#(writing this post actually helped me brainstorm this AU some more lol maybe I should do this more often huh)

[boyfrillish]

Remembered about this one AU/UA(?) of mine that I might want to write (maybe) and it’s a timeline where Hop becomes champion first, Victor later on second try.

Hop still figures out along the way that becoming a pokemon prof sounds neat, Victor has a lot of fun exploring the whole region and training at the master dojo. Also, they are very supportive of each other and win the inaugural galarian star tournament together like the power couple they are 😌 the whole plot with Eternatus as well as post-credits with Sordward&Shielbert happened too (Victor having Eternatus and Zacian, Hop having Zamazenta).

Because I’m assuming you’d need a new endorsement for each time you participate in the gym challenge, it’s Hop who writes the letter next time so basically Victor is champion-approved twice and then becomes champion himself.

I’m not even sure what birthed this AU but I’m guessing it’s the fact that Hop’s arc gave me emotional pain bassboosted + my headcanon that Victor doesn’t even know what his goal is/what he wants to be at the start of story. So instead of winning because plot/gameplay-mandated, he can take his time (which also lessens the “basically becoming unbeatable champion 2.0” post-credits angst that lives in my head rent-free for 2 months now). For Hop, figuring out his new goal is after achieving his initial goal.

[methoxyethane]

Fic Year In Review

Okay I was gonna wait until January but I’m not writing shit right now, I mean I am TOTALLY braindead so I might as well do this now

FICS I POSTED THIS YEAR:

A Rose By Any Other Scent 

ABO, Lance has no sense of smell until he regains it in a cryopod, thinks Keith is another alpha but falls for him anyway. Much angst towards the end, but it gets better.

An old klance fic I started probably years ago, and while its technically one chapter away from being finished for good wen all know I’m never gonna figure out how to write that last resolution chapter. It’s a good fic though, with a good ending point that at least resolved the emotional conflict between the boys. 

Matelotage

Klance pirate AU, simple proposal fic fluff. I originally wanted to make it a One Piece AU but it got too complicated and I just said fuck it XD I uh... Don’t remember what’s in this one, honestly. Maybe I should reread it.

New Adventures

A cute little pokemon SatoGoh fic I wrote because I was binge-watching Pokemon Journeys. Yes, I wrote pokemon fic about twenty years too late, and for an obscure ship. Do I care? Nope. No regerts baby, living life to the fullest.

Gravitation

Genshin Impact, LucKae ABO porn. Not much to this, was just writing it to warm up my chops, and also, because Kaeya is SO DAMNED SEXY. Unf. Dat ass, yo.

Dating For Dummies

Klance Valentine’s Day fluff. Lance asks Keith out on a bro-date, then makes it as Un-platonic as possible. On accident. Really, he swears it was an accident.

I love this fic SO MUCH. It’s cute, its funny, its a little bit sexy, and it’s probably the best thing I wrote all year. Probably. That or the itafushi fic. It’s a toss up, both ended up being cute as shit.

Roses In May

An original story, or the beginning of one. I had plans for this, but then it was hard to write, so I gave up because I’m lazy. I still love the characters, maybe I should try again with a different premise...? I don’t know I suck at writing original works. Maybe I’m not cut out to be a writer...

Dreaming Of Electric Sheep

Klance Android!Keith AU. This was pretty cute, but I couldn’t get my beta to read it to help me come up with ideas on what to write next, and I got lost and forgot everything I had planned. That uh... happens to me a lot.

The Other Side

One Piece fic, partly LawLu but mostly some brotherly Luffy and Ace content. Luffy gets sent to another world, where his brother is still alive. Also, he apparently has a boyfriend in this universe.

I started this fic YEARS and YEARS ago, but VLD distracted me form the fandom and I never got around to writing the rest of it. Not until now. Worth the wait? No, it’s a really small little fic. But it’s good. Little, but good. Very heartfelt.

I Think Your Love Would Be Too Much

ItaFushi. Yuuji falls for Fushiguro and decides to date him, without or without Fushiguro’s consent. Fortunately, Fushiguro is not actually opposed to this.

Jujustsu Kaisen is AWESOME, and I had to write something soft and cute because canon is so brutal. I loooooove this fic, it turned out funny and sweet and cute and a little bit stupid, and I’ll reread it as many times as I want because I wrote it for ME, damn it. 

