#maybe i'll do this a bunch if it helps a lot/this is an enjoyable way for yall to pick what i post next idrk

[shepscapades]

I'll probably get to posting all of these eventually! But this helps me think less about what to post first etc :D <3

[beatrixst0nehill]

"Trying to stay healthy and positive although I'm a part of this dumb clinical trial. This sucks! I was all set to be the track and field star of my University, a bright career as an athlete, maybe I'd even go to the Olympics? Instead I get this email a few months ago stating that I've been selected to attend a clinical trial for a new breast growth drug. Like, there are a bajillion of these things on the market, why do they still bother with trials? It's ridiculous. I know, I know, horny wealthy men with an excuse to make pretty young college girls so big breasted it qualifies as a legal disability. Whatever.

Soooo as you might remember I had a perfect, flat chest, ideal for being a runner and now look at this. Look at these fat, sweaty udders of mine. They already started lactating. It's so hard to keep up with. Now I don't just run to the bathroom to pee or whatever, I run into the girls' room to remove my top and milk myself into the sink like a fucking cow. I stand there for minutes, the humiliation is excruciating. Other women come in and joke that that's what I get for sleeping around and getting knocked up over and over. I don't bother correcting them. I just agree, milking my breasts until they ache.

I'm apparently part of this trial for three years. I keep asking them how much growth I can expect by then and they just shrug, telling me if they knew they wouldn't need to do the trial. I looked up videos and joined a bunch of groups created by women who've gone through this. The short answer is I can basically expect my boobs to get so big I can barely walk, if at all. A common side effect, especially for really active girls who don't just cave and give into immobility, is for our spines to snap from the sheer weight of the breasts, leaving girls not just debilitatingly huge breasted, but paralyzed from the waist or shoulders down. Some of the girls act like it's this amazing goal to be jealous of, creating threads like, 'Guys it finally happened! After three straight weeks of intense exercise with my tits over 100lbs a piece, my neck finally gave out!' And it's them in the hospital, smiling and giddy, being hooked up to ocular software to post on social media.

I feel kind of insane for feeling the way I do. Almost all the girls love getting these massive, unwieldy breasts. I posted a thread talking about my future career and how I didn't want huge boobs and every post was just other girls (who're either immobilized by the sheer weight and size of their breasts or immobilized by paralysis) tell me to relax, not to worry, that I'm extremely lucky to be picked and I'll learn to love my new breasts, especially once they get to be over 50lbs each and I start having trouble doing basic things. A lot of girls told me I should remember that I'm just a womb with a pair of tits there for male enjoyment, and the bigger the more men love them. I can still fulfill my purpose and push out dozens of kids even if I'm paralyzed.

I guess I need to just give in and accept what I'm going to become. I'll still stay active, exercise and try to remain mobile as long as I can. But I guess it couldn't hurt to enjoy these things. Men already stare at them constantly and try to touch them. Maybe I should just let them grope me? Even though my clothes will be totally see-through from getting sprayed with milk. That's not such a bad thing, is it? It would be kind of hot, riding some guy's cock, seeing these fat, ridiculous-looking udders bounce and jiggle..... Perhaps I should even get pregnant? That would help my boobs grow faster and put more strain on my back faster..... Plus, all the other girls in the trial are pregnant so I feel a bit left out.

Oh well.... I tried to be an athlete and a role model to young girls that they can be more than the tidal wave of dumb bimbos and breeder hucows we see today...... But maybe I'm the perfect role model, though? That you should probably give up and embrace being a hucow anyway, it's futile to try and deny your body's destiny. Girls are meant to be dumb breeders with huge tits. It does make me horny, thinking about being completely stuck, unable to move cause my breasts each weigh 200lbs. I can only sit in whatever pen I'm being kept in at a government-run girl ranch. I sit there rubbing my big pregnant belly, playing with my sex, thinking back to when I used to be an athlete, running, winning awards, now I'm just cattle hooked up to milking machines, completely hopeless. Nothing but an object to be fucked, to make milk, and push out as many kids as possible until I wear out my usefulness. I can't wait until that's me, maybe my spine will even snap? Then I'll be truly helpless, I won't even feel my body go into labor or get fucked. I'll just watch myself be acted on, and all I'll be able to do is smile and offer lots of encouragement..... Kind of sounds like a dream come true. Once I'm done working out, nice and sweaty, I think I might 'accidentally' stumble into the men's locker room and see if these toxic gym bros can show me what my body is really for. ❤️"

[darylsfavoritegirl]

hi 👋 what do you think daryl would be like if you were really bratty and like gave him attitude but he doesn’t know why

i think if you were in public he'd definitely squint his eyes at you as if trying to figure out what the hell is up and he'd even shake his subtly when you initially started giving him the attitude.

if you were alone, maybe he's working on his bike and your just there riling him up i think he'd try to remain calm, giving your cries and whines little to no responds which would make you wanna act even more bratty.

after a while you'd get exhausted of him being this tolerant -which he never was, especially when he was trying to focus on working. you were just so troublesome that you completely couldn't catch the times he sighed, the times he laughed up his sleeve out of frustration or pure enjoyment because you were desperate to get him all to yourself-

i think after a while you'd wear yourself out and would just find a spot in the garage to sit down on with your arms crossed and there'd be a sense of quietness for some time till daryl would get his head around and would leer at you through his lashes for a split second before he'd keep working on where he had left off

you'd hear a "wha's botherin' ya, doll?" as he was making his way to the tools box on the countertop. he was wiping his greasy hands on his jeans, and that smug smirk was hanging from his face

"nothing." you'd say incoherently.

"attagirl" he'd whisper in one breath as he knelt down besides his bike and wouldn't pay you much attention afterwards.

if it you were to continue, maybe when you two and the rest of the group were having dinner, that's when he'd start to actually get pissed. i can see him pulling you aside while your helping with the dishes -he'd put an entire show so no one would suspect that anything is off-

"let it out" he'd demand

"what?" you'd ask absent-mindedly.

"wha's botherin' ya?"

"nothing."

the same damn words.

"sumthing 's on yer mind."

"i'm fine"

a few second would pass him looking down at you, eyes squinted, you could hear him shallowly breathing. a breathing mixed with some sort of rage, bewilderness, confusion on top of rage because he has no idea what the hell is up.

surrounded by a bunch of people, he couldn't corner you any longer so you could slip away.

footnote

this could've been a lot longer, which was what i had anticipated but i just wanted to post this lol maybe i'll do a part two?? this could've been better if there was a context on why the reader is being bratty but there you go lol

also im not sure if this is what anon had hoped for since almost all the bratty reader and daryl just end up having a rough sex but how realistic that would be -i mean it's fiction, anything is possible but i just don't see that sex part coming right away yk-

i hope you like it though!!

[fecklesheckleshacklesschmeckles]

SPOILERS for Inside No 9: Stage/Fright!

