#meme thingys

I think I'll start this off by saying that Clara is a very serious girl. She is very straight-laced, by the book, no nonsense kinda serious. She's practical and reasonable in most situations.

However, her less serious side includes her love for romance novels. She convinced herself that she'll only be happy if she has the perfect romance like the ones in her stories.

And, well, fate has a funny way of working sometimes.

Up until she met Rio, Clara had refused romances with other suitors in Rhodolite, citing one reason or another that they wouldn't work out. She liked reading her books more anyway, so thanks but no thanks!

And then, she happens upon a dying stranger in the rain one night. She cares for him over the next few days, nursing him back to health. She finds that he has amnesia, but he was polite and had impeccable manners. He also carried himself in a way that most of the guys she had known didn't. He had an elegance to him, his movements graceful and refined. He was also incredibly distant, which made sense as he was in a strange place with no memories, but Clara always tried to be patient and kind with him.

She was getting her hopes up that Rio would have been her path to a perfect romance, save for what she found in his jacket pocket while washing it one day: a ring in a box.

She had no context as to what the ring could have been for, save that it looked like a woman's ring (it certainly didn't look like it would have fit Rio's fingers) and that the craftsmanship was exquisite. And she certainly couldn't ask Rio who the ring was meant for because of his amnesia, so she assumed it was an engagement ring, crushing any further thoughts of having a romance with Rio. She didn't want to take away someone else's happiness, she wasn't that kind of girl!

Thus why she starts being distant to him after she defends him in front of the townspeople that were talking bad about him. That while it was a turning point for Rio as he sees someone that was standing up for a stranger that didn't know him, out of the goodness of her heart rather than anything she could stand to gain from it, and it starts his crushing on her going forward; Clara starts holding his feelings at a distance as, while he was as sweet as can be once he came around, she still has thoughts about that ring she found in his jacket.

And then, he confesses his feelings one summer day, not too long before she's to become Belle. And Clara wanted to return his feelings, she wanted to so bad!

But… the ring in his old jacket pocket held her tongue. So, as much as it hurt to turn him down, that's why she couldn't return his feelings, afraid that one day his memories will come back and he'll realize he was cheating on some faraway fiancé and then they'll both feel bad. Yet, despite being turned down, Rio still wished to remain with her, even if it wasn't in a romantic way. Clara cried because of this.

Fast-forward to Clara's time as Belle where she finds romance with the foxy seventh prince Nokto. He turns her ideals about love and romance on their heads, showing her ideals were just that, and that reality can be much deeper and meaningful. Meanwhile, Rio remained a steadfast presence in her time as Belle. He saw her falling in love, genuinely, with Nokto and Nokto with her. It hurt his heart to see their romance blossoming but he remembers Clara's tearful refusal of him and decided he preferred seeing her happy over anything else. He still has vague memories of Benitoite, but grew a hatred for his past self as time went on. He wanted to stay with Clara because she saw the good in him and he could be his true self around her. If she goes away, he'd have to go back to being Valerio and he didn't like that idea one bit.

Fast-forward once again and Clara is going to be married and crowned queen soon. She's going to be moving into the palace permanently soon, so she wanted to gather some of her personal effects from her old home. Rio comes with her because why not, he wants to see the old house again and visit the town, so he tags along to help her. This is where the fic Abandoned starts.

She finds his old jacket and the memories starts pouring back. Of when she found him injured in the rain, of when he confessed his love to her that summer day, and the fact that she was getting married soon. To Nokto.

Clara feels she keeps trashing Rio's feelings, first with turning him down and then she goes off and falls for someone else right in front of him. She wants to spare him any further pain, so she thinks the right thing to do would be to give him back his things so that he can rediscover who he was, go back to his 'fiancé' and be happy in his old life where she couldn't hurt him anymore.

But, as stated above, my version of Rio doesn't want to go back. As much as it pains him to watch the girl he fell for over three years fall for someone else, it's still less painful than the thought of going back to who he used to be.

Thus why his redirects her, pushing the coat and sword under the bed while he talks to her about the upcoming wedding to distract her. He'd rather focus on her being happy rather thinking of going back. He knows that he should, that it would be the 'right' thing to do, but… given what we saw in his route of how he and his mother were treated, it's no wonder he doesn't want to go back to *that*.

Which character do you want to spend more time with or develop further?

All of them. Impossible to put into action, but it is what I want. Put a character in front of me and I'll see what I can do to develop them further. I can make them worse, I guarantee it.

What world or setting would you like to return to or build from scratch?

