#and doing things 'correctly'

[not-poignant]

Im currently reading the first book of Perth shifters, would you say there’s a difference in how you pace a book like that and how you pace serials like the ones you post on Ao3? And when you wrote Perth Shifters, were there times when you really wished you were posting it chapter by chapter so you could get reader reactions after each one?

Hi anon,

There's absolutely a difference in how I pace serials vs. novels! For a start, each Perth Shifters novel had an exact number of chapters, an average word length to hit, were plotted out from start to finish (something I don't love doing) and hit a lot more of the classic romance novel beats in a very specific kind of way.

It's not a style of storytelling I love, but I didn't know that at the time until I practiced doing it!

And yeah, I absolutely wished I could post it chapter by chapter. At the time I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD and I was literally kind of dependent on the dopamine of comments to keep going, and while I had really good betas, it took me a lot longer to write those books than it does for me to write 100k of writing.

I have a soft affection for the Perth Shifters novels. Especially The Gentle Wolf. (Though also Blackwood.) I learned a lot, and I also learned how much I love serials, and writing chapter-to-chapter and releasing that way like a TV series almost. There's something unique to serial writing which isn't the same as novel writing, that feels like a space that is truly right for me. I actually plan to turn more serials into novels or novelettes/novellas (sort of like light novels for those familiar). I think the biggest thing I learned is that if I ever return to the Perth Shifters world, I will do it in serial format first, and not let myself feel restricted by 'correct' formula and word length.

I'll also fully admit I'm just not as good at writing novels as I am at writing serials! It's funny my dream was to become a novelist, but it's only because I didn't realise serials were an option :)

[courfee]

17 December 1975 / 15 May 1976

[sandflakedraws]

WAHOOO here's my piece for the @sing-it-togetherzine, which you can find a free gumroad download link for right here~! 138 pages of troll goodness for your enjoyment :DDD

the theme was 'relationships' and i wanted to try and include as many details between these characters as i could :

Branch, as the man that everyone can rally behind.

Poppy as the first one to notice Branch's struggle and offer him help.

Likewise, the first person Poppy thinks to call on is her sister :3

Then it's Viva calling out to her long time co-runner Clay, and Bruce jumping in for him too.

Clay's addition also introduces a 🎉new strategy🎉! The characters start alternating sides for pulling the rope.

And Floyd joining in changes the strategy again, to something a bit more... mischievous, shall we say.

One crucial aspect is that Floyd runs his idea by Branch (the man in charge) before going for it.

Hickory, for his part, doesn't pull his punches for the group. There's no ~tricking~ them by faking an early loss, it's all gotta be genuine.

And of course, Hickory's undoing is his tender heart.

In the back, Dickory and John banter over which side they want to win.

Just the fact that John is letting go of the reins here, allowing the group to lead themselves, is very Big for him.

Dickory's suspicion of what Floyd has planned (warranted).

John's sitting out because he's got a cast on his arm, but it's been "signed" by various stickers from the group (yellow star from viva, pink heart from poppy, green lightning bolt from clay, etc etc etc). and of course

flickory (cause my city now)

in conclusion can u tell i love the interplay of this cast a lot

original zine format under the cut:

[forgettable-au]

FORGETTABLE-AU (page 82-85)

THAT LAZYBONES!!

[BEGINNING] [PREVIOUS] [CONTINUE]

[yencirilla]

saw a tweet about how we're looking too deep into chetney's actions and basically "he's an old man it's not that serious" and it's like...once again people are diminishing chetney's actions purely because he's old and a "joke" character. they did this for most of the campaign saying chetney was just a weird creep to fearne, ignoring all the lovely interactions because some people are obsessed with chetney just being Old. that's the only aspect of him some people see. "he knows he's gonna die soon, that's why he's doing this. it's not heroic." okay. but do you realize chetney going on what he considers a suicide mission, using himself as a shield (protecting imogen in 117, orym in 118, fearne and imogen in 118) because he thinks he's going to die soon is still...heroic? compelling? "it's not that deep" if any other character stepped in front of what is called a god eater, with a hand out, to stop them from touching fearne and imogen, i would see twelve paragraph essays on this site about what a hero they are. chetney loves his friends. he cares about them deeply. he is funny and he is old but that is not the basis of what he is. throughout the campaign he has shown different ways of caring for the team, different ways of helping them and some of you still don't see it at all and it's really sad because he's such a good character

[to00fu]

agoraphobia + lost of youth

[cynderace]

lowkey obsessed with them

[nondelphic]

you said my characters aren’t ‘relatable’? cool. i’ll be conducting a nationwide survey on relatability and cross-referencing it with your ex’s instagram captions. hope this helps!

[forecast0ctopus]

enterprise diplomacy event

[dykedvonte]

Killing Daisuke’s parents but also like feeling so bad for them.

Imagine your kid absolutely devastated to have to be sent away to some shitty internship but you think it’s for the best. You don’t hear back from the company for a while and just think it’s gonna take a while. It’s a long trip after all. Then those long weeks turn to long months and then you get news they haven’t had contact with the crew in a long time. You don’t know if you’re ever gonna see your kid again.

You don’t know if he’s coming back from a trip he didn’t want to even go on. That you made him go on. I’d never forgive myself.

[chirrups]

could we get more pmd au? loving your designs for everyone :D

your wish is my command, lovely anon! i shall fetch the creatures

[crafteeauthor]

I need more Crystal speaking like the gen z kid she is. I need her saying "L" and "ripperoni" and "me when" and similar such things. And most importantly I need Edwin to catch on faster than Charles because he's used to adapting to new slang and Charles isn't

[hyacinthsdiamonds]

I'm sorry but the irony of Nico calling Max unprofessional is sending me so bad like sir there's an entire garage full of people, who were literally in the trenches trying to survive the Brocedes fallout while just doing their jobs, who might have a few things to say about your (& Lewis') level of professionalism at that time 😭✋️

[coatl-cuddles]

The different flavors of fanart

[themadzarka]

This is unnecessarily dark.

Don't smoke monster dust you guys...

[blueskittlesart]

is detcon actually good

no <3 hope this helps