Push Up To My Body

Genshin Impact, Childe/Zhongli ABO porn. I wanted to write Zhongli being slapped during sex and totally getting off on it, so I DID. This is some kinky shit, yo. No regrets.

One Is Silver And The Other Is Gold

Genshin Impact, LucKae Hogwarts-based childhood fluff. I accidentally posted this before I was ready, I thought I’d write it faster but I have not touched this since I posted what I already had written. I HOPE to write more, but I need ideas for the first couple years before the Drama hits and no one will help me brainstorm XD

Iterum

Klance porn, Incubus!Lance fucks Keith’s brains out with a shapeshifting dick. Written for the knotty monsters zine someone asked me to participate in, but i was... Difficult, and I imagine no one will ask me to participate in another zine again lol. I hated it when I wrote it, but then i reread it and it’s actually pretty good smut. Lesson learned: I suck at deadlines and don’t do well under pressure lmaaooo

Calling Sassafras

More Klance porn, but this is... REALLY GOOD. Keith asks for a little Dom/Sub lovin, and after some careful planning, Lance is happy to oblige. Another fic I started a few years back and only finished recently. Um... not much to say about this other than, if you haven’t read it yet, you should probably hit this shit. IT’s diiiirty.

Chocolate Turtles

Zukka fluff. Zuko makes animals out of chocolate, and Sokka keeps buying them for all the wrong women. Eventually, he learns his lesson and just akss out Zuko instead.

Written for my friend Isa whom I love dearly, this shit was inspired by that chocolate guy who’s so popular on the internet. It’s some cute fluff, but mostly, it’s FUNNY. I nailed this one. I’m a funny bitch, god damn it. Anyway I like it, if it wasn’t for the Valentine’s fic and the ItaFushi this would be my favorite fic of the year. But it’s not lol. It’s third place. 

So in conclusion, I wrote less than usual this year, but what I did write was pretty baller. Mostly. IDK, I made the most of what I could.

[mysticprofessoralienhumanoid]

Maribat ideas I will probably never write

Now, before we start.

I realize that those may have already been made but I've never seen them and everything here came from my mind. But if you remember the titles, please tell me them or send a link to the stories, I'd love to read them.

This can be whatever ship you want Connorette, Daminette, Cassandra x Marinette, Brucinette... Any ship.

Here I'll refer to them just as the bats or one of the bats, or just choose a random one of them simply because I don't know the exact person that'd fit in the au with Marinette so I'm just leaving it up to you but... yeah.

[And yes, I know I said it could be Connor or Jon or anyone else, and I know they are not part of Batclan but for the lack of better word, just roll with it]

Yes, you can use any of them, but please tag me (i really want to read what you came up with) and include the link to my post so maybe someone else could use any other of these.

And if want to add anything or just brainstorm in the comments I'd love to do it with you, so don't be shy and say what you think (constructive critism only).

Maybe i will update this, but for now feel free to use any of these over 20 (i think at least) ideas I came with in these past 2 weeks cuz i was bored.

And before you start, I'm thinking of making mafia boss! Marinette AU, but i don't know what ship it should be... Suggestions? (Just not the love square please)

Hope you like it.

-------------------------------------------------------

Violinist Marinette. The Waynes got invited to a concert in which Mari played a solo. And they're all just enchanted with her talent.

Marinette a Badass Dancer. None of the bats is a dancer in this AU and I don't really have any direction where this would go, but i just had a scene where she kicks their asses even though she doesn't have much (or any) exprience in martial arts. Just her spinning and kicking one of them mid-spin in the face or... somewhere else...

So the scene is a Wayne Gala, right? Jagged Stone dares Marinette to sing a song on a stage (there’s live music band, i guess?). Everyone’s mesmerised by her voice and Jagged can be heard screaming “That’s my niece!” in the backround. I really want her to sing Creep , a cover by Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox ft. Haley Reinhart or Crazy in Love , also a cover made by Sofia Karlberg, though any other song is fine too

Bats and Marinette in a band. That's it. That's the whole AU.

One of the bats is sitting under a tree, all peacefully and relaxed, but then they look up to see a random girl with dark blue hair (??) just hanging upside down from a branch like an actual freaking bat. She gives them a heart attack.