Two worlds come to mind when I think of that question and that's IkeRev's world and Obey Me's lore. Both have a lot of good ideas but the potential is squandered to keep their 'family-friendly' ratings and little cohesion to the narrative. IkeRev with themes of the horrors of war and assimilation while Obey Me has literal demons, they could stand to be a little darker than what was given to us. I've seen peeps do some amazing things with lore from both properties and, idk, I think I wanna add my own spin on things if given the chance.

Are there any genres you've been wanting to experiment with?

Action and Adventure always seems to be something fun to explore, go on a hero's journey and whatnot. I have been getting more into the mystery genre thanks to getting back into youtube playthroughs, but that seems like a complicated genre, especially if you're not that great with follow-through. Fantasy I've dipped my toes into thanks to all the romance games I play, so there is some experience in there, but I think playing around with Folklore could be fun as well.

Are there any tropes you've been wanting to experiment with?

Arranged Marriages seem like something that would be up my alley. And since I'm also a fan of Second Chance romances, why not play around with Lovers to Enemies and back again?

What aspect of your writing craft would you like to improve most next year (dialogue, pacing, structure, etc.)?

Environmental and physical descriptions. I've relied too long on fanfic and the reader knowing what the characters and the setting looks like and I think that is a detriment to my OC writing.

Which writing habit or routine would you like to strengthen?

I would like to get into the habit of writing more regularly. I also draw on an irregular basis and I would like make that more regulated as well. Maybe start with something small like one sentence per day could be doable rather than what I usually do, which is about 2k in a day and not do anything for a while.

Is there a writing challenge or competition you'd like to enter?

Fictober is what I usually enter every year and that's usually enough writing for me as I'm writing from a prompt list the entire month of October.  I never finish all 30-ish prompts because busy and tired™, but even getting at least 1 done is an accomplishment.

What's one milestone you'd love to reach (word count, publication, finishing a draft, etc.)?

I would like to finish a few drafts I've started over the years. I've actually set that challenge for myself as my New Years Resolution, to finish at least 5 drafts by the end of the year. If I can do more, even better.

What writing goal would make you feel proud to accomplish by the end of the year?

Finish at least 5 fics minimum before the year ends. Doesn't matter which ones, so long as they get done. They can be small ones, just so long as they get done.

How will you celebrate your writing progress throughout the year?

I keep a spreadsheet that helps to keep track of my WC for that year and that final amount number going up is always a joy.

Who or what inspires your writing the most right now?

Things happening while I'm playing games. I made mention of the new Obey Me app inspiring me to continue working with my OC Miri and things like that are what's been inspiring me lately.

How do you plan to keep your creativity fueled and your motivation high?

Setting small, achievable goals. To never be hard on myself if I don't live up to my expectations. And the promise of peanut butter M & Ms usually keeps my motivation high.

What's one piece of advice you want to remind yourself of when the writing gets tough?

You're creating something from nothing or from very little and that's amazing.

How do you plan to share more of your writing next year (with readers, workshops, online)?

Probably the ways I usually share it, via Discord and tumblr. I would like to post on ao3 more often this year than I did last year.

What kind of feedback or connection are you hoping to find in your writing community?

Any kind, really? I know well that it is a two-way street if I want to find meaningful connections, I need to be the one reaching out if it's something that I really want, but some days that can be hard. Opening yourself up is hard in general, but there needs to be some vulnerability and a willingness to reach out and start communicating with your community if you want to try and build something meaningful to you. At this point, any connection I get is a blessing because of my sporadic posting schedule and the subject matter I chose to explore. I write SFW OCs inspired fanfic most of the time, so I usually don't reach a lot of people because of that, but the ones that decided to stick around in spite of that, thanks for that. It really does mean a lot to me.  

Is there a collaboration you'd like to pursue with another writer or artist?

Not really. Too busy with rl stuff to spend on collaborations, as much as I would like to. I sometimes commission friends to do art for some of my fics, but that doesn't really count since I'm paying them to make art? So that kinda defeats the purpose?

What kind of advice would you like to give other writers for the next year?

Houki

I think one of her more interesting platonic relationships is the one she has with Nobunaga. I tend to write them as sibling-like as their backgrounds are somewhat similar (they're both nobility, in a sense) so they understand how the games are played, thus how she got herself out of playing his game of Strip Go (or at least the way it's played in Nobunaga's route).

Houki is the type that won't be pushed around if she can help it. In her home game, there is a shared scene in the 'meeting all the characters' portion of the game where she and another nice noble from a different kingdom spy one of the other noble's prince intimidating a timid princess. You can have the nice noble go with you to stand up for the princess, but my favorite route is getting between the royals yourself and standing up for the princess (Houki's scene in particularly funny as she just spouts random facts until the mean prince goes away). The scene is also made loads more entertaining if you meet the mean prince before that particular confrontation and let him know in no uncertain terms that you're not one to be messed with.

I see the same dynamic happening between Houki and Nobunaga, as while Nobunaga is intimidating and rude, Houki won't let herself be pushed around by his tyrannical ways, and I think Nobu would like that, thus why he respects her when she puts her foot down about the stakes when they play Go together. I know I've written their playing Go scene at least three times at this point because of this, trying to find the right balance between them. I want it to be like a exposition sort of piece where Houki explains some of her history to Nobunaga, but it's also fun writing their sibling-like dynamics where Houki gets frustrated with him and fights back when he tries to push her buttons. 

Clara

Probably the most interesting of Clara's relationships is the one she has with Rio. When writing out her story, with keeping in mind that she is ultimately Nokto's, I also like to add in elements from Rio's route to enrich the relationship between the two. Like, the confession scene still happens (Rio confesses his love for her one summer day before she becomes Belle), but she turns him down because of what she found on him that rainy day on the side of the road (his fancy clothes and sword and, most importantly, an expensive feminine ring in a box).

Rio still dedicates himself to her, especially once she becomes Belle and afterwards as well. She does try to spare his feelings time and time again, but Rio refuses to abandon her because of how much he loves her. He wants to spend his days caring for her in whatever way he can, no matter the form that takes. And Clara, despite her words to contrary, she does want Rio to stay around. In her heart of hearts, she knows he should go back to wherever it is he came from and fix his memories as best he can, but she also sees how he avoids talking about or going near Benitoite, plus with the way Silvio treats him, she's come to respect his wishes and allows him to remain at her side, if only for his wellbeing overall.

Nokto doesn't mind him being around as he has been a big help to Clara in getting her acclimated to the royal life (not to mention Rio will protect her and keep state secrets without question as palace life is not easy, especially with the threat of spies and assassins). He might prickle a little bit when Rio does one of his declarations towards his fiancé/wife, but he knows that Clara doesn't feel *that way* about Rio, thus why he lets him stay around.

Miri

Miri has a lot of interesting relationships since she came to Devildom, but I think one of my favorite ones (aside from the one she has with Lucifer) is her relationship with Satan. Shoutout to some old conversations I had with @pathogenic about Satan and Miri, so Imma expand about those thoughts for this meme.

With Satan in the beginning, through him, she learns to see the humanity that's in Lucifer. Before Satan, she was cautious of Lucifer. She knew about Belphie in the attic, but no one else knew about it, so she knew she had to be careful. Like, Lucifer was barely tolerating her presence thanks to Diavolo as is (she did win some respect points and a bruised wrist for standing up to him from the incident in the underground tomb with Beel and Luke, but let's let that be the furthest she gets injured in Devildom, thanks)(lol)

She already had four pacts at that point and it was pissing Lucifer off that she was getting a little too cozy with the family, something that intrigued Satan, resident Lucifer-hater. He lives to be a pain in Lucifer's side and what better way to do that than getting the exchange student on his side? Like, what's another stick to the fire gonna do, huh?

Miri, of course, tells him no when he offers. She wasn't gathering pacts to provoke Lucifer, after all, but she couldn't exactly tell him why she actually was getting pacts with his brothers with tensions being the way they were then.

This, of course, angers Satan. He threatens her until Lucifer steps in. The two of them start arguing more and Satan's anger grows hotter, causing books to fly around his room. The two of them catch a book at the same time, a forbidden book that switch bodies between two people that touch it at the same time. They spend a few days as each other in a Freaky Friday situation, seeing the other in new lights and joining forces to beat a video game together and helping out the ghost of the witch that had made the book that cursed them find her murderer.

These scenes are important as this is really the first time Lucifer spends time with Miri and seeing how she and Satan are as people. How joyful and excited Satan can be when he was helping to solve the witch's murder while Miri really doesn't have sinister intentions, honestly just wanting to help out and bring peace to his family. How things really are around him when he doesn't let pride and image get in the way of him enjoying himself in spite of the circumstances. How capable Satan and Miri were and how the family was starting to come back together again under his nose.

I do also think that Satan and Miri share some interesting parallels as well. Both weren't part of the original family fold, coming along later once the family bond had been forged. Satan wasn't born an angel like his brothers and Miri was brought on by coincidence. Both are naturally curious and love learning. Miri was also the first to tell him that have to force himself to like someone if he doesn't want to. She had initially meant it as towards herself as they were stuck in a video game to where he had to confess feelings for her to win, but she didn't want him to feel obligated to say things he didn't mean.