#idk what are the tag conventions in this case

[spinaroos-47]

Very healing to finally be able to draw the characters that 11 year old me wanted to draw

I've been meaning to rewatch Yona of the Dawn soon. I actually did watch it from the episode that Shin-ah appeared up to the end of the season last year (which I never finished before), but I want to fully watch it all at once soon

[moe-broey]

LIKE..

[paperstorm]

I actually love that interpretation of Carlos as a father! Super interesting to think about how he and TK would navigate that, and I think honesty and open communication between them would be so important. I love fandom but I do find some of the takes on Carlos as a father a little more simplistic than the complex and more nuanced picture we get in the show. Carlos is not someone who jumps head first into fatherhood the way TK does, and I like the idea of a different interpretation than the prevailing one of him just being late to being a 100% enthusiastic parent.

(in response to these tags)

Yeah idk it's just interesting to me! I think it's valid if someone thinks about it differently but it is for sure a curious phenomenon when a piece of media does something in a way that is layered and nuanced and then you watch some fandom reactions seem to sort of flatten it down to the most reductive and conventional interpretation. Obviously there are a lot of people for whom having children is healing and wonderful and makes them feel complete. But that's not the case for everyone and it doesn't mean Carlos would be a bad father if it wasn't the case for him. I mean how many people irl have said 'I don't want kids' and then been met with some version of 'you'll change your mind' or 'you'll feel differently when it's yours' etc. I certainly have and it's highly irritating and dismissive lol. So yeah I just am more interested in the idea that Carlos was being honest in saying he doesn't want kids and might never want them but agrees to save Jonah because it's the right thing to do and he grows to love this little boy even if he still carries on believing he wouldn't have changed his mind about kids in different circumstances, than the idea that he really wanted them all along and just didn't know it and Jonah came along and completed him. Because that's the thing that people who want to remain childless always get beaten over the head with as society is trying to force them into maintaining the status quo, that having kids is what you're supposed to want so there's something wrong with you if you don't. I think "I never wanted kids of my own" and "I am going to give this needy child a home and find happiness in that decision" are things that can co-exist and to me that's a more interesting story.

(Edit: to be super clear I am not saying I think this is what the writers were intending nor am I saying it’s necessarily what I even headcanon personally for Carlos. I’m just saying it would be an interesting story to tell).

[calicohyde]

Tagged by @kudzucataclysm to answer these questions. I'll be answering for my witch noir The Stranger series.

I. What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?

I don't have a "lesson" so much as a "message" I guess. IDK, I presume this question is really just referring to theme? I hope lol. In which case, the main theme of the witch noir series is bodily autonomy and the various systemic and interpersonal ways it can be violated. So we're talking fantastical depictions of sexual assault, domestic violence, institutionalization, reproductive control, substance use control, capitalism and other forms of material coercion, the prison industrial complex, etc. In part this theme comes from convention inspiration, as this series as a concept first began as a genre study, and in part is simply a sensationalized expression of my own personal The Horrors as a neurodivergent Jewish transgender abuse survivor lmfao. Which is just another flavor of genre convention, when you think about it! Everyone give it up for genre conventions. All my homies love genre conventions. RE: Cyrus. Obviously I can't say for sure since... NFHR (Not Finished, Haven't Read). But! I've so far been interpreting what I know of SE to have themes surrounding conservation/disaster, scientific ethics, capitalism, war, and retrofuturist dystopianism. Sort of a The Day After Tomorrow x Jurassic Park x War of the Worlds situation.

II. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

This is also pretty much down to genre convention! Like I said, this series started its life out as a genre study, which means it functionally speaking came with a starter pack lol. I've also used a lot of real world culture and history to contribute to and/or base things off of. For example, Eddie's power type is built around some beliefs and superstitions common within her cultural background (Mexican Catholic). The world's history, geography, etc are based on real world people, events, places, etc and changed to synonyms/close matches (i.e. Sugar Ln to Cane St, Freddie Mercury to Izzy Quicksilver, etc) so I don't have to come up with that stuff whole cloth but I also don't have to worry about accuracy. RE: Cyrus. Haha, you said War of the Worlds. I'm getting a good grade.

III. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?

Well, aside from solving the murder and getting the girl, Eddie just wants to feel fulfilled as a person. She just wants to matter. She wants someone to care about her without obligation, to want her without needing her. And she wants to have a Purpose; she wants there to be a Reason that she exists, and exists Like This. As for what I'm doing... I'm just expressing a concept. This is what this thing is to me. What the reader does with that is the reader's business. RE: Cyrus, about doormat characters. You're right and you should say it. Louder.

IV. How many chapters is your story going to have?

Well. Original outline has it at 7 for Curse The Messenger (book 1), Gilded Verdict (2), and Latchkey Craft (4), and 13 for The Vanishing Point (3), but I'm thinking I probably should split them up more because that's putting us at an average of about 10k words a chapter, which I guess is Gucci for fanfiction but Too Long for a book? But I was doing an "unlucky number" gimmick sooo.... Maybe I'll go with 13 chapters for CTM, GV, and LC, and 19 chapters for TVP. Actually I just looked up the numerology for why 19 is unlucky, and um. Yeah! Yeah, I think I'll do that lmao. So. 13 x 3 + 19 = 58 chapters total (which, incidentally, is a lucky number! #perfect).

V. Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

The Stranger series, and everything I talk about in any real detail on this blog, is original. I plan to self-publish it but I don't have any more specific plans than that yet. I'll decide more when I actually have a completed draft lmao. I do also write fanfiction though, which I post on AO3!

VI. Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

More advice than encouragement I suppose, but: outlining and rough drafting are for figuring out what you want to do, editing and final drafting are for doing it on purpose.

I recommend and/or tag: @radley-rambles @vacantgodling @words-after-midnight @gailynovelry @albatris @ellierenae @kjscottwrites and @thesylverlining.

[redd956]

Hey, hope you’re doing well. Do you have any advice for coming up with names? Towns/cities, locations, creatures, characters, thingamabobs, all those things?

Hope I’m not being too vague, but if I am, specifically creatures and/or characters. How do you think of a name that’s meaningful or suits them? Just find a name, say it aloud and see if you like it? I know name generators exist (like fantasy name generator. They’re great and have a lot) but sometimes nothing really fits the vibe or appearance or lore or a sort of deeper meaning (yeah, names don’t always have to be like that, but I like being detailed and overthink with these things lol sorry), hopefully that makes sense.

Plus, in some places/mythologies/cultures, names have a lot of meaning and power, like people referring to powerful corrupt people as “he who should be be named” or with the whole Fae-stealing-names thing. Some names evoke different feelings from respect and fear to disgust and mocking, and some names are for mocking purposes that sometimes “replace” a things name in big cases.

What about the roots of a name? Assuming that you haven’t world built an entire dang language with suffix’s and grammar and all that, how would roots play into it (probably self answered)? Also with names being the core of someone’s being, so I guess my overthinking is actually somewhat justified?

Sorry for the wall of text and questions, again, I overthink and analyze answering questions like this in their entirety and try to include EVERYTHING, but this MAIN QUESTION is just how do you go about creating meaningful names for characters and creatures? All of the other words are mainly my brain musings and the whole “take fricking everything into account” so you can ignore them or use them for more thought provocation if you want. Feel free to take as much time as you need and answer in as much or as little detail as you want

Hope you’re having a great day/night and are taking care of yourself and staying hydrated and all that jazz :]

-idk (@idkanonymystuff. Tagging myself in case I forget I asked and won’t accidentally send it again)

Of course! Although I am personally quite bad at naming things, my own poor characters included XD

But anything to help prevent someone to become like me. This is going to be a long one.

Worldbuilding: Naming Conventions

Names As Descriptions

People

Historically and overall, generally cultures have used names as descriptions, whether about appearance, workforce, or even past achievements. We see this especially in English Surnames, Native American Names, and Abrahamic Names

Grace, Philip, Baker, Miller, Smith, Chris, Abigail, Johnson; all have descriptive origins, whether in their historical name variants or other.

Abigail was once Aviḡayil from Hebrew, which roots of av mean father, and gil mean joy, meaning the name meant "my Father is Joy"

It's also common for cultures to have family occupational surnames. The Millers own a windmill, Smiths had a blacksmith, Coopers made barrels.

Names don't have to have such strong meaning though. Many people are happy giving their children names they just like the sound of, or mean something to them in personal ways, like a grandmother, a country/continent, or even favorite song artist.

(Hopefully they're not like my friend's mom. I'm so sorry Airyc)

There's currently a trend in Japan to give people ridiculously cute names, although it is viewed similarly as "tradedeigh" names in the United States. (Sorry any Kayleighs)

We also see naming cultures like China's, which I will go on more about later.

If you want to look further into the etymology of names I suggest the website Behind the Name, it not only has a good name randomizer but also an amazing name dictionary with some explanation of history and origins.

Animals

As for animals the names get far much more whimsical. I honestly just suggest looking through the names of birds in your local region.

We see descriptive names like American Goldfinch, a bright yellow bird found in the United States. Sometimes they're named after their discoverers or famous people, especially scientific names. Or the sound they make, like a finch.

Names can also be straightforward; Fried Egg Jellyfish, Bullet Ant, Blobfish, Mountain Chicken

Or random like the Nonsense Rat

Names As Achievements/Fluid

Some cultures use names as achievements or role-examples, most infamously many Native America tribes, such as the Lakota. Eventually you earn a new name based off of something you've done or are.

As for the Lakota, a naming ceremony takes place where people present receive their new name, entering them into the family of the Lakota.

Some cultures have a multiple names system, more complex then the middle name system we see in English style names. You can work with a naming culture where people go by different names at work, then they do at home.

The Inuit often name their children by passing on the name of a spirit, which is selected by an elder after they receive a sign that a spirit is ready, this is because they believe a person never really dies and instead a spirit embodies a child.

In fact traditions of the parents not naming the children is another common thing seen, in worldbuilding too, such as names being chosen by an important member of society or even provided through magic.

In Brazil we see the Pirahã people, which go through many names throughout their lives, often to combat and avoid dark spirits.

Names don't always have to be a one and done, even in Western culture we see the action of changing your first name to match for gender affirming reasons, or even abandonment of an abusive family.

