//Things that are canon to the worldbuilding here but I never used #263: there's a machine that's used for the specific purpose of fixing someone else's fuck upwhen they get turned into a monster that they're not supposed to be.

2023 books i liked recap because why not

top faves, new entries on the all-timers shelf:

piranesi is like a sweet spot of novels made for me i swear. aesthetically beautiful (as far as mental images go), themes of wonder at the beauty of the world, a slowly unfurling mystery, a simple plot but with vibrant beauty and meaning layered on top. It's Good

giovanni's room also has a very simple plot that is so overlaid with soaring passionate emotion i swear it feels like an opera in book form. timeless classic. it's good idk what to tell you

oh man ancillary justice is such good sci-fi. when you start out reading it you're like this is rather dry but it pulls you in so hard. the worldbuilding! the themes of identity! breq is such a good character!

not quite all-timer shelf but still really good

fish swimming in dappled sunlight is ultimately a story about stories and memory and constructed narratives and the reliability thereof. it takes place over a single night and mostly just consists of characters sitting around talking, but manages to pull some crazy twists on you regardless. love the prose style too

i'm glad my mom died lives up to the acclaim. mccurdy has a real talent for narrative voice, effortlessly inhabiting the viewpoint of her younger self at various ages. balances humor and tragedy with frank candor. i sound like a review pull quote here so i'll stop

infect your friends and loved ones is actually a novella so pretty short! it's by the author of detransition baby and has definitely gotten me interested in reading that. really vivid meditation on trans womanhood and transmisogyny that bounces between post-apocalypse and pre-apocalypse settings. pdf here

less stand-out but i still liked it

what are you are looking for is in the library is a nice little series of loosely connected vignettes about people who are stuck at some point in their life and find inspiration at the library. all the staff at my library job wanted to read it so the hold list was a mile long lol. has inspiring themes about always being able to find a way forward when you're in a rut and the power of community and stuff

a people's history of heaven is about the life and times of a group of girls living in a slum in bangalore, india. i liked how it interwove different people's life stories together and used lots of vivid detail and i like how the trans girl's story was written. some aspects were hit or miss for me but it was still nice

temple alley summer is a kids' book but i like kids' books so that's fine. it's about a boy who sees a ghost and the next day she's a student at his school and everyone seems to already know her but him and it turns out this is because his house was built on top of a mystical temple. i like the meditations on life and death and the simple heartwarmingness. it takes a long unexpected detour in the second half which threw me for a loop but ended up working for the story

stuff i started reading but didn't finish and i swear i'm going to try to get to it this year

to shape a dragon's breath is pretty long so i didn't get that far in before i had to return it to the library but i really liked what i read. the worldbuilding is really interesting and the narrative voice feels fresh and unique and deftly avoids the samey YA mold that tends to grate on me. and it's got commentary on colonialism! definitely check this one out

i got halfway through radium girls which is an accomplishment for me since it's long. rare nonfiction entry on this list. goes into insanely meticulous historical detail complete with fiction-style descriptions and embellishments of the girls' lives which just makes it more tragic

i own a copy of the haunting of hajji hotak but it's seriously harrowing stuff so i had to take breaks. it's good man. but whew it does not shy away from the realities of living under war and occupation. death to america

ok that's everything i think seeya next year

Hey Kadie!! ٩(^ᴗ^)۶♡

For the ask game –> 25, 45, 38, 61, 65

Omg I'm so glad you rb-ed the post! I wanted to ask you a bunch of stuff because I'm so curious and I always love to hear what you have to say! No pressure ofc. Answer if you want/are able to!

Wishing you the best and sending you lots of love and good vibes!! .｡*ﾟ♡+.*.｡(❁´◡`❁)｡.♡｡:+*♡

Hey Pen! Thank you so much for asking this! I'm super excited to talk about my small, weird writing habits. I'm sure a lot of others can relate to the mess that is a writer's mind. Especially when there's so many stories inside ones brain.

I swear my hamster wheel is going and never stopping. I also love seeing what others have to say about their writing process because it's just an all around good practice to share! Writers make the world go round!

