#letters speaks

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HIATUS ANNOUNCEMENT

hello, all! this is letters, and this announcement has come a bit earlier than i expected. i planned to go into my next hiatus in october, but some things my mental health and personal life have gotten in the way of the archives continuation for the moment, so i'm extending the hiatus for an indeterminate time. it just feels a bit different in my life and in the archives right now, if that makes sense with the minimal context i'm offering.

if it's anything like the last one, it should be about a month, so i'll post an update at the start of november if my break has to be extended.

but in the meantime, here's what you can expect after this hiatus for the archives growth!

more of volumes 1 and 2!

volume 3 debut!

the archives newsletter!

musical story themes!

some aesthetic changes to the archives!

(hopefully) responses to some tag games, and maybe some new ones!

and maybe some more things too... but you'll have to wait and see for that!

thank you to everyone who's still here in the archives, especially after the tag list alterations, which will come into affect after this break. i can't express how much it means to me! hopefully i'll be feeling better after this hiatus is over, but in the meantime, i'll miss everyone!

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the amount of people who don't know this honestly baffles me

Guys. Guys please. We have to remember that protagonist is not a stand in word for hero and antagonist is not a stand in word for villain. Please. We learned this in middle school. The protagonist is the character the audience follows. The antagonist is the character who is working against the protagonist.

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about tag lists - update!

alright, so the poll came back, and it was very close win for no (keep so i can be alerted to posts), with yes (i will find the content regardless) close behind. this has posed a dilemma to me - my original reservations about holding a tag list are still relevant, but so are my concerns about engagement.

BUT! the amazing and intelligent @gioiaalbanoart suggested something i view as a way to get the best of both worlds. to stop flooding people with tags and getting random hollow likes due to obligation, but remind those who are interested in the archives of new content, @.gioiaalbanoart proposed a newsletter of sorts!

the way i'm picturing it is i'll collect a master tag list of whoever wants any kinds of story or tag game updates and release a fortnightly newsletter of anything i see relevant enough to advertise and remind people of! stuff like chapter updates, significant tag games, archival updates, and maybe small bits of exclusive content (suggestions open for that)! so i'd like to ask whether that's a good idea or not - if you have other ideas please don't hesitate to bring them to my attention! this would replace my normal tag lists, and though it would be a fortnightly update (well. i'll try ;-;), i believe it could declutter people's dashes and get information out!

so... another poll! (i am clinically obsessed with polls it's an illness-)

@wyked-ao3, @48lexr, @thecrazyalchemist, @moltenwrites, @yourpenpaldee,

@glassfrogforest, @the-golden-comet, @gioiaalbanoart, @drchenquill, @paeliae-occasionally,

@tc-doherty, @corinneglass, @mysticstarlightduck, @thecomfywriter, @thelovelymachinery,

@kind-lion, @leahnardo-da-veggie, @an-indecisive-nerd, @honeybewrites, @loverboyxbutch

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file (0)0-40-000: writer questionnaire

thank you @ominous-feychild, @paeliae-occasionally, and @the-golden-comet for tagging me! this is a writing questionnaire, and before i answer them i wanted to say that i love this game idea! as much as i love loredumping about characters and plots (as bad as i am at plots), i also really value talking about my process and general writing questions like this! alright, let's get on with the answers...

about me

when did you start writing?

i wrote my first novella in two weeks (it wasn't very good or edited, i'm not that good haha) during the 2020 lockdown, and have on that rhythm ever since, albeit on a much slower, yet bigger scale. in terms of writing overall, i've been doing it since i could read. i'm very excited to reach my fifth year of 'official' writing, with 3 books privately released and a fourth on the way!

are there genres/themes you enjoy reading different to the ones you write?

honestly, i don't read as much as i should. i read more as a kid, but i've kind of lost that spark due to poor mental health, busy schedules, and other reasons. but to zero down on the question, i don't hold myself to genres, because i prefer character focused stories, but i like speculative content the most, which is what i write. i don't really vibe with contemporary and slice-of-life stuff, through no fault of the genre, i'm just not that interested in it generally.

is there an author you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

i don't think my work has reached enough people to be compared to any author, at least nobody has told me i write like someone else. i've done emulation work in school before, but i don't like writing like that, it feels disingenuous with how stream-of-consciousness my writing is. so no, i don't want to emulate anyone.

can you tell me a little about your writing space?

writing anywhere but my house is incredibly stressful, i can't focus on creating stuff unless i'm at home, either in my bed, at my desk, or just in an armchair. nothing too special.

what's your most effective way to muster up some muse?

i wish i had a foolproof way to get my energy going. but since i don't have much obligation to write on a schedule, i'm allowed to write whenever inspiration hits. but it's easier to get in the writing headspace with some non-distracting music/videos.