Family

We often see the tradition of the family name, often times the surname in the west, and the first name in some eastern countries like China. Think [First Name] [Family Name] versus [Family Name] [Secondary Name]

Having a family shows the importance to so many various cultures that is family, or knowing where you've came from. We also have traditions like taking on the surname of a lover (traditional the man's surname in a heterosexual pairing).

In several Hispanic cultures they have two surnames, their father's first surname, and their mother's first surname. So their names look like [First Name] [Father Surname]-[Mom Surname]. This is written similarly to conjoined surnames when people simply combined surnames instead of replacing one when marrying.

Maybe we're working with a culture that doesn't honor family at all, do they have secondary names? Do they only need one name? A sole named culture would put a lot of emphasis into the inner workings of having one name... and that's because names hold power.

Power of Names

I'm sure you've heard the historical rumor that we have middle names to protect us from fairies and demons. That is because there is a sort of natural power to names, and in various cultures many superstitions that come with them.

The more prevalent the supernatural, or religious beliefs, the more superstitious people are going to be about names.

As for the origin of middles names it's still mostly unknown. Many cultures have reinvented the middle name for various reasons, including the superstitious belief that if a fairy or demon got a hold of your entire name, first to last, they could own you. The middle name was introduced as a name only people the closest to you would know, and when you gave out your first and last name you would still be safe.

Other origins include requirements that your child had a saint's name in traditional Christian societies. While when middle names first appeared in medieval England, it was actually illegal for the common people to have them, as middle names were reserved for the wealthy, important, or royal.

In China and many other East Asian nations they believe that the name holds luck. Directly translated many Chinese names becomes things like Wealth, Strength, Wisdom, and Success. There's many other superstitions, including not naming your children's after someone alive in your family or after someone who met a tragic end.

This is why sometimes Chinese people using English names will meticulously choose their name, to find something of equal value.

In a world with magic I wouldn't be surprised if the magic that someone posses plays a role in their name too. In my own worldbuilding, nations like Mondie, Charagon, and Tannica which use mostly western naming basis will see surnames based off of magic. Some characters deviate from this within their own nations for religious or subcultural regions, such as the people from the Lichtfuer Kingdom, or Fayen-Charagonian Immigrants.

Nicknames & Callsigns

Speaking in terms of militaristic characters we bring in nicknames and callsigns.

Rarely ever are callsigns from cool or badass actions. Their origins are usually very embarrassing or insulting, no in-between. Often times the badass titles that we think of are from war heroes, who are the few out of thousands of soldiers, and usually dubbed onto them after their efforts are known historically or from their enemies.

People like the White Death, the Red Baron (Rote Kampfflieger), or Lady Death were also still people. Their nicknames did lead to people idolizing or exaggerating their actions, often times becoming so focused on their war stories that the outside about them is left untouched. Although they have these nicknames, they are all still indicative of their role in war or times as unwilling propagandist.

Callsign stories are a great place to look for how silly and strange their origins can actually be. There's entire forums dedicated to it. My own grandparents even had callsigns, Doc and Hillbilly.

Doc was my granddad's callsign, because he was a medic. My papa had the callsign hillbilly while in training because his rural Indiana accent was mostly unheard of at the time, and reminded people of hillbillies. That was just the 60s though. Nowadays people will have callsigns like "Firehose" meaning that they pissed themselves once really really bad.

Thankfully I never went into the military, because I already had the high school nickname "Shortcake" for being very very short.

Dangerous/Infamous Animals

When it comes to infamous people we see similar naming conventions as dangerous animals, think of an unkillable dragon or a mutant wolf that has gone rogue.

In the early 1900s there was a tiger called the Man-Eater that had gone rogue due to physical and emotional trauma from poaching, leaving the tiger to prefer hunting humans instead of its usual.

There are many cases of animals like this having names in such a way, from monster catfishes to a crocodile named Gustave.

Final Thoughts

There's even more that goes on behind names, than I would feel comfortable with covering in one post. Maybe in the future I will do another, touching on other aspects.

Honestly when naming my own characters I don't think too hard, but that's just me. I know some people take naming characters very seriously.

A lot of my worldbuilding does have its own naming conventions, but I often find myself trying to cheat anyway.

[strawbbybnuuy]

HOLY SHIT YOUR TAGS ABOUT THE RP BLOG REMINDED ME theres a group of ppl in d2 fandom who INSISTTTTT uldren is like. some 6'5 ripped sex god and no matter how many times i showed them the ingame model sizing putting him at like, 5'10 MAX, they FOUGHT ABOUT IT SO HARD

HAHA YEAH I BLOCKED THE CROW AND CAYDE RP BLOGS. You probably know the ones. The ones that were saying they were 6' 2" or 6' 3"? Mighta been 6' 3" and 6' 4". I have no problem with people hcing characters as various heights but I mean, if you're going to actually pretend to be the character,, at least follow what they look like canonically? Joke rp accounts are fine but like you if you're going to take the best blog name and mostly seriously rp you should probably keep to the character as closely as you can if you want to feel convincing. No hate to whoever is running those blogs but come on. you didn't even have proof. you just made Cayde jump in and back Crow up smdh. (Not sure if it's by the same person or not, they might be separate ppl, but still.) yes this is petty. It's honestly a pet peeve of mine when people take characters and try to make them conventionally attractive. No Uldren is not tall. Crow isn't tall. I've seen ppl talk about Crow's ass and how he's got cake and in the photo was like the most average man-ass I've ever laid eyes on (this made me laugh but still). It's okay for a character to not check all the boxes of conventional beauty. And Uldren is quite attractive as is? Uldren is athletic, but he isn't ripped.

