#random story stuff I have in my head but haven't written down

[pomefioredove]

unfortunately it is my yuusona who is the funniest because she does nothing for months and then immediately betrays everyone for rollo

[copperbadge]

Supposedly, people with Anphantasia don't get scared reading scary stories, or at least not much. Is that true with you if you ever read Horror?

You know, I'd never thought about it, but I suppose it is. To an extent, anyway.

Follows a discussion of my relationship to horror prose and media; if you don't know what aphantasia is, as many people coming to this tumblr don't, I have a tag for it here that may help -- it's basically the lack of a "mind's eye", a visual imagination, so I hear/read things and don't see an image of them in my mind. If you are scoffing right now that nobody actually has a mind's eye, congratulations, you may also have aphantasia. The articles linked in the tag will be useful to you.

I have definitely been scared by prose before but it's very rare, and not much since I was a child, when the stories I found scary were preying on fears I already had. I loved the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark books, and I think it's not unusual that I found the illustrations more frightening than the prose, but the only story that ever scared me was the one about the vampire who kept trying to grab a kid through a window -- because I had a window over my bed in my childhood bedroom and I was terrified I'd look up to see someone looking down at me through it. Likewise, as an adult, the only content in horror I find scary is what I think of as "mind horror" -- the loss of faculty or the loss of awareness of faculty (think the end scene of the novel Hannibal with the brain). Which is one of my biggest fears.

I don't read much horror because generally I get bored, which has in the past made me feel faintly appalled at myself, but which now makes more sense. Certainly I have no interest in slasher-style gore in prose, because I find it uninteresting and it goes on a really long time, while I don't watch it in movies/TV because the visual is upsetting -- so if I was getting the visual from the prose I might react more emotionally. I am a fan of Stephen King but mostly his early work where he was shorter on suspense, and I was reading it because I liked the ideas and the characters. Carrie is super interesting because of the personalities involved, not because of the violence or the horror aspects. But I've never seen a movie adaptation and I can imagine I would be deeply unsettled if not distraught by certain scenes if depicted visually. Although I didn't find the Hannibal TV series super upsetting (I mostly was put off by how bad I imagined Will smelled) so perhaps body horror just doesn't do it for me.

This may also explain my hard-no on zombie media, because I'm not scared at all of zombies, I just find them boring and gross, and that leaves the post-apocalyptic humans. My hard-no on post-apocalypse anything is an aversion to imagining the end of my world, though, which isn't visual, it's conceptual, and not scary, just upsetting.

Like, people kept suggesting Zombies Run! to me when I was taking up running and -- well, one, I needed the music to keep my pace, I didn't want it interrupted. But two, I didn't see why a bunch of random groaning noises would make me run faster. If you could see zombies chasing you in your head, yeah, that'd probably be more motivating.

It kind of explains too why I haven't written much horror. I used to be very curious about how people worked out what's "scary" in horror prose and I guess part of the curiosity came from not experiencing it myself. It's tough to know how to write a scary story when stories don't scare you.

To be clear, I definitely experience fear. Reading Stephen King's "It" didn't really scare me, but there were scary moments in the film adaptations. I startle at jumpscares. There's plenty of stuff in real life that I'm scared of. And even podcasts -- I don't get mental images during podcasts like apparently most people do, but Magnus Archives got me with the "digging into your pre-existing fears" thing once or twice, and while I didn't finish The Left Right Game (I just got bored) the hitchhiker scene definitely got me. But I think, unless it's playing on something conceptual that already existed, yeah, I don't find prose particularly frightening.

Huh. This feels like the kind of thing that could have a significant impact on my creative output if I could crowbar my way into it. Knowing that I as an aphantic don't need descriptions that other people do has already, I think, impacted my editing process, but this feels like it maybe would somehow have an effect on the whole thing -- the fact that I don't experience emotions when reading in the same way other people do because I don't get the visuals is something to meditate on.

How the fuck did I ever even become a writer. Like what's up with that.

(Ironically it was X-Files fanfic. X-Files, a show that very much did scare me, for which I wrote and read a lot of fanfic, none of which did...yikes. Well, that's something to meditate on for the weekend.)

[romanceandshenanigans]

Writer Q&A Game

Thanks to @clairelsonao3 for tagging me!

1. What motivates you to write?

I'm not exactly sure tbh. It almost feels like a compulsion. There are days where I simply do not feel good in my body if I haven't written anything. Then there are others where I can't bring myself to write because I'm too tired or too distracted from life. Honestly the second I get a clear head and enough time to myself, I'll start writing.

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)

This isn't from my WIP, but from a fanfic I wrote a while ago. I want to try to find a way to incorporate it into something. Not sure where though.

“I know this seems like it’s coming out of nowhere,” he said, “but promise it’s not. I’ve had a long time to think about it.  A few years, actually. I guess, I just didn’t realize how deep I was in it until about five minutes ago.”

She kept silent, but the simple fact she hadn’t told him to get out gave him the confidence to keep going. . 

“I meant it when I said I’m crazy about you. I like that you take your sugar with a drop of coffee.  I like how you sing to yourself when you’re happy.  I like that you never seem to get cold.  I like that you never lose your head under fire, but still need me to get rid of spiders. I like that you can laugh at yourself.  I like that you can laugh at me. Hell, I like that you’re perfectly willing to slap my face if the situation calls for it.

I like so many things about you Liz, and that’s just the stuff I found out on accident.  I can only imagine the stuff I’d learn if I started loving you on purpose."

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

I really do enjoy writing Finn. The boy just makes my smile.

Close second is another OC which I wrote for fanfic who I want to save and put someplace else, Lucy. She's my softest girl who has a lot of love to give. Might figure out a way to put her in this regency setting somewhere, but who knows.

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

The first draft spree. The moment when you get an idea and you have write it down as quickly as possible. It's rough and definitely will need some editing, but that rush cannot be topped. It just feels satisfying to exorcise even the smallest of scenes out of my body.

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

Dialogue, hands down. It's at least the part I've gotten the most compliments on.