Another Au with singing Marinette lol. In this one Marinette likes to sing in a park every other day and Damian comes here one day and hears her and is like “wow.”, and since then he comes there everyday in hopes of hearing her sing and getting her number. And maybe Luka or Adrien play while she sings, that’d be cool

Guys, Marinette and the Waynes being neighbours. No, but imagine. Them seeing some girl watering plants every week for a month or two and then not seeing her for a long period of time, and they're kinda worried, but then she's back and they're confused, because where the hell she'd been, the house looked like not used and just where the hell was she? Marinette seeing some... Weird things happening in the Wayne backyard. Balconies being in front of each other, so they're balcony neighbours too (the romance, the fluff, even the angst, guys). Marinette going to them with baked goods and introducing herself as their neighbour. Them going to hers and welcoming her with a basket of Alfred's cooking. 

Jason has to participate in a dating show because he lost a bet and Mari's one of the participants too...

Duke needs a date to a wedding (i don't know whose, your choice) and Marinette's his best friend, so be my fake date to this wedding?

Marinette as Tim's daughter??

The greatest showman AU. (Sibling dickinette. On the trapeze-)

Forget rouges, superheroes and vigilantes. Underground dancers. Because it's what i need, y'all

So in this, WE is a dance company, and Marinette's maybe an intern in a fashion department. One day Dick's going to one of the practice rooms where's been scheduled a meeting with a designer for his costume for the next show. Instead he's met with a girl he sees for the first time, practically flying on the dance floor. Just as he's about to reveal himself the rest comes and it turns out this is the fashion designer and it seems as no one knows she's an amazing dancer too

Teachers AU + Rivals AU = utter chaos. Them teaching the same subject and competing for their class' loves and/or arguing whose close is better. [Bonus points if everyone's thinking they hate each others guts, but they're secretly dating]

Fencers AU - on the same team on different teams, your choice. (And this honestly suits with Kagami too. I'm up for kagami x bat/marinette)

Damian in the park with Mar'i, but he's having trouble, because this kid has so much energy. How?? Just when he thinks he can take a breath, he notices Mar'i has wandered off and is talking to a young woman, so he rushes there and try to apologize, but she says it's no problem at all. Suddenly this gorgeous girl offers him her help. It looks like Mar'i has taken liking to her and he's so tired, so he agrees and for the rest day watches two Mari's play together and falls in love with the older one. Plotwist: this was plan all along. Mar'i is the ultimate wingwoman.

All the Wayne siblings decided to go to one of those haunted houses for a halloween and there's this petite girl who tagged along their group somehow. They didn't expect to see this tiny girl punching the worker dressed as a monster and knocking the daylight out of him. But it was so worth getting kicked out.

Marinette's a ghost and these four men came to her house and apparently they're doing a ghost investigation?? I mean, she was getting a bit lonely and bored, maybe it's time to "gain some friends" (read: scare the living out of them).

Pretty much the above but with bat/s as ghost/s and Marinette as the paranormal investigator with her team (i honestly want one of them to be Kagami, i don't know why). In both you need to decide who's a skeptic and who believes. It's fun, the ghost is trying to scare them off, but they're stubborn.

Sibling dickinette where Marinette calls her older brother everytime she wants to get out of a date and so he pretends to "arrest" her. (And then maybe dick decides to play a matchmaker and sets her up with one of his adoptive siblings)

Marinette as a lawyer. Her going against LexCorps who framed Wayne Enterprises for something. Or maybe Bruce was accused of murder (that he obviously did not commit) and now she has to prove his innocence. I just really want to read about badass lawyer Marinette, guys

Merlin AU. Is there any AUs with Marinette being Merlin and saving Arthur's ass (I honestly think it should be Chloe, no joke)?

Mominette where she adopts Cassandra. I just imagined them going to ballet lessons together and cooking and now I'm soft.

Marinette got dared by her friends to set a trap for the passerby that involved eggs, toy train and glitter and to then to pretend they're her ex and they cheated in her, and Jason had the misfortune to be that passerby. (Yes, this is probably crack lol)

Tim can rap. Marinette can rap. What could go wrong?? (Yes, this is probably crack too)

There's this girl they see every year when to go on trick-or-treating and she always has the most amazing or scariest costumes. But Damian will not go without a fight and so every year they compete over who has the better costume. This year they just so conveniently dressed up as the famous Halloween couple.

