#will probably do some tweaking later but I'm excited to share this

[queenlucythevaliant]

The remnant there who survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down.

After the door in the air was shut, King Caspian brought together an assembly of his friends and advisors. There, he called the dwarf Trumpkin to speak concerning what he had seen of Cair Paravel.

“Well,” said Trumpkin, “I can’t say that there was much left of the place when I was there. The walls are in pieces and it’s all overgrown. You’d scarcely know it was ever a castle, if you weren’t expecting to find one.”

“But could it be restored?” asked the king. “In your opinion: as a craftsman and a Narnian?”

Trumpkin seemed to ponder this for a moment, but his answer came readily enough. “We’d have to rebuild it from the foundations. Quarry stone, cut timber, and tear out all the plants that have grown there by the root— and that’s all before we so much as lay the new cornerstone. But if we go about it the right way (I mean, with the good guidance of Aslan and all)—yes, I think we can manage it.”

“But is it the thing that we ought to do first?” asked Doctor Cornelius. “After all, the Telmarine castle stands, and it will serve. There’s much else that needs doing at present.”

“It is a worthy undertaking,” piped Reepicheep, who was now standing atop his seat almost at attention, one small paw on the hilt of his rapier. “One more urgent and noble than any other work before us now. Cair Paravel is the ancient seat of justice in Narnia, and the graves of Old Narnian kings are on its grounds.”

A silence fell, and when it became clear that no one particularly felt like disputing the Mouse’s words, Caspian nodded his head solemnly. “Very well then. We rebuild.”

.

It was a little after noon and the sun was high on the day that Old Narnian exiles first returned to the shores of Cair Paravel. They arrived in row-boats and dinghies and on ferries from the mainland, for no ships had yet been built. Trumpkin and the King were in the lead boat together, and by Trumpkin’s direction the boats made landfall along the stretch of beach that ran alongside the ruins of Cair Paravel. Behind them came a host of Red Dwarves and Black Dwarves with their tools. There were Centuars, led by Glenstorm and his sons, and Beasts of all kinds: Clodsley Shovel and his Moles, the Hardbiters and the Hares, nimble-footed Harts, mighty Bears, Sables, Hedgehogs, Dogs, Horses, and the Mice with Reepicheep their Captain. Then came the fauns, with Mentius and Obentinus. Last of all were the Birds, soaring over the ships and calling to one another in high voices as they went.

When the first boat alighted on the shore, a great cheer went up, starting at the king’s boat and fanning out to all the rest. Caspian stepped onto the soft sand with a crunch and surveyed the place where the ruins of Cair Paravel sat. He could not think of anything suitably momentous to say, so he sank wordlessly to his knees and looked up, giving thanks to Aslan.

That night the whole rebuilding party camped on the beach. The dwarves built bonfires and the fauns played their flutes and there was song and dance. A few of the centuars were old enough to remember living in the lands around the Cair before the Telmarines had driven them off, and those that did wept. A few of the younger creatures wept too, though they could not express why. Yet Dumnus led the singing of loud choruses and some of the others whooped and hollered for joy. The sound of their voices, both the weeping and the singing, mingled together and fled into the night.

The next day, the dryads and naiads of the land around Cair Paravel came down to the beach. The giants, who had come from the mainland on foot, arrived not long after. Their number complete, the Narnians set to work.

.

“One thing we have in our favor,” Doctor Cornelius said, scroll still half open before him. “The historical records on the construction of the castle are exhaustive. There are plans and specifications for every inch of the place.”

Caspian straightened, wincing a little. He’d been helping one of the naiads clean debris from the courtyard well, and his back ached from bending over. “You might try telling that to the black dwarves,” he said. “They still haven’t figured out where to dig.”

Once the dwarves had assessed the ruins of the castle, they used a kind of scrying magic which Caspian did not understand in order to find a quarry of new stone to match the old. The trouble came when the time came for the stones to speak: they would only sing, in voices too deep for words.

“They’re too busy celebrating to tell us where they came from,” said Winnibrik gruffly when Caspian inquired about the progress of the quarry. “And I can’t blame them for that, really. It’s good that there are Narnian feet in this place again.”

Dryads guided parties into the forest to show which trees could be used for timber, and then Horses and centuars dragged the beams back to the Cair. In general, such work would have been beneath them, suitable only for dumb beasts of burden; but they did it without complaint. They knew, as everyone did, that they were in the midst of a great work.

Yet it was the cleaning and removal of debris that occupied most of the workers. Trufflehunter knelt in the dirt, patiently pulling broken bits of twisted metal from the ruin of the small armory. He hummed as he went, something lilting and wordless. A little way behind him, in the courtyard, a group of fauns hoisted a fallen apple tree and carried it away.

.

It was shortly after the foundation had been laid that a band of efreets appeared from the north. They arrived late in the evening while Caspian was dredging one of the cellars and asked to be brought before the king. “If it please you, sire, let us build with you,” said their leader, a broad creature with a toothy smile. “After all, we are Old Narnians too.”

Caspian, who was knee deep in water and soaked to the skin, called for a halt and went to confer with his councilors.

“You ought to have nothing to do with them,” said Trumpkin firmly, “not by my advice.”

“I should think not!” echoed Trufflehunter. “We’ve no need of any congress with creatures of that sort. Cair Paravel must be rebuilt by those who follow Aslan.”

The efreets, however, were less than accepting of this verdict. A few nights later, a Dog reported that he’d smelled men in the woods and a few scouts confirmed that Telmarines were camped a few miles upriver. “It seems that our ghoulish friends are angry with us,” said Caspian, “though I can’t for the life of me imagine what an efreet could have said to make a Telmarine come with him this close to the sea. At any rate, we ought to be alert. Send someone down to the treasure chamber and distribute whatever weapons you can find to anyone who can use them.”

So, as the walls of Cair Paravel rose up, the Narnians carried swords as they worked. At night everyone camped together inside the great footprint of the castle, with guards stationed on the half-built watchtower under the stars.

Reepicheep took more watches than anyone, for he said that he liked to be alone in the stillness of such a sacred place. “We needn’t be afraid,” he told Caspian softly one night. “Cair Paravel is ours, and we are Aslan’s. What can hurt us here?”

.

The Brothers of Shuddering Wood built the entrance to the main foyer, armed with heavy dwarven hammers that seemed to split the air when they fell. The hung the gate one glittering morning when the sun was on the sea. They left it wide open for the rest of the day.

Clodsley Shovel took the Moles to set the king’s garden to rights, and one day the Mice joined them in repairing the Tombs of the Kings. When they were through, they brought trimmings from the garden to decorate the monuments. The Dogs dug holes for posts, and a greenhouse soon followed. Then came the armory, the buttresses, the tower of guard.

