Spot The Difference: Impossible Edition

Spot the difference: Impossible edition

“Notice Me, Reader!” Tag Game

Thank you very much for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck!

Rules: Share 3 (or more!) small details from your WIP that you feel have gone/will go unnoticed. (You can choose whether or not to share why the detail is significant!)

Here's some for the Steph adventures:

I’ve actually been meaning to write a detailed post about this, but Stephanie and Bret mirror each other in a lot of ways. They’re both pretty traumatised and flawed, they both crave attention and connection to a certain degree, hating the feeling of loneliness, and they both have a capacity for being quite selfish, impulsive and hedonistic (as well as being major fans of instant gratification). This is partially why their affair storyline is so significant and impactful the more you think about it (and to think, it almost wasn’t going to happen…). An example of their connection that often goes unnoticed is that their dialogue has a bit of a parallel… in the beginning of book one, Bret says something along the lines of “Grades don’t actually mean anything in the real world when you think about it.” This was back when he hated school, before his whole self growth arc and wanting to change his life for the better. And towards the end, Stephanie basically says that same exact thing, almost word for word (despite disagreeing with Bret at the start of the story). It was in the context of her and Ben contemplating leaving the country together right before sitting her final exams. There are other small examples of parallels between their two arcs and thought processes in the story, too… many of which actually existed before I even wrote their affair storyline. Perhaps it was always meant to be lol.

I tried to write my characters in a way where you can kind of tell which parent they take after more. This is one of the reasons why I have the parents and family members be such a prominent part of the story - big part of who you are stems from your environment, and this includes the people you are surrounded by. It also adds a bit of mystery to our main protagonist… Stephanie doesn’t know her parents, so we don’t know why she is the way she is (like, we even know why Bret is the way he is, despite the fact that his parents are no longer around. He remembers his parents and we get a strong sense of what they were like, and this is something we don't get with Steph). A big example of this is Elise and Adam. Elise takes after both Maggie and Paul (maybe Paul a little more than Maggie) - she shares her mother’s drive and determination (comes in handy when you’re a lawyer), and her father’s empathy and intuition (comes in handy when you’re a therapist). Adam takes after Maggie, as well as his grandmother to an extent, in terms of his natural creativity (he has a heart of gold, but he is also very stubborn and prefers to do things his way. Whenever he gets pushback, he fights harder in the opposite direction. Very much like his mother… not that Maggie would ever admit that. Good thing both of them grew out of it somewhat after becoming parents! And by that, I mean she was much worse when she was Adam’s age lol). There are other examples of this in the story, but this one’s my favourite.

I got a fair amount of inspiration from the shows I mentioned in my intro post lol (plus Gossip Girl, which wasn’t included in the post. That's where I got the secret blogger idea from. Speaking of... I was meant to reveal that to you guys ages ago. Sorry about the delay lol. Saving that for a proper future post alongside the Bretanie analysis). Especially Bojack Horseman. I don’t know if I want to elaborate on this point… I think it’s more effective if you check out the shows for yourself, and see what I mean that way. But to give a vague little example of what I mean… Stephanie is sort of in and out of the crew’s lives, and whenever she’s not around, the others tend to thrive and live relatively peaceful, normal lives. In many ways, she’s the root of a lot of their drama. She does a lot of crazy things that cause damage to a lot of people, and she wrecks a lot of her relationships beyond repair. And throughout the course of the trilogy, the main crew members often find themselves wondering whether they should stay loyal to their friend, set some boundaries with her, or cut ties and separate themselves from her completely. Kind of like in a certain show (Bojack). They all take different approaches to this, each saying a lot about them as characters (Elise, for example, decides to cut Stephanie off. May seem out of character at first, but then you remember that this is after ages and ages of being patient and understanding with Steph… as well as everyone else who has hurt her immensely in her life. That makes her choice to end her friendship with Stephanie a little more understandable… she reached her last straw in book two), but they’re all better off once they reevaluate their relationships with one another.

I didn't mean to write so much... but what can you do.

Hopefully this was interesting! This tag game is such a good idea. Inspires you to look deeper into the stories and pay attention to small but significant details.