Also I just love seeing you pop up in my notifs and ask! You brighten my day up. I hope you're doing amazing!!!! ♡ (ᵔ◡ᵔ) ♡

25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

I really enjoy the brainstorming/outlining. I like to add fun things into the details of my stories, but also since I want to write longer fics sometimes my brain likes to just ooze out bursts of text and paragraphs to buff out later. There's no in between. I definitely just love talking about what I will add and wish to do in the story and then see how it eventually differs off once I get the ball rolling to see how much of my concepts have changed. To answer the question, it's definitely brainstorming/general story planning. I love making my silly little bullet points and titling my silly little chapters that will eventually either stick or change. ♡｡:+*

45. What genre/trope do you tend to write the most?

I write the most for romance. I just love romance in every single thing ever. Whether it be the love of life or the romance of a new, blossoming love. Love is just a vast, ever-changing emotion and flexible feeling to work with. It's a versatile thing. Romance can take even dark turns to become something twisted and other times it is the most gentle thing ever like an s/o kissing your fingers. I also really, really love writing sibling dynamics. Family is so, sooooo unique. The dynamics are GREAT. ♡｡:+*

38. What is your most self-indulgent posted story?

Definitely "The Orthodox Stance" and "A Rose by Any Other Name". Those are incredibly ridiculous and self-indulgent that there is just no need other than to test my abilities. ♡｡:+*

61. In [insert fic], what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

The scene from AUA, where they're going on that arcade date and it's just.. a mess. So much miscommunication, more comedy to fix the error of ones ways. It really was such a joy to write.

65. If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would happen in it?

For the Orthodox Stance it would definitely be just more in depth moments between them. I feel like I didn't give more to Wakasa and Reader in that fic, and I feel like there's so much more scenes to add! So I would just rewrite it, but add more and more. Maybe even some silly little established relationship concept between them. The both of them trying to see how they can navigate being an item.

For AUA, I think it would be a "we're-dating-but-no-we're-not" scenario. Expect a lot of banter and more comedy of errors. They're a mess, I say.

ask game: 1, 8, 12, 13, 19, 25, 37, 41, 50, 59 and 79!

1. Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike? oh i daydream a ton. i usually only write things if i have been thinking about them for like HOURS and they have played themselves out in my head. and even when i get inspiration to write RIGHT NOW it's very very rarely on a New Idea, it's a thing i've been thinking about for weeks. also that's how i get through my day. i escape boredom by going "okay but what if [x]"

8. Post an out-of-context spoiler from a wip. not a snippet, okay. hm. Well, Branzy fucking dies. Again. Dw about it.

12. Do you outline your fics?  If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them? god i wish. when i say outline i mean one of two things. either i've got a bullet point list of chapters that i will never actually write or i've got [placeholders] in between scenes i've written. if i outline the thing then it just doesn't flow as naturally, and besides half the time i think of a cooler idea while i'm writing.

13. Do you listen to music while you write?  If yes, what have you been listening to recently? Oh, definitely. Anything by TheFatRat, specifically Rule The World and Hiding In The Blue, and then Plagues, Something Wicked This Way Comes. my playlist the last few days that i've been looping is No Friends, switchblade, Fear And Delight, mr loverman, do it all the time, last of the real ones, and partners in crime.

19. Do you enjoy creating OCs or do you prefer to stick solely to canon characters? Tbh? Really like fanfic. I don't think i'd ever write something original just because I really really love the characters already being known to my audience & having content to listen to/read to get characterization right and stay consistent.

25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)? I know this wasn't the question, but i DESPISE editing. just feel the need to say that. anyways, i love adding- i don't know what to call it. Detail? Comparison? It's not metaphor/simile, it's not exactly description, and it's not symbolism. here's what it is i don't know what to call it:

"the white of Branzy’s shirt buttons, styled into tiny clubs (the symbol of reckless youth, like their wild love and the passion that came with it)"

"one heart less than he had been before (and one heart in his chest that he would never fully get back)"

"Clown swallowed down the taste of salt, an emotional mask joining his physical one in a doomed attempt to maintain his deadly exterior."

Like- what is that?! I know it's SOMETHING and i swear it's gotta have a name. Right? That's gotta be a thing that I'm forgetting.

It's just adding those little bits. That's my favorite part. I love coming up with those sort of things.

37. What fic has been the hardest for you to write? Uh- If it was too hard it never got written/posted so. Honestly, probably the fic I'm working on right now. Not the timeloop one. It's a hurt/comfort sickfic but I'm struggling to write the comfort part because I don't want them to kiss but it doesn't make a lot of sense to not have them kiss. I'd just say not one fic in specific but really having a hard time with writing kissing. Any allos reading this /gen was the kiss I wrote in My Life In Your Hands decent at all.

41. Who’s your favorite character you’ve written? okay i know this is character but i'd say there are three types: slightly-maybe-evil smug gremlin (mbm!pearl, vampire!scott), anxious wreck with dry, sarcastic internal monologue aka Self Projection Central (o!scott, branzy), and cocky villains. I just love villains in general so much they're so fun to write.

50. How would you describe your writing style? a mashup of the fantasy books i read when i was younger with a ton of little quirks and things i've picked up from reading other fanfic. to be Completely Honest juno was definitely one of them. this is why i freaked out when xe interacted with me cause it's like your celebrity idol interacting with you. yeah no ngl juno was like basically my idol for a while.

