#less larp more writing project

[sl33py-g4m3r]

perhaps the prentice was chosen in the gauntlet rite the years or so before Flynn and everyone else had? Or after if they were still doing The Rite in Mikado...

I have not a time frame for the samurai oc I've created, yet at least.

Given he can feel the rain in our world, would that also mean he can interact with things as well? Or could people see him? could everyone see him or just certain people?

What demons did he have on him when the incident occurred? if any.

in the game it appears that the first demon that you acquire as Flynn is a centaur.... Is this the same for all new recruits or was it a coincidence?

If the samurais spirit/soul is asleep in our world; does he have visions of his fellows in Mikado? their goings on and missions? Or what's happening to his body? I bet being an amnesiac, this deeply concerns him.... Hopefully he'll connect the dots and be like "they're wearing the same outfit/uniform as I am..... Mikado?" and hopefully try to find a way to return.

Or is he just kind of trapped here for unknown reasons? gets too interested in our world and almost forgets; but still has this deep longing of going back home to Mikado.

would him remembering bits and pieces through visions/dreams or what have you cause him distress? I mean it's cliche but probably. Headaches or illness or something else.... Would those affect his body in return?

hadn't pieced together how exactly they're keeping his body alive in Mikado yet... would the monastery and infirmary have access to modern medical technology? I doubt it... Magic?

I wanna write about my samurai oc, and I've got ideas, but still no clear idea of where I'm going with the story as I just make it up as I go...

It would be really messed up to share a copy of SMT iv with him, lol. maybe anyway.

makes me wonder what games are actually games in universe in the SMT/persona games? but that's not OC stuff that's just random musings on my end.

if anyone could see him; what would they make of his outfit? or what would he think of motorized carriages without horses? 'good heavens, what the oddity... how doth thine move without aid of a horse? is it a demon?' *possibly attacks car with magic*

wrote one post from his perspective... but i also worry its garbage in hindsight.... eh got to quit worrying about it being cringe and have fun with a dumb internet blog~~~

last I wrote, which was from his point of view; he was napping in the rain under a tree, just as the rain subsides. too tired still to do much or figure out where he is, and wondering if anyone can see him or not.

[marlowethelibrarian]

Writerly Questionaire tag!

@saturnine-saturneight, @the-golden-comet and @fortunatetragedy all tagged me for this questionaire! Also thanks to @davycoquette for the original meme!

About You

When did you start writing?

I remember writing a story for a first grade assignment when I was 4-5 and really enjoying it. They gave us little booklets that were just like construction paper cut into shapes with lined paper inside to write on. I didn't really start writing as a hobby until I was about 10, writing naruto fanfic.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

I tend to write what I like to read! I like nonfiction on occasion which I definitely can write, I just don't do it very often.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

No one has ever compared me to an author ever, lmfao, but there are some writers here on writeblr that I've got an eye on, with prose that fucking slaps. I haven't actually sat down and read their stuff yet for the most part, because my life has been crazy but from the excerpts I see on tumblr I'm like. Yes. That. That's great. How do they do that. shout out to @cowboybrunch, @fortunatetragedy and @davycoquette!

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)?

90% of the time I write in my messy ass bed my fitted sheet refuses to stay on. The other 10% I'm wandering to other places in the house.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Write or die sometimes brute forces it out of me. Otherwise, brainstorming with a sounding board, answering some asks or tag games, or rereading my old stuff can all help me out here.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

I mean. Probably! I definitely do that thing where I'll picture the layout of a building as a building I'm familiar with. I've written a lot of apartments that look suspiciously like my grandparent's old house.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

Yeah almost definitely lmfao. I keep noticing patterns after the fact. I have been circling the idea of dead worlds for one, and what it takes to survive there a couple times now. It's less obvious in project Cannibalism, but it's honestly still there.

Your Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

My current obsession is definitely Ravi, who is a dnd character, a larp character, and the main character of my Summer League OCT rounds. They started off as a gnome alchemist who is like just a back alley drug dealer when they got stuck in Barovia in a Curse of Strahd campaign. (Currently the only member of the original party still alive and aiming to keep it that way) I changed them to be a halfling when writing them for the OCT on a whim because it feels like a more grounded fantasy race to draw from without having to explain too much thanks to Lord of the Rings and its enduring cultural legacy. I've been greatly enjoying the process of writing, essentially, an incredibly traumatized character embark on a life or death venture among people who have no idea what the stakes are for them, exploring how badly adapted some of those defense mechanisms are for a regular ass place and how other people would view them, and how they would get there in the first place. I'd put them in my mouth and chew on them

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life?

I can be a pretty sensitive person who prefers straightforward communication and positivity, so every single one of my horrible little prickly assholes is out. And that's a category I really enjoy writing so that's almost all of them lmfaoooo. I'd probably be friends with Wakma though. Wakma's cool.

Which characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

I wouldn't be able to stand Mala. She's consistently unpleasant and horrible to the people around her and I would not be able to let it roll off or just hit back like Rakani does.

Tell me about the process of coming up with your characters?

I like to develop characters in response to aspects I find interesting about the worldbuilding, or around a concept I want to explore. Sometimes they come about because there's a role in a story I need to fill. Wakma, for example, mostly came about because I knew Rakani absolutely needed a friend who didn't come from the Suyan hierarchy, and I already had this really cool idea about nomadic airship traders so I made him a diplomat from that culture, and then developed more of his character as I wrote him and decided what was important to the story.

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters?

Traumatized little goblins, people who aren't acceptable victims, who lash out and behave in unacceptable ways.

How do you picture your characters?

I do draw, so I do have pictures of what characters look like sometimes, but sometimes they're just blobs and I decide along the way what they look like. I do try to be deliberate about it though, because diversity in race and body types rarely just happens to me. It's something I work towards and am purposefully deliberate about.

