#i need to start properly documenting fits

[worldwidegirlhood]

i kinda hope i dress just like my blog looks! i’m nothing if not pretty and annoying (mostly just pretty annoying) and girls, gays, and non-binary babes LOVE ME (men and fish fear me)

[threepandas]

Bad End: Poisoned Cups

I hadn't adjusted well, at first. I don't think anyone could have. Being an elf sound cool, on paper. The better eye sight, the incredible hearing, the stamina. All sorts of perks right? But what they don't tell you, is that when your soul is human? When you get isekai'd by some divine oversight or fucker with a truck?

It doesn't adapt that well, to a new body. Your soul INSISTS you should still be human, with all the trappings, and throws a FIT, when you just.... aren't. So you end up with migraines. Eyes that swim in and out of focus. Wheezing, struggling, breathe. A body at war with itself.

The world was so loud. Too loud. I could hear EVERYTHING and it HURT. Couldn't breathe and THAT hurt. Was nauseated all the time, from my eyes refusing to focus properly. That too, hurt. All of it, pain. Just? Pain. Day after day, pain pain pain.

My poor parents were helpless. The doctors struggled.

But the King? HE could save me.

And he did.

He was younger then. Just barely into his rule. His Father having just stepped down. My parents, desperate, brought me before him. Waited in line for days. They didn't even know if he COULD do anything, were grimly prepared for him to say that sadly, nothing COULD be done. But? Instead? He looked me over, called for several old texts, looked again, then called upon the strength of the Throne.

My parents apparently started weeping the second I stopped.

All I remember is the pain going away. Being exhausted. A REALLY pretty elf man in a crown. Things getting... better, after that.

I was told that story often, as a child. It utterly transformed our household. From merely loyal citizens, to devote Loyalists. Speaking ill of the King in THIS house? Would now get you HURT. My parents had been convinced they were going to LOSE me. The King as far as they were concerned, saved my LIFE.

Which is why I didn't put anything together. Seeing as we were an "all King all the time" Sort of house. We had one(1) team and we were sticking to it. Permanently. His son? Eeeeh, maybe. We'd figure that out later. We didn't care to know. And I was too busy with school work to CHECK.

Which? Meant I didn't NOTICE? He looked? More and more... Otome Capture Target as time went on. Specifically, he looked kinda crown prince from "Dance of the Secret Forest! A True Love For Me?!" sort of Shaped. Which... gee, what ARE the odds? Especially given that so many OTHER things are named suspiciously similar or exactly the same to that game?

.........yeeeeeah. I decided not to take chances.

I looked that shit UP.

And wouldn't you know it? Protagonist-chan? Not there yet. But she SURE COULD BE! All the legends were EXACTLY what they should be. Forests and locations the same! PEOPLE the same! Oh HELL no. Good to know where NOT to be, I guess.

Not my circus, NOT my Otome Drama Monkeys.

I? Would be working for the KING. My family owed him a debt.

And when I graduated? I applied. Top of my class. I studied my ASS off. Could have gone anywhere. But I was aiming for the TOP. A debt to be repayed and frankly? Excellent job security on top of it! So filling busy work in dusty ass backrooms it was. Gotta start from the bottom, after all.

I exhausted them. Was honestly barely trying too at that point. They should see me TRYING to put my nose to the grindstone. Burn the midnight oil! Ha! HA, I say! Long elven lifespans slow you all down! I? Used to live in a capitalist hellscape! This is NOTHING.

I'm not even multi-tasking. It's not even LUNCH YET.

Did I get promoted? Yes. Do I worry my coworkers? Deeply! But shit needs doing and we don't have all day! There is a nation to run! Have some tea. Eat a turnover. Now~! Where are my fuckin documents~☆?

I get promoted again.

Then again.

Aaaaand again.

I'm pretty sure it's cause I scare people. Am FAST. Efficient. Willing to hunt my coworkers for SPORT, like a god damned bloodhound, if it means we get that one extra tax document that makes or breaks us. I have (and will again if necessary) climbed through people's fucking WALLS. Cause, honestly? If they wanted to stop me?

They should have warded the gods damned vents.

Fuckin casuals. Get on my level.

So, now? I am the baby. King's inner circle. And EVERYONE? Is damn near twice my age! And, granted, yes. It IS hilarious I still scare like half the people working under me... but come ON! You are elite government officials! Do BETTER! (Geez. At least my PARENTS couldn't be prouder.)

But... (and God damn it, why is there ALWAYS a "but"?) here's the thing. It? Took me a WHILE to get where I am now. Long enough, in fact, for our... Problem, to arrive. A Problem which is GOING to cast his Majesty's kingdom into chaos and turmoil, in fighting and divides. Religious upheaval. A PROBLEM, which? In the name of luuuuuv~?

Is going to get NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES involved.

And WHO do you think is going to have to deal with that? WHO will have to prevent all out WAR? Religious schisms? Ward off assassins in the night? Certainly not Mr. "But Daddy, I love her!". Oh no, HE gets to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his father's suffering! Make more trouble! (Fucker.)

But, hey! Maybe I should throw in with his SECOND son, right? The supporting character? He seems vastly more reasonable and emotionally more balanced doesn't he? Well educated, cautious, why, thoughtful even! Ha ha... yeah... he DOES seem that way, doesn't he?

SEEMS.

He Is Not. Little fucker is a SPECIAL flavor of batshit. Completely "wake to find him standing over you, in your LOCKED BEDROOM, asking if you want to see his new favorite knife" nutty puffs. Not sure which side of the family it comes from, to be honest. Disturbingly good at getting past my warding.

Or at least he WAS, until I got the King involved. Ha! Royal wards! You can't touch me! I sleep like a BABY now! The only people who can enter my rooms now? Are literally JUST me and the KING HIMSELF! How safe is that~‽

But for real... poor his Majesty, you know? It's not like he didn't TRY to be a good father. Take time he couldn't afford out of each day, to spend time with his sons. Insist on eating meals together so he could ask them about their interests, how each day had gone. Involved them where he safely could.

He's a somber man. A dignified one. But let NO ONE say, he is not a LOVING one.

And HOW do his children fucking reward him? Middle school love dramatics and MURDER ATTEMPTS IN THE NIGHT! Because, YES, I have found the disturbing murder board that the second prince has in his "secret" room. Right along his equally disturbing stalker board of ME.

I, obviously, told the King.

He did not look pleased.

Don't know if my new reality has, like, intensive therapy programs or something? But I hope for ALL our sakes, that the second Prince is at the winter palace getting HELP, instead of just? You know... plotting.

His Highness has a nasty tendency to plot, after all. But hey, his Majesty says not to worry about it? I choose to believe him. Concern myself with more immediate threats. Enjoy, no longer turning around to find some baby faced little creep with a hunter's stare, just... watching me. As I try to work. As I try to eat. Around corners, still as a statue, yet somehow a THREAT, in lonely and too empty corridors.

God fucking DAMN, his little "crush" was creepy!

If it weren't for his Majesty? I would have run and run FAR. But... but I? And you CAN NOT repeat this, okay? It's WILDLY inappropriate! A-And I SWEAR I'm never going to.. to ACT on it! I would NEVER. So...so PROMISE, okay?

....cause.... I may... MAY! Possibly! Just a LITTLE bit! Sorta, kinda, just a BIT? Have a TEENY? Little crush... on... his Majesty? Maybe???

YOU CAN'T TELL!

It's SO fucking inappropriate. Oh my GOD. I hate this so much!? Cause he's my BOSS! And old enough to be my DAD! I SHOULDN'T be so attracted to him, right?! Plus he's the KING! There's definitely a power imbalance there! How would that even WORK?! We would have no future! I don't know the first THING about how to BE royalty. And no one would accept me!

Not that I think I even have a CHANCE! Fuck no! I'm not THAT arrogant.

But, like? A girl can day dream. Fantasize, you know?

Which is why? Having his SON? Be a creepo stalker at me? Kinda the WORST. I've literally JUST discovered I'm into older men! Thanks! BEGONE, zygote! Also, your vibes are RANCID! No thanks! I hated that and am SO glad it's gone. Now? All I have to worry about? Is Protagonist-chan and the political SHIT SHOW she drags after her like trail of destruction.

Why is she involving foreign royalty? PLEASE stop involving foreign royalty! Dukes! Religious leaders! MILITARY LEADERS. Stop "Helen of Troy"-ing your ass through our nice, PEACEFUL, kingdom!!! What the ACTUAL FUCK!? This is NOT A THEME PARK.

I watch, vaguely horrified, as his Majesty finishes reading three (yes, count um! Fucking THREE!) different royal missives demanding three different women of legend, from three DIFFERENT legends, who coincidentally enough? Happen to ALL BE THE SAME PERSON. Fucking Protagonist-chan.

They were from long standing ALLIES.

We could not AFFORD to lose those.

And the FOURTH message? Oh, THAT? That, was from his SON! Mr. "But Daddy! I Love her!" HIMSELF! He wants permission to marry the random woman of unknown province he found in the woods! Could be a foreign spy! Could be a mad woman. Who CARES right? They're SO in love~

Enough to START A WAR OVER IT.

I skip the tasting cups and instead? Bring his Majesty a bottle of the strongest star wine I can find. The sort that could damn near eat through rocks and vaporizes in air if you pour it out. Pain killers too, for what HAS to be a killer headache. Then I hesitate. You know what? Fuck it. I grab a cart. Make a care package.

Paper, ink, the STRONG tea, that special occasions tea (in case he needs a reason to remember his will to live), some snacks, a few shawls in case he decides to work late...

It's worth it, to see the way his stressed face relaxs when I return. Eyes softening, corner of his mouth curling up in that tiny, secret, little smile. We can get through this. We WILL get through this. I may not be able to stand by his side, but? I can support him. Help.

So long as HE sits in this office, burning himself down to keep this nation warm, so too, will I.

Tea or booze, your Majesty?

"A blend, I think. Unfortunately, I fear it is going to be a long night for us both." He replies. His voice smooth and low, effortlessly filling the room. A lifetime of public speaking, ingrained so very deep. "You should pour yourself a cup as well, my dear. Sleep will be a long time coming, we will need both the calm and the clarity."