“Was all of this really here before?” Caspian asked in astonishment. The water-gate had just been completed and his old tutor was beside him, looking up at the intricate device of bolts and bars that kept it securely lowered.

“Yes, my boy, it was,” said the old man. “It’s all in the books, you see?” Caspian felt a lump build in his throat: something like pride and another something like hope. He tried to swallow around it.

Hogglestock and Trufflehunter split the middle-sized Beasts into pairs for the construction of the broad wall. They told stories as they worked, in loud voices so as to carry down the length of it: stories that usually started with “Remember…” and occasionally, “In the days when Peter reigned at Cair Paravel…”

The great feasting hall came together little by little. The eastern windows were cast by dwarven artisans from enormous panes of glass while Glenstorm and his sons built the dais and drew sketches for the skylight. Wimbleweather carried great stone pillars in his arms and set them down where Ravenscaur instructed from his perch in the rafters. The Oak and the Beech made carvings on the seven heavy doors that led into the hall, and when they were through dwarven smiths fitted them with handles of silver and gold.

They ate in the hall together when it was built, though the walls were still bare and their voices echoed. The Bulgy Bears carried in the first piles of food from the kitchens, which were at last in working order. They heaped it on makeshift tables with little concern for appearance: grilled fish, pheasant, and apples prepared in every imaginable way.

.

When the last stone was laid in the castle, Caspian decreed a day of general celebration. But when he turned the corner down the hallway to the grand staircase, Caspian saw Trumpkin standing at a window looking morose, with tears in his eyes.

“Come now, Trumpkin, what’s the matter?” said Caspian as he came to a stop beside his friend. “Today is a happy day, and there’s no room in it for tears.”

Trumpkin made a sound between a snort and a sigh as he turned to face his king. “Certainly, your majesty. No tears today. But—” he smiled beneath his beard, “—Turnips and thunderbolts, Caspian! If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d have laughed myself silly rather than imagine that any of this was possible.” He swept his hand towards the window and Caspian looked out.

It was a crisp, cloudless morning, the sky bright and clear, and the sounds of singing and of instruments being played filtered all the way up to the tallest tower. Caspian watched the Dogs running to and fro as they prepared for a hunt. Dryads danced in the courtyard and fauns played their flutes. Beyond the wall, a group of dwarves were coming up from the beach, where they’d just arrived with several boats full of gold and jewels from the mainland with which they meant to beautify the castle.

“Why Trumpkin!” laughed the king, “I’m surprised at you. Wasn’t it on your recommendation that all of this was done?”

Trumpkin shook his head ruefully. “My foolish optimism, perhaps. Aslan’s Mane, but times have changed.”

He cleared his throat and nodded towards the beach. “King Edmund said he’d have built a bridge if Cair Paravel had been an island in his day. What say you, King Caspian?”

The castle still needed furnishing, but there were finally tables in the feasting hall and the armory was stocked with swords. Doctor Cornelius was well on his way to reestablishing the library, and soon Cair Paravel would be adorned with the finest dwarven jewels.

“Next year,” Caspian replied. “I’ll put you in charge of its construction.”

Remember me, my God, for good.

[lemonisntreal]

My thoughts on Sing: Thriller! [finally]

I just want to vomit out some of the things on my mind because ohhh my god, do I have THOUGHTS-

Also! Link here to the short, for the people who want / need it 👍

NO WAY

THE BASTARD LIVES???

THE MIKE FANS WERE ACTUALLY RIGHT????

It wasn't just copium!

Kinda off topic, but this is getting me thinking on how different sized animal's seats are priced. Because they only grabbed one ticket I think, so I think they're literally sharing a seat [WHICH IS CUTE]. But does this mean that bigger animals need to buy more than one ticket? Or are all the seats just ridiculously big? Or am I crazy?

Also thinking of that one scene in Spongebob where Plankton gets sat on by Bubble Bass 😭

Tiny blurry Mike hehe looks like found footage

RAHHHHH

RAHHHHHHHH

Me when I see my fav for 2 seconds with zero speaking lines

Nana is eating also holy shit

EATING 👹

Also Eddie guiding her by the hand is sweet, I love their relationship so much aaywusjhisajhajk

He has such an obviously better relationship with her than he does his actual parents and I'm eating it upppppp

The "How hard can it be to fix a stupid tire anyway???" line was so aggressive, I'm taking this as character development !

She's an actually amazing actor in-universe and I love that

Meena Sweep

Also this set is clean as fuckkk- also a lot more realistic, but still very not LMAO

Also he's DOING A JIG AAA

The crunchy version is for my enjoyment specifically

HOLY SHIT I WAS REFERENCED /j

Also also.

Both GMO and Alice in Wonderland were really short plays from what we see, but I actually do think that this isn't how it actually goes in canon. When they're on the bus in Sing 2, the script looks pretty thick for one. And two- why would anyone pay for tickets for 4 minutes of show?

Like it just makes sense, you gotta understand my reasoning.

They couldn't put the whole 2 hours of play in the actual films, but I like to believe that's actually how it goes

That there's some story and depth to it as well [💀]

Reference. For later.

THE WAY HIS FACE SCRUNCHES DUDE DUDEUDUED

Meena Gunter and Ash are absolutely partying in the back bro

I wonder how often Meena finds herself in cars. Because like there's size, but also we know she just takes the bus everywhere. I don't think her family has a car, they all feel like they utilize public transit instead

Cars that are modified for bigger and smaller animals are probably more expensive and not mass-manufactured either

Not just height but weight limit is also something that needs to be kept in mind. Elephants are like a few thousand pounds.

I think it's just easier to have modified public transit rather than modified individual cars for that kind of load. I bet public transit has way more funding in the Sing universe because of this need too. Because there's also Rhinos, and Hippos, and Giraffes-

I'm getting lost in the sauce again.

HER NOSE SCRUNCH

She was AT that door. First one there, bouncing with excitement. Adorable. I wish Clay had speaking lines with her in this AGH

REFERENCE.

girl what the fuck are you doing here, your ass was NOT invited ‼️

The Infection AU would go CRAZY

Somebody needs to make that rightttt now, actually

I'm giving it some thought right now and how with a few tweaks this could be cool. Like I'd definitely make it so there were different phases, like the MLP AUs. And I'd keep the hivemind thing definitely, because I think that adds an extra terrifying aspect to it

Probably make the ooze stuff look more messy, eyes would be leaking the stuff, mouth.

Idk I'm just spitballing LMAO

The dog from under the table is actually terrifying

Rare sighting of angry Meena

ALSO WHY-

I have a complaint.

Why were they dancing.

For a full minute. With nothing.

