kiara

Hello, fellow writblers! A little late on STS today. To respond, reblog or tag me in a new post. If you're not tagged but wanna answer, feel free! ❤️

Do you have a way of mapping out your character arcs? If so, what's the process like? Any apps or software you use?

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I'm just getting back into the Tumblr thing after a long while away. I'm feeling things out and testing the waters, hoping I can make a comfy space in the writing and witchy corners (witchblr at @wewillbewicked ) so it seems appropriate to y'know, do that whoole introduction thing,

Fun Facts For Curious Creatures Crossing The Path:

Name: Magpie, Mags, Vale, Corbi, any variant on my username

Age: 31

Pronouns: they/them

Mixed-race POC but white passing, depending on who you ask.

Disabled, mentally ill, neurodivergent

Queer and polyam (I live with my two partners and our many, many animals)

(With The Truth In Mind) Let Me Write Lies:

I've been in fandom since I was 9 and writing fanfic since I was 11. Transitioned to almost entirely original fiction in 2018.

I've published several short stories in places such as Decoded Pride, The Needle Drops... Vol. 1, Lamplight, and some stuff coming in the next little while.

I love writing really tiny stories that are odd and a little magical

My genres of choice are anything speculative, though I lean towards fantasy and horror more than science fiction.

While I primarily write short fiction, I have longer projects brewing in the back of my head that i will sew together into bigger and better things than what lives in my brain.

I Welcome With Open Doors:

anyone 18+

Tag games like WIP/World Building Wednesday, Tunesday, Storyteler Saturday, Six Line Sunday, or any other fun writerly things

Asks

DMs

Prompts and requests

As the Stories Unfold Before You

WIP Info And Directory: Under The Rainbow - Queer, contemproary fantasy/PRN following the shenanigans of a nightclub/dungeon/waystation for the local supernatural community.

dream: does your OC have a driving dream or goal? what is it? how far would they go to achieve it?

no: how does your OC respond to being refused, rebuffed, or ignored? are they willing to accept ‘no’ as an answer?

danger: what’s one thing that makes your OC angry? what’s their temper like? how do they respond to people who make them mad?

need: has your OC ever experienced desperation? how has it affected them? what do they do when something they need is out of their reach?

run: what’s one relationship or experience your OC has mixed feelings about? are they good at finding joy in sad things, or vice versa?

fire: what’s one thing they’d destroy if they could, and why? would that destruction bring them any satisfaction or catharsis?

blood: what would your OC would sacrifice everything for? what does “everything” entail—their life, or something else? how far would they go?

spring: what does your OC miss most? will they ever be reunited? how would they feel about that?

dna: does your OC believe in fate or destiny? what about soulmates? is this all a coincidence?

fake: has your OC ever been lied to? what was the lie? how has it affected them?

idol: has your OC been in a position where a lot of people were looking down on (or up to) them? how do they handle the pressure of fame? of criticism?

on: what’s the greatest challenge your OC has overcome? how do they feel about it?

mic drop: what accomplishment is your OC proudest of? do they brag about it, or are they more quiet?

Thanks to @tryingtimi for the tag! Never done one of these things before, so I hope I do it right!

Rules: Share photos of your OC’s favourite element, time of the day, god, colour, and toy as a child. Then tag five people and change up any one of the five favourite things categories for the next round.

Because he's been on the brain...

Martin Hightower

Element: Fire Childhood Toy: Building Blocks God: Odin Time of day: Sunrise Color: Dark Cobalt Blue

Element: Fire

The lack of infrastructure and exposure to New London's heating elements means that Lower London gets pretty cold. Martin has a fireplace in his ADC Liaison office-- a nearly unheard of (overly extravagant and unnecessary) luxury in Midtown. He likes to be warm.

Childhood Toy: Building Blocks

Martin's always liked building things. More accurately, he's liked testing limits-- seeing how high and how delicate he can build something before it falls apart.

God: Odin

Back in ye olde Viking times, Odin was the God most associated with the germanic royalty and elite. Worshipping and paying tribute to Odin were said to bring wealth, status, and knowledge. Martin relates to Odin's cunning and relentless pursuit of secrets.

Time of Day: Sunrise

Martin wakes up every day to watch New London's simulated sun rise up over the edge of Midtown. In Lower London, light and warmth were so hard to come by. The sunrise reminds him of where he came from, and gives him time to reflect on how he intends to utilize his day.

Color: Dark Cobalt Blue

He's always associated himself with blue. Specifically, he identifies with darker, more vivid shades of blue. Not quite royalty, but still highly pigmented. Much of his wardrobe is in similar colors.

Give an OC a number of 1-10, with

1=no, none, bad

10=yes, lots, good:

[Please feel free to explain/elaborate!]

🎪 How fun would it be to spend a day with them?

💬 How extroverted are they?

🔫 Would they be a good bodyguard?

👀 How guilty they feel and why?

💛 How well-liked are they by other characters?

👕 Fashion sense?

💥 How likely would you be to put them in charge of a disaster/high stakes situation?

⛰️ Would they be good company on a desert island?

🫂 Would they be/are they a good romantic partner?

👽 Would they be a good person for aliens to meet first? [Bonus: what impression would aliens have about humanity/their species based on them?]

😈 How chaotic are their morals?

🧸 How good are they with kids?

🧨 How feisty are they? Do they have a temper?

✨️ Do they use/believe in magic?

🎆 How seriously do they take holidays?

☁️ What shape is their mental health in?

🏠 Would they be a good roommate?

🪂 How much do they enjoy/seek out excitement?

🛠 How skilled are they? Do they have a lot of hobbies?

(all images came from my Pinterest board, I own none of them, only the collage)

genre: high fantasy // steampunk, 1st person POV for Seleste and 3rd person POV for the few scenes that aren't from her POV

status: almost entirely planned, early drafting

aesthetic / tropes : clockwork prosthetics, suspended trains, golden sunrises, starry skies, quest for knowledge, friendship, lots of morally grey characters, government VS rebels but there are no real "bad guys", tall buildings, airships, animated masks, extravagant ballgowns and hats, hidden intentions, more friendship, vampires whose eyes change colour to match their emotions, big *ss eldritch monsters that are just randomly nice to people, complicated conflicts, ace MC, bakery aesthetic, people in power manipulating each other, mad scientists, stars, did I mention friendship ?

(it got kinda long so I put the rest of the info under the cut :)

These comics were published around the same time (1988) that Section 28 came into effect in Britain - a truly dystopian law that forbade “the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship” or any kind of ‘promotion’ of homosexuality by any local authorities - it was deliberately vague in order to empower bigots and scare advocates.

This is the context in which Sandman was published. And it was still - beautifully, wonderfully and deliberately - queer as fuck.

They have not changed any character’s sexuality in the show. All they have done is honour them, in a time where it could not be more important to do so. When laws like section 28 are on the rise once more.

Sandman is a story about expectation and legacy and family. It’s a rejection of grand narratives and false ideals. It’s about confronting the darkest parts of the world to find the truest version of yourself.

From 35 years away it could have been a whole lot better, but yes. This was the world we were making Sandman in...