I rolled my borrowed tea cart to the side and got to work. Strong tea and stronger star wine. Certainly a... flavor. Fairly certain such a thing should be illegal. Pretty sure our healers are going to be appalled. But, oh well. Needs, must. One for me, one for him.

He held out a hand. It was a sweeping gesture of his arm, a gentle turn of his wrist. I could never get used to his casual... elegance. The beauty of him. Like a living art work. A dancer. As though he were an actor, striking a pose, about to consider the soul of the simple tea cup. I handed it over, gently and with as much elegance as I could.

It still felt clumsy in comparison.

Yet he still smiled, just slightly. In that way I had learned to spot. Tension dripping away from his shoulders like thawing ice. Running in little rivers like melt waters, as he sat back in his chair, half turning it to face me. A brief moment to relax. Before work begins again.

"Ah... completely vile. Thank you, dear. It's disgusting." He said dryly, catching me off gaurd, and making me damn near snort into my cup. "If it did not work so well? I would never consume this swill again. What a perfect waste of tea and wine. We should invite Yevault."

I laugh. A snirking, snorting, choked little thing into my cup. God, but I've been TRYING to laugh more elegantly. Hell, I've even practiced. But when he catches me off gaurd? I swear to God, I cackle and pop. Like some sort of deranged witch pig. Ow, my sinuses.

"Oh but that's right, Yevault is a healer, on the occasions he takes time from being an unbearable snob. He might actually make us rest, dear. Then where would we be?" His Majesty muses, taking another sip before grimacing at the taste.

I go to respond. Probably some quip about "preferably in bed" or "asleep". Only... only to find my tounge sluggish. My exhaustion mounting, not slipping away. The world has begun to sway. Just a little at first, then notable. My mouth... fuzzy? Prickly. W...what?

His Majesty has begun to frown. Delicately setting down his cup... cup? Something about... a cup... I have taken too long to respond. He rises. Strides in a few, urgent, steps over to where I lean. Against the edge of my assistants desk. Swaying~ swaying~ w-why is the ground... my tounge feels to big. Think? I've begone to drool?

Warm, big hands cup my face. Was slipping forward, to the side. Gonna fall? Not anymore. Up. Hi! Is the king. Hi King. I... I don't feel so good...

His eyes have gone focused and cold. Pretty. Crown begins to glow. Leaves. Gold and gold, a halo of light. From within and beyond him. Power of the throne. Oh... oh I was here before, wasn't I? My bones remember. Like the roots to his great tree, power seeping deeper and deeper into my body, finding imperfections to consume. So... so much LIGHT.

I can not look away.

"Poison, was it? How terribly banal. Do they think me so simple to kill?" There is scorn in his voice. Utter distain. But deep beneath, like the hidden embers of a forest fire, there is rage. "How dare they drag you into this. Bad enough they throw a FIT over some trouble making tart, now they get the innocent involved? What if I had not been paying attention? Or you had taken that tea where I could not see it? Unacceptable."

Like spreading branches, like antlers, the light spread. The hands on my face gentle even as his Majesty's face might as well have been carved from stone. I tried to protest, swallowing thinking past the still rolling nausea. It was my fault! The tasting cups exsist for a REASON. They're supposed to test for things like this. I got too comfortable.

"No." The word slammed down as about an absolute as any sentence CAN. A declaration from on high. The commandment of a king. "It takes far more then simple poisons or common blades to kill me. The power that flows through the Throne insures it. You do not have that luxury. You could have DIED."

"....might still yet."

The last bit, almost a confession, pressed to my brow as he leaned down to press his lips to my forhead. His grip tighter, as though to stop his hands from shaking. My joints were starting to hurt, like I had a nasty cold, and I was already starting to feel feverish. I was starting to drip sweat. Shit.

I tried to stay calm. But... but I was scared. What do I do? Your Majesty! What do I DO?!

"We are going back to my quarters. Work can be brought to me. You need to lay down." He decided after a long moment of deliberation. Something had shifted in his eyes. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Clung to the only trustworthy source of comfort I knew, in the chaos of this moment. "I'm going to take care of you. I have you, dear. Just trust me, darling. I will fix this. I swear it. You don't have to worry about a thing. Just put all of your trust in me, all right?

"Just come with me, dear. Everything will be all right."

"You can trust me."

[simsi45]

The Sims 4 Amber House Pack - PUBLIC RELEASE!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PATREON PAGE!

Oh...my...GOD!!! I can't believe this is actually happening....

After 3 years of hard work, I am here to welcome everyone to:

The Sims 4 Amber House Pack!

It's time to create your own mission style dream house, with this collection of 345 brand new and hella cool build/buy mode items, inspired by Dontnod's "Life is Strange: Before the Storm" game.

EARLY ACCESS: You can get the pack right now, on my PATREON on the 3-5$ tiers, or wait for the 12th of May for the public release!

Please read EVERYTHING included in the post as it contains useful information about the pack!

DISCLAIMER: Simsi45 or The Sims 4 Amber House Pack is NOT affiliated or associated with Electronic Arts, Square Enix, Deck Nine or Dontnod in ANY way. This is a purely fanmade pack made by me, a fan of both games that wanted to get the best of both worlds.

FEATURES:

 345 new items (including sofas, tables, decor, windows, doors and much much more!)

 Search for "amberhouse", "lis", "simsi45" to find most of the items in the build/buy catalog.

 Custom original names and descriptions. (the best I could come up with :P)

 Tons of custom recolors (based on original textures) to mix and match items more easily.

 Heavy modification on original meshes and textures, including english text turned into simlish.

 Everything has been playtested thoroughly.

 Included are a couple of easter egg items from The Sims 2 that I thought fit the theme well.

New lot I made showcased in the trailer and pics (found in the gallery under my tag @simsi45_mods) a recreation of Rachel Amber's house.

LOT INSTALLATION:

Included in the pack is the lot recreation of the Amber House that's featured in the pictures and videos.

You can get the lot by:

Using the gallery. Make a search under my EA id: @simsi45_mods and download the lot as usual. I've included customized pictures to identify my own lot more easily. Make sure you have the "enable custom content" tag ENABLED for the lot to show up in the results.

If you have difficulties using the gallery you can download the lot tray files from the bottom of the post, and move them inside your own tray folder. This can be found in your documents/electronic arts/the sims 4/ tray folder. This way you can install the lot without the need of the gallery.

NOTES:

~ The pack is in an EARLY-ACCESS STATE! I have dedicated a lot of time to test everything but I'm a team of just a single person. If you find any issues please let me know so I can take a look.

~ Because of the amount of items the size of the pack is quite big. I tried my best to make everything as compact as possible with the final size being 1.5 GB of required free space. 

~ The majority of the meshes and textures of these items are ripped straight from the LIS: Before the Storm game, and then each individual item (both mesh and textures) has been heavily modified and edited to fit and function properly within the Sims 4 game's engine. That's why some items will look identical to the original game, some look somewhat different, and some are brand new meshes I made using the original items.

~ Some of the original ripped meshes' poly counts were WAY too high so I had to lower the polygons so The Sims 4 wouldn't explode when filling a lot with them. I lowered the polygons and edited most of the items as much as possible without compromising their original look too much. In other words I tried to find the best balance between looks and performance and after lots of testing on my moderate PC system, I can confirm the game runs super smoothly on my end. 

BACKSTORY ABOUT THE PACK (no spoilers):

This pack started with an idea I got back in 2017 when I first played Life Is Strange Before The Storm. When visiting the Amber house, I immediately fell in love with it as I am huge fan of the craftsman architectural style, it's literally all I'd want my dream house to be. The art team has done an incredible job on it, and as I personally find the art style of the Life is Strange series and The Sims 4 to fit very well with each other, I wanted to make these assets available for The Sims 4. Of course back then this all seemed impossible, however a few years later in 2020 during quarantine I revisited the idea as it had been stuck on my wishlist ever since.

To make a long story short, this project has been in the works for about 3 years now, and after a lot of hard work, head scratching and quite a few sleepless nights I managed to overcome all the obstacles I came across (which were a lot mind you) and I'm honestly hoping you'll be as pleased with the results as I am. Seriously this exceeded my expectations as it started as a small little pack for my personal use, to what I'd consider an expansion pack's (or even more) worth of build/buy content.

INSTALLATION:

Due to the size of the pack I had to split it up into multiple parts. You will need a .RAR extractor unpack it. More specifically:

1 -> Download ALL 6 parts of the pack and put them ALL in the same folder. 2 -> Right click the 1st part .RAR file named "Simsi45 - The Sims 4 Amber House Pack.part1" and click "Extract Here"   3 -> Once that's finished a package file will appear, this is the entire pack and you can now move that into The Sims 4/Mods. Simple as that!

CREDITS & THANKS:

~Dontnod, Square Enix, Deck Nine for the original meshes & textures ripped from Life is Strange: Before the Storm that were used to create most of the items.

~EA for some meshes & textures used to convert some items from The Sims 2.

Special thank you to all the patreon members that stuck with me throughout me developing the pack. Although not many I really appreciate every single one of you for the support you've given me and for sticking around!

[syninplays]

So uhm... I did a thing...

✨Character Info Template✨

UPDATE 11.24.24: this template now has a page theme version! if you're not a fan of templates, you can get the code to use it as an interactive multimuse page >here<

Been meaning to do this a long time ago (and actually started it but never finished it, lol) as a way to share some more information about my ocs without needing to use a custom page theme, but mostly because I haven't found any page theme that looks exactly as I want and allows this much customization.

There are two versions and both are almost exactly the same; but the example shown in the left has an 'appearance' section which is small and has few quick facts regarding the oc's appearance; while the example on the right has a 'moodboard' section instead which allows you to add more info about your oc.

You can change every section/title to fit your needs like I did in the examples below; I personally removed some categories as well and got rid of some connections as this oc doesn't have that many close friends/partners to fill the original template. However, I also included an extra separated 'connections' section in the download in case you want to add more people and more information.

