#aiden phillips

[pens-swords-stuff]

Storyteller Saturday: Your characters are on a ship and a bomb is about to go off. Who is doing what to help with the situation?

Oh I adore this question, thanks so much for asking!

Clara is reciting the rules and guidelines for how to safely abandon a ship and board lifeboats to frightened employees so that they know what to do if they’ve forgotten. (And probably stays on the ship to track down who planted it with Caerwyn.)

Callisto is tracking down the bomb and the person who planted it with Clara, and is taking drastic measures to find it, like axing down walls if necessary.

Zach is helping to reassure and calm people who are freaking out and panicking, and is lifting smaller people onto lifeboats, or physically supporting people who need it.

Laurel is giving up his seat in the lifeboat to other people, and is helping Zach keep people relatively calm. He’s probably the one that spots a suspicious person somewhere as well, he’s surprisingly 

Blake is helping people board lifeboats while simultaneously keeping mental records of who’s getting off the ship and who isn’t, who looks suspicious, etc., just in case, and eventually will publish the newspaper story about it.

Aiden and Jess are probably fighting the antagonists that put the bomb on the ship.

Vanessa safely dismantles the bomb with alarming and suspicious ease and expertise.

Storyteller Saturday: Come ask me about my writing!

[slythsith]

I haven’t done a writing update in forever, and oh my god if last night wasn’t writing inspiration, I don’t know what is. 

I finished reading Light, the sixth and final book in @themichaelgrant ‘s Gone series. I don’t think I can ever fully explain how amazing this series is. The premise, at a bare bones explanation, is that kids under 15 years of age get stuck in this dome of sorts. Everyone 15 and over just poofed away. So, already there is a lot of chaos as now these kids have to fend for themselves. Also some start to develop powers. So yeah, lots of shit these guys have to handle. 

That’s about all I can say without spoiling even the first book. Just take my word for it and know that this series is totally worth reading. 

I’m trying to cut down all I actually want to write, because some might make no sense to someone who’s never read these books. But here’s my point: I emailed Michael Grant, the author, to thank him for writing these books that have had such an immense affect on me. That email may likely be the longest email I’ve ever written, and in no way was I expecting a response. I was just hoping he’d receive it and understand that he made someone’s life better. 

Just barely half an hour after sending this, my phone beeped. An email notification. I looked at it, and I nearly dropped my phone. The man emailed me back. And this wasn’t some “Thank you, I appreciate hearing from my fans, here’s a link to buy my other books” auto-send crap. This was legitimately my favorite author emailing me, personally, discussing the individual and specific points I had made. As I read his response, I started crying, because he complimented my writing. In my email, I had explained that my biggest goal for myself was to be in his position- a successful author. My main projects right now are inspired by his work. My favorite author complimented my writing skills, and  gave me advice for achieving my dreams of being a writer. 

So naturally after that, after I calmed down (a little), I went and wrote more on Aiden’s story, which you can look at here if you are interested.

So yeah. Overall, my point is, my night was made, and my self-esteem as a writer got a boost. This is a phenomenal series to get into, I highly suggest reading them . I may be posting more often about my writing as this whole encounter encouraged me. So maybe I’ll be sending more links and previews to annoy y’all more often. :p 

[pens-swords-stuff]

Storyteller Saturday! Do any of your characters have tattoos/piercings/weird birthmarks?

In Wanderlust, Jess gets her summoning symbols tattooed on her hands and arms to simplify the process. Similarly, Aiden probably gets some of his most used sigils tattooed on him to shorten the casting process.

Thanks for asking!

Storyteller Saturday: Come send me a question about my WIPs/OCs, and I’ll send you one in return!

[Project Vestige WIP Intro] [Project Vestige tag] [Character Sneak Peek]

[pens-swords-stuff]

Would having a chance to talk about your characters help? (Because I'm very super interested!) If you had to choose colour themes to represent each of your characters, what colours would be the most prominent, and why? (Any characters you'd like~ 💖)

Awww thank you so much that’s super sweet!!!

So, I haven’t posted a lot about this on my writeblr since I’m not a huge fan of moodboards, but I’m a very aesthetic-oriented creator. I have endless aesthetic considerations for all of my characters, and while I’ve been trying to evolve beyond simple color aesthetics for them, I do have color themes for all of them!

I also roleplayed and having a color hex code for your character was a standard in the community.

