#i just need to make a line and them write some keywords

[mynameisbillandimaheadcase]

.

[hanrinz]

✩ ‧ ₊˚ TO LOVE AND TO HOLD — MICHAEL KAISER

wherein your boyfriend is terrible at pick-up lines, but it's okay he's cute anyway.

your boyfriend of four years, michael kaiser is terrible with a lot of things. namely, with his incapability of cooking meals, his terrible sense of time—if not for you maybe he won't even come to some grand events his team holds in time.

but this main habit of your boyfriend that just takes the prize, is him making awful pick-up lines.

may it be a line he saw from a rom-com movie or he's seen on the internet, he'll make it a mission to use it on you every single time.

what makes it worse, is that he doesn't even say it right.

your boyfriend is a lot of things, but using a good pick-up line is not one of them. your boyfriend is idiotically cute and sometimes a jerk.

it baffles your friends how you ended up with such a man like michael kaiser. maybe, it was his dumb jokes or his stupid face, you'll never know.

love is blind they said, maybe it's true for you.

on a cold afternoon, where you and kaiser are walking down on the road for a grocery run. the sun hides behind the clouds and the breeze blows through lightly.

scrolling through your phone as you check the list of the items you'll be buying. walking aimlessly as your boyfriend leads you, a hand placed on your lower back.

surprisingly he's quiet, looking at the buildings and the speck of white flakes that falls faintly on this day.

you continue to revel in the comfortable silence you were wrapped into, listing down some items you've been thinking on top of your head.

milk, strawberries, chocolates...

mind blanking from the things you need at your home, you turn to your lover. whose attention was taken by the surroundings, it's a rare sight to see.

your kaiser is quiet and deep in thought, an eerie scene in your honest opinion, but you don't point it out loud.

instead, you call out to him.

"what do you want for dinner?"

silence.

for someone who likes talking off his mind, your boyfriend didn't even hear you. well, that's something new.

you only call more.

"kaiser? hello? ...love?"

the same response was met.

you wonder what was weighing on your boyfriend's mind for him to drown out the world. it makes you think if he's ignoring you, but you didn't dwell on it for much any longer.

huffing as you try once more, with a louder voice.

"kaiser—"

your boyfriend's head turns all so suddenly to you, interjecting your words.

"—my hand is kinda heavy, can you hold it?"

your boyfriend is really terrible, you conclude.

a smile was plastered on his face, his stupidly charming smile was hanging on his lips. the kind of one that you're familiar with, the one where he finds another pick-up line to use.

he looks at you expectantly, gauging your reaction to what you think of it, you presume—his amazing lines.

and you try to stop the ever growing grin that makes its way to your face, but failing miserably.

only replying to his charms back.

"that's not how the line goes, but you're cute so fine."

a chuckle leaves your lips, making kaiser pout. compared to the pick-up lines he had uttered before, this was definitely better, but not the best.

but it's fine—it's okay because it was him, you think.

"hey, don't laugh! i tried my best okay?" he cried out.

another laugh leaves your mouth, that you tried to stifle—keyword: tried

you took his hands with yours, squeezing it three times in a way to comfort him, dragging him to the store that comes into view.

"okay, mr. i-tried-my-best, whatever you say." you teased, before letting yourself freely laugh at his antics, that only makes him pout more.

your boyfriend was really bad at this, but you don't mind. it's fine, because he's stupid and yours.

◞♡ likes & reblogs are highly appreciated ! okay,, first time writing for this man i hate him i swear :x based on this prompt btw !!

[dr-spectre]

Hey I was wondering how you felt about the idea of hypnoshade Callie or the hypnoshades themselves being an addiction for her(or others if they get their hands on them).

I personally rather like since we already see Callie struggle with Idol life after Splatoon 1 and, like many that struggle with the stress of work, take it out with a vice. For some that might be smoking or drinking.

For Callie it would be heading down into the domes and listen to DJ Octavio , a known enemy from the NSS's perspective, and get hypnoshaded. Either willingly or unwillingly. (but most likely the former)

it would also explain the refights as Callie going back, like a smoker, for another hit after it has gotten to much to bare.

And just like someone being drunk, they are still themselves. We can even see this in game with Callie making music with the Octarians.

Double's down with Marie as well, helping Callie get throught an addiction. For Callie it might be an addiction to escape from inkling idol culture, or as it's implied with the scrolls. An escape from feeling alone, maybe even hated by her fans or inkoplois at large. (what with the catalyst being a lost popularity contest, and in splatoon lore. She is by LAW the worst squid sister.)

So uh just wondering if you like this take, or if the topic of hypnoshades just makes you barf on contact now. (not that I blame you)

(I also rambled a bit too long lul)

Hmm, I've had this take for a while where "Callie ends up getting addicted to the shades due to the relaxing and concentrating properties of hypnosis and how her life after Splatoon 2 still hasn't changed a bit."

The root problems of Callie's mental anguish are that she's very busy and lonely. Sure, she has Marie back, but the busy part is still there. She mentions that she has to remember lines for a script when she gets home and the acting gig probably still gives her a FUCK TON of stress. So she puts on the shades as a bad coping mechanism and would rather help the Octarians than go back to celebrity life.

You notice how in Splatoon 3, they never mention Callie's acting gig aside from Side Order talking about Callie's TV appearances for one line and the most recent relationship mentioning that Pearl watched it? Keyword: watched, past tense. That drama Callie was once in, she probably doesn't do it anymore because Callie herself never talks about it. Instead, Callie now just focuses on writing music for the Squid Sisters and working with Marie. Her schedule is MUCH BETTER NOW!

And because she's made significant improvements in her schedule, she doesn't need the hypnoshades to cope anymore and she can focus on further improving her relationship with Marie. That's why it's so fucking rock solid in Splatoon 3.

And that's also why Callie is able to go back to making TV appearances again and feeling MUCH MORE confident and feeling like she can handle it.

All of this to say is.... THE TAKE THAT CALLIE IS AN IDIOT WHO PUT THE SHADES BACK ON BECAUSE SHE IS DUMB IS THE WORST FUCKING TAKE IMAGINABLE AND ULTIMATELY UNDERMINES THE INTERESTING DEPTH AND NUANCE THAT COULD BE AT PLAY HERE!!!! STOP TREATING LIKE CALLIE SHES AN ACTUAL AIRHEAD!!!!! SHE WOULDNT PUT ON THE SHADES AGAIN IF THEY "brainwashed her and removed her memories" THAT WOULD BE FUCKING TRUMATIC FOR ANYONE!!!! IT JUST HYPNOTISES HER AND HYPNOSIS IS KNOWN TO BE A FUCKING METHOD USED IN TREATING MENTAL ILLNESS OR ADDICTION!!!!

OKAY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?! Cool! Awesome! Glad we're on the same page!!!

[cerberus-new-owner]

WHOOOOOO week late birthday present to me from me

thank you me

your very welcome me

did i speed write like over half of this like 4 minutes ago (as im editing this and adding the intro on tumblr) yes, yes i did

But anywaysssss onto the cw

CW: like none (i hope), gn mc, mc and the characters relationships can be taken as platonic or romantic, fluffffff

Lucifer

the same pen every year but, its not just him stealing it from mc's room to rewarp it he has a box full of the exact same pens if one of them has a slight defect he will write a letter to the company that made the pens and send the damaged pen with it (mc shouldn't mention the fact that they've gotten the exact same pen from him four years in a row his pride will be hurt and he will just start engraving their name into the pens never know he may eventually switch it up and put a cute little nickname or something on the pen instead of just 'mc'), either that or he listens very closely and pays attention to what mc might need throught the year need a new desk at some point cause satan broke theirs placing a book down consider it bought mc dropped their bag in a puddle and need a new laptop it's theirs. sadly though he will only get them things that are practical hat they say they need so no jewlery or devices you already have that work fine unless mc can come up with a good excuse as to why the latest tech is needed for studying, there is the odd chance he may get them a bottle of demonus thinking 'they seem to like the taste of it even if it doesn't affect them' (doesn't matter what he gets mc the pens will always be given to them as a fun little bonus prize)

Mammon

anything and everything mc has even looked at for more than half a second is now in their room they mentioned a certain idk (whats something a half sane sheep that has to babysit like 9 demons 2 angels and a sorcerer on daily basis look at in a store oh well) mc mentions something they saw the other day that caught their eye his broke ass is looking for the cheapest deal he can find (or most expensive depends on if he has goldie or not) and buying it

Satan

like lucifer mans will think practical things and like himself he thinks books are the most practical things of all of course cats are fairly high on his list of practical things (they are a must have unless you're allergic to them if you're allergic to them im sorry cats cause you pain, then again they cause most people pain tiny little fluffy a holes that i love continuing) he will be bothering mc about their choice in books asking alot of questions along the lines of 'what genre are you most into' 'mc whos your favourite author' 'fiction or non-fiction' all in attempt to figure out what mc likes if mc isn't really into books and is into idk sports or gardening something like that he will search endlessly to find an interesting book to give mc on one of their hobbies and if they don't like the book he can always "borrow" them to learn more about mc's likes and hobbies

Asmodeus

feel like this is a no brainer but some kind of spa day or outfit (wait new headcannon alert what if he knows how to sew and occasionally makes clothes for himself for y'know when theres nothing new in fashion or theres an important event he cant find anything fabulous to wear but occasionally being the keyword he probably uses most of his talent fixing rips in satan shirts from satans outbursts) anyways... he will spend an entire day fawning over mc he will make sure they dont lift a finger god forbid they get a papercut from wrapping paper or worry lines from stressing about how tf they're supposed to sleep when mammons filled their room with gifts