I recommend you stick to square-shaped pictures so it's easier to fit them to each section. Also if and when you edit the information or section titles, please select only one line at a time to replace it so you don't lose the text format. (Titles shouldn't change because that's a single format/font within the same text box, but should it change you can always hit ctrl+z hehe) When you're done, I strongly recommend you save this as a .png instead of .jpg so it's the best possible quality!

Last but not least, this is a .psd file. So you'll need either Photoshop (I did this with Photoshop Portable, but it supports newer versions of PS and it *should* support older versions too) or Photopea to open and edit this file.

Credits: Adobe Photoshop, Inter font, Golften Vintage font

>DOWNLOAD< (patreon but free :p)

(note: I'm posting this with my gaming blog because I think my fellow gamers might be interested in this, but please consider giving credits to me if you use this template by tagging @synindoodles instead of this blog)

More info on how to use and edit this template below the cut!

Layers:

>Each layer is properly named and categorized. The general layers such as the background, the icon shape and background shapes are under the groups.

>If you don't want to see/don't need one of the connections' pictures and information, I recommend you find which one it is (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6) and click on the eye symbol next to the layer to hide it so that way if you ever need it, it won't be truly gone.

>To edit a text section, simply find the layer (such as General Information>Left Column) and double click on the 'T' symbol next to the layer. That way it will open edit mode and allow you to edit the text, just don't hit delete or enter while everything is selected or you'll erase it :p

>Main text sections aren't separated, they're blocks of text. I recommend you don't remove the amount (for example, if you downloaded the version with the 'appearance' section, which has 5 sections of information, don't remove the fifth line.) Either leave it empty or replace it with another data, otherwise it will look weird. The 'general information' section might look good even if you remove a few lines, just don't get rid of the whole block of text.

Pictures:

>To add a new picture, simply paste it over this document and move it using the Move Tool.

>To frame it (so it becomes a circle or fits over the shape you want), make sure the picture layer is over the layer you want, then while holding alt click between the two layers. [For example, if you want to add a new main oc picture: 1) paste the pic you want, 2) move it with the Move Tool so it's covering the big circle, 3) once you've fully covered the shape (if it isn't you can resize it by right clicking on it then on 'free transform', sometimes you might need to hold shift to proportionally resize it) make sure the newly pasted pic layer is over the layer named "picture goes here", 4) hold the alt key and hover your mouse cursor over the line between your pic layer and the circle layer until you see an arrow going down symbol, once you see it click it and tah dah! your picture should now have the same shape as the circle! - you can further move it if it doesn't fit the way you want with the Move Tool (;

Others:

>You can change every color, font and section to your liking, just don't change the general layout of the template.

>To hide/show the guides (those bright blue lines all over the document), click ctrl+,

>'Inter' is a free font and you can get it in the link above (linked with the credits), Golften Vintage is not, but you can get the demo version >here< (just scroll down and click the blue download button under license). I will not tell you how to install fonts as it might be different for everyone (for me it's C:/Windows/Fonts and I just drop the zipped files (except the .txt one) there), but google is your friend.

>I can't think of anything else that needs to be said here, but if you have any other question feel free to send me an ask or dm and I'll help you out!

>Last but not least, a like is appreciated if you plan to use this plus consider tagging @synindoodles if you use it <3

[pomrania]

Continuation from my previous thread (because it got long), of stuff from @200-word-rpgs that I find interesting.

THE CURSE: A Rabbit and Steel Fangame by @ringedretrospective I'm not sure I've even HEARD of "Rabbit and Steel" before, let alone know what it's like. But having "apologize for what you did last night", as the single sentence for the "day" phase, amuses me greatly.

Make Brown by @thee-rat-king I like colour stuff; I also appreciate how "should or shouldn't end up brown" is a 50% thing determined at the start of the game. And that's just SUCH a cool concept, how one player gets their colour combined with that of the other.

Paleolithic Fantasy by @cavetalesz I agree with the writer (whose url is PERFECTLY fitted for this game), we need more stuff set in this… setting. And also more FANTASY stuff in that setting; heck, if we're going from the thing we commonly see in fantasy of "magic has been fading from the world", then the earlier back we go, the more room there is for magic (and also it's not like there's any written documentation to contradict it). As to the game itself, I appreciate how the "stuff you find" table includes entries with relevant stats, and then at the end there's just "the antlered man", no detail given.

Elegy For A Better Yesterday by @notsomeoneyouknow I don't have enough familiarity with John Woo movies to properly appreciate this. But from the design notes, it seems like a lot of thought went into mechanics that properly match the theme.

Mires by @i-exist-for-spleen and manguypersondude I appreciate something that, as they put it, turns "how partial a GM is inevitably going to be" into a feature and not a bug. Also, something that started with a design requirement ("no dice math") and then built from there. And yeah, when you just stumble upon a theme or concept that ties everything neatly together, that is SUCH a good feeling; the spark of inspiration that lights up the tinder you've prepared from your own efforts.

You Know How This Story Ends by @indraklyr I just think it's cool; everyone has things that will happen, then those things get placed in an order, then you play out how the things happen.

You Sunk My Battleship! by @ineffable-gallimaufry Gotta respect something that finds a way to turn BATTLESHIP, of all things, into an RPG.

[papabirdurskeks]

Precursor Anatomy Pt. 2

Continuing some more things with my headcanons on Precursors, here is a part 2 to the anatomy bit I had previously posted months ago!

Part 1 can be found here!

Again, these are just headcanons for myself and my main AU, which is all meant for fun!

With that said, here we go to start with the skeleton once again!

The Skeleton:

Picking up from part 1 where we briefly discussed the bones of the Precursor species, we were only given a view of the skull and a few notes. Here, now, we have a full skeleton to look to!

Just as previously stated, the bones are stained a teal bluish gray in color due to the rich, dark blue blood that flows through their bodies. It also stands tall in its stature, as most individuals average a height of above 16 feet. However smaller individuals have been documented and seen as well as taller individuals as well being close to 18 feet in height.

Their skeletons bear a striking and haunting resemblance to that of our own, being eerily similar in structure and stance. However, as previously stated, there are a few keen differences that do pop out to the eyes. Aside from the height and coloration of the skeleton, some parts of the bones have extra ligaments attached to them that are made of a cartilage like material. These ligaments are mostly attached to specific parts of the body that allow for Precursors to be flexible and agile when they need to be, mostly around the arms, hips, neck, and chest.

The elbows, wrists, and heels also possess defensive pikes to aid Precursors in a natural form of protection for self-defense. These pikes naturally form from the bones and harden as they break out of the skin and take on a darker color. Their spines are also lined with special pikes known as nerve pikes, which allow Precursor nervous systems to properly function. This area, much like the back of their heads, are extremely sensitive to touch.

A final note of detail also falls on the hips, being wide and nearly identical to female human hips, indicating they do carry their young within and give birth similarly to humans. This is a clear indicator to Precursors being an intersex species.

The Body:

Next comes the physical body frame of the Precursor, which has been showcased many times in numerous posts before. But with the help of En, we can get a better look and idea of the Precursor body by glance of his frame.

Beyond the skeleton lies a body that is shrouded in pale white skin lined with dark stripes and markings alike that paint the most sensitive parts of the frame. These dark markings are an outside liner of the nervous system that lines their bodies while also helping to regulate warmth/heat throughout their bodies. However, over time and the course of evolution, these markings have begun to fade with time though the purpose they hold still remains just the same.

As shown below, with a repeat post of the height references over time, the evolution of their bodies is shown throughout the different time periods.

As time goes on and evolution stays its course, Precursors of the modern era have grown taller and somewhat lankier to fit into their newfound environment in their great worldships orbiting in space. Their claws have grown longer and sharper, their bodies more flexible and taller, their tendrils longer to better aid them in feeling out their surroundings and reading the environment better.

The Tongue:

A rather short passage here, but an interesting and quick note to be made about Precursor tongues is that they possess some rather long, giraffe-like tongues in nature.

While hardly ever seen out in the open, as it is considered rude and impolite to show one's tongue in the public in Precursor culture, their tongues are considered to be quite long and strong. These powerful muscles actually help them in extra grooming methods such as keeping one's eyes clear of debris or adding a protective layer of saliva to keep them cool in hot places. It also aids them in getting hard to reach food that is out of their reach when out and about living off newfound environments.

This long, prehensile tongue sits comfortably within a pouch in their jaws.

The Teeth:

And now comes the last bit of notes that can be offered for the moment, Precursor teeth!

While briefly touched upon in the last post, it is important to look upon the teeth of a Precursor as part of their anatomy. These teeth, while some would think are dull and small like a human's, are quite large and powerful when seen.

Adult Precursors have long and sharp canines that are nearly identical to that of a chimp. And while their bites are not powerful enough to crush bone, they are dangerous enough to sever flesh and pull them from the bodies of unfortunate individuals daring enough to provoke them.

Despite such sharp canines, however, the rest of their teeth prove Precursors to have a varied diet of both meats, fruits, and vegetables that are easily broken down with these powerful teeth.

These teeth are also used as displays of threat to further emphasize a Precursor's viewing of undesirable individuals. This is usually accompanied by their skin darkening and the flare of nerve lights lining their faces and necks.

However, these powerful canines are only found in adult Precursors. Children under the equivalent age of 14 do not have these canines but instead blunt milk teeth.

As soon as a child hits the age of 14 (the equivalent of it), their canines will begin to grow in. This process is considered to be extremely stressful and painful to the child as it causes heavy and chronic headaches that last about a month. These headaches are almost akin to a heavy migraine. Many parents usually try to help their children through this painful moment with medicines and teas to ease their pain.

---

This now concludes part 2 of the headcanons on anatomy! Again, these are just my own personal thoughts and headcanons for my AU and more will come soon! c:

[trans-luis-serra-navarro]

TELL ME ABOUT TRANS LUIS!!! I WANT HIM TO BE TRANS SO BAD! (Also he has a giant neon sign over his head that says gay, this man reeks of homosexual)

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE OMG HEYYYYY HIIIIIII HELLOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I’m SOOOOOO sorry this took so long I had SO MANY THOUGHTS!!!!! I plan on SOMEDAY Doing Like. A properly credited and researched document on why I think Luis is trans so this post is more or less kind of a tl;dr rather than a super proper read?????????? And ofc obligatory ‘this is just my own reading and personal interpretation if you disagree please just keep your opinion to yourself!!!!!’

