#this is a starter list for new people coming into the fandom

[aethon-recs]

Tomarrymort Starter Pack: 10 Recs for Getting Started in Tomarrymort

I've compiled a list of 10 medium to longfic recs that I think represent a great on-ramp to the Tomarrymort ship, as inspired by @sitp-recs’ Drarry for Beginners rec list. These are the fics that I would use to on-board people to the ship — gorgeous writing, superb characterization, and just as enjoyable on the first read as the 20th reread. 

As always, I am stunned by the talent in this ship! I tried to pick a good mix of different themes/tropes/settings, with a focus on elements that make for a good introductory work: the characters are recognizable; the setting skews more recognizable; both characters in the ship are a meaningful part of the story; the ship is central to the story; and the fics are for the most part complete (or updated within the last year). 

(Standard rec list disclaimers apply: please mind all tags and warnings on AO3 before reading; this blog abides by the age-old fandom axiom of don’t like; don’t read; recs are in alphabetical order by title.)

This is Part 1 of a 3-part series — I also have an Intermediate reading list and Advanced reading list coming up for readers who have been with the ship for a longer time.

For now, please enjoy these 1.3 million words of absolutely brilliant Tomarrymort reads that I hope will keep you hooked until the very last word:

*

Tomarrymort Starter Pack Recs

A Dangerous Game by @cybrid (E, 284k, WIP)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 5 Premise: If Tom’s diary horcrux gains a body at the end of Harry’s 5th year (instead of his 2nd), and then promptly kidnaps Harry and holds him captive over the summer. Lots of smut ensues. Why I rec it: The characterization is truly stunning — Tom Riddle is undoubtedly a psychopath — manipulative, thrill-seeking, kind of an irredeemable shithead — but he’s also dazzlingly charming when he chooses to be, someone whose presence Harry quickly grows addicted to. Their relationship can get incredibly toxic and fucked-up at times, but Harry has top-notch instincts and can hold his own against Tom. The plot is absolutely gripping, with the threat of (the main) Voldemort, who has set his sights on reclaiming his wayward horcrux, looming in the background. 

A Future Without a Face by @dividawrites (E, 115k, complete)

Setting: Time-Travel (1940s) Premise: If Harry travels back in time to Tom’s 5th year at Hogwarts, and Tom becomes obsessed with the new transfer student and wants nothing more than to possess him every way. Why I rec it: A 1940s time travel fic told entirely from Tom Riddle POV! Divida absolutely nails psychopath Tom — how he quickly gets singlemindedly focused on Harry, how the idea of possessing Harry consumes him, how he has no compunctions about doing completely fucked-up and destructive things to achieve his goals. There is so much tension between them from the start, so there’s not much of a wait to see some hot Harry & Tom action — and the conflict and tension only continues to build and build in dramatic fashion throughout the rest of the fic.

Either must die at the hand of the other by @metalomagnetic (E, 260k, complete)

Setting: Post-Canon Premise: If Voldemort survives the Battle of Hogwarts and is initially kept prisoner in Azkaban, until Harry takes him into Grimmauld Place under house arrest. Why I rec it: This fic is an incredible exploration of Voldemort at his most terrifying. Even if he starts off the fic with his magic temporarily blocked, he is no less powerful without his magic. The force of his personality is powerful enough for him to chip away at Harry’s initial resistance — @metalomagnetic manages to write one of the most charismatic, brilliantly manipulative, and psychologically devastating versions of Voldemort I’ve ever read. Harry ends up in a good place by the end of the fic, but the journey to get there is a roller-coaster of emotions that have permanently imprinted onto my soul.

In Somno Veritas by ladyoflilacs and @lordansketil (M, 158k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Harry starts appearing in Voldemort’s nightly dreams during Book 6, and Voldemort becomes obsessed with Harry after realizing he’s his horcrux. Why I rec it: This is one of the most unique fics I’ve ever read in this ship! Every scene is told in alternating POV between Harry’s POV and Voldemort’s POV, so you get to see how every scene unfolds from both of their perspectives. Voldemort is so intense and just as terrible as he is in canon, so his character is not at all sugarcoated, and Harry has so much compassion and heart and manages to fall in love with Voldemort anyway. The writing style is gorgeous, with richly detailed and emotionally-laden prose. Also, one thing that pleasantly surprised me is how funny their banter is! There were definitely a number of times where I laughed out loud in the middle of an otherwise really intense scene. Bonus content: also comes with a lovely sequel that made me melt.

Inevitabilities by @shadow-of-the-eclipse (T, 103k, complete)

Setting: Same-Age AU Premise: If Harry and Tom attend Hogwarts together and go traveling around the world after they graduate. A betrayal leads to their break-up, but after many years, Harry returns to find Tom in Britain, and the two of them are drawn back together again. Why I rec it: An excellent same-age AU with unhinged dark Harry and just-as-unhinged Tom. Their relationship starts out quite dark and twisted and unhealthy — and only devolves from there. The fic ends with the two of them as equals — utterly devoted to each other — but in an incredibly fucked-up way: “He loves Tom like a forest fire; wild and all-consuming, he wants to devour Tom, to claim him, to mark him, break him.” Isn’t that absolutely breathtaking?

love is touching souls (surely you touched mine) by @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger (M, 34k, complete)

Setting: Time-Travel (1940s) Premise: If Harry gets thrown back into the mid-1940s and meets Tom Riddle as a young man just graduated from Hogwarts working at Borgin and Burkes. Why I rec it: When Harry accidentally travels back in time and chances upon Tom Riddle as a fresh graduate, he realizes this is his chance to make a difference. While Harry is only in the past for a brief interlude, he leaves enough of an impression to change the trajectory of Tom’s life. The dynamic between Harry and Tom is rife with tension and witty dialogue, and the story is set during Christmastime, which lends a very festive and heartwarming atmosphere for falling in love with each other.

No Glory by @obsidianpen (E, 254k, WIP)

Setting: Voldemort Wins AU  Premise: If Voldemort figures out Harry is his horcrux when Harry surrenders in the Forbidden Forest, and decides to keep Harry instead of killing him.  Why I rec it: This fic showcases the absolute, terrifying genius side of Voldemort, in a universe where he wins the war and captures Harry at the end of book 7. I am stunned at how skillfully @obsidianpen portrays Voldemort as a brilliant political strategist — the courtroom scene where he manipulates the story and the audience so well stands out as a top 10 fanfic moment in my mind. Harry and Voldemort’s relationship is chilling from the very start, and grows even more unhealthy as Voldemort gets addicted to Harry’s touch due to the presence of the horcrux, but Harry later learns to turn that to his advantage.

The Fire, Burning by @parsimmony (E, 35k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Voldemort discovers Harry is his horcrux after Book 6, and kidnaps him to keep him captive by his side in his bed, inside of a lovely greenhouse setting full of friendly snakes on the grounds of Malfoy Manor. Why I rec it: The prose!! I am swooning over the prose! Harry is Voldemort’s captive in this fic, but he is so much more than that — and the emotions that gradually blossom between them have so much richness and depth and are utterly moving that I’m still drowning in the depths of intimacy that were portrayed. Their relationship unfolds in such a gorgeous and unrushed way, and the setting is so unique too — a lush and overgrown greenhouse that’s exploding with exotic plants and friendly snakes around every corner that imbues the fic with a very romantic, dreamy quality.

the pleasure, the privilege by @being-luminous (M, 20k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Voldemort is doused with Amortentia keyed to Harry, and starts sending Harry bizarre and gruesome courting gifts, like the bodies of the Dursleys.  Why I rec it: Breathtaking prose! Voldemort somehow ends up more terrifying when he’s trying to woo Harry than when he’s trying to kill him. Every single sentence had me on the edge of my seat, as Voldemort’s ‘gifts’ become more elaborate and devastatingly dramatic, until Harry basically has no choice but to respond to his overtures. The ending is incredibly clever in how it parallels certain plot elements of book 6, with an added Harrymort twist. 

The Untouchable by @treacleteacups (M, 75k, complete)

Setting: Canon Rewrite (Books 1-7) Premise: If Harry starts out his first year a little bit more suspicious and a little less wide-eyed and guileless, and subsequently gets sorted into Slytherin. He has many of the same encounters with Voldemort along the way as he does in canon, but his interactions with Voldemort will end up leading him down quite a different path. Why I rec it: A snappy, fast-paced full canon rewrite that still manages to fit in all the essential Tomarrymort plot points, between Horcruxes and Hallows and the major events of books 1-7, in a compact 75k words that doesn’t at all feel rushed. It’s a delightful journey following Harry’s character evolution from an overlooked, peculiar child who relies on wishy-washy wish magic to a confident (and still endearingly peculiar) young man who can challenge and hold his own against the great Lord Voldemort. Voldemort’s obsession with Harry deepens with every encounter that they have, as he finds ways to continually insinuate himself in Harry’s life and his mind and his dreams.

