#skyheld

⚡ : What typically leads to inspiration for you when it comes to writing?

💕 : When it comes to shipping do you prefer to draw things out and let them develop slowly, or do you prefer to jump right into them and skip the developmental stage?

☯ : Do you prefer to wing it or to plot things out first when it comes to longer threads ?

both ? i think there's a place for both. with her, because she's so abrasive at the start, i do like winging it a bit just to get a feel for how the interaction goes, how bothered muses are by her (& sometimes vice versa), & to kind of determine where ground zero is (not necessarily first meetings because those are difficult to really build momentum from, but early in game interactions when she's at her peak insufferability), as that's also important to establishing dynamics.

but, for lasting dynamics, i really do need an idea of where they're going or a way they can play off of each other, too. & how bothered the other muse is by her, & what that could result in, & how she'd react. so, after a certain point i do need to sit down & map it out a bit, even broad strokes to feel like there is a dynamic to bounce off of.

that said, because i am so busy lately, i do feel like the things that last are the ones where we've plotted something, either from the start or from inspiration from those early interactions.

⚡ : What typically leads to inspiration for you when it comes to writing?

this is a good one, & really relevant because i feel like i need to refresh on things. for my muse, playing bg3 for a bit is a really easy way to get back into things. i have a blessing & a curse with video game voices, in that, i very strongly associate them with my muses/versions of a character. which makes it very easy to start to hear their voice when i hear it in the game, but really hard to replay certain games with only 1 or 2 voices & try new backgrounds & characters.

for the art of writing itself, reading really helps. especially authors who write in ways that i like, it helps to remind me what i like in their writing & what i want to incorporate into mine more. usually it's stronger sentence structure & more vivid imagery, & for that second one, it does also help to sometimes watch movies. i'm not a huge movie buff, but if a movie is visually stunning, i do try to see it just to think of how i'd describe it, or to try & see what themes directors play with visually & just visual feasts for the eyes do remind me, again, to be more intentional with setting in my writing.

i also keep a notebook with me where i write down words i like the sound of. sometimes i forget to use them, but when i'm stuck, flipping through usually jumpstarts my brain or gives me at least one word i want to incorporate into the reply. mellifluous is one i've been sitting on for a minute that i want to use, or melodic.

💕 : When it comes to shipping do you prefer to draw things out and let them develop slowly, or do you prefer to jump right into them and skip the developmental stage?

i used to be 100% the 'let things develop organically' kind of person because anything else felt odd. & the longest running ship (perhaps two longest running ones) i've had on this blog has developed that way, & i do have a soft spot for when things fall into place naturally. & we've also gone very, very slowburn with one of them, which works given that it's also predominantly after the game & she's experienced a lot of growth, & just isn't the same person she is in act i. that one has been a lot more drawn out, with some jumping in at certain points (as well, memes on the dashboard do make it really hard to write only chronologically) & then reconciling it with the timeline after. but still. mostly still a slowburn.

that said, she is a complicated muse. she is very hard to ship with, & i do have that in my rules. she takes offence at the slightest thing, she makes inflammatory remarks & enjoys getting a rise out of people, she's argumentative & controlling & not overly forthcoming. so, with her, i've had a lot more of let's start in the middle & then work our way back with her, & writing non-chronologically. part of that is also more fun for me, & to see the ship (& her!) develop without having to wait the million years for her to get to that point. but, it's very seldom that i do any shipping without some level of plotting first, so even if we're jumping right in, there's usually a bit of context & a layer that's been worked out knowing who our muses are & how they operate.

very very occasionally, because she does tend toward the casual first & only develops big feelings later, do i start a ship with the physical & then move to something deeper but, because i'm shy & don't want to be That person, i tend to hold back on sending shippy or nsfw memes until we have a bit of something going, even if my shipping post has been liked. this is a very viable option i just tend to under-utilise it, partially because it does help to have some kind of an idea/plotting first. & to have that be discussed. i've sent an nsfw meme (1) time to someone where we didn't have a ship, was anxious about it the whole time, & it ended up being wonderful & kick starting something too, so i want to be more brave but. still will err more on the side of plotting & then deciding a bit how we want to approach it & how chronologically we want to write.

The seventh and final day of Arlathvhen dawns bright and clear. Everywhere Fiorelle looks, the forest clearing is alive with motion. Hunters return carrying fresh game, and the fires are already burning, sending the aroma of roasting meat and smoked fish drifting between the trees. For seven days the clans had shared stories, discoveries, grief, and triumphs. Tonight they would share a feast. Many years ago, Fiorelle would have loved this day most.