As seen here, thanks to his stupidly tight jumpsuit, you can see he’s quite slender and well built- but nothing super shredded. Not to mention his chest plate makes his chest and shoulders appear larger than they actually are. We also have to remember that his design isn’t one of a sexy villain- he really wasn’t supposed to be physically imposing. He was not much more than an annoyance, a snobbish man who turned up his nose at us- and we forgot about him until Forsaken- where once again it wasn’t like he was physically imposing. Everything he did was through his “children” or he finished off their work. (Mind you this is a repurposed design that was initially for a character akin to Han Solo- a gunslinging vagabond type. I can’t imagine a character like that being super tall or insanely muscular. I doubt they would have changed much with his height for his forsaken design either)

It’s just. Odd to me to be in vehement denial. Beyond that it’s a case of do whatever you want forever but yeah… I think part of it is people just don’t seem to realize how tall 6’ 2” and beyond really is if you’re not from the Netherlands or something. They forget what a normal tall person would look like too- like yeah a lot of D2 characters tend to hover around 6 feet so I understand it to a degree- but 6’ 3”? 6’ 4”?? Do you realize what that implies for the characters that are taller?? Hello?? The legs these guys would have?? The world average is what, 5’ 7” for men?

Uldren and Crow have never looked particularly large either … Crow looked quite “small” (and was called skinny quite a bit) compared to a lot of his counterparts- including the guardian. 5’ 10” is not short by any means but it’s obvious that he’s not meant to be a big guy.

It kinda drives me crazy?? Idk man like I love design changes that add more to the character, not ones that shove them into a box for the sake of conventional beauty. I draw Crow/Uldren as shorter (and Crow chunkier) so that might be my bias speaking lol- but idk it just feels like a disservice to the character in a sense to essentially hide away an aspect of them to make them “prettier” that proceeds to just put them into a common design trope. I honestly want more experimentation with Uldren/Crow’s design than what I see but that’s just a me thing

Probably not that deep but I love thinking about my favorite guys’ designs :P

[where-is-the-angst]

Idk if you’re still wondering about Shakespeare fanfiction but you mysteriously appeared on my dash (following the Twelfth Night tag) and anyways here is my unsolicited advice.

1. Yes, there is Shakespeare fanfiction! Lots of it! Including Toby x Andrew!

2. When it comes to writing Shakespeare fanfic, it’s all about capturing voice, just like any other fanfic! Whatever character you’re writing from the POV of, look over their dialogue and compare it to other characters to see what makes this character’s voice unique. Some things that are easy to look for in Shakespeare— Do they speak in verse? (Do they speak more poetically or casually?) Do they use short or long sentences? Are there particular topics that they revisit often? Are there certain ways in which they repeatedly express their point? (Frequently using metaphors, or puns, or simple similes, or misusing words.) As far as making the language sound more old-timey, my strategy is honestly usually just to look up prose from the period. (Twelfth Night was written early 17th century, so my reference is the King James Bible which came out around the same time. If you want something a little more digestible though, other Shakespeare fanfics can also make good references.) You don’t have to use entirely archaic language. Once you get the sentence structure down it kind of just feels like authentic Shakespearean. However, it’s just for fun, and it’s being interpreted for a modern audience anyways, so you can choose to include as much or as little of Elizabethan writing conventions as you like. And when in doubt, you can always just write a modern AU!

My last bit of advice overall would be to not intimidate yourself over the fact that it’s Shakespeare. Your writing doesn’t have to live up to his, and honestly, fuck him. He’s not untouchable and neither is his writing, and writing fanfiction about his plays is no more or less serious than writing fanfiction about anything else. If you wanna disregard all my advice and just write whatever you think sounds fun, go for it!

Anyways. Idk if you were even being genuine or just joking about writing that Toby x Andrew fanfic. (I know it was like three days ago so idk if you’re even thinking about it anymore.) But when I saw your post I felt it was my solemn duty to give you advice just in case it was genuine. If not, feel free to ignore this and have a nice day! ^-^

thanks so much for the advice; that was really helpful!

that’s a really good point about sort of figuring out the way they talk and mimicking that

tbh i was considering doing a modern au but…. now i might not???

have a nice day to u tooooo 🫶🏻

[madderruz]

Do you think in the future you would ever make a four legged falin chimera? Like obviously that would be like a fuck ton of work and if not like,, yeah obviously, but I just keep thinking about it.. like maybe building it like those multiple arm cosplays where the back legs are just tied to the front legs and have tandem movement. it'd be a lot of trunk junk though so I don't know how practical for walking through conventions it'd be (unless they were detachable but idk I'm just on an autism tangent)

I'm making a four legged one now! Check out this tag to see how I'm doing it.

For a TLDR/expansion on that tag though: I'm making a centaur body for the back! Since those are a concept that has been done a few times already in youtube videos, I figured it'd be the best way to just follow along with that.