Also this isn’t proofread like. At ALL so please ignore any sentences that seem wonky or weird HDBEHENDUDJX

ALSO also I do NOT give permission for this post to be screenshotted or reposted ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!! No part of this!! Don’t steal!!

Trigger warning for just general mentions of transphobia, religious transphobia and also I talk the death statistics for trans people near the end, so please keep that in mind when reading!!

Ok so, I’m gonna try and put this as chronologically as possible BXBSHDNSHDND but starting at the beginning from when Luis was little there’s already a few things we can pick up on

Luis has a pretty unorthodox family; his mum died when he was little and his dad left so he had to be raised by his Grandfather, and, ask any Trans person around you and they’ll tell you it’s oftentimes the people in their lives who weren’t their direct parents who decided to pick them up and raise them and accept them as they truly are- I feel like you could probably read this with Luis’ grandfather if you really wanted to, too. From what we can TEEEEEEELLL Luis held his grandfather and the memory of him very near and dear to his heart (ie referencing him in conversation, saying ‘not again’ when the medicine burns in seperate ways etc) so you could probably guess that maybe Luis’ grandfather was a surprisingly accepting figure in Luis’ life!!!!!

Which would also line up with the little we know about him- their house was somewhat far away from the rest of the village and from what the notes about him read, his grandfather was a bit of an outcast????? It seemed like the only person who checked in on him regularly was Bitorez- once again, another positive male figure in Luis’ life that he could theoretically look up to and admire.

AND we know that Luis’ grandfather encouraged his love for science and biology- something that prooooobably would’ve been frowned upon in a super conservative catholic glorified cult. So already, Luis and his Grandfather are a bit unorthodox in the setting they live in.

Then we cut to Don Quixote; obviously there’s a LOT to dissect about Luis and his love for that book, and it’s pretty common knowledge how,,,,,,,,, g a y that book is HXNEHENEUDIX like MAAAAAANY-a historians have already pointed that out I don’t need to beat a dead horse but ask literally any trans person around you and they’ll tell you about how they had a fascination with like,, Warrior Cats or Animorphs or Percy Jackson or Peter Pan growing up only to find out they were trans later. Trans kids are pretty drawn to books with unlikely protagonists who don’t fit the usual stereotypes and go on adventures with a whacky misfit family they formed by themselves- and Don Quixote kiiiiiiiiiiiinda falls under that pattern????? It’s a REALLY weird book and I wanna get into why later but it wouldn’t be shocking to assume that Luis probably grasped onto that idea of finding love and acceptance even though he was weird and unusual and he too could go on chivalrous adventures and do good in the world and be loved for who he is (I’ve kinda gone into this before and I plan on going into it again I’ll tag you in that post!!!!)

There’s also something to note about the fact that none of the village notes reference Luis by his first name. Luis is apparently a very “strong and masculine” name so if we ARE going off of the assumption that Luis is trans (which like,,. Duh HDNEHENDHS) then we can probably assume he picked that name for himself

It’s also pretty notable to note (hah) that like,,,,,, just in general, a lot of kids who grow up in a super religious environment just. Turn out gay and trans. I dunno why. I dunno what’s the exact statistic for that but like. Cmon. We’ve all seen it. We all know it right

Then huzzah! Luis’ Grabdfather dies!!! How sweet of him!!!!! /s obviously but Luis takes his death as an opportunity to run from home- again, something that’s sadly quite common amongst younger trans people it seems. When you loose your only support at home, and suddenly that home becomes unsafe, oftentimes the only solution is to run.

Now I’ve talked MUUUUUUCH more in depth about it in this post but considering the fact that Luis was probably a young teenager, an immigrant from the middle of nowhere, and had zero family or support- there’s a less than zero chance that he probably would have stumbled across the queer community one way or another. See, all throughout the 20th century, the queer and poc/immigrant communities were VERY intertwined- now I am WHITE AS ALL HELL so their history isn’t something I’m able to speak on with any amount of grace as actual people of colour could, so I’ll keep this breif and also if I’ve misrepresented anything PLEEEEAAASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME

Basically, like I said- the communities were very intertwined. They’d help each other and were sometimes seen as like the same circle of people when it came to what they were fighting for. All throughout history, this comes up time and time again- which is why I can only assume that Luis, a young person of colour having come from basically the middle of nowhere, would most likely find solace and a place in both communities- and would ABSOLUTELY have explored his gender and sexuality because of it. Even if he WAS cis there’s no way he wouldn’t have at least dabbled in a bit of the ol gender exploration every now and then

((Also, VEEEERY important to note that yes although trans and poc history are very intertwined they are still very seperate histories. It’s VERY IMPORTANT to not erase poc voices from this discussion when talking about this aspect of history- listen to your poc friends first and foremost before all else))

It’s also probably good to note that a few universities around that time were pretty notoriously open about being queer-friendly but we have no clue what exact university in Europe Luis would have gone to but idk we can probably guess he fooled around with some men and women HANSYWNEYENDUCJX

Then we cut to umbrella. I and a few other people have gone into how umbrella would have most likely groomed a young Luis into being excited to work with them and willing via offering him a place to stay, a college degree, a stable life etc etc but there’s also a sense of horror there when you take into account they could’ve offered him the ability to medically transition. Something that was NOT easy or very safe to do at the time. And plus this is resident evil so we can only guess what magical hoodicky they would’ve gotten to do that GDBEYWNDYDJ

From what we can tell, luis honestly enjoyed his time with umbrella!!!! He seemed to be friends with his coworkers and he was proud of the work he was doing (Yknow, before he would have found out it was all a lie and was going to kill millions HXBEHENEH) and honestly isn’t that every trans persons dream????? To have a job where you’re accepted and can feel safe at??????? To have friends who can accept you???????? It just makes what all went down all the more heartbreaking to me if we DO view him in the lens of being a trans character!!!!!!!!!

And then, of course, for the second time in his life; everything comes crumbling down. I’ve done seperate analysis on this and I plan on doing another cuz what I’m about to mention just hits,,,,,,,, S O O O O close to home to me, but when everything in his life gets destroyed AGAIN;

Luis chooses to go back to Valdelobos.

And isn’t that just so devastating?????? Because we as humans ALL do that- when life gets so bad and so intense we have no clue what to do, we all wanna turn to our parents or our childhood homes and get a hug and that feeling of nostalgia and safety from when we were kids that we missed.

But ask any other trans person and they’ll tell you that a lot of the time, that’s not what you’re gonna get; and that’s what happened to Luis. He went home, hoping- BEGGING- for some kind of support from the nightmares he just went through, only to be thrown straight into another one. Los Illuminados had been taken over and reverted his childhood home into something totally unrecognisable and forced him to work for them or else he’d literally be tortured. And isn’t that just,,,,, made all the more depressing when you look at it from a trans angle????

In this case scenario, when a lot of Trans people are forced to return to unsafe homes- they’re forced to push down their identity for their own safety. And reading that in Luis is just all the more devastating

And then there’s the whole thing where Luis literally SELF SURGICALLY REMOVED THE LAS PLAGAS FROM HIMSELF????????? WHY DONT MORE PEOPLE TALK ABT HOW TRAUMATISING THAT MUSTVE BEEN????????????? I know @/katabay made an INCREDIBLE post going into a religious reading on this and how I’m Don Quixote Alonso himself preforms an excorsism on himself and it’s weirdly erotic?????? And how that translates to Luis’ Plagas removal- they also made INCREDIBLE art go check it out- but throughout history there are a LOT of poems made by “”””women who want to be men”””” (aka trans men) who were religious at some point and describe the sensation of binding or getting top surgery to that of having an exorcism (this was mostly done to convince local churches that Hey no it was totally cool actually just let us get gender affirming care pretty pretty please) so, y’know,,,, maybe that meme that Luis showing Leon is scar was actually him coming out as trans wasn’t that far off HEBWYENXUXJXJDNC

And there’s also just the whole fact that he was a scientist that plays into this, too- Catholicism, specifically the hardcore Catholicism that Luis grew up with, absolutely HATES science. And the fact that Valdelobos seemed to be permanantly stuck in this 18th century cult-like state only confirms that they probably would have been anti-medicine, too; not only adding onto Luis’ guilt but also making him a prestigious scientist all the more impressive. Imagery that Luis is shown with (like that lil casket he carried around in seperate ways filled with the suppressants Ada needed) is often used by people in cults similar to Valdelobos to prove that ‘oh science is the devil!!!’ Etc, and y’know what else is related to science????

Medically transitioning babey!!!!!! A lot of the times hardcore religious people, again in similar cults to Valdelobos, use terms like ‘mutulating’ to describe medically transitioning and use already devil-associated imagery like science and modern medicine to hammer home that hatred of trans people (also obligatory not all religious people are like this in fact MOST religious people aren’t like this I’m talking specifically situations like the Gloriavale cult etc etc)

So like,,,,, again, that whole meme that Luis made his own testosterone wouldn’t be too far off BXNSHENDHDNX

But then we get some light at the end of this very depressing tunnel HXNSHENDUJ;

Leon, Ada and Ashley

Now from here on out I’m gonna get into some more like,,, CHARACTER dissection so I figured here would be the best place to put this HDBEYENEUS; Luis fits ALL the stereotypes of a stealth queer person during his time period. Like,, you know the song Gay or European????? Yeah that isn’t a joke that’s a real rhing European queer and trans men did to basically hide the fact that they were queer. It’s like. The oldest trick in the book. Which is why it’s SOOOOOO funny to me when I see Reddit dudebros going “errrrrmm actually Luis isn’t gay it’s just his Spanish charm!!” LIKE DUDE. YOUVE FALLEN FOR T H E TRICK. THIS IS THE EQUIVALENT OF A BIRD USING THEIR TAIL FEATHERS TO DISTRACT A PREDATOR.

