#it's fun!! and answering questions tends to make it a lot easier to figure out what aspects of the au y'all wanna hear about the most

[angstenthusiast]

Think I just need to finish coming up with a couple more trials for Martin to go through, and then the basic outline for the Stone Blue au will nearly be complete!!! 🥳

Finally!! I can't wait to be able to get started on turning this au into a fic!! >:D

[justin-chapmanswers]

Sorry if this is a bit rude, but how do you consider yourself as he/they or they/he? I am questioning my sexuality and gender at the moment and seeing you (idk if ur lgbt) makes me find comfort, if you can, how did you realise you were not straight and how I can find mine! :3

Oh golly uh. Let's see if I can keep this short and then bury it under other answers. <3

Labels are fun cause they're so funky and ever-changing as you learn more about yourself. So, firstly, don't stress about finding something so perfect right away and bounding yourself to it. You're still you, any way you word it.

Gender-wise I'm in a state of def preferring they but being chill enough with he. Like whateverrrrr. It's hard to get around societal norms and perceptions, so my expectations are calibrated accordingly. I of course feel that for people who feel more strongly about a specific label, it's important to fight for it to be recognized whenever you're in a safe-enough environment to do-so. But for me, the concept of pushing for a specific label or, even more-so, of seeing other people pushing others to use a specific label for me is veryyyy anxiety-inducing. I tend to avoid spotlight when possible. But at the same time, a lot of it just comes down to not wanting to be grouped/perceived gender-ly at all. I tend to use the label agender. But I'm sure a lot of people have similar experiences with different labels. I just, ya'know, wanna be me.

Gender exploration is funnnn. There's no one right way to learning about yourself. Some people know from a young age, almost inherently, some people figure things out a lot later. It's never too late. Some people learn with outfits and styles, some with looking to people/characters who they want to be perceived more-like, some with experimenting through new names/pronouns and feeling-out how being called different things makes them feel. If you have friends you feel safe around with all of this, on or offline, can't hurt to say "hey would ya mind calling me x-name or y-pronoun for a bit?" And if you don't like it, you don't need to stick with it. But really be cognizant of it feels right to you.

Then on the romantic orientation side, that's been a much longer journey haha. I was calling myself straight through middle schooler, bi for a bit in early high school, gay starting in later high school, then for a long while. Nowadays I just say queer. Labels make things easier, until they don’t haha. For me, if you imagine a scale of feminity to masculinity with like little pegs running down the line from 0 to 10, with 5 in the middle, I tend to find myself attracted to people in like the 4 to 8 range? Something like that. But even that's not perfectly consistent! There's never going to be a perfect word for everything. That's why I like queer as an umbrella term. It's also just a cute word, I don't make the rules.

Hence earlier when I mentioned that you should just feel free to keep it open and not close yourself off. Maybe nothing'll change, but what if something does? But of course, I assume you're asking from more of a place of just starting this journey. I'm trying to get my mind back to where I started with that. I think the first time the not-straight realization hit was when a friend of mine didn't show up to an event and I was all like "why am I so miserably sad that he wasn't there?" And then a lightbulb appeared over my head and out-loud I said "aw damnit." And then things have been weird and confusing ever since.

But in terms of giving advice, it's hard to not just be like "uhh idk just hang out with people that makes you feel gooey." But obviously it's more complicated than that. A decade ago, I was taking random "am I gay" tests online. But they're kinda silly cause the questions on those would ask me to fill in information about how I feel, but how am you supposed to know how I feel without the test telling me how I feel??????? So realistically, I'd advise private journaling. Just take some time, even five minutes. Start now. Write out who you are drawn to, in any sense, and how they make you feel. Especially if you're like me and have trouble self-reflecting unless I force myself to. Like. In a Tumblr post.

There's so many ways to explore. It's also nice to look at relationships in life and media and seeing if you connect to any relationship or long to fit into someone's place within a relationship. That's why representation matters, baybeeeee! But also, ya'know, talking to people goes a long way to learning about yourself. Trial 'n error let's gooooo.

And above all: you got this.

[lithopus]

For the ask game! 1! Who is your favorite character to write for and is this the character you find easiest to write for?

Thank you for the ask!

I guess for fanfiction, I pretty much only write Alhaitham and Kaveh’s POVs—although, actually, I’ve also written two (unposted, sfw) fics for my friends that contained Xingqiu’s POV, and he’s really fun to write for 😂 Now that I think about it, he’s probably the easiest perspective I’ve written. I enjoy his chivalrous and overdramatic way of speaking/narrating, and the guy is such a simp for Chongyun that it cracks me up. I definitely have a lot of fun writing him.

But, going back to Alhaitham and Kaveh…it’s difficult for me to choose! I like writing both of their perspectives for different reasons, and both of them are easy to write in some ways and challenging in others.

I’ll answer the question about whose POV is easiest first.

Technically, it’s Alhaitham’s—his way of thinking is a lot more accessible to me, whereas I sometimes struggle to relate to Kaveh’s perspective on things. It’s kind of similar to how Alhaitham “knows” Kaveh’s philosophies on a theoretical level, but doesn’t emotionally “understand” them the way that someone who personally shares Kaveh’s beliefs would. I more or less know how Kaveh’s mind works, but since I don’t usually approach things the way he does, his attitudes and ideals sometimes aren’t personally familiar to me. There are times when my brain has to work a bit harder to figure out how he views the world.

Because of that, though, I think that it might be easier—counterintuitively—for me to write stories from Kaveh’s perspective. Since I “understand” Alhaitham more, I can more easily convey what he’s thinking/feeling whenever I’m outside his head. Conversely, being inside Kaveh’s head allows me to get a closer look at how he’s processing things, which then makes it easier for me to work through his thoughts and figure out how to portray him.

