#kiss kissss

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Hey I read your Becky/Ambriel foc recently and was wondering how you go about writing the voices of characters who aren't in shows a lot. I feel Becky does have a distinct voice (which you nailed) but for Ambriel (and other characters you have written) did you just watch over her scenes or do you just go for it?

Like there's fandoms I've been in for 2 years and I wouldn't feel able to wrote the main characters' voices right.

Like ultimately when it comes to femslash (and all fic but especially femslash) it's better to write it bad than not at all but I would still appreciate knowing how you go about if that's okay to ask

I love talking about the writing process!! This got long and it's a big scattered mess of thoughts <3 it's hard to pin down a process because all of these thoughts and the actual writing of the piece happen concurrently so, chicken, egg, you know.

First of all, worrying about voice should really be an editing job, not a "writing the first draft" concern, in my opinion. Dean can sound like "good lord, why, is that my old chum Castiel? I do believe it is! Come, come, old chap, let us break burgers together and I shall tell thee of my frankly untenable week" and Cas can reply "bet" and you can put in square brackets [FIX THIS] and keep on trucking. I know this is hard to do. I too will pause on tricky sentences. Square brackets are my best friend. [Add Dean-ism] [insert joke] [reference that means "uh oh!]. But! To actually answer!

A particular character's voice is (unforch) something you can only fully develop through writing more of them and figuring out who they are to you. I used to be very stilted trying to figure out Cas’s voice, and then I wrote a lot of him and read a lot of other people's thoughts about him and thought about his actions in canon and now he's the easiest person for me to write!

What's more important than the surface level character-isms, is that they have depth and are consistent. Does the content of what they're saying make sense with the life they've led. Like, I don't think that my take on Meg really sounds all that much like canon Meg for example. But she is consistent within the fics I put her in, and shares enough snark with canon Meg that it works, AND she has motivations, reactions and ideas that are different to the other characters in the fic. It's like a cheat code, if two characters have different reactions to one event, that makes it come off like they have different voices.

Some other cheat codes: have one of them make a ton of references, and the other speak plainly (dean and sam core! but you can do that for most duos); have them make references to different things (tv vs classic literature, sci-fi vs fantasy); have one of them tell sillyjokes and the other tell dry jokes (destiel core...). Contrasts makes characters seem more separate.

For voice, I'll only rewatch if I don't remember how they said anything at all or if I remember they had a particularly distinctive way of speaking. If I needed to put Gabriel in a scene, I'd probably watch his episodes again. I've found if I do watch an episode to remind myself it can psyche me out of actually writing anything for them—Ava for example, I'm intimidating myself out of writing her at the moment lol.

For establishing a (deeper) character, you first need the basics:

Ambriel, helpfully, fits some basic tropes. Office worker. Apathetic. Angel in the vein of Castiel, Hannah and Anna (which is to say, autistic). I have a LOT of practice writing Castiel, and Ambriel is like Castiel didn't have his drive to help people or love of humanity. She is therefore: straightforward (angel), mildly bored (office worker) and her biggest want is for nothing to change for her (apathetic).

It's then how you build on the collection of tropes that makes them a Character. You figure out how to explain some of the above traits/situations they're in. What is her history? (She went to earth and didn't like it) Who is around her? (Kaisiel, whom she resists making a real connection with due to her apathy) Why is she apathetic? (It's repressed fear of punishment).

Something that really, really helps with unique characterisation for me is a little silly. Give them a niche interest. Something not mentioned in the source material at all, or is only briefly mentioned. Castiel is into the same sitcoms as me (and taxidermy). Ambriel is into data storage. Ava is into collecting small furniture.

And then go, why are they into this?

Castiel bc he loves to experience hunanity at a safe distance (and he likes to rummage).

Ambriel because it's within the scope of her job so is 'safe', which she takes pride in (and which I advanced from "pushing a button" because I thought that was stupid and bad world building 💙).

Ava wants to feel a sense of control in a world that is very much out of her control.

This not only gives you better insight into them as a character, it also makes them YOURS. that's not the cw's Ambriel, that's mine, she's into data storage, so it doesn't matter if she's off-model because no one will know, because she's mine.

As with Castiel's love of tv, you can also do this with canon interests, just hone in on specifically what it is and specifically why they like it. Dean doesn't like "music" he likes rock because it makes him feel powerful and affirms his masculinity and has a connection to his family being together. Charlie doesn't like "fantasy" she likes Lord Of The Rings and The Wizard of Oz because she values escapism and rooting for the little guy (these are also interests of Sam's!).

Plus - making it more niche and specific makes it SEEM like they have this rich inner life and history even if you don't bother to figure out why.

1) "Geraldine sighed and took the dog for a walk" vs

2) "Geraldine sighed, saved her game and took the dog for a walk" vs

3) "Geraldine sighed, saved her game of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon X, and took the dog for a walk."

