#this is the first draft and I'm not a native speaker

[aowyn]

Hi, I saw that you’re doing a translation of the new No.6 novel and wanted to ask something. I’m sorry if this is a rude question, but are you fluent in Japanese? And have you done a full novel translation before? I’m sure it will be quite the task either way. I know the person who translated the old novels made notes on some difficulty conveying certain segments, and they translated other very large projects. Again I’m sorry if it is an odd question, but I am just curious on what the process will look like. Thank you for taking on such a large project also - i was worried the smaller fanbase wouldn’t have anyone willing/able to start so soon. I hope everything goes well.

Hi there, thanks for asking. While I am not a native speaker, I've been a student of Japanese for half my lifetime, and passed N1 on my first try a number of years ago. I'm also very familiar with Asano's writing, having read all of the No.6 novels in Japanese many times over the years. This is my first time doing a full novel translation, but I do have experience on smaller Japanese translation projects, and my wonderful beta team is here to help make my translation the best it can be!

The translation process generally looks like this. I do a first draft translation of a chapter, then send it off for beta. I work through all of the beta feedback, then check the draft against the original text again, making changes as I go. Then it's off for another round of beta feedback, and rinse and repeat until I'm satisfied with the end result.

I read through 9th Ave's posts about their experiences translating No.6, and found that they definitely resonate with my experiences so far with No.6 Reunion. For one, Japanese often lacks dialogue tags because it's usually obvious from speech patterns who is speaking. Compared to English, Japanese has a greater variety of first and second person pronouns, and more explicit variation in register.

For example, in the first chapter of No.6 Reunion vol.1, there is a conversation between two characters. In Japanese, this exchange goes on for pages without dialogue tags and the reader has no trouble knowing who's saying what, but in my English translation it was necessary to add some in because English lacks the clarity of the Japanese.

The extent to which one localizes for an English-speaking audience is also worth considering. Body language and gesturing is different in Japan and America. For example, there is one sentence in chapter 1 where a character makes the Japanese gesture for "money," which is a circle formed with the thumb and index finger. As a translator, I have a choice here. Do I leave that line as it is and include a translator's note explaining the gesture's meaning? Do I localize the gesture to the American one, which is rubbing one's thumb and index finger together? A dynamic translation would favor the latter, whereas a formal translation would favor the former.

All that is to say, it's certainly a big project, but one I'm very excited to be working on!

[chaosheadspace]

I'm going to shamelessly ask for both 📚 and 🌹

Hi TJ, thank you for sending in an ask and thank you for being so patient! I'm gonna get to all of these, it'll just be a hot minute. It should be illegal how busy I am, and all I really wanna do is write, goddang. But here you go. (Obligatory disclaimer that this is first draft and I am not a native English speaker.)

📚Library boys:

He can almost taste what he doesn't yet have, what he doesn't yet feel; mornings with Murphy and Orpheus that fill his heart with butter-soft warmth, lunches full of laughter and dinners made of sleepy but comfortable silences. He craves the satisfaction, the surety of a well-fitting, lived-in place for himself, longing for a day he doesn't feel like he'll have to carve it out of the space between Murphy and Orpheus with shaking hands and sharp tools, afraid of breaking away something that can't be fitted back, afraid of breaking something apart.

Reality feels like a draughty knit of his fantasies, the pattern too intricate for his clumsy fingers, stitches dropped all throughout, a chill creeping in.

🌹Home should be where the heart is:

It felt to him as if he was looking in on a ghost long past, so Hob closed the door again. But the next one, oh, the next one, Hob couldn't resist.

It was a big, generously equipped music room. Hob could see various drums, a few viols and other stringed instruments Hob couldn't name, and there, right by the window, stood a harpsichord. With a glee he hadn't felt in a long time, Hob sat down on the bench and laid his fingers on the keys. It was dusty, and his fingers left shining black imprints where they were otherwise grey.

Hob had never learned to play an instrument like this. He had listened to a few concerts, before, but the technical workings of playing one never found its way into the things he learned. He pressed down on the keys anyway with childlike wonder, awed at the dissonant, out of tune notes that sharply reverberated through the room. When he had enough, he turned on the bench to look around some more.

Opposite him was a tall shelf, [housing] boxes of various sizes and shapes, as well as a very particular wooden box that had Hob's heart beating faster with joy, for he recognised what it was. It had two windows in which one could see golden pipes, and a lever with which to turn the mechanism.

Hob jumped up and did so, maybe a little too fast in his excitement, for the melody coming out of the small barrel organ hopped and jumped funnily until Hob slowed his hand. It was a lovely tune; filling his heart with lightness and his feet with the desire to dance. Alas, he could not, or the music would stop.

[bunnygirllover45]

Do you have an editor for Something Rots? Like for text and writing I mean. To look over for grammar/spelling/typing mistakes or inconsistencies. Just curious. Some people also prefer not to have editors or only want people they know to look over their stuff, I'm just curious where you land.

