[xarrixii]

arri, writer in progress

non-binary, white, and pansexual. they/he preferred online. writer, editor, and socially awkward

flash/burn masterlist | this is an introduction post

I am an adult resident of the United States of America who is writing a dystopian urban fantasy titled flash/burn. If you're fine with reading what is essentially a draft, hit it up. I've also done copy-editing work for my friend @goodluckclove's cozy book Blind Trust.

Name anyone I talk to a lot and they'll probably try to sell you that I have some level of undiagnosed inattentive ADHD, as they've sold me. Which is fine maybe. Probably fine. Very irregular writer.

>> status: rewriting flash/burn arc one

I'm into the same genres that I write, which is pretty convenient: fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, action, adventure, thriller, dash of horror.

I like character-driven plots more than I'll ever enjoy a book that forces out plot points, so I try to avoid forcing a plot as much as possible.

My music taste depends on the situation and my mood, but most of the time it's some version of alternative rock. It's all vibes.

I will write gore if I think it makes sense to. I'm not afraid to kill a major character if it makes sense to. I will try to tag these things but if I ever miss something sensitive be sure to let me know.

I can make my boyfriend hate my characters as much as he might hate a real living person. Which probably means I'm writing my assholes correctly. I take pride in this.

I am anti-AI. None of my writing will ever contain AI.

I write using LibreOffice. If you'd like a pdf version of my writing for whatever reason, I can make one for you.

I try to make my blog as generally safe and comfortable for everyone as possible, and if I fuck up I want to be told.

FLASH/BURN / MASTERLIST | Harlow "Urban" Collins experienced the pyrokinetic rehabilitation and misuse clinics firsthand since he was seven. Since he awakened, it's been nothing but a constant stream of hatred. Alph "Raiden" Roy managed to build a trustworthy reputation despite their pyrokinesis and was about to begin police academy when an incident that could kill their best friend and implicate them in a felony upends their plans. A favor too many spirals both into the underground enforcement organization founded by Alph's family to pay it off—Cinder. Bad timing forces them into the clutches of a jump-started scramble to stop Storm's plans before Cinder's legal counterpart catches wind of its existence, even while life has to appear to resume like normal. Shit hits the fan. | ask to be added to the tag list chapters: #flash/burn everything else: #flash/burn shitposting

>>

MONOALCHEMICAL | Gray was charged with high treason and is one of the most wanted fugitives in the Kingdom of Graheathe. Heir to her father, Leon Harkon is the first knight to successfully deliver the notorious alchemist-sorcerer a permanent blow—and also the first one to need his help. | #monoalchemical:xarrixii

>>

YELLOW IS FEAR | Fear was gifted the ability to wield an unruly piece of the magic plane and handed the trust of WKPD Captain Barrow McGlently. Fare Freundlichkeit thought that would be the biggest case her alter ego would ever need to go down, but that was before a strange, beak-masked “vigilante” kept pushing her away from the biggest slave trade Krusing had ever seen; and then swore his life to her. | #yellow is fear:xarrixii

>>

HOLDING ANCHOR | Earwyn Sol wants nothing more than to be remembered, so when Captain Haze of Dead Water let him on board all those years ago, he finally thought he had the chance. After becoming the feared Second Lieutenant Cardinal, however, his chances hadn’t changed. Soren Auer is the sleepless Uchorian Sparrow translating fluently between the five common tongues and several ship communication encryptions just to keep the rest of his nine fingers, and also the inventor that offers himself hostage when Dead Water comes knocking. | #holding anchor:xarrixii

>>

DEADRAIL_ | Atlas is the multi-skilled persona of tired code optimizer Sawyer Greene whose rules to meet with are very simple: no weapons, no murder, and he decides what jobs he'll take. Business as usual quickly turns into the unique job of somehow getting spoiled and dishonored Fujinaga Eiji to return to the Fujinaga succession line. To varying degrees of success. | #deadrail_xarrixii

>>

WRITEMAS 2024 / MASTERLIST | A writing game I participated in during December 2024. Contains non-canon but adjacent content for Monoalchemical, Yellow is Fear, and Holding Anchor.

i'm usually chronically lowercase but this felt better with proper grammar. anyway that's been me.

[orangelizardtattoo]

Today's Hype Post!

It's that time of day my darlings! Tell us some wonderful little details for your original writing project or work in progress my dears! (No fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post.)

TODAY'S QUESTION:

What craft advice gets worse the more literally people follow it?

[xarrixii]

absolutely "show don't tell" is what comes to mind first. and also "never use said." sometimes you SHOULD be telling and using said, especially when you don't want to put a particular interest or flavor into the line.

sometimes a character saying the most game-breaking lore and dropping it with a "said" is exactly what you need and i'm tired of people thinking that "said" is boring and replaceable instead of its own unique dialogue tag

(also @goodluckclove if you're in the mood for a ramble)

[xarrixii]

someone explain to me how i can type better with my eyes closed than with them open

[orangelizardtattoo]

Today's Hype Post!

It's that time of day my darlings! Tell us some wonderful little details for your original writing project or work in progress my dears! (No fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post.)

TODAY'S QUESTION:

Let us now speak of one of my favorite things! Archetypes! Next let's do The Four Elements my loves. Which suits an any of your characters?

[xarrixii]

this one is funny to me for the sole reason that all of my characters wield kinetics that probably won't match. i'm going to use this test to remove my bias from picking the kinetics they wield and also put their type of kinesis for giggles

|

Harlow / AIR / pyrokinesis - this definitely makes sense to me. he tends to work the best when he's not bound by someone else's constraints and it's easy for him to feel trapped. he suffers intensely from perfectionism

Alph / WATER / pyrokinesis - was FULLY expecting Alph to roll fire here. NUTS to me. they act frequently on emotion without thinking of the consequences. though, they also care deeply for other people and are open to having their perspective changed

Liam / EARTH / telepathic/telekinetic - fully expected. he's probably the most grounded character in flash/burn and is extremely reliable. if you're in a situation where the only person you have to work with is Liam you are beyond lucky unless you really hate jokes

Amaterasu / FIRE / pyrokinetic - this is actually the only one i chose to override the first time i want through. while she shows some traits of earth (she's loyal and stubborn), i wouldn't call her honest, reliable, or patient. she's confident in herself and in what she wants to stand for and i'd consider her actually quite charismatic when she stops trying to be someone she isn't

Nacht / EARTH / telekinetic - i didn't have much of an opinion on what Nacht could be going into this, but earth suits him. he's diligent and practical in what he does. patience is what allowed him to work through the struggle of his screwed-up telekinesis into the terror he made it. his loyalty is the only reason a few people don't get killed in the story's progression

|

additional note: a canon but unstated kinetic phenomena is that dual-wielding kinetic users are most commonly aerokinetic/hydrokinetic because of their similarity yet also their ability to be separate and unreactive (pyrokinetic/electrokinetic dual-wielders, as a counter point are the least common due to their high rate of reactivity). Alph and Harlow being Water and Air is especially interesting for this reason

[xarrixii]

When are you going to release a statement about Doctor Emmett Brown? Your silence is deafening, Arri.

Thank you for reaching out Mx. Gardener,

Dr. Brown is currently away on an extended vacation and I truly do not understand what everyone is so concerned about. We have always used--and will always use--exclusively animal meat in our meal boxes, and would not be so reckless as to allow the on-site psychologist near the raw meat processors.

These allegations are truly telling of the KOEE movement and the company will take no further slander on the safety of hiring extraterrestrials.

Doctor Emmett Brown

On-Site Psychologist

Meaty Surprise Inc.

OE (hiveform)

[orangelizardtattoo]

Today's Hype Post!

It's that time of day my darlings! Tell us some wonderful little details for your original writing project or work in progress my dears! (No fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post.)

TODAY'S QUESTION:

Let us now speak of one of my favorite things! Archetypes! Next let's do The Hero's Journey my loves. Which archetypes suits an any of your characters?

[xarrixii]

Alph and Harlow - The Hero. these are the protagonists so it just adds up that way

Liam - The Mentor. he's kind of forced into the role but he grows into it. unlike a lot of mentors he doesn't end up mysteriously dying and is actually there for the whole story

Afyer - The Ally. the closest person to Alph in an arc of flash/burn who helps Alph stop stagnating on their pyrokinesis

Amaterasu (and*) - The Herald. she ropes her kid and their best friend into the mess begrudgingly after one too many favors is used up (*is buried in the tags for Semi-Important Spoiler reasons)

Alph - The Trickster. one of Alph's biggest issues is how brash they are with their ideals and while trying to help Harlow without knowing the full situation it frequently ends up with a lopsided conclusion

Afyer - The Shapeshifter. bound to happen when you're a genuine guy working for the enemy

Nacht and Raijin - The Shadow. where Nacht is simply the antagonist, Raijin is the nuisance that you hate with your guts who keeps showing up being just a blatantly awful person every time because he enjoys the reactions he gets

i'm not fully done outlining all the plot points (or replotting what I already have) and the only archetype not filled here is The Guardian. maybe in the future that would be Liam as well? something something "remember that part of the deal where you two worked for Cinder until it got too serious? that means you can go back to living normal lives until the storm's blowed over."

[tsunflowers]

reading a historical romance novel and reflecting on the way these stories often present woke nobility for the contemporary reader. a big thing is servants. you can’t not have servants in those times but many modern readers think “but I would never have servants. it would be so weird to have servants” and in order to make the protagonists of the story more relatable they are actually friends with the servants. but flip your perspective and think of it from the side of the servants. wouldn’t it be so awful if your boss was always trying to be friends with you. a really common thing you’ll see is the woke baronet having tea in the kitchen with the servants bc he’s not like other baronets. but what if your boss wanted to hang out and talk during your lunch break every day. not so charming when you think about it that way

[ariaste]

#okay but now what is the optimal way to be a good boss in this situation i genuinely wanna know#its easy to guess what makes a bad boss or a mid boss. but what is a good boss#specifically in such a highly structured hierarchal situation (via @rainbowroach)

HELLO you are asking questions that literature and poetry THROUGHOUT the middle ages has asked, and it is from this questioning that we derive things like the Codes of Chivalry (which is not "how to treat a noble lady really nice" but is actually "how to be an ethical person when you're rich and you own a horse" and includes such things as "don't run people over with your horse")

In fact I daresay you already know instinctively just from cultural osmosis what a good boss -- a good liege lord -- is and does based on the tropes that have survived to the current day and the kinds of things that get Hugely Praised in things like legends of King Arthur.

A good boss (liege lord) is:

Merciful. He is not having his peasants killed for things like poaching rabbits during a famine. In fact, he is working to mitigate famine. During times of individual hardship, he might negotiate with a peasant for a payment plan on their annual rent.

Patient. He is not impulsive, he does not lose his temper.

Prudent. He makes choices that are thoughtful, considered, conservative (in the sense of not needlessly risky--he's not investing his entire fortune in having everyone plant an unproven crop). He is making sure local infrastructure like roads and public buildings are maintained and kept in good nick.

Gentle. He doesn't haul off and slap a servant or a tenant for breaking a dish or making a mistake. He doesn't abuse animals, his wife or children, or his employees. He doesn't rape the servants.

Generous (both in money and in spirit). He is not extorting the peasants for an amount of rent that is beyond their means, he is not raising taxes every year to cover his own lavish lifestyle. He is paying his servants a living wage (or, if wages are low, he's giving them room/board/clothing to make up the difference). If someone in a tenant's family dies, the lord is sending a gift of condolence, or helping to pay for the funeral, or possibly even ATTENDING the funeral and speaking a few kind words about the deceased, ESPECIALLY if they were a really upstanding and important member of the community. If one of his tenants is gravely sick, the lord is sending a basket of food or paying for a doctor. He is giving charitably (generally this will be, like, a bequest to the church so that they can run a hospital or an orphanage or a school for the local village children).

Pious. This classically means "goes to church, submits with humility to God" but to me this quality is subtextually standing in for "maintaining an ongoing sense of Perspective that HE'S not god, that there are higher powers he is Accountable to, that he too can be Judged, etc, so that he doesn't end up going on a weird fucked up power trip"

Humble. One of the most admiring things you hear about a lord doing in literature and epic poetry is, "He ate off of wooden plates while his followers ate off of gold and silver." Humility isn't about being meek, it's just about not thinking so much of yourself that you turn your nose up and sneer at what "lesser" people do. In other words: Don't be a fucking diva. If your carriage gets stuck in the mud, climb out and help everybody else push, you're not gonna die from getting mud on your shoes.

Condescending. This word has changed wildly in meaning/tone over the last couple centuries -- it's now a rude thing to do (because we've done away with legal social hierarchies, so someone acting like they're lowering themselves to your level IS insulting), but in older times, a high-ranking person "condescending" to a servant was worthy of praise and admiration: it means they were setting aside rank and privilege to speak to them with the easygoing, friendly respect and compassion they'd give a peer. This is things like... Treats those beneath him with courtesy and respect (ie: listens soberly and attentively when one of his servants or tenants comes to complain about a problem). Having a sense of humor and kindness about it when the lord and a servant both come around a corner at the same time and run into each other and the servant gets knocked to the ground and starts babbling apologies--the condescending (positive) lord helps them to their feet with his own hands and cracks a joke to show them that it's ok (as opposed to just walking off without a word or insulting/scolding them). This is also things like trusting a farmer, woodcutter, or artisan to speak with expertise about their own livelihood and taking their advice into consideration if they tell the lord that one of his ideas won't work.

Good boundaries. The ethical liege lord knows that it's normal for the staff to probably be softly bitching about him in private (even with a really good boss, we all grumble from time to time). He's not eavesdropping on them, he's not going into the staff areas where they should reasonably expect to have a degree of privacy, etc.

Righteous and protective of "the weak". The "weak" here doesn't necessarily mean physically weak, this is often used in the sense of someone politically or socially weak, aka The Marginalized -- the poor, the disabled, women, children, the elderly, etc. If a lord sees someone like this being mistreated or abused, he's supposed to step in and put a stop to that.

Committed to reciprocity. In a highly hierarchical system like feudalism, every person (from the lowest peasant all the way up to the crown prince) legally OWES their liege lord certain things (taxes, labor, service, loyalty, etc). A good liege remembers and takes very seriously the idea that this should be a balanced and reciprocal relationship -- in other words, he owes something BACK. Feudalism is modeled very strongly on the family system: If children owe their parents obedience and service, then parents owe their children care and protection. This still applies when the "child" is a farmer and the "parent" is a local baron. Or when the "child" is a duke and the "parent" is the king.

Basically, we get so caught up in the aesthetics of nobility that we forget that it literally is a managerial position that comes with responsibilities that were... very similar back in the day to the same ones we have now. Humans have not changed all that much. At the end of the day, a really good boss in the 1400s versus in one from the 2020s displays most of the same qualities of personality, even if the details of execution are different.

The next question is, of course, "well, but this theoretical liege lord is HIGHLY idealized -- how often did that actually HAPPEN? Wasn't it more likely that everyone was exploited all the time?" and to that I say: Well, maybe. But again, I don't think humans have changed all that much. Just like the bosses of today, there's a SPECTRUM: A really really good boss is rare and precious and one that you tell stories about for years after you've left that job, but a truly, genuinely, homicidally nightmarish boss is also pretty rare. Most bosses are sort of meh -- they have their good moments, they have their shitty moments, but they're tolerable and you can get along with them well enough to do your job, and then you roll your eyes at them behind their back. Generally, humans don't take outright exploitation lying down. Being a bad boss in the historical period is how you get peasant uprisings and revolts, and you know that to be true because your parents raised you with that knowledge, so unless you are very stupid or inbred or an egomaniac, there is literal personal incentive to at minimum be a Tolerable liege lord. And that means hitting at least SOME of the above bullet points.

TL;DR: In the words of Honore de Balzac, "Everything I have just told you can be summarized by an old word: noblesse oblige!"

(for more discussions of the ethics of fealty and what it means to be a good boss when you are an exquisitely beautiful twink of a prince with a hot beefy bodyguard.... [fingerguns] read A Taste of Gold and Iron)

[orangelizardtattoo]

Today's Hype Post!

It's that time of day my darlings! Tell us some wonderful little details for your original writing project or work in progress my dears! (No fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post.)

TODAY'S QUESTION:

Let us now speak of one of my favorite things! Archetypes! First let's do Chess Pieces my loves. Which piece on the board are some of your characters?

[xarrixii]

i am not super familiar with chess symbolism or chess itself so i did look for some general suggestions. going with the big shots for this one

Jackstalk - The King. although he is far more mobile than a king in chess, his role as the eldest sibling makes him a lifeline to the rest and is locked in place without a source to draw from

Suzie - The Queen. this one was mainly chosen based on the rise in power from the weakest piece to the strongest. she built her abilities up from rock bottom, especially after having none in the first place

Amaterasu - The Bishop. she does big sweeping strokes across the board and is maybe a little more influential (outer sphere) than she ever intended to be ("are you sure it's not just 'cause she's based?" according to @huward )

Five - The Bishop. an opposite to amaterasu, covering all the bases she doesn't, but influencing the inner sphere and also the reason... now that'd be a spoiler

Morgen - The Knight. upstanding guy, unexpectedly showing up out of nowhere to be mobile and throw you for a loop

Nacht - The Rook. there's something calculated and sophisticated about his actions. even when being pushed in an entirely different direction, he doesn't falter in how he moves

Liam - The Pawn. not one of the siblings. starts out as more of a soldier than anything else, though eventually rising to practically equal footing to the rest of the back line. definitely replacing Amaterasu as a bishop when he crosses the board

[orangelizardtattoo]

Today's Hype Post!

It's that time of day my darlings! Tell us some wonderful little details for your original writing project or work in progress my dears! (No fanfiction please- it's a wonderful medium but not the focus of this blog post.)

TODAY'S QUESTION:

The language of flowers reveals much. Choose flowers for whatever characters you'd like to my little ravens~

[xarrixii]

i had two criteria when i decided to pick out one of harlow's favorite flowers: it was yellow, and its meaning made some level of sense for him. luckily my journey was not long when picking out yellow daffodils

alph being the one gifting the immortal plastic brick bouquet to harlow adds on a little extra meaning that i just found out about a few minutes ago. and harlow building the daffodils himself is also some more in there. mmmm good. language of flowers you have not failed me

[xarrixii]

are you "fixing" that art or are you reimagining it to fit your personal preferences

[xarrixii]

WIP Folder Tag

gonna be honest i'm not actually sure if i'm doing this correctly but i was tagged by @goodluckclove

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous, and tag as many people as you have WIPs. If people send an ask with the title that most intrigues them, you post a snippet or tell them something about it!

uh. well the list of my wips is already on my tumblr so i'll get a little crazy with it and look at my google drive "writing" folder instead

Archive Full Doc [<- liar]

graheathe zoomed out

horrific rushed story with no love put into it for literary writing

industrious fanfiction

Inventive Full Doc

monoalchemical rough

Writers Jam

yellow is fear rough

then we've got the three folders in there (some with subfolders!):

Clickbait Title Here

flash/burn

Role Twists

The Doc 12 Series

and the actual wips, stolen off tumblr, with their arbitrary names:

flash/burn

monoalchemical

yellow is fear

holding anchor

deadrail

some of these are things that i thought would never be mentioned in the history of ever. but i guess that was a mistake to assume. now i actually don't know this many people and cannot tag that many. i talk to even less

lurker coming out of the shadows to announce the frequency of which i see your stuff and am too afraid of social interaction to do anything but nod in joy. @tc-doherty and @write-with-will you two might enjoy a tag game. and then of course anyone who sees this

[xarrixii]

one of my skills is being able to differentiate a capital I and a lowercase l in fonts where they aren't that different with surprising accuracy. this skill is not that useful actually

[goodluckclove]

I have drawn and framed an ominous picture of a man in a hot dog costume that I will be leaving in the woods in Portland tomorrow.

[goodluckclove]

On a scale of 1-10 how cursed would you feel finding this pointedly left in the woods of a popular hiking trail?

[xarrixii]

zero. i would not feel cursed by this. epic 10/10 find

[goodluckclove]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa finalllyyyyyyyy

[goodluckclove]

If I were to describe my current headspace it is 50/50 relief and tired despair.

I'm sure I will feel more accomplished like in the next day or so. Just after the fact I am still in the funk of being like man I sure wish I was as qualified to do literally any other form of work.

What's my most refined skill? The thing where I For Real Disappoint Myself because I realize that I establish one character to be picking to Digiorno's and then never mention it again? Cool sure okay.

[xarrixii]

Okay so like if you look up houses on Zillow you'll see that all of them will have a sort of schlocky House Premise written by real estate agents to pitch the house to prospective buyers.

You must write a piece in this inoffensively corporate style to try and attract truly anyone to buy the obviously haunted house you've been tasked to sell.

The location and style of house is up to you.

Freshly renovated with new, sleek modern floors, upscale appliances, and expansive windows, this elegant condo with breathtaking views over both Lake Haines and the downtown Longport skyline is here to give a new meaning to luxury.

Walking inside this home greets you with a large room for family, friends, and frequent guests to gather. A private and soundproof office is nestled into the first floor along with a grand, spacious kitchen perfect for cooking, baking, and sharing.

With five bedrooms and five bathrooms, there is certainly enough to house guests on top of family. A long balcony graces both the first and second floor with plenty of outdoor space to enjoy the fresh air and look out over the lake with friends.

"The previous owners decided they wanted a place with a little less memories, is all. Did anyone die on this property, you ask? Uh, well - no."

[xarrixii]

the reason chekov's gun exists is to explain why there are bullets being fired

[goodluckclove]

Sometimes it's important to go into a home goods store and remind yourself that some Home Things are just made up.

I was in a TJ Maxx, meandering while waiting for a pick up order at a pizza place nearby, when I saw a cheese dome for sale. It was a glass dome cover for a thick wooden slab used solely to display cheese. This is conceptually abhorrent to me.

It was on sale for seventeen dollars. This had to be a mistake, because the most appealing price for a cheese board would be for TJ Maxx to pay me at least double that to rid them of such an egregious act of hubris.

A cheese dome? The wooden slab was small enough that it could really only work for modest amounts of cheese and maybe sliced fruit. There is no purpose for this that doesn't make me want to start a war. My wife suggested it was for parties. This is an unacceptable answer to me. Who is buying bulky, difficult to store serving accessories exclusively to Imprison Cheese for the sick amusement of some dinner party guests?

That's not real. Nobody has ever bought or will ever buy a cheese board. No one has produced them, either. This is an invention I made up in a cough syrup nightmare.

[goodluckclove]

I can't tell you how much this mundane, bougie invention makes me For Real Furious.

Hey you wanna come over and look at my Pomegranate Zoo? They are safer like this. They can't hurt us from Within the Dome.

If I went to a friend's house and they had something like this in their kitchen, that friend would immediately be a stranger to me.

[xarrixii]

i feel like these are supposed to make the cheese look appetizing but they do the opposite actually. the cheese looks less appetizing under a greenhouse roof