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jancy-central · 2 years ago

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Welcome, everyone, to another Spotlight Saturday!

This week we are spotlighting writer @throttlegainwell so read their answers to our ‘Get To Know Your Fic Writer’ questions below the cut. And here is the ao3 link to check out all of their amazing fics:

Reminder: This month’s prompt is ‘soulmates’…

…so please see our pinned post for more info. We have posted a lot of soulmate prompts for those needing some inspiration so check those out as well.

And as always, feel free to message us with any questions, whether you are a fic reader or a fic writer. Both of us write fanfic so we are open to helping however we can. Need a beta? Message us and we’ll either help you or put out a call for beta help! Hit writer’s block? Maybe we can help? Or maybe you just want to recommend a fic? SEND US AN ASK OR A DM!

Happy Saturday! ✍🏼 📖

Spotlight Saturday Questions:

@throttlegainwell’s answers:

1. I guess I prefer one-shots generally, but it's much more satisfying to me to write (and finish!) multi-chaptered fics.

2. A mix of both? There's usually at least some degree of planning for each chapter, but sometimes I just see where it goes.

3. ... It depends on the story. Usually, I'm rushing to slap a bunch of ideas into a document as quickly as I can type (or writing notes on my phone). Lines of dialogue, character ideas, themes I want to address, bits of description or narrative or details to include, plot arcs, whole scenes sometimes... I get those into one doc (which I clean up as I go, if I'm copying them over from my phone), then I create a corresponding doc titled LINEAR that I typically view side-by-side with the fragments/notes doc. I move bits into the LINEAR doc as I work, once I know where they're going or have a place for them (like when I've built the connective tissue), until the first doc is empty; I finish writing in the LINEAR doc. There's usually a brief summary of the story, by that point, in the Synopsis window on the right (I work in Scrivener) so I don’t get too off-track, and I'll probably have some notes in the Notes window, as well as any warnings that will be necessary if I post it (so I don't forget later). But sometimes I just sit down and write, like, an entire story, without thinking about it, or I'll try something stream-of-consciousness or experimental. And sometimes I actually do outline (though sometimes that outline is just a bunch of things that I know need to happen, and I drag those around until the order of them feels like a satisfying arc--I wrote an entire 40k+ story that way).

4. Oh, everywhere, I guess. From the source material, definitely. From books I read, concepts I've studied, themes that just interest me so they tend to crop up in my work or maybe I want to try a different spin on them. Sometimes a story I've written/am writing sparks an idea, or I want to try a variation on it to see where it goes, so I branch off from that. Sometimes I just want something, out of the blue. Occasionally, I browse prompts.

5. Nah. I did the whole concrit thing back in my early fandom days. I'm here to have fun and I assume so is everyone else.

6. Nope! I used to do beta reading, a long time ago, and I've casually edited for fandom friends, but I've never used a beta reader. I don't really see myself starting now.

7. Whichever one is the most interesting for the story or whichever one best serves the story's goals, usually. Sometimes because I haven't tried a particular POV before and I just really want to give it a shot, or because I'm writing it with one voice and the voice of a different POV character just *feels* right or sounds really interesting. But I've been branching out a little! I'm usually very committed to 3rd person limited, but this past year, I've been trying switching POVs a bit, I'm writing one story simultaneously from two different POVs (beginning to end, for each) just because it's such a different story for each character, and I'm writing one from omniscient POV because it was really the only one that would do what I needed.

9. I usually try to! (Not always. But usually.) I don't read a lot of fanfic, due to what I imagine is the very common combination of lack of free time and quite severe concentration issues (though I've always been a big reader and I love it a lot, so this is, needless to say, a massive bummer). It's worse with fiction than non-fiction, so if I actually manage to read a fic, it's a safe bet that I probably took notes during and the author will hear *at length* about all the ways I enjoyed it and what I found really interesting or memorable.

10. I have many WIPs, but blinks only came up in a few. One is too explicit to share here, but here's one: He can’t tamp down a shiver at the thought; he blinks extra hard, resisting the urge to grasp the back of his neck protectively.

11. Ooh. Like I said, I don't read a lot of fic (and I haven't read that many for the ST fandom), but I very much love what maddie_grove is doing with Tonight, Tonight, The Highway's Bright. I wildly enjoyed where the hours bend, by fakelight. And this world is gonna pull through, by scoutshonour, hit just right.

12. I don't tend to expect much feedback. I post because otherwise I'll go back and tinker with fics, and I don't really have the time for that, plus at a certain point it's not fun anymore, but I'm still messing with it. So when it's done enough that I've accomplished what I set out to, I post to free up my brainpower to move on to other things. It doesn't necessarily discourage me to not receive it (usually), but it really does encourage and motivate me when I *do* receive it. If someone enjoys a story and wants to talk about it, I'm likely to write more works in that vein or explore those ideas/characters/fandom more. I’m more likely to go back to a WIP if people are excited about it with me. I've received some truly lovely, thoughtful, analytical, humbling, and memorable feedback, and I hugely appreciate and enjoy all of it.

13. Don’t delete/erase anything. Save it all.

14. I tend to get into a certain headspace to write, but I wouldn't say that I usually feel what the characters are feel. Sometimes, I probably do. (I'm one of those people who moves their lips when they read an emotional scene, so I guess I do get a bit into it while I'm writing! Embodied cognition, what a trip.) I do sometimes draw from personal experience, but typically only in very broad strokes.

15. Happily. :) I've written a LOT of sex scenes over the years, for a lot of different thematic, narrative, and character purposes (and sometimes just for rule of horny, rule of funny, or to explore a particular kink). I approach each one differently, based on the tone I'm trying to set, whether I want it to be particularly erotic or emotional or something else, the level of narrative distance I want the reader to feel, what the characters are like, what the overall genre is. Sometimes I get visual or detailed, depending on what I'm trying to do (and whether I feel those characters would do so or whether it would be a help or a distraction in that moment), but I tend to depict the internal processes more than the physical details. The sensory aspects. The observations, interpretations, and reactions. Connections between characters, if there's more than one. I personally tend toward realism in my sex scenes, but I'm not going to pretend that I don't skirt the edges sometimes or just say fuck it and throw realism out the window for a particular story. But I don't think realism is necessary in smut (or any fiction, when it comes down to it). It's a matter of preference.

16. Omg how many fic ideas am I NOT nurturing right now. Way, way too many. Here's a Jancy one that hasn't quite made it to the WIP stage (still in the synopsis-in-dedicated-doc stage): Jonathan and Nancy break up over the college thing. (It’s not really the college thing.) Years later, as they're both settled into their careers (Jonathan as a photographer, Nancy as a journalist, both constantly traveling for work and hard to reach), they end up sharing a room when they visit for Lucas and Max's wedding. Lots of angst, lots of pining, lots of denial, and ultimately an exes-getting-back together story. Sometimes you just want the cliche done your way.

17. I just don't write, tbh. I try to address whatever issue is preventing me from writing (if possible) or (if it's beyond my control) I just accept that it's not a writing period of my life. I'm happier when I'm writing regularly, and I do think it's good for me overall, but I'm not going to let hobby writing cause me genuine stress. (I've got non-hobby writing for that, ha.) I take it as a sign that something is wrong or that I'm just tired of writing and need to recharge (by engaging some other interest or hobby for a while).

18. Depends. Sometimes the title comes first, sometimes during, sometimes after. Sometimes I really do just fall in love with a title, though. I rarely struggle to title fics after the fact, but when I do, I'll just slap a quick and vague title on there and call it a day. Often it's a pun or something relevant, sometimes an important line from the story, sometimes lyrics. I have a series of art-related titles for some Will stories I want to do and some science ones I have saved for some Dustin stories. Some photography terms for Jonathan. Stuff like that.

19. Turns out it's hurt/comfort! This should surprise no one.

20. Oh, have I ever. Yeah, I've had people read enough of my work to point out themes that I tend to tackle a lot (I'm big on autonomy, resilience, and kindness--you'll see them repeated a LOT in my work, from different angles--and, yeah, I write about trauma a lot), and I definitely have some words/expressions that pop up a lot (and with each passing year, I try a little less to cull them). Also, you'd be hard-pressed to find a story of mine where someone isn't making, drinking, or talking/thinking about coffee. No reason. It just... seems to happen.

21. I had a shared 'verse with a friend, a long time ago. It was a huge amount of fun. We really gelled and produced just tons of material for it that had us in tears laughing and, you know, was also incredibly horny. That was a shared 'verse, rather than a collaboration for an entire story, but, yeah, I'd say that I'd be willing to collaborate. I don't consider myself terribly reliable or consistent, though, so I worry that a potential writing partner would find this frustrating.

22. I used to think so, but, honestly, I've been proved wrong many times, so I'd say no, not really. There's not a lot that I absolutely won't write. There are a few things that remain pretty serious squicks for me, but I'm sometimes able to write about things that I would find difficult to read. Some things also don't necessarily interest me or I would find it technically difficult to write them.

23. Don't worry about making it beautiful. Just get it all down. (You can’t sculpt what’s not there, you know?) And in that vein: write EVERYTHING down. Even if you’re not sure it works. Don’t assume you’ll remember or won’t need it. Just write everything.

24. Anything that's involved regimentation. That just doesn't work for me in every case. It's important to be flexible, both to discover what *does* work for you or to be able to move between different strategies for different stories or at different times in your life. Close second, though: that you should mine your pain to write because that's where true art comes from. That advice is shit. Sometimes art is aliens fucking in a time warp and also there's a ghost with daddy issues. Write whatever the hell you want. It does not have to be profound literature to be a good story.

25. For my ST fics? I think I've gotten a pretty decent response for most of what I've posted, considering it's all very niche and this is a massive fandom (and one to which I came extremely late and very recently). I guess a little more response for already wise, already worn might have been nice, just because it's a weird little experimental story that I think actually came out really neat, but it's *very* niche so I never expected much response. Or possibly Two Steps Forward, just because I think it's an interesting little ghost story that's different from everything else I have posted, and I really do have a soft spot for gen works.

26. For my ST fics, our future foe scenarios is a pretty odd one. We've got Nancy really feeling her big sister duties while also kind of worrying about Jonathan, making out with him, then convincing the Party to let her earnestly and VERY awkwardly talk to them about the importance of consent (and kind of roping Jonathan into helping her, which he's not happy about but dutifully does). It’s kind of clumsy, but she means well.

27. I love when the ideas slot into place, when I know where things are going, I see how it's moving, and I get all the pieces lined up so it's a straight shot to the end. Extremely satisfying. I dislike working out the kinds of technical details that I'd prefer to gloss over but that are sometimes story-significant, like ages and timelines. I'm increasingly just ignoring that shit.

28. Apparently I'm getting several thousand words done a day, on average, with as many as 6-7k some days. But I'm happy if I just do a couple hundred, or a line or two. This has just been an unusually productive year for me.

29. Ideally: I ignore it for a couple of weeks until I've forgotten the shape of it, then I read it over with fresh eyes. Increasingly: when it's written, I go over it for typos, overall continuity, basic coherence, and (if it covers sensitive themes) to make sure that I'm not inadvertently presenting something wildly hurtful or counter to my goals. And then I just call it done.

30. I'd say that I never really polish all that much to begin with, these days. I mostly post 1st drafts, even though there's typically stuff that I would pretty easily catch and adjust if I gave it a real once-over. I've just decided that I'm okay with not fussing with it very much. But I share WIPs these days, some of which are pretty rough. (I did not used to do this that much.)

#jancy spotlight saturday #spotlight saturday #writer spotlight #jancy fanfic #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #jancy

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sugoi-and-spice · 2 years ago

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Okay Hi again. I'm the Anon that made Dust Daddy Bible a thing. I wish to open the Dust Daddy Bible again and take a few new notes as I am curious if you can reveal some hcs about the Reader that once again has already been revealed/you wish to share? Maybe even some Hcs bout other characters like Spinner? Maybe some hcs that'll never see the light of day that you wish to share?

I'm also a bit curious on what inspired you to write PN and how does your general planning looks like for the series? I was inspired by you to start my own fanfic but alas...making hcs and an actual story is very hard and ends up in the dirty mostly white gutters fast.

Hey Anon! So glad to hear that my weird little Au fic inspired you!! I'm certainly happy to explain my inspiration and process a bit!

This took A LOT longer to write up than I anticipated, but I wanted to be thorough lol. So, in an effort to not make these novel of a post any longer than it needs to be, I'm just gonna answer the second half of your ask, rather than the headcanon stuff. But if you wanna re-ask that in a separate message I'll be happy to answer. ^_^

Alright, onto Spice's Fanfic Plotting 101!

So full disclosure: I get a lot of (if not most) of my ideas from other media and in some case other fanfics. For Play Nice, I was really inspired by the fic: The Danger Next Door by ratmonkey. I really liked that dynamic of the creepy forced friend with the popular girl and wanted to explore that in a one-shot. But of course, as I got writing, I ended up taking it in a completely different direction that I thought better suited the types of long-format stories I liked to tell and fit better in my writing style. And they went in two wildly different directions.

I'd never be ashamed of that idea origin though -- and neither should any of you. If you decide that you want to write literally the plot of Titanic but with Jujutsu Kaisen characters, fucking do it - it'll be original just on the basis that it'll be written by you. It's as the saying goes:

Good artists borrow, great artist steal.

So that's where the original idea came from. But as for expanding an idea into a full fic? Lately, I've been using the three following steps to do that:

1. Pilot.

2. Outline.

3. Schedule.

Self-explanatory right? No? Haha, well then--

So a pilot, in the way that I'm using the term, is the first episode of a tv show that serves as a prototype of a series. When a network likes a concept that they're pitched, they'll typically order a pilot episode to showcase the series' potential and gauge audience interest before committing to making a whole season.

