[Handmaiden]

@esmeralda-gramilton

ahahah yeah, exactly XD

I kinda dropped off the face of the earth on both the writer forums i’m a part of: Young Writer’s Workshop (YWW or YDubs) and Story Embers

writing has kinda lowered to a hobby now, rather than a serious pursuit shmsfmgjnf

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@esmeralda-gramilton

HELLO LOVELY

I have actually been here for quite a while, but I’m rarely ever on ahjdsnfgs

I’m so happy you and Maya are on hereee

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

Well hello there, everyone. I have been pinged by the lovely Maya and would like to participate :]

Hope I’m doing this right!

(also HELLO @esmeralda-gramilton
I have found you :D)

 

Would your character rather be able to see the future or become a dragon?

Squall: See into future. I do not like unexpected surprises.

Agnes: I want to become dragon, to fly around and use fire to bake potatoes!

Clanner: Gosh … probably a dragon. They’re epic.

Coryn: Maybe if I’m a dragon, everyone will leave me alone …

Blackflower: I’d like to see into the future, because if I don’t die a bloody death in an epic battle, why go on living.

Snowfoot: *looks at her dragon wings* *looks deadpan into the camera* Am I a joke to you.

Brandy: [language] YEAH I WANNA BE A DRAGON

 

Would you rather have the opportunity to permanently change your face, or change your height?

Squall: It is pain being 6’4″, but I would rather change my face. Eliminate scar. Simple.

Agnes: I want to be taller! It is not fun to be as big as six-years-old when I am now eleven.

Clanner: Maybe a little height gain would be nice … I mean, I’m average, but I like my face.

Coryn: I’d like to change my face … make my hair longer … it’s nice being tiny.

Blackflower: I HAVE ONLY FIVE FEET ON ME AND A FACIAL SCAR, I CANNOT PICK.

Snowfoot: You’re more intimidating because you’re short, chill please.

 

Would your character rather kill to stay alive or die to keep their friend alive?

Squall: This is difficult question. It present two scenarios. If I kill to stay alive, where is friend equated? I am willing to die for friend, but I value my own life, too. It is puzzling. English is puzzling. Hvorfor er jeg her i det hele tatt.”

Agnes: I do not want to die … but I do not want friend to die … *begins to cry*

Clanner: Aha … hahahha … already did the latter … haha …

Coryn: Die.

Blackflower: What if I have no friends.

Snowfoot: I would die to save a friend, 100%

Brandy: Good golly, these types of questions are uncomfy. I’ve done the first but have yet to do both … I mean it’s almost impossible for me to die …

 

Would your character rather kill their friend in a merciful manner or let their enemy kill them in a cruel one?

Squall: I … what?? Who is asking these questions?? I am disturbed.

Agnes: *is still crying*

Clanner: Man … probably the latter. I don’t want their blood on my hands. I’d probably … I dunno if I’d even want to go on living … at least with the enemy killing them, I have a chance to avenge them …

Coryn: *shaking* Both would break me …

Blackflower: The second option, because then I’d have an excuse to put a knife through my rival’s skull, ehehehe.

Snowfoot: I … I believe my friend would understand … maybe even encourage me … oh this is so awful.

Brandy: Just because everyone is choosing the second option, I’m going with the first. Besides, I was going to outlive them anyways …

 

Would you rather have to always wear your least favorite color or only be able to listen to your least favorite genre of music?

Squall: I do not listen to music. Easy.

Agnes: What is … jan- janara?

Clanner: Ain’t no way I’m living without Imagine Dragons. Bring on the purple.

Coryn: I need … I need my Owl City … but red is such a loud colour … *existential crisis*

Blackflower: YOU CANNOT STRIP MY FASHION AND MY MUSIC AWAY FROM ME. I AM BREAKING THE SYSTEM LIKE MIGUEL. I REFUSE TO PLAY SUCH MIND GAMES.

Snowfoot: I don’t really listen to music, so I’d be okay with the second option.

Brandy: But- But- Blue Swede 🥺

 

If you had the opportunity, would you show mercy on a villain, or would you kill him?

Squall: It depends. If he is villain with chance of redeeming, I will show mercy. If he attacks daughter, he is dead.

Agnes: I will show mercy, but Pappa will kill him anyways …

Clanner: Oh geez, uhh … it really depends on the villain. But either way, I don’t think I could kill him. I had that … phase of  my arc already …

Coryn: I’d never be able to get the guts to kill someone.

Blackflower: I’m already tapdancing on his tombstone.

Snowfoot: If he triggers me, he’s dead, but I’ll show mercy.