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

for settings, not consciously. i don't like writing about real places, i usually use a fantasy world or an ambiguous place without relying on real-world settings for anything less than minor inspiration. in terms of my characters, most of them have parts of themselves taken from me or my past. the most active example of this is basically every character in insincere., all of whom are based of me, my dysregulated emotions, or certain social/societal issues. to sum it all up, my trauma makes for interesting casts.

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

i try to put a lot of emphasis on character relationships, so i imagine a lot of themes there come up more than once without my active thought towards it. i often just write what feels right, so themes do recur across multiple stories, but i wouldn't be surprised if someone pointed out that some themes come up again, i wouldn't be surprised. i do want to put some emphasis on the theme of trauma and love of all stripes. on the love side, tales from a dying heart is the prime example of this, hell, the entire thing is about love. however, all my stories with genuine character relationships do focus on the concept of love. father-son with laszlo and yaromyr, one-sided platonic with daphne and faye, obsessive distant romance with sunny and darcy, mother-daughter with sasha and dulcinea, the list goes on. trauma is present through everything i write, i'm unable to write anything without it (insincere. i'm looking at you). and they'll all evolve and change, in different ways.

my characters

would you please tell me about your current favourite character?

i don't think i could pick just one, i have so much love in my heart for all of my characters. i adore ven's tired attitude, sunny's humour, daphne and faye's dynamic, laszlo's ambition, sasha's motherly love and intelligence, yaromyr and danareth's relationship, sissy's obnoxious clairvoyance, the list keeps expanding.

which of your characters do you think you'd be friends with in real life?

i'd have to go with ven, sunny, laszlo, and daphne. i think those four would both be people i'd want to befriend, and people who'd want to befriend me (hopefully).

which of your characters would you dislike most if you met them?

i think if i ended up on the wrong side of the fence with danareth, i would hate his guts. i love writing him, but he's such a slimy jerk sometimes that i don't think i would get along with him. i also don't think i'd like the owl from insincere., who's name is yet to be revealed. he sucks, but he does bite sissy, so he gets some goodwill. the last one i can think of would be arthur blackwood, just because he's rich and socially dense, and in the episode i'm writing, he's rude to daphne. and nobody can slight daphne without me hating them (characters i mean). nobody in school rules nor dulcinea is dead has rubbed me the wrong way yet, thankfully.

tell me more about the process of coming up with your characters.

it's hard to pin down my process since it's so emotionally driven. i just make characters on instinct, usually starting with a scene of conversation between multiple characters that i imagine based off a feeling. that's how it works for basically all of my characters. they just kind of... appear in my brain half-formed, then i begin to refine them.

do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

i've considered doing protagonist profiles to find similarities between all of them. i mostly write teenage protagonists, and i like writing characters who are super driven to achieve their goal. additionally, a lot of them are traumatised or will be traumatised in their respective series. a lot of emotional turbulence in store for all of my characters!

how do you picture your characters?

i don't, at least in any way i can properly describe. when i imagine scenes in my head every single character has a fully realised appearance, but it exists beyond any way i'm capable of explaining it. i can say i picture them in live-action, yet recently when i picture insincere. i picture it in 2d animation, with very minimalist animation for ven (like moving at a slower frame rate if that makes sense), sissy with rubberhose animation kind of like spinel or jax, and the owl being very expressive in its animation.

my writing

what's your reason for writing?

there's a lot of reasons. i've always been borderline maladaptive daydreaming and had minor dissociative episodes recently, it just feels easier for me to exist in a world i design to my own tastes. it's easier to cope with my existence when i do stuff like that, which probably isn't healthy but whatever. i write to get everything out of my head and because it's fun!

is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

i'm honestly still shocked i have readers! that aside, i love all comments, but the ones that really tell me people care about what i write is theories, headcanons, and other noticings like that, those types of comments just make me feel amazing. i also find the "x is just like me fr" funny because that's how i express my love for a character and it shows me that character is either funny or semi-relatable.