*

[wisteria-lodge]

hi, i just wanted to drop in and ask if you know of any other blogs that post hp meta/discussion that are also very jkr critical? i love everything you write, but many of the other blogs i find when perusing tags are... questionable. its kind of a requirement for me to know that the people posting hp on my timeline don't hate trans people so if you know of anyone else who meets that criteria, i'd love to be linked!

Okay. Now the last thing I want to do is write a callout post (or the opposite of a callout post? A call-in post?) BUT. I do also know that this site can be hard and frustrating to use before you've built up a good follower list for yourself. I know it was definitely rough for me there at the beginning, when I first exploring HP tumblr.

So, this is not meant to be a comprehensive list, this is me going through my recent reblogs and DMs, and if anyone feels they should be on the list (or wants to be taken off the list - people use their fandoms to have a good fun chill time, and I respect that. Having a good fun chill place to exist is unbelievably important.)

But I would say these are are blogs who regularly write meta about Harry Potter that is primarily rooted in the books, while remaining critical of the books in way that I enjoy, and are some combination of funny, earnest, and academic (and drama-free, that's a big one.) I haven't gone and background checked them all or anything, but these are people who I've either had good, meaty conversations with in the DMs, have publicly posted about disagreeing with JKR and her political views, or that I've just followed for a while without any problems. Or some combo of the above.

As I'm sure some of the people on this list will tell you, we *definitely* interpret the books differently and have different headcanons, but their style of interpretation is one that fits with the kind of experience I want to have.

***

@saintsenara - a new follow, but I'm in the process of reblogging their back catalog, and they've definitely written about how to be a HP fan in post JKR-swan-dive-off-the-deep-end world, in the context of their absolutely hysterical crack ship series.

@thistlecatfics - bio says "fuck jkr in a canon compliant way" which I rather like. Their last post was a link to their new Sirius/Fanon Sirius one-shot - which was so sweet, clever, and well-written. Which I think is very much their vibe. I massively enjoy their "Harry Potter Characters in Therapy" series.

@pangaeaseas - a really fun follow. They post a lot, they're funny and their ideas are unique, original, and sometimes totally off the wall. It's like they keep throwing out fun little bookclub prompts/discussion starters, and then we all have a really nice time.

@its-the-allure - lovely, and my intro into some really fun, chill fandom communities. @etl-echo-audiobooks is fantastic, they do live readings of fic of their discord and then turn them into audio books. Did one of my metas once! Also they're currently running a Drarry fest, I snagged a prompt but there are plenty left.

@the-phoenix-heart - has been a mutual for a while. Their original stuff is mostly art, when it comes to text-based stuff they're more of a commenter and reblogger. But they're a GREAT commenter and reblogger. They know their stuff, and I would feel weird leaving them off the list.

@blorger - always has an interesting take, especially when it comes to worldbuilding, and they always do their research and cite their sources. Their last post was all about debunking the popular fanon that the non-Snape teachers are really prejudiced against Slytherin as a whole. Also, great fic reccomender.

@360degreesasthecrowflies - probably the most political blog on this list, which they would definitely agree with. What I really love about them is the way they're willing to go into historian mode, and find and repost some really excellent HP Meta originally written for Livejournal. I was never on Livejounal, so all this stuff is new to me, and I feel like it also provides a really good perspective on fandom history.

@arkadijxpancakes - really well-written, well-thought out, well-supported meta. Great thoughts on worldbuilding. One of the only blogs I've found that really digs into the Weasleys, but they have great takes on everything. Has a very reasonable, focused, lets-get-to-the-heart-of-the-issue vibe that I really appreciate.

@riddlesmoon - followed me recently, and I know you don't post as much original content as you'd like, but I think your comments are hilarious and very insightful, and you *should* write more meta.

@hollowed-theory-hall - another person who can cite their sources really impressively. Tends to do very comprehensive deep dives into worldbuilding out things like the magic system and in-universe politics, or doing very in-depth text-based character analysis. I also love it when they post designs and art, because they went in a very different direction than the films did, but it still totally works.

@trothplighted - I know them from their main blog, which is about literature in general and not HP, but this post got them to resurrect their HP meta blog! I've had fun discussions with them, and they have good takes on other literature, so lets see how this goes :D

@regheart - A good, mellow follow (but with absolutely zero tolerance for JKR and her antics.) A good blend of art, fic recs, and fun good takes. Just read a post of their reccing fics that are pro-Jilly, but still willing to dig into their potential issues as a couple. Which I think is pretty representative.

I 100% expect to add to this list as I think of/find more people, but that should be enough to get you started.

[oliver-the-farmer]

Well hey there y’all…

I’m Oliver, uh.. a resident of threadville. I’m not all that good with the technology but miss Charlotte said Í should make myself one o’ these tumblr accounts, so I did. I figure it can’t harm anyone, can it?

I run on threadville time! But, uh, professionally… I think it’s called… Central Standard time? Unsure ‘bout it, I’ll have to double check!

Little information about me, uh… I’m obviously a puppet, I’m very friendly, I live on a farm.. And gosh, it has been a while since I met anyone new so I’m hopin’ to make myself many more friends in here! On here? I dunno the exact terminology when I’m usin’ one of these devices.

Uh… lessee… Miss Charlotte advised me to add some rules. Now I don’t want any o’ that naughty kinda, uh… sexual content comin’ here to me. Not that I think any of you would, (I ain’t much to look at,) it’s just a little precaution. Don’ take it to heart. The use o’ bad language is fine but don’t be cursin’ all over the place, hear me? It just ain’t right.

I interact with anyone from any walk of life! I don’t discriminate. I accept everyone.

((Mun notes beneath cut))

The voices got to me. Here’s Oliver! And here’s a broadening of his rules because he doesn’t know much about tumblr culture yet.

Ok so this man is stuffed FULL of headcanons based on the limited information we have on him</3 but it's FINE I love him anyways and I hope my portrayal is good! By the way. It's meee~ @imconfusedbutok again, lol. I couldn't help but make a blog for our favorite boy.

This time period is set before the events of the game! And some of the residents of threadville have mysteriously began to disappear..

This blog is open to pretty much anyone and everyone! Ocs, people from other fandoms, normies, it's all welcome! Shipping is ALSO accepted and this will be a multiship blog if any, though I am highly selective and it will have to be discussed in dms. I am going to make a blog for my oc that is his wife and will make other threadville oc blogs so be on the lookout for those too! :3

Blog tags:

His wife- @threadvillefashiondesigner

His boyfriend- @threadvillesgardener

His partner: @thethreadvillebaker

His partner: @thethreadvillelibrarian

His daughter: @threadvilles-littledarling

More to come— DM if you wanna be tagged!

DNI- Proshippers, pedos, terfs, trumpies (Oliver is southern and old fashioned but NOT that way), racists, homophobes, etc.

Playlist — Headcanon masterlist — fic masterlist

My dms are open if you have questions or just wanna talk!

Tag list--

The gate is open and the flowers are bloomin' - General chat posts

Somethin' wicked this way comes.. - Angst/dark rp

Care for a stroll in the garden? - Open rp starter

I’m always happy to help a friend! — Ask answers!

This music feels like it’s all the way in my bones — Oliver’s daily music post!

Peppermint tea and biscuits — Peppermint’s tag

Saige, the sweetest mystery.. — Saige’s tag

Rosemary, it goes good with anything — Rosemary’s tag

Forever and Always? — Adeline’s tag

My daughter… she’s somethin’ else! — Ozzie’s tag

Sweetness and roses — Ophelia’s tag

Be careful there cowboy! — Jackie’s tag

My wonderful bunny of a husband — Boris’ tag

WE ARENT PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE. — RR anon tag

Icons coming soon!!

[bullet-prooflove]

Hey just wondering if you would be open to a Spencer Dutton x fem reader?

If so I was thinking one were the reader and her family live on a neighbouring ranch and the readers family and the duttons often help each other out.

But the reader and Spencer have always been kinda sweet on each through their teenage years and very clearly obviously loved eachother very much and as they got older maybe 18/19 before Spencer’s gets sent away to the war he goes to see the reader to tell her he’s being drafted, but her mother and father isn’t in they are helping over at the Dutton ranch and that’s when they “ share a night of passion “ .

But shortly after Spencer is away the reader discovers she’s pregnant and goes to the duttons to tell them it’s Spencer’s and they kinda already thought it would be because of how they both were with eachother, anyway so the reader moves in with the duttons because her mother and father can’t bear she’s pregnant outside of wedlock and Cara has wrote a letter to Spencer telling him, ( but of course he doesn’t read them)

( basically in Cara’s letters to him she updates the readers condition to him through the pregnancy and then eventually the news comes that his little girl has been welcomed into the world but of course he doesn’t know because he doesn’t read the letters!) so basically he still goes to Africa still meets Alex only difference is they are only engaged and not married yet so when Spencer and Alex return to the ranch the reader is still living with the Duttons with their 3 year old daughter and a rush of emotions come back to the reader and Spencer when they see eachother again maybe the reader standing up on the porch with their 3 year old daughter arms wrapped round her legs and the reader is silently crying and just whisper cry’s hi? If that’s okay with you? You can end it however you like but I really just can’t get that out my head!!

For starters this would be a massive undertaking for any writer and I think if you have this depth of idea you should try to write it yourself. This ask is literally the equivilent of asking someone to write you a novel for free, it's not really fair.

Secondly if you'd read the rules on the pinned post in my blog (for the future every writer has one and I advise you do this before you submit elsewhere.) you'll see I don't write stuff like this because I find it creatively stifling. It's not my idea or story, it's YOURS, why would I write it? What drive would I have?

If you want to submit a prompt or a three things prompt I'll be happy to take a punt but as it stands this isn't for me and I think you'll be very hard pressed to find someone who will be willing to make the time for a project of such size and depth.

For the future here are the rules:

The Rules:

Only pick people off the character list below for each fandom.

One prompt per ask - you can send as many asks as you want within reason

Include the whole prompt in the ask, not just the number.

I don’t write things like Voight’s daughter/Hondo’s friend/Adam’s sister

I also don't write specific asks on this blog eg: reader is a firefighter/doctor/cop who has this/does this. They meet and do this/and this and say this... I usually work from prompts.

I don't write other people's stories so if you have a long detailed idea you want writing, this is not the blog for you.

[zahri-melitor]

I think one of the more hilarious (to me) things about people saying ‘I can’t read comics because I don’t know where to start’ when they’re already in the fandom reading fics is that they’ve already demonstrated the skill to pick up a story partway through and hold multiple storylines as simultaneously true in their mind.

Putting aside all of the other access issues, you HAVE the skill to just work out what’s going on from context, as you developed that reading fic in a canon you don’t know! You don’t need a reading list! Just go pick up a comic and see if you like it, just like you’d pick up a fic and decide if you like it or not.

Heck I’d even suggest just obtaining those first reading choices in a free manner (library/borrow from friends/certain websites) while you work out what you like.

And that’s BEFORE doing something as straightforward as going ‘ooh everyone writes fics about This Incident, why don’t I go read it?’ as a method of choosing what to read. (Now personally I’m of the opinion that people’s favourite stories are usually a generally terrible choice to start reading new canons, but there’s no such thing as a perfect starter and you can always come back with more context to enjoy properly once you’re hooked)

[amberskywrites]

Power Outage

Fic Masterpost | Ao3 Link

Fandom / Genre: Stardew Valley / Angst with Ambiguous/Open/Hopeful Ending

Pairing: Maru & Sebastian

Prompt: Requested by @incendiarybomb :

Prompt list 19, #2 and #12 || 2) "I hate you." and 12) “Take my sweater, you’re freezing.” with Maru and Sebastian because these two deserve some sibling bonding time ;-;

Warnings: Hypothermia, Mildly toxic family relationships/Implied strained relationships, Near-death experience, lmk if I need to add more!

Note: I am. So ridiculously sorry for how long this took to get to. It also took a major turn from what I was expecting - but ultimately I'm satisfied and I hope you enjoy! I will say though, I definitely gotta spend more time with these two characters. Also. I live in a place that never snows, so this is definitely not accurate.

Summary: An unexpected blizzard leaves everyone in Pelican Town snowed in, and for Maru and Sebastian things take a turn for the worse.

There was a blizzard in Pelican Town.

Normally, this wouldn’t mean a thing. Everyone within this little town could handle a blizzard, freak weather phenomenons were nothing new. Sometimes it was a regular Tuesday, and everyone just went about their day. Sometimes a blizzard meant everyone gathering in the town square and just enjoying the frigid weather and bountiful snow.

This blizzard was decidedly not normal.

For starters, it was mid-spring.

And secondly…

“Dammit farmer…” Sebastian muttered, hanging up the phone and slumping over the shop counter. Of course the farmer somehow caused a blizzard by experimenting with magic alongside the creepy wizard. 

Wasn’t the guy supposed to keep them in check when it came to magic?

It was a Friday, and Sebastian had been planning on going to the saloon like usual, but the farmer had asked to stop by after closing for some “emergency materials” for a “top-secret” project. Judging by the patterns bought, Sebastian had money on it being something to embarrass Lewis.

Since his mom was working on the farm, and Demetrius had headed to the saloon anyway without her, and Maru had spent all day helping Harvey with appointments - and apparently scraping the farmer off the floor after they had over exhausted themself - his mom had asked if he would run the store for the day.

And now he was snowed in with Maru of all people indefinitely.

He huffed, pushing himself off the counter. There was no point in staying at the counter if no one was going to show up, the farmer had confirmed his mom was safe and a quick phone call to the saloon revealed they were all snowed in too, but all safe. He scribbled a note for Maru - because as much as he may not like Demetrius, Maru very much did, and she’d likely want to know both he and their mom were safe - and slipped it under her door before retreating to his room.

It was dark and even through his hoodie he shivered. The heating had kicked the bucket about an hour into the storm. He beelined for his closet and hauled the small, spare heater they kept in the house - or rather, one of two, this one designated to his closet because the other apparently took up too much space in the shed to put it with the other one.

Shoving it near his bed, Sebastian grabbed his gameboy and climbed under his covers to pass the storm more quickly.

---

A knock on his door stirred Sebastian from his near-sleep state, and he blinked at the bright light emitting from the gameboy just a few inches from his face. Groaning, he listened, but after a minute there was another more insistent knock.

It was still dark in his room, the window still blocked out by at least a few feet of snow. It couldn’t be his mom or Demetrius.

Sighing, he sat up. “Come in.”

Maru opened the door, holding a lantern in front of her. Sebastian blinked, taking in how small she looked, swallowed by a heavy blanket she had bundled around herself.

“Yeah…?”

“Um,” Maru started, tightening the blanket in one hand and trying to adjust her glasses at the same time. “The heater upstairs isn’t working. I was wondering…”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her when she trailed off and didn’t finish, just looking at his heater. He wasn’t going to give it to her and freeze himself down here.

After seeming to realize he wasn’t going to answer, she swallowed and looked back at him. “I was wondering if I could stay down here with you and the one that works?”

“Oh,” Sebastian slumped slightly, before shrugging. He didn’t think she’d want to stay down here with him. “Sure, I guess.”

She brightened, shuffling further into his room and settling on the floor by his bed, close enough to get some heat from the heater without pressing directly against it. Sebastian watched her hunker down into her blanket, making herself as small as possible to wrap it more securely around as much of herself as she could. On her lap she left enough room for a book, and left the lantern close enough for her to see the text somewhat okay.

Maru didn’t say anything else, so Sebastian resettled under his own blankets to resume his game.

---

The silence didn’t last as long as Sebastian would have liked.

About half an hour after invading his room, he could feel Maru staring at him. When ignoring her didn’t make her stop, he finally looked up with a huff. “What?” he finally snapped out.

She seemed rather tense, like she was trying not to move too much. “Nothing, just - having the heater that close to your bed is a safety hazard.”

“So? I’m cold, it’s keeping me warm.”

“I know, but if it sets your blankets on fire-”

Sebastian sighed loudly, and moved the heater away from his bed. “I hate you,” he said as he moved it a few inches, no real heart in the words. “Better?” he asked when it was finally in a better place.

Maru wasn’t looking at him anymore, but her blanket bundle shrugged, and she rehid herself under the massive thing.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and got back to the game.

A few minutes later, there was a quiet murmur of words that Sebastian just barely heard.

“I just want you to be safe.”

Sebastian grimaced at how small her voice sounded, and the sniffle that followed only made him flinch a little more. Sure, he made his distaste for her pretty common knowledge, but that didn’t mean he liked causing her to cry. But what would she even be crying about-

Oh.