This is essentially the same thing I do with a fanfic concept - a Pilot Phase. I write the idea as a one-shot or short multi-chapter fic, something that has a satisfying ending if I leave it as is, but that I could also expand on later. I measure how good or poor the response is as well as my own enjoyment and inspiration while writing, and if it's all great - I'll move forward into turning it into a longfic.

After that, I move into the Outline Phase. Outlining goes such a long way in keeping a fic consistent and motivated, imo. There are a lot of writers that start writing without any goal in mind, and then eventually burn out because they run out ideas. No shade to anyone who does btw! There are writers out there who can write without an outline and make something complete and amazing. And even those who do end up running out of ideas and abandoning a fic, fanfiction is all about fun at the end of the day. But for someone looking to break out of that habit and finish their long fics consistently and with quality, outlining and having a clear direction can really help mitigate these pitfalls.

Outlining can also work wonders for eliminating the ever-dreaded blank page. If I'm starting a chapter, even copy-and-pasting a word for word description like the following gives me something to work with:

"The beginning of MC and Shigaraki’s new routine. Bratty back and forths. Although by the end of it, Shigaraki decides that the time they have together is not enough and sets a new plan in motion."

And then I can expand and flourish the language from there, I'm not starting from nothing.

But of course, writing out a whole outline can be just as intimidating if not more so - after all, how do you go from a blank page to "here's all the plot!"? Well, this is why the Pilot and Outline Phases actually go hand and hand for me. Writing a Pilot/One-shot version when I'm first inspired by an idea means that when I start expanding it into a long fic, I'm also not starting from nothing! I already have a story or dynamic started, so it's a lot easier to build ideas and plot-points off of that, rather than just pulling a whole story out of thin air. They're very symbiotic.

Now, writing a good outline could easily be a whole giant post itself, and there's no one right way to do it. For me, I really like to use my outlines to track character arcs and different storylines. Play Nice has about four major different Plots and Sub-Plots going on that I label alphabetically and track in each episode.

Now as anyone that has read Play Nice can tell, these story beats are not necessarily all separate scenes or plotlines or anything - the A, B, & C Plot of this episode are all part of the same actual scene, but I still like to note them and the different effects that even one line of dialogue has on all these different plot points!

Identifying which story beats belong to which plot points helps me keep track of the progress of each one so that I don't write five chapters in a row just about Shigaraki and his relationship with AFO and suddenly realize "Oh shit! MC hasn't been in the story for like five chapters!" (Extreme example, but you get what I mean lol).

I also write out character guides and such in my outlines with the characters' wants, needs, and - in these AU fics - their alternate backstories. Crafting those things for a character however could, once again, be it's own whole post - but knowledge of Want vs Need and keeping character arcs in mind is what takes any piece of media to that next level, not just fanfic. :)

(You can find a great brief on Want vs Need here - welcome to Spice's film school friends xD)

One last note on outlines, is that you don't have to be beholden to them. I move around plot points I've outlined for earlier episodes into later episodes all the time. Play Nice was originally outlined as like a 15 chapter long-fic, but as the story has developed, that's obviously doubled (potentially tripled as I already brain-storm the sequel lolol). But yeah, Outlines are a map, not a bible.

So the Pilot and Outline phases make up the bulk of my patented fanfic process lol. But the icing on the cake that really keeps a fic moving for me is to keep a Schedule.

Full transparency if you didn't know already, I've worked professionally as a freelance writer for a little over three years now. And before that I got a BFA in Screenwriting. So I'm admittedly pretty used to having weekly deadlines for my creative writing now. My grades and rent have depended on it for 7+ years. There were absolutely weeks where, even on a project I loved, the absolute LAST fucking thing I wanted to do that week was write. But I had to push through if I wanted to get paid.

By setting the same type of schedule and expectations for myself, I'm able to hold myself accountable and force my way through even the worst writer's block. There's no real other trick to this one, I'm sorry to say. You just need to set a doable schedule and stick to it.

Now, I am fully aware of the irony of me stressing the importance of schedule right when Play Nice is in a bit of a slowdown - but I am only human. And while I have switched to a monthly posting schedule, I do still keep a similar writing schedule: I try to finish at least a rough draft of a chapter every two weeks. It just takes me a lot longer to edit the chapters now because they're so freaking long these days.

And, you know, this isn't my job. I write fanfic to have fun and explore ideas and themes that I don't necessarily want connected to my personal brand (*cough* Non-Con & Problematic Relationships *cough*), as well as to write for fun without the worry of whether or not an idea is sellable. If any of you do decide to take these tips and tricks for yourself, please remember to keep having fun and not put too much pressure on yourself!

(Also, a little Step 2.5: I try to have at least two chapters - preferably three or four - written past what I'm posting that week. For example, Chapter 20 is the last chapter I uploaded, but I'm actively writing the rough draft for Chapter 23 at the moment. I write in little arcs essentially, that way I can switch out moments between episodes and make edits to keep them all connected).

So, yeah! That's more or less my process! There's a lot more I could say but this post is already way too long, so if you have any follow-ups please feel free to send them in. Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk lol. I hope it was helpful for some of you and not just super lecture-y and pretentious. 😅 At the end of the day, whether you write a one-shot or a long fic, finish or abandon it, the fact that you put your ideas into existence is amazing.

¡Adiós!

#spice answers #spice writing academy #fanfiction #fanfiction writer #fanfic #writing #creative writing #on writing #writers of tumblr #writblr #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writer #writing advice #fanfic writing #fanfic advice #writer resources

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onigiri-dorkk · 2 years ago

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Goals + updates for 2023!

(plus sneak-talks into my future fics!)

ALRIGHT RIVAMIKA FRIENDS! This evening (now that I've finally come back from my short New Year's trip... as well as recovered from major car sickness on the way back home l o l), my birthday-week-and-writing-sabbatical (😂) officially begins!

If you've been following, I've been hustling since November with my IRL workload and it has taken time away from writing and fandom things, so I had planned that from January 1st for a whole entire week I will dedicate my time to rest in the form of writing. No work, no emails, no ads...

NOTHING except sitting in coffeeshops or beautiful places and writing stories from my heart again.

During the holidays I had a couple of technically free days, so I wanted to get a one-shot in to get myself ready and warm up for this week (and then produced last week's one-shot, The Perfect Brew, which might mark my all-time favorite one-shot I've written so far).

The hard part was deciding what the heck to focus on and commit to. I thought about keeping it free, but knew it would lead to more one-shots, which is fine too.

But after I came back home and rested, I sorted through my WIP's (which, at this point, I actually have 7! I just forgot about 4 of them omg) and I rediscovered a WIP in my Google Docs I loved and forgot about, and that is the orphanage fic.

I don't think I've shared much about it just yet, but it will be a multi-chapter fic set after Season 3, and both Historia's orphanage and castle will play a big role in the plot for Levi, Mikasa and the Scouts. Obviously I don't think I will complete the entire fic just in this week (sheesh... I can't even imagine?!) but I aim to make a good dent in it and hopefully publish something by my birthday weekend :) I believe this is the one I want to make the most progress in, and hopefully get something published from it, though I can't promise timely updates the way you got Microcosmos every week or two.

Also on the back burner that I might trudge through this week is the Ackerman (Kenny, Levi, Mikasa) short-fic, and a post-war reunion fic that will likely be a long-fic. Then deeeeeep in my backburner is also a post-war long-fic that will circle around Levi and Mikasa and gang as Paradis refugees; I foresee this as something that will be a lot darker and angstier.

I'm honestly just excited for starting 2023 dedicating passion-time to writing; it feels like me saying YES to dedicating this full year to growing as a writer. I only began writing in May so it's strange that I haven't even hit a full year of doing so... But knowing that 2023 is starting and ending with me in love with writing is just exciting. I'm PUMPED. I have other ideas (maybe starting a Rivamika-specific writers' accountability group, etc) but I'll save all of that for another time hehe.

All this to say, thank you to all of my fandom friends I've made here who have encouraged me and brought me soooo much joy and inspiration literally on the daily. You don't understand how much your presence here has helped me in my real daily life, and has sustained this newfound inspiration. It makes writing and creating art not feel like an echo-in-a-chamber. To have real people enjoying what we create together, encouraging each other in the process, and sharing their joys for it, it's just sooo important and meaningful. Thank you all!! I will continue to ~dedicate my heart~ to creating art in lots of forms for our lil community here. :)

Please look forward to another year of Onigiri's proud hyper-fixation on Rivamika ;)

(P.S. I can see my nighttimes being filled with reading all of y'alls fanfics that I haven't gotten to read yet!!! PLS!! I CANT WAIT!)

#rivamika #rivamika fam #rivamika family #Levimika #Levi x mikasa #mikasa x levi #oh also #another small goal for 2023? write 1 TwiYor and 1 CloTi fic!

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fountainpenguin · 2 years ago

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While I'm sad you're not going to continue 28 Cities, could you answer some questions about it for closure sake?

DID RHYME GET AWAY FROM ZEPHYR?????? Because you kinda left off with them being set up to work at a hotel thanks to Rhyme's grand parents. Part of me is wondering that the reason why Rhyme and Reason moved through so many cities is because Zephyr is chasing them… I assume this might end with Rhyme fighting him in a climactic battle or something.

What made them want to become villains? You kinda set it up in earlier chapters with Reason pickpocketing the rude lady on the train and…. Rhyme's entire childhood of being raised by a supervillain and forced to train. What was the thing that made them become villains?

I believe you mentioned a misadventure with stealing a blimp. Do you mind elaborating on that?

What made them choose the names Rhyme and Reason instead of Super Strong Woman With Freeze Breath and Normal Guy?

Hi, thanks for the interest in my story! Although I'm not writing "28 Cities" at this time, I haven't truly abandoned it.

In truth, I went into that story without a plan because "28 Cities" was a "drabble a day" project I was trying to do, posting one chapter per day. I burned out pretty quickly because I genuinely struggle to write short things and I always wanted the one-shots to be longer, and I was getting overwhelmed and disappointed with it. I don't consider that story a great reflection of my writing abilities. I decided to put it on hold until I was ready to look at it again.

I do like the WordGirl universe and I explored it more in my one-shot "AlgoRhythm," but part of the problem was that the strict schedule I was holding myself to with "28 Cities" didn't give me enough space to worldbuild the way I wanted to. I have a lot of ideas about the world, like charm schools and genetics, and I wanted to write a bigger 'fic to explore those ideas instead.

I'm working towards that goal now with my multi-chapter Kid Math 'fic "Factor It In," which I started back in 2018. I made good progress with it back then and even drew a cute cover image I still love, but I never posted it because it felt choppy and inauthentic to my style, and I hated that.

Earlier this year, I did tidy the first few chapters of it and they're officially part of my weekly 2023 'fic schedule now ("Factor It In" Chap 1 goes up on FFN/AO3 on June 16th!) so that makes me happy :) I've got two chapters fully written (but at the end of Chapter 1 I have a note asking readers for advice on chapter length so it might end up being three chapters already done). Hopefully people enjoy that, I'm glad I had the chance to revisit it.

In short, "28 Cities" is not a dead project in my mind. It's just not part of my plans this year because it would take a ton of mental effort to plan and write for, and it won't fit in my 2023 plans.

I didn't really plan anything for "28 Cities" so you're probably not going to like my answers, but hopefully they provide some closure anyway.

---

In response to your questions:

Did Rhyme get away from Zephyr? - Probably, but I never planned it one way or another. Rhyme and Reason ran off a week or two before graduation and I doubt he's still chasing them when they're in their... 30s? He'd be in his 60s.

/It's been a long time since I saw the episode so forgive me if they had a canon age that I forgot. I'm not sure what I headcanon Rhyme and Reason as, but maybe 30s since they've lived in 28 places and it cracks me up to imagine world-weary Reason painstakingly decorating every single apartment until Rhyme blows it for them.

I don't want to commit to that for sure, though my heart will always belong to "Rhyme and Reason are legitimately adults who are platonic best friends and no one even bothers telling them they're "too young and will change their minds about being platonic when they're older" because yes they really are adults and they're happy." As far as I'm concerned, they're zucchinis and I love that for them <3 Gosh I wish that were me.

To me, Rhyme and Reason were always bouncing around because Reason wanted to put down roots and Rhyme didn't, but I never thought about her dad pursuing them. Zephyr's kind of a bitter and broken man who already lost his wife and is on awful terms with his in-laws after taking the villain route. He probably WOULD want to attack Reason for "stealing his daughter" and I can imagine Reason getting beaten up badly while Rhyme stands in shock, but I'm not sure how I'd actually play it if I went that route.

To me, Zephyr was more of the inciting incident that pushed Amy and Tyler out of their hometown, but I didn't really intend for him to be the climax. Since it was a one-shot series I didn't really see a need for a climax, but if I were to revisit it years later, I might try building towards one. Who knows.

What made them become villains? - I didn't plan that either. It's already established in WordGirl canon that "superheroes usually work for free." I built this into the backstory of Rhyme's dad (i.e. a hero who became a villain to feed his daughter after the death of his wife). In addition to Reason pickpocketing that lady who was rude to Rhyme, like you mentioned, I already painted Rhyme with a violent nature (i.e. destroying prom after her dad banned her from going) so they were probably just struggling to survive. I'm not really sure yet.

Rhyme dealt with a lot of turmoil growing up, being born to a superhero who turned to a life of crime, and she looked down on villainy for a long time. In "28 Cities," I wrote about how she ran from home and hid at her grandparents' place, and they helped her and Reason get that hotel job. I like to think these early years were focused on her and Reason building their friendship, but the crime didn't come until later. I'm not sure what sparked it, but it was absolutely after they were already "ride or die" for life.

My guess is they were probably hungry and couldn't pay rent and probably had medical bills or something [i.e. Reason getting beaten up by Zephyr so Rhyme swallows her pride and does everything she can for him even though she hates it at first] and Rhyme's grandparents were already out of their lives for a long time, so things just got tough.