Feel like because of this i should do how they wrap the gifts so this goes for Christmas / any other holidays too so bonusss (this is also who would remember to include a card)

lucifer

plain colour probably in mcs favourite colour no ribbon or anything fancy just plain [insert favourite colour] wrapping paper, he takes pride in wrapping his gifts neatly (he's wrapped the same pen for several years straight he has had practice) he gets a card for mc like the presents wrapping the outside is a plain colour with words relating to whatever celebration it is with either the dryest shit ever written on the inside or the most sappy shit depends on his relationship with mc if its the latter option though we will only give mc the card in private knowing exactly how his brothers would react

mammon

he uses the christmas wrapping paper from two years ago that everyone forgot they had until he called out 'anyone gonna use this wrapping paper i found in the closet' to satan replying 'you know thats christmas wrapping paper right' and mammon taking satan answer as a go ahead to use it, he'd do his best to wrap any gifts he got mc he looks up a tutorial and everything and 100% is proud of his work not matter how messy it looks, if anyone chooses to mention how messily it's wrapped he will say its part of the suspense he will use ribbons and bows to add extra effect

he forgets about aa card entirely

leviathan

ruri-chan wrapping paper wrapped as neatly as possible so the little images line up on every side as perfectly as possible he will spend hours trying to get the folds just right so the images line up nothing fancy like ribbons or bows he'd feel bad if he covered one of the characters so he doesn't bother with it

he panicked about what to write in the card so he gave up deciding that having a marathon with mc was way more important than writing his feelings onto a card

satan

cat wrapping paper or wrapping paper that looks like pages from books he makes any gifts he's wrapped look pretty (just like the pretty boy he is whosaidthat/j) he wraps the gift neatly and puts a little bow on it before writing a heartfelt card and using a little bit of tape to attach it to the wrapped box

asmodeus

picks out the prettiest wrapping paper he can find even if he's just wrapping a card that says "Spa Day!" he is wrapping it neatly with utmost care

he chooses a card based on mc's likes and hobbies of course making sure it's bedazzled and as pretty as possible

beelzebub

two layers of wrapping paper he found one that had images of food on it but halfway through wrapping mc's gift with it he took a bite out of the wrapping paper so he changed wrapping paper to a plain one so he would be somewhat less tempted to eat it

he gets mc a card and starts to write something in it before the writing stops mid word and theres a bunch of crumbs from him eating something forgetting to finish the card and giving it to mc anyways

belphegor

clouds it's very nicely wrapped because he probably went to one of those 'we wrap the presents for you' places and paid them the only part he did himself was the card and he put a tiny bit of effort into it until the writing gets smudged and messy and is that a bit of drool he fell asleep midway through writing oh well guess he better nap with mc to make up for falling asleep

omg what will i do nowwww guess what

boom

double bonus cause i said so

Barbatosss

tea party, tea party, tea party (i like tea) he will invite mc to the castle not only does this mean he gets to celebrate diavolo also gets to celebrate mc's birthday (like diavolo wasn't the one to suggest it, barbatos just anticipated dia asking to invite them over) barbatos will cook mc food from the human realm majority of it being things he heard them say they liked or missed from the human realm occasionally he might throw in a devidom ingredient or two to enhance somethings flavour or to add a fun little surprise (maybe he throws in something to change the colour of their fur for a few minutes who knows) as for the acctual gift part he probably gets mc something small to remind them of him or something practical he's not lucifer when it comes to gifts and may look into the future to see if theres anything mc will need in the near future like maybe their bag is gonna break in the next two weeks and they'll need a new one just so happen barbs gave them a new bag for their birhday the week before perfect

he wraps gifts by himself with a plain wrapping paper of mcs favourite colour and by far out of everyone wraps them the nicest he's lived for a millennia he's had practice wrapping gifts when it comes to writing a card for them he does his best to make it heartfelt and meaningful

soooooo tadaaa i've finished unless people want the others (by people i mean if i were in theory to gain motivation to write for the rest of the characters)

i hope people enjoyed this have a good day, night, brunch, apple, pen (pineapple apple pen)

follow the leader, the leader, the leader, follow the leader right to the masterlist

dangnabit his means im old now too

[vodika-vibes]

I’d like to request from another kiss prompt. A hesitant kiss.

With none other than my sweet love Darman. ❤️. I just can’t get enough of him.🤷🏻‍♀️.

You can decide who does the kissing. I always love reading everything you write.

Thank you. 😊

Hesitance

Summary: Darman has been watching you for ages now, and it all comes to a head late one evening.

Pairing: Darman Skirata x Reader

Word Count: 1086

Warnings: Fluff, some spice at the end

A/N: So you know, I had a plan when I started this, but, uh, that plan did not happen, and this was born instead. I'm so sorry if it's not quite what you had in mind. Also, I do have your other requests, but I'm saving them for later.

Divider by Saradika

He’s watching you again. You try not to let it bother you, though it really does. You’re not sure if he’s watching you simply because he doesn’t trust you, though you won’t be surprised if that’s the case.

Maker knows that he and his brother’s have reason enough to be suspicious of people who aren’t their brothers. 

It’s just a shame, though. Because you really like him. Him and his contagious laugh, and mischievous grin.

Not that either of those have ever been directed towards you. No. You’ve never been that lucky. The most you’ve ever received from him is a nod acknowledging your presence. Which is…something? You suppose.

You roll your shoulder, trying to ignore the way Darman’s stare is making your skin prickle, and you focus your attention back on the datapad you’re trying to repair. Trying, being the keyword in that sentence, because it’s starting to look that Darman flung it at a wall…or maybe ran it over.

You hold it up by a corner and sigh as glass falls from the front and lands on your worktable.

This isn’t fixable.

You shove it in a box, along with the broken glass, and you set it in the pile with the rest of the stuff that needs to be scrapped at the end of the day. And then you push your chair back and make the long walk to the storage closet on the other side of base to grab a new datapad.

And then you walk all the way back across the base, to your desk, and you begin the set up.

By the time the security has been updated, and all of the programs Darman needs are installed and set up, nearly three hours have passed. And by the time you’re sure that the datapad is ready for GAR use, another hour has passed. 

You heave out another sigh, exhaustion writ in every line in your body, and you push away from your desk. It’s now late enough that you’re one of the few people still working.

And you know, from experience, that Darman will be in his quarters. 

You drag yourself to the living quarters and knock, twice, on Darman’s door and wait. The door eventually slides open and he looks down at you, surprise crossing his face.

“Are you still working?” He asks, a frown marring his perfect features.

You offer him the datapad, “Here. Please don’t break this one. It took me four hours to get it to where it was acceptable to work for you.”

He takes the device and absently turns it on, “What happened to the other one?”

“I’ll have to toss it. After I wipe the memory card, which…” You sigh, “I’m going to go do now.”

He lifts his gaze from the datapad, and he scans your face, “Have you taken any breaks today?” Darman asks.

And you bristle, hearing the silent judgment, “I was busy. Fixing your datapad.”

He falters, “No that’s not…” Darman pauses, “I wasn’t trying to offend you, I know how hard you work.” He tries, “But it could have waited-”

You fold your arms over your chest, “You need a datapad to do your job, so no, Darman, it couldn’t wait.”

“Well…thank you, then.”

The tension drains out of your shoulders, you half expected him to say something about getting it to him sooner. “You’re welcome.” You hesitate for a moment, “Uh…good night.”

You turn to walk away, but are forced to stop when his hand closes around your wrist. You turn to look up at him, and he looks just as startled as you do.

“Is there something you needed?” You ask, flicking your gaze from the hand wrapped securely, but not painfully, around your wrist and up to his face. 

His mouth opens to say something, and he scans your face rapidly, “I…” Darman trails off, “Fuck…I want to kiss you. Can I kiss you?”

“What?” You stare at him, wide eyed.

And he stares right back, just as wide eyed, “Wait, no! I mean, yes, I do want to kiss you…like so bad. But that’s not what…It’s not what I was going to ask.”

“But it is what you asked,” You point out.

“...yeah…” He nervously rubs the back of his neck, “It’s just…I was going to ask you if you wanted dinner, but…you’re so…” Darman trails off.

“I’m so what?”

“...pretty. I just…I really want to kiss you. To see if your lips actually are as soft as they look.” He admits, without meeting your eyes.

“Is that why you stare at me so much?” You ask, as you take a step closer to him.

“You noticed that?”

“It was kind of…obvious.” You admit.

“Oh. Sorry.”

You don’t say anything for a moment, and neither does he. And then you sigh silently. You have work to do, you should be getting back to it, but-

But-

You step closer to him, and his gaze snaps to you. You slowly reach up and lightly grip the collar of his armor pulling him down just enough that you can slowly, hesitantly, brush your lips against his.

You stay close to him as you pull away, your hand loosely gripping his arm, loose enough that he could pull away if that's what he wanted. “Like that?” You ask, nervous.

He stares at you, and for a moment, you worry that he’s not even breathing. And then he moves, his grip around your wrist tightens, and he pulls you flush against him and he crashes his lips against yours.

Darman pulls you back into his room, and hits the door control panel once he’s sure that you’re not going to be in the way, and he pins you against the wall, his lips never once pulling away from yours.

“Soft,” He groans against your lips, “So soft.” He kisses you again and again, “We stop the moment you say so,” He says breathlessly, as his lips trail from your lips, to your jaw and then down to your neck, where he presses hot, open mouthed, kisses against the soft skin there. 

You release a quiet moan and press closer to him, “Yes sir,” You gasp out, your words pulling a broken moan from his lips, and you make a mental note about that reaction. 

This is not how you expected to end the night, but you have no complaints as Darman starts to strip his armor off, to allow you to trail your fingers across his broad chest.

[simp41ida]

Hi I love your work! iida is so underappreciated you truly are team carry!

If you have the time, I'd like to request an iida x fem!reader who (tw. sh) used to self harm on her thighs so no one would see, and she's been clean for a year but she found out she was failing a class and went back to old habits and iida walks in on her treating the injuries so they don't get infected and when he asks, she tells him and asks him not to tell anyone, and the reason she didn't ask for help before is that no one helped her when she asked, so eventually she stopped trying. the rest is up to you! if you don't want to do this request I fully understand and it's okay!

i hope I did this request thing right, once again, I love your writing and you're such an amazing person! love you!!

warnings: self harm (fem!pronouns)

notes: as someone who struggles with this too, i’d be more than happy to write this for you <33 love you too!!