But she didn’t really believe him, did she? Surely not.

But also…

He supposed he never really gave her any idea otherwise.

Maru didn’t say anything else.

Sebastian didn’t dare open his mouth again lest he just dig himself a deeper hole.

Eventually, they both fell asleep.

---

The thing about the heaters they owned was, they were small. And old. And meant to work alongside a burning fire - or rather, run when they couldn’t safely burn a fire while they slept. It wasn’t meant to run for an entire night. They’d learned that ages ago, when they had run them an entire night and woke up to them dead and needing some internal repairs.

Sebastian woke up cold, and when he opened his eyes, his room was somehow even darker. Squinting, he fumbled around for his gameboy just so he could illuminate a bit of his room, and cast it around.

He cursed under his breath at the sight of the dead heater, the supplies to get it working again in the shed that they definitely couldn’t get out to at this moment. It wasn’t smoking, so Sebastian figured it was relatively fine - it wasn’t broken completely, it didn’t decide to combust.

He turned his light towards where he last knew Maru to be, and wasn’t too surprised to still see her bundled under her blanket. But what he was surprised to see was her awake and shivering. She looked up towards him when he cast the low light onto her, and her glasses were off her face. She blinked slowly at him, breathing slowly, and he could see her breath - he hadn’t realized it was quite that cold, hadn’t processed seeing his own breath.

“Maru?” he asked, sitting up straighter. She just blinked at him again, her brow furrowing slightly but not by much. A harsh shudder ran through her, but she didn’t pull the blanket tighter around her. “Maru, are you alright?”

“I…” she said slowly and quietly, “I don’t…” she trailed off, and he watched her try to speak, but the words were jumbled and too quiet for him to hear over the sudden rushing in his own ears.

He scrambled out from under his own blankets to the floor in front of her, hesitating only a moment before he pressed his hands lightly to her cheeks, then her neck, feeling for her pulse, her own voice filling his memories from ages ago when she was first learning about medical science and preparing to apply to be Harvey’s assistant.

He ignored how cold her skin was to the touch, how she barely tried struggling away from his own frigid fingers - or rather, she tried, but all she managed to do was barely shuffle herself away, slumping against his bed more than anything.

Shivering. Difficulty speaking. Slow breath. Weak pulse…

He cursed, louder this time. He racked his brain, looking around his room - but his room probably wouldn’t help at all. Less chance for cold to creep in compared to upstairs, where the wood was a good defense against the cold but had more crevices where it could slip in compared to his basement guarded by being underground. But the cold had already seeped in here, and once it was in it never left.

They wouldn’t be able to light a fire, but maybe he could get her warm again faster upstairs?

But wasn’t moving someone also dangerous?

Maru’s head fell forward suddenly, and Sebastian jolted, catching her. She was so cold.

He shook her, gently. “Maru, come on. You gotta stay awake. You know better.” She blinked her eyes open as he pushed her back a little, and after a beat she nodded ever so slightly, sighing with a harsh tremor. “Hold on, okay? Just. Here, take my sweater for now, okay? You’re freezing.” He shimmied out of his sweater, and with minor difficulty slipped it over her head.

“Okay,” he mumbled, barely feeling the cold sting his now exposed arms. “Okay. This is fine, just… next step.” He swallowed thickly, just staring at Maru shiver and trying to remember how she described helping someone experiencing hypothermia.

He growled in annoyance at himself, as he seemingly could think of everything other than what he actually needed to remember, and he reached up to pull at his hair just to see if that would get his brain working.

She stared right back at him, her face pulling into what he thought to be her mildly frustrated scrunchy face, but it wasn’t as expressive as that, her face was probably so cold she could barely feel her muscles struggling to move. She was trying to say something, and it took Sebastian a good 30 seconds to understand what she was trying to mumble.

“fl…at.. la…y..ured…”

He blinked at the slow, slurred words, but after a moment it clicked and he jolted up off the ground. “Flat- you need to lie flat, okay. And layers. Right.” He looked around his room and cringed, again wondering if it was best to stay down here.

But she needed to lay flat, he needed to lie her down flat, and the memory of her stressing “Gently. Handle gently,” rang in his ears. Carrying her upstairs would be anything but gentle.

Would it even be warmer up there?

He shook his head. He should get her as warm as he could right now, and see if he could move her after she wasn’t in so much danger of freezing to-

He squashed that thought immediately.

“Okay,” he said again, just to fill the silence. He darted for his dresser and pulled out as many warm clothes he had, pulled his extra hoodies off his hangers, and retreated back to Maru, dropping them into a pile beside her. He hesitated for only a second before unzipping a few of his looser hoodies and reaching for her, slowly working them around her, pulling the hoods up and drawing the hoods closed as much as possible without obscuring her face. “Okay, he repeated. “I’m going to move you, alright? In a second. I’m gonna- these are gonna be between you and the floor, along with your blanket, them I’m gonna move you.”

And he did just that, spreading the remaining warm clothes over the floor after tugging on a single jacket for himself, and wrapping Maru’s blanket more securely around her shoulders, he moved behind her and eased her back onto his chest. Very slowly, with arms holding her steady, he leaned down with her just to ensure he didn’t move her too harshly, and carefully moved out from under her so he could lay her down on the clothes.

He pulled his blankets and sheets off his bed too, ignoring anything that clattered off for the moment, and laid it all over Maru. He stared at her, clenching his fists, trying to think if there was anything else he could do.

More blankets, he thought, because even if his blanket and hers were thick, they were just two blankets. He’s sure his mom and Demetrius wouldn’t care if he snagged theirs in a rush if it meant helping Maru.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised, keeping his voice low even though there was no reason to. But it felt like if he spoke any louder, he’d somehow hurt her more.

He dashed up the stairs, to his mom’s room, and yanked off with slight difficulty the heavy quilt and sheets. Bundling them into his arms, he was about to dart back down to Maru, but he paused just as he was about to pass the lab.

Didn’t they have a first aid kit in there?

Would it have anything that could help?

It was worth checking, wasn’t it?

He glanced to the stairs before dropping the blankets for now, and booked it into the lab, swiftly opening all the cabinets he could until he found the first aid kit they did keep in there, because his mom refused to let them into the lab until they got one.

Sebastian grunted as he hauled the blankets back into his arms and raced as quick as he dared down the stairs. He dropped everything near Maru and set to work draping the extra blankets across her, and even grabbing his pillow and taking off the pillowcase just to put something around the top of her head where the blankets didn’t quite reach well enough.

She was still shaking, and breathing somewhat slow, but already it wasn’t quite as slow as before. He settled close enough to her head that he could see her face, and was struck by the fact that his gameboy was still the only thing giving light into his room.

He glanced around, and spotted the lantern she had brought in, knocked over in his haste to get everything out of the way. He reached and dragged it closer, flicking it on and keeping it close. Then he remembered his phone.

It was, miraculously, still on his nightstand. He didn’t get up from Maru’s side, just stretched to grab it before hunching over and turning it on. He hoped he could still get service despite the power knocked out and being in his room.

He pulled up the clinic’s emergency line, hoping Harvey hadn’t gone to the Saloon that night, and clicked call.

The ringing was agonizing even as he busied himself with pulling the first aid kit into his lap and starting his way through it, even if he might not be sure what he was looking for inside it.

Harvey sounded tired when he answered, but alert enough, and Sebastian guessed it was because of the emergency phone in the clinic going off. He didn’t pay attention to what Harvey actually said at first.

“Maru’s got hypothermia,” Sebastian said, hunching further into himself and technically over Maru. She was still awake, luckily. “I- we’re snowed in, and the power’s out, and the heaters broke. When I woke up, she was freezing. I got her blankets and as many of my hoodies and coats I could get. Is there anything else I can do?”

Harvey was very, very quiet for a lot longer than Sebastian liked. But when he finally responded, voice a little higher pitched and worry clear in his voice, the frustration Sebastian felt dissipated just slightly.

“You’ve done well, Sebastian. Stay with her. I… I also seem to be snowed in for the time being, but I think Lewis or Marnie may have something that could clear snow. I’ll call them as soon as I can and get you guys out of there. If you have a first aid kit in the house, see if there’s any warm compresses. Apply to her face or chest, do not under any circumstances put them on her arms or legs, as much as they may be freezing, it will only cause more harm. Stay with her. Have you called your parents?”

“Not yet. I- Demetrius is at the saloon, Mom’s at the farm.”

“Alright, I’ll call Demetrius after calling Marnie and Lewis, you see if there are any warm compresses and call the farmer.”