I was lucky enough to attend the matinee performance on 25th Jan, and now I'm going to ramble about it :D

I'm given to understand that y'all who want them are already adequately furnished with plot summaries etc (excited to read them! waiting to do so until after I've got all this down) - so I won't worry about deep-diving. This'll be a mix of things that particularly struck me, and details that would have been unique to the performance I saw :)

I sneakily secretly got front row tickets (!!) for me and @toosicktopray, and I didn't tell them where we were going until we got there (I didn't even tell them we were going anywhere until that morning!) :D Then afterwards we got to meet up with @silverview and @unreesonable, and we ended up just chatting shit for hours! The boys didn't come to the stage door (apparently because "they're old men" :P) but that was better, frankly <3

Opening "theatre" skit/front-of-curtain prologue:

oh, this has Reece's fingerprints all over it! Getting to sit and simmer with comic rage over literally the exact same things that he's frothed with comic rage about on podcasts? Having no lines to need to learn, and then getting to do a bunch of revenge-fantasy murders? And get spattered with stage blood? Go off :3

aaaa one of Reece's secretly-poppers quick-change shirt buttons had popped open when he came front-of-curtain (probably got overenthusiastic doing his murdering) - maybe the third one down, at his upper stomach - and all I saw underneath was what I presumed to be a white undershirt, so I went back to staring at his face - but toosicktopray caught a little glimpse of his fluffy tummy above it!! (so it was probably actually his mic belt or something)

BCDR:

When they knocked down the wall during Brown Bottles, there was this great WHOMPH of air (and bits of dust and stuff, according to toosicktopray :P) right into the front row :O

Also it took Reece/Tommy two goes to actually smash the brown bottle over Steve/Len's head :P (the first time it just went "boink" XD)

Credit where it's due, Steve's very good at doing the not-actually-his-own-hand stuff :D (love me some of that shit). I'd say not all of the routines necessarily worked as well live as they do with the camera angles in the ep, but imo honestly that one was better :)

Kidnappers Sketch:

Wheelie bin with an 18 (1+8 = 9, or two 9s) on it in the background scenery!

toosicktopray saw the hare. Where? There, on the stair!

I'm not the biggest Quiet Night In enjoyer, but I liked the characters better with dialogue, tbh :)

It took Reece/Tommy(/Geoff or whoever the fuck he's being) two goes to fire the gun XD "It's not even loaded. [gun doesn't go off] I'll try that again."

Our special celebrity guest was Gary Kemp! He really went for it, to the extent that I think Reece was breaking character (smirking) a bit while e.g. waiting for him to finish a much longer flamenco than expected XD The charade (as has been documented) was "Car Reek Hemp", and it was quite funny watching Reece frantically yell out lots of synonyms for hemp, which Steve was miming as you might expect ("dope! skunk! uh, weed!"). Couldn't help thinking about "The Quiet Ones! The Quiet Things! Be Quiet...!" The way Len incensed him was to keep singing "I know this much is true" except substituting in e.g. "glue", "poo". Missed opportunity to callback it in Tears of Laughter ("laughter is my memory of poo" "it's you!"), which would have been overambitious/flow-breaking, but amusing. Also jokes about mistaking him for his brother :P ("I loved you in Eastenders!" "That was Martin!" "I thought your brother was called Reggie?" "That's the Krays!")

Briefly glimpsed Reece's trademark cartoonist block lettering on the pad they hold up for the celeb to read off! <3 I feel like the bit of paper with '9'/'6' on it might have been his handiwork too?? The attention to detail <3

Terreur de l'Asile

Pahahaha well now it's getting bonkers :D

Ticked off my bingo card: Reece going boink boink boink :3 (in the Elements Song)

Ticked off Reece's bingo card: getting forcibly restrained with one arm bent up behind his back :P If you had complete creative co-control over what you had to do once a day for the next ten weeks (and twice on Saturdays)...

ohoho speaking of which how about Steve taking control of your mind and forcing you to do his bidding o.O

I like Hugo's character design :) Always a fan of braces! I think I used to have a pair that was quite similar, actually, which was distracting :P And his floofy curls :D

I like Marcus too! With his wig that's kind of just a younger Reece's hair :P wandering around in his bloodstained sawn-off pyjamas XD Very here for both the ludicrous melodrama and the arch meta reveal :P

Kooky popstar woman was so good! They were all great, but her especially :) doing her "dead face" and her hammy audition tape :D

Ahh the conceit with her taking the camera backstage was so imaginative and super creepy! Shades of Dead Line. Christ, when the person unseen picks the camera back up again D:

Oh no, poor Reece, having to get choked to death every night and twice on Saturdays :3 (but also, having to embody any degree of sexual energy just beforehand, which... not really his forte?! :P)

Curtain call, and beyond:

Ahhh that was a fun show. Wait, what? WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK, STEVE? STEVE! YOU'RE MAKING ME FEEL INSANE! Oh my god there's MORE, what NOW?! :D

Hahhh omg he killed him again XD

"Reece Shearsmith, 1969-2025" now that's fucking ballsy to do in January X'D

Hahhh omg he killed him again!!

Aaaah Reece in his pretty white Marty Hopkirk getup! <3

Ticked off Reece's bingo card: be a ghost :3 god he'd fucking love that... "if nobody can see me, then nobody can notice me, then I can't do anything wrong" D:

"All I get is fucking Little Toby!" okay FIRST OF ALL: Toby's real name is Toby :D and SECOND OF ALL: Reece calling his own understudy little?! :D

The idea of Reece falling to his death through a trapdoor shouldn't be as weirdly delightful as it is XD

For the James Acaster enjoyers: "Every ghost story is a love story when you love ghosts" :P (- toosicktopray)

Good gracious, they have never been so Morecambe and Wise as suddenly appearing in top hat and tails stage left while all the chorus folks are vigorously waving fans stage right :P

Awww, they finally found another Nine to be Inside, and it was Cloud! :3

Loose change thoughts:

Bloody lovely use of lighting throughout - subverting things by turning it on the audience, using bright light to mask what's happening in darkness (e.g. suddenly fucking Little Toby!!) - and I didn't know using onstage cameras/screens was becoming a theatre trope, but I enjoyed how they messed with it :)

OK, so, some of Reece's characters wear glasses (including "himself", wearing his "own" "everyday" glasses), and some don't - fascinated to know whether he's got prescription costume glasses and is just pushing through the blur the rest of the time (seems both unlikely and unsafe!), OR whether he's wearing contacts and all the glasses are fake including his "own" "everyday" glasses <3

A perfectly entertaining show all round but dear god when they pulled us into Steve's shared hallucination that fucking Little Toby had been Reece all along it felt like a crackfic unfolding before my very eyes XD Utterly deranged behaviour and it tickled me so much!! The canon-typical meta nonsense and fridge uncanniness of it all! The implication that we too are so obsessed with Reece that we hallucinate him along with Steve (uhh don't @ me)! The way it retroactively both completely centres Reece in the narrative (even when he's playing a character) (me staring at every Reece character going "mmm, Reece": justified) and simultaneously completely erases him from it!... GO OFF, LADS XD

And the fucking audacity of them to position themselves as in the Morecambe and Wise mould! People will hate it and I bloody love it XD I mean, yes, to us, the fans, the comparison is perfectly apt - silly fluffy adorably-close Northern comic geniuses - but imagine, for the casual viewer/journo - it's those two ghoulish twisted fuckers from that thing in the 90s with the nosebleeds, what's their names again, that write those gory bleak plays full of death and tragedy and then slap the "BBC Comedy" logo on them, and they're playing at being the most famous, beloved and wholesome comedy double act in the history of British television?! Oh my fucking god I can't wait for press night ;)

Similarly, the way it was basically wall-to-wall vaudeville and knob gags, which, sure, we expect (and frankly makes the most entertaining use of their talents in a live setting - it's well-executed vaudeville and knob gags), but, uh, probably has more Actual JokesTM total than the entire TV series put together (and about 300% less horror and heartbreak than your average ep). Again, I was utterly down for it! Some folks... will be less so XD

Is there anything they can't do?... uh, write a single coherent two-hour plot-line, apparently XD (hey, man, I get it! I'm a one-shot guy too! ;) )

All in all, a very fun and silly time! By all means Ask Me AnythingTM, unless possibly it's about Steve, bc he could have had his fly open the whole time and I wouldn't have noticed XD

[ninja-muse]

Somehow, for being the shortest month, February felt long. This is partly work chaos and partly … current events. (I've just spent a lot of time staring slack-jawed at the news.)

Astute followers will notice I didn't post a review this month. That's because the only book I really felt like saying anything about—The Prague Cemetery—was excellent in many ways but also something I cannot in good conscience recommend, at least in this current political climate, to a generalized audience. It's a brilliant take-down of antisemitic, authoritarian, conservative, cis-white-male thinking (yay) but narrated by someone who is all of those things and simply in it for the money (urf). Not the funnest thing to have read shortly after a certain inauguration but probably good for me in the long run.

And sure, I could've reviewed the third Emily Wilde book (but how to, without spoiling?) or Tokyo Ueno Station (sad, doing some smart things within its genre) or My Kind of Trouble (gender-swapped Music Man!) or any of the others but there wasn't much to say about any of those and/or I didn't have the energy.

In more personal news, I've been writing again, at least a little! I'm maybe a scene and a half from being done the chapter I've been on since November and for one of those scenes I can cannibalize something I cut months ago. Then it's a matter of wrapping things up, so I think five chapters left, maybe less. This could be my year! I've done better blocking out all the current events stuff, which usually stymies my writing, on an emotional level than I usually do. I hope that can continue.

I've also been trying my best to boycott US products and companies, though I'm not doing so great with, like, social media and email and also I probably shouldn't have bought Aftermarket Afterlife but in my defense, Seanan McGuire is a good egg and deserves royalties. For whatever that's worth. I've been helped in the not-buying-of-books by having no other books in need of buying, and also library holds! So many! I have been spoiled, which probably means I'll have to wait another month or more before anything else comes in for me. (Have I added, like, eight books to my holds queue though? Maybe.)

How have your Februaries and your readings been? Let me know if you've got recs for me!

And now, here's what I read this month in order of personal enjoyment…

The Tragedy of Heterosexuality - Jane Ward

The social and relationship problems caused by heterosexuality and ways they can be addressed.

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: deals with misogyny in all its forms

library book

Tokyo Ueno Station - Yu Miri The ghost of a migrant labourer recalls his life story from an encampment of unhoused people.

7.5/10

Japanese cast, Korean-Japanese author

library ebook

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales - Heather Fawcett

Emily and Wendell set off to take the throne of a faerie kingdom.

7.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (achillean), Afro-Irish secondary character, blind secondary character, 🇨🇦

reading copy

My Kind of Trouble - L.A. Schwartz Harmony has arrived in Brookville to promote a fake musical festival that will take down the mayor. But first she needs to win over the librarian she’ll “rent” the land from.

7/10

fat POV character, autistic POV character, autistic secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian, sapphic), fat and autistic author

warning: homophobic antagonists

library book

Swordheart - T. Kingfisher

Halla has inherited an estate and a bunch of greedy relatives she needs to escape, fast. Fortunately, there’s a man—in a sword?—who’s happy to help her.

7/10

ADHD-coded main character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (nonbinary)

warning: suicidal thoughts, suicide, violence

library ebook

The Last Sun - K.D. Edwards

Rune Saint John is hired to find a missing Atlantean scion and uncovers a conspiracy.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 main character (achillean), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (achillean)

library book

Rise - Mira Grant

Stories of the Rising and its aftermath that didn’t make it into the Newsflesh trilogy.

7/10

reasonably diverse cast (BIPOC, 🏳️‍🌈, differing abilities)

library ebook

The Prague Cemetery - Umberto Eco

A forger in 19th century Europe recounts the social upheavals he has witnessed and his hand in the conspiracies underpinning them. A polemic exposing the hypocrisy, contradictions, greed, and evil of antisemites and others determined to keep their place atop existing power structures.

8/10

warning: antisemitic protagonist and secondary characters, xenophobic and misogynist protagonist, homophobic characters, sexual assault and rape, murder

off my TBR

DNF

Love and Other Paradoxes - Catriona Spivey

Joe is dreaming of being a famous poet when he meets Esi, a time traveller on a mission. She agrees to help him meet his destined muse; he promises to help her save her mum.

Black British secondary character

reading copy

Currently reading

The Gilda Stories - Jewelle Gomez

A girl escaping slavery finds refuge in a bawdy house run by the elegant Gilda, and immortality in Gilda’s shared vampirism, allowing her to give witness to 200 years of history and Black American life.

Black protagonist, Black secondary characters, Lakota secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (sapphic), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic, achillean), 🏳️‍🌈 author, Black author

library ebook

Spooky Lakes - Geo Rutherford

A sumptuously illustrated microtour of strange and scary lakes of the world.

library book

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

Victorian detective stories

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 8 Yearly total: 18 Queer books: 2 Authors of colour: 1 Books by women: 6 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 1 Classics: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 1 Books hauled: 1 ARCs acquired: 2 ARCs unhauled: 3 DNFs: 1

January

[etirabys]

alright, I'm going to make a post detailing things I liked about my wedding because I think it will help my long term psychological health about it or something

the flowers were lovely, I liked the palette we gave our florist and she did a nice job. I've been fingering one of the leftover roses on and off for a day and slowly shredding it

when all the flowers dry up I think I'll try making rosewater

we chose alcohol we liked, and we have a lot left over, meaning we're set to host spontaneous parties and such

my boyfriend told me that while my hair dress and makeup made me look quite unlike my usual self, I looked very bridenappable

we set aside 5-10m for our photographer to take photos of us with our other partners, which was nice

my parents were happy!!! oh my gosh they were so happy. I managed to not ruin it for them out of revenge for making me do it which was a feat of heroism and also benzodiazepines. I have ancient brain grooves of punishing them for making me do hateful things by trying to make them just as miserable, and the temptation was immense, but I largely did not do it and I have a bunch of photos of them smiling and dancing

I don't have photos from our main photographer yet but @drethelin sent me some of his and they look great. I didn't expect to be this into the photos but I'm so psyched to have the rest. Will probably post some when I get them

the fancy cake we got had fondant that I liked. I had gotten small heart shaped samples of the fondant before and I had fully expected to enjoy eating a cake covered in it. And I did. It was like marshmallow with more conviction.

my two favorite college friends crashed at my place over the weekend and it was great catching up with them. they got along really well with my other friends and partners. just going on and on about French zoning policy

I look eh in hanbok but the giant looks beautiful in hanbok. He prefers hanbok to a Western suit and frankly looks more natural that way.

the DJ did a great job! Originally we planned for "maybe a little bit of dancing" (I looked at the guest spreadsheet and guessed maybe 7 people would be willing to dance, tops) but we got like 20 people in on it.

the afterparty I put together last minute was the most enjoyable part of the day. I was pretty dead (I'd gotten up at 7:30am to get hair done) but it was nice to be my normal self, not constrained by relatives. I occasionally went around rooms, noted what conversations were going on, and matchmade by fetching someone who I thought would especially enjoy that conversation

the giant and I didn't have the usual "we'll be able to call ourselves husband and wife" motivation since we got legally married years ago, so we invented "wife plus" and "platinum husband" to describe some imaginary next level of marriage we are on.

I was forced to learn how to iron to get the hanbok presentable, and now I feel like a more powerful human being

my relatives gave me money as a wedding gift. but my dad drummed it into me that they expect it back when their kids get married and I go to their weddings. and that it would be quite inappropriate if I failed to do this. I ventured tentatively that this would all be simplified if we simply did not give each other money gifts and he was so offended at my attack on tradition & decency that I hastily backtracked. but in theory I still win because of inflation? because it's an interest free loan. also their kids might not get married. or invite me

[withlovelunette]

How to create “complex” characters

– Introduction

I wanted to make a post about creating complex and multifaceted characters, since character creation is something I'm very passionate about from both a craft and storytelling perspective. Specifically, I remember I had this tendency to apply flaws as an afterthought to my characters in hopes of making them balanced and seem more complex, and this could often make the characters feel a bit artificial to me. I'm obviously not any sort of authority figure on the subject, but I do have one tip that really simplified the process of making characters more intricate, and I wanted to share it! This is probably more helpful for people who might still be at the very beginning of their writing journey, but hopefully others can get something out of this as well! It's a bit lengthy, but I hope it's somewhat enjoyable to read ^^; Enjoy!