59. Have you participated in any fic events/writing challenges?  If yes, what were they and did you enjoy them? oh. heh heh. nervous laughter. well yes actually. i am in hermitgao3ng but i havent WRITTEN anything and i'm getting very embarrassed about that. nervous. and then there's the Writer's Block Bingo which you've probably noticed me doing. it's both stressful and good for me. because it's given me good prompt ideas but also it's a lot of writing. despite them Literally Saying you do not have to write something for every round my idiot brain goes "I NEED TO WRITE THESE OR I WILL BE KILLED." don't worry it's good for me really cause it's a deadline that other people are expecting from me (nobody's expecting anything from me but don't tell my brain that or the rsd-fuelled motivation streak i'm on will die). it's getting me to write though. and i really need to do that hermitgao3ng fic-

79. Do you have any writing advice you want to share? -write what YOU want to write. you wanna write fifteen fics with the same trope and the same pairing? you go for it. literally do what you want. -find a friend. not a writing friend. no. i mean find one (1) friend (or more!) that will scream about your writing to you. your fic will not get the attention it deserves on tumblr no matter how good it is (cough REBLOG FICS cough) and looking at hits on ao3 will only ever discourage you so find somebody that'll scream about your writing and write for yourself and them. i promise it works (nix and juke i love you so much /p). -don't compare yourself to popular writers (phrases to staple to my forehead i am guilty of this). i assure you you Do Not get popular overnight. it Does Not Happen. they have 100% had way more experience than you. on that note: -learn from other writers. the best way to be a better writer is read! read and take note- how do they do [x]? how do they do [y]? that's how i got myself writing more description. that's how my dialogue went from:

"Mumbo!" Grian screamed. to

"Mumbo!" Grian screamed, dashing up to the edge of the cliff and staring down into the dark forest in despair. He couldn't lose his best friend, the man who'd been his closest companion for years through all their hardships and joys.

that wasn't a fic snippet btw lol /gen just picked a bit of dialogue to expand on. look at that right there. look at what i did and see "okay, so how do i apply this to my writing?" that's how i got here. -writing is a skill just like art (reblogfuckingFICS-). you will not be amazing right away. you will reread your past fics and cringe. but do not let that stop you. you need to write the cringe fics to see what works and what doesn't. my old fics are awful. they're a bunch of tropes written absolutely awfully. but i wouldn't be the writer i am today without writing. you've gotta write to get better at writing! so go for it! don't worry about people disliking what you're doing. writing advice tl;dr - write what you want, for yourself, don't be discouraged at failure, watch what the popular writers are doing and see if you can do that, and above all Keep Writing Your Way

Hi Guppy! I'm May, an Admin for CHVRCHESrp. Would you be willing to give us an opinion? Thank you for your consideration!

I’d be glad to give you an opinion, May! DISCLAIMER - everything said in this is just an opinion, if something seems insensitive I’m just trying to give my opinion honestly. Alright, let’s start with the icon (which I can see as the favicon on the blog). From what I can make out it is a wing with text over it. I think that you could take out the overlaying bar of text, and just write the initial of “churches” as a “C” in a dark colored, bold text over the wing. This would make icon much more simple and clear up what it is. Now for the main theme, I like how simple it is, but the detail of the church in the header, and the white, gray, red color scheme makes it feel heavenly or even hellish with the red. The only thing that bothers me is the embossed stroke effect and the transparent red. I would prefer, personally, for it to be a darker, straight, non-embossed stroke that is closer to the maroon you have set as an incorporation of you color scheme already. Red is such a difficult color to work with in graphics, and it looks a lot more professional and beautiful (to me at least) when it is a darker maroon/deep red, and when it is not embossed out. Otherwise, the theme is very organized, I think you could shorten your timeline (even though it does show each of the milestones of the story, maybe there could be a better location where they’re listed?), this also applies for the event dates, because it goes all the way back to 2016, which it’s always nice to update and keep things tidy with spring cleaning. You could always create an archive sideblog that has a page of events and what occured, the progression of the storyline, and leave the main to the most current updates and upcoming/past events? 

