By the way, if you sent me a character ask, I haven’t forgotten you, I’m just slammed with the pays-the-bills work stuff. I promise I will get to them!

Discoholic 🪩
Three Goblin Art
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Sweet Seals For You, Always

#extradirty
One Nice Bug Per Day
will byers stan first human second
Show & Tell

oozey mess
DEAR READER
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"

⁂
Claire Keane
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
ojovivo

roma★
Not today Justin

Janaina Medeiros
taylor price

izzy's playlists!
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@astralore
By the way, if you sent me a character ask, I haven’t forgotten you, I’m just slammed with the pays-the-bills work stuff. I promise I will get to them!
I don't get why Aeon has to be asexual? She's almost perfect, plus it's a game. So I should be able to decide if she's asexual or not.
First and foremost. Aeon is nonbinary. Their pronouns are they/them. I understand when it's a genuine mistake, but this is just blatant disrespect for me and my character.
Second, people seem to think that because your choices affect the story, that IF is just a game. It is a story. You are not all powerful, this is not a game world that revolves around you. These are my stories, and my characters. If you don't like the story, I perfectly understand and respect that. Just move on.
Lastly, I'm going to direct to this post by @evertidings about Blane. If she doesn't mind that is. I think they said it better than I can, as someone who is not on the asexual spectrum.
I will not tolerate anything of this nature on my blog. The ONLY criticism I will accept on the topic of my characters' races or sexualities is constructive criticism from people in that community giving me information on how to better represent them. Full stop.
I confess I don’t know the character, and maybe I shouldn’t be putting my thoughts on this out here, but... putting aside for one second how much my head is reeling over various aspects of this person’s question that I won’t get into-- I gotta ask how “it’s a game” is supposed to be a reasonable justification for “I should be able to decide if she’s asexual or not” What games are you playing?? In what game does the player get to decide what the NPC’s wants or feelings are? I literally work in the videogame industry as my day job (aside from our own projects), I’ve worked on over a dozen console titles, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game that lets you choose something like whether a character is asexual or not. In the vast majority of games, it’ll never even be relevant anyway!! Further, (speaking as someone who is asexual myself) it kinda cheapens the experience of making a character that’s asexual in the first place. I, personally, do not need asexual representation in the media I consume. But what I absolutely would not want is asexuality being a toggle in a menu. That is weird. Best case scenario, it ends up feeling like it’s not actually part of their identity, which makes it feel kinda pointless to have included in the first place. Worst case, it feels like you’re forcing the character into doing something they would never actually be comfortable with, which is... maybe not really what you wanna go for in your typical romance plot.
I don’t think I can explain to you how much I simultaneously want to murder and make out with Nikolai
Ahhhh I LOVE that. And that's okay! Because I likely also cannot explain how very, very much I would like you to do both. c: <3
22 & 24 for cailean 🥰 ( - @stephschoices )
Thank you! Let's see here... (Who is interviewing, you ask? I don't know! Imagine whoever you want haha) 22. What’s the easiest way to flirt with you?
Cailean blinks, momentarily unable to process the question. Then, slowly, the magenta flush rises from his neck, over his cheekbones, all the way to the tips of his ears.
"I, uh... Why?"
The interviewer smiles and sits back in her chair, her posture relaxed and nonthreatening. "Come on, Cailean, I'm supposed to be the one asking questions here. You'll put me out of a job."
"Oh... Right. Sorry." Cailean swallows and shifts nervously in his seat. "I don't really think about things like that."
"Really? You've never imagined what it would feel like to meet The One? How it would play out, what they would do or say to make you know they were the one for you?" She gestures to him. "Go ahead, close your eyes and tell me what you see."
Cailean takes a shaky breath and his tail twitches anxiously, but after a moment, he closes his eyes. Absently, he crosses one arm over his chest and grasps one of the straps that lays across his collarbone. He takes a deep breath, seeming a little steadier.
"I guess they would... make me feel safe? No, wait, that sounds stupid... Maybe they'd just listen, even if I don't have anything to say. We could talk about our dreams for the future and somehow... they'd just line up together. And they'd be able to understand me and they wouldn't..."
He stops, teeth clenched tightly. Less than a second later, he lets out a tense laugh. "Forget it. The rest of that sentence is pathetic."
He opens his eyes, but he doesn't make eye contact. "Honestly, I'm not sure that any of that stuff matters anyway. People can act as sincere as they want and it can still just be... an act."
He laughs again, this time apologetically. "Sorry. I guess that didn't really answer your question."
