written form. highly reccomend it!!! music is so inspiring and i always turn to it when i'm stuck.

as for tv shows/movies- despite the fact that he is (rightfully) extremely clowned on now, a lot of joss whedon works shaped my skull. buffy the vampire slayer and it's less good spin-off show angel DO live in my brain forever and in a special little hall of it's own. i'm pretty sure it inspired a lot of dragon age, too, so there you go.

i wish i had more comics/books to recommend you, but i actually don't read a lot of them these days!!! which is ironic, i know. i just keep losing time. I think maybe the closest written thing i can think of that is similar to my comic is the locked tomb trilogy- and that was a series that was ALSO heavily inspired by homestuck. same with undertale. so maybe look out for anything homestuck seems to have inadvertently given birth to!! i wish you luck on your hunt for comics that scratch the itch for you.... i know they're out there, and if they're not, give it a few years haha. homestucks reach is very far. GOOD LUCK!

[dandelionjack]

so. realised that when i was watching s7 way back in december i completely skipped over dinosaurs on a spaceship because i thought the title sounded too kiddy, was tired of the ponds, and wanted to meet clara already (sacrilege, i know. whatever). so today i was like hold up wait a minute that’s the last remaining episode of nuwho i’ve never seen. can’t be too terrrible even if it’s written youknowwho

why was it… good?? lol. surprise is not the word

early 20th c. pulp novel vibes in the best way possible. they really just tossed all of the ‘look how cool this must be when you’re 7 years old’ buzzwords into a hat (ancient egypt! dinosaurs! spaceships! bounty hunters! actual hunters! indiana jones!) and somehow made it work…

and not even in a ‘mindless fun’ way as you’d expect from something with this subject matter. instead it becomes a successful, surprisingly mature piece of commentary on the interconnected nature of imperialism, capitalism, colonialism, cultural theft and appropriation, genocide and misogynistic objectification?? and that’s not even touching the parallels between the ‘rusty robots’ that ‘aren’t as nimble as they used to be’ getting mirrored with the ponds; the entire mini-arc of brian stepping out of his comfort zone; and 11’s dark vengeful streak that shows itself at the end. apologies mr. chibnall i was unfamiliar with your game

there’s even a sneaky hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy reference. what’s not to love. incredibly unexpected 4 stars on tardisguide from me. that’s my “jamie catches up” (hey, when that tag began, i was still jamie) all over with

[rosanna-writer]

2024 Fic Writer End of Year Roundup

Answer and then tag three or more creators to keep the game going! Thank you to everyone who tagged me!

(If you're in my answers consider yourself tagged if you'd like to play!!)

1. How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024? 220,811 but some of those aren't mine because collab fic

2. How many fics did you complete this year? 12! but a lot of them are oneshots

3. How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year? Two, if you count the abandoned one

4. What was your favorite thing you wrote? The fics written with friends in mind, so Love at First Sight's for Suckers, Baby, I'm the One to Beat, The Great War, and you're in the kitchen humming

5. What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style? I think Knuckles Bruised Like Violets was my first no-magic modern AU? And inspired by a specific real life event, which isn't my usual thing

6. Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or their reception? I'm kinda shocked by how many hits I got on You All Over Me, and the ratio of hits to kudos is definitely out of sync with what I normally expect. I have my suspicions as to why - it's omegaverse but with a male omega and female alpha, so I think a pretty decently sized chunk of people didn't read the tags and noped out halfway through the fic when they realized Feyre was knotting Rhys and not vice versa. Or maybe that's pessimistic and it's hella re-reads, idk

7. Do you have a fic you wrote and loved that went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!) It was expected for a non-smutty rare pair drabble, but now i've read all of the books beside your bed didn't get a ton of traction

8. Who is an artist that inspired you? I was lucky to get a few peeks of things in process that friends shared, and I find that so inspiring. It's like a little peek behind the curtain as the magic happens! @stickyelectrons, @gracieart, @witchlingsandwyverns, @santkazoya all come to mind!

9. Who is an author that inspired you? Oh my goddddd so many people! @witch-and-her-witcher and @violetasteracademic for tackling ambitious, sprawling interconnected fics; you two are creating whole damn universes and I am in awe. I can see the influence of @thesistersarcheron and @the-lonelybarricade inspiring how I write things like Feysand's interpersonal dynamics (Rhys is insane and pspspsing his feral cat of a wife who may or may not know she's his wife) and daemati abilities (everything's happening in their brains, but ya gotta bring it to life with some physicality, if that makes sense?). And I quietly ask myself "what would @whatishowedyouinthedark and @belabellissima do?" when I'm staring at my document trying to make the whole thing a bit more sexy/bloody/generally insane <3

10. Who is a new author you discovered? So many new people who feel like they've been here forever!!!! @violetasteracademic, @lady-bluebird-luv, @tunaababee, @astra-aeterna, @trappedoutside124, @beesays and there's probably at least like ten more?