I do have some friends helping me since I'm a non-native English speaker. Everything I write is first written in the language I'm most comfortable with, then I translate it to english— my writing style uses a lot of weirdly structured prose to help that feeling of confusion, and that is really hard for me to translate without making any mistakes in the process. I'm still learning to translate my drafts and not making them sound stiff or machine-translated, but thankfully I have great friends that help me to correct any mistakes I might forget.

[raddixie]

as non-native English speaker, how do you write and have you faced problems?

This question had me going like this ":(". Thanks for the ask.

But yes, I was not born with the privilege of learning English. Not at all!. In fact, I'm 24 and I just started learning English recently. Back when I was younger, our schools didn't support English teachings, so I didn't have the luxury to learn at all. But even when I started English lessons, it was something that barely scratched to the surface. I know many non-natives relate to what I'm saying. And yes, I faced a lot of problems, and I was frustrated with every time I tried to write sentences back then. I deadass only knew how to say "hello, how are you. Fine, thank you. " But I was satisfied, I wanted to learn more, and i wanted to tackle it even if I still suck with English to this day.

Struggling with ADHD also affected my writing and even my speech ability! My mind deadass runs fast for me to keep up, so I always forget what I wrote or that I end up missing 3 or 4 words in a sentence. Not only in English, but also in my native language as well.

As for writing, I also don't know how to write properly. I have friends who are always there to help me with grammatical errors and better ways to write a sentence. Including this @bathroom-lord dude. It was almost magical how 5 out of 7 online friends of mine are actually writers and I'm grateful for them all!

I'm going to give this advice to anyone who is like me: don't rush your writing, don't be afraid to make the first draft as messy as possible! You can edit it later and polish it however you see fit. Also, my number one advice, don't be ashamed to tell anyone you struggle. It's okay to ask for help from people who are more advanced in English or native speakers. Don't be afraid of a little criticism. And lastly, just do what you are most comfortable with. Don't pressure yourself. Don't think that you have to know fancy words or write in a certain poetic way! Simple English with the right grammar could really go a long way! And if your story is supposed to be from a certain era, again, don't be afraid to ask for help.

[obsidianpen]

Hello Pen! Idk if it has been asked (probably lmao), but have you some writing tips to share (if you can and want, obv)? Like, about your organisation?

I'm asking because I LOVE your work and I can't understand how on earth do you put so many details in your stories (it must be a natural talent, I'm pretty sure of it). Like, do you write them down somewhere in advance to keep track or do they come to you while writing? What about the plot and the general chapters ideas? Do you write it down somewhere and then reorganise it?

Aaand, I'm also asking because I've just begun my first story and I'm scared of writing a mess (literally, I changed the plot five times already because of this and anxiety).

Also, sorry for my poor English but I'm not a native speaker 🥹. Hope I made myself clear enough...

Wish you a good day!🫶🏻

I don’t often write those ideas down, no. Though I should! Some are in my head for a very long time before I get to write them; some come as I write. I think it’s a mixed bag for everyone. And that’s how it should be! All WIPs are just first drafts. Of course they are going to shift and change. If you are writing something, you can take one of two approaches: write as you go, post as you go, and hope for the best in that you will be able to finagle everything together into a coherent plot that might not be perfect (which is okay! It’s fanfiction!), OR, write the whole story first, edit it until you are happy with it, and post. I’ve never done the latter, because I thrive all the drama of posting a WIP. But I totally get how some people would hate that anxiety. So write it all first, have someone beta read it, and post when ready!

[korarmih]

i dont have much new drawings that i could show here but i want to publish smthing. I thought i should not restrain myself and should give to myself a will to share unfresh pieces because the lack of wish to deal with social media and artblock can sneak up very very quietly and make me freaky

if you have questions about my writing im not native speaker of teadrinking language /pos (sorry)

old thing from autumn 2023

spring 2024

bro's deathday is april 1 for real

spring 2024 too

fine im tired of writing in english myself, i'll use the translator

Why did I join this community in the first place, even though I log in tumler once a year?

It's just that in 2020 I created my sky au which was only interesting to people from amino (which is actively dying, ah), and in other social media people in general are not interested in aus in all fandoms (I'm trapped in creating fandom ocs since 2016 😭) (plus, my sky au is very…. specific.), so I thought there might be some feedback in a smaller circle of people.

But it's my fault here too, because I usually only draw pictures and hardly ever write lore, and it exists in small pieces in Russian, scattered in the amino posts that have been coming out for 4.5 years. ....Fffine, I have two character articles in the access link in Russian and other drafts. I still can't get my ugly hands to systematise all the data about au at least briefly

If you have the same problem, high five! 😂😂🤜💥🤛👍👍im not okay

Have a nice day!

.

Uh, these mysterious spirits again...

[loversofthestars]

Just reporting on the status of Rebel AU! It's still a rough draft. I want to write at least the first part of the fic, then edit it all and start posting chapters every other day.