Jon is 17 now and it seems as no one is interested in him. He jokingly tells Damian he supects theres a ghost that's in love with him and they keep away any potential lovers from him. He doesn't know how much he's right. Marinette though, is freaking out.

Marinette decided to take a part-time job at a local pool as a life guard. There's a sudden increase in people coming to said pool but also a dramatic increase in people pretending to drown. Conner is one of them.

Marinette plays a therapist to all of the batfam. The amount of the ridiculous problems she had to listen to... She could write a book and she would make millions out of it, she swears.

"Some say "revenge is a dish best served cold.", then i read "revenge is sweet", so i came to conclusion revenge is ice cream." Huh, so that'd explain the sudden disappearance of ice cream in whole Gotham Jason had been hearing about for the past week from Bruce. The question is, what that petite bluenette is planning to do and who is going to be a victim of her ice cream revenge?

Tim had been in coma for a month after the drug bust, and he has just woken up. The first thing he does? He picks up the argument he and Marinette had been having before he's been put into a coma.

The couple at the place Jason had been at, started making out loudly, so he started making loud noises while eating his ice cream. They stopped. And he got this cute barista's phone number when she was walking past him.

Marinette's at the spa when she overhears two guys betting who can eat more slices of cucumber (that were supposed to be put on their eyelids) and she decided to participate. Safe to say they were all banned from all the spas in Gotham

Can i please get Jason/Duke/anyone making up a bedtime story for Marinette after she woke up from a nasty nightmare? I need it

Every morning and night Marinette pretends to be asleep just so she can feel Damian pull her closer, kiss her temple and whisper how much he loves her

Roy listening to Jason complaining about each first encounter of her girlfriend with his siblings and Bruce. Each is more ridiculous than the one before. He listens to it, after he and Marinette had gone through their own weird af first meeting.

Dick was so busy laughing at the bluenette who'd just walked into a post, he ran into the same post minute later. She asked him out... After she finished laughing and telling him karma's a bitch

Dick likes to think he's the reason Jason and Marinette got married. To his last days he will brag about how at his and Kori's wedding Marinette caught the bouquet, tripped and Jay caught her.

Jason asked Marinette on a date to one of the restaurant the WE owned. Then as a test, he told her he couldn't pay for all the expensive dishes they ordered. She took his hand and they ran out of the building. He's convinced he's going to marry her.

[fericita-s]

Garden Party AU

@the-spastic-fantastic helped me with a new Agduna story I’m going to post in a minute, one where Agnarr has to get married/engaged immediately for Reasons, and in order for you kind readers to understand how important and helpful our brainstorming sessions are (and also how nuts - I mean enthusiastic- we are), I cut and pasted this one (with her permission).  We had more exchanges than this one, but this is the one I saved. 

F:            And we did talk once about an AU where Agnarr asks Iduna to marry  him because he has to get married and “You're my friend please help me out.”

But they both actually love each other

But are afraid to say

TSF:        God, that would be a good one

"Listen, if you don't marry me, Alexsandra is who the council is pushing. Please save me." 

F:            Ok maybe that's what I'm writing next

AUs where they don't die in a boat

TSF:        I will READ THE SHIT OUT OF THAT

Can you imagine the look on that bitch's face when Agnarr is like "Uh, so actually, here's my brand new fiancé"

"Courting is for chumps"

"We're totally getting married next week"

Or however you spin it

F:            Ok so

Would it be very out of character if he announced it without even telling Iduna?

Maybe when Alexsandra is being bitchy to Iduna during a party or a council meeting

Then later gives Iduna the freedom to back out

TSF:        OMG YES DO THAT

Is this a formal announcement or does he just tell Alexandra in a moment of panic and desperation while Iduna is standing there?

F:            But Lady Wollen is all “What a relief, we need you married to stop Weselton from these crazy power grabs and there was no diplomatic way to do without a prior love match"

TSF:        She's just like " . . .yes. Engaged. That is totally what we are."

'cause she's gonna be a bro about it?

F:            Cue Agnarr saying "So sorry she said love match, I know it's not true"

TSF:        :D

I love everything about this

So how does she explain she's still agreeing to marry him after he TOTALLY FUCKS UP THE MOOD by making that comment?

Or does Lady Wollen just slap him in the back of the head?

F:            Yes how to keep the misunderstanding going because I feel like Lady Wollen would probably straighten it out

Or Iduna would yell at him

TSF:        Hmm . . .

It could happen in a short time frame

F:            Sorry messages are doing that weird thing again where I have to exit out and then go back in to read what you're saying so sorry this is like a monologue

TSF:        Slow burns don't have to take place over months if you're agonizing inside the heads of the characters

No, you're good

F:            Hooray are you asking for a SHORT STORY

And to answer a previous question, yes he says it in a moment of panic and Iduna is a bro

TSF:        I think you could write it as a short story If you wanted

F:            And also Iduna really likes the look of shock on Alexsandra's face

TSF:        The bitch had it coming

               Just a fun, angsty AU that takes place over two weeks because Lady Wollen is like "Oh fuck no, not letting them screw this up, I already have a dress and told the Bishop let's get you kids married, hup hup”

Oh, I'm sure that image sustains her better than air

F:            Lady Wollen is a fairy godmother

Oh! Maybe Lady Wollen has figured out Iduna is Northuldra

TSF:        Iduna could play it up too

F:            Pieced it together after Rock Pox

TSF:        Just immediate latches on to his waist and is like "Yeah, we're engaged. What's up?"

Ooooohhhh

Yes

Finds out from Eir what she used to wear

F:            Convinces her to tell Agnarr and that it won't put the kingdom in danger

TSF:        :D

F:            Would Iduna be the one to say "Oh we're engaged?"

Because maybe with the power dynamics he would feel too bad about it

Alexsandra would have to be super pushy about something to bring Iduna to that though

TSF:        Yeah, she'd have to basically grab the man's crotch or something

F:            Oh! Or maybe it's more like Alexsandra is all "Gossip is that no one is getting anywhere with you, King. Not one woman courted yet at all? Be careful or another kind of gossip will follow about you and your ability to produce heirs"

TSF:        I think Agnarr would be more likely to do it even with the power dynamic because he thinks he can smooth it over and beg forgiveness later, never expecting to wed

F:            And Iduna is like "Oh it might not travel out of Arendelle but Agnarr is quite the ladies man."

TSF:        Maybe Greet or Henrik can be there

And they're just like "You know what, fuck this bitch?"

"Oh - those two already have an understanding"

And Lady Wollen just happens to be passing by . . . Probably too contrived though

F:            Or would he propose on the spot but like wink at Iduna

Whisper in her ear "Don’t worry I'll let you out of this later"

Or is that too awful

Wait tell me more about Greet and Henrik being there

This can basically be WAIL up to the garden party

and THEN IT TAKES A TURN

TSF:        Ooooh

That'd be cool

Well, if Greet came with Iduna

And Henrik was wandering around

And Agnarr strolls up to Iduna and Greet with Alexsandra

Greet ain't gonna put up with that shit

And Henrik wanders over because he failed to charm that other girl and, hey, Greet is here and she's always game

And Alexsandra makes that bitch-ass comment

And before Agnarr can tell her off because he's still speechless about her comment re: Elias Greet is just like "Mistress? Bitch please. They have an understanding." And Henrik walks up and is like "Oh? Is it no longer secret?"

F:            OOOOOOOH

OOOOOOHHHHHHH

I love that SO MUCH!!!

TSF:        And Alexsandra (who maybe really did half pressure the Council into accepting her as The Only Choice)

Turns to Agnarr and is like "Is this true?!"

"Uh . . .yeah."

And Iduna is like "Sure is."

F:            Totally takes any pressure from Agnarr off of Iduna

It's their crazy friends

TSF:        Exactly!

But then Lady Wollen

Seeing an opportunity . . .

She plays dumb

F:            TELL ME MORE

TSF:        "Oh wow, kids! You are!? How delightful, I'm going to go straight to my office and send out the invites"

               "And you poor babies already had to wait so long."

"Two weeks and you're wed!" "Don't thank me!"

F:            Lol yes!!

TSF:        She grabs Captain Calder on the fly and is like

"Listen. I'm on the highway to hell and you're coming with me."