So the way that it's set up is its basically a PVC rectangular prism, and then PVC back legs. it belts around my waist, and the back legs move along the floor (for most of the centaur builds they're light enough to fully articulate, but in my case its not entirely possible. they'll move, but they wont lift off the ground.) And then you either cardboard or chicken wire around the frame, spray foam it (or whatever other method to get it to be the body shape), and then cover it!

HOWEVER, the way I'm doing mine has a secret third step that throws all of it into difficult range, which is that i'm making WINGS!

Now, the thing with cosplay wings is, 99% of the time you look them up, you're going to find tutorials on how to make ones that you wear like a backpack, over your shoulders. But with the chimera's case, that's not possible! So, my dad and I actually had to engineer a completely new way for the wings to open on the "centaur" body. You can see in this post the mechanism we had to make. I originally wanted the wings to go through a more naturalistic movement involving tilting and such, but because we're doing it manually and neither my dad nor me are engineers, we eventually settled on a two step movement. The wing sits in the way a birds wing would when tucked in. Then, it expands, and it pulls forward to frame around my body.

The most important part to me was that it looks natural when closed, and that when opened it frames around my body, which I wanted for a flourish for the performance aspect of the competition.

ANYWAY the hope with the centaur ass and the legs moving along the ground is that them being on the ground will help kind of keep the weight less on my hips. I mentioned in a previous ask that if it came down to it, there would be a harness coming from the back of the centaur ass near the tail and working around my shoulders, that would help again distribute the weight off my hips and more to my hips and shoulders.

I'm not sure what walking through a convention space is going to be like, but since this is mainly made for competition, the hope is that I won't be anywhere near an overly crowded area like an artists' alley for any length of time. I'm also going to have a handler (my dad lol) to help with maneuvering through the space. It's going to be something that's worn strictly to the competition, and maybe a meetup if there is one. ALSO: currently the entire length of the back half is about 4/5 feet behind me. The body is 3ft and the tails entire length is 5ft, but the tail droops off the back, so it's not a full 8 feet length. I'm going to make sure the tail is detachable just for elevator situations and the like, too.

But I think no matter where you see it, even in the state that it's in now, it's gonna turn some heads.

Thanks for asking, and for letting me ramble on!!

[atrirose]

hi! idk if you were the anon who asked abt tagging you on my latest work but i’m so so sorry i didn’t, i only joined two weeks ago and i’ve never had to tag anyone yet so i didn’t know it was the convention,,,

i promise i didn’t mean to use your idea without credit, i thought linking the original post was the right way of giving credit and that you’d be notified but if that’s not the case i sincerely apologize

as for permission, in a similar vein, i thought liking/reblogging was the way to do so since that’s what moodboard/header creators ask for but i completely get that it could be different for writers

if you’d prefer that i take down what i wrote, just lmk and i will! if you're okay with me keeping it up, i'll tag you as soon as you give me the word — again, i’m really really sorry and i’ll be sure to go about things better when i get inspo from another user

hi babes i have no idea what you are talking about so i checked your page and it seems to me that you linked one of my random thoughts as jay oneshot that you wrote. it’s okay since you are new, it’s completely fine but as far as it goes whenever there was someone on enhablr who wanted to do something similar to me after being inspired by my work have asked me before hand in case im comfortable with it or not and it can be confusing i understand but moodboard creators have it mentioned as to how they want credits which does not apply to everyone here.

secondly it’s alright you can keep it up if you want i mean, i did see your rb under my post but i didn’t think of something you would actually be doing, uhm yeah also if you see someone brainstorming or putting ideas out there please ask them if you can use it or just leave it be as it can be disrespectful to some people (im not saying me but i want you to be careful thats all 😭🫶🏻) anyways so you can have it up dont worry.

as for whether anon(?) is me or not, it’s not me i actually had that anon informing about it too so i think they are the same people. BTW DONT SWEAT IT TAKE IT EASY.

[jaded-of-mara]

LEGENDS CON RETROSPECTIVE

COSPLAY THOUGHTS

I suffer from specialist little boy syndrome. every local con i've gone to, i've been the only mara jade. HOWEVER. i knew that there would be multiple maras at legends con. and i was right

when i saw barbara hambly was going to speak at legends con, i knew i was going to have to cosplay callista. because i suffer from specialist little boy syndrome.

this is my own interpretation of callista, based on a combination of several official art pieces that i just didn't vibe with tbh. i do what i want

BUT in retrospect. if i ever decide to work with this type of vinyl again. please shoot me

anyway. a few people recognized me. i probably shouldve asked for a photo with barbara hambly but i chickened out.

i'm glad fandom is starting to reevaluate callista. because the misogyny present in some of those older fics? woof

also: new definition of hell unlocked: sitting trapped in a lightsaber sales pitch while your wig cap crawls up your head underneath your wig and you have to sit there nodding politely while trapped in a sensory nightmare

CONVENTION THOUGHTS

pretty tight. lotta good panels

got the unofficial guide book for dark horse star wars writers. some stuff thats applicable to fic some stuff not. vv funny to see how many of its rules the new canon violates tho

also some panels that were actually sales pitches

also some panels that couldve used some audience q&a rather than just prepared questions, but who knows what guests stipulate

i recognize that with every con there will always be some panel overlap, but the 15 minute overlap specifically felt a little harsh. day-of it wasn't as much of an issue bc of last-minute reschedulings

artist alley was a little bare, but it was a first con, things can only go up from here. shocking the places that supernatural merch can creep into tho

