#also. just finished all edits post critique group >:^))

[lordsardine]

.

[robogart]

Lengthy ramble for potential tier/restructure post! But if anyone has insight or feedback or advice, I'd be so grateful to hear it! Thank you for your time! 🥺🙏💕💕💖

*copy/pasted from my patrons post!

*Stressing potential again because I might just try to workshop maybe a couple of these tiers?? I'm editing this after a couple responses so far! So thank you everyone for reading and sending your insight in! It's SO helpful and valuable to hear, thank you!! 🙏💖💖

Hey lovely people! 🥳💖 So lengthy and candid post time, but I'm thinking about restructuring the tier prices (specifically the higher tiers, like the Sauce and Honeybear and maybe sketches too)? Currently I am making very little money, so while that is scary it is also sort of the perfect time to test out some change in how I structure things on here! So I'm sort of excited to potentially try something new! The tough thing with selling your own work is always how to price things - and it's the gentle balance of pricing for what you're worth, but also making a good price point that is accessible to more people! So while prices might be lower, the hope is that they bring forward more patrons and therefore I can make more money as well! SO! A Price Restructure of what I'm thinking (and a couple rewards movements from the $2 Tier to the $4 Tier, specifically) (Also the Sweet Pea Tier will be removed) :

✨ $2/month Tier (Buttercup : same rewards, updated here for clarity (bc I need to update them as well))

Access to ALL artwork and their process GIFs as I finish them! (currently only sharing crops on social media and select, older work)

Commission and Adoptables Priority (You get to access slots/designs first!)

Access to Fanart Friday Suggestions + Polls (we try to do them once a month!)

Access to Coloring Pages (as I make them! this is infrequent)

Access to the Patron-Only Discord (it's very chill and just for you and other patrons! And you can share art, music or just hang out if you want!)

✨ $4/month Tier (Cutie Pie : same rewards!)

Access to my sketchbook pages and the bundled pdfs! I post sketches in batches of 10 on here! When I have enough pages, I'll be uploading the pdf of the sketchbook for free for you to download (100 pages per Volume)! 

Access to videos! (I'll do speedpaints/timelapses from time to time!)

15% off adoptable designs while they are posted on patreon! (before moving to ko-fi!)

Access to all Licensed Character Designs I make (under the LC tag!) (These are for Personal Use Only - intended for DnD and similar RPG situations! ^ w ^)

✨ Access to Archived Works (this is access to all previous work I've shared for the Buttercup tier that you would be able to see on my website all in one place! Goes back to 2019!) 

✨ Early Access to Brushes

Plus all previous rewards! 

✨ $6/month Tier (Honeybear : same rewards!)

Access to the Honeybear Discord! A creative motivational group for artists! (I will be active in this discord!)

Activities for personal motivation and fun! There will be blob doodle pages, monochromatic challenges throughout the month, along with a monthly design prompt and a selected study piece!

Channels for just sharing personal work/wips and a critique corner as well for anyone looking for feedback on their pieces!

Plus all previous rewards!

✨ $8/$10/$15/month Tier (Sauce : same rewards!)(edit: $10 maybe? Or even keeping at $15, based on some comments from patrons)

18+ ONLY! 

Access to ALL NSFW pieces! Sketches and finished paintings alike!

20% off Store Discount! (For my Print Shop and INPRNT!)

Plus all previous rewards! (this includes the Honeybear Tier Discord and Activities access)!

--- So this an idea of what I'm thinking!

It's all still very much up in the air because part of me wonders if I just need to promo more as well? I also have had patrons tell me in the past that I make a lot of work (even if I panic and feel like I'm not making enough @ w @;;) and that the monthly subscription is reasonable for the rewards already? Ahhh it's just difficult figuring this stuff out, especially while stressing about things! So I appreciate feedback if you're feeling up to sharing! 🙏💖💖 Thank you all so much! 💖💖💖

[angst-in-space]

june '25 writing updates

words written: 9.3k

most words written in a day: 1,408

least words written in a day: 0

yearly total: 80.1k

projects worked on:

ya sci-fi book revision planning

bsd regency au

posted ch 17 of altea rising

alnst fic planning

applied to writing residency

fics published/updated:

altea rising (chapter 17) // v:ld // klance

june goals:

work on ya sci-fi book revisions again… try to get through uhh idk chapter 10? (i am probably being way too optimistic lol)

apply to writing residency

send the rest of ya sci-fi book to my critique group

keep working on ch 4 of bsd regency

work on matchablossom fic

continue editing altea rising ch 17 if i have time?

july goals:

get back to working on ya sci-fi book revisions....yes i mean it

send the rest of my book to my critique group

finish ch 4 of bsd regency or at least make a good dent in it

work on other fics if i have time?? matchablossom bedsharing? sylvix pacrim au? the alnst fic i just planned??

finish presentation for writing retreat

have fun on writing retreat wooo!!!!

notes:

i was a bit all over the place in june... busy month because of work and travel and concerts and whatnot, plus... idk, personal stuff going on that made me crash out towards the end of the month. so i was not doing the best mentally for a bit an totally lost my motivation. 🥲 still kinda struggling to gain it back but i'm trying lol.

original writing updates:

well, i had a revelation right after finishing my big ol' revisions checklist for ya sci-fi book which was... i really did not want to edit it the way i had planned LOL. i fear i was pressuring myself too much to fix every little detail in chronological order which was really not working—and like every piece of advice i was looking up about revising was like "so that's the WORST way to revise your book" and i was like yikes ok. SO. i did a lot of rethinking and decide to tackle some of the bigger things first then drill down to smaller changes i need to make... i think my first task will be condensing the first arc of the book since that's been a major pain point for me for ages (and i badly need to bring my word count down, augh). and i think i have some ways to do that and will perhaps attempt to focus on that in july ???? because i basically just. did not work on it at all during june lmao.

as i mentioned last month i also really want to send the rest of my book to my critique group, so i really hope to do that this month (preferably like, This Week) because i have been hanging on to it way too long. 😅

i applied for a writing residency 🎉 being my usual self i put it off til last minute, and was struggling because i had to write a book proposal and had no idea how to do that BUT i ended up feeling pretty good about my application. it's a very competitive program and they only choose one person per year so i'm not holding my breath or anything, but still... proud of myself for trying, and crossing my fingers!! 🤞

going on another writing retreat in a few weeks, which i am so excited for!! and before then i need to finish a presentation for a little seminar i'll be giving about writing action/fight scenes 💥 🥊 i have pretty much the whole thing outlined atp, just need to actually put it into a real presentation and rehearse it and whatnot!

fic updates:

i finally finished editing and uploaded ch 17 of altea rising!! not sure if i will have time to work on editing ch 18 this month but... maybe if i have time lol

only wrote like 1.4k of bsd regency fic... i've just kinda been stuck on the same scene for about a month. but i feel like i'm mostly past the part that was giving me so much grief, and i'm excited for the last couple scenes of the chapter, so maybe i can finish or at least almost-finish ch 4 this month?? that will also roughly mark the halfway point through the whole fic so YAAAY!! (i've also now been writing it for like an entire year and am not even halfway through it.... help)

uhhh many many months ago (maybe like.. last year?) i started outlining this long and complicated alien stage "everyone (?) lives" au but was kinda hitting a wall with what direction to take it in. the latest (last??) round finally made something click in my brain so i frantically finished the outline over the past few days. but i'm still hitting a few snags in the logic. part of me wants to just start it before i lose momentum/inspiration, but i also think this fic would end up being anywhere from like 20k-50k and bsd regency is already going to be at least 80k i think so i'm like...on top of also working on original stuff, idk if i have time to write it right now. buuuut we will see i guess!

i'd also like to maybe return to some of the other fics i've been neglecting, especially the matchablossom bedsharing fic and the sylvix pacific rim au cuz i miss them. :((( but i also say that every month so who knows!

in general i'd love to just get SOMETHING done this month, even though it will already be a pretty busy month for me. but yeah uhhh more updates coming in august!! 🫡

[writernopal]

2024 Recap Tag!

I got tagged by @void-botanist here, for this one, thank you so much! I thought about doing a formal round up for 2024 but I just didn't get around to it so this is a good chance to do a mini one!

2024 Accomplishments

I finished the first draft of AASOAF 3 and got through editing 60% of it!

I put together the super secret companion material for the release of AASOAF 3. That was lots of fun and pushed me out of my creative comfort zone A LOT. I learned a lot from that project and I can't wait to share it with you guys later this year!

Not really writing related, but I read 26 books!

This one is kind of hard to quantify but I grew so much creatively. My writing got WAY better but also my mindset and approach to writing and specifically my understanding of what Art is and how it relates to people, grew so much. I could go on about it but I'm not sure how much sense it would make and that's not really what this post is about, so to sum it up, it was like finding some kind of long sought inner peace and freedom.

I started untangling a lot of things that I think are going to play a huge role in my life this year, creatively speaking. All of that is going to be a really long (and probably very painful lol) process but I feel like I'm getting closer to understanding what I'm supposed to Do.

I set up my own writing server in a little home lab I created so now all of my writing related stuff is in one place and I'm not paying someone else to store (and do who knows what else) with my data.

2025 Writing Goals

Finish AASOAF 3 and M.O.W. They were my goals from last year but I didn't quite get there due to health issues. But it will happen this year! I'm also not intending on starting any other WIPs this year once I finish them because, well, just keep reading and you'll understand why lol.

Migrate AASOAF 3 to my new writing server setup. This won't happen until I'm done with it because everything related to it is stored in Dabble and moving it now while its in progress would be the equivalent of trying to pick up a puzzle without gluing it down and I don't want to risk losing anything along the way.

I plan on overhauling my website. It's in need of some freshening up even though its pretty new still just because I want to do more with it later on, like hosting my own works there, instead of just linking out to other places for people to read.

Open up writing commissions. I made a post about this earlier in 2024 just to see if people would be interested and it got some pretty good traction so I've been working on commission pricing and TOS in the background of things. Hopefully I will be opening those up soon! (even though I'm terrified to do it lol)

Hone my craft. Until now I've been sort of flying by the seat of my pants, and I'm very proud of that, because there is a lot I instinctively know about storytelling and writing, but I think I'm at a point now where I can feel where my limitations are so I need to take a few steps back and do some formal learning. I'm hoping to join some writing critique groups, read books on writing, and also attend educational panels and talks.

Related to writing commissions and what I mentioned before about learning what I need to Do is freelancing. I haven't talked a ton about it here because I just haven't but it's been something I've been chipping away at and hope to start doing later this year. There are a few small seeds I need to plant first, one of which I started on earlier today so we'll see how it goes!

Get involved with/do more interdisciplinary art projects. I have a few in mind that I'll be collabing with @illjustpretend on and one really big one that I know we're not going to get done this year but that we will no doubt make headway on!

Tagging(gently): @tabswrites @paintedbutton @theroseempress @leahnardo-da-veggie @sarahlizziewrites and anyone else who wants to do this!

[hayleyhearts]

fic writer meme

the biggest thanks to fic writer queen @vinelark for tagging me :,) <3

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 61!

2. What's your total Ao3 word count? 463,074 so less words than war and peace

3. What fandoms do you write for? for the last two years, Batman (with one unfinished Daredevil matt/foggy fic featuring Spiderman)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

No Hetero (the first Voltron fic I ever wrote, I also remember writing this fic with perfect clarity, like I became conscious of my writer brain when I wrote this)

Tim and Kon v. The World (I actually wrote this in like an hour while procrastinating sleep)

The Failure of Tim Drake (the first Batman fic I ever wrote)

Keith is Broken

Champagne Problems

5. Do you respond to comments? sometimes, when I post a new chapter I'll respond to comments on the previous one. But for every single comment, I get such a comment notification high <3 I've printed out several, too and they live on my bookshelf and provide joy and motivation.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I've never written a sad ending intentionally, but I have so many unfinished fics that end in the middle angst section. Of the fics that I'm pretty sure I'll never finish, I'd say my My Hero Academic fic Date Me (For Justice) which was my first attempt a really long fic and stops on such a mutual pining, getting blackmailed, sad note. Now that I'm writing this, I'm like-- I should finish that.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I love the ending of Sore Loser, and not just because it's a little spicy.

8. Do you get hate on fics? there's such a culture of, "if you don't like it, keep scrolling" so I've never gotten real hate, but I have gotten critique comments that point out places that I didn't get canon right and places where I contradicted the facts of my own story lol those guys are basically my beta readers <3 <3 <3

9. Do you write smut? Yeah, I actually started last year!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you have written? Yeah, not really for Batman, but I have in the past. The craziest is probably my Wandavision Supernatural crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I think the second fic I ever posted (Spideypool) which couldn't have gotten more than like 1,000 reads, I got a comment that was like, "just so you know someone posted this on Wattpad."

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, honored that someone translated Tim and Kon v. The World into Chinese!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No but I'm so down for real, that sounds fun!

14. What's your all time favorite ship? You'd think by my ao3 stats, it's TimKon-- but I write fanfic for things I wish were different. There's a lot about their canon dynamic I love, and their fanfic is top tier, but for my favorite canon ship I'd probably say like Percabeth (especially with the Disney plus show, they're so back)

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Probably my Daredevil Matt/Foggy High School au. I'm just not that into Daredevil anymore. I have so many Batman WIPs, but when I think of them I'm like, one day I'll finish it, baby!

16. What are your writing strengths? I love how I write banter. I also like to think that I give the supporting cast or characters who might be reduced to comic relief their own interior life and mini arcs-- but that might be more aspirational than actually in my writing as of now lol. I think I also write friend groups really well!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? structure, and related to that pacing. Also, the way I shy away from editing even though writing is rewriting or whatever that saying is. I'd say there's like five fics of mine that I've genuinely edited, but I'm working on it. I've been reading such a great book about writing lately called A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, and I highly recommend it.

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics? I think the only time I've done that was in one of my Supernatural fics. I wrote Eileen, who's deaf. Originally, I put all her dialogue in italics to signify it was being signed. But I got such a kind and helpful comment on that fic being like it's weird and frowned upon to have her ASL lines formatted so differently, so I changed it! I think if I ever did another language again, I would research it more thoroughly first.

19. First fandom you wrote for? it was on fanfic.net and it was Percy Jackson, he and Annabeth were middle aged (which I obviously had great insight into at 15) and the main character was their daughter. Although as a child, I would write my own episodes of my favorite tv shows which was way before I knew what a screenwriter or fanfiction was. I love that one of my oldest instincts is to create the shit I wish I was seeing.

20. Favorite fic you have written? Hm, of my completed fics, I'd say a tie between To All The Vigilantes I've Loved Before and Capture the Flag (to the Death). I like the first one because it's the longest romance I've finished (at 27k) and there are certain scenes I really love. The capture the flag one I like because it feels the most like a real miniseries DC would publish (out of everything I've written) and I'm really proud of the ways I hid each of their flags and all the betrayals.

I'm tagging @thief-of-eggs <3 and anyone else who wants to do this! ~ please tag me in your post because I'm always looking for and loving writer mutuals <3

[obbiwonk]

i was tagged by @npdclaraoswald !

rules: tag 9 people you wanna know better

(i hope i have 9 mutuals lol)

last song: i cut off "kitchen light" by xana bc i finished my shower and didn't want to make too much noise; last full listen was "lavender bones" by stand atlantic !

currently watching: it's probably been weeks since i last watched tv actively, i cannot binge watch to save my life i keep leaving the room with the tv but my bf has been rewatching Malcolm in the Middle and i've been in the room a lot for that. we also started Bones a while back and i really like that show. i swear the title character her assistant are some dort of autistic and it makes me happy

currently reading: "Ask The Dust" by JRS, a friend from my dad's writer's grouo, this book isn't publicly available yet im beta-reading it for him. but i did just get the libby app so im also working on The Left Hand of Justice by Ursula K. Le Guin. My first big sci fi book, im more of a fantasy guy but i should be smart enough to get it !

current obsession: i've been working on a portal 2 mass choir project with a new mutual who started it needing a composer: im working on a trans rights piece which is voice and string quartet and im trying some experimental composition techniques and improv. i swear this is draft 3 of it bc i never feel like i can change the world with my music but i have to try, even if it just changes my personal world or one mind; it's summer so i have a women and sexuality class and im reading some pdfs in that one but i enjoy learning the names of all the feminist concepts; i also have time to write my book again, it started off as immortal people misbehaving but then i decided an entity was making them all immortal (copying the idea of The Hand from Marvel Defenders i think was the series?) and the lady in charge of that entity wants to use her immortalizing tech and mind control to make an unstoppable army so now the protags are misbehaving to save the world lol. (i'll let mutuals read it if you can take notes on each chapter and not expect immediate edits, i write down the critiques from writer's group and keep writing without editing bc this is the baby first draft and if i stop to edit i'll never finish it); excited to start calc 3 in june too! I have my whiteboard all clean; music and Scene Queen's work in general are also obsessions and im going to try to learn to scream like her, although from her insta stories, she's not screaming healthily so if i figure out a healthy scream im tempted to send her to those tips bc i want her to keep her voice!

tagging: @savetheearthbros @bitegore @toothsheeran @lovingtogetic @orikeepitasecret (idk if we're mutuals but you pop up a lot in my notifs) @oleandy (same hat here idk if we're mutuals but you reblog a lot of my posts so you're cool) @h8woti8 and anyone that wants to join in bc i can't think of 9 mutuals

[warriorcatsamino]

The Warriors “manga”.. the only canon medium we really have (other than the book covers maybe) that actually depicts our beloved battle cats in a visual format. Just to clarify, the Warriors “manga” are labeled incorrectly. Manga, on Google, is defined as “a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels, typically aimed at adults as well as children.” The Warriors comics are not made by or for Japan, which means they don’t classify as a manga. The artist of the manga varies but most of them are either American or British. The redraw of the comic page was drawn by the lovely r4ven._.krkr on Instagram. However the artist behind the original page is James L Barry! If you are at all in the loop in this fandom, you probably recognize his work. He has done the artwork for almost all of the Warriors manga minus the Tigerstar & Sasha manga. He has also illustrated the little comics at the end of the super editions and had worked on other works besides Warriors. On YouTube and Twitter, he has done tutorials on how to draw in his style. For more information about Barry and examples of his work, check out his website.

Now that we have some backstory on both artists, we can talk about the actual scene taking place. This comic page came from the Ravenpaw centered manga: Ravenpaw’s Path. This series has a total of 3 books: Shattered Peace, A Clan in Need & The Heart of a Warrior. These 3 books are also available together as one big book and can be found in black & white and full color. This particular scene takes place in The Heart of a Warrior. For those who haven’t read the comic or forgot what happens, I will summarize the events that take place before and then explain this scene. Spoilers of course ahead for Ravenpaw’s Path, you have been warned. This comic takes place right after Ravenpaw & Barley help Thunderclan fight off a group of Bloodclan cats who have been causing trouble for the both of them after Scourge’s death. These Bloodclan cats have been attacking clan patrols, stealing prey. A group of them also took over Raven & Barley’s farm, kicking them out of their home. After a visit to the moonstone, Ravenpaw goes to Thunderclan to help them finish Bloodclan for good. As it turns out, Bloodclan is being run by Barley’s twin brothers, Hoot & Jumper. They have renamed themselves Snake & Ice. After being defeated, they plead with Barley to let them stay with him because the rest of Bloodclan was sick of listening to them and wanted to kill them. Barley agrees, because they are kin, and the two brothers move onto the farm. All is not well however, both Jumper & Hoot are very lazy and have Ravenpaw do everything, all the hunting and cleaning. Everytime Ravenpaw attempts to complain about them to Barley, he ignores it and takes everything his brothers say to heart. This angers Ravenpaw and the two of them have a rift between them.  Now for this actual scene, this is the scene when Barley finally discovers what his brothers have been doing to Ravenpaw and kicks them out for good. After Barley apologizes to Ravenpaw and they rekindle their bond. The comic ends with the two of them standing on the roof of the barn, looking out at their territory contently. 

This redraw was done as practice, as the artist wanted to practice drawing comics. In their post, they talk about several critiques for the art style of the comic that they aimed to fix with their rendition. They are of the opinion that the artist could have put more effort into the comic. They think the art style is okay but they don’t really like it. The things they improved upon were the designs of the cats, the mimics, and the speech bubble. For the designs, the redraw artist thinks that Barley and his 2 brothers look identical. They think a little more effort could have been made to add external features to make them different, even if the two brothers weren’t main characters. Likewise, the artist thought the expressions were kinda stiff. So they made the expressions more exciting when the expressions show different emotions for a more realistic effect. They think it makes the characters less frozen. Finally, the speech bubbles, they thought it was a good idea for each panel to have different speech bubbles. Again, they think the speech bubble helps emphasize emotion like Barley yelling in the first panel. What do YOU think? Do you prefer the redraw or the original page? Do you think these critiques are fair? How else would you edit the original comic? Me and the rest of the team would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Likewise, if you like this art style, consider leaving a like on the original post. Directly supporting the original artist benefits this account greatly. It motivates more people to allow us to use their work. Are you interested in seeing more Warriors based content? Join the Warriors Amino! We have daily posts all about these battle cats, ranging from artwork to writing to crafts!

Original Post linked here.

Original Artist linked here.

~ 🍵🥔

[freedom-shamrock]

Hi. I want to start by saying that I've been following you for a while and I really enjoy your blog, your writing, and also your general attitude about fandom and stuff.

There's something I was hoping I could get your opinion on. With fic posted online chapter by chapter as each part is written, how do you feel about the author going back to previously posted chapters to edit them?

I'm really struggling with a fic I'm writing because several chapters in I'm getting ideas for things I wish I'd added in earlier chapters. And I'm trying super hard to just work with the story the way it is and stop going back to change every little thing. (I have a tendency with long works to get a ways into it, come up with "better" ideas, and then redo the whole thing over and over. Posting each chapter as it's written has really helped me stop doing this.) I'm trying to treat the posted chapters as final, untouchable sections, but the "edit chapter" button is so tempting sometimes.

The things I want to change aren't even major, just adding in little things here and there. Most of them I feel will strengthen the characters and the narrative and really improve the fic overall.

But some of the older chapters were orignally posted two years ago. And I just feel weird about messing with them too much.

I know ultimately it's my story and I can do whatever I want with it, but it feels like the general "rule" is to leave old chapters alone. And I really want to respect the people that have read the story as it currently is. I guess I'm trying to get a sense of what the "etiquette" here would be, if that makes sense.

What are your thoughts?

Thank you!!

I'm delighted that my opinion on this matter is valuable to you (and thanks for being a long-time follower).

While I don't generally go back to fix things (other than typos), I have read many writers who do. Some do full on revisions, some merely improve the story as they go, and some post their rewritten stories as entirely new stories with a note that it's a revision. All these options are valid, and it's important to identify what works for you.

As you've noted, the story is yours to do with as you choose, but I feel like there are two factors that can really play into this decision:

If the issues are bothering you enough that it's making it difficult for you to continue your work on the story, that's a really good indicator that you should go back and make the adjustments. You can just plop a note at the top of the current chapter that you went back and made adjustment to chapters x-y on . This lets people decide if they want to go back and reread, or not. New readers will benefit from the updates, and continuing readers will know they're there and can choose what works for them.

If making the revisions becomes a cycle that significantly inhibits your writing, you may want to hold off on making changes, OR stop posting until you have the remainder of the story pre-written. Some writers (of fanfic and original works) will lose the spark or interest in the story or their motivation in writing, if they are also revising at the same time they are writing. I've been in critique groups with people who could not share works in progress for this reason.

Ultimately, my guiding wisdom is that finishing the story is the primary goal. If revision makes that easier for you, it's worth doing. If it makes it harder for you, hold off. If you're not sure which works better, give each a try and see how it goes.

There are stories that go on hiatus for years before being completed (to the joy of the audience). And each new chapter brings potential for new readers to discover your work, regardless of how long ago you started it. I hope this is helpful to you. Thanks for reaching out!

[zutaraplatter]

Avatar: The Last Airbender Critique

There are already a million of posts like this one, and I might be saying things that’ve already been said a million times but I’ve recently become reheated about the ATLA ending and wanted to let it out -_- No one asked, this is true, and this may or may not be a way to stall from this final project I still have to complete, but here’s 10 things I didn't like and/or would change about the show that likely shouldn’t need changing because they should have been done in the first place.

1. Katara should have apologized to Sokka after TSR

It should have happened and it didn't. In my canon-avoiding mind, Katara and Sokka have a heartfelt conversation where she apologizes for the awful things she said, Sokka says he forgives her and he's sorry if he wasn't as there for her as much as he should have been, which he follows up with "but I'm happy you listened to Aang and took his advice," leading into my next point

2. Katara should have said that not killing Yon Rha was her choice

And thats why it was the right one. Not because Aang already said it was wrong. No no. It was the right choice because that's what she chose. I love my mom to death and can't imagine losing her in any way, let alone the way Katara did. And I can't say for sure that if I was in her shoes that I know what I would have done f that yes I do I would have killed that motherfucker. But I also know that if Katara decided not to kill him, then that was one of two correct choices because they were Katara's choices to make. Not Aang's or anyone else's and this should have been clarified. I know it's a kids show but I said what I said. Next point.

3. Katara should have said more after telling Aang she was unsure at the Ember Island Players

Katara hasn't had any trouble saying how she feels, especially when it comes to helping others and making them feel better, whether she was right or wrong. But she holds back or overly softens blows and seems to even shrivel up at times when it comes to Aang. And me no likey. I had a boyfriend who I adored and admired and just genuinely looked up to. I'm also a shy and anxious person who hates confrontation, but because I loved him, I never refrained from telling him when he was wrong. I might have been a little shaky about it but I did it tho because when you want to be with someone you walk through the grass and stomp through the mud. And I personally feel like either in that moment or later on in an added scene that Katara should have voiced to Aang how unheard and disrespected she felt about his words before TSR and his actions on the balcony. I hate being uncomfortable and my secondhand embarrassment is toxic but I would love to see a scene of this. I always imagined Katara saying stuff like "But I'm not you Aang, and I'm not an Air Nomad," or "Zuko could understand why I needed to go, and I'd hoped you would too," or...I'm out of ideas but you get the idea. And you know what, I know I'm a hard Zutara shipper, but them having this conversation would honestly make me respect their relationship a whole lot more should it be believably written to end on a good note (I don't see how it could be but hey I'm an open minded person and I did think they were cute together once upon a time). Basically, all I'm saying is that Katara is no small voice and she should have been written that way when with Aang. Boyfriends can make you shy but should never make you weak. Period. Next point.

4. No rock! ONLY GROWTH!!!!!!!!!!!

I still squint my eyes whenever I remember that rock that unblocked Aang's chakra. What even was that? The laziest writing possible in my opinion. That's what. And Aang deserved better. What should have happened should have been that Aang started to lose to Ozai. And then as Ozai's about to deliver the finishing blow, Aang has flashbacks of everyone he's trying to save and honor, ending with a very prominent flashback of Katara with the guru's disembodied voice reminding Aang to let go of his attachments to become all he needs to be...then BOOM! Baby boy is back on his feet, chakra unblocked, he kicks Ozai's ass, I'm crying hysterically on the floor, as are the rest of us, and he wins. Then at the end of the series, instead of a kiss, he gives Katara an apology. She accepts, everyone else comes to join them on the balcony, cinematic group hug, camera pan into the sun. I don't know lol. Basically what I'm saying is that Aang did not deserve some deus ex machina. He deserved to grow and become his best self like everyone else got to.

5. Aang should have heard differently in The Storm

Katara is a very fate-minded person and this is when I saw potential for her to become a toxic character in regards to Aang. When he admits that he ran away from home 100 years ago, Katara tells him that that was basically a good thing because he was meant to be here and now. Like...no? What Aang did, though understandable for someone so young, was still wrong. Yes he would have maybe been killed but I'm like 10000000% sure they had a plan to protect and evacuate the literal avatar. And what was technically "meant to be" was a new avatar. But hey, what's done is done and kicking Aang while he's down is a no-no in this household. But that doesn't change the fact that Aang needed and deserved honesty. Maybe the fisherman could have said this, I don't know, but I feel like Aang should have been told by someone that although running away was wrong, it's a blessing he and Appa were able to survive and be able to help save the world now with his amazing friends found-family. Maybe this is too harsh, and maybe even outright wrong, but I felt like Aang deserved a truer answer here to support and comfort him.

6. MAILEE!!!!

Do I even need to go into detail?

7. Spiritual sigh*

Don't make me go into detail -_- I will say though that although Aang and Katara are both amazing individuals capable of earth shattering things, they were not a healthy fit for one another. This is evident in the original series and especially in their children from LOK. They both deserved the best but better than one another.

8. ZUTARAAAAAAA

This is a Zutara blog you KNEW this was coming, as it should. There's just too much. There's too damn much. I would give a real paragraph to this too, but, I mean, there's already so much proving that this was the pair. Fics, metas, rants, this site. Scroll through my blog or any of the ATLA related blogs I follow and...dude. These two were meant to be together and I'll mourn the narrative brilliance WASTED for no good reason every day for the rest of my life. No reason these two shouldn't be married with three kids. sob. I will take this part to say thank you to the amazing fic writers that gave Katara, Zuko, Mai, and Aang what they deserved that the writers didn't have the guts to give them themselves. Next point tho.

9. AANG AND ONJI

Good God almighty. Why not this? WHY NOT THIS? I'm putting on my bullet proof vest and I'm going to say this; Aanji is cuter than Zutara. Now before you scorn me or whatever, let me explain. Zutara for me is like steak. No. Chicken parmesan. I like chicken parmesan better. The point though is that Zutara is savory. You know? I don't see them as cute, I see them as Obviously. Aanji on the other hand is like a bag of my favorite candy. They are like a brownie. A cookie. Girl Scout Samoas!...I don't know what words are anymore. This post got way out of hand. I guess what I'm saying is that for Zutara, I scream, but for Aanji, I squeal. I hope that makes sense. But here's the main point I want to make. Onji never knew who Aang really was. And Aang was always, at his core, himself. She very obviously had a crush on Aang for his personality and that was crazy cute and frankly preferable to Katara's "I...guess he is." (you know exactly what I'm talking about) Anyway, I kept wanting more of them together. I wish all the time that we'd gotten to see her again, with a more fleshed out character and all. And in the way that I imagine the show should have gone, she could have been the perfect love interest for Aang, during this episode or way later, even in the comics! Another WASTED opportunity for greatness and I will, again, never recover T-T

10. Iroh get your ass back here

Maybe this is a misguided critique but I hated that Iroh just left Zuko alone in the fire nation at the end of the series. Baby was in trouble in every sense of the word and Iroh was just like "See ya! You got this nephew." I'm expected to believe that? I'm expected to accept that? No no no. He should have at least stayed for a few years to help Zuko stay upright and, you know, alive. And by "upright" I don't mean "good." I just mean been there to support him because Lord knows he needed it, at least in the beginning of his reign. It was cute that Iroh was able to settle down with his own teashop after all those years of violence and mourning and running and this and that. I was more than happy for him for being able to have that peace finally. But I still think it could have waited a little while longer so he could support Zuko.

That's it I guess. I know not everything I've said makes the most sense in one way or another, but I enjoyed putting it together all the same. Thank you for reading and have a great day. I'll go finish my final now.

(Edited for a typo)

[letswritesomenovels]

My Revision Plan

I’ve been posting a lot about finishing a first draft of something new. So I thought it might be helpful if I also included my plans about what to do next. 

Step One: Preserve the Draft

I work in Scrivener, so my first step is to compile, save, and preserve my draft. For me, this means I’m:

Capturing a snapshot of the current version of my chapters in Scrivener, so I can keep editing the main ‘manuscript’ files without losing access to the current version.

Exporting and saving the entire manuscript as “[TITLE] - First Draft - July 2020″ so that as I finish further revisions, I’ll always know which version this one is. 

Emailing the draft to myself, saving it in iCloud, and printing it. Whatever it takes to ensure its safe keeping. This way, no matter what happens--if my computer falls into a pool and is destroyed--my entire first draft of this book will be safe somewhere. 

This way, I can revise and edit and generally make a mess of things again without having to worry that anything I do going forward is going to affect the contents or completeness of my first draft. 

Step Two: Second Sketches 

I don’t want to dive into the editing process just yet, so before doing a serious re-read or re-plotting my entire book, I’m going to set about re-sketching my settings and characters. 

In my first drafts, I treated my settings and characters as flexible. When I realized something about them wasn’t working, I changed that thing and kept going. Events changed locations, buildings changed distance from one another, Three of my characters had abrupt job changes in chapter ten, when I realized I could remove an extraneous plot and weave their storylines into a more central plot by doing so. Somewhere immediately after I tell the reader my protagonist has glasses, I forgot to ever mention them again. 

This means my initial character and setting sketches are all--well, not useless, but not quite useful anymore either. Now that I’ve figured out where and what things and people need to be in order to make the story work, I’m writing down new “character/setting rules” to guide me through my first revision. I want to make them consistent. 

For settings, this means I’m going to go through and decide on:

A “map” of the locations of the story and figure out exactly where things are in relation to one another

The layouts of individual settings 

What specific places look, smell, and sound like 

The “rules” of the world 

For characters, this means I’m going to go through and decide on their:

physical characteristics

personality and backstory

relationships both with other characters and the world around them

character arcs: their wants, their fears, their internal conflicts, and how they’re supposed to be growing and changing throughout the novel

And if I decide my protagonist does wear glasses, I’m going to make sure she’s wearing them throughout the entire story. 

Step Three: Read

Writing Advice

In the next few weeks, I’m going to read and reread books and blogs on writing. I am going to soak it all up. I’m going to learn or remind myself about what makes a story good. Refine my knowledge of writing craft. These are the ideas that are going to help me make my revised draft better than my first one.

Fun books!

I’m also going to read for fun, especially the books I was avoiding because they were in a similar genre/category to the one I was drafting. I want to know how good the “competition” is, and also see those “writing rules” I’ve been reading about in writing advice books/blogs in action. 

The First Draft

Finally, I’m going to crack open my own book. 

This is the hardest part of a revision: critically reading what I’ve written so I can prepare to tear it to pieces and rebuild it. 

Oof.

For this, I recommend changing the font, either printing it out or putting it on an e-reader, settling down in your favorite spot to read, and reading it in one go. I’m probably going to print mine out and put it in a binder. This will help me see it with the eye of a reader/editor instead of an author, and hopefully help me put some emotional distance between me and the work I’ve done. 

I’m going to keep a notebook nearby and take notes about things that are working, things that aren’t working, ideas for changes, and other stray observations (like words I’m using too often, or where I’m repeating myself, or abandoned plot points, etc.). 

Step Four: Re-Outline

This step itself has many steps.

Step One: Identify the core idea of the story. In clear terms, write out in one or two sentences what this story is about, English-major style. ie. “This story is about a girl finding the courage to pursue the life she wants, not the one her parents have planned for her. Her struggles are reflected back on her when she encounters the ghost of a princess who cares so much what history thinks of her, she’s letting its opinion turn her into a literal monster.” 

Step Two: Outline the events in the story as it currently exists. 

Step Three: Evaluate how well it conveys the core idea, and how the current structure works. Identify:

the purpose of various scenes (ie. inciting incident) 

Extraneous scenes/plots/characters

Plot points that should be in the story but are missing

Key moments of character arcs

Events that support the core idea

Events that either don’t support or work in opposition to the core idea

Step Four: Rebuild the outline so that the story has a strong structure that supports the core idea. 

Step Five: Share

I know I’m going to struggle with figuring out exactly how to rebuild my story, so I’m going to share both my first draft and my unfinished plan with my writing friends. I’m going to ask them for their ideas and advice. With their feedback, I’m going to solidify my plan for my new outline, hopefully a bit more confident that it’s the right one. 

I know not all people have a group of writing buddies they can easily do this with. If you don’t have a critique group, don’t sweat it. It helps and it’s worth an attempt to try to find one, but it’s not a vital step.

Step Six: Revise 

Finally, I’m going to go through my work chapter by chapter: editing scenes, trashing scenes, and writing new scenes entirely from scratch until I have a manuscript that’s hopefully much better than the first.

If I revise this book like I did my last one, I’ll probably polish the chapters as I move through them, so that when i’m done, some chapters will be on their twelfth drafts, some will be on their second, but overall it’ll be the best version of the story I’m currently able to write. 

--

It’s a lot, and it seems like a very daunting process from my current standpoint, but finishing the first draft seemed daunting too, just a few weeks ago, and I got through that process. With time and effort, I’ll get through this one too. 

[longlivefeedback]

hi, how are you? hope you are doing fine.

i'm struggling. i know writing in any other language other than english hits different on Ao3.

but,

i wrote my first longfic for this fest hosted on a facebook group. i always thought i was uncapable of writing a plotty story (mi longest fic was 6k... this one is more than 90) so this motivated me to prove me wrong. and yes i enjoyed the process, but it was really hard work, it consumed 3 months of my life and by that i mean i couldn't think about anything else, sometimes i would think it was a huge pile of garbage and i was wasting my time. but i kept going.

and then the day came, the fic dropped, and i like how the story turned out to be! it has a every element i enjoy reading. my beta helped me a lot with critique. i was very careful with grammar and spelling. i think it's sexy, original, funny, meaningful.... i was proud to post it.

so i read it and i think: fuck. what am i missing here? what am i not seeing? why no one likes my writing? is it really that bad?

i tend to think people on this fandom hold hands with "oldies" and give their back to people like me, that just started posting. but maybe i'm creating this fake image to 'cope' with it lol.

i try not to think about it and not even opening my email because i'm too sensitive to find nothing. nothing. all the time. but i found your blog and thought maybe i would share it. fuck, i cry as i write this lfmaooooo fuckkkkkkklkkk

😢 I'm so sorry, Anon. *gives you a hug and holds you*

Your situation is a rough one to be in and my heart goes out to you.

Before I talk about the feedback on your fic, can I just say what an amazing job you've done as a writer??!

To put things into perspective:

This is your first longfic! 😱 🎉🎊💐 That is amazing and a feat in itself!! Give yourself a huge pat on the back and you can cross that off your bucket list!

You wrote 90k words in 3 months. Writing 90k of anything is hard as it is, and you did it. In 3 months. For context, NaNoWriMo has a word count goal of 50k words in a month. Crucially: "Word count is the only measure of "success" on Nanowrimo; quality is irrelevant." You not only wrote all those words, you also edited your story and polished it in the space of three months. That's a superhuman effort and you should be proud!

You kept going even though you had self-doubt. That's incredibly resilient of you and shows an incredible amount of hard word, determination, and self-discipline. Do not discount the value of finishing something. Something is better than nothing. Perfection is a myth. You finished the fic and it is art and it exists. That is amazing. And you did that.

Anon, I just want to take a moment to appreciate what you did. Breathe and give yourself a pat on the back. Congratulations! You did it!

Okay. Now to address your main concern in your ask: I'm sorry you feel unsupported in your journey thus far.

Especially if you're new to posting, having expectations about the level of support you will receive for your work and to have reality not meet them is devastating.

I don't know why it seems like no one is reading and responding to your work. Every writer who has posted for fandom has probably asked themselves the same questions that you're asking now. None of us have the answer. Writing and marketing are two different skills. Quality does not equal popularity/visibility.

However, here are a few things to consider to help 'explain' away the lack of feedback you've received. They may or may not be helpful:

Was all the fic posted all at once or over a short span of time? Lots of fics at one time (ala big bang style) can be overwhelming for readers. Fics get lost in the shuffle. Readers can only read one fic at a time and it may be that readership is spoilt for choice and yours is the unlucky one that didn't get read :(.

Relatedly, 90K is a lot of words. Some readers may be intimidated. Some may be saving yours for last! If all fics for your event are 90K+, it will take time for readers to make it through any one fic. However, I know that hope can be a double-edged sword. If you need to step away from the emails for your mental health, do that. Turn off email notifications for emails. Don't check your AO3 inbox. The comments will be there when you're ready to come back. And if they are still not there, at least you've had a few days break from the agony of anticipation.

Are there other sites you can post your work to? The way you wrote the opening of your ask indicates that your fic wasn't written in English (apologies if I misinterpreted this!) I believe that most of AO3's readers look for fics in English, so if there are alternative sites that are more popular for fics in a certain language, can you post to them? Maybe you will have more luck with say a fic written in Italian at a site where the readership is mostly looking for Italian fics?

What does your beta think? Your beta seems to have helped you a lot through the process. Hopefully you've built up enough of a rapport with them that you feel comfortable speaking to them about this. This is obviously weighing on you a lot and having someone to support you, even if it's just 1 person, can make a world of difference. So, have you spoken to them about your disappointment? If they're also from the fandom, do they have a perspective that they can offer to help bear this burden? If not them, is there someone else familiar with your situation that you trust enough to speak to that can support you?

Have you talked to mods/fellow writers in your event about it? Chances are that you are not the only writer facing this. Maybe you can read and give feedback on each other's work? If mods are open to feedback for their event, maybe raise this as a concern to them? This has obviously been a very discouraging experience for you, and if the point of the event was to nurture/encourage participation in your fandom, this is having the opposite effect. At the very least, at least you've said your piece and hopefully it will bring you some closure on this. In a better outcome, maybe there's something mods can do to help you promote your work?

As an aside, I did not quite understand this part of your ask:

i tend to think people on this fandom hold hands with "oldies" and give their back to people like me, that just started posting. but maybe i'm creating this fake image to 'cope' with it lol.

Does this mean that there's an "in" group with older fans who are very exclusive and make it hard for newer fans to feel included and part of the fandom? Or the opposite where older fans are very inclusive and "have the backs" i.e. support newer fans a lot? Apologies for not quite following your meaning here.

All that been said though, none of this really helps give you what you really crave the most for. So. Fuck it. Find your favourite phrase or paragraph that you wrote in this fic. Send it in. I'll give you feedback on it :)

You're doing amazing Anon. I'm so proud of you.

[mittensmorgul]

(re: trad authors vs fanfic authors and the “nine levels of removal") Yes. This. Story time! I went to a book event for a well known, critically acclaimed, best selling author once about 20 years ago. He'd never done a proper "book tour" before and as a fan I was excited. Myself and other fans from a Yahoo Group (RIP) met up at the event and gave Mr Popular Author a fan art book we'd put together. He later wrote that he’d had to go off to a corner of the bookstore to hide and cry for a few minutes because he'd always thought he was writing into a void. Then BOOM, there we were, a big group of us, right in front of him, loving his work and giving him feedback (and gifts!) He’d never so much as read a review of any of his books before. The sudden realization that actual humans had read (and liked!) his work was apparently very emotional for him. Fanfic authors don’t have the luxury of that distance. And I don’t envy them for it. The feedback they get is immediate and devastating. Trad authors often won’t even get told how many copies their book has sold for the first six months after publication. Fanfic authors see every single view and kudos and comment in real time.

Yep. This.

I mean, it’s shifted a bit in the last 20 years. A lot of traditionally published authors have websites, or twitter, or other social media. Before I ever came to fandom, I was trying to go the traditional publishing route, too. Heck, a decade later I’m still on author twitter (most of my twitter is authors/publishers/agents/editors because those are the people I befriended when I first started seriously writing). But there is a sense of removall still there between authors and readers. And twitter followers and interactions don’t always equate to readers.

I mean, look at any author’s twitter, and a lot of it is just... like anyone else’s twitter.

Authors can also go look at their reviews on Amazon or Goodreads or wherever else online, and see their book’s daily ranking in sales if they really want to, but trust me on this, everyone involved in the publication of their books has probably told them not to do this. It’s not helpful in any way, unless they’ve shot to the top of the bestseller lists. Learning their new release ranks 32502905 in their genre... isn’t worth bothering, you know? And there’s nothing to do by obsessing over it.

When your agent is sending you all the good reviews, all the positive feedback, and encouraging you to finish the draft of your next book or your next round of edits, you don’t HAVE to think about responding to every comment anyone makes on your work. You’re encouraged NOT to respond. Because those reviews are NOT FOR YOU. They’re for other readers, to help them decide whether or not to make a financial investment in your already published book.

Fanfic comments ARE NOT THAT. Fanfic comments are written directly TO the author. Sure, other readers might see them, and I’ve had conversations start in comments on my fic before so I know it happens. But when a reader writes a comment on a fic, it’s generally to thank the author for the story, for having entertained them for a while.

Not all fanfic authors reply to comments, but I think the vast majority of us TRY to at the very least. Thanking the reader for reading, expressing the happiness we feel that our work has brought someone else a bit of joy (or angst, or whatever feeling we’ve inspired with our words). Or else answering questions the commenter has asked, or otherwise expressing gratitude.

It’s a DIRECT CONVERSATION, the likes of which most people will never have with a traditionally published author. The absolute ridiculousness that anyone expects the works we publish on AO3, for free, can be compared in any way to a traditionally published novel is beyond belief. The conceit that works we write-- again, for free, in our spare time, out of love for doing it-- should be as polished and free of any sort of errors as works that have spent more than a year and often more than two years going through multiple rounds of editing, proofreading, line editing, typesetting, etc. where MANY PEOPLE have scoured it for errors and yet still a few slip by here and there... I mean, HOW can anyone hold writers working on our own, in our spare time, for zero pay, purely for our own enjoyment to the same level of exactitude that we hold commercial novels? It’s laughable.

And honestly, it reaches a point where we’d rather just post the thing and move on to the next thing. I have gone back and done minor edits to some of my older works. If I’m rereading and notice a typo, I’ll fix it, for example. I once switched a character and wrote it as a different character because I felt bad about how the original character was portrayed. But for the vast majority of them I have zero intent of going back and making major edits on anything I’ve written, because I have moved on. I’m writing something else now, and maybe that will be more polished for having written the previous things with the wonky sentence structure or the awkward choice of words.

Mostly I write because I want to tell the stories that are stuck in my head. I need to get them out or they wedge in there like a big old log jam. Enough words build up that if I don’t start lining them up and pushing them out, the pressure builds up and bursts out in really inconvenient and messy ways. I’m personally not writing fanfic as “practice.” Or because I hope to some day be “good enough” to publish original works for money. I came to fandom to write fanfic so I wouldn’t have to deal with the rest of the publishing industry lol. I don’t need encouragement or approval or advice on how to improve. I just need an outlet. And if other people enjoy anything I write, that’s just a bonus to me.

(I had a publishing contract in my hands, stared at it for three days and then cried as I tore it up... I didn’t want to put myself through the publishing mill... I was already burnt out just getting to that point, and couldn’t imagine it becoming my life for years to come. It wasn’t worth it to me, and then I found fandom and AO3 and fanfic, and got all the benefit from writing with none of the angst of commercial publishing. This is where I WANT to be, this is not a stepping stone or training ground for someday becoming a “real author.” Sure, it is for some folks, but for a lot of us, this is just what makes us happy.)

Can you imagine going to a craft show where everyone has spent their time making beautiful handmade things and walking directly up to each artist and critiquing their work? Going up to a knitter and complaining that you saw a nicer hat in Macy’s the other day and pointing out everything about her hat that you don’t like? Or going to a jewelry designer and saying you prefer gold to silver, and demanding to know why they chose to inlay green stones when clearly they should’ve used blue ones?

Same vibe on critiquing fanfic in the comments. Or at the author in general. It’s just rude.

[angst-in-space]

may '25 writing updates

words written: 11.5k

most words written in a day: 2,118

least words written in a day: 0

yearly total: 70.8k

projects worked on:

ya sci-fi book revision planning

bsd regency au

tiny bit of space dads book planning

fics published/updated:

none

may goals:

finish revisions checklist for ya sci-fi book

go back to actually working on ya sci-fi book revisions…?

reach out to my mentor since i haven’t done that in like three months oops

finish a draft of ch 4 of bsd regency fic

finish editing & post ch 17 of altea rising

work on matchablossom fic again perhaps??

apply to writer-in-residence program??

june goals:

work on ya sci-fi book revisions again... try to get through uhh idk chapter 10? (i am probably being way too optimistic lol)

apply to writing residency

send the rest of ya sci-fi book to my critique group

keep working on ch 4 of bsd regency

work on matchablossom fic

continue editing altea rising ch 17 if i have time?

notes:

mannnn i was not nearly as productive in may as i'd hoped. :( i was mostly focused on doing a ton of revision planning for ya sci-fi book but got very little Actual Writing done. buuut progress is progress i suppose.

original writing updates:

as i said above, a majority of my work during may was doing revision planning for ya sci-fi book. i wrote like 10k of notes about things i want to update in the next draft. 💀 on the bright side i did finish the revisions outline/checklist so yay! on the not so bright side i have so many revisions to do that it's making my head spin and i have no fucking clue how i will do them all. but, i will try lmao.

i contacted my mentor again since i had not done that in ages. i sent him some more pages and he returned them with notes that were.... humbling lollll. but i'm hoping to implement his notes soon!

i want to send the rest of ya sci-fi book to my critique group since i have been sitting on it for a while.... i'm nervous since i'm lowkey worried the whole book is just Broken (esp the last quarter of it or so) but uhhh my hope is that sharing it with others will make me more motivated to finish editing it?? maybe???

i plan to apply to a writing residency which i know i mentioned last month, however i'm an idiot and procrastinated it until now aaaand the application is due in 5 days. sooo i will need to write a 5-page book proposal before then ha oh boy wish me luck.

i did i tiny bit of planning for space dads book but i really mean a tiny bit like... mostly just read over the notes i'd written so far and added a few details here and there, but that's about it.

fic updates:

really not very much 😔 i only wrote about 1k of bsd regency au which i'm bummed about since i was really hoping to make a dent in chapter 4. i was kinda struggling through a certain scene, but i think i'm past the most difficult part so hopefully i can really get back into it now ???

i keep wanting to return to my matchablossom fic, especially after i finished rewatching sk8 + watched the ova. so, maybe i will try to make some progress on that!

i have really been neglecting editing/posting things from my backlog... i should probably finish editing ch 17 of altea rising and post that, but not sure if i will have time this month. maybe though!!

arrrgghh so yeah generally feel like i'm in a huge writing slump currently and i'm frustrated about it. i've been weighed down with a lot of self-doubts recently and it sucks. 😭 june is also going to be insanely busy for me so i'm not sure i will get as much writing done, buuut i will try!

also happy pride month!!! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

[rplayford02]

Critical Reflection - Sound Design Project

[link to previous post on foley]

It was Eva's idea to take the clip down a slightly more experimental route, using the sound of an aeroplane jet engine to create a narrative about a woman in desperate need of a holiday. Initially she had considered using the sound design to adapt the genre to comedy however as we continued further with the project, we decided to stick with drama. The surrealist tendencies just lend themselves to an experimental drama much better than a cheesy comedy.

The group very quickly agreed on the idea - as we were all struggling to come up with anything original - and Findlay and Eva got to work sourcing sound effects and getting them on the timeline. Their combined efforts with this first draft are worth noting. Myself, Bethany and Jack got involved when it came to recording foley. [I've got some more detailed thoughts on this in another blog post.]

The comments in the crit were pretty positive on the whole. The experimental approach payed of at the beginning of the clip more so than when we brought it back at the end; the attention to detail with the keys was noticed; the intensity of the wind built up well. One of the main criticisms was that the sound was peaking in the mix - immediately noticeable through the Screen Academy speakers. Also, some of the sound effects we'd chosen were a little monotonous and the footsteps were out of sync in places.

Other notes from the critique:

generally speaking: stereo = environment / mono = sound effects (therefore footsteps should be mono)

add comments to make the session more organised and understandable - helpful if someone needs to take over

use tracks for multiple sounds but organise clearly i.e keep footsteps together, keep the aeroplane announcements together

use markers to help with sync

I think a lot of these problems arise from the fact that we left this project quite last minute and as a result Findlay didn't have a lot of help in the final edit as we rushed it towards a finishing point. As a group we gave feedback on the edits and discussed it along the way but the last 24 hours were pretty frantic.

And it's resulted in some avoidable mistakes. As our lecturers keep reminding us: sound should not be an afterthought! So, for our final film I'm trying to consider sound in the pre-production stages. As cinematographer it isn't my primary concern but then I'm slowly realising that the relationship between sound and visuals is actually pretty closely intertwined and I need to pay better attention to it. Whilst storyboarding I'm now thinking about where we can use sound to get around the really ambitious parts of the script, for instance, we have a 'stunt' whereby one character stabs the other. We can't really pass this off as believable without proper stunt training (even if one of our actors does have experience in fight choreography.) What we can do instead is use off-screen action and utilise sound design.

Additionally, sound is going to be paramount in world-building when we have possibly the lowest budget of any sci-fi film ever. The location, costume and make-up, props etc can only do so much, but the sound design has the potential to really sell it. We already have some music in the works (thanks to a friend of Eva's), and plans to book out the foley room again and I don't want to speak to soon, but for once I'm actually almost excited about sound!?

[dalekofchaos]

My critique of the Sequel Trilogy Lightsaber duels

My biggest problems with the Sequel Trilogy are the blatant rip off and unoriginality, no clear plan at all, lore breaking bullshit, lack of worldbuilding and poor executions of great character concepts. In this post, one of my My biggest gripes with the Sequels is the terrible Lightsaber fights.

The only good duel in my opinion is Finn vs Kylo Ren. This feels raw and powerful. A hardened soldier who has just became familiar to Lightsaber combat vs a trained dark side warrior. Despite Ren's years on training, though, Finn puts up a good fight and is able to hold his own before having his back sliced up. But.....that's what kills the fight for me. Finn's injuries. If this were in the first 6 movies or anywhere in the EU, Finn would be in a wheelchair or in a bacta tank for life. And guess what? A movie later and Finn’s injuries are never brought up again or treated with any severity.

Like Finn’s injuries, Finn’s rivalry with Kylo Ren is dropped for no reason whatsoever and never mentioned again. Finn and Kylo Ren are narrative foils, yet after TFA it’s dropped??? From the start they have been prominent foils to each other: dark from light and light from dark, both in the First Order but in drastically different positions. And Kylo too obviously has strong feelings about his defection. I also believe that Finn is the awakening in the force that Kylo and Snoke felt. Perhaps that is why Kylo focused on Finn and is so angry about him. Finn is also the first person to use the legacy lightsaber and is the first to actually fight Kylo. TLJ could've focused on Finn and Kylo being  narrative foils having a force connection and Kylo wondering why Finn would switch to the Resistance while Finn wonders why Kylo joined The First Order and  Rey standing in the middle of it all wondering with the new realization that her family has a mixed past of good and evil and her questioning where exactly does she belong? The way at the height of tfa when Kylo Ren rejected Han Solo’s offer for redemption and killed him he looked over and noticed Finn. Like they both locked eyes and in that moment was a surge of emotions between them— shock (and some fear) on Finn’s end, and anger on Kylo’s as he shouts at Finn that he’s a traitor— and those circumstances set Finn and Kylo up to be the dynamic for the sequel trilogy. They were foils, and the trilogy had the potential to truly expand on that and see their development in a final standoff/rematch at the very end. But it was wasted, because why have good movies.

Rey vs Kylo Ren. This duel was bullshit from start to finish. Okay, I don't care how force sensitive she is. I don't care that she downloaded Kylo's abilities in the interrogation. ANd I don't give a fuck WHO she turned out to be related to. If you are thrown into a tree, you are gonna be out for at least an hour. I will hand it to them that it feels like a genuine fight, but it just feels cheap when Rey won. It also doesn't make it any better that Kylo's injuries doesn't force him to wear the helmet at all times, his facial wounds are non-consequential. Rey has no prior training. Never held a lightsaber. Rey fighting off thieves with her quarterstaff is not the same thing, it is understandable that Kylo was struggling because of his injuries, but Rey didn’t struggle against Kylo. Even Luke struggled with Vader and Anakin struggled with Dooku. What should have happened is as it looks like Kylo is about to win, Chewie from the Falcon fires his bowcaster to keep Ren at bay and both Rey and Finn make it to the Falcon. This way we can keep Kylo Ren strong and show Rey struggling to overcome Kylo. It will also show This is how powerful he is when injured, so imagine him at his peak. Instead we get a pointless fight instead of Rey and Finn just escaping Starkiller base while Ren collapses due to injuries and Rey beating Kylo served no purpose(the end goal to destroy Starkiller Base was already accomplished) and helped derail their villain of the trilogy.

The Throne Room Duel. Everyone knew that Rey and Kylo would kill the Praetorian Guards. This is a fight with absolutely zero stakes. It's one thing if Rey and Kylo dueled Snoke himself, that might be a good fight. But come on, did anyone REALLY think they would lose? There is no tension in the scene and it is pointless. Kylo Ren and Rey are fighting a faceless a group of guards that we know absolutely nothing about and have literally no purpose in the entire story except for this one fight. We know neither of the characters are going to die because these are just faceless red shirts and there is still like 30 to 40 minutes left of the movie. Terrible editing takes away any enjoyment one might have with the fight choreography, if you've got to literally photoshop out the bad guys weapons in post production to not look stupid you might need to recoreograph the shot. There are multiple times where Rey, Kylo and the guards are just doing motions and actions because they look cool but serve no purpose but to look cool. Kylo stabbing the ground? Pointless. Rey twirling her rave stick around while someone falls behind her, pointless. Not even once do we see them displaying their powers is what cheapens the fight. Kylo Ren is powerful enough to freeze a blaster and a person in place and Rey herself unlocked Kylo’s powers, so the two of them could have easily ended the fight sooner than it was dragged out. Kylo is powerful in the force but he SERIOUSLY could not stop a Praetorian Guard choke holding him and Rey struggled with a guard? Rey and Kylo were stronger in TFA and are just made weaker in the duel with the Praetorian Guards. Kylo could have frozen half of the guards and Rey could have mind tricked the other half into killing the frozen guards and Kylo and Rey could have finished them. They are masters of light and darkness, but they are made weaker. The throne room scene is a symbolization of everything wrong with the movie. It’s all flash, but no substance and the more you think about it, the worse it gets.

All this duel makes me believe is that Rey and Ben should’ve both switched sides in TLJ. Rey gives in to the dark side and Ben returns home. Rey is the most Sith like character if you obey the rules of George Lucas for Light and Dark sides of the force. Ben Solo is more Jedi like throughout the movie until the end. Let me explain. Rey throughout the sequel trilogy has given in to her passion and anger. In the end of TFA Rey gave in to anger and hate to defeat Kylo. and in TLJ she is shown to use anger and hate throughout the movie. She is shown to as Yoda put it “take the quick and easy path to the dark side” gives in to anger and hate in almost every scene before she boards the Supremacy and gave in to the temptations of the dark side water cave. Her dark side actions in TROS speak for itself. Ben is calm and clear minded like a Jedi, he even wants to cut all ties to attachments like a Jedi. Everything we were told of the Jedi and how disciplined they are, Ben displays that in TLJ until after the Throne room fight. Hell, EVEN THE THRONE ROOM FIGHT SUGGESTS THIS. Think about the fact that Ben really does not move or even engage. He just stands there and dodges and swings once when the guard rushes him. Contrast that to Rey, who is clearly being more aggressive with her lightsaber and attacking rather than just being passive. How again is Rey the Jedi and Kylo is the dark side force user in this movie? They’re fighting in the exact opposite way they should be. Rey fights for the kill while Kylo gets a glancing blow in the armor in the opening fight. Their style of fighting in the Throne Room with the Praetorian Guards really suggests that they should’ve switched sides. What they should have done is have Ben realize that Snoke was evil and shows regret for his actions and turn to the light. While Rey feeling betrayed by Luke and the revelation of her family turns to the dark. This would not only be unexpected but would even rival Vader’s “I am your father” twist. And it would logically follow what we’ve seen of these two characters leading up to this point. Rather than just out of the blue Kylo turns angry and irrational and Rey is calm when Ben was calm and rational throughout the movie and Rey was full of anger and hate throughout this movie. You have them follow an arc that makes sense for their individual personalities. Ben is always calm, but he felt betrayed by those on the light, but he comes to realize that betrayal was an incorrect perception and he desperately wants to make amends to Luke and Leia and therefore he should rejoin what he knows in his heart is good. While Rey is full of passion and anger and as that builds up and she realizes that even the great Jedi Luke Skywalker is a disappointment and her family abandoned her, she knows the only person who can live up to her own expectations is herself and that self-centered attitude leads her to the dark side. That would make sense and we would have something to fight for, save Rey from herself or stop her.

Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren. Originally, I thought they were gonna have Luke first send the Walkers’ turboblasts right back at them and use the force to bring down the transports, TIEs and the shuttle and then toy with his nephew like Vader did to him and leave Kylo Ren in defeat and his ruined fleet. In a way he did(minus the ruined fleet), but it took away any tension away by having Luke just be a force projection. He wasn't there. His moment with Leia and 3-PO doesn't feel genuine anymore. And the "duel" if you can call it that is just bad. Luke doesn't have his Green Lightsaber and their blades do not clash. A Jedi is all about defense. But a Jedi will also fight in self-defense to defend others. The argument that Luke did the "most Jedi thing ever" is bullshit. A Jedi will stand up for what's right and face the threat. Instead Luke pulled a practical joke and died pointlessly. I mean if he instead pulled the X-Wing out afterwords and told R2 "Come on R2, we've got work to do." I would forgive that and then we could've gotten a genuine master and apprentice relationship between Luke and Rey and a proper reunion between Luke and Leia. But no, he has to die of force exhaustion. If Palpatine, who uses the force like crack didn't die of force exhaustion, then why did Luke?

The duels in TROS are all equally terrible. Not once did I felt any excitement between Rey and Kylo's duels as I did with Finn and Kylo from TFA. Every Lightsaber duel is forgettable. The fight in Ren's Quarters is just bad. The fight on the Death Star Ruins is just terrible. It's like they both got high on deathsticks and could barley remember that they are both trained with a Lightsaber. Fighting in ruins surrounded by water SHOULD BE EXCITING! But they did everything in their power to make this duel boring, mediocre and lackluster. They act as if they are swinging bats, not Lightsabers. Lightsabers aren’t baseball bats, stop treating them like they are!  

The worst part is that THIS was the final Lightsaber duel of the Star Wars saga. A huge step down if compared to Obi Wan vs Anakin in Mustafar and Darth Vader vs Luke Skywalker in the Emperor’s Throne Room, which unlike the previous prequel, had awesome shooting and use of the soundtrack, also being very lengthy.

Then we get the Luke and Leia flashback. The ONLY well choreographed fight scene is a fucking flashback.

Then Ben Solo and the Knights Of Ren. Again, we know the Knights are gonna die. If JJ Abrams bothered to characterize the Knights, then yes they might've had a chance, but like the Praetorian Guards, they exist for background and die pointlessly.

Of Course we don't get to see Palpatine duel wielding his twin Sith Lightsabers and fighting Rey and Ben, cause JJ mr I hate the Prequels can't give the fans any decent Lightsaber fights. Instead of Palpatine facing Rey and Ben in an epic climatic final battle, we get Palpatine killed by his own lightning.

The fights in TFA is adequate at best. TLJ is meaningless. TROS is absolutely terrible and forgettable.

John, Daisy and Adam deserved better choreography than they were given. There's no excuse for the lackluster duels we see in the ST, whether from Rey, Finn or Kylo.

One of the biggest complaints for the Prequels is Lightsaber fights is "they are too choreographed" and anyone who believes this is an idiot. What? You wanted Jedi in their prime to slap sticks like old people? You wanted them to fight like drunken hobos? One of the best things in the prequels was finally getting to see the Jedi finally go all out in some awesome lightsaber duels. The Jedi should be masters at Lightsaber combat. Fight choreography is a good thing. Look at the duels in the prequels. You can like or hate them but the duel between Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon and Maul was great. As was Obi-Wan vs Jango, Yoda vs Dooku and every duel in ROTS. Even The Clone Wars had great fight choreography. There was more planning and choreography in The Clone Wars S7E10 than in the whole sequel trilogy.

Seriously, why wasn't Nick Gillard contacted? He is the main reason why the Lightsaber duels in the prequels were so good. I don't care if too many Lightsabers were a big complaint amongst the Prequel haters, the duels were good. So instead of great fight scenes, you traded great fight choreography for mediocre baseball bat fights?

The choreography is not the issue alone. There is no emotion. In TFA. Starkiller Base was already set to blow, so the fight was pointless. In TLJ there is no emotion at stake for the Throne Room fight and the Resistance already got away prior to Luke's pointless death. Rey vs Kylo doesn’t even matter because the characters HAVE THE SAME GOAL. Both want to get to Exegol via a wayfinder before the duel and both get to Exegol with a wayfinder (or memory of it) at the end of the duel. While Kylo gets redeemed, the duel wasn’t necessary for this part as Leia just needed to talk to him and then give him the force induced memory. The only thing this proves is that Rey is not a Jedi because she gives into anger and blind rage to start the duel.

The duels in the prequels and originals had themes, emotion and meaning. Not just that but they looked damn impressive and was the spectacle that helped made Star Wars, Star Wars.

There isn't any good musical scores for any of the Lightsaber fights either or at the very least, nothing memorable. Nothing as iconic as Duel Of Fates, Battle Of Heroes and the Throne Room fight in ROTJ. I don't remember any themes in the Sequels and that's a problem.

And it doesn’t help that these duels have no meaningful deaths either. A bunch of faceless guards and Luke (through indirect means) are the only deaths via a duel. But this is what happens when you hide the mentor archetype on an island and have the hero and villain go at it for three films.

The Lightsaber duel is no longer an emotional spectacle and a grand duel to the death. It's a bunch of idiots high on deathsticks fighting pointlessly and fighting for absolutely nothing. Rey fights like a Sith but she's a Jedi. Ben fights like a Jedi but is leading the First Order? They don't matter anymore and the duels in the sequels are the most forgettable thing about them.

[katieqnmr]

reflection - portrait of a drag king (representing the real)

 Below is an informal reflection, I just wanted to get some words down. Beneath that is my formal, assessed reflection. I just put them in the same post because I think they’re both valuable!

INFORMAL REFLECTION

before we had the critique session, I wrote this:

Onto the finish! As we close on this project, I have some informal reflections to make. I would firstly say that this project has been a really calming one. I realise that for me, my role (visual director, animator) was not too demanding. My group has been outstanding, and I am just so proud that we have worked so well even when hundreds of miles apart!

ROLES AGAIN:

Natalia - Visual director (and principal director)

Myself - Visual director, animator

Rosie - Editor

Bethany & Rosie - Cinematography, B-Roll shooting etc

 I was able to do the animation for this project, and Natalia and I did visual directing (though she was principal director!) As I was saying, this has been relaxing for me because I’ve been able to somehow (!) insert my love of art and sketching into this project! I animated a number of elements, and I think they nestle in just right with everything else. :) I would also like to thank Mia, the Drag King who we interviewed. She has been so helpful and eager and honestly, entertaining throughout this whole process! The way she speaks is a delight to listen to (a very useful element when making a documentary), and she seemed so at ease in front of the camera. She was super helpful the whole way, offering to film anything for us, and more importantly letting us see quite a private side of her, or perhaps quite a personal side. Identity can be uprooting to share with others, so I’m really grateful she chose to share herself with us.

And now I can reflect fully, with all feedback on hand. 

And WOW am I happy! The feedback we received on this project is probably the most positive for any project I’ve been involved in, which is such a lovely thing, everyone seemed to genuinely really enjoy it! :D Mia also said she loved it, which meant a great deal. I know we were a little nervous for her to see what portrayal we’d made of her.

FORMAL REFLECTION (CRITICAL ASSESSMENT REPORT)

Throughout the research stage, I tried to find material that would enable me to greater understand the world of drag, as I was not entirely familiar beforehand. I used a range of materials, from books, to articles, to films and TV shows, (examples being ‘The Art of Drag’, ‘Gender Troubles’, and of course Ru Paul’s drag race, for a more mainstream approach.)

 I wanted to explore each media to reflect on what might work in presenting a character through documentary, and early on, our group decided on a rougher, 90’s aesthetic, bright colours, and an energetic pace, which would capture Mia’s personality in part, and form a visually engaging base for the documentary.

 We planned across the country, deciding that Mary and Bethany would together or individually shoot Mia, as they live close to her in Dundee, thus assigning them the roles of cinematographers. The rest of our group, Rosie, Natalia and myself, would be the editor, and visual directors, respectively. Our pre production plans relied on group meetings where we could discuss the basic outline for the edits, and we were all of one mind in this project. We all agreed almost effortlessly the direction it should go in, in terms of the aesthetic I mentioned earlier, subject matter (drag kings, gender and identity), and how the edit would be arranged, (a mixture of b-roll, Mia’s sketches and my animations layered on top, her interview and poems running throughout). 

 All arrangements were simple, though a few shooting days had to be rescheduled, which wasn’t a problem as we planned with plenty of time, and additionally the extension was helpful there too. Natalia and myself as visual directors, were clear in our plans for what would be shot, we collated a list of basic shots we wanted in the documentary, which Mary and Bethany fulfilled perfectly. The shoot went great, and Natalia and myself transcribed the entire thing (though she did more than me), and then we moved onto Rosie’s stage, the edit. 

 Rosie was a fantastic editor, communicating really clearly with us so we could go back and forth between draft edits and all together decide on the best structure of the film. We dispersed Mia’s poetry throughout, and Rosie edited the desired aesthetic fantastically, using my animations and Mia’s own drawings in harmony with the footage shot. The structure was also based on Mia’s history in performance, her thoughts on a fractured identity and how she presented herself to others, and her reflections for the future, as she said she’s still trying to find her ‘yearning’.

 Our focus was always going to be Mia, her identity and her struggles with that identity. The documentary sort of branched from ‘drag king’ to ‘identity of drag’, but it still maintained that Mia’s identity was formed partly from her drag.

 In terms of sound, we didn’t focus too heavily on it, which is maybe a thought for the future. It might’ve furthered the effect of our piece, though I am glad we didn’t add any music, as with all the visuals on-screen, I feel it would’ve been overwhelming at best! With more time, we might’ve considered adding Foley, in terms of paper scrunching, or the jumper muffling sounds, but our time limit caused us to focus elsewhere. Luckily I don’t think it’s too much of a dealbreaker, and is something to consider if we move further with the project. We also forgot to add credits at the end, but that would be an easy fix.

 I have no doubt that our film is engaging, only the pacing was considered an issue, which I can totally understand. It is very rapid-fire, although arguably this was appropriate, (though this was not intentional) given that Mia herself felt overwhelmed by her fragments of identity. Our group all felt that the edit was the correct pace throughout the development stage, so I don’t think I would change much. 

I learned so much from this project, more so than any other so far, in terms of the subject matter (I feel so much more knowledgeable about the art of drag now), and I also learnt a lot about collaborating, which I think our group did immensely successfully.

 Mia later told us that she really enjoyed the film and that she felt seen, and she was the person who I really wanted to feel happy about it. So I would say that it was a success. I think the film illustrates Mia’s nuances, and her intelligence, and it showcases her ability to articulate these things. So I am very pleased, and so proud of everyone involved. Thank you Mia.