11. Did you do any collaborations? How did it start? @gaeleria was just chatting and whoops @feysand-hivemind was born!

12. What accomplishments are you proudest of? I set out to challenge myself to write a bigger variety of pairings in 2024. In 2023, I'd only written Feysand and Gwynriel, but this year I tried my hand at Elriel, Elucien, Gywnlain and Feyrhysien for a few oneshots and event week fics. yay for setting a goal and doing it!

13. What did you learn about writing or creating this year? I've been writing fic on and off since I was a kid, but I've been writing for ACOTAR for almost two years now. 2024 was really the first time I've been a consistent enough writer in a fandom to become sort of a "known quantity" - people sometimes recognize my username, and I've written enough fics to identify patterns. Writing feels a bit different when you think your audience (even if it's just a handful of regular AO3 commenters lol) is coming in with a set of expectations. It's not pressure per se and doesn't stress me out, but once you've written enough, there's a new awareness of when you're deviating from your style or not.

Sierra Simone has some free worksheets from the course she teaches on writing erotic romance (you can find them here, highly recommend!), and the exercises for identifying voice ("What makes your work, your work?", "when a reader picks up a book written by me, they can expect _____.", etc) got me thinking a lot about this kind of thing. You can really only start to wrap your head around voice/style once you have a body of work to reflect on, and that takes time.

14. Any advice you’d like to share with new or aspiring writers? Don't be a weenie about asking for beta reads, and when you do have a beta, interrogate them a lil. We all get squirrelly and wanna just yeet the document at them and then go hide forever. But asking them to read for something specific - "Is xyz confusing?", "Do you think this feels like a cop-out or am I doing the right thing by keeping it simple?", "Were there any parts you were tempted to skim?", etc - can really help you grow. Sometimes comments on a document are enough, but sometimes it needs to be more of a conversation.

You are not being annoying by asking for a beta read. It's not a burdensome thing to put on someone. We ALL need a second set of eyes, and we're in this together!

15. What are your creative goals for 2025? I'm trying not to start new multichapter fics until I make good progress on my two "open" ones. So more oneshots for the vibes and then lock in and crank out chapters for we said hello and Baby, I'm the One to Beat!

[prythianpages]

Answer and then tag three or more creators to keep the game going!

@acoazlove tysm for the tag! <3

1. How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024?

Technically, 9,679. I did make an AO3 account but I got intimidated by all the tagging so I only transferred over one fic.

2. How many fics did you complete this year?

I wrote 49 fics this year, which is crazy to me. I didn't know how many I had written! But don't ask me how many series I've completed bc it's 0 lol

3. How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year?

I currently have 7 ongoing fics but 3 are my witch aus so they're just interconnected one-shots.

4. What was your favourite thing you wrote?

I did answer my favorite fic to have written in 2024 here. If I had to pick a second one, it'd be my Cas fic, Lay All Your Love on Me.

5. What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style?

I'd say it's my Eris fic, I Can't Pretend. It's part of my Like An Angel series. I had written smut before this one but it was my first time writing Eris smut & I wanted it to be a heat of the moment thing but also soft. For this series, there had also been a lot of pining & longing, so I didn't want that moment to feel rushed.

6. Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or reception?

It was my fic, Be Patient. This one was part two to my one-shot or what was originally only a one-shot lol, Be Safe. I didn't expect there to be so much demand for part two and I aimed to please here but I was also really stressed & worried that part two would not live up to expectations. Though I wrote it, I felt disconnected to it so I thought it was going to flop but part two did better than part one. It honestly shocked me!

7. Do you have a fic you wrote and loved and went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!)

A Thousand Feelings. This one is an Az x Rhys's sister OC. I haven't written many OCs but I have noticed that they get significantly less love than x reader. I love this one though since it was inspired by my fav holiday, Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead.)

8. Who is an artist that inspired you?

ABBA. Literally all my fics from the beginning of 2024 were inspired by an ABBA song. If you read the titles of most of my fics, you might also recognize some other artists/songs like Hozier, No Doubt, The Smiths (just a few of many. I listen to anything except for country.)