⚠️trigger warning under the cut⚠️

one day after class

(wow what a great post starter)

present mic pulled you out into the hallway after class

he wanted to let you know that you're not doing so good in one of your classes

since the only voice he knows is his loud one, he kind of said it a little loud

nobody else heard, but it didn't make you feel very easy the way he said it so loud.

after the four words he said to you, you felt all of your emotions crumble into a little pile of dust right where your feet are supposed to be

and then you still had to do all of the other classes for the day with that feeling inside of your stomach and in the back of your throat.

iida definitely knew something was up because he's observant over the people it wouldn't be weird to watch over like that

like he wouldn't watch bakugou he way he watches over you

it makes him feel funny (trust me he's tried it just to make sure the whole class was safe in his explosive presence)

but this isn't about him.

it's about you <33

when you went back to the dorms for the night, it was the last they saw you until school tomorrow

except for iida because he tried bringing you dinner just because he loves you that much.

you told him you weren't hungry and he didn't want to pressure you into opening the door so he just left you be

why you were in your room for so long, oh, that's a whole different story

when you got into your dorm, you tried to see if there was anything you could do to boost your grade

when you saw that there was no other assignments incomplete, you were upset

so upset for so many reasons

you failed something, you can't fix that said something, and you're just so tired of doing as much as you can do and it's still not good enough

later that night, you relapsed

it's an awful feeling, really

but that awful feeling made everything else go away, if only for a minute

after everything, you knew that you needed to take care of the small, line shaped injuries on your thighs.

the shorts you had on made them easy to access to it would be quick (plan is to just pour some hydrogen peroxide on them, wait for them to bubble and stop bleeding, slap some band-aids on them, and just go)

this would've worked out just fine if you weren't hesitating because you were scared someone would walk in on you.

as soon as you started peeling open the first band-aid package, a familiar face makes himself known by opening the door

his face drops at the whole scene

"please don't say anything to anyone, iida"

as soon as he heard those words, he knew what was going on

there are keywords that hint out how stuff went down.

he also knows there is no other way for you to get that many injuries on the same spot on your thighs in just one day

he may seem oblivious, but he is far from stupid

he'll help you with the rest of the bandaging (only after you say it's okay, of course)

and then he'll ask you to talk to him about it

like "do you want to tell me what happened and why it ended up like this?"

if you told him about last time, it would make sense to him why you would default back to it

if you didn't, he's going to try to understand as much as he can

he refrains from asking questions just in case they're rude

when you tell him that you have asked for help before, he will be so mad that nobody decided to get you the help that you were so bravely willing to get

he lets you know that no matter what time it is, or the day, or the month, or the year, he will stop everything just to help you

he loves you so much more than you know

he won't tell anyone unless you want him to in the instance of getting help

he'll lay with you even if its against the rules because your happiness is worth way more than one scolding from a teacher

then again, how would they know he's in there anyways?

[let-me-iiiiiiiin]

Okay, you know what? Fuck plotting, fuck plot generators, fuck all those stupid "story ideas" that were written by commercial master-of-mainstream authors, and take a look at my

Plotting Dice.

Ingredients:

Dice. You'll need 3 of these at minimum. My regulars are two 6 sided and one 20 sided dice. The 6 sided ones were empty and I painted some images on them, but you can just assign keywords to the numbers. For the 20 sided dice any will do, and if you want greater variety just get a dnd 7 dice set. Preferably, the dice will be real, physical dice, but it's fine if you're more comfortable with digital ones.

For the two 6 sided dice: Assign one of these as the "doing" dice, and the other as the "thing" dice. The thing dice will generally give nouns, and the doing dice will give adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. It will depend on your interpretation.

The "Thing" Dice

Assign these words to the numbers:

1 -> Environment

2 -> Secret

3 -> Artifact

4 -> Monster

5 -> Character

6 -> Magic

These are not "rigid" definitions. You will have to interpret them depending on the context. Keep this in mind.

The "Doing" Dice

Assign these words to numbers:

1 -> Old

2 -> New

3 -> Weak

4 -> Strong

5 -> Legendary

6 -> Dead

Remember: flexible definitions. Nothing is set in stone.

And a regular old d20. Alright, now let's talk about:

The "How" Of The Plotting

Take your half-assed stupid WIP. Or if you don't have one, create it. This will be the framework, the starting point. Make sure to have some vague setting and a few characters.

Take your "doing" and "thing" dice. Roll them. The result will usually be in the format of "adjective + noun". Try to understand what it is referring to, related to your story. [Roll the d20 to confirm you're thinking about the correct thing if you're insecure and indecisive.]

There are no rules. This is a very flexible method, so you can either ask yes/no questions to the d20 to learn about the thing OR throw the "doing" dice to see what the thing does (the result will usually be a "verb", and added to the previous roll it will become a proper "adjective + noun + verb").

That's it. Repeat as required.

However, you might get stuck at some point, or the dice might tell you something batshit crazy. Do not panic. This is normal, the dice are not going mad. Rather, you've stumbled upon...

An opportunity.

This is where interpretation comes into play. It is a very thought-heavy process and requires some creativity, but it is where the dice method gets to shine.

A knot in the dialogue between you and the dice means a plot twist, an exposition-related plot point, or a major incident. Think of it like a big gulp of information that hurt your throat to swallow. (Ignore dick joke.) The best thing to do at this stage is to ask more questions.

Don't be afraid of getting confused or being too stupid in the face of cosmic forces. You will need the 20 sided dice here— yes or no questions will help you determine what is certain and what is not. My standard for the results are:

1-9 || No.

10 || Not no, but not yes.

11-14 || Not quite.

15-18 || Yes.

19-20 || EXACTLY that, yes.

If it's a "no", there's no point following this line of thought. Discard it.

If it's "10", you're not on the right track, but the answer is related to what you're thinking.

If it's "not quite", try a different angle, but know that you're on the right track.

If it's "yes", well, it's a yes. But there might be more to it, or you're missing some minor details.

If it's an unequivocal "YES", congratulations, it's exactly what you think. Write it down, you've solved the mystery.

You might need to use the "doing" and "thing" dice here in harmony with the d20. Usually it will be used to ask questions that aren't yes/no, or when you're too stuck to come up with a question. Think of it as a clue to help you get on the right track.

Extra Q&A

What if the dice results don't make sense?

It might be that you're focusing on the wrong thing. Ask the dice, "Is this what you want me to ask?" and the result will usually be a "no". Try changing your angle, or switch to a different part of your WIP. If it answers "yes", it just means you're on the wrong track. Try asking with a fresh, blank perspective.

My dice is telling me one thing, then when I ask it again paraphrased, it tells me I'm wrong.

It might be that your dice is trying to draw you to a particularly specific answer, and the word choice might affect your understanding of that answer greatly, or steer you down the wrong path. Write down what it has given an extremely positive 'yes' on and try asking something derived from that.

The "thing"/"doing" dice doesn't make sense.

As I said, they are adaptable dice, and can mean something different than the word's exact definition. It's always good to ask the d20, "Is this word literal?" For "Monster", it can also mean a beast, an animal, an antagonist, or a sentient being that isn't human yet behaves in a humanoid way. For the adjective "Old", it can also (and usually does) mean "from the past". "Dead" can mean "disappearing" or "removal" or "diminishing". Words have associations, and as dice have limited vocabulary, they're going to force the limits of creativity to tell you what you need to know. You can also switch the roles of the dice (making the "doing" dice the "thing" dice, though this is kinda weird for me) or ask the d20 whether something means a verb, adjective, or adverb. There are no hard rules here.

My dice is deliberately provoking me (by telling lies/giving contradictory answers/taunting me for being stupid)

First of all, stop asking your dice what it thinks about you. This is dice. It is an inanimate object that doesn't have sentience. THE DICE IS YOU. You're the one doing the interpreting by choosing to find meaning in something ultimately random. It's not that deep.

Secondly, if the answers are contradictory, ask "Is this what you want me to ask?" Because most of the time, it is not. Stop being stubborn about a plot point. THE DICE ISN'T AGAINST YOU, THE DICE IS YOU.

Finally, stop asking your dice whether it is lying. Would YOU appreciate someone asking if you're lying when they previously asked for your advice? No? So don't. Trust your dice. For the last fucking time, THE DICE IS YOU.

I've asked the same question twice, and it's given me contradictory results.

Well, since the results are random, of course the chance of you getting the same result twice will be random. And as a rule of the thumb, it's better to note and keep going than to get stuck repeating the same question over and over. If something is dubious about the roll, asking "Should I roll again?" is enough. If the dice says "no", there's no point getting stuck for no reason.

Isn't this basically dice divination?

I don't know, I don't particularly care. It is what it is. If it fits I sits. So long as it works, the label isn't important.

(And since we're on the topic, I don't think it's divination. You're not "divining" anything. Anything that came out, came out of you, and additionally it all came out because you were trying to make a bunch of randomised results make sense. I don't think that's divination. But I do think that it's your genius at work.)

My WIP isn't in the fantasy genre, there's no magic. Can I use a different keyword in its place?

Whatever floats your boat, go for it. Though it doesn't matter what genre your WIP is, the keywords aren't just themselves, they are ASSOCIATIONS. "Magic" can mean magic or it can mean "deus ex machina", "free will", and so on and on. Depending on what you associate with magic, the associations might change. I chose these keywords after reading Lazy Dungeon Master and its categorization of worldbuilding, because they were simple and I could fit them in a 6 sided dice. THERE ARE NO RULES. Do whatever suits you.

I have another question/my question isn't covered in the post.

Ask!!! I insist! I'm always happy to clarify. My asks are open and the anonymous is on.

And with that, I hope no one has to resort to "plot generators" ever again. Happy writing.

[soraka-in-warhammer40k]

Space Goat List Design, Episode 2

I did Deathwatch last time, so now let's see who else was at the very bottom winrate wise this edition... and really there's just AdMech. You can't really count vanilla Space Marines due to the high number of new players who get it as their first army- especially when it is an army with so many datasheets that it is really easy to just builld something really bad at random if you don't know what you are doing.

Today's Topic: Adeptus Mechanicus

I wanted to write this post a while ago, but I thought waiting for the points update would make more sense. So let's get right into it: for our detachment I use the Explorator Maniple. Its rule lets you pick one marker at the start of your turn to be your "Acquisition Marker". If you shoot something on (OR FROM!) that marker, you reroll wound rolls of 1. Sounds not very special now, but there's some rules that key into it. Let's see what we got:

As we can see the enhancements all care a lot about that special marker, but for this list I initially plan to use only Genetor one, as a 4+ Invulnerable Save is just too spicy to pass up. Stratagems don't care much about the marker, but they DO offer some transporter-startegies, which we will keep in mind when building our list. Just ignore the consolidation move stratagem, that will never matter except once in a 100 games. Same goes for the 2CP one. It might be relevant in some games where saving up cp for it makes sense, but it's never central to the game plan.

So, how do we utilize the mission rule in combination with the AdMech army rule? Easy. Indirect fire. So our first order is 3x Scorpius Disintegrator, who will run around with Bellasarius Cawl who can give them a re-roll 1s to hit aura.