And also Spain in general just has a very long and very beautiful Queer and Trans history- obviously it’d be way too much to fit into this one post but I highly reccomend just,,,, looking it up for yourself. Queer people have always been around :))

Ok ok, back to Leon- I plan on someday taking apart and dissecting EEEEEEEEEVERY interaction between them cuz it’s just. It’s all SO GAY. But in general, Luis treats Leon SO much differently than Ashley and Ada but in a good way!!!!!

Luis isn’t afraid to be open around Leon. He isn’t afraid to be flamboyant and jokey and flirt with him- and hell, he probably did enjoy that chain scene HXNEHENEUDJDJ he isn’t afraid to be more vulnerable and just generally what you wouldn’t consider a stereotypical “manly-man;” he doesn’t conform to western societies of stereotypical masculinity, and he isn’t afraid to show that around Leon.

He’s open with Leon- he’s vulnerable and he very openly CARES about Leon. He truly wears his heart on his sleeve and this is for a MULTITUDE of different reasons but I think a big part of it is not just because he’s genuienly attracted to Leon but because leon is a shining example of a chivalrous knight to him

I and many others have gone into this further; but when Luis first met Leon in that body bag, it probably honestly WAS like he was meeting his very own Don Quixote for the first time. He was probably a shining example of everything he wanted to be; brave, kind, never makes mistakes- and again I’ve gone into this further but this truly does play into his character and his very noble quest for redemption and forgiveness a lot and viewing this from a Trans angle just gives that quest SO much more power

Capcom does their best to make Leon out to be a super strong manly-man and @highball66 has gone into some of Leon’s own queer coding, but I think Luis also sees through this. He sees through his macho dudebro masculinity and he sees a genuine and kind human being underneath; just as Leon had done for him. Leon is everything Luis wants to be in a man- just like his grandfather and probably countless male figures in his life before him. So he’s not afraid to open up to Leon; he isn’t held back by that expectation of toxic masculinity because he wasn’t raised that way.

And he’s the EXACT SAME with Ada and Ashley too!!!!!!!! He CARES about Ada! He’s CONSTANTLY looking out for her and giving her the benefit of the doubt and he’s always so polite and kind around her!!!!!!!! Like yeah he puts on the front of being a ladies-man but again like SOOO many others before me have mentioned that’s probably just a safety front!!!!!! He wears his heart on his sleeve around Ada and Ashley, too- he’s always SO polite around her I feel like not enough people point that out????? He offered his hand out for her to take before inspecting the blood, he’s always asking for permission before he touches her etc he’s so nice people don’t give him enough credit for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And theeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnn it aaaaaaaaalll comes crashing down when he diiiiiieeeeeeessss,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It’s pretty important to note that Luis is killed by Krauser; and again, other people have gone into Leon and Krausers queer relationship coding a lot better than I have, but it’s pretty interesting to note that Luis was killed by the guy who pretty much encapsulates all forms of toxic masculinity (again, that meme that everyone jokes about that Krauser killed Luis cuz he was jealous of Leon’s new boyfriend might not be far off HXHWHDUXHSH)

Luis uses his final breath to save Leon- to save the man who has shown him forgiveness and empathy and love for the first time in god knows how long. He opens his heart up to Leon in his final moments; he does one last ‘such a loss to the ladies of the world eh?’ As a last-ditch effort to try and convince Leon that he tooooooootally isn’t queer you guys and to try and hold onto that sense of normality; but he drops that act immedietly after Leon shows him that he’s taking this seriously

He opens up to Leon and admits that he led a pretty shitty life. He spills his heart out to Leon and asks him if people can change. And I’ve said rhis before and I’ll say it again; this is Luis looking for some kind of confirmation. Some kind of forgiveness and some way of saying that Yes his life DID mean something- that people CAN change and CAN be loved like he loved Leon and Leon loved him. And, hell, if we’re REEEEEAALY tryna stretch here (which I mean this whole post is tbh HXBSHSNEHDNSHD) you could even read this as Luis asking for somebody to accept him as he truly is, and see past the facade of a super flamboyant cis straight man. It’s not a stretch to say this moment is him looking and hoping that Leon can see through his past actions and see the beautiful human being underneath- so it wouldn’t be crazy to view it under a queer light either

Then, of course, Leon says that iconic line; you were a fine knight, Don Quixote. Confirming to Luis that he WAS like the chivalrous knight he always looked up to when he was little. Not just for his bravery and confidence; but also for his exploration of gender and non conformity in his sexuality. Leon confirms that for him in his final moments.

Then of course there’s the nature of his death; the fact that he dies below his childhood village is pretty telling to me.

Now this is where I’m gonna get into some depressing statistics, so readers beware, but unfortunately, there is a good chunk of trans people who will die in their childhood homes for many reasons. There’s been a good chunk of trans people all throughout history who have lived long, full lives but still were buried in their childhood homes and towns under their dead name or under the gender they were assigned to at birth. It’s depressing and there really is no making light of it- which is why Luis dying in the village he grew up in and tried so desperately to escape from hits so hard to me.

• Now HOPEFULLY obviously I am N O T comparing Luis’ death to actual real trans people’s deaths. But as somebody who HAS lost trans friends to suicide, the manner of his death absolutely REMINDS me of that and thus hits home harder for me. Go give your trans friends a hug, basically

But on the bright side, at least he didn’t die alone. He had Leon; he had somebody who could, theoretically, show the world who he truly was and remember him by his true name and nature. Luis won’t be totally forgotten underground; he’ll have Leon and Ashley and Ada ro remember the man he truly was just like how many, many trans people who have passed away will have friends and loved ones who will remember them for who they truly are.

Now I don’t wanna end this whole analysis on such a depressing note so I’ll add this at the end; I genuienly think that even if you DONT headcannon Luis as Trans, adding that element to his character not only enriches his already INCREDIBLY well written story but also just generally means the world to trans people in real life, too

Like,,,,, I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again; seeing a character who is so genuinely confident in themselves, so open about their emotions and their identity and who holds themselves in a way that isn’t stereotypically “masculine”- that honestly hits so much closer to home than any other trans headcannon ever has. I’ve gone into detail about how much Luis as a character means to me, but seriously, reading him from this angle lowkey makes me want to cry with how much it means to me HDBEHENEHDJX

Luis is a Beautifully written character who shows the best and worst in all of us humans- who shows that we all just want to love and be loved and be forgiven and given the opportunity to change. All trans people deserve that, too; we all deserve the opportunity to live our lives to the fullest.

Even if you want to comment ‘ErM weLl CapCoM woUlD nEVeR hAvE a TrAns ChaRaCTeR-“ does it really matter???? Does it matter if a character has a canon label slapped onto them, if people can already analyse that character from their own perspective and find deep meaning in that themselves????? Is a character who is canonically queer any more meaningful than a character who isn’t????? I don’t think so, cuz clearly, myself and many, many others find solace and comfort and relatability in the fine knight that is Luis Serra

And finally; André Peña, Luis Serra’s voice actor, has been VERY vocal about his support for trans people and has even said he absolutely 100% believes that Luis would believe in trans rights- so suck it transphobes!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luis is for US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mochiwrites]

hello hello, mochi!

god its been forever since i plagued your inbox with my chattering, but i hope you wouldn't mind a question?

you see, im hoping to start my first Big Fanfic Project with a properly fleshed out AU and all that, but i find myself getting super overwhelmed by the Amount of Stuff im thinking that i want to fit in! I want to have a general outline (maybe with acts, like you do!), but i also have no idea how to go about doing That D:

do you have any tips for organizing your storyline/plots? for pacing? or maybe some sneak peeks into how you do it? i only ask because the night life au is literally like a proper book series and im in Awe at how you keep track of everything and execute it so well!

no pressure to answer, of course! you could just totally ignore this if you wanted lolol

hihi!! I don't mind at all!! :D I'm sorry I couldn't get to this sooner <///3 (school has been kicking my butt </3)

so the first thing I'd probably suggest is writing everything down. it doesn't matter if it's a word, a single sentence, a whole paragraph. if you have ideas, get them down on paper--whether that be a physical piece of paper, a document, or a note in your phone, even if the ideas are something that happens a long time down the road of the story

the way that I'd go about doing an outline is taking it one chunk at a time, especially if you break up into acts. you've already got your ideas that you want to fit in written down, now the next step is figuring out the order or where everything goes. you don't necessarily have to know what goes into what arc or act, but as long as you have a general idea of the order of events that take place, it makes planning a lot easier

it's also really good to have a goal for each arc, I'll use night life as an example for that :D

arc one of night life is my introductory arc. I'm introducing the reader to this mythical world that exists alongside humanity, so I need to introduce the basic concepts (i.e. what kind of creatures exist, how magic works, what their way of life looks like). you don't need to introduce every concept at once, or go out of your way to tell the reader everything immediately. just slowly introduce what you think is relevant or important for the reader to know early on

arc two I have a focus on scar's character and building his relationship with grian and mumbo, while working up to his big betrayal at the end. aaaand of course arc three I'm focusing on the murders once more, while fixing up mumscarian's relationship again JFDHGJHGF

I've mentioned it before, but a really helpful tool for organizing notes is a program called obsidian :D it's free to use, and it's kept me. so organized with night life LMAO. for example, regarding arc one, my notes ended up looking like this:

the important thing with big, fleshed out aus, is breaking them into smaller chunks and doing things one at a time. I've got a lot that goes down in arc 3, but it's easier to look at the next three fics rather than the next seven, y'know? if you take it into smaller pieces, it's a lot less overwhelming than looking at the whole thing

as for pacing.... it's a little tricky, because everyone feels pacing a different way. for myself, I try to think about my plot beats as if the story was an episodic tv series. if I can make my pacing align with the pacing of a show, it's normally pretty good for me. but that might not work for everyone fjghfjhgfj the best piece of advice I can give for pacing is: write it out, and see how it feels while you're writing. that's kind of the only way you'll know if your pacing feels weird

it's one of those difficult ones because you can get a pretty vague idea of what the pacing looks like, but you won't know 100% until you're in the middle of writing

it's totally okay to not have everything figured out at once, or to have some missing details. you can fill those in later (and sometimes they naturally fill themselves in as you're writing!)