Clara is extremely Ravenclaw ― in fact, as far as Morsmordre is concerned, she’s the Ravenclaw representative since the four main characters each represent a Hogwarts house, so naturally her color is a dark Ravenclaw blue. This is the image I use for her spotify playlist. I think the most Clara of color combinations is specifically dark blue with a gold accent like this pattern here. She’s not suited for warm colors because she’s fairly standoffish and prickly normally, but she’s not a cold character ― the gold helps soften the intensity of the blue a little. I seriously think that dark blue with gold starry image I linked is Clara in a pattern, it is so her.

Callisto, similarly to Clara is representative of her house in Morsmordre. She’s a Slytherin, so her board is full of dark greens. She’s ambitious, mysterious, and a little closed off which makes green a really good fit for her, regardless of her house. That being said, fae!Callisto in For Queen and Country has a different color. Fae!Callisto’s color is very pale blue, like the color in this header I made for her character sheet a while back. Fae!Callisto is associated heavily with ice and snow, considering that she’s an Unseelie Fae, and she’s also a lot lighter and brighter than her much darker, grimmer, more cynical Morsmordre counterpart.

(As a bonus: FQAC!Clara also has a color change: she’s still dark blue, but she’s also dark green in that setting for whatever reason.)

Aiden is this darker green color like in this image here. When I originally conceptualized him, I had thought he was a really deep purple, but as he evolved into who he is now, his color palette became paler, grayer and more washed out. His aesthetic board is currently filled with blues, greens and grays, all with that kind of… foggy tint, I guess if that makes any sense. He’s not super in-your-face and is kind of passive, so bright colors don’t suit him.

Jess’ color is dark pink and coral orange. The second one is very specific, but it’s been the color code that I’ve given her every single time without fail ― I think it fits her sassy, playful demeanor really well. That being said, her other color is dark pink, because of that darker, more sinister tone in comparison. She’s not all fun and games; she’s quite devilish and selfish ― there’s definitely a darker side to her that’s not always apparent.

Blake… I struggle with honestly. She’s had this kind of blue, urban aesthetic to her, which I think fits, but lately I’ve been considering reds for her, just because she’s so passionate, emotive and explosive. I haven’t been able to find a proper shade for her that fits her very intense nature though, and blue does work for her so she’s still blue I guess. It’s a touch lighter than Clara’s blue and more colorful than Aiden’s blue.

Vanessa is purple, and sometimes red. Specifically, I consider her color to be the purple colored lights that pulse at a club, if that makes sense, with the occasional red light thrown in. She’s very seductive, confident, a creature of the night, and plays with the darker underbelly for society for fun, so mysterious, expensive purple is the perfect fit for her.

Zach’s color is a warm orange, and sometimes yellow. He’s super kind and positive, but he’s also very laid-back and chill. Warm colors suit him, but not really bright ones, because he’s not super dynamic, so a lowkey orange fits him really well. He’s a good supporting character that doesn’t demand a lot of attention.

Laurel is a warm, autumn brown color. He’s a super sweet kid, a star student, mama’s boy, but not a stick in the mud. Brown suits him because he’s a warm presence, not super out there, it’s lowkey yet reassuring… And also has the added bonus of being the color of dead/dying leaves, and fall is also the season where everything dies… I mean, the symbolism there speaks for itself, yeah? 

Yulia has a lot of colors! Pastel pinks, lavender, orange, light blues… I think the best way to describe her colors would be the colors of the sky on a sunny day. The brilliant blue of the sky during the day, the warm oranges and reds of sunset, and the pale purples, and pinks of the dusk, right before nighttime. Yulia is very spiritual and connected to nature so I think that description and color theme is very apt for her. She was also my first aesthetic board that I managed to break out of just using certain colors!

It got a bit long haha sorry! I think these are the characters that have been on my mind the most lately though. Thanks so much for asking!

[pens-swords-stuff]

Character Creation Tag [Aiden]

@jynecca tagged me for this, thank you very much! I’m going to do Aiden for this~

1) What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.?)

Oh man Aiden was created so long ago...

I think that it was either his concept or face claim that came first? I can’t remember. I know that I wanted to make my own take on the arrogant popular jerk archetype, and I also immediately knew that I wanted to use Jake Abel.

2) Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Nope! I originally made him for a roleplay when I legitimately didn’t have any friends on that site and didn’t know anyone so I made him all by my lonesome.

3) How did you choose their name?

It didn’t require a whole lot of thought, it was one of those glorious moments where you just immediately know what their full name is, and it fit perfectly.

