#lobstermatriarch

[anosrepasi]

10 and 20 for the writing ask!!

Hello dear one! Thank you for the ask :D 20. How would you describe your writing process? Honestly, the best way to describe my process is web-weaving. Writing comes easiest to me when I can pull in a bunch of unrelated topics or content and use those to help create the structure of the fic around the plot points I want to cover. I'm mostly like this because I am a very curious person by nature and down to learn about almost anything, and also this is how my brain functions. I learn by connecting unrelated topics and finding overlap or differences in the material. This also means that I get stuck on very silly little things in fics because I haven't fleshed them out. A lot of my video game writing suffers because my brain refuses to want to cover the main plot points that show up in a video game unless i can put a spin on them and expand on the situation. However, if I just need that scene for a transition or to establish a piece of information I literally cannot get it written. Knowing this about myself has made me better about it, or better with being okay leaving things out unless i have something to say about them.

Other than that, I don't have much of a process beyond almost always having background music for my writing sessions curated to the fandom/fic/characters/pairing depending on what exactly i need to write.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?) First of all, I adore this question and want everyone to know they can ask me this whenever they want and I will write them a novel about whatever fic strikes their fancy. I have. I have so much "directors commentary" on all my fics.

First up is something from Kint because you're partial to Kint and I want to make sure you get a behind the scene that you enjoy. So in Chapter 2 where I introduced Shep, I have a section talking about "if someone ventured into the vault at this exact moment" and then use that section to set the scene for describing the setting of the vault and what Shep has woken up to instead of keeping it in her perspective for the entire chapter. I originally was inspired by a writing breakdown from a scene in one of Terry Prachett's books to describe a big traumatic event that way and Kint was my exercise in applying that writing method. The funny thing about that is I have never actually ready any of Terry Pratchett's books but everything i every read about them makes me feel like I'd learn a lot from his writing. However. I haven't actually gotten around to doing that.

Second is a director cut moment from Chapter 2 of Prima Lingua, which I realize I haven't shared except in a comment recently. So the formatting of that chapter is incredibly deliberate down to the page breaks from when Nicolo is shoved overboard down to the depth marker of (1090 ft). Every single line in that section correspond to one ft of depth in 20"ft"/page break increments so that the reader is experiencing depth along side Nicolo as they read. The depth of 1090ft comes from the most recent world record for deepest dive conducted by a human with only scuba equipment, which belongs to Amed Gabr who reached that depth (1090ft and 4.5 inches) in 2014. Thank you so much for the ask!

Fun Meta Writer Asks

[lobstermatriarch]

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Pairing: Astarion x f!Dark Urge

Rating: E for violence and explicit content

His eyes trace the line of your pulse, healthy and strong after your revival. “If you need me to be that person," he says, "I could be persuaded.” Sometimes the only way to deal with cursed blood is to remove it.

Orin my beloved, I'm sorry.

[eraserspiral]

snippet sunday

how is it sunday again already? thank you to @lyzelky for the tag <3

this is an excerpt from a durge pwp drabble that probably won't ever see the light of day, set immediately after raiding the grove.

She’s not quite drunk. The thin, dry wine isn’t enough. It rarely is. It dulls, but she wants sharp edges. Tonight, you are mine. Minthara expects Lythra to fuck her, as though it’s a foregone conclusion after today. As though anything Lythra has done had been as a willing servant of the Absolute and not just at her own cursed whim. Minthara’s mindless devotion to this false god is sickening. She despises her. Lythra watches herself. Everyone wants her for themselves: Wyll; Minthara; Gale. Wyll wanted to kill her. Gale can’t decide who he hates more, Lythra or himself. You’re not who I thought you were. I see what you are, what you want. And who was that, exactly? Funny, that they all know her so well, when she barely knows her own name. It’s gleeful, the false self. She is discordant. And lonely. She’s so fucking lonely. Astarion had known this, intuitively, how grateful she'd been as she arched into his touch. He’d ran his hands over her like she was a precious thing. Worthwhile. Meaningless. She’d let him drink from her, trusted him to take just enough. There’s a wrongness that entices her. A dose of poison to cancel it all out. And she knows his bittersweet, that his venom is equal to her own. It’s just a line— to get lost in him. But she wants to drown. Make me forget.

no pressure tags for @verbenaa @mutualcombat @pinkberrytea @atsadi-shenanigans @lobstermatriarch

[antimonyantigone]

Tagged by @lobstermatriarch thank yuuuu

(My AO3 is sayler_antimony)

1) How many works do you have on AO3? 37

2) What’s your total AO3 word count? 119,005 (I tend to write many shorter things)

3) What fandoms do you write for? DS9, MASH, did a little stint of one-shots in ASOIAF, started with BNHA though

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Lost in Translation (a real shock, never expected this one to get any hype)

All The World's a Stage

Featherlight Touch

Lightning and Incense

Thermal Shock

5) Do you respond to comments? Most of the time! I really really try.