No singing. Just instrumental. It dragged on for so insanely long. Like that's my one complaint about this short, is that the pacing is just absolute dogshit after they all get possessed. You can give me a Thriller reprise without making it look super awkward and boring. Why couldn't this have been a cool chase scene instead? Like actually keep up that tension you established?? Because like Crawly and Buster are just STANDING there now, and it's just like-

And then the actual chase is over so fast

Man.

HE'S SO STUPID LOOKING I'M GONNA CRY [positive]

the Borb....... [Buster orb]

I hate the "it was all a dream!" trope but I can't really be mad

I saw it coming from a mile away, and I'm honestly glad because it means that this isn't canon and we don't have to deal with random zombie shenanigans in the actual lore

Or maybe not because Crawly was literally possessed at the end but whatever. Not canon.

My final thoughts are that this was really solid! I feel well fed and very happy to get some new content of the sillies. I will most likely be drawing lots of Thriller stuff because WOW were some of those shots pretty. Overall, critically? C+ short [mostly due to that minute of almost nothing happening]. But my enjoyment level puts the grade at a B+ for me so [B is for Biased].

[writingquestionsanswered]

Scared to Commit to Dream Project

xuliaxuxu asked: I'm an aspiring author who has been writing for a long time but never actually committed to my dream project because it scares me. I've read a lot about structure, good character development and arcs, and how it all works, but I'm still scared of not being able to write a story I'm proud of. Do you have any tips on how to get through the outlining process and first draft without feeling so much pressure on your shoulders? And are the first steps in writing a novel where you have so many ideas but don’t know how to organise them? It’s been a lonely process since I have no writer friends to talk about these specific struggles. Thank you for your lovely work here on tumblr it has been inspiring me a whole lot!

[Ask edited for length]

If it's any reassurance, the fact that you've been teaching yourself about structure and character development puts you ahead of a lot of writers when they first start out. But it's also a bit of a double-edged sword, because that knowledge raises the bar for what you expect to be able to accomplish. And unfortunately, having the knowledge doesn't mean you can instantly apply it perfectly. You still need to practice applying that knowledge before you can get really good at it. It's sort of like this: if you wanted to get really good at hand lettering, you could watch hours and hours of videos about how to do it... you could learn about the different techniques and the lingo, etc., but that doesn't mean you'll be able to do flawless hand lettering the first time you pick up a brush marker. You'll still have to actually practice those techniques for a while to get really good at it. Writing is the exact same way. And that can be frustrating because you know what you want to accomplish, and you have the knowledge to get yourself there, you just don't have the actual skills to actually get there yet.

So, here's what I recommend... keep the dream project on the back-burner for now. You can still work on the pre-planning (because even that qualifies as practice), but in the meantime work on other projects to get the practice in. There's a little bit of sacrifice here because you should find ideas you're excited about, but you have to write them knowing they're not going to be your best work. And that's fine, because writing them doesn't mean you have to share them or publish them. You can write them and keep them on the shelf as a reminder of the work you've done along the way. You can also revisit favorite projects later to revamp them with a more practiced skill set.

Working on something you're excited about and love--but which has the leeway to be not your best work--is the absolute best way to take the pressure off yourself when outlining and getting through the first draft. Once you've done this a few times and you know you're getting the hang of it, you can revisit your dream project, and just the fact that you know what you're doing will take a ton of that pressure off. Another thing that will help once you get to that point is remembering that your outline and first draft don't have to be perfect--and they won't be. Part of the writing process is having the flexibility to change things as you go, to tweak and improve, even into the later drafts. Developmental editing wouldn't exist if your outline and first draft had to be structurally perfect. :)

As far as organizing a lot of ideas, you might find it helpful to find a story planner of some kind. These exist as web sites (Novlr), apps (Fabula), programs (Scrivener), workbooks (Outlining Your Novel Workbook by K.M. Weiland), and you can even find time for download on Etsy. You can probably also find free ones to download if you can't spend any money. If nothing else, get yourself a multi-subject notebook and divide it into sections like plot, characters, world, brainstorm and get all those ideas out into their individual sections. Even that can make a big difference.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[cassiebones]

Casita and What I Think The Magic Rooms Look Like

Or at least the ones we didn't get to see in the movie...and maybe an expansion of the ones we did.

OKAY

Alma wasn't expecting her five-year-olds to get gifts. There was really no way Casita could have communicated this to her (if it could, I'm almost certain it would have told her that Mirabel wasn't going to get one, bc Casita is not a dick), so these three doors probably just appeared on their birthday. They may have had a celebration planned, but it wasn't for a few hours or days, so only the four of them were there. So...

1. Julieta (and, later, Agustin) - Julieta had spent some time in the kitchen with her mother, helping her cook. Pepa and Bruno slacked off and goofed around, so they didn't have as much of a hand in the food, but Julieta loved cooking because she loved stories of all the meals her Mama and Papa used to share, which Alma would tell her as they made arepas and empanadas. It influenced her gift. So, when she opens her door, everything that she helped make is instantly healing. Nobody knows it really until later. Inside her room is a little kitchen, child-sized, that will grow with her. Everything is perfectly within her reach and she has all the ingredients she needs to make everything her family loves. She has spice jars and an icebox and a brick oven. She has a sink and counters and bags of flour and sugar and eggs and just...everything a good little chef needs. She can experiment with recipes all she wants. It's all fireproof, because Casita understands that this is a five-year-old and, despite being able to cook, she may still make some mistakes. Julieta is super excited by this little kitchen, but there's more. She'll need ingredients on a continuous basis, so the cabinets are probably magically refilling, or she has a source of ingredients that can be grown (a vegetable/herb garden) with plants that will never die. Further in is the actual bedroom part, where she'll sleep. There's a big bed, bedside tables, a canopy, a dresser, a desk...all the things a little girl needs in her bedroom, but a lot of the design is food-centered (because Casita is basically a living Home Makeover team that focuses on one aspect of your personality and runs with it).

Like I said, as Julieta grows, so does her kitchen. Everything she needs is always within her reach while she's cooking in her little kitchen. It's mostly for practice. Whenever she needs to do a big meal, she uses the main kitchen, especially as she gets older. But she practices her recipes in the little one, so that she can tweak them as much as she pleases. Sometimes, Pepa and Bruno help her. Pepa loves how soft the bread she makes is and Bruno is addicted to her arepas. A lot of their bonding is done in the little kitchen. There are pictures of the three of them posted all over her cabinets, at different ages. When Julieta misses her brother especially, she'll just stare at these pictures for a while.

When Agustin comes into the picture, the room shifts a bit to accommodate him. Another dresser is added, a small table for two (so they can have private meals as a couple) and when he cooks for her (which he does at least a few times a week, just to give his wife a break, especially after she pops out his kids), the kitchen will adjust to him and also help keep him from getting hurt. There's also a small storage room where she can keep excess food, which Casita keeps from spoiling with magic.

2. Pepa (and later Felix) - I think we saw a small part of her bedroom when Camilo makes her the tea. There are weather vanes and pictures of her kids, so I think it's a fair guess. I think there are various other, weather-related things in her room; a thermostat, more weather vanes, umbrellas (if she ever wants to keep dry), etc. Just things to let her know that her powers are starting to pick up. But she also has a small sleeping area that may dampen her powers a little bit, so that she isn't woken by a storm in the middle of the night. Something that allows her (and her husband/family) to sleep a bit more soundly during the night. There are also things to help her stay calm (like a small stove for her to make tea or coffee) or happy, like water-proof books or games that she can play with her siblings or, later on, kids. She does get her gift when she's five, after all. So I think it's safe to assume Casita makes her room child-friendly.

I can't even imagine what she must have been feeling as a five-year-old when a storm cloud just appeared above her head. The thunder must have scared her at least a little. I wonder if it began to rain immediately or if she was able to control it. This is why I think the part of her room where she's supposed to relax/sleep dampens it. Not all the way, but at least it keeps storms away. Growing up, I can see her spending a lot of time in her bedroom, hiding away from her mother's constant nitpicking ("Pepa, you have a cloud!" "I know, Mama!") and from all the people who treat her like a nuisance because her anxiety tends to make her storm a lot. Felix and Julieta are the ones that can make her calm, so she lets them in.

When Felix moves in, he makes her tea in the evenings so she can unwind. He even makes her coffee in the morning so she can start off her days well. He doesn't mind when she rains on him and tries to make her laugh or smile when he sees that she's starting to feel stressed. He helps her shoo away the clouds and withstands the wind. People talk about the chaos that must have ensued when she had her babies, but that's why I think her bed can dampen the gift, so that there's not a full hurricane outside when Dolores or Camilo or Antonio is born. And Felix is there to hold her hand every single time, while Julieta and Alma help birth her babies.

3. Bruno - okay so we know what his room looks like, but we never see a bed, so I'm assuming it's somewhere up all those stairs (why couldn't you have given him an elevator, Casita?!?! HE WAS FIVE). Although, I don't actually think it began like that. Like, maybe when he was little, there was a small staircase up to where he told his visions and past that was an alcove sleeping area.

Somebody on TikTok suggested that Bruno's room looks more like it's for the people who used to come to him for visions, so maybe as more people began to show up, more stairs were added (which was not fair at all for him), to accommodate him. I think this is a good theory, but also, what if it changed, too? Like the room shifted depending on how many people wanted visions. Maybe when Bruno disappeared, all the people in the village were worried about the miracle, so they lined up to figure out what was going on, but Bruno slipped away (and cut down that bridge) before any of them could get their answers. When he "left" the room, the magic also left it, so it couldn't shift back to its original form. IDK, just a theory.

4. Isabela - we know what her room looked like. But I want to talk about her new bedroom. I personally think that it's more succulent and cactus-centric. All these sharp objects and new flowers (she has so much Sundew) are replacing all the pretty flowers she used to grow. Her bed is still on vines, but it's a lot more...colorful. She loves all the colors and there is no pastel to be found. She uses the dyes from her new flowers to spread colors all around. She uses it to color her own clothes and even gifts some to Mirabel to use to make new clothes for the family. Mirabel uses it to make her a whole new, very colorful, dress. Isabela routinely changes the color of her hair with the dye, as well. She's finally a lot happier being perfectly imperfect.

And she has so many succulents.

5. Dolores - Without a doubt, Dolores has a part of her room where she can go to not hear anything. There are couches and books and a hammock, so she can just relax and rest her sore ears for a little bit. It has to get tiring listening to everybody's bullshit all day long. I think she may be able to control her power a little bit (she was able to hear Mariano specifically when she needed to) but overall, it's all like a dull buzzing for most of the time. So to have a part of her bedroom where that buzzing just...disappears? That's a must.

Like her mother, I think Dolores's sleeping area also dampens her power so that she can sleep at night, even with her uncle running around in the walls of the casita. But, when she does want to listen to something (say...her uncle's telenovelas), there's an area for that as well. She settles down with some tea and her auntie's arepas and tunes in.

6. Luisa - In a deleted scene, we see a part of Luisa's room. We know that it's basically a gym. The creators of Encanto even tell us that her room is made of stone and there are weights everywhere and a secret door that opens up to a festival/circus for her to have fun and relax at. I don't know how often she gets to use this area (because she is always doing chores because my baby is under so much damn pressure), but I feel like she would give herself at least one night a month to go to the fairgrounds and play for a little bit, because she probably didn't get to be a kid a whole lot since getting super-strength at 5yo and being expected to do literally EVERYTHING for the lazy townspeople. Luisa, the donkeys got out again :( THEN GET THEM YOUR FUCKING SELF YOU USELESS PIECE OF - never mind.

Anyway, Luisa definitely starts taking more time to herself after rebuilding Casita. Maybe her room even shifts so that only part of the room has weights and the rest is filled with relaxation areas for her to unwind. She even eventually shares the part of her room with the circus with her family and they make outings there every once in a while when they all need a break (nobody else in the village is allowed to know about this and Casita makes sure that anybody who isn't officially a part of the family can't even get that door open to go to the fair. It's only for Casita's familia).

7. Camilo- This is the one I'm majorly stuck on. I have no idea how to fit a bedroom to a shape-shifter. Maybe there are mirrors so he can practice his shifting. Maybe he practices making modifications to the people he shifts into. Or maybe he just has a bunch of games and toys because Camilo has literally been an adult since he was five. He is currently fifteen and routinely shifts into adults to take care of their children while they take a rest. I can only imagine what that does to his psyche. I like to think that when he's in his bedroom, he turns into a younger version of himself and just does all the things he was never able to do because he had "chores" to do. A little like Luisa.

Side note: this kid has definitely had an identity crisis at some point in his life.

8. Mirabel - yes, Mirabel got a room after they rebuilt, because I refuse to believe they didn't build her one in the new house. And I refuse to believe that Casita would have gotten rid of it, instead of adding to it to make it more her.

Mirabel has a sewing machine and all the thread and yarn one could hope for, in so many colors. Her room is bigger on the inside and she has mannequins for the clothes she makes. She has a corner where she can have her family members try on their new clothes and she can tailor them a bit more. There are dressing rooms, as well. She has a corner where she can knit and crochet and embroider in a big easy chair and she even starts to sell some of the clothes she makes to the townspeople, who absolutely love the little personal touches she adds to her work. She doesn't charge very much, mind you, because her family has all they need thanks to Casita, and she loves what she does, but if somebody gives her a deadline, she gives them a price and she does not waver. Because she is 100% a girlboss.

Now, eventually, Mirabel will become the new matriarch. I believe this 100% because there's a reason Casita didn't give her a gift and it's because she was meant to take over after Abuela passes. Abuela realizes this, too, and when her time is coming, she refuses any of Julieta's food because she's finally ready to meet her Pedro again. She's seen at least two of her great-grandbabies (Dolores' and Mariano's kids) and it's clear that Mirabel, who is 25 at the time (same age as Abuela when she received the miracle) is ready. She holds a ceremony similar to the Gift Ceremony, where she officially hands the candle over to Mirabel, who feels the magic flow through her as the responsibility of the encanto is passed over to her.

When Abuela passes away peacefully in her sleep, Mirabel's room shifts to the one at the center of the house, her name replacing Alma's. The picture of Alma handing the candle to Mirabel is placed among the pictures of the rest of the family at their gift ceremonies and they hang a portrait of Alma next to the portrait of Pedro, because they're finally together.

9. Antonio - honestly, Antonio's room remains a jungle. We see, when he first steps in, that there's a little desk there, so I imagine his bed is just out of view of the camera, but he prefers to sleep in the hammock, surrounded by all of his animal friends. I wouldn't change anything about his room at all.

[mary-is-writing]

End of the Year Recap – 2022

This has certainly been a year, hasn't it?

In the spirit of this being the last month of the year, I thought about doing a small recap of what this year has been for me in here and my writing. I have famously bad memory (thanks adhd) so I'm probably gonna miss some things here and there, but I'll try my best to remember as much as I can. So, let's go on a trip down memory lane!!

In the beginning - Starting 2022

I had a good start of the year, followed by the breath of fresh air that 2021 was for me. We we're still in quarantine but around March/April we went back to in-person interactions, so there was a lot of moving during those months. Around that time is where the first very important thing of the year happened: I finished draft 2 of The Monsters Only We See, my standalone wip, as well as starting to look for more beta readers. I have to admit, I haven't followed o the whole beta-ing of the wip as I should, but I want to continue it, specially with me continuing the English translation.

I also started said translation roughly after finishing draft 2, and like I said, I haven't been the best at keeping up with it. But I still have time while I look up how to get the money to register it and where/how to share it, mainly digitally but also maybe physically.

A very special month - June 2022

This year's main highlight for sure: on June 9th I finished the first draft of Book 1 of Where Camellias Blossom, my fantasy trilogy. Man I was so happy. This was my second time experiencing finishing a draft (the first one being TMOWS) and there really is something so special to watch a project's phase be complete. It's a mix of the ecstasy of "holy crap I did it!!", a nostalgia for the journey walked and the comfort of a path in the back for finishing it. I think the experience of writing the first draft is unique, it doesn't compare to doing the 2nd or the 3rd.

I started the first draft for Book 2 and I already have notes for changes to draft 2 of Book 1 in order to keep the continuity 😅 so I'm looking forward to both continuing the draft of Book 2 and coming back to work on Book 1.

Guys I think we're getting burnout - July to October 2022

Y'know, in retrospective think I might have wasted all of my energy on finishing the first draft of WCB Book 1. There isn't a lot to say about this months because I didn't do a lot. Most of what I did here was continuing the work with the wips I had, throw there are two important things that happened on October:

1) I finished the 3rd draft of TMOWS. It was easier and I'm very happy with this as the last version. Maybe I'll do some tweaks here and there if I get to have a few more beta readers, but I like the structure and the plot the way they are now.

2) I started Little Shadows, my horror podcast!! I had the idea for it since months ago and decided to do it just in time for spooky season, with it premiering on Halloween. I've been wanting to do something with YouTube for the longest time, and free realizing video essays would take a lot of work that I wasn't willing to put into them, I decided something like this, short format and focused on writing, would be the best option. I'm very happy that I'm doing it and I wanna keep it up, since I have ideas for where the overarching story will go later.

Hoo boi - November 2022

I was very excited for Nanowrimo this year since I wanted to use it to write the 1st draft of Book 2 of WCB, but in the end I barely wrote +4K words. Guys, I was not feeling it at all. It was like all the stress and work for the semester in college suddenly hit me and wouldn't stop hitting me until the month was over, a few days ago. Sadly, Nano was a miss, but not everything was lost:

I finished the first volume of my comic, The Demon in My House. At 129 pages, this little hobby of mine is now long enough to fill a complete volume if I ever printed it, and that makes me so, so proud. I've tried making comics before, short and long format, and this is the first one I feel I can really commit to. I've never done so much for one, and I'm only getting started. The story I have planned for this is really long, so we'll see how many volumes I end up filling, haha. But it also makes me happy and proud cause it shows I can do what I set my mind into, and I hope I get to finish it one day and reread it from begining to end to see the story completed. For now, it's all baby steps towards the next plot point.

And now, at the end - December 2022

If I'm honest, I don't think I'll write a lot this month either. I'll continue drawing for TDIMH, sure, but as for advancing my writing wips... yeah, not happening. This semester was weird and we're gonna finish it on January next year instead of this month, which means I'm gonna have homework for vacations 😩 Plus, I wanna rest. I just. I really wanna rest. And this being the last month of the year is the perfect excuse for it.

Overall, this has been a good year for my writing. A lot of highs and lows, but very much productive. I also wanna appreciate all of you who remained with me this year or that came here for the first time and have decided to walk alongside me. Thank you!! Your interactions and interest have been helping me a lot in not giving up midway with my writing.

Happy holidays, happy soon-to-be new year and happy writing!!

[ficklewish]

Pre Calc Sucks

a Tendou x Reader Soulmate AU

Word count: 1.6k

Genre: Fluff

Pairing: Tendou x reader

ˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ

If you were told that you'd meet your soulmate through a texting app way before you did, you'd probably laugh at their face and tell them that it's not possible for that to happen, as it only does in movies or books. Or that's what you believed. Never in a million years did you think that it would happen to anyone you knew, let alone you yourself. It was a shock, but it was welcomed with open arms, as you had finally met the love of your life, the one fated to be with you. Meeting Tendou was, by far, the best day of your life. How you first met him however…now that would be a funny bedtime story. 

ˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ

You were struggling with your art and school when you had downloaded discord. A school friend had suggested it to you, as certain servers had places for school or art help, and you had given in due to the huge lack of inspiration you had. Making an account and picking your username, it had finally been done, but once again, you were stuck. How exactly did discord work? Would it just…randomly suggest servers everyday or did you have to find them? You had left it for a while, just empty, waiting for it to be filled. Your friend had asked if you had made any online friends, and responding with no, they became confused. "Haven't you joined any servers?" You awkwardly laughed, turning away from them. "No…I don't know how discord works." You look back up at them and see the most judging look in their eyes. "You're hopeless. Here, let me help you." Taking your phone and opening your search engine, they go to a random site and start scrolling while you look over their shoulder. Seeing them go through multiple windows, they give back your phone. “There, I added you to one, you can figure out the rest from there.” Giving a small thanks, you turn to your phone, reading the instructions. “Hmmm, this is gonna take a while…” After doing a few tweaks and introducing yourself, you finally started to talk to the people on the server, learning their names and pronouns, acknowledging their age for appropriate conversations, and even adding a few friends. You had completely forgotten you were still at school, even though it was currently your lunch period. “Who knows, maybe your soulmate is in there.” Startled, you turn towards your friend then roll your eyes. The whole soulmate concept was something you used to like, but now, it was just a reminder that you hadn’t found yours yet. The whole “first place they touch you” thing was just a taunt, at least to you. Your mark was what seemed like someone's arms wrapped around you, including your upper arms. So many of your peers had already found theirs while you felt almost forgotten. It brought thoughts to your head, such as what if...your soulmate was across the world? Would you ever meet them? Did you even have one? Shoving the last thought deep into your mind. “I doubt it, shit like that only happens in movies.” Your friend looked at you, then smirked. “I don’t know about that.”

ˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ

After classes ended, you went home, a bit excited to start talking online, as childish as it sounded. You had to keep reminding yourself that you joined for school and art help, but making a few friends never hurt. Taking off your shoes and dropping your things, you sat on the couch and noticed you were home alone for the time being, your parents most likely at the market. Taking your phone out and opening the app, you begin to interact in the correct chat for school. 

"Hey! I was wondering if someone could help me with my pre calculus homework? I'm a bit stuck"

You noticed that someone was already going to respond, which comforted you greatly. 

"I could help with this! Just give me a moment!"

Checking their profile to not accidentally misgender them, you notice that they are actually a he, and he has similar interests as you. Going back to your bag and getting your notebook and textbook, you turn back to your phone and prepare to fry your brain with math. (fucking hate math, it's so COMPLICATED) 

"Alright, what did you need help with?"

Telling your "tutor" about which problems you were confused about, they immediately begin to guide you through it and point out any mistakes you made, all while not exactly telling you the answer. He had helped you understand the concept much more easier than your teacher ever did, and you were extremely grateful for that. He had even given you some extra tips on how to remember certain formulas for when exams and tests are assigned. You thanked him multiple times for helping you with your homework

"Of course! Just DM me anytime you need help, I'd gladly do so!"

And that's what you did, texting him every now and then for homework help, mainly pre calc as it was your worst subject, and you didn't want to burden him with your other classes in case he had his own to pass. Sometimes, you'd even text him because you were actually interested in him, as he had been an interesting person to talk to. Learning a bit about him and sharing a bit about yourself, you quickly formed a friendship with, who you found out a few days ago, Tendou. He'd talk about how he was a part of a volleyball club, being a 3rd year, being part of a powerhouse team, and even some personal facts about his life. Of course, he never told you exactly where he was located, which was perfectly fine, as you didn't want to disclose that information either. However, you soon started to notice that whenever Tendou would text you, you'd become giddy no matter what the conversation was about, and when someone other than Tendou would text you, you'd deflate a bit, hoping it was him. Whenever you'd be doing anything else, you were hoping that he would send you something, you were just hoping to talk to him. These feelings scared you, as you might've had a soulmate, yet you fell for Tendou, and you prayed that maybe, it would somehow work out. 

ˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ

4 months later, and Tendou being your "tutor" was still going strong, and your friendship even stronger. You had brought up meeting with him a few times, and the both of you had even planned it sometimes, but never actually went ahead with those plans. Your schedules never met up, as he had practice and you had a part time job. You grew wary, wondering if you would ever meet your online crush. It was then that you realized you had absolutely no idea of what Tendou even looked like, which meant you could've passed him on the street multiple times without noticing. You would constantly hope that one day he would stroll into the little cafe you worked at and notice you, but that was a far stretch, as he had no idea of what you looked like either. Today was no different. Each time a customer would waltz in, you had hoped that it was Tendou, but it never was. It was currently near closing time, and you had begun sweeping the place while a coworker cleaned the kitchen in the back. It wasn't until you were about to begin putting chairs up that you felt a vibration come from your phone. Taking it out, you look at your notifications and see you had gotten a text from Tendou, and you felt your heart skip a beat. Scanning the text, the happiness you had felt quickly melted into excitement and nervousness. 

"I found the place you work at, and I think I see you. Are you the one who's holding a broom?"

Rereading the text a few times to check if you weren't seeing things, you began to grow panicked. Today was an extremely stressful day, and you knew that you looked horrible. Your hair was a mess and you had even cried once due to an overly loud and rude man whose order was messed up, and you knew that the tear stains were still slightly visible. Quickly answering his text with a "come inside then :)" you continued to put chairs up in hopes to distract yourself from the nervousness and panic growing inside you with every passing second. Hearing the door open and the small bell above it chime, you freeze. "Um…are you possibly Y/N?" Turning around slowly, you're met with a tall boy with red hair and tired eyes. He reminded you of a lizard, and you thought he was really cute. Remembering that he had asked you a question, you answered. "Yes I am. Are you Tendou?" His eyes widen, and a smile grows on his face. "Aahhh, I finally get to meet you!" Realizing that he is indeed Tendou, a smile of your own grows on your face, and you couldn't stop yourself from engulfing him in a hug. The hug is cut short however, since you feel a searing pain from where Tendou had wrapped his arms around you. Pulling away, you look into his eyes, and does the same. Realization floods his eyes, and he looks as though he's about to cry. "Well shit, who knew you'd be my soulmate too." You immediately run back into his arms, shedding a few tears into his hoodie as he hugs you as if his life depended on it. 

"I guess stuff like this really does happen in real life."

ˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ༄ؘˑ

a/n: HOOOO this took me a while to write, had to start over 3 times 😔 neways, I hope you liked it!

[purrincess-chat]

I want 8 and 9 for the kiss request! I'm such a sucker for those xD Have a nice day! 😊👍

So, kind of tweaked it a tiny bit, but it still mostly fits. This one is a little suggestive, but not entirely risque. I imagine them being a bit older here maybe 16 or 17.

Laying a gentle kiss to the back of the other’s hand/A kiss that lasts so long, they are sharing each other’s breaths

Read on AO3

“Bellisimo! Excellent! Give me more! Look at her like she is a Roman goddess.”

Adrien’s photographer usually gave odd directions, but in this case, Adrien didn’t even need to be coached. Not with her by his side.

When his father announced a collection inspired by Ladybug and Chat Noir, Adrien had been a little nervous that he would ask him to pose as Chat Noir again, but when he found out that they were recruiting the real Ladybug and Chat Noir, his spirits lifted almost instantly because… He was doing a photoshoot with her. With Ladybug. The love of his life. The girl of his dreams. And his secret girlfriend. Inches away pretending to save him from an akuma. Even when pretending she was the most beautiful and heroic girl he’d ever seen.

“Good! Perfecto!” The photographer cheered. “Now, she has just saved your life. Thank her with a kiss on the cheek! Give me romance! Passion!”

“Uh, sorry, he can be a bit…excited. Is it okay? I mean, it could…ya know, be a bit too convincing,” he asked under his breath, and Ladybug flashed him a reassuring smile.

“Of course. Whatever we need to do for the shoot is fine. I doubt they’ll figure us out,” she said, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek as instructed.

“Good! Now give me longing! Forbidden love!”

Adrien knew those things far too well, but now wasn’t the time to mention it. Still, posing next to her was so energizing that he didn’t feel the usual drain once the shoot wrapped. He could have spent hours modeling if he could always be by her side, but her time was precious, so he’d accept the little he could get. Besides, he still had another shoot with her as Chat Noir later in the week to look forward to, and it wasn’t like she wasn’t going to show up at his room later that night for some late-night snuggling.

“Are your photoshoots always this lively?” She asked as the crew took down the set.

“Uh, sometimes, yeah. Vincent gets a little crazy, but he’s just really passionate about his work,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and choosing his words carefully around listening ears. “I hope this wasn’t too much trouble for you.”

“Not at all.” She shook her head. “I had fun, and I’m really honored that your father designed a collection after me and Chat Noir.”

“Well, you’re so amazing. I’m sure the honor is all his,” Adrien said then quickly added, “I, uh, you and Chat Noir, that is. You’re both awesome. I mean, you’re superheroes, so of course you are.”

She chuckled at that, flashing him those eyes that drove him crazy, and his heart swelled in his chest, filling it with a familiar warmth. He couldn’t help himself, and before he could think better of it, he lifted her hand to his lips.

“Thank you for being my model today,” he said, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles.

He tensed a little, realizing his blunder, and he held his breath, hoping firstly that she wouldn’t pick up on it and secondly that no one else saw it. He expected her to pull away to save face. To scold him, like always. To figure out who he was and tell him what a bad kitty he was for exposing his identity so carelessly. To do anything but blush as red as her suit and stammer out a breathy, “You’re welcome!”

He forgot how easily he could get her riled up when he tried. It was one of his favorite pastimes on their evenings spent together.

“I suppose you have to go now,” he said, averting his gaze with a wistful sigh. “Or…”

“Or?” She leaned forward on the balls of her feet with an eagerness that made his brain whirl with all kinds of thoughts.

“Or- you could hang around for a bit longer…” He pursed his lips. “With me.”

“I should…” She started, and Adrien quirked a brow at her hesitation. “I should go.”

“Probably should.” He nodded.

“Yeah.” She said it but made no effort to move.

“Actually, ya know,” he said, and she flicked her gaze back up to his. “I think there may have been an akuma in that closet. We should go…investigate.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. I think we should do that, yes,” she said as they both headed for the foyer, walking casually at first but picking up speed as they got closer until they were both sprinting inside.

When the door closed, Ladybug was on him in an instant, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to meet her lips. Of course, he was no stranger to kissing her now, and his hands bore no hesitance as they worked over her soft suit. Up her back, over her shoulders, down her hips. Sometimes when he was going about his normal day, he forgot that he was allowed to touch her like this, and remembering almost always brought a burning to his cheeks as well as certain other locations.

He knew the risk of getting caught, but he didn’t really care. Slipping around in secret was exciting, sexy, dangerous, and he swore it made her lips taste infinitely sweeter. Because when he wasn’t allowed to, it made him want it more, and he’d learned the truth of what they said about anticipation. Ladybug knew exactly how to drive him wild, her hands knotting fistfuls of hair as he pressed her against the wall, her breath hot on his.

No one knew why Ladybug suddenly disappeared, or why Adrien appeared several minutes later with disheveled hair and a glossy look in his eye. But they weren’t really ones to question.

[theclaravoyant]

hey clara! i'm writing a fic in which 13 meets some former companions, and i'm not sure how to write a non-awkward way to ask for pronouns. do you have any tips? also, if you don't mind sharing, what are your hc's on the doctor's gender identity? i'm asking bc you're the only person i know who's put some Thought into gender/pronouns. also bc you've said before that people are welcome to ask you about this. this isn't really about questioning (sorry about that) but i'd love to hear your thoughts!

YAY I love sharing :D

First of all, how I tend to write about the Doctor is that I tend to use “them” when referring to their whole self/whole life, but “he” or “she” when speaking about the specific regenerations that use those pronouns in canon. I just find it easier to capture that way. I am not sure how the Doctor would see themselves, but Thirteen does seem happy to refer to herself as a woman and be addressed with she/her etc, so that’s a good start.

In terms of gender identity, I like the idea that the Doctor is nonbinary, and to be honest, they probably wouldn’t mind any pronouns. Pronouns don’t always reflect a specific gender, but the Doctor has expressed on a few occasions that Timelords have surpassed gender and things like that, which indicates they may not feel particularly validated and/or invalidated by certain perceived genders or pronouns. We also don’t know how pronouns work(ed) on Gallifrey and given that many Timelords have turned out to be able to change gender presentation, maybe they have a very different pronoun system. Anyway, as far as the Doctor’s gender experience in canon is concerned, I would tweak this a little to say that the specific type of nonbinary identity the Doctor experiences may be something like being genderfluid - this captures the fact that their gender actually changes between male and female (and potentially nonbinary genders as well) and back again, rather than being “a man” and then “a woman” or a “coming out (binary) trans” sort of situation. This may be reflected in which pronouns they prefer at any given time.

As far as asking for pronouns goes, there probably isn’t a way to do it that won’t feel a bit awkward, because it’s not something that we are used to asking each other, but throwing some ideas out there… I wrote a few down before I came to this conclusion, but I think the best way to keep it simple is pronoun coding. (I think that’s what it’s called?)

This means, having somebody introduce Thirteen, using whichever pronouns you choose for her or a descriptor that indicates which pronouns she would prefer. For example, when introducing someone who uses they/them pronouns irl, you might set it up like “This is Alex. They are new to this school, could you show them around?” or “This is Taylor. They are going to help with the X project, I’m sure their expertise will be very valuable.” Maybe one of Thirteen’s companions, if they’re around, could refer to the Doctor with she/her pronouns - they don’t even have to be deliberately introductory. It could be like “You know the Doctor? She’s a handful, isn’t she?” Boom, pronouns coded.(PS - One way to show more strongly that it’s been deliberately coded, rather than just that everyone’s assuming boobs = she/her pronouns, would be to show the other characters’ response as if they were not sure what/how to speak about the Doctor and now feel more comfortable going forward)

That said I have a LOT of other ideas which could also work, depending on what situation the characters are in and how involved you want the pronoun conversation to get. I’ll put those below a cut as it’s getting long -

Just have them start referring to Thirteen as “she/her”. It’s a little reductive, but not unreasonable that they would just kind of go “well obviously the Doctor is a woman now so she/her pronouns”. It’s also pretty quick, so that’s handy if you don’t want to turn it into A Thing. It’s an alien situation, so a “just roll with it” “it’s not the weirdest thing that’s ever happened” approach can still work here where it wouldn’t so much work with an actual trans or nonbinary human or human character.

If you want to be a little more nuanced about it, have the old companions / people unfamiliar with Thirteen automatically start using she/her and then later, check themselves, either directly to Thirteen or to Thirteen’s companions if they’re around. The unfamiliar people could be like “wait, should I be doing that?” even though it still works as their natural first response because of how we’re used to talking about and assuming gender. This is still fairly quick to clear up if you want it to be, but it can become more involved too. It also gives you some flexibility if The Pronoun Conversation doesn’t work at the beginning of the story or when the characters meet, but there’s a moment later on that it could fit better.

Or, on a completely different note, you could introduce them in an environment where people are already asking for pronouns, eg a deliberately trans inclusive environment or some alien version of that which results in the characters trying to figure out pronouns. Maybe the Doctor has to recalibrate the Tardis translator for a culture that doesn’t have pronouns or uses them very differently to us. This may be a bit too involved for what you’re after but anyway…

A less involved version of this may be if they’re on a world or in a situation where a cultural ritual or computer simulation or something asks them some establishing information. Maybe they have to pick a doorway, maybe it’s printing them ID cards or doing some kind of security scan, maybe it’s a hospitality robot, etc etc. and it just asks some basic things like name, species, gender and/or pronouns. Maybe they even have some kind of pronoun badge equivalent happening and all Thirteen has to do is pick one (or grab a handful of them, I can imagine her with like 3-5 badges fighting for space on her lapel!). This is a bit more flexible because it could be just a quick event or you could spin it into more of something if the Doctor decides to investigate their feelings about the answer to that question or something like that.

In a less alien situation, maybe one of the companions tries to be a Good Ally when they find out about the similar-to-trans experience the Doctor has, and goes along the lines of “you’re supposed to ask about pronouns right? that’s a thing?” The Doctor may even be curious/excited about this as they may not have thought much about it before, but again it depends how much time you want to spend on it.

Pronoun Coding. (I think that’s what it’s called? I forget). This means, having somebody introduce Thirteen, using whichever pronouns you choose for her or a descriptor that indicates which pronouns she would prefer. For example, when introducing people who use they/them pronouns, you might set it up like “This is Alex. They are new to this school” or “This is Taylor. They are going to help with the X project”. Maybe one of Thirteen’s companions, if they’re around, could refer to the Doctor with she/her pronouns - they don’t even have to be deliberately introductory. It could be like “You know the Doctor? She’s a handful, isn’t she?” Boom, pronouns coded.

Have someone guess. This is similar to pronoun coding but funnier. It could provide a great opportunity for some physical comedy as Thirteen would just be running around doing her thing while the others are like “would ssssssshhee?” *glances at 13′s companions* *13′s companions nod* “like something to eat/some help/etc?”

Have Thirteen refer to herself in third person, so she pronoun codes herself. This doesn’t always work unless you establish it as a character thing (like Terry from Brooklyn 99) but there are some sayings and things you could use as a throwaway line to pull this off eg “a woman’s gotta do what she’s gotta do” or something like that. Or she could be having one of those bitter little “I really hate how I get treated now that I’m a woman” rants and work that in like, “just because she [such-and-such], that means she can’t [such-and-such]??”

I’m sure there are lots of ways you could do it, but I hope that’s helpful! If you want any more suggestions or advice, ask away!

[esselley]

So I'm wondering if something like this has ever happened to you. I got an idea for a fic (an AU), I spent an hour or so plotting it out, I was getting excited about it; then less than 24 hours later, I found that the first chapter of the same AU had just been posted on Ao3. And it's not just like, "oh, another coffee shop au lol;" it's the same movie, same ship, and as far as I can tell from the description, the two main characters are filling the same roles. (1/2)

Ah, interesting question! I’ve also been in the middle of writing fics when I would see like, art or another fic that is similar, and at that point I figure I have two options, depending on how far along I am. 

If I’ve already written a bunch or the idea is similar but not super close, then I have messaged the other person to let them know about the overlap and get their read on how they feel about the similarities. 100% original fic ideas are hard to come by given the sheer amount of content out there, so it’s not like you are never allowed to work on something similar to a pre-existing idea. I mainly like to check in with people so that there can be no question that I wasn’t lifting from their story. I generally always have outlines/previous documents I can show if needed (hasn’t ever come to that, but I am very thorough XD). But also if there are any similarities that would make someone uncomfortable, I always want to know about it before posting, because it means I can tweak my idea to be more dissimilar to avoid any frustration if the other creator sees it. 

If you don’t have much of it down on paper yet, the other way to go about this is to change your idea around! I know myself that when you start getting attached to a concept it can be hard to adjust it right away in a way you feel as excited about; but stories are always going to be constantly changing as we write them. So if you’ve just started plotting it out and now you see somebody has already posted something very similar, it might be a good idea to restructure your idea into something different! If it’s a current Popular Thing there’s probably no way to avoid crossover with a bunch of other people, but maybe there’s something you can do to make your idea unique. Because do you really even want to write something so close to what somebody else has already finished and posted? Usually if I’m in the early stages of plotting something out and I see there’s a very similar thing already in existence, I prefer to rethink my idea anyway, just for my own satisfaction. I like to avoid retreading old ground. 

BTW I will say that I actually don’t think it’s a bad idea to check out this other fic? Beyond the fact that it might be satisfying to read a fic of something you’re already interested in… maybe it’s actually totally different to yours, or different enough that it doesn’t matter and only the summary and tags look the same. Or, maybe there are specific similarities you want to avoid as you write your own fic, which you could likely discern from at least skimming it. Also, I think if you are going to use my first suggestion and talk to the author, it’s only fair that you have some idea of what they’ve actually written before having that discussion. 

Again, if you’re in the early stages of brainstorming, it should be easy to deviate! Maybe there’s a different direction you can take this AU that’s still in the spirit of the film but has its own twist to it. Maybe there’s a different pairing it would work well with; or maybe the same pairing, but with the roles reversed! There’s countless ways to have a similar idea with completely different execution that won’t be stepping on anybody’s toes. And I do think in fandom, where we’re all sharing the same small space, it can be a nice gesture to each other as creators to respect stories that’ve already been told in favor of starting new ones.

Hope this helps! ^^