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts?

The very original setting in which he was created for involved high society, so that established his family’s significant wealth.

I can’t remember when I gave him his emotionally abusive family backstory, but that’s also a consistent, important part of his character. The urban fantasy elements of Wanderlust and his status as a witch played really nicely into this family dynamic — this had a huge impact on his personality, and he turned out completely different than before. For starters, he’s much less of a popular kid, he’s an outcast now, and he’s nicer, and super passive, and if I had to describe him in one word it would be ‘wry’.

5) Is there any significance behind their hair colour?

I just wanted a blonde!

6) Is there any significance behind their eye colour?

Nope.

7) Is there any significance behind their height?

Nope. He’s tall, and that’s about it.

8) What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

Aiden has a really dry sense of humor, and he makes a lot of deadpan jokes about death. I do that too.

9) Are they based off of you, in some way?

Usually I’ll give me spiel here about how I don’t put myself in my characters, but I normally can’t deny that there are some sort of similarities.

Not Aiden. I literally cannot find any piece of me in him if I tried.

I don’t think this is a matter of him being completely different from me, I think it’s a sign that despite all of the progress I’ve made with who he is, I still need to dig deeper.

10) Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Aiden has always been pansexual! I actually think he was the very first of my ‘all of my characters are bi/pan’ thing.

11) What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: Writing, drawing, edits, etc.)?

Jake Abel is a pretty minor actor — I’m fairly certain that at this point, I’ve seen literally every single gif and image of him that exists on the internet. They’re not all that great of a quality, or they don’t work as Aiden, so it’s always a struggle trying to find gifs/images of him to use in edits.

12) How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

I know that he’ll have a kid with his love interest at some point — probably sooner rather than later after the events of Wanderlust. (Might be even sooner in Morsmordre...) But beyond that, honestly not much. I feel like he’ll probably end up as a doctor or a lawyer at some point, but I have no idea what his future is going to look like. Aiden probably hasn’t given it much thought either, he never felt like he had a future.

Fun fact: me and @autofoebia once wrote a 60+ page fic about buddy cop Aiden and King (autofoebia’s character) way before Wanderlust was even conceived. This was a future AU where they were a lot older — although I wouldn’t consider it canonical anymore since Aiden as a character has changed so damn much since then, it still counts, yeah?

yo frunk if you’re reading this, maybe we should rewrite it someday

13) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

Aiden is a troubled guy. His trauma isn’t necessarily apparent, but it influences him a lot and creeps into his thoughts and behavior. 

He acts cool, but he’s not actually cool. 

14) What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

There are times that he tries to be cool and do something all cool-like, and he ends up failing and embarrassing himself. Then he tries to brush it off all casually, and Aiden, please. Most people aren’t fooled.

15) What is something about your OC can make you cry?

No matter how far he runs away, he can never really get away from his family. They always turn up to haunt him at his lowest moments — and I don’t mean they haunt his nightmares, I literally mean they physically show up at the worst possible time. And naturally they ruin everything.

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

I think I regret his character creation. I have a lot of love and appreciation for Aiden, but I’m not entirely sure I ever had a proper idea of who he was. He’s never been a good character, and honestly he probably didn’t deserve to be brought back, but he continues to pop up in my writing a lot. I wish that when he was first created, I had been better at character creation — it’s been like 3 years since his creation and I’m still super struggling with him.

I’ll figure you out someday Aiden, I swear it.

17) What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

He’s a huge dork. I don’t understand how this happened. He was supposed to be suave, but nope. He’s a massive dork now and it’s very ???

18) What is your favourite fact about your OC?

He’s one-half of my og ship. None of my other ships would’ve happened without this guy.

Tagging: @zayawritesstuff @themagicalypurplemastodon @sweetsweetbabytree @storyteller-kaelo @sodaliteskull @my-heart-bleeds-poetry @cawolters @candycoatedcatastrophe @ariesveela @decantae @autofoebia feel free to do this or ignore!

If anyone sees this and wants to do it, you’re tagged too! Feel free to @ me in your post :)

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[pens-swords-stuff]

Emotional Cocktail Tag

Tagged by @metaphors-and-melodrama, thank you very much!

