#very vivid imagery in my head yall

[bitchkay]

I don't know whether I should draw or write but my brain is conjuring up images of of Zev Avari as a hallowed eve demon holding me closely inspired by the song No Angel by Princeton Perez

[they-reap-what-we-sow]

WEREHUNTERS AU AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY BABEY

after writing my werewolf hunters batfam au, i realized that as always, i had so much more to say that never made it into the fic SO

Welcome to my stream of consciousness rambling while i edit my fic and figure out what i meant to write when i said “TENSES???” halfway through the doc (spoiler alert it meant i had to change every single tense to present)

I wrote this fic coming off a high of like, 4 straight months of reading ONLY Teen Wolf fanfiction, so the rules of werewolves here are sort of based on the fanon characterization of the werewolves from TW.

I chose to use ‘Richard’ instead of ‘Dick’ when I wrote in Damian’s POV, and while it feels right, damn is it annoying to remember

The ages on the reverse robins part are nebulous honestly, but the general age order goes Damian, Duke, Tim, Steph, Jason, Dick, from oldest to youngest. Their age differences are about the same as in canon… but like, with a grain of salt. (timeline hard what can i say)

Tim gets to stay Tim, even in Damian’s POV, because I feel like that was a sticking point post whatever Tim’s Red Hood era was

and the rest is under the cut!

I think the relationship described here and at the other end of the fic slightly changed a little, but i like it for perspective reason’s so hopefully it makes sense

I do like my ominous drop off sentences…

This first ‘torture’ scene was what i built the idea of this fic off of.

May I Present, the Drama™: “Dick is a werewolf in a family of world-famous werewolf hunters.”

Writing Mary is so fun and so painful :’)

I had honestly planned to go for a much darker and feral Dick when I started this, but he turned into a much more poor little meow meow by the end

Did I cackle writing Bruce and Dick’s ironic first meeting? Yes absolutely I did.

I had to dig a plot hole to make it believable that NONE of a family of famous hunters realizes Dick is a wolf- but s hrugs at fanfic yanno

Forcibly asian-ifying the Waynes by making them wear house slippers askdfjhlasd

I have such a vivid image of the chandelier scene in my head, i really wish i could art properly so i could show yall- i hope the imagery was detailed enough

I use the word nest and physically cringe, no i dont mean it in an a/b/o way but like, i cant NOT think about it like that

The circus is such a pure and wonderful part of Dick’s childhood, I always love writing about it

Im at the part of the fic where i cackle over my decision making skills, I hope you’re all suffering so far : )

TENSE CHANGE AGAIN!!! Jesis how did i not mess this up

LOOK AT ME WRITING A FULL CIRCLE!!!! I really enjoyed starting the fic in scene without context, and then building up the context throughout until the climax, very professional writerly of me

These goodbyes were so bittersweet to write because I loved the angst in them, but it also felt like I was saying goodbye to the fic

The Titans that I’m referencing are Deathstroke’s Titans. Not for very important reasons other than it was lead by Slade Wilson, who’s the werewolf who managed to escape from the Waynes and identified them, and has Cassanda Cain’s Batgirl, because of a future plot point I’d imagined of Cass trying to ‘rescue’ Dick and relaizing that he’s not being horribly tortured at home.

I honestly had no idea what kind of weapons the Waynes fight with so like, its just “weapon” creative genius, yeah i know

Their hunter outfits are not quite exactly the canon outfits, im imagining a more like, Punk-Leather-Biker-Gang type style with inspirations from their canon suits

The reveal scene… I really hope I did the shock horror justice, it was a personal favorite.

DICK”S SAD LITTLE SPEECH - man he’s so whumpable

I feel kind of bad that Duke and Jason didn’t get to be part of the big final scene, but trust me, they take it just as well, if not better than the others.

BLOOD GORE AND MURDERRRRRRRRRR- its only right

The fic was supposed to end with the cuddling and scenting scene but my brother did a beta read for me and he was like, this is way too soft an ending for this fic, so violent revenge murder instead!

[anbu-legacy]

Really appreciate the world building pics yall post. like that alley with the lanterns @nezu. your writing is so wonderful I already had a very vivid image of something exactly like that for that scene except a little more late in the evening. but I love the way those beautiful pics really help to idk imprint? the images more firmly in the mind. love the way yall have nurtured and developed this universe into something so atmospheric and vivid and solid and alive and we really appreciate the effort you put into it

*beams* Thank you! This is just the best compliment. I've taken so long to answer because I've been holding it close for a couple weeks, like a treasure.

When I'm writing, I always have a vivid, cinematic image in my head. I'll switch between seeing the scene through my POV character's eyes, seeing it as if I'm hovering over their shoulder, and seeing it from a separate perspective, so I can look at the character I'm writing.

You're absolutely right, it is later in the evening in the scene in the alley, with a sunset-warm dusk falling, and lanterns and signs starting to glow. I am lucky to have been able to visit Japan twice (Ki's been to Japan once, too), so a lot of my imagery comes from direct experience. We also do a lot of research for images of things we haven't experienced directly.

World building is a passion all four of us share—you should hear us go on and on when we actually get in a room together! Speaking for all of us, we're delighted that you appreciate our efforts <3

Nezu

Here's a photo I took in Kyoto of a similar alley, late at night.