24. What would you consider your main love language?
Cailean furrows his brow. "What's a love language?"
The interviewer smiles and patiently explains the concept of the five love languages. Cailean mulls this over for a few minutes, eyebrows still drawn together in concentration. "So, the love language that I would like to receive or the one I'm more likely to display?"
"Are they different for you?"
"I'm... I'm not sure." He leans back, tilting his head as he considers the options. "Maybe they're the same? I think I'm probably either 'Acts of Service' or 'Quality Time', if it's okay to pick two."
"And what if you had to narrow it down to just one?"
"Uh, I'll go with 'Quality Time', I guess. That's probably close enough."
OC Interview Questions
Send me a number and a character (or multiple!) and they’ll answer the question themselves!
Who makes up your family? How close are you to them?
Who is your best friend? Tell us about them!
What is your favorite childhood memory?
What is your least favorite childhood memory?
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?
Who do you look up to?
What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up?
Are you a spiritual person? If yes, what do you practice?
Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
What is your favorite type of media (TV, movie, books, etc)? Name some specific favorites (which shows, movies, books, etc do you like)!
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? (on vacation or permanently!)
You’re given an unlimited budget to build anything you want! What do you build and where do you build it?
What are your favorite music genres?
Do you play any instruments? Which ones? How long have you been playing?
Describe your perfect day.
What makes you laugh?
What’s the best way to cheer you up?
What makes you sad?
Describe your biggest pet peeve.
Describe your ideal partner.
What’s the easiest way to flirt with you?
Have you ever had a crush on someone? Do you have a crush now?
What would you consider your main love language?
Freebie! Come up with your own question for the character to answer!
it takes a long time to learn this, I still struggle with it
This applies to all forms of art, too-- drawing, painting, sculpting, writing, singing, dancing, acting, etc. I guess the art we truly need to learn to love is ourselves, and the rest will follow.
Oh yeah, since I said we’d try to talk more about other game projects we were working on... DDLC+ is getting released at the end of this month-- if you end up playing it, check the credits for my name! It’ll be ‘Ren Archbold’ (or maybe ‘Renee Archbold’, honestly I don’t remember) listed under something like, ‘Unity Professional Services’-- and feel free to let us know what you think of the game!
Idk if this means anything to you, but I found a post that listed "dark academia books". Maybe you'd be interested in one? *shrug*
LINK
OMG thank you so much, it's so sweet of you to think of me! <3 I'll definitely check some of these out because I think the only one on this list that I've read is Jane Eyre? (And of course a little Jane Austen and Shakespeare, but those aren't directly on the list) Definitely interested in a lot of these, poking through the Goodreads listings...! For my own part, I'd add to this list, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken and A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. And probably some others that I can't recall at the moment, haha! As a matter of my own taste, I'd like to also add A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It might not have quite a 'dark' enough vibe to suit-- there's no great underlying intrigue, just a set of unfortunate circumstances and human selfishness, but it fits well with the 'horrors of girl's boarding schools in the 1800s' vibe that a number of 'dark academia' books touch on. (A theme that I am extremely attracted to personally!) Also, honestly, it's required reading if you have ever dreamed of being a "princess"-- this book is the ultimate wish-fulfillment for little girls (and those who are sometimes still little girls inside) and Sara Crewe is an absolutely top-notch protagonist, the kind of character that makes you want to be a better person in your own life. (Don't bother with the movies, they're not really the same vibe as the book.)