also !!!! because I'm a very big believer of this, and have done this multiple times with night life: if you've got a multichapter fic that has some chapters posted, and the story isn't feeling right to you anymore, or you don't like the direction it's going? it's okay to delete it and try again

I think a lot of people have this general belief in fandom that once you post a fic that's the only shot you get at it, but that's not true !! if you're two chapters into a five chapter fic, and you're writing chapter three and you realize the idea needs to be looked at again, or changed entirely, do it. that's okay. especially when working on a big, long running project like that

which leads me to, your outline is not a contract !!! the story will grow and change organically as you write more of it, and that’s alright! use the outline as a guide, not a permanent fixture. you can change your outline up as you go along :D

if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask !!! I’m more than happy to help and break down my process—especially if there’s any specific part of it that you want to ask about :D

[livielizardcos]

taking some time today to discuss xiao! specifically the upgrades i made to him for metrocon 2023. i did so much experimenting with new techniques and materials, so i wanted to share that here to document, and maybe inspire some of my fellow artists/cosplayers!

i don’t think i could ever properly explain how happy i was after remaking xiao’s shirt. the previous version (which was purchased) fit really poorly, and the fabric was not great. it constantly pulled out from the waist of the pants and it practically blocked any airflow. the solution was simple: remake it from a bodysuit. that way the shirt not only stayed in place but also already gave me a much better form-fitting base to start out with. the mesh panel in the back was the part i worried about the most but ended up being the part i’m happiest with! i used power mesh that i hand dyed to be close to my skin tone (though the color isn’t very clear due to my binder’s color).

the swirling pattern on the bodysuit is a metallic white fabric paint. i made a digital drawing of the pattern on procreate, then printed it onto freezer paper. after cutting it out with an exacto knife, you can actually iron freezer paper onto fabric (shiny side facing the fabric) and it creates a nearly seamless stencil for fabric paint! i see myself using this technique a lot in the future, it’s literally perfect!!

the black leather piece at the neck and shoulders was my biggest obstacle. not only have i never worked with leather, but it is also a non-stretch material i’d be attaching to the collar/neck portion that very much needed to be able to stretch to be pulled on. thankfully the design worked out that i could have 2 closure points, one on the back of the neck and one at the front of the neck. the entire piece is hemmed by folding over and gluing the raw edge to the inside, then i glued hem tape over those raw edges to cover them and make them softer on the skin (the entire leather piece is unlined, due to its complex shape). all the visible edges of the leather were satin stitched to give them a clean, crisp edge. the gold appliqués on the front and back are 2mm eva foam covered in a gold stretch fabric, then glued onto the bodysuit with e6000!

the two white pieces that frame the mesh panel on the back gave me more difficulty than i expected. their shape is a bit deceiving, and needing them to lie flat on my back without sacrificing the stretch of the main garment meant i couldn’t just top stitch them onto the back. and while i’m not super happy with how they ended up aligning (where they meet at the top is much further down than i was aiming for), i still think it came out really nice!

and that’s the finished top!

here’s a front and back of the finished top! the sleeve is held up with clear bra straps that hook onto the inside of the shirt at the shoulder. all in all, i absolutely love how this newer shirt came out.

besides the shirt/bodysuit, the boots also got an upgrade! i snagged some boots on sale on amazon for $20, which was an insane steal! this style is very universal for so many costumes, and it also helps that the boots are comfortable and flat too! all of the accessories on the boots are affixed temporarily or from the inside (velcro, snaps, and elastic) so that the integrity of the outer boot remains untouched and i can reuse them for several costumes and even everyday wear. i also replaced the gold piece around the neck that holds the “scarf.” just like the pieces on the shirt, it is 2mm foam covered in gold fabric. this not only helps the gold elements feel more cohesive but also lies a lot more comfortably on my neck!

[genxnarumi]

random ramble for myself here, no one reads this blog and that makes it even easier lolllll. this is kinda for myself to keep track of progress.

i had been in a 5 year long steady relationship; we started online and long distance and eventually he moved here to be with me. we moved in together, almost everything was good, until he blindsided me in june and wanted to break up. whatever, five years down the drain but i quickly accepted it (AuDHD makes it super easy to compartmentalise and distance myself) and focused on myself. however; we had a house and life together, and we are in the midst of a housing crisis that’s affecting mainly younger people. it was incredibly exhausting for both of us to be forced to live together while house hunting.

finally, i found a house about a month and a half ago. i was skeptical on paper but viewed it and it was absolutely perfect. well, it could be bigger, but i fell in love right away. it took a while for them to verify my documents and finally i got the acceptance in early october. i picked up the keys on the fifteenth.

due to my full time job and it being an hour and a half of a trip away from where i live and work now, it’s been slow… but we have made progress, and it’s looking like i can fully go over either this weekend or sometime next week.

it was entirely empty at first, no flooring, nothing. it has a gigantic garden for the size of the house (the house fits in it like 2-3 times). the walls had to be repainted due to the previous tenant being a smoker. and there are some small repairs that need to be done. but…

it’s beginning to look like a home. the bedroom flooring is now setting, finally, and i’ll get a plastic cover to finish painting the wall. then it’s just a matter of putting the rest of the flooring in, moving stuff and lastly picking up the cats and settling in.

i’m moving back into my old area — i moved further midwest to accommodate my partners wishes — closer to my friends, whom all expressed they wished for me to return which was such a mind boggling experience and idk why.

because of a strained relationship with my mom, i didn’t bother telling them until this week. i wanted to fix my own shit, and show them that i’m capable of getting my shit together on my own without their help and belittling. i really know next to nothing about fixing up houses and DIY-ing but with the help of my friend i have learned so much and its so rewarding to see it all come together.

i still have so many plans, some i have to wait for. the yard needs fencing. i need to get some shelf planks to create a small parkour for the cats. curtains need to be put up and the lights need to be properly fixed. but it’s a home and it’s my home and i couldn’t be more excited, even with how exhausted i am from going back and forth b every day on top of a senior role at my job.

the main issue has been i have no car at the moment and god it’s ass to have to plan everything around friends who do have cars. 😭

[casualsnickers]

Month of Emmet Quick Write #9

Prompt #9: Accessories

It's finally the weekend and Emmet has set aside some time to do some spring cleaning. But it's been a while since he's cleaned out his closet and there just happens to be a certain piece of clothing buried in the dark for a good reason.

Read the whole thing below the cut.

               It was the early hours of the morning. So early that the sun had yet to rise and the Pidoves had yet to sing. And yet, Emmet carefully and quietly moved about the house, getting a head start on weekend chores so that he could enjoy a good chunk of his Saturday and Sunday relaxing while careful not to disturb any of his fellow inhabitants. He paid extra attention in ducking to avoid the little webs his Joltiks often left behind on the ceiling.

               Emmet had already moved back the curtains, his eyes tracing the faint light of dawn as he passed the living room window into the hall and up the stairs to his room, waving to Garbodor who had gone to the yard in search of early morning snacks. He had already set his linens in the wash, being forced to take two trips in order to fetch his laundry. And with spring arriving and the need of insulating clothes all but gone, Emmet had also decided to clean out his room and to that extent, his very much neglected wardrobe.

               Emmet sometimes had trouble focusing on certain things. Conversations with boring topics or just long conversations in general. To-do lists. Paperwork on his desk at the station. Cleaning out his closet. And so maybe it came as no surprise when amongst the numerous shoe boxes and ill-fitting slacks and ugly ties, a certain crate resurfaced. One covered in canvas cloth and tied shut with two rings of red twine having been shoved into the darkest corner of his top shelf.

               Maybe it’s tied shut for a reason? I don’t remember stationing this in here. Emmet frowned. I will return to this station later on. I need to attend to the bulk of this mess first. He moved the box over to his bed and sat it down on the bare mattress, figuring that the obvious oddity would get his attention later on in the cleaning process when he had the time to properly address it.

               Emmet knew that he tended to be a bit of a slob, especially on his worse days when he was stuck in a bad way and couldn’t right himself; it was a nasty habit from his childhood that he had never quite reformed. Socks were a big issue, constantly being found all over the house. He would sometimes leave his shoes downstairs and on rare occasions, his belt. Digging through his closet, Emmet found more than enough old, destroyed uniforms to toss. He compiled a trash bag full of frayed belts, singed ties, over and undersized clothes, and much more left to collect dust in a forlorn section of his closet.

               Emmet uncovered one of his more precious stowaways: boxes full of photo albums containing pictures from when he and Ingo were on their pokémon journey across Unova nearly an entire decade prior. Ones where Elesa was just shy from appearing in the frame. Ones where Emmet had taken before and after photos of Ingo during their gym leader trials. Ones during their late-night ventures exploring Chargestone Cave or getting into trouble in the cities. Ones taken from places up high like Celestial Tower and Victory Road. Documentations of how time had passed, completely forgotten but perfectly preserved.

               Emmet sighed, snapping the book shut. I need to focus. I can look through the pictures later. Emmet then blinked, rising and placing the crate beside the other tied-up one. A quiet reminder, one that made him want to wake up the entire house at the prospect. Ingo would love to see these! They could help with his amnesia!

               Emmet was about to turn back to his closet when he paused, his eyes catching on the tied-up crate once more. Fine. I will see what’s in here. He gently moved the album box away and untied the cords keeping the canvas cover held to the plastic mesh of the crate. With bated breath, Emmet gently pulled the canvas cloth away before dropping it onto the floor.

“…Oh…. Now I remember why this was tied-up.”

               On the very top of the crate, haphazardly folded with obvious burns and scuff marks, was an off-white jacket much like Emmet’s standard issued uniform jacket back at the station. But then, he remembered that the one he was holding in his hands was one specifically tailored for travelling. One that he had secretly commissioned Elesa to make a long, long time ago back when Ingo had first disappeared. Almost subconsciously, Emmet donned the jacket, a shiver of uncomfortable ease and safety wrapping around him as the furred inside of the jacket nested against his skin, reminding him of why the jacket had a fur-lining in the first place: enduring unpredictable weather. The thing had a slight putrid scent to it.