[vincent-frankenstein]

omg you should totally talk even in more depth abt the different techniques for lucid dreaming this is the first time i've heard abt it and it seems so interesting!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!! YELLS

yall are really indulging me tonight ig wow th,,, thank u,,,,, 

well! there are several different ways to induce a lucid dream, ranging from like. barely any effort to A Whole Lotta Effort. 

of course, no matter which technique you choose, you have to be maintaining a consistent dream journal and practicing reality checks for you to have any hope of success. i canNot stress enough how important those two things are!

anyway gonna, yeetyeet this under a cut bc we boutta get RAMBLY up in this tired bitch

first things first, MILD, or mnemonic-induced-lucid-dream. i talked about this one a lot in my original post, but it’s always worth a mention! it’s very low effort, and the results can be a bit slow, but it does work. all you have to do is set your intentions as you’re falling asleep with a mantra to focus your brain on lucid dreaming. personally, i use “i will become lucid in my dreams tonight” a lot, and it works pretty regularly! just repeat whatever mantra you choose over and over in your head while you’re trying to fall asleep — for at least five minutes, but the longer you go, the bigger your chances are.

upsides: REALLY low effort

downsides: not the biggest chance of actually inducing a lucid dream, and it can get really boring really fast, especially if ur an adhd bastard like me and u cant focus on shit

next! VILD, or visual-induced-lucid-dream. this is somewhere between MILD and WILD. it can be a bit more difficult than a MILD — especially if you have trouble visualizing things — but it can also induce lucid dreams that start exactly where you want them to, so you dont face the problem of having to change the scene. basically, you lay in bed, get comfortable, do ur Thing, and then you start visualizing exactly what scene you want your dream to start with. get as detailed as possible — notice every detail, every sound, everything. make sure to put a reality check into your scenario! supposedly, you’ll eventually just cross over into the dream, and your reality check will snap you into lucidity

ive only tried this method a couple times, and... it’s never really worked for me, but that could just be my adhd and my insomnia doubling up on me to keep me from falling asleep. whenever i try to focus too hard on falling asleep, i end up awake half the night instead. but! that doesnt mean this isnt a good technique; just because it doesnt work for me doesnt mean it wont work for you

upsides: starts a dream exactly where you want to be, good if you’re an imaginative person

downsides: boring as all hell, can (at least in my experience) worsen insomnia

the WBTB, or wake-back-to-bed method is a pretty much surefire way to get a lucid dream if you’re okay with sacrificing a night’s sleep in the process. the idea is to wake yourself up during an REM sleep cycle (specifically around 4-6 hours after you go to sleep, when dreams will be the most vivid). some sources say to get up then, spend about an hour meditating or reading about lucid dreaming, and then go back to sleep, but personally, this works best for me if i just roll over and go right back to bed. when your alarm rings, you’ll snap out of whatever dream you were having, and if you go right back to bed, you should be able to fall right back into the dream with the knowledge that it’s a dream. 

ive never had this technique fail, but it always leaves me super tired the next day

upsides: pretty much guaranteed lucid dream, not too much effort

downsides: you have to wake up six hours into your sleep, which is Gross™

now, if you really wanna put in the effort. there’s the WILD, wake-induced-lucid-dream technique. as the name implies, this technique attempts to bring you right from wakefulness into a lucid dream. it’s a long, complicated process — and in my personal opinion, it’s not much fun — but if you do it right, your chances of getting lucid are huge.

basically, you’re going to allow your body to fall asleep while your mind stays awake. you get in bed, lie in the corpse pose (on your back, arms at your sides, legs out, etc), and meditate. focus on your breathing as it comes in and out, and center yourself. then, relax your body bit by bit — starting with your feet, then your ankles, your calves, etc. when you’re done, your body should be deeply relaxed

then just. lay there. you can use your mantra from MILD, or steal a bit of inspo from VILD and start visualizing your dream. eventually, you’ll start seeing hypnagogic imagery — those little blobs of color and light that dance in front of your eyes as you’re falling asleep. you may also feel vibrations, hear auditory hallucinations, or even see things, if you open your eyes. you’re basically inducing sleep paralysis; your mind is awake, but your body is asleep.

dont move, no matter how weird it feels. keep your eyes closed, and focus on the hypnagogic imagery until it starts to form objects, places, people. soon, you should be able to just snap right into whatever scene builds before you, fully lucid.

ive only tried this once. i got to the vibrations, freaked out, woke myself up, and stayed awake the rest of the night with insomnia. it’s... probably my least favorite technique. 

upsides: huge chance of getting a lucid dream, and u get some Funky Hypnagogic Imagery on ur way

downsides: sleep paralysis is VERY likely, weird feelings all around, ridiculously hard to master especially if you have trouble stayig focused

those are the Main Four techniques! there are some that take even more effort than WILD — like ADA, all-day-awareness, where you’re supposed to force yourself to be awakre of everything 24/7 so the awareness will bleed through into your dreams — but in my experience, these four are the most likely to get results.

aside from these! there are also supplements you can take, hypnosis tracks you can download, guided meditations you can practice — basically a whole bunch of shit you can do on the side to increase your chances. but if ur like me and u dont have the time/energy to do all that shit, just stick with MILD, and you’ll see results soon enough!