That times three sure looks spicy combined with its ability to get +1 to the hit roll when targeting infantry. Note that if you combine this with the defensive Doctrina this stacks with "heavy". So you can blast at stuff in the enemy zone easily. Even better when they have stuff on their own marker. Hitting on 3s, rerolling 1s, is already good, but rerolling 1s to wound as well is dang spicy. Of course if you dont need as many hits but require beating better saves, just give everything assault and +1 AP, which essentially is "Ignores Cover" for our purposes. The flexibility here is quite nice, allowing for both "tanks lined up in your zone" and "deathball rolling over the field killing everything it can get a clear shot at" modes of play.

All supposed "optimized" armies who only have an absolute minium of backfield holders and corner-campers will crumble under that barrage, as they now suddenly need to get their more expensive stuff on "homefield duty". Several elite-heavy armies will suffer from this a lot.

For the homefield we'll just take one unit of Rangers. Easy. Can't say no to sticky objective. As AdMech's options for CP-generations are pretty garbage, we add Inquisitor Coteaz for his ability:

You don't generate any points on your own, but this will certainly level the playing field.

I mentioned the Genetor enhancement before, and we will obviously try to slap that on the most durable thing we could find. So the next unit to roll out are 6 Kataphron destroyers followed by a Manipulus Tech Priest carrying the enhancement. They are fairly slow, but assuming you can get them to reach an objective in T2, if you make it the special one (either by regular rule or using the stratagem), they are going to be hard to remove, ESPECIALLY when you send an Onager Dunecrawler with them who we make sure has the SMOKE keyword for the Incense Exhaust Stratagem.

Note that the Dunecrawler can just chill behind a wall for this to work. If the enemy shoots it first the plan does not work, but if you keep it hidden 6'' away just out of sight, that Kataphron blob also gets Stealth and Cover, making them even harder to remove by shooting - and melee is not exactly an option on a unit that hits overwatch on a 5+, lethal hits on a 6, and brings 6d6 flamers to the table.

The rest of the list is fairly straightforward: if your indirect fire barrage deletes all chaff and screening units from the enemy zone, we will need some deep strikes. These allow us to be flexible enough to pick any marker the enemy thinks he can sit on, declare it to be the "special one", and show up there to kick them off. Looking at our Stratagems it would also be nice if it was a transport with the smoke keyword. Dunestriders can't deep strike, but luckily we got something even better: presenting the Archaeopter Transvector, sporting a respectable horde-clearing profile and a hillarious ability:

These are essentillay drop-pods. But better because they can actually do stuff. So of course I took 3 of them, and filled them up with a squad of Skitarii Vanguard and a Skitari Marshall each.

You should always consider shocking one of these in T1 to easily grab a secondary objective (especially if there's a gap in the enemy zone, in hover mode they lose the aircraft keyword and count for secondaries like Engage on all Fronts or Behind Enemy lines, but their true value comes in later turns, when the enemy has no more fodder to screen with, and you can clown all over their zone, putting constant pressure on their homefield - and if he tries to charge them? Just jump back in with Reactive Safeguard!

At first this list might look weird. Where's the chaff for screening? Where's the action monkeys? And yes, this list will never score Investigate Signals for anything worthwhile, but... neither will your opponent if you focus out his chaff units with the indirect fire. AdMech as an army might be weak, but they got no issue on dragging you down to their level.

The full list:

Bellasarius Cawl

Skitarii Marshal

Skitarii Marshal

Skitarii Marshal

Tech-Priest Manipulus (+Genetor Enhancement)

Skitarii Rangers

Skitarii Vanguard

Skitarii Vanguard

Skitarii Vanguard

Archaeopter Transvector

Archaeopter Transvector

Archaeopter Transvector

Kataphron Destroyers (6 models)

Onager Dunecrawler (with Smoke Keyword)

Skorpius Disintegrator

Skorpius Disintegrator

Skorpius Disintegrator

Inquisitor Coteaz

And that wraps up to the smooth 2,000 points worth of units at least when going by the points as they are now.

The constant pressure on their homefield should be enough to shift the primary game in your favor - either the Skitarii and the Skorpius will murder whatever he puts on there, or he puts an expensive vehicle there, and that thing will not be able to help in the midfield - and most likely not hold the point either long-term, you then win by OC.

Things to keep in mind for this list: Rapid Ingress is your friend, ESPECIALLY when you go second. Drop that Transvector behind a wall in their zone that you previously cleared of all screening chaff, and then just deliver the 21 OC inside right onto their marker.

The most curious part about this list: your gameplan in theory is easily thwarted by a horde-army. But most of your guns are horde-clear. 18 shots on every copter, 2d6 blast on every tank. If you play this correctly, in the later game your enemy will only have a few line vehicles left, and nothing to actually score in the game with.

[sacredechoes]

I'm thinking of trying my hand at some GBA Fire Emblem ROM hacking, and I was wondering, what software/program/whatever was used to make Sacred Echoes?

My workflow for Sacred Echoes ended up being pretty similar to how the original devs built FE8 - meaning I was mostly working with source code and the compiler with various command-line utilities to convert my asset files into a data format the GBA could handle. When I started the project in mid-2018, I already had some formal education and work experience in programming, so I was past the steepest part of the learning curve for these specific tools.

Please note that my methods are NOT the methods I would recommend for a first project unless you're already familiar with the software development process and using command-line tools. I went into Sacred Echoes knowing I would need to write a bunch of custom code to modify the game mechanics beyond what the beginner tools at the time allowed me to do, so I chose the more complex path. If you're looking for an all-in-one graphical editor that's more friendly to beginners, FEBuilder is amazing and constantly updated with new functions. Whichever method you decide on using, the FE Universe forum and discord are full of resources, tutorials, and helpful people, and I wouldn't have been able to succeed without them. Best of luck on your project!

That said, here's all the technical details and links to all the tools I used:

Sacred Echoes was built using a combination of GNU make (a build system used to automatically detect and compile changes to source code in large projects) and Event Assembler, a utility primarily built for editing the GBA Fire Emblem games. Event Assembler is used with a method called the buildfile, which is essentially a fancy text file with instructions for Event Assembler to insert source files into a ROM and linking different parts together. This meant I used different tools for creating each type of data. Unlike with a ROM editor (such as FEBuilder), I wasn't constantly saving my changes to the same ROM file, but instead freshly building it each time I made a change and wanted to test. This meant that if I messed up (very common when writing custom code), I could just comment out the relevant code or instructions in the buildfile and rebuild from source, rather than try to pick through the ROM by hand to fix issues.

There were cases where I would need to view and edit raw binary data with a hex editor (usually to find a pointer to compressed graphics or a data table); I prefer HxD for that.

For graphics, use any program that can edit and save .PNG files (I used MS Paint and GIMP), and then a tool for game graphics called Usenti to put them into a format the GBA can read. If you need to find and rip graphics from a ROM to edit them, GBAGE is the gold standard (and comes built-in to FEBuilder).

Maps are built from the tileset graphics using a program called Tiled.

For music, the GBA uses MIDI sequences, so any audio program with MIDI support works fine for that. (I used Anvil Studio). The MIDI file is then converted to GBA with a utility called midi2agb.

For unit data and other large data structures, I used a spreadsheet in CSV format, which can be edited with a program like Excel or LibreOffice Calc.

For map events and loading units, the GBA FE games use a scripting language called Event Assembler Language, which just gets written in a raw .txt file. A good plaintext editor like Notepad++ or SublimeText can help keep track of language syntax and keywords.

For assembly code, it is also written in a text editor, and then compiled to bytecode with devkitARM. Most of it I wrote in raw ARM assembly language (which is specific to the GBA's CPU), but in more complex cases towards the end of the project I wrote the code in the C programming language and compiled it with devkitARM.

To keep track of my source files and changes, and to make backups and version control easier, I just used GitHub because I already had an account, but you could also use GitLab or Bitbucket instead.

Finally, I used some tools made by the FE hacking community specifically for automating some tasks and formatting data - most of these are Python scripts, but some can be downloaded as compiled executables. I used "lyn", "TMX2EA", "C2EA", TextProcess and ParseFile, and AnimationAssembler. Ask on the FEU discord or check the forum's toolbox tag.

[moccabunie]

things I've learned after a year writing fanfiction

This is a post from a non-writer who, apparently, now writes (❓) And this is a little crazy to me, considering that a year ago writing less than 1k decent words took a lot of effort. But this year I have completed a +100k project. (It's still difficult, though.)

I found out that the more I wrote, the easier it was to get into the story. So I think that being captivated by my own story has made a lot. I am an eager fanfiction reader, but I had yet to really try to write something on my own.

That was until I got hyper-fixated on three characters and wrote a small story about them sharing a room, and it was one of the funniest and most rewarding things I've done. So I was like "oh, maybe I can try to imagine stories I would like to read?"

(1) story one - a bird told me to wait

The first thing I considered was to make it completely self-indulging. The second was to make it as evocative as possible, not only telling what was happening. I like sensations and emotions, so I really wanted to write things I would like to feel as a reader. I wrote this story, and after that, I added a second longer part because I was enjoying it a lot. I used to doodle about the characters and make small annotations about their dynamics, but there wasn't really a lot of planning here.

(2) story two - beneath the moonlight

My second attempt was a three-chapter story (not so distant from the previous one that can be read as three parts too). But for this one, I wanted to challenge myself because I wanted to explore new themes and tropes, so I made a brief list of the things that should appear here. (but honestly, I just wanted to write a soft mating bite scene lmao, because I was super into a/b/o at that time.) I used keep notes app this time.

I barely showed explicit themes here but I got to enjoy the story anyway. This one wasn't difficult to write because I felt familiar with the characters. It's a light story but these 20k words gave me the courage to take a step further. I said to myself

"stop being a coward. you have enjoyed this. keep writing."

(3) story three - lucid dreams

This one was planned for four or five chapters, quite in the same line as beneath the moonlight. But, and the keyword is planned, it became a full 13 chapters as I developed the story and the characters. If I wanted it to be coherent then I needed to explain the things, build the context, and introduce the world. But it was also an experimental work. I took my notebook and listed the new things I wanted to try, such as - write in past tense - write first and edit later

my process was something like this • imagine random scenarios with pretty imagery as I listened to music • doodling the characters doing things so I didn't forget • open the notes app to write random sentences and dialogues in the middle of the night, I'll find a place for them later • dream about the story and daydream about the story

as for the physical notebook, I have scribbled A LOT there during the writing process.

(a little bit chaotic but functional enough)

One thing I wanted to keep in mind was the evolution of the characters, or in other words, how they were gonna be at the start and the end of the story. And this made things a lot simpler because it gave me an insight that was helpful whenever I had to decide what kind of decisions the characters would make along the story.

Parallelly, I was aware of my narrative flaws, as well as there was a lot of vocabulary and grammar that would escape me in a different language. So I used the notebook to do writing research. Some of my pages were like "how to write action scenes," or "tips for flat scenes." Whenever I felt blocked I read again these pages.

I'm going to copy down here some tips that were useful during the writing block days.

• read another book or fic you like, since sometimes, getting yourself caught by another writer's style can help you to flow through your own. • scroll on pinterest and try to find pictures that capture the vibe of your story, maybe try to describe them or setting a scene in a similar environment that you can see? • changing the setting (for example, day to night, or sun to rain) can add more variants and ambiental tools to play with. • or, changing the character's pov. maybe a scene feels flat because it's narrated by the wrong character. • use objects, not just the characters.

(4) finishing a story

To have an insight into the plot, I wrote the main scenes in really short sentences. That was useful for the first chapters, but suddenly I had 70K words of the story and a lot of details to track. Frequently I had to split chapters into two parts because the "short sentence" became a very long scene. See this comparison: the scenes' guide in the last chapters usually are fragmented into shorter scenes. That's how I avoided losing my mind as I wrote (?)

These are a few tips that were useful to me during this last part.

• write the important plot points as they are mentioned so you can come back to them later and don't forget about them. • keep a scrip to annotate significant things about the characters to make the story consistent. • notion pages is a great place to make inspo boards (usually I added 4 pictures for each scene). During the last chapter, I used the to-do list tool to keep track of the closed story points and the things that were yet to happen • list some of your favourite past scenes, those that have been nice to write, so you can pursue the same vibe again.

The last two months writing the fic I joined the nanowrimo to keep myself motivated but also to have an impulse. My only goal was getting the habit of writing everyday, not minding how many words (usually it was around 400-600 daily). I ended that month with 16k added on my wordcount (to me, that was a lot!). Since I enjoyed that little challenge, I did the same on the next month, resulting in finishing the fic :)

The most important thing during this time was remembering myself from time to time why I am doing this. Let me say I am an utter perfectionist, so I would easily get trapped in making-the-story-perfect, which would end in a writing block. So each time this happened I repeated to myself that I didn't want to write a good story. I just wanted to enjoy and have fun while writing a story, so I should write only things I enjoy. And this simple thing was incredibly helpful whenever I wasn't able to continue a scene.

I think that this is what most writers say, but now I have come to understand that it's true: just have fun. Write what you wanna read.

(5) the next story - requiem of the sleepless

This would be the third part of my first fic. I miss these unhinged boys and I have a little draft of (unholy) things I want to happen to them! Now I want to unlearn everything I know. I want this story to be zero planned, I just want to ~feel~ the characters and make a lot of random things happen. This is about not forgetting why I started, so here I am again.

Being a non-writer writing.

thank you for reading ♡ 

[themissingnumbers]

What's good, y'all! It's me again, so you know what that means :) You all know how I function by now. I write things down in the order they appear in my brain, so things may be a bit scattered, but if you can look past that, then I hope you enjoy my ramblings.

In today's issue of The New Yap Times: THOSE FUCKIN' CHARACTER REFS HOLY SHIT—

So, those character references, amirite? First off, those things are fricking fabulous. Good stuff, Starry. Secondly, y'all know how this goes by now. I've got a lot of things I wanna say and I don't know how to say it, but hopefully, this will get easier the further I go. So! Let's start going down the line--shall we?

"Fire" Red Yuuji: MY BABY-! Okay, okay, lemme stop lmao. But like, look at him. He looks so good! Y'all have no idea how much I celebrated when I saw that my boy Fire got a pair of snow pants and some boots like LET'S GO-! He's not on a mountain in jeans and sneakers anymore; he's got some (keyword: some) appropriate snow gear! Plus, that jacket is still clean as hell. Not gonna lie though, I was kinda like Ehhhhh (unsure) about the new frostbite for him, but after looking at it for awhile I'm more like Ehhhhh (positive). I like it! He looks like he toes the line between being cold/unapproachable and lookin' like a sad baby seal. 9.5/10. (I only have one major complaint about Fire as a whole, and it's a big one: I don't know how you've done it, but you've somehow made him look even more huggable and yet I still cannot hug him. It's a sin >:( Don't worry though, he's really a 10/10, I'm just sad and petty-)

Leaf Aoyama: The Babygirl! Yes ma'am! (I'm so happy that she and Fire tied for once-) She's so beautiful, and I love her hair and eyes! I liked the subtlety of the old markings, but I mess with the new ones heavily. She looks like she's got some gnarly burns on her hands, which is kinda worrying. Plus, I really like the little additions to her outfit. I like her little socks (I think they're socks??) and the necklace/heart locket, too! Where'd she get it? Who's in there? I wanna know! Hopefully, she will share it with us one day. 10/10. (Bonus for Leaf: I know I already mentioned it in the comments of the actual Leaf post, but THE ESPEON!? HELLO?! Imma need the lore for that-)

Blue Gary Oak: PRETTY BOY ALERT HOLY MOLY- Okay, genuinely, Starry, why did you make him so pretty? Jesus- Anyway, moving on- This man is fabulous, and I need him to help me with my wardrobe. He's got STYLE! And his eyes, man, his eyes are GORGEOUS! The jewelry, the aviator jacket, the button-up—he got that shit on tho! Onto his body though, I really like all of his freckles. And I had always wondered why he had bandages on his wrist for his researcher outfit, and I kinda put two and two together to speculate why, but I didn't want to be right. But I have confirmation that I was right with the updated reference, and now I'm just sad :( But in spite of that, his design is still clean with lots of effort put into it. Another 10/10. (Also, Blue named some of his Pokémon and I think that's sweet. Otto and Akira are adorable names and I would like to meet them and spoil them with treats thank you-) (It also makes me really sad that Blue self-harms. Like, I expected it, but still. He hurt himself, and from the looks of things, still does. He doesn't deserve that. Hopefully, we can help Blue wean off of SH later down the line by offering some alternatives and a listening ear.)

"Glitchy" Red Tajiri: Then there's this rat bastard (affectionate). Where... where do I even start with this dude? Don't take anything I say about this man the wrong way, his design is peak and the art is amazing, but he looks so... wrong. Like, ewww, bro. I know he hasn't eaten in god knows how long, but why doesn't he look alive? Why tf is he printer paper white? He just ain't right man. (Slenderman lookin' ass. Bro looks like he bites. Probably microwaves his cereal before he eats it, too. Don't tell him I said that-) Nevertheless, creepy shit aside, I really like how disheveled he looks! Torn, dirty clothes, shoes with holes in them, and long messy hair—it fits him and I mess with that heavy. Also, the viscera that comes with that super glitchy form is crazy! It looks so cool, but it can't feel good in any manner. He's so skinny, too! I am deeply concerned for this man, probably more than I initially was for Fire, and that's saying something. Again, another 10/10. This man has grown on me significantly. (Also, his poor Pokémon team :( What happened to them? I'm curious but also afraid to find out. I also like how his Team has Gen 1 sprites. Nice touch-) (Also, me looking at that digital viscera form with MissingNo limbs ripping out of his chest. "Mhm..." Adds it to the Parasite theory. "Mhm.")

Okay! It's been a while since I started writing this (it's currently 2 AM for me lmao I started at 11) and I think I'm done—with this version! You thought I was finished? NO. I have more thoughts about these references—lots of thoughts—mostly about the Spoiler Edits and Blacked out parts, along with the new Biographies/Descriptions. But that's for a different time and post. This was just me rambling about the updated designs because I have no one else to yap to about it at the moment. So, there will be another, more theory-driven edition of The New Yap Times coming eventually, but not tonight.

Anyway, time for my closing statements. To Starry, you cooked with these drawings bruh. These are awesome and your art just keeps getting better and better. Keep it up! But be careful not to burn yourself out. To the Mods, I know y'all're probably cooking something up in secret. You guys always be moving in the shadows, so just know that I look forward to it ya sneaky little devils, and I hope y'all are all doing well. And specifically to Mod Hells, I hope you feel better soon homie. Being sick sucks, so I'm prayin' for you :) Take care of yourself.

But that's all, folks! Until next time. Thank you for reading The New Yap Times!

[OHHEHEHEHE do NOT ever apologize for your long analysis asks idc how messy you consider it these are a huge highlight of this blog for me and it makes all the work i put into the refs worth it!!

i need to respond to this stuff without giving too much away now.. trust me when I say that for these design updates, a LOT of thought went into the changes, both aesthetically AND for what they mean regarding the stories. but though i know all the meaning and intent being them, i wanna leave it all open to interpretation and theorizing as best as i can...

that said i want to talk a LITTLE about it bc dear god this is such a good analysis and observations LOL

re: Fire - his new snow fit was smth that took a lot of mulling over and was decided on based on the fact that he'd get it in universe from... somewhere. :) the updates to his frostbite were also VERY deliberate- for one i was worried the old stylizing would be read as blush when seeing him out of context... i wanted it to be clear that this is a severe injury. i def did my best to make him toe the line of..... Unapproachable, and Aesthetically Pleasing. im very glad i pulled that off!!

re: Leaf - ill admit to keep it real a large drive behind changing her markings into burn scars was bc i didn't like drawing the chain markings on her arms LOL. but the change is also a deliberate choice that i won't elaborate much more on.. its definitely less subtle, but i think weird scars can be easily justified in the world of pokemon. as for her pokemon... all can be explained in due time! though id certainly suggest putting that scanner and dex to use ;)

re: Blue - blue's always been focused more on Fashion over Function- if there's one thing he cares about, it's appearances. him being more of a prettyboy is intentional by virtue of the fact that he tries to look attractive and such. the.... other thing is smth ive mostly kept as subtext, particularly happening in... recent works. :) but its not something i intend to treat lightly once it's explicitly acknowledged. i honestly considered hiding it like with other things on these refs but that just seemed like overkill ultimately.

as for nicknames- god i really want to give other pokemon nicknames that reflect their trainer's personalities. the problem is that immm just bad at naming things tbh. Leaf would have a fully named team, and Blue would too, or at least a few more than just Otto and Akira. i was thinking Dusty for his Jolteon... ill probably head back and edit names in as we work em out! the refs will definitely be good to glance at from time to time. fires team is nameless and reds team would be .......... immature.

re: Glitchy -

this is the best possible thing you could've said about him. thats all i can really say

anyways!! thank you so so much for all your thoughts- again, things like this really do make it all worth it! i really look forward to your next theory session, but you take care and take all the time you need, okay?

thank u so much for the compliments man,, 🥺 it really does mean a lot. i can really tell ive improved a lot esp looking at the new and old refs side by side and it makes me so happy!! ^-^ im glad u can see it too eheheh.. ill put my side by sides under the cut bc its kinda wild to look at

and as someone whos been seeing all the behind the scenes work unfold.... god im so excited for when the secret the other mods have been working on gets to come out !!! they've been trucking away and its exciting to see :D]

((ps from mod hell: thank you so much our strongest soldier i love you))

old vs new comparisons:

[whumpbug]

1, 14, 15, 18, 23 for the ask game hiiiiii I am so glad you reblogged it!! as always /nf so do what's inspiring!! :D

YAYYY THANK YOU SETH THESE ARE GREAT!!!!!!!! ｡(^▽^)ゞ

1. the last sentence you wrote

this is from a WIP with gene and cassidy and oh god seth this is such a funny line for you to have landed on HELP

"Christ, he hated Montana." (from gene's POV)

me too gene.

14. where do you get your inspriation?

oooouh i get my inspiration from so so many places... a lot of character ideas come from existing media who's fandom i'm apart of and it usually stems from me wanting to make ocs in that universe or to steal some of the character dynamics/themes

when it comes to actual writing though, a lottt of my inspiration comes from fanfiction and oc works of friends (shoutout to u seth). and if i'm being completely honest, my ideas for specific stories comes from me just. pacing my room and talking to myself in the shower and thinking of interesting dialogue to form a story around

15. favorite weather for writing

okay so the obvious (and probably most popular) answer is rainy/gloomy weather. its just the thought of being able to be cozy on the couch or in bed without the obligation to be Out and Doing Stuff that gets the brain juices flowing, BONUS if its past midnight too

18. if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

okay so i don't have any specific lines for a fic BUT i will share an abandoned concept i had for archie and simon.

so originally, archie was going to have more powers than just the enhanced strength and senses he does now. he was going to have some kind of ice manipulation/cryokinesis as well because i thought it seemed cool and would allow for some Great Whump, but it sort of got too complicated and i scrapped the idea completely

23. pick three keywords that describe your writing

i am going to challenge myself to Not be self-depreciative because that is my default. BUT NOT TODAY.

my 3 words would have to be: descriptive, tense, fluffy (in the sense that i can't stop writing fluff. it's my weakness.)

AND SETH U GET SOME RAPID FIRE BONUS ONES bc this ask game is too fun

13. a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

dc. specifically for my silly gorgeous man dick grayson. but i am TERRIFIED. solely because compared to most dc fans, i am SO not well-versed in the lore and would probably say something completely incorrect and embarass myself.

11. a WIP you’d like to finish someday

theres 2 that are sitting in my doc that i havent touched in a bit BUT they are:

a fic of cassidy as a child getting absolutely chewed out and punished by montana and then it cutting to present day and showing how that Trauma manifests itself. and also a mildly concerned gene.

and one for the alternative prompt in WWE (hangover) where gene is stationed in the town jail as always but its after a LONGG night at the saloon. and cassidy is the only guy locked up and hes just totally messing with him while gene wants to be Anywhere but There.

AND LASTLY 4. a story idea you haven't written yet

cassidy and gene getting drunk together. also archie and simon getting drunk together but mostly gene and cassidy. i just need the filters to come DOWN for those guys

THANKS SO MUCH SETH AND THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE CHANCE TO RAMBLE ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE HOBBIES!!!!!!!! ILY TOO /P U ARE SO COOL AND AWESOME

[softguarnere]

Like A Girl (Like A Man)

Shifty Powers x ofc

Chapter 19: A Native American in Paris

Summary: When he returns, he hands Zenie a postcard with a picture of the Eiffel Tower on it. “It’s not as good as having a picture taken in front of it, but, you know, I thought that it might be somethin’.” A/N: When I first started writing this fic, I always imagined D-Day as the beginning of a "Part Two" in the story. Regardless of what act we're in, this definitely feels like an intermission point for me. So I just wanted to take the time to say thank you for sticking with me this far, and I hope you'll hang around for the rest of the story <3 Warnings: mentions of war, drinking, implied sex Taglist: @latibvles @lady-cheeky @liebgotts-lovergirl @mrs-murder-daddy @lieutenant-speirs @ithinkabouttzu

France, 1944

Passes all around! It’s so much different from life back at Toccoa. It feels so long ago now that Zenie’s hands would clench into fists at her side when Captain Sobel would make up some excuse to revoke her pass. Maybe this is to make up for the fact that they got so few of these back in Georgia.

Paris is the keyword floating all around the barracks. All Zenie’s friends score passes to the City of Light. After the dreary days of sitting in mud in Holland, the prospect of exploring the city seems like a marvelous makeup for the eighty-something days stuck waiting. Zenie finds herself with a forty-eight hour pass to the famed city in her hands. The idea of someday getting the chance to brag to Marilyn that she visited the Eifel Tower makes her laugh. Then Shifty meets her eye from across the room and announces that he also has a pass to Paris – and on the same day as her. And suddenly the city that Zenie has hardly ever spared a thought for seems brighter and full of more possibilities than anything Marilyn used to describe while fawning over her books.

Especially because they still haven’t been alone.

Having friends is such a change of pace from Zenie’s life before running away. She loves them, and being with them. Lately, however, it seems like she can’t get a second away from them.

Mourmelon-le-Grand for R&R. Except the Rest in “Rest and Relaxation” has somehow turned into preparing for a football game that Zenie cannot seem to come up with a good enough excuse to not play in.

“Look,” she finally tells Babe one day in the barracks when he won’t stop pestering her about it. “I’m no good at football. My older brother played baseball, so that’s what I was taught. It’d be different if you wanted me to be a pitcher.” Or if we were playing any game that wouldn’t get me tackled, crushed, and exposed, she doesn’t add.

Babe swats his hand, pushing away her words. “Well lucky for you, you’ve got me to teach you. And I’m great at football, Tommy. I could have you ready for this game in a matter of days.”

“You tryin’ to get little Tommy a Purple Heart by getting’ all his bones crushed, ya mean?”

Everyone in the barracks jumps at the sound of a familiar voice – one whose absence has been heavily felt.

“Bill!”

The Italian spreads his arms as wide as his smile as he fully enters the room. He’s limping, but it doesn’t damper his smile. “What? Ya think you’d never see me again or somethin’?”

“Didn’t know how long ya were gonna baby that leg,” Babe quips, ducking when the taller man makes a move to affectionately ruffle his hair.

“Baby it? Yeah right. You know who you’re talkin’ to, Heffron? I made ‘em cut the cast off early so I could get back here and keep your ass in line!”

“Yeah, and God knows we needed that, because he keeps trying to get Tommy killed,” Joe says from his place on his bunk.

A cloud of seriousness crosses Bill’s face as he turns to her. “You really that bad at football?”

Well I should be, considering that I’ve never played, Zenie thinks. Instead, she nods. “The worst.”

“Someone could probably fix that. Not right now, though.” His smile returns as he glances over their group, a glint in his eye. “Any of you up for a little trip to Lulu’s?”

In the moment, there’s nothing particularly special about Lulu’s or the night that they spend there. (Besides, maybe, the fact that Bill missed the party with the Red Devils, and they feel the need to make up for all the fun he missed.) They drink too much and dance too fast and sing too loudly. On the way back to barracks, they cling to each other and laugh brightly as they haul each other home – a real team effort. With promising days of R&R ahead of them, they go to bed, already thinking of having this kind of fun night after night.

The place is a frenzy of excitement. The football game creeps ever closer and practices pick up with the mounting tensions. (Personally, Zenie’s not sure why anyone would worry when Joe Toye is playing for their team.) Passes are being taken into the cities, and each time a group of soldiers returns to brag about the fun he had, the harder Zenie’s heart pounds in her chest when she thinks about how she and Shifty both have passes to Paris.

“Two more days,” she notes as casually as she can in line for breakfast one day. “Never heard of half the places people are talking about.”

“Me neither. But a lot of the fellas seem to think it’s mighty fun there. Lots to do.”

Zenie hums in agreement. “Probably a lot of walking around the city.”

“Probably.”

“Lots of time to talk.”

As he scoops eggs onto his plate, Zenie catches him biting his lip. It doesn’t hide his smile. “Definitely.”

Lucky does not even begin to describe how Zenie feels when she learns that she and Shifty seem to be the only ones of their friends to have passes to Paris. After every chance that she might have had to speak with him has been thwarted, part of her is on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop, expecting something else to keep them apart.

They leave the barracks amiably enough. They make small talk as they board the train and make their way towards the city.

“This is my third time,” one of the soldiers in their train car brags as they ride. He quirks an eyebrow at them. “You ever been to Paris?”

“Never,” Zenie replies as Shifty shakes his head.

The soldier only nods. “Well, it doesn’t disappoint, I’ll tell you that much. You just have to know all the right places to look if you want to have a good time.”

“I think we’ll manage.”   

And they do. Shifty has already seen the city while out on a different pass with Popeye. Once they get off the train, though, he only smiles at Zenie and lets her take the lead, making suggestions about the fastest way to get places as they go.

As they weave their way through the people and the streets, they talk. Not in the way that Zenie has been waiting for them to, but at least they’re talking. More than they have been lately, too, which is enough for her. It’s enough just to see him smile at her as he regales her with stories of what he and Popeye saw and did while using their passes, and she tells him about Marilyn’s travel books that her sister would stare at for hours at night. It’s enough for their fingers to brush when Shifty buys a piece of pain au chocolat, then breaks it down the middle and hands her half. It's enough to watch his eyes light up when she uses a gentle finger to wipe a smudge of chocolate off his upper lip. This is what she imagined when she pictured them having a secret relationship. This is what she’s been missing.

But, she has to remind herself, this is what Shifty was worried would get them caught. The memory of that night at the brothel makes her chest ache. He didn’t think this would be possible until after the war. And maybe he still doesn’t want it until then. She won’t know until they get to talk – really talk.

“It’s big, ain’t it?” Shifty asks when they stop in front of the Eiffel Tower.

The famed tower is impressive. With the elevators not operational, though, there isn’t much to do but stand under it and admire it from different angles. Zenie tries to soak it up in her mind so that she can remember it later.

“Here.” As if he can read her mind, Shifty steps away, heading towards an older woman with a cart. He counts out some money and hands it to her. She smiles as she hands him something. When he returns, he hands Zenie a postcard with a picture of the Eiffel Tower on it. “It’s not as good as having a picture taken in front of it, but, you know, I thought that it might be somethin’.”

“It’s perfect,” Zenie rushes to assure him. “Thank you, Shifty.”

 The Virginian smiles, his cheeks tinged pink.

“You know,” he says. “If you’ve seen everything that you want to, I know somewhere that we can go. Away.”

As if to prove his point, a group of American soldiers walks behind them. Zenie and Shifty might have come here alone, without any of their other friends, but they’re not truly alone. Not yet.

Zenie pockets the postcard. “Lead the way.”

People bustle up and down the streets, laughing as they go. A few little kids point at her when they spot her, yelling in their excitement. It’s a bit like being back in Holland – well, the better part of being in Holland, when all the people had come out to welcome them with open arms. Zenie always makes sure to smile back, and salutes them just for the fun of it. It’s a nice distraction from the clammy feeling in her palms as she waits.

She spins around as the door of the hotel opens. Every time she’s hoped that it’s Shifty returning. This time, it really is him. He nods to her and flashes a key.

Up and up and up. The only sound on the stairwell is that of their boots echoing against the walls as they climb. Zenie glances at Shifty every now and then, feels him doing the same to her, but neither makes a move to speak. Maybe, like her, he’s trying to work out everything that he wants to say.

Peeling paint covers the door to their room. It’s at the end of the hallway, secluded, quiet. Zenie still glances over her shoulder as Shifty opens the door and ushers her inside.

This room is nothing like the one they talked in that night at the brothel. Whereas that room was dark and contained only a bed, this one is full of light and has not only a fluffy looking bed, but a vanity and a small doorway that leads to a bathroom. Something about the place makes it feel warm, and not just in temperature.

Closing the door behind her, Zenie stays in place even as Shifty walks further into the room. He glances back at her and, like that night at the brothel, gestures toward the bed.

“You wanna . . . ?”

The bed is just as fluffy as Zenie suspected it would be. It dips under their weight as they seat themselves. Also like that night, and against her better judgement, they sit close to each other. Really, what reason is there to not? Just like back in the foxholes of Holland, their knees bump into each other. They leave them there, pressing into each other.

This won’t be like last time, Zenie assures her heart as it pounds against her ribcage. Well, last time they had been holding hands when Shifty dropped the news –

No, he didn’t drop the news. He didn’t even get to finish what he wanted to say because Earl had started firing his gun and they had to leave the building. He was going to ask her to wait. And now . . . ?

She tries to find something to say, anything. They both start to speak at the same time. Words overlapping, they pause, each offering the other a small smile.

“Sorry,” Shifty says. “You first.”

Her first, with hardly a word at the ready. She says the first one that comes to mind, which is the only one she can properly associate with the whole situation that’s been playing out these past few months.

“I’m sorry. I wish we could start over.”

Slowly, Shifty nods. “Me, too. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He pauses, pushing a short sigh out through his nose. “When I was tryin’ to ask you to wait until after the war, I thought that I was protectin’ you. From this – “ He gestures around the room. “ – The sneaking around, and all that. But I didn’t consider, see, hurtin’ your feelings indirectly. I wanted to tell you, when I realized what had happened. But I could never seem to find you by yourself . . .”

Zenie cringes at the memory of dodging Shifty’s presence, of not meeting his eyes or looking directly at him until that night at the pub when Skinny asked him what he wanted to do after the war.

“That was my fault, and I’m sorry. I –“ She has to laugh, almost, at how stupid it seems now, to have been avoiding him. “ – I was trying to protect myself, and instead I ended up hurting you. And I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to.”

Silence falls over them. Then, like that night at the brothel, Shifty holds out his hand. There is no hesitation on Zenie’s part; of course she takes it, intwining their fingers together and relishing the feeling it sends down her spine.

“This is what we’ve been missing,” she realizes aloud.

Shifty nods. He lets out an unexpected laugh, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I was gonna put this off until the end of the war. Coulda been doin’ it the whole time.”

“But you were right to be worried. About being caught, I mean.”

“Maybe. After everythin’ we’ve been through, though, is it really worth the wait?”

This time, Zenie tries to take in the full meaning of his words instead of just assuming she knows what he means, or what’s about to happen.

“What do you mean?”

“The end of the war might be a long way off, you know,” Shifty says. “And, I don’t know. After all we’ve been through, I guess I’ve realized that nothin’ is for certain.” He pauses and meets her eye. He stares so deeply into her that it feels like he’s trying to read her mind. “I don’t mind it – the sneakin’ around, I mean – if you don’t. And the end of the war . . . Well, if you want, we can figure it out when we get there. Whenever that may be.”

Her heart lurches, ready to take the plunge with him.

“You want us to court?” She clarifies. Nothing will be left to chance or interpretation this time.

“Yes.”

Going with Shifty Powers. Of course she will, and she tells him as much. She only wishes she could tell her past self, all the way back in Toccoa, that this was coming; that version of Zenie would have never seen this coming.

Her hands shake. She wonders if he can feel them trembling against his. A laugh, a sigh of relief, and a jubilant cry all gather at the back of her throat. When she opens her mouth, she’s not sure which will come out.

“You know,” she says instead. “I think you’ve just made me the happiest girl in Paris.”

Shifty grins. “Zena, when we make it out of this war, I’ll make sure you’re the happiest girl in the whole world.”

The rest of the war, Zenie prays, will be kind to them.

With the forty-eight-hour pass, they don’t have to wait until the end of the war for Shifty to make her the happiest girl in the world. Alone in their hotel room, with nothing but a slant of moonlight that sneaks in through the crack in the curtains, they make up for all their lost time.

The next morning, they discover that the towels in the bathroom are just as fluffy as the bedding. The soft, white fabric leaves little trails of fuzz covering their bodies, and they giggle as they gently swat each other, trying to remove it.

Putting on her uniform after the night they have feels strange. For a day, she’s been Zenie again. Her performance has enjoyed an intermission. Now, as they wander the streets of Paris one last time before boarding the train that will take them back to Mourmelon-le-Grand, she’s stepping back into her role and heading into the second act as a changed woman.

Changed for the better, she hopes.

[thepodcasthoard]

How to Start a Podcast: Step-By-Step Guide- Castos

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l Part 6 l Part 7 l Part 8 l Part 9 l Part 10 l Part 11 l Part 12

The thirteenth article Sydney gave me is from Castos, which is a hosting site.

Castos lines out six steps to start a podcast.

Plan

Define goals. Why are you making this podcast?

Choose a topic. Castos suggests thinking about if you can talk about the topic you're considering for hours. Yes. Plural. If not, then it's not the topic for you. What makes your podcast different than similar ones? You also might want to consider future monetization if that's something you're after. The article I linked suggests twenty five broad topics to get you thinking (such as your trial and errors, and yourself narrating something).

Define your audience. Make a listener persona or avatar.

Choose a format. That article lists pros and cons of each, with examples of established podcasts.

Choose a name. That article goes over the camps of naming- yes, the descriptive, clever, and brand- and a few other things, like how saying the name out loud will help.

Choose who's going to conduct the podcast. If you're doing it solo, it's a no-brainer. But if you have a team, there will have to be a discussion.

Write a description. This article says that out of 780 people surveyed by the podcast host, most of them judged whether or not to listen to a podcast by their description. I included the first article because it has other useful stats. You should write it to be engaging to the human readers, and search engine optimized for the algorithm. If you get stuck, Castos helpfully provided three templates to chose from and tweak as you need.

Choose categories. Most people (from the podcast host data) find new podcasts via the search function in their app or site of choice. The categories are how your listeners will find you. One broad category and two sub categories are allowed, so choose wisely.

Decide on a length to shoot for. You won't hit it to the second, but having a general guide will help. Your episode length can be a unique selling point- if every other podcast in your niche is over an hour, your fifteen minute podcast will be interesting. And the opposite is true. But don't pad out the episode with fluff to make it longer for the sake of it, and don't cut any useful information to make it shorter for the sake of it.

Decide on a publishing frequency. Whatever you choose- weekly, fortnightly, monthly- be consistent. If you miss an update, you might lose listeners because they don't feel like they can expect the episode reliably.

Name episodes. Consider the episode name like the headline of an article. You want to get the broad view across while also enticing people to read. Or, in this case, listen. Use at least one or two keywords naturally to make it so when people search for a solution to a problem, your episode has a better chance of popping up. Podcast apps tend to cut off episode titles, so make sure the most important words start the title. If you have guests, include their names, but leave off your podcast name. It'll already be in your feed, so there's no need to reiterate.

Consider monetization. While monetization is most likely far in the future, think about any ideas now. For example, merchandise you can sell, or a subscription tier system.

2. Recording equipment

They included a handy infographic, but really a microphone, pop filter, headphones, and the computer you already own will do fine to start. When you're ready to expand, they have more equipment recommendations.

Have a recording space. You don't need a fancy studio, but it should be a quiet place with little background noise.

Set up equipment. Make sure everything works and is recording. Then- this is just an aside from me- make a test recording. Make sure it sounds how you want it to.

3. Editing software

A lot of times, your recording software can also edit, but in case it doesn't Castos provides some options.

Remote recording software is different, and you need it if you have guests that aren't physically present in the same room as you.

4. Record your first episode

Don't worry if you don't have a workflow yet, that will come.

Write a script if you're nervous.

Check out some microphone techniques to build good habits.

Castos has general tips here

They also have a video tutorial and article here.

5. Edit

Add intros and outros. According to NPR, 20-35% of listeners will only give your podcast five minutes. To avoid this, Castos has a guide on intros and outros.

Music. It's nice to have, and makes your podcast sound more polished. Castos collected sites to get affordable royalty-free music.

In general, there are three things to do when editing- removing things you don't like, adding things that make the episode better, and fixing audio mistakes like background noise.

Castos put together a video and article on editing here so you can take some of the guesswork out.

Export your final file. There's some technical jargon here, but basically there's a preferred file type and a way to adjust your sound so that the episode is the same volume throughout the one episode and between episodes. Castos focuses on how they expect files to be- they are a hosting site after all- but I feel like maybe other hosting sites would encourage this. The best practice is to check out the guidelines on your hosting site and follow them.

6. Launch

Choose a podcast hosting site. As I've said in previous posts, you need an RSS feed to give podcast directories before people can listen. Castos does a good job explaining it in this infographic.

When choosing a hosting site, consider a few factors: storage, website, analytics, and marketing.

Artwork. Castos recommends that the font is clear and easy to read, and there aren't too many diffferent fonts- two max. Keep your topic in mind as you design or have someone else design the artwork for you. Contrasting colors and 'empty' space are your friends- they bring attention to the podcast and gives the name room to metaphorically breathe. They also included a handy site called the podcast artwork check to see how the artwork looks across sites and apps. Castos also has an in-depth guide with examples of artwork.

Submit to directories. Now it's time to get ears on your podcast and get it out there. Check out the list of thirty different directories to submit to.

Build a website. This is a permanent home for your podcast, just in case anything disastrous happens to any directory.

Add show notes and transcriptions.

Strategies:

Make a trailer.

Release three episodes on launch day.

Network with other podcasters. You can offer to cross-promote, which means that if they feature a snippet or description of your show on theirs, you'll do the same with theirs on yours. Make sure your niches are linked, though- no one wants a comedy podcast in a true crime one.

Be active in online communities related to your audience and topic.

Don't be afraid to self-promote. Word of mouth has to start somewhere.

7. Promote your podcast.

Don't be afraid to reach out to your audience. They're listening to you for a reason, and they'll probably gladly spread the word if they haven't been already.

If you mention any brands organically, shoot them a message and tell them. They might feature your episode on their social media.

Guest on other podcasts. Be nice here, no one likes someone constantly nagging about when they're going to be on their podcast.

Advertise on podcast apps. Just make sure you're actually listed on their app before you buy the ad.

Castos also has social media and email list guides.

There are a few resources listed at the bottom of the article, including a facebook group and their podcast about podcasting.

[findroleplay]

Hi everyone! :) I'm 21+ and looking for someone 21+ for an original vampire-themed MxM roleplay.

I'm very interested in a plot that involves one of the characters being the sire/maker of the other character but I'm also fine with a "normal" vampire x vampire or even vampire x human (maybe as a familiar/servant?) roleplay.

I don't have any concrete plot in mind so I'm hoping we can come up with something together, but I will include a couple of settings I personally "vibe" with (we do not need to use any of them, though! I'm definitely open to hearing whatever setting/plots you might be interested in).

At the moment I do have some interest in world building/creating lore but it doesn't have to be super in depth (although if you have any great ideas I'm definitely here to brainstorm together to add to them!).

I'm fine with smut but it's not a requirement! We can always fade to black if you prefer :)

If you do want to write smut I want to say that I don't enjoy it when characters "behave" a certain way just because they have certain bedroom preferences and I do not want to basically emulate straight gender norms just with two men (that doesn't mean that one of the characters can't be feminine, of course, just that two men in a relationship will relate to each other differently than a man and a woman).

I prefer 3rd person/past tense when writing. I'm not too picky when it comes to length, as long as replies are at least a couple of lines.

I tend to prefer characters that are a little more "mature", most of my human characters tend to be in their late 30s or 40s. (I know vampires don't have to visually look their age but I thought I'd mention here that I don't really enjoy characters that would make good YA novel protagonists or that would fit into a boy band - no offense to people who enjoy characters like that, of course, but I just generally don't find characters like that compelling).

Some "warnings" to consider before engaging with me: 1) I'm not a native speaker and still pretty new to roleplaying but I'll try my best to keep mistakes to a minimum! 2) I'm not always super available due to work and I live in Europe. Depending on the length of our posts I might reply a couple of times per day or once every two days. I will try to at least reply once a week at minimum!

Now, onto the scenarios/"vibes" I had in mind! (Once again, we don't need to use any of them, I just thought I'd try to give you an idea what sort of plots/settings I tend to enjoy):

New Orleans: I just adore how magical and mysterious New Orleans as a city appears to be. I was thinking this could take place in the 1920s or maybe the modern day. I would love to incorporate some other magical/occult things here (maybe our characters have to deal with witchcraft or other supernatural events). Keywords: mardi gras, bayou, French Quarter, night life, religious guilt, attempts to maintain humanity, alienation from society, voodoo, spirits, magical realism, urban fantasy

Mafia: I'm thinking of maybe one character being the boss and the other being his second in command? Keywords: modern day, penthouses, private jets, sleek sportscars, art galleries, casinos, night clubs, opposing powers, rival vampire gangs

18th century aristocracy: Maybe taking place in either Venice or at the French court. Keywords: masquerade balls, opera houses, palace gardens, political intrigues, Paris catacombs, gondolas

Dark Academia: My first idea was for this to take place sometime during the middle/end of the 19th century with our characters as university professors or researchers. Keywords: uncovering of truths, search for knowledge, secret socities, dark cults and the occult, scholars, traditional gothic horror

I prefer to roleplay on Discord but I'm also fine with trying a different method like e-mails or GDocs.

If you're interested please like this post and I will reach out to you :)

_

[soaringsearingphoenix]

how do u prep for dnd i feel like i should be doing that before sessions

That's a great question! And it varies from GM to GM. If you're new to prep, it can be a little overwhelming - start with ONE thing you want to focus on (materials, scenery, voices, combat, lore) and play around with that; figure out your own preferences. I'll try to be comprehensive [aka i tend to ramble - I'll also try to format it so it's not just a wall of text.] If you already are confident about some of this stuff, great! But I hope some of it helps.

In my opinion, prep is as much about feeling prepared and confident as it is about having materials ready. Both are important! TL:DR; it's mostly about PRACTICE and ORGANIZATION.

I'm a person who tends to run a bit of a sandbox world, and trust that I'm prepared to improv a little when the players inevitably go 'off course'. But I have a lot of GM friends who are much further towards the "I like to have everything prepared, with a set map and a set understanding of IF you do this, THEN this will happen."

It can be a good idea to be honest with your players about what to expect - especially if you have new players, making sure they are prepared may be part of the process. Letting them know whether there will be combat, and whether there will be time in-game to prepare for it, can help a game run smoother. (I'll come back to that.)

Know how to use whatever resource you are using. If you are running a game, whether physically or digitally, figure out how you like to set up your area so that you know everything you need is within reach. If it is in person, make sure things like books and maps are all in once place ahead of time. If you are calling with Discord, you could make sure the server has a dice bot, or make sure any music bot you are using works properly. If you use roll20, google drive, or another site, you can upload maps, make sure they are aligned to the grid if they need to be, and play around with any other features it might have! There are some useful tools out there for GMs, and even just finding something to help you organize your notes can be huge. That could be a whole separate post.

If you're running a game from a module/pre-written materials, you want to spend the time reading through those materials. It's honestly a bit like studying in a class! Make sure you know some of the information, and know where to find the rest of it.

For familiarizing - whether I'm using a guide or writing it myself - I try to prioritize visual and narrative descriptions - practice narrating what your players 'see' when they enter an area, for example, so that you are prepared for any potentially unfamiliar or confusing words (I'm a pretty confident reader and I still stumble over things like "minute" [pronounced min-it] as in 60 seconds of time being spelled the same as "minute" [pronounced my-noot] as in tiny.

This goes for NPC voices too. If important plot information is being delivered via dialogue, say your line a couple times! If you are giving your characters specific voices, practice how you want their speech to sound! (I like to take notes for that too - this guy sounds "comfortable and friendly, like a dad at a barbecue". This woman sounds "like a librarian - pursed lips!" It can help to find a key phrase, gesture, or posture that helps you get into character. I really enjoy doing NPCs, so I tend to start with that, but not every campaign has a heavy focus on them.

Keywords can help you give 'character' to your environments, too. This foggy coast might be ominous, so I want to narrate it in an ominous voice. This tavern may be comforting - it's warm, so I'll narrate it in a warmer tone. Listening to your own voice ahead of time can help you set the mood you want a scene to have.

You may also want to try to anticipate player questions. This gets easier with experience. If you have a wizard who likes to look for spell components, expect "could I find a sprig of mistletoe?" when the narrative takes them to the forest. If you have a rogue who really leaned into the thief archetype, expect "is anything on the table small enough to fit in my pocket?" If they encounter a dog, no matter how menacing, expect that someone is probably going to ask if they can try to befriend it. Knowing what your players enjoy, and what their goals are, can give you a better sense of how to anticipate their responses to what you throw at them.

If there is going to be combat, puzzles, or obstacles, have stat blocks you may need available. If they are in a book/ on a web page, BOOKMARK THEM. If not, write them down!

I have found it very useful to get note cards, and write a 'cheat-sheet' with some basic stats down from my players' character sheets. My current version (for D&D - other systems have other stats) includes their max HP, AC, passive Perception, base stats, languages, and their main weapon - anything I might otherwise have to ask them about, I like to have in front of me. It's not uncommon for a GM to say "What's your AC?" when they roll an attack against a PC, but I often have newer players, and I like being able to say "You're using a short sword - that's 1d6 of damage, plus your strength is +2" right away.

Even if your players are experienced, knowing what they are capable of as their GM helps you write challenges that they are appropriately equipped to solve. If your party has a lot of spell casters, maybe give them a puzzle about solving runes to get into a locked chamber. If there are a lot of fighters and barbarians, maybe the barrier is clearing a rock slide, or scaling a wall, or fighting a guard. Give the players chances to show off the things their characters are good at!

I also make note cards for any monsters in combat, and use my note cards to keep track of initiative order in combat, by putting them in an ordered pile - that way I have the stats for whoever's turn it is right in front of me when their turn comes up. But that's just my personal preference, and many GMs I know will use an online initiative tracker (roll20 has one built in!)

Having stats ready and accessible is so helpful. For some GMs, (and some players!) being familiar with the combat they have planned IS what prep is all about! Even if you're a more narrative-focused GM, read through monster stats in advance - I've run some combats that were harder than I realized because I went "ooh, fire mephits sound cool! I could put some fire enemies in an abandoned forge" and didn't consider the fact that they also explode when they die and damage anything within 5ft of them...

and that most of my players were melee fighters.

Oops! Lesson learned. Which brings me back to working with your players and their abilities.

One of the simplest things you can do to prep is to remind your players that the game is coming up, and to make sure they've done anything they need to do. Just a "Hey, we're playing tomorrow. Do you have any questions for me?" Being approachable to your players helps you get to know them, and in turn helps you anticipate what they will respond to. Plus, asking "Would you like any help leveling up your character? If not, may I see what new things you chose when you leveled up?" when relevant gives you an opportunity to get more familiar with their character sheets.

I hope that helps! If you have any other questions, if I can elaborate on anything here, or if there is another GM-ing related topic you would like my thoughts about, let me know!