#it doesn't feel like a huge jump for them to be on good terms

[utilitycaster]

My friend has shared with me his dropout and i'm thinking of getting into the dimension 20s; do you have any ranking for them or recommendations? Any notes on the pitfalls or really cool things on any given series/dm's styles? I have to admit i've been a little hesitant to jump in, not just bc i was watching c3 but bc some of the d20 fandom discourse trickled onto my dash and for lack of a better term i "got the ick." I've resolved to myself that it shouldn't matter since i don't engage with dropout fandom anyway, and so we're currently watching mentopolis

Hey anon! So some quick thoughts:

You are correct to simply avoid the fandom, but also...the bad is very, very dumb and obnoxious, but the worst of that fandom skips half the series anyway. if it's not D&D they aren't showing up.

Mentopolis is a great series, great pick.

Of the Intrepid Heroes campaigns (Brennan GMing, cast of Emily Axford, Ally Beardsley, Siobhan Thompson, Lou Wilson, Zac Oyama, Brian Murphy) the only one I didn't care for was Neverafter. A loose ranking is that A Crown of Candy is I think the strongest, and then Fantasy High (3 seasons) vs. The Unsleeping City (2 seasons) are both good and it's just a matter of taste (i think fantasy high is a stronger story, unsleeping city is a stronger and more consistent world, characters are all great, and it mostly comes down to whether you do or do not want to watch a narrative about high schoolers, which is valid). I do like Starstruck Odyssey but it gets VERY chaotic, and I think it's only ranked lower than the previous two because it doesn't have as much time.

Of the sidequests run by Brennan, I am a huge fan of Escape from the Bloodkeep, Pirates of Leviathan and the Seven (both set in the same universe as Fantasy High but you can watch as standalone if you don't mind Fantasy High spoilers), Never Stop Blowing Up, and I haven't seen the latest Dungeons & Drag Queens but I did like the first one a lot.

Of the sidequests run by other GMs: Aabria Iyengar's A Court of Fey and Flowers, Jasmine Bhullar's Coffin Run, and Matt Mercer's Ravening War (ACOC universe prequel) are the strongest ones. I enjoyed Shriek Week at the time but unfortunately the GM turned out to not be a great guy. For more Aabria, Misfits and Magic season 1 was good but it did make me go "you know, I think I'm over the whole Harry Potter pastiche thing, even if this one is done very well" and so I didn't check out the second, but definitely give the first a try if you are interested! I did not personally like Burrow's End but it has a fantastic cast.

Similarly: wasn't a huge fan of Tiny Heist just bc D&D was not a good system for it; it is also a great cast. I feel similarly about Mice and Murder. I have not watched Time Quangle but that's a series of one-shots I think all with Intrepid Heroes characters.

[dennisboobs]

talking to macdennis shippers makes me realize how much more i enjoy charden lmfao

[baphometsss]

We need to talk about spirit hand!Inquisitor

I've been trying to put this into words for a while but it's really tricky to explain. I'm gonna try anyway bc I feel like it's an important discussion to have

First though, a disclaimer: I'm not physically disabled. Everything I'm about to say is based on me trying to relate through my own experiences of mental illness, the experiences of a disabled family member who uses a prosthetic leg, and research into how to write disabled characters properly in my own personal projects (thanks to cripplecharacters blog for helping me understand it better!) So, you know, you can take it or leave it--and please feel free to add your own experiences! This isn't a call out post or anything, I'm just trying to put my thoughts into words and start a conversation in good faith

The problem with fanworks where the inquisitor's wooden prosthetic is replaced by a magic/spirit hand is that it falls into a really tiresome trope where the character has the limb replaced with a magical prosthetic that essentially nixes the disability entirely. It's called the Cool Robot Arm or Perfect Prosthetic trope and it plays into disability erasure in a big way. This is pretty frustrating when you know having a limb amputated is a big deal that comes with a lot of pain and long-term effects, even if the amputation procedure itself was free of complications. Prosthetics are also basically a whole thing of their own, but suffice to say they also come with their risks and problems as well.

The thing with representation is that it needs to reflect real life experiences if its going to approach anything good or meaningful. Video games like Dragon Age often attempt to do this, but they also often miss the mark. I know a lot of disabled (and able-bodied) people want to see better representation of disability in media, but when that fails, we have the opportunity to do better in our fanworks. It feels like a lot DAI/DATV fanworks jump into the magical prosthetic trope far too easily and without very much thought for how it negatively impacts that representation. The Inquisitor becomes disabled through losing their left hand, and that would be a complicated journey for them. This is not a part of their character that can be written away without losing a huge part of their story--regardless of how we role-play them.

For me personally, I try to balance it out by being realistic about both the prosthetic, the spirit hand, and the remaining limb. For example, prosthetics rub and cause blisters and other skin conditions. They can be bulky and heavy and cause musculoskeletal problems. Residual limb pain is thing and can be chronic and debilitating. Learning to use a prosthetic usually requires physical therapy, and some people just prefer not to use prosthetics at all, or only some of the time or for specific tasks. Much of the discourse around prosthetics is focused on making them indistinguishable from a natural limb, when practicality and comfort should really be the focus and not this ableist idea that differently limbed people should want a prosthetic that looks identical to the one that was lost. There are so many potential stories that can be written about this experience, yet we almost never see any of them. My mage Inquisitor has a spirit hand, but she doesn't use it much because it's difficult to maintain both that and use offensive magic in battle, and she doesn't have the mental energy to use it 100% of the time. It's also not that easy to use, even when she does have the energy. She only really uses it occasionally anyway (usually to make random shapes with it to amuse other people) and prefers her prosthetic.

To put it another way--consider how deaf/HoH people who get cochlear implants often continue to use sign language afterwards anyway, even if the procedure was successful. This is because a. it's their first language, which means verbal language is a new language to them and b. gaining hearing after a long period without it can be extremely difficult to adjust to. It can be overwhelming and even painful. The point is that just because aids and treatments exist, it doesn't mean that they're a one size fits all and each individual person will have their own journey in figuring it out. That's one of the things we should be writing about, rather than just nixing it away with a magic limb because it's the easier route and it doesn't require us to consider writing outside of our own experiences. And don't get me wrong, I get that it's scary. You don't wanna upset people with your writing or make them feel even more alienated. But you have to start somewhere and be willing to listen to criticism if you're going to get better.

Furthermore: ableism for sure exists in Thedas. Can you imagine how that would affect the Inquisitor? How they'd adjust from being revered as the Herald of Andraste with a divine mark on their hand to being almost killed by it? How their political enemies would use their disability against them? How they would be affected emotionally by having to deal with that ableism potentially for the first time? Would they find community among other veterans who have become disabled through conflict? Or would they isolate themselves and carry the burden alone? Would they experience mental health issues because of it? These are all examples of how ableism affects real people. Of course, none of this is negated by the spirit hand, but it's something I've seen very little attention given in fanworks.

For me personally, I also try to think of this through my own experiences of mental illness. I have chronic depression/Dysthymia, which is not exactly the same as clinical depression. It follows similar patterns to other mood disorders like Bipolar Disorder in that it's cyclical; my baseline is being moderately depressed, and then every 2 or 3 months I will go into 'double depression' which is where I experience an intensification of symptoms that mimic going into an initial depressed state, while aggravating the symptoms I already have. It's hard to explain it, but suffice to say, it requires me to take medication to control it. I don't like it, but it's the way my brain is wired up and I've been told by multiple professionals that I will always have to take medication for it (antidepressants and antipsychotics, although I don't take the antipsychotics atm). This medication causes a variety of annoying side effects that I have to accept as a trade off so I don't regress too far.

This is just one of the mental health conditions I have to contend with, but it's one that probably effects my life the most. I know it's not comparable to amputation or other physical disabilities and I'm not trying to say it is. But I use it to understand writing for disabled characters by, in conjunction with my research, empathising, by thinking of how much it would bother me if someone wrote about my life and did everything they could to ignore this very prominent part of who I am. I would have to ask why they were so keen to ignore it. Dysthymia doesn't define me, it's not something I'm 'proud' of per se, but it does affect a big part of my life; I've struggled with it every day since I was 10 or 11--so of course it's shaped who I am. I use it to imagine how frustrating it would be if someone tried to cover up or negate this part of me and then dressed it up with something like... idk. Magical anti-depression goggles or something, or worse still decided to make my story all about the goggles. It would make me feel like I wasn't a person with experiences worth writing about, that I would be fine if it weren't for this illness I undeniably have and can't help having. That my illness is akin to a personality flaw--an ableist assumption that Dysthymia sufferers in particular have to deal with, because it's a depression that does not go away and people think it's just our personality rather than an illness.