SOCIALIZATION THOUGHTS

i shouldve come out of my shell more. or cajoled a friend into making the thousand-mile drive with me.

i might have made more friends if i had gone to cantina night but i don't drink so idk what the vibe wouldve been

i did end up meeting a tumblr mutual for breakfast in burbank proper and that was fun

to make up for not making friends day of i have been following everyone whos posted in the legends con tag. from my main which has a cring url so who knows if they know i was there

HOTEL THOUGHTS

i wish i had checked out the hot tub but i didnt see the sign for where it was until i was checking out. i thought the only pool was outdoors and (see photos above) me and outdoor pools don't mix well

this is a very white trash and/or dean-coded thing to say but every hotel room should come with both continental breakfast AND a microwave

staff were vv nice but also i did feel silly walking around in my costume in the fancy lobby during an actual like. work convention

CONCLUSION

one of the organizers informally speculated that the next legends con might not be until spring/summer 2025. if thats the case, good, bc it means my body will have forgotten what it was like driving from green river utah to burbank in one day (do not recommend)

[sweetsuke]

i hate all the discourse around what ship names to use for ships based on who bottoms/who tops. like it's not 2012 on ff.net anymore, we don't have to force people to adhere to a strict tagging system of [topname][bottomname] for ships if they don't want to. esp because in a lot of cases, ships aren't inherently sexual, so that naming convention literally doesn't apply to them!! and i get in other sides of fandoms, such as chinese and japanese, they use that lot because it's important to them to distinguish who's the top and who's the bottom in a relationship. but literally no one has to do that if they want to, whether they're chinese/japanese/etc or not. getting mad at someone for not using the "correct" ship name and expecting them to adhere to rules you made up is honestly so stupid and self-entitled. idk where else i was going with this but basically if i see one more person say "oh if you ship a x b as switches you should use the ship name aba instead of ab or ba because that's not correct" or "hey i noticed you posted art with a topping b but you tagged it as ba, you should tag it as ab instead" im gonna lose it ‼️

[lostcauses-noregrets]

I really want to contribute in the eruri writing fandom but I'm very reluctant about my writing, I write very well in first person and I'm able to describe scenes vividly but idk when I write in third person it's like I'm in front of a brick wall and can't write! I'm not native English so that's why but I really want to know how can one write so well in 3rd perspective without being repetitive with words? Can you give me some advice? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, u can ignore it <3

Hello Anon, not a stupid question at all! Pretty much every writer I know has struggled with anxiety about their writing, so you are very much not alone. My advice would be start out with what you're comfortable writing. If you know you're good at writing in the first person go with that. There's no law that says that fanfic has to be written in the third person. I've written second person fic from time to time! I haven't come across much first person Eruri fic, but that's no bad thing, there's a niche there that you could fill.

If you do want to branch out into third person you could start out by writing little ficlets, character sketches, or snippets of dialogue. Writing is 90% practice and writing short pieces is a great way to experiment, try out different writings, and build your confidence as a writer. Don't feel pressured to post longer multi-chapter fics, lots of writers post much shorter ficlets. I have a fic called Skin on Skin which is really just a collection of random snippets of writing.

In terms of how to avoid repetition, I'm guessing you mean things like "Erwin said...", "Levi said". If that's the case, don't be afraid of repeating the word "said". As a reader you tend to just parse out dialogue tags like this. Also you can often leave out dialogue tags altogether and just let the dialogue flow.

The main thing to remember is that every writer had to start somewhere, and that every writer is unique. It's far more rewarding to focus on developing your own unique style rather than trying to conform to hypothetical writing conventions that fanfic should adhere to.

I don't know if this helps Anon. If you're interested, I've got some other asks about fic writing on my blog tagged Writing.

Good luck with your writing!

[septembersghost]

you mentioned in a tag how fewer and fewer people who knew him are with us and I think about that too, plus some of the ones who've still been here suck, to say the least, and it's such a sad thing bc idk if the people on the business side care that much. then people hate Priscilla for being involved in the legacy work and they're going to hate Lisa's girls for not being involved in the legacy work. nobody wins.

i do contemplate this a lot, and of course anita's passing has brought this to the forefront of our minds again, and there's still that profound shock and grief from when lisa died. i was talking to a friend earlier about this too, and how lisa should've had so much more time, how she still had things to do and a life she wanted to live again (which is eerily similar to things her dad expressed before he passed as well, it feels cosmically unfair somehow). certain people have been here to run their mouths for decades and he didn't have the opportunity to share in his own words, but as we're losing the direct connections with loved ones, it's just…it has a particular sorrow to it, especially as the estate and graceland become more of that business model, that convention center remove, and less of the home it's always been. it would've been so, so different for the girls if their mom were still here, and i wish she was for every imaginable reason, but as far as graceland goes, they wouldn't have been looking at whether or not they wanted a role in that and what it might be until they were much older (and well into adulthood, in the twins' case).