Ask the writer: Pink and Green please! :)
Pink: Which of your characters would become your best friend? This one might actually be harder to answer than the enemy one! Mostly because, while I want and like friends, I often don't have the emotional energy to pursue them and I am scared they won't like me. (I used to do it when I was younger... maybe I just need therapy? lol) Again, it's pretty context-dependent, based on who I would be to them and what our interactions would be like. I think I have to assume that Nikolai would be impossible for me to be close with. This is going to sound awful, but I'm not fond of feeling like I'm not the coolest person in the room, therefore I may have to hate him on principle. He also tends to put people on edge, which can be draining to be around. On the other hand, I am okay with sharing the status of 'coolest person in the room' with other people if I am friends with them, so if we somehow did became friends then maybe we could be pretty good friends? At least until it crashes and burns fantastically and then we hate each other forever. I would probably become friends with Cailean, but we would never become "best" friends. This is because I'd be willing to pursue his friendship to a degree, but while he wants friendship, he also requires the other person to keep pursuing him while not crossing too many boundaries too fast in order to get close to him. And I just wouldn't put the energy into doing that. I could also be friends with Deka, but best friends still seems unlikely. Deka likes people but tends to hold them at a distance, for different reasons than Cailean does, and again, I probably wouldn't put the energy into getting close to them. I would just eye them sometimes and wish that I was cool enough to talk to them more. Elsie would be a little easier. She makes herself easier to talk to and pulls you into her orbit, so she doesn't require as much energy as some of the others. She's also less intense than Nikolai and more likely to set you at ease, making her easier to hang out with casually. However, she has some flaws that would probably bother me majorly, so it's hard to say how long our friendship would last. Vivietta, hmm... Vivietta is hard to get close to because of... well, how she is. Assuming circumstances worked out to where we ended up becoming friends in the first place, I think she would be a strong contender for a best friend honestly. Once you get past her defensive exterior, I think something about her exudes a sense of sincerity (and rage) that most of the others probably lack. You can tell she's hiding things, but she would probably still feel like someone you can trust. So, short answer, I guess Elsie and Vivietta? Vivietta is both my worst enemy and my best friend. Context is key. XD Green: Pencil, typewriter, or computer? These days, definitely a computer, but maybe I shouldn't be so quick to rely on it. When I was in high school, I did all of my fanfic writing by hand on lined paper and then typed it up/edited it when I got home. It's easy to do that way when you're in school because you can just sit in class writing fanfiction and it looks like you're attentively taking notes. (Also, all my writing got a light editing pass because of this, which probably made it better-- but it was still absolutely atrocious. I physically can't make myself read it.) I was incredibly prolific! At the peak of my productivity, I was able to update four different stories, a chapter apiece, daily. (How do I regain that power?! Well, if it means exchanging for the quality of 17-year-old me, I guess I'll stick with being slow...) These days, I can't stand using pencil and paper to write. I'm out of practice, I suppose-- I press the pencil too hard against the paper. My hand begins to ache. I want to change a line or rearrange some sentences and I have to erase erase erase to make it happen. That being said, probably writing by hand forces us to let go of a tiny bit of that desire to get it "perfect" the first time, as long as we reassure ourselves that it's fine to just make a note of what you want to
change and edit it on the computer later. They say you should edit on a hard copy of your writing, and maybe that's why-- it removes the ability to change things on the fly instead of focusing on the editing process. (Not to mention, not being able to rely on spellcheck makes your ability to spell improve, since you have to practice thinking about it, and I can tell that my spelling ability has suffered in the last decade!) That being said, I'm not sure I could adapt so easily to writing on paper again! Whenever I have to do it, I crave to use a keyboard. The thought of wanting a keyboard fills my mind, pushing out all thoughts of actually writing. I feel like it might be worth grabbing a notebook and forcing myself to use it in a place where I don't have access to a computer, and see what happens. link to writer ask list
Monster lover? Drop your commission info!
Hey, by the way! If you take commissions for creative work and are open to monster-y characters as subject matter, please reblog this with your commission info! Interested in: Traditional art Digital art Digital 3D modeling 3D fiber arts (knitted/crocheted/sewn/etc) other 3D arts (polymer clay/resin/thermoplastic/etc) Writing (prose/poetry/lyrics/etc) Music Honestly probably pretty much anything! (This is mostly for my personal collection, but if you do commercial work then feel free to include your terms for that as well. Also, you do not need to be willing to make 18+ content, so please don’t worry about that.)
the writer asks: gold!! p.s. love ur work, monstrata fracture's one of my fav VNs!