I personally found these posts x x x really helpful in figuring out how to write my inquisitor. Tbh cripplecharacters is invaluable anyway, especially their 'magic aids' tag for writing Inky. I really strongly recommend that you read them before writing about your inquisitor's prosthetic and their perspective on losing their arm. Listening to actual disabled people when writing disabled characters is the most important part of the process and it'll only make your work better. You really have nothing to lose by doing it.

Like I said, I'm not trying to call anyone out. I have most likely missed the mark just in writing this post, because it's not my personal experience. I do think the spirit hand is a cool concept. It's just not a quick fix and writing about it needs to be done more consciously than I think most people do.

[hearts4golbach]

can you do some hansumfella x black fem reader head cannons?

ABC Fluff Headcanons.

pairing:

Tyler (Hansumfella) x Fem!Reader.

a/n:

based off of a tumblr request, black!fem!reader in mind but not specified.

inspo from @the-coldest-goodbye tumblr.

A- affection. (How affectionate are they? how do they show affection?)

He loves staying inside and ordering food and watching a movie for dates. he doesn't mind going out if you want to, but he prefers staying in on dates. whenever he has the chance, he brings you flowers. he shows his affection through quality time, so he spends as much time with you as he can. whether it be sleeping on the phone or just sitting in silence with you, he loves it.

B- Best friend. (What would they be like as best friend? How would the friendship start?)

you'd bond over movies and similar interests in that realm. he'd invite you to join his stream to either chat or play games with him. you met him at the gym or his old job.

C- Cuddles. (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

if you aren't sleeping and just watching a movie, he would like to spoon. he'd be the big spoon, of course. if you're about to sleep, he likes it whenever you lay on his chest while he has his arms wrapped around you.

D- domestic. (Do they want to settle down? are they good at cooling and cleaning?)

tyler isn't the type to want to jump around to a different girl every month. he wants one long-term relationship. he's not necessarily good at cooking, but he can make good food if he really tries. he keeps his living space very clean. He doesn't like it whenever it's not.

E- ending. (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

he'd sit you down and explain why he thinks you two shouldn't be together. he wouldn't do it over the phone or text unless you fucked up bad.

F- fiance. (how do they feel about commitment? how quick would they want to get married?)

it'd definitely take fella a few years. he isn't scared of commitment, just wants to know that you're for sure the one from him.

G- gentle. (how gentle are they, both emotionally and phsyically?)

Tyler would put on the tough guy act for the first few months of the relationship. he wouldn't come to you about his personal issues right off the bat. although, he's very easy with you physically. his touch isn't rough or mean, he feels nothing but love whenever he looks at you. he's definitely all bark no bite physically.

H- hugs. (Do they like hugs? how often do they do it? what are their hugs like?)

he doesn't like long hugs unless you're side or vise versa. he's a quick hug kind of guy. but, he loves it whenever you wrap your arms around his neck whenever you hug.

I- I love you. (how fast do they say the L-word?)

he'd wait at least two months minimum. he'll show you how much he cares for you in other ways. he would blurt it out randomly, and that would be the very first time he would say it.

J- jealousy. (how jealous do they get? what do they do when they're jealous?)

it would take a lot to make tyler jealous. he doesn't mind when other guys talk to you or flirt, unless you flirt back. if other guys touch up on you, he pulls you out of the conversation. he doesn't get angry, just worried. he checks on you and sees if you're okay before moving on with your day.

K- kisses. (What are their kisses like? where do they like to kiss you?)

he'd kiss you every chance he got. he wouldn't give you a small peck, he'd let his lips longer on yours for a few seconds longer before pulling you away. his favorite places to kiss you would be your lips, cheek, thighs, and shoulder. he'd put his hands on your hips or your neck and cheek when he kisses you.

L- little ones. (How are they around children?)

he's not a huge fan of children, but whenever he spends time with them, he's very kind and funny. he'd treat them like how he treats squash. if they're annoying, he'd honestly try to get out of the situation he's in. but it would be different if they were his own.

M- morning. (How are mornings spent with them?)

fella has a decently structured morning routine. whenever he first wakes up, he's quieter than usual before his energy builds up. if you had stayed the night, he'd lay in bed holding you until you woke up. he'd continue his usual routine, but add you into it as well.

N- Night. (how are nights spent with them?)

he either wouldn't stream that night or do a steam with you included. after the stream is over, you two would lay in bed and talk or watch something. neither of you were fans of staying up to late. if you did, it was spent doing the dirty or drinking together.

O- open. (when would they start revealing things about themselves? would they say everything all at once or slowly reveal things?)

fella would slowly reveal things about himself as your relationship progressed. it'd take a while to work his biggest darkest secrets out of him.

P- patience. (how easily annoyed are they?)

it's nearly impossible to annoy tyler. there's not much you can do to annoy him.

Q- quizzes. (how much would they remember about you? do they remember every little detail or easily forget aspects of you?)

he doesn't forget everything, but he also doesn't remember everything either. he'd remember your favorite song or your favorite make up brand, but he wouldn't remember something that annoyed you that specific day.

R- remember. (what's their favorite moment of your relationship?)

he had gone with you to get your hair done once and has thought about it every day since. he begs to tag along to every appointment because he lives watching the process of you changing your hair.

S- security. (how protective are they? how would they protect you? how would they like to be protected?)

tyler is very protective in his own way. he'd stick up for you whenever you ask him to and when you don't. there aren't many circumstances where you need to protect him. you protect him on stream jokingly whenever people make fun of him.

T- try. (how much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

he puts in effort where it's needed. he makes dates special for you, even if it's staying inside. he will never forget an anniversary and makes sure to plan something extra special. he puts a lot of thought into the gifts he gives you. with everyday tasks, he puts effort in subconsciously.

U- ugly. (What would some bad habits of theirs be?)

he would for sure make your mom jokes towards you, then take it back immediately and apologize. it never phased you, so you laughed about it together.

he also sucks at cleaning up after his streams until you force him to, because you know he hates it being a mess for future steams.

V- vanity. (how concerned are they with their looks?)

he's not overly concerned with his looks. he puts effort in though, which is unneeded in your opinion. although, he takes care of his hair like nothing else.

W- whole. (would they feel incomplete without you?)

absolutely. whenever you're not with him, you plague his mind.

X- Xtra. (a random head canon for them.)

whenever you're cuddling, his voice is very soft and how he speaks to you is the complete opposite of how he is on stream.

Y- yuck. (What are some things they wouldn't like?)

he wouldn't like being submissive during sex or in the relationship all together.

Z- ZZZ. (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

he's a quiet sleeper and drools a bit in his sleep. he also twitches in weird ways that always scare you because you never see it coming.

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

do you think the trio have like messy af breakups outside of each other and then one day run into a shitty ex and their new guard dog gfs go apeshit. idk i just saw ur polyphobia post and had the idea

No but can you IMAGINE a shitty ex going all like "bark bark no one else will want you bark bark only I can put up with your bullshit" and like three years later turns out the other shows up with TWO girlfriends 😭

I think they'd all be very protective of each other always and forever tbh, and considering how shitty Sasha and Marcy's families were (I at least headcanon them that way) they're all used to being on the watch for people who would hurt them and standing up for each other. Of course, being queer already puts a target on your back, but I suppose since this is LA that may be less of a problem (LA is supposed to be progressive, right? Ah, I live in an extremely progressive city in terms of gender and sexuality and I still feel under threat 24/7 so who knows how private they'd want to be?). Being three women in a polyamorous relationship may be the thing people cling to to harrass them. They mainly don't take them seriously, and either ascribe it to being an unhealthy trauma response (an obsessive, codependent relationship) or a childish game they'll eventually grow out of to enter real relationships perhaps with men oops

So their shitty exes probably mock them more than anything. That is, if they go out of their way to say anything. It's just as likely that Sasha will boldly walk up to them and start a fight simply from hearing Anne or Marcy mumble something about an ex sitting there in the other booth. Not that Sasha never finds herself in the position of being defended - I HC she used to date more guys than girls before finally getting together with her girls, which means she'd rather deal with the worst of her exes herself, no need to expose her beautiful girls to gross boys and men. So imagine her surprise when Anne and Marcy jump to scare off the guy insisting on getting back together with her, just showing up on either side of her holding onto her arms and letting him know she's very much taken. This probably happened more than once, each time being the moment they (her exes) realize she was serious about being bisexual 😭 unless she's now dating girls to spite them specifically, another common assumption. Typical cishet man behavior. What else is new. Anyway. Sasha now has to get used to the feeling of being Protected (and wanted! wanted! wanted!)

As for Anne and Marcy, lesbians that they are, probably had these huge dramatic breakups that were definitely influenced by their past trauma. I imagine Anne might have dated around a lot more than Marcy, and I remember this HC going around abt Marcy having only had one long term relationship before that ended on her being cheated on (betrayed! betrayed! betrayed!) so that's what I'm going for. Whoever this is is probably back in Massachusetts so random meetings in LA are unlikely, though that doesn't stop Sasha and Anne from stalking her online after hearing Marcy's story and maybe being less than nice to her on Twitter. Their accounts get suspended but it's worth it.

Anne on the other hand... she went through a comphet phase in highschool so you got some shitty ex boyfriends to pick up from there, though the worst were girls from college. None of them were that bad - she's good at setting and enforcing boundaries and can usually tell pretty early on when someone is alright, but still, she got the average highschool experience of being cheated on once or twice (though she didn't care much), and then the not so average college experience of your girlfriend plagiarizing your research paper. The offense may seem less personal, but it made Anne so much more mad. The screaming matches were legendary. The fact that it happened like three times is what got her to stop dating until she was out of college, but by then, like three of her exes were colleagues she had to work with, and they've become sooooo passive-aggressive. Kept talking shit about her to other colleagues too. If they found their tires slashed one day after Anne got rejected for a research project, you can guess pretty easily who were resposible.

[wyldblunt]

Hi, it is 6 AM here and I have to sleep but I'm writing to you to let you know that I'm very concerned about what I've been reading in the past day.

I heard of the gwg/Logan incident on the day of it happening, but that's not really what I'm worried about. What concerns me is what seems like a consistent & long term systematic marginalization of POC in GW2 fan spaces. To be honest I'm not that surprised, I've had my suspicions since 2020.

I'm not active on GW2 tumblr or any social media at all, other than posting the Tyria Pride announcements once a year, so I don't have much impact outside of the Tyria Pride discord, but I still want to do something. I have some ideas, and am also always open to suggestions.

I would love to chat at some point (it doesn't have to be now, and I totally get it if you're not interested). The Tyria Pride discord isn't huge but it isn't small either, and maybe I have some influence that I can use for good.

Lelling

Tyria Pride Lead

P.S.: I know this can be a source of exhaustion so please do not worry about tone policing yourself or rewording your reply for ages to be "just right", if you do reply to me. (I just spent an hour doing that so I get it, it is now 7 AM). I'm on your side. I'll meet you where you're at.

hey — i hope you don't mind that i'm posting this publicly, but i want to because waking up to this message was a huge relief to me. and as i've tried to explain in other conversations about this, i KNOW there are LOTS of people who have been really uncomfortable through this entire convo but have not felt willing or able to speak up publicly (bc of open threats of ostracization for "being mean" AND observed behavior towards those of us who have said anything) and i hope that reading this will be a relief to them too.

thank you not only for reaching out but also for GETTING what our actual concerns are, bc one of my biggest frustrations through all of this has been people repeatedly twisting the issue so they can dismiss it as squabbling about fiction and then they don't actually have to address the broader patterns we're talking about here; thank you for the assurance that i won't be tone policed, because that's been repeatedly used against us as well ("okay i guess you guys are making some good points but you're being so ANGRY"); and thank you for acknowledging how tiring this is, because i've been made to feel like if i don't keep showing up and being vocal about this, leaving behind mostly the white allies who have been sticking up for us and using their privilege to make corrections and take some of the brunt of the ridicule and backlash, the whole thing will be dismissed as a non-issue anyway. and frankly i don't fucking want to anymore! i'm tired lol!

but i also wanted to springboard off this really kind and reassuring message from you to say it isn't the only one i've received, and that as angry and exhausted as i am, i want to highlight and acknowledge that i have NOT been alone in this. people have been checking in on me, listening to what i and others have to say about it and boosting our statements, changing their minds if they jumped to conclusions earlier, and offering private support and conversation among those of us who still don't feel comfortable braving the environment out here on tumblr — obviously the bad experiences i've had through this are sticking in my head and are really demoralizing, but honestly in terms of quantity and quality i have had MORE experiences of people supporting me and making sure i'm okay. this fandom has massive problems but it also has more of a solid, positive core than i was willing to hope for in the beginning.

i spoke up initially because it was horrible how isolated i felt when this all kicked off; the wider problem is absolutely not fixed, but i can confidently say i don't feel alone or abandoned anymore, and that gives me a ton of hope for figuring this out.

[facilitatingmyaddiction]

I need to be honest: I really hope Byler is endgame because Byler makes me hate Mike less.

This is a long rant, and this whole post is gonna sound full of vitriol, but BEAR WITH ME, I HAVE A POINT.

I hate Mike's character so much, the show does him so dirty, S3 was THE WORST and S4 was only better because of the Byler implications, because otherwise he still sucks

Allow me to rant after the cut before you guys jump onto me, ok?

He used to be the leader of the party, and in S3 he does NOTHING, and seasons 3 and 4 seem to go out of their way to show DUSTIN (my pookie, this kid is the GOAT, no one say NUTHIN' bout him) as the leader instead of Mike, which like, makes Mike kinda disappear into Mileven? He goes from leader of the party to El's only safe haven, and that bothers me so freaking much. It's a disservice to both their characters IMO. El gets stuck being the only one who can do anything to save the day, and Mike gets stuck being the only one who can be there for her. I don't think it is a coincidence that they get separated for most of S4, because I think if they were together the whole time, the plot would stop moving. Mileven in canon feels like being in a relationship just because you don't know what you would do if both of you weren't together, not because you actually like each other.

Now if Byler IS endgame, everything feels more cohesive. Mike is an asshole, yes, but not because that's who he is - he is an asshole because things are changing and he is hurting his best friend and he is really bothered by that but he doesn't know how to fix it. He avoids saying stuff not because he doesn't want to, but because it feels wrong and he doesn't understand how. He didn't want to play D&D with Will in S3, and he said it was because he was maturing, but as soon as he enters high school, he finds a D&D club and is super dedicated towards it. Lucas has his big game and Mike doesn't even think to negotiate with Eddie to move the last session around so they could all watch the game AND have the finale of the campaign - clearly D&D is, still, a huge priority for him, despite him being technically older and more mature now. Yes, he is still a dick for replacing Lucas at the last session, but this assholery puts his previous assholery ("Did you think we would be in my basement playing games the rest of our lives?") into a new perspective. He STILL cares about D&D, it is STILL super important for him. So why was he doing all that in S3? Makes you question, and that's good! Also very interesting how this priority only comes back once El is not around anymore. It's like he is back to his little bitchy S2 self, maybe trying to get back to the way he was back then.

S3 Mike is overprotective of El because, according to him, he "loves her and doesn't want to lose her". But, if my interpretation of Canon!Mileven is correct, he might be actually scared of what not being with her means for him. If Dustin is more of a party leader than he is, if he and Will are not on good terms, and he doesn't play D&D anymore, that means he's not Leader Of The Party Mike, nor Mike The DM, nor Will's Best Friend Mike. That leaves him as Protector of El Mike. So, he's overprotective, because that's who he's supposed to be, now, right? That's what having a girlfriend means, right? Lucas and Max are always together, and they are dating. So Mike should be there with her and for her, always. If El breaks up with him, who is he then?

So he fights to get her back. And since he's fighting to get her back, that probably means he loves her, right? When someone breaks up with you, and you still want them, no, NEED them back, that means you love them, right?

But then she leaves, and he can'tdo anything about it. And Will leaves, too. And suddenly, he's not missing the time he spent with El. Something feels wrong, and he's still a little bitch to everyone around him, but it's not because of EL. He talks to El, he writes her letters, they keep in touch. And he doesn't miss her. He should, because she's his girlfriend, and he's supposed to be missing her, so he complains about not being able to call her on the phone, but he doesn't try to solve that problem like he did in S2 when he didn't even know for sure if El was alive. S2 Mike would move the Earth to be able to talk to El. S4 Mike thinks just getting on a plane to see her in the summer is enough. A letter every once in a while instead of a phone call is enough. "From Mike." is enough. S4 Mike didn't implode while not having El, like he thought he would, so things change. He's not as protective anymore because he doesn't need to be. The last year was enough proof that he could still be who he is without El, so he has another angle to self-reflect.

If Byler is endgame, then S4 Mike being an asshole to El after she defended herself in the rink is less of him just being a shitty boyfriend and is instead him being mad at himself for neglecting his friends and his own self to take care of her when she truly doesn't need him, even without her powers - and then taking it out on El. He understands that he is pissed, he is prompted to make amends (iirc he didn't go talk to El out of his own volition, he just did it after he saw how Will was reacting to how bad he was treating El) and he can't. But he CAN make amends to the one he thinks he actually wronged: Will.

I hope we get to see a healthier (platonic) relationship between Mike and El in S5. I'd love to see Mike stop being the little asshole that he is after understanding himself a little better. It would put a nice bow in things because GOD MIKE YOU ARE SO ANNOYING AND SUCH A JERK RIGHT NOW.

[cosmic--dandelion]

Something I think a lot of people forget about Stolas and Blitzø is how much "Ozzies" changes their dynamic.

Before that, they're a patron and a client. Stolas might indulge in some not strictly sexual damsel-in-distress fantasies, and Blitzø might occasionally match Stolas's absurdly horny energy, and there's s few hints at affection here and there, but at the end of the day, Blitzø wants the book and Stolas wants to be the sub in a bdsm relationship, and that's that.

Their "date" at Ozzies turned their entire affair on its head. Stolas is alone and miserable at his huge empty mansion; Octavia is his only emotional outlet, and Stella's whisked her off somewhere.

He has no friends, no family who actually care about him aside from his daughter, and he's not even close to his servants like he was as a child. Stolas is desperate for any positive social interaction. Then Blitzø calls out of nowhere, asking him on a date. Stolas literally chokes on his Lucky Charms he'd so desperate to get to the phone.

Stolas is in full infatuation mode. This is probably his first real date in his entire life. He was forced into an arranged marriage with a cold, hateful woman and became a father against his will when he was around 19 at most. So he shows up dressed like he's about to be crowned Emperor of the Universe and even bows to Blitzø. Again, just like in "Loo Loo Land," he'd completely oblivious to how obviously unenthusiastic, distracted, and borderline uncomfortable Blitzø is.

Blitzø is legitimately taken aback when Stolas starts trying to make conversation and shows interest in his personal life beyond the carnal. This isn't some sort of machiavellian scheme on Stolas's part. He's being completely sincere. But he's ultimately still projecting his fantasies onto Blitzø instead of actually engaging with him, only this time they're romantic instead of sensual.

Shit goes down, and goes down HARD. Not only does Stolas hide his face in shame when Asmodeus publicly exposes their affair, Blitzø gets it rubbed in *his* face that their "arrangement" destroyed Stolas's reputation and family and is even starting to turn his own daughter against him.

Stolas tries to salvage the evening, but it's way too late.

"Stolas, don't act like what we have is anything but you wanting me to fuck you. You make that very clear all the time. Buf I just can't tonight. I'm sorry."

This is single-handedly one of the best call outs in the entire series, and HOLY SHIT does it hit home. It throws Stolas into a complete tailspin, and he probably came close to drinking himself to death that night. It's what he always does, burying himself headlong into whatever he thinks will bring him temporary happiness until whoever he's dragged along with him practically has to scream in his face.

It's telling that the very first thing he does is scroll through his phone to reassure himself that he and Blitzø have something more, only to see that Blitzø doesn't look happy in any of his photos, and he was deluding himself the whole time. Ouch. A well-deserved ouch, but an ouch nevertheless.

I think this is where Stolas actually starts to develop feelings for Blitzø, or at least realizes he has them.

Before this, their affair was more of a distraction and an outlet for his pent-up sexual frustration. Stolas went from being so emotionally and physically repulsed by his own wife he had to dissociate when Octavia was conceived to jumping right into a hardcore bdsm contract with a near complete stranger. It's incredibly cathartic for him, but not necessarily good for his mental health. It leaves him deeply psychologically dependent on Blitzø but unable to put aside the kinky bedroom stuff for the basic emotional labor and personal growth a serious, long-term relationship needs to function. For now.

Stolas changes after this. Not all at once, but the lesson sank in. It sinks in even further in "Western Energy". We see that Blitzø has been responding to his walls of text with one or two word replies and blows off his rather tepid apologies and attempts to be considerate. He doesn't visit him in the hospital, doesn't text him more than a half-hearted "git bevver swoon :(".

If Stella hadn't called off the hit, his last words would have been: "Blitzø will...[save me]", followed by a knife through the heart.

Stolas treats Blitzø VERY differently in season 2. While he'll still call him "Blitzy" on occasion, it's hard to imagine the Stolas in "Seeing Stars" or "Oops" calling him his "impish little plaything" or pinching his cheek or embarassing him in public. Stolas is trying so hard not to step on Blitzø's boundaries ar this point that it actually seems to annoy Blitzø, who's so convinced that Stolas could never love him that he seems like he'd almost rather things stay as they were. For all his good intentions, Stolas hasn't given Blitzø any reason to trust or forgive him, at least not yet. Bur he's trying, and I think that's important.

In my opinion, whether you have faith in this relationship ultimately depends on if you think people can truly change.

[bibibbon]

Now about Tenya:

. Tenya is practically known for being punctual, but in an exaggerated way, since he always does everything to arrive at the place at the promised time, so much so that he is one of the first students to arrive at school. He ends up criticizing those who are late, only earning annoyance from his classmates, something he does not understand.

. Tenya has a huge idolization of his brother, Tensei. But Tensei is a little bothered to see his brother treating him like a god, he is always trying to get Tenya to stop this exaggerated admiration. This is also noticed by their mother.

. Tenya is autistic and has an OCD when it comes to keeping everything organized, to the point where he gets really irritated by people who are disorganized. A fact is that when he was a child, he almost had a breakdown when he noticed the whole room was messy after the art activity. He always leaves his belongings and clothes organized. He says he wants to leave everything ready for tomorrow.

. Tenya doesn't have a good relationship with his father, a former hero and head of the Ingenium Agency. This is because his father puts excessive pressure on his son, in addition to setting goals that Tenya does everything he can to achieve. One fact is that Tenya got an 8 on a math test and his api didn't speak to him for a week. As for his mother, she always wants to please him, and comfort Tenya while he cries and vents about his father's pressure, which always ends with her preparing hot chocolate and cookies for him.

. Tenya doesn't have many friends, only Ochako and Izuku at middle school, since he's always criticizing and trying to bring order, making his classmates tired of his attitudes, something that makes no one want to come to him to talk or ask him out. Tenya doesn't understand this, besides it hurts him a lot.

. Tenya always carries two spare glasses in case he breaks or loses the one he is using. He also always carries orange juice in his backpack during physical activities.

. Tenya does a lot of artistic gymnastics, which explains his muscular body and how good he is at jumping and falling. He soon gains a training partner (Izuku), since he also does this type of sport, requested by All MightStar.

. Tenya and Izuku didn't start off on the best of terms, as Izuku was incredibly able to answer questions faster than Tenya, and also got a higher grade than Tenya. This resulted in Tenya seeing Izuku as a rival, but they soon came to an understanding and became friends.

. Tenya is still amazed when he sees All MightStar in the living room of Izuku's house, especially when he sees him cleaning and carrying a basket of clothes. Izuku always laughs at Tenya's reactions.

What do you think? (Sorry for the long asks, I'm glad you're interested in my rewrite)

Hi @lorddog45 👋

I love how you're sticking to Tenya's Canon characterisation, making him a die-hard rule follower because he thinks and has been taught that it's both the best and right thing to do. I wonder how you would choose to present his conflict when he does learn that said rules aren't always the best at protecting people and aren't always the right thing.

I love the Canon focus on just how much tenya admires his brother, and I hope that with this admiration, we get to see more of tensei and how tensei feels about the hero world in general. Do you think tensei would try and sheild his brother, lead him to believe that nothing can go wrong if rules are followed? Do you think after tensei's attempted murder that he would be more honest with tenya and give him advice about the cruelty and dark truths of hero society?

The autistic and ocd tenya headcanons are to die for!!!! I always headcanoned him as autistic so I'm glad to see that others think this as well.

Tenya and shoto parallels!!! The strict father who holds way too much over the child's head drowning them in expectations that will most likely hinder and squander their potential in the processs. I am surprised that tenya still wants to be a hero after all of this maybe that's a nice contrast he has to shoto who until izuku convinced him and reminded him of why he enjoyed all Might didn't have much feelings to becoming a full fledged hero that would use both his quirks to their fullest potential

Desire for order and peace but also the desire to be seen as friendly and good clashing with tenya. Tenya not understanding how him simply wanting to do what he believes is good is harming him and everyone else.

This is Canon to me!!! Tenya does indeed carry and have a stack of glasses that he just knows he will need them because of the amount of times he has broken his glasses and he keeps a few bottles of orange juice that he sometimes ends up giving to ochako or izuku

Artistic gymnastic tenya!!!! Never thought of that but it makes sense and izuku getting inspired and becoming his partner is such a great idea and mirrors Canon how izuku was inspired by tenya's flexibility on how he moved his legs and started to incorporate that in his hero fighting style. I feel like ochako would join them as well and they would start to mesh both ballet and gymnastics

Tenya and izuku one sided rivalrly from tenya who thinks izuku is trying to one up him and also admires izuku while izuku just thinks tenya hates him and sometimes gets reminded of bakugo

Tenya being an all Mightstar fan and forgetting that his friend has all mightstar as their adopted parent mirror's izuku and how much he loves heroes and how izuku would definitely go into an analytical fan ramble whenever he meets tensei

[blue-rose-soul]

How would the Sins take learning about Alastor being Lucifer's son? Alastor may not have met them in the main AU, but I imagine in the Raised Together AU, Alastor met them fairly young. Poor little Deer, those guys are huge even when they try to shrink down some!

God I wish we could see Helluva Boss characters in Hazbin Hotel.

Asmodeus and Bee being as friendly as they are and Charlie having Belphegor's number in her phone makes me think those three at least are on good terms with Lucifer and his family. Not entirely sure about Mammon, he's probably the weird uncle who you nod along politely too as he describes his latest MLM scam and then make some excuse not to sign up without hurting his feelings. And there's not much to speculate on with the other Sins, but I'll go out on a limb and say Lucifer probably wouldn't bring Satan around his kids when they're on the younger side.

Not that he was rushing to introduce Alastor to the Sins in the beginning anyway. Alastor was pretty freaked out by the fact he became a demon when he was brought to hell, but at the very least Lucifer, Lilith, and Charlie are fairly human-ish looking. Strange, for sure, but not terribly frightening on their own. That is, if you don't know what they're capable of. Even so, it took Alastor a good while to adjust to suddenly being in a new world with magic and demons and the Sins, well... From a human kid's point of view, they look like monsters. So Lucifer and Lilith weren't rushing to introduce Alastor to them.

I like to imagine Lucifer telling them he had a new kid wasn't entirely intentional too. Like he was in a meeting that went sideways, nursing a migraine, and at some point had to jump up on the table in full angel mode and yell at everyone to shut up and sit down, this meeting has gone on long enough and he wants to get home to his kids dammit! And then he realizes what he said after a good ten seconds of blank staring.

Cue a bunch of chaotic demons bombarding Lucifer with questions that have absolutely nothing to do with why they were holding the meeting in the first place while our dear fallen angel wants to cry.

It would be a few years before Lucifer would let any of the Sins come meet Alastor, and the first ones he would invite would be Asmodeus and Beelzebub for aforementioned reasons. (I mean, maybe the other Sins are just as friendly, but as I said, I have nothing to work with as far as the rest of them go.) They come bearing gifts for both kids, but Alastor's pretty much squeezing Charlie's hand the whole time despite being forewarned that they were coming and having seen pictures of them in advance. Asmodeus brought kid-friendly toys covered in hearts and other cute shapes while Bee loaded them with enough sugary treats to put down two school buses full of grade school kids.

I think that normally, Alastor would have been a very outgoing and friendly kid, but in the wake of everything that's happened he's become more withdrawn and timid. While Asmodeus and Bee might be a bit much for him at first, both are surprisingly adept at reading and responding to other people's emotions. Hell, Bee can literally taste them. So although they come on strong, it doesn't take long for them to read the mood and take a more gentle approach when it comes to Alastor, though Charlie responds better to their boisterous energy.

[king-crawler]

Recently when I tried to figure out why Turbo went, well Turbo I realized something. At first I came to the conclusion that it was because of his code, but then I remembered the plot of the movie and completely scrapped it (though there might still be some merit with it). Then i thought that “hey, this fucker has been surrounded by picters of himself since he was plugged in, hes the star of the show, so of course he would get a huge ego out of it, said ego also being his subsequent down fall, but why diden't Felix also fall in the same trap? he was the hero of his game too”. And I think it's because he wasn't alone. Now I'm not gonna overshadow the twins. They're there too but considering how Turbo treated them in the little screen time we got to see them together I doubt that they were on good terms, they might have been in the games early days but I digress.

Felix, unlike Turbo, had friends within his game, a small community to look out for him just as he does for them. They made him pies, dedicated parties to him, cherished him, but Turbo?. Who was gonna bake him pies? Who was gonna throw parties for him? Who was gonna cherish him? The Twins? FUCK no. And i think that's what tipped him over the edge, his ego made him push oway his friends and coworkers just to get a sliver of stardom. And when he had all the attention ripped oway from him by another racing game had to have been his last straw (you saw the face he pulled in the flashback. God, just imagine seeing one of your neighbors destroy their own career live, in broad daylight too, must have been horrifying). I love a good character that just dooms themselves to the narrative with their own actions (Turbo was a whore for the limelight).

Going a bit of topic here but “going Turbo” wouldn't work if it was any other main character in the movie, “going Ralph” just doesn't work. Could be because “Turbo” isn't really a name, it's a word, the name of his game, “Turbo Time”. So my proposal is that whenever there is an au where say, Calhoun game jumps (for whatever reason) they call it solo mission. “You're not going on a solo mission are you?” sounds more riveting, to me, and in character for Calhoun. Perhaps that was the last thing she said to her men before she left. For Vanellope id imagen something like “going on a sugar rush” and something about crashing. Because when the sugar rush ends you typically crash.

And that gave me another thought, how many “Turbos” are there out there? How many characters went outside their game or against their script on working hours. How many of these incidents were considered bugs or glitches (how many were turned into creepypastas). It feels like a huge liability risk and the only instances of us hearing about it is with Turbo, which I find strange. Is it like a silent rule? That no one is allowed to leave their game and that's it? That's a super thin line, like yeah you can argue that its there to keep them alive but who told them that? And the second movie doesn't help that, it's just, eurghhh, i don't like the second movieeeee… But it does give the homeless game characters a chance to find a potential new home. There's so much out there in the wilde wilde internet to explore and find new potential in, to not be tied to the arcade has to be a bit liberating for some :)

Sorry for the sudden rant, I just got a kick and could not not write this down.

DONT BE SORRY !! GO OFF!!!! THESE ARE REALLY COOL DISCUSSION POINTS

The whole turbo vs Felix thing really stuck out to me. Turbo Living in a game with only 2 other people who hate him ? While Felix gets praise and attention from dozens? No wonder Turbo went haywire 👀 like do you think he envied Felix ………

[lostintimestbh]

Harlivy head canons

Harley can only cook pancakes. She is unable to make anything else. So instead she annoys Ivy while she makes dinner.

Ivy pretends to hate the hyenas. They are loud and smelly. They drool everywhere. And they pee in her plant pots. But, when Harleys not there she cuddles them and treats them like babies.

Selina randomly breaks into their house, steals snacks and then leaves. She has broken in to find them doing...things...many, MANY times.

Ivy has internalized homophobia. She hates who she is and can't come to terms with it. Harley is kind about it. She comforts her often.

Harley will call Ivy every 2 hours or so if their not together. She is very clingy

Harley often barges into the Legion of Doom, annoying everyone and causing general chaos. She does it cuz she gets bored when Ivy is away. Ivy normally has to stop Harley from annoying the other villains.

Ivy HATES PDA. Yet, when at home, she becomes a big teddy bear who drowns Harley in kisses and cuddles.

Ivy is a HUGE softie. If they go out and Harley see's something she wants Ivy will steal it for her. Harley doesn't even have to beg for it. Ivy says she does it cuz she like to practice her heist skills. Harley knows its because she's a push-over.

Harley often says she's found a new movie for them to watch. She says its feel good comedy. Its a horror. Ivy watches the films and jumps, covers her eyes, and snuggles into Harley the whole time. Ivy doesn't really get scared most of the time, but she loves how Harley giggles when she snuggles into her. So she does it anyway.

Harley and Ivy organize park clean ups and tree planting days (When their not doing evil things) Ivy is grateful that Harley wants to help her. Harley finds cleaning up rubbish incredibly boring, but, Ivy smiles the whole time and gets super cheerful. So Harley does it anyway. For her green thumbed girl.

Tell me if you want more HC of these two or other characters. Feel free to ask questions and I will answer them from their point of view!

[my-castles-crumbling]

Anon Advice Asks - February 3rd

w anon, misunderstanding anon (new), thoughts anon (tw: abuse), confession ig anon (new), guess anon (tw: abuse)

W Anon

Hey cas!

Not exactly a vent today, it's writing advice/support

I have this idea for a marauders fic I wanna write. Its something I think I could write well and I want to create it for other people to read. But I haven't written a lot of fanfic, mostly because I feel weird writing about charecters other people see differently. And not in the jkr sense like idc so much abt og authors tho I do plan to follow some canon, more the problem is I just feel really hesitant to put my work up in a place where other people *also* write about the exact same charecters and have equal rights to me in terms of its not like they're my charecters, because I don't want other people's vision to affect mine. Idk. I know I could just not share but I feel like it fills a hole in the vast tapestry of fan fic cause if it didn't, I could just go read abt it instead of having to write it. I went through a list of all the named marauders Era charecters and figured I'd pick a couple to use that don't feel so fleshed out in fanon so that I don't have to stress abt that aspect of it. Basically I love barty as a charecter and I feel like my idea of him matches enough that I can write him, but not so much like remus or lily or like Marlene and Mary and the other female charecters? Especially for the girls there seems to be so little Canon but they always seem written so complexely it scares me.

Also parents by yungblud was actually written by barty I don't make the rules.

-W

Honestly, I think you should write about and post about whoever you want! Why do other people in fandom have more of a right to characters than you do? (Hint: they don't.) You have every right to write characters how you want, and I guarantee you that someone out there will love how you write them BECAUSE it's different. And anyone who doesn't can use the back button or fuck right off.

______________

Misunderstanding Anon

Okay. So, I accidentally had a small misunderstanding with an only partial acquaintance at the time and it accidentally turned into one of the biggest lies I've ever told?

At first I just let it go because like... what does it matter? It's not like it's really going to make a difference anyway? And we're not even friends so who cares?

But now we're like months into our relationship and what had started off as it wouldn't matter has slowly turned into, well fuck how am I supposed to tell him now??

And it's not a big lie either! As an example it would be like he assumed I was vegetarian and I wasn't, but now it gets brought up so much and my anxiety had just kinda forced me into pretending it's true so now I'm like fuck is this my life from now on?

Because it's gotten to the point where it just feels like this HUGE secret and I know you'll say to come clean, but what if he hates me for lying this whole time?

I could try to explain that it really was a misunderstanding at first, and I know it wasn't right of me to not correct it when things started getting serious, but he's so big about honesty and I'm just so worried this would make us fall apart?

Its just over something SO stupid and I have no idea what I'm going to do??

*anyone else seeing this is free to jump in too if you have thoughts😭*

Hi <3

Okay so this is honestly (ha) a really hard situation because there's no easy answer. But let's think of the possibilities.

Let's say you don't say anything. Then from there, he could either never find out and you continue to feel guilty like this (doesn't sound fun) or he DOES find out, but from someone else. I think probably wouldn't end up good.

Let's say you DO say something. He could get mad, yeah. But at least you're in control of when and where that happens. And maybe if you write something out, similarly to how you did here, he'll understand and your relationship will be okay.

So yea...there's no easy decision. But I'm not gonna lie, I think you should tell him. Especially if it's a small thing, I think the odds are you can get through it if you tell him on your own.

_____________________

Thoughts Anon

Hi hon <3

I'm so sorry about what happened with you and V.

Here's the thing, I'm not sure how much YOU can do. If V's parents are doing something abusive (like...from a legal standpoint) then what I would suggest is to have V's friend who lives nearby report them. But ONLY do that if you're sure you can prove the abuse. Because if not, that'll just piss them off more.

If you can't prove abuse, then the best thing to do, sadly, is to wait. Because if you keep trying to contact her, her parents could see and it could make them angrier. Try to stay in contact with her through her friend to know she's okay and leave it at that. I'm sure she'll eventually find a way to contact you <3

________________________

Justify Anon

Hi, it's justify anon again (sorry)

So one of my close school friends had to fly out to another country the other day because her grandpa was ill (it's the middle of the term, so not really convenient) and I found out this morning that he died. You don't have to answer this if it's triggering or upsetting or anything, but if you do, I'd really appreciate it if you could give me some advice on how to be there for her when she comes back.

Thank you, I hope you have a great day <3

Hi <3

I think just reminding her that you're there to talk to, and also asking questions about good memories of him. I've found that people who've lost loved ones tend to like to talk about the good times, like relive good memories. So you can be there to listen to those <3

_________________

Confession ig anon

I'm just gonna put the first part of your ask

hey cas, I've sent some asks before but under a diff name, because this isn't smth I want to really talk about a lot it's just kind of a confession ig?

Okay I'm not trying to negate your feelings at all, but i'm going to very gently suggest that maybe you're confusing enjoying attention with actual feelings. It's okay to enjoy attention, but that doesn't mean you have genuine feelings of attraction, you know? And like you said...hormones can do crazy things. I say this because when you mention him, you have only talk about how he treats you, not anything about him or who he is as a person.

So maybe you can keep in mind how you like to be treated, and look for someone who treats you that way, that you also like as a person and is healthy for you.

______________________

Guess Anon

Hi Cas,

Guess Anon here

It's okay that you didn't see it - I was debating sending this for a good week before I saw him and only plucked up the courage the night before so its mostly my fault - I know you get a lot of asks as well too.

I just don't want him to find out that I'm repeatedly lying to him cause that'll make him more and more angry, and trust me that isn't safe.

Luckily my sister goes back to University soon, and generally he only sees us when its the both of us rather than just one kid, so hopefully I wont have to see him until whenever my sister visits. I also rely on him a bit (?) He pays like £13 child support per kid per month - but only if the kid is in education, hence why he's still paying for my sister thats in Uni - which means as soon as he knows that I'm not in college, my mum will receive £13 less - which yes, isnt much, but also we are really poor. He could pay more and I know he could, when we go out he's always buying me and my sister stuff (probably to lovebomb(?) us into hanging out with him)

I hope that when he finds out, he isn't violent, but this is the man that was very violent to me when I was a baby, so I know my hopes wont mean shit to him.

When he finds out, and if he is angry, I will probably message you if thats okay, and I'll come off of anon (obv you probably know who it is already, this is more for when you share it etc)

Thank you again Cas

Yes please keep me updated! Just remember that whatever you need to do to stay safe- lying, staying away from him, whatever, is totally valid. You don't owe him anything.

[rxttenfish]

How do the merfolk sound like? What kinds of noises can they make?

the short answer is: real big and spooky

it's actually kind of relevant to this chapter in caecilian, mostly because i realized there was a lot more focus that'd have to be put onto merfolk language here with aaravi's particular... Interaction. in longer terms, their vocalizations are complex and multi-faceted, utilizing the full breadth of sound available to them and within the medium of water.

merfolk have an incredibly large vocal organ that spans the length down their throat and to the bottom of their ribs. i haven't fully detailed out how it works because i still need to do a lot more research on specifically underwater vocalizations (and my personal pet theory that i think this is extremely under-researched for marine life beyond whales...), but i know it's huge, complex, and extremely important for merfolk interactions. it's capable of producing a wide variety of sounds, both high-frequency and low-frequency, and is capable of achieving some impressive volume.

it also means they're capable of closed-mouth vocalizations, which is why you get those descriptions of merfolk talking with their mouth closed and why holding their mouth closed won't necessarily stop them from speaking. for most merfolk, it's the norm. i'm not sure how much they actually use their mouth itself for vocalizations? their lips aren't very mobile, they don't like to reveal their teeth a whole lot, they don't have cheeks and have a much weaker seal for suction than a mammal. the most they use it for is the noise produced by snapping their jaws or clattering their teeth together.

merfolk also have some impressive auditory capabilities to match. this is another thing that i really need to do more research in... but it's also why their earfins are like that. merfolk very much did end up co-opting their external gills to also perform as external ears. they were already serving a role as a sensory organ, able to pick up vibrations in the water, temperature, differences in depth, etc etc, so it wasn't a huge jump to make, especially when they're already in the same place as the ear (since they're external gills. and earbones are modified gill arches). they almost certainly have some sort of "fat pad" in their internal ears as well to help pick up on vibrations as well — and there seems to be evidence that, because fish live in water and hearing is just a means of detecting vibrations, and as opposed to air which doesn't carry those vibrations as well as water, they can just... use their entire bodies as an ear? again, really need to go into it, but also i can't help but feel this is going to be woefully under-researched to begin with.

i've gone back and forth on it, especially with that research i still need to do... but the structure of the external gills themselves also helps act as an external ear. as in, they're large and sensitive to help them have this wide range of hearing and sound on land as well, potentially also helping in the water?, and help to guide sound back to their inner ear, with their ability to reposition themselves assisting to "refine" that sound. this is also an additional benefit to the cheek fluff and why i put it there in the first place. it serves the same purpose as the facial disk on an owl, further refining and detailing those sounds and providing multi-dimensionality. again, don't know how well this will hold up underwater! still need to work on that! but it's there!

anyhow. all of this is important, because merfolk are most adapted for long-range sound. visibility is poor in even the clearest of ocean water, and they're already playing with long distances between themselves and everything else and long distances even between other merfolk. light doesn't penetrate very far in water, and they can't rely on their sight even in good conditions, made worse if they dive to pursue prey or for safety or for any other reason. they're also highly social, with high social cohesion allowing them to hit far above their own weight and working together with more merfolk had greatly compounding positive effects on their own survival. they need to stay in touch, they need to work together, they need to know what other merfolk are doing and to reinforce those bonds.

most merfolk vocalizations, then, follow in the same trend as other large marine animals. they're noted as sounding very "musical", with similar long, haunting songs as whales and leopard seals, although with distinct features that makes it easy to tell them apart at a distance. they tend on the deeper side - they're large animals, and their vocal organs are large, and those deeper sounds travel further too. i've compared them to sounding like what a whale mixed with a tiger or crocodile would sound like, or to the person version of a cello or bass. it might be described as "growly", but think like how someone with a very low, smooth voice might still be described that way. they do have some infrasonic rumbles as an important component of their typical repertoire, so they can also come off like standing too close to a bass speaker. you can usually feel a merfolk talking as much as hear them.

however, compounding this is the complexity of their vocalizations. most merfolk have a tendency to "play" with sound - stretching it out further than it has to be, or trying to make syllables rhyme when they don't, things very odd for a human to listen to. it's like they're trying to sing but there's no rhythm or beat to it yet, disjointed sound that's almost a tune but not there yet. accents complicate this further, although the full diversity tends to be lost on landfolk, because this usually manifests in them "playing" with their words slightly differently, producing slightly different almost-songs.

they also tend to just play with sound in the typical way. merfolk retain a heightened degree of playfulness throughout their entire lives, with a high neuroplasticity to match, and so they get an urge to "remix" sounds or just to roll them around and try them out, stretching them out like taffy or squashing them together. sometimes this means they'll repeat an interesting word or sound until it stops sounding anything like what it means, sometimes they'll just repeat and shuffle around sounds they know, sometimes they just try to come up with new sounds or stretch their vocal organ in new and interesting ways. this also means they're highly skilled as mimics - though, this is a learned behavior, not an innate one, and one that's mostly treated like a party trick by other merfolk.

they also intersperse their language with other sounds and vocalizations. merfolk are very used to trying to talk to each other without being actually able to see each other, so a part of this includes needing to pass along that emotional information as well. plus, beyond their fins, they just aren't very expressive, with far more limited body language than most.

but, mostly, this manifests in their language getting increasingly more complex. merfolk brains are already primed to quickly process and sort out a lot of different auditory information at once, and they take full advantage of their wide range of sounds in order to communicate, with their language, then, favoring a multi-layered approach that's very hard for other species to understand or decipher.

for instance, they might have a single word that they use when in close contact with the subject they're referring to. this word already has a sandwich of different vocal elements to it, forming one meaning when put all together. but, a merfolk will seldom ever use that word alone, because in order to grammatically make it work and string it together with another word, they have to move those different vocal elements so that the two words weave together and naturally "flow" into each other in accordance to a cultural sense of rhythm. then, this has to be repeated with the entire sentence, making sure that it naturally forms one whole block of sound that composes a series of sounds that all fit together properly with each other. also changing this is when they add in grammatical signifiers of emotion on top of their verbal cues and components, and they might add in locational signifiers to it as well, to create different clauses within the same sentence that weave over each other to make a string of meaning.

worse yet, merfolk can also shorten these sentences too, with rules for how to do so, effectively reducing entire sentences down to singular contractions.

and merfolk do like packing as much meaning as they can into their sentences as possible! i take a LOT of liberties when writing out the translated dialogue, mostly favoring what works best narratively over the transliteration of what's going on, not least of all because to literally translate what's being said would be to create a lot of run-on sentences with repeat information, even information that might be immediately obvious.

this occurs because there's also another mode of their languages: the fact that it's happening over distances to assumed lots of other merfolk.

merfolk are simply... very used to hearing other merfolk, all the time, at all hours of the day. and this is very important information to them! it helps them keep up with the social environment on top of the literal environment, evolved out of a need to be able to quickly coordinate themselves in groups when on hunts or in danger, each needing to immediately react to something that only one other merfolk might have seen.

and the modern extension of this is the fact that merfolk end up forming mental projections and maps of their entire environment and are able to know at any given time what's happening in any given place within it, regardless of how involved they actually are. they have to be able to quickly respond to social changes and alterations in dynamics, so constantly communicating what's going on and what any given merfolk's feelings are is important. their relationship hierarchy determines so much of their life and how they navigate the world and the other merfolk within it, that they need to immediately tell what the entire complex social dynamic is of any potential merfolk upon first meeting. they need to know what's going on over there in case someone's in danger, and they need to protect those close to them and respond to threats swiftly so that those relationships can be preserved.

it's a lot! it's a lot, and it can be even harder for other species to conceptualize, especially because merfolk tend to "think in 3d". as in, they already live their entire lives within a place where moving up/down is just as easy as moving front/back or left/right. they have to navigate three dimensional environments in a way a lot of terrestrial life doesn't have to, and they have to get used to quick changes within that. so, they tend to map their thoughts more like physical objects, with locational markers allowing them to sort through it more easily, or think about how things might connect or layer over each other in complex ways. this gets attached to words and grammatical units, but it also means a merfolk can mentally map out the exact physical location of all this auditory information with greater ease, and this can have a major impact on how they converse with each other.

a merfolk, even when alone, or with a group, or at any given point when they're not engaged in any other conversation, will often feel an impulse to... fundamentally, start narrating what's happening. as in, their languages also have a component that allows them to strip down to solely physical information too, allowing any given merfolk to map out a location without it necessarily needing to be a grammatically correct sentence in other ways. and this is because of that mental mapping through sound and conversation, that it's seen as polite to do so and helps others navigate and respond accurately to what's going on, but it also gives the participating merfolk a sense of community and interconnectedness.

this, all of this, can also be stripped down even further, in the same reason why all these strict rules about making all the different elements "match" is so important to them. as in, to a group of merfolk who are used to each other and used to each other's verbal patterns, they can be stripped down so far as to become shorthand for more complex locations and events. think of it like doctor's handwriting, and how they can write a full chemical name out with a gesture. it's complex information relayed quickly, which is EXACTLY what merfolk want when they go hunting.

merfolk hunts are... kind of terrifying to witness for this reason. all this care and effort becomes immediately clear as they are seemingly able to act as one, seemingly reading each other's minds to become one well-oiled machine. this is the end culmination of all of their thoughts of communal identity, the evolutionary pressure that led to their complex languages and complex relationship hierarchies and everything - that they can move and act so effectively that they're one body in many.

of course, this gets done for multiple other reasons in the modern day, but the whale and leviathan hunts still are a well-loved tradition and way of life, especially celebrated by many great nomadic families.

that said, some other sounds i've described merfolk as making, though usually more in the line of their vocal expressions of emotion than language proper: chirps, chirrups, whistles, clicks, chattering, trills, chittering, squeaks, honks, grunts, growls, rumbles, huffing, braying, purring, hissing, wailing, screeching, screaming, thumping, chuffing, and more! they cannot roar, but they can make infrasonic rumbles like crocodiles or large dinosaurs are theorized, and they do tend to scream like parrots in order to show extreme emotions (distress, yes, but also joy or excitement). i have some example audio here and there as demonstrations of what they sound like, and it swings wildly from cute and precious to horror movie soundtrack. :3

[katrinafaire]

In 30+ years of writing, you do improve; here's some things I've learned.

When I first started actively writing stories -- we're talking single digits here, under the age of ten, as some of you may relate -- my initial goal was spelling things right and having a (mostly) cohesive, if simple, storyline.

Then, in some order I'm not sure of, were things like description, consistent character voices, character development, character driven plots, subplots, worldbuilding -- the list goes on, I'm sure we've all worked on some if not all of these things. (The beauty of writeblr, we're all here together despite different levels of experience.)

I feel like I've always written, but I didn't really sit down to write novella and eventually novel sized works until my late teens-early twenties. I had a lot going for me, because I'd been writing consistently over the years prior. But I had some... quirks. Here's a non-exhaustive list you may find of use:

I struggled with maintaining a clear POV -- who's perspective we were in, how to coherently jump between characters, how to balance that to the best benefit of the narrative... yeah, that was an issue. And I still have a bit of trouble with that now and then, though I'm worlds better.

Also, I hugely overused epithets, those descriptive terms instead of pronouns or names. (The tall man, the blonde woman, the sullen teenager -- you get the idea.) You see, I didn't understand how they worked. I used them mostly because I had a lot of big casts and was not fond of he said-he said-he said with three different he's and I felt like I was over using names.

As I began to hone my craft, it became clearer that these had their place -- but only where they were relevant, not as a replacement. For example, if the POV character doesn't know the name of another character, they will use epithets because that's all they have. Or you can use it to emphasize something:

"There's no way we can deliver the message in time!" Aaron said. The fastest man in the world just smiled; his time had come. "Watch me."

Presumably you already know the speedster's name, but even if you don't, the epithet delivers important information to the narrative; that is the perfect (though not only) time to use one.

There was a huge movement when I was just starting more serious writing and you have likely still seen these posts circulating: said is dead. And I took it as gospel. Now, first let me say I am still a huge fan of dialogue tags. Big fan of things like "whispered" and "sneered" -- things you can't easily convey simply with punctuation.

However.

Using them every line, or every other line, or every third line -- in short, frequently -- isn't good. And it's not because these things are inherently bad. The reason, as far as I'm concerned, is twofold. One, when you deviate from "said" then your audience immediately is drawn to this new dialogue tag, taking it as Important Information. Which is good! We want that when we put those in. But if you have too many in too short of time the brain just quits processing them as important, or worse, it keeps taking them out of the story.

Point two is directly related in that in that overuse of dialogue tags not only clogs up your dialogue, it also makes the dialogue tags less valuable. Imagine this if you will, that every dialogue tag is a colored font and "said" is just black. If you constantly use dialogue tags, do any of them stand out? Even if someone screamed in bright red, does it matter if you just had something in bright orange a line ago? Not really.

But if all you have is black on black on black and suddenly there's a bright red streak on the paper, it jars you! It makes you pay attention! And that's what you really want when you use dialogue tags, isn't it? So that's why I've tried to cut down on mine, and have beta readers specifically work with me on it.

There's also several punctuation and formatting things I've struggled with. Overusing italics, misplacing en dashes — and em dashes (look I even copy pasted the right ones instead of typing two en dashes --) — as well as a severe abuse of... ellipsis. I'm working on them to this day. I'm a dramatic wordsmith. Sometimes it helps for me to write it however I want the first time and then make a new draft, stripping the formatting and seeing with fresh eyes where it's needed.

There's other things, too (I have never done enough description, I'm working on it now) but this post is getting long and I've shared some main points that I feel others can benefit from my mistakes. Feel free to reblog with your own mistakes you've learned from or are working on!

[comfortlesshurt]

alrighty, I locked in for a couple days and now I get to reward myself by yelling into the tumblr void about the series progress

first off, there are TWO FICS over 50% done, v exciting stuff. I know they've been over 50% for a bit now, but like... let me have my motivation, okay? we are in the HARD PART of the project where it all looks overwhelming, so I'll take the wins I can

also tex fic is finished and through round 1 of editing. it still needs another major edit and i need to finish fic 1 to make sure no info conflicts between the two, but the serious work for that is done

there are a few more days left before NotNaNo, but even going in with today's word counts, focusing on fics 1 and 2 should put them pretty close to finished by the end of November unless I was super off with the word count estimate

also had a really good writing day yesterday!

ignore those date projections at the bottom because like... those assume either i write 3k every day or i write 3k twice a week and 1.2k the other 5 days, and I canNOT do that consistently. but that July 23rd date is realistic! that's me continuing to hit my average based on the past 106 days since starting this project, so there's a good chance I finish this project in a total of just over a year (in which case I will never shut up about writing 450k in a year, so watch out)

finally, fic 1 is a huge portion of that daily par number in the first row, so... unless I fall majorly away from the intended timeline, that required daily par will go down a LOT at the end of december, which will be nice. the goal is still to focus a lot on this project and only really jump over to side projects as they call to me, but it's easier to do that when your average isn't struggling to keep up with your daily par number. it simply does not feel good to be constantly working just to barely get over the par.

as far as editing, i'm starting to fear i didn't budget enough time for that in my early projections, so the timeline might be off there. those due dates listed are for the final rough draft, which doesn't get a chance to rest before immediately going into a month of editing. something just tells me now that a month isn't going to be enough to cover a content edit for each fic. it's also relying on the technical edits being done week-to-week as each chapter goes up.

also added one more tracking tool recently:

this is to look at all the projects week-to-week, and really what it's done is made it obvious that I am in fact very focused on fic 1 lmao. in my defense, that's the one that has consistently had the highest required par, so it's easy to treat it as the most important. also, up to 27-aug is rough. I started writing these fics in Word, so I didn't have day-to-day stats to go back and check. I could only find those once I switched to Reedsy, so for the record I did not write 54k between 20-aug and 27-aug. same with the tex fic--that wasn't all written in one week.

this chart still only looks at ILaD progress, so you can see where I take my break in October and it cuts down a lot... but that's excluding the 10k that went into an unrelated fic, so I don't think taking this break has actually cut down on my writing much. it's just made me have a better time with it temporarily. i took a couple days off writing completely during October but like... I didn't really enjoy that? so I don't think that's the solution I'm looking for long-term.

anyway, thanks for coming to my ted talk. i will infodump again, and probably soon since all the end of the month posts are coming up in the next week.