So, Alhaitham’s POV is the easier perspective for me to write, in a vacuum…but if I’m writing a story about him and Kaveh, writing from Kaveh’s POV often makes things easier for me.

As for my favorite POV to write…if I had to choose a perspective to be stuck in, I think I’d choose Alhaitham’s. I love the unspoken depth of his love for Kaveh—like, his devotion is clear even from Kaveh’s POV, but being inside Alhaitham’s mind lets us see just how much he cares, even though he often hides it behind his sarcastic/detached attitude. I like being able to explore that side of him; it’s kind of like “looking behind the curtain” in the sense that we still see Alhaitham’s usual attitude with the way he speaks and acts, but we also see the contrasting tenderness he feels toward Kaveh (although, when I write him, Alhaitham’s narration does often try to bury that tenderness, lol).

That said, I do also like the idea of leaving Alhaitham’s unspoken affection…well, y’know, unspoken—so, being stuck in Alhaitham’s POV all the time wouldn’t be ideal for me.

It’s also interesting to get inside Alhaitham’s head and dismantle the “rational” barriers that he constructs around some things. That is, he’s clearly capable of caring deeply about certain things—like Kaveh—and I love writing about that kind of quiet intensity. And while I do believe that he’s the calm, logical person we see in canon, I also know that he can’t be invulnerable; he’s human, which means he’s capable of being hurt, and I like seeing how he processes those types of emotions.

But there are things that I enjoy about writing Kaveh’s perspective, too. For example, Kaveh’s artistry and ways of thinking give me more opportunities to be poetic with narration. When I’m writing Alhaitham’s POV, his analogies are usually more practical and functional; they tend to focus solely on explaining a concept, so while they might be creative sometimes, they won’t necessarily sound pretty. With Kaveh, though, I can let loose and be more indulgent with metaphors/imagery to explore a feeling or concept. I haven’t written poetry in a while, but his perspective gives me more room to flex those muscles, lol.

Kaveh’s perspective is also more straightforward, at least for me. Yes, he’s got a lot going on, and his psychology can get complicated at times—but he’s pretty much told us about all of his problems either through dialogue or his character stories, and we’ve seen him when he’s excited, happy, morose, angry, et cetera; he tends to acknowledge his feelings in a more “head-on” way, even when he’s trying to avoid his problems or downplay his emotions. So, I like that he’s a more “direct” kind of character, as opposed to the mental gymnastics Alhaitham performs in order to seem like An Incredibly Chill And Totally Unemotional Guy Who Is Never Bothered By Anything Ever.

(Now that I say that, it’s kind of funny that we joke about Kaveh’s mental acrobatics to misinterpret the things Alhaitham says, when Alhaitham is an Olympic gymnast in his own right 😂)

That’s my main answer, but I do have some additional thoughts about why writing Alhaitham’s POV can sometimes be a challenge for me. I’ll include those thoughts in a reblog, though, since I don’t want my response here to get too lengthy.

UPDATE: my additional thoughts are in this reblog

[avichor]

SHIPPING INFO — ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSE(S).

WHAT'S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSES(S)?

it's hard to say because i don't necessarily have otps from a writing standpoint, they kind of evolve depending on the pairing and who i'm writing with, and sometimes my otps become notps depending on the dynamic / plot. tl;dr i just don't default - ship. i write waaaaay too many muses to list them all but from a die - hard, canon brainrot perspective, most of my otps include: naksu / jang uk, katherine / stefan, chuuya / dazai, gojo / geto, katara / zuko, juliette / roma, orion / rosalind, zoya / nikolai, inej / kaz, zero two / hiro, raven / bellamy, catra / adora, malia / stiles, harrowhark / gideon.

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING?

i think i'm down for most things so long as it isn't obviously something that's atrocious ( adult / minor ) or like, a poorly executed oppressor / oppressed. i genuinely like exploring toxic dynamics when it's detached from a romanticized lens, and it's for that reason why i ensure it's a topic i can trust my wps with. this may be an unpopular opinion, but i'm fine with writing cheating. i'm fine with writing unequal distributions of power ( to a certain extent ), i'm fine exploring variations of abuse. it's just that if it's toxic, i tend to keep it toxic. if it veers into actual abuse ( best example i can think of is alina / darkling, i don't write nor ship it but sklsdkldskldskl ), it's not so much a ship but just a subset of an complex one, and won't be resolved to a point of genuine romanticism.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

uhhhhhhh, if they're under 18, i think two years? the age gap widens the older the muses are in a bracket, but i'm generally not an age - gap fan. + / - five - 10 years feels accurate? maximum five if it's like, a muse that's under 25. immortal muses are different and vary based on circumstances.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

yeaaaahhhh. yeah. i usually figure out through writing or plotting if there's chemistry to even think about shipping, and i tend to ship with my circle of friends / exclusive shipping partners just because it's always been easier that way. doesn't mean i'm not open! just very chemistry - oriented. we could plot the best thing but if we're not vibing as writing partners when we chat, it won't work.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY'RE CONSIDERED NSFW?

anything past like a full make - out session or questionable touching. i don't smut on dash across any of my blogs, and if i do venture into that territory, it's always suggestive and with my utmost closest wp. but as it stands, i typically don't write anything further than making out or allusions.

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE(S) WITH?

refer to the first question, but i really like cross - fandom shipping. i think it's fun and forces people to think outside of the box. i also looooove oc / canon. i'll use this opportunity to say i'm always intrigued with these dynamics: chuuya / yosano, atsushi / lucy, yosano / dazai, lottie / nat, gin / higuchi, malia / kira, nobara / megumi, nobara / yuuji, higuchi / akutagawa. there's more but i'm blanking.