I hope you Keeros will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. But please don't expect too much from it, I'm not a native speaker, so I don't even know if I write correctly 😭😭😭

[spacealligator]

I'm curious to know how you manage your documents for fics, so I've come to you with a few (possibly fun?) questions regarding your process !

1 - How do you name your documents? 2- If you have a multichapter fic, do you keep it all on one document, have a separate document for every chapter, or something else? 3 - If a situation arises where you want to make a drastic change that can essentially end up deleting thousands of words, do you commit to deleting those chunks and start fixing them right in the original document, or do you resort to making copies first so that you still have the original? Something else, maybe? 4 - Optional freebie slot ! Tell me something about your process that you might want to mention, but I didn't have a question specific enough for you to mention it !

hellou whoooo, thank you so much for the ask, here`s how my mess of a brain organizes everything?

1- most of the time the titles are just the theme of the fic, so for the Handsome Cop universe ie the title of the google docs was police AU for a long time, Ive had names like roommate AU, ame trio AU, flower AU etc very straight foward. I only change the title of the google docs once I settle on a title I really like, and that usually happens when Im about to publish and have to come up with something hehe

2- I keep all chapters in one doc, and also, if Im writing a series, theyre also in the doc because I often need to reference it to check some infos or really just the tone of the writing up until then. The worst part is correcting some info that you`ve been using for some time, like the age of a character changes, or something that happened in their past and they reference it a lot, then I have to go over the whole text and look for the specific mentions of that info and it just sucks

3- I have a google docs called kill your darlings where I put the scenes and ideas that were edited off my final drafts, I often go through the drabbles to check if there`s any cool idea in there I can re use under a new light

oh man 4 it`s gonna be a wild one

while reviewing and editing I often use text to speech tools to make sure that the writing sounds natural, its really useful for non native english speakers like myself

I have a spreadsheet of all my wips, with their % completion status, whats still on the pipeline to be written, and just silly ideas that I want to explore in the future (I had to do this because I had more wips than I could manage and was drowning in plot bunnies hehe)

when Im stuck I like writing on my phone because its hard to care about formatting, so I just shoot hundreds of words into a doc that when I open up in the computer looks like a enormous wall of text, and its easier for me to correct, edit and fill in the gaps once I have the main content on a page (blank pages scare me)

I often write all the dialogue of the scene first, and then fill in the gaps with descriptions and inner monologues, this way I make sure the conversations in my fics have some rhythm to them

most of my stories never had an outline, I just get this scene in my had and then I have to do the work around to get there and after it the consequences of it, right now Im working on my cowboy bebop AU and its the first time I really planned a plot, but I dont know whether is better or not

sometimes I go back to read my fics already posted but I often get an itch to correct things like wording and typos, but I dont because thats a rabbit hole I don`t wanna fall into

I hope you enjoyed reading my answers and got something useful out of them, I`d love to ask you right back and hear about your writing process too!

[confessionsofa-roleplayer]

Whenever someone asks why they don't get interactions they are told: "you need to reach out more". This might be true most of the time, but in my case it's not true. I admit, my writing is mediocre at best and while I do my best improving my writing, I can never reach the quality of an english native speaker. So I know, this is a huge disadvantage. However, back to the topic. My notifications are mostly silent and my draft is empty 5 out of 7 days. I have about 2 to 3 solid writing partners but they are very low activity. But here is the thing, I don't get new writing partners. I follow blogs first I find interesting (after checking their rules of course) = I get no follow back. I like starter calls or reverse starter calls = I get no starter nor a reply to my open starters. I reply to open starters I find in the tags = I get no reply back. I make starter calls or reverse starter calls = I get no likes. etc. you get the message. And it's not like I don't have any followers. I do have solid 80+ (which I know isn't much for most but to me it's a lot). The only thing I don't do is sending memes to people I've never interacted with. I'm not a fan of using memes as first interactions but that's a personal preference. Also I'm certain that it won't change a thing. At this point, I don't know what to do anymore. If you have advice, please tell me. My muses are shipable, I have male and female muses of all ages and ethnics. I write queer and straight ships. I write platonic stuff. I write slice of life, horror, supernatural, romance, fantasy, you name it. Hell, I even write the spicy stuff if someone wants to. I cannot give any more. And that leads me back to my only assumption of what's wrong with my blog: it's my writing, isn't it? Saddest part of that is that I am not an untalented writer in my native language.

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

This post was actually a shortened/kind of summarize version of the following post that has been sitting in my draft since August.

oOo

Spoilers for the few last chapters of Tokyo Revengers

More than probable use of wrong verb tense, possibility of typos and sentences which make no sense

Not a native English speaker

oOo

When he first saw her - and he realized he was about to see her before the hospital became visible in the window of the car - he cried.

He couldn't have hold it back. Apprehension had twisted his guts during the entire trip, each step sinking the realization deeper in his mind and yet he didn't dare to word it. The information had been an abstract thought - he couldn't find the word to make it take shape. Then he saw her, in the bed, exhausted, he didn't remember her not being exhausted. She smiled to him. It was easy to notice her eye-bags when her eyes became crescents of moon, almost close but never enough to stop looking at her youngest son. Her angel.