Brandy: Kill him
*gets glares from everyone*
I mean, I mean- he’s gonna die anyways-

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@Calidris

@everyone btw, would you like to have the characters go down one at a time, or get separated into groups?  Because I figured there could be some…rather entertaining backstage interactions (kind of like the ballet, for those who remember) XD

I think groups would be best because there’s quite a lot of characters.

I was originally thinking that all of the characters who chose the fashion show would be separated in a group, while the characters who cooperated with the castle would be seated in the audience…but is anyone really going to choose to give up a possession though?

Haha, I like that idea XD

We could even have the castle provide a fake audience if none of the characters want to cooperate XD

Or just a laugh track from the 50s. 😂

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@calidris @emily-waldorf (yep, that’s me!)

CALIX:

“The room’s shrinking!”

The scream scared me so bad my flinch sent me crashing forward and I bumped Val. She stumbled, which yanked me forward as the crowd thickened and squeezed us.

The walls in front rolled back, splitting as everyone left the room. The darkness in the new room as so thick I could practically chew on my breaths.

Val shrank back as people jostled us both. I couldn’t help but press close to her, heartbeat quickening and breath shortening due to all the people.

Then the walls stopped.

All was silent.

All was black.

The murmuring of the crowd echoed off of shadowed walls around us.

“I think we’re in some sort of great hall,” Val whispered to me.

“Well done!” a voice terrifying and awe-filling boomed from the ceiling. “For this next challenge, I’ll be requiring each of you to part with your most prized belonging – and no, money doesn’t count.  Refusal to comply will result in mandatory participation in my upcoming fashion show.”

Prized belonging??

Blinding lights flicked on, illuminating a long runway in the middle of the hall. I squinted and cowered, holding my only available hand over my eyes in the sudden brightness.

Val and I were standing in the middle, with rows and rows of seats lining the hall on either side of us, curving around the runway and disappearing into the shadows beyond.  I felt a squeeze on my hand, and I glanced at Val. She was shaking and looking like she was going to be sick.

I didn’t think she felt it, but I tightened my grip on her hand.

What would I have to give up … I thought nervously. Would the Castle … harm us if we didn’t have any belongings with us?

I mean, I only had a pouch of a bone meal mixture to help with wounds, but that’s about it …

“Christopher Goldenseal, come forth and make your decision.”

“I choose the catwalk!”  The pink-haired man’s voice echoed loud and excited in my ears, and I shivered at the volume. “Please?”

“Very well.  Come up here and stand to the left of the aisle.”

Christopher swaggered up to the front, grinning back at everyone. He gave a smile in my direction, and, glancing at the girl next to me, saw that it was for Val.

I glanced between the interaction, gauging her reaction of uncomfortable smiling.

Huh.

“Is that your boyf–b-brother?”

I flinched at the new voice, turning to find a squat man staring up at me.

I didn’t say anything, but I gave him a slightly glowering look at assuming such a private thing.

Even though I was wondering the same thing.

 

 

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@calidris

CALIX:

“Well…Usually the castle likes to throw challenges our way,” the girl started. “They’re not deadly as far as I can tell, but they’re awful nonetheless. Last time, we had to share our worst regrets, or have them played out on a screen in front of us …” her voice caught. “It was horrible, and there were some I wish I’d never seen …”

I blanched. I’m glad I missed that …

“And then after that, His Lordship himself appeared to fight, and as soon as he was defeated we each met our future self, and as far as I can tell we’re all just stuck here miserably waiting for the next challenge.”

She stopped for a beat. “There seems to be a pattern of sorts – before we had to share our worst regrets, we had a nice banquet and watched a ballet performed by some of our party. So, we had a nice challenge, then a miserable one. As for me, I thought meeting my future self was rather nice. So I’m going to assume we’ve got another miserable challenge coming our way.”

I had no future self …

My thoughts blurred.

I began to spiral-

“Would you like to join Kit and I?”

I looked at her, not realising my vision had unfocused.

“It’s a lot easier when you’ve got someone to lean on.  I know I couldn’t have done it alone.”  She smiled, nervously extending her hand to me.  “I’m Val, by the way. What’s your name?”

“C-Calix,” I said, my voice wheezy as I tremulously took Val’s hand. “Calix Meir.”

“Nice to meet you,” Val said, her smile strengthening a bit as she pulled me gently from my hiding spot.

I nodded back, trying to swallow and walk with her. My knees shook, and I was still rather tremulous from that revelation.

Don’t think about it, don’t think about it.

