runaway.

What business seems to have overwritten her vocabulary and swallowed her former civilized pleasantries. Ketterdam and Kaz are rubbing off on her, though Inej finds that she prefers it to the forced flirtation and small talk of the Menagerie. Kaz would probably tell her that it's because business doesn't lie, people do.

" I didn't used to, " Inej replies and finds her voice a little regretful. It's almost as though she's stumbled into missing the Suli caravans, her mother's handmade skillet bread, and the beauty of speaking her mother tongue.

Wylan must have missed his own home, or at least the habits, to have questioned her use of what business so early in the conversation. Only merchers have enough money to wine and dine their clients, gilding their work like they do their mansions. To survive the Barrel, he'll have to remember that honeyed words and kind smiles create a target, not friendships.

Whatever happened to a simple Hello, how do you do?

He swallowed, fingers tightening at his sides. Down in the Barrel, he should’ve known better. Thus, his doubts resurfaced, bitter and persistent. Maybe he just didn’t really belong anywhere. Not in the tidy halls of his childhood, not even among the soot and rot of Ketterdam. 

“You’re the spider.” The words came out like a mouse squeak before he could stop them. He winced internally, bracing for what’s to come. The shiver that ran through him was small, barely there, but it lingered. The fact that Inej Ghafa stood in front of him now, offering a soft apology and a careful smile, felt unreal. Luxurious, even. 

Wylan reached for the mint leaves. “For the smell.” He held it out for Inej to take as he led her deeper into the tannery. The clean, sharp scent rising between them steadied him a little, as they navigated through the strong, nauseating vats to get to a more secluded corner where he usually takes his breaks.  

So we need to talk about things, we do.

I keep seeing people complaining about feeling ignored. And some weeks I feel ignored, too. And sometimes I talk to people who have tried to say ‘no thank you, I’m not interested’ in 546378 different ways, and people take that as ‘I need to be more creative and persistent’.

It’s time we were honest;

Sometimes, an RPer is just not that into you.

They are begging for threads when it’s their turn on replies. They have a wishlist but they turn you down when you ask. Communication has drawn to a halt. You start every message with ‘hi sorry to bother you’. You nudge them repeatedly and they are unresponsive.

… they are just not that into you.

Here are some reasons why this might be the case:

You’re trying to write yourself into their background and it doesn’t work well with their headcanons.

Your writing styles are just unmeshy things. Oil. Water. Bam.

They don’t agree with some aspect of they way you play your character (and this doesn’t make you wrong; just incompatible). <– especially canons tbh. We all see them differently. Which is great.

They don’t mesh with some aspect of the way you run your blog generally - more ooc than they are comfortable with, too much negativity about fandoms, characters, ships or people, too many photos of your stamp collection.

Your styles clash. One of you likes heavy formatting and structure and the other likes things plain.

What you initially discussed is not unfolding right for them.

They just don’t feel it.

They have a lot of threads and they don’t want to cut down on others for one they’re lukewarm about.

None of these things are likely to be the case:

They hate you.

They think you suck.

This is NOT about ‘quality’ (i hate that word being used around here). It’s about compatibility.

Let me ask you… can you really enjoy a thread knowing you had to harass someone into it? I doubt it.

I am not talking about people who take a little longer than usual to reply, because our lives fluctuate. Or people who have long breaks (hooray, they have lives!). I mean when someone is around a lot and it’s just a constant impasse. Or your messages never get answered.

This does not mean you are a bad RPer. This means one thing: You are not compatible with the other writer.  That is all, and it doesn’t reflect badly on you, or on them.

If someone goes on a date and it flops, we don’t blame them, right? And they can still be friends, or civil, or leave on okay terms.

                f*ck stardust your body is forged from STEEL