It had been five days since him and Takemichi came back, he had been so caught up in his new joyful - almost utopian - reality to think about what would happen on the following Wednesday. He didn't stop crying the day they came back either. He tried to. But the sight of Sanzu without his scars alongside Baji, Emma and Shinichiro got the better of him. It must have been an unusual look on his face, even back then, because Shinichiro let him have the day off of school. Sanzu and Baji left without him, concerned, and he wished he could have stopped Emma. He wished he could've trapped her in his arms and not let her go - but he had been too busy doing it to Shinichiro to hold her back.

He hadn't left his brother's side the entire day. And Takemichi didn't left his (later that day when he finally went back to his home - after lots of crying because 'I'm so glad you're happy' and lots of concerns and of 'are you sure you're okay, Mikey-kun?' - he got scolded by his own mother for skipping school. He most likely told her that he was 'helping a friend and couldn't leave him alone'. To be honest, Mikey indeed hadn't wanted Takemichi to leave him. He needed him to show him how to get used to it. It was new. It was confusing. He didn't know how to deal with all of this. He had never been tall, but the world became even bigger. He didn’t remember being so small. Everything felt unreal).

He didn't leave his brother for the weekend either. Shinichiro had been worried sick the entire time. Mikey simply couldn't help himself, he cried and cried every time the relief and happiness struck him. They were alive. Everyone. Everyone was.

(He barely slept, scared that if he closed his eyes it'd be taken away from him.)

(Shinichiro stayed up all night, working on his bikes. Checking on him every hour, agitated that his brother wasn’t sleeping.)

And it was not until Wednesday of this week, when Shinichiro jokingly said he must be truly insanely sick to not jump in the car the moment he could, then jokingly (and worriedly, really worriedly but he tried not to show it) asked if he hadn't forgotten something while holding up Mikey's old blanket, it wasn't until then that the thought that everyone was alive really set in.

He walked in the hallways of the hospital, surrounded by the whiteness of everything, as if he was in a trance. One of his hand was holding Shinichiro's, the other his old blanket. Emma and his grandpa were walking in front of them. Mikey was walking more slowly than how he was used to. But his surrounding were surreal - they weren't distorted but he put one step in front of the other as if they were. He had no idea how he was supposed to act. His grip had tightened around Shinichiro's hand and Shinichiro did the same thing in an attempt to comfort him, a painful confusion twisting his face.

The door opened. He saw her. She saw him. He froze. Time stopped. Shinichiro put his hand on his shoulder, then lightly shook it. He fell apart.

It hadn't been tears of joy.

Perhaps that's why he didn't think of her prior to that point. Everyone was alive - but they wouldn't be forever. But that was okay, because they would have time to live and he would have time to grieve and they'd all be old and happy and-

His mother had only a few months left. It was October, next year when the roads would be covered by the snow, she would die the same way she died the previous time. It couldn't be prevented.

He put his hands on his face, hiding it, ashamed. Crying in a public space was much more shameful than at home or alone. The feeling made him cried even more despite trying his best to hold everything back. He denied any sound to come out from his throat but his shoulders kept shaking. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. It was horrible. He hated it.

His old blanket was near his face now, and as if he wasn't so caught up in realizing his mother was alive enough, it finally clicked in his mind - 'it' being the reason his mother's scent was all over his old blanket. He must have been an idiot, for thinking it was because he was back in the past and it didn't have had the time to go away yet. Five days of holding it nonstop (for comfort, for it to absorb his tears, and because mom's scent is still here, I can't believe I haven't forgotten it. It's been so long) and he hadn't figured it out. (What could he have done if he did, anyway? But cry more?)

His palms were drenched in tears. And mucus. Crying was such an ugly thing to do, how could Takemichi do it so often?

Shinichiro (nobody had said a word, he wondered what their body language communicated) pushed him ever so gently forward. Mikey didn't protest and walked until his legs hit the hospital bed frame. Two hands - cold and safe - pulled him up and he followed, climbing on the bed his hands still on his face.

His mother’s arms caged him against her chest, fingers stroking his hair and caressing his back with care. A sob slipped out from the barrier of his lips, a flow of them quickly following. He didn't have neither the energy nor the want to stop it. He gave in to the comfort and didn't find it in himself to feel guilty about it.

Nobody made a sound but him with his awful uncontrollable sobs. He felt as if his throat and chest were being compressed. He was so, so exhausted. When was the last time he moved freely without an invisible weight crushing his body? When was the last time he rested without guilt suffocating him? And of course, when was the last time he lived without the curse carved in his veins?

It was too much. Too much changes. Too much hopes. Too much memories. What was and what could be, what would be, everything Takemichi and him had to plan - all too much.

Sano Manjiro didn't fear anything, but he did stress some times.