Don't take this as my official canon because I still want the option to change it later if I want to, but that's a possibility for your question.

Stealing a blimp - I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you're referring to. I did a CTRL-F in the full version of the story and I didn't see anything about a blimp. I checked my OG doc and my blog, but didn't see anything in either of those places. It doesn't sound familiar.

What made them choose the names Rhyme and Reason? - I never decided, though I do headcanon that Rhyme was rhyming even when she was young, so her name was inspired by that. The phrase "rhyme and reason" is pretty common, so once Rhyme got her name, Tyler was probably like "Yeah, Reason suits me." He's the kind who couldn't care less at first, but ends up proud of his name. I'm sure he's the one who designed their logo, too.

Thank you for reaching out, and I'm sorry if this reply is less than satisfactory. "Rhyme and Reason" is my favorite episode and I love them dearly, and I'd rather focus on other projects that are more important to me right now, and maybe do "28 Cities" justice at a later time, and not butcher it in a rush <3 It's not dead to me, it just won't fit into my plans for 2023.

#asks #ridwriting #28 Cities #Rhyme and Reason #Satirical vocab alien child show #Long post

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13uswntimagines · 4 years ago

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Update on Requests

So I feel bad, but in the effort of transparency Im going to post the dreaded list of requests that i'm probably never going to fill. To be honest, the list has stayed out of control, even though I tried to pair it down considerably. I look at it and it makes me feel guilty about the projects I want to work on.

I want to produce the best stuff for you guys, and i don't feel like i can do that if i force myself to write about things I'm not passionate about and/ or realize i don't have the knowledge or research base to finish. I think in this instance it's about quality over quantity. This is supposed to be something I enjoy and looking over the list turns me into a giant stress ball, and then like no writing gets done.

There are several requests that will stay on my active list, and won't be listed below. I am 100% committed to filling these (you can ask just about any person i interact with because i talk about it all of the time).

If you happen to find one of your requests listed below and are upset, please message me. I will explain my reasoning and it's 100% plausible that we can come to a mutually beneficial resolution.

I'm sorry guys, i just want to do the best i can and enjoy doing it. I hope you understand.

The Dreaded List

binoe as parents where r comes out as trans? you don’t have to, i just thought it’d be kinda cool to read especially as someone who is trans.

Binoe x toddler reader where the Team meets super shy reader after a football game. Reader is like small and cute but fast as hell and in the end runs around with a couple player

hey could you do a christen x reader where r plays for arsenal and chris is at man united and they have to play each of and arsenal wins so r feels bad so decided to take christen on a date to make up for it if that’s ok ?

Christen Press’s daughter and moves over the play in europe for arsenal to prove she’s not only christens kid so when r has to play against tobin and christens she plays the best she ever has and scores a hat trick and some cute mother daughter moments at the end if that’s ok?

Emily sonnett imagines where the reader meets The team and Emily family as well? Like R plays softball and Emily takes her family and the ones that she is close to from the team to the game and surprise R as well?

Alpha sonnett x omega reader. Reader has to stay with Kelley during one of her heats until sonnett gets back from quarantine or something and bc sonnett trusts Kelley and reader knew Kelley in college she knows she’ll take good care of r and when she gets back r had gotten sick on top of having her heat so she has to take her to the doctor for it but r is scared of them

Krashlyn x child reader being adopted

Tobin x alpha press and reader fic, that was so good!!! Obviously if you don’t want to don’t feel pressured or anything but would you do one where it’s the same pairing but the three of them are the best cowards in the league. Like ATM was for the wwc but with alpha reader x alpha press x omega Tobin? Like in a game everyone knows there specific roles like Tobin is the quick dribbling creative and sometimes defensive one while press scores the goals and the reader is the more physical one. And like during a game someone sees Tobin ass the weak link and targets her but ends up with not only two very pissed mates but also a whole national team?

little!reader x krashlyn about the reader waking them up after she has a nightmare and then cuddling her and take her back to bed with them and giving her a bottle to calm her back down?

Alpha!Rose x Omega!Reader: Where R is close with Sonnett and Rose doesn’t mind it at first. But then fans decide to ship them together even though R and Rose are together publicly. She starts getting more jealous and possessive of R and finally snaps when R starts smelling like Sonnett’s scent... angst + fluff pls

cute Alex x reader? Maybe the team makes fun of them about being so attached but they are so unbothered because they enjoy their time together.

little r where the reader is new to the team and doesn't have a mommy or a caregiver and one of the other littles is getting jealous because all the other mommies starting to fuss over the new teammate?

uswnt x baby reader, were the reader has type 1 diabetes?

uswnt x baby r where r is really shy but also really good at snowboarding and basically shows off during team bonding?

team with a reader whose always cold?

Tierna imagine?? maybe where reader and t are standford roommates and they start to get closer but reader isn’t out yet and panics when T nearly kisses her. angst and fluff ensures

reader is a famous snowboarder and her and Tobin have been dating for a year or two and they met at like a ski resort one year. And the reader takes them back to finally teach Tobin how to snowboard and ends up proposing to Tobin?

Our troublemaker universe - Kellex x Reader: (set in troublemaker universe) R starts getting closer to another dom for whatever reason and to Kellex, it’s like she’s slipping away from them and not really needing them anymore. So, they start getting a bit jelly and possessive over R to the point where they start setting rules to keep R by them, but it backfires bc they get into an argument that leads R into seeking comfort from the said dom. But in the end, they make up and everything gets good again

Can you do a ash and Ali request where they and the reader are together but the reader has been away for awhile (job or quarantine in a different state) and the reader surprised them at a game?

Hey! You Reached the Bottom! Thank you so much for your compassion and understanding.

More fics are definitely to come, including the Gravity pt. 2, Just In case Pt. 2, The survivor one, Playing with fire prequel (which will me multi-chapter) and so many more.

#uswnt x reader #uswnt imagines #uswnt imagine

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nagisasstunningpersonality · 4 years ago

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TINSITOGS, a retrospective (happy birthday)

(yes I’m like two days too late I know I’m sorry)

Why hello followers and ass class fandom, nice to see you there. I’m sure MOST people know about this, but in case you don’t, hi. On AO3 I’m better known as livixbobbiex, writer of maybe one of the most infamous Assassination Classroom fics.

Which I mean like, if you haven’t read it yet you totally should it’s fanlore at this point I promise-

Shameless plug that I don’t need aside, I felt that, on its first birthday since actual completion, I just wanted to share some things about it. Some tit bits about writing it, fun facts, maybe even some author advice TM. I appreciate that it’ll be super annoying if I do that in the tags, though, so that’ll all be under the cut. If you don’t want to read the whole post, then no matter what, thanks for the support in general!

I also want to take the opportunity to announce that I’ve reopened my discord, so if you want to talk about my fics with me (and others), you’re more than welcome to join! (the link is here)

The origin story

I’ve stated this many times, I think, but TINSITOGS was never supposed to be a serious story. Taking you back, quite a long time, it actually started in a facebook DM with a friend. We used to come up with “head canons” with each other, which were basically just very condensed fanfiction plots over a multitude of text messages. I believe I was trying to cheer her up, and I tried to come up with some kind of plot line.

At the time, I was fairly fresh to the Ass Class fandom, and I was joking about how there were no teen pregnancy melodrama fanfictions. It wasn’t that I wanted one, I just thought it was strange for a school centric anime with a bunch of ships to NOT have one. And, back then, I only really cared about karmagisa. So I just decided ‘right it’s happening’. The reason I decided to make it ABO was due to ‘it making sense’. Fun fact: it was almost written as AFAB trans Nagisa, but I decided against it as I didn’t rate my ability to handle it well back then. Looking back on it, I’m glad I made that decision.

Over around two months, writing out the plot of this story took over my life a little bit. I had no idea where I was going with it, but I was having so much fun with the drama that I decided that Karma and Nagisa shouldn’t get together soon at all, and I had a lot of fun teasing my friend with the ‘will they won’t they’. It was only when I got bored that I invented this intense drama plotline to finish it all off.

That period of time was a lot of fun. And whilst that friendship didn’t end well, I still have a lot to thank her for. She chose Daichi’s name because I had no idea, and she wanted to annoy me because I didn’t like Haikyuu. When I couldn’t decide on his hair colour, the purple was her suggestion because ‘why logic?’ Daichi speaking Korean was because of how much she liked Kpop. She even helped me choose the title of the actual fic, so there’s a lot you can thank her for, honestly.

After I finished that story, though, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Whenever I daydreamed, I used to think about that damn Daichi Akabane, and how much I wanted to tell his story. I’d even come up with extra stuff to fill in a lot of the gaps, and developed his character in my mind. I decided that I was really desperate to write it down. Usually that worked when I had an idea I wanted to work through.

I wrote the first chapter in late 2017, and then the next two as well. I just, kept going, and realised that I could go further still. TINSITOGS was never something that was supposed to be shared, but I decided I may as well. After all, that fated ‘teen pregnancy drama’ fic still didn’t exist, and I thought it would be funny to make it happen.

Yes, as I’ve stated publicly a few times, TINSITOGS was a crack fic. If I wanted attention from it, it was infamy. We even joked about me cursing the fandom if it ever became the most popular fic (whoops?). What I wasn’t expecting was a bunch of people, in a fandom where at the time there were NO ongoing karmagisa fics and it was pretty dead, to really seem to enjoy it. It was enough to have me keep writing it, at least. I still don’t know at what point I actually started taking it seriously, but somehow I did, and the rest is history?

The reception

In my wildest dreams, I never thought that I would be the author of one of the most popular fics in the fandom. To this day, the amount of views TINSITOGS has is insanity to me. For the record, across all platforms it’s on today it has 238,000, which is literally a number I can’t even visualise anymore. Almost quarter of a MILLION. To this day on AO3, it’s the most viewed Ass Class fic that’s an ACTUAL ass class fic (the others are multi fandom compilations). So yeah, I achieved the original goal, I guess?

Now you might be wondering, “omg the karmagisa fandom is fujoshi trash”. And, considering the origins, it is kind of funny. The thing is, though, TINSITOGS was written at incredibly good time. It was written when there were, essentially, very few long form Karma/Nagisa stories. If any other fics did get posted on occasion, they were usually just oneshots. I was also, at that point, writing very fast. A symptom of ADHD is becoming obsessively productive over certain things. Since I was able to get a 3k chapter out every few days/once a week, TINSITOGS was consistently bumped to the top of AO3′s default view. And some of those first few chapters were altered canon, and transcribing the canon dialogue didn’t take very long. The more views it got, the more people would read it out of sheer curiosity.

I think it also helps that, at least after it started getting some positive feedback (which was honestly after the pre written chapters), I purposely tried to make it ‘not terrible’. I mean, I personally think the first chapter is pretty weak and if it wasn’t somewhat iconic to a lot of people I’d rewrite it. But in general, I purposely tried to make the world of ABO my own, to make it more accessible to those who don’t like that genre, and stay away from the inherently grosser stuff as much as possible. I genuinely do get comments about how I introduced people to the genre as a whole, still not sure if that’s a GOOD thing but hey, it happened.

TINSITOGS turned into a lot more than just a joke. It turned into my favourite hobby. It turned into a research project (honestly, you would not believe the amount of mummy vlogs and legit scientific articles about child development I consumed). It turned into something that, at least I believe, was widely loved.

Meaning

I think it might be wrong to say that I don’t have AN idea of when I started to take the fic super seriously. For me, it was around the time someone commented something along the lines of saying my writing meant a lot to them, that they’d spent all night reading it and had been unable to put it down.

Not to get too dark here, but I do have a past in writing a very long, somewhat popular fic (it’s still on my fanfic net profile if anyone’s interested, but I don’t recommend it). However, in the latter part of my teenage years, the depression struck. Writing was the love of my life, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it anymore. Maybe I’d be able to muster an idea or even a chapter at the best points of that, but I’d never completely finished any story. Starting to write again was a huge step in my recovery, and one of the reasons I convinced myself that life was worth it was being able to impact someone’s life somehow. Even to this day, I still remember the fics I read when I was, like, thirteen. How much I still remember them, and how much they meant to be at the time. I wanted to be that writer for someone else. To be honest, it was actually Yuri!!! On Ice that got me out of the super bad, but I still never wrote anything of real consequence. TINSITOGS was the first time in a long time I actually committed to something.

And, to be completely honest, there were a lot of times I was tired of it, and wanted to just quit. But, the thing was, I felt like people depended on me in a way. I got so many comments that were just FILLED with support, telling me how much they looked forward to every update. It wasn’t just empty words, either, a lot of the times these comments would be super engaged with the actual writing. I can’t even describe just how much they meant to me, how much I would look forward to reading everyone’s opinions. And then discord happened, which was a lot of fun.

TINSITOGS went a lot further than I ever thought it would. There were comments, discussions, fan art, fan FIC (which is honestly incredible to me). Someone even added it to TV Tropes, at one point. Not to mention the Cards Against Humanity deck and quiz It makes me so unbelievably happy that I could inspire that much creativity, but it’s a two way street. It was all of that which inspired me to write, too.

Writing

The only real goal I actually had was aiming for around 3000 words per chapter. I had a whole facebook log of plot points as planning, and I was mostly just trying to expand on them into prose. I honestly thought that, at its completion, the entire fic would be around 100k words, if that. Not, at one point, being literally the longest ass class fic on AO3.

There are a lot of aspects that were directly adapted from the original messages, and I tried to stay faithful to it more so at first, even if I later removed some of the pure crack. But the style was also vaguely similar, with the story being told mostly from Nagisa’s perspective with swaps to Karma when it made sense. All the main plot beats, too, are pretty much identical. The plus to this was I was able to add a lot of really fun foreshadowing, and I feel like it’s a fun reread because of it.