For a bit of background, back in the early internet days, there was this trend of judging various OCs on youtube, deviant art, etc. where people would essentially evaluate your character and determine whether or not a character was well written. During this time, the term "Mary Sue" would get thrown around a lot (which is a whole can of worms I won't be touching on here). For simplicity though, Mary Sue generally means a character who's "perfect" (again, heavy oversimplification here). To counter this, people began creating these lists of character traits where they'd list off a character's good and bad traits, and people who didn't have equal amounts in each category would often be scrutinised for it.

And I see this advice all the time. If you want complex characters, people will usually tell you to just throw on a bunch of flaws, but I think this can be a bit misleading, because most traits exist on a spectrum, and aren't a perfect dichotomy of good and bad.

Thinking of character traits as neutral

My biggest advice is honestly to just think of all character traits as neutral. Because what really is a character flaw? A flaw is a very ambiguous and subjective term after all. What might be considered a flaw in one character could be considered another character's greatest attribute, and vice versa. Functionally, a character flaw should be a trait that creates conflict within the context of the story. Any trait a person has could be good or bad, it just depends on how it shows up in practice and how it's applied in daily life. It might be tempting to think that certain traits are inherently good or bad, but again, flaws aren't really about good or bad. They're about conflict and tension, and just about any trait can work to a character's detriment or in their favour.

I'm going to list off two examples of hypothetical characters below; one who most would consider to have a lot of "good" character traits, and one that would be considered to have "bad" character traits. Then I'll show you how you can easily flip those traits to create nuance. (And again, I really don't think good or bad are relevant terms here, but it's just to exemplify what I mean more easily!)

The "Good" Character

This character is empathetic, creative and incredibly supportive of others. They always do the right thing, and are a very responsible individual. They're approachable and friendly, funny, and generally enjoyable to be around.

The "Bad" Character

This character is cunning, manipulative, and don't care if their words hurt other people's feelings. They're largely apathetic and unreceptive, don't care about rules, and don't go out of their way to get to know people.

Their flaws & how it can affect the story

For the "good" character, you can look at what the downsides of empathy can be; very reactive emotionally, perhaps even a bit emotionally impulsive. Maybe they have a difficult time recognising their own needs, especially since supportive is also a trait listed above. Maybe they even use this empathy to figure out other people's needs and use it to their own benefit. Someone who's creative can often have a difficult time committing to their passions and ideas because there's always something new. Maybe they feel out of place or easily stifled by rules, but because they always want to do the right thing, they're hesitant in outright breaking rules and social norms. If they use their empathy and approachability to manipulate, perhaps this is their way of subtly regaining a sense of control because they're too afraid to explicitly go after what they want in life. Maybe they care a lot about how they're perceived, etc. Or maybe they really are a compassionate and kind person, but they're often a doormat to others because they don't know how to set boundaries or even how to recognise what they want. Maybe they don't trust their own judgment because they're so used to doing the right thing "just because it's the right thing to do", and don't actually reflect on their actions beyond that. There's a lot you can do with these traits!

For the "bad" character, which might seem a bit more tricky at first, the easiest way to figure out what the nuance of "bad" traits can be is to break down the why. Maybe this character became cunning because they've had to think long term a lot. They're good at waging the odds, they're good at reading the room, they're good at putting things together and seeing how the dominos will fall. Maybe they're even the person responsible for setting up the dominos, because they don't trust anyone else to make sure that there's a desirable outcome. If they're manipulative then it likely means that they're good at reading people, and they must know how to appeal to other people to some degree, otherwise they wouldn't really be able to manipulate anyone. They're likely used to having to look out for themselves, and they might even be good at spotting their own kind and knowing just when to avoid them. They don't care much for rules so they might not be as harsh in judging others, maybe they even have an easier time getting along with people who dare to defy social norms. Maybe they're even supportive of other people breaking the rules, because why the hell not?

Creating nuance

If you look at the two characters above, you'll quickly realise that they could hypothetical be the same character, because... They are. The "good" character is the "bad" character when they were younger. The "bad" character is the "good" character's future. An empathetic character can easily turn that empathy and their social skills into cunning manipulation. A character who previously felt stifled by the rules might choose to defy them. A character who got sick of caring how others perceive and judge them might choose to stop caring about what others think, and might even go out of their way to seem off-putting and un-approachable, because they refuse to ever allow themselves to care about others and be treated like a doormat again.

Or you can treat them as two separate characters that function as foils to one another. They both overlap in a lot of traits despite it not seeming so at first glance. My point is, I find that if you treat all traits as neutral, you don't really have to manually "add" flaws. Most traits have both upsides and downsides, and which side of those traits create conflict in the story is often what determines whether something is a flaw or not.

– Outro

Sorry for the lengthy and possibly rambly post, I just thought it might be advice worth sharing as it's something that really helped me flesh out my own characters more when I was still very new! Plus, as mentioned before, character creation and analysis is one of my favourite aspects of storytelling, and I'm also very passionate about psychology and philosophy and such. And again, this is all in good fun and 100% not a rule on how to write characters! There's exceptions to everything and everyone's process is different, and while this advice might be helpful to some, it might not be helpful whatsoever to others, and that's completely fine!

I'd love to make more posts on topics like this in the future if people enjoy it, or if anyone has any specific requests on anything! :,)

[ajaxbell]

Maiden Holmes: the jianghu Scooby Gang is on the case!

I picked this cdrama up simply because of Zhang Linghe's face and because I saw a gifset of the kisses. But what an unexpected delight!

The premise is essentially a woman, Su Ci, disguised as a man to become a cop with a secret agenda to investigate the false charges that killed her family. While investigating a case she teams up with war traumatized Prince Qi who has his own problems at court. But in a mistaken identity romp she doesn't recognize him (while she's also carrying around comics of his adventures lol). They are joined by young woman doctor/poisoner/coroner/forensic pathologist, and by the world's greatest himbo. Together they form a jianghu Scooby Gang and solve a bunch of seemingly unrelated cases that start to connect to each other, and conveniently connect to both Su Ci's ultimate goal and Prince Qi's problems at court.

The villain is obvious and over the top. The plot is wobbly at best. But the cast really saves this show. Zhang Linghe is way better than he has any business being in his first drama, just fresh out of engineering college. He outshines all the more established actors in the cast. But over all the cast has chemistry and the story hits the right notes of found family, of a team of experts competently doing their respective jobs, and manages the comedy they are given well (the more dramatic and intense emotional beats are as wobbly as the plot).

These characters are a group of kind, interested people who seem to do their best for the victims they encounter. But they also each go through their own emotional moments in realistic ways, shutting out their friends, and isolating. But every time the friends show up, offer true support, and receive apologies for not being initially trusted or let in. There's an ongoing theme of being both accepted for who you truly are and of being loved for it whether platonically or romantically. And this is really the core of what makes this show better than it should be.

There's something just very sweet and good-natured about their friendships and how they treat each other and everyone in need they encounter. It makes this show a joy to watch and honestly a bit uplifting. Like at the end of rough day sitting down to see these friends be nice and helpful and concerned just really felt like a balm. And while the rougher emotional points didn't always hit, a lot of them did, due entirely to this cast and how well they made me feel they were really friends. Most the comedy beats are right and truly funny, but also the comedy never hits a mean or punching down note either. Which for me ends up being part of what actually made this show great for me: it's actually really subversive.