Rules: Match from the list below one emotion from each taste to each character in your WIP and describe why:

Sweet: Intelligence - Reason - Love - Hope - Confidence - Delight - Curiosity - Patience - Kindness - Courage - Peace - Humility - Awe

Salty: Fear - Anger - Pride - Obsession - Envy - Regret - Shame - Guilt - Disappointment - Cynicism - Naivety - Emotion - Contempt

Spicy: Dominance - Submission (just a funny little extra taste for those who prefer it ;)

I’m not going to do dominance or submision for spicy, I think I’m going to replace it with leader or follower, which is kinda sorta maybe synonymous-ish, right? right??

CLARA WILCOX

Sweet: Intelligence — If there is one thing that Clara is known for and one thing that she prides herself on, it’s definitely her intelligence. She’s not a naturally gifted or smart person, so she tries to overcome that by learning as much as she possibly can. She’s basically known as a walking encyclopedia who probably has textbook passages memorized, and chances are, she’ll have some sort of answer to most questions. She’s also naturally inquisitive and skeptical of many things, so she has a scientific approach in a magical setting where science isn’t necessarily a priority.

Salty: Pride — Clara is a know-it-all and a control freak. She knows she’s smart and she knows that she’s usually the smartest one in the room. Therefore, she usually thinks that she knows the best, and is quite prideful in her intelligence. If she’s planning, if she’s working on something, she usually will not take kindly to people correcting her or questioning her.

Spicy: Leader — Clara is outspoken, bossy and a control freak. She’s also a fantastic strategist who is great at making plans and utilizing people, so she naturally falls into a leader position. 

Tagging @vhum @madammuffins @incognitxburrito @writingwitherebus @ellpri @necros-writings @pheita for this, feel free to do this or ignore!

If you see this and want to do it, you’re tagged too!

If you want me to tag you in tag games, click here!

Callisto, Blake, Vanessa, Aiden and Jess underneath the cut! Don’t forget to look here too ;D

CALLISTO ROWLE

Sweet: Confidence — Callisto knows exactly who she is and what she’s capable of, so she’s very confident in herself. She’s very skilled, and even when she sometimes is in over her head, her confidence can carry her through in a very ‘fake it till you make it’ kind of way.

Salty: Cynicism — Growing up in an evil corrupt upper society isn’t all glamorous and fantastic. Callisto has grown up seeing the dark underbelly of society, and she’s learned that people shouldn’t be trusted, and she’s almost completely on her own. It’s really difficult for her to reconcile this philosophy with the fact that good people do in fact exist.

Spicy: Leader — By leader, I mean she’s best as a second-in-command; capable of taking charge when needed, but operates best as the true leader’s support and right-hand man. She’s really good at making things happen, and finding/fixing flaws in various plans and the execution of said plans.

BLAKE PRESTON

Sweet: Courage — One of Blake’s greatest assets is that she’s willing to stick her neck out for people who are less fortunate. She will do what’s right, no matter the consequences that may befall her, and that takes a lot of courage.

Salty: Anger — I was really torn between anger and emotion for this one, but I think anger edges out a bit. Blake is passionate, and while her anger can fuel her, it can also blind her. In For Queen and Country, her anger and righteousness really gives her tunnel-vision and she has to learn the difficult lesson that sometimes, even the best intentions can cause a lot of harm.

Spicy: Follower — Blake has a lot of really big ideas, but she’s not always the best person to take charge because she tends to hyperfocus. So rather than the leader of an organization, Blake is the most suited to heading a small group that gives her creative freedom and also some trusted people to reign her in if needed within a bigger organization that she can report to and lean on for guidance.

VANESSA QUEEN

Sweet: Confidence — You’d have a difficult time finding someone more confident than Vanessa, she lives, breathes and sleeps confidence.

Salty: Pride — Vanessa is the best at what she does; that’s her entire thing. She’s power-hungry and extremely competitive. If her pride is wounded or challenged in any way, she will retaliate.

Spicy: Follower — She works best on her own, without any restrictions (with one notable exception of her brother). She’s also not committed enough to anything to be a leader, and prefers the flexibility of being rogue-y on her own. Give her an assignment, and she will report back with more than you could ever have hoped for.

AIDEN PHILLIPS

Sweet: Reason — Aiden is very level-headed and can be counted on to be a voice of reason in most circumstances. He’s pretty detached from a lot of situations, and has the ability to see it the big picture without being too emotional.

Salty: Guilt  — He has a lot of baggage, to say the least. He internalizes all of his problems and doesn’t deal with them a healthy way. Combine this fact with some major Wanderlust spoilers... He carries a lot of guilt and believes himself to be pretty worthless and terrible, which hinders him significantly.

Spicy: Follower — Being the occasional voice of reason, Aiden is the type of person to offer his thoughts and opinions but isn’t necessarily the person who executes it and takes charge. He’s pretty good at cleaning up other people’s messes and making sure things go smoothly.

JESSICA RIEGER

Sweet: Confidence — Jess is really confident in herself because she has to be; no one else will be confident in her, so she set out to prove to the world that she’s not just someone, she’s the Jessica Rieger, dammit!

Salty: Disappointment — Based in her severe trust issues and fear of abandonment, Jess is afraid of being disappointed by the people she cares about, she’s afraid of being disappointed when she actually makes an effort, so she doesn’t. She refuses to let people close, and often doesn’t try a lot of things.

Spicy: Follower — She may seem like a leader at first who pulls people along and suggests things to do, but she’s actually a follower! She’s a bit too selfish to see the big picture and see how people fit in where. She’s a reluctant follower too, but always comes through for her friends.

[pens-swords-stuff]

STS Hey Undine, I hope you have a lot of fun this Saturday! If your characters could have the roles of a original DND party what roles would each character facilitate >:) (ex: who is the tank, the healer, fighter, etc)

Hey Drist, thank you so much! I hope your Saturday is fantastic too :D

Clara — Wizard; Very much a long-range DPS who is not that great in close-quarters combat. I feel like she’d be a decent support as well.

Callisto — Rogue; If there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s being sneaky.

Zach — Paladin or Druid; I think that Zach would a decent tank, but less of those tanky tanks and more of a heal-y support tank.

Aiden — Warrior; He’d just be a straight up traditional fighter on the front lines.

Jess — Warlock or Rogue; Jess is just rogue-y in general, but considering her story in Wanderlust with a lot of demon pacts, I feel like Warlock pacts would translate really nicely.

Yulia — Cleric; She’s a very spiritual person, and though her magic in Wanderlust tends to be more wizard-y, I feel like in a D&D party setting she would be the best at healing, and occasionally vaporizing her enemies with terrifying holy power.

Blake — Barbarian; Blake’s personality lends itself really nicely to a barbarian who just pummels things and is fueled by rage. I also considered a bard for her, but she’s not very charismatic.

Vanessa — Rogue or Bard; Vanessa is so sneaky and just a rogue in general, but she’s also extremely charismatic with a silver-tongue that a bard would also work for her.

This was really fun!

It’s Storyteller Saturday! Come ask us questions!

[pens-swords-stuff]

Story teller Saturday! What, if anything, does your main character find attractive in another person?

I have quite a few main characters over different WIPs so I’ll just be brief and zip through them all! (I’m a chronic overwriter though so...)

I’ve joked that Clara is Caerwyn-sexual before, and it’s not entirely wrong. I can’t tell if her type or Caerwyn came first, but she’s super attracted to him, and potentially anyone Caerwyn-adjacent: Confidence, dramatics, a little bit of danger, heroism, and a really, really pretty face.

Callisto really appreciates sincerity and trustworthiness a lot. She doesn’t need all the bells and whistles — she’s really attracted to those lowkey moments of kindness, I guess? To use a trope-y example, like when a person helps out an injured bird and doesn’t advertise it to ask for praise, and she just kinda sees it happen accidentally.

Aiden likes thoughtful people. He’s pretty introspective and has difficulty being open with others, so he really likes someone he can share companionable silence with. He’s also pretty attracted to... Hmmm, we call it gap in Japan, I don’t know if there’s an equivalent phrase in English. Like, the gap between a quiet person making an unexpectedly hilarious comment, or a person who isn’t super bold being super brave, etc.

Jess is uh.... a bit shallow and a bit shameless, to put it mildly. She’s not interested in romance, she prefers casual, physical relationships with not much emotional connection — so to her, looks are usually a more important factor than personality. Anyone she thinks is hot, usually goes. She also likes all sorts of people, so it takes a really repulsive personality to turn her off.

Blake loves charm and intelligence. She likes arguing, and really loves having heated discussions and banter, so she likes people that are witty and quick-thinking. She also has a thing for mystery — she’s endlessly intrigued by things she doesn’t have answers for and that includes people too. Smart, charming people will capture her interest, adding a dash of mystery to that will really seal the deal.

Thanks for asking, this was fun!

Storyteller Saturday: Come ask us writing questions!