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

I've only just started to dip my toe in, but I really do love answering asks. I like seeing other writer's process and knowing I'm not alone. It's just fun!

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

I've been using Scrivener and it's really helped me keep everything organized. I have a very conspiracy board way of drafting, so having all my random snippets in one place really helps.

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)

Not sure world building is my strong suit for this current WIP. I suppose I'm enjoying expanding the world of the theatre, but I admittedly need to do more research.

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

Write anyway. It doesn't have to be the scene that's giving you trouble. It doesn't even have to be for the piece you're trying to focus on, just don't get out of the habit of writing. Once you lose that momentum, it takes a long time to get it back.

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

Gotta give a shout out to @clairelsonao3 for being so welcoming in my introduction to the writeblr community. And @janec23, for being one of the few specifically romance writers to reach out.

But I really can't begin to thank all the people who have followed me from my fanfic blog over to this one. It really means so much to know people are interested in reading anything I put out there.

@flapjacques, @jo-harrington, @can-of-pringles, @handahbear, @auroramagpie, @justanothersadperson93, @sad-cat-hours, @ghostface001, @theowlwhocameback, @mattmurdocksscars, @roruna, @everything-intertwined, @sweetjedi, @arcanerazil, @vibratingbonesbis, @delirious0pandemonium, @llovelykenobi, @geek-girl7, @mixedupanddown

Know that I love and appreciate you all.

I'm also going to leave this an OPEN tag to anyone who wants to do this, and especially invite everyone who I have tagged above. (and

[asterkiss]

- Maybe

‘we both got kicked out of our rooms because our roommates are having sex so now we’re standing in the hallway avoiding each other’ AU Have a random and quickly written thing.

'What are you doing?'

Mabel raised her head from her position on the floor, currently seated in a cold dormitory hallway with her back against the wall and legs spread out across the floor. It wasn't like she was blocking the way or anything though - people could easily step over.

In her hands she had a ball of sparkly red yarn and two knitting needles. She smiled up at the stranger, holding up a partially finished sweater. 'Knitting! Also, hi!'

The young man frowned at her energetic response, no doubt wondering how she was so upbeat this late at night.

'Alright, but why in the middle of the corridor? And at midnight?'

'Ooh, well that's a long a story that starts with me, my roomate and this guy we met in a bar three weeks ago-'

'Bye.' He began to walk off and Mabel leaned forward.

'Wait, wait! Fine, I'll give the short version!!' It was nice having someone to talk to after being out here alone so far, she didn't want him to leave. She blew air out between her lips before sighing as the guy regarded her neutrally. 'My roomate's, how should I say this?' She paused, clasping her hands together in front of her as she considered for a moment. 'She's.... enjoying some adult naptime with her friend.'

An arched eyebrow. 'You mean they're bumpin' uglies?'

She flushed. 'Um.... yeah.'

The guy snorted, leaning against the wall opposite as he folded his arms with a wry grin. 'Ditto. My roommate likes to slime the banana with his girlfriend often.'

Mabel made a face. 'Gross, gross, gross! Do you have to phrase it like that?'

'I'm sorry, I wasn't aware I was speakin' to a grandma.' His gaze dropped down to the stuff in her lap. 'Though I guess the crochet kit should have been a guess.'

'This is knitting, not crochet. There's a difference!' Mabel huffed before forcing herself to calm down. Cm'on Mabel, be the bigger person. Maybe this was guy was just having a bad day and that's why he was being an ass - he'd been kicked out of his room too, after all. Let's try this again. 'I haven't seen you around before, who are you?'

'That's cuz I spend most of my time in the science lab,' he quipped back. 'And it's Bill.'

Mabel set her knitting stuff aside and pushed herself to her feet, smiling brightly as she offered a hand. 'Nice to meet you Bill, I'm Mabel.'

The fellow student eyed her hand warily. Mabel wiggled her fingers enticingly as she grinned. 'It's okay, I don't bite. Promise.'

He seemed reluctant but eventually took her hand, giving it a brief shake. 'Do you often find yourself kicked out at night?'

'Nope! Tonight's the first time so I don't mind. I was happy to stay in the bathroom whilst they went at it but apparently I was being distracting so they kicked me out.'

'Distracting, how?'

'Well, I was just making a few sound effects to lighten the mood y'know? And then I was shouting encouraging words at the guy 'cuz it seemed he was doing a real good job from what I could hear.'

'That's god damn hilarious,' Bill said, cackling. 'Can you come do that to my roommie? He'd love it!'

Mabel cocked her head. His words were nice but why did she feel like he was being sarcastic?

As he recovered, Bill flashed her a boyish smile that made her heart skip a beat. Oh, he actually looked quite handsome when he wasn't pulling a face. She hadn't been granted the chance to notice until now.

'Mabel, was it? I'll see ya around.' He turned and began walking away and the brunette stared after him.

'Wait!'

She rummaged in her pockets as he paused to turn back. Procuring a pink gel pen she chased after him, grabbing his arm and scribbling.

'....What are ya doin?'

She pulled back and flashed him a smile, capping her pen. 'Leaving my number.' Wink.

He stared.

She grinned back.

'Do you give your number to every guy you meet?' he asked pointedly.

'No!' Well, not anymore. A few years ago when she'd been boy-crazy she more or less had. This was the first time in five weeks she'd handed it out - that must be some kind of record!

'Hm. Well, I'll call ya if I need your services with Pine Tree.'

'Who?'

'My roommate,' he clarified as he swivelled around and continued walking away again.

'Oh. Well, yeah... that or, um, any other service!'

He stopped.

'Ah wait, oops, not like that!' she yelled, face turning red as she abruptly realised how that sounded and shook her hands in front of her frantically. 'I mean just like... a date or coffee or something. Ha ha.'

Bill glanced over his shoulder, blue eyes meeting hers in a scrutinising manner. She laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head. Smooth Mabel, real smooth.

But then he surprised her with his response:

'Maybe,' he muttered before walking away once and for all. Mabel remained standing in the corridor alone, chest fluttering.