And he was letting it all out, everything he had held back for who knows many years because he was in his mother's arms and despite knowing he could be there again only for a limited number of times, despite knowing pain was near, he felt safe and unable to be convinced of anything else but that everything would be okay. His mom was comforting him, how could it not?

After a while (could’ve been ten minutes or two hours for all he knew) breathing finally came back to him, stabilized. He hated crying. It was more bearable when Shinichiro or his mom held him and hid him from the world.

He had turned his head to look at the room, quietly weeping. Shinichiro, Emma and his grandpa left at some point. He only noticed it after finally calming down in his mother's embrace.

He told her the same thing he told Shinichiro when she asked what was wrong - that he had had the worst nightmare. Then did his best not to say any detail as she - just like Shinichiro had the previous days - pressed him to share what he had dreamed of.

There was relief with confessing to his mom what had happened, even vaguely. His heart became lighter, getting rid of that burden. His mom was trust, his mom was safety. He could tell her that he had dreamed of losing every person he ever cared for one by one and how agonizing it had been. He could bitterly admit he was responsible for it happening, that it was all his fault. And he could also reassure her, saying that she didn’t have to worry, that a hero came to save him and promised to give him a happy ending. To give them all a happy ending.

He had woken up from the nightmare, and that was all that mattered.

His mom didn’t agree with him. She said that even though the nightmare hadn’t ended as one, it didn’t change the fact it affected him. That he shouldn’t shove it aside because it was over but rather do what he was doing at that moment : cry and look around for someone to listen and to console him, to do it as many times as he needed.

Mikey was of the idea that what was over, was over and remembering it wouldn’t do any good.

She softly scolded him with kind and loving eyes, removing the drying tears on his cheeks and they returned to tranquil silence.

His mom started humming a familiar lullaby, one he had had forgotten the lyrics of. He lost track of time, glad to spend the rest of eternity here. He exceeded the time he usually spent paying visits in the hospital. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay here forever, in perfect peace.

His conscience drift away without his notice.

When he woke up, he was on Shinichiro’s back, walking through the entrance of their house.

They walked by the calendar in the living room and Mikey didn’t want to count the remaining weeks before his mother’s passing.

Who was to say it’d stay the same ? It was his greatest fright at the moment - that she would die before the day he remembered her death happening. Or after. He didn't want to lose her again, but the uncertainty of when she would die was eating him alive.

Her dying before would make him panic because she wasn't supposed to, her not dying on the day he remembers her dying would make him panic because then when will it happen? He couldn't hope. He could only apprehend the inevitable.

Because that's what it was. Takemichi and him could try all they want, but they could only stop preventable death and it wasn't one. At the end of the day, people are meant to die. This included his mom, this included everyone else from his loved-ones to complete strangers. Death in itself was inevitable.

He cried again.

He had cried a lot during the first few weeks. Takemichi had hold him close and tight. He had cried too.

Takemichi really did cry for everything. Mikey remembered when he used to think such people were weak.

Takemichi suggested he tells his mother - about his past life. Perhaps under the guise of a nightmare (like he had done up to that point). That it would help. Mikey had no clue how telling his mother he killed someone would help, but he considered it (if only because Takemichi was the one to suggest it). This night, he pondered whether Shinichiro would've told their mother or father he killed someone if they had been alive. Then he realized Shinichiro wouldn't have ever killed anyone if their parents had been alive.

And their mom will die just like their father did. It was unavoidable.

This was the truth he didn't want to face.

She would die again and so would everybody else.

There was no other end to this story, beings live to die.

Beings live to love and grieve.

(He had to find a way to be the first to go.)

[foxes-that-run]

I would like your opinion on all too well tv 10 minute version. I always wonder about the sacred prayer line....and that she choose the wedding theme in I bet you think about me. Something about her relationship with Jake really messed with her. Was it really this short??? She referenced about breaking up multiple times....how in that short amount of time together??? Also her performances of all too well back than...they were sooo emotional, but wasn't that the time, she broke up with Harry??? And sorry, but one more thing, I'm not a native speaker, so I really don't understand the your Brooklyn broke my skin and bones line...what does it mean? I thought of a car, but I quess there is no Brooklyn car...???

ATW, as we all know widely considered to be about Jake. We also know this partial lyric of the '1st draft' from February 2011, which has the scarf (but no refrigerator light) and some lyrics which she hid with the paper in the lover journal that are presumably not part of the song / what we knew of it in 2019. (Steered it right into the ground is fascinating and reminds me of 'you drove us off the road')

To Fallon, she started talking about ATW10MV she said she was 22, then corrected herself to 21. Which maybe she was confused but is turning 21 is in the song and she's particular about age. The story she is telling is not the '1st draft' above, this is a later much longer version and potentially not the same muse:

The way that this song was written was, I was going through a bit of a sad time and I was 22 and I was in band rehearsals. I think I was 21 when I wrote this, and I was in band rehearsals for a tour that I was about to go on called the ‘Speak Now Tour.’

