#I just have to get the full draft done for the first introduction

[tenacioussoultree]

Thinking of making a modern fantasy story where there's a big hulking orc teen who's obsessed with this early 2000s y2k girl group that's spice girls inspired and has a super major crush on the witch/shadow witch persona member

Later in life he becomes a manager for a celebrities and is now in charge of their comeback era and is having the time of his life while everyone is so confused on why Gu'ruk is so excited that he's going to meet a bunch of middle-aged women who have kids, minor careers, and don't look as young and happy as they used to.

[cards-of-rose]

study tip!! how i write essays

going from a long, intensive classical education to my current history major, i've had to write a lot of papers. at this point, i can write a 5 page paper in a few hours, and just a couple weeks ago i wrote a 20 page paper in a single day. i graduated valedictorian with this method (current cGPA of 4.0!) so i thought i'd share how i write them! grab some coffee and settle in - it'll be a long post, but i promise it'll be worth it. :)

first, the topic. if you don't have an assigned topic, pick something that fascinates you, something that you could write pages and pages about. you will. if your topic is assigned, find something in it that you find fascinating. even if you find your topic completely boring, there's always something interesting to glean from it! once you find this, you'll gain motivation, and that's half the battle.

write down a basic outline. when i say basic, i mean barebones. just a vague, 3-point general idea of what you think you might write your paper about. this will guide you in your research! you don't need to worry about writing your full outline just yet.

sources. after you have a basic list of points, it's time to find sources! if they're already assigned, you can skip this step. most of the time they aren't, though. this is the most important part of your paper. you can go to google scholar to find really good academic journals and studies!

generally, the number of sources you have depends on the length of your paper! a good guide is that your amount of sources should number half the length of your paper. so if you have a 5 page paper, 2-3 is a good way to go. if you have a 20 page paper, you'll want around 10.

evidence. skim over your sources and categorize each one under the point you made earlier. this will mean you have a quick reference guide when you're writing, so you don't have to go through a big list of sources when you're looking for evidence! under each source, put a few bullet points talking about the info that you can use for your paper.

outline. this part may seem daunting. i promise, though, it's one of the easiest parts of the paper! you may feel tempted to skip it, but having an outline makes your paper sound better and makes it easier and quicker to write. use the sources and bullet point info you used earlier to fill out your outline. start broad and general, then add details as you do your research! your outline should be about half the length of your paper. don't worry about making it super scholarly - this is just for you, so make it as informal and easy to understand as you want! be stupid, throw in memes, whatever gets it written!

every outline should include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. i can go over the structure of an outline in another post, but remember the 3 points you thought up earlier? these will form your entire outline, and eventually your essay!

finally, write! open a blank google doc and view it side by side with your outline. once you get started, it's a lot easier to finish than you'd think, especially if you took the time to outline! this is when you can make your dumb outline into something that would make the ancient philosophers proud. don't worry about perfection. just write it as you go. you can edit it later!

quotes/evidence. once you've finished your rough draft, it's time to add the evidence! some profs want quotes, others want you to paraphrase. either way, go through your paper and put in the evidence you researched earlier. don't worry about citations just yet - just put in the link in a comment on your rough draft. it won't be hard to fix it up later.

edit!! please, please don't finish your rough draft and be done with it. you can save so many points by going over it again instead of submitting it in a rushed 3am haze. fix spelling and grammar, add citations and a reference page, edit for clarity, anything you need to make it sound like the best paper you can write! if you're proud of it by the end, you know you've done something right.

congrats, you did it!! make sure you start your paper early and don't wait till the night before - your grade will thank you <3

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

TTPD PLAYLISTS PART 1: I Love You, It's Ruining My Life

In honour of The Tortured Poets’ Department one-year cake, I decided to mine my drafts for ideas to celebrate the album that broke my brain (affectionate). The one I landed on is jumping into the 5 Stages of Heartbreak playlists on Apple Music that were curated by Taylor pre-release to give a preview of the emotional landscape that would be found on the album. Because I am OBSESSED with the playlists and have been since they came out: they gave us so much food for thought, and they weren’t just put together for “vibes.” They were a whole narrative in themselves.

(Reminder: the "5 stages of grief variants" was a fan theory and NOT what Taylor intended the album to be about, obviously, but as usual she saw an idea and ran with it to make it her own and this is one of the most clever bits of promo she's done for an album yet imo.)

I love the playlists so much because 1) it gives a glimpse into Taylor's creative process, both through her introductions to them and in the songs she chose and 2) IMO the playlists serve the same function the mashups did on tour. Similarly to how she paired different songs, even across albums, to tell a new story, or re-frame an existing one, the playlists take songs across eras of her discography to tell specifics facets of the emotional journey on TTPD.

I want to dig into what I feel are the themes and stories on the playlists through some of the key lyrics on each song and the progression trough the track list. That being said, I’m going to be focusing on the playlists pre-TTPD songs, because, well, I feel like the previous albums are what inform the TTPD songs.

You can find the full playlists on this Reddit thread, which is where I got the transcripts from.

First up: I Love You, It's Ruining My Life, aka Denial.

Putting under a cut because this got a little long

Here is how Taylor describes this playlist:

“This is a list of songs about getting so caught up in the idea of something that you have a hard time seeing the red flags, possibly resulting in moments of denial, and maybe a little bit of delusion.”

In other words, Lovers spend years denying what’s ill-fated.

Track list:

Lavender Haze // Snow On The Beach // Sweet Nothing // Glitch // betty // willow // Cruel Summer // Lover // Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince // False God // Style // Wildest Dreams // Treacherous // Untouchable // That’s When // Ours // Superman // Bejeweled

The lyrics that tell the story:

I just want to stay in this lavender haze // And it's fine to fake it 'til you make it 'til you do, 'til it's true // All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing // I was supposed to sweat you out in search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else's playground, but it's been two thousand one hundred and 90 days of our love blackout // If you kiss me, will it be just like I dreamed it? Will it patch your broken wings? // The more that you say the less I know, wherever you stray I follow, I'm begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans, that's my man // Said, "I'm fine," but it wasn't true // I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all // It's you and me, that's my whole world // They say the road gets hard and you get lost when you're led by blind faith // And when we go crashing down, we come back every time 'cause we never go out of style // Someday when you leave me I bet these memories follow you around // This hope is treacherous, this daydream is dangerous // In the middle of the night we can form this dream, I wanna feel you by my side standing next to me, you gotta come on, come on, say that we'll be together // You said, "I know," when I said, "I need some time, need some space to think about all of this" // Seems like there's always someone who disapproves, they'll judge it like they know about me and you, and the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do, the jury's out, but my choice is you // Something in his deep brown eyes has me singing, he's not all bad like his reputation // I made you my world, have you heard? I can reclaim the land. And I miss you, but I miss sparkling

Oooof, now there’s a run to give you something to chew on.

I picked these ones out because to me, these are the most “living in the moment and ignoring the issue” set of lyrics from the songs, though several could have fit in place obviously. But in doing so, the lyrics themselves almost paint their own story— and part of the story of TTPD (e.g. Fortnight through I Can Fix Him).

... And what that story means

What stands out to me across the playlists is that often the first and the last songs are bookends of the story within them, to set us up for the next one. So starting with “I just want to stay in this lavender haze” and ending with “I can reclaim the land” seems fitting; going from pushing away the outside world and the pressures thereof to desperately cling onto the rush of when love felt new, to facing the music and stepping back out into the world and your place in it, even if it means leaving your lover behind? That is a journey. And sets you up for the next chapter.

This chapter, though, is its own story in a way, and to me the story through those lyrics sounds like this:

I just want to stay in our bubble and go back to what we had // and I’m going to keep trying until it works // And believe that what we have now is enough // because we weren’t supposed to work but somehow we did so that must mean something. If we can just reconnect like I keep hoping, I can fix what’s broken // And things are getting more confusing but I’m going to keep following your lead if you’ll just let me be by your side // And I keep saying it’s going to be fine even though this is killing me // because I want more than this // because you are everything to me // so I just need to keep believing we can somehow get past this. Every time we break apart we come back together, so this will be no different // And even when you try to leave you can never get me out of your head and that’s how I know you’ll be back. Continuing to believe that might be delusional // but I can’t let the dream go that one day you’ll wake up and pick me for good // and that you’ll understand why you’re hurting me. People think they know what is going on but they don’t know anything and I can make my own choices // even when the person may be crucified by everyone else, because I can fix him too. … And sometimes that choice is to walk, because even if I love you, I love being in the world, and I want more than this.

… Which is kind of the story told in the first half of the album, when you think about it, before the crash.

And when you think about the TTPD songs that ended up being added to it afterwards, well, it makes a lot of sense:

Imgonnagetyouback // I Hate It Here // The Bolter // Robin // My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys // But Daddy I Love Him // I Can Do It With A Broken Heart // I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

You’ve got the creating or maintaining make-believe to protect someone or yourself (Robin), being hurt by someone who once cherished you (My Boy), being stuck in a cycle of falling apart and winning them back because THIS TIME it's gonna be different (imgonnagetyouback), escaping into fantasy when real life leaves much to be desired (I Hate It Here), wanting to own your agency for your own choices (But Daddy), even when they eventually reveal themselves to be harmful (I Can Fix Him), but ultimately at some point you need to walk away when the pin finally drops (The Bolter), even if you lose something you once loved in the wake of that choice (Broken Heart).

What’s funny is that I went through the playlist without remembering what TTPD songs were on it, and as I was analyzing the narrative of it all, I was like, “huh, this sounds like x song” and then after I was all done and went back to add the TTPD songs, turns out most of them were exactly those. So again: THAT is why the playlists were brilliant! And so illuminating to the themes of the album.