Is it subversive on purpose or accidentally? I'll never know but it was really enjoyable. The first half watches like a good bl. Yes it's based on the misunderstanding of Prince Qi believing Su Ci is a man. But that does not stop Prince Qi from standing too close and looking sick with longing. It doesn't stop the classic cdrama underwater 'kiss' to share breath. Zhang Linghe plays this without any indication that it might be weird or uncomfortable for Prince Qi to be attracted to a man. While the show plays it for comedy, the comedy is Su Ci being really confused about what is happening, and in their friends' response to (perceived male) Su Ci and Prince Qi as a couple.

Even more subversive, while it's played (joyfully) for comedy, all the friends' responses are uniformly welcoming and supportive of these two 'men' becoming involved. Particularly the world's most delightful himbo character making an impassioned speech about his support of them. (Truly not just for this scene, but this himbo character is maybe one of my all time favorite TV characters? Just incredible work by the script and the actor.)

Eventually Su Ci's gender is revealed and Prince Qi takes it without blinking and goes to work to make this world more feminist and accepting so she can continue do her job as a detective for the court even after her gender is exposed. After this point in the show the script weakens a bit, sacrificing some character development to making people act the way the plots needs rather than totally true to the established characters. But throughout Prince Qi seems to not care about gender, or any outside perception of his relationship regardless of the gender of his partner. And it was just relief a to watch. What a good character he turns out to be. So supportive of anything his partner wants, in a way where he seems to truly enjoy anything she does, and just looks so pleased with how smart she is. He looks pleased for people to think he's in a gay relationship. He looks pleased when she does her job well. He looks pleased when she dresses up for him. And some of this has to be Zhang Linghe's acting work. Especially when he starts bring a level of smolder and longing that seems possibly (and I'm not complaining) overly steamy for the lightweight comedy level of this show.

Anyway I would absolutely call this show queer friendly and accepting in a way crossdressing deception plots often never achieve. That combined with these kind, good-natured friends, and the world's best himbo character really combined to make this a fun, sweet watch. So yes, I'd recommend, but don't go into expecting quality, or consistency, but it is sweet, light, and fun. Just a little treat to balance out the darker things in the world if you need distraction.

[sout999]

dear tumblr ,,⋋(•◇•)⋌,,

thank you so much for all the support on my top surgery fundraiser, whether it's donating, reblogging or just staying patient with while i boost the link multiple times. which i am going to keep doing! it's no understatement that this is the single biggest positive thing that's happening in my life, and the time i need your help most. so i'm making my voice heard as much as i possibly can to spread the word, and i appreciate all your help with it. it makes me feel loved as a person and not as a bunch of posts on a dashboard, i've been getting pretty isolated because of mental health stuff so even the small connection we have from your act of goodwill is really meaningful to me

i've been ok, mostly putting in work on my masters degree, although some of the 'work' included having a massive breakdown from months of burnout, and i'm currently in the middle of trying to get an extension and rework a large part of my project. mostly this is due to the subject matter of my work having had a lot of loaded cultural and personal themes, which, when being forced to think about nonstop for two years, while also moving in with the family member who is the source of a large part of all the trauma of it, was just too much. taking a stance to axe the project in its current form was hard and made me feel like a quitter but now i feel relief and realize it was an act of self love as well

so i'm trying to recover from that and see a way forward to a project i would like doing, but it's hard when your circumstances have left you this depressed. i'm also trying to become more mindful of the way i use social media because when i'm anxious i fall very easily into the numbness sink of scrolling social media just to avoid thinking... i've stared a daily list of Ten Things That Happened That Day That Didn't Happen On The Internet, although i never get to ten, and i dont think even pre-internet leon would have gotten to ten, but it's good to aim high and take notice even of the little things. maybe to some people this comes naturally but i have to be very deliberate about it. i think this article sums up how im starting to feel about the internet rn

i've cut most personal spending down as much as possible to save up to my top surgery, so i have to find fun things to do that don't cost money. i'm trying to sew because my partner knows a lot about it and can teach me (i'm currently trying to engineer the perfect underwear, weird hobby but it's actually an amazing dysphoria-buster because most store bought underwear that fits my ass is so feminine, to be able to make a piece of something so intimate be so personal is, omg, an act, of, omg, self love). i've also sold off some things to help save for my top surgery and doctor visits, i'm trying to not get rid of anything i will really miss but it's also an enjoyable feeling to imagine the item disappearing as it becoming a permanent part of my history and of my sexy flat boy body (~o_o)~

if i end up having some free time outside of my masters degree, my current dream project is making pixel assets. i think with all the cases of my art getting stolen and used without permission it would actually be really cool to put something together specifically for public use. i miss kaoani and flower banners and stuff. i dont know if i can ever make something so saccharinely cute and tidy but if anything it's a nice space to visit

did you miss me coming to tumblr to make long winded posts about nothing? hopefully when twitter falls we will all be on here reading each others paragraphs, hopefully i'll have more going on in my life and can write even longer ones. here is a nice drawing, and a link to the fundraiser once again :)

https://gofund.me/958124b6

[gisellelx]

Every once in a while, I reread one of your stories and I can’t help but check your website for any updates for One Day 😇 Just curious: are you still working on it? No pressure whatsoever of course!! I love the way you portray Carlisle in that fic & am already super thankful for those first 8 or so chapters! Anyways, hope you are doing well & thanks for providing us with so many high-quality fics!

- Sannehale

Ah, this ask made my year. (Also now I realize your two blog names. Sneaky!)

Yes., yes I am. It was actually open on my laptop even as this ask came in. My prereader is asking about it too--I stopped giving her chapters because I was realizing that I got a lot of enjoyment out of sending them to her and that was filling enough void that it cut off my writing mojo. I'm thrilled though, that she can't see where it's going.

I'm stuck on chapter 16 (of likely 23-25) at the moment because a whole bunch of dominos have to fall in order to get to several reveals that are going to happen in very fast succession to move the story out of the second act. Also the second act/B story was hard because I am not a romance writer! 😆 It's not the genre I read and I'm not very good at writing it, but the middle of this story called for a romance and so there is one. Or so I hope.

I've also gone back and shored up some things that needed shoring--introduced a few of the characters who turned out to be important earlier on, and added another character in Bella's research mentor, Amy Jackson. I'm worried that I'm under-utilizing her at the moment.

This ask, though, prompted me to back out to the card view in the Scrivener project and I realize I actually did leave myself the breadcrumbs necessary to get myself out of here. Maybe I'll put my shoulder to the wheel and see what happens if I just follow the outline I laid out.

Anyway. I feel like I shouldn't end an ask without giving a little bit of some of the over 40,000 words that are written and not posted. So here's a tiny bit. This actually may not stay in, and in any event doesn't spoil anything--it's also the headcanon behind this chapter of Montage, though this scene was written years ago and my headcanon about Carlisle's name and his parents' names goes back over fifteen years now.

Of course, I knew a lot more than most people who were hunting down a relative from the 1600s. I clicked on the link for church records, and then delimited my search. If Carlisle was 367, that put him in 1644. That seemed reasonable. I filtered the results by the location, London, and then 1640 to 1650.

CULLEN, I typed. CARLISLE.

Zero hits. I frowned at my screen for a long moment and then practically slapped myself in the head. Of course there were no hits for Carlisle Cullen. Wasn’t this the very thing we’d been arguing about for months, now? I backspaced over the first name, and changed it to WILLIAM.

There were only three hits. Astonishing. I had assumed that Carlisle would have done his due diligence. He’d had hundreds of years to track this information down—why hadn’t he? William Cullen number one was in the baptismal records of St. Luke’s Catholic Church. He had been baptized in 1642. That would make him nearly the same age as Carlisle, no luck there. William Cullen number two, however, was on over seventy pages of documents—the records of St. James Aldgate, listed as parish pastor. And William Cullen number three almost caused my heart to stop.

Born 17 February 1644. Died 8 August 1667.