Your Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

I wanna and no one's stopped me yet.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

i love it when someone points at something I did specifically about what about it they vibed with or excited them.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work?

Just don't look at me and expect my characters please.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Clarity.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

Well I think people have cried about my writing a lot, so it's quite emotional. I'm always very pleased when someone says I've hit on a level of some emotional realism.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I have great, creative ideas, but the execution could use a little work. I think my writing is pretty plain and worksmanlike, and that's like fine.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

This does absolutely open up a whole ass can of worms. jamie's right, how am i surviving here, if im subsidence farming I don't think I'd have the time and energy for writing. But like, I don't think I would if I knew I'd never have an audience. Even a small audience of one would be reason enough to write but if it's just me I might not.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy?

I don't care what other people want when I'm writing. I only care when I'm editing lmfao.

i have not kept track of who has answered this or not so I'm just going to leave this open to anyone who wants this!!

[carnivorousgarden]

A Letter to Markiplier

Not that he’ll ever see it. But that’s okay.

I’m going through some of the toughest times in my life right now. My job is bad, so I’m looking for another. My roommates are fighting so much, I’m looking to move. My car needs repairs I can’t afford. I’m scared I won’t make rent. My mental health, and that of a lot of people around me, is bad. I’ve given up my creative hobbies and my creative sparks because I don’t have it in me, and I reached a point of hopelessness. A “why bother? I have more important things to focus on.”

And during all this, during the worst days of my life so far, I isolated to my room. I looked for idle background noise, and I found… an old stream of Markipliers I never finished. His explanation stream for Who Killed Markiplier. I put it on, and found myself sucked back into the world of YouTuber egos and stories, remembering why I loved this stuff so much when it came out. I went and watched Wilford Motherloving Warfstache, and it’s stream. Damien and it’s stream. Then Heist, Heists stream, In Space and it’s stream. I spent a few days just consuming content and lore and breakdowns. I crafted theories, I drew art, I found something that sparked joy.

In the worst days of my life so far, Markiplier made me feel less hopeless, and less alone.

In each of his streams about these projects, he talks about the creation process and he encourages his fans to genuinely go out there and make their own projects. To not give up hope. To chase their creative sides and grab on and they, too, can make things they’re proud of. I know he isn’t talking to me directly, but when I tell you that hearing this, this that sounded so genuine, brought inspiration and color back into this very depressing stage of my life, know how much I mean it. I feel like I can keep up with my own stories now. I feel like I need to stop waiting to do my own creative stuff.

In Space felt like a love letter to his fans, with all the references to things he’s done and memes that made him viral. I saw this. I hold this idea close to my heart.

Mark. Thank you. I can’t be more genuine when I say this. Seeing your passion, your creativity, your genuine care for your fans and your projects and the people you work with… it has touched me in a very, very important and impactful way while I’m struggling in my own life. I’m picking up my art tablet, and my writing pen. I’m sewing my larp costumes again. I know there’s an end to this tunnel, and I know I can reach it.

Is it silly to be this inspired, this touched, by someone who’s never met me, who won’t read this? Maybe.

Does that make it any less real, though?

[nullbutler]

Masterpost of Projects

Hi! I'm Null! I make way too much stuff !! Here's a comprehensive list of everything I'm proud enough of to advertise on the front of my blog! It's a lot of kuro stuff!

My COMMISSIONS are OPEN!

BLACK BUTLER : BOOK OF SPIDERS [<- watch here]

A literal season 2 MOVIE. That's right i fucking COMPILED SEASON 2 INTO A FUCKING MOVIE it's a TWO AND A HALF HOUR LONG FUCKING MOVIE. I am in no way an editing professional, but the filler is cut, the gratuitously vile scenes are either done differently or also cut, and Alois and Hannah are portrayed in a kinder light, especially with Alois's backstory being handled a lot more carefully. No original footage is added - it is merely camera tricks and framing.

"You got rid of that Ciel screaming scene and that's like 5 stars for me." -- @warmmilk-n-honey

"Truly proves that less is more." -- @pain-in-the-butler

"An actual digestible version of Season 2." - @mantomhive

2. My Webcomic: The Dead The Damned & The Devil (Read here)

What if Vincent Phantomhive came back from the dead just before his sons were sacrificed? This is a fix-it AU...kind of. Many side characters are integral to this story, like Francis and Madam Red. It's got 8+ chapters, and if you like to watch scared parents protect sad little kids, its a good read. likewise, if you already want to hug vincent, its a good read. likewise, if you want to punch vincnet in the face, it's a good...

VOLUME ONE HAS BEEN COMPLETED!!!

3. My Season 2 Video Essay (black butler season 2 is laughing at you)

watch me scream about the meta of season 2 as an exhausted season 2 fan for about two hours...it's got some original animatics, too!

4. My Youtube + some highlights such as

The Black Butler Actors OVA Abridged

exactly what it says on the tin! a 22 minute long black butler parody following what the hellish production of season 2 was actually like (and also. uh. character trauma??? somehow???)

"Cinder Soul" the angsty End-of-Contract visual novel

Sebastian and Ciel angst hours, in an AU where Ciel has quite literally lost everything. Ominous. Sad.

Season 2 Reanimation project

on indefinite hiatus -- but its still 14 minutes of technically an episode, and the ending is more 'open' than 'cliffhanger.' what if Alois and Ciel got to talk it out when they were trapped in the same body, back in episode 11? Fully originally animated (thsi is probably the largest thing I've ever made hghdfhs)

Collabs w Mel ( @weeb-cheese )

This list will probably get longer but aaa they're so cool!

Pluto video essay!

Drossel video essay!