Maybe, huh?

Maybe was good. Maybe was promising. She could definitely work with "maybe"!

Ooh, she should tell Dipper about this! He'd been acting so crabby lately over his "new asshole roommate", maybe he'd feel better if she shared the good news about having a new crush.

(Probably not. Knowing Dipper he wouldn't care but hey she was using the lame excuse in her mind to boast to him about it anyway. Suck it.)

[marsupialmode]

‘Ello! My name is V, and I am new to actually posting, even though I've lurked for quite a bit on Tumblr! I write stories, worldbuild for the random worlds that pop in my head, and repost things that are important, helpful, or just make me giggle. 

Feel free to message me, send me asks, and tag me in things!

BOUNDARIES!

There are things I will not and will never write (Proship, taboo stuff, etc). Do not ask me to write them, or I will block you.

I am okay with NSFW. I may occasionally post it in the form of a fic. HOWEVER, there will be a warning beforehand, and it will link to my AO3. I will never directly post it here

I will not allow bigots onto my page. If you are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or anything else like that, you will be blocked.

I will not give out my personal information. Full stop

================================================

Now! Onto much nicer things from here on out!

Here are some fandoms that I am a part of!

Hazbin Hotel / Helluva Boss

Dungeons and Dragons

Cyberpunk 2077

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Haven't seen season 2 yet)

The Magnus Archives

Welcome to Nightvale

Wolf-359

Marsfall

Marvel

DC

Some of my favorite music artists:

Ado

Will Wood

grandson

Cosmo Sheldrake

Nirvana

Green Day

ISSBROKIE

Fleetwood Mac

Paranoid DJ

Stupendium

And finally, some of my favorite games

Minecraft

Cyberpunk 2077

Cult Of The Lamb

No Man’s Sky

================================================

Projects

I like to write! Down here, I will keep a list of past, current, and future projects as well as links to them. You will find stories I've written (and possibly some voice acting)

[CURRENTLY EMPTY]

================================================

My Moots!!!!

I don't have many at the moment, except for the wonderful @skelebab who has helped me get used to writing on tumblr

Don't be afraid to ask if you wanna get added onto here though! I love to make new friends

[yuuugay]

Would you mind if I asked you about your OC Ner Wanless? I'm a bit curious about what could possibly drive him so far down that Caine would raise his blade at him 🕺🕺🕺 Had he left the Shepherds by then? Did he become a vigilante? Where are the other Shepherds (Blade, Chase, etc.), and if they were still around and not, you know, Dead, had they cut ties with Ner? WHAT WAS HE DOING? 🗣🗣🗣

Staring intensely at your OC. Thinking. Rotating him in my head like a microwave. But a sleepy microwave. Because it's 4am and I fear I'm about to pass out, gnight 😔💔

cringe story blurb incoming

My story is just a lil au add on to shoh :))

This story happens when the whole magic ban by the autarchy is lifted akjdjdhd. Also, in my au, nobody in the Shepherds die ajjsjd i love them all. Ner cut ties with them instead.

The Shepherds were kinda just like a passing phase for Ner

(He knew he wouldn't stay that long, and that he would leave someday. Only for the protection from the autarchy and money). It was mostly a bad choice in his part to not say anything to anyone, except Caine and Blade. To Caine, whom he left a short letter (A letter in which I have already written out kajdjjd) and his weapon too. So he became a sort of vagrant (Wayfarer, traveler ect, ect. He prefers the life of never settling down.)

Along the way, he got himself some sort of curse that forces him to kill to sate the curse's bloodlust. Nobody could lift it because it's so old and archaic. So he starts taking mercenary requests, but I like to think the curse has its periods where it's strongest that he needs to kill more. But mercenary work takes a while. Him being good at psionic magic, he could dig deep inside peoples minds to find their wrongdoings that haven't yet faced consequences. He didn't find a fault in it; it helped him, and it rid the world of someone terrible, regardless whether the killed tried to repent for it or not. So in part, yes he became a vigilante, but to an outsiders pov, he's straight up just a murderer.

Ofc, a random, dangerous Aetherai-Psionic mage killing seemingly innocents periodically would find themselves facing the Shepherds best one day. Which Ner found himself in the unlucky battle between caines team and himself. I would imagine the battle would be Ner holding back while Caine has to begrudgingly admit that his old best friend is a murderer. Ner refuses to explain himself, he thought it was probably too late anyway. He was already a bad guy to everyone. So it was a battle of *Emotional damage* Lots of stuff said, maybe a lot of cuts and cruises and blood spilled.

but the real damage done was to Ner's insides. Cause you know, he ends up dead anyway.

But ofc, this all would be irrelevant if Lena gives us the option to let MC die. I'll probably do that, but it's always nice to have my own interpretation of what could happen.

So yeah, nothing really that crazy. Just something self indulgent I thought of a while back.

[severalsunlitdays-ao3]

hello! do you write stuff?

Hi!

I have lost the password to my first fanfiction account (and I don't intend on drawing anyone's attention towards it anytime soon-- yes, it's that bad) but I made new fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org accounts.

I have only written a single drabble of sorts so far for the new account-- I wrote it on a whim after reading a hilarious comment on a Reddit post. It is a crack-fic (my first time dabbling in that genre) and I actually like what I wrote, even though it is super short.

Here is a link to my new accounts (I haven't gotten around to posting my story on ffn yet).

Ao3

FFn

I had a story idea for a Harry/Ginny (what else, lol. My first and only One True Pairing™️) fanfic around a year ago, but I never sat down to write it. I recently started typing down the first chapter (just when I have a huge assignment at work-- yep, I'm a master procrastinator) and I have finished it now. As soon as I finish typing down the first five chapters, I'll start posting them weekly. At the rate at which stuff is going, I guess the first chapter won't be out till April.

The fanfic has one of my favourite tropes-- the betrothal contract trope, and the story is set in DH (everything prior to DH is canon compliant). I've been having loads of fun brainstorming and pestering my non-HP obsessed husband with the random plot points that keep popping into my head. I'm really excited to share it online as soon as possible!