Something that jumped out at me is how much dreaming is woven throughout the track list, particularly the run from Wildest Dreams to Untouchable, which I think is such a neat way of tying into the "Denial" conceit of the playlist. Like the idea of the person and the life they want is somehow untenable or unreachable in reality. That also dovetails into the thread of trying to get into the subject's head in so many of the songs. There's this contrast between the narrator's inner life and the subject's, with the narrator trying to figure out how to connect the two. And curiously, there's also a recurring theme about the outside world pushing up against the relationship, or being used as a foil (Lavender Haze, Sweet Nothing, betty, Ours, Superstar, Bejeweled). Which, again, ended up being some of the main talking points on TTPD.

Again, I just love how she's taken all these disparate songs and pieced together a new narrative that echoes the album, which is something I've spoken about repeatedly regarding the mashups. It's just so big-brained and imaginative! And again, is a really neat look into the creative process of writing, re-imagining and re-assigning music as life happens.

Next up tomorrow (if I can follow through lol) is Anger!

[puckpocketed]

30/06/2024 - The Colorado Avalanche draft Tory Pitner 185th overall.

I think that I can use my brain and really bait other players into plays that they don't want to make and then close out. Really take away time and space, and ultimately just be a prick to play against - I don't know if I can say that on this - but I think that I can defend really well.

[full draft day interview transcript + an introduction by me under the cut]

Foreword: This transcript was done by hand to the best of my ability and edited for clarity. In bold text are my highlights, parts I thought were noteworthy and interesting. I removed filler words (um's and uh's). In square brackets are where I've added words or adjusted words for clarity. In the regular parentheses are small notes for added context. Tory Pitner is a fascinating player. He does not have the high-end skill you saw go in the first round. He is foremost a shutdown d-man. But he is smart, driven, methodical in his preparation and training, and most of all a true scholar and lover of the game. If anyone has an EP Rinkside subscription, I would encourage you to read the article written about him. The bulk of it is an interview, in which he goes into vivid detail about several top draft picks from this year whom he has played against, and how he goes about shutting them down. He has their on-ice habits broken down and analysed; from their handedness to the types of shots they like to make and the dekes they like to use. He watches NHL defensemen, describing his study with the fervour of an academic, a mad scientist, and a fan all at once. He has charmed me utterly, and I think it's because we love hockey in such similar ways. I love the details of the game, I love watching good and interesting hockey above all else, and I absolutely love studying it (albeit on an amateur level). And, okay, I don't like to make bold predictions, so I won't. All I have is hope. I hope he grows and thrives, I hope everyone one day recognises how special he is, and most of all I hope he makes it. Tory Pitner, no matter who you play for and where you're playing, I will always be rooting for you!!

Q: How would you describe [your] feelings right now?

TP: It's pretty unbelievable. I mean, it's a great feeling. Colorado is a great organisation, and especially down the road from Denver [University] it's going to be really, really fun to go to a lot of games and just see the progression in the team - in my game - to hopefully one day be there.

Q: So, knowing that you were going to D.U., were you maybe kind of hopeful that it'd be the Avs?

TP: Yeah. I talked to the Avs a little bit during the year and stayed in contact with some of their scouts, so every time they picked I was kind of on the edge of my seat - but I'm happy to be here and really excited.

Q: What are the strengths in your game?

TP: I'd say that my defending is probably my biggest strength. I think that I can use my brain and really bait other players into plays that they don't want to make and then close out. Really take away time and space, and ultimately just be a prick to play against - I don't know if I can say that on this - but I think that I can defend really well.

I'd say my player comparable is John Marino; his ability to play against those top line guys and shut them down every night. I mean, you just saw him get traded so [he's] obviously a very valuable piece in the NHL, and he was a sixth round draft pick too. I'm really excited to hopefully continue that development path over at D.U. to round out all the other areas of my game to play in the NHL.

Q: So you'd say Denver is a good choice for you, for college?

TP: Yeah. I'd say, obviously, the coaching staff first of all, [David Carle] is an unbelievable coach; and then just the proven track record they have at developing NHL defensemen. Being there every day, you see all the guys that come back, and they want to be at D.U. All the guys that they've sent to the NHL, they still come back to train there - train with Matt Shaw, the strength coach, and skate on the ice. Everyone there; it's kind of a brotherhood. It's a great system for [anyone] to go through if they want to get to the NHL.

Q: Did you get a chance to speak to Jake Fisher? (Colorado draft pick #121 overall)

TP: I'm actually roommates with Fish at D.U. We moved in on Sunday and so it's kind of cool that we both got picked here.

Q: So have you talked to him since?

TP: I haven't. I gotta be honest, I put my phone down after round three and kind of tried not to go on it. But yeah, no, we'll definitely talk. I'll see Fish [on] Sunday when I land. We probably have some studying to do for our Geography class. No, it'll be good. I know he was really excited, I'm really excited, too.

Q: Have you ever been to an Avs game?

TP: I have not, no. But I heard that the D.U. guys go all the time, especially with it being right downtown, so [I'm] really looking forward to getting out there and seeing Ball Arena live. I've driven past it a few times, just heading back to campus and whatnot, but I'll be really excited to get inside and see what it's like.

Q: How did [the Youngstown Phantoms] help you develop, to get to this point? (inaudible)

TP: For sure. I mean, obviously it was great my first year, getting to experience winning the Clark Cup Championship there was super cool for me, and it was a great learning experience being able to be around great leaders like Shane Lachance and Chase Pietila - who got picked earlier today. Being able to be around those kind of guys was awesome for me. And then my second year, taking a step into a bigger role with the team, talking with [coach] Andy Contois a lot about my game, working on different areas that I need to improve, and improving on my strengths, too, [like] being hard to play against. So I think overall they helped me round out my game, and I'm looking forward to keep rounding out that game at D.U.

Q: What has your Draft Day experience been like here at the Sphere? (inaudible)

TP: Yeah, no, it was long. Woke up early, couldn't really sleep too much. Woke up, just kind of got a workout in to get moving, you know, have something to do. Then walked over here - I'm staying at a hotel that's not too far - so, walked over. Sat down after having some breakfast and then kind of just watched the draft. It's been pretty cool, though. I have my family here, my agent as well, [and] one of my coaches. It's been really nice to have everyone here supporting me.

Q: What about the way that Colorado plays defence excites you?

TP: I'd say that I love how they're pretty freeing with all their defensemen. Even down the lineup, you look at Josh Manson still getting up in the play joining as a fourth man. Sam Girard obviously loves to do that. They obviously have great defensemen like Cale Makar running their power play. [They] love being really active. I think that's something that I'm looking to add more to my game, too, and so the freedom to do that in Colorado is something I'm really looking forward to - especially at D.U. as well, having that freedom. Finding the middle in a lot of their breakouts, not a lot of off-the-glass plays or up the wall; they like to really possess the puck. I'm really looking forward to being able to hold on to the puck a little bit longer and find some middle support, which I think will ultimately help my game break down the opponent and just add another element - which will be really fun.

Q: What players did you idolise as you came up?

TP: It's kind of been a lot of different ones, but I really wanted to play defence because of Nick Lidstrom. When I was younger, one of my coaches - actually, Anže Kopitar's brother - Gašper Kopitar; he was my defense coach in LA when I played for the junior Kings when I was younger, and he told me 'If you want to be a defenseman, [go] watch Nick Lidstrom.' So I found some YouTube video - and I think I've watched it like 400 times or something like that. I've watched his NHL 36 multiple times, just to get me going or just to learn his routines. So idolising him growing up and then seeing the great person and defenseman he was; it really made me want to be [one], and I wanted to play hockey even more.

[callmelabrat]

I read Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn a bit ago as a lead up to The Spectre, and I just have so many thoughts about this as an introduction how it all went down in the long run. Not gonna touch on my thoughts regarding knowing of Parallax and how in there's a certain level of me feeling him being doomed by the narrative (the military).

But the aspect of him not wanting the ring at all in this, and him being held to the whims of their constant beck and call to establish ‘order’ to the cosmos, as some highlighted form of I suppose manipulative use of validation. Being insisted that this means you are worthy and destined for great things, after everything in his life has gone so wrong, as a use to turn him into a pawn.  All the military and drafting metaphors and entire multiple plots of authority abusing it's power were so prominent, and really makes the modern adaptions even more depressing.

Vaguely, it kinda reminded of those anti-magical girl stories, which ironically makes the transformation in the First Flight movie more amusing to me. But just-

You're down on your luck, hanging onto your job by a thread.

An alien abducts you from your planet and tells you that it's magical device with powers beyond your comprehension has chosen you because it can sense you are worthy.  Insists it's a validation and that it means you're not a fuck up.  This should be a relief but despite your protests about not wanting it to begin with you are told you have no choice.  

Your boss is not happy that you disappeared with expensive machinery when you manage to make your way back, putting what you still have left of this job on an even thinner line.

Your best friend lands in the hospital because of you. And then dies because of your identity.

You are then introduced to this planet full of magical people who were chosen, like you,  to protect the universe.  They are all very nice and excited and proud to be helping people and very welcoming to you, but the creatures in charge are very demanding, and insist on strict obedience above all else.

So when the alien that killed your best friend comes knocking you beat the shit out of it and your magical item tells you that this is wrong because you're being emotional about it and not just doing this for the magical organization. You don't want to be a part of this organization.  The creature tells you its mission and why it's doing this.  you acknowledge you don't know anything about this organization so you're fighting him for your cause, not the corps.   The 'all-knowing' guardians don't even remember this creature at all.  

You miss your best friend's funeral.  

