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Man, procrastination and perfectionism are such strange things. Like, I'll spend far too long editing and re-editing a chapter and refuse to move on to the next chapter until it's perfect, but at the same time, the second I open my word document, I find myself wasting time on youtube or delaying THIS project with another one that doesn't have such a strict, self-imposed deadline that I'm already 2 years late on.

But, even though I've definitely not mastered this, there are four things that usually help me actually continue my writing and editing.

something I think I heard from a livestream from Hello Future Me was that, if there's a problem in your writing, the issue is actually a few sentences, pages, chapters, etc. before what you're stuck on.

"Later" doesn't exist. If I put all my faith in being able to do something "later," it's never going to happen.

Dedicated, undistracted, and consistent writing is what makes the project move forward, and something I like to ask myself is "How long is this going to take? Okay, and how long have you been delaying doing it?" And the second answer is often wayyyy longer of a time than the first.

This is one that I need to work on, but it works so damn well when I do remember to do it: when I want to procrastinate, I need to tell myself "just work on this for 3 more minutes," and usually that forces me to actually face the core of what's not working in this scene or chapter. And the 3 minutes usually grows into ten, twenty, thirty minutes, or even hours, if I really get on a roll.

(also, taking breaks and exercising are both immensely helpful when you reach a mental barrier in writing; be kind to your mind) I'm not saying this would work for everyone, but I felt like it would be good to write these out so they'd be in my mind a bit more when I'm editing... which, actually..... I need to keep doing.

See you after i finish rewriting chapter 10 <3

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This is how your 'justice' ends

In honor of it being 11/20, I'd just like to say how well-done that scene was. Of course, the animation was amazing (in the game, at least), but the fact that the plot twist was so well-orchestrated leading up to it is really what makes the scene itself work.

By this point, we all know the pancake meme, but it really deserves it because of how subtly it introduces the idea of Akechi having been to the metaverse before and that there's more going on with the character than just some too-friendly detective prick.

Moreover, I was explaining the scene and plot twist to my parents the other day, and about halfway through the incoherent rant I was going on about it, I explained it somewhat like, "And who would've guessed that the guy trying to take down the Phantom Thieves the entire game was *gasp* the traitor??? Inconceivable." But then I realized something that's... tbh probably obvious, but I'd forgotten about it: the plot twist wasn't that Akechi was the traitor, or that he sold out Joker and the Phantom Thieves. The twist was that he'd go so far as killing Joker. The twist was that his justice was false, or at least the justice he pretended to uphold, and was rather self-justice and the pursuit of something we, the audience, didn't yet know the motive behind.

I'm going to analyze this more later and probably make a video about it, but I just wanted to type out my thoughts on the scene and buildup (also it's a shame the game didn't have all the snarky one-liners Akechi said during that scene in the anime, but I get why they didn't have that in, as it would've either made the scene feel dragged out or too rushed, depending on how much pause they would've given between the lines).

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Can we bring back unhinged, meme-ish dialogue as something you don't always have to avoid in "proper" writing? This shit's hilarious

The protag who is basically if a Lancer and Smart Guy had a child: "You'd better be taking this seriously." The butch girl/tank: "I am! I've just been through something like this before." Protag: "...Being targeted by a criminal organization while preparing to infiltrate the monarch's palace?" The tank: "Eh, same old, same old."

I mean, I probably accidentally stole this dialogue from something else, but still.

Or the entire scene where my little shit of a protagonist is VERY sleep deprived and keeps fumbling his words while still trying to be a smartass, accidentally saying "you foop" instead of "you fool" and going silent for a few minutes.

Like, I'm probably gonna edit these to a bit more sanity, but also this is my book and I can do what I want.........but also some of my co-workers are planning on reading it... and..... I don't really want them to judge me.....

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If I had a nickel for every time a character was born without crying and had to be saved/sustained by a goddess being infused with their heart/soul, and also had a hair color change at some point because of this, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

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girl help I'm getting they/them'd by well-meaning people who don't know what a tomboy is

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Anyway, I'm working on the manga again--

Finally... after two months... I've finished editing this goddamned chapter.

I swear I actually edit VERY fast, chapter 8 just sucks and I had to find a way to take two sentences and turn them into a full, climactic chapter before letting my characters finally leave this city and get on with the main plot.

...I can definitely still finish editing by the last day of November, only 130 pages left.

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Maybe I should, like, actually just focus on one story at a time instead of being like "Well, can't think of how to rephrase this, LET'S WORK ON THE MANGA/COMIC INSTEAD!!" only to later say, "Welllll, I've got this fairly plotted *ignoring a major plot hole I still need to fix* LET'S SEE HOW MY BOOK CHARACTERS ARE DOING!!"

Finally... after two months... I've finished editing this goddamned chapter.

I swear I actually edit VERY fast, chapter 8 just sucks and I had to find a way to take two sentences and turn them into a full, climactic chapter before letting my characters finally leave this city and get on with the main plot.

...I can definitely still finish editing by the last day of November, only 130 pages left.

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Finally... after two months... I've finished editing this goddamned chapter.

I swear I actually edit VERY fast, chapter 8 just sucks and I had to find a way to take two sentences and turn them into a full, climactic chapter before letting my characters finally leave this city and get on with the main plot.

...I can definitely still finish editing by the last day of November, only 130 pages left.

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Honestly, I feel like aro and ace are hard to figure out, mainly due to a lack of representation. Hell, I questioned whether I was straight or bi for three years until I listened to the Overly Sarcastic Podcast bits about Red and Blue explaining how they figured out they're ace, and I was like, "oh... OH WAIT, THAT'S ME" and immediately made a makeshift ace ring out of paper and tape

It wasn't like I didn't know the terms, but I think there was some internalized aphobia that I hadn't thought about before that moment, because I vividly remember first hearing about the term asexual and thinking, "No that can't be me, I still think people are pretty / I generally like most people (platonically) / I can feel love / *other stuff that's usually used against aspec people*" but just hearing actual ace experiences was enough to break all of that and make me go "HOW THE HELL DID I NOT REALIZE THIS EARLIER???"

So, for anyone else questioning out there, it's fine if it takes a long time to figure yourself out; even if you don't end up being a certain label, if you even want to label yourself, understanding other people's experiences can help bridge the gaps between different ways people interact with life and destigmatize things you may not have even realized were stigmas in the first place.

Happy ace week <3

a few days late, but happy Ace Week!!

I'm aroace (aromantic asexual), meaning that I'm not attracted to people in ~that~ way.

It's a spectrum, so everyone experiences it differently, but no matter where you are on that lovely gradient of human experience, remember you're valid, and I hope you're able to be proud of and embrace who you are (I mean, unless that 'embracing who you are' is by way of murder or theft or something)

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a few days late, but happy Ace Week!!

I'm aroace (aromantic asexual), meaning that I'm not attracted to people in ~that~ way.

It's a spectrum, so everyone experiences it differently, but no matter where you are on that lovely gradient of human experience, remember you're valid, and I hope you're able to be proud of and embrace who you are (I mean, unless that 'embracing who you are' is by way of murder or theft or something)

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Glad we can all agree that Light would be obliterated the second he walked into the room.

Now the real question is: if they're all working together.... then who would be able to stop them?

Chuuya, L, and the Phantom Thieves could *try*, but my bet is on the world imploding after two seconds of this alliance.

Ah yes, two high schoolers against an ex-mafia executive, what could go wrong?

Also, it's up to you to decide whether Akechi has access to the metaverse in this scenario.

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you know, even though I wrote this as 100% a joke and to play into the "Akechi is just Light" meme, there are actually a lot of interesting parallels in the character writing for these three. Light and Akechi both live by a sort of twisted justice, so they would have THE MOST interesting conversation if given the chance. All three live behind some sort of facade that hides their true nature. Dazai and Akechi probably have the most parallels though, tbh: orphan, essentially the right-hand man for someone at/near the top of a hierarchy (during the Port Mafia era at least), his boyfriend rival is in some sort of criminal gang, traitor to at least one group that they were in, has traumatized another orphan at one point.

And, you know, all three have some extremely gay rivalry with someone on the opposite side of the law as them.

(but if we're talking voice actor parallels, Dazai and Iwai have a very ironic overlap of traits, even just with Iwai's arcana name; and don't get me started on how Ace and Mori are literally Akechi and Shido)

Ah yes, two high schoolers against an ex-mafia executive, what could go wrong?

Also, it's up to you to decide whether Akechi has access to the metaverse in this scenario.

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Ah yes, two high schoolers against an ex-mafia executive, what could go wrong?

Also, it's up to you to decide whether Akechi has access to the metaverse in this scenario.

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Introductions!

She/her, you can call me-- actually let's see what happens if I tell you all to just make up a name for me... I'll definitely not regret this later

I analyze plots and sometimes make videos about them (channel's called "Into the Plot" and I have no idea why I didn't just name this blog after that)

I'm writing a book and a manga/comic; might post a bit about it here, but I'm mostly just using this blog for little comics and stuff

Hope you're having a nice day/night

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These are now officially my favorite tags from my NieR: RepliCant comic, hold on real quick while I...

The "protagonist of a fantasy story where my sister was either possessed, kidnapped, or both!" gang

Technically, M!Byleth comes pretty close to being in the gang, too, if you count all those AUs where the two Byleths are siblings

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Starting route B reminded me how much this plot point didn't make sense to me