The Speak Now tour had 3 rehearsal periods for ATW10MV to be from:

January 2011 - tour started in Asia in February 2011, the same time that the '1st Draft' was written. So this is too early. The tour then went to Europe till March 2011. I've posted before about how she and Harry were in the same city and may have met in 2011.

May 2011 - She had a well publicised rehearsal for the US leg in which she told tickets to as a tornado benefit. The US leg then ran till November.

March 2012 - She had 4 months off before the last last Australian leg. The only rehearsal dates where she was 22, also the period Holy Ground was written which thematically fits. This is before Haylor was seen at the Kids Choice Awards.

The final ATW is presented as about Jake (who she dated for 7 weeks) who said [ATW] “has nothing to do with me".

So I think of ATW as about a composite character, Taylor first and foremost, but for muses I feel it took many lives, John, Jake and well... will we just pretend this isn't there?

Because Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield isn't letting that link go, he has brought it up in his book, in podcasts and in Rolling Stone.

Back to your actual question the 'Your Brooklyn' line

From when your Brooklyn broke my skin and bones I'm a soldier who's returning half her weight

This line is hard to decipher such and I can't say I completely understand it. Overall I think these lines are saying the relationship damaged her self-esteem to the point of self-destructive behaviour:

"your brooklyn" - film includes a scene where he is holding court, making her feel excluded. I take the 'your' of a place (that is not any one person's" as saying the muse made her feel out of place.

"broke her skin and bones" - skin and bones is emotional and physical devastation, it is both the core of Taylor and brings to mind being gaunt.

"I'm a soldier who's returning" - like the central metaphor in The Great War the war is the relationship. Here she has returned after the war gaunt and malnourished.

"half her weight" - Sadly I take this literally, but self esteem also.

On the topic of this muse... Taylor said:

To USA Today: "There's a kind of bad that gets so overpowering you can't even write about it," she says of that time. "When you feel pain that is so far past dysfunctional, that leaves you with so many emotions that you can't filter them down to simple emotions to write about, that's when you know you really need to get out."

and

The Guardian: [Hide away and find your peace of mind / With some indie record that's much cooler than mine.] "That was the most important line of the song," Swift says. "It was a relationship where I felt very critiqued and subpar. He'd listen to this music that nobody had heard of … but as soon as anyone else liked these bands, he'd drop them. I felt that was a strange way to be a music fan. And I couldn't understand why he would never say anything nice about the songs I wrote or the music I made." for more read @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim's Red post

Or her own words on TTPD:

And there we are again When nobody had to know You kept me like a secret But I kept you like an oath Sacred prayer and we'd swear to remember

I agree, this is so Haylor

[luciluck2046-md]

Damn so uhh...

I made the introduction for the Flesh&Sins AU fanfic! It's kinda weird that I forgot to make an introduction part for MD:GF AU, but I can't change stuff now! :3

Feel free to read it if you want, and if the story looks promising, add it to your reading list so you will get notified TwT

I will put the part here too.

(edit: I was wondering why nobody was reading it then I realized it was in my drafts lmaoooo)

Hi! I'm LuciLuck! The author behind this story which you are about to read!

I just thought that I need to explain some things before you start reading/I post the first chapter.

I write in my free time, so there's gonna be a BIG inconsistency in my posting schedule. I am also not a pro at this, nor a native speaker. You might find a lot of expiration errors or typos. Don't judge me too hard for this, but you can tell me where I did wrong or where I could improve. Also, at the end of every "Episode" aka chapter, I will leave a note.

Now enough about me, I need to explain the story. It's going to be relatively gruesome, but I'm gonna put warnings where it will be needed (eg: tw gore, tw depression, stuff like this). I'm also a bit sadistic so of course, the protagonist will go through the 7 circles of hell.

Now I'm going to put the description that is for the book HERE because some of you don't read it.

Uzi Akari Doorman is a "weirdo" and a "freak" (her own description) that loves a bunch of "cringe" stuff like anime, guns, and freedom. In her attempt at killing the first Glavex she met, Nash, she ends up with a new friend and a crush on his sister, Vixen!

But now her planet is in constant threat because of different causes and she is challenging herself to actually do something about her unhealthy habits.

/^ᐠ . .ᐟ\ฅ 𖥂 (<- this is how each scene is going to be separated)

Vixen Elliot is Nash's older twin sister and Jade's little sibling. She is a Glavex - A human genetically modified to kill and survive off blood. Her killing abilities are the highest in her team and she's avoiding her brother almost all the time until she can't do that anymore. While having to fight him, she notices the passion that a petty human has for revenge, who's fighting her older sister.

Now she's helping that "petty" human in her missions, but that doesn't mean that she isn't fantasying some... Unusual stuff about her. This young woman's challenge is understanding her emotions and trying to express them in a less violent way.

At the moment the first chapter isn't finished yet, but stay tuned in!

If you are bored while waiting, I recommend reading Murder Drones: Glowing Future AU! It's another MD AU that you might like! (it's also my most read book...) Please don't judge my writing too harshly. 🥲

[12thhouse-sun]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

@lanafofana threw glitter on me and then ran away therefore I am required to follow through with these shenanigans (love youuuu)

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

Eight!!! Hopefully more soon!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

67, 826

3) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

you're at the top of my lungs Gale x f!tav events of bg3 longfic!

fine art Gale x f!Tav emotional post-game smut plus some gale teasing

three's a party TWO, count em, TWO simulacrum threesomes

Axioms of heavenly bodies; an intimate analysis of systems unknown and the pleasures contained therein cute Gale x f!tav modern au smutty oneshot

a bene placito Gale x f!Tav married morning sex, cockwarming, etc

4) What fandoms do you write for?

Baldur's Gate 3 for now. Maybe I'll eventually get inspired enough to write some Dragon Age (Veilguard specifically, or maybe even Inqusition if I keep playing???)

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to! As a writer seeing a comment brings me THE MOST joy and so i want to thank each and every one of you for being there. And also as a reader, I love when the author responds esp if it leads to whole-ass convos. I've actually made friends this way!

6) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Uhhhhh the published WIPs I have right now I plan on having happy endings. And a few of the unpublished ones as well. There are a few early-draft WIPs that I'm considering a more angsty end direction, but there's so much angst fodder in Gale and Poppy's stories already, that I like the angst being throughout and then putting them back together.

But never say never!

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I guess Axioms? Because of the love confession, multiple orgasms, etc etc. Again, my published multi-fic chapters have yet to get to the ending so ask me again once both are finished lmao

8) Do you get hate on fics?

Nope! And if I get any I will cry

9) Do you write smut?

hehehehehehehehehe

10) Do you write crossovers?

I haven't yet, and don't have any in mind at the moment, even as just a loose idea. The closest idea that I have is a modern au bg3 fic where a local theater is putting on Heathers. Gale plays JD. I will not elaborate further lmao. OH I ALMOST FORGOT and a My Big Fat Greek Wedding idea but Gale is Toula lmao.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so? I hope not :sob:

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of but if anyone's interested PLEASE LET ME KNOW I'D LOVE TO CHAT

13) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Not yet! But the girlies and I chat enough about our blorbos where maybe something will happen @dr-demi-bee Miri and Poppy crossover fic? Maybe?

14) What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Oh god. The Doctor and Rose, probably.

15) What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Lmao all of them, ideally! I'd love to finish YATTOML because it's THE bg3 story and I know where I want it to go, I just need to sit down and write it. I also have a modern college au that I have big feelings about and would love to start publishing (ONCE IT"S DONE).

16) What are your writing strengths?

I've been told I nail Gale's voice and that I write very good smut. Other than that, I'm not sure? Maybe I should start asking for more explicit feedback lmao.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I can't focus on one fic at a time for long enough to contribute anything productive. Hence why I feel like I haven't published anything substantial in ages.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I think it's great, though I'd be too nervous to actually give it a go beyond a phrase here or there. I don't want the native speakers to be taken out of it. I love reading it as a reader, though.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

Baldur's Gate 3!!!!

20) Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh geez. Probably Axioms. I shared ONE snippet of an idea in the server and everyone was like MOAR PLEAAAASE and so I turned one snippet into a whole 6.8k word thing. It was the first time I really captured Gale's voice and there's something about it that's really comforting. Also Tara and Hey There Delilah lmao.

Lana glitter-tagged the whole server so I will add (no pressure obvs) @pouroverpaloma @tociminna @thecurlyginger

[dairogo]

20 Questions for the Writer

Tagged by @griseldabanks ^_^

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

Only 18 :O I have a bunch on fanfiction.net that I never transferred over, but they're all an extra 10 or so years older than the Ao3 ones so ... there's some disparity of quality, partly in the writing but also very much in the content present.

2. What is your total Ao3 word count?

168,935

3. What fandoms do you write for?

FMA! I had other things when I was younger, but FMA bit and it's the one that stuck with me.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Bed Too Small (Mustang POV, same bed trope, tongue-in-cheek)

Wayward Youth (Hawkeye POV, learning about crushes and affection from the girls at her boarding school while seeking her father's attention)

Order 3066 (Hawkeye and Mustang POVs alternating, Ishval fic about being broken and coming out of it [still broken, but moving])

Partiality (Mustang POV, post-canon, broaching the topic of a relationship)

The Next Step (shifting POV, written soon after giving birth to my youngest and in a bit of a family-related haze. Mostly fluff.)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I certainly try to! I might have missed some along the way, but I usually get there!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hurrrghgh, one from my ff.net days: The Manga-ka Has Her Reasons. It was basically saying, hey, they can't get together guys - things will go bad if they do. And so it ended with them both dead.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd say The Next Step, because it's just fluffy and lovely :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. The last time I remember feeling taken aback by a comment it was over a decade ago and it was someone rightly pointing out a factual error I'd made. The FMA community I've found myself in is largely positive, and I don't know if that's about the FMA community in general, or that the stuff I write appeals to people who are just cool about community instead of looking to be jerks. Whatever the reason, I'm very grateful!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nah