They have the best lantern they have train you because you ask too many questions.  He controls the section he patrols with an iron fist and demands perfect order above all else.  He will not allow you to visit your other friend who got stabbed for your sake.  In his absence the people he reigns over finally get a chance to rebel and free themselves.  Your mentor tells you that since he couldn't regain control over them he will be punished for his failure.  

After witnessing how their "best lantern" works you are forced to abandon your new friend you made when he's in the hospital to testify against your mentor in court. Something you don't want to be involved in at all. They simply banish him to the other side of the universe, out of their sight, and discard him as punishment.  He is screaming that he's only ever done what he's told and that they made him into this.  They apologize for his disruption.

Every other lantern is confused and appalled by his behavior. Explain that they've never held a court for a lantern before. That no one's ever done this. They go out of their way to make sure you're okay after being trapped with and working with him. 

You can't help but think how similar his actions were to the guardians’ rules and behaviors.

[annabthesolitarywriter]

IMPORTANT!

I've seen some of my moots post New Year Resolution lists/To-do lists so I thought I'd share mine. It contains important information my mutuals deserve to know.

I suppose you all don't remember my WIP The Lady of Ithilien.

Don't worry, it's a very small thing I've never really talked about. Enna? Eönwë? I don't know who these people are (just kidding, of course). Well, I have to announce that it will no longer be a WIP. It won't be a WIP for a long time, since I don't plan on posting new chapters until the latter part of this year and possibly even early 2026.

Much has changed since I posted chapter 3 back in April. I've created many, many, many OCs and some of them will appear in the story quite soon. As such, I need to have them completely (or semi-completely) figured out (full names, lineage, background, personality and role within the plot) BEFORE I start writing about them.

This is why answering character asks will be my main priority for early 2025 at the very least. I need to know who my characters are before I write them and make a mess. Please send as many asks as you can (even random questions), so that I can flesh them out as much as possible. Even stupid questions are okay. Seemingly stupid questions—I reckon questions are never stupid—are actually the best because they force me to think. Trust me, I do need to think 😂 it's the overthinking part that which I don't like.

I was re-reading the LOI prologue last night and I couldn't help but notice how different Ioreth's personality is if compared to how I wrote her character just two chapters later. She sort of has some of the same traits, but she's much more gentle and understanding in the prologue than she is later, and I don't think Enna "misbehaving" could trigger such a massive change in her personality if she hadn't shown signs of being a complete b*tch beforehand. Luckily for me, I haven't written much yet, so that issue could be easily solved by deleting the prologue and reposting it separately as a general introduction to Enna as a character. I have already copied the prologue in my AO3 drafts in case I decide go through with it, but I will wait a while longer before I make a decision since I'm notoriously volatile and change my mind every five seconds about everything. This example is just to show how writing instinctively and without thinking can impact things in the long run, so I definitely need to develop my characters. That's the first thing I intend to do this year.

Second, I need to finish the Tolkien OC Week one-shots that should've been done by the end of this past August. I am still working on the one-shot for Day 5 and I have changed my mind about the prompt for Day 6 at least a billion times. I have to expand the one for Day 7 and finish the one-shot for day 1 (Maiarin world-building is the stuff of nightmares).

Plus, I need to make sure that I don't further change my mind about things I've already written, which is something I unfortunately always end up doing. I change my mind all the time and it's honestly kind of debilitating at this point. I feel like I'll never finish anything and it's disheartening.

I legit can't stop coming up with newer ideas that I think are better than the old ones and replacing stuff I've already written with new scenarios. The thing is, my excitement wears off pretty quickly and I soon get even better ideas that quickly replace the new ones. It's a never-ending cycle which needs to stop ASAP.

I do plan to make some changes to the LOI chapters I've already posted. I'll edit the story before I resume posting later this year/next year. I've planned the following changes so far:

Possibly take out the prologue and reposting it separately [the reasons for this change are mentioned above]. Should that be the case, LOI will start with chapter 1. I haven't really made up my mind about this though. I kind of don't want to delete it because, in doing so, I would lose all my comments and comments are very important to me, but I suppose I could screenshot them, print them and frame them 😂

Change Eönwë's Quenya lines in what is now Chapter 2 to Valarin. I mean, the guy is basically in a coma and starts speaking in a second/third language? I know that Maiar and Valar are supposed to be more or less masters of all languages, but I think it would make much more sense if he muttered stuff in Valarin rather than Quenya. I did not think of this when I first wrote the chapter a year ago and I wasn't not yet obsessed with Turkish period dramas.

Carefully review the parts of Chapter 4 that I have already written and make major adjustments. Write new parts that make more sense considering the events that have just occurred story-wise (don't worry, I won't discard anything. The "current" chapter 4 will be pushed back in the timeline and possibly become Chapter 7 or 8.

Pay a lot more attention to grammar and spelling. I usually don't mind it when other writers make spelling mistakes, but when it happens to me...it's a whole other matter entirely. I've been learning English for a long time and the fact that I still make that kind of mistakes—mostly due to distraction—really irks me. I'm talking capitalization issues, wrong vowels and such. I know how to write correctly and I cannot stress how I roll my eyes whenever I spot misspelled words I perfectly know how to write. And it usually happens after re-reading the same paragraph four or five times.

Stop adding lore to asks I've already posted. How are people going to keep up if I keep adding more and more things? I literally posted the Eleniel/Celebrían ask on New Year's Day and I've edited the post twice already because I obviously came up with slightly different concepts and ideas. It's been two days and I have no doubt I'll come up with slightly different variations of things anytime I re-read the post. I don't think it's fair to the person who sent the ask (@lucifers-legions in this case, but it could be anyone) to keep changing things. I never do it on purpose (it's more of an impulse things), but I need to make decisions and stick to them. People should be able to read the answers to my asks without stressing over what I'm going to change. This applies to everyone sending asks (anons and mutuals alike), but it's even more important when someone is borrowing your characters for their story. So, I plan to be better and I really hope I will succeed. Also, constantly updating things is not good for me either (I forget half of the stuff and get confused, which is...not ideal)

Try and work on all the other asks I have queued. They include a second unusual OC/creator questions ask from @fishing4stars, four more from @lucifers-legions (three character asks and one fic-request), one from @dilettantefeminist, one from @jhelenivarsimae, one from @quillofspirit and two from @saurongorthaur9 (one character ask and one fic-request). I have started some of these and for others I had ideas which I momentarily abandoned/discarded. What I am trying to say is that I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN about these and that I'm working on them. I wish I could put things out more quickly, but...you know me by now. I'm slow. And I wish I wasn't.

Try and be more organized. I have a bunch of random files and notes that need to be neatly stored somewhere. My brain is a mess as it is and it doesn't need any more distractions.

Speaking of distractions...Tumblr (and social media in general) happens to be one. While I love scrolling through my feed here...it prevents me from actually writing and planning. Which is why I think it won't be surprising if I take even longer breaks from it. Despite this, I would like to keep in contact with all the awesome people I've met on here so. You can text me on Insta (I can give it to you via text on here) or you can email me if you like. Just text me and we'll talk about it. I'll still come back to Tumblr every once in a while (I'll never deactivate my account or things like that), but...I think I need to take drastic measures to stay focused and actually update my fics. I'll come back here to reply to the asks I get and to comments and texts I might get, but I don't think I'll ever be as active as I once was. Maybe I will be again one day, but I need to work on my concentration skills first (I honestly think I might have ADHD and I kind of would like to get it checked out. I've been doing some reading about it and most of the symptoms I have are a match for ADHD. It might also not be the case, but...I don't know.)

Update (sometime down the line) my masterlist, make it more pretty to look at and make a headcanon list to be kept in my files and also to be posted here. Most of my asks are buried somewhere and I need to keep them all in the same place so that I can easily find them. Not urgent, but also...quite urgent.

All in all, I would like to thank all of you for your continued support and thank you for putting up with me. 💕

I understand I can be a pain and I'm sorry (I'm honestly starting to think Enna and I are the same person. She's just way more unlucky)

PS: *As a testament to my overthinking, it seems I cannot stop thinking about that darn prologue (it's been LITERAL HOURS since I first queued this post and it's been haunting me ever since). Ioreth's characterization is my main issue with it at the moment, but, on second thoughts, I suppose that the whole "personality change" issue could be attributed to her acting nice while Enna was a young child in an attempt to gain her trust and manipulate her into thinking that she was way better than her mother. That's kind of plausible. She basically gaslighted her throughout her childhood and started showing her true colors when Enna grew up and started to "rebel". Okay, that's more or less fine, I suppose.

It's just that the prologue is set in Ithilien and the first chapter is literally a year later in Minas Tirith and she's already met Mairon. Mmm...🤔

Should I add a few chapters in between showing Enna's pre-drama daily life, her lessons with the most sensible tutor in Middle-earth aka Finnas, her moving to Minas Tirith with Faramir and Elboron, introduce her two main attendants and address the differences between her life in Ithilien and in Minas Tirith? Should I also include a chapter where she meets Mairon and he starts manipulating right off the bat?

I'm literally debating whether I should rewrite the story from the start [the most complicated option what will probably cause me to abandon the fic altogether], add the extra chapters between the prologue and Chapter 1 [if that ends up happening, the prologue will go back to being Chapter 1 and the other chapters will follow accordingly], or just delete the prologue and leave everything else as it is now [the easiest option]

In any case, I doubt I'll be able to post anything before next October/November, my ultimate deadline being early to mid 2026.

IF I DON'T UPDATE BY THEN...then you're allowed to consider the story officially discontinued/abandoned.