Now!! Actually! 2 and 3 are where "voice" can come in. Is the POV character someone who doesn't care or know much about video games? Then 2 is the one for them. Does the POV character care a lot about being accurate, know Geraldine well enough to know what she's playing, and/or are knowledgeable about video games? Option 3! Or, bonus option 4, perhaps they're disdainful of video games/annoyed with Geraldine: "Geraldine sighed, saved her little game with the pretend animals, and finally took our very real and very whiny dog for a walk".

So!! We have a character. How do we make her distinct from the other characters in the fic? Build them concurrently!

Ambriel is apathetic about community THEREFORE Becky is desperate for it (and can't hold onto it). Becky is over-verbose, so Ambriel keeps it short (and is misunderstood as a result). Ambriel believes deep down that she doesn't matter, so Becky deep down believes that she (both herself and Ambriel) is special and important and deserves worship.

So. I think you were expecting this but. think about their motivations and then just start writing them and it'll work out.

okay I gotta go make dinner. does this help???? MWAH

[books-books-smolderinglooks]

Young Royals 3.01 - Simon & Wille

[theonewithval]

This is the look of a man in love that says "handle with care" because he would always protect her and "contents priceless" because she means the world to him, and her eyes are revealing how much she loves him too

[stormbreaker-290]

Despite my lack of recent Mal posting I assure you he has . Not left my brain. Ever .Thumbsup

[strawowoberry]

claw kiss ❤️

[endawn]

this hunger ... it seethes. inside me , claws at my ribcage. trapped.

[monkee-mobile]

the fact that MIKE NESMITH knew that the monkees would at one point just be so comfortable giving each other platonic kisses in their home if one of them asks is the craziest thing ever.

[zhxngii]

yall atp i'm adding him in the self ships-... (YES I TOOK PICS OF HIM NEXT TO WELT SDALKHEWM and pics of him......)

hhhh.

[teddybeartoji]

Sukunas favorite servant getting drunk on wine he had her drink and she gets all sleepy and quiet but her normal shyness is overrun by her amazement in his four arms and eyes 😭

PLEASEEEE😭😭😭😭😭😭 SUKUNA WOULD FIND THAT SO ENTERTAINING LMAO he's just staring at you with that sick little grin of his, head resting on his hand. having dismissed every other servant in the room, it's now just the two (he didn't want anybody seeing you in a state like this yk). he watches you observe him, he can't help it.. you do look especially cute like this. slurring your words, eyelids heavy – he wants to. take care of you a little. who said that. hehe

[vanillashusband]

hhnnngghhgnnn ggnng gg....... I love ROBOTS SO FUCKIGN MUCCCHHHHBHH AAAHBGG GGHNNGH

[iheartmoons]

GAHHDJD GUYS OMDS. this is exactly. how sirius’ hair is supposed to look in the football chapter of ddtk. i have been BLESSED to see this w my eyes.

[chandajaan]

hi!!! love seeing ur posts on the dash, u r the famous mutual TO ME!

as for a random tidbit of my day, my dog just ate not 1 but 2 of my snot filled tissues while i was distracted on the phone 😐

FIRSTLY NOOOO To your dog eating your tissues, but I've heard horror stories about dogs eating tampons so it could be worse! Also I am a retired starlet smoking in the back of an old jazz club to me

[silverselfshippingchaos]

i mean... i take payment in kisses too. just saying

[taegularities]

Cmi Jk & Oc: How did it feel to finally make love again after so long? You guys are gonna fight to keep each other no matter what right ❤️

Jungkook: "Right. I promise you that." Jungkook: "It felt… unreal. I forgot how soft she is. Goosebumps everywhere."

OC: "Thank you, we will try… You're so sweet." OC: "It was so beautiful. I felt so incredibly warm and cared for. And I want to kiss him again."

–

ask my characters! <3

[unma]

So I uh...

I might have gone crazy on what was supposed to be a short fic. It's only been like... shit it's been 4 hours (and half of that was lazing around while the other was full-focused fic writing). It's midnight and while I'm scared of losing all this energy, I'm 100% sure I'll crash asleep if I keep going so I'm calling it here for the night. Here's a little sneak peek of what I wrote though (and I think it's obvious what day I'm continuing off from this).

Do note that this could change depending on how I feel about it later, this is from a first draft after all.

“Sans?”

The skeleton opened his eyes, snapping out of his little flashback. “Hm? Need something, princess?”

“You just seemed out of it for a moment.”

The princess in question was busy sorting through her inventory as she prepared yet another escapade. Another carefree waltz through the Underground away from the prying eyes of her parents. She’d gone on many now, so much so it was routine to her. Sans never did stop her, learning after the first time that once Frisk set her mind to something, she’d do it.

So he’d taken to stalking her as she went about these.

Stalking was perhaps not the right word. For one, Frisk was always aware of this. Another thing was this was for her safety. Frisk wasn’t hated by many, on the contrary, she was loved by many of the monsters. A human who actually cared about monsters was something hopeful for them. It made them believe that things could be better one day if there were other humans like Frisk.

“Just thinking about the past, is all.”