“Don’t Marnie and Lewis go to the saloon on Fridays?”

“Marnie already called me earlier asking for advice on keeping Jas warm, she’s home. Now call your mom, let her know what’s going on, and I’ll call you with news about what’s going to happen from there. Continue getting Maru warmer, slowly.” 

The phone clicked off as Harvey hung up, and Sebastian dialed the farmer’s number. Once it was ringing, he kept the phone between his shoulder and ear and now looked through the first aid kit with a purpose, sifting through until he could hopefully find some compressors. 

All he could really do now was hope for the best.

[pinkberrytea]

✨Writing Interview Tag Game✨

Eeee tysm for the tag @nyx-knox and @honeybee-bard! 🥹🙌❣️

When did you start writing?

I used to write fanfiction when I was 13 years old, but as an adult, this is actually my first time dabbling in creative writing! I released my first work back in April, crazy to think it’s been barely four months since I started!

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Horror and mystery are actually my favorite genres, though I'm not sure I'd be able to pull either off? I should give it a go one day, maybe!

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

To be honest any comparisons at all would make me plenty happy since I barely consider myself a writer 😅 There are some people in the fandom who are endless sources of inspiration for me though, all authors in my recs list and ao3 bookmarks, for starters.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

No BG3 merch sadly, yet!

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Just daydreaming honestly. Also listening to music helps plenty! Researching lore and brainstorming ideas with friends too. But mostly just daydreaming!

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Hurt and comfort, and also angst. Lots of it, for some reason. It does surprise me how angsty all my writing ends up coming across, but I try to balance it out with some melodramatic fluff, I guess? I do want to try my hand at some less serious/more lighthearted themes eventually though, branch out a little!

What is your reason for writing?

Coping, mostly. Also as a sort of therapy, to sort out my feelings about themes that are important to me and that I’ve been processing through media. And no less relevant, simply as a self-indulgent outlet! I write what I myself would like to read.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Every single comment is incredibly motivating for me, but of course, I do twirl my hair and kick my feet whenever someone tells me about which passages they liked the best and how they specifically felt about a certain scene. Also, whenever people pick up on a detail I was sure would go by unnoticed!

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want my readers to think of me as a friend, as someone who is always accessible and up for talking about writing, be it mine or just in general!

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

Oh, this is a toughie. I have a very flowery and verbose style, though I’m not sure that’s a strength? I guess it could be, depending on your preferences. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword, really.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I don’t think highly of it from a technical standpoint, but I do pour my heart and soul into every single piece, and that makes them all special to me.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I can sincerely say I write mostly for myself, otherwise I wouldn’t even be able to write anything at all because I don’t think I could live up to anyone’s expectations. Though of course, the feedback I receive on a piece may in fact influence whether I feel inspired to expand on it or just move on to something new. Even if I’m typically my own main target audience, comments are always greatly appreciated!

No pressure tags ✨ @locallegume, @judasiskariot, @inkymoonbunny, @starryjuicebox and @kalmiaphlox!

[ask-good-cop-bad-cop]

▫️ Welcome to our ask blog! We started this blog as a way for Bad to more comfortably socialize, and to meet new people and hopefully make some new friends! Be sure to look through the rest of this post to get an idea of what to expect here! And please don’t let Bad intimidate you, I promise he’s not as grouchy as he seems. We can't wait to hear from you!

▪️ Thought I'd toss this up here for the newbies. I have a very blunt, direct way of both speaking and typing, and I guess especially over text it makes me sound angry or grumpy when I'm actually not. I'm usually in a fairly good mood, so uh. Yeah. Don't let that scare you off. I'm happy to answer your questions.

RULES:

✮ No NSFW or otherwise suggestive asks, please. We haven't had any problems with this yet but bear in mind that if this gets abused, anon will get turned off.

✮ No shippy or suggestive rp starters either. Mun is very much an adult and is also very much aware most of the active fandom these days are minors.

✮ Rude asks will not get answered either. This blog is run by an actual human being, not AI. If it's something you wouldn't want someone to say to you, then don't say it to us either.

SETTING:

It's the year 2015. Months have passed since Business' attempts at Kragling the world. Master Builders are no longer outlawed, and the Super Secret Police have found a new purpose.

CHARACTERS:

✮ Liam "Bad Cop" Copp ✮ Garrett "Good Cop" Copp ✮ Frank ✮ AJ ✮ Ace ✮ Ma Copp (guest appearances) ✮ Pa Copp (guest appearances) ✮ Benny (guest appearances)

Asks will be answered by Good Cop and Bad Cop by default. If you want your ask to be answered by the robots, or by Ma and Pa or Benny when they're available, please be sure to specify that in your question.

TIPS FOR INTERACTION:

✮ Feel free to send in asks that may prompt a drawn response. Mun is trying to practice art but tends to be a bit short on ideas. Just be prepared to wait a while for your ask to be answered as art takes mun a while.

✮ If you want to interact but can't quite think of anything to ask, keep an eye out for ask prompt lists to be reblogged. They will always be tagged with "ask prompts" so you can check for them if you missed one coming up on your dash. It is perfectly okay to send in prompts from older lists! Just be sure to name which list your prompts came from so mun knows which questions to answer.

✮ You can also look through the lore tag to see if there's anything you'd like to know more about. The cast don't always answer everything in-depth so you can always ask for more details.

LINKS:

Answered Asks | Lore | Short Stories | Art | Bad Cop's Apology

[joy-eris-joy]

Hello! My name is Joy Eris, but please call me Joy!

This is just my blog for whatever hyperfixation captures my attention at the moment, so expect my fandoms to always be in flux.

Be respectful and we'll get along fine!

I’m a Lutual too, which means I run way too many RP blogs. Check them out!

Lutualverse OC Accounts

@exorcist-ava 🚬

@seraphim-sarai 🦢

@seraphim-adina 🐇

@exorcist-milan420 💥🔥

@prince-pruflas 👑

@lost-rin 🪶

@lost-elam 🦣

@archangel-michael-of-heaven ⚔️

@sinner-xiao 🐶

Lutualverse Canon Character Accounts

@ask-modeus 💙❤️‍🔥

@ask-king-paimon ✨🦉

@ask-keekee 🐈‍⬛🗝️

@ask-chaz 🦈💦

@ask-daddy-hoothoot 💫

NRWE (Non-Canon Reality Warping Entity) Accounts

@ask-peter 🏡 @ask-daria-morgendorffer 🤓 @the-burglar-from-sims-1 💰

@joyer-is-joy 😈

Shared Lutual Account

@lutual-incidentals

Lutual Statement

After a pretty rough week with a lot going on, the Lutuals have decided that moving forward we will be a bit more selective regarding certain things. We love sharing our characters and developing new and interesting storylines for people to read and interact with and want to continue doing so while protecting ourselves and our mental health. Please see below on the things we expect moving forward.

Asks, anon or not, will be deleted on sight and the sender blocked if they fall into any of the following categories:

NSFW - finding the characters hot is fine! Telling the mods what you want to do to those characters sexually is not!

Violence - show typical violence may be part of storylines or backstory to inform characterization! Graphically describing violence you would like to see done to the characters doesn’t! To vent frustrations with characters, please throw a bible at them; the mods will get the message just fine.

Hate Speech - the Lutualverse is a fun spinoff of the Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss settings and isn’t the place for social or political commentary. We’re just here for the various shades of queer relationships; if you’re not, kindly move along.

Spam - many Lutuals utilize their queues for asks and submissions; if you sent it once, we probably got it and will answer asks and post submissions in due time. Sending more than once will just confuse Tumblr and annoy the mod.

To better form a cohesive, consistent universe with multiple storylines, the current Lutualverse is a set roster you can find here, all of whom have been vetted as 18+. As the blogs, storylines, and shows are 18+, it is recommended that minors do not interact. We are not accepting applications at this time to join the Lutualverse, though individual mods may respond to starters at their discretion; these events will not be canon to the universe.

It has also come to our attention that some blogs are claiming to be part of the Lutualverse despite not being official members.

While we appreciate that people enjoy our work, we DO NOT appreciate being impersonated or having unaffiliated members claiming to be part of our canon.

At the time of writing, the ONLY Lutuals are as follows:

@joy-eris-joy

@able-juice

@silvireal

@texanredrose

@kambiteydragon

@moreausposts

@hazbin-hoe-tell

@canibalistic-brownie

@seecatrun

@pseudobun

@atttwoood

@paperroxas

Any new blogs or members will be announced by ONE OF US and will be LISTED on the Lutuals roster.