6) What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Either 'Between Two Worlds' or just anything I wrote about Jaime Lannister but only because of Jamie Lannister general reasons. Maybe possibly "Do Synthetics Dream of Electric Sheep?".

I feel like I don't angst that hard!!

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I suppose "A Rose by Any Other Name (A Gift for Garak)"

8) Do you get hate on fics? Once! (they came to tumblr to do it though)

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. Usually kinks. M/M, F/F and M/F are all on the table.

10) Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? No, but an anime recently came out with the title "Cherry Magic: 30 Years of Being a Virgin Makes You A Wizard?!" which is a title begging (begging!) for a Gale of Waterdeep Crossover. (Bonus - you get to be a psychic thought-hearing wizard in this yaoi if you are a virgin for long enough, which is no so different from getting a thought-sharing tadpole in your head, really.)

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge.

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before? No but I would!

14) What’s your all time favorite ship? Uhhhh. I tend to bounce favorites. Garak/Julian is special to meeee. Currently on a Bloodweave kick. Clearly was on a Jaime/Brienne kick for a while.

15) What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I have a Garak/Julian fic that is meant to follow along with The Divine Comedy but you see, I'd have to re-read The Divine Comedy again and.....

16) What are your writing strengths? If we're going by my comments, which we should, I think tone mimicry. Mimicking the tone of a source material. I love a little copycatting and I really, as a reader, need fics to fit the tone of their source.

17) What are your writing weaknesses? Plots. Long plots. :( :( :(

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I haven't, but I don't envy those who do. "Lost in Translation" uses some loan words, invented language headcanons, etc, and all of that requires enough thought.

19) First fandom you wrote for? BNHA

20) Favorite fic you’ve written? Okay weirdly I love "Major Indiscretion" because I got my husband (straight man who grew up on MASH) to read it and he was like "stop doing this in a way that feels canonical :<"

Tagging @thebreakfastgenie esp because of the tumblr sleepover energyyy

[longroadstonowhere]

lobstermatriarch hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet

mhm mhm same. the biggest issues i found were some contrived lore/worldbuilding aspects and that one piece of the main plot is pretty rehashed from other bioware games. but like you said, that’s kind of par the course mass effect? backlash was way overblown imo. The foundation for an interesting new setting and set of characters is absolutely there and i had a fun time writing fic for it a while back.

okay, yeah, that's pretty reasonable - how was the gameplay? was it interesting or tedious or just kinda there but not intrusive enough to impede interest in the story/characters?

[anosrepasi]

10 Character/10 Fandoms/10 Tags

Tagged by the wonderful @aeide :)

Nil (Horizon Dawn Zero/Forbidden West) - My current obsession I'm rotating around in my mind. What's not to love he's charming in the sense that his most common AU occupation is "Serial Killer." Will he kill you? Depends! Only if you suck, and he promises to never stab you in the back, he wants to look you in the eye if he tries to kill you. But actually, I find him utterly fascinating and in the context of HZD he's just. so nuanced it destroys me. This man has decades of c-ptsd and asks the question of what happens when someone drenched in violence is suddenly expected to stop fighting- the answer is, it takes a lot! I adore him.

Kassandra (AC:Odyssey) - Look the more I think about Kassandra and like the canon quests in that game the more I'm like. They did you wrong, girl. They did you so dirty. SHE JUST WANTS TO GO HOME. IT TAKES DECADES. HER STORY IS A FUSION OF THE ODYSSEY AND THE ILIAD. YOU CAN APPLY THEMES FROM BOTHA ND IT DRIVES ME INSANE. And. And then they say, all thsi you worked so hard for? Well. We have other things we need from you. I am going to chew through my arm.

Mizu (Blue Eye Samurai) - Look. I could link thousand upon thousands words of meta about Mizu and her/they're relationship to gender and existence as a mixed race individual in isolationist Japan. And it still wouldn't capture it all. And past that it's hot person brutally murdering people in absolutely fantastically animated fight scenes.

Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII) - Look. He's my original blorbo. I saw 10 minutes of screen time of him in Advent Children and have been insane ever since. I bought and played through Dirge of Cerberus for him. Something about him apparently just imprinted on me as a child, I've been a lost cause ever since.

Xaden Riorson (Fourth Wing/Iron Flame) - These books are still relatively new so I'll hold my tongue since a lot of what I am obsessed with re: him is spoilers but oh my god. oh. my. god. buddy.

Axel (Kingdom Hearts) - Also an original blorbo from childhood, imprinted on him like a baby duck. His death in KH2 made me bawl. His entire storyline makes me sob, he's the reason why every single aspect of Roxas' story was a gut punch cause like. The best way to make people care about characters is give them someone who loves them then make it sad.

Charles Milton Porter (Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den) - Look. This dude's DLC made me cry. big cry. I still kinda get choked up when i think about it for a while. it's about the grief.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits - I can't choose a characters from this, so I just advise everyone to play this game. It's so good. You're going to be emotionally devastated. It's also about grief. Every character in this game is so so good and you will feel things.

Joe Miller (The Expanse) - He was not the first but he was my defining love of shitty noir space detectives. I loved him from when he was introduced to when he left the series and my love was rewarded so much. Holden and Amos were the runner up characters for this fandom.

Death (The Book Thief) - I read the book thief for the first time in 7th grade I think? Every day of my life since them on my commute to work or when on break I look at the sky and think about how Death would describe the taste of the colors. This book irrecoverably changed me from the day I read it and firmly cemented this Death as the death i hope is there at the end of everything, i love this version of it so much. This death is like. look. go read the book if you haven't had the opportunity.

Tagging for anyone who wants to do it: @ongreenergrasses @lobstermatriarch @airmidcelt @tirsynni @aevallare @duesternis @salsedine @avelera @thehoundkeeper @green-nbean

[lobstermatriarch]

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Pairing: Astarion x f!Dark Urge

Rating: E for violence and explicit content

His eyes trace the line of your pulse, healthy and strong after your revival. “If you need me to be that person," he says, "I could be persuaded.” Sometimes the only way to deal with cursed blood is to remove it.

“I’m sorry,” you say, grinning as you rise to stand. “You’re right, that’s not fair. Even if Scratch is almost as handsome as you.”

“If you think you’re helping, I promise you that you’re not.”

In a surge of playful affection you plant one hand on Astarion's cheek, giggling as he grimaces at the feel of fur and drool on his skin.

“You’re disgusting, you know,” he says.

With that dog-scented hand you pull him in, kissing his clean cheek and pressing your nose against his skin.

“And yet here you are.”

“And yet here I am,” he sighs. “What has become of us both?”

[eraserspiral]

snippet sunday

...actually on a sunday? thank you to @lyzelky and @kittenintheden for tagging me <3 wip excerpt from chapter four of the fall below, in which (stray cat) astarion ponders (stray cat) lythra.

no pressure tags for @gilded-glitter @slothquisitor @wetcatspellcaster @bloodinwine @aevallare @lobstermatriarch and anyone else who wants to share a wip :)

[mizurda]

@lobstermatriarch yes! let’s do that!

[starblaster]

hi, so... there are way too many people commenting on this post with some form of a “this applies to alzheimer’s/dementia” addition when there are actually some pretty significant steps missing from my original post that are necessary to add if you’re going to apply the advice in this post to communicating with someone who has alzheimer’s or dementia...

[image id] screenshots of 29 additions consisting of “this also applies to dementia or Alzheimer’s” [end of image id]

the only, in my opinion, good comment that has been made on this post in response to all of the Alzheimer’s or dementia comparisons is this one:

[image id] an addition to this post made by Tumblr user lobstermatriarch, which says: As an elder care social worker, I’ve got to disagree with this. There are some similarities in dealing with dementia and dealing with psychosis (i.e. don’t try to fight with/disprove the delusion), but asking question about the delusions and engaging in a person with dementia’s version of reality can sometimes be really beneficial for them. The goal for most people experiencing psychosis is treatment and recovery, so engaging with/encouraging the altered reality they experience during an episode isn’t helpful and the advice above is really solid. Dementia on the other hand is degenerative, so the only real option is creating a comfortable environment and treating the person with dignity. If a person with dementia believes they work at their local memory care facility instead of attending as a patient, that’s fine. If they ask where their deceased spouse is, it’s fine to lie and say they’re just out running errands. Apologies for being pedantic, but I feel it’s important to recognize how the hope for different outcomes affects the different ways to interact with each type of illness. [end of id]

but none of you will ever be more wrong than this commenter:

[image id] a screenshot of an addition to this post made by Tumblr user cyclicaloblivion that says: This guide also serves as a handy checklist for constructively interacting with trump supporters and others suffering from untrue conspiracy theories like Qanon. [end of id]

bigots and fascists aren’t “delusional” and calling them “delusional” would imply that they have no control over their beliefs and actions. they are not victims, they are perfectly aware of what they’re doing. this is not a ‘gently hold their hand and walk with them until they realize they’re wrong’ situation. you need to actively combat the prejudices at the core of their belief system that enabled them to fall for qanon and alt-right lies and conspiracies in the first place (antisemitism, racism, white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, etc). if you have a qanon-radicalized loved one, you need to hold an intervention, not use the points of advice i listed in my original post.

i have never met an unpsychotic person who knows what it actually means to “not encourage the delusion” …not a single one

[cherrybaum]

lobstermatriarch replied to your post “NSFW POST SORRY MOBILE BLOGGERS PLEASE SCROLL ON[[MOR] So I had a...”

The attempt was a catastrophe from beginning to end, I'm not sure tutorials could save it

I mean... that’s very very true.  I think she was probably too drunk to absorb anything either way... and also probably wouldn’t have been happy about it.

But I just... sometimes you just see something so off you just want to take things into your own hands and fix it.

[hiboudeluxe]

lobstermatriarch replied to your post “paul hollywood’s blank, icy blue eyes are fucking terrifying. lifeless...”

Paul stares at you in silence as he prods the bread. It springs back, airy and not overworked. He nods. You have been deemed worthy and shall be made one of his. Do not ask what has happened to the others.

best short horror story i’ve ever read

[longroadstonowhere]

lobstermatriarch hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet

I am one of this game’s 5 defenders, but if you’re willing to forgive a couple of odd writing choices I found it to be a ton of fun

i mean, forgiving odd writing choices is part and parcel of being a mass effect fan, isn't it? there's a lot of things i just... actively ignore in the actual games and substitute with the best version of events i've read in fics, ahahaha

i suppose it depends a little on what kinda writing choices those are, of course

[anosrepasi]

The best damn detective in the commonwealth.

—

@lobstermatriarch I want you to know you’ve created a monster and apparently unleashed FO4 back into all my hobbies. 🙃

[eraserspiral]

Rules: Pick a song for each letter of your URL and tag that many people.

thank you for the tag @pinkberrytea <3

E eraser - nine inch nails

R rain - sleep token

A asking for it - hole

S shake the disease - depeche mode

E everyone - mitski

R rid of me - pj harvey

S shadowplay - joy division

P pull me under - queenadreena

I in motion - trent reznor and atticus ross

R renholdër - a perfect circle

A ageispolis - aphex twin

L love you to death - type o negative

no pressure tags for some lovely people:

@mutualcombat @ghouliar0berts @koalamatcha @kittenintheden @aevallare @atsadi-shenanigans @brain-rot-central @again-please @bloodinwine @8catsinatrenchcoat @lobstermatriarch and @howlsmovinglibrary

Thank you for tagging me @saviour-of-lord 🥰 (i'm so so so late doing those, i'm sorry)

Rules: Pick a song for each letter of your URL and tag that many people.

S - Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles

C - California Dreamin by The Mamas & the Papas

H - Hall of Fame by The Script

U - Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez

M - Material Girl by Madonna

I - (I Just) Died in Your Arms by Cutting Crew

N - Ne Me Quitte Pas by Jacques Brel

A - A World of Your Own by Timothée Chalamet

D - Demons by Imagine Dragons

A - Another Love by Tom Odell

L - La Symphonie des Eclairs by Zaho de Sagazan

I'm tagging @bluespring864 @game-set-canet @luzmyway @ofbooksandstardust @absolutebloodychaos @artemisalilianvesta @tennisprojediphilosopher and whoever wants to do it! (as usual, feel free to do it or not) 💗

[lobstermatriarch]

A lil self-indulgent face reveal for my DUrge, Yrie/Yraemeth, to celebrate her reaching her “final form” in Come Down!

From very early act 1, Yrie fresh off the Nautiloid and NOT having a good time.

Act 1.5

Act 2 through Gortash! Starting to get her shit together, with a pretty significant bit of help along the way.

And finally act 3! She’s quite monochromatic if you haven’t noticed.

Bonus for reasons: