#so tell me why most of my current wips are shadow pov. like...

[hobgirlonao3]

between shadow and sonic, who do u find easier to write?

definitely sonic! his voice just comes very naturally to me idk maybe (definitely) it's the adhd. shadow requires a lot more thought and effort to keep in character

[yennefer-of-vengerbergs]

🦄✨🎃💥 for the writer goal asks!

Yay, thank you for the ask! ❤️😁Questions from here

🦄 Is there a new POV you'd like to try writing?

I definitely would like to write some more stuff only from Astarion's POV (at the moment I pretty much tend to do a rather omniscient 3rd person so it'd be interesting to stick to one person's POV)

✨What's one area of your writing that you think needs the least amount of improvement?

Hmm, at this point, probably dialogue - it's what I find myself making the least editing and rephrasing to and I'm usually pretty happy with how I have characters interacting with one another (and it's what I feel improved the quickest for me). And when it comes to Astarion and Syanna's dialogue with each other, it's always so much fun to write for them (especially when they're being little gremlins or being silly together 😁)

🎃Do you plan on writing any seasonal fics?

I don't really have anything in particular in mind at the moment, but if inspiration strikes, why not?

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

Several, actually 😆And all of them take place much later in Elven Storm (late or end of act 3 basically), and it's because that's when Astarion and Syanna can finally have their actual happiness and take a break from everything - but there's also a lot of stuff that happens before that and they are going through it 💀

Anyway, here's a rough idea of how what I currently think is the final chapter would start:

There's also the classic - the graveyard scene. I'm definitely excited to add my own spin to that and write Astarion as being full of hope and with that being one of the first moments of him and Syanna settling in their relationship properly (in between the leaving the Shadow cursed lands and killing Cazador, they do begin to butt heads and argue about the ritual, then there's all the durge revelations...like I said, they're going through it at this point).

THEN, to move into the angst territory, there's the part with meeting Gortash that I already have a good chunk written down for (and that's because I was initially planning - a long time ago - to have a multi-chapter short story - something like 3 chapters at most - covering things like the arguments about dealing with Cazador and his ritual, meeting Gortash and everything that is found out at that point, actually dealing with Cazador and the aftermath of that, but obviously that is now being used in Elven Storm). In any case, writing the scene where Syanna meets Gortash for the first time in act 3 (and to have her give him a piece of her mind) was surprisingly fun:

And for even more angst, there's the confrontation with Orin and rejecting Bhaal, which I'm planning on writing from Astarion's POV (this also used to be a standalone WIP initially, which will now be reused and rewritten and all that):

And basically, my intention with the angsty stuff is to have it move into fluff and comfort and then finally being happy and hopeful and there for each other no matter what🥹

Excuse the long answer, I just got excited and started babbling 😅

[scattered-shadows]

The Writer Ask Thingy!

It's from this ask post! Putting most of the questions under the cut!

the last sentence you wrote Hedy had a mischievous look in her eye.

a character whose POV you’re currently exploring In my current HL-related fics? It's both my MC Norah Lee, and my Hufflepuff boy Caleb in his own fic, At Your Service. heehee.

how you feel about your current WIP Currently, I feel stuck at the moment, which is why I haven't updated Yule Balls yet. I am aware it's been more than a month since my last update so I'm trying to finish it. I just need to work on this WIP-WIP (a.k.a this chapter in my first novel).

a story idea you haven’t written yet It's about my Ravenclaw boy Henry Abbott and his trials and tribulations as a Ministry liaison under Nerida's Merpeople Office.

first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP Some of the other passengers, likely regulars from how they didn't seem too bothered by the speed of the bus, seemed to recognize Norah.

the word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you) For Chapter 28 of Yule Balls? Naru

your preferred writing fonts I honestly just use the standard fonts of either google docs or wordpad. For my novel, however, I use Liberation Serif.

if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for… Yule Balls, of course. Working Title: Yule Balls 2 but the official title is "The Morning After But Not the Night Before"

start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted? My last update was December, I think. It took me a month or more than a month to post. Mostly because of life and I just needed to get over myself again for feeling inadequate and just post the damn chapter.

what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it? 11 months. Seriously. And I will never do that again.

a WIP you’d like to finish someday The Superhuman Army and The Shadow Man. Ideally, the former is what I finished a loooong time ago. The Shadow Man came much later.

a trope you’re really into right now Forced proximity. I dunno, I'm just currently writing that kind of trope for Norah and Ominis in Yule Balls.

a fandom you’re thinking about writing for Gladiator. But HEAR ME OUT: I am a CaraGeta girlie okay? Criminal Case comes second. Love and Deepspace may come third too.

where do you get your inspiration? From movies, mostly.

favorite weather for writing Usually when the weather's not too hot (which is rare) and not too cold either because then all I'll do is be cold and focus on being cold.

favorite place to write In my room. Sometimes in the downstairs office AND if no one's hanging around potentially looking for an opportunity to bother whoever's in that office.

talk about your writing and editing process I usually just wing it. I can never stick to an outline as much as I do outlines. I figure out what's next as I write. I edit the same way, but for work, I usually reread everything until the part that I haven't edited yet.

if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic I...don't think I have them anymore.

the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic Architectural styles, mostly. Whenever I describe a place and I want to be specific.

in what year did you publish your first fic? FEB 25, 2009. THAT LONG AGO.

when did you publish your most recent fic? January 2, 2024. Oh my gosh it's been more than a year already!

do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? how do you get past that? I mostly worry that no one will ever read my fics. Even if I promote them. But I try and talk myself out of this worry and just post regardless. Key word: TRY

pick three keywords that describe your writing Simple. Repetitive. Angsty.

how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative? I just let myself accept that feeling. I try not to force being creative anymore. But sometimes, working on a different thing helps.

besides writing, what are your other hobbies? Games - I play Animal Crossing, Dreamlight Valley, and Hogwarts Legacy. I also love to sleep.

are you able to write with other people around? Mostly no because they tend to talk. If you live in my house with several relatives, they like to yap our ears off and love hearing their own voices.

your favorite part of the writing process Keeping up the writing momentum of the days before to finally finish a chapter.

your least favorite part of the writing process Having to post it on all the platforms I post it on. There's unfortunately no cross-post on Tumblr to AO3, FF.net, and Wattpad.

how easy is it for you to come up with titles? Not easy at all. I always struggle to come up with titles, much less character names.

share a fic you’re especially proud of

Ooh! I guess, The Other Dimension which is my ATEEZ anthology series!

[happygo-writing]

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 aka. 2022 Recap

Thank you to the wonderful @good-ways and @tailoredshirt the tag! You're a peach 😘

Guidelines: post the top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular), your top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year, your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year, your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year, and your number 1 favourite line you’ve written this year!

post the top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022

You took the best of my heart and left the rest in pieces Word Count: 23,520 | Summary: An exploration of emotions. The Breakup Era from Carlos' POV

This is the fic that took 6 months to write. It was my greatest achievement of 2022. It took so much out of me to write, many tears, and almost deletions but it turned out so beautiful. It's my favorite fic that I wrote this year, and one that I cherish deeply. It was well worth all of the time that it took to write.

With love, your soulmate| Word Count: 27,658 | Chapters: 7 / 10 | Summary: Carlos Reyes doesn’t think he has a soulmate. In the 22 years he had been alive he had never found anything that would tell him otherwise. At first, it bothered him that he was seemingly without anyone and that there wasn’t a perfect person out there for him but he learned to grow comfortable with that information. He learned to adapt, to date enough that he wouldn’t be lonely, and on the nights when he was without anyone he found ways to make himself feel good. He was content. Or so he thought so until a letter arrived on the day of his 22 birthday. A letter addressed to him, from the past and from his soulmate. From there, they start talking. Leaving letters for each other to find and read, falling in love through the words that they shared. Will TK ever catch up to Carlos so that they can have their happy ever after? Or will time remain cruel to them?

This fic was a bit out of my comfort zone and dealt with a new concept. It's been a blast to write and I've enjoyed pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I hope to get this one done very soon!!

Fuck my life up | Word Count: 2,728 | Summary: The one time Carlos and TK talked when they were broken up.

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with the breakup era and exploring the dynamics there. I fully believe, in my little hc, that Tarlos hooked up at least once during their breakup era. This was my take on that.

finding the sun in a world of shadows | Word Count: 5453 | Chapters: 2 / 10 | Summary: In a post-apocalyptical world, two lost souls find each other.

This is another one that took me out of my comfort zone but it's been really fun to write and build the world. I have chapter three done and I need to post it, this is another one I'm hoping to get done this year.

It was always you | Word Count: 3333 | Summary: Sometimes in order to find out just how much you’re meant to be with someone, you have to fall apart and lose them first.

This is one of those getting back together fic's but I adore it so much. I love a good ex's to lovers fic and I love how this one turned out. It was a joy to write.

4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year I have so many I'm excited for.

(along with the two mentioned above):

TK POV Breakup Era Fic - this is a companion fic to the Carlos POV Breakup Era Fic and shows TK's side of things. It's slowly coming along but it's gonna be good and my hope is to have it done by summer!

Sequel to Carlos & TK Breakup Era Fic - this will focus on how and why TK come back together. It'll be canon divergence and won't follow along with how they got back together in canon, but I like the spin on it that I've decided to go with. I think it'll be a fun fic and it'll include a lot of conversations we missed.

[Redacted] Tarlos AU - 😉😏 this one is yet to be started but I have it mapped out. I'm keeping a little hush on the details, though. Sometimes it's fun to have surprises 😘

Secret Dating AU - Professor!TK x Social Worker!Carlos. This one I am currently writing and already has 4 chapters. I'm hoping to write it all out before I start posting it. This is another one I hope to have done by summer.

your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year

Length - My fics this year were longer and more fleshed out. They and more details and really went into the story rather than just brushed the surface.

Dialogue - I always feel like my dialogue is bad, but I think I improved on it this year. Hopefully I'll improve more on it this coming year too.

Ideas - I think my ideas have been better in general, which is really nice.

top 2 resolutions

Writing for myself and my pleasures which includes not being as upset / obsessed over numbers and how people might react to what I write. At the end of the day I need to be the one happy with the content I create, other people liking it is just a bonus.

Keeping in mind that I do this for fun. This is a fun past time and it shouldn't be stressful. Nobody knows me in real life, they only know a fraction of who I am and they may or may not make an accurate judgement of myself. And that's okay. As long as I'm having fun, that's all that matters.

number 1 favourite line you’ve written this year!

That’s what he got for thinking - a broken heart and an empty home that didn’t feel like home without TK. - which, of course, is from Carlos Breakup Era Fic

No pressure tags: @11thstreetvigilante @theghostofashton @bubblesandroses8 @mooshkat @cowlos-reyes @thebumblecee @noxsoulmate @detective-giggles

[faewaren]

tell me about: Ot6 vampire au please please please

OF COURSE DARLING XENO.

The dude was in Ronan’s chosen place, crouched between the close-clustered bushes he’d picked out on Google street view beforehand. It had the best line of sight to the little house (old and weirdly painted, overgrown, but the curtains were all drawn, which was promising, and it wasn’t like Henrietta’s vampires could be expected to live the high life when its humans weren’t even doing that), but was far enough away and held enough shadow that anyone there would be hard as hell to spot from the other side of the road. 

Ronan had a feeling glasses-guy knew that, if the binoculars around his neck were anything to go off of. 

What the fuck.

Ronan dropped to a crouch behind whoever the hell this was.

“Hey, asshole,” he said, and the other guy jumped so hard he nearly upended his oversized notebook into the grass. 

If Ronan hadn’t already been positive this was no hunter, his next reaction would’ve cemented it: he turned, adjusted his glasses, and shot Ronan a bemusedly polite look as if he wasn’t currently loitering. As if he could make an expression benign and confused enough to make Ronan forget the dude was on his knees behind a bush outside a reputed vampire nest. 

The most frustrating thing was, if Ronan had just been some slouch who had no idea there were monsters nearby, it might’ve worked. 

“Yes?” notebook boy asked, all politeness. 

----

Ronan is the son of a famous vampire hunter, Gansey is a vampire researcher that wants them to NOT be murdered, Blue is a half-vampire, Fox Way is a vampire coven, Adam is trying to get a degree online while working nights because even being dead can't stop him from working himself to death, Noah is an energy vampire, Henry is pretty much vampire royalty, and Ronan and Gansey's differing opinions on vampires gets them pretty kidnapped.

Sidenote: why are so many of my wips Ronan POV. What happened in here.

[magic-is-something-we-create]

Hi buddy! Popping in to see how you're doing? Tumblr seems pretty lonely with people leaving and barely any interaction so I wanna combat that. What are you working on, who is your favourite character to write right now. What's your favourite wip and why?

Hi Athena!! Thanks for stopping by :D

I'm working on my WIP Whispers right now!! Like, literally right now - I'm chilling out and having a snack between writing sprints 😅

The chapter I'm drafting currently is Lorelei POV, and half of it so far was a flashback that was easily the goriest/most grisly scene of the book yet.

And considering that we've literally seen Marika stomp someone's head in while they were begging for death in the wake of a massacre, that's uh. Quite a Feat.

So, yeah. I had a little trouble getting into Lorelei's head at the start, but now I am fully in love with both of their perspectives, and I can only say Marika's my favorite because she's the one who gets to interact with the Shadow right now <3

As for my favorite WIP - I literally cannot choose.

I don't know if you know this about me, but both of my WIPs right now (The Millennium Saga and Whispers) are a) set in the same world, b) have a heavy impact on each other in terms of plot and backstory, and c) share a villain. (a "minor" villain in TMS, but still)

For all intents and purposes, aside from who is telling the story and a very slight difference in when in terms of the amount of history I have built for this world, they could honestly be considered part of one bigger WIP. One that spans at least a half dozen other WIPs-to-be, if the ideas I have written down hold up the next time I need a break from TMS.

But if we do consider that world as a WIP of its own, it's definitely my favorite. I have other side projects that aren't a part of it that I haven't touched in forever, partly because they're not done marinating, and for now that means that I simply Do Not Care About Them.

Thanks again for dropping by!!

How have your WIPs been?? And the crochet??

[siarven]

Hello everyone!

I managed to finish the fourth version of my main WIP about a week ago and would love to see what other people think! <3 So below there’s an intro, and a mini excerpt from the start of the story can be found under the cut <3

DREAM’S SHADOW|

Book 1 in a series; Version 4.1

LENGTH | 132,166 words (according to scrivener)

GENRE | dark fantasy set in another world, hopepunk, creepy/horror elements, small scope that will transition into epic fantasy later on in the series

POV | first & third person limited, present tense

THEMES & TROPES | hopepunk, sibling dynamics, dysfunctional family, power of kindness & love, platonic love, queer characters, queer-embracing worldbuilding, mental & physical trauma, light & dark, secrets, tragedy, lies, betrayal, loss of innocence, holding on & letting go, cute creatures, (in)humanity, trees, religion & belief, growing up, monsters, dreams, nightmares.

CONTENT WARNINGS | angst, depression, anxiety, manipulation, terrible self-esteem/no self-worth/self-hatred, suicidal ideation, nyctophobia, panic attacks, nightmares, surreality/unreality, spiralling thoughts, body horror (esp eye related), scopophobia, blood, injury, violence, torture, character death (but it’s not what you think,,,)

SYNOPSIS |

When Ava and her parents arrive at the hospital, they find her older brother Ben in a deeply unnatural coma—and nobody can tell them what happened. Despite the magical abilities of the Asim Healers, there seems to be no way to save him. But then, why do they still keep him alive? As Ava slowly learns the magnitude of how terrible Ben’s situation (and impossible his future) truly are, she finds herself embroiled in a larger conflict, ready to hook its claws into her as well. And the one person she cares about most—who always had her back—is gone. So despite everything, there’s only really one choice. Find out how to save him and try anyways.

CHARACTERS |

AVA, 10. She/her/they/them. The Smol Angery Bean.  Animal (dragon :3) person, doesn’t get along with people most of the time. Basically got raised by Ben and thinks he can do no wrong.

BEN, 18. He/him. The Responsible One. Good in school, takes care of his dysfunctional family, keeps everything from falling apart. Everyone thinks he’s perfect. Is selfless to a fault. It’s a problem. No self-esteem.

ELINOR, 16. She/her. The Wayward Daughter. Got taken by the Asim as a child because of her inherent magic potential.

... and a few side characters <3

SCHEDULE ETC. |

I don’t really have a schedule during which you’d have to read anything because I’m going to be working on other stuff for the next few months (and let’s face it, we’re all busy anyways). My current time frame is “within the next 4 months would be nice” :)

I’d give you the story in ~15k chunks so it’s not all at once, I can see what you think while you’re reading it, and it doesn’t become too much (and ofc you can stop at any time if you don’t end up vibing <3).

I have a list of questions or you can just tell me what you think as you read, I am not at the point of line edits, this is more "does everything make sense” and pacing-related. <3

If you’re interested, please shoot me a message/ an ask/ email me at xsiarven@gmail.com <33

I’ll also love you forever if you reblogged this post so it can reach more people <3

(Taglist & short excerpt below the cut)

EXCERPT |

He knows he is dreaming because he always does—and he can feel that she shouldn’t be part of this dream even before he sees her.

“Who are you?”

She’s sitting cross-legged on the ground, head tilted in a slightly unnerving fashion. A lazy smile lifts the corners of her mouth, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. 

“Yes, indeed… a good question. But what you should be asking yourself instead is this: why am I here?” She smiles. Her face is soft and round. Her eyes reflect the sky.

He does not dare look away, even as he swallows. “Then… why are you here?”

“Why, that is a good question!” She laughs. He shivers.

“I am here because it’s beginning, Dreamling. And you are the pivot. The chink.”

His heart-rate picks up at that. Her eyes are sharper now, and there’s something vicious in the way she’s staring at him, in the way her lips curl around that smile.

He turns away and hates himself for it. From the corner of his eye he can see her smile widening. The fear burns like ice in his veins.

It’s getting dark, the sky turning purple and pink and gold even though there’s no sun. A thousand small lights drift sleepily through the air, some close, some further away.

Somehow they make him sad.

“What does that mean?“ he asks, heart in his throat.

She doesn’t reply. Her smile turns cruel.

He shivers.

“Why?” he asks. “I don’t—I don’t...” He trails off when he meets her gaze. Her eyes seem larger than before.

He’s never been looked at like that.

“You don’t get a choice,” she tells him, all traces of playfulness gone from her voice.

“Your kind never does.”

DREAM’S SHADOW TAG LIST | (ask to be added/removed)

@wilde-writing | @thereisnothingwrongwithbeingmad | @authordai | @madmoonink  | @lynnafred | @prismalicht | @sincerestaffect | @romenna | @zekethegm | @hypnocutiegypsy | @random-stuff-thrown-into-a-pot | @els-writes | @randooooooooooom | @asttralhell | @followthatgoose | @kittensartswriting | @purpleshadows1989 | @raiswanson | @ettawritesnstudies | @writingwordsanddrawingpictures | @albatris | @semblanche​

[roccinan]

I'm risking sounding terribly egoistical by sending a public ask about my own url here but I'm doing it!!!!! I need the super graphic-details

Your ego is my ego, dearest nharidy. There's a reason the doc is named after you hahaha

[ 👉 My Wips ]

OK so the Absolvisti sequel's been sitting in my head since well, the week after I published it lmao. But I never got around to writing because I wasn't sure if it was being too self-indulgent (I'm feeling more confident about it now that I know you'll be pleased by it!). Also because I was having trouble deciding on a pov: should I continue with the Tatiana 1st person pov as always? Change it up to Martin 3rd person? or surprise: 1st person Don Juan?? Should it be a new chapter or new fic? (def. open to suggestions here!) Also I think it'd be Iconic to publish a story in the Dies Irae universe with our new cat profile pics.

Graphic detail time :D Prepare for a SUPER LONG answer LMAO. Most of the things I mentioned here and here will make their way in, with maybe a bonus ns/fw chapter from Martin or Andres' pov. The main story is SFW however, and there's like a hilariously high amount of hurt!Andres, who doesn't have demons to rely on anymore but still carries all the permanent damage the demons left on him:

It takes place some months after Absolvisti so Andres is doing better, but not fully well yet. He's not actively dying anymore but he does faint a lot and isn't exactly making a full recovery. Because I wanted to make things harder for Martin. Because he's not a young man anymore, the wounds were super extensive, and this is the result of years of accumulated damage + a form of "withdrawal" (the shadows/demons that used to feed on him were also the things that kept him alive so it's one big cycle that his body isn't leaving that easily).

This means every time Martin plans something nice for him like seeing a play or going out for a nightly walk, Andres can't go through the whole thing without feeling unwell. (Martin: "I over-exerted the love of my life. I am so SELFISH. what does Andres see in me??" Andres: "I disappointed the love of my life. I am the WEAKEST. what does Martin see in me??" Tatiana: feed me, bitches)

They manage to sit through one play though (not sure if I want this at the beginning or end of the fic LMAO). It's the one Bogota wrote, The Necromancer's Lament, a "biopic" about Andres' life. And it's every bit as terrible as Martin expected. Bad special effects, bad acting especially from Martin's actor, Andres' actor has a beard, and Tatiana looks like this:

Andres thinks it's the best play ever. Martin hates it and demands a refund. Tatiana hates it too but Don Juan's like, "mi amor, you are still beautiful to me, even as a deformed puppet."

Martin's 120-page complaints aside, Bogota runs the theatre troupe with his partner, Nairobi/Agata, and they're both going to start teaching performing arts at Santa Catalina because the last drama professor died lmao

Meanwhile, Santa Catalina has a new bad girl student, Tokyo/Silene! Sergio took her in as a charity case after some dark and mysterious events in her life. But Tokyo being Tokyo can't stay away from trouble, and she becomes obsessed with finding the demons that Andres expelled. Some bizarre possessions start happening again and the school's sponsors force Raquel to keep it under wraps. (Raquel: maybe if you increased funding, we wouldn't have so many problems!!)

In the meantime, Martin gets that letter from a long lost relative asking to meet him. Not sure about the order of this either. Anyway, Martin was planning to ignore the relative, but Andres insists he go. Either Tatiana or Don Juan accompany him. Martin learns that he's the sole heir of his dead parents across the sea (the will: “we forgive you for being a heretic, a freak of nature, and the alchemist of Palermo. also no hard feelings for leaving you to die as a baby xoxoxo”). There's one (1) condition though: he has to end his partnership with the necromancer. Martin: NO THANKS.

So while Martin's dealing with this unexpected drama, Sergio decides to call in Andres' expertise TM again because it's also a good excuse to talk to his brother. Martin is Very wary about this and rejects him. But Andres insists that it'll be fine. Plus, maybe he wants to turn a new leaf and help Santa Catalina for nothing in return this time. Not everyone gets a second chance at life and he doesn't want to be a bad person anymore uwu (Tatiana: "Andres was a pretentious piece of shit, surprising no one." Martin: "Nobody deserves Andres, not even me, and I'm like, the most amazing person in the world.")

Andres comes to do the exorcism with the random priest the school hired. And they discover there aren't any demons- it's just some ghost fucking around (maybe I'll make it the spirit of Gandia or Alicia since they haven't shown up yet lol). Anyway, it doesn't go very well but Andres gets rid of the creature or whatever. Not before it punctures a hole in his side though. Then Martin loses it, just full-on screams at Sergio for almost getting Andres killed again, makes a lot of threats against the school, etc. etc.

Raquel, being more useful, plugs up the wound. But the priest accidentally provokes Martin more by asking Raquel if he should mop up Andres' blood with holy water or something. What if the necromancer's blood is cursed?? And now it's all over the floor, so disgusting :/

Martin, already in a very bad mood, beats the priest up.

They go home. Martin's in a really sour mood and he just doesn't understand why Andres isn't mad at Sergio. Martin: "It's really emotionally damaging to me if you don't give a fuck about yourself." Andres makes him even angrier by bringing up the Berrote family will and having the audacity to suggest Martin leave him for money. He makes a huge case about how he literally has nothing to offer Martin except a body that barely works and a terrible reputation. Martin: "I lost a fucking eye for you??"

They fight and Martin storms away, and also kidnaps Don Juan, his honorary new soulmate who would never betray him like Andres.

A while after this, the Spanish Inquisition local clergy arrests Andres for "questioning." Because the shenanigans at Santa Catalina are still going on and that one priest suspects him of being behind everything just because. Raquel's the one who bails him out. She may not like Sergio's brother, but the way everyone else treats him is ridiculous.

Andres limps home, hoping Martin's still away. Surprise! Martin felt guilty and came back. And it's pretty obvious that Andres has just been tortured. Martin: "Say no more. I'm going to kill some people."

Andres gets Martin to not do anything stupid by dropping the thing with the will. He admits he was wrong for saying those things to Martin and he selfishly, genuinely wants to stay with Martin forever. Martin: "I'm still going to kill your brother. You may appease me with a kiss."

Does it end here? No! Because the shit at Santa Catalina is still happening. Andres and Martin solve it for good though. But it's all very dramatic. I'm vaguest about this part, but maybe Nairobi's injured saving Tokyo, and this gives Tokyo the wakeup call to move on from whatever baggage that got her into this mess in the first place. Then Andres' solution for saving Nairobi is to ask Martin to work that alchemist magic and transfer her wounds onto himself (at this point, we're just going overboard with the Andres whump but asdfasdf why stop??). Raquel: Sergio, tell your brother to stop dying. That's a bad example for the kids.

It takes a lot of convincing, but Martin relents in the end, only because he trusts Andres. At this point, Andres has been through so much that he physically cannot take any more damage. Like, he just can't lmao. So the whole process puts Andres into a coma or something. But we don't need him anymore because now we can revel in Martin's angst!

Martin spends the rest of his time crying and angsting and guilt-tripping Sergio, and just being very loud in general. He also writes back to his family and tells them to fuck off.

Once we indulge in enough of Martin's pain, Andres finally wakes up. Still very bad off but he's alive and not showing signs of dying any time soon. So that's good enough for Martin. They have a nice heart-to-heart, and idk, maybe Raquel comes to see them because Sergio's too embarrassed to. Until Andres insists, because he loves hermanito unconditionally uwu. Martin: "watch your back, Sergio. I might murder you in your sleep (:"

Then at the very end (I have no idea how long this story is LOL), there's some kind of family photoshoot between Raquel, Sergio, and Paula. Everyone's raving over this new invention called the "camera." Andres is admiring it from a distance until Raquel's like, "get over here. what part of FAMILY photoshoot do you not understand!?"

Andres is shocked pikachu face because good will towards him for once?? he's being included in something?? people want him around?? what is happening??

Martin's happy for him though. Then he's admiring from a distance until Raquel's like, "I said FAMILY photoshoot. Get over here, Martin!"

Tatiana didn't want to be a part of it, but Paula saw her favorite talking cat and like, grabbed her lmao. Don Juan photobombs it because he can't be excluded from an activity with Tatiana, especially when his former rival Andres is in the photo too. (His current rival is Casanova, an unworthy white cat vying for Tatiana's affections)

Sergio proposes to Raquel. The end! Yes, the kitty love triangle is also a central theme of this story LMAO Hope that satisfies you, nharidy! And I welcome any and all suggestions!

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

hello 🍓🍍 and 🍅 please !!

🍓 - What is one word that would describe the feeling your character gets when they think about their childhood?

Harrison: Demanding

Lonan: Lonely

🍍 - What was the funnest scene to write in your WIP so far?

Scene G in chapter four of Feeding Habits, Coup de Grace is the most fun I have had with writing... probably ever? I couldn’t share a lot of it because I didn’t think it would be appropriate, but the section where Eliza cuts off Lonan’s hair and they chat about mating habits of the preying mantis is SO GOOD I really peaked. How can I not love that scene?? It’s the birthplace of the iconic “I’m the grass” Lonan dialogue.

🍅 - What is your OC currently in denial about?

I’m going to answer this for Harrison because him being in denial about missing Lonan is literally the entire brand of his POV!! Here’s a compilation of Harrison being in denial about missing Lonan for an entire chapter straight:

Subtle denial:

“You didn’t tell me she was Lonan’s sister.”

Harrison pokes at a flake of pastry and wipes his hands on the front of his jeans. Reeve’s bangles clatter in a cyan jangle as she applauds at the same contestant she previously ridiculed. There are so many things he could say to his mother—he knew Reeve first, Reeve isn’t just Lonan’s sister to him, more like his own, but when he adjusts himself, swallowing and tidying the hem of his shirt, all that comes out is, “I didn’t think you needed to know.”

more OVERT denial:

“I would’ve like to,” Suz says. “Does she know? That you don’t know where he is?”

Harrison’s fingernail catches on a loose thread, and he yanks it out so even Reeve glances back at its upholstered plink. “I know where he is, Suzanna.”

mans said “though he knows it should no longer matter to him”:

Though Suzanna eventually leaves, joining Reeve on the couch, propping her feet on the same coffee table so their polished feet touch, toes pink like raw cherry tomatoes, though he knows they’re both right in knowing and not knowing where Lonan is, though he knows it should no longer matter to him, he finds himself leaning against the table where the kittens encase each other in a plastic shoe bin, ticking his fingers at his side.

Suzanna: stirs the pot Harrison: let’s just completely ignore this:

“How’s your brother?” Suzanna asks, yawning like the answer will bore her even though she’s the one who’s asked. She rests her chin against the rib knit throw, her hair frizzing against the yarn.

The fake audience cranks out another caw of laughter, and on comes a commercial for kitchen scrubbing pads. The woman’s voice sudsy, vinylic, like the sheen of dish soap as a mannequin-like hand smooths grease from a ceramic saucer.

Harrison reaches for the kittens, and onto his finger, one crawls, its paws no bigger than the size of a pencil eraser. When Harrison looks back to the women, Reeve’s face is paler than before, her red-wine thrush receding.

More ignoring:

Harrison turns his back and pretends to tend to the kittens. They all know he does nothing but thumb the backs of their heads, let them suckle against his fingertips—they all know, and yet, he continues doing it. Silence cuts through the apartment like hot glass.

Harrison at a Las Vegas party:

Also Harrison: *thinking about not thinking about Lonan*:

There was no emptiness, no bare spot needing to be filled when he levitated between them. There was no Lonan, no faces to remember, nobody to impress, no one to be responsible for.

OH OH is this addressing the denial??

He hadn’t come to the party thinking about Lonan but managed to attract the same people. He hadn’t drunk the magenta liquid thinking about him but managed to exit the house stumbling, as he did, his knees knotted like a newborn lamb. There was something inconceivably indissoluble about them—their bond mirror-like, one making one decision, and the other mimicking it with vigour, unknowingly inseparable.

lmfao he really didn’t try to save this one he said pass me the wine lmfaoo:

“Why did you want to see me?” she asks, her face shielded in shadow, which he’s grateful for. She adjusts her hood around her ears, fingers tapping absently on the kitten’s shoebox.

“I missed you.”

“You wanted to see Lonan.”

“I wanted to make sure you were safe.”

“It also helps that he’s got my face.”

Reeve hands him the bottle, and Harrison drinks a swig of wine gladly.

oh here we have overt ADMISSION (regarding the above^^)

Under the streetlamp, Reeve is softer than she was in the apartment, and this orange haze of her both comforts and saddens him. Reeve is not wrong. This is the only truth he knows.

I did not lie when I said he was in denial:

Lonan does live in her face, as she’s suggested, and he understands it’s why he finds it difficult to look at her. The same shift of their hair, like the smear of oil, the same chin, like it was carved out of soapstone, the same set of their mouths, not quite a frown, not quite at rest. It isn’t why he rummaged through a phone book the day Foster left looking for any semblance of her name, calling everyone he could find with a name similar to Reeve—the Eves, the Revas, finally settling on an Evie M. Aldridge—this is what he tells himself. It isn’t why. But what other reason would there be?

Proof:

“What do you miss about him?”

Harrison blinks. He hasn’t expected her to speak to him again, in fact he’s pictured the night whittling into gauzy silence, them setting the box afloat in the fountain, and then leaving once more, wordless. Reeve drinks another sip of wine. Its scent stings, like earthy cranberries.

“I don’t,” he says, which is a lie, and they both know it.

my thesis, proven:

She looks at him in absolutes, like she sees his every answer scraped into his cheek and doesn’t need to check his work. Her eyes are feline and rimmed with kohl and aquamarine mica—she doesn’t need anyone to tell her the truth because she holds it in her fist. “He has a girlfriend. He’s happy.” Harrison rations more wine down his tongue, three times as much as he’s intended to drink.

“But what do you miss about him?”

Harrison misses nothing. He sleeps little and smokes too much because he misses nothing. He walks by himself, eats by himself, talks to himself because he misses nothing. He jumps from job to job, person to person, place to place because he misses nothing. He wakes up in dazes the colour of blackberries because he misses nothing. He blinks dreams from his eyelashes like they’re bad spells because he misses nothing. He holds himself, he drinks himself, he leaves no company for anyone because he misses nothing about Lonan. He misses absolutely nothing.

I *wonder* who he is referring to:

The man must ask him if he’s intoxicated, never noticing the shoebox floating in the fountain, because Harrison says, “Who’s to say? I miss so many things,” and isn’t talking about the bottle of wine, and Reeve, that both seem to have vanished, as if they were never there.

This is indisputable at this point:

Harrison draws his index finger through the slush, doodling nonsense—letters of his name, an eyeball, a singular, faceless nose. “I can’t stop thinking about him.”

Harrison in Denial: The Finale:

His hands move for him. Dividing the snow in slopes, curves, lines—letters. When he’s finished, he rests his chin on his own shoulder and dries the slop of slush from his nail. The security guard leans over, bends down to get a better look, but Harrison doesn’t have to look to know what he’s written. Chiselled so the flurries fill its gaps, like cement. His name will be erased by dawn. Lonan.

and my point! is proven!

[cawolters]

December...? DECEMBER!?

What about September?

November?

October?? What did I miss??

Yes, well, no you didn’t miss any vitals updates. I have reasons for why I haven’t been active on tumblr, and the most honest reason is that I didn’t feel like writing and posting on here since spring.

The writeblr community is so so great, one of the best in the web, but the platform is driving me nuts. Flagging, shadow bans, tag dysfunction and draft erasing/crashing, have just completely smashed my love for making fun and elaborate posts.

However, lots of updates has been made and i keep seeing wips I want to tag list and people i want to hang out with, so I’ll stick around for another decade or so! Hashtag always lurking.

The more polite reason for my absence, and equally truthful I might add, is that I was very busy the last few months —COMMISSIONS! LIFE! IRL NETWORKING!

And now I’ll tell you about it all, starting by answering the Q on everyone’s tongue:

1) Is Flash Fiction Friday Getting Revived in 2020?

In short, yup.

I need it, you need it, the world needs it. We need to WRITE folks. And the lovely prompt Friday will be back with week no 30 (!!) on:

Friday the 10th of January!

I have a capable team of creative and lovely writeblrs on the job as to how we an ensure consistent posting —and just and FYI, we might even end up with giving the FFF it’s own blog.

Run free, be with the people my beautiful prompt creature, inspire! And give me something to read!!

Stay tuned for updates and tell me is you want to be added to the FFF tag list.

Now next up is my scrip update!

2) Querying ‘The Serpent Kiss’

All is well in the land of querying.

or... well almost.

Alrighty, lemme explain below.

So, if you’ve been following me for awhile, you know my third child (whom is not currently teething or using my lipstick as a crayon) is my dark new adult fantasy trilogy —The Serpent Kiss <3

If you donno what I’m talking about, here’s a quick summery of the query process:

I finished the English first draft, two and a half years ago (I think?) and started looking into querying after my fifth draft was done.

I decided very early on that I would feel more comfortable working here in Denmark, where I already have a literary network, and actually understand the cultural unwritten rules when working with publishers!!

Since then I have been rewriting, tweaking, had beta-readers, editors, a sponsored translator (who translated the script from English to danish) BEFORE I started querying seriously in Denmark.

During the time where the book was being reviewed, I’ve kept in touch with houses who showed interest in the book from the get go (encouraging me to push onward), done a lot of social media work (especially on Instagram since the publishers all mentioned the importance of that platform) and attended books cons to physically mingle (it makes a difirence —really).

Ah, and now, finally, we’ve starting to get serious replies back from the Danish publishers.

Let’s look at what they’ve said so far.

(And mind you, this is Denmark. We’re a tiny country and we DON’T have adult fantasy books written by danish authors, so their critique is based on that. YA is what’s sellable and had been for years, buuut I also know that tendency will shift, so that’s what I’m really selling. A new trend basically. Always understand what pov the critique is coming from and don’t stop at the first rejection)

3/5: ‘no thank you, there’s no marked in Denmark for your book’

1/5: ‘we love it but rewrite it to YA and we have a deal’ — I said, no thank you

1/5: ‘we love it as is and we want to give you a deal, but we have to work out the legal kinks, and we will give you final answer by the end of January!’

So I’m awaiting the final judgement!!

But not really, it’s not the final judgement. If the deal falls through, and it might, never pop champagne before signing, I still have four more houses I could send the book to here in Denmark.

And, I could still go the international route and query over seas.

Yup! That’s the update on that!

Next up? The general writing!

3) A Year Of Author

“It’s really hard being a writer... Not on the days where you’re writing, but on the days where you’re not!”

— @CAlisaWolters, Instagram confessions

My year of full time professional writing, meaning mainly relying on my text/skill/art to heave in the cash, is six months down and going — OK!!

Here’s what I’ve learned/done so far:

I’m writing 4-7h on commissions, the second book of the trilogy, short-stories, poetry and another little YA project every day. Yes. Every day. And that’s very very cool and also exhausting mentally. My advice to others: HAVE OBLIGATORY DAYS OFF! (Oh yea and I also won nanowrimo but the project is a secret shh).

I’m somewhat alone most of the time but being a closeted introvert, I don’t mind, but I miss coworkers. That’s why Café dates and write-ins with writer pals IS IMPORTAINT.

Also! Speaking of socializing, I’ve been to five writers cons/events and I definitely recommend making it a priority for all professional authors. BRING BUSINESS CARDS!!

I have a set routine and I’m really happy with it! Early mornings is the best! And Monday is where I don’t write, but keep up with social media and answer mails and run errands! MAKE A ROUTINE!

And that’s the update on THAT!! Phew I’m getting winded, are you? Fear not we one have one last thing to cover. Promise.

4) Personal Life and Drag Kings ^_^

Where to start? Ah I know! I’ll start with the drag king storytelling event because that’s really what stands out!

I’m a mom, a wife, a bisexual, a general theatrical person and a genderfluid jellyfish who uses she/her pronounces, so when someone booked me for a storytelling event, I decided to go in drag. Naturally. Tsh duh.

I’ve really been experimenting with my gender this year, playing with apperence and comfortzones, and discovering that my real happiness lies somewhere between flooofy dresses and black buttondowns. And not just the clothes, but there attitude, the demeanor, the mental space of wearing cologne!! It might not sound dramatic, but to me it’s been A RIDE!

(I’ve been dying to go full drag for a long looooong time and I should’ve gone all out on the makeup —but next time!!! Also the event went so so well and I had the best time! I’m going to do it again!)

And NOW I’m done! Hah not really, but I won’t force you to spend all day reading my updates and this post is already so loooong 💕💕✨💕

The new year looms!! May it bring you love and confidence, and lots of new opportunities!!

Hug hug hug!!

.

.

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~Ciao

[kiliosthestarmaker]

Nyehehe 1-49 >.> all of dem 😏😉

I EXPECTED THIS BUT YOU’RE GOING TO K I L L M E

The Basics1.     Do you listen to music when you write?

YES, Gods yes! The inspiration! The characterizations! The playlists I listen to when dealing with a particular character I love it I crave it!

2.     Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Plotter, most things have already been decided on within my stories.

3.     Computer or pen and paper?

Computer, I’ll use a pencil and paper only when I have no tech on me. 

4.     Have you ever been published, or do you want to be published?

I’d like to be published

5.     How much writing do you get done on an average day?

Interesting question, I have no clue

6.     Single or multiple POV?

Kind of multiple? It’s all in third POV but we follow around different characters

7.     Standalone or series?

*cackles* SERIES

8.     Oldest WIP

A whole series called Ratio Cor that I finally got back too

9.     Current WIP

Worlds Rejoined

10.  Do you set yourself deadlines?

No. Gods no, I’d stress myself out.

The Specifics11.  Books and/or authors who influenced you the most

Lord of The Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien

George Martin

Harry Potter

Rick Riordan

C.S. Lewis

My two writer friends Wolfe and Jacks

12.  Describe your perfect writing space

My room, blasting with music in the morning when I have no school

13.  Describe your writing process from idea to polished

Sure

A) Wake up at 2 AM with an idea

B) write it down 

C) go back to sleep until you have to wake up properly

D) Write out a decent plot

E) Characters

F) World Building (My fav part)

G) Write and Feel your book

H) Make others suffer with you

14.  How do you deal with self-doubts?

Music and talking to Wolfe

15.  How do you deal with writer’s block?

Music, scrolling through Tumblr, talking to Wolfe and Jacks

16.  How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied with a project?

Who the heckity heck knows

17.  What writing habits or rituals do you have?

Grab some food and a drink

18.  If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and what would you write about?

I WOULD COLLABORATE WITH @princess-east AND @stressedwolfe and it would probably either be about the gods or some action/adventure/fantasy thing and we’ve done it before AND ALSO @koalajake CAUSE THE IDEAS HE HAS 

I

ADORE

19.  How do you keep yourself motivated?

My dad expresses interest in my plots (the only family member that do), he tells me about showing it to other people at work or while he’s busy with something and the person just so happen to be there. My loves also encourage me.

there is also music

20.  How many WIPs and story ideas do you have?

........ ehe well there is 1 collection, 4 series within that collection and about 3-4 books within each series sans one which will probably have more than that. Other than that...I have many, many ideas

The Favourites21.  Who is/are your favorite character(s) to write?

I absolutely love writing Kilios, not only is he my favorite character, he’s just purely iconic.

22.  Who is/are your favorite pairing(s) to write?

Most of my pairings are platonic as most characters are teens or children. There’s also those who have been married and are widowed now so-

OH THERE IS KOLFE I ABSOLUTELY LOVE WRITING THOSE TWO

23.  Favorite author

Wait I have to choose??

24.  Favorite genre to write and read

Fantasy

25.  Favorite part of writing

WORLD BUILDING!!!! I SWEAR ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BE LIKE “Hey Kilios you wanna help me build a world for this AU?” or “Hey Kilios can you help me build the world for my story?” AND I WILL BE ALL OVER THAT

26.  Favorite writing program

Lmao does google docs count?

27.  Favorite line/scene

From...from my book?

(Ratio Cor)

“Okay...” She hums softly as she screws on her arm. She flexes the mechanical fingers slowly before twisting her wrist. She grimaces slightly at the creaking of the joint. “Grandfather where’s the thing?”

“What thing?”

“The...the thing...uh...whot yz yt collud… THE OIL!” Kala exclaims after figuring it out. She hears her grandfather laugh. Kala huffs softly at the laughter. Her grandfather taught her the surface language at a young age. He told her it might come in handy one day, but she doesn’t understand why it would. The Markian language was harder to learn afterward.

(Working Title: Caelum Enterprise)

“That's a child.” Kai whispers. Kilios nods his head in agreement. “That’s a child.” 

“Thirteen years old.” Kilios offers with a small grin. Kai’s face turns blank, and he stares at Kilios. A cold rage settles in his soul.

“So, I have to kill Zeus?” Shadow chokes on his laughter as he wraps his arms around Kai’s waist. Kilios snorts in amusement even though he knew his friend could kill the Lightning God if he wanted to.

“Now, now. Revenge is best served cold as you may know.” Kilios hums softly as they smirk at each other. Shadow and Oketh look at each other before shaking their heads in exasperation. “Zeus seems to want this kid somewhat broken down, so we’ll give the child the best childhood.”28.  Favorite side character

Kai and Shadow, purely for their dynamic

29.  Favorite villain

K,,,kilios

30.  Favorite idea you haven’t started on yet?

Three siblings were reborn as siblings in the modern world. One problem, the ex-youngest sibling is the only that remembers their past and the evil that caused them to die before has followed them. So now, the sibling has to reawaken their siblings' past selves and strive off the evil force all alone. What will happen if the evil, instead of harming the ex-youngest sibling, takes them away to where they are treated as they should be and are loved. What happens when their siblings do reawaken and come after them? What happens if the ex-younger sibling doesn’t want to go? After all, they found love in the darkness. They found light within it as well insert King Keir who isn’t willing to let his consort be taken without a fight.

The Dark31.  Least favorite part of writing

The,,, the writing part

32.  Most difficult character to write

Alim??? I guess cause he’s like grandfatherly and most characters I’ve done in the past never met their grandparents?? 

33.  Have you ever killed a main character?

Yes, even better! I’m going to kill one in one of my books!!

34.  What was the hardest scene you ever had to write?

Kilios’,,,, death I’m-35.  What scene/story are you least looking forward to writing?

KILIOS’ ORIGIN STORY

The Fun36.  Last sentence you wrote

“Yeah, I’m alright.” She assures her grandfather after he gives her a look showing that he didn’t believe her. “So, what’s for breakfast?” She quickly changes the subject.

37.  The first sentence or your current WIP

“Three creators, each lost in their own right. Their names were taken from books and erased from history. The first to come back will be the one who breathes the anger of volcanoes. Next will be the one who freezes the stars. Finally, the one with powers that are forbidden will come to light. Once together united as one. All will hail the Cold Sun.”

38.  Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had

All of them

39.  Weirdest character concept you’ve ever had

A manipulative character that ends up saving the world due to having the ability to see at least ten steps of ahead and calculating an infinite amount of possibilities for options due to having who is literally the concept of the creation of stars and demihumans/hybrids as a bearer (Aka Kilios)

40.  Share some backstory for one of your characters

AHAHAHAHA

Kyle Evren was born from a phoenix and the Primordial God Khaos. The toddler was neither male nor female. Ze was an outlier much like the being known as Udushunamir, who was a being created by the Egyptian Great God Ea. Kyle was born to die for the Gods.

Kavya Esther was created with the body of Saiph and life was breathed into her by Astraea. Her mother was a phoenix and the Star Goddess Astraea. Kavya was very radiant and creatures of all sizes tended to flock to her. The child was kind and lovely. Kavya was born to die for the Gods.

Kit Keir was born from a phoenix and the Hindu Celestial Deity known as Rahu. Kit was both male and female. Due to cer odd parentage, Kit gained both sexes from cer parents. Kit was a very elusive and dreamish teen. Ce would often be found drifting off into cer own little world without a care of anyone around cem. Kit was born to die for the Gods.

Kilios Caelum was born from the ashes of who he used to be. He was ruthless and tired. He was angry at what he’s been through. He swore to rise far above what he attempted to accomplish beforehand. He would build an empire, he would rise to the sky. Kilios refused to die for the Gods.

The Rest of It41.  Any advice for new/beginning/young writers?

Jot down any idea you have, no matter how vague or bizarre it is, write it down.Research, for the love of the gods, research whatever you need for your book and please please use multiple sites.Talk to other writers and ask for input, it’s alright to be nervous so just message them privately. Hell, you can ask me I’m always up for learning about new writers.

42.  How do you feel about love triangles?

As long as it makes sense and doesn’t cause the main plot to be pushed as a subplot I’m good with it fam

43.  What do you do if/when characters don’t follow the outline?

Mutter dark threats under my breath and curse my characters for putting me in the backseat of my own damn writing.

44.  How much research do you do?

Literally, a third of my whole writing process is contributed to pure research.

45.  How much world building do you do?

By the time I’m done, if someone finds it they’d think I just found the world and wrote down what the people told me.

46.  Do you reread your own stories?

Yes and it’s physically painful

47.  Best way to procrastinate

Youtube and Drawing

48.  What’s the most self-insert character/scene you’ve ever written?

KILIOS IS LITERALLY ME THEN HE WENT OFF AND GOT HIS OWN STORY THE BASTARD

49.  Which character would you most want to be friends with, if they were real?

All of them because they are my children and I love them.

[urbanteeth]

Novel Prep

Thanks to @dimawriting and @maple-writes for tagging me!!

WIP: The Inbetween

Tagging: @drist-n-dither @theforgottencoolkid @minny-santa and uhh anyone else who sees this!

This gets pretty long so I’ll put it under a read more.

First Look

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

The crew members abroad the Perseus Space Station were tasked with investigating the first signs of early human-like civilization on an exoplanet. The truth behind the ruins scattered across the dying planet, however, is stranger, darker, older than anything they ever expected. 

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

As of right now, The Inbetween is a single book divided into 5ish parts. The POV will be third person. Still not sure if I want to switch between characters for each chapter or if I want each of the 5 parts told through the perspective of one of the main characters. I am playing with the idea of a sequel. I also want to write about the before and after the events of The Inbetween. There are also at least two AUs running around my mind so I might explore those too.

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

Dark skies full of stars, floating weightlessly, lonely planets, geometry, singularity, the smallness of existence, amorphous shadows on the wall, empty corridors, static, flickering lights, hearts racing from adrenaline, the taste of blood in your mouth as you run for your life

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

The Inbetween originated from me wanting to take some of my unused characters beyond them just being characters. The earliest drafts of The Inbetween were short stories inspired by Wolfgun’s music. The story eventually grew into what it is now thanks to a few episodes of Star Trek and Welcome to Nightvale. Lots of the scenes I currently have written were born from daydreaming to Carbon Based Lifeforms’s music. I would say CBL has had the biggest influence on the story.

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel

This one is for the last part of the book.

Main Character

6. Who is your protagonist?

There are five protagonists:

Emmett Reyes: Mexican-American, 19 (at the beginning of the story), aro/ace, trans, biologist

Johann Herschel: British-German, 20 (at the beginning of the story), bi, nonbinary, pilot and navigator

Neveen Jalal: Egyptian-American, 19 (at the beginning of the story), lesbian, chemist, starship medic, lowkey inspired by my high school chem teacher

Oliver West: Korean-Canadian, 20 (at the beginning of the story), gay, mechanic

Alternis: A.I., years active unknown, primarily used for security and scouting 

7. Who is their closest ally?

Their closest allies would be each other. Here’s some specific friendships:

Overall: they grow as close as family. Nothing like a near death experience out in the middle of the cold, indifferent void to make five kids bond for life. 

Neveen + Emmett: Nerd friends! With him being a biologist and her becoming a medic, they share a love for the subject. They bond over their love for their cultures. They teach each other words in their native tongues. 

 Johann + Emmett + Oliver: Partners in crime!! These three are as ride or die as you can get with a group of friends. While Johann isn’t always keen on the chaos, he still goes along with it because “who’s going to serve as your guys’s impulse control???” Secretly, he loves it. 

Oliver + Johann: Oliver becomes pretty supportive of all his friends and his relationship with Johann is no different. Oliver makes for a pretty good listener and he doesn’t mind hearing about his friend’s worries. He’ll offer some pretty good advice as well. 

Neveen + Oliver: Oliver is, without a doubt, the most social of all the crew members. Unlike him, however, Neveen is the exact opposite. He will respect her space if she needs it, but he is also there to make sure she doesn’t lose herself in it. In a lot of ways, he reminds Neveen of her own sister.

Emmett + Alternis: These two form a pretty close bond. Both share feelings of becoming static in life. Both struggle with insecurity and general feelings of anxiety that they are not good enough. However, they both also share a deep curiosity for the world around them. She likes to ask him questions knowing he won’t brush them off and he feels comfortable enough to ramble on about whatever subject is most interesting to him knowing that she is willing to listen with interest herself.

Bonus: 

Commander Mitch Connor + his crew: At first, Mitch was pretty hesitant to be this mission’s commander. They’re all kids, two of them fresh out of high school almost. However, he quickly learns that this crew is more than capable. They’re adaptable and fiercely resilient. They know how to use their strengths to their advantage and do so creatively. Most importantly, though, they genuinely care about each other.

8. Who is their enemy?

The story’s main antagonist is a weird hivemind entity that is partially made from various alien life forms and part alien tech. It’s main purpose is to find creatures its programming deems perfect specimens and then merge with (eat???) them to take on their abilities. The creature was once a technologically advanced alien race from a different dimension who sought to create the “perfect being”. No one’s really sure what “perfect being” meant for them, but eventually they, and most of their old universe, were all consumed by their creation. The entity then traveled across many other dimensions still seeking specimens to consume. While it has no definite shape or can even be considered a single animal, it’s still very much sapient. It’s hard to tell the age or if it was supposed to be machine or animal or even what species it originally was. However, the minds and voices of its creators live on with it. 

If you want an idea as to how it sounds, it’s a little like the Warpers from Subnautica but with multiple voices. Here’s a clip. 

9. What do they want more than anything?

They all have different dreams that they are pursuing, but they basically all want a life where they can be happy and have closure.

Emmett wants to be at peace with himself.

Johann wants to find a place that he can call home.

Oliver wants to protect the little he already has.

Neveen wants to achieve her dreams.

Alternis wants to belong.

10. Why can’t they have it?

Emmett is, first of all, much too doubting in himself. He worries so much that he can’t appreciate the things he has done right or the things he can do. He isn’t very kind to himself.

Johann misses the life he had on Earth. He and his family moved to a new planet because they don’t really like Earth and want to experience something new. But Johann never feels the same sense of “home” as he did on Earth. 

Oliver’s job is helping out his mother with their repair shop. So, when the shop is threatened with closure, he is desperate to find another job, but since he dropped out and never finished school, he’s having a really hard time coming up with something that will provide enough. This is why he ends up joining the space program. 

Neveen is in a somewhat similar boat. She has dreams of working as a doctor and all of her time and effort goes into studying for that. She, however, ends up getting rejected from three different schools in her area. She starts to feel like time is somehow running out for her.

Alternis has had a hard time. When she didn’t fit the expectations her creators set, she quickly discovered that her differences were seen as something flawed. She spent a lot of her early days either alone and she grew to be resentful towards people. But she wants to be accepted, so when they told her she was to be assigned to the Perseus Station, she had a lot of mixed feelings about the situation. 

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

Emmett: not smart/good enough, not allowed to make mistakes

Neveen: her success determines her worth, has to do things just right or Else

Oliver: dumb for dropping out of college, is not much other than the comic relief in his friend group

Johann: thinks he can run from facing what’s really bothering him

Alternis: needs to have a purpose to be worth something to others, needs to change to be accepted

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

Emmett: 5′2, curly brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, a scar running from jaw to cheek, there’s a picture @auroradrawing made here!

Neveen: 5′5, long black hair, brown eyes, dark skin, red hijab

Johann: 6′2. dark blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin

Oliver West: 5′10, black hair, brown eyes, pale skin

Alternis:  i made a post on her appearance here

Plot Points

13. What is the internal conflict?

I would say that the overall internal conflict for all the characters is them struggling to understand that they are human which means that they are allowed to be wrong, make bad decisions, have emotions, and fail and none of this undermines their value in any way.

14. What is the external conflict?

The main external conflict is survival. They come into contact with a powerful interdimensional creature who is possibly hundred of thousands of years old or more and they have no idea how to stop it. After their station and only way home gets destroyed and they find themselves stranded with no way to let anyone know what’s happening, they realize that they have to find a way to at least repel the creature as it’s not just their survival at stake, but also that of their friends and family back on Earth.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

Death, probably. There’s a lot of things that would be left undone and unsaid and also literally no one else knows what is going on, so it could be a while before anyone back home realizes they’re never coming back. And that thought is one of the scariest things they can imagine.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

Basically the purpose of the entity and them figuring out what it is and what it wants changes everything they were led to believe at first about the planet and the origin of the ruins.

17. Do you know how it ends?

Yes. They all get a happy ending because I’m done with the sad shit. Also happy endings are good?? Like give me more happy endings dammit! They go through so much shit and get tested so much, like, they deserve their happy ending. 

Bits and Bobs

18. What is the theme? 

You are stronger than you think. Let yourself be flawed. Things might not be okay, but they will work out. You have a place in the universe, no matter how small. Tomorrow is a new day.

19. What is a reoccurring symbol?

Darkness, geometry/symmetry, fire (?),static, lots of the names of things have meaning behind them

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

There are two made up planets on which this story takes place. The first planet is Thesan-4. This planet is a desert-like planet. It’s in the Milky Way for sure, but I haven’t exactly figured out where yet. This planet is primarily used for military/astronaut training. At least 40% of the story will take place here. The other planet is an icy, Earth-like planet. I call this planet the Mirror World in my head but the actual name is pending. Here is where the remains of early civilization are found and this is where the Perseus crew is assign for their mission. At least 60% of the story will take place here.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

Hell yeah! Scenes and a general outline are all I have right now. A lot of the little details are still pretty vague though.

22. What excited you about this story?

Oh man, is “everything” an answer? I always wanted to write a story set in space, but my biggest issue was finding a good plot. Like, I had the characters and I had some vague idea of a setting, but no actual plot or conflict. This story spent a lot of time on the back burner and I honestly thought about abandoning it a few times. However, it has come to grow so much and I’m really happy I didn’t abandon it. I love the lore behind the antagonist and the character interactions and uhhh well damn. Everything!

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

I think the very first thing I come up with is either the setting or the characters. Then, I make the characters that I feel would go best with the setting or vice versa. Other details like names and stuff come way later. 99% of my writing process is music. If I need a certain mood for a scene, I’ll put on some music that fits and I’ll listen to it a few times before actually writing. I find that this helps me come up with scenes so I don’t really struggle at that. Putting them down on paper is harder lol, especially when I can see at least three different ways to write the opening. But once I start writing, everything flows much easier.

[magic-is-something-we-create]

Idk if you do blorbo day but if you do can you tell me what the most self-indulgent character you've ever made has been? Are they still a character you write about? Would they get along with whomever your current blorbo is? Why or why not.

hi!! i've never done blorbo blursday before, but now is as good a time as any to dip my toes in :D thank you for the opportunity!!

The most self indulgent character I've ever made... honestly? It's probably a tie between the Shadow of Fowden and Hunter Carrol. Who are from completely separate WIPs (and worlds) and who have almost exact opposite vibes and morals.

The Shadow is an excuse to take the idea of an Evil Almost-All-Powerful Ruler and a Vindictive Crime Boss and blend them together, and also dive into like... cult-ish mindsets, the horrid extremes of devotion, falls from grace, and revenge (at least in Whispers - she shows up in Millennium Saga, and plays a fairly big part, but you'll never get to know as much about her as she clearly knows about everything and everyone else).

And also I like writing her particular brand of hyper-intelligent villainy that makes a point of leaning into the whole "parents use me as the boogeyman to scare their kids into behaving" thing, including lots of unnecessary but terrifying violence, from the point of view where she's a protagonist. (Again, in Whispers. She's tied up in the plot of TMS but you'll never get her POV.)

Hunter, on the other hand, is an outlet to complain about the US directly, as well as damaging social media crazes, the school system and gifted programs in particular, and generally just. A lot of real-world issues being addressed through the thinnest of magical veneers, since they're literally a parallel Earth where the only difference is that little magics are real and ubiquitous with rare Big Magics thrown in the mix.

Also I get to use them to reference memes and puns that don't work in the rest of my worlds. And complain about endless boring corn fields.

In terms of whether they're characters I write about still: the Shadow, yes absolutely, she is deeply entwined in the parts of the plot of TMS that I'm currently exploring, and I'm thinking I might work on Whispers between arcs 1 and 2 of TMS as a bit of a change of pace. Hunter... well, Deity Complex has been untouched for about two years, I think? And while that's a story I definitely want to revisit, I'm... very focused on the Ehlverse right now. Too much so to focus on them.

Would/Do they get along with my current blorbos?

... The Shadow is actively trying to destroy Tieling's entire immortal life and legacy because he fucked up, and in the process is causing unimaginable problems for Annie, who is trying desperately to not let the entire government go down in flames right before the apocalypse. Also she hates Annie and by proxy hates all of my blorbos because they are her family/friends who all love and support her. As they should.

Hunter would absolutely chill with the blorbo crew though. It'd be a great way to disconnect from the internet and they'd get to bond with Ice + Lakia over traumatic experiences with government entities and gods of death.

[therightprometheanfire]

A Soundtrack For Your WIP

@dont-offend-the-bees tagged me in this the other day and I am for once getting something I was tagged in done in a sensible amount of time!! The shock!! The astonishment!! Thank you for the tag, lovely, this was fun! :)

As for other people to tag, I’m tagging @lavellington, @farah-adrienne-black, and @elijahwoodnot! Do it if you feel like it/have time/what have ye.

A snippet of your work in progress

The theme song for your WIP

The theme song for your protagonist

The theme song for your antagonist

The theme song for your protagonist’s love interest (if they have one)

The theme song for the main pairing of your WIP

The theme song for the opening chapter (if it’s a long fic)

Song for the current chapter/page (if it’s a long fic)

Any other songs you’d like to mention and why:

For this tag, I’m doing the much discussed Priestverse that @princessparadoxical and I have going! Answers + links under the cut.

SOME NOTES ABOUT THE VERSE FIRST

So this verse is essentially a giant roadtrip AU we started I think literally the day Alan Tudyk was announced as being cast for Mr. Priest where Todd, Farah, Amanda, Ken, and Vogel bust their folk out of Blackwing. They then split off into teams and start fleeing across the country from Mr. Priest and Friedkin, who are pursuing them in an effort to drag the subjects back to Blackwing. Priest and Friedkin develop a laser focus on Todd and Dirk because they keep evading them and it becomes a matter of personal pride for them.

When I say over the course of this post “the verse proper” or “the fic proper”, that’s because we envision the bulk of the verse as being that long road trip and then there’ll be stories afterwards, so “the verse/fic proper” means “the road trip”.

A snippet of your work

(this is in the middle of a chunk where Todd comes down with the flu not too long before they get together while they’re on the road which pushes at his inhibitions at physical contact from most folk and his hangups about experiencing it even when he wants to)

When Todd wakes up, he feels not really better, but his head feels a little clearer. He recognizes this at the same time he recognizes that his face is resting against Dirk’s collarbone. His hand is drifting up and down Todd’s arm, chin tucked on top of his head. Todd thinks about pressing closer. Then something occurs to him and he blinks, leaning back.

“Oh no,” he mumbles.

“What?” Dirk moves next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“I shouldn’t be…” he sits up quickly, intending to rise to his feet. It would probably be better if he didn’t get very abruptly dizzy, his vision getting a little foggy. “Oh god.”

“Whoa, don’t do that.” Dirk immediately steadies him. Todd blinks and sees his concerned face. He’s got a little bit of bedhead. It’s cute. “What is it, do you feel worse?”

“No, I can’t… I can’t be…” Todd blinks hazily. “I’ll get you sick.”

Dirk’s anxious face immediately lapses into eyerolling and maybe a little annoyance. “Oh, for the love of god, Todd.”

“Don’t-“

“Don’t don’t me, just sit back down.”

“But-“

Dirk gives him a severe look. “Todd. It is too late and you are too sick to worry about cross contamination.”

“I don’t wanna-“

Dirk leans over to the nightstand and grabs a small Gatorade bottle. “Hush, you’re going to overexert yourself and then I’m going to be cross.”

Maybe Dirk’ll let him at least put a little space between the two of them. It’d kill Todd, a little bit, he thinks, but maybe Dirk would fare better. “Can I just-“

“Probably not. Now drink this, and stay still. Your fever’s a little better but I’m still getting a new cloth for your forehead.” Dirk peels the cloth off gently. “And yes, you do need one, on account of the fact that the black plague has returned, and it has set its sights on its first victim.”

Todd grumbles but he settles back into the bed, drinking from the Gatorade bottle. It does manage to make his throat, which has ripped into flames, feel a little better, at least. Dirk returns with a cool cloth. His forehead feels a little better almost immediately.

“You’re really good at this,” Todd mumbles.

“Yes, well. Took a lot of trial and error. I mostly figured out how to take care of myself when I was sick by myself when I was sick.”

“You’re still good at it. S’nice.”

Dirk smiles a little fondly at him as he takes the Gatorade bottle from him and tosses it off the bed. Todd’s a little confused until he realizes he finished it. “I seem to recall one currently very ill individual telling me once upon a time that I was surprisingly incapable.”

“They sound like they’d probably be regretting that statement right about now.” Todd yawns wide. “You’re very capable. Sort of. You still eat like a child.” He’s starting to feel drifty and sleepy again. He motions for Dirk. “If you’re gonna insist on me getting you sick, then come back here.” He sneezes. Dirk grabs a tissue box as he settles back next to him. “Jesus, you’re so prepared.”

Dirk’s face does something funny as Todd blows his nose. “I… may have panicked a little bit at the pharmacy and… overloaded. On the bright side, we are very ready for a disease based apocalypse.”

the theme song of your WIP

ahhhhh fuck. We have so many songs accumulated for titles for chapters/stories in this verse it’s wild. The name of the entire verse (the proper name, not Priestverse as shorthand) is “but i will love you constantly (there’s precious little else to me)” from Hot Gates by Mumford & Sons, and that song is a little more bitter about the other person in the relationship than the verse is when it comes to the two of them. Probably The Deepest of Sighs, The Frankest Shadows by Gang of Youths, a song that Hannah introduced me to (“I will stand in the darkness and laugh with my heel on its throat” is a very Priestverse line), and I think there’s a lot of When You Were Young by The Killers in there (“we’re burning down the highway skyline/on the back of a hurricane that started turning when you were young” is also a very Priestverse line). Honestly, the thing is so huge at this point that I don’t know if there’s one song that can fit the whole span of it.

the theme song of your protagonist

almost the entirety of this verse proper is just Dirk and Todd rattling around the country and getting closer in a succession of cars and a variety of motel rooms, so to pick one of them out as a particular protagonist is hard, but it’s from Todd’s POV. Again, this verse is vast, and Todd undergoes significant character development throughout the course of it. The guy gets better at handling and processing and expressing his feelings and it’s this whole rocky kinda road, so finding one song for him is tricky. But Kamikaze by Walk the Moon is probably a decent shot, as well as Warning Call by CHVRCHES and The Cave by Mumford & Sons.

the theme song of your antagonist

the two main antagonists are Friedkin and Priest. Wilson is ostensibly the chief villain, but I’m not sure we ever actually see her in the verse, now that I think about it. She sets Priest and Friedkin on the two of them and I don’t think we really see her, she’s just pulling the strings. I don’t know if the lyrics fit super accurately, but reading this question, the very first thing I thought of for Priest was the cover of Bad Moon Rising by Mourning Ritual, cause it’s real slow and menacing. As for Friedkin, I’m not 100% sure (something scary but also kinda manic) but seeing as it only says antagonist singular and not plural, I’m grabbing that and running with it cause I got Priest down.

the theme song for your protagonist’s love interest (if they have one)

fuck me, I’m not sure. Dirk is a bundle of insecurities, self doubt, and self loathing (although it manifests differently to Todd’s self loathing, something I’m actually intending to touch on in a bit for the verse I’m working on in a couple days), but also a bundle of extreme determination and love. He also goes through significant character development over the course of the work (better grasping his self worth as well as better conveying his emotions similarly to how Todd does). Grah, this would be so much easier if I picked a smaller verse. I think The Last of the Real Ones by Fall Out Boy is a pretty Dirk song for this verse, and that’s probably the closest off the top of my head, but I’m sure there’s loads more.

the theme song of the main pairing of your WIP

actually two rise to mind for this, and one of them makes sense and the other doesn’t entirely. The first is Everlasting Light by The Black Keys, which is a song about love and relying on each other, which fits. The second song is Old College Try by The Mountain Goats, which as anyone who follows me knows is one of my all time favorite songs in the history of music, but is also about a couple facing the end of their marriage but resolving to face it together. However, seeing as in the song it is not depicted as specifically the end of their marriage but the end of the two of them, a lot of the lyrics are pretty fitting (“I will walk down to the end with you/if you will come all the way down with me” is pretty damn Priestverse), so I’m counting it.

the theme song for the opening chapter if it’s a long WIP

The way Hannah and I are currently discussing structuring this verse is not as a story with a boatload of chapters, but a series on AO3 with a boatload of stories, some of which may have chapters. We have a prologue-y kinda story set for the verse, but seeing as it has not yet been written (or even mapped out very much), I’m gonna go with the first chapter of the first story of the verse proper, which opens with Todd, Farah, Amanda, Ken, and Vogel busting into Blackwing to break out their people. The song I’ve been thinking about a lot is, predictably, Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy.

the theme song for the current chapter/page (if it’s a long fic)

I’m actually working on a few different chunks of the fic right now, from Todd’s first pararibulitis attack in front of Dirk to the two of them discussing feelings on a park bench not too long after they actually get together to the two of them wandering through an IKEA closer to the end of the fic. I’m gonna pick out C’mon by Panic! at the Disco and Fun. for that last one, which is not a perfect fit, but the lyric “with everything falling down around me/I’d like to believe in all the possibilities” is integral to the whole theme of that chapter/story/whatever it ends up being and really towards their state of mind towards the end of the fic.

any other songs you’d like to mention and why

This is what my word program currently looks like. The first bit tab there is a doc where I type out all the chunks of all our various verses as I work on them. The third tab is what I sent Hannah a few weeks ago that was all the chunks of the Priestverse organized as you may be able to guess chronologically. The fourth tab is the actual rough draft doc for the entire verse, where I’m putting everything in chronologically and separating the story chunks out as I’m thinking they’re going to have to be published, to be sent to Hannah once it’s in a sizable/coherent state. In the fourth tab I have a list of lyrics/quotes to be used as chapter or story titles, and it goes on two full pages. This sounds like I’m being irritable or bitchy, but honestly, I’m so fucking excited to share this with y’all, so it’s me being thorough and not cranky.

(the tab that’s open now is where I’m typing all this out so I don’t lose it if tumblr glitches out and the second tab is a separate fic I’m working on that’s essentially an amnesia fic set in a pocket dimension where you can absolutely tell that I loved Waiting for Godot in high school)

So there’s a lot of songs and a lot of them as you may have guessed by now are Mumford & Sons. But the ones I would personally throw in there (that haven’t already been mentioned) are:

-Coloring Outside the Lines by MisterWives because there is a lot of angst in this verse, but there’s also a lot of light and joy, and I think this fits the silver lining of the verse nicely

-Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford & Sons, almost entirely because I picture the whole “stars, hide your fires/these are my desires” part of the song as being Dirk’s feelings about being his own person with himself and with Todd

-Bury It by CHVRCHES ft. Hayley Williams and I can’t state all the ways this song is applicable at this current time but trust me it is

-Press Restart by Walk the Moon because the lyrics “I am not the subject/I am the experiment/I am mad scientist/invent my way out of this” has always felt very Dirk to me and I think I actually mentioned in one of the two layouts for this verse I have with Hannah that I think Dirk eventually gets a “I am not the subject/I am the experiment” tattoo at one point.

I’m gonna end with those because I could go on for a while. Hannah and I are pushing hard to get this thing done in the next few months so we can show it to y’all, and I can’t wait till you get to see it! Hannah, any thoughts?

[siarven]

WIP (Re)Introduction: As Dreams Collide

✿ Epic Fantasy | Hope Punk | Steampunk(y Elements) ✿ first person present; five POV characters (2 main POVs) ✿ Camp NaNoWriMo Project, April 2019 ✿ Draft Three; originally known as Dreams and Shadows ✿ Book One of the Dream’s Shadow Trilogy

𝗪𝗜𝗣 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 | 𝗧𝗮𝗴 | 𝗣𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱

He knows he is dreaming because he always does—and he knows that she shouldn’t be part of his dream even before he sees her. “Who are you?” She’s sitting cross-legged on the ground, head tilted in a slightly unnerving fashion. A lazy smile lifts the corners of her mouth, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.   “Yes, indeed… a good question. But what you should be asking yourself instead is this: Why am I here?” She smiles. Her face is soft and round. Her eyes reflect the sky. He does not dare look away, even as he swallows. “Then… why are you here?” “Why, that is a good question!” She laughs. He shivers. “I am here because it’s beginning, dream-boy. And you are the pivot.” He turns away, looks over the endless rolling planes. It’s getting dark, the sky turning purple and pink and gold even though there’s no sun. A thousand small lights drift sleepily through the air, some close, some further away. Somehow they make him sad. “I don’t want to be”, he says. When he looks back at her she’s staring at him. Her eyes seem larger than before. He’s never been looked at like that. “You don’t get a choice”, she tells him, the playfulness vanishing from her voice. “Children never do.”

When Ben has a deadly accident, he along with his sister Ava and their Guardian cat get dragged into an ancient conflict that might not only change their lives forever, but also those of everyone else. 

While AVA has to somehow keep the estranged members of her family together and figure out why she suddenly sees gods in her dreams, BEN “wakes” as a spirit two days later without remembering anything. Now he needs to figure out why he can’t remember the accident, why he’s not (yet) dead… and what a certain demon’s interests in him are. How do you escape a situation where every single way is terrible? Then there’s also ELINOR, their older sister, who was whisked away from home when she was four due to her aptitude for magic, and involuntarily trained to become an Asim (magic user). She’s seen her family only twice a year since then, except now she’s sent home by the most fearsome Asim to spy on her brother and her family, because while they want him to survive, so do the Asim. And Asim interest is never a good thing. And finally, there’s also KIYERA, a sixty-year old retired pirate queen… who somehow finds herself entwined in this whole mess as well because she was in that accident with Ben and finds herself drawn to the whole Nichols family drama. Maybe because everyone she ever loved is dead, and she can’t just stand by while another family ruins what she’s already lost?

There are also lots of feather-dragons, fuzzy-dragons.. and other fluffy things because I can’t just not have those.

As already mentioned, this is my Camp NaNoWriMo Project! It’s also Draft Three of what was originally called Dreams and Shadows before it dared to become a trilogy… so now that it’s a trilogy I have to figure out what subplots I need to introduce now and all that stuff :D That’s why Elinor now gets her very own subplot and it’s also why the Asim are more important from the beginning than they were before :D Thanks to everyone who helped me with their feedback <3 It was immensely helpful! The trilogy’s name is currently Dream’s Shadowbecause that’s still close enough to the original title and it looked pretty on the cover :P

Camp NaNo Progress this far:

Day 1 - written 4,831 | total 4,831 Day 2 - written 5,212 | total 10,043 / 60,000

[the version with pretty fonts is here...]

[eloarei]

WIP Game

List the things you’re excited to work on this year in as little or as much detail as you like, and then tag some friends!

Tagged by @enchantedtalisman (and again it won’t tag you. Tch. Sorry. But thanks for the tag!)

(Behind a cut, because you don’t want to read all that. ...Or maybe you do?)

In no particular order, because my level of excitement changes at the drop of a hat: 6 BNHA fics, and one each FFXV and FO4. 1700 words of synopses and babbling.  (Friends who read my stuff: if you wanna skim through these and tell me which one(s) (if any) you’d most want to read, that’d be rad. =D Will it influence what I work on? Who knows? My inspiration is fickle as shit. But it couldn’t hurt.) 

1. “Touch2” -- current WIP, 10k + notes. BNHA. Dekumight. Estimated total: 20k?      Picking up right where “Touch” left off, this fic is a slightly more detailed/slow/slice-of-life story than its predecessor. The 10k I’ve written so far takes place over the course of only 2 days, and it’s mostly Toshi and Izuku getting to know each other, and Toshi being yelled at by his manager (an OC called Suzuki). The general plot of the story doesn’t deviate very far from canon, as far as I’ve planned. “Touch2” will probably cover at least up to the entrance exam, but I’m not entirely sure. Given that leisurely pace, there’ll probably have to be a Touch3 and 4 as well, if not even more.       I’ve been slowly hacking away at this one since the start of December, just in between whatever else I might be working on. Kind of got to a point where I need to actually think about what happens next? ^^; Also, it’s gotten too long to be a one-shot, I think, but I’m going to have to be careful how I split it up. It’s not written for splitting… Well, I’ll figure it out. Just gotta keep writing first.

2. “Make the Most sequel, and side stories” -- only notes. BNHA. Dekumight. Estimated total: lots???      I’m lumping these all together, but this includes quite a few stories, some of which I have plans/notes for, some only ideas. One of the first is a fic that might be, at most, half the length of MtM, which is the events of MtM from Toshi’s POV. This was actually requested by a friend, but it was something I kind of already wanted to do, which is cool. Other side stories include perspectives from other characters, some things like dates and vacations, Izuku learning to use his powers, and some extra NSFW scenes, because why not? After all of those, I intend for there to be an ‘official sequel’, taking place towards the end of Izuku’s college run, which might function as more of an epilogue than a sequel, due to the potential lack of actual plot.      Geez there is just so much potential for this series to go on in side-stories and extras and etc. I actually get a little mad at myself whenever I neglect to continue it, because it’s sort of my main, well, IP, I guess you’d say. It’s my kudos breadwinner. XD I should just do it!

3. “Loveless epilogue” -- only notes. BNHA. Dekumight. Estimated total: 7k?      A short...er sequel/epilogue, taking place roughly a year (I might change that) after the main story, revolving (spoiler alert) around Toshi figuring out if/when/how to propose to Izuku, and summing up how things have gone in the past year. Mushy because I love marriage, okay guys, I just love it so much, and also a little bit morbid because of an in-universe tradition that could be considered either romantic or creepy, depending on your views. =D      I actually ought to write this one like… immediately, while the main fic is still fresh in my mind. It’s extremely self-indulgent, maybe more than just, y’know, my normal writing. But I think at least some of the people who read LOVELESS will like it. ^^ And I will, I think. And that’s all that really matters, right?! *shakes head ‘no’*

4. “Waste” -- current WIP, 1k + notes. BNHA. Dekumight(-ish?), and Deku+friends. Estimated total: 15k???? No. Probably more.      A Fallout fusion. Vault 211 (21-1 or twenty-one one) has been carefully breeding superpowers into its population for the past 200 years, but if yours doesn’t show up by your 18th birthday, prepare to be kicked out on your ass into the unforgiving wasteland. Guess who’s the newest resident of the wastes? Lucky for Izuku, he meets a frightening creature who takes to looking out for him. ‘Human’ under some description, he’s sure, this guy has radiation levels through the roof. Burly super-mutant by day, gangly rotting ghoul by night, he doesn’t exactly have a lot of friends, but boy is he good at surviving in the hellscape that the world has become.      I freaking love Fallout a whole lot, and look, Toshi/All Might is so very much a ghoul/super mutant, and vaults just give you so much free reign to give people powers and etc etc, look, it just seemed like something that would work. Not sure really how it’s going to go, but we’ll see. =]

5. “Nana/Toshi darkfic” -- only notes. BNHA. Nana/Toshi (probably NSFW) and Dekumight. Estimated total: 20k???       His mentor was beautiful, kind, strong-- perfect. He didn’t realize she was being eaten away by a dark pit in her heart. He didn’t know if leaving her alone would help it. He just wanted to be with her so badly, to please her, to make that smile real, and she lacked the fortitude to refuse him anything that would make him happy. A fic about Nana and Toshi becoming perhaps too close, and Nana struggling with depression. Following the canon timeline moderately closely, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it will include a major character death, and the fallout surrounding it.      Hoo boy did the desire to write this fic just hit me like a ton of bricks a few weeks ago. This is going to be a dark, sad, uncomfortable story, most likely. And although it will end with Dekumight, the large part of the plot will still revolve around Nana/Toshi, so I’m not sure most of my normal readers will want to touch it. XD;;; I think the inspiration to write this came somewhat from the feeling that the ending to LOVELESS was not nearly as dark as it could have been, haha. Every so often I just want to challenge myself and see how many boundaries I can push. ^^;

6. “Feed” -- only notes. BNHA. Dekumight. Estimated total: 15k?      In a world ruled by a vampiric shadow known as All for One, Izuku’s group has been trying to find ways to fight him. Nearly everyone is of this man’s blood now, since he started handing out powers to gain followers. But it’s said that an artifact of some sort exists still which can give the power to defeat him. Izuku, with the purest blood of his group, is chosen to seek it out. But the artifact is a vampire, the last of AfO’s first ‘children’, frozen and starving after failing to defeat his ‘father’, and Izuku almost doesn’t survive the encounter.      I want to write this fic, and I think I should do it while it’s still cold and gloomy, because that’s the feel of the setting, but if I get distracted and don’t get around to it, I probably won’t be too upset.

7. “Parents AU” -- current WIP, 6k + notes. FFXV. Gladnis + Ignis&Noctis. Estimated total: 40k?       Teenage Ignis and Gladio happen to be babysitting the toddler prince when the Empire attacks, and in the chaos they manage to get safely mixed into the crowd of civilians fleeing the city. They decide to treat him as their own until they can be sure it’s safe to return him to someone with more seniority. But will it ever be safe? Fifteen years in hiding says no, and even when Noct is old  enough to be asked to save the world, there’s no way in hell his parents are going to let him go it alone.       I tried to continue writing this the other day and it was terrible. Painful. I almost cried. Literally every word of the 30 or so I managed before I gave up were the hardest things I’ve ever written. I think if I go back and play the game again (which I’d like to, since there’ve been updates and DLC), I think it will be easier. Honestly though, this is one of my favorite things I’ve yet written, so if I don’t see it to fruition, I will be moderately pissed.

8. “Same Heart” -- current WIP, 30k + notes. FO4. Estimated total: 90k (35k for act 1)      The great synth detective Nick Valentine is recaptured by the Institute, remade and reset. He awakes to his new life underground, unaware that he ever roamed the wasteland-- except for the rare moments when they plug in his old memories so they can grill him for info. Though the memories are gone again after every session, they leave an aftertaste of distrust for the people he’s working with, until it’s too much to ignore. Meanwhile, he finds himself as the only person who seems to truly care about the little boy they’re all calling their savior, doing his best to help him grow up with some modicum of love in this sterile environment. When Nick finally decides to break out of their fancy little prison, it’s not a question whether he’ll take Shaun with him, and it’s obvious where they’ll go: to find the parents the Institute stole him from.      This one haunts me, because I spent like 3 months doing practically nothing but writing this last year. I got almost, almost all the way through the first act (out of 3), and then… stopped. Now I know it’s going to be impossible to get back into. And this is already a very different story for me, because it’s essentially a gen fic. The intention is for acts 2 and 3 to focus on Nick and the ‘sole survivor’ Nora, but the whole first act is about him half-raising her son, Shaun. I really want to finish this, or geez, at least the first act! Because it is painful having 30k sitting around that nobody has ever seen. And it’s pretty decent! But even though I have 6 chapters done, I don’t want to start posting it until it has a halfway decent ‘conclusion’, so I need to finish the act. I have to.

And I’ll tag… uh… @oldseablues, @braincoins, @thenightisdarkandfullofbooty, @orionskingdom, @animeuzumaki7, @blessedblooduniverse, @rangrids, and anyone else who’s reading this and is also a writer. =] Tag me back so I can see it, please! ^^