OMG thank you so much!!! ;~; I really appreciate that aaaa <3 Incoming text wall omg Gold: Do your stories usually contain lessons or morals? Yes, absolutely. I feel like it would probably be hard to write a story that doesn't have some lesson in it for the reader, whether the writer intends it or not. A lesson or moral is just a type of message or theme, and message is inherent-- every story has a message, and many have multiple. I feel that messages are what we're actually seeking when we read a story, something unspoken that we crave in order to expand ourselves and our understanding of the world-- stories are just the vehicles that carry them. Because of this, I think it's important for writers to keep in mind and think about what messages they might be sending. If you aren't making conscious decisions about what you're trying to say with a story or character arc, then it's very easy to end up with a message that you didn't intend or that might even be detrimental, harmful, or ignorant. (As an example, the Hermione-house elf side plot in the forth Harry Potter book. What the hell was JKR trying to say with that?! Probably not what she actually ended up saying.) Even if you are trying to send a conscious message, it's easy to slip into writing that's counter to the message you want to send, or muddies your intent. To me, I think the active enemy of a clear and focused message is indulgence, which sounds like a weird puritanical thing to say, so bear with me for a moment. For writers, indulgence and message seem to end up frequently at odds with each other. (For another example, what message comes across in Fifty Shades of Grey? It's a pretty extreme example, but I think there's no arguing that the writing was heavily influenced by self-indulgence.) I'd like to make it clear here that in the sense of writing, indulgence absolutely doesn't mean something traditionally considered immoral, despite the fact that I'm saying it is often in direct conflict with the moral a story tries to explore, haha. It could be something like that, but often indulgence in writing is actually where you make a compromise, usually on your character or plot, in order to write something that is personally very appealing to you. That doesn't mean that the particular subject that is personally appealing to you is inherently bad, either! Context is key here-- to go back to the Harry Potter example, it's not bad for JKR to write Hermione having an arc where she becomes an activist for house elf rights. It is bad if JKR uses that narrative to indulge in her weird hatred of Hermione by showing what a ridiculous and ignorant know-it-all she is for believing house elves shouldn't be subjected to slavery-- since the message that actually comes across to the reader is that JKR thinks something like, "slavery is okay, actually" which I would assume was not her intent! (Whether or not she actually thinks that isn't relevant, that's the message that came through regardless and 'death of the author' says that's all that matters.) Another example could be like, trying to justify an evil character's behavior by having them divulge a long and tragic backstory and having that be enough to redeem them. It's not inherently bad for a villain to have a tragic backstory, or even for them to talk about it, but you have to be careful to not send a message that says, "doing bad things is okay as long as people can be convinced to show you sympathy." Think of any scenario where a writer could indulge in a particular interest-- popular fanfic genres are an easy start (they're popular for a reason!), like hurt/comfort, enemies-to-lovers, etc-- and though they're not at all inherently bad things themselves, you can probably come up with a lot of examples where indulging in them would derail or muddy the story's larger message. So, ALL THAT BEING SAID... When working on narrative or character arcs, we do try to think about interesting concepts to explore and what they mean and what things the reader could learn as the characters learn. That doesn't mean these things will always come across as we intend, but we are definitely thinking about them, working them in, and hoping some people will benefit from them by experiencing a new perspective or idea.
That's also not to say that I am above self-indulgence or letting it cloud my work. I am absolutely not. I am an extremely self-indulgent writer and I have to actively reign it in when it gets out of hand. Sometimes, many times, it will slip by me and I will have to accept that my intent will be made unclear by it-- and I'll just have to have faith in the reader on the other side. c: link to writer ask list
for the get-to-know-the-writer thing, i'd like to ask about the clear one! as a writer myself, i'm Very easily swayed by my own characters, i'm curious to know if you're like that too or not lmao <3
Clear: Do your characters control where the story goes or do you maintain control?
OOF, call me out like this. I am also very easily swayed by the characters, which is why I find it easiest to write for the ones that have a distinct natural character voice, like Elsie and Nikolai. Elsie's character voice is so loud in my head, she practically writes herself. (Cailean, on the other hand, is extremely hard to write because his character voice is not as clearly defined.) That being said, we're a team of two people. And while I do the actual writing-writing, a lot of the overall plot structure and character narratives are developed and maintained by the other developer, valeatory. (Also in charge of character design & art and any fancy programming. Wearer of many hats! Doesn't use tumblr, so the link goes to twitter) So if I go totally off the rails with a scene or character, Val is there to help reign it back in and preserve our intent. (You wanna know why Nikolai is so mean? You can thank Val LOL) So short answer, a bit of both. There is an overall structure and characterization I try to adhere to, but the characters definitely pull in the direction they want to go in! link to writer ask list
Yellow and purple for the writer asks! <3
Yellow: What’s a common writing tip that you mostly ignore? Oooh hmm. I've read a lot of writing tips and I probably ignore mostly all of them even though I obviously shouldn't because I'm not very effective as it is. I'm not a very organized person haha! Pretty much any writing tip designed to make you more productive is one I ignore (unless it's Nanowrimo which, let's be honest, is the only time I get actual substantial amounts of writing done. I can't be trusted unless I have a deadline.) Purple: Which of your characters would become your sworn enemy?