10. Do you write crossovers?

I've got a half written FMA/HP crossover that I started in like 2005, resurrected a few years ago, and then haven't touched for the last year and a half. Sigh. It's probably going to be stuck in my brain forever.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not a fic

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Royai for suuuuure <3 I'm so big on romance as a side-plot, and if that's not the perfect way to explain their relationship I don't know what is. Like, FMA aside, their own personal story is that romance is their side-plot, not their main thing.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Wayward Youth! I have a few really rough drafts of later chapters that need to be edited, but I still haven't written all the way to the end and I'm happily working on another project with all the time/headspace I have, so I don't want to interrupt that flow. But I'm hoping to slowly accrue the last of it, then go through and make it presentable and post it one day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I can write fairly clear action. And I like putting together a lot of threads to tug on as I go - not all big plot things necessarily, but just things that repeat again later to add an extra layer.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don't know. I feel like I can write in a very blunt way sometimes, so I have to be intentional about adding in colour and emotion - that doesn't always come through on the first try.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I wouldn't do this to show to a native speaker, oh boy oh boy nosirree! Currently reading a book on English idioms and my main thought as I looked at it today is that this is exactly why I'll never consider myself fluent in other languages.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In year 5 we had to co-write a story and my best friend and I basically wrote an AU of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Look, it depends on my mood. If I want something light and short, I can't go past Desperately Hoping He Didn't Look Like an Idiot (modern AU, Royai without angst). But I'm probably proudest of Order 3066, because it took a lot of work and a lot of emotional catharsis to get through that and I ended up with a bit of a deadline for when I had to finish it up and made it! So I feel good about it.

Tagging @scienceoftheidiot and @fullmetalscullyy if you're interested :)

[tedwardremus]

I have looots of fic ideas but i never wrote them 😭 english is not my main language so everytime i start to write something it doesnt even reach two paragraphs :/ i was going to ask for your advice since i really love your writing skill, it is just like how i write them in my mind

Thank you!!

I totally get how frustrating it can be to have so many fic ideas but struggle to get them on the page. Having ideas is already a huge step, though!

I'm not sure if I have good advice but here I go:

Start small and start messy – Don’t pressure yourself to write full, polished paragraphs right away. Try jotting down scenes, bits of dialogue, or even bullet points about what you want to happen. Writing anything, even if it’s incomplete or rough, is still progress! My first drafts really aren't much more detailed than my outlines.

Sometimes my drafts really are "Lily walks into Hogwarts Kitchens. James is there washing dishes with House Elves. Lily asks James what he is doing." I just try to get down on the document what happens in the story. And each pass through the document, I expand and add more detail and dialogue. Be messy for several drafts and then clean it up later. No one will know how messy it is!

Write like no one is watching – If worrying about grammar or perfection stops you from writing, remind yourself that fics don’t have to be perfect to be enjoyable. You can always edit later, and honestly, even native English speakers have messy first drafts! And messy final drafts! You are not a professional writer with a team of editors.

No one should ever expect your fic to be perfect. Who cares if you mix up your there/their/they're, or your/you're or if you don't understand how to use semicolons. I barely understand these things!

Use tools (but not ChatCPT!) – If certain words or sentences feel awkward, you can use translation tools, Grammarly, or even read books to see how others phrase things. But don’t stress too much! Your story and emotions matter more than perfect grammar!

Also, find a friend to be a cheer reader or beta reader! They can be the most helpful tool you have. People love editing fics, and you aren't being a bother by asking for help. You can learn a lot through a beta reader and sharing works in progress and having someone cheer you on is wonderful motivation.

Try writing in your native language first – If English feels like a barrier, start in your own language and then translate later (or even leave it in your language—there are readers who are looking for non-English fics!).

Remember that every writer started somewhere – No one is a great writer in the beginning. It takes practice. It takes time. It is a lot of draft and editing work. It is talking to other writers and being a part of a community. It is reading lots of different kinds of books to see how stories can be told.

Just go for it, take it one sentence at a time! Have fun!!

[mentallyisekaid]

About the "Fatui Harbingers x La Signora's Sister! Reader" fic...📌

ON HOLD!

I don't own Genshin Impact, just this fanfic itself - my work is copyrighted©, don't copy, modify or translate it

No nsfw content, not necessarily any romance either, just (intimately ^-^) platonic stuff

Might cross-post this on AO3 at some point

I'm not a native English speaker, so please bear with the grammar errors and weird phrasing if you come across them xd

Thank you for the support this work has received, it really means a lot to me ♡

~Author's note, updated on April 2025: My schedules and inspiration have been all over the place since last year, so the drafts for this fic have just collected dust💭 Frankly, I can't promise when or if I'll get back to writing this. Still, it's the first fanfic I've ever put more serious effort into, so it really makes me happy that some people like it⚘️