Writing LOI requires a lot of work and hopefully finishing off the one-shots first will give me inspo and motivation to work on the story. If not, Elenwë and all my OCs will only live in my mind and in the one-shots that are already posted.

Also, all the planned fics I listed on my masterlist... probably won't happen either. Let's be realistic, I'll never ever get to them in this lifetime. I get distracted too often, I can't meet deadlines and I'm never satisfied with my own work. I am never happy about it. Perhaps I'm just not cut out for writing. Maybe I should stop writing right this instant.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of my moots for their unwavering support. I have met so many wonderful people here and, even if I stop writing, I'll always keep reading and commenting!

[some-pers0n]

Reading through scenes with Albatross in them, so you know what that means!! Note time!! Time to take notes about Albatross, with little sprinkles of Fathom and Lagoon.

This is a post literally only meant for me. I'm. yeah. If I ever rip it out of my drafts it's gonna be because: "Wowie you think the other dragon likers will enjoy this as well?" It's not going to be coherent at all, switching from bullet points to full on tangents. I'll eventually shorten it down to something more compact and easier to comprehend, perhaps with a character sheet for Albatross with a detailed personality section.

With that being said, lets read.

Chapter 1

Chapter where Fathom learns that he's a magic guy. Okie.

First note is entirely off-topic, but I really do love Indigo and Fathom's interactions. They're so sweet.

Lagoon's first introduction already paints her as ominous and foreboding, comparing her rising out of the sea like "a sinister iceberg". Iceberg flipping videos are spooky to me, so yeah that makes sense. Either way, it establishes her character to be one that's antagonistic, with the use of the phrase "stalked slowly up to the beach" in the next sentence making it very firm that she's not exactly a dragon we like.

Lagoon's literally beefing with a child. God I hate her so much,, I love her <333

Interesting use of the titled "most respected dragon in the Sea Kingdom" to describe Albatross. I like that it implies that Albatross is viewed more highly than even Queen Lagoon (which isn't too high of a bar to clear, but ehh). He's beloved by the kingdom. He's their first animus.

Odd to describe his expression as "suspicious" here. I like thinking that he looks like a generic evil cartoon villain/anti-semite stereotype here. The next sentence describing him with a hooked snout doesn't help.

Curious that he would complain about the TOP ceremony here. I get it's for exposition, but I find it interesting. He doesn't see a point in the exam. It's a waste of time to him and the others. He says that, if they were an animus, they would've figured it out by now.

Lagoon on the other hand wants to use this exam to weed out the animus dragons quickly. She wants another animus so she can use them in case the RainWings or MudWings try to do anything fishy, saying that they've been acting up. She views animus dragons less like actual people and more like tools for either how own vanity projects or for war.

^ Something very compelling to me here is how she uses she/her pronouns to refer to this imaginary animus they'll discover. Why does she do that? That's...quite odd. Does she want Pearl to be the animus? Strange.

Lagoon once again uses the Sapphire incident as leverage over Albatross. This is our first introduction scene to these characters and we've established that Lagoon is antagonistic and kind of a prick. She reminds Albatross of this without batting an eye. I like to personally think that she isn't as bothered by the mauling of her sister as Albatross is. Albatross was traumatized by the event and the guilt of it all has followed with him for his entire life. Lagoon on the other hand doesn't exactly seem too bothered with the idea of bringing it up just to remind Albatross about what he's done, reminding him that, no matter what he does, he destroyed Sapphire's life.

Albatross shows his disdain for being used as a tool for Lagoon. He's given her everything she wants, yet she does not feel fully satisfied with it. He also mentions he does not want an apprentice. Headcanon: I think Albatross isn't fond of the idea of having an apprentice because he kinda just hates the concept of Lagoon having another animus to look after. Honestly? I fully believe that if Fathom discovered his magic on his own time and approached Albatross privately about it, Albatross would've trained him but he would INSIST that he NEVER tell Lagoon about it. He doesn't want to doom another dragon to his fate.

!! Lagoon reacts to this aggressively. She hisses and snarls at him over this slight resistance. It shows that she's not one for the idea of Albatross ever standing up for himself. It's never been about what Albatross wants. He's barely even a dragon in her eyes. He's just a breathing wish-making device that looks ugly as hell to her.

Albatross submits. Headcanon: I think Albatross is always anxious and tries controlling himself constantly because he doesn't want to hurt Lagoon the same way he did with Sapphire. It's...very hard not to, though...

I like thinking that Albatross did the coconut thing because he was so confident that there wouldn't be an animus dragons. I also like thinking that he thought it would be something to entertain the dragonets. Like...imagine being nine or something and you're told you could hit the Pope with a basketball if you just yell at the ball. Silly.

^ Also in the Guide, Albatross says it's much easier and a lot more safe to enchant a coconut to float or something. It characterizes him as actually caring about the safety of the tribe and putting in far more thought and care into the exams than Lagoon ever could.

Albatross is bored by doing these tests. Fathom is amazed however by simply watching the coconut fly over to him.

^ Interestingly, Fathom is spooked and scared. He's unsure if the test will hurt him. He's anxious that, somehow, Albatross has enchanted the coconuts to react if somebody touched it.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to throw it at you?" BWAHWHUDHAIDUH-- INDIGO AHHHH

^ Albatross laughs at this. He's amused by the response, finding humour in such a simple question. Silly guy.

Interesting note of animus magic here is that you have to command something to do what you want. You don't ask it. You order it. Fascinating.

BONK!!

IT BROKE BONES??? I mean, obviously. It's a giant dense coconut flying at him at the speed of a bullet. Of course.

Pearl you goddamn rat.

HAHAHAHAHAH OH MY GODDDDDD how could people read this book without understanding that Lagoon is clearly evil and Wrong? "You are going to do such great things for m- for your tribe" AHAHAHHA

^ Actually obsessed with how shitty the royal SeaWing family is. That's such a silly thing of Tui to do.

Albatross is happy!! Again, going back to that headcanon I talked about, I think Albatross would like to train Fathom, but rather he doesn't want to be replaced or to sentence Fathom to a life of constantly serving a bitchy queen. That's something to worry about later. For now, everything is happy and nice.

Chapter 3

Private magic lessons with grandpapa.

I actually adore Indigo and Fathom oh my goddd they're so sweet...

Really love the interactions here. It's quite fun and goofy between all of the characters.

Fathom listened to Albatross's wishes to have him save his animus magic. Albatross knows the dangers that animus magic holds, and Fathom wants to listen to his grandpapa. Fathom really does look up to and love Albatross. He's so sweet and untraumatized <3

HANDWRITING!!! USE OF THE WORD HAND!!! NOT TALON!! HAND!!!!!

I always forget the Island Palace was a thing and the massacre wasn't at the Summer Palace you mean to tell me that this bitch needed THREE palaces????? One of which only really existing as a means for PARTIES??? Gott DAMN Lagoon chill out.

^ Fuck it. Headcanon: Albatross lives at the Island Palace. Yeah yeah it's mostly used for parties and for political diplomats to sleep, but GOD I don't think Albatross could stand to live in the same palace as Lagoon. How about Albatross lived there with his wife and raised his kids there? Now he lives there alone. Boo hoo. He's the host whenever guests come to visit. He gets pissy that his house basically becomes a nightmareish party hellscape whenever his sister comes over.

^^ It's also pretty and I think Albatross would like it.

Albatross drags Fathom to the beach where he first discovered animus magic so he could really drill it in just how fucked up animus magic is. Epic.

Albatross is silly and goofy!! He is happy and having fun and is excited to teach Fathom the ways of being a wizard. Fathom inversely is so inexperienced and gullible. Silly guy.

Something to note: So far, Albatross really hasn't been talked about like he's...stern or rude. He's only bothered by Lagoon's antics and demands. I think he's a fairly good and friendly dragon, but it just extremely annoyed by Lagoon (completely understandable)

GOD he's full of so much whimsy and joy. He's so silly. I love this little guy (I am talking about an old traumatized dragon)

Fathom describes this interaction as being new and slightly odd, as Albatross was always seen as some distant and powerful figure. A dragon of importance that was always too busy. He was always nice and friendly, but never exactly...there. Now? He gets to see how he really is: SILLY!!!

Further showing how much Albatross is having fun via by describing him jumping into the ocean with him "splashing into the sea".

Lagoon requested Albatross show Fathom the palace just in-case Albatross dies before it's finished. Now, I know I'm biased, but from how things happen later on, I feel Lagoon was plotting to dispose of Albatross the moment Fathom was discovered to be an animus. She wanted Fathom to pick up where Albatross left off. Fathom would be a new, better, more presentable animus.

^ Albatross doesn't know about this plot, so he goes along with it. He's excited to teach Fathom!!

Again, Albatross shows that he's a lot more considerate and aware. He's cautious and thoughtful. He purposefully stretches out the creation of the Summer Palace so that it doesn't cause any damage to the ecosystem.

Fathom stfu your gandpapa cares about the environment. He didn't mess up the spell, he just didn't want the ocean to explode or whatever.

Albatross is supportive of Fathom's idea to create a cover of leaves over the Summer Palace, but this is where Albatross gets serious and tells Fathom he needs to think and plot out his spells. Albatross does not want Fathom to use up his soul carelessly or to make rash and impulsive choices without thinking them through clearly. I think this fear of Fathom misusing his magic was instilled by, again, the Sapphire incident. He doesn't want Fathom to follow in his footsteps.

TRAUMA STORY TIME!!!

Albatross is obviously telling this story to Fathom as a) exposition for his backstory and b) to tell Fathom that he needs to be careful with his magic. It is not a toy. It is a powerful, dangerous force.

Fathom is hopeful and still thinks Albatross isn't really capable of harm as he assumes that his first enchantment was something grand and wonderful.