[powertripblog]

Lore Dump: The Lampesh Mercenary Co-op

I've been showing off random pieces of backgrounds and environmental art for Powertrip for a while now, but I haven't really talked about any of the writing for the story. Since I've been head down in Scrivener writing up the story and world for Powertrip I haven't touched a drawing in a few days now. So I don't have anything to show sadly, but I can talk about something that I have written.

For today, I want to focus on one of the major antagonistic factions that will be appearing in the comic. The Lampesh Mercenary Co-op (it is not actually a co-op).

The Lampesh Mercenary Co-op, often abbreviated as the LMC is a freelance mercenary company that is mainly active in the southern half of the planet Ceres. For a fee they are willing to do just about anything for their clients. This can range from protection, extortion, robbery, sabotage, and even all the way up to assassination if the price is right. The LMC has become a massive thorn in the sides of the populace, as they are both decently skilled and well-armed enough to bully the population with almost total impunity. While communities do often have Watchmen to stand guard over them, the LMC has only seen a small amount of direct pushback towards their operations.

Not helping matters is the attitude of the mercenaries within the co-op. Ceres is a world with very socialist policies. Universal Basic Income, Guaranteed housing, Food Banks to help those who still don't quite have enough to put a meal on the table. There isn't any real reason to go into crime in this world, and as a result those that do tend to be very mean people. The larger part of the LMC is made up of narcissistic, greedy, cruel jerks who are only interested in their own personal gain at the expense of others. This attitude is not only reflected in the grunts at the bottom of the ladder, but goes all the way up to the boss of the whole operation.

The LMC was founded by two brothers, Adam and Barry Lampesh. Adam is the actual boss of the co-op, but doesn't really do a whole lot. He's become lazy over the decade that the LMC has operated and sees little issue with sitting around in his ill-gotten gains all day, with only sending out the occasional order. Adam can do work if he feels the need to, but no one has given the LMC a real challenge in years. Barry on the other hand, gets to deal with the brunt of the actual work. Both in terms of paperwork, and also going out on field missions. The lopsided arrangement and lack of respect and control is less than ideal for him, and Barry sometimes starts to think on what it would be like if he was in charge instead.

Next to talk about is aesthetics. The LMC has a very utilitarian attitude towards their look and equipment. Basically if they don't need it, they don't buy it. As a result their bases are minimalistic, with cheap construction and furniture. Their actual equipment is of much higher quality, but the mercenaries are only ever equipped with the items they will need for their current mission.

Now, to zoom out and talk about my thoughts behind the creation of the Lampesh Mercenary Co-op. The most obvious idea is to simply come up with an antagonistic faction that can be encountered multiple times. As a mercenary group, they tend to be all over the place which is important since the protagonist of Powertrip will also be frequently traveling. This means that I can have them act as a recurring presence throughout the events of the story. I don't plan on them being the only villains, or even the most important ones, but they will continue to be a grindstone that has to be dealt with during the early chapters of Powertrip. I also have some more interesting stuff planned with some of the individual characters, but that is very much spoiler content. I've already said more than I normally would like cause I tend to be very closed-mouthed with my stories.

I think that's about all I've got for this lore dump currently. I plan on doing a couple more of these since this was fun to write. If you bothered reading to this point, hopefully there was something interesting here for you.

[yume-x-hanabi]

4, 6, 12, 19 please tell us about Minah, 27, 30, 37, 49, 61 and 65 for Concubinage, and 74

4. How do you choose which fics to write?

ig it depends on how obsessed my brain is with the random plot bunnies hopping around in my head? When I start thinking up narration sentences, that's when I know a particular idea wants to be written. Doesn't mean I always do it, though (in an ideal world with infinite free time, maybe...)

6. What’s the last line you wrote?

I haven't written in so long I don't even remember 😭

Looking at one of my latest wips, probably this one because it's incomplete lmao:

The room was as dingy as the rest of the inn and smelled vaguely of stale tobacco, but at least the bed was soft and the sheets were clean. He collapsed on the bed with a sigh of relief, head swimming from all the

(wtf was I trying to say? it's a mystery 🤷‍♀️)

12. Do you outline your fics?  If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them?

Usually not, and then it comes to bite me in the ass when it's ten months since I plotted the idea and I don't remember what I was planning to do 😅

There's one fic that's an exception cuz it's a fusion AU type of thing so I'm planning carefully how it follows (or not) the original's plot. Well, idk if I'll actually write the fic actually, maybe in this case the outline will be all there is, as a fun exercise for myself XD

19. Do you enjoy creating OCs or do you prefer to stick solely to canon characters?

I love creating OCs, but like, they need a purpose. An OC just for the sake of having an OC or self-insert isn't my kind of thing (no shade to those who do, I'm just not wired that way), but depending on the story I might need to flesh out a supporting cast. And I love it when they slowly take life and develop.

Minah was a really fun case because she was supposed to be a kind of "throwaway" role, only there for a scene or two. She wasn't even planned like she turned out to be (I originally imagined her younger, for example). But then she... just happened lol. Within a few lines of her dialogue I was in love with her and she was just so fun to write, in a way she wormed her way into a bigger role than intended and I'm really glad she did because it works out so well in so many ways. Funny how things go sometimes 😂

honestly my OCs often end up surprising me in one way or another haha. rare are those who stick to the plan

(rest under cut cuz it's getting long)

27. What area of writing do you feel strongest in?

Battle scenes, apparently 8)

30. How much do you edit your fics?  Do you edit as you write or wait until you finish the first draft?

I actually... don't edit that much 😅

ig in a way I edit in my head before I write? I've always been like that tbh, even at school--what I write down (whether fic, essay, translation...) is often very close to the final version. Of course I go over it a couple times once I'm done and tweak a few things here and there, but it's usually minor stuff. Sometimes I end up redoing entire scenes/chapters because I feel something's not working, but it's rather rare when it happens.