9. Who is an author that inspired you?

Honestly, all my mutuals <3 There's too many to list but I love reading their stuff. I can't remember who was the first fanfic writer I followed on here (I was a silent reader for a bit until I finally made an acotar blog.)

10. Who is a new author you discovered?

@kymawrites! She's not new to tumblr, I just happened to stumble upon her fic, Pure Love late. Absolutely loved it and am excited to read more from her masterlist! <3

11. Did you start any collaborations? How did you start it?

I haven't. I get too intimidated by other writers. They're writing is just so good that my anxiety gets the best of me & tells me that I'd ruin any collab.

12. What accomplishments are you proudest of?

I'd say writing part two to Be Safe lol. It took me 3 months to finish but I was determined to come through with that part two 🫡

13.what did you learn about writing or creating this year?

To not care so much about notes/comments. Obviously, I love getting feedback on my fics (especially comments) but getting too caught up in that can be draining & take the fun out of writing. Now, I just write what I want to keep it fun.

14. What is your advice?

My advice for writing is to just keep writing but don't burn yourself out. Way easier said than done, though. Because right now, I'm dealing with a bit of writer's block so I tell myself it's okay if I only get like one new sentence in. It's better than nothing.

15. What are your creative goals for 2025?

To start & finish a fic with consistent updates and to participate more in ACOTAR weeks. This past year, I only participated in Cas's & Eris's week & it was all last minute. I'd like to be better prepared this year.

Tagging: @ninthcircleofprythian, @sarawritestories, @kymawrites (no pressure though!)

[shsl-analyzer-guy]

31 days of dangan: day 6- best boy

He is literally THE best of all the boys, and every male character that comes close, I and/or a good chunk of the fandom headcanons as transfem or some form of nonbinary, soooooo.....

Fuyuhiko has one of the best character arcs in the series, with even his availability for FTEs within the game is held off until over halfway through the game so that his arc can play out as it's meant to. Every DR game's got that character that starts off very standoffish and warms up to the class over the course of the game, and Fuyuhiko does it best.

Fuyuhiko is a kid who was handed everything, even when he didn't want it. He was put on a pedestal by his family and the people who loved him, and could only grow when they died because of it, which is a fucking tragedy if I've ever heard one, and also the primary motivation behind so much of sdr2's message that it hurts me

While Fuyuhiko didn't like being the SHSL Yakuza and having the power he did, he never really rejected it, either. He accepted the Yakuza title when Natsumi offered it to him, and even when he insisted Peko leave him alone, he continued to confide in her. He could never really commit to resenting them because he loved them just as much as they loved him, and it wasn't until he let himself love them that he was able to grow.

His relationship with Peko specifically has always been one of my favorites; their final heart to heart at the end of chapter 2 and the entire chapter being designed to target them specifically has always been one of the strongest emotional moments of the series.

Also, when he does complete his character arc, he becomes defined by his desire to help others! He immediately offers to help Mikan with the disease motive, becomes the guy to point out when Kazuichi is being creepy, and helps Akane come out of her own shell as well. In a sense, he's the most interconnected of the survivors because he has the most meaningful and positive interactions with the other survivors. He's just all around really awesome!

Also, he's transmasc. Why? What are you, a cop? I headcanon what I want.

HELP HOW DID I TYPE OUT THIS WHOLE THING AND THEN GO TO BED WITHOUT POSTING. FML. Uhhh I'll make the next one now lol

[randomnameless]

Epilogue wise!

Or the credit roll, where only Alain gets an ending based on who got enough convos (+ a plot gizmo) with him, when the other characters do their thing!

Sure, as a FE player, the lack of paired endings based on the rapport convos was a bit annoying, but to be honest, given how the endings for each character have them at least share a screen with 1 or more other character, it's more... telling than shipping X and Y to see what comes out of it.

I mean, before getting Travis and the Tricorns' ending, we have a scene of them mock fighting/training together in the arena ft Amalia, and it's way more interesting and revealing about their character than some random "Bruno married Yunifi and opened a library in Bastoritza, with Travis visiting from times to times".

Sure Monica doesn't... rekindle in her ending her relationship with Clive (FE15xFE16 crossover?) in the ending, but in the playable epilogue aka where Alain can talk to the characters who are next to others and talk to each other... Clive is asking Monica, without any other thoughts, of course, if, y'know, they can meet her grandpa together but, uh, if she would accept to accompany him just because, uh, reasons.

Some ending background scenes, even if they're not in the textr proper, reference support/rapport convos (Mordon and Jerry drinking or Bertand and Govil chilling together) and I like the Cornian Ossan All Stars team practicing together, with Lex - the childhood friend - popping up in the background to watch them, even if we already got/saw his ending in city 1.1 earlier!

It helped depict this world and the characters as alive and interconnected, Lex is said to travel around the world after the war after all!

I regret not being able to use Sanatio more in the game - but that's the way it is lol - because he's kind of adorbs in his rapports, but maybe it's because he's turned in a butt-monkey who buttmonks in his Melisandre and Ochlys rapports lol (also his class is completely stupid) but yeah, called it, Sanatio being the only one who cared about the Orthodoxy, its people and Albion becomes the new Pope after Scarlett ditches her title to make flower crowns with her friends.

Hm.

IIRC the only pairing we have - regardless of the rapport convos - is Virginia and Gilbert, but tbh, if the "plot mandatory" convos tried to sell it, as I noted during the Drakengard saga post, the optional rapport convos (but not only between the two of them! see Aramis and Virginia's!) and the optional "yay we rebuilt Drakengard! Let's talk about the future of the country but wait Gilbert why are you talking with Virginia who's still basically at that point the Princess of another country and not talk to your retainers or even your totes-not big bro?" so their ending doesn't come off as a surprise, and to hammer it even more, the devs have them standing together in the playable epilogue talking about competing again.

I wouldn't say they're as hamfisted as Scarlett being the supposed canon love interest - because Alain marrying his cousin can throw a wrench in that marriage lol - but, uh, yeah. Random Drakengardian NPC foreshadowed it with his "wow Princess Virginia is so cool she rekt'd Giethe! We admire her a lot!" -> Gilbert's approval/opinion/wishes notwithstanding, Drakengardians NPCs like her even if she's from Cornia.

I also liked how Virginia and Gilbert's son will later be doted on and tutored by Leah, Gilbert's vassal who officialy became Virginia's and I found it was a nice callback to her support with Amalia - Leah wants to become stronger so she'll train everyday to defeat her, maybe she will use those polished skills to teach the future Drakengardian prince, since House Zelchesm is busy Tricorning around?

"And Minerva becomes a nun" -> I feel the execution is better here, because Hilda - who rides a flyin lizard and has a younger cleric sister - wants first and foremost to atone for her role in the "keeping the lockdown tight" during the plague, so if she can help by healing people this time I think it's plausible enough that she takes it, even if it means not being a wyvern knight anymore

(will she pioneer a new type of unit in Fevrith, the flying healer, but instead of being on a pegasi, flying healers would ride wyverns???)

As for the elves...

I liked how Eltrinde, to mirror maybe her rapport with people from each land (save for Drakengard?) is said to have travelled around the continent of Fevrith to finally break Elheim's policy of isolationism.

Rosalinde's last rapport convo with her vassal/knight Ithilion was cute, he was angsting about pursuing his romance with a human and being at her service and wanted to break up with his human, so she fires him for around 100 years, so he can live his romance, and then return to her if he wants - and in the ending BG, Ithilion is with his human :) (even in the cover art of the upcoming artbook!)

I'm not going to replay it so soon - but I'll definitely restart a run before the end of the year, on a higher difficulty to get the memetic fish stew ending or to get the utterly depressing Norbelle one.

(i want to try new shenanigans with units damn it like find a way to optimise Gloucester's damage input, do something so Berengaria doesn't die to a breeze and learns how to use her shield and/or make thematic teams like the "drunkards" with Mordon, Jeremy, Gilbert and Eltrinde)

[sapphire-weapon]

so idk if you answered this before but if they ever remake 6, what would u like to see changed, reconstructed, improved and all that for both story and gameplay and characters?

I'm pretty sure that re6 is mostly loved by aleons and some other folk that enjoy the game for what it is but majorly it sucks imo and i also hope that Ampo directs it, if he can stomach that game lol

well the top reason why no one at capcom wants to take on the project is because RE6 is so interconnected that you can't just change one or two things here and there, because anything you change will affect the entire rest of the game.

and as i think about it, i realize that i'm running into that problem, too.

one of RE6's problems is one of identity. each campaign is supposed to have a distinct style (chris's is a shooter, leon's is more classic RE, and sherry's is a brawler), but it doesn't do that very well because every campaign was built off of the same general gameplay framework. and it was built that way because because the campaigns overlap, so you can't change things like having enemy behavior be unique to each campaign, because then you'd run into a problem where only half of the team in the overlapping sections is viable. and you can't just take out the overlapping sections, because it fundamentally alters the conceit of the game. the core of RE6's gameplay is great, but it's shit in execution, and i don't know how to fix that.