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@rose-colored-fancy

Thank you, I really appreciate that! That’s so cool! I’ve definitely gotten fascinated by it through finding out I was autistic XD

I’m glad! And yeah, same here XD

Oh that’s so cool! That’s like… wayyy more than most writers have XD It’s so fun that you have a character that’s both like canonically autistic and that it affects her plot and character! That’s way too rare!

Really? I did not know this … huh! That makes me feel even better about it, because I love being different!

Yes I know that feeling! It’s so cathardic and validating to see your experience in another character, even if it’s one you wrote yourself. Maybe especially so!

EXACTLY

And I LOVE your WIP already!! It sounds too cool!! (Totally sign me up when you need beta-readers!!) Both Coryn and Clanner sound so interesting! And I love that you thought about how neurodivergence would influence a system like that! Usually, stuff like sci-fi never takes that into account, which is kinda sad because there’s so much potential conflict!

Thank you so much!! (I definitely will!)
Yeah, I thought I’d try to give a voice to those labelled negatively because of their neurodivergence :]

Oh don’t apologize! We all do it all the time, infodumps are very much appreciated here!

ahw, thank you!

YES please do!! I’d love any opportunity to talk about it!!

Ahhhh will do, then!!

Actually… me and @Calidris collabed on a newsletter about autism representation a while ago!

If you’re curious here’s the link to our newsletters, and please let me know if you’d like me to resend the newsletter to you!

Thank you!! I’ll look into it!

 

@calidris

I think it’s about time to start a new challenge!  We can finish up some of the interactions we’re already doing first 🙂

Sounds great!! So hyped! 🫶🏽

CALIX:

“Well…is there anything I can do to help?” she kicked her shoe against the floor. “It’ll probably be better for you to join the rest of us when the next challenge hit, right?”

“Ch-challenge?” I asked, my voice too thick to not be embarrassing. With a creak of the knees, I struggled to my feet. “What do you mean?”

Are there fighting challenges?

I didn’t like fighting.

Oh no, what if I have to face my sister? What if I have to kill someone, or worse, EVE.

I began to spiral and it was too late-

Down, down, down goes my anxiety into the plummeting abyss like the one in Dhâradun, and I was going too fast for my own self. I couldn’t stop.

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@calidris

idk what it is about this castle, but it really seems like an ND magnet XD

I have no clue either, but I’m not complaining XD

I second what Rose says!  Autism kind of became a special interest for me, so I’m more than happy to infodump about it as well XD

Thank you!! I might come to you two if I need help 😅

Also, that WIP sounds really cool!

Thank you so much!

As a fellow ND and birdwatcher…YES!!!

Oh I’m not a birdwatcher, my attention will literally just snap to any sudden movement in my field of vision, including my own movements XD

 

CALIX:

“Hey.”

I jumped, my head snapping in the direction of the voice.

Oh no. A girl.

And my face was all wet and red and pathetic.

Pathetic pathetic pathetic-

“Are…are you ok?” The girl asked, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

Something in common.

My hands shook. My head throbbed. My throat dried.

“Yeah,” I wheezed.

The girl licked her lips, but she didn’t seem to buy it. They never do. “Ah.”

I bobbed my head, face flushed and wet.

Awkward silence fell like a rock. My eyes darted around, trying to catch for something to say.

 

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@e-n-leonard

That story/world sounds so interesting! NDs unite! That’s so awesome about them overpowering the system. 🙂

Thank you! I’m very proud of this concept 😊
NDs uniteeeeeeee- *immediately gets distracted by the bird outside the window*

And don’t feel bad about the infodump! At least half of us are ND and do it all the time 😁 myself included.

Ahw thank you, and I’m glad I’m not the only one 😆

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

Nonono it’s totally cool! I’m absolutely fascinated by it too, even before I figured out I was autistic, and after I put two and two together that fascination just became even stronger XD I love talking about it!

Okay cool, just wanted to make sure you were comfortable 😅
Yesssss ikr? I think it was finding out about ADHD and learning I had it that made me pursue psychology :)))

I currently have like… three or four autistic characters, they’re just so much easier for me to write than any others, funnily enough XD Contrary to popular belief, I can write NT characters if I put my mind to it XD

Coryn is the only one  of my characters that is clinically diagnosed and has her autism tied into her story and character arc, but I’ve been looking at a few of my other characters and seeing some of them fall on the spectrum.
Oh yes, I’d say the majority of my characters are neurotypical, just because it has been my default (and I’ve only just discovered a few years ago what neurodivergence was, and only last year ADHD) for years. Although I take more joy in writing ND characters because they’re more like me, and different from the rest. If there’s anything I love most in the world, it’s being different :]

