#the-rogue-mockingjay

[coldshrugs]

BEST KISS FOR OC AWARD???

sobbing T^T

Best Kiss goes to...

(canonical) Alma/Mason. OOF that first post-carnival M kiss is everything 😳🤪

(in my head) ToasTed. soft and timid but takes a sharp 180 into "hell yeah this is happening"

(haven't kissed yet but will 100% ruin me) Effie/Aeran... i want to believe.

[asaara-writes]

Eeby deeby, skrunkly, glup shitto, and horse plinko for Dragon Age and Arcane 😄

Thank you so much for the ask!

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

The goodest boy and girl: Maker's Bark and Rio 🥺

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

The entire Amell family and Finn!

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

I always enjoy putting my faves through the mill, so Fenris and Hawke on one hand, and Jayce and Viktor on the other. The pain is directly proportional to the love, haha.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Might get unfollowed for this lmao but Heimerdinger. He's just a completely ineffectual leader IMO: he's the founder of Piltover, so things have gotten this bad under his leadership, and apparently he's been content with exploiting the undercity until they became an actual threat to Piltover.

Plus all his suggestions to Jayce and Viktor are completely unhelpful! He springs the Progress Day speech on Jayce last minute but he's not allowed to show people what they've been working on? Viktor is supposed to take his word for it and destroy his experiment even though it might save his life? At least TRY to help them, ffs. And then he has the gall to take a 5-minute walk in the undercity and be all "well 😔 looks like no one wants my help 😔😔😔" Geez, I wonder why.

Oh, and that line he has about how weird the concept of imprisonment is because the body is confined but the mind isn't? What do you suggest then, a fucking lobotomy??

Kick the furball straight to superhell. And I would gladly send Cullen there too if it meant never having to hear about him again.

[elfrooting]

ME:A DEFENSE SQUAD HIGH FIVE!!! Played the game beginning of August and now I'm 40k words deep in a pile of fic I'm writing after 4 years of hiatus/semi-hiatus. I romanced Jaal, who did you romance?? Favorite squad combo? Weapons???

THANK YOU YES, I love it so much! I definitely agree with some of the critiques, like that some of the animation could have been better and overall I wish the lore and the story had been allowed to go deeper than it did, but I still think it’s a banger. My canon Ryder romanced Liam. I know a lot of people complained that his romance was boring but like... no? He’s actually great? People complain that he’s too much of an idealist, but isn’t that the kind of optimism you probably need sometimes when you’re a couple million light years and six centuries from home? He has such a huge heart, his whole aim is to help the team come together and learn more about one another so that they can build this new future, like how can you dunk so hard on a guy who is basically empathy personified?

I romanced Jaal in another playthrough as well, and his romance is just SO sweet. I love how emotionally competent he is, it’s so refreshing after having dated my share of non-pixelated guys who definitely cannot say the same. And uhhhh that love scene? Hot.

My favorite squad is usually Jaal and Drack. I typically play a Sentinel build, so using the two of them gives me a tank and a sniper to round out my biotics and tech abilities and I find that worked well for me. And then as far as weapons go, I like the Viper for long shots and the Valkyrie for closer range stuff when accuracy isn’t as important. What are your faves? And do you have screenshots of your Ryder? I’d love to see them!

[dalishious]

Which Carver route do you prefer, templar or Warden, and why? I'm starting my second DA2 playthrough and I'm not sure what route I should take with him

Warden, definitely. He seems so much genuinely happier as a warden than he ever did before, and I feel like he really finds his place among them. Without having to, you know, be a templar. 

And like, he does express interest in the wardens. And there’s this banter:

Anders: It must be hard being around so many darkspawn. After what happened to your sister.

Carver: I'd happily spend the rest of my life doing nothing but making them pay. For everything.

Anders: Have you thought about joining the Grey Wardens? They've got a whole club for people just like you.

Carver: If I did join the Wardens, you can be bloody sure I wouldn't run away to go live in some sewer.

Anders: But we'd all be so sorry to see you go...

[asaara-writes]

Couple of writerly questions, if you don't mind: how do you decide which character's pov to use for a scene? Do you ever get stuck on that? I've got a few scenes that could be really cool in Brynja OR Jaal's pov, but I've had a heckuva time tryna decide which is better/more interesting. Also, do you know any good ways to practice writing in a character's voice, particularly a canon character's? Been thinking in circles about this for 2 months trying to find somewhere to start and it Aint Workin

BOY DO I EVER GET STUCK ON POV. At least in The Far Shore the various storylines are separate enough that it’s kind of no brainer for the most part, but the parts where they do intersect? It’s been very tricky sometimes figuring out which POV is the most compelling choice!

Broadly speaking, a good rule of thumb is picking the character who has the highest stakes for the scene in question: the one who has the most to lose and/or who goes through the most dramatic change or emotional arc. Choosing the character that will let readers experience these things as closely as possible is usually your best bet.

Sometimes the answer is pretty evident, but sometimes it’s ... not. The good news: it’s likely a hard decision because both options are interesting in their own right, meaning you can’t really go wrong. Often the decision just boils down to what you feel like writing! But here are a few things I’ve found helpful to make that choice.

What does each character bring to the scene?

I think it helps to see POV as a sort of lens: the scene will be refracted through the character’s emotions, experience and personality. Getting to know your characters, their motivations and backstory will help you tease out the elements that are specific to them and make their voice truly come to life. This can give the same scene a completely different texture, and sometimes it’s just a matter of deciding which feels right for you and the story you want to tell.

To use one of my ships as an example, Fenris and Hawke illustrate this pretty well. Their personalities are pretty much opposites (at least the way I write them), and they have wildly different experiences. As a result, the same situation will have a completely different feel depending on the POV. Fenris’s past and trauma have shaped his worldview, so he might approach a romance scene with wary hope, while Hawke will be much more forthright and open about her hopes and desires. As a result, writing the exact same situation from their respective POVs would yield two completely different fics. My Hawke feels things very strongly - there’s a kind of unabashed optimism and intensity to her POV, while Fenris’s tends to be a little more subdued and guarded (which makes it oh so satisfying when he does open up). This doesn’t make one better than the other, just different.

Likewise, Jaal and Ryder’s cultural touchstones and backgrounds are completely different. Ryder left their whole galaxy behind, so everything is new and different to them. From Jaal’s POV, Ryder is a bright spot in the protracted war that has defined his whole life.

How to bring a character’s POV to life?

Once you’ve picked a POV for your story, how do you make it feel like the character in question? To this end, there are usually some questions I want the answers to before writing, and other elements I pay attention to as I write. These questions kind of work as a funnel, as each stage helps you build on the next:

Who is your character? Know their motivations, personality, and background. What are their hard lines in the sand? What do they want and how far will they go to get it? If they're a canon character, how do they respond to similar situations? I tend to get impatient and not spend much time on my OCs' backstory (oops), but I've found it makes a huge difference when I do. Knowing these things will help inform their thoughts and actions and make them feel like real people as you write.

How does that impact their narration? More tangibly, how do these elements impact the way they interact with other characters and navigate the world? Is there a big gap between their inner thoughts and what they show to the world? What will stand out to them and what will they overlook? A practical military type will not look at their surroundings or approach situations the same way as someone with no fighting experience, for example. Being mindful of this as you write will let you shape the narrative in a way that is unique to the character in question.

How to make them sound like themselves? Do they have an extensive vocabulary? Do they swear? What are they likely to compare things to? Once I'm satisfied that the above feels true to the character in question, I’ll tweak their speech in line edits. This can be everything from colloquialisms, speech patterns, word choice, specific quirks or catchphrases (although be careful not to overdo those!).

For canon characters, I find it useful to reread or listen to their dialogue so that their voice is “fresh” in my head as I write them. For OCs, ask games or worksheets can be a great way to fill in the blanks and make sure they’re fleshed out. And as for practice ... just write! Prompts and drabbles can be a great way to get some practice without committing to a whole fic, but don’t be afraid to just do some freewriting and see what happens. I personally like to brainstorm by hand and spend a little time in my characters’ heads to make sure I have their motivations and thought processes down. I sometimes even do it for non-POV characters, just to make sure their actions are consistent with what we know of them. These exercises obviously don’t have to be polished or take up a lot of time, but they can be a great way to get unstuck and know if you’re on the right track.

I tried to break it down in as much detail as possible, but don’t let that intimidate you! It’s entirely possible to just write characters based on what feels right in the moment and end up with great results. Still, I’ve found the above helpful when I really want to dig deeper or when I’m getting familiar with new characters.

Just try it!

Lastly, I recommend having a play and writing a bit from both POVs to see if one clicks! Sometimes experimenting can light up your brain in all sorts of unexpected ways, and for me, nothing is as effective as just actually putting pen to paper. And ultimately, just go with your gut! While I said above that usually you want to go with the character that has the highest stakes, sometimes you want to pull back a little. Plenty of novels and stories are written from the POV of a secondary character, and it can be a ton of fun to see the main character through someone else’s eyes.

Also, remember there are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to POV switches: I like to stick to one POV per chapter, but plenty of people switch POV from one scene to the other. Of course you need to be careful about making those switches clear to your readers, but if you’re reluctant about committing to one POV, this can be a good way to have your cake and eat it too! Most importantly, you should be having fun!

I hope this helps! Good luck! <3

[coldshrugs]

Wrist scar solidarity!!!!! My gal Laura hides hers tho at all times to avoid unwanted questions she's very Panik about it and in general refuses to acknowledge the Murphy incident 😂🥺 my sweet summer child (she's also dating Nate :3)

Oh also what outcome did Alma get?? Unfortunately for Laura, Murphy escaped (DUN DUN DUNNNN) (it was entirely bc I couldn't tell what tactic played to what skill 😂😂😂😂)

I'm so attached to the wrist scar!!! I mentioned in the tags that M's scar kissing scene feels more deliberate when it's on the wrist. It's not something that's right in front of their face in that moment, they have to call attention to it and pull it up to be kissed. There's no mistaking the intimacy behind the gesture.

Alma has similar feelings about the whole incident. She covers her wrist in an idle sort of way. She's very much "bury your trauma" about the whole thing but after a couple of years she reaches a breaking point.

I also couldn't tell which tactic played into which skill so Murphy escaped in Alma's run 😂 I sort of like the lack of resolution there?? It's like when Criminal Minds would have Foyet turn up again every three seasons to torment the cast.

[asaara-writes]

How does Lizzy respond to the whole "hey my son is actually leader of the Institute" debacle? Still trying to process all that myself ahsjdslfakl

Hahaha g o d I’d stumbled upon so many spoilers by that point I was certain the game had nothing left to surprise me with, and that reveal was a total punch to the gut. Lizzy, uh, did nOT take it well. To say the least. She more or less told Father where he could stick it and infamously got kicked out of the Institute on her first visit. I only realized that’s not how it’s supposed to go when my friends asked me questions about the Institute and I was like, “wait, I saw NONE of that” haha.

I reloaded because I didn’t want to miss out on that much content, but I decided that Lizzy initially getting kicked out is canon for her. She has a bit of a hair-trigger temper and tends to lash out as a trauma response, and seeing synth Shaun getting reset in front of her was HIGHLY traumatic for her. She thinks she’s found her baby then sees him possibly getting killed in front of her eyes without being able to do anything about it, which is basically Nate’s murder all over again. :( By the time Father makes his entrance she wants absolutely NOTHING to do with him. That monster cannot -- is not -- her son. I don’t think she ever truly sees him as such 

Up to that point, she was a reluctant Railroad agent. She collaborated with them because she thought they were her best bet to get into the Institute, but she felt they had little regard for her and what she was going through, so she just felt used. It’s only after she’s started to process all this that she realizes she’s doomed a whole lot of synths, so once she has nothing left to lose she goes “fuck it, let’s save some synths” and manages to get back in Father’s good graces (which you can’t do in-game but I do what I want). It’s just a role she has to play, or so she tells herself -- having to collaborate with Father ends up taking its toll on her, and I headcanon she picks up a bit of a Med-X addiction while in the Institute to try and keep her emotions under control. :(

Luckily, Hancock’s got her back. He chews out the Railroad on her behalf when they get too pushy, and he’s there to fish her out of the Institute and keep her off the Med-X once she’s out.

SORRY I babbled a lot, haha. Lizzy’s first meeting with Father is one of the few videos I bothered uploading, so here it is if you’re curious:

Thank you so much for the ask, friend! <3

[asaara-writes]

Can I just say I LOVE the style you used for Loose Ends? It gives the very specific vibe of sitting in a half-ruined house or old parking garage chillin around a campfire, bottles of bourbon in our hands while we listen to Hancock tell this story of him and his Lizzy Hayes it is a DELIGHT 💕💕

AHHHHH thank you SO MUCH, friend!! <3 I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying Loose Ends so far -- that was my first time writing in the first person so I was super nervous, especially since I rarely see it used in fandom? So I wasn’t sure if people would hate it or what (for the longest time I went around claiming I didn’t like first person, but only fools never change their minds I guess, haha).

BUT as challenging as it’s been to write it, Hancock has such a strong, distinctive voice, if any character is close to a perfect fit for first person, it’s him! I’m very happy it worked for you, and now I’m definitely picturing him high on Mentats making a four-hour speech from the Old State House balcony about how he and Lizzy reconnected. :D Thank you again so much for sending this in! <3<3<3