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

i just want to be someone who inspired some thought in the reader, and just gave them a good time! i'd be insanely flattered if people took massive meaning from my work and made those amazing tumblr mini-essays about the themes or characters i write about, but all in all i think i want to be thought of as a writer who writes things that people simply enjoy, and want to come back to, maybe make some fan content about. just a small set of slightly memorable pieces in an infinite archive.

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

this is gonna sound sad, but i often can't see distinct admirable traits in my writing. if i had to think further out, i might go to my characters. i love my characters so much, and i think because i think about them so much, the nuance that exists in my head about them bleeds into my writing and makes my characters interesting and memorable (hopefully haha).

what have you been frequently told by others is your greatest strength as a writer?

i've been told a few things. no commentary straight from the archives, at least from anything i can remember, but in my real life i've been told i write dialogue well (which i somewhat agree with) and that i write enjoyable/interesting characters.

how do you feel about your own writing?

very mixed. i can't give a solid verdict because i hate my older work because it's cringe, but the stuff i'm writing currently and that i'm still passionate about i enjoy reading back (sometimes), and i think i like what i write now. i'm so proud i got my writing out there into the archives, either way.

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

of course! that's what i was doing since before 2020, and even then my books were only circulated around family and close friends, as more of a symbolic gift than anything. i didn't get too much insight back, except for from certain relatives, which i always immensely appreciated. to circle back to the question, having an audience is still very new to me, and if it came down to the criteria the question proposes, i would still write.

when you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? if it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

what i enjoy. i am now conscious of my audience, but then again i am not especially writing for an audience, like that's not what's at the forefront of my mind when i write. as grateful as i am for an audience at all (you guys are amazing <3), i'm writing for myself, as i have been since i was a kid.

wow, this was an insightful questionnaire! thank you again for tagging me in, my tag list is just below!

@introchasingstars, @honeybewrites, @noxxytocin, @moltenwrites, @tc-doherty,

@the-ellia-west, @theverumproject, @thecrazyalchemist, @laylathewordwitch, @dragonedged-if,

@leitereads, @autism-purgatory, @gioiaalbanoart, @drchenquill, @fenmere,

@leahnardo-da-veggie, @melpomene-grey, @yourpenpaldee, @corinneglass, @agirlandherquill,

@willtheweaver, @nczaversnick, @davycoquette, @glassfrogforest, @princeofhags,

and @wyked-ao3!

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a month in the archives - how far i've come

hello, all! wow, a whole month here in the archives, i can't believe it!! i've uncovered so many stories, and so many people have passed through! so i thought i'd take a moment to celebrate how far i've come :)

active wips: 4

tales from a dying heart (prologue)

the rockdove promise (blurb, prologue, chapters 1 and 2)

insincere. (lessons 1 and 2)

on kingston alley (episodes 1 and 2, minisode 1)

word count: 8269

(on kingston alley was not counted in this total, since it was written in trelby and i could not track word count quickly)

posts: 110

mutuals: 68

tagged at the end, thank you all so much for following and sticking around, i cannot begin to describe how honoured i am to share my work with such amazing and talented people, you guys are priceless <3

this archive feels bigger and bigger everyday, but i understand it so much more now. thank you for indulging me and the archives, and here's to many more months here!

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@its-virgil-grey, @agirlandherquill, @theverumproject, @the-ellia-west, @i-am-moss-the-boss,

@noxxytocin, @asassydork, @millipede333, @willthesheep, @cactus-cactus-cactus,

@mossyoakswriting, @glassfrogforest, @honeybewrites, @mundanemoongirl, @ghostlyboysstories,

@bloodmoonloveletter, @supervisualbuddhist, @everythingismadeofchaos, @introchasingstars, @the-golden-comet,

@rhiannonhgarrard, @froggie-on-a-mushroom, @tc-doherty, @zletros-creations, @dorky-pals,

@harmonic-melodii, @moltenwrites, @just-a-local-dreamer, @dragonedged-if, @laylathewordwitch,

@thecrazyalchemist, @inadequatecowboy, @schnoer, @purplehandshumanfeelings, @paeliae-occasionally,

@i-do-anything-but-write, @unforgettable-sensations, @ddgraywrites, @wyked-ao3, @nczaversnick,

@leitereads, @sunglasses-in-the-bentley, @idreamonpaper, @moonsbetween, @epicsforeaters,

@elsie-writes, @autism-purgatory, @princeofhags, @i-hate-happy-endings, @gioiaalbanoart,

@drchenquill, @rivenantiqnerd, @illarian-rambling, @squirrelysillies, @aalinaaaaaa,

@fenmere, @rkmoon, @emowolfchuu, @sassystyl, @somethingclevermahogony,

@leahnardo-da-veggie, @bookish-karina, @justsomeunmemorablewords, @ominous-feychild, @sleepytumbleweed,

@melpomene-grey, @mechanical-v1scera, and @yourpenpaldee!!!

i am slightly sorry to my longer-standing mutuals for being tagged en masse again so close to the 30 mutuals celebration, but i have no concept of time haha. also you have no say in when i appreciate you. it is inevitable.

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NOOOOO LITTLE GUY DONT BE SAD

Original template cr: @mhuyo from Twitter

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tag lists?

i very recently realised that writeblrs usually have tag lists to alert people to new story updates/specific content. and since the archives is expanding daily, i want to know if you of you want to be on a tag list for any of the stories/characters here!

here are the current wips that would be available for a hypothetical tag list (and let me know if you want to be keep in the loop for specific characters too!):

tales from a dying heart

the rockdove promise

insincere.

on kingston alley

school rules

dulcinea is dead

the dumaresq poems

(and possibly red velvet, when it releases)

gonna put some tags here to alert people :)

@introchasingstars, @honeybewrites, @paeliae-occasionally, @ominous-feychild, @the-golden-comet,

@noxxytocin, @moltenwrites, @tc-doherty, @the-ellia-west, @theverumproject,

@thecrazyalchemist, @laylathewordwitch, @dragonedged-if, @leitereads, @autism-purgatory,

@gioiaalbanoart, @drchenquill, @fenmere, @leahnardo-da-veggie, @melpomene-grey,

@yourpenpaldee, @corinneglass, @agirlandherquill, @willtheweaver, @nczaversnick,

@davycoquette, @glassfrogforest, @princeofhags, @wyked-ao3, @fantasy-things-and-such, + anyone else who i forgot that would like to be involved :)

[1alchemistart]

dont got much to offer for The Holiday but have these sillies!

happy valentines day :D

[magic-worms]

trying to articulate my thoughts on the 7th tf2 comic confirmation by using the tf2 characters to articulate those thoughts

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"underdeveloped, he looks like a polaroid / overexposed to penthouse and opioids..."

reblog w the song lyrics in your head NOW. either stuck in yr head or what yr listening to

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a new story approaches? (yes, another)

so.... i am considering unearthing another story in the archives (yes, i know the dumaresq poems came out like three days ago, i cannot stop myself, this place is massive and full of so many stories), bringing the grand active wip total to 8! which is still wholly manageable, i was never one for consistent uploads, but i am certainly one for the chaos creatures in the filing cabinets here.

but i do not have a title, for the first time ever. this whole thing is a bit of an issue because i've never been in this situation before and it's throwing me for a loop. it's in my brain right now as "red velvet," for absolutely no reason, nothing even related to red velvet is relevant at all. regardless, that's the placeholder title.

the question is, do i release it under red velvet, or consult those interested for a title using some snippets (i have the first two-ish chapters and the concept discovered already)?

the general concept is about urban fantasy, most clear-cut magic system i've found thus far (though it's still not hugely regulated), themes of police and rehabilitation/incarceration, found family, socioeconomic issues, some prophecy/future-sight magic, and things like that! if you're interested, let me know and when i start getting the first bits together i can consult you for a title!

gonna consult the tag list for this one:

@introchasingstars, @honeybewrites, @paeliae-occasionally, @ominous-feychild, @the-golden-comet,

@noxxytocin, @moltenwrites, @tc-doherty, @the-ellia-west, @theverumproject,

@thecrazyalchemist, @laylathewordwitch, @dragonedged-if, @leitereads, @autism-purgatory,

@gioiaalbanoart, @drchenquill, @fenmere, @leahnardo-da-veggie, @melpomene-grey,

@yourpenpaldee, @corinneglass, @agirlandherquill, @willtheweaver, @nczaversnick,

@davycoquette, @glassfrogforest, @princeofhags, @wyked-ao3, @fantasy-things-and-such,

@millipede333, and anyone else who wants to weigh in.

is this an unnecessary length to go for such a simple question? yes. but i am not concerned about that (ok, i am a little bit, sorry haha).