LOLL I remember Aydin was very, very suspicious XD

He totally was 😂

Ahhh that’s so awesommeeee!!! I love them already, tell me about them! And if you need any help with writing autistic characters, I am always looking for an opportunity to infodump XD

Ahwww thank you so much!!
So Clanner is 17, and Coryn is 15 — both from Ohio in a small town called Bellinston. Mind you, this is set in a dystopian/illusionary utopian Earth, so the town names and the tech are very different. A new personality system similar to MBTI but highly more scientifically advanced has taken over most of the US, and basically analyses your brain 8 days after your birth and predicts your personality. You’re given a document with your personality code on it, and it’s basically as important as your health card or driver’s license.
5 number slots show your extroversion over introversion, your intuition over sensing, your feeling over thinking, your judging over perceiving, and your confidence over apprehensiveness.
Anything scored 51 and over in any slot is extroversion, intuition, feeling, judging, and confidence. Anything scored 49 and under in any slot is introversion, sensing, thinking, perceiving, and apprehension.
E.G.: 83-92-22-01-45 is extroversion, intuition, thinking, perceiving, and apprehension (in mbti lingo, ENTP-T)

Those people who were analysed and the machine malfunctioned (i.e. gave the results as ERROR) are called ExclusionA (one or more slot of the code is read as ERROR) or ExclusionB (all slots of the code reads ERROR). All Exclusions are looked down upon.
Clanner is ExclusionA, with his ERROR in the second slot
Coryn is ExclusionB because the test analysed her autism, which doesn’t register in the computers.
So now they’re basically on the run, trying to rally all the Exclusions to overpower this system so that nobody has to live in poverty because of the way they are.

whew
sorry about the dump 😅

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@calidris

As it should be XD

hehe yes

SAME HERE!!!  ADHD and autism for me!

That inevitably bled into my characters, and so Val is autistic and Kit is ADHD 🙂

whaaaa?? That’s so cool! *neurodivergent high-five*
Hey cool! I have two sibling characters, Clanner and Coryn, who have OCD and autism respectively.
I honestly find it fascinating, these disorders. Seeing as I have ADHD myself, I’ve always found the subject fascinating.

*grumbles* I guess…

:]

 

@rose-colored-fancy

Think we should put “Thou shall not yeeteth innocents” in the castle rules? XD

CASTLE COMMANDMENTS:
I: Thou shalt not yeeteth the innocents
II: Thou shalt change the Castle Commandments at thine own will XD

Asdfghjkl this is hysterical to me, I think ND’s are the majority in the castle at this point XD

Yayyy that makes me feel not aloneeee :]]]

I’m autistic! I’m not diagnosed but I’m like 99% sure XD Ooooh, remember Aydin? Him and Rúan had a briefish interaction iirc! He’s actually autistic too, but it took me a longgg while to figure it out XD

Pardon me if this is insensitive to autism in any way, but I find autism and neurodivergence in general just so intriguing, so it’s fascinating to me that you have autism. 😊
I remember Aydin!! Yeah, he and Rúan did have a brief interaction, but it’s one I’ll never forget XD
That’s cool!!

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

IT JUST HAPPENED OK?!!!  Ok but seriously though, I’m not even kidding XD

I’m not arguing though, hehe

WAIT YOU TOO???

YEAH!! ADHD, WHAT ABOUT YOU??

SASHA’S NOT AWESOME but I fully agree with the rest of your statement XD

At this point, I’m just concerned with how poorly he and Kit would get along…

he’s awesome in the fact that he’s so horrible XD
and oof yeahhhh

I’ll write a short piece for Val, and you can take it from there!

Sounds great!!

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@calidris

don’t tell Kit but he’s kind of exactly my type-

BSADHJASHSH oooh I love this

Kit’s not just extremely fashionable and flamboyant, he’s also a strong believer with solid morals, plus he’s neurodivergent :’)

Oh guys like that are just a full on “yes” factor lol
and eyyyy, neurodivergents club ✊

Also I keep having irrational desires to allow Sasha back in Spire but I know that’s an extremely bad idea so I won’t do it XD  Remember how he Y E E T E D  Quinn?!!

I REMEMBER THAT OH MY GOSH FKDSJKFSD
He’s awesome but we don’t want him yeeting the innocents of the castle anymore 😂😂

Also, would you like me to write a thing with Calix before you bring Val in, or are you good?

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

@josiah thank you so much!! It works perfectly!! <3

Anxious gremlin coming through

[Handmaiden]

EYYYY WE’RE BACK

@calidris I’d love to! Bring her over!!

and oh my gosh I love your art so much :OO
(he kinda cute, ngl XD)

Anxious gremlin coming through

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