Any unaffiliated users claiming to be part of our verse WILL BE BLOCKED.

Again, we would like to stress that we enjoy the interaction and support. This is to protect us and better craft compelling stories. Thank you for your understanding.

-The Lutuals

My commissions are always open, so feel free to DM any time about them!

If you like what I do, consider supporting me on my Ko-Fi!

Any amount is appreciated!

[periwinkle-the-11th]

Intro post:

You can call me Peri, my pronouns are they/them

I spend my time reading, spending far to many hours at the library, making my way thru college, baking bread, writing now and again, and playing with my cats!

Heres my pronoun page!

I post all my writing and various creations over on @pericreatesstuff and my ao3 is Peri_Writes

Despite having a perfectly good Writing Blog, I post random tidbits of my thought process/brainstorming over here bc I regularly forget it exists!

I'm in way way way to many fandoms so heres an incomplete list:

Juno Steel (VESPA ILKAY LOML)

Keep It Steady podcast

pjo/hoo

kotlc

Kaleidotrope Podcast

Voltron (i miss you my children)

bridge to terabithea

Atla

Daylight Shooting Star (if you know dss I am begging you to be my friend I have literally never met anyone else who's read it)

Sk8 the infinity

Ohshc

The Sky Fall Trilogy by shannon messenger (once again if you've read it (and liked it) I am begging you to be my friend its so so underrated)

The Lost Books: Scroll of Kings (SO SO SO UNDERRATED)

I listen to way to much music way to often, heres some artists/bands i like: Set it off, pierce the veil, Fin (steffan argus), conan gray, olivia rodrigo, alec benjamin, one direction, Natalie jane, sadie jean, my chemical romance, fall out boy, NF, MARINA, Maren Morris, girl in red, melanie martinez, MICO, Avril Lavigne, Madonna, Ke$ha, little mix, Queen, Billy joel, Zara Larsson, Maisie Peters, Lauren spencer smith, ABBA, Jorge Rivera-Herrans, Sam Hunt, the Amazing Devil, and literally so many more

and the tags I use regularly:

#peri personal - just about everything not fandom related/interactions w people/my life

#peri complains - self explanatory really

#music rambles - rambling about music, mostly when new songs/albums come out

#allis adventures - various stuff about my sourdough starter! her full name is Allison Breadorthy and she is ALIVE

#baking Breadorthy - actually baking her ^

#writing related - self explanatory but its mostly me complaining about my fics, plot holes i find, polls bc i'm indecisive, and writing advice I wanna save for later

#friends <3 - my actual conversation style interaction with my mutuals (only remember this tag exists half the time lmao)

#spider!Juno au - my and Lu's ( @chainlxnk) spiderman!Juno Steel au that I am in the process of writing!

Thats all for now!! I'll probably update this once i realize i forgot smth tho

[nokonomi]

Creepypasta School AU

Disclaimer: This is mostly just an AU for fun and is not to be taken seriously. It’s just an AU I had in mind lately and I wanted it to be for fun. Most of this is not to be taken seriously! It’s for fun. And by fun I mean goofy. This is probably not close to canon but bear with me!

I saw a bunch of AU’s from different fandoms, so I was inspired and wanted to do a high school AU of CreepyPasta myself! I haven’t been very active lately, so here you all go. In this AU, this takes place in a version of New York, called Asmodeus York. It’s where all the monsters, entities, ghosts, serial killers, you name it! Go to. And in a very popular high school is CreepyPasta High! A place for all pastas to go to. And of course we didn’t leave off our most popular pastas.

Jeff the Killer is a quarterback on the football team and a very popular student at this school. He’s got a few manipulative tactics up his sleeve and he’s know for being the ugliest person in the entire school. (Which is good basically in this universe) he leads the football team with pride and spirit up his sleeve, but he also gets extremely angry at times. So each out for that! Woo! I gotta make sure he doesn’t get me any day soon! He has the usual same appearance, black shoulder-length hair and a white jacket with gray pants and converses, plus a few body and face piercings to that.

His most common line is “Go To Sleep” because well he has sleepovers at his house all the time with his friends so he’s gotta find a catchphrase for that. He has a few enemies but that doesn’t stop him from doing anything! …Okay maybe a LITTLEEE bit. _____________________________________ Next up on this list we have Ben Drowned who participates on the soccer team. He usually hangs out with EJ and Jeff during athletics in first period. And he’s a forever 12 year old, which may hold him back from doing certain things he’s not allowed to, such as drink and smoke.

He’s a CRAZY video gamer and on Saturdays he goes to the a coffee shop called “Spooks ‘N Coffee!” just to grab their coffee named “Ben’s Maple Spiced Latte” (P.S: The coffee was named after the store’s owner but he thinks it’s named after him) He’s an absolutely hooker for that type of coffee. He’s go absolutely insane on that shit, like drink, drink drink, it’s his every-day go to.

“I Uhm…I tried taking it away and he gave the most chihuahua-ass type of look ever.” Trust me, Jeff’s an expert on what happens whenever you try and take away his latte. Anyways, Ben necessarily only signed up for athletics because he was forced to by his friends, but he’s grown a little attached to it, he has a love-hate relationship for soccer. Soccer practices take a toll on him. He’s eternally 12 but his physical form grows, he’s just still 12 years old. He makes the most lamest jokes ever in history. Ben does backflips and ends up breaking his back!

He has a deep fear for water, thank fucking GOD he did not sign up for swimming classes because that would’ve been HORRIBLE. _________________________________________ Eyeless Jack is a very notable and respective person when it comes to school. His grades are top-tier and he’s top of his classes. He takes everything seriously and not a joke. Heck he takes football seriously, but his one weakness is being blind. He can’t see anything but he can hear and smell anything around him, which he visualizes and uses it to scent track people, hence making him an extremely tough opponent in football.

Now this man often has grudges against certain people and I don’t blame him for that. People are annoying these days and that’s true, which is why he takes his time and avoids certain people without hinting out that he’s avoiding them. I can imagine him doing this with fancy violin music in the background.

Authors note: This AU is cringe but that’s what makes me happy. I may change the AU up a bit. And for starters, Asmodeus York is a version of New York. It is where most monsters, entities, ghost and serial killers roam. And CreepyPasta school is top tier.

Of course…there are other schools out there in Asmodeus York competing against CreepyPasta school in sports, class comps, and exams and anything else exactly. Their top rival would probably be either SCP or Poképasta.

[spoocys-glade-of-dreams]

dearest spoocy how do i master the art of roleplay

- Healthy communication with your fellow roleplay partners is the most important thing about Roleplaying.

- Make sure to read the rules and muses pages of those you wish to seek out for roleplay. I've had one or two folks coming in that I had to politely decline roleplaying with because I fell under something that was in their "Do not interact" criteria (Not all DNI's relate to something that could be harmful. Some people just put DNI for things like enjoying specific fandoms or media.) Respect the rule list.

Most rule pages include no godmoding during interactions. Godmoding can fall under two different categories:

Being overpowered/untouchable

Deciding things about the other person's character.

Even the deities I portray in roleplay are not untouchable. They all have a weakness somewhere. Jano's is light sources. Polokus can be corrupted by Nightmare Influence or even fall into insanity, ect. Even the Knaarens have a way to kill em and not all of them share the same methods.

I always ask my rp partner if it's okay to do something with their character before I write it. I also make it clear to them when it's okay to kill a character for the story plot.

Never force ships on them either. I have the shipping status of my muses written on my roster. It indicates if a muse is open for shipping or not. Otherwise, ask first before jumping into ship interactions like that.

Big one too is DON'T METAGAME!

-copy and pasted from another source: OOC being "out of character" and IC being "in character"

Metagaming is simply taking knowledge that you gained OOCly and bringing it ICly. For instance, a friend tells you a plot that went on between a friend and someone else where you were not involved. Any knowledge not gained through RP is not knowledge you know ICly.

I talk about all kinds of story plots and spoilers with my rp partners over dm's all the time. I even leave them little cookie crumbs or just flat out tell them "This is what will happen" if they ask about something. I give them the option of choice. Not everyone is willing to spoil things for you and would like to surprise you.

- Don't insert yourself into starters or roleplays that do not involve you or is not marked as an open starter. Most Roleplayers don't like when uninvolved blogs or parties try to insert themselves into a roleplay or reblog them to comment on it. If you must comment on them, use the reply feature over reblogging it. Not all starters that are posted on Tumblr are open ones.

