#instead of essentially a main character

[cryptidwithaninternetconnection]

@cats-and-confusion @vaporeon2010317 @sagehyperfixates @the-excellent-papyru

Thinking about a LATEOTW Au where Casper decides to not go down into the basement if the hospital, instead keeping quiet to not alert whoever or whatever was down there, grabbing supplies, and moving on to find some kind of camp, eventually meeting another teen, possibly Beetle. The two wander around before meeting a few other team, eventually meeting a few other teens and forming a Squad/qpr, Beetle having their phone being able to take pictures and post them to the internet of various shenanigans

The Squads story would revolve around the apocalypse, it would be funnier yet similarly dark, as the middle point between LATEOTW and PI, having the dry humor of LATEOTW, and the dark undertones of PI

The Squad eventually sneak into the greenhouse after seeing it and Casper wanted to explore, soon just. joining in the battle against Gaia, Casper never meets Claire and Akiva or any of the others, seeing a glimpse of Akiva verbally battling Gaia on Kaos’ hand, and not thinking a second thought, just joking around with a few beyonders and Casper’s friends, picking up another Beyonder to join their team, and moving on when the apocalypse ends to help rebuild the world, the Squad just being a group of bystanders, an outsider POV

Also Casper finally gets romance-

And this AU’s name? Im thinking something like Alternative Outsiders!

Lemme know what you think! Maybe once PI ends and we get a break we could try this! :DD

[lilacerull0]

can't stop thinking about lila and nino's time in the shoe shop for no particular reason (lie), but she brought books to that shop... the whole affair started by the sea... the books, the shoes, the sea... all symbols of lila's childhood that have been morphed into something else, something eerie and adult, and she attached their original shape and meaning to nino, just like she has always done with elena, because he was supposed to be her way back to these things, if only indirectly, if only the small way she could possess them again existed in watching him have them. and i've mentioned this to mal the other day, but the heart of this relationship is based on a cruel contradiction: on one hand it is an attempt to reestablish childhood innocence (the books, the shoes, the sea in their original fairytale, dream-like form), but on the other hand it's overwhelmingly defined by adult themes like adultery and sex (melina and donato's relationship) it's a warped perspective on both childhood and adulthood ultimately. it's got the spirit of each right, but the motifs are all wrong, like they've crossed to the wrong side of the timeline. so, in many ways, nino, to lila, exists as both the essence of elena and rino, the gods of her childhood, and as the essence of marcello and stefano, figures tied to her brutal push into adulthood. and lila is already an extreme example of adult motifs crossing into childhood's territory so when nino appears, her understanding of sex and adultery hasn't been sugarcoated, but is rather present in, not the only possible form sex and adultery can exist in, but certainly in one of their truest forms, vulgar and dangerous in their banality. (thanks to stefano and melina and donato respectively) thanks to that, lila's relationship with nino can't be a new beginning because it's only a response to preexisting experiences and everything good about it is only good because it's better than something that happened before, but ultimately it stays within the circle it appears to be rebelling against.

[novella-november]

Is this fanfic friendly? I feel like an outlier.

I guess this is my sign it's time to throw together a FAQ post to link to lol.

Yes, every event for this blog is fanfic friendly :D

Though as I mentioned on my Ominous October post, for events that include multiple short stories, I encourage everyone to flex their creativity and take one of their planned short story fanfics, and at least *attempt* to turn one of them into something entirely original; rebuilding a character and story from the ground up to stand on its own two legs is no easy feat, and that is what makes it so fun!

It really gets your creative gears turning, to make an "au of an existing material" to be something entirely original, and you can be pleasantly surprised about the things you come up with!

As a few people say, its not just a matter of "filing the serial numbers off" -- you have to add in just as much *or more* as what you take out when you are turning a fanfiction into something that is original and completely divorced from its original source material / inspiration, and that is a hard, but very rewarding challenge!

Obviously, this is not a requirement (there's no hard requirements for any of the challenges, other than no cheating, including no using AI),

but if you would like an extra challenge for the short story events and you're planning on doing entirely fan-fiction, I highly recommend trying it out at least once, and seeing where it leads you--

you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by what you find down that rabbit hole!

[wizardsix]

about 30 hours into veilguard and while I have an essay worth of my problems w the game and how this is absolutely not ten year's worth of developing I do want to say what I do like. the maps (visuals/progression/exploration), combat, and the companions (only five of them. neve and taash annoy me and I would absolutely not recruit them if this game didn't force you to)... overall it's all right on its own but it's no dragon age game.