Honestly though, if there’s a demand to release those OG message logs, I will. Mostly because it’s kind of funny, and interesting to see. Isogai and Nagisa were engaged at one point, even.

Obviously, it changed somewhat. 3000 was the minimum length, and the time to completion was whenever it felt right. One of my big concerns was about pacing, so it took a lot more fleshing out and maybe ‘filler’ content for some of the main arcs to work.

There’s parts of TINSITOGS I don’t think aren’t written that well, and some that I’m still super proud of. I think you can definitely tell there’s a gradual shift in style, and I get a lot more comfortable with writing them as characters as it goes along. To be honest, my pride for the fic overall is what it represents.

It is funny to think about the places it got written in, though. I started it when I worked at McDonalds with no life direction, then it went through my first year of university with me. It’s been written in at least four countries. Aeroplanes, night clubs, long haul buses, a train through the Japanese southern coastline. Even the start of covid. TINSITOGS managed to see a lot. I even turned a scene in (the boat scene during the India chapter with altered names) to my university as a legitimate assignment.

There were also a few messages I wanted to achieve, once I realised I had the platform to put them across. One of them was, obviously, ‘use protection kids’. It was important to me that I didn’t glamorise it too much, and I think that came across. I also wanted to dispute some of the issues with ABO, and subvert the consent issues as much as I could. An arc I really ‘liked’ writing was how abuse doesn’t always look the same way, and that it can be a drawn out change in behaviour. How the most important part of ‘being a good parent’ isn’t perfection, but genuinely loving and doing the best you can for your kid. How love doesn’t solve everything, and effective communication can take a very long time to learn and build a functional relationship. I mean, there definitely was a lot I tried to put in, and you’re free to interpret it all how you want. But, I like to think some people learnt some of these things, at least.

Daichi

Honestly, Daichi developed almost of his own free will. I had a good idea of his appearance, and that he was smart. Writing him from birth until around nine years old (older if you read the sequel fic) pretty much allowed that fluidity. It was really fun to explore a nature vs nurture development, and let his own characteristics speak for themselves.

He’ll always have a special place in my heart.

This is the first image I ever made. When I was trying to figure out what Daichi looked like, I honestly just edited Karma’s hair (pretty well, actually? I’m impressed with my past skill). That’s where the ‘he looks just like Karma’ meme kind of came from.

This was the first image I actually created of Daichi. I THINK it was on rinmaru games mega anime creator or something, but it’s literally not available on the internet anymore as far as I can tell, so I can’t double check. This was in the pre-piccrew days. His eyes are closed because they didn’t have the right tone of goldish/silver.

His sister, Kaguya, didn’t even exist originally, even though I decided on that ending pretty early on. Actually, she was going to be called ‘Irina’ due to some hijinks. Initially, when Karma found out about Irina’s pregnancy, she was going to get super emotional and mad at him and basically force him to name his first born daughter after her. Karma agreed to shut her up, never intending to have another child, so when the surprise second child later came along they had to live with the pain. However, to be honest I just forgot to write in the actual scene that set it all up, and I decided against adding it anywhere else. The name Kaguya was a very last minute decision, and it was a chance for me to explore some ideas that didn’t fit with Daichi’s character.

Interestingly too, Daichi and Nao were never intended to be a thing. I only decided that towards the VERY end. Even though the reason I named Nao that was because of a ship I had in a J Drama (Good Morning Call). It just kind of ended up happening because I won myself over with imagining the cute.

The music

I used to write with a lot of background music, though not all the time. Particularly towards the start, there was a lot that didn’t really make sense thematically, yet I would write to a lot.

Here’s a link to the spotify playlist if you want it it’s basically all the ones I noted I’d listened to a lot. Not including the smut ones, though, I have a whole playlist for that.

Some of the notable ones:

Five String Serenade - the first scene I wrote of the entire fic, in Chapter 25 New Year Time where they fell asleep cuddling.

Cosmic Love - when I wrote Nagisa’s love confession scene in hospital (I also wrote this pretty early on)

Northern Downpour (though it was actually a cover by Emma Blackery) - The chapter after Daichi’s born (30)

When The Party’s Over - Confession Time Third Period, Chapter 69. I literally listened to this song on REPEAT when I planned and wrote the kind of ‘break up’ scene, and it’s one of the few parts that made me cry writing.

Turning Page - I know I said no smut, but this song actually gave me the idea to have the “I love you” in chapter 108 be less on a whim and actually more built up. In the original plan, Karma really did just say it without thinking. I’m glad I changed that.

Bury Me Low and Numb - pretty much all I listened to when writing the last few chapters, because Evil Nagisa core. So much so that Bury Me Low was in my top 2020 songs rewind.

As for the title, there’s actually quite a funny story. I had no idea what to call the fic, and when that happens I usually just try and find some song lyrics. I really wanted to use something from ‘October’ by the Broken Bells. Not only because it’s my favourite song (has been for years), but thematically it really worked. The issue was, it worked as the WHOLE song, there were no individual lyrics that captured everything. And, if they did, they didn’t flow very well. And naming the fic ‘October’ would have been weird for a lot of reasons. There Is No Sweeter Innocence That Our Gentle Sin really was just plucked randomly, in a desperate search to find any snappy lyrics from any song that had some kind of meaning. After a bit of discussion, we settled that it kind of worked... if Daichi is innocent and they committed a sin or something. It also wasn’t the most obvious lyric from the song (Take Me To Church if anyone doesn’t know) so I just went with it. It works out, I think, because TINSITOGS turned out to be a pretty good acronym and pronounceable word in its own right.

The merch redbubble drama

It’s a well known fact that I’m not very good at art. However, I decided to try pixel art because it seemed the easiest to not mess up. I made Karma and Nagisa, before deciding to also give Daichi a try.

This, to this day, is the only good quality art of Daichi that I actually own. The only one I’m actually happy sharing and thinking it doesn’t look terrible. As much as I love people sending me fanart, it’s not ‘my property’, right.

So, I was kind of joking about TINSITOGS having merchandise. At first I just made two funny quote things, and uploaded it to redbubble. I was never intending to actually make money from this, and I’d agreed to myself that if I did, I would just donate it to charity. I was joking with the quotes, but since I had this artwork I figured I may as well uploaded. Separately, there was also an image that had pixel Daichi next to pixel Nagisa and Karma (which I also created).

Aside from showing up in a few people’s adverts across the internet, there was no real harm with this. In fact, I didn’t make money anyway. It was just... more the joke of it existing. I did, however, buy myself a Daichi phone case, which is one of my favourite possessions.

The funny ‘drama’ comes in when they got taken down due to copywrite. Sure, the one with Nagisa and Karma, I understand. But the other three literally had no mention or anything to do with Assassination Classroom, aside from being from a fanfiction. So basically, someone who owns those rights claimed my OC as theirs. Which makes Daichi canon? Whatever the case, I found this hilarious don’t worry.

How has TINSITOGS changed my life?

This is quite a strange thing to think about. Because, in a lot of ways, it really hasn’t. As I’m sure a lot of people know, I don’t really consider myself to have any real ‘fame’, despite the impressive numbers. Whenever I tell people in my personal life, they seem to think I’m some sort of internet celebrity, but that’s never been the case for me. I mean, it’s hardly a cultural phenomenon.

In a lot of ways, I’d much rather befriend someone than have them admire me. Possibly because being someone’s inspiration is kind of weird... I’m just an awkward duck who likes to write after all. I don’t mind it, though. I genuinely find it an honour, even if I don’t necessarily agree. I also want to take this time to say that if anyone ever wants to talk or message me, you’re more than free to do so. I’m usually super casual with people who do that, I promise.

TINSITOGS was the first story I ever finished in the way I truly wanted to. Start to end, a full narrative. And it took a LOT. There were so many times I almost felt like quitting, or took super long breaks. For me, ADHD queen, actually finishing something was a huge deal. And I know I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t owe it to everyone who read it, and myself, to see it through. You know like, if I were to die tomorrow, at least I’ve left something behind.

In a lot of ways, it’s changed me for the better. It’s helped me develop my writing styles, and way of thinking. It encouraged me to become more active in the fandom, and develop some important friendships. I always feel like my Tumblr and Fanfiction ‘known’ factor is separate. I think most of my Tumblr following is more to do with my theories/Japanese context research if anything, for example, but I know I wouldn’t be so interested in that if TINSITOGS hadn’t lead me to deeply examine character and really look into analysing source material for clues. I also think there’s just... a lot of myself in it.

I was 17 years old, when I first came up with the idea. I finished the story when I was 20. Now, at the time of writing, I’m 21. That time has seen some pretty significant changes - just in general life facts and my own personal human development. For me at least, a lot of that was pretty turbulent, and TINSITOGS stands as a time capsule for that, in a way.

I know I gained a lot of confidence, and it affirmed to me that writing is what I love. Telling stories and sharing them is what I love.

Conclusion

Do I think TINSITOGS is an outstanding piece of writing, or the best fic ever? No. I really don’t. It’s strange to say because I definitely spent a lot of time on it, but it’s not like I put my full unbridled efforts into the story. I don’t fully plan, use a beta, or even read through on my own. And that’s okay - that’s not what I write fanfiction for. Fanfiction is my place to have fun with characters and stories I like, without the pressures of having to stand on my own complete originality. Yes, I’m fully confident that I can write at a “higher quality”, if I really wanted to. I’m also aware that some authors put their full effort into their fics, and that’s just as valid!

It feels odd to say this about my own writing, but I honestly think there’s just something in this story. It might not be written in the best prose ever, and the premise might be kind of dumb for a lot of people. But, I think, there’s some part of this fic that managed to grab people. Somehow, at some point, many readers get captured into the emotions and so drawn in that ‘they just have to finish it now!’ Again, I’m not sure myself how I actually achieved that. Of course, that won’t apply to everyone, but I do feel there’s some truth in it. And it makes me happy, to have caused that.

If TINSITOGS is your favourite fic, or if you genuinely think it’s the best story you’ve read, then thank you. I really appreciate your support, and I’m happy to have been a part of your life, I guess. I know how much fanfics can mean to a person, and that’s why I’m not going to take it down, or edit it at all. And it’s fine too, if you loved the fic for a while and moved on -i t happens. Whatever the case, I’m very honoured to have been able to occupy a moment of your life. Or if you find this fic in 10 years time, even, I still wholly appreciate you.

This story was incredibly important to me, and thank you for reading if it was ever important to you too.

You may ask, what now? Well, this is only intended to be a detailed look back for whoever’s interested, and it’s likely the only one I’ll actually do, a year after completion. Of course, if you ever want to ask me anything or just discuss the story, you’re honestly good to contact me in whatever way I have available.

I’m still writing my ongoing stories, of course, despite taking a small break due to the university work load. I fully intend to complete the stories I’ve already started to tell, at least. After that... I’m not sure if I’ll still write fanfiction. Don’t panic, this isn’t a ‘I’m quitting writing’ thing. I may, however, have bled the Karmagisa genre a bit too dry at that point. Who knows? I am pretty interested in writing something original for once, so maybe that’ll work out.

For now, at least, thank you to anyone who read this fic. To anyone who commented, liked, or interacted with me over it. To anyone who created or learnt from it. I’m really glad that I got to share this story with you all, and ultimately left some kind of mark, no matter how big or small.

Happy birthday, TINSITOGS. I had a lot of fun writing you.

#ass class #assassination classroom #ansatsu kyoushitsu #tinsitogs #karmagisa

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kasienda · 5 years ago

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Fanfiction Year In Review - 2020

The rest of 2020 was rough, but I sure wrote A LOT! And that feels good.

1 List of fics completed this year in the order they were finished:

Confessions to a Statue (Ladybug) - I’m lowkey shocked that this was finished in 2020. I feel like I wrote this one an eternity ago! It’s honestly not my favorite story, but I’m grateful to it for getting me writing in this fandom!

Stutters (Ladybug Reveal - Marichat)

An Open Secret (Ladybug for Gift Exchange)

Instagram (Ladybug Reveal - Ladrien)

Anything to Protect You (Sailor Moon for Gift Exchange)

Locked in a Closet (Ladybug Reveal - Sequel to MissNoodle’s wonderful work.)

New York (Ladybug Reveal - Ladynoir)

A Craving For Chocolate Milkshakes (Sailor Moon)

Eight fics in total! Four of them multi-chapters! Crazy!

2 Number of words written:

Written: 139k (as tracked by 750words.com)

Published: 105k (according to ff.net).

This is amazing! This is the first year (that I know of anyway - I’ve only been tracking for three years) that I broke 100k in one year!! I wrote every month, and I published at least one thing every month except August (I was moving in August).

I’m thrilled to see the written to published ratio as high as it is! It’s not something I’ve tracked before, but I always feel like I’m writing a ton and publishing very little, but it looks like that impression is fairly inaccurate. I’m publishing a lot more than I realized relative to how much I’m writing.

3 Your most popular fic:

My Miraculous Reveal Series has also gotten the most recognition of all my works this year, but it’s difficult to splice out which short is the most popular because I publish it as one series. Keeps my dashboard neater and gives the old ones a bit of attention whenever I post a new one.

4 Your personal fav:

I think I’m insanely proud of both An Open Secret and Anything to Protect You. As I published each chapter, I often had the thought “This is the best thing I’ve written!” And that feels good.

But right now, I am going to have to say an unfinished fic that I started this year - Restorative Justice - is my favorite. This is a fic that has pulled me out of my usual genre and gotten me closer to my life as a teacher. And it’s powerful and cathartic to turn these experiences into a story. I also really enjoyed exploring Chloé’s headspace. She’s just so angry, and like, this year that has been really easy to channel for some reason, and it all transferred to paper rather well. I’m kinda stuck in this fic at the moment though…

5 Your fav scene:

I literally cannot decide. I could maybe pick a favorite scene in each fic I finished, but just one?! Nope! I can’t do it. So here’s my favorite scene in the three works I’ve spent the most time on this year:

An Open Secret - the scene where Ladybug confesses to Chat Noir in the rain. The moment it all comes together for Adrien. I made myself cry.

Anything to Protect You - Honestly, this one is HARD to pick. I really like the UsaMamo kiss in the first chapter, but I also love the dates. Especially the moment where she tells him she’s Sailor Moon and he thinks she’s joking. And the cattery date.

Restorative Justice - Chapter 3 - Where Chloe and Marinette are screaming at each other. I found it so satisfying.

6 A fic or scene that challenged you:

Writing the festival scene in Anything to Protect you was an absolute slog! I was struggling so hard with trying to somewhat accurately capture a cultural event that I myself have never directly experienced (I did so much research - I read a lot, I listened to music, I watched videos), and at the same time not stall the pacing of the story or emotional anchor of the piece. It was so hard, but I was really happy with how it came out.

7 A line of writing you’re proud of:

From the most recent update of a Craving for Chocolate Milkshakes:

So she dove back into old habits and started drawing chibi-tuxedo masks all over her worksheet.

Go ahead. Do your worst.

He always had some playful or snide critique of her scribbles.

She waited a whole ten seconds before she realized the mental silence would not be filled. Because he wasn’t there. He couldn’t see her doodles.

She burst into tears.

8 A comment that touched you:

Honestly, this year it wasn’t so much what was in a comment, so much as it was when a comment arrived. Like when I was ready to tear my hair out arguing with the bank or insurance company, and then a review would pop up out of nowhere! Or when I was sitting next to my son at the hospital. Sadly, I don’t remember which comments were the ones that did this. But I think LitaKino had especially good timing more than once this year. And jennagrins as well! But there were so many others! I’m tell you all - comments are love!!

9 Something that inspired your writing:

There’s lots of the usual suspects - life, husband, children, students, etc.

But a lot of it this year has actually been reading other people’s stories and wanting them to keep going, or wanting them to have taken a different turn in the story arc. And then I have to open a doc a start a whole new fic! It’s kinda a problem honestly. I have thirteen active stories and another ten that I’m like - I would like to work on that, but it’s not happening at the moment.

10 Your proudest accomplishment (that one scene; finally finishing that one fic; posting your first fic; etc):

That I finished four multi-chapter fics! (Though two of them it was just the last chapter). I think I’m proving to myself that I can be somewhat disciplined about what I’m working on, so that the projects I want to finish, get finished!

And I’m also learning that you can write a lot with just chewing away at it bit by bit. It’s not about the 3k word days. It’s about it being a habit. If you can write 100 words every day that’s 36k words in a year! I wrote an average of 378 words per day! My goal is only ever 200 words, but I try to have an unbroken chain. I did not succeed this year in that due to weekly work deadlines, but I came a lot closer than I ever have before.

11. Do you have any writing goals for the next year?

I read my goals from last year and laughed. (Apparently, I wanted to finish Chocolate Milkshakes by the end of January. Bwahahaha!) But that’s okay. I wrote a ton this year!! It just wasn’t where I expected it to be. So that’s what I want this year to be about. I want to focus on my own personal projects by not making commitments for exchanges or events.

I have three WIPs right now that are just far more personal than anything else I’m working on. And these three stories are the ones I want to focus on this year.

Invisible Wounds - (Ami/Zoi - Sailor Moon)

Restorative Justice - (Chloé POV - Ladybug)

Right Behind You (Unpublished Adrino story - Ladybug)

I imagine though that there will be one-shots that demand to be written in between, or one shots that will work me out of ruts, too. Or one shots that will explode into seven chapter outlines like jerks! Haha!

But overall, my main goal is to just try to write every day!

I tag the following people to tell us about your fic writing accomplishments this year because you’re amazing!! @tinacentury @floraone @starlingsinclair@mikauzoran @chronicallylatetotheparty @ladyofthenoodle @alexseanchai @galahadwilder And anyone else that wants to! And of course, if I tagged you and you don’t want to, there is NO pressure. I’ve just enjoyed doing this over the years, and wanted to share the joy!

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rhodanum · 6 years ago

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One of the greatest challenges in writing anything multi-chapter for TDP is that it would involve me having to reconstruct the political systems of Katolis & the Pentarchy from scratch, so that everyone aside for Viren (and even he has his moment of impressive bungling) doesn't end up being an imbecile in terms of statecraft.

A quick recapitulation, starting with the dysfunctional mess that is the High Council of Katolis. And particularly That One Idiot who said, I quote: "Xadia sent assassins and they took the King's life. There hasn't been the slightest skirmish since then. Maybe that was it. They've had their revenge and everything will just... settle down now."

It's a good thing I didn't try to livetweet S2, because that would've caused a whole storm of "who the hell put this numbskull on the council? He isn't fit to look after a chicken-coop, much less a nation!" Seriously, that's the sort of opinion that a baker or a farmer or a cobbler or any other regular citizen is expected to give, the standard 'keep your head down and hope it all blows over by itself.' Not someone who is part of what is supposed to be a national ruling body.

The murder of a sovereign (no matter how morally justified on the side of the people doing the murdering) is, by definition, an act of war. You really don't want to be the first to strike? Fine, then. But at least mobilize the militias / the standing army and take precautions. But we don't see even the most basic self-defense measures being instituted.

Which links to the second glaring issue: not only is the council as a political body both unable and unwilling to act, it is paralyzed by Katolis seeming having no proper redundancy systems in case of murderized sovereign with an heir who is well under the age of adulthood. Standard procedure is instituting a regency (Viren wasn't wrong at all here, even if his goal involved Ezran never touching the throne) so the bloody kingdom doesn't end up in gridlock. It doesn't matter if the regency lasts a week, a month, a year or more. The goal of any ruling body is ensuring the continued political and economic functioning of the kingdom and the well-being of the people. Which cannot be done if decision-making is tied to the King's seal and said seal cannot be used by anyone other than the King's heir, who is missing and who has an entirely uncertain Estimated Time of Return. But instead of acting and picking up the regency for how long it takes for Ezran to be back, the high-rollers of Katolis sit & wait.

This is what drives me bonkers about Opeli, incidentally. She spends her time being an obstructionist force with no actual constructive and politically functional ideas behind said obstructionism. She doesn't pick up the regency or do anything to resolve the gridlock. Amaya, at the least, has the excuse that she's an essential component of the Breach's defense, through her command of the Standing Battalion. But even she takes a dunk in the 'Lawful Stupid / Stupid Good' fountain, when she justifies her refusal to accept the regency not through the importance of her military command right at the border with Xadia, but through 'Ezran is the rightful ruler.' Ma'am, 'rightful ruler' isn't going to matter a jot if you end up with anything from economic instability all the way to possibly getting invaded.

And then there's Harrow, whose inability to deal with his own burdened conscience and crushing sense of guilt when it came to the people he lost resulted in him effectively deciding to dump his people's well-being on the shoulders of a ten year old. It's not fair to Ezran and Callum (who effectively lost a third parent in a row) but, far more importantly, it's not fair to everyone else who has to pick up the pieces, because a ten year old cannot be expected to rule much of anything. (I'm looking forward to S3, but definitely not to the 'and he was a far wiser ruler, for he had the Innocence of Childhood' nonsense that will probably be going on with Ezran's plot-line. The only way his rule would make sense to me is if the council make him a figurehead and handle actual rule themselves. But I don't have much hope for that, because said council, as pointed out above, doesn't have a good track-record when it comes to actually decent statecraft).

The rest of the Pentarchy suffer from the same flaws as the rulership of Katolis. The same 'head in the sand / hope the storm passes if we ignore it' malarkey. The same waiting for others to act before committing to anything. Queen Aanya of Duren says noble, nice-sounding things in refusing to commit to preparations for war. I'd find them less of an irritating manner of writing if the show ever presents neutrality in a state of war as being absolutely no guarantee of safety. (I was talking with @ma_ya_mo_ri about this. I find neutrality a cheap cop-out in terms of writing military conflict because the both of us, as Eastern Europeans, know from our history that it did jack-shit when it came to keeping our countries from getting the shit conquered out of them). While we're at it, Aanya's platitudes, coupled with her essentially waving the Divine Right of Kings in Viren's face is, as far as I'm concerned, another notch in the 'this is why you don't let children anywhere near political power' post. (That scene is extremely telling and it says a lot about issues of class within the Pentarchy -- it means that you can study as much as you like, become as much of an accomplished specialist in your field as you like, sacrifice until your very body is crumbling and falling apart... but you'll still be shot down by a random kid with a crown on their head, whose only real achievement was winning the lottery of birth).

Mind you, all of the above doesn't mean I think Viren didn't make mistakes either. His most egregious was the plan concerning the Princes, because he should have known that Soren and Claudia wouldn't have ultimately been able to go through with it. Two (relatively untested) teenagers, who have been life-long friends with the targets? It was always doomed to fail. I can sort of see why he did it, if I squint -- he needed two people that he could place his utmost trust in, on very short notice. It was still a stupid choice, likely one motivated by desperation and lack of any other immediate option.

What should he have done instead? Well, for one, Viren should have given very serious consideration to bringing Ezran back alive and using his position as his father's best friend / unofficial uncle to teach the kid and mold him into the sort of King he thought was necessary for Katolis and the rest of the Pentarchy. It's apparent why he didn't do it and went with the nuclear-option instead. If war is on the horizon, you don't have enough time to forge the young King you need, while also being in a state of constant war with the rest of the council for influence over said King.

If the kill-option was the only viable alternative in his mind, he should have ensured it was entrusted to someone who could go through with it. A stone-cold, trained killer-for-hire, instead of his kids. Regicide isn’t a course of action where you can afford either half-measures or mistakes. Even better, while we're at 'should have done's': have a small team of wetwork specialists trained in secret, taught to be utterly loyal and employ them for highly sensitive operations, where any sort of mistake or bungle can spell disaster. But he didn't have such a team trained (just as, for example, he didn't cultivate loyalty toward himself within the Crownguard, thus ensuring the rest of the Council couldn't use this fighting-force against him) because he never actually planned to take head-of-state powers within his own hands, before the disaster with Harrow.

The actions we see from S1EP4 onward aren't those of a man who always planned to overthrow his best friend and stage a coup, but rather someone who acted rashly, saved Harrow's soul against his will... and then was stuck in an impossible situation, with a kingdom without a ruler and paralyzed into complete inaction, along with the loss of humanity's greatest asset against Xadia (the Dragon Prince egg). No wonder he looks as if he's flying by the seat of his pants, juggling seventeen things all at once and actually failing at the basics of a proper coup (such as ensuring the support of the armed forces).

Viren's fault, that trips him up again and again, is (hilariously and ironically enough) the fact he isn't actually ruthless enough for the position he's currently in! He's an idealist at heart and genuinely believes that people can be persuaded to make the rational choices, with the right arguments. This is what leads to his fall-from-political-grace and arrest at the end of S2. He takes an enormous risk in using the King's seal and lying about his status as Regent in front of the other rulers of the Pentarchy, effectively putting all his eggs in the one basked titled 'surely they'll see sense and act', if the danger is presented to them in a clear and concise manner.' But that's not what happens and his enormous gamble backfires, in that his lie becomes known to the rest of the council and results in Opeli's efforts to have him arrested. His idealism in thinking reason could sway the rest of the Pentarchy bites him right in the arse.

#the dragon prince #tdp #viren #lord viren #meta #fandom meta

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writcraft · 6 years ago

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2019 Fandom Year Ahead

After writing out my reflections on 2018 I thought I would share some of my fandom goals and things I have going on in 2019.

I’m going to do a fic related recap/meme of 2018 but I’m waiting for Erised reveals then I’ll get that up too. In the meantime, here’s some of the stuff I have going on in 2019 and I hope you’ll join in some of the fun :D

I’m also upping my participation over on Dreamwidth where you can find me as Writcraft, so if we don’t have mutual access or whatever then do come and say hello and I’ll subscribe back and grant access to my own journal if I recognise your username.

Moderating: Harry Potter

I’m excited about the fests I’m moderating this year and I hope we get plenty of sign ups and people enjoy them. The upcoming fests are below.

Harry Potter Kinkfest (@hpkinkfest): I can’t quite believe Kinkfest has been running for a decade, and I’m super excited to see what people come up with this year. The fest is designed to explore any and all kinks and hopefully be a safe space for creators who fancy working with kinks you see around less frequently, as well as creators who want to write those well-loved kinks and celebrate all the different ways there are to make our favourite characters get their kink on. Prompting is well underway and head over to the fest tumblr to find out how you can leave your prompts if you haven’t already done so.

My Bloody Valentine: An anti-Valentine’s mini-fest exploring the darker side of love, romance, sex, obsession and relationships. This will be a self-prompting, self-posting fest running from 10 - 16 February. More details will go up at @hpdarkarts in mid-Jan but you can start creating at any point if you’re interested. I already know we have a couple of brilliant entries ready to go, and I’m excited to see what people come up with.

Wand In A Knot: The Harry Potter 24 hour smut tag challenge. This is such a fun fest, inspired by similar fests in Teen Wolf, Sherlock and Supernatural fandom. The fest begins with a mod tag, tagging the first participant with a short prompt and then go, go, go, you have 24 hours to produce and post your fanwork, choosing your own character/ship to fill the prompt. You get your fanwork up, then tag the next participant with a short prompt and they then have 24 hours to create their contribution. It’s super fun to be part of, and we hope sign ups go swimmingly. There is a 30 participant cap and the tagging will happen on a dedicated fest Discord. Follow @wand-in-a-knot for details which will go up around March. The fest starts in May.

Harry Potter Horror Fest: The annual HP Horror Fest, an anonymous prompt based fest, will be back this year only this time it will run in September. Keep an eye on @hpdarkarts for details.

Moderating: Radio One RPF/One Direction

Grimmy Appreciation Fest (@grimmyappreciation): For those interested in 1D/Radio One RPF fandom, this annual fest dedicated to fanworks focused on Nick will be running again in 2019. More details will go up in the summer.

Gryles Exchange (@grylesexchange): I’m delighted to be part of a terrific mod team for this year’s Nick/Harry exchange which will open for sign ups at the end of January. Keep an eye on the blog for more details.

Writing

I’ve got a bunch of projects I’m super excited about this year. I’m going to finish off my Festive 500s, probably posting a bunch in a mad rush, then I’m focusing on all the new things. I’m hoping to be a regular participant in the @hpfemslash-minifest when a monthly theme grabs my interest, and I’ll be writing for Daily Deviant on a monthly basis again this year, starting this month. There are a few fests I’ve got my eye on, although I’m trying to limit fest participation. I’ll probably have a little something in the fests listed above as I want to write at least two pieces of dark/horror fic this year, I’m hoping to do the Snarry-a-Thon at Snape Potter, and after that, we’ll see! I’m sure I will do one of the Drarry fests, the question is which one??? It will likely depend on timing and other commitments.

HARRY POTTER

Play Me Like A Love Song - I am working on a novel length Minerva McGonagall/Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank story. They make a fleeting appearance in my Drarry fic, Little Compton Street, and this is their story set within that 'verse. It charts them meeting in the 50s, how they got together and looks at the communities they found on Little Compton Street and their work with those communities during the AIDS pandemic in the 80s.

Novel Length Snarry - I've been really enjoying indulging in writing longer stories and I haven't really written a novel length Snarry. I really want to spend some time on this ship this year in general. Expect much more Snarry from me this year and feel free to block the tag if it’s not your thing.

Losing His Religion Series - I swear the sequel to my Drarry fic Bedroom Hymns isn’t abandoned. It’s on the list of projects to complete this year and I’ll be glad to share the second instalment with you!

Festive 500s - God, I wish I had called these ‘suitable for any time of the year’ 500s :D - nearly finished with them and with 10 remaining chapters to post, I hope the rest will be up by the end of the weekend.

Daily Deviant - As above.

ONE DIRECTION / RADIO ONE RPF

Rebel Girl - I am super excited about this story, my first genderswap fic in this fandom, pairing Nick Grimshaw and Louis Tomlinson. This story will be a queer coming of age story focusing on Manchester's music scene, LGBT communities and self-discovery. On her first visit to Manchester’s Canal Street, Louis becomes captivated by flighty, infuriating DJ Nick who offers Louis the no-strings sex she thought she wanted. As Louis and Nick grow closer, pretending not to care becomes increasingly difficult.

London Rain - My Tomlinshaw hook-up app fic that I still haven't finished. Hoping to get this up at some point this year.

Someday You Will Find Me - Another 2018 WIP I haven't finished, in which non-famous Nick and Louis fight over the last copy of Oasis album What's The Story (Morning Glory) in an L.A. record store, and it leads them on a forty-eight hour music binge at Louis' posh house in the Hollywood Hills. A kind of liminal spaces story, structured around music from Northern England.

Thirteen - The Harry Styles/Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson Doctor Who AU with Nick as the Thirteenth Doctor that I've had in my WIPs for ages. Maybe this will be the year? Who knows.

Gryles Kink Fic - My Gryles muse has fucked off, but I’m hopeful it will return. Maybe? Anyway, it’s on the list.

Little Lion Man Sequel. Edited this in because I forgot to include it. But yes, this is happening. It won’t be a multi-chaptered WIP and definitely won’t be as long as the original, but it wraps up some of the things I set in motion towards he end of LLM. Yay!

#2019 in fandom #projects #my fic #stuff I mod #let's see how this goes #lmao

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todisturbtheuniverse · 6 years ago

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2018 Year End Writing Review

Even though I haven’t been posting much fic around these parts, it’s become something of an annual tradition to look back on the year’s progress, writing-wise.

The short version: I wrote 500,206 words this year, and spent about 364 hours doing it. Since I wrote 500,017 words last year, I fully expected this year to be kind of a dip year, but instead, I’ve written a million words in the last two years. That is...pretty damn neat, honestly.

The long version, if you’re interested in a load of stuff I couldn’t post here:

What I worked on:

More of that 2013 NaNo novel. The whale, as I called it in my last year-end report. It is still that. I still love it, I still hate it, I will keep chipping away at it. I did a huge re-outline of it earlier this year and began redrafting, but late in the year I largely shelved it to focus on another project that I felt was closer to being “done” (see below).

A second draft of the novella whose first draft I finished near the end of 2017. Is it still going to be a novella when it’s done? Fuck if I know. We’ll find out eventually. This is another project I stalled on and ended up shelving near the end of the year, but I’m hoping to pick it up again in 2019 and push forward.

An old romance novel concept that I’d dropped a few years back. I picked it up again, gave it a bit of a polish, a new outline, and got some chapters written. I’m planning on pushing forward with this, too, so that the next time a certain publisher sends out their open call again that I’ll be ready to submit.

Writing the recaps for our group’s first Pathfinder game, which I was a player/recordkeeper for. They were narrative recaps. They were detailed. They took a lot of time. But I’m glad to have the record.

Worldbuilding and story prep for the Pathfinder game I started running in late September. I started working on this in March, for an introductory one-shot that I ran in May, and then continued working on it throughout the summer--and beyond, of course, because even while the game is now being played, there’s a whole wide world to develop. This is my happy sandbox place, where I get to put things like villages with sod roof houses and vast cities built into an ancient forest and twisty pantheons. Sometimes I feel crushed beneath the anxiety of actually running the game--I would probably do better with a system like 5E, with less goddamn crunch--but just creating for this place is usually a joy.

Fic. I revisited Inquisition and Mass Effect; branched into Star Wars: Rebels; and got really, really into Stardew Valley (more fic definitely to come on that front). I’ve really allowed fic to become my happy, easy place this year; it’s not something I do unless I’m really just feeling like relaxing, and that’s really nice. But I don’t necessarily post it, unless I feel it’s ready to face the world...and sometimes, I write things that just won’t see the light of day. I’m becoming more comfortable with that. Sometimes it feels like writing without a purpose, but sometimes the purpose of entertaining myself is enough, yeah?

There was a real variety in what I wrote this year. I always felt like I had something I could work on, and this list doesn’t even really encompass the random new ideas that I scribbled down during weekly prompt sprints/while on walks/shower thoughts/etc. I had a lot of options, a lot of things in various stages of creation (brainstorming, outlining, first draft, second draft, eighth draft, whatever). So even when I was stuck on one thing, I could progress on another.

But how well did I stick to the goals I set last year? Ehhh.

Last Year’s Goals

Spend a little time writing every day: This was probably the smartest of my goals. Committing myself to spend a little time--even just five minutes--writing daily leads to me writing more, overall. And I did a fair job of it, writing somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of days every month. This is the goal I did best with, and it’s one I want to keep.

No word count goal: I’m pretty sure I set this goal and forgot all about it. I crave word count goals. I love them. They feed me. I set a bunch of them, month by month. I’m not sure they’re totally nutritious, though. More about that later.

Permission to write ficlets, drabbles, and even multi-chaptered fics as I want to: I did write--and post--more fic this year than in 2017, 35,221 words to AO3 and much more that didn’t get posted. But still hardly any, compared to my previous output. There was a different category of writing that kind of sucked up the time I would usually use for polishing fic, I think: building a world/campaign for a new Pathfinder game.

Get back to These Chains: I did not. *the world’s longest sigh* I was so optimistic when I first started posting this thing. I had it pretty much fully outlined and a draft halfway written, so I figured I would have no trouble keeping up a posting schedule, but. That didn’t happen, and then the thing has languished, and given everything that happened in 2018 I just didn’t have time to get back to it. Someday. I hope.

So. What have we learned?

Well, there’s a thing I’m good at, and a thing I’m comfortable with, and a thing I like doing above all else, and that’s churning out a first draft. Working on a new thing. Spitting out words haphazardly. That’s how I, personally, wrote a million words in two years. I love it. It feeds my soul.

But something needs to change if I ever want to really finish these six hundred projects I’m juggling with increasingly frantic speed. And fuck, do I. I feel like my 2013 NaNo novel has potential, but for five years now that’s all it’s been--potential, locked up behind five additional drafts which have not been so much refined as have been entirely new drafts. I don’t like editing. It’s hard and annoying and at the end of two hours I feel like I have pretty much nothing to show for it. No nice numbers I can plug into my fancy spreadsheet. Maybe less words than I began with. Probably less words than I began with, actually.

But editing is probably hard for me because it’s not something I like to practice, so I haven’t. Not with any real dedication. And with that in mind...

Goals for 2019

Write, brainstorm, or edit a little bit every day. I’m starting off easy in January with a totally attainable goal of 5 minutes per day, which I will surely overshoot, but toward the end of last year I really fell out of the habit of writing or writing-adjacent activities, and it showed in how my word count and time spent dropped. Habits help me, so I’m going to re-establish some good habits.

Learn some different editing techniques, and practice them. In particular, I try to do everything at once when I edit, and I want to try that top down method of: one pass for worldbuilding, one pass for plot structure, one pass for character arcs, one pass for dialogue, etc., etc.

Remember to do your fun writing when you need it. There could always stand to be more fic in the world, after all.

And that’s that! Here we go into 2019. I hope all of your creative endeavors, whatever they may be, meet with much success.

#universe writes about writing

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catsbythegreat · 7 years ago

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Fic Roundup 2017

-Total year-long word count: 256,852

Word count by fandom: - Bungou Stray Dogs: 255,117 words - Haikyuu: 1,735 words

Fics completed: 65 fics

*for the fics posted I’ll only post my faves except the chapter fics, which I’ll post all of since there’s not a lot.

Drabbles: - At my worst, I worry you’ll realize you deserve better. At my best, I worry you won’t. (I’ve never been better.) (skk) -wait, you’re my soulmate? (skk) - you have no idea how much I want you right now (skk) - what did they do to you? (chuuaki) -skk hanahaki au with Dazai having hanahaki -it’s nothing (skk) -kiss on the ear (skk) -milking it (skk) -milking it (chuuaku) -Chuuya proposes to Dazai (skk)

Oneshots: -Do No Harm - bsd, skk, pandemic au -i saw you - bsd, skk, fluff -Mistake - bsd, skk, suicide attempt tw -Shades of Red - bsd, skk hanahaki au, gore tw -The Care and Keeping of Orphans - skk, no abilities Chuuya is a teacher au -who hurt you - skk -Target Practice - skk, nsfw gunplay mafia boss Dazai au -the beautiful various dreams - skk, coma fic -in the shadows - skk vampire au -Revival - skk figure skating au -Dance With Me - skk, genderfluid Dazai -Dog Run - skk dog walker au -this isn’t a private chatroom - skk chatroom fic -gone by morning - oda takes care of a drunk chuuya, background skk -you aren’t a good person (but I don’t mind) - skk, gore tw -In the Spring - kunichuu ADA President Kunikia, Mafia Boss Chuuya au -my hands have nothing to turn to - chuuaku, post Dazai leaving

Chapter Fics: -Once More - skk, post canon Chuuya trying to put himself on equal footing with Dazai -kataware doki - skk, kimi no na wa au -beneath the surface - skk, urban fantasy/kitsune au

Works-in-progress: 3 -Gifted - skk, experimental research facility au

This year I wrote and posted: 67 fics in total: 2 completed multi-chapter fics, 1 wip multi-chapter fic

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted? I wrote a lot more fic than I thought I would.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? Any BSD pairing that isn’t skk basically. Chuuaku, Kunichuu, Chuuaki. I just ship Chuuya with a lot okay.

What’s your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest? Do No Harm. I love writing au’s and sickfics and angst and I feel like this one turned out really well. I’ve looked over it a few times and I still enjoy how it’s written which is a good sign.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? I took a few risks I think. I had three multi-chapter fics going at one point which is always a risk and I finished two of them. I wrote for ships and characters I never thought I’d write. I wrote smut, which isn’t something I write a lot of, to experiment with how I could write it. And then there’s the fidget spinner fic...so yeah.

Your best story of this year: Hmm, I still think it’s Do No Harm. Revival I thought also turned out well.

Your most popular story of this year: Once More. It’s also my longest fic written this year!

Story of yours most under-appreciated by the universe, in your opinion: I think they’ve been appreciated pretty appropriately, crack fics aside. I guess if I had to list one it would be heart that believes in others just because I really like the idea of Chuuya starting to struggle in the Mafia and caring enough about Dazai to make sure he never goes back to that.

Most fun story to write: this isn’t a private chatroom. Something about chatrooms is always fun.

Story with the single sexiest moment: Target Practice. I’m a terrible judge of this actually but people tell me this is the sexiest one I’ve written so I guess I’ll say that.

Most “Holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you” story: You Spin Me Right Round. Uhhhh yeah I uhhhhh kadsjflkdjdflksjsfda

Story that shifted your own perceptions of the characters: Mistake. Mostly because when I after I wrote it I took some aspects of Chuuya from it and have pretty much been using them for the rest of my fics. Once More also, just because it was my first really character study of them.

Hardest story to write: Tainted. Based on what the movie summary sounds like, it’s essentially Chuuya vs Corruption. I had a really hard time figuring out how to make it work, and how to describe Corruption, and there wasn’t a lot to work with concerning Shibusawa and the actual plot since the movie isn’t out yet.

Biggest disappointment: four weeks and three days later. I wanted to do more for Port Mafia week (and Chuuaku) and I feel like this wasn’t executed as well as it could have been.

Biggest surprise: The Care and Keeping of Orphans. I kind of started this and left it alone for months because I wasn’t sure if I could write this fluff au but it actually turned out well, and I was happily surprised by how many people enjoyed it!

Most unintentionally telling story: not the first time, nor the last. (suicide attempt tw) It’s probably as close to a vent fic as will ever be published on ao3 by me.

Favorite opening line(s): -”Dazai woke up on the first morning of the school year to find Atsushi curled under his bed like a scared cat, eyes wide as he watched Dazai try to fish him out.” - The Care and Keeping of Orphans (Honestly, I’m not good at writing compelling opening lines, so this is literally the only one I found that was actually good in some way on its own.)

Favorite closing line(s): - “It’s been a long few years, Dazai.” - kataware doki - “It sank in, more so than when Dazai had first left: he and Dazai were well and truly on different sides now.” - you can’t run -”The city was dying, and he felt like he was finally dying with it. But he was stubborn. Maybe at some point, he'd feel a bit less tired.” - in the flesh -”And he mourned Dazai and Chuuya's relationship, because it had already ended before it could begin.” - gone by morning -”Love may have been suicide, but Chuuya knew it was a form of suicide Dazai would never be willing to commit.” Seasons Change One After the Other

Favorite 5 line(s) from anywhere: -’“You never remember that I know you inside out, too,” Chuuya said.’ - i saw you - “You look like the waste of hospital materials you’ve always wanted to be,” Chuuya said. - Do No Harm - “Dazai never jumped off this particular bridge. Looking down at the water, Chuuya wondered if it was because he was scared.He wondered if it was because the death was guaranteed.” - the beautiful various dreams - “It was a thin line between performing a breakdown and having one, and Chuuya didn’t know which way the performance would go until he was in it.” - Revival -“I’m only good for killing,” Chuuya had said.Right now, Dazai could believe that killing was the only thing Chuuya had been put on this earth to do. - you aren’t a good person (but I don’t mind)

Top 5 scenes from anywhere you would choose to have illustrated from anywhere - Chuuya and Dazai meeting again at the end of kataware doki -the end of Chuuya’s short program after he comes back in Revival -Chuuya right after he finishes his fight in you aren’t a good person (but i don’t mind) -Chuuya and Dazai during their dance in Dance With Me -Chuuya almost begging Ango to erase Dazai’s records in Debt

Fic-writing goals for next year: Maybe write another multi-chapter fic. I have one about Corruption I want to do but I haven’t been satisfied enough to start publishing chapters.

#my fan fic #my fanfic #soukoku #bungou stray dogs #bsd #long post

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fountainpenguin · 4 years ago

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It’s an Update

Hello, Riddle here! I know I’ve been pretty quiet on Tumblr lately. Here’s an update on my situation:

I will definitely post more fanfic updates soon. I’ve picked at drafts, but haven’t posted anything lately. Here are the reasons why:

I got a new IRL job. It’s a good fit for me, but I have less free time than I used to, of course. It’s a job that involves writing lots of articles on a variety of topics, and I enjoy how every day is a little different

Most of my free time for the last year has gone towards my mod work at the Creature-Crossing ARPG, and to my personal CC writing. I’ve been working on new activities over there (my recent favorite being our seasonal familiar shows... I won first place in the summer show!) and I have a lot of plot plans that are coming together now. If you ever want to see my original characters and read my CC writing, you can find my character directory HERE and my Table of Contents HERE.

Once November 1st hits, I won’t be preparing for the release of any more CC activities or events. All future activity or event releases will be overseen by the other mods, and I’ll simply be someone they can ask for extra help if needed. This is a big change for a mod who spent the last 12 months working on new releases, and will give me back some of the free time my IRL job will eat

The Creature-Crossing admin (my boss) greenlit my request to bring an assistant on the mod team who will specifically help me with a lot of my behind-the-scenes work, such as data entry and organization. I’ve never had another mod who specifically helps me with the back end duties before, so that will be awesome. I will need to spend some time training them, but once they are official, that will take some of my workload off and allow me more free time for this blog and personal writing time.

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Fanfic updates you can expect to see soon:

- Reedfilter Rules

- Frayed Knots

- Origin of the Pixies

- Debut of Factor It In, my Kid Math-centric “WordGirl” fanfic (Subtitled “Tales of a third-grade superhero in training”)... Yes I am still in love with this idiot boy, expect lots of doodle pages soon

- The 130 Prompts project is on a slow-burn writing schedule... I’ll write for it when I want to, but I mostly want to focus on Origin and Knots this year.

Further info below the cut. There is more info about non-Fairly OddParents ‘fics in here too (under “non-FOP fanfics”), so if you’re looking forward to Mario World or “WordGirl” ‘fics from me, give this a click so you know what’s coming!

So, what does this update mean for your fanfics?

They’ll be active again soon! I’ve been picking at them behind the scenes, trying to build up a buffer. In an ideal world, I would love to release a new chapter for SOMETHING every Friday. I doubt this will be possible, but it’s something I would love to work towards in the future. Realistically, you can probably expect some kind of fanfic update once every two Fridays (two updates per month).

There might be some Fridays where posting an update is not possible. Instead, I’ll make a post about what progress I made instead. In the past, I often overworked myself to get a chapter out in time for my old deadline. I will not be doing that anymore, but will instead hold myself to a goal of “Make progress on something every week.”

In the best ideal world, I would love to post one FOP fanfic update per week and one non-FOP fanfic update per week. This is not likely to happen for a long, long time, but that would be the dream.

Here are the things I most likely worked on if there is no fanfic update:

- A fanfic chapter draft that needs more time

- A sideblog profile

- A Toyhouse profile for personal characters

- IRL work or mod work may have kept me busy this week

- Creature-Crossing writing... I will try to prioritize my fanfics more, but my CC writing is still important to me and I will be working on it in a lot of my free time too. At the moment, I have a hard deadline of December 14th that I need to meet if I want to release huge plot drama on the day that it happens in canon. I’ve been building up to this for a long time, so I’m really excited about that.

I currently have summer or autumn 2022 planned as the “finale” for the majority of my plot to explode. I will be hosting a member-run event in Creature-Crossing that will last for two months, so a lot of my time from January until the event’s release will be spent doing event prep. Once the event ends, my story content will mostly be a “return to slice of life.” Stories will be more casual one-offs as characters grow, live their lives, and start their own families. Hitting seasonal deadlines for plot will no longer be so important. I’ll be giving Creature-Crossing work less attention after that, and much more attention to my fanfics.

- I may not have a fanfic chapter out each week, but I WILL post a note every Friday to let you know what I have been doing with my time. You’ll see me around. Feel free to send Asks and talk!

===

What non-FOP fanfics would you like to work on?

For literal years, I’ve been claiming I want to post Mario World fanfics. This is still something I want to do. I tag Mario World posts as “mushrooms and more.” I’ve already done a lot of worldbuilding, I have thousands of words of content written for this fandom... I just haven’t posted any of it. I hope to do this soon.

- “WordGirl” fanfics are prioritized over Mario World fanfics. After I finish my first “WordGirl” multi-chapter, I will probably be ready to post my Mario World ‘fics. I may possibly post some Mario World one-shots in between other fanfic updates. Might take another year or more before I touch Mario stuff unless there’s high interest in seeing it sooner?

I also really want to write some WordGirl ‘fics and get more involved with the fandom community. I’ve been building headcanons and lore for this show ever since I was a kid, and I have multiple ‘fics for this fandom that I want to write.

- “AlgoRhythm” is a ‘fic I have already posted on FFN and AO3, about WordGirl introducing Kid Math to the villains in town

- 28 Cities is a ‘fic I started about Rhyme and Reason before they arrived in Fair City. I put it on hiatus since it didn’t seem like anyone was interested, but I’m willing to post more for it if there is interest in it now that years have passed and I’ve gotten more followers who like WordGirl. I have a lot of worldbuilding and plot I never shared for it

- Factor It In is a ‘fic I’ve been working for a while that parallels the official show from the moment Kid Math arrives in town. It focuses on Rex’s struggle to adjust to this world as a child coming into his superpowers for the first time (Y’know, the whole “superheroes don’t have powers when they’re on their home planets” thing), his struggle to adapt to the social world of a non-logical planet, and Becky’s struggle to help him become accustomed to Earth and learn to share it with her as well. If the episode “Kid Math” was a full-length novel about Rex’s arrival and character development, that’s what this story is. This is the highest priority of all my non-FOP ‘fics... I’ve had a cover image made for 6 months and even though I tried setting it aside, I’ve always been super inspired to write for it. If I felt like it would be a good idea to commit to weekly updates alongside my FOP updates, I would, haha.

- I have two one-shot WIPs called “Squishy Feelings” and “A Little Ambiguity”, one of them focusing on Becky and Rex talking about the events of “Rhyme and Reason” and what it means for Rex’s secret identity, and the latter being a future ‘fic showing WordGirl and Kid Math dealing with life 10 to 15 years down the road. I’ll probably post the latter, not sure yet on the former.

- If desired, I may make a WordGirl specific sideblog where I post lore, answer Asks, post character profiles [smaller than my FOP sideblog ones], and mention fanfic updates. If you would be interested in this, feel free to send me an Ask requesting I do this. If there’s not interest, I’ll just keep my WordGirl stuff on the main blog.

- I’d like to get more involved in the WordGirl community, so I’ll probably post more content and reblog more art and headcanons

I also have a handful of miscellaneous ideas I might follow through with. I’d like to write at least one “TUFF Puppy” fanfic so I can say I did. In a perfect world I would like to finish the two “Danny Phantom” and “Bunsen Is a Beast” fanfics I started because... I just kind of want to dip my toe in each of the Hartman shows once since I already went through all the effort of worldbuilding for them to make them canon in a single Hartman show universe. “ChalkZone” is another show I adore and might touch someday (You may recall I have a full outline planned for an FOP/ChalkZone crossover ‘fic called “Dust to Dust”).

Will I write all of these things? Maybe not. I have no idea if I want to spend the next 10+ years writing fanfics, or if I’ll simply be done with all misc. fanfics immediately once I decide to be done with my main ‘fics. I definitely intend to write for a few more years and finish my main ‘fics, but I might not go through with some less popular side ‘fics if life is getting busy for me.

===

What is the posting schedule for FOP ‘fics?

Reedfilter Rules, Frayed Knots, Origin of the Pixies, the 130 Prompts project, and “Come What May” are all high priority FOP writings. I will swap between them depending on my mood that week.

Here are some other ‘fics I want to work on.

- If you like, you can send me Asks requesting I work on a specific story above the rest. I will try to prioritize whichever stories interest you guys most.

Snips and Snails is a ‘fic I started and posted the first chapter for years ago. I’m not sure when I will get back to it, as I ran into some writer’s block. It’s still on tentative hiatus for now..... Possibly forever, though I hope it isn’t forever since it’s only supposed to be, like, five more chapters.

Pink and Gray is on official hiatus. I actually have a lot written for it, but I know it’s a little weird to put so much time and energy into Gary and Betty content when... well, let’s be honest: they’re my niche favorites and most of you probably don’t care. So, I am lifting my usual “no spoilers” policy from my Ask Box. If you would like to ask about my Gary and Betty backstory headcanons, feel free. I will tag my replies as “ridwriting spoilers” for anyone who wants to blacklist the tag, and spoilers will be hidden under a Read More line.

I’d like to return to this story someday because there are tons of things I like about it (ranging from Betty’s secret tattoos to Gary’s plot drama with his mom to the background drama between Talon and Anti-Cosmo, but I always feel immense pressure to make it extra cool to make up for the fact these are weird side characters, so... it’s officially at the bottom of the priority pile. Once Talon shows up in Frayed Knots and readers understand who he is and why he exists, I’ll consider coming back to it.

Identity Theft is a story about Foop and his time in the alternate dimension he was flung into following the episode “Playdate of Doom.” To put it short, Foop was abused by alternate versions of his parents in this dimension and he witnessed some pretty intense stuff, including the death of the alt version of himself who existed in that reality. The trauma he experienced resulted in his alternate personality, Hiccup. Foop himself has very few memories of what happened, as Hiccup has all of those memories. This story is canon in my works, and it is regularly referred to during the 130 Prompts as part of Foop’s backstory. It’s my highest priority side story to work on.

Along the Cherry Lane is a 20-chapter work focusing on the lives of the main human cast from age 11 to age 30, with one chapter showing a snippet of their lives each year. You see Timmy raising Tommy and Tammy in this ‘fic, and it ends with them receiving godparents. Since the 130 Prompts don’t give humans much attention, this ‘fic does. You’ll probably see it debut two years from now, closer to when the 130 Prompts is ready to talk more about humans.

If this becomes a popular ‘fic of mine, I’ll probably write a sequel or continue it past Chapter 30 and write about Tammy and Tommy living with fairies, but I won’t if there’s no interest in that.

Little Imperfections is a Pixie AU ‘fic of mine about what life would be like in a universe where the Fairies are even more like insects than I play them as during my main works (where I already play them as semi-similar to insects). In this world, the Head Pixie is a figurehead whose duty is to reproduce for the sake of the colony and do nothing else, and he’s bored out of his mind until he befriends Sanderson, who introduces him to music. It’s extremely self-indulgent and silly because I like Pixies.

Francis is a multi-chapter ‘fic about bully Francis’s life getting yet another fairy godparent in a long string of memory wipes and godparents. It takes place during the canon series, and when you see an “orange fairy” mentioned in some of my writings, it’s usually referring to this fairy. His name is Rover and I occasionally post art of him. I feel like I can’t truly call myself an FOP fanfic writer until I actually write about a godkid and their godparents, haha...

Hawthorn Haven is a side ‘fic that will be posted towards the end of the 130 Prompts, as it veers off from the prompts in its own self-contained multi-chapter story. It will be approximately the length of “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.”

Acacia Arcadia is a far-past ‘fic detailing the fall of the ancient fae, the imprisonment of the nature spirits, the rise and fall of the chimera nation, the fall of the Martian genies, and the early days of the cloudlands. This is close to the bottom of the priority pile... It’s something I spend time on for personal reference to ensure accuracy in my other ‘fics, but it’s probably not what you guys came here to read.

AA has a bunch of characters in it that you might vaguely recognize, such as Ezekiel Whimsifinado, Evadne, Ione, Two Feathers, Rho, and Sablewood (If you’re astute, you might recall cloudland legends and landmarks in modern day that refer back to these characters). There are also a lot of characters who were reincarnated as Anti-Fairies, in accordance to traditional Anti-Fairy beliefs; Foop for example exists as a main character in one of his past lives, and you’ll see a hint dropped about each of his lives in the first chapter of Identity Theft. My tentative plan is to use Foop’s past lives as my central characters, following the events of each part of the timeline until he gets killed and reincarnates at a later point of the timeline.

I also keep some one-shots in a file I call Mixed Nuts and I may possibly post them someday (they’re mostly just one-shots of main cast characters I do to get a feel for their personalities, I have some Wanda and Cupid in here). @zachbrightside and I are also working on a collab ‘fic called Like a House On Fire that shows more of Timmy and Chloe’s lives during Season 10 (especially around the time of “Which Is Wish?”) No news on a release date for that yet.

As I’ve said before, once all my other FOP works are complete, I will write Devil’s Backbone, which is my far-future ‘fic and the finale of my FOP writing. I do not plan to write any more FOP content after that story is finished, as I expect to have all other FOP projects done by then.

- Devil’s Backbone is a finale 'fic, so all worldbuilding from all stories is fair game to blend together, and it’s highly recommended you read everything else first. This story has been outlined since 2016, and it might not be published for another 10 years... Who knows! But it’s something I always work towards as a concrete endgame goal.

- If something serious comes up in my life and I officially decide I don’t want to write this story, I will post the outline for it. The link to this draft is included with all the other Google Docs links I have in a far-future queued post unveiling my WIPs in case I unexpectedly die and you still want to know how my stories would have gone, so you’ll get access to this story eventually even if I die young. Yes, share access is turned on for them all and I do take extra careful measures to be sure that post doesn’t get posted early skldfj

===

What is the plan for the main blog?

Every Friday, I will post either a fanfic chapter or a progress update. You can blacklist the tag “ridlife” if you do not want to see the progress updates on your dashboard. Fanfic updates will not have the “ridlife” tag, so you will not be blocking them.

During the rest of the week, I might post doodles, reblogs, or general comments. Basically... you’ll see the blog become active again. Feel free to send in Asks about my worldbuilding and thoughts on fanfic characters.

@fountainpenguin is my personal blog, so you will see non-fandom things on here sometimes

@riddledeep is my FOP-exclusive sideblog. It contains all my lore notes and goes into a ton of depth, more than my fanfics give in one breath

===

What does this mean for the Riddledeep sideblog?

I really want to go back and edit those character profiles that were posted early by mistake. The reason they were queued is because if I turned them into drafts, they would have been buried all the way at the beginning of my draft collection, and I have many, many drafts saved. There are no page numbers to navigate quickly through the draft collection, so I would have to click through each page one by one if I ever wanted to look at them. I hated doing this, which is why I kept my posts queued.

I was regularly updating the queue deadlines, trying to keep things in the order I wanted to post them in, but Tumblr made a change to the way drafts are dated and it kept throwing off my system. My inability to remember when my queued things would post combined with my busy schedule led to some profiles being posted early and incomplete. I want to fix these.

Over a year ago, my good friend Vulpix150 helped me finalize my designs for the Aos Sí and Daoine Sith. I’ve been sitting on that art in secret for a while, and at some point I plan to post it on the sideblog and talk more about that lore.

Updating fanfics is my higher priority (and it was the priority my followers voted for when I asked you to send votes to my Ask Box a while back). So, I will usually spend my free time working on fanfics unless I need a break from them and want to work on sideblog profiles instead. Thank you for your patience!

===

TL;DR

I’m posting fanfics again soon. I’m going to take a more relaxed approach to posting them. I’m going to post more of what I want to post and what I feel motivated to post, not always a main ‘fic update. If I’m not “feeling it” when working on a draft, then I’ll set it aside for a while unless I know my followers and readers have high interest in the next chapter of that story. I always write for me first, but if I know there are other people who care a lot about a story, then of course I want to write it for you too!

I’m going to embrace my decade-long love for WordGirl and post more ‘fics and art or this fandom. I’ve always been a little shy about doing this, but I’m ready to make it an official fandom on my main blog (unless there are lots of requests for WordGirl things to be contained in their own sideblog). I will be posting the first chapter for a ‘fic called Factor It In very soon. Love my easily frustrated alien kiddos having a long day.

I am working on Creature-Crossing stuff too, and will be especially busy in November and December. Updates will be slow for a few months, but I hope to find my groove and a good pace soon.

Each Friday, I will post either a fanfic update or a mention of what I am working on. I will be checking in on Tumblr regularly. Feel free to talk! I much prefer you send messages to my Ask Box, not my private messenger, please <3

===

Is there a specific story of mine you like and want more updates for?

Asks and reviews help me know which ‘fics people are enjoying. I plan to keep writing ‘fics no matter what, but I definitely give more time to the ‘fics that get more attention (and I have been spending so much time writing for Creature-Crossing because that’s where the attention was coming from)

It’s easy to stay motivated and get the next part of a story out soon if I know that people like it. It’s always harder if you feel like people are silently judging you and ignoring your posts. So, let me know what you’re interested in. And if you only leave Likes or Favorites instead of asks and reviews, that’s okay too! Thank you for interacting anyway and enjoying my work.

Thanks for reading!

#WordGirl #Factor It In #Kid Math #FAIRIES!#ridlife #riddleverse mention #ridwriting #Mushrooms and more #Satirical vocab alien child show #Frayed Knots #130 Prompts #Origin of the Pixies #Pink and Gray #Acacia Arcadia #Devil's Backbone #Hawthorn Haven #Along the Cherry Lane

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marigoldbaker · 7 years ago

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2017 fic roundup

tagged by the incredible @catty-words!! which is a delight bc 1) cori is amazing and 2) i LOVE talking about my writing. so here goes

Total 2017 Word Count: 252,499 (.......that’s a lot wow) Total 2017 Hits: 7,515 Other 2017 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 653; Comment threads: 197; Bookmarks: 76; Subscriptions: 49.

Total 2016 Word Count: 61,766 (oh my GOD in COMPARISON i wrote. so much this year) Total 2016 Hits: 4,651 Other 2016 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 360; Comment threads: 55; Bookmarks: 38; Subscriptions: 15.

links and titles to 2017 works

i wrote. um. a lot. like a lot. didn’t realize how much until i had to compile an actual list and now it’s like....wow.

orpheus (4,721 words) that one time i wrote a giles/jenny orpheus & eurydice au. set during....s5-ish? i had fun with this

determination unmatched (1,576 words) set during school hard; ft. giles and jenny in the library and jenny panicking over her Commitment Issues.

the sunnydale high mortality rate (1,722 words) i’m PRETTY sure i wrote this in 2016 for jenny calendar day, but i posted it again as a standalone in january so. still counts sort of. jenny’s musings on life and death in sunnydale.

on gambles (5,577 words) a tara/faith au of the office; tara is a shy receptionist and faith is a flirty paper salesgirl.

bravery (50,445 words) IM GETTING NOSTALGIC because last time i did this fic roundup thing my goal for 2017 was to finish bravery??? and then i did??? and it was beautiful??? fjsfsdljk do i even need to summarize this fic; u all heard me talking about it at Some point or another....it’s a giles/jenny becoming au. i reread it recently and i feel like i’ve really improved since then, but it was a landmark fic for me and the first multi-chapter fic with a complex plot that i actually finished (and last lmao whoops). i love it still

first steps (5,740 words) the follow-up to bravery!! set during dead man’s party. kinda fluffy & pointless but it was still super fun to write

second chances (9,371 words) oh boy this fic is the only one from early 2017 that i’m still genuinely really proud of. set during s6; jenny comes back as a ghost, and only anya can see her.

impromptu vigil for the dead scooby mom (3,226 words) jenny dies in chosen instead of in passion, and giles copes.

missing (13,402 words) s3 jenny, from a world where giles died, forms an accidental supernatural connection with s3 giles.

conscious choices (6,708 words) MY CHEESY ROM-COM FIC. i love this one so much so much so much. told through emails, phone calls, and texts, giles and jenny fall in love (again, sort of) in s4 when jenny comes back into town.

mermaid magic (13,140 words) some anon sent me an ask once upon a time re: jenny as a mermaid and that ask spiraled into a lot of asks and then a tag on my blog and finally this fic. it was inevitable, really.

grand romantic gestures (10,558 words) this was without a doubt my secret masterpiece of 2017. femslash calendiles, set after passion. while attempting to cope with jenny’s death, gil stumbles across something surprising, and then things just start spiraling from there.

restraint (4,305 words) a prequel to on gambles, though they could be read in any order. faith attends the dundies and pines over tara (though she definitely doesn’t want to call it pining). also there is of course some jenny/giles content because i’m Me

forever (4,031 words) kind of still in progress?? various femslash oneshots (faith/tara, willow/buffy, and willow just being a lesbian in general)

irredeemable evil (5,919 words) jenny tries to get used to being a vampire. giles is desperately in love.

on heroes (6,054 words) look i GET that slayers have to be the one-girl-in-all-the-world thing but i hate the cpr scene with romantic undertones so like. i wrote this. with semi-gratuitous mostly-platonic jenny/giles because i’m Me.

fortune favors the bold (2,768 words) jackaby fic!!!! for my traumatized ghost girl and her mess of a paranormal detective boyfriend, who both very clearly have no idea how functioning relationships work, but they love each other so they muddle through. written before i read book 4 bc i was afraid jackaby and jenny wouldn’t get a canonical love declaration & kiss. everyone please read jackaby 4 me

loving parents (6,259 words) am i ever going to finish this? who knows? giles and jenny are expecting a baby in some alternate v happy s5. literally just scooby shenanigans and wish fulfillment.

closeness (1,532 words) my headcanon for giles and jenny’s first kiss!! soft and tentative.

friends with extras (788 words) leverage; sophie/nate and pillow talk. not my best work and i don’t think i really Got their dynamic, but i think someday i might return to write fic for them? maybe? canon gave me so much already so i don’t really feel the need.

many kinds of magic (2,394 words) my favorite thing about this fic is the fact that i felt 0 need to explain why jenny was alive. she’s just There. willow and tara fall in love, aided gently by jenny. except not really bc lbr willow and tara need NO help to fall in love, so jenny just listens and offers advice.

imperfections (76,843 words) someday i really will come back to this. maybe. hopefully. i wrote it while i was sorting through Sad Feelings and i don’t......have.....those feelings anymore, which is Excellent for me but kinda bad for this fic. anyway. faith and jenny form a friendship in s3 (or: a braveryverse rewrite of season 3 where jenny is alive).

pint-size potential (7,212 words) the first fic in what will hopefully be a series of short fics!! giles is charged with the care of baby buffy summers, a potential who isn’t likely to become a slayer (according to the council).

adapting (3,327 words) sequel to pint-size potential! giles adjusts to his life in sunnydale; buffy throws things and gets excited about animals

inevitability (4,881 words) post-chosen faith/buffy; soft and hesitant and frightened but both of them are still determined to try.

Favorite Fic: DEFINITELY grand romantic gestures. like i love all these fics (and i feel like the calendiles day fics were some of my best. jenny as a sarcastic smitten mermaid??? giles and jenny passive-aggressively emailing?? jenny and buffy forming a tentative friendship over the fact that they both loved giles???) but grand romantic gestures was swoony and gorgeous and sapphic and incredibly romantic. i’m so so proud of it and i want it to get Lots of attention but it. does not. so like...please go read & review

Hardest Fic: definitely missing, because i was writing it under time constraints and i felt like it wasn’t good enough the whole time. but it surprised me by turning out to be really nice!! i went back and reread it and. solid work celia.

Do You Plan to Take Prompts in 2018? oh totally!! i don’t know if i’ll Complete them but i’m definitely down to take them.

What was the best thing about 2017? wow this is hard. this is hard and i really like that this is hard. the best thing about 2017 is 100% that i cannot decide what the best thing about 2017 is. i have a lot of options and a lot of friends and a lot of happy things that i did not have last year. i feel very good about that.

What was the worst thing about 2017? that i didn’t Actually meet robia. but there were so many good things that balanced it out!!

Any last thoughts for 2017? i’ve been saying for a while that 2017 felt like a stepping-stone year towards something better for me, but i think it was actually a damn good year as a whole. i think i need to stop thinking of things as a journey towards happiness and start just...enjoying whatever journey i’m on.

Goals for 2017

FINISH THE TOP-SECRET DETECTIVE AU and find a title and start posting it!! it’s intricate and gorgeous and i can't wait to show it to u all

write more femslash!!!!

stop telling myself i’m not writing enough. i was telling myself that all this year aND I WROTE OVER 250,000 words SO CLEARLY I AM DOING PRETTY DAMN WELL WHEN I’M NOT EVEN TRYING

tagging @regenderate and um i’m not sure if i can think of other people that cori didn’t tag?? i love my small corner of the buffy fandom but it’s. difficult 4 tagging people. so like if u see this ur tagged congrats

#tagging meme #fic roundup #LOOK. LOOK AT ALL THE FIC I WROTE #EXCITING #(pls do go read grand romantic gestures....or my new fic....start my 2018 off right)

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