37. What fic has been the hardest for you to write?

Probably Fractured Lives? There's a reason it's only gotten five updates in nine years so far. I have to be in a very specific mood to write it, which doesn't happen often. A pity, cuz I liked the concept...

49. What fic of yours would you say is the best introduction to you as a writer?

I'd say The Best Laid Plans. It's got my particular brand of humor, and also some kickass battle scenes :p

Another one would be Strong Currents, cuz worldbuilding (plus getting Gaius and Wingul to have emotional talks lolol)

61. In Concubinage, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

Probably Lin and Arst's first kiss. It's such a significant moment<3

65. If you wrote a sequel to Concubinage, what would happen in it?

I am actually vaguely planning a sequel if I can finish it. Basically it'd be the events/plot of the game, but with all the changes in settings brought about by the events of Concubinage. I'll have to think carefully about what will change, what will stay the same, and what will be a slightly different spin on things that'll still happen. I think the main difficulty will be to juggle Milla's journey with Gaius&Wingul being the main characters without them overtaking the plot. And also how close or different it should be to canon...

74. Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love?

Among my least kudosed ones, I'd say Chaos in the Ballroom (my Tales Big Bang fic). I know it's a bit different from my usual stuff, and relies heavily on knowledge about Agria's side story, but I put a lot of thought in that one.

[jaimistoryteller]

Hello! This is your friendly inquiry to answer this ask with whatever you'd like to talk about right now! Whether that be a story you're working on, something you're excited or worried about, or just something random you happen to know.

All the love,

~ toribookworm ❤️

*smiles* it was a pleasant surprise to see the notification for this in my email.

It got a bit long, so I put it under a read more

*blinks* An invite to babble about what I want to talk about, hmmm, *head tips* well. Lately there's a been a lot of stuff going on. Most of which hasn't been good. I've been trying not to stress, but it isn't exactly working the way I want. My insomnia has been flaring up cause of pain *sighs*.

I've been working on coloring pages for my patreon. Here's the free ones I did for Valentine's Day, the rest I've done so far are part of the $1 a month tier. Haven't had anyone sign up in a long while, but hey, I am working on getting my patreon active and stable around my health hating me.

I've also done a little bit of digital art, Stiles/Bucky for Inell's birthday and her series In the Shadows. With it, I used a few new brushes I downloaded, and some new styles I have been trying out. There's been a lot of downloading and sorting of brushes to play with.

I've also made some gimp brushes of my own, which will get added to patreon as well, depending on the brush set, they'll either be early release for my patreons and then public for free fourteen days later. Most were created to make things easier when doing art for the coloring pages.

When I have the energy, I'm gonna test all my Sims4 CC for putting on there as well. I made a lot last year for that purpose, but then couldn't figure out how to clean copy test it. I was doing some cleaning when I remembered I have my old laptop, which does run Sims4 and I can use it. I had gotten it fixed last year, after it sat dead for a long while, in case this laptop goes down again, as it has done that twice due to life going wrong.

Writing has been hard. Well, maybe hard is the wrong word. I open up a doc on the computer or touchpad to write, and the words run the hell away *grumbles and shakes head*. Yet I can hand write plenty. Just means I will have to scan it in.

My muse has been focused on a Peter/Stiles unexpected pregnancy fic *grumbles like frustrated cat*.

I have all these other projects I want to work on, but no *side eyes writing notebook and the muse*. That's the one my muse likes, to the tune of more than 30 front/back hand written college rule paper.

Then when I can physically handle it, I do little things around my house. At least they feel little over all, even if they are huge as far as my body cares. So much pain caused, but I love the progress. I'm slowly getting my house repaired and rebuilt. I hate that every little repair ends up physically costing me hours where I am passed out cause pain, or wishing I was. *sighs*.

I get tired of having to beg for help, yet that is sadly a regular thing in my world. I'm sure others get tired of seeing it. It's sadly part of since commissions and my limited amount from patreon doesn't always cover the bills. I apply for small jobs where I can, but alas, due to health, that rarely works either.

I really appreciate the message and offer to babble. Apologies if it ended up being a bit more than expected, or wanted.

How is everything for you? anything you'd like to babble on?

[morgbin]

Monday 10/7 (Inspection Day)

On Sunday night around 8pm, we got an email from Mom explaining how the logistics on inspection day were going to work. Everything was as I expected but it was good to get it explicitly written out. The busses were gonna leave from Gerlach and the Ranch at the usual time, roll call at 8:30, and the inspection starts at 9. We should pack a lunch, but the "Purple People Feeder" would be out with a "special surprise." There were 10 Team Captains that Mom selected who would be leading each inspection team. And we could hope to be done by about 1pm.

On Monday morning, King Louie lamented that "everything had been packed up already" which meant there was no printer to print out the role call sheet, and we did it with the stacks of time cards instead. He got to the end without having called my name (plus several others) and I shout-whispered "Say Diesel!!!" which he did, and I shouted "DEEZ NUTS" - which put the kibosh on that one and he told the rest of the folks whose names hadn't been called to come over to Mom and have her write our names down. It turned out to be mostly the people who were out there as volunteers. I was surprised at the number of other people who had been out there the whole season as volunteers as well.

DA had some people hold up the map like usual and he plus some others gave us a pep talk.

When you walk the circle, you're going to find stuff. That doesn't mean you didn't do your job. Your job was to get 75% of the stuff, and the big stuff that would fail us.

the closure order ended a week ago. People have been camping out here. If you find some big stuff - like we found a BBQ grill this morning in an area y'all definitely walked through earlier - just call DA on the radio. We won't be judged on that sort of thing.

We're only judged on the surface area of the moop we find. If we find something deeply buried, take a picture of it before pulling it out of the ground. if we find a wadded up ball of paper, don't un-wad it.

Rocks don't count, *unless* they're bigger than 2" across

Don't stress too much about extra playa left on stuff. The BLM will run everything though a strainer later and then take pictures against a green screen and use pixel analysis to determine the actual percentage of moop left behind.

In addition to the 120 random points that we're judged on, there are 6 "points of interest" which are measured and tracked every year, for...vague statistical purposes. Those points are: The Temple, The Man, HEAT, The DPW Depot, USS, and Shoreline (also referred to as the JOC)

Today, we are all representatives of burning man. This might be the only contact that any of these BLM agents/volunteers ever have with Burning Man. Do a good job representing the org. If the BLM person you're with is a geology nerd, let them tell you all about the Black Rock Desert. If they're a No Nonsense Guy, then meet their business attitude and Get It Done. If they're curious about the event, share your best stories.

One verbal quirk I haven't observed before: When someone started saying something slightly inaccurate, DA butted in by saying "Exit. Can I double hands that?"

Then, the 10 previously selected Team Captains lined up, and there was a scramble for the rest of us to join a crew. Our crew ended up with one too many people and an awkward moment soliciting a volunteer to join a different group. But once all the teams had the right number of people (7, including the team captain), we all got into DPW fleet vehicles and headed out to do our inspections. Our crew of 8 immediately hopped in the nicest truck and some of us got into the bed of the truck, the rest of the crews did the same. Then our group was told no, we needed to switch vehicles so we ended up in one without a bed and I climbed in and out of the hatchback all day and sat in the trunk.

We received a map with all 120 points labeled, plus a list of 13 points that we were to survey There are 4 zones: Open Playa, City Grid, Walk-In Camping, and Other, labeled with initials and numbers like: OP-01, CG-001, WIC-01, O-01. We were assigned an area near 8:00&K, with some Other points and some City Grid points.

This is the map from 2023, this year's was similar.

We arrived at the first point and met up with our BLM representative, driving her own vehicle. She appeared to be a woman in her mid 20s, with a not-exactly-a-pixie-cut and wearing work pants. She introduced herself as Brandy. She said she was a "Hydro Intern" this summer and was only told she'd need to do this task sometime last week. We stood around in awkward silence as she fumbled to get the stake hammered into the ground, then she pulled the rope taut and walked in a brisk circle. There were a couple pieces of moop on the ground that we put into the ziplock bag, handed to Brandy, and then Brandy and Muppet had a conversation to decide which point to go to next. We got in the car and followed Brandy as she drove past the point they had decided to a different point that we were also assigned. As everyone in the car was saying "what is she doing?" "where's she going" etc, I thought it might be a good idea to ask pronouns during the next inspection point. We stopped the car, got out, and met Brandy at the point. She produced the ziplock bag labeled with the point that we had meant to go to, realized her mistake, and went back to the car to get the correct bag. Once we were set up along the taut string, someone suggested that we go a bit slower this time. Brandy agreed but gave the string to one of us and said she would just watch and have one of us set the pace. As far as I understand it, the BLM representative is meant to hold the string to set the pace as a way for the BLM to ensure the inspection is done thoroughly. it felt a little transgressive and exciting that she had abdicated this responsibility, but I think the inspection was done *more* thoroughly because of it - the rest of us had all participated in the test team inspections throughout Resto, and walked much more slowly than Brandy did on her first go-round.

during this test point, I tried to engage Brandy in some conversation. I asked her about her internship (walking through muddy streams and cataloging species of grasses) and her plans after the internship (dunno, will go wherever the wind blows). After we finished the circle and most of the group had walked away I asked "what are your pronouns, by the way," and the response was seeming puzzlement and "she, her, whatever." so, my previous read was just wishful thinking, alas.

At one of the points we did, we found a tent stake stuck so deep that we needed to call DA to come get it out with tools, but other than that they were all *really* clean. We asked Brandy to tell us water facts, and Shouting regailed us with whale facts, and for our final test point we decided we should subject Brandy to some meltdown music. So everyone queued up The Spark (that Irish kids song that went viral on tiktok this summer) and pressed play on our phones at the same time. We all had different crossfade settings on Spotify though, so by the third repeat we were wildly out of sync.

We had to hand off three of our points to another team that was chugging along a lot faster than we were, but then after we were done, we all headed to center camp for lunch.

The purple people feeder was indeed out there for lunch, but instead of tacos like usual, it was chili dogs (chili dog song). We all joked about how messy of a food it was to serve on inspection day, and sang along to the chili dog song and compared notes. It seemed like every team had a similar experience to us - no obviously failing spots, *maybe* one borderline spot. The mood was high. We did timesheets. One guy started a bizarre ritual he called "sink the Barbie" which was kinda like bobbing for apples but with Barbie dolls, chanting, and cult vibes.

The team leads had a huddle with DA where I presume they compared notes on the test points. although the official word won't come for months, it was clear by this point that we had passed without question.

after an hour or so of cheerful chatting, eating, and silliness, we got on our buses and headed back to town.

I packed up my stuff into the two 27 gallon totes I had, and loaded up my car. it was about 1:00 p.m., and I was hoping to leave gurlock before sunset. I sat outside the saloon and waited for Riley and Willoh. they had been talking about getting a tattoo from me - they wanted now written on their wrist where their watch would go. While I was setting up, a couple more people said they wanted a tattoo which I was super down for. I was running really low on alcohol swabs at this point though so I told Be Nasty that if she found me a bottle of isopropyl alcohol I would do hers, and thankfully she did!

After I did a few pokes on Riley, they seemed up for doing the rest themselves, and Willoh was already keen on doing theirs theirself. So I was able to do two more, including my favorite stick n poke job I've done so far on Be Nasty.

Since I was still around when the dining hall opened, I had one last meal there, then did my last stick n poke on Deadliest Threesome before heading out.

I made it to the Motel 6 in Klamath Falls and stayed the night, then got up in the morning and did the rest of the drive home listening to my Meltdown song playlist and trying to memorize Weird Al's "Albuquerque."

[come-home-official]

how did you come up with Come Home?

It's a long story.