Emmet had worn the jacket like a second skin while he had been scouring the other regions for his brother after long months of being pushed to his limit by sympathetic passengers and pitying depot agents dogging him throughout his entire shift day after day after day. He recognized each mark and tear in the jacket. A tear in the hood where he had run into a pack of Mightyena in the Hoenn region, the leader catching the scruff of his hood instead of his throat. A burn mark on one of the sleeves, the only remnant of a run-in with a trainer and their unruly Salamence in the Alola region. Numerous tears and holes in the tail end of the coat where a Centiskorch had tried to use it as a nest back in Galar.

Each burn mark, tear, hole, and ripped seam was a reminder of the numerous months Emmet had spent turning over every stone searching for his lost twin, mindlessly fueled by anger and obsession and desperation. Emmet dug his hands into the pockets of the coat, pulling out ancient receipts from pokémon centers and hole-in-the-wall restaurants and emergency pokémart purchases. He pulled out bits of ripped paper, knowing that they came from the torn-off remnants of the picture of Ingo he used to haul around for identification.

It was bittersweet, wearing a jacket that had warmed him when he had been far from home on a fruitless task to find his twin who he only now realized had been unreachable in every sense of the word. It was only when Emmet had journeyed to Sinnoh had he been stopped dead in his tracks when he had stumbled upon a specific museum deep in the heart of Snowpoint City. He still remembered that infamous day as though it had happened the day before. The comically large Froslass near Mt Coronet. The feeling of something constantly walking behind him in the mountains. The silent call of the icelands. The accidental stumble into the local museum. And of course, the records section where Emmet had seen Ingo’s likeliness as clear as day plastered on the wall amidst numerous other oddly clothed strangers. Said to have been well-known and well-respected. Marked to have been long dead.

Emmet took a deep breath, realizing that his hands had been trembling all the while. He exhaled shakily and slowly got to his feet, wiping tears from his eyes. “Break time.”

Quietly, he started back down the hall, the faint but warm light of dawn reaching through the living room windows. Bells jangled. Excadrill and Durant had raided the fridge in the short time they had been awake, scuttling away once Emmet came back into view. Emmet only shook his head at his pokémon’s antics and began to make a pot of coffee, still wearing the old coat. Still pulling out old receipts. Still fiddling with the lapels and buttons and pocket flaps.

After a few minutes of waiting, Emmet had his coffee. He took a seat at the kitchen counter and sipped at his drink, lazily tracking Garbodor as they plucked a plastic bag from the backyard tree and swallowed it whole.

Footsteps sounded on the hall stairs. First came a tired groan. Then a scratching noise. Ingo shuffled into the kitchen, his eyes shut and his hands stuck in his disheveled hair. His pajamas wore him rather than the other way around, Chandelure having to pull him along with one metal arm curled around his forearm. Ingo cracked open one eye, blinking upon noticing that Emmet had been sitting silently only a pace away.

“…Good morning, Emmet,” Ingo rasped, yawning. He then blinked. “That is… an odd fashion choice for six in the morning. It’s not cold in here. Is that an alteration of our usual subway coat?”

“It is not. It’s… unique.”

“Ah.” Wordlessly, Ingo made his own mug of coffee, taking a minute or two to add in some creamer and a splash of honey before pulling up a seat directly beside Emmet. It was a comfortable silence. That was until Ingo suddenly rose from his chair. “That reminds me! I will return in just one moment.” He was up the stairs in one second and stumbling down them the next, wearing a coat much like Emmet’s own.

               Emmet raised an eyebrow. “You still have that beaten up thing?”

               Ingo shrugged, taking a seat as he pulled the fringes of his very old, very much destroyed subway coat around his torso, the faintest of smiles on his face. “I keep it tethered to me. It’s…”

“Comforting?” Emmet tried. He couldn’t quite piece together what he wanted to say. What emotion it was that Ingo’s battered coat reminded him of.

“That’s… that’s precisely it.” Ingo took another sip of his coffee. “There are quite a few memories attached to this coat of mine,” Ingo rambled. “Pleasant ones and… less than pleasant ones. And I find it interesting that despite our diverging rails, we both still ended up with destroyed coats.” Ingo smiled, lining up the sub-bleached edge of his coat with the hole-ridden edge of Emmet’s. Ingo met Emmet’s gaze, practically beaming. “Still matching.”

               Emmet grinned. “Nah. Yours is worse.”

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Tiny batmom! Adventures? please... why do I feel like she's just very cute and super creepy

Probably because she is 🤣

"Doctor Smith?"

Abbie looked up from her paperwork and smiled just slightly. Today must be a "don't see me" day. Your hoodie is several sizes too large and your jeans are torn- though Abbie can't tell if you distressed them- the frayed pieces dangling off the flared cuffs look like a trip hazard waiting to happen- or if you'd selected them that way.

"76," she said, "How can I help you?"

"Danya and Cooper said you wanted to talk to me."

"Oh right!" she said, adjusting her glasses. "Take a seat- Are you hungry? I've got-"

"Some water would be good," you murmur, looking away. Feeling uncomfortable. You'd been hiding. Reading. Working on getting better at it- Listening to an Audio book and following along in the big book. Tired of feeling stupid.

Abbie watched you, guard up and looking ready to bolt and nodded, getting you a bottle of cold water easily. She wasn't sure how to read you not eating if it was offered. It was possible, she supposed, that you were starting to realize you could eat whenever you wanted. Or perhaps you'd already eaten. But- you looked decidedly less waifish. Filling out just a little, your cheeks getting less hollow and your color was good. Medical had assured her that with time and vitamins, you could be made fit for training. And that was a comfort. "I wanted to talk to you about your name," she said.

"My name?" you pause the bottle half way to your mouth and frown. "I have-"

"76 is a number," Abbie said gently, "Not a name. We need something to put on your documents-"

"But why-"

"Because," she sighed, "you're not a heifer with a tag in your ear, 76. You're a person. And people need names."

You go very still and Abbie came around to kneel next to your chair, "What did your mother call you?" she asked, thinking that they could start there. She knew, from the interviews with a child psychologist that you named your baby. That mothers had 'secret' names for their children sometimes.

"76," you murmur. "If she had a name for me no one knew-"

"She's dead?"

"Left," you clarify. "That's what father's other wives said. She was full of devilment. Father was blinded and let her go- to recruit more soldiers. And she just never came back."

Abbie nodded slowly and patted your hand carefully. She couldn't imagine knowing her mother left her like that. She couldn't imagine having a baby in the jungle either. Or surviving long enough to get help- "Are there names you like?" she asked.

"Isn't one name as good as any other?" you ask shrugging. "It's just vanity and-"

"We'll pick you a nice name," Abbie said, getting to her feet. "Something that fits."

"Is that all Doctor?"

"Yes, 76," she said, "Thank-" And before she could dismiss you properly, you were gone. Scurrying back to wherever you'd been hiding.

And so Abbie picked up her phone, "Philip? Get me Danya and Cooper. And have Archives pull as many baby name books for girls as they can- No, you cretin. No one's pregnant. But I refuse to refer to our newest recruit as a number any longer."

[jujumin-translates]

Event | Xmas PARK CARNIVAL | Chapter 4

Sakuya: Haah, that was really good. Thank you for the meal!

Banri: Thanks for the meal.

Masumi: Thanks for the meal.

Banri: Aight, let’s start lookin’ at the books Sakuya got.

Sakuya: Yeah! I picked out a bunch of picture books, and just some with pictures in them too.

*Page turns*

Masumi: Hmm… there really are a lot of pictures of towns during Christmas.

Sakuya: The Christmas market and lights are really cute! I’m getting kinda excited just looking at it.

Masumi: …I can’t wait to see this with her.

Banri: And there’s the Masumi we all know and love.

Masumi: So what? …It’s not like I won’t help out and do the show properly because of it.

Banri: Oh, right, I remembered somethin’ while looking at the documents we got about the amusement park the other day.

Banri: When I was a kid, I went on a trip overseas to a place like that for Christmas.

Sakuya: Eeh!? That’s incredible!

Banri: I only remembered when I saw the documents, so my memory’s a little fuzzy.

Masumi: If you went overseas, you probably at least have some pictures.

Banri: True. Next time I go to my parents’ house, I’ll ask about it.

Sakuya: …Fufu, this kinda feels like back when we were in high school.

Banri: You too, Sakuya? I was kinda feelin’ the same way since it’s us three.

Sakuya: Same! What about you, Masumi-kun?

Masumi: Not really.

Banri: I guess that means he’s thinkin’ the same way we are.

Masumi: You can’t just decide to interpret it however you want.

Sakuya: Ahahah.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Izumi: Mizuno-san had delivered the script from the amusement park! So let’s all go over it today.

Banri: Before we do that, I’ve got somethin’ I wanna show everyone.

Banri: This is a pic of me from when I went on a vacation as a kid. The vibes of the place were similar to the ones of the new area in the amusement park, so I thought I’d bring it as a reference.

Izumi: Wah, thank you! I can’t believe you really went somewhere like that when you were little, Banri-kun.

Muku: Waah, Banri-san is really cute in this!

Tasuku: A real-life photo like this really makes it easier to visualize the place compared to just the ones in the document.

Tenma: Yeah. Thanks to this picture, we’ll all be able to visualize the stuff in the script more concretely.

Guy: Yes. Now then, let’s all read through the script.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Muku: It’s a really lovely story filled with Christmas spirit!

Tenma: The story’s set in a town and is about a boy who loves Christmas and a boy who hates Christmas.

Tenma: Alright, should we start thinking about the casting?

Izumi: The owner of the amusement park said that they’d really like the two boys to be Banri-kun and Sakuya-kun.

Izumi: After all, you are the two they said they really wanted to see perform.

Banri: You should’ve led with that.

Izumi: It looks like they didn't specify any further than that.