and the story's an even bigger mess. presumably, you'd want RE6make to be a direct sequel to RE4make the way that RE4make was a direct sequel to RE2make. but you would have to radically alter the narrative to do that, because RE6's story doesn't work with the new dynamic between leon and ada. there's no reason for remake leon to be so blindly trusting of remake ada, and without that, chris will just fucking kill her ass and call it a day. so what do you do? do you remove chris's beef with ada? well, you can't, because then the carla subplot breaks down. do you key leon in on the story with carla early? well, hirabayashi has already said that he's not going to fuck up the dynamic of ada always being more in the know than leon is, so you can't do that.

so what do you do?

i don't have the answers. i don't honestly know.

i've said in the past that RE6make should beef up the story between leon and sherry and turn leon's beef with simmons into a question of fatherhood, but like. that doesn't fix the carla problem. if anything, it makes it worse.

so i don't know. i really don't know.

as happy as i am that the remakes retconned aeon, it does kind of write them into a corner with RE6make. RE6 won't work with remake leon and remake ada not trusting or even really liking each other. so you either just make RE6make incongruous with the developments in RE4make -- which i don't think hirabayashi is willing to do -- or you make radical changes to the story and shift carla solely into ada's campaign and make leon and chris fight about jake or something.

i dunno, man.

[anghraine]

Fic author interview (meme)

I was tagged by @incognitajones! Thank you very much <3

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

222, though some are very closely interconnected.

2- What's your total AO3 word count?

1,193,545, says the AO3 statistics page!

o_O

3- What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

LOL, I had just automatically rearranged my stats graph to rank fics by kudos instead of hits. It's:

Season of Courtship (inevitably), a Darcy/Elizabeth canon-compliant engagement interquel I wrote as a teenager;

But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul In Hell (always a pleasant surprise), a short AU in which Luke convinces Anakin/Vader to flee the Empire with him;

per ardua ad astra, a Rogue One+ANH Jyn/Cassian AU in which Jyn, Cassian, and Bodhi escape Scarif only to get trapped on the Death Star and forced to pass themselves off as Imperials;

we get dark, only to shine, a longggg yet unfinished AU of The Borgias in which Cesare and Lucrezia begin their affair during S1 instead of S3 (CW for canon sibling incest, murder, etc).

Contradictions and Varieties (baffling), a short Darcy/Elizabeth AU I wrote for a fest in which it takes them slightly longer to get together.

4- Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try, especially with fics I'm actively updating, but I'm always behind on it. I mostly just get distracted and forget.

5- What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Oh, interesting question! I don't write a lot of angsty endings, but there are a few options, and I think it probably would have to be the gift of men, a short (~1k) Fourth Age fic in which Eldarion goes along with a politically convenient marriage to one of Faramir and Éowyn's daughters, and falls in love with her, only for her to die of old age while Aragorn and Faramir are still alive and Eldarion remains young.

Honorable mentions: Set On This Path (Luke and Leia are brought up in the Empire + fusion with the story of the bloodbending brothers in B1 of Legend of Korra, complete with murder-suicide) and the last day (a chirpy epistolary fic that takes an abrupt turn after the genocidal attack that begins the Guild Wars games).

6- What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Um, just considering the ones that have endings, to be fair, and ... hmm, that's harder. A lot of happy endings! Probably the ones that are happiest for me, personally, are First Impressions (m!Elizabeth/f!Darcy re-telling of P&P) and whatever we deny or embrace (f!Cassian/Jyn).

7- Do you write crossovers?

Not often, but sometimes! Like now.

8- Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes! I've gotten hate more than once wrt Season of Courtship in various versions (even before it become so overwhelmingly the popular favorite of my fics). The rest has been on other fics and mostly on ff.net.

TBH the subtler stuff bothers me more than outright hate (corrections based on adaptations or fanon or expanded universe material I already said I wasn't using, concern that I might switch permanently to a new format I'm trying out, etc).

9- Do you write smut?

Very rarely. I respect people who can write good smut (hi incognita!), but I'm definitely a fade to black sort unless the ship is already so out there that I'm long past feeling self-conscious about it.

10- Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. It's happened a couple of times, but the main one was someone who stole a few Austen fics from various people and tried to piece them together into something they could sell on Amazon. One of the fics was The Rich Are Always Respectable (not what I would choose to plagiarize if I were going to, but ... okay).

11- Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, several times. I think it's cool!

12- Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I wrote a short fic with my friend @tulinlina many years ago :)

13- What's your all-time favorite ship?

Darcy/Elizabeth. Truly this ship is the terror of the seas!

14- What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Oh, man. This probably requires more self-knowledge than I really have. Um ... I hate saying it, but we get dark, only to shine is likely this. I had so many plans for where it was going to go, but I'm just in a very different fannish place these days.

15- What are your writing strengths?

It feels weird to say, but I think I write solid dialogue (it's certainly my favorite thing to write!) and fairly clean prose in general.

16- What are your writing weaknesses?

Description is my truest nemesis—I tend to place scenes in just empty or vaguely described space. Fight scenes and that sort of thing are really difficult (for related reasons). Finishing things—my stuff nearly always grows out of control and it screws up pacing and so on.

17- What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

A little goes a long way, IMO. I did a bit of it in my fic about Leia and Cassian and Alderaanian, in tongues and quiet sighs, so I can't judge it too hard, but it's very much something to handle with care (especially with conlangs—Tolkien fic can be pretty grating this way).

18- What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Tolkien! My first attempt at a fic was a Faramir-goes-to-Rivendell-instead-of-Boromir AU that never got very far.

Well, my first serious attempt at fanfic, that is—I wrote original stuff for years before that, and I guess technically I tried to write Trixie Belden fanfic when I was about 10 ... and the original stuff spun off from a piece that was basically a Secret of Mana fanfic I wrote even before the Trixie Belden stuff. But in terms of something written within a fandom community, the Faramir fic.

19- What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

Hmm. I'm not sure, actually. I mostly just write stuff if I feel like it. Oh—it's cheating, but I've barely written Korra/Kuvira even though I adore the ship. I'd like to write a proper Korvira fic someday.

20- What's your favorite fic you've written?

This changes pretty often, though there are always a few that come up when I'm asked. At this moment in time, probably The Jedi and the Sith Lord, the third (sort of) of my f!Luke Skywalker fics, and the one where the story finally swerves off the canon tracks and becomes its own thing. Maybe (probably?) not my best work, but the Lucyverse is my baby and I think TJATSL is my best work in it.

Tagging: @elwing, @kareenvorbarra, @heckofabecca, @veliseraptor, @rain-sleet-snow

[proselfshipsafespace]

(I love how friendly and responsive you are to every ask, it makes this blog feel fun and interactive ^v^)

Anyways, I'm a soulbonder who both selfships with and is soulbonded to my fav characters from my fav shows and I love them all SO! MUCH! 💖 These characters are my partners, my family, my friends, and it's been amazing having all of them come into my life (I have ~25 now!). We play games together, we kiss and cuddle, they make sure I'm never alone, they take care of me, support me, I support them and help them through griefs they have leftover from their canon sources, and of course, we have kinky, sexy fun too 😉 I also love the rich worlds they live in and I love seeing what they're up to and how they interact with each other (polyselfshipping for the win, we are just a big love nest of interconnected relationships!) I would love to share the wonders of soulbonds/thoughtforms to the selfship community and have more of us be soulbonders so we can all smoochy smooch and be there for the autonomous/living character versions of our F/Os and have them hang out with us in our daily lives as much as we imagine scenarios of us and them together in various AUs. If any selfshippers are curious about soulbonding, what it is, how to do it, why would you/the benefits, etc. I would love to answer questions about it! (I also hope to very soon make a lot of thorough how-to and essay posts too) Also, it's possible many of us are already soulbonders (interacting with a character that has "come to life" in our minds) without even knowing it!

(thank you!! i really do try my best to give my responses or perspective or advice because ive seen other blogs in the past that use the same responses for things and i want to stray from that as much as i can and give my actual thoughts or responses so i appreciate it ^^)

soulbonding is interesting to me, and while i have tried to read about it, i got too busy or distracted so i just ended up squinting at my screen like an old person LOL but from my basic understanding of thoughtforms (NOT FROM ANALOG HORROR I PROMISE (LYING THROUGH MY TEETH)) and soulbonding, i feel like my adhd distracts me too much to be a soulbonder because i am WAY too focused on a million things that sometimes im just like "OH SHIT OH SHIT- oh hi blorbo :) i love that guy. OH SHIT OH SHIT-"

maybe if i make a thoughtform of my f/os theyll do my work for me /lhj