I feel like this question is difficult to answer because a lot of it depends on context. Who am I in relation to these people? What events would transpire between us to shape our opinions of each other? I don't feel like any of them are necessarily people I would hate in any given context, and you'd have to really wrong me for me to consider you a 'sworn enemy'. (And even then, I try to be the kind of person who allows growth and I believe in giving people a path back to redeem themselves. Most people will never ever take that path, but in my heart, it's there for them.) But there are definitely situations that could make it difficult for me to like them. Obviously, Nikolai rubs people the wrong way with reckless abandon and I would probably be no exception. Not really 'sworn enemy' material, though, probably I would just consider him an annoyance. Cailean has the potential to make me feel like he's untrustworthy in some way that's more insidious than Nikolai, so if I somehow got that impression from him, he would make me extremely unsettled. Not enemy material, but unsettling. (Feeling like I am being lied to or misled is probably the biggest dealbreaker for me.) Elsie, of course, is a bit of a gossip and that always has the potential for misunderstandings and hurt feelings, so it would probably depend on context. She's also very "fun" in a way that the others aren't, so that would probably counterbalance her flaws in a lot of contexts. Deka-- I could probably never be enemies with Deka tbh. Vivietta might be the most likely-- her antagonistic and dismissive demeanor would make me feel angry and defensive, and her delightful aesthetic would make me feel jealous and threatened and would fuel my pettiness. So, short answer: Vivietta, and it would be completely unfounded. link to writer ask list
On your 18th birthday your parents inform you that you’re betrothed to a literal monster.
You laugh, but your amusement quickly dies when you realize that they aren’t joking. Apparently you’ve been engaged since childhood, and they’ve just now seen fit to tell you.
Your fiance will be here tomorrow.
Suggested Monster: Insectoid
What if this but it’s you + your favorite Monstrata Fracture love interest. Just, yanno, as a thought
More Get-to-Know-the-Writer Asks
Red: What type of writer’s block do you experience the most?
White: Are you a supporter/lover of fanfiction?
Black: Would you want to live in one of the fictional worlds you’ve created?
Blue: What’s more important to you: characters or plot?
Yellow: What’s a common writing tip that you mostly ignore?
Grey: What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?
Orange: How many projects do you usually have going at once?
Pink: Which of your characters would become your best friend?
Purple: Which of your characters would become your sworn enemy?
Green: Pencil, typewriter, or computer?
Brown: Do you have a set writing space? Or do you write everywhere?
Silver: Are you comfortable writing in public places?
Gold: Do your stories usually contain lessons or morals?
Clear: Do your characters control where the story goes or do you maintain control?
Tan: Are you open to co-writing a story?
One time I was checking out at the craft store and the cashier said to me, "I really like your dark academia outfit"
And that was when I learned that my fashion style has a name
dark?????academia??????
It’s like if you attended or taught or researched at a prestigious academy that has stone walls and leaded windows and gothic architecture and hidden passages, and when you’re there you study things like old bones or poisonous fungi or mysterious insects or spellwork or time travel and try to not get involved in (but inevitably are drawn to investigate) whatever dark goings-on are happening in secret all around you and then you channeled all that energy into a really cute outfit
ooh sounds cool! :o Maybe one day you can post some pics of your clothes?
Yeah sure, if people would be interested!
Why do you reblog your own fics so much?
Because someone might as well!? And look at this. Look. At. This.
Does this look right to you??
These are just the last three fics I wrote. I appreciate the likes, believe me I do, but you have to understand. Likes do nothing for content creators. It’s the reblogs. Because that’s how you find shit on your dashboard. Through reblogs. Not likes. This isn’t twitter or tiktok or instagram. This is a website that’s run by the reblog system.
Reblogging helps content creators put their stuff out there. Why do you think so many people stopped writing fanfic and creating beautiful fanart and edits? It’s because they put in hours of work and don’t get nearly enough notes for their masterpieces. Yes we do this because we enjoy it but like...some validation won’t hurt. A boost of confidence here and there might be all someone needs to finish whatever thing they started and left.
Anyway, I’m still going to reblog my shit...
I think I’m gonna restart blogging my own shit.
WRITERS. ARTISTS. EDITORS.
REBLOG YOUR OWN WORK.
THERE IS NO SHAME IN IT.
And still there'd be people who'd not REBLOG this post
Still think this site would be better if it didn’t have a like button.
^^ Just some examples of my stories, pulled at random from my notes. Some of those stories are a couple of years old, and that’s not a lot of reblogs.
Likes don’t help get your favourite creators’ stuff seen. It doesn’t get artists commissioned for glorious artwork, and it doesn’t get writers new readers (or commissions if they’re open). If you didn’t enjoy it that much, then there’s obviously no pressure to reblog, but if you did enjoy it, then the least you can do is reblog.
The reason I’ve got my ‘old stories reblog’ tag is because new folks don’t necessarily know about my older stories, so I reblog an old one to bring it to light again. I feel no shame in doing this, and neither should you if you’re a content creator. Promote your work because not many people seem prepared to help out.