"If we move fast, this will work"

F:            Lol! Love it

Alexsandra came to the council meeting with an obscure law that if the king wasn't married and was heirless at age 21

TSF:        Yyyyyaaaaaassssss

F:            The kingdom that was theirs largest in trade must send a bride

And she's like "that me"

TSF:        YES

F:            Or something better worded

TSF:        "To maintain strong trade relations and safeguard Arendelle's economy . . ."

F:            Iduna gives a self-satisfied smile

"We've been practicing producing an heir. I don't think it will be a problem"

TSF:        Agnarr chokes on his wine

Henrik is trying not to die laughing

She should get to deliver that one liner before Lady Wollen shows up

Because Greet and Henrik should suffer too

When everyone is suddenly like "Oh SHIT"

"Ok, seriously, you two NEED to get married now or we'll both be executed"

"What the hell are you talking about? Elias' dad made some big random speech about it."

Or something

I don't know

F:            Oh my gosh this is SO GOOD

TSF:        Please write it You'll rock it

[rosenfey]

5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50! 💙

5. — How much writing do you get done on an averageday? 

It depends. I’m not very consistent when it comes to writing (I would love to write every day, at least for a few minutes, but that’s easier said than done lol), but when inspiration hits me, I can very well pour several hours in one sitting and usually, if it’s a one-shot, finish the whole thing in one go. I remember I spent around 8 hours on that Confession fic and didn’t take any breaks. I might find it hard to really get into writing very often, but when I do, I get in hard.

10. — Doyou set yourself deadlines? 

No, deadlines tend to stress me out and since I’m writing for myself and for the fun, I don’t really see any reason in putting additional pressure on myself. I used to set deadlines for Night Lands a few years back but it only resulted in me stressing out and not writing. I generally found out that the less I pressure myself, the better it turns out to be, because I’m more relaxed.

15. — Howdo you deal with writer’s block?

I usually divert my attention somewhere else. I generally don’t like forcing myself to write, because it’s a hobby and should not feel like a chore. Practice is great, and even a few lines, even if I’m not satisfied with them, really help out, but sometimes that’s not possible. I think it’s important to let myself feel frustrated for a while. Creativity fluctuates all the time and it’s normal I will not always be in the flow. I usually check out pinterest, listen to music or do some brainstorming until inspiration comes back again and I get back to my writing or even get some new ideas.

20. — Howmany WIPs and story ideas do you have?

Too many. 

I’m always writing drabbles and one-shots for Jonathan and Debs, sometimes I even publish some of them on ao3 (not all of the ones I wrote are there, but there is something, lol). There’s also the western!AU longfic for them I’m currently in the world building phase for but might start writing very soon.

Because of that I haven’t touched my original stories for quite some time, but these are, apart from Night Lands, a slavic fantasy set in a renaissance-inspired era, The Devil’s Play, a fantasy set in the modern times about a deviless who saves the life of a priest and has to face the consequences, and Firmamentum, sort of a steampunk / fantasy / post-apocalyptic story set in the universe of Night Lands (Edean is just one of many worlds in the universe) about a world shielded by dark black clouds that cover the sky and people have to use artificial sunlight to get by. The myths say that a mountain that reaches above the clouds can be climbed on and the one who does so, can stare into the face of the ancient gods (but their gaze might not be entirely kind). 

25. — Favouritepart of writing

World building! Probably not a part of the actual writing, but it still counts, in my eyes. I love designing the world, thinking about the places and the vibes and the overall aesthetic! My favourite parts are probably thinking of all the geographical sights and designing religions and the pantheon. Character backstories are another thing and I abuse pinterest greatly for all the neat ideas.

30. — Favouriteidea you haven’t started on yet

I’m really intrigued by the whole idea of Firmamentum, but I still didn’t get to the actual writing, even after whole months of plot planning and world building (sigh). There’s also the western!AU of course, but I’m getting way closer to it and will start writing the prologue soon. I’m actually super looking forward to it, as john x debs are the thing I enjoy writing the most these days (hence all the neglect of my other things, sigh). I also have a ton of ideas for them written in my OneNote that I still didn’t get to, because there’s too much and I’m way too slow (and once I hyper-focus on one thing I tend to forget all others… shame on me).

35. — Whatscene/story are you least looking forward to writing? 