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

yes and no! sometimes it happens naturally, but you can alwayyyyysssss ask to ship. just need to approach with an open mind and understand that i will likely ask that we write first or sus out vibes! if we chat a lot or obviously get along, that makes it a little easier for me to envision a romantic ship!

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?

yes! unless stated otherwise, i'm multi - ship by default.

ARE YOU SHIP - OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE - OR - LESS?

ship more - or - less by default sdlkfjgsdlgkdskl. with my partner and close friends, i tend to be more ship - obsessed because we rot more consistently. but i don't really look to ship romantically at first! i've become more preferential to non - romantic dynamics over the years just because i feel like they get pushed aside or under - appreciated in favor of romantic shipping.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM(S) ?

for canons, it's naksu / jang uk, chuuya / dazai, gojo / geto, juliette / roma, orion / rosalind, yosano / dazai, gin / tachihara. for ocs, it's less favoritism but just what occupies my brain currently, fallon / noemi, ushi / mizaru, fumi / seiko, tommy / jay.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

you need to be insane <3

tagging. @qismet , @memuntos , @ephamerel , @starspurn , @omonzuru , @ownlore , @rottedfigs , @ategod , @fatedriven , @yaburnae , and whoeverrrrrrr wants to <3

[notthequiettype]

very random question about writing sex. how do u decide like if a character is a dirty talker or not. or like, do u ever write dirty sex dialogue and cut it bc you're like nah they wouldn't say that. does that make sense

i don't write a LOT of dirty talk, mostly bc i think it generally feels a little goofy, like, when you're boning down irl you can get away with a lot bc sex is really stupid and you're not really THINKING but it's a whole different thing when you're reading it, you know? and i'm so picky about the words i use for sex scenes already (notorious for scrunching my eyes shut and typing the word balls with an agony level like i'm being electrocuted) that i just don't do it very often

and there are of course probably characters who have more dirty talker vibes (in both good and bad ways lmao) who are better suited to it

THAT SAID i really do think you can sell basically any character saying just about anything if you figure out how they'd say it -- stuttery and broken? mumbled with a little bit of embarrassment? said with authority bc they Want it? -- or if the context is right -- fumbling through phone sex? trying to reciprocate their partner's dirty talk from an earlier offscreen encounter? -- or if they're just sufficiently stupidly motivated, like letting a character just be so stupid into the person they're fucking that every horny thought they have comes out of their mouth is a perfect way to get away with writing dirty talk in a way that ends up being really hot, ESPECIALLY when the other person is maybe surprised by being into it

i also think i tend more toward dirty talk that's less about the graphic or explicit and more about expressing desire which is always easier to sell AND kind of gets at the emotions as a bonus, like i'm always making people have sex bare for the first time together and just getting it said out loud that they want that is dirty talk to me and the inevitability that someone will say something about filling bc i know what i'm about

i think the most explicit dirty talk i've written in recent memory is probably from put the stars in our eyes

"You know how you are, huh. Plenty of you to go around." Leon curls his fingers through Connor's hair, feels his breath hot against his collarbones. "Finally getting all that hot win energy out on someone who can take it, who wants it. Going home well-fucked to be sweet with your wife, fucked full of my come and still shaking from how hard you got off, burying your face in her cunt just praying to make her feel half as good as you do."

and it really came from leon trying to push at connor and the bounds of this thing that they're trying to figure out and that leon doesn't necessarily quite believe will work and is ultimately about connor pushing back by saying the big thing, the romantic thing, that he wants to be sweet with leon too, showing leon again that it isn't just about the sex

and do i think leon would say it irl? probably not bc straight guys in my experience are fucking TERRIBLEEEEEEEE at dirty talk, but he also probably wouldn't fuck his soon-to-be-married captain either so like, i'm fine with that lmao

also i HAVE written a lot in the past and tossed it, but usually it was less about 'oh he wouldn't say that' (as addressed above) and more about 'oh that doesn't sound right' once i sit and read it aloud which is just my general process for all dialogue, since i'm usually writing the same guys now i feel like i have a pretty good idea of what i will or won't write them saying

this was very long and probably not all that helpful but i had fun answering it, so thank you for asking!! i hope you are having fun writing whatever you're writing and not second-guessing yourself too much!!

[crossing-into-your-parallel]

the adventure begins!

welcome to CROSSING INTO YOUR PARALLEL, a kirby AU centered around magolor and the master crown, mistilteinn.

this part will be updated later with a summary; we want to get the ball rolling first! all we'll say for now is that both magolor and mistilteinn have had their own share of experiences already.

our tag directory is here!

this blog is run by two mods, both adults:

MOD VANILLA (it/its, he/him), who handles coming up with ideas, doing a whole lot of sketching, and writes for magolor

MOD JUKEBOX (they/them, he/him), who handles writing in a more broad sense, drawing the longer comic sequences, and writes for mistilteinn

art will vary in style as a result, and you'll see nilla's drawings more often than you will jukebox's.

rules for asks, and the answers to some questions you might have, are under the cut!

RULES FOR ASKS:

no NSFW asks (this isn't the place for it)

some asks might not get answered- they didn't fit with the story, we couldn't figure out how to incorporate it, or a particular ask may be getting saved for later. try not to worry if yours doesn't get answered; it's nothing personal, we promise

you're welcome to ask us mods about stuff if you want! just be respectful, please :]

QUESTION SECTION!