Tagging these folks next: @gummybugg, @winterandwords, @jessicagailwrites, @dyrewrites, @harleyacoincidence, @exquisitecrow, @leisoree, @wmlittlemore-is-writing, @mjparkerwriting and @janec23.

drop this sunflower 🌻 into the inboxes of the blogs that make you happy! lets spread a little sunshine ☀️

Aw, omg thank you so much, @pluttskutt! This made my day! And here, right back at ya, 🌻!

joy list tag

I was tagged by the lovely, amazing @mysticstarlightduck! Thank you so much!! <3333

Rules: Make a list of all of the things that have made you happy recently! Then, tag as many people as you want that you think may need it to keep the positivity going ✨

D&D!!! This game is my special interest, so it's no surprise that it's my favorite part of my week. We had really long roleplay sessions for my Friday campaign last night, and the party finally got to learn a few things about Cyra, plus she got some... interesting news about her old gang... And tomorrow for my (usually) Saturday campaign I get to traumatize my poor boy Rook some more! (Poor man really is my punching bag... he's already been through so much...)

Playing video games! I bought Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous on January 1st, and I've played 98.3 hours since then, and am enjoying it immensely. I just hit level 20 yesterday! Cannot recommend this game enough, especially to people who liked BG3.

Seeing pictures of my parents' cats! My mom just got a new kitten a little over a week ago, and I'm so obsessed with her, I can't wait to meet her! And my dad's cats are still being their adorable, weird selves, and I want to see them again soon.

Watching Critical Role! I'm inching ever closer to the end of Campaign 1, and I'm not ready for it to be over. I can't decide if this ending will devastate me more than the ending of Campaign 2. On one hand, I preferred C2 overall, but on the the other, my favorite character dies at the end of C1. But either way, I love this silly little show, and it brings me so much joy. Watching Campaign 2 was literally a life-changing experience for me.

Daydreaming about my OCs! Even if I haven't been able to write lately, at least playing around with scenarios for them in my head at night while I'm trying to sleep brings me joy. These silly little guys (gender neutral) are truly the lights of my life. (This does include my D&D characters, btw.)

Buying books! While I was home over winter break I bought 7 books, and just yesterday I ordered 9 more, including a few from some writeblr people! I'm excited to read them whenever I get the chance.

Finding new music! In the past week I got really obsessed with Arrows In Action's latest album (Built To Last), and then WE MADE PLANS AND GOD LAUGHED by Beauty School Dropout came around and put me in a chokehold. It's fun finding new music that I like, and I'm excited to share it with my mom when I get a chance.

Getting tagged in posts / getting asks here on tumblr! This website is my only form of social media, and I truly adore all of the friends I've made on here. Even if I haven't done the thing you tagged me in, or I haven't answered your ask, the fact that you even thought to tag me or send me one makes me so happy.

I'm going to make this an open tag!! If you want to do this and/or need a reason to remember the good things in life, please feel free to say I tagged you!!!

this website is full of some of the greatest writers ever to use their talents for evil and chaos with no payoff whatsoever

Last Line Tag!

I was tagged by @clairelsonao3 for this one, here!

I was writing a chapter that is way ahead of where I currently am in the story of Enchanted Illusions, because it is a core scene that came to me rather vividly and I wanted to enjoy the inspiration. So warning, this line is a major spoiler, but it's also not fully in context and I want to share it because ✨angst✨

You get to guess who this character (villain) is talking about and which pairing this scene will affect tho! It'll be fun/cool to see if you guys can guess it right! (Spoilers below the cut)

"What did you do?" “He's the one who made a pact of blood to me all those years ago. I gave him power, I gave him security, I gave him immortality, when he was nothing more than another rat on these streets" The Patron spoke, inhuman voice unnervingly echoing around the duo, as they tilted their head, unnaturally "And he foolishly repaid me by breaking his oath, all over your worthless human soul. " The strange being smiled - if that horrifying sight could ever be called a smile. It looked more like a threat than that, but it was clear this turn of events had satisfied them greatly. "Now his soul belongs to me, and he is cursed until the end of his life and afterlife." There was a condescending lilt to their voice as the creature continued, like many voices overlapping to be as if to be as irritating as possible. Like nails on a chalkboard. "But hey, if you can call this a bright side - no harm will come to you, after all, if I could I would’ve destroyed your soul already -.... but a deal is a deal, and even I can’t break some rules. Enjoy this ‘happy’ ending, it won’t last for long.”

Tagging (gently, absolutely no pressure): @lassiesandiego @oh-no-another-idea, @writernopal, @tabswrites, @unstablewifiaccess @rickie-the-storyteller, @steh-lar-uh-nuhs, @gummybugg @little-peril-stories, @clairelsonao3, @jasperygrace, @jay-avian, @forthesanityofstorytellers, @aziz-reads, @doublegoblin, @gummybugg, @autumnalwalker, @olivescales3, @junypr-camus, @ashen-crest, @dreaminggoblin and @memento-morri-writes