Writer; usually a somewhat confused eldritch horror full of spite and caffeine. Devours souls for breakfast. ~ Remember to be kind and polite to each other, okay? And have a nice day if possible. ~
Hi! I'm Rae, my info page and faq can be found here.
Fandom masterpost can be found here.
I am currently closed for freelance work and commissions for health reasons. I may be willing to agree to them if you have a very tempting proposal. Obviously, this is for original works and things not under copyright (unless you're the copyright holder for the thing you want me to write about).
Requests / prompts / trades for fanfic are always open. I'm just a little slow about handling them currently. All requests will be considered, though I reserve the right to refuse something if it doesn't interest me. Please pm me (I may message back to check in or get extra details) and be patient. I will get to it when I have time and an idea of how I'd like to progress.
If you’d like to support me or my writing, I have a tip jar here: https://ko-fi.com/A4746N6
Thank you.
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I do not reblog donation posts. Any asks for donations will be blocked and deleted. This is the only warning I will give on this subject.
I really do think most of the negative Cerberus interactions we have, particularly in ME3, could've been avoided if, instead of giving him control of a black ops group, the Alliance had just convinced the Illusive Man to get really into MMOs.
Immediately following the First Contact War, an anonymous extranet manifesto warned that an alien attempt at human genocide was inevitable. The manifesto called for an army—a Cerberus to guard against invasion through the Charon relay.
Oh huh! I hadn't realized I didn't post this one here on Tumblr! I finished this study in early March and have plans to have it be one of 3 pieces to go together 🙂↕️
[ID: Digital painting of Sherlock Holmes and Toby the dog, a study of Leyendecker's "Man with a dog" (1909) for Collier's Weekly. Holmes is in his coat, striped pants, top hat and grey scarf, Toby following a trace by his side. They are painted mid-motion. /end ID]
PSA to fic readers, it is so hard to freak a fic writer out with your comments. we are just as crazy about the fic as you are.
tell me you love it. tell me it made you slam your laptop shut. tell me you brought it up at your college lecture about kink. key smash in all caps. quote the passage that made you think. i promise, we’ll love it.
we spend hours thinking about it, writing it, editing it. there is no such thing as over enthusiasm when you’re talking about our fics to us. we are sooooo weird about them, i assure you. you are just matching my freak. the freak bar is already set so high. feel no anxiety about enjoying something and letting the creator know.
I love Mass Effect when it's unintentionally hilarious.
Example 1: A very sad scene is ending when Shepard suddenly yells "THIS COULD BE USEFUL!"
Example 2: Same order of idea: you end a loyalty mission that destroys your heart (let's say, Kasumi dealing with Keiji's graybox), the 'Mission Complete' screen appears and you hear Shepard say, as if commenting the weather: "This is valuable."
Example 3: The villain is telling you they're going to crush you and the fight is about to start (basically Tela Vasir right in front of you) when Shepard suddenly yells: "WE'VE BEEN SPOTTED!"
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: Centuries after the war (post-synthesis), Harbinger encounters a fearsome creature: a small child with questions about the Shepard.
For @sanguinemoonglitch; Shepard Codex Prompt #28: A well-known (and completely incorrect) fact about The Shepard.
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“Small one, why do you trespass in this place?” it asked, taking a moment to remember how to speak. The words seemed to grate, harsh and unpleasant, after being so silent for so long.
The organic did not seem to notice. Their voice was high and impatiently demanding as they replied: “Is it true you knew the Shepard?”
Something in the quality of the organic’s voice gave Harbinger pause. The pitch and intonation…their small stature…their feathers were short and bright, interspersed by downy fluff that gave them a slightly bedraggled appearance as they gave an impatient little hop on clawed feet, missing the proper talons of larger variants of its species. Not just a small organic, a… Harbinger searched its database, certain it had a word for a concept it was barely familiar with. A child?
But the question was an interesting one. Better than the organics who demanded knowledge it had already given, and it was curious where this line of questioning would go from one far too young to be here alone.
So I borrowed a bunch of these fictional kisses from this post and made it up into a prompt list. Feel free to reblog of course!