Literally how does anybody read this and come away thinking that Lagoon was entirely innocent here. Fathom literally reflects on Albatross's comment on them doing "normal brother-sister teasing", which is Sapphire and Lagoon coming down and bullying him until he snapped back at them. Fathom is like: "...I don't think that's normal brother-sister teasing, grandpapa."

AUGHHHH LAGOON YOU'RE THE WORST,,, classist loser. Treating Indigo badly and saying that, by keeping her around, they're "coddling the lower class". She obviously views herself as being better and superior to common SeaWings.

Sapphire and Lagoon are the worst. "Everything you have will be mine when I'm queen" ughhhhh

Such a terrible event shaped Albatross in a way that cannot fully be described. It scarred him. It was the first time he had used his magic, and it was to harm his sister. It was a simple mistake, yet he can never live it down. He blames himself for it. Lagoon on the other hand uses it as a means to control him. Manipulate his trauma and guilt-trips him into doing what she wants.

I blame TF2 for making me have a knee-jerk reaction to the word "spy". Albatross literally saying "a spy?" when he notices Indigo watching them made me think of the french guy.

Aww,,,Blob....

Chapter 6

oh no

Lagoon is becoming more rude towards Indigo since Fathom was revealed to be an animus. Again, she hates how she had a commoner dragon frolicking around with royals.

Lagoon more or less hosts these parties as vanity projects for her to show off everything grand about her (which was basically done by Albatross after she manipulated him into using his magic). I'm willing to bet she doesn't care really at all about what happens from a political standpoint, so long as she's known as some grand and glorious queen.

Fathom mentions that Lagoon is "skilled with diplomatic meets" because she has the power of an animus behind her. Again, she mostly relies on Albatross and his magic to be feared.

Fathom wearing jewelry that also matches the stuff Albatross wears. I wonder if that was set up by Lagoon.

IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE THE TEST?? Okey then.

These Fathigo moments are melting my heart. Tui....

BWAHAHWHAHUWDHAIWUHAI--- I always forget how charming and silly these books are. Ahhhh this is so cute and fun.

Blah blah blah let us get back to old murder man. It's THE chapter after all.

So after three years, Albatross is still too spooked to let Fathom do more than basic spells. Is he fearful? Perhaps at this point he knows about Lagoon's plot to replace him and wants to live longer. It's hard to tell. Three years is a large timeskip. A lot could happen in that gap.

I think Albatross has become a lot more...quiet and estranged since then. He completely erased the work that Fathom had made. He's a bit more erratic. If there's one thing I wish we got, it would be a better explanation for this. Something HAD to have happened in order for him to have a personality shift like this.

He's described as being unexcited when they finally completed the palace. Perhaps this was the moment. I think that, yeah, Albatross figured out that his time is up. He's going to die. Lagoon is probably going to kill him off and replace him with Fathom. I headcanon that Lagoon killed Albatross's wife, which he probably could've figured out by now as well, so him finally completing the palace would mean he's obsolete. He's finished. There's no use for him anymore. He'll be disposed.

I don't think he planned the massacre. It was rather him finally reaching a breakpoint and going "fuck it, if I'm dying tonight, I'm taking down as many other dragons as I can". He would've been repulsed by the idea, but at this point he just straight up doesn't care. I think when he first approached Lagoon he wanted to sort things out with her, but as it became increasingly obvious that she was going to be unreasonable, he just pulled out the knife and dealt with her himself.

I hate you Lagoon.

There's no real point in me describing this part. It's Lagoon just basically showing off Albatross's creations to the very-not-okay-with-animus-dragons SkyWing royals. Her head is so far up her own ass she just doesn't care.

Big fight happens.

The reactions from the other dragons are interesting. Manta, Splash, and Reef all react with anxiety and tense up. They know that Albatross isn't in a Good Mood, or perhaps they are a little aware that Albatross is going to be disposed of and Lagoon is practically throwing rocks at the bear now. No longer is she poking the bear with a stick. She's pretty much just hurling rocks and telling it that she's going to kill it.

Definitely when I rewrite this scene it's gonna be a lot more dramatic. I mean, it's the climax of Albatross's story. The big moment everyone knows. It deserves to be slightly more bombastic than this.

KNIFE!!!

Chapter 8

Still endlessly amused by there being a Clearsight chapter right before this.

Murder dragon becomes murder dragon chapter, lets go.

Straight up doesn't care anymore. Again, like I said before, I think he wants to go out with a bang. Headcanon: I don't think Albatross was at all content with how his life went. Yeah, he's the most respected dragon in the tribe, but at the cost of being a little pet for his sister to boss around. At this point he is Done with everything. Its gone fully into a manic episode.

^ Something like this as well, I don't think he liked the parties at all. Circling back into the Island Palace being his home, he hates his house basically being turned into a playground for Lagoon to show off. I also think he just generally doesn't like parties because they're loud and bother him. I'm 100% adding in my animus curse headcanon into this winglet, so with the added bonus of him being sensitive to sound it makes him yearn for peace and quiet. He's just getting that wish in a bloody and brutal way.

Interesting that Fathom tries DEFENDING Albatross even after he's fully aware that he killed Lagoon on purpose and is going after the SkyWings. He's in denial. He still loves his grandpapa and doesn't want to think he would actually do any of this. If he did, it was for a good reason, right? He would stop soon, right?

MANTA NO NONONONON NOOOOOO OH MY GOD NOOO THIS IS SO SAD NOONONONONOOO Manta is Albatross's daughter, by the way. She's trying to reason with her father.

Finally the realization is beginning to set into Fathom that, yeah, his grandpapa is going to kill everyone.

Ouughhhhh I wish Tui did more horrific moments like this. Having Albatross come into the room and act all like a horror monster is so good. She's really good with writing tension in these scenes. Love it.

Interesting that Albatross would point out Fathom's lack of an imagination of all things. Perhaps he's reaching for straws for anything that makes him better than Fathom. Reasons for why he should've been seen as a good and worthy animus.

Again, with Albatross mentioning here how he wants to kill Fathom up close, it's less about the killing them to him. It's the joy and release from watching the life drain from their eyes. To finally show how powerful he is. To show that he deserves to be seen as powerful and more than just a lapdog for Lagoon.

^ Albatross also sees Fathom as the reason for Lagoon disposing him. Albatross blames Fathom for it. If it wasn't for Fathom, he could've lived on with his miserable existence for a while longer. Maybe he could've shown Lagoon what he thought of her then.

Annnddd Albatross is dead within like two paragraphs. Yippeee.

Honestly if I'm doing this I'm giving his ass a Breaking Bad ending with him managing to live on and limp over to a place that's important to him before dying. RIP bozo.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Happy Storyteller Saturday!

When you finish a first draft, how does it look? Is it readable or does it have more holes than a swiss cheese? What are your next steps, and how much changes?

Hey Elli! Happy STS!

First of all - I believe every idea is at least somewhat salvageable. I hope to one day get to the point where I somehow managed to adapt the short stories I "wrote" when I was in kindergarten.

Okay my first drafts are...weird. They differ greatly from most people. Let's talk about a few examples so I can explain.

The Secret Portal

Started as a school project in fourth grade (age 10). It is readable but it's so silly. Mainly because I was ten. I've somehow managed to string it together into what it is now but the first act is the only recognizable thing.

The second version of TSP I wrote over a year later. My first step was to make it longer and have chapters. That was about it.

The third version was about a year after that. I decided I didn't like my story ideas to be stretched out across a whole book, so I combined the first two books into one. I alternated the POV and worked more on the details. My descriptions and characterization was better, though I was constrained by the limitations of following the older drafts.

The fourth version was a year and a half after that. We're nearing the end of eighth grade - I'm 14. I'd done a lot of other writing but I decided to go back to TSP. This time, I had full scenes and character introductions and even a halfway decent (emphasis) prologue. Pacing was getting better, and the story beats made more sense. I alternated POV, but realized the need for it being very deliberate whose perspective I was in.

One hole I figured out was how to differentiate my heroes and villains. Jedi and Carmen originated as villain roles but when I thought about it making them good, or honestly extremely morally gray, made a lot more sense. I soon developed a plot, a world, character arcs...

While I refer to all of it as Draft Four, I kept up with this version for so long there are technically multiple drafts of TSP in this section. I didn't start the document over until 2021.

How did I go on from here? Well, I focused on refining story beats. Characters and their voices. General pacing and descriptions. World building.

So definitely not a traditional process lol.

More detailed behind the scenes is linked in my intro post

School of the Legends

I basically hit the reset button every time. I had the idea of "fairy tale retelling" for years.

For SOTL, I did write a dual first person POV short story with Úrsula and Beau and discover third person worked better. But as SOTL it technically only has five chapters drafted. I'd say that just tossing out everything worked here.

Other

Most of the others I wrote as a kid and as I grew older I modified it to my current maturity level, taking the same plot points and fleshing them out. When I was 13+ I started outlining and planning more details and characters. More plot twists and arcs.

Sooo I don't really have the typical first draft experience. Essentially what I do is this:

Nothing is unsalvageable.

Figure out what is salvageable.

Write down ideas I have during reading old drafts.

Identify the holes.

Figure out how to fill the holes/brainstorm

Figure out everything you still don't know

???

Profit

Hope this was a satisfactory answer lol

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @fairy-tales-of-yesterday

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road Review- A Nice Big Plate of WTF?

So… I have… questions? Many of them aren’t even things I can express in words- they’re just helpless looks of confusion happening in my head and a general, non-specific yearning for answers. I’m not saying I disliked The Church on Ruby Road. I’m not saying I liked it, either. I’m saying that it’s so bafflingly other that I’m not 100% sure how to process my feelings about it. Consequently, this is going to be quite a short review. I mean, when Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle blew me away, I knew exactly what it was I was enjoying and why. When The Star Beast disappointed, I knew exactly why it disappointed me (it felt like a first draft). I don’t even know what emotions I experienced while watching The Church on Ruby Road or if those emotions even have names, so it’s kind of difficult to talk about.

Okay, let’s start with something easy. I like Ncuti Gatwa’s take on the Doctor. That’s something I’m certain about. He’s breezy and bright and- occasionally- a tiny bit bitchy. I think he’s going to be an interesting addition to the line-up. Also, I think it’s really cool and progressive that he’s the first Doctor… WITH A MOUSTACHE! So yeah, he’s a perfectly fine actor for the role. I could have done with a slightly stronger, more sure-footed introduction- something like Ecclestone’s “Run!” or David Tenant just straight up grabbing a Sycorax energy-whip by the business end and yanking it away… but I get that he’s meant to be the fun, easy-going Doctor and I accept that his intro has to suit the character, which means a gradual, laid-back sort of interweaving. So yes: nice work on establishing Fifteen, Ruby Road.

But then there’s the goblins in flying wooden boats. Doctor Who had goblins now, and that’s fine… but they’re never really explained. We’re told they can surf the waves of time, but we’re never told where they came from. Are they just on Earth all the time? Have they always been here? Are they from space? Another dimension? We’re just kind of asked to accept them and the fact that they regularly abduct and eat babies (yet this has somehow never come up before). I mean, I’m okay with goblins, but I’m not sure how I feel about inadequately-explained goblins in a sci-fi show. Doctor Who has every right to be extremely silly- it’s practically in the charter- but there’s a razor-thin line between ‘silly’ and ‘stupid’ and I’m not sure which side of the divide big-eyed mischievous goblins in flying boats fall on. Especially when they start singing.

Ah, yes. Maybe I should have led with that. The goblins sing. And I don’t mean unearthly, alien singing of the kind befitting their essentially inhuman nature, nor even the type of shanties that would match their outfits and flying, old-fashioned sailing ship. No, no. They sing a full-on, carefully-orchestrated and choreographed, extremely catchy pop song… about eating babies. It’s fucking mental. I mean, it’s obviously meant to be funny and it made me laugh… but I’m not sure I was laughing at the intended joke or if I was just having a breakdown in response to seeing something so fucking inexplicable. I mean, when the Celestial Toymaker interrupted The Giggle for a musical number, it made sense. The Toymaker was characterised in such a way that murdering people to music perfectly fitted his character- he’s bloody psychotic. But with the goblins it just comes completely out of left-field.

I thought the overarching themes of family being about more than blood and people forming intricate webs of connection that depend more on love than superficial genetic ties were pretty solid and universal. On the other hand, making new companion Ruby Sunday such an enmeshed part of an adopted family meant her personality didn’t get much chance to come through properly, despite her more-than-ample screen-time. She always felt like a part of something larger- particularly with the fairly extravagant and entertaining personalities of her other family members (one in particular).

I think what’s weird about this episode is that it’s meant to be the start of a soft-reboot with the potential to draw in new fans, yet if you’re not familiar with Doctor Who already, it presents a bit of misleading picture of what the show is. It centres mythic and magical creatures over the show’s more standard cosmic and alien fare or scientific-disaster-style stories, while previous events are referenced with little or no context. As a long-time Who fan (who even forced myself to watch the execrable Chibnall/Whitaker episodes necessary for an appreciation of the plot), I understood what was being alluded to and also knew to make allowances for this being a daft, knock-about Christmas episode that won’t be typical of the season to come. But new fans? They’re likely to be completely bloody lost.

All things considered, I quite liked The Church on Ruby Road- it’s a bit of fun and it’s a reasonably good palette cleanser after the heavier themes of the previous two specials. Plus, it’s just nice to see a new Doctor in action and know he’s going to be good in the role. Does it set out to do what it was meant to do, though (i.e. set out the stall for new Whovians and provide a real flavour of the show? Erm. No. And, however enjoyable it might be overall, its more confusing elements do make me worry about showrunner Russel T. Davies’ mental state. At least we only have to wait until spring to find out just how mad he’s gone.

[void-botanist]

📝❤️&❓- which characters of yours are your favorites to write?

📝 what stages are you currently in your WIPs?

Which one I'm actively working on varies wildly - I've actually been mostly working on kiss scenes (which I'm about 80% done with) and that quasi-canonical Sheri story (which I'm about 25% done with) - but for my 4 main wips:

TFA: trying to dig into Anni and Zel's dynamic and figure out how to tie together Anni and Dez's separate trajectories, thematically or otherwise. They spend a lot of the story in two different places doing two different things. Because of shifting things around I'm not sure how much actually will stay in this draft but let's say I've written like 20% of a full draft.

Triad: haven't actually worked on this one in a while, and I will be starting a new draft when I get back to it. I've been replotting it to make the plot align more with non-romance goals such as stealing birds and also give us more time with Keearo's family.

AOM: like TFA, suffering from "what do you mean I have to write the middle", though to be fair I also haven't been motivated to write most of the beginning stuff in Ensaum because I need a better hook for myself than Colin & Sid's weird doomed romance. The next thing to do is flesh out the dynamics that will be present on Phil's boat when Horatio, Sid, Sorian, and Avis all join her for the trip to Imni. It's not pretty.

Nicea: extremely fragmentary and coming together as I think of more things. Next on my loose list is to write Isabel saying goodbye to Darnell (has Darnell actually gotten married? is he pregnant again? I have many questions) and maybe get back to the sex scene between her and Tatya. I also need to orchestrate a meltdown for Declan and write Spinder working with the engineering bay gear.

❤️ what are your favorite scenes from your WIPs?

AOM: Avis unintentionally making Sorian choke on his water because she needed to be mean Right Now. Also Horatio talking about funerals over toast like it's the most normal thing in the world. Sid's face off against his parents and also his sexy scenes with Colin. Emma fucking tearing into Donovan about the letters the second he comes in the door.

Nicea: Fabian and his vibrator necklace. The scene where Tristan accidentally breaks the gravity. Tatya's introduction. Rodney's adventure to find the keys to Declan's storage unit, mostly because Martin and Kara are my favorites forever. Also probably any scene where someone is having a chat with Tatya. Cady and Declan's various reunion scenes.

TFA: one that hasn't made it into the current draft where Dez is sitting under the stars with Nidilaenn and Ellery and tries rooting for the first time. Vinnek's introduction. Dez getting in trouble for saying bad words at the library. Anni and Zel chatting on the train. Another scene that may or may not happen in the current draft but I feel like it should - Dez talking to Hoven one on one for the first time over translation work. Anni talking books with Mel. Anni making it through customs with Dez in a suitcase (this one might be my most favorite actually).

❓which characters of yours are your favorites to write? This is such a fun one. A few that I particularly enjoy writing:

Avis. I just Get her voice. It helps that she's opinionated as hell

Syndy. Same deal as Avis but also android. Actually all of the androids are so fun to write

Tirias. My baby. Mx. Women Are My Favorite Guy but she's both the women and the guy. Just so full of sass and drama and in love with the world

Rolf and also Snap. They're just my goofy sexy lil guys

Bean. He's one of those magical children's book guides like Mary Poppins except he's just a regular human middle school teacher (this is part of his magic) and also transmasc (for Red at least this is also part of his magic)

Julian. He's not easy to write exactly but I just really like him and think he's interesting. He is the most guy forever

Leon and Edith. They're so full of life, laughter, and sarcasm and they play off of each other so well

Martin and Kara. Like Leon and Edith except more understated. Martin is always leaning against something amicably and Kara is always doing something and they're very in love your honor

Isabel. She's not quite as easy to write as Avis even though they have some of the same vibes, however, I feel like I did myself such a disservice not writing from her perspective in Old Canon. Also she curses a lot and it kinda seems like the more curses the more fun it is

Graham. The way he speaks is directly based off Bill and Ted. The kind of person who would say "women are my favorite guy" and take a refined sip from his space Red Bull

Nicea taglist: @kahvilahuhut @kk7-rbs @outpost51 @writernopal @athenswrites

[asteria7fics]

pookieee i'm trying to write a fanfic but holy shit- i can not get my first sentence or paragraphs right!! how did u start ur fic? like what process did u use? -idk man- I've been harassing ur inbox for a bit <(￣ ﹌ ￣)>

Hellooo!!

You are not alone, dear goober. The beginning of any project is hands down the hardest part to write!

We want that opening line to be ~perfect~, but holding ourselves to that kind of standard can really hinder our creative process!

Truthfully, the first chapter of TSOB was pretty much forced out of me. I had plans to write with a friend the following day, but I knew if I waited to actually start the thing while out with them I wouldn’t actually get much done.

SO, that night, I asked myself a couple of questions:

What is the inciting incident of my story?

How do I get there efficiently?

My favorite rule is to have the beginning of your story start as/just before something important happens. That’s especially convenient in fanficition, when there’s little necessity for lengthy world introductions. If someone is reading your story they’re probably already pretty familiar with the world, so you can use a lot more shorthand to get to the good stuff quicker.

So for TSOB I settled on starting when Heidi takes Butters (i.e. Paris taking Helen. Let me know if you guys want a full breakdown of character/event correlations to the original text!) because that’s really the inciting incident of the whole story. Without Butters being taken by Heidi, the war would never even happen in the first place.

Beyond that, I had a list of events that I knew needed to take place. I had an easier job because I really didn’t have to come up with most of these events, just had to figure out how to change them to fit into the show’s universe/characters behaviors. I really, really do recommend outlining though, at least a little bit. Having your ideas laid out in front of you is so helpful in the long run, and it’s helped me see plot holes and contradictions before writing myself into a hole!

But that’s a little beyond what you’re asking. My real, best piece of advice?

Just write the thing.

Put words down on paper. Any words. The great thing about writing is that the rough draft never has to be the final one. Editing and rewrites are your best friend! Do not expect perfection out of every line the first time they go from fingertip to page. I edit my work a ton, usually multiple times over! Once after the whole thing is finished, again as my betas are reading it, and then again right before I post a chapter. Perfectionism can be useful in moderation, but you can’t let it control you.

Besides, it’s just fanfiction! Embrace imperfection, that’s what makes this medium so fun!

I hope this was at least a little bit helpful! Thank you for the ask, I love talking about this stuff!

Happy writing, anon! (´⌣`ʃƪ)

[alchemil-studio]

Devlog #3 - June 2023

Hello~!

June has ended and with it we have some more updates regarding the progress of Norvale!

As we mentioned in the previous devlog, we’ve finished the initial story draft for the Craft Store route. In this route, Morgan decides to visit the local craft store in search of something that they can pick up as a new hobby. But once they arrive, they find two men arguing in the middle of the street…

NEW CHARACTERS

The designs for the two men, Frank and Kushal, have been completed and we’ve uploaded their character introductions yesterday.

Frank is the father of Louis, one of Morgan’s childhood friends, and the owner of the local toy store that sits across the street from the craft store. He’s someone that comes across rough at first but once you get to know him, he’s a pretty friendly guy. Despite being on good terms with Kushal’s wife Lathika & his daughter Sara, he never seems to get along with Kushal himself and is prone to starting arguments with him over pointless things…

Compared to the initial sketches, his face became a bit more oval compared to the rounder face of the pencil sketches. While making rough designs for his clothes, they were simple like a plain t-shirt and sandals or a sloppily tucked in shirt to go with his rough but friendly personality. But we decided to make him dress a bit neater and added a jacket to his outfit as well to fit the late spring season the story takes place in.

“He decided to head outside for a bit and threw on a jacket, just in case it gets chilly.” is the basic idea behind his final outfit.

Kushal’s design was pretty straightforward. Although looking back, he might’ve lost a bit of the aloofness of the pencil sketch since his features turned softer in the final design.

Kushal is the father of Sara, another one of Morgan’s childhood friends, and the owner of the local craft store. A man of few words and even fewer expressions, his stoicism and blunt words sometimes tend to rub people the wrong way. While he usually prefers to stay out of trouble, he’s always ready to throw words with Frank.

I drew the first outfit, the red Kurta with black pants to draw out a more traditional Indian feel, while designs 2 through 4 were mostly inspired by things dads usually wear haha

We ended up going with the outfit in design 2 since we felt it was a good casual but still somewhat formal outfit someone like Kushal would wear, while keeping the skin color of the first design.

The blue looks a little striking at first glance but I think the white accents bring some balance.

There’s still a little bit more sprite related work to go before I finish the character art for this route. After that, the plan is to move onto character designs for the third route and once those are done, the focus will be shifted to drawing backgrounds. There’s still a lot of artwork to go but I’ll do my best! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

DEVELOPMENT

Not much to update for the development side, aside from how we’ve started working on applying the new GUI to ren’py and experimenting on some GUI features we’ve thought about before and while conceptualizing the newer GUI. We’ll continue to finish implementing the GUI to the ren’py script before fixing some kinks/feature fixes then the story script itself unto the game. 

tl;dr: we’ve made quite a lot of progress for the 2nd part of the story in terms of assets. We’ll slowly but surely continue to develop and flesh out the full version of the game, so please continue to support us!

In summary, we’re making progress! Although small, we are making progress and a positive one at that! Please look forward to the full release of Norvale!

---

Links

Carrd: Alchemilla Studios

Twitter: @Alchemil_Studio

Instagram: @Alchemil_Studio

Itch.io: Alchemilla Studios

[newtabfics]

Current Project WIPs

Wanting to try something where I share my monthly WIPs to show you all. My block seems to have let up a bit as I'm getting back into writing again. These are all pieces that are going to be full fics, whether they be one-shot or multiple parts.

No particular order to when these will be finished/posted. This is just a general idea of what i've been up to.

Fics

Drafting: Guiding Star. postgame Astarion x Tav slow burn multipart fic. So far I'm on chapter 3 and guys this fic will HURT at times.

Drafting: Back-Fired Love Spell (Title Pending). Gale x Y/N Spicy.

Drafting: Good For You. Bottom Astarion x Tav fic. Spicy

Notes: REQUESTED. Redeemed Ganon x Y/N Bath Time. Mild spice

Notes: REQUESTED. Redeemed Ganon first time snoo-snoo ;)

Notes: REQUESTED. Redeemed Ganon SURPRISE DRAMA CONTINUATION I SHARE NOTHING ON THIS YET

Notes: REQUESTED. Yautja x Fem!OC fic. Still figuring out the logistics of the OC itself so this might end up being Y/N.

Games

LoZ Hentai VN Game. Still working on the dev part but honestly? this has been fun to work on! So far, the introduction is done and I have started the Link route part of the game. still trying to figure out how to write Tauro's route. But other routes will include Ganondorf, Rauru, and Sidon.

Possibly a dating sim. Still working out the main story but I have the concept set aside.

Writing

An old fantasy story I've had in a notebook since highschool. This is actually my NaNoWriMo Project currently. I am working on the dry read where I'm taking notes and creating an outline before I start the draft.

BDSM Vampire Story that TOTALLY wasn't inspired by Ascended Astarion nope not at all you're crazy. Might be developed into a VN for the fun of it.

[wgc-productions]

Liveblogging Small Victories 101: A Good Place To Start

Howdy!

I'm Jade the writer and creator of Small Victories and I am, fun fact, writing Season 3 as we speak. Season 3 will be the final season and, due to this, will need to wrap up the various plot threads I've put in Season 1 and Season 2.

I technically wrote Season 1 about 3-5 years ago now and hopefully, with new eyes, i'll be able to go back, find the things I've forgotten, and use those to expand the story and world.

I will say, I had a lot of ideas thrown around in the first two seasons. Somethings I just did not comit to, but still left enough room so that if I wanted to go back to them I could. I don't know how it will look in the end, but in the present it looks like a world of opportunity.

So, the blogs here will be highly-story focused, because this is essentially me taking notes as a larger function of my creative process.

Thus, we begin!

00:46- So, from the offset I wanted this monologue in the show. This is one of the few parts from the very very first draft that stayed the entire time in the show, though it did get split in half and suffered some serious cuts in the edit. I will say, because this show's underlying structure is cyclical, I think having elements of this popping the final season could be great.

00:56- I do want the final monologue of the show to be a sort of response to the ideas and attitudes she has in this one. In particular the "me, myself, and motherfucking, I" part is something I think needs to be readdressed because, of course, as the show goes on we see that Marisol desperately wants to be apart of a group and thus her insistence that she can do things on her own is more of a defense rather than an ideology she actually believes. Having a chance to have her respond to this could be a great place to display character growth.

1:19- In the second episode of Season 3 I have a moment where she is at the porch of her [REDACTED] house and she is smoking and talking to the Host and she, sorta to herself, mentions that it is a really beautiful day. This is what I meant when I said I want the last season to be a response to the other seasons because I think in this season 1 monologue a lot of the posturing is a performance meant for the audience, but her saying it quietly to herself as a way of showing that she is realizing that it truly is a beautiful day to be alive? That has the sort of completeness that I'm aiming for, because I think that is what makes a show feel full and finished.

1:36- Maybe we'll bring back Carl as the biking stranger. That'd be a deep cut.

2:02- I don't think I want Aaron back in the show. I think Episode 205 Decadence is where his story should end for Marisol. He serves as a mirror for her anyway, and so seeing that he gets to be a happy person who has a life full of meaning might be all that his character needs to serve.

3:06- I feel like something structurally can be done with the introduction/content warnings and finding a way to turn it on it's head to show Marisol growing away from the validation she craves from the audience and finding more steady footing within herself could be nice.

3:30- Fun fact, we recorded this line about a day or so before the show premiered. It sounds so natural you wouldn't even know.

04:04- Yeah, the Ollie Problem. So their relationship needs to be repaired in a big way. The way that I'm thinking about it now is that she is reluctant to tell Oliver that she is sorry because she is really ashamed of what she said to him (you know how it goes when you've done something really regrettable and you're so embarrassed and ashamed that you sort of wish you never had to speak about it ever again) but then Oliver comes back in town and they meet and she apologizes and then they have a sort of heart to heart. There is something juicy in the fact that Marisol, being so wrapped up in herself, also struggles to be a good friend to someone who also lost the same person. Sort of like how her father couldn't cope with her mother's death and so he couldn't help his kids grieve and then everyone ended up more messed up. (That's good! Marisol's dad is also a big foil for her and that's one more connection. Man this writing your thoughts out thing is really working).

04:26- Maybe I can have a sequence where Marisol imagines apologizing to Oliver (using this same background music) and she imagines it being worse than it actually will be. That could be fun.

04:57- Well, I don't want her to relapse in Season 3 again, because I think that would obscure from her character development.

05:18- Maybe Marisol can have a moment when she realizes and admits that she is a cokehead? Maybe she already had that in Season 2. I'll circle back on this one. I think she's already admitted it.

05:36- Marisol has anxiety which gets worse when she smokes weed. That could be something to work with.

05:52- Maybe we can have a moment where she acknowledges that she does sometimes think being high is being better than being sober and so she has to reckon with the idea that she has to build a life that's better than the fog?

06:12- So, as I'm writing Season 3 this little bit about imagining a better life comes back in a big way. I already re-referenced it in the season 1 finale where she tells the Host after the fake out that she does desperately want all of the things that she knows her brother and mother would want for her. That she wants that ideal future, she just doesn't have the internal oomph to get her there, but in Season 3 I think I can go further with it. Right now my idea is that Season 3 is sort of like a ghost story where she is not only haunted by the past (obviously since she is at [REDACTED] house) but she is also haunted by the future (which I think is universal. I think a lot of people my age feel they have this potential to do great things or even just be happy and they see what that end goal looks like but they aren't sure how to get there).

06:44- Oh! So in Season 2 the impulse of death follows Marisol throughout the season coming to a conclusion in episode 209. Right, so the whole show from the minute 110 begins to the end of 208 is pushing her to die, like it's a shadow that was following her. So I could do the opposite where from the end of 209 to the end of the show, the impulse of life is following her compelling her to live?

06:45- Also, there is the broader structural framing that I could use in Season 3 as well. Like, each season starts with a "death" (i.e. the S1 point of action is her almost choking to death, the S2 point of action is her surviving the stabbing, the S3 point of action is her surviving her attempt) and each season ends with a rebirth (i.e. S1 she decides she is going to be sober and embrace a new lifestyle, S2 she is given new life by The Stranger, in Season 3 she will be returning to her [REDACTED] house and reforming herself. So maybe for the rest of Season 3 we can turn that on it's head?

07:06- The Nina problem is also something I wanna swing back around on in a big way. I've actually already written the final scenes between them because I have a clear idea of where I want to go I'm just not quite sure how to get there.

07:55- So she decided to paint a self-portrait. That could go well with the Season 2 Episode 5 final scene where Marisol sees that Nina is working on a new portrait collection. Yeah, we'll make that work.

10:22- And I'm already trying to doing something with that connection between Marisol's lack of sobriety and it's relationship to her cooking (which I came up with when writing the Small Victories cookbook) so that is something that already has some ground in the show. That's good.

12:43- I can use this device again of her imagining talking to her friends/family/etc. That could be great. Maybe as a pre-cursor to her interactions to Nina's scenes.

14:56- Hey! I can bring that back. Oliver wants Marisol to make an effort for them and I think that could be a good thing to ground the relationship. Marisol making the effort could be where the rebuilding starts.

Okay, I think I got some good ideas out of this. At the very least I got some broad strokes that can be very helpful as I figure out how to navigate the next episodes I am writing. I will say this is giving my broad structure ideas and not plot ideas for real. It does remind me of how far I want the character to go though and what sort of distinctions need to be made in order to communicate growth

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #45

Brain Curds are lightly edited flash fiction - practically first drafts - posted daily and sometimes written with the express intention of being terrible… but, you know, in an endearing way. Please enjoy.

The chains weighed down my bony wrists as I awaited my public execution in the town square. Too weak to stand, I sat there on my knees, my head lowered. I couldn’t bear to look at the audience. Frankly, they were very ugly.

I could very much bear to stare daggers into the hooded executioner, however, who approached with a padlocked wheelbarrow.

“Hey, snake-fucker!” I said. “I thought I was supposed to get a last meal!”

He grumbled, setting the wheelbarrow down. “Ye did.”

“No!” I protested. “I haven’t eaten since last week before you locked me in these chains!” I rattled them around to punctuate my point. They were nearly loose enough to fall off.

“That must’ been yer last meal, then.”

I rolled my eyes. These people had no decency. What, you may ask, had I done to deserve the pain of death? I ‘stole’ a loaf of bread from a garbage heap behind a bakery so that I might feed myself.

I turned around and got a glimpse at the crowd. I was angry now, as one gets when so famished. Angry and justified in it, righteous in knowing that all I had done was steal rubbish from a bunch of purple-shirted blueblood fuckwits who had more money than they knew what to do with and less sense than the blind and deaf.

The mayor approached the podium to my left. It showed a real trust in these chains that he was willing to be so near me - near enough that I could get at his neck in an instant if I could only slip out of the shackles.

“Good morning, all,” he said, raising his hands in the air. “Today we are gathered to present yet another wretch with the Sword of Legend - the sacred artifact which needs no introduction.” He chuckled. “We’ve all seen what it can do.”

I rubbed the sweat and oil from my forehead onto my wrists as the sun beat down on me. The executioner unlocked the wheelbarrow and removed its lid. Inside was the most immaculate, perfectly polished sword I had ever witnessed. It was adorned with rubies and emeralds on the hilt. Clearly, great care was taken to keep it in such a condition.

“Isn’t it a bit gauche to decapitate me with a damn sword?” I asked the executioner.

He did not answer. He stepped back, out of my reach, and pushed the wheelbarrow just into my radius of bound movement.

I looked around. Everyone was staring at me now - the mayor included. I was supposed to do something. A duel? Was this meant to be a duel?

“Take the sword already, ya idjit!” screamed a woman in the audience.

I got up from the ground to stand on my feet, though I was weak from starvation. “If a fight is what you want…” I paused to let the blood flow back to my head. “It seems just a little unfair. After all… none of the rest of you brought a weapon.”

With the grease on my wrists, I slipped out of my restraints and took hold of the blade in one quick movement. Before anyone knew what was happening, my left hand tightly gripped the mayor’s hair and the right held the sword to his throat.

I breathed heavily, full of adrenaline. “I suggest you all think very carefully about what you do next if you’d like to see your mayor still living, come noon!”

The crowd was shocked. Clearly, no one had ever tried this before. I must have been the first with such a fast metabolism to go down a whole shackle size.

“You…” the mayor choked out. “You couldn’t be…”

“Couldn’t be the one to end your sorry excuse for a life? Afraid I can, if you don’t give me what I want.”

The crowd murmured. They were as confused as I was.

The mayor spoke slowly and chose his words carefully. “You wield the Sword of Legend. No person has ever done so before, and all who have tried have died a gruesome death at its touch. You are the chosen one.”

My stomach grumbled. “Can the chosen one get a fucking sandwich?” I pointed the tip of the sword at a spectacled man in the front row. “You! Yes, you! Get me a sandwich!”

He shook and nodded, running to a nearby shop.

“And don’t forget the pickle!” I yelled after him. “So…” I turned the sharp edge back to the mayor. “What’s the pay like for this ‘chosen one’ gig?”

Anyone who tried to wield the legendary sword would instantly turn to dust. Your country uses this as a method of execution. Little did you know, you were the chosen one it was waiting for.

[characteroulette]

for the ask game!! 1, 4, 12, 15, 23, 26, 40, 42, 49. If I may be so bold as to inquire

lmaooo omfg thanks for the many XD using a cut after the first one

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

ooohh tbh I think I would go with The Wolf of the Bailey for this one. I still love it a whole lot, major spoilers for Great Ace Attorney though.

4. What detail in [insert fic] are you really proud of?

Okay I have to mention Pray for the Wicked on this one because every single song chapter, I did my best to weave in the vibe of that song and even specific lyrics in there. I was full on POSSESSED by this album for this fic and I think I did a pretty good job with it!!

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

Okay this is gonna be weird but I was not a big fan of pwp for a long time haha. It just fell out of favour for me a while ago, but I've definitely come around on it. I want my blorbos to fuck lmao

15. What’s your favorite AU that you’ve written?

by sheer number, you'd probably think RGB Hisui AU lmao. But I gotta shoutout Devoted Blade in particular for getting my sister to read something of my Snufpollo breakdown. Honestly AU are my bread and butter I like many of them (my fave will probs always be a tie between I Caught Myself's soulmate universe and The Bear and the Magpie's dark Layton universe.)

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

Hmm. Hard to say. I guess Zombie Apocalypse AU is something I have tried to make myself write so many times but never made it past the drafting phase. (One day, Mole and Greg... One day...)

26. Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue?

Either or!! I have done both!! XD both have their pros and cons! Although only dialogue for me is more ukagaka work by this point haha

40. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

I reread fics sometimes yeah. Shoutout to Honeysuckle by OurLittleSecretOkay and Vacation All I Ever Wanted by JJsADragon in particular for being fics I have downloaded on my phone so I can read them haha

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

I have been blessed with some really good ones yes ;w; ;;;; most of them on my Curses in Names are really good and fill me with happiness ;w; ;;;;;

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

Oh oof. Let me root around in my wips since the thing I am actively working on right now is an ukagaka, not a fic...

Ah here. The next bit of my very self-indulgent Snufpollo fic which made me put in this silly detail in an unrelated fic (Jumbled Pieces) --

He pulled Snufkin up and into his lap, offering his companionship as the best balm against this. Snufkin latched onto him pretty immediately, settling right against him and accepting his comfort.

"How were your travels? Wanna talk about it?" Apollo asked, wrapping his arms around his friend.

Snufkin stayed cuddled up against him a minute, breathing evenly and soft. Right as Apollo figured he wasn't going to say anything, he pulled back suddenly and pulled his backpack over to dig through it. "I worked a fair amount more than usual."

He retrieved a wad of cash and presented it to Apollo, who stared at it blankly in bewilderment. "Huh? What, why?"

"It's actually part of how I figured it out." Snufkin laughed, a bit bitter and mostly amused. He set the cash to the side and dug out another two stacks, placing them with the other. "I was determined to provide for you. To help you with your nest, or something along those lines."

Apollo had to ask, "Do you just work purely for cash?"

"Easier to stay off the books that way." Snufkin said in an easy reply.

Silly detail for my silly guys. XD