[chirpsythismorning]

I just remembered they devoted a whole scene to Mike and Will burying a dead body for no reason other than to poke fun at—

[anxiously-sidequesting]

So I don't know if it was ever revealed how Duncan felt when we killed Malistaire all three times but I'm wondering if maybe some part of him could hate us for that too. Like you hear that and you go "but why. Malistaire was terrible and even Duncan knew that(?). Why would he hate you for getting rid of him."

But like I think it's so....... interesting in a very, very, very sad way how Duncan so easily latches onto anyone who directly feeds into his delusions of grandeur. And that's no fault of his own that he was manipulated by the nasty Schism but when you think about how desperately clung to the idea that Malistaire, easily one of the greatest necromancers any of us had ever heard of (at that time), somehow actually recognized Duncan's talents (even when canon supports that Duncan wasn't all that talented, at least no more than the next necromancer) and then praised him for it so often that Duncan believed that he would be the next Death Professor is. I mean ☹️

So like with that mindset I unfortunately feel like it would be quite easy to twist even Malistaire's death as something that's horrible and awful and all our fault. ESPECIALLY if the Schism was feeding into Duncan's already broken mind and shattered ego and was constantly telling him that everything bad that ever happened to him ever in his life was Our Fault. That's like a realistic conclusion that someone like Duncan could come to

And like, at this point in time, are Malistaire's crimes even a factor in how he thinks????? Was Duncan ever able to separate Malistaire's talent and skills and prowess from the terrible and awful things he did? If Duncan wasn't able to consciously tell that distinction in the first place I can't imagine it would be any better during the years he was being manipulated and isolated and lied to

Like in Duncan's mind it probably isn't, "maybe I shouldn't idolize a national criminal, or idolize anyone at all for that matter, and aspire to be like someone so harmful when I can recognize my own talent and build from there" it's probably more like, "you (the wizard) permanently got rid of a brilliant mind, an innocent person who just made a few mistakes, and someone who believed in me no matter what just so that you could be the better than me and loved by everyone else" and that's! very sad actually!

[b4kuch1n]

Your swsh art always makes me want to replay the game because i love it and its my favorite pokemon game and every time i play another pokemon game i think of it how i miss certain elements from swsh. Then i boot up the game and im once again caught in the 1 hour 40 minutes hand held intro and im like ah- now i remember why i have been playing other pokemon games instead of this one. Happy (late?) birthday!

you don't want to listen to hop? you don't want to hear him teach you about type matchups? you don't wanna let him cheer u on...? 🥺 waa....?

[natsudragneelgf]

sorry sorry sorry SORRY I can't stand core 5 Riverdale content that doesn't include Toni like it's core 4 anyway why would you add one singular slot to include Cheryl but not Toni it pisses me off to noooooooo fucking end and I'm not willing to argue about it. Include Toni when you open the core 4 bracket or fucking perish very honestly

[blackwaxidol]

Let it be known I did NOT make Valin with love when I was creating a Warlock for myself. I'd made it to the Farm twice with two other attempted Warlocks but the vibes were off, so I decided to try a new beast entirely and made a Valin. He was originally going to have black hair and patternations but I found it too boring...

The red was garish and I wasn't too sure I liked what I had made but I decided to commit to that horrible beast and he has since grown on me like a fungus.

[merlinemrys]

as someone who is very very very in tune to how characters refer to each other or maybe more generally, names, and the power of them, it is such a shame the merlin creators didn’t do Something More with emrys. it’s a title as much as it is a name and it would’ve been soooo delicious if when merlin becomes more accustomed to his power, the more his name fits like a name than a title or just somethinggggggg idk

[leafy-m]

So I hit my 700th edit for the WHA wiki today, because I am a totally normal person

[jessamine-rose]

/obey me! vent/

[lavender-teardroplettes]

Having one of those rough insomnia nights....but I'm turning it into a shitpost

[selvepnea]

Been playing Vampyr lately (not a recommendation)

[tahbhie]

Reasons Why 80% of Romantic Plots Fall Through.

Haven't you wondered why a romantic story you have so much hope for suddenly flops? Whether it's yours or not, let's see what could be the problem.

• Relying Too Much on the Outcome

Unfortunately, no romance is complete without an arc. In other words, it is more than just the intimacy. When writers don't allow the relationship to develop naturally, it feels forced. Rushing to the final romance without building a solid foundation will make the story feel shallow and unconvincing. Take your time, flesh out the idea, and follow the plot gradually.

• Creating Unnecessary Victimization

I often see writers make the mistake of portraying one character as too weak or pitiful only for the sake of it. This unnecessary victimization can undermine the character's depth and make the story less compelling. Your readers won't cry along with a female character whose decisions are pretty sour compared to a five-year-old. It's just simply annoying.

Instead, both characters should have strengths and weaknesses, make realistic decisions, making them more relatable and balanced.

• Cringy Conflict.

Realistic conflict is essential for a compelling romance. Over-the-top or contrived conflicts can make the story feel forced and cringy. Conflict should come naturally and blend perfectly into the plot. It's not advisable to pop a challenge that's definitely not necessary in the name of 'keeping the stakes high.'

Rather, focus on creating believable challenges that the characters must overcome, adding depth and authenticity to the plot.

• Neglecting Other Emotions Outside Romance.

It's not only about love, or roses, or dinner nights, or lucky dates with the billionaire. Show the other emotions fighting for dominance: the hurts, pains, joy, frustration, desperation, anger, sadness, jealousy, anxiety, or even moments when a character falls out of love with the other and can't understand their feelings.

Focusing solely on love can lead to a one-dimensional story. For a well-rounded narrative, explore these emotions to create a richer and more immersive experience for the readers.

• Underdeveloped Characters.

What's a story without a fully-fledged character, especially if they are the main character in a story?

You might have heard people talk about the importance of backstories and others saying too much of it tires them out, but here's the thing—balance. It's what people fail to incorporate. I'll try to cover this in any of my upcoming blog posts. Follow to keep up.

To better understand why we should cry for, laugh with, pity, admire, adore, scold, yell at, advocate for, and smile with your character, we need to know why they are what they are, who they are, and why they make the choices they make.

It's important to create characters with distinct personalities, backgrounds, and motivations. When readers care about the characters, they become more invested in the story and its outcome.

And that's my Christmas gift from me to you 🎁. Merry Christmas 🎄

[finnlongman]

I'm not going to keep going on about this, because I didn't really mean to make a whole Thing of it, but there are two reasons it really bothers me when people say my books should have had a romance plotline/love interest:

They're saying they wish my protagonist's sexuality was different. When somebody says, "I wish this gay book was straight instead so that I could relate to it more," or whatever, we rightfully recognise that as homophobic. When somebody says, "I wish this aroace character had a love interest," people call that a personal preference and make excuses for why that's not the same thing. Given that my protagonist's sexuality is something she shares with me, it feels particularly unkind, because it's essentially saying, "Lives like yours aren't interesting to me, I wish you had a different sexuality." Ouch.

I may have been exaggerating when I said 99.9% of YA books have a romance plotline... but not by much. It is everywhere. If you want a YA book with romance, you don't have to make any effort to find one, because nine times out of ten, whatever book you pick up will have one. It might be the main plot, it might be the subplot, but it'll be there. I was told repeatedly that I would have to have romance if I wanted my YA books to be published, because the category insists on it. So if you want YA books with romance: basically every other book is for you. It's not like it's a rarity that you were hoping I would finally give you. You have the entire cake; leave us our crumbs.

Like I said in the tags on my original post, this wasn't about one specific person or review. Please don't single anybody out if you've seen them say something similar to this. If it happened once, it wouldn't bother me; it's the pattern, and years of being told before publication that I would have to compromise on this element of the story if I wanted to make it, and social media marketing trends that focus almost exclusively on romance tropes and make it hard to engage when you don't have them.

And, on top of that, it's the weird anxiety of knowing that my next book, the Bisclavret retelling, is more romance-heavy, and while I want it to succeed, there's a bittersweetness to the idea that my yearning book might succeed where my aroace books didn't, purely because romance is marketable and friendship isn't.

(Even though I know there are so many other factors -- different genre, different category, different format, different publisher, different style, and a retelling that can appeal to an existing audience rather than my own characters and story that have no prior fanbase. It still feels like the romance will be what makes the difference.)

As I said on Bluesky yesterday, talking about both my fiction and my academic work:

Okay. That's all.