it's heartbreaking, and of course there's no "winning" in this situation regardless (winning would be not losing him at 42, you know? it would be lisa and benjamin still here. it would be the girls getting to know him, he'd love them so very much), but yeah, there was a living link in lisa that's gone now, and whether or not any of the girls want to be involved closely in the estate/EPE is completely their choice, especially the twins because they have a lot of time before they're adults who even have to consider that. there has been such tragedy in their family and it's potentially a heavy burden that they're not obligated to carry - they should only be involved by their choice and if it makes them happy. priscilla has stated herself that part of why she feels compelled to still go out and give talks is to share her memories while she still can, and there's a poignancy in that. but thinking of graceland being more of a business...i know ultimately it has been that in many respects, along with being a place of pilgrimage to fans, but to lisa it was still home too. i have NOT read good things about joel (and the general tenor of everything at his hand), and i just hope at the end of the day, it remains cherished and its soul is kept intact, no matter who is or isn't running things.

all that said, again that's where his legacy falls to us too, which is why there's a particular beauty to the love we have and the insight we find with him, and what we keep and share with one another. the sense of community with fans matters, and is quite reflective of the bond elvis established with people then that has so brightly carried into the present. fans do a lot to carry that flame, even though many of us never got to even share the same time with him, and that's valuable and an essential reflection of him.

anyway, this:

[apollotronica]

goodness. ok one big ask for all of them

hearts

🤍 - you scare me /pos

💛 - you are like a wet cat

💚 - one million dollars. for you

i'd say red but that's known

artist

4. fav character/subject thats a bitch to draw

9. what are your file name conventions

24. do your references include stock images

27. do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? if so, what is it you draw to warm up with

30. what piece of yours do you think is underrated

specific and unrelated

4. mythical creature you think/believe is real?

7. what animal do you look forward to most when you visit an aquarium

16. thoughts on mint chocolate chip

26. hows your spice tolerance?

get-to-know-me

bamboo - do you change into a different outfit when you get home

sage - what 'medium' of art (poetry, music, fiction, painting, statues, etc) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is

ivy - what are your 'tells' for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you're happy annoyed upset or tired

chamomile - what kind of things do you like receiving as gifts

aloe vera - what's something (mundane) you really want to experience in life?

taro - if someone called you right now to catch up, what're the things youd tell them about

- 💌

OKAY JESUS HOLD ON these responses are for the heartsI SHOUDLNT SCARE YOU IM SO SWEETS and like you said . a wet cat .norhing to be afraid of . 10 jerbillion dollars for me

these r the attist asks i think

4 - honesltyUMMM i can never get dazais hair right . but hes pretty sinple everywhrr else . i also feel like i draw akutagawas hair inconsistently . all my problems are centered around hair

9 - my file names are whatever ibis paint x decides the file name is . unless i download it on my computer in which case its usually somr dumb shit

24 - SOOOOOMETIMES ???? i go on pinterest and just save and use whatever i need Hold on let me look at my reference folder rq. yeah ol i only have one stock image and its a dude holding a corndog

27 - NOPE my warmup is the sketch and maybe ill draw a couple face expressions on the side if im not in the zone yet . but no indont warm up usually

30 - THAT ONE OF IVLYA (OC) where hes like . almost facing the side .i cant find the image rn just go into my art tag😢

these repwonses r for the . unrelated/specific ones, 4 + 7 answered

16 - i like the mint . not the chocolatw chip . i think i would enjoy a minr chocolate swirl better because i hate chunks

26 - Um . average . i can handle like actual food spice like curry or other . things . but junk food like takis RUUUUUUIN MEEEEEE

these r for da get 2 know me ones ^_^ ivy ans chamomile answered

bamboo - Yeah i hate wearing outside clothes in the comfort of my home . i change into . usually what i slept in

sage - MUSIC AND POETRY i dont seem like a poetry guy i think but holy fucking shit some poems . some of them man. Ugh. and music theres so mucu potential Like . harmonies and shit dude im unwell . Music foreva

aloe vera - i kinda wna tto go on a real date Because like . idk that stuff is so foreign to me im not familiar with aaaany of it . i also want to get into baking

taro - FUCJ IT DEPENDS FROM WHEN HONESTLY i d let them know about my Mental Ailments i think id show off some art and link some of my socials maybe . and id talk about music . and things i got into while they were gone . Maybe attempt to discuss ... shivers . Feelings . i dont know

[wiwinia]

Tag 9 people you’d like to get to know more

Tagged by @celestialspark - Thank you for tagging me ❤️ This came out a little longer than I expected

Last song: According to my YouTube history (I really don’t understand how to use Spotify and I don’t think I ever will at this point), that would be Stranger by The Mechanisms, from Tales To Be Told, Volume II. Idk why, but this song vibrates my brain in exactly the best way. (I feel like that about a lot of songs in this album, especially Lost In The Cosmos, which is honestly weirdly relaxing for a song describing a slow death in painful details, and Pieces, but like, only the chorus)