breaking the kiss to say something, staying so close that you’re murmuring into each other’s mouths
moving around while kissing, stumbling over things, pushing each other back against the wall/onto the bed
kissing so desperately that their whole body curves into the other person’s
throwing their arms around the other person, holding them close while they kiss
hands on the other person’s back, fingertips pressing under their top, drawing gentle circles against that small strip of bare skin that make them break the kiss with a gasp
lazy morning kisses before they’ve even opened their eyes, still mumbling half-incoherently, not wanting to wake up
routine kisses where the other person presents their cheek/forehead for the hello/goodbye kiss without even looking up from what they’re doing
being unable to open their eyes for a few moments afterward
one small kiss, pulling away for an instant, then devouring each other
staring at the other’s lips, trying not to kiss them, before giving in
when one stops the kiss to whisper “I’m sorry, are you sure you-” and they answer by kissing them more
a hoarse whisper “kiss me”
following the kiss with a series of kisses down the neck
starting with a kiss meant to be gentle, ending up in passion
a gentle “i love you” whispered after a soft kiss, followed immediately by a stronger kiss
when one person’s face is scrunched up, and the other one kisses their lips/nose/forehead
height difference kisses where one person has to bend do wn and the other is on their tippy toes
kisses where one person is sitting in the other’s lap
kisses meant to distract the other person from whatever they were intently doing
@sanguinemoonglitch called for aid, so this is what I've got.
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So the thing about flirting is that everyone does it differently. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to that. On top of that, a lot of people find things attractive that are not flirting, so sometimes not-flirting can also be flirting. (Also, a lot of this is instinctive and so dependent on other things, and, once you’re comfortable with the concepts, you generally do not think about this with depth—it’s something that either feels right for the characters or it doesn’t.)
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The first thing, though, is that you need to figure out what kind of flirting your characters would do and also why.
Are they blunt? Charming? More reserved? Do they not want to acknowledge they’re flirting at all?
Are they physical with their flirting? If so, then how? Do they invade other’s spaces? Do they show their interest through touch—either overtly or subtly? Dancing? Physical gestures such as giving the other person things, doing things for them, making them things, etc.? Do they try to express it with glances? Smiles? Mirroring body language?
Are they verbal with their flirting? Are they blunt in stating what they want? If so, how do they feel about pick up lines? Are they the type to recite poetry, serenade their partner, or make dramatic romantic speeches? Do they prefer word play and double entendres? Rude jokes? Is their tone more indicative of their flirting than their words? Do they prefer to express their attraction through gentle or genuine statements?
Do they prefer to show their interest by being emotionally there for the other person or by supporting the other person’s emotions or interests?
Are they overtly sexual with their flirting? (Generally a thing in established relationships, but can be used to establish unwanted interest in situations where one party has no interest in the other—requires a bit of delicacy, though, because unwanted sexual advances are rarely about the sex itself.)
For non-flirting flirting, what turns on both characters? I’m not even going to begin listing things here, because it can literally be anything. (A thing that drives me nuts is people saying they won’t do commission art for others that is “kink or fetish in nature”, but it’s impossible to know what someone could be into for sexual reasons.) Give it some thought, and think on the whys, and you might stumble across something. For it to be flirting, it has to be someone purposefully using the other person's turn-ons to evoke a reaction.
I can’t give you examples of why, only your characters can answer that. If you think about your own experiences and things you like, I find it helps. Also, if you're uncertain, asking people you feel comfortable around, and who don't mind these kinds of questions, can also be extremely helpful—not just for the whys, but for any ideas you might be stuck on. (Don’t just tack on other characters’ dynamics to your own characters’ dynamics, though—it never fits properly and it will feel off.)
With regard to the technical part of writing flirting: it can’t just be the action/words, it requires both sensory details and an understanding of what the characters are hoping to get out of the flirting. Without sensory details (physical, emotional; positive or negative), it makes the flirting come off as hollow/not really something the characters want or as if the writer does not understand what they’re doing. And, if you don’t understand what you’re doing or what your characters want from the flirting, the scene suffers for it and eventually goes nowhere. This is also when you want to get in close, POV-wise, and really establish how they’re thinking and feeling.
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A tangent to all of this, but it’s very important: not all flirting is meant as flirting. Some characters (and people) are not actually flirting when it looks like they’re flirting. Sometimes it’s a joke or bonding activity, sometimes it’s manipulation, sometimes it's a way to break through someone's facade or protect the speaker. Sometimes it’s actually a front for an entirely different conversation that the characters aren’t having plainly, it just happens to look like flirting if you're only reading it on a surface level.
Additionally, some characters will spontaneously alter the way they flirt to mirror other characters, whether or not this is genuine depends on the character and can impact your characterisation and story.
I hope this is helpful and makes it a little less stressful! ❤️
I chose each of you for the Pathfinder team, not just because you’re talented and passionate. But because you’re dreamers, like me. We dream of exploring the unknown, of finding the edge of the map — and then discovering what lies beyond.
new tumblr thing - if this toggle is on, people can see the replies you leave on posts (including other people's posts) in the "comments" section of your blog (your blog likely only has a "posts" section but may also have "likes" and "following" visible if you haven't turned those off). like this:
(screenshot grabbed from an abandoned blog)
it was off by default for me but may be on for you if you have your likes/following set to visible! if you want to change the current setting you can go to tumblr.com/settings/blog/[your blog name here]/