For now I’ll be talking more about the plot of the rp, the organization of information, and pages that contribute to that. Your navigation is very well put together, and I think all the links are very fitting. It allows players to click through links for every step of the rp. Now to touch on the plot, which I love that you’ve separated it into seasons. It gives a full detail of what has happened, and lets new players in on what’s happened in the past. While the plot is very interesting and full of details, it does feel a bit diluted. By that, I mean that there are so many details and characters to keep track of that by the end I had more questions than answers. I think maybe before the plot (in another tab section) you could have a list of terms, people, and character information that is important to understand the plot. For example, it would’ve helped to clear up if Lucifer and Satan were the same person because I did not understand that well. And also, because the characters were very specific to the group, it would have been helpful to add their descriptions beforehand so I wouldn’t have to go searching through the blog for their information/bios/players. Another question I had was about the Church of Saints and Sinners. I’m guessing from the names that the Saints revere the God that died from illness/angels and that the Sinners revere Satan/Lucifer/demons, but this is something that is not made clear in the plot. Or if it was made clear I missed it. You have something really good going for yourself because the plot is very original, but I feel like it was a little confusing to follow or understand some points that are not gone over in much depth. I should be able to understand most if not all the rps components without having to go onto several different pages. However, your powers page helped me gain a lot more understanding with each of the character types and how they fit into the story line. I still think it would be worth it to add short summaries at the beginning of the plot, so if you happen to click the plot first, like I did, you won’t be confused continuing to go through the links. Similar to the power types page, the churches page gives more information, but still I want to know if they worship a specific deity in each of the churches, that is still unclear to me at least. Continuing on, I love this unique style of Events and Tasks you’ve created, as well as the way you’ve developed your point system. I’ve never seen this done before, and I applaud the admins on this idea. Nothing bad to say there. Your page for characters is also very organized and easy to get around. I like the way the page is set up so that the players will have plenty of open opportunity to develop their character because there is no full restricting bio, but the characters still have pieces that make them standout! I can say nothing bad about the characters. I like your use of diversity in faceclaims, both underused and frequently used. 

Let’s talk about the rules and the application. I’ll start with the application, which . For your rules, I think that you should move this rule “Once accepted, please adhere to game canon, including bios, posted information, and your accepted application,” into it’s own bullet point. It doesn’t quite relate to the section before about the OOC blog. I also think it would be nice to move the OOC rules you have on the checklist over to the main rules page anyways (that way it’s note broken up and if it’s left in the checklist it’s just an important restatement of the rules). If more of the OOC rules were on the main rule page, I think it would feel a lot more complete, otherwise all your rules are very clear and helpful to players. I think the application is fine, too, it’s in basic form! 

I’ll wrap this up with the other pages and sidenotes. As for the checklist, it was very nice to include all the needed links. It’s also very organized, but I still think that the OOC rules (and even maybe the IC rules) should just be on the main rule page. That way it keeps everything a bit more organized and, unless you’re restating important information to the players, makes it feel like less information to sort through. This is more of a sidenote, but I see that your main tag to track is just “chvrchesrp”, which makes sense to keep everything in one place, but it’s a personal thought that it might get cluttered with starters, tasks, activities, admin posts, etc., and therefore get very hard to sort through. So, it might be nice and more organized to develop separate tags for specific information. And let me know if I just missed the other tracked tags, but I swear I went through your navigation several times for a page! Otherwise, checklist looks good. I really love the cohesive themes from each of the pages, I think that the locations page is really lovely, the way you set up your masterlist is wonderful, too, and I like the admins page which gives us more detail into you as admins. The only page that I take issue with is the weather page, which while an important detail seems insignificant and like something I, as a player, wouldn’t want to have to go into the navigation to look for it. I’d suggest replacing that page with something else, and just adding another sidebar place with widgets you can just incorporate into your theme. If you end up going through with this idea of moving the widget to another section of the main theme, I can suggest a few websites for that. Otherwise, the worldbuilding you’ve created is relevant (especially with the other blogs of the radio, the musing blog, and so on). This is just another personal sidenote, I think you should call the “customs” tab on the navigation “custom roles”, take it off when the roles are all filled, move the link to the top of the application/rules, or possibly something else? When I first read it I thought it might be some kind of etiquette or traditions section of the blog, but I was surprised to find out that it was actually targeted towards player-created characters.

So, before signing off, I’ll give my final thoughts. I think that this roleplay is fixed up with extremely dedicated admins who have most likely spent days and restless hours trying to formulate each piece of this roleplay. For that, I commend you and congratulate you for keeping a roleplay open for this long and for creating a unique property. The main points I struggled with when going through the blog is just how complicated it seemed and how much information there was. I am the kind of person who gets overwhelmed as a new player if I join in the game a bit late, or it there is already a lot that has happened. So, I think that the plot and the terms and keeping track of all the pages did become a bit engulfing and overpowering. So, I think it would be very, very helpful, if you as admins kept the main page as organized and tidy as possible, it would help new players feel more comforted in joining and allow old players to more easily look through past accomplishments. I had so much that I really didn’t get to talk about in this opinion, but I hope what I focused on helped to organize my thoughts a bit more and got through to the admins.