Twenty-three years old.

My heart, pounding, I clicked on the church register, enlarging it so that it filled my screen. The handwriting was old, faded and pixelated, but it was tidy and easy to read. Carlisle Cullen, it read, with William crammed onto the line before the first name, in the same handwriting but obviously a different pen—the lines were narrower, slanted slightly differently. Born and baptized on February 17, 1644. Father, William Cullen number 2. And mother…

My heart sped. There, in the same scrawly hand—his father’s hand, I realized, it must be—was written the words, Sarah Cullen (Crawforth).

A quick “Open in New Tab” allowed me to pull all the records from the 1600s from St. James Aldgate and in five minutes, I had a birth date of November 15, 1620. And a death date, which was of course expected, of February 17, 1644. But it was the annotation here which was breathtaking—in a different handwriting, written by the midwife? Some other member of the parish?

Died babe in arms.

Tears sprang to my eyes, and with blurry vision, on a hunch, I ran one last search. Then I printed the pages with the documents, shoved them in a folder, and headed for my car.

[sugar-omi]

Just went through your likes and a couple things:

1. Way less cove then I thought I’d find maybe I need to go deeper. 2. All the Sebastian shit is 👩🏽‍🍳😘🤌🏽. 3. I’m so glad I’m supporting an 🍊 hater. After all the shit he’s done my anxiety skyrockets and I come to your page to try and help calm myself down with your fics. You don’t know how much you’re righting helps even if it’s just for a little while. Thank you so much for your page and all of your positive and out of pocket horny posts 💕💕💕

Sorry that got serious there

yeahhh, i can see the relief!!!! i try not to reblog too many political posts n that kinda thing because i know 1. people come online to escape that thing, but also 2. i will literally just reblog all that kind of stuff. tbh i'll reblog a bunch of things regardless of content PERIOD bc im a lurker at heart okay, n im also kinda used to spamming my thoughts in that way from my decade on twitter lmao

so it would be overwhelming if i didnt limit myself😂 but also i want people to know my opinions for both their comfort and also for mine so that way those with opposing opinions can get tf outta here🫶🤣

so relatable though, and im sending you n everyone else who is also experiencing all this anxiety much strength🫶 these are very scary times that, although i've been expecting it ever since his first term, does not lessen any of my anxiety this time lol. so crazy though seeing my own family admit that he was a bad choice to put in😂 my mom denies she ever said she wanted him in!!!!! (she doesnt vote, but that doesnt stop her from expressing her opinions lol) i wonder if my grandparents n dad will still be jumping for joy by the end of his term? mmm🙃

anyway. thats a whole rant i will not go on LMAO- but i'll finish this ramble with saying that while i am a little bit sensitive to what i reblog as well because i know some sites are picky about expressing your opinions (lets just say twitter (users) hated me a bit LMAOOOO) im also not really on here a lot unless im posting, responding to asks, or checking my dms so im not the first to share these things n i know my posts are infrequent so i dont want to drown what, like you and some others have expressed, is an escape or enjoyment to them.

but. this is a safe space. n like i said i do try to express these things more than i worry about anything else. that's most important to me. i want to make sure my stances are out there for my sake, as much as yours, because this is also my safe space n my little escape. this blog is a small piece of me, and it reflects that as much as reasonably possible.

ANYWAY. BACK TO THE LESS SERIOUS STUFF LOL

yeahhh tbh i'll be honest i dont interact with the olba fandom too much!!! i havent been in fandom in recent years, but i try to like any posts i see. which tbh isn't much because my tl is mostly sims LMAOOO thats what i used this blog for at first (as well as haikyuu when i was into it heavily, hence sugar-omi, because sakusa is my favorite n we share that nickname <333333 (yes i made my friends call me omi bc of him. idc. its CUTE!!!!! but they all call me nae so😂😂 its fine bc that's my most treasured nickname<3))

n you know sebastian is my pookie for life <333333 i love him, i've loved him before i even started playing stardew LMAOOO

i hope yall are enjoying stalking my likes. theyre such a whiplash because its a mix of sims, aesthetic things, stardew, olba, politics, some poetry/relatable to me things, memes, smut, smut, smut, and an array of games/vns i follow n animes im into😂😂

sometimes i just use my likes to save sims posts that i wanna download later when im on my computer or when they release publicly lol so, i dont imagine my likes will be that interesting since ive been most active in liking and reblogging things these last 2-3 days than anything😂🫶

anyway, im glad my writing brings a bit of relief and my degenerate posts hopefully bring u some joy and laughter😂, please take care of yourself anon🫶🫶

[tallymali]

When contemplating cosmetic surgery myself I've often fallen into this fear zone where I worry the relatively minor procedure won't fix that doubt in my head. That I'll have it done and then find something else on my body I'm unhappy with and that'll keep repeating until I end up as an art piece/sideshow exibit. So I end up doing nothing and deeply hung up about that one minor- to everyone else- thing.

I guess all I'm asking is do you ever have these thoughts too or if its just my crazy?

this was a long ramble so im putting it under a readmore!

i actually think those are really important thoughts to have! im no expert on anything but id honestly recommend a lot of therapy before pursuing any kind of procedure. ive had body dysmorphia for most of my life and ive also been in a LOT of therapy and i think the ability to differentiate dysmorphic/self-hating thoughts from genuine desires is a skill that can be learned, albeit through a lotttt of work lmao. in my personal experience the dysmorphia-based desire for procedures is very urgent, feels like the most important thing in the world, if i dont get the surgery to change this thing then im just gonna waste my life away being hideous. luckily ive been able to get that voice down to a sort of “background junk mail” that is made to be deleted.

throughout the therapy process ive really kept an eye on my self esteem in general and how i feel about my whole body. and ive definitely felt all around better about it. not in a “im so perfect and flawless!!!” way but moreso “my body is a normal human body and its never gonna be perfect but im mostly chill and content and calm about the way it looks”. ive pretty much lost the desire for all the procedures i previously wanted, all except for my boobs. nowadays i want them to keep looking like My Boobs but be tweaked in a way that makes them a more pleasant and enjoyable experience for me.

so the first thing im asking myself is how would i feel if i DIDNT get that boob procedure. and id be okay with that. theres nothing wrong with my boobs healthwise, they are regular boobs doing regular boob things, everything will be okay. i also very much WANT to take my sweet time thinking on it and maybe eventually having a bunch of consultations with different doctors and then thinking on it even more before deciding whether ill proceed or not. i conceptualise it as a helpful present to myself rather than a fix. im always checking in on these thoughts to see if they’re being tinted by the dysmorphia, and so far they are not.

so yeah, i apologise if none of this is all that relevant or helpful to you. i can really only speak for my own experiences. but yeah, you’re definitely not alone in that kind of thinking! id just definitely recommend therapy to really get to know those doubts in your head and find the best way to deal with them before making any physical changes

[tiredassmage]

It's that time again - update rambles time kdfnalsdfnsd. The short version is, overall, I'm really pleased with this update, but there's... at least one thing missing that did sort of derail me in the end and I'll still need to go back and play it pubside on my Trooper, which I think I might enjoy slightly more for... cohesion of a story's sake, but that's. a) getting a bit into the actual ramble and b) getting my personal blorbo feelings involved which is absolutely what I do here but, let me do it in the right place, lmao.

Mechanically, this was. a really sweet update to me. There's lots of doing in progressing through the story part. The fights are engaging, the action is selling. It doesn't play like a bunch of run to checkpoint x, do y, hand in z, which is very nice. There's. actually a few things to consider. Comparing to 7.2 in Showdown, the action isn't just in the cutscenes this time - it's definitely there, too, I have plenty of nice action shots to add to the blasters out collection, lol - but it's also in the gameplay, at least from my take, so! I've really no complaints from a gameplay perspective thus far.