Q: Your blog is a little... A: we know; that's what gives it charm! (on a serious note, we're just really excited to get this blog going. it'll look nicer as time goes on)

Q: Is there any significance behind your names? A: nilla has cookie run autism, and jukebox likes the jukebox from RTDL/DX

Q: Why do we see Nilla's drawings more often? A: jukebox has health issues, plus they tend to draw on big canvases with small brushes.

Q: I want to draw something for you! Do you have references? A: sure do! here:

Q: Can I send you constructive criticism regarding a drawing? A: no. if you do anyway, jukebox is going to make fun of you.

Q: My ask didn't get a new drawing! A: yup, that'll happen sometimes; for many reasons, sometimes it'll be easier for us to answer questions with colored text, or we might reuse an old drawing. we're not content-creating machines :P

Q: I like your art and want to follow you! Can I know your main(s)? A: reply to a post asking, and we'll DM you!

Q: What disease does Nilla have? is it contagious? A: yes. you will begin coughing within 5 minutes. Run.

[cosmica-galaxy]

Silly question - feel free to ignore if it's not your jam. I know not everyone finds this stuff as funny as I do!

Can mimics fart?

I remember you posted some anatomy diagrams that showed that their digestive systems are cul-de-sacs because they absorb everything... so presumably they have no bumholes! Could they form transient bumholes if they wanted to fart for the hell of it?

(I was going to ask the mimics division blog but I figure your characters are too polite to answer such a question, so I thought I'd ask you the creator!)

Not really. You see, in order to produce flatulence, a creature would have to have intestines to do such an activity. That's because the bacteria in your gut is the primary reason for gas to be produced, especially in the lower digestive tract, which mimics lack.

Here's a refresher on the mimic digestive system from Mimic Biology 101! Mimics don't have any lower organs that humans have. Like kidneys, neither intestines, bladders, or rectums.

The stomach, liver, guts, and upper tracts are located in the top part of the torso in mimics, with the median line being at around the bellybutton or slightly below it.

That's when the digestive part of the mimic stops completely and everything that the mimic consumes is absorbed into the flesh of their body directly via "nutrient roots" seen in the diagram, this is also how large mimics seem to digest themselves during death spirals, leaving no waste behind. If something is indigestible, like a chunk of porcelain from Skibidi prey, they will simply spit it back up like a watermelon seed--meaning that there is only one entrance and one exit, the mouth. Their main way of absorbing food is also slightly different. Human stomachs use gastric acid to breakdown food and gut bacteria is what processes the food. Mimics are similar, but a little different.

All mimics have three organs that help in digestion.

The entry gut pretty much sorts out parts of the prey and covers the prey in a slimy mucus that allows for transportation throughout the guts easier and coats the prey parts in a "softening film" that makes breakdown easier.

The breakdown gut is basically the mimic organ version of a "checkpoint". It burns away all the impurities that would cause gut-based trauma or buildup, such as metal parts, wires, porcelain, ect. This is where most "remains" are spit back out from the mimic's mouth and the rest is coated by bile from the liver.

Finally, the prey is sent to the main stomach which works it over, furthers absorption, and the thick fleshy walls eventually wrap around the prey and liquefies it, feeding it directly into the nutrient roots for the body to use for energy, which finishes their digestion process! So...what fills the space in the hips and such if they have no lower guts? The answer: their reproductive parts!

Mimics have both male and female internalized sexual organs for reproductive purposes. If one is currently dominant, the other will be inactive.

For example, if a mimic is currently fulfilling a feminine role, their ovaries, canal, and womb will be active. If a mimic is fulfilling a masculine role, the internal testes, sheath, and tendril will be active. Both of these systems take up the space that is left from having no intestines nor connective exits. This is also how most mimics are able to have multiple young, such as Camera Mimics. Would they make a rectum to fart for "fun"? I would also say no. It would be far too much of a hassle for a mimic to work around their insides, create a fleshy tube through their body, and connect it to their back end just to push air out of it. Though, they do have the ability to burp!

The ruder mimics tend to do that a lot and pretty loudly, much to the chagrin of other mimics. If a young mimic does that, they tend to get bapped by their parents in scolding.

They still have manners, you know! XD

[vacayisland]

Hiii! Not a request but a question, I hope that's alright!

Seeing your writing has made me pretty inspired and I've been wanting to do trolls fics of my own! I've been struggling a lot w some characters, though, especially Floyd

My question is how you figure out their personalities and way of speaking enough to write for them? Unlike the others, we don't really see much of Floyd outside of his brothers TwT so I'm just not sure how to get his character right, but I feel like you do him justice! Feel free not to answer btw!! Hope you're doing well ♡♡

I actually really love answering questions like that, or generally any writing-based question; as long as I help people get inspired to write or help them in their creative journey, that’s what I am here for after all!

So, personally, my way of writing tends to be a little different than other people’s (at least I think it is) but my way of researching characters tends to be the same. So I’m going to try and do some sort of justice of explaining this! Bear with me please and if you have any other questions just ask me.

With characters like Floyd, I tend to find him easier to do. Both because I focused a lot on him during the movie and when it first released, and because he has such little screen time. Of course that’s both a blessing and a curse, because not many will realize that Floyd has a slightly sarcastic way of humor (or at least I didn’t the first few times watching the movie).

Yet with any character you would want to research on them! And that’s a little easier written than done but this is what I did for JD (who was harder for me to grasp on):

When I first saw the movie, I thought JD was what he was first presented as. A rude bastard who didn’t know when his family was upset and pushed them to do things anyways. And while he’s a little bit of that he’s actually a lot more.

Unlike Floyd, JD gets a bunch of screen time that writers should take advantage of! If the background, if you watch JD, you can see the little things that make him not fully a jerk. Such as the upset look he gets whenever a brother goes to Branch first instead of him, and yet how he tries to act like it didn’t bother him. Showing no matter how much of a hard ass he was he does actually are about his brothers in his own weird way.

I also looked upon different sites and saw what they described his personality as. Then I watched the movie, picked what I thought to be true, and honestly that’s what I go on. It’s kind of always changing because no matter how ‘cannon’ you’re trying to write a character there should always be a little self influence of you in them.

Not saying to completely derail a character and make them not cannon, but have fun with it. Take aspects of their character as you wish and just keep practicing and rewriting lines until you feel like it’s correct.

But JD is always harder for me to do, so that’s why I want to do him more. The more practice the better.

For characters like Floyd, who have minimum screen time, I find easier because they don’t have a stricter personality box. From what we see in the movie, what I’ve gathered from websites and other writers (reader other people’s work! They might actually inspire how you write a character a lot), Floyd is sensitive yet witty. He’s smart and caring.

That’s our base line, four traits that are easy to write because they don’t have much to them. THEYRE just traits! Then we can take a few of Floyd’s voice lines to base how can mimic speaking like him; And he speaks a little like Branch but a little on the nicer tone to people he actually cares about.

I don’t know if that makes sense or if it actually helps at all, but it’s a weird process. It’s all about how do you make yourself most comfortable playing and writing the character. Do we much research as you need, take your time! There’s no rush to publish fan fictions, there’s no rush to do anything.

Remember to post only what you’re proud of and what you enjoy. Writing is a process that gets slightly easier the more you practice it, and sometimes it gets harder. But just enjoy it along the way and write only when it feels right. :)

But happy writing and please tag me in any post you publish! I’ll love to read your work.

[lynmars79]

When sharing stories on Tumblr, what makes for good tags to put on them?

Well, that depends. And there's likely people who do a lot of original writing on Tumblr who may have different answers, but:

I have a specific writing tag I use for both original and fanfiction ("Lyn Writing") as it helps me find things in my archive/blog search, and if folks are using those auto-tagger addons that just copy your tags, or the auto-copy of tags in mobile or other addons, it doesn't put "my writing" on their blog (which I get annoyed by).

For fanfiction, I'm going to tag the main fandom tag, and any relevant characters. Things like specific seasons, episodes, expansions, books, etc as necessary, especially if spoilery.

For original fiction, I might have an "original character" tag. If it's stuff I'm going to repeatedly post I make tags for specific OCs (or places, concepts, etc original to my writing). Usually in that last case, it's again a housekeeping method to make searching my own blog easier.

For either, there might be genre, general themes, ideas, concepts, or warnings I feel might be needed ("poetry, horror, romance, hope, names, family, violence"). Maybe some jabber commentary ("in which I try to write silly songs, OC just wants to take a nap"). If it's for a writing challenge or prompt that gets added, too, especially if the organizer has a requested tag or two to use ("DWC2024"). Sometimes I might use some Ao3 methodology to determine a few things (ratings, relationships, warnings, etc).

In the end, it's not too different from other posts one wants to be able to find, and/or tell people at a glance what's in the work, and what Searches it pops up in. For the question of "how easily do you want to find things on your own blog later," consider if you are keeping links on a page or post somewhere (also back up your work elsewhere always), and how easily do you want others to find your original stories? Do you have a specific writing tag on your pinned post or in your description?

Words and phrases in the body of a work, as well as in the tags, will pull up in the Search. Don't use tags (especially fandom tags) unrelated to one's work; that's a quick trip to "Blocked and Reported as Spam."

I also recommend anything over (my personal limit of) 500 words go under a cut. It's a delicate balance of "get people to read" when that's already difficult, so gotta hook them to hit that "Keep Reading" link, or stretch out dashes and annoy people who then scroll past (or block you or the post).

Original stuff likely won't be noticed often. The folks who do get noticed tend to have larger followings already, and/or are posting their stories as replies to writing prompts to start and getting noticed when folks trawl the notes of those posts.

A lot of it is, frankly, luck, and who reblogs to show a wider audience and then if any of them read and reblog, and so on.

So figure out the tagging scheme that works for you, link to friends and in Discord servers you're in, and reblog yourself a few times to catch followers with different timezones. Know only original posts show in the Search, not reblogs (even a reblog by OP). Write and post for the fun of it and keep expectations realistic so far as wide recognition, but honestly in the end, somewhat consistent posting, with consistent and clear tags, will slowly grow an audience over time.

[chiscribbs]

As an artist and/or writer, what is one thing you think you do well? What is one thing you would like to improve on?

As an artist, I think I do a pretty good job of picking up on styles and imitating them. Some styles are a lot easier to grasp than others, of course, but generally speaking - I think it's a strong suit of mine. I enjoy learning the ins and outs of what makes a certain style unique and figuring out how to apply that knowledge in practice. I've also been told that expressions are something I do well, which...I don't know if it's an opinion I share, but I do really ENJOY drawing expressions. What I'd like to improve on - there's a whole host of things, but to name just one - scene setting. Not just drawing backgrounds, specifically (though that is a big one), but I'd love to get better at giving my art an atmosphere. Often it tends to be just character sketches in a grey void, because characters are what I'm comfortable with and what I like drawing most, lol. But scene setting is such an important skill, both in storyboarding and comics, so I'd definitely like to get better at that.

As a writer (or a storyteller), I think my strengths lie in conceptualizing and planning. I have...so many Word documents loaded with notes for my AUs, stories outlined beat-for-beat as though I'm writing them for an actual TV series instead of a tiny group of people on the internet, lol. I absolutely LOVE the plotting process, it's so fun to weave a story together bit by bit and figure out how all the parts connect. However, I could definitely stand to improve on the actual writing part of the process, especially where dialogue is concerned. I'm always more interested in what a character is thinking than what they're saying or doing, and it's a struggle to get that across in a way that sounds natural. But it's a topic that I absolutely love to study and hope to improve on over time.

Thanks for the question! :> ...sorry that the answer ended up being a bit longwinded, lol.

[truearchangel]

(Does Mun prefer threads or one-off ask interactions? Not complaining your writing is so beautiful either way!)

Inu / you’ve reached the mun!

I don’t… understand the question. Am I stupid? Any RP blog, that isn’t a straight ask blog, is going to tell you they prefer threads. Especially novella writers. When you ‘write’ things out in asks, they tend to be shorter or they get so long it can be annoying for the dash. Depends on who is haunting your ask box. Threads allow for more plot and character development, asks are more for silly things, memes, or starting a thread. At least, that’s how it’s always been for me. And I hate threading off of reblogged asks, I’ll always make it a new post and ask others to.

I’m not a fan of one liners that are outside of silly one off interactions. Sometimes they can go somewhere which is great. If I give you multiple paragraphs and you give me one line back again, it’ll get dropped. I think that one is actually stated in my rules. Asks are different but if you turn an ask into a thread that I gave you a lot to work off of with and you give me a couple lines, I’ll probably ignore it.

I’m not trying to gate-keep interactions or say people who do one liners only are, um, beneath me or something I’m just saying I get bored. One-liners or things that go nowhere don’t hold my attention.

Any rper will tell you they love getting asks. It’s why we reblog memes. They’re meant to draw engagement and pull on the dash’s attention. You want to engage with the people you follow, make new connections, develop your characters, write out the plots from your head. The inbox can also be easier to answer than a thread. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out how a muse is meant to interact to something in the middle of a thread. The inbox is new territory with plenty of ways to answer whatever might be in there. And a lot of the time those can be shorter than a thread, less demanding. I have a problem of turning them into creative writing assignments.

We thrive off of world building or character development questions for our muses. However, the real fun is always in parrying your muse off of someone else’s. In creating an adventure through a thread that deepens the world and your muses reaction to something. For all the silly bullshit that happened last night, and as much as Michael completely mentally broke hells-greatestdad over it, the reality is those silly inbox jokes are not going to fix their broken relationship.

The inbox is a great tool for starting something. But if possible you should aim for expanding on them in a thread if they can go somewhere.

[corishadowfang]

I'm in love with the way you write friendships, they a super sweet! So I was wondering, how do you differentiate/ categorize aspects of romantic vs platonic chemistry or is that not really a part of your writing pipeline. I'm aro/ace but unfortunately I'm a huge romantic so I've been obsessed with figuring out the difference between romance and friendship. Hopefully this question isn't too invasive, I just wanted to get your perspective on this since your a seasoned writer.

Thank you; I'm glad you like them! And not invasive at all! (Though, uh, I don't know how helpful my answer will be; hopefully at least a little?)

So it's probably pretty obvious, but I tend to like to like...blur the lines of what's considered "romantic" and what's "platonic." My figuring is, everything can fall into either category, and what really matters is how the individuals in question define the actions/relationship. And that transfers over to my writing; mostly, I let the characters define what they want different relationships to be. If a character's internal narration involves a lot of "friend" or "family," then that's what they are; if they use something like "partner" or "spouse," same deal!

(This obviously works a lot easier for established relationships, haha, but a lot of developing relationships follow similar patterns, regardless of what form they take; they'll usually involve things like learning more about the each other and what they like, learning how to joke around and have fun together, starting to open up about deeper things like their struggles or past, and from there, new labels can be applied in almost any direction and still have them make some sort of sense, haha.)

I find if I'm struggling to nail down what a relationship is, it helps to like...have the character struggle with it, too. Let them sit and grapple with how they feel. Maybe they have a conversation with the other person in question as they try to sort things out. Maybe they sit down and try to pick apart their own feelings to figure out where they land. Maybe they're sitting there surrounded by romance novels because they really need a point of reference here, come on. This can help you puzzle out what they're feeling in a very organic way. (And if you're still unsure? Maybe they're also unsure in-story! You could always have a character decide it doesn't matter what category the love falls into, so long as it exists.)

So, uh...I think that's largely the basics of what I do? Basically, "Focus on building a strong, believable relationship, and then let the characters decide/explore what that relationship actually is." I, uh...I don't know if that's super helpful or not, aha, but hopefully it's at least a jumping off point?

(Also the romance novel thing was not entirely joking, because reading stuff like that can be a great way to conceptualize how people write about romance, and can give you more points of reference.)

[alkeneater]

E!2080 factbook (that's what i'll call it): brainwashing 😵

I wanna talk about brainwashing because it’s kinda important for my story and sometimes explains some clones’ behavior :) This topic deserves some attention :p 

In general, in my AU we have a cult atmosphere in the Shadow Tower, BUT it's not really a cult. The main goal of the Shadow Government is to grow clones into worthy leaders and soldiers, but at the same time loyal and stupid enough to make it easier to manipulate them. Various methods were used: working with corrupt psychologists, inciting hostility between clones, fake rumors, fake news on fake TV, fake books on the shelves next to the real ones, and of course the scare tactic.

Their favorite manipulation is obviously, “we're doing this for your own safety, the world outside is cruel,” and clones were sitting in the tower like princesses from fairy tales, yeah. You got me, right? Lots of manipulation. But despite the approximately equal attitude towards everyone, it still affected different clones in different ways. Perhaps some biological factors played a role, which I doubt, BUT Scudworth's influence on the clones also helped some to stay sane. I've said this a hundred times, but Scudworth LOVES his clones and he doesn't like the operation he was forced to participate in. Therefore, he did everything possible to prevent them from becoming puppets of the shadow government (he had his own methods, but I'm too lazy to describe them).

So, let's get to the point. I mentally divide all the clones into sane, deviant and ZOMBIES (or brainwashed). Sane people are those who have their own position, are less influenced by the Shadow Government, understand the danger of the situation and want to gain personal freedom. Zombies are people who are doomed to stay in the tower and be used by Shadow Figures for their personal purposes, because their perception of the world is completely turned inside out and will not be the same anymore. Between them, the deviant ones are usually clones who have some disorders due to trauma after living in the tower, but they are still aware of the whole situation and basically refuse to be someone's slaves. Now that we have a rough idea of the spectrum, I want to discuss with you which clone is where on this spectrum.

I was smart enough only to distribute the main characters (and a couple of secondary ones). Most of them are closer to sanity in the spectrum, but they tend to deviate due to psychological trauma, obviously. I want to mention Joan as an example, because although she is the “brains of the team”, she is prone to Stockholm syndrome and, as shown in the first part, sometimes remembers “home” and regrets what she did. That’s why she is not 100% sane.

But I definitely will have a team of complete zombies in the comic who will condemn the main characters for fighting, recruit other runaway clones and try to return them to the tower. Yes, there are clones who were initially against escape and were content to live in the tower, but now they survive on the streets and are extremely unhappy with the situation. But I don’t know who could it be.… But these are definitely clones from the extras, episodic or secondary! You can even suggest your own fan clones, just for fun! (Reminder: My AU is open to everyone and your fan clones can participate in the story, and they can be in any part of the spectrum!). 

That's it. I have nothing to add… ask me questions about my AU if you want, I’ll be very glad to answer! 

and read exclamation!2080 on globalcomix ofc!!! :p

[zuppizup]

Hiiii I just finished the first two chapters of Fuel the Pyre! I'm super excited for it, it's very well done!

I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your writing process. How do you outline? What kinds of things need to be in an outline in order for you to visualize the story? Do you outline the entire story, one chapter, or just one scene at a time?

Thank you for your time!

Hello! Thanks so much for your kind words! I’m so happy you’re liking the fic so far.

This is a super fun ask. Not sure how coherent or helpful my response will be, but I’ll give it a try. 😆

So, stories like Purgatory, Fuel the Pyre or my WIP dark magic AU, always start out as a bunch of questions.

What if Ezran hadn’t interrupted Callum and Rayla in Viren’s study…

Could a human/elf halfling do primal magic? Can all of them or just a few? What would control that?

What would the world be like if dark magic actually was controlled and regulated.

I usually don’t start out planning a fic when I ponder questions like this, it’s usually just my mind wandering. For me, while I love big, wonderful, imaginative worlds (like the world of The Dragon Prince) what I’m really more interested in is how these things affect individuals. I actually tend to visualise the story before I outline. In fact, I often visualise far beyond where I think I’ll finish the story. (I say where I think I’ll finish because both my current long fics are now firmly in the “after the end of the planned fic” territory)

So, in Fuel the Pyre, for example, I imagine there’s a lot of unknowns for the people involved. Halflings would be pretty new on the scene, all things considered, so the characters themselves wouldn’t have the answer to these questions, which felt like a great excuse to add tension and drama.

Once an idea has got me and I can imagine how that conflict is going to affect the characters, the general outline tends to sort of write itself. I am a planner, so I by the time I start putting pen to paper (so to speak), I’ll usually have a beginning, a rough middle and an end. There will be plot points, tangents, twists and sometimes side stories that I haven’t figured out, but I’ll have a plan for the general flow of the story.

From there, I’ll come up with a pretty messy draft. So, I just sort of go wild in a document. Usually, when I’ve decided I want to write a longer fic, it’s because certain scenes just play on repeat in my head, so I’ll indulge myself and write those out. Then I’ll go back and make rough chapter/arc notes, which usually leads into some other fun scenes I get inspired to write, and slowly, piece by piece, I sort of string the fic together like that.

I used to outline more linearly, starting at the first chapter and working from there, but I found I’d get stuck on transition scenes (the bane of my writing life) and then avoid the fic. (If I put my fingers in my ears and sing very loudly, the transition scene can’t hurt me). I find letting myself write the scenes I’m excited for makes me much more productive. They usually give me ideas for other fun (I use the term loosely, I generally mean “angsty”) scenes and I essentially build my story like that. I do like adding foreshadowing and twists, which is made a lot easier by writing like this too.

In Purgatory, for example, I tried to drop a lot of subtle hints about Callum and his slowly building arcanum connection. It’s so fun when people pick up on that stuff, but I also don’t want it to look like I just pulled a twist or a revelation out of my rear. Nowadays, I do prefer to write the bulk of a story before posting, which this method obviously works better for.

Often, when I start a fic, the beginning and the ending are the most defined parts of the story and the middle is the area that requires the most work, but by stringing the various elements together, I sort of “discover” new conflicts and fun elements to explore, which (hopefully) makes for a richer, more entertaining story.

So, not sure if that was what you’re looking for, but if you could describe the stream of consciousness that is how I write, a process, this is mine. 😅

[positivelyruined]

Hey there Christmas Buddy!

It's your secret Santa back again! I had a quick question about what you're looking for. A little birdie told me you have a headcanon that Tamlin wears glasses...is this the type of thing you would like to see in your gift?

For fanart and fanfiction, are there any particular headcanons or character descriptions you lean towards? What vibe are you looking for, overall?

Alright that'll be all for this one! No pressure in answering right away, this one is more clarifying than anything.

And I just wanted to say thank you for answering my previous asks with such detail and thoughtfulness. I really appreciate seeing what you like about these characters and what you're looking for in this side of the fandom!

Have a great rest of your day/night!🎅🏻🎁🎄

Hi, Secret Santa! I’m so sorry for the delay. My immune system has been struggling to keep up with the absolute increase in sparkle of the season and and needed a lot of hot cocoa and rest to help it recover.

I would absolutely feel so giggly if someone paid enough attention to my blog to go through and find my Tamlin head canons. That truly says above and beyond. That is sweet as heck, in all the best ways!

To make it easier for you, here’s a few!

- Tamlin wears glasses. He needs reading glasses specifically and gets headaches from reading too long without them. Magic could have been used to correct this early on in his childhood, but his mother insisted that it was his choice to make and not his father’s. Tamlin loved his mother’s love for his otherwise perceived ‘flaw’ and never had it corrected. As a High Lord, he can manually adjust his own vision, but does still often wear glasses in the evening while reading because it reminds him of feeling loved.

- Speaking of a ‘flawed’ fae, I love when the faeries are made a bit less godlike. If a character is so invulnerable that they experience no pain or their healing is irrelevant to a story, the process of adding injury or conflict slowly begins to matter a lot less. (In my humble opinion.)

- Tamlin enjoys shape shifting into animals for comfort, fun, etc. His most commonly used form outside his beast is a bear. The size can vary. He will be seen as a tiny bear wandering the halls of the manor if there is ever a thunderstorm at night. He hates them and finds them frightening. Often, his best solution is finding Lucien and sleeping at the end of his bed, but after Lucien leaves, it’s hiding under furniture until it passes.

- His own emotions can affect the weather. That thunderstorm he’s hiding from could be a result of suppressed pain, memories, or fear.

- In addition to the fiddle, he also plays lute, flute, piano, and harp at various skill levels. However, hand him any new instrument and he’s bound to go spend a few hours alone figuring it out before excitedly sharing his findings.

- He tends to avoid things that stress him out, often by hiding in the great system of hidden rooms and passageways inside the great manor. He has a varied set of hideaways where he goes to chill out away from the courtiers. Lucien knows about sixty percent of them, but still frequently gets lost. Tamlin gave him a whistle to help them find one another. A bit, “Marco!”, “Polo!”

- Speaking of Marco Polo, Tamlin and Lucien have nicknames for one another: Koda and Kip. Koda is Tamlin and means little bear. Kip is Lucien and means little fox. They seldom use them in public. They are used in moments of great, personal significance only. Not to mention, whenever either of them can’t sleep they have a tendency to wander the grounds as a pair of (various sized) fox and bear.

- Tamlin always carries blueberries in his pockets for the ducks and birds he meets during the day.

- He may not smile much, but one smile can light his soul for weeks.

[theprecuresystem]

hey, sorry friends!! i was a little sleep deprived and most of my other system friends say it's rude to send asks for Specific people, so i left my question open-ended. for the MaxHeartTrio Asks: what's your thoughts on octopi?

Your friends are right with that in a lot of cases. It can be rude to ask for someone specifically, since it can feel like you'd prefer to speak to someone else: but in our case we prefer when we specifically are asked for in terms of only ask box things specifically. Ask boxes can be left to sit, so it's less asking us to immediately show up, and it feels more like an "This is in here for when you're around". This isn't the case for everyone, of course, but it makes us feel we can answer questions a little easier! When it's not specified, we just tend to go with whoever's been mentioned as part of the ask's category, which could be a lot...

Two things can be true simultaneously, Anon. In most cases, it's rude to ask for someone specific because it can feel like ignoring the person who's currently there. However, in our case, it's polite to ask for someone specific because it reduces overwhelmedness about trying to figure out who it's for, and can be left to answer whenever the person is about.

As for your question!

My, Yukishiro Honoka's, answer:

In terms of the animal, I like them a lot. They're incredibly intelligent and capable of many things! Their biology is interesting, too, with how their beaks can be shaped, as well as the different kinds of octopi there are in the ocean. Did you know octopi experience sleep cycles like humans do? I think that's really nice. I saw a fun gif of one falling asleep, and sent it to my friend who wasn't aware that cephalopods were capable of getting sleepy. They had a fun reaction.

In terms of octopi in recipes, I do like takoyaki and tako su, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy those for every single meal. You definitely need variety, and can't stick to one food, no matter how much you enjoy it.

Misumi Nagisa's answer:

For the animal, they're super cool, but also totally creepy. Did you know there's an octopus that climbed out its tank into another fish tank to get extra food when the aquarium people were away? It learned their routines and worked around em! Totally horrifying! They're also using trash in the ocean to build tools now like how humans make tools! And they're able to slip into such small spaces... totally scary. Totally scary, they're REALLY cool but they're basically if you made an alien horror creature and made it real and then threw it in the sea!!

For octopi in recipes, I could have like five plates of takoyaki every single day! It's so tasty! I'd never get tired of it! If I get tired of takoyaki, something's definitely up.

Kujou Hikari's answer:

Hmm... for the animal, I'd like if we could understand them more. Octopi are intelligent, and we're intelligent, but there's still a big barrier between communication. Octopi are able to make tools, and plan around our schedules, but we can't really speak with them. It's a little bit sad, and I'd like us to know about what they might be wanting more, and able to show our own appreciation back. As things are, though, they're still in situations where we can't, and that causes a lot of treatment that we wouldn't allow for humans.

I know I find them intelligent and I want to understand them more, but it would be hypocritical of me to say I don't like octopi in terms of recipes. I've had takoyaki and enjoyed it before, and in source I do work at a café for that product... it's hard to know where I'd place octopi for this part of the response, apologies.