An open starter usually implies everyone's free to join it. Private ones are kept between specific persons. Better safe then sorry: if you see a starter that has a specific blog tagged, don't reblog and don't try to insert yourself into it. It's a good way to get yourself blocked by both parties.

- Do not pressure your partner to get responses out on a schedule. You never know what's going on in their lives. They could have gotten a new job or are simply unable to find the drive to write. Be patient. Be considerate. Be understanding.

- A muse's intent or actions does not always equal the mun's. Some of us portray really nasty villain characters. Some of those villains or characters may do things that are offensive or violent in nature. This does not mean the mun delights in doing these actions themselves. I have at least two muses that are despicable with their actions and I'm often raging in dm's with my friends about how much it hurts to write some of that stuff sometimes.

- Research or ask what roleplay formats are acceptable with your partner. My format is a mix of semi line and para. It means i tend to write responses in whole paragraphs or shortened paragraphs. Some blogs frown upon using other formats. One-line format means you tend to respond in one sentence. Semi-line is pretty much a small and short paragraph.

- Don't Machine Gun Roleplay. Machine Gun in roleplay means there is constant talking and talking without a chance for the other party to respond. This is something I suffer with! I have a bad habit of having a character go in long talks and I will often ask my RP partners if I need to shorten it so they can respond. We work around this by allowing the character to respond between "transitions" to the next thing written in the previous response. Never hurts to ask your RP partner if you need to fix something if you aren't sure.

- If a blog has an age restriction and you are younger than what is required DO NOT INTERACT WITH THEM. Do not interact with any of that material. It can get us adults in trouble if you try to engage in that kind of roleplay or content in general. This is not just for roleplay! Adults online should not interact with minors that try to engage with their age restricted content. It's encouraged to block them! That could be anything from suggestive content, Full NSFW, or gore content.

some blogs may even be marked as 16+ outside of the USA, but you should never be engaging with or posting NSFW content until you are 18. End of story.

[writermuses]

Life Update | 📌 Post | Updated 26 Feb.

Hello writers! I'm Natty (36, she/her) and welcome to my OC multi-muse/multi-verse indie RP blog. I am selective and slow to reply. There will be slice of life, modern royalty, crime, smut, and other triggering content on this blog, but I use "trigger tw" and "smut" for tags fairly consistently. This really isn't a fantasy or canon fandoms kind of writing experience beyond some of my OCs working in careers of my hyperfixations (F1, MotoGP, NHL, etc)... Nevertheless, I will not interact with writers, muses, or faceclaims under 21. Thank you in advance for being patient with me. Here are my rules:

My opens are open forever! I labeled any that I've archived as "no longer taking replies" because maybe muse for that character may come back some day. Threads with problematic fcs, anyone under 21 people, or posts in legacy will be ignored. However, I'm not typically bothered by what you write with other people and we don't kink shame. I only ask you keep things reasonable in a reply.

Do not reblog/like the musings unless I tagged you on the post. If you want to use a musing, then you can reblog from the source. If there’s no source linked then copy the image URL. If you’re not the @ and you're in my notifs, I will block you. New musings will be locked but the older musings this still applies.

My replies will be slow. Therefore, do not post more than 2 replies to me per day. This is supposed to be fun and my escape from my career and serious health issues. Some days off work I just need to rest physically and mentally. I'm mostly just a weekend writer. People that mass reply or insta-reply aren't don't really vibe with my high anxiety needs. If we're both online and we talk about it, that's a different case by case/thread by thread situation for a short period of time.

I will drop threads with writers that use me for my males. Whether that's you picking up a bunch of my guys and one girl or repeatedly replying to my male opens while letting my female threads go unreplied for months/until they hit the 2 month drop point. I'll block you for that so quick. I do also try to pair a male and female reply for each writer as I cycle through what I owe to keep it balanced. If you have a girl-only blog and only want a guy, we can have just the one thread. Be honest about it or leave because this isn't the blog for you.

I have severe physical and mental health issues and work insane hours 10 months of the year. I’ll write what I can, when I can, as the muse for a reply hits on the weekends, but I also have to acknowledge that I have a lot of threads and giant multi-paragraph replies stress me out and are not fair to the other writers, so they aren’t going to take priority and may be dropped. Thank you for understanding, especially those of you that tell me it’s okay to not to match length. If a reply hits 2 months I will assume you dropped it, no messaging needed.

Formatting: Cut your posts! Use small font and medium gifs or icons, reblog using the new editor - the usual. If you only have large gifs, static icons or animated graphics, or no gifs of your faceclaim, it's okay to not use gifs in your replies. Put the gif AT THE BOTTOM of your reply. I will not match over the top formatting and will drop a thread if your aesthetics supersede quality writing.

Replies: I ask that you move the plot forward in your reply. If you repeatedly instant-reply and aren't moving the plot anywhere, I'm going to lose interest and drop the thread. Rate and order of replies does not equate to interest in a thread. If you're stuck, do a time jump or wait to reply. You've got 2 months before I will assume you dropped the thread.

Be well + Be kind 💙 Natty

Rules . Muse List . Starters . Tracker . Musings

[mvsicinthedvrk]

a friendly psa about (some) asian names ✌️

this message has been admin-team-approved; i am going to attempt to kindly educate, because i have been playing wei wuxian for almost five years, and there are still occasionally people who call him 'wei.' pls believe that i know it's not intentional and that it's definitely not meant maliciously, but it's still tiring. so!! i wrote this nice little guide to (some) asian names, and i am hoping you will read it, and potentially learn something about a different culture, if this is new to you 💕

east asian names are usually (not always! but usually!) structured as surname + given name. (aka family name first, then first name). so for example, my chinese character who is named mo xi, he's from the mo family, and his given name is xi. i mention this bc i have seen so many starter calls, etc, where people request from my characters using their last names, and i would love for this to stop. for my character named feng yu, his family name is feng, yu is his given name. that's why feng yu's brother is feng xin. they have the same surname, and that surname comes first 👍

**however!! this structure is not a broad-strokes rule; it doesn't necessarily apply to all asian characters or all characters from asian countries/fandoms. a lot of people still submit their apps for asian characters and prefer to list them on the taken/ooc pages with "given name + surname" in that order, so it's best not to make general assumptions. for example, sunny is listed on the ooc as playing an anime/manga character named madoka kaname. in this case, the character's given name is 'madoka' with the last name 'kaname.' how can you tell? if you look on the character's wiki page or on sunny's blog, either place will tell you that she does in fact go by 'madoka.' (so: you wouldn't want to assume that it's flip-flopped just because it looks like an asian name).

therefore, when writing with someone and trying to figure out how to write an asian name appropriately, generally the best thing to do is ask yourself: how is the other person structuring this character's name in their replies and starter calls? and can i look on the character's wiki page to figure it out if i'm unsure? finally, if neither of those help you, you can always just ask your writing partner. personally, i know my dm's are open and i'd rather someone come to me and say 'hey i was wondering how should i write X character's name' rather than see someone call them the wrong name, which makes me sad :((

finally, a note specifically for CHINESE names!!

with chinese names specifically, in mandarin you usually do call someone by their full name, even if it's someone you've known for a while. so whether i was longtime friends with wei wuxian or whether we just became friends recently, i would still call him 'wei wuxian.' this may seem overly formal, but i promise it's not.

now, it is acceptable to call someone by only their given name as long as their given name has more than a single character (syllable). so if i wanted to could call him just 'wuxian' it would be technically fine-- especially if we're talking/writing in english, that's fine. 👍 wen kexing can be called 'kexing.' chu wanning can technically be called 'wanning,' etc. it is odd for strangers, but if you know the person or especially if you're friends/close, it's definitely alright. (there's actually a lot of rules about nicknames/ closeness/ seniority and things like that, but without getting too complicated, you can assume this is generally fine.)

HOWEVER, if someone's chinese given name is one character (usually written with one syllable in pinyin/english), you really shouldn't call them just by that name. it's not technically rude, exactly, but it's awkward and off-putting at the very least. that's not what you call them. xie lian is 谢怜, with both names as one character each, so 'xie lian' can't just be called 'lian.' he can either be 'xie lian' (full name) or something like 'a-lian' if you really want to give him a nickname. likewise, pei ming cannot be called 'ming' even though that's his given name. he needs to be called 'pei ming' all together. mo xi is always called mo xi (never 'xi'), qi yan is always called qi yan (not just 'yan') etc. if you're not sure at a glance whether a chinese muse's given name is one-character or not, simply call them by their full name to be safe.

again, this might sound like a lot of work, but if you just look at my tag for xie lian or read whatever reply of mine you're working off of, you'll see me call him 'xie lian' in the narration, and you can just follow along with that. and once you figure it out one time, then ur good for any later interactions as well.

and that's it !! if you have questions, feel free to ask and i'll try my best to explain! don't feel bad if you've misnamed characters in the past, but i would really appreciate if people keep this in mind moving forward, because it will make my life so much more peaceful and relaxing. thanks for reading; i appreciate your time!!

[hiccupmistress]

I've often been quite a fan of Star Trek's fandom wiki, "Memory Alpha". At first glance, its a very well-kept wiki, where people are quick to add new information, and the occasional attempt to spam the wiki with false or inflammatory information is quickly struck down.

However, when you take a closer look, its a rather nasty and pompous place.

For starters, character pages used to list a character's gender in the main info box at the top of pages. However, when Star Trek: Discovery introduced the franchise's first properly non-binary character, Adira, a few wiki contributors threw a temper-tantrum and now character pages do not list gender in the info box, and instead its mentioned in the main body of text if its considered "necessary".

Then there's the problem of the Wiki's framing device. Yes, a wiki, a site for which the main purpose is to be a resource of information decided it needed a framing device. The idea is that "MA is written from a POV from the distant future." Why is this a problem? Well, recently, a contributor opened a discussion article, (for those who don't know, this is a special page for the benefit of contributors to discuss potential changes to the way the wiki is run), talking about the way pictures on character pages are organised.

Currently, Memory Alpha will include two images on the top info-box of prominent recurring characters. The latest-chronological image at the top, and the earliest-chronological image at the bottom. The user on this discussion page posited that since the current "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is a prequel show that is taking time to flesh out characters who had very little screen time in the original series, that certain characters, such as George-Samuel Kirk or Robert April should have images swapped around so that the "primary" or most prominent depiction of the character is at the top. They used the examples specifically because, GS Kirk's only appearance in the originals was as a dead body, and Robert April's only appearance was a single episode of the Animated Series, and he's a different ethnicity, they claimed that "Adrien Holmes is meant to be the definitive portrayal of April".

This was met with nothing but backlash, the first quote I put in this post about "MA is written from a POV from the distant future" was used to justify why the later chronological appearances are listed at the top. But frankly, that doesn't hold water with Sam Kirk, because why would a future archive of historical information use a picture of someone's rotting corpse to depict who they were? And more importantly, this is where the whole thing of Memory Alpha having a framing device becomes a problem. Its all very quaint that the wiki has its lore, but at the end of the day, Memory Alpha isn't the SCP Foundation, its not archiving its own special set of original worldbuilding or anything, its a wiki for a bunch of TV shows and movies! Its primary purpose is to be a resource so fans can find out information. As the OP of the Discussion Page pointed out, anyone coming in to Star Trek through SNW who comes to look at Sam's MA page will see a dead body, kind of a spoiler if they're not already familiar with TOS.

Now yes, wiki pages will always have spoilers on them, that's kind of the point, but given his TOS appearance is just Shatner in a fake moustache, playing a corpse, there's really no need to classify that as the "most recent" iteration of the character.

Then of course, there's the Robert April thing. Of course someone chimed in to whine that changing April's ethnicity is "motivated by a dislike of character's original race. For fans who respect continuity, Adrien Holmes will never be the definitive Robert April. I've got nothing against him but I wish he played a new character." which is eye rolling. Someone did point out that live-action shouldn't trump animation. I can agree with that. There are certain circles who would tout that live action film or TV is inherently better than any other media, be it animation, comics, books, games etc, which it really shouldn't be held as, all forms of artistic expression should be held with the same respect, but, its nothing but red flags to whine that SNW hates white people because they cast a black actor as a formerly white character who only appeared in one episode animated on a budget of debt. And considering most of SNW's cast is white or white-passing, its hardly "a dislike of the original race". And guess how many people called out this user for whining about Adrien Holmes? None at all!!! Over the years, I've seen more Star Trek fans boasting that they never bothered watching TAS than I've seen say anything nice about TAS, so pretending to care that Commodore April is now a person of colour comes across incredibly disingenuous. (Not to mention the writer of the original Animated Series episode in which April has appeared has gone on record praising the casting of Holmes as live-action April, so really what does it matter if some 1970s micro-budget animation cells are contradicted)

Even with that aside, people were still arguing that the one-off animated appearance of April should still be at the top of his wiki page because "We're a future historical archive"

The point and TL;DR is a fan wiki should be a resource for real life fans in the real world first and foremost and have any framing devices second. Memory Alpha and the majority of its contributors don't seem to understand this. Maintaining some stupid illusion of being an in-universe archive seems to be more important to a lot of those people. And, between stuff like the gender tag mentioned at the top of the post, and the attitudes towards things like ethnic diversity, I don't really feel comfortable continuing to even use the wiki, much less contribute to it, as I have done on occasion. The admin at that wiki could really do to crack down on the gender-critical and racist-dogwhilstle-y users and have a serious think about whether they want to be running an actual wiki or an ARG disguised as a wiki, because the framing device BS is unnecessary as it is quaint.

[broke-on-books]

☕️ WNSD

🎶 We're coming after you, We're gonna solve that mysteryyyyy 🎶

No okay but I loooovvvveeeeee What's New so much oh my god. It's probably the iteration of Scooby I've seen the highest percentage of episodes of (excluding SDMI) and if I had to pick my favorite Scooby series of them all. More than any of the others really (although a little WAY), What's New was the Scooby of my childhood, and so many of its episodes are just total classics for me as well.

I think WNSD is very beloved by the Scooby collective (and for good reason) but honestly STILL is underrated in my mind, especially the early episodes. I absolutely adore some of the little "plot twists" of the WNSD era and how creative it could be within the confines of "the Scooby formula". I mentioned many of these in another post recently but having unexpected solutions/elements like "the monkey did it!" or "we caught the wrong guy! We need to go back!" every few episodes just blew my brain wide open as a child (especially the second one there. I'm STILL in shock on that one) and are underappreciated by scooby fandom. (Despite WNSD winning the favorite scooby series poll I did lol)

Being my favorite doesn't mean that What's New is perfect though. There are still some moments I don't like, or that, while useful for a joke, fall flat for me character-wise. One example I think I've talked about before is the scene where they split up differently and Fred is left alone searching for clues with Shaggy. The punchline of this is the idea that Fred and Shaggy just don't have anything in common to talk about, going along in awkward silence until Fred asks Shaggy if he 'saw the game last night' to which he says no and they continue on in awkward silence. For me, that's not my favorite joke because I do believe that Fred and Shaggy are good friends and DO have lots to talk about, and while not my favorite interaction between the two, I can still mesh it pretty easily into my own personal canon with a few simple Watsonian explanations. Ex: They were both overthinking it and didn't know what to say, Fred grabbed a conversation starter from his go to list (he's been working very hard on his social interaction skills, okay?! Only 3/4 of them are about nets/mysteries/the gang/the Mystery Machine!) and struck out big time.

No but as I was saying as much as I adore WNSD, nothing is perfect, and at times (especially in some movies) What's New also suffers from the WAY/TSDS cultural................. awkwardness that comes from the "white guy dressing up as native/cultural legend" plot line.

OH AND THE SOUNDTRACK. What's New rightly gets its due (lol) for having an absolutely killer theme song (and sequence too!!!!) but I think it should get extra points on top of that as well for the chase music in each episode. What's New easily has some of my favorite chase music (leading to some favorite chase sequences) which makes watching it an even better time (some of those songs are catchy!!!!!) And I just love the way it handles music in general. What's New really just finds creative ways to explore and make interesting all aspects of the process, and move between them subtly and infrequently enough that it doesn't feel forced or thrown at you, but as a genuine exploration of what can be done with Scooby by people who care about it. (And while we're talking about music?!?!?!?! THE HAUNTED MYSTERY MACHINE EPISODE???????? 🤯😵🥰💘)

To me, What's New is just a really good show that is kind of seen as being "simple" (plan lol. Sorry I keep doing that but I can't help myself) or basic but really is much more creative and complicated than it looks when closely examined. It's a series that I think gets a lot of love while at the same time still not getting enough for everything it accomplished. Also it has some of my favorite Scooby castings out there. I mean, COME ON! Casey Kasem Shaggy at the same time as Grey Griffin Daphne? With Frank Welker Fred AND Scooby along with MINDY COHN (<3333333333333333333) Velma? Don't get me STARTED.

Anyways I just have SO much love for this series all the time. All the time. 24/7. Hope that answers your question on how I feel about it