Masumi: From reading the script, I think Rudolph, the boy who loves Christmas, would be a good fit for Sakuya, and Snowray, the boy who hates Christmas, would be a good fit for Banri.

Tenma: Yeah, that’s the impression I was getting too.

Banri: That’s good by me, but what about you, Sakuya?

Sakuya: …Ah, umm…

Tasuku: There’s no need to rush it, okay?

Guy: Yes. We still have time, so you two can take your time deciding.

Sakuya: T-Thank you so much.

Izumi: Alright then, we’ll put the casting on hold for those two and cast everyone but Banri-kun and Sakuya-kun.

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[nova--spark]

(I’ve had all day at work to come up with idea so prepare for some spam. I’ll try to send them one at a time though)

Some of the bots might have to use a different name while on earth because while there’s some weird names out there Cybertronian names might draw a bit too much attention

Optimus and Elita could probably start going by Orion and Ariel again

Bumblebee could probably just go by Bee, there’s some people who just have one letter for a name

Wheeljack is already called Jackie sometimes so he’d probably just use that

I looked it up and Magnus is actually a name. An uncommon one but still. Ultra Magnus would probably just go by that. He wouldn’t want to change his name

But Arcee, Bulkhead, and Smokescreen would all probably need new names

At base they’d probably still be called by their Cybertronian names. But in public they’d have to use the new names to avoid suspicion

Oh god yeah they needed somewhat real IDs at least so there was the fiasco of finding human names for these idiots…

Optimus and Elita were fine, thank goodness, going by their old names and Elita taking Pax as a last name. It seemed very fitting to everyone.

Bee chose a rather simple name, just Ben, and once again, the last name of Pax given to the young bot. Which fit him so well, none could argue and so, Ben Pax was his new identity.

Smokescreen took his time trying to find a name, that was fitting his …rather outstanding personality and more. In the end, he was signed into being, as Soren Pax. He didn’t get to argue much on being given the Pax last name, because Elita and Optimus had been quick to sign the paperwork properly adopting him in these human forms.

He didn’t mind too much, was just baffled he now really did share a family.

Magnus sought no change to his name, and took a simple and common human last name, though surely he would stand out regardless with his first name being so…formal. Thus, Magnus Kent became his name.

Wheeljack just called it a day when he decided to use his nickname, though on Miko’s insistence, they found him a last name to go with it. Jackie Wheeler, which Miko grinned upon presenting it. But it made the Wrecker keel over laughing and it was approved immediately.

Bulk took on the name of Bruce, though he still of course was called Bulk. It seemed fitting honestly and he was amused to hear that humans often used nicknames that resembled his Cybertronian name, especially the construction workers. So, he sought little change at all to his name, and simply went by Bruce Smith.

Ratchet kept his name…for the most part that is. As a last name that is, and for a first name, was just Roman.

Arcee really didn’t want to change her name, thinking it was already human esque in a sense.

But at the insistence they needed to be safe above all else, on her legal documents, her name was Araceli, which closely resembled Arcee anyway. Jack was quick to suggest the Darby last name for her, which June agreed to, saying she could be ‘a distant auntie’ of Jack’s.

Safe to say, Fowler has a lot of paperwork to do.

[twstfanblog]

Twist OC Fankid Info 2

Ashengrotto Twins

**Charysa Ashengrotto-Crewel**

Age: 17 (Feb 22, Eldest twin)

School: Sophmore at NCR. Member of the Tennis Club and Co-Housewarden of Heartslabyul.

Height: 5'5"

Hair: Mid-back length lilac hair, normally in twin tails

Eyes: Dark blue

Likes: 'Plushies', romance novels, making colored sand art, poetry, word puzzles, accessories of all kinds

Dislikes: 'Stuffed Animals', being broken up with, rumors (That she didn't start), horror movies, losing

Pets?: A bloom of Jellyfish. She and Scylar cried until Azul bought sea real estate to keep them safe.

Fav Food: Spicy Seafood Alfredo

Who's their Best Friend?: Scylar ♡

Dating/Crush?: A revolving door of shitty boyfriends and a very sweet secret admirer

Part one of the fast-talking con-artist Ashengrotto twins. They will talk you into a verbal contract to do their homework for months. But you can pay them to drop it.

Charysa is a hopeless romantic who misses every red flag when she falls in love. Luckily, her family is so intense about finances that Azul scares off every last one that makes it to meeting him. (If you plan on dating either of Azul's direct daughters, you better have excellent credit, a hand balanced checkbook, and be prepared to set up your 401K. Legal documentation is mandatory). If Azul doesn't scare them off, Scylar will.

She has a secret admirer who lifts her spirit with thoughtful gifts after every failed relationship and is lowkey keeping her love of romance alive.

Pretty laidback but is weirdly intense about her tennis record. The only person she's lost to in a match is Finley and she's keeping it that way. (Tennis ball coming at you going Mach 14)

Kind of a crybaby, but has actually broken people's bones for making fun of her siblings. (She snapped one child's finger in kindergarten for saying her twin looked gross)

Sadly, gets periods along with Yuu and Malgona.

Unique Magic: Siren Song. No one is really sure if it is a unique spell since it's a shared spell between the twins. When they both sing in harmony, it makes for a hypnotic effect that briefly brings people under their command. Not used very often as they don't have much control over whoever hears their song since they need to sing the commands in perfect harmony.

Any time they HAVE used it, it was clearly premeditated and they were grounded afterwards.

**Scylar Ashengrotto-Crewel**

Age: 17 (Feb 22, Youngest twin)

School: Sophmore at NCR. Member of the NRC Choir and Co-Housewarden of Heartslabyul.

Height: 5'5"

Hair: Mid-back length lilac hair, normally in a ponytail

Eyes: Dark blue

Likes: 'Stuffed Animals', concerts, social media, economics, fashion, gaudy jewelry, singing.

Dislikes: 'Plushies', frogs, her sister getting a new boyfriend, spicy food, Men.

Pets?: A bloom of jellyfish. She and Charysa insist that Azul call them by their names properly.

Fav Food: Seafood Alfredo

Who's their Best Friend?: Charysa ♡

Dating/Crush?: Looking for a cute girlfriend

Distinguished lesbian, threw a fit when she was picked by the mirror as an NRC scholarship student when she was set to go to an all-girls school instead. While more fem-presenting people have been accepted and invited to attend NRC in the recent years, Scylar is still mad because no one has caught her eye yet and is CONVINCED if she had gone to an all-girls school she'd be engaged by now.

The more violent of the twins but also the most logical. She is the one planning on how to jump someone at a later date if anyone DARES fuck over she and her sister. The twins do not fight fair and will ambush you together.

She is fully aware of who her sister's secret admirer is and is TRYING to get him to confess so she can stop dealing with her sister's terrible boyfriends. He keeps refusing and claiming things are best the way they are. Scylar just assumes he doesn't have the proper legal documents he needs to meet Azul.

The 'tired gay' of the family, though JJ disagrees.

Unique Magic: Siren Song. No one is really sure if it is a unique spell since it's a shared spell between the twins. When they both sing in harmony, it makes for a hypnotic effect that briefly brings people under their command. Not used very often as they don't have much control over whoever hears their song since they need to sing the commands in perfect harmony.

She's more talented than her sister in the singing department, but the skill seems to split evenly during the spell. So, Scylar works hard to improve her singing to make their spell stronger.

And that's the twins! Onto the Eldest Vipers!

[girlwithherheadinthestars]

tips for editing novels i wrote instead of editing

these are mainly targeted to people who find it hard to focus on editing (like yours truly) but really helps for anyone.

work section by section. i started doing this and it wasn't working because i kept reading on to the section after instead of focusing on editing the one section so what i did is copy paste the section (each should be no more than like 1000 words) onto another document and work on it there. read it over and over again until it sounds the way you want it to sound that copy paste it onto the other document and move on to the next section.

sit somewhere quiet. absolutely quiet.

no music.

turn off the wifi on your phone and on your laptop.

to get the emotion right in a scene, listen to music that embodies it. can't catch me now (olivia rodrigo) and east of eden (zella day) are what i'm listening to right now. of course, i can't write and listen to music at the same time because that's the kind of person i am but before you start writing, listen to the music and really get in the feels because emotion is what drives a story forward more than plot

i actually saw an author say this, i can't remember who, but it's good to have a song that evokes emotion so you can write the emotion properly

THESAURUSES. lifesavers. i can't come up with the perfect word to describe something because i have poor memory but the thesaurus always remembers (am i even spelling it right?)

drink water. (now. stand up. if you don't istg i'll find you.)

change the cliches. don't say it was a dark and stormy night. say it was a starless night that smothered even the smallest lamp lit in the little window of a small store at the edge of the abandoned town.

don't tell me what happened, tell me how it felt. it was not cold. her nose stung and her fingernails turned blue, she stamped her feet to keep warm, she shivered despite herself, her teeth chattering.

i think the trick is to search for every time you used the word 'was' and change it to a feeling

read aloud. do impressions. make your annoying character sound like your social studies teacher from 11th grade. have fun with it. just make sure the dialogue doesn't sound stiff and make sure the sentences flow well.

as a rule, shorter sentences flow better and are easier to understand

add more internal monologue, have your character try to reason things in their heads, don't have them just observe what's happening.

this is something i struggle with but if you have a mystery with a grand reveal in the end, keep track of what your readers know and don't know. reveal tiny clues that only fit when you finally see the full picture. be as evil with it as you want.

for motivation, reread your favorite scene (mine is the mc and love interest being adorable)

also, imagine the book being published. who would you dedicate it to? how many people would make tumblr posts analyzing it, how many people would make memes, who would the fandom ship?

finally, unrelated to editing, but if you must kill off characters, don't do it just because you want something dramatic and you need the plot to move forward, only do it for two reasons:

a) it completes the character's arc (i.e. they were afraid of death but when someone they truly loved was in danger they jumped in front of a bullet to save them)

b) they're going to come back to life later as a metaphor for phoenixes rising or something

personally, my favorite thing to do is to leave the death ambiguous. no one will know if the character really died or not (not even me)