So I was watching The Matrix with my family and kinda spaced out thinking abt steampunk shit for some reason and then I was like "The Matrix... BUT STEAMPUNK" and so that was the base of it. It was originally named Icarus after our favorite little one-eyed best boi and it was going to be a web comic originally. There was gonna be a bunny that was alive but also made of metal, Victoria(the first evil Celvin) was gonna be Mateo's mom, Mateo's name was Entrie, and Lacy and Asher didn't exist. I honestly don't know how it got this complicated and stuff but it was a very fun journey. Most of it is influenced by Greek Myths, and I got some of the elements or little details from some of the things I watch and read. JACE IS NOT NAMED AFTER JASON GRACE, BTW. THIS WAS BEFORE I EVEN KNEW GRACE EXISTED.

TL;DR: A lot of building off of random ideas, names, places, and details.

If you wanna see some photos of original concept art and notes, I have some! I don't have a lot, bc I mostly came up with it in my head and haven't written it all down but yeah :33

[messedupfan]

How do you get your books/ stories to feel so real? I’m starting to write but I feel as if comes off bland or feels like a beginner is writing it.

Hey anon,

That's a huge compliment, thank you 🥹

I took some time to consider my answer because I still feel like my stuff is bland or bad. But I sometimes have to remind myself not to be hard on myself. And you shouldn't be hard on yourself either. If you are a beginner, it's okay to be a beginner. We're not born knowing how to do everything.

Some of the things that help me write are:

Write everyday: even with writers block, just have a document to type random sentences or writing about your day or anything that comes to mind. It's still writing. Even write in a notebook if you can. Sometimes pen/pencil to paper can help break through writers block.

Edit your stories: when you feel like you've come to a good stopping point, reread everything you've written. Reading out loud can be helpful as well. But look for errors in spelling and grammar. (Sometimes you can even get inspired to add something to the story or chapter.)

Write what you know: when you're writing, don't write about anything you're not confident in at the beginning. Do as much research as you can. When you don't know, it comes out in your writing and can be confusing for readers. Or you'll have someone that does know about how wrong you could be and they'll correct you.

Talk and Listen: I'm very antisocial myself but you'd be surprised how much storytelling you can learn from just talking with people. Whether I'm at work or volunteering or at a networking event, people love to talk about themselves and they love when someone is listening. It's helpful for when you have an idea for something that doesn't feel realistic. Because sometimes an absurd scenario that you come up with feels like someone might say "that's not realistic"

Read and Study: You can learn a lot about writing from reading other people's stories. And there's one book that helped me a lot when I was starting. It's called Writing Down The Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg. That book is possibly the best birthday present I've ever gotten because without it, I wouldn't have started posting my stories.

Let people read your work: I know it can be scary to share your work but letting trusted people read your work is so helpful. Getting any feedback can help you improve. But you have to be open to constructive criticism (it's hard, I'm always fighting the urge to defend my writing but it's very helpful to hear from other people about what works and what doesn't work.)

The Bird Scene: That being said, should you feel strongly about keeping something in because it makes sense to you or that you feel confident about your story because of the work you put into it, consider it your "Bird Scene." Which is a reference from the show Victorious. If you haven't seen it, it's a lesson that they teach the main character when she is asked to perform a scene. She does okay the first time. But fails. Then she does better the second time. Still fails. She went all out the third time and failed again because she asked the class how she did. That's when she defended her work because she didn't care what they thought, she cared about the work she knew that she put into it and she was proud of herself. So, be proud of your work when you know how much work it takes to write. Don't let anyone discourage you from writing. And don't write for people, write for yourself.

Plan: Try to plan out as much of the story as you can. It will help you a lot in the long run. It doesn't have to be too detailed and can be flexible but still know your direction of the beginning, middle, and end. Because if you don't know where your story is going, neither will anyone else.

That's all I could think of off the top of my head. I hope you find any of this helpful! I hope you gain more confidence in your writing and I hope to read something of yours one day 🫶

Have a wonderful day!

[christophimer]

Hymire Hymire

So so so i did some slight redesigning/thinking about Hymire. so now i will explain (mostly to myself)

But who is Hymire? quoth you - or rather you might, not knowing who is reading this makes it hard to know for sure so i'll explain quickly anyway -

Quickly he's a powerful evily spirit who is a nasty nasty blood bird bramble man thing. He's also the one how kidnapped thomas, made him immortal and is now kind of his parent figure?

his 'skeleton' is a woven sort of form of brambles (so very beautifully drawn). they are meant to be covered in thorns etc... i just don't want to draw them all. But it only has bramble leaves that appear at the ends of the limbs - layered almost like feathers (but if you were to press down on them there's thorns in there as well). They all sort of ooze blood from the tips of the thorns (lovely).

This blood then layers and clots and through magicy stuff ends up looking like normal skin (although it's clammy to touch). As such Hymire doesn't actual have many 'bones' and no organs etc he's solid enough but as such he can move more boneless if needed - e.g. he can swivel his head 360 degrees. Any wounds etc will bleed mildly (brambles beginning to grow where the blood falls) and then clot-bleed-clot until the missing segement(s) are regrown (which happens very quickly).

For some design notes, he's very short etc (he's not very physically threating more mentally so - and he often appears kind etc). He's designed ever so slightly to look like a bird (he's more of a sweet talker etc, and small birds live in hedge rows often where brambles are - he kinda lives between brambles, like a bird - so goes my thinking.) as such he has very big black eyes (he does have pupils but they're hard to make out) / meant to be kinda like half bird eye half human eye with whites of eyes idk. pointyish nose (like beak), the leaves kinda looking like feathers and bird claw type hands/feet (the claws of which are one long bramble thorn).

He's freckly because he's 99.99999% outside and although he can't freckle it makes sense in my head.

His hair is also made of blood (again it looks very soft/cotton wooly but it feels wet and nasty ... which is upsetting - as such it's also very shiny) and if cut etc it will bleed/ reform like all the other pieces of him.

Generally he's meant to look more like a traditional plant nymph/ woodland spirit ishy type thing - which he technically is, but like a nasty blot clot kind i guess.

He wears loosish clothing/ is very light footed / wears leaves and flowers in his hair (although often with dead bird's feet woven in as well)

"Pray tell my wandering sir, if you should be so kind as to answer - are you content? Do you wish for very little, and want for even less?

No? i suppose not. oh dear, oh dear. It is a sorry state of things indeed when contentment is rarely found. A country that one cannot be content in - is a dog's country, not fit for you and I.

When I become discontent, when there is no want or wish to keep me. nothing left for me but dogs and dust (-sigh-) I shall leave this happy home of mine and travel o'er the wandering sea.

And, I think my poor wretch, I think it is only when when I am truly gone that you shall be content.

Oh dear. oh dear. what a while that might take - you will hardly live to then. No, no. I think it might be best if we both accepted that you will die lonesome and afraid and oh so horribly far from content.

Anything else should be cruel~."

writing dialogue stuff on the spot - hum-hum ho.

hopefully people 'like' him (i mean,,, like as a character not a person) i get all nervous sharing stuff.

I haven't written Hymire in so long i need to do more.

I'll do a nicer clean drawing of him at some point. Hymire is the main part of 'dark' in my 'telling silly stories in a dark fantasy world' and i do enjoy him for that.

ohhhhhhhhhh boy this is so long ,:}

have a random song that matches his energy/vibe as a reward.

[thatcheeseycandle]

//Random night ramble

Okay so, basically idk how to describe this "trope" but God I love it when theres like those groups where things that arent normal to us are normal to them

What do I mean? Let me just try to describe it with this

Your in a resturant, you sit at a table behind another table with like this group sitting at it. They're discussing stuff and since your close to them you can basically hear them, and this is what you hear:

"So ah, with the current situation, how are we neutralizing (name)?"

"Look, I haven't decided, besides we would have to convince (name) to allow us to do this proceedure."

"Well. I mean- You did do the process without (names)'s permission when I was planned to be blanked out."

"You were a severe case, your core was dying-"

"I remember that night, your form was fading and blasting by each minute. That morning you looked completely opposite to that."

"Ah gosh darn, I miss those days already."

"It was just like yesterday we were running and experimenting, feeling shinier than eve-"

"Can we go back to the situation at hand, please?"

And your just sat there, bewildered, like what are they doing?? Whats their story, who on earth are they, do they play an important role, are they apart of some sort of secret society, the mystery is very delicious.

Then they're just talking about it like it's a normal conversation, like bringing up the weather or like a regular topic when startimg a conversation, I like to nickname this type of trope/dynamic as the "Shrouded Society" since it's like

Whatever is going on with them, the purpose of their existence or the things they went through, it feels so dystopian to the public eye like holy heck what happened??

And yet to these groups, maybe it's happened hundreds of times like a cycle or maybe it's happened only as of recent years and they just started researching about it. This type of thing very much intrigues me whenever it's seen in media.

I love this type of trope, like take idk the mysterious tales of a band sung in a heavy enchanting symphony of odd instruments with rhymes or the strange yet mystical rank of Princesses within MLP universe

Like we don't know what the hell is going on, but they know what happens and they deal with it with stride and familiarity.

I think thats why I dont easily get interested in the books my local bookstores provide, they dont have that element of mystifying lore like the stories I read online.

I mean look even if its without like "Oh this is a group of Gods who have been watching over the mortal realm by going undercover as humans to observe them more easily after an incident" type thing, look at Castle Court, yeah they may be regular beings just like you and I but God their history just brings you in.

The tales of how they are now, what events they had to face both good and bad, etc.

It's basically the trope of "the weird kids" except more matured and with more crypticness in a way.

But yeah, just wanted to get that out of my head since it keeps screaming to be written down.

[threewaywithdelusion]

This is my specialty. I have been summoned and I have recs.

Twin Souls by Gotllphi

This is my personal favorite Stobin-meets-early fic. Steve and Robin become friends in middle school and are close long before season 1. They form a friend group with Tommy and Carol and the friendship dynamic between the four of them is excellent, though Stobin are the closest of the group. I highly, highly recommend this fic. It's currently unfinished, but it's written through Season 1 and the character work is absolutely stunning.

they're gonna make a fuss about the two of us by damn_good_marmalade

This a punk!Steve fic set after season 2 and through season 3. Robin is also in the scene, so she and Steve become friends early and their friendship is central to the fic. They go through highs and lows together long before the Russians. They pretend to date to hide both their sexualities in Hawkins. And Robin constantly asks Steve why he acts the way he does, while he worries about keeping her out of the Upside Down stuff because she's the best thing in his life and he doesn't want to hurt her. It's also got plenty of Steddie, Steve & Dustin, and explores Steve's trauma. This one is also currently unfinished, but the author updates religiously every Wed and Sun.

i'd be the prom queen (if crying was a contest) by lesbianrobin

This is only a one-shot, so it doesn't explore a whole friendship before season 3, but it's one of my favorite Stobin fics. Steve and Robin meet at Steve's senior prom, where Steve is miserable without Nancy and Robin is miserable without Tammy. This fic captures the two of them and their friendship so perfectly. It lives in my head rent-free.

you see right through me by lesbianrobin

They don't technically become friends before season 3 in this one, but they do interact and have a meaningful conversation while Steve is still in high school. Robin hears a random boy crying in the bathroom and tries to comfort him, not knowing it's Steve Harrington. The story continues on through season 3, ending just after it.

Everyone already listed/seems to have read Robin and Steve's Epic Platonic Soulmate Mixtape by findafight so I'm not going to bother to rec it here, but if you haven't read it you absolutely should! It's most exactly what the original post was talking about.

I want more fics where Steve and Robin become friends while they are still in school. Can be before S2 or after. I know she's very judgy of him but I also think her looking at him and going "wow he's pathetic, and yet this compels me" and deciding they can be loser loners together. Maybe they both get jobs earlier. Maybe she tutors him because he can't deal with having Nancy as a tutor after they break up. Idk just more "different first meeting" stobin aus please <3