NOT-KURO VIsual Novel

A light-hearted (?) sapphic visual novel about some ladies who LARP at garden club. On hiatus

5. Ego Te Absolvo

So what if Alois Trancy teamed up with Ash Landers and became an exorcist who killed demons? Would he be happy? Would he be free? This is a really fun fic, i've been co-writing it with @eemoo1o and its aaa!! very cool!! do be warned, it gets...darker...the longer you read it. it is an alois trancy fic after all, even if the initial concept might seem a bit silly

6. RIan Stoker Ask Blog

Don't ask me why i wanted to make this. but he's always open!

I have a number of other smaller projects that you can find by hunting through my youtube and stalking my ao3. I don't mind!! tho some of the older stuff is definitely not as good lmao thanks for reading!!

I also run @blackbutler-heritage-posts and hosted @dadbastianweek2023 !!!

[balioc]

LARP Sizes

When you talk about the "size" of a theater LARP, you might mean a lot of different things -- how long it lasts, how long the game materials are, how much physical space you need to run it, etc. (These things heavily correlate with one another, which helps to confuse the issue.) But the most important version of "size," of course, is player count. A LARP is nothing more or less than a bunch of characters doing stuff, and the experience is shaped heavily the number of characters who are contributing to it.

(It's like party size for a TTRPG, only more so, because you don't have an omnipresent GM who can keep everything in hand for everyone.)

If you're thinking of writing a theater LARP, I would strongly encourage you to think about your game structurally when you're deciding how big it's going to be. Don't just decide that you want to write a large game because you're feeling ambitious, or that you want to write a small game because you're feeling nervous; don't just include every character concept that you have in your head. Choose a size that works well with the kind of experience you want to generate, and with the mechanics you have in mind.

Every additional character changes things, of course, but (in my opinion) these are the size ranges that really matter:

0-1 PCs: This is not a LARP, in the conventional sense. This is a joke or an art project.

2-3 PCs: The PCs cannot escape each other at all. The game will necessarily consist of a single extended conversation, and you should think of it in those terms. It's the writer's job to make sure that conversation is interesting and sustainable.

[The general rule is that character sheets and other documents tend to get longer as the game gets bigger, because there's more material that has to be incorporated...but games with 2-3 players often have really long sheets, just for the sake of making sure that everyone has enough to talk about, and that every PC has some very substantive thoughts about every other PC.]

4-7 PCs: At this size, the game will likely default to being a single round-table conversation, and fundamentally everyone is going to have to deal with everyone else -- but the PCs will be able to split off for private chats (without leaving anyone twiddling his thumbs). Plotting and politics begin to become possible, although you shouldn't expect that anyone will really be able to hide anything from anyone else. This is an excellent size for games that are basically about emotional tangles.

8-15 PCs: By my standards, a "medium-sized" LARP. There's enough going on that you can thread multiple plots into your narrative, although you should expect that everyone will likely be interacting with everyone else, at least to some extent. It is totally plausible that a PC will be able to maintain a more-or-less complete understanding of the total game situation, although you can't count on anyone in particular doing so. Complexity and factional conflict are viable here. This is the sweet spot for intricate integrated mechanical structures where you want every PC to be interfacing with the same system. It is not an accident that two of the most successful game-structure templates that have come out of my LARPing tradition -- the Dance and the Dawn template and the Be Not Afraid template -- require exactly 13 PCs.

16-30 PCs: In a LARP of this size, a PC can probably have more-than-zero clue about every other character in the game, and about all the overarchingly important plots...but no one is going to be able to keep up with everything that's going on, not even remotely. Chaos and fog-of-war start dominating the play experience here. Games this big usually require multiple interconnected narratives, and there are usually whole plots that just don't have much to do with each other. It becomes important for the writer to ensure that any given PC has enough different things going on that his game won't get randomly destroyed by the tides of happenstance.

31+ PCs: Any given PC will be totally clueless about whole swathes of the game; certain characters, and certain plots, will completely fail to intersect at all. Either the LARP is secretly a bunch of loosely-connected game modules, or it needs to be robust enough to survive all manner of butterfly-effect-generated madness as unusual outcomes and choices ripple outwards. (I don't actually have any experience writing LARPs at this scale. My biggest game is for 30 PCs, and it was definitely straining against the kind of structural cohesion that I tried to impose on it.)

[griefabyss69]

For your writing asks:

2) Anything that you'd like to write but feel like you're unable to?

20) Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you?

2. So far I've made a few attempts at a Body Swap AU that haven't gone anywhere. I think I either need to make it less serious and stop caring about the magic/science, OR I need to really spend time on it and make the magic/science work thoughtfully And also my original stuff, which I don't have the luxury of watching a TV show that a bunch of other people already worked real hard on all of the groundwork for... I have to create it myself :' ) so that's a challenge that I've been working through

20. I have like 3 tiers that I kind of feel out usually, but I always have more than one project going. I have the version of ADHD where if I'm not always working on at least two things at once I can't do anything actually. Some days I'll literally go back and forth between two or more documents as I write!

The tiers are 1) Anything that has a deadline coming up. These are rare except for the microfic challenges, though I usually use those as warm up exercises or a way to test out an idea I don't want to fully commit to yet. 2) Anything that's either an on-going series, like the LARP AU or Philia series, or is a multi-chapter WIP which is rare (though I have one right now). And 3) Anything that I just plain want to write.

I have so many WIPs to choose from that this system tends to work out really well for me! And if I rifle through those and still complain about having nothing to wear I don't even want to open any of them, there's always the option to start a new WIP :' ) Or like, go do something else creative!

Thank you for your questions!!! <3

Ask questions about writing : )

[psychhound]

🌧️🌩️?