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thank you for visiting the archives - mutual celebration!

oh my god, 30 mutuals!!! what!!

when i first started this, i was preparing for maybe 1 or 2 followers, not 30! i am so proud of myself for getting my stories out there, and i'm so so so incredibly grateful for all my mutuals!! thank you all so much for being here!!

appreciation time!! (it is inevitable. you cannot escape it.)

@its-virgil-grey, @agirlandherquill, @theverumproject, @the-ellia-west, @i-am-moss-the-boss,

@noxxytocin, @asassydork, @millipede333, @willthesheep, @cactus-cactus-cactus,

@mossyoakswriting, @glassfrogforest, @honeybewrites, @mundanemoongirl, @ghostlyboysstories,

@bloodmoonloveletter, @supervisualbuddhist, @everythingismadeofchaos, @introchasingstars, @the-golden-comet,

@rhiannonhgarrard, @froggie-on-a-mushroom, @tc-doherty, @zletros-creations, @dorky-pals,

@harmonic-melodii, @moltenwrites, @just-a-local-dreamer, @dragonedged-if, @laylathewordwitch

you're all amazing, and thank you for visiting the archives <33

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woah, is there a lot of people in the archives or is it just me? huh. well, thanks for stopping by!

[pagan-posting]

Listen. Abandoning the idea of what a proper pagan is was the most rewarding experience. Your intuition is stronger than you think.

This isn't a science. You don't have to treat it like one. Go with your heart, go with your intuition. It will help you grow more than you've ever dreamed of.

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that is such an emotional gut punch i wish i still found it funny

Truly the all time funniest writer thing is when you're doing edits and you think to yourself "omg I've got the PERFeCT sentence to add right here!" and then you stick it in all excited, only to find that literally three lines down you have virtually that exact same sentence in the draft already.

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file (1)ALL-55-000: clickbait title

hello, all! this time i decided to start a tag game of my own! i wanted a break from thinking too hard, so i'm borrowing this game from something i saw on instagram: explain the plot/premise of your wip/s as if it were a clickbait (or just a regular one if you don't want to do clickbait) youtube video.

tales from a dying heart

getting my revenge on humanity <33 girly eldritch activities <3 ep 1: this sad lady

the rockdove promise

somebody tried to ASSASSINATE ME?? ANGERING THE GOD OF DEATH?? (the real one) - daily vlog

insincere.

YOU'LL NEVER GO BACK TO SLEEP AFTER THESE 7 LIFEHACKS (authentic advice) (dr sinon (real doctor))

on kingston alley

uncovering the TRUTH OF THIS TOWN!!! MISSING PERSONS / SUS CHARACTERS / KILLING OLD MEN??

school rules

vlogging my day at creepy 1920's girl's school (gone wrong) (gone violent)

dulcinea is dead

KILLING AN UNKNOWABLE SPACE GOD AND UPSETTING MY MOTHER (not clickbait)

the dumaresq poems

lo-fi beats to study and write poetry to (these kids are unproblematic, what can i say)

tagging @introchasingstars, @honeybewrites, @paeliae-occasionally, @ominous-feychild, @the-golden-comet,

@noxxytocin, @moltenwrites, @tc-doherty, @the-ellia-west, @theverumproject,

@thecrazyalchemist, @laylathewordwitch, @dragonedged-if, @leitereads, @autism-purgatory,

@gioiaalbanoart, @drchenquill, @fenmere, @leahnardo-da-veggie, @melpomene-grey,

@yourpenpaldee, @corinneglass, @agirlandherquill, @willtheweaver, @nczaversnick,

@thecomfywriter, @glassfrogforest, @princeofhags, @wyked-ao3, @fantasy-things-and-such, + open tag!

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

Never forget that Gabv1el is peak yaoi

Audio source

Transcript:

Us smoochin'

God loves this!

*kissy kissy*

Audio source

You all need to see the visual for this one.

Similar clip for anyone who hasn't heard it ;)