I haven't worked on any of the dailies or done the little follow up with Lane or whatnot yet because I sort of had my fill with the story for the day and I wanted to check out some of the lighting changes in other parts of the game, hehe! So, might run into other things later, but we'll see.

I also love seeing locations from earlier in the game making a comeback. The little hints here and there are enough to be exciting for me - though I see some people saying missed opportunity to do things with Jorgan and Corso and I will more than likely agree with that. I'd always be a sucker for more references.

Petra's really cool. I love her. Loved meeting her and working with her. As a local Imperial Agent enjoyer, I think it's only natural to say I do love the sneak and spy elements of this update, lol.

I got a lot of what I could've ever hoped to ask for out of this update. I'm just... missing the saboteur options? Which... really threw me at the end. There's at least a place or two that it felt exactly where those sort of options should've come up, but there's at least no directly labeled sight of them around, which is... jarring given Tyr's extensive history as a double agent for the Republic.

It's... a really tricky situation to deal with on Ord though, so that's. how I'm choosing to sort of interpret that one. There are some areas that felt a little too tight on strictly Imperial loyalty for how I typically play him, so it's. It's jarring, in short. One of my disappointment areas, I have to admit. I haven't done any of the dailies, but it looks like it'll end up being interpreted as Imperial support either way - which, fair, I'm playing an impside character, I know, but the lines were very clear on Ossus for where that saboteur option was involved and they even appeared on Manaan. I'm still hoping to see that storyline go somewhere even though there feels like there's a lot of moving parts on the board at the moment.

SO. With that said, onto my giggles and other miscellaneous references because it seems the last several story updates have thematically been reflective and reference-pockmarked for me, lol.

I cannot tell you the way I squealed with excitement to see these two in frame and actually doing something like cooperating.

And also the way I am, once again, haunted by being an Imperial Agent girlie. Because all I can think of in this is Double agent. Triple agent. Do you even know whose lies you're telling anymore?

Primarily, of course, my own feelings about blorbo who's been in the spy business for literally about half his lifetime and a double agent for maybe half of that - now he's going to balance being a double for the Republic with working with Sa'har? Ough. Tyr, babe. I hope you know what you're doing.

He wants to help her. He's wanted to from the start. Sa'har's I'm not sure I -want- to leave, speaking to that I'm not sure I can leave a job unfinished that Tyr is so, so painfully familiar with experiencing. Maybe he's got fleece over his eyes because of his own complicated feelings about working in unseen ways, but he does believe her.

ALSO THIS GIRL. NEARLY GIVIN ME A HEART ATTACK. GIRL I LIKED YOU DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT. Anyway. I love her. I love. Again, one of the most hilarious dialogue wheels you could give this man is I'm no traitor (lie, you've been once since you were in your late twenties, and you're like, what 46ish? It's been a long time since Hutta, agent) / I don't work with traitors (another lie, you're still kissing Theron Shan [Tyr. argues that doesn't count which is the only reason this is the option I went with] / and [Attack]

And then I won't be normal about him taking option 2 and dropping "I'd like to believe I've always been fighting for something greater."

I'm fine. I'm sure I'm fine. [Girl who is constantly plagued by the emotional agonies of maining a double agent.]

ANYWAY. Or perhaps also on that note. Krovos getting a little sharp about his misplaced priorities. Nothing comes of it. Yet. But it's enough to keep my brain stew going and bubbling about the weight of it all.

And it's just. so very Tyr to throw himself in the line of fire trying to keep people he meant to keep out of overcomplicating situations safe.

And I am, overall, just a sucker for the way this update brings it back to... I guess grass roots, you could say. Grounding the story in what's actually happening to places like Ord Mantell, brushing with some of the consequences on people in general - the Hidden Chain stealing supplies, possibly moving people, even, or at least their allies might be - sells the big story in the end, I think. Otherwise, the big, vague prophetic 'the fate of the galaxy sets on your shoulder' doesn't really settle as much. This might be what you're fighting for, or it might be what you're costing along the way. And I just like having that connective tissue that is 'they're here for supplies;' they're rebuilding and moving forward with plans after Ruhnuk, and Malgus's threat that all things will still unfold according to a plan is still lingering around.

[Also, Rass people. The flirts. wtf I love it. They're adorable.]

And I really am just. Such a hopeless sucker for scenes like this. A little slice of just being people in between all the galactic turmoil and heroics.

So, I've still got a fair amount of things to be chewing on! Once I'm through this last week of finals stuff, I'll expect I'll hop on TrooperTyr and go. redamage my emotions further and play it pubside and have a whole other whirlwind of emotions about how he handles it too dlfknsadlkf;sld. For now, time to pop some screenshots into the queue! ^.^

OH. ALSO. Kessing's Landing is fucking beautiful.

[ahordeofwasps]

Writer Positivity Tag

I've been tagged by the brilliant @blind-the-winds! Thanks for the tag! I'm going to also steal the idea to put the no pressure tags into one of the questions.

Now, onto the questions!

What motivates you to write?

It's fun! I've always really enjoyed stories, so it's fun to try my hand at making my own. I really enjoy putting a bunch of characters in a Situation and exploring what happens.

But, I'm also more motivated to write when there's a task to procrastinate on. I usually get most of my writing done when I supposed to have a thesis I'm working on.

A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not, maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them):

I'm currently really happy with this bit I wrote for To Not Falling Off Cliffs:

Steve had made many friends over the centuries. He couldn’t help it. Someone entered his life, grew to like them and then he couldn’t imagine it any other way. He had no lips, so Steve could not smile, but whenever he saw them, he felt his jaw shift in way he could not help. Thoughts about his work were drowned out by ones that if were not pleasant, were at least wanted. He found himself making excuses to be near them, his spirits lifting in their presence. He wanted nothing more than for them to be well. It wasn’t falling in love – Steve never fell in love – but it was something more. Something that went without courtship and ritual, something that demanded nothing of the flesh. A simple bond that rang truer than anything else.

Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them, and what are they like?

All of them? Like each one makes me smile for different reasons. I'll focus on the protagonists from To Not Falling Off Cliffs.

Erika is the one human protagonist. She loves music and old movies. She is also trying her best. She's the kind of person who will look upon eldritch horrors and go "Hmm, this is just like math class."

Steve is one of the reaper protagonists. He is a bit of a tragic character in that the souls he reaps were of those who died slow painful deaths of very preventable causes but he's not allowed to do anything about said causes, as that is "altering Fate." But he tries anyways and is willing to risk his existence on it.

Tiffany is the other reaper protagonist. She's the closest thing reapers have to a celebrity, as she wears entirely gold and has a very distinctive appearance. She's super smart and organized, but also stubborn. She's a bit of a stickler to the rules, but when those rules start harming, she'll break them.

What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

The writing part? I'm a pantser, so I get to see the story develop as I'm writing. Something I find enjoyable is seeing a scene go into a completely different direction than I expected as I'm typing it up and then getting to explore that direction.

What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

I have a hard time figuring out what I'm good and bad at, so this is a bit of a tough question to answer.

I think plot? I'm just usually kinda happy with the way the plots of my stories turn out.

What is something in the writeblr community that is most enjoyable?

Getting to see everyone else's writing! I enjoy reading the little snippets that get posted for tag games and seeing how writing styles vary. When available, I also enjoy reading the fully written stories, though I haven't read as much as I would like to due to time.

A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

My keyboard! It is very clacky. Plus I got it setup so that I can swap between American, British, and Canadian Multilingual with just a pair of keystrokes.

A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law, etc)

I had a lot of fun doing worldbuilding for To Not Falling Off Cliffs, so there's a lot I like. I guess my current favourite bit of worldbuilding is that life on Earth got started accidentally; some god decided to knit some amino acids for fun, made the first cell, and then got distracted by a neutron star and forgot about it the same way one forgets about tupperware in the fridge.

Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters:

I love @winterandwords's writing! It has a strong sense of character voice. I'm currently reading her novel, Bridge from Ashes and it's really good!

I also adore @loopyhoopywrites writing! The tone and descriptions are amazing and super well done! I think Trickster is my favourite character, though they're all great.

I also love @spuddlespud's writing! Super fun characters and scenarios! I especially adore the A Worker's Guide to Demonology snippets.

I also adore @emelkae's writing! I read WANNABE a while back and loved it! Love the characters and concept and everything. I get excited whenever I see bits related to it on my dashboard.

I also love @chauceryfairytales's writing! I especially love the descriptions and worldbuilding. Yuni questing to find bees is an amazing plot!

I also adore @blind-the-winds's writing! I enjoy hearing about Mick and Eleanor and all the stuff they wind up getting into.

[oh-my-may]

I finally got around to play Cosmo Canyon! Took me a while to get there bc family stuff and i was feeling a bit under the weather some days, but today I'll finish the protorelic quest and then do the side quests and that was it for Cosmo Canyon...

Thoughts on story: RED (or should I say Nanaki?) IS SO CUTE LEGIT A TEENAGE BOY TRYING TO PASS AS AN ADULT MAN the way I was hollering. The city is beautiful and very huge... Felt very overwhelmed when I first got there. Generally loved the focus on Red, had lots of questions about him originally. Now I wonder how old his kind can get if he's like 15 in human years but actually 48... huh. The story with his parents is pretty basic i guess? Didn't really blow me away, i could see the turning point coming from a mile away but it was very sweet nonetheless. Really enjoyed the gameplay during the trial, the Gi enemies WERE SO COOL. Also loved that we could scale walls with Red, I wish we could do that in the open world... The final boss almost kicked my ass because I'm not used to playing Barrett and Red actively, BUT THEY SLAYED. Shoutout to Titan, homeboy always comes through for me. Also couldn't help but be reminded of Genshin's Misty Dungeon event during the trial. And the mines of Moria. My weird interests meet in the most unusual of circumstances sometimes. My brain does that occasionally.

Also, the Gi Nantaak first scared the shit out of me. Then he kinda reminded me of Vision (you know, from Marvel) but that also wore off. The random sequence with Zack almost made me cry again. Whenever I see him on screen something just urges me to. Him and Biggs also looked so damn good during that entire scene I took so many screenshots 😭 I'm still so confused tho... Biggs ended up in Zack's timeline because of the Whispers/ the Wind for whatever reason? Really have no clue where they're going to take this part of the story, I just know it's going to hurt me so bad in the end.

I also let out an audible ' Hear me out' when they showed Seto... I'm not sorry.

On the exploration side of things... The flying chocobos are so confusing to me, I started the chocobo quest right as I landed in Cosmo Canyon and I immediately failed the first part because the controls as you fly are just??? Therefore everything that was placed so that you could only reach it through flying was a bit of a pain at first. I figured it out eventually, but i still haven't continued that quest... Also saw a bunch of people complain about this so at least I'm not the only one struggling lol.

Everything Else was very enjoyable tho. Go to explore team was Cloud, Aerith and Cait Sith this time and I gotta say Cait's Moogle Magic skill is busted I was so surprised when a full ass Ifrit suddenly stood on the field 😭 Bahamut Arisen was a surprisingly quick clear after I got all the Intel, Tifa just died in like the last minute. A worthy sacrifice tho. Immediately tried Bahamut while beating the Jabberwock, huge Dragon Battle was crazy insane to watch. He's busted. Put him on Cait for now.

I haven't finished the protorelic quest yet, but I didn't expect it to have this much lore right from the get go... So you're telling me Wedge is dead in Cloud's timeline???? Just like that?? The whispers killed him? MY BOY. Also Yuffie's friends (?) - the NPC's for that quest - immediately reminded me of Bella's High School friends in Twilight 😭💀 They just look like they belong in these movies idk

Now I wonder if the last two parts of the protorelic quest are gonna be as much a pain in the ass as Fort Condor was... I managed to clear the first two stages quite quickly so I hope it's gonna be okay with the AI helping me for the configuration part...

So that's that! Will definitely finish Cosmo Canyon tonight and then maybe start Chapter 11... Just a few more steps until meeting Vincent. Heard Chapter 11 was quite long so it'll probably take me the whole weekend to finish next to work and all. My goal of finising this game before easter is probably gonna be left unfulfilled... But I'd rather take my time.

Will add screenshots to this post after I get home from work!

[serenanymph]

writeblr positivity tag

tagged by the lovely @macabremoons! gently tagging @lyssa-ink, @reneesbooks, @scroll-of-aves, @space-writes, and anyone else who wants to hop in! this is gonna be a long one so I'm gonna leave it under the cut.

1. What motivates you to write?

All the lovely comments I get!! I honestly just love seeing how people react to my writing. Also just thinking about my characters in general. They're just a bunch of silly little guys <3 (they are unbelievably traumatized). And thinking about those specific few scenes I'll get to write later in the book too!!!

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

Uhh honestly I have mostly forgotten and all the good lines really only make sense with context, but I guess I am?? Mildly proud of this bit??

The air smells of sweet perfume. It’s a sharp, potent scent, thick and cloying, overly concentrated and enough for Beatriz to choke on. That’s the first thing she notices. The second things she notices is everything buried beneath it – dust, the faint, lingering tang of chemicals stinging her nose. Decay and rot. The air smells like death.

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

Wait is this your own OC or someone else's. Okay I can't really pick between my children BUT I do really love @reneesbooks Birdie!! Smol chaotic magic child, absolutely adorable. I want to give her all the pastries she could ever desire

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

On one hand, creating the first draft from scratch is really fun, but on the other, working on later drafts with the knowledge you're refining something and making it better is also so satisfying. Hrm. I'd say first draft wins but only by a small margin (because nothing in the latter stages will exist without it).

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Uh. I have no idea but apparently a lot of people have said I'm really good at descriptions?? So. Descriptions. I guess

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

Honestly I think everyone's answers are gonna be about the same but, y'know. It's the community. Everyone here is genuinely so friendly and talented, and all the games are really fun!!

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

I use microsoft word which is like. About all I use. Really boring ik but I'm used to it and for whatever reason I think it came with the laptop?? So yeah

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I really like exploring the magic system!! Magic for Beasts is largely emotion-based, and can be affected by a variety of factors (everything from target to affinity to environmental conditions) so it's been really fun figuring it out, but still making sure it doesn't become overpowered or a deus ex machina. There's also magic for mages which is a lot more precise and restrained. You can kind of think of it as Beasts having powers while mages have spells.

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Honestly most people would probably say something along these lines as well - even though I don't know what's causing your rough patch exactly, the only way to solve this not-writing problem in the end is to write. If you write, you can make it better. If you write, someone out there is bound to find it and love it. So, y'know. Just write. It can only go up from here.

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

Okay so first off, @allianaavelinjackson (though she isn't really part of writeblr), for always putting up with my insane ramblings about the little people in my head, losing it when reading about the little people in my head, and just being a really great cheerleader. Love ya. Also @lyssa-ink for being one of my first mutuals and having really interesting story ideas!! And @reneesbooks for her continued support and just being a super talented writer (seriously, lacuna lives rent free in my head). Plus @squarebracket-trick, @e-klair and @space-writes for all the STS questions giving me a chance to yell about Beast at someone, and lastly tagging back @macabremoons for all her support!! I could really go on and on and on but then this post would never end but to all my mutuals!!! Know that I love and appreciate every single one of you and y'all are awesome people!!

BLANK QUESTIONS

1. What motivates you to write?

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters