Consceleratus Writes

Chapter 34 is now officially in progress!

Hey guys, I know it’s been awhile and I haven’t been uploading much on here but I’ve slowly started getting into posting again (without tagging much sorry about that.)

I found after I posted my last chapter (which was very spicy, as some of you know) I had to put 100% of my time into preparing for my wedding and making sure the finances were all aligned there. Then there was the preparation for the honeymoon in which my husband and I went away for the majority of February.

Not only this, but I also had some issues arise at work due to my manager leaving so my responsibilities doubled and became more complicated. I know. The AO3 curse hits strong!

More ramblings below with some details on chapter posting 👇

What's a song you associate with Ramies?

A song you associate with Guard 76?

A song you associate with Lucio Nebulae or the whole Nebulae family?

A song you associate with The Great?

Finally got around to answering so thank you for being so, so patient with me.

THANK YOU @whimsicalentropy FOR SUCH A GREAT QUESTION.

Once again

What's a song you associate with Ramies?

I have quite a few songs that I equally have characterised with Ramies and Starlight combined (and I think that's due to the fact they're women in somewhat similar situations– by which I mean orbiting around an unstable man)

So I equally would, but Mitski again here, especially 'Drunk Walk Home'

But I also think 'Blood in the Cut' by K.Flay and 'Cup Runneth Over' by Kiki Rockwell. These two are vastly different in theme: one is about self-destruction, the other about trying to understand gender identity within the set standard (which is very much Ramies internal thoughts if I had built upon what my intention was for her and what she represents to me as a writer).

A song you associate with Guard 76?

I have a strong plotline involving Guard 76 experiencing a significant identity crisis as his world begins to fall apart. He is characterized as a loyal, watchful knight and a dedicated follower of the Empire and the state religion. When his facade breaks, it triggers a personal crisis, prompting him to do anything to restore it. While we haven't seen much of this yet (though we will, in some form), it's a focus I find intriguing as I work on my second draft.

So, with that said, although we haven't seen it, I'm very inspired by some more moody tracks for Guard 76 based on this theme. Such as Keosz's 'All I Had To Do' and 'Betrayal' from The Jamie Lloyd Company.

The Nebulae's overall theme centers on revelry, partying, and a sense of personal freedom, which conceals their more sinister activities. They attract the public easily and are extremely wealthy from monopolizing bio-discs, making them performative and flashy while fiercely guarding their own assets.

So, in all honesty, and given Prince Lucio's proclivity for performing live shows, I would really describe the Nebulae's sound as very commercially friendly, consistently summer, cheesy POP and EDM-vibe. This one being the most tongue-in-cheek and silly:

But if I were being very particular and being honest on a deeper level, I listen to a lot of Aphex Twin when writing about the Nebulaes. Mainly because his music has a lot of 'healing frequency' vibes whilst being very firmly of the 90s house genre, and his mixes are incredibly complex. Which I think really frames them well (past all the silly Brit-House-Ibiza-rave crap Lucio plays).

For The Great, I have so many orchestral themes that vary between threatening and somewhat romantic.

The Great [Spoilers] is a version of Siebren that has self-actualised through the trauma of the accident and the severe ego-death it brought. He is the happier, brighter side of a Siebren that, unfortunately, isn't too common. And sadly, he, too, has been absorbed by the Emps' overall plan and rapidly deteriorated for the sake of being a tool.

With that said, there is this sense of secretiveness and hidden warmth behind The Great, so I really utilise a lot of Max Richter's pieces here to convey a sense of being in the presence of a deep yet very silent love, and of being starved of the answers you need. And pairing that with a deep sense of uncanniness and familiarity (especially when paired with Star - that will be important LATER). The Irrepressibles come to mind, especially their more surreal stuff.

Due to the fact it is Siebren, I also have to include Son Lux's 'Let Me Follow'. It's a very deep and personal track which I was heavily inspired by for their first meeting where he isn't a near-corpse.

And for Starlight's personal feelings towards him? I have to use Kelela's 'All The Way Down' (because she's perfect for conveying feelings).

#3, #8 The Empress, #12 The Empress

Hey! Finally got around to writing this (again after tumblr ate it) so thank you @pixie-mask for the ask! Link here if you want to try or if you want to ask me something! #3 what's something you like about your writing?

This is a hard one for me to answer, as I have a very love/hate relationship with writing at times. As much as it can be 'too much' for people, I love my detailing. I love building and setting the scene very vividly (purple prose all over the place, and all). I get very hung up on describing the details, and I want to really convey the emotions tied to visuals in themselves. I also love lore-building and focusing on what's implied. Sometimes I find myself falling into exposition traps, which upsets me because I can't always find a way to write my way out of them. I guess that's the downside of writing fic sometimes.

#8 What part of The Empress is your favourite?

I love my earlier chapters even more. It's been very hard to condense this middle section, as what I had planned was just way, way too complex for something that was basically supposed to be wedding-night smut (until the Emperor curse grabbed hold of me). My particular favourite chapters were the first argument and Starlight's [spoilers] demise. I got very emotional about Chapter 15 in particular.

#12 What's a song or two you associate with The Empress

OH NOW THIS IS WHERE WE GET INTO GIRL!

So, as some of you may know, I have a big, fat, STONKING huge playlist for writing this fic–it's not even all of it, as I've deliberately left out some of the more score-heavy tracks, as they can make it even longer. I shall link it at the end, BUT FOR THE SAKE OF TALKING ABOUT MY FAVOURITE THING, I SHALL DIVULGE A LIL BIT HERE.

There are so many songs that I've taken a huge amount of inspiration from to write certain scenes and to build upon some of the character arcs, so it would be a miss to not mention them.

For the entirety of the fic overall? It has to be Marked for Death by Emma Ruth Rundle.

There's something about his song in particular that sums up Star and Emps' relationship very well. This overall theme of mutually assured destruction and doom is just 👌. Very apt for these two onions.

On a somewhat brighter note, I am greatly inspired by the melody motif from The Fifth Element (Hate the director, but the movie is very meaningful to me–can you tell I love 90s spacey sci-fi camp?). I believe the melody also connects Star and Emp's more emotionally driven narratives with each other especially.

When writing for Chapter 15, I listened to this particular excerpt on repeat and sobbed when it was over. So I have to mention it here:

When writing the opening wedding scene, I was deeply inspired by FKA Twigs' 'Thousand Eyes'. She expresses vulnerability through her vocals, contrasting them with powerful baselines to emotionally convey her feelings—something I think is incredibly impactful.

So I was heavily influenced by 'Thousand Eyes' for Starlight's ceremony chapter.

Actually, a big part of Starlight's character comes from the 'MAGDALENE' album, along with a lot of Björk's music, like 'Hunter' and 'Alarm Call'. We also need to mention Paris Paloma, especially her tracks 'Labour' and 'Fruits'. London Grammar's 'Hey Now' is extremely relevant; that track is very much Starlight's mindset in these current chapters, as well as THEE FLORENCE and the FUCKING machine baby. (She is admittedly my biggest inspiration for everything tbh).

This track in particular is sooo Starlight:

And I have to mention a few huge inspirations for the Gala chapter and the aftermath of said Gala, as Mitski's 'Shame' and 'Drunk Walk Home' played a huge part in helping me write those (I'm fine, by the way, thanks for asking).

And I have to mention a few of the tracks that heavily inspire my characterisation for Emps!Siebren too.

For Emps, I utilise a lot of very heavy, drone-like orchestral music to convey a sense of pure dread and raw cosmic, Lovecraftian power. But it also has to have a sense of unease and something very unstable underneath it.

'Hvitserk's choice' by Trevor Morris, in particular, is one I go back to time and time again for him.

Another artist I love to use is Lustmord (thank you, Wales) for his very orchestral and somewhat unsettling tracks. In particular, 'Black Star', which is a huge favourite of mine. (I think this is very apt currently–yes, it has been memified on TikTok, it's not my fault).

I can't mention Ben Frost here, as well, as he's a huge inspiration for Emps. The 'By The Throat', 'The Centre Cannot Hold', and the 'AURORA' albums have played a massive part here. I particularly love 'Killshot' from the BTT album, but I need to mention 'Threshold of Faith' here as this particular track is my favourite (especially when writing about the accident).

I also need to mention what I use for when I'm writing his more vulnerable moments (since he's a big eldritch baby who needs therapy).

I love, love, love Son Lux's music for pairing this experimental, grand and avant-garde orchestral score with these incredibly timid and soft vocals. 'A Different Kind of Love' is straight up my Emps track, hands down this is him entirely.

And I have to mention 'Forty Screams' as well. The track 'Pyre' was also used extensively in writing the resurrection scene. Woodkid's 'Goliath' is also a very Emps-coded track to me, simply because of the similar sweeping orchestrals paired with a very soft vocal. Themes of masculine vulnerability and ego.

OK, I WON'T GO ON. Just safe to say I have a huge HUGE list of tracks I like to pull from for motifs and scene setting.

If anyone is interested in checking out my 11-hour playlist on Spotify, it is linked here and doesn't follow a particular order. Some of the tracks in it aren't even that serious, but they help me get into the mood.