🌧️ Share something melancholy from one of your games (name the game, or let me choose).

i really like this bit of flavor text from the end of dead man's hand. i try to keep it pretty vague who the narrator of the game is as you go through, but slip in little moments of personality or identity. i was really happy with the text the game ends on:

[text in alt]

in the game you travel through a supernatural wild west and use poker hands to divine the stories of the many travelers you can come across, from outlaws with hearts of gold to haunted blacksmiths, landed gentry to lonesome cowboys, and even newly rising gods. youre cursed (blessed?) to collect stories until you find The One, and then what happens after ... well, anyone's guess. the narrator guiding you through this takes a backseat in the process until these final moments, where they ask to be remembered as well. writing this game was a really nice little exercise in voice and genre and i really enjoyed it

🌩️ Share something spooky from one of your games (name the game, or let me choose).

a game that isnt published yet (though! going to try to relaunch the kickstarter at some point! once i get a handle on going back to grad school) but this is part of the opening of how to survive a haunting, a solo larp on living with trauma. the rest of the opening narration is less spooky and (hopefully!!) more uplifting, but here's just the spooky part:

There’s a ghost inside your body. Maybe there’s a couple of them. Maybe there’s dozens. Maybe there’s one but it’s big and mean and fast and seizes you around the throat when you aren’t looking. These ghosts steal the breath from your chest and wrap icy fists around your heart and plague your mind with visions and cruel words. The ghosts within your body are creatures made of memory. They think, these ghosts, that if you stop remembering, they will disappear. Like many things, they are afraid to disappear. So the ghosts seep into your mind and scatter across your dreams and hide amongst crowds chanting remember, remember, remember me. With remembering comes the fear. And pain.

i'm sooooo close to being at a point where i can try to launch this game again but!! being patient with myself and the creative process (it's not a super easy game to work on, mentally or emotionally). it's still a project i really believe in, though, and want to see come to light one day soon

[roleslaying]

Retrospective

It's a funny place to be, having social anxiety while being both an entertainer and a LARPer.

Because I know, in my heart, that I can DO things like talk to people, I CAN and HAVE handled having everyone's eyes on me. As soon as I was out of costume though, those same things are towering beasts that I have to overcome before I manage, sometimes shaking, to do what I know I can.

I realized my Costumes were like my Armor. I could be Brave and Bold as long as the attention wasn't on... Me.

It started with a wig. I got a job face painting at parties and festivals entirely by accident, but that is a story for another day. I carefully assembled my Clown Gear from a combination of my wardrobe and a large tote of clownery my clown boss had on hand. Part of it was a wig, I enjoyed the look but after one event I found it uncomfortably scratchy. I did not want to wear the wig but I did not want to compromise on the design of my ClownSona so I decided to just dye my hair. I was all in, babey.

I started getting compliments. Even when I thought I looked terrible. People noticed the hair and not that I was in my pajamas.

Then I started LARPing. I made more characters, found a love for putting together an outfit carefully considering backstory and status and personal style. I found a hobby that scratched every itch, art, writing, design, construction, sewing, baking, camping... and I came out of my shell in so many ways. I found my people.

Problem is, I gotta make friends that live closer to me too. And people that live closer to me are not interested in my monthly murder camping. So I have been pushing myself to try things that scare me. Break that barrier. Earlier this year I tried karaoke. I was waiting for the bus and someone asked me if I wanted to sing, they had a booth in the town square. It was a quiet day so I decided this was it, I'd wanted to try it but I'd been scared. I did it scared. I finished my song shaking like a leaf. The man told me it was brave of me to try it but he was glad I had, and asked me to come back.

I did. And every time, I shook just a little less. By the end of the summer I could sing a handful of songs confidently enough not to shake at all, I can't say the same for new songs though. And I liked it. I liked how I sounded, my voice feels new and at karaoke I could rev it up and see what it can do.

Then it got cold. The only indoor karaoke nearby was held in a noisy sports bar. I'm not really a bar person, nor did I know anyone there. The person I invited never showed, but I stayed and did it alone.

The second time I went, I recognized someone. My friends had once again failed to show up and he invited me to his table, introduced me to the other people there. They told me about their traditions, showed me their favourite bar trick, and helped me feel welcome. I've also started to think about my wardrobe, what I want to look like, when people are sure to be looking at me.

This year, my biggest character design project to date: myself. I am challenging myself to adjust my wardrobe until every item in it makes me feel good about how I look. It's time to get rid of what doesn't fit me or is falling apart at the seams.

Cheers to a new year!

[ebonydraygon]

So the last year has had its ups and downs, learning to fully live with my miriade of autoimmune conditions, losses of long term gaming groups and friends with that... well lets jsut say I am going to take it easy on myself when it comes to reviewing my goals for the year.

Creatively

complete one large cross stitch project

I did achieve this!

It may not seem a 'big' project to those that do cross stitch regularly but it is for me!

Write something outside of Nanowrimo

Also completed! In fact, I finally finished and posted a fanfic that I was working on for the past three nanos.

Complete at least two digital art pieces

This one... less so. Mainly due to ill health, I haven't' done any big digital pieces. I have however done smaller projects, such as silly marshmallows and the ongoing Silly Sharks project

Personally

Keep on top of laundry

This was hampered by the fact our washing machine died again and it wasn't until late in the year that we finally got a working replacement. But now we have a washer-dryer so we are now starting to chip down the mountains much quicker!

post progress pics more often

haaa yeah. I didn't manage to do this on social media beyond my personal discord server, but that is still progress!

keep more consistent stream and shop schedule

I like to think, barring the extraneous circumstances like health and life events, I have managed this quite well!

General

Attend at least one nanobeans meeting outside of November

I didn't even manage to get to one in november! But hey, I have more free time now so maybe I'll manage...

sort spare room so it is a viable guest room

Due to the larp I was running suddenly imploding and then having all the props and kit from that to get rid of... this is still a work in progress.

Get to the stage where we can get a cat!

One day! I did get to go to a cat café and visit parents to see their two cats, so I have at least had some cat this year.

As mentioned above, this year has thrown me some nasty curveballs. The Larp I had been running suddenly imploded around May/June-ish when the other Narrator suddenly up and quit with no warning, causing half our meagre player base to also quit. So we had to fold the group, and then I was left to try and clean up the remains. IT was something that had been a staple of my life for the last six years, basically a volunteer job with how much work I did. So it has taken time to rebalance myself with its loss. Plus, there aren't really any non-com friendly larps in my immediate area that interest me. So it's not like I can easily replace it.

Highlights of the year were probably finally posting up Dark Waltz, a Gloryhammer AU fanfic as well as attending Kitacon at Warrick uni. I even ran my first convention event which was well attended, and I had people asking if I would run it again for longer next time! So that is something I will have to keep in mind!

Tune back January 1st for the new resolution list and the thank you list for those that kept me going through the previous year.

[v0idspeak]

May I introduce you to the phenomena of bleed?

Bleed, as I've been taught recently, is typically a word used in LARPs and other roleplay environments. As you were attempting to project your feelings into the character, the own character's emotions bled through right back to you. That's your brain being confused about which emotions are yours and which are your character's, and making you experience them even if they're not "real".

It's a kind of empathetic reaction, I think. Anyway. When experiencing bleed, it's important to remember to separate oneself from one's writing, drink water/eat food/take your meds if you have some or need to, and to allow your brain to... for lack of a better word, breathe.

Just because those emotions "aren't real" does not make them any less important to deal with. Some people will feel nauseous when writing a sick character, others will feel more cold and manipulative when writing a villain. It's fun when writing a happy fluff scene, but less so when you're writing a breakdown or a panic attack.

All in all a fascinating concept, and one that isn't easy to deal with if only because the emotion isn't caused by anything tangible. So - write responsibly!

(writing a character having basically a panic attack) Yes, I can channel my own experiences with Terrible Awful Anxiety for this one! That'll work.

(me ten minutes later): wait why do I feel awful now

[sl33py-g4m3r]

Am I finished….? Am I going to see any fellows when I awake…? What…… happened……….? …………???

Am ……. I……… conscious………? Is……. This…….. a dream? ……….

‘Last I remember……… ………………?!’

‘??? Confusion……… a thick haze almost like smoke clouds my mind………’

Slightly alarmed I try opening my eyes…….. all I do is twitch slightly… my body doth not respond……. ‘So exhausted…………. I doth not sleep here……….’

What’s that feeling? Someone…….. jostling me moving me? Are they stripping me of equipment ?? Can I do nothing?? Are people talking, or yelling? What pray tell is happening? Come on eyes, open….

‘Everything sounds so very far away……… my……… fellows………….’

‘……..’ he slips into unconsciousness amongst the commotion…

Twitch…. My body twinges as I vaguely feel something ?? ‘What is this feeling….? Static?? Have I been hit with electricity? Consciousness creeps into my awareness and my senses are less dull than before….. is it rain……?? Needless to say I feel…….. odd………

Slowly I attempted to open my eyes once more……. ‘Where am I……? I……….? Who……… am i ???’

Rain. Twas in fact, rain. Slowly I realize I’m laying in a field, by a lake….. in the rain……… soaking wet…… face to face with grass…...

‘No memory of whom I am, nor these clothes I’ve donned…… they look cool….. and what of this glove….. clad in steel? ……… what’s this……..? A sword?? I have a sword???? Could I even wield one?’

I struggle to my feet slowly no longer as sleepy as I’ve felt before….. I look to try to figure out what this glove does…… only then do I notice……. I can see through myself…….? ‘……….?!?!’ I can see the lake through my hand…..?!?

“What in heaven’s sake?”

‘I proceed to panic slightly as I find a spot out of the rain….. it is nice however…… a cool rain……. A breezy one…..’

‘Watching the clouds and the limbs of the tree blow in the wind; I question whether I live or have perished……. Whether anyone can see my form….. or I’m invisible to them…. Surely I can interact with things if I can actively feel the rain……. But why am I transparent still if that’s the case….?’

Staring off into space……. Slumped by a tree, is an exceptionally odd fellow…….. unknown to what year it currently is, nor whom he himself is……. Just lost…

Just a vague feeling of loss, lament, and confusion… at this place that is unknown to him. This time….. everything…… letting those feelings take a chokehold on him, he lapsed into slumber once more. Rain lightning, he lay slumped by the roots of the tree.

Nary a fragment of memory of his fellows, of Mikado, the gauntlet, nor his demons…. his own name even……

‘Where shall I be when I awake next…? I have seen nary a soul out here……. Can anyone see me……? If I feel the rain I can hopefully interact with other things as well…………. If someone does see me……. I do hope they’ll lend me their aid………’

[aestherians]

Hi! You were the first therian based blog I could find so I hope you don't mind me asking a question. I'm doing a project where I am drawing random aesthetics from the wiki for art practice and otherkin is listed as one! I know after a little research it isn't a style but a lifestyle (?) I hope that's the right way to say it. Anyway, I was wondering if there *is* a certain look people have who are therians or if they wear clothes to better match their identity? I've seen the clip on ears/tail but I'm not sure if that was a one off thing or commonplace. Thanks a lot!

Thanks for asking for clarification!

You're right, it's less of an aesthetic and more of a lifestyle (not to say it can't be both, of course), but at its core, it's an identity. The same way you may identify as a redhead or a runner or gay or disabled or religious, we identify as nonhumans in human-looking bodies. There really isn't a perfect analogy for what otherkinity is, but most 'kin compare it to being transgender. In fact, in the late 90s one of the more commonly used synonyms was straight-up just 'transspecies'. (Take note here that most otherkin are some variant of transgender, transsexual, or genderqueer. Cis otherkin are a minority)

There are some trends that link the very different folks in our community together, but there's a bit of a generational gap:

Among kids and teens, you'll find a lot of outward expression, such as inhuman makeup, tails clipped on their pants, and collars - google 'teen werewolves' and 'therian gear' and you'll get an idea of it (though I have to add, teen werewolves are not necessarily therians/otherkin and therians/otherkin are not necessarily wolves).

Among older otherkin, the expression is more subtle and more focused on philosophical or political discussions and long-form writing — especially essay writing; we love personal essays around here. Your awakening essay is basically how you express your otherkinity to the rest of the community lol. Everyone used to have an awakening essay somewhere on their website or blog or journal! Visual expression of otherkinity among adults tends to take the form of subtle fashion choices, such as jewelry (I always wear a pendant with a bison skull). It's only when there's an excuse to dress up, like a con or a LARP, that adults tend to use tails and collars.

Basically, otherkinity can look like this:

Or like this:

But usually it looks a bit like this — this is basically how I appear in my head:

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Welcome to the Palmerverse

Today in Wired, Gregory Barber profiles my friend, colleague and collaborator Ada Palmer, an extraordinary writer, librettist, historian, scholar, activist and performer:

https://www.wired.com/story/ada-palmer-sci-fi-future-weird-hand-progress/

Palmer has just wrapped up Terra Ignota, her four-volume series depicting a deeply weird and uncomfortable future that is informed by her world-class scholarship into Renaissance history (she’s a tenured U Chicago history prof who specializes in the suppression of forbidden knowledge during the Inquisitions).

https://us.macmillan.com/series/terraignota

The Wired profile gets into the book’s odd contours — the deeply alien and marvellously plausible social norms it depicts — and connects them to Palmer’s historical work. As she is fond of saying, “We know less than 1% of what happened 500 years ago, and at least two-thirds of what we know is wrong.”

Terra Ignota depicts a world where our major problems — climate, war, shortage — have been addressed, where nation-states have been replaced by sprawling affinity groups (you can live anywhere and be an EU citizen, but you can also be a “citizen” of FIFA), and where distance has been conquered by hypersonic sub-orbital flying cars.

And yet, this is a fraught place, and one where the social conventions are as far from our own as the mores of the Renaissance. People in Palmer’s world do not discuss gender or religion, and have a taboo on discussing which gender they identify with. They live in “bashes” — communal polyamorous households — and tolerate invasive censorship in the private and public realm as the price of peace.

As Barber writes, the future history of Palmer is as unpredictable and contingent as the history she studies and teaches. Palmer is celebrated for her annual U Chicago LARP, where 45 students spend a month role-playing as cardinals in the runup to the 1490 election of the Medicis’ Pope.

https://doctorow.medium.com/against-the-great-forces-of-history-4946651f2f80

I find this exercise profoundly intriguing. Every year, two of the final candidates are the same, their places guaranteed by the “great forces of history.” But every year, the other two candidates are always different, because even though the forces of history bear down upon us, we also have human agency.

That one of the major themes of Terra Ignota, and it’s a message of hope: what we do matters.

Though Palmer has only written four books so far, her work has had a large effect on the field, especially in the works of the marvellous Jo Walton, whose association with Palmer has led to a string of fascinating novels touching on classics and antiquity.

The profile gets into Palmer’s life circumstances: the chronic illness and pain and low blood-oxygen that has her working from a reclining position for weeks on end, taken away from the world in reveries of scholarship, music and imagination.

The fruits of these jaunts into innerspace are many and gorgeous, especially her music, which includes the haunting space-travel ballad “Somebody Will”:

http://www.sassafrassmusic.com/songs/sci-fi-fantasy-fandom/somebody-will/

Palmer is such a multitalented quintuple threat, whose talents range from game-design to seminar design. We collaborated on a U Chicago grad seminar series on the parallels between historical and contemporary systems of information control, contrasting the Inquisitions with modern reactions to online speech:

https://ifk.uchicago.edu/research/faculty-fellow-projects/censorship-information-control-information-revolutions-from-printing-press/

The profile is great, but it only gives a taste of what a conversation with Palmer is like (at one point, she discusses how Voltaire would view the contemporary state of science fiction).

Palmer is very much alive to the way that history is used and abused to justify the present day. She rails against the idea of “dark ages” and “golden ages” and scoffs at the notion that the pandemic will automatically create a renaissance (a fallacy based in the incorrect assumption that the last renaissance was brought on by the plague).

Her ability to fuse scholarship, art, and politics makes her a standout in the field. The completion of Terra Ignota is a major milestone, and it’s great to see it celebrated with such a fitting tribute.

Image: Sanna Pudas (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ada_Palmer_at_the_Hugo_Award_Ceremony,_at_Worldcon_75_in_Helsinki_2017_(cropped).jpg

CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

[grievedifferent]

this is coming out of nowhere but a conversation i had last night with my partner on specifically tumblr rp and age - so here are my thoughts on age, particularly getting older, in the rpc, and how i’ve come to terms with it:

the kids are on like these other new sites, the older millennials are on livejournal and others like it, and we're seeing the millennials my age (1993) / the lower-aged but not quite gen-z, now getting older on tumblr, thus developing a more common sense. anyone remember quizilla?? just me????

based on the posts we see that are like “reblog if you’ve been here pre-2011 rping” and others like it, we can see most of us have been here for a while. this leads me to believe this theory:

tumblr has not seen an “rp” growth population in a long time. the rp community is not “diverse”. 

i mean this less in the way you think when you see the word “diveres” word and more in the way of these (including me) are the same people it has been for the last 10+ years with little new additions because rp on tumblr is a primarily younger-spectrum millennial based hobby. the ideals, morals, or social acceptability might have changed, but we cannot pretend we're not the same people we always have been, right? most of us have already met or have been affiliated or known of each other under different ages and aliases and fandoms at some point, so that being said, i know what tumblr wants, what it really stands for, and what it's really about, so while i write what i want to, i want to have people to write with, thus i have to "play the game". we all do it. 

i have met one true gen x roleplayer in my time. they were 43 when i was 23. at the time, that was jarring to me, but i didn’t really care or think much past it.

now here we are. i’m almost thirty. a lot of my mutuals are 25+. 

the “new blood”, as well as the minors, we see enter the rpc specifically on tumblr, and not one of these other new sites, is being drawn in the by the younger adults (18-21), and those are being drawn in by the 21-24 spectrum, who are drawn in by their older friends in the 25-26 range, who are following generally the “adults” or the “grown ups” of tumblr rp. at 27, you’re seen generally as a more “standing” member.

here is my thought on this: we are seeing more “older” roleplayers getting into their thirties because most “gen-x” roleplayers are dnd players. all generations play, and are welcome to play, dnd, but you just see that sort of roleplay with those generations, along with video games, and a little larping in there for good measure.

we’re seeing the first “roleplayers” starting to get older, come into their adulthoods, and tumblr isn’t “growing” in a way that really creates a huge “minor” and “adult” side of things. i can’t say for sure on the minor side of tumblr rp, so i’m also reaching into my roots in that projection, but i think we’re just seeing the first wave of older rpers because...well, we were some of the first, if not the first, rpers in the way we think of rp online. we were rping on facebook, youtube, gaia, quizilla, xanga, livejournal, forums, gmail instant chat, aol and yahoo chatrooms, e-mail threads, even in our school notebooks, anywhere available to us, as well as posting mass quantities of fanfiction at a hugely increasing rate. fanfiction goes back far, so i can’t have millennial claim on that, but we did “boost the market” and add a whole new wave of options to get fanfic on sites specified to fanfic from lunaescence to fanfic.net to a03 or whatever they’re all called, etc. i’m a fanfic.net boy, that’s where i was usually, but i’ve been everywhere, i’ve seen it all, i’ve done it all (for the most part). so this generation that was basically the “internet” generation are grown/growing up now, but we still love our fandoms, and we’re finally getting to the part of our craft where we’re “good” at it. always can improve, but we have a good understanding of what we had been developing these skills into, and now we can fully utilize them to our potential, but now we’re facing the “am i too old?” or being told we’re aged out of something we helped create in the way it functions today. 

this is just my thoughts on the “over 30″ roleplay mentality. we just haven’t existed before now. i think anyone is welcome personally, so i’m curious if anyone else has any opinions on this -- let me know! 

maybe i should make an rpc podcast sometime lmao

[sabrina-central]

Your Sabrina headcanons. Tell me them?

There are so many posts here about them but you're new here so I'll give you some:

Singer! Sabrina - unlike Rose she doesn't write songs but she's got like crazy vocal range and comes alive on the stage

Dancer! Sabrina - mostly Ballerina, based on an early design concept of her with a ballerina bun I can't let go of, and just cuz I think she deserves to be graceful, beautiful and elegant. But really any kind of dancing, bonus points if she's a monster at DDR.

Drummer! Sabrina - let my girl fucking RAGE. she needs to let out her anger and go absolutely FERAL. and to that point

Feralbrina - this headcanon is less specific, it's just a catch all to anything that allows Sabrina to go apeshit.

Sneakybrina - I don't talk about this one often enough so this is a good opportunity, I think Sabrina low key doing shady shit and that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Rather than a habit she needs to break, it can be a skill she channels for good. My favourite version of this is the innocent act, where she knows exactly how underestimated she is and uses it to her advantage, playing up the kicked puppy role.

Villain Sabrina - normally an escalation of Feralbrina or Sneakybrina, or both, sometimes she's been the villain the entire time, other times it's a slow decent, and sometimes it's just a sharp turn caused by a moment of great betrayal and despair. These are veering more into AU territory tho so we'll not get into it too much here.

Sabrina being an emotional nerd the way Max is an intellectual geek - so like, if Max is about tech and space and math, Sabrina is into LARP (literally canon actually) and astrology and writing fanfiction. The only math she does is at the DND table. Speaking of which

DND legend Sabrina - critrole and D20 superfan, fun player and most of all probably the best DM you've ever fucking had the pleasure of being at the table of. (This one is just self projection and aspirational tbh)

There's probably a bunch more but that's enough for now I think.

[nim-lock]

Art Career Tips, 2021 Edition

Here’s an edited version of my 2019 answered ask, because... this feels relevant. 

It is a problem of capitalism that folks equate their income as a judgement of their value as people; and let me preface. You are worth so much. You have inherent value in this world. Your income is not a judgement on who you are (plenty of billionaires are actively making the world worse). LARPing self-confidence will go a long way to helping you get paid more for your work, because clients will believe that you know what you are doing, and are a professional. 

& real quick—my own background is that I’ve been living off my art since 2018. I went to art school (Pratt Institute). I work in a publishing/educational materials sphere, and a quarter of my income is my shop. Not all of this information may apply to you, so it is up to you to look through everything with a critical eye, and spot pick what is relevant. 

So there are multiple ways of getting income as an artist; 

Working freelance or full-time on projects

Selling your stuff on a shop

Licensing (charging other companies to use your designs)

This post primarily covers the freelance part; if you’re interested in the other bits there is absolutely info out there on the internet. 

IF you are just starting (skip to next section if not applicable) dream big, draw often (practice helps you get better/more efficient), do your best to take "a bad piece” lightly. You’re gonna RNG this shit. At some point your rate of “good” works will get higher. Watch tutorial videos & read books. A base understanding of “the rules”; anatomy, perspective, composition, color helps you know what the rules are to break them. This adds sophistication to your work. One way you can learn this stuff is by doing “studies”—you’re picking apart things from life, or things other people have done, to see what works, and how it works. 

Trying to turn your interests into a viable career means that you are now a SMALL BUSINESS; it really helps to learn some basic marketing, graphic design, figure out how to write polite customer service emails; etc. You can learn some of this by looking it up, or taking skillshare (not sponsored) classes by qualified folks. Eventually some people may get agents to take care of this for them—however, I do recommend y’all get a basic understanding of what it takes to do it on your own, just so you can know if your agent is doing a good job. 

Making sure your portfolio fits the work you want to get

Here is a beginner portfolio post. 

Research the field you’d like to get into. The amount people work, the time commitment, the process of making the thing, the companies & people who work for them. 

Create work that could fit in to the industry you’re breaking into. For example, if you want to do book cover illustration, you draw a bunch of mockup book covers, that can either be stuff you make up, or redesigns of existing books. If you’re not 100% sure what sort of work is needed for the industry, loop back into the portfolios of artists in a similar line of work as whatever you’re interested in, and analyze the things they have in common. If something looks to be a common project (like a sequence of action images for storyboard artists), then it’s probably something useful for the job. 

CLIENTS HIRE BASED ON HOW WELL THEY THINK YOUR WORK FITS WHAT THEY WANT. If they’re hiring for picture books, they’re gonna want to see picture book art in your portfolio, otherwise they may not want to risk hiring you. Doesn’t have to be 100% the project, but stuff similar enough. If you aren’t hired, it doesn’t mean your work is bad, it just wasn’t the right fit for that specific client. 

If you have many interests, make a different section of your portfolio for each!

Making sure you’re relevant 

Have a social media that’s a little more public-facing, and follow people in the career field you’re interested in. Fellow artists, art directors, editors, social media managers; whoever. Post on your own schedule. 

Interact with their posts every so often, in a non-creepy way. 

If you’ve made any contacts, great! Email these artists, art directors, editors, former professors, etc occasional updates on your work to stay in touch AND make sure that they think about you every so often.

Show up to general art events every once in a while! If you keep showing up to ones in your area (when... not dying from a sneeze is a thing), folks will eventually start to remember you. 

Industry events & conferences can be pricey, so attend/save up for what makes sense for you. Industry meetups are important for networking in person! In addition to meeting people with hiring power, you also connect with your peers in the community. Always bring a portfolio & hand out business cards like candy. 

Active job hunting

Apply to job postings online.

If interested in working with specific people at specific companies, you could send an email “I’d love to work with you, here’s my portfolio/relevant experience”, even if they aren’t actively looking for new hires. Be concise, and include a link to your work AND attached images so the person reading the email can get a quick preview before clicking for more. 

Twitter job postings can be pretty underpaid! Get a copy of the Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines to know your rate. I once had a twitter post job listing email me back saying that other illustrators were charging less, and I quote, “primarily because they’re less experienced and looking for their first commission”. This was not okay! For reference, this was a 64-illustration book. The industry rate of a children’s book (~36 pages) is $10k+, and this company’s budget was apparently $1k. For all of it. 

Congrats you got a job! Now what?

Ask for like, 10% more than they initially offer and see if they say yes. If they do, great! If not, and the price is still OK, great! Often company budgets are slightly higher than they first tell you, and if you get this extra secret money, all the better for you. 

Make sure you sign a contract and the terms aren’t terrible (re: GO GET THE  Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines) 

Be pleasant and easy to work with (Think ‘do no harm but take no shit’)

Communicate with them as much as needed! If something’s going to be late, tell them as soon as you know so they aren’t left wondering or worse, reaching out to ask what’s up. 

And if all goes well, they’ll contact you about more jobs down the line, or refer you to other folks who may need an artist, etc. 

Quick note about online shops/licensing and why they’re so good

It’s work that you do once, that you continuously make money off of. Different products do well in different situations (conventions vs. online, and then further, based on how you market/the specific groups you are marketing to), so products that may not do well initially may get a surge later on. 

Start with things that have low minimum order quantity and are relatively cheap to produce, like prints and stickers. 

If you are not breaking even, go back to some of the earlier portions of this and think about how you could tweak things as a small business. Ease of access is also very important with this; for example, if you only take orders through direct messages, that immediately shuts off all customers who don’t like talking to strangers. 

Quick resource that you could look through; it’s the spreadsheet of project organizing that I made a while back 

Licensing is when people pay you for the right to use your work on stuff they need to make, like textbooks or greeting cards. This is generally work you’ve already made that they are paying the right to use for a specified time or limited run of products. This is great because you’ve already done the work. I am not the expert on this. Go find someone else’s info.

“I am not physically capable of working much”/ “I need to pay the bills”

Guess who got a hand injury Sept 2020 that messed me up that entire month! I had a couple jobs going at the time that I was terrified of losing, but they were quite understanding when I told them I needed to heal. So:  Express your needs as early as you know you need them. Also do lots of stretches and rest your hands whenever you feel anything off; this will save your health later. Like, the potential of a couple months of no income was preferable over losing use of my hands for the rest of my life.

This continues to apply if you have any other life situation. Ask for extra time. Ask for clarification. If you tell people ahead of time, folks are often quite understanding. Know how much you are capable of working and do your best not to overdo it. (I am.. bad at this)

Do what MAKES SENSE for your situation. If doing art currently earns you less money than organizing spreadsheets, then do that for now, and whenever you have the energy, break down some of the tips above into actionable tiny chunks, and slowly work at em. 

The original ask I got in 2019 mentioned ‘knowing you’re not good enough yet’. Most artists experience imposter syndrome & self-doubt—the important thing is to do your best, and if anything, attempt to channel the confidence of a mediocre white man. If he can apply to this job/charge hella money for Not Much, then so can you! 

Check out this Art Director tumblr for more advice!

Danichuatico’s Literary Agent guide

Kikidoodle’s Shop Shipping Tutorial

Best of luck!

–

Once again disclaimer this post is just the ramblings of a man procrastinating on other things that need to be done. I’ve Long Posted my own post so that it turns into mush in my brain if I try to read it, but I wrote this so I should know this content. If you got down here, congrats. Here’s a shrimp drawing.

Yee Ha. 

My reference post tag My tip jar