She had arrived with Keeper Hawen's clan, but even among them she has always felt strangely detached. Fiorelle hoped to reunite with her family here, but that hope had slowly bled out of her over the seven days. Every morning she’d wake up wondering if perhaps today would be the day. Perhaps they would simply arrive late, perhaps someone would know what had become of her people. But all she’d acquired was apologies, sympathy, gentle yet empty reassurances. No one had seen her clan, no Keeper had heard word of them. Again and again, the same answer. By the third day she had stopped asking.

Years. She had spent years searching. And now, standing among more Dalish than she had seen since her childhood, she finds herself no closer than before. Perhaps she never would be. Perhaps they were gone. The thought alone is devastating, world-sundering, yet around her, Arlathvhen continues. Life itself continues. It's supposed to be beautiful. It is beautiful. Why did that make it hurt even more?

Fiorelle finds herself lingering at the edges of things, watching, listening, rarely speaking. She hears fragments of a distant conversation, a hunter recounting a story from the previous Arlathvhen, ten years ago.

"...the Keeper from the Free Marches clan."

"...the one whose First was taken by slavers."

A pause, a sympathetic sound. Someone glances in her direction, then quickly away again. Fiorelle lowers her eyes. She had nothing to show for all those missing years except scars and uncertainty.

She'd accepted a plate of food at some point—she could not even remember from whom—but most of it remains untouched in her lap. Her gaze wanders over the gathering, eventually falling on Ameridan. He is difficult not to notice, not because he sought attention, but because the crowd always seemed to bend around him. The people had spent the better part of three days orbiting him, but now he stands surprisingly alone. For now, at least.

— @skyheld .

josephine may not have a lot of experience, but she certainly does know what and who she likes.

she hasn't really thought about it, per se. it's just something that's a fact. she knows by the way she feels when she passes a handsome man with a deep voice, or a beautiful woman with curves and a dazzling smile, or anyone, really, with nice muscles and a chivalrous attitude.

she does lean a little more towards feminine women/fem presenting people, but she's certainly not going to say no to a hot butch. her standards for men are a little higher, mostly because she's so used to men looking down on her simply for being a woman.

at the end of the day, she just wants to fall in love, and she really doesn't care who it's with as long as they treat her right.

— @skyheld .

prior to joining the chargers, krem hasn't had a lot of time to think about who and what he likes. society would have wanted him to like men while he had no other choice but to present as female in his early years, which made his struggle with being trans even more faceted than it already was.

in tevinter, homosexuality is... well, it's not punished, but it's also not exactly embraced. especially the people belonging to nobility are expected to be straight to continue the bloodline. being gay is okay in private, but that's it.

krem's family is not nobility. i'd reckon this line of thought is not as prevalent for "normal" people, but the nobles' influence is still palpable. while still living as a woman, krem was pressured into marriage by his mother, which broke their bond beyond repair; this, i think, was one of the most pivotal experiences for him to completely shelve the idea of romance and sex for a good, long while.

so liking men was kind of a taboo in his head, but he also didn't have the time and chance to think about whether or not he liked women.

he's come a long way since then, freely living as a man and being recognized as such as well. he's also finally got some space to himself to figure his sexuality out, which is basically... women are great. men are great. anyone in between is great. he gets in his head about it sometimes because shaking his upbringing is not the easiest thing to do, but it's a million times easier for him than it used to be in tevinter.

It is an incredibly interesting turn of events, that the famed Inquisitor and Herald of Andraste should come to the academy, Balaran supposes, though the jury's still out on whether or not it's a more positively-flavored type of interesting, or a negative one.

He invites her to have dinner with him, wherein dinner means charcuterie board and really, really old wine in the library. He has questions to ask. Motives to suss out. And people can become quite talkative when they've been fed and given alcohol.

Balaran swirls his wine in its glass, examining Halliserre's face from across the little table that sits between them.

if you go back far enough (no, i haven't decided how far), she is related to royalty! she will offer up this tidbit when it suits her, while conveniently omitting how distant the connection is.

that said, this is absolutely something that is covered up & not acknowledged in amn. merchants rule, now, & the last rulers before the council ousted them have terrible reputations. royalty is not viewed favourably in amn. but elsewhere she knows it is.

"you don’t have to be good, or useful, for someone to care about you."