Show I'm watching: Well, the last show I’ve seen was the newest episode of Helluva Boss, watched it with both of my partners, one of whom knows nothing about this show. It was fun, though, well, don’t want to spoil anything, but I was hoping for something else. Besides that, I intend to watch Stranger Things soon, cause I have read some great fanfics (I wanted to check if any of the authors are on Tumblr, so I could tag them, but for some reason, I can’t open ao3, which is quite concerning considering what happened this month) and decided I might try, even though I am good 7 years late. However, I am not watching it yet, because from what I know so far it feels like the kind of show that will permanently rewire my brain, so I am waiting til I can watch it with my friends, cause I am not going through that alone. If we consider podcasts shows, then I am an active listener of Dracula Daily, the voice acting is great, and I am already swooning and fanning myself like a victorian lady at Quincey P. Morris, which is to be expected, he’s one of my favourite characters. I can’t wait for this year’s holiest love entry tho, I want to see Tumblr go wild for it again. Also, season 2 of Not Quite Dead is coming out in a little more than two weeks (a fair warning to anyone who follows me, I already know I will be insufferable about it ❤️). I binged season 1 in one sitting, I am so excited (there are precisely 0 fanfics for this show on ao3 so far, I am working on changing that, but I’ve been suffering from a serious case of can’t-finish-wips-disease for quite a while now, so we’ll see how it goes)

Book I'm reading: If we’re talking new books, then right now nothing, but the last two I’ve read were: 1 Noce za nocami by Małgorzata Wilk, I loved it, it was exactly what I wanted, and I was so excited to finally get it, I read it on Wattpad back in the day and I preordered it the moment I was able to. It just feels very cozy to me. If you a) know Polish, and b) like gay vampires, I highly recommend it 2 Vampireology from the Ologies book series, cause I’ve never seen it before, I found it at a convention and I may be an adult, but it had vampires and was full of shiny secrets, you can’t possibly expect me to resist that Besides that, I am currently relistening to an audiobook of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, because the first time I listened to it, I was in a really bad place mentally, and this in tandem with some incorrect beliefs I had about this book caused me to miss some important things the first time, so now I am doing better I plan to listen to the whole series again, and I am really enjoying it! I know this series goes into some very dark places, but at the point at which I am currently, it is just full of pure joy of exploration and awe-inspiring discovery and listening to it makes me really, really happy right now

Currently obsessed with: Fandom-wise, The Magnus Archives, closely followed by The Mechanisms, a lot of things mentioned above are either basically obsessions, or very close to becoming that, because I can’t just be normal about things Also, vampires are my obsession that has been a constant part of my life practically since I remember, and I doubt it will ever change at this point. If for whatever reason you want to see me ramble, ask me about my opinions on any vampire-related trope or theme, and you will probably get a pretty substantial essay

Tagging: @suaveotter @laceandsteelgirl @kind-ghost @doofus-and-dragons @fall-festival @katenotbishop @wet-snail @rhymingteelookatme @graceful-not

[moe-broey]

LIKE thinking about it nitpicking my own wording, here. Shedinja isn't really "the former self" -- Nincada would be. Shedinja is just some Thing that spawned in, when Ninjask did. Some kind of haunted husk that got left behind when Nincada hatched into Ninjask, becoming something New. Which is EXACTLY what Mani is, how Mani works.

ALSO @eriisaam eating up these tags on the Shedinja post actually,

LIKE. SO MUCH OF THIS TRIVIA CAN BE APPLIED TO MANI IT'S INSANE. AND HILARIOUS

Like "PMD if you evolve into Ninjask, you also get Shedinja in your roster now. No notice. It just silently appeared there." Exactly what happened with Mani.

THE NAME RATER ONE. ALSO. EXTREMELY MANI-CORE???? Like. Mani doesn't really have a name until Alfonse ends up in Moe's specific dreamscape. When the issue of differentiating the two comes up, Mani names itself. Which absolutely feels like having to go out of your way to apply a nickname to a nameless Pokemon. But ALSO the BDSP example works too...? I'm iffy about it, but there is at least one canon scene where "Moe" is used for Mani.

... Would this make "Moe" its deadname....??????? AN EXTREMELY FUNNY THOUGHT. But I also just don't think Mani has that relationship to Moe as a name, as someone might a deadname. (In fact, it may feel the opposite way. It loves that name. It's... cute.) WHICH is where I get iffy, like... do I want it to be more like a Lif situation, in naming conventions alone...? Where, you see him accept being called Alfonse by Thrasir/Veronica (and he does the same, towards her). But Mani really does feel like its own entity, separate from Moe itself... it's not a case of hidden identity or throwing away an identity you no longer feel deserving of. Literally a whole other guy spawned in. Shedinja style. From the same being, tied to that being. That became its OWN being. And it is important, to both Moe and Mani, that there is a distinction made.

GOD. THE RIBBONS/TITLES TRIVIA TOO??? GOES INSANE. Feels EXTREMELY applicable to Mani. How it's a reflection, more than anything else. And absolutely adjacently feels directly comparable to the beans/poffins lore. That there are very specific ways that Shedinja cannot change. (... except for candy, apparently.) This is maybe more metaphorical, but fits, too.

IDK IDK I JUST. I've always had suuuuch a hard time capturing/expressing what Mani Is, like, logistically speaking. It's literally just a Shedinja. Also bonus points for being genderless when Nincada/Ninjask have/retain their gender. WHICH....... also feels akin to how Moe has a really distinct gender identity/Feelings about it, and Mani just kind of is... null and void. Empty. Hollow, even.

Congratulations on the brain Nincada -> Shedinja/Ninjask, Moe. No idea how it works in an AU setting, but. Works GREAT as a metaphor/example for Mani came into being.

Don't ask how. It just Works 👍