I… am not a great fan of angst. I do appreciate it when it comes with fluff and do like writing it in some degree because it makes the good, happy stuff feel more appreciated, but I do always get myself sad. I… did cry a few times when reading my stuff so… yeah. I also don’t like describing combat scenes because of my limited knowledge on the subject and usually avoid very descriptive details (tag yourself I’m Ambie educating herself on how fencing works and even receiving a few lessons only so she can describe it well in her stories, but still being a dumbass and forgetting everything. “they fought with swords. end of the story.”).

40. — Sharesome backstory for one of your characters

Asher Moschella (one of the members of the main squad of The Devil’s Play), wasn’t lucky enough to have an ideal childhood. Abused by his father, the young man found sanctuary in God. He attended catholic school as a child, but his life took a sharp turn as he enlisted in the army as a young man, following in his grandfather’s footsteps. He was full of potential, ambition, and unquestionable dedication to serve his country. Well-trained and believing he was prepared for anything, there was one thing that broke him in the end. Deployed in abroad and witnessing death and violence, nothing prepared him for loosing his best and only friend. Psychologically unstable to carry on, he was discharged from the service. Loosing everything in his life, he took solace in God, yet again, but this time in a theology seminary, becoming a priest in his late twenties. When a deviless brings him back to life after he’s shot to death, his dedication doesn’t waver a bit - in fact, he seems to love the Lord even more, despite the fact, or maybe because, it was the God himself who willed him to die.

45. — Howmuch world building do you do?

I guess a lot. It’s my favourite part of the whole creative process and it’s easy for me to get lost in all the ideas and dedicate way more time to world building than the actual plot (sigh) - it’s way more fun, though. This is primarily the case of Night Lands, which is my oldest original story and I spent years on the world building, entering the worldbuilding june for the past three years and coming up with more and more ideas to flesh the world with each year (this one was def my peak tho, and you can find all the entries in the #ambie’s wbj tag).

50. — [Otherquestion—ask me anything]

In this house we think like gamers so I often think about my stories as… video games. Like how exactly all the areas look like, how the interactions would go, what exactly would the characters say, what kind of music would play in the background, what background conversations would the NPCs make, what would combat / skill trees / inventory look like… It’s mostly to entertain myself, partly a bi-product of my big unrealistic dream to write a story and have a video game based on it, partly because, as I said, in this house we have gaymer brains, but sometimes it helps fuel inspiration and gives me more ideas. It’s also easier to write and describe stuff this way.

// a writer’s ask game

[eledritch]

So reading all of you amazing works as well as following the content of other lovely Sheith shippers has inspired to finally write some fan fiction and contribute too! It’s been literal years since I’ve written anything though, and of course the story that got me really excited is going to have to be a multi chapter monster. As the master of long and complex fanfics, any advice for beginners?

Good!! I believe in you.

Sure, why the heck not :’) been awhile since I made a big writing tips post and I feel like I have some new things to offer since the last one. I don’t know if your fic is gonna be an AU or canon-compliant, but since my specialty is long and complex multichapter AUs, this is mainly gonna be about that.

First, you can check out my ‘writing tips’ tag for my own tips and tips from others on tumblr: http://saltyshiro.tumblr.com/tagged/writing-tips

The most important advice I can give to you as a writer is to READ. I don’t read nearly as much as I used to, but I still try to when I can. Reading was what gave me the inspiration and knowledge I needed for worldbuilding, which is a vital part of not just AUs, but any long and complex fic. You need to be confident about writing the world you’ve stuck your characters in. You have to know that world better than anyone.

More often than not, books aimed at children actually have better worldbuilding than books for adults. There are exceptions to this (a lot of sci-fi, like Dune & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, for example, as well as dystopian fiction like The Handmaid’s Tale), but some of my favorite worlds remain those from children’s books. They include:

The Ever After in the May Bird & the Ever After series

The absurdist and time-period defiant world where anything goes (as long as it’s unfortunate) of A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Other World in Coraline & London Below Gaiman’s adult fantasy novel Neverwhere

The world populated by various small animals like mice, rats, and squirrels in Redwall by Brian Jacques

The medieval kingdoms of Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

The eerie surrealist circus world of The Palace of Laughter by Jon Berkeley

I’m also currently working my way through the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, which is some INCREDIBLE worldbuilding in a high fantasy setting.

So what do all of these have in common? Well, contrary to popular belief, I don’t think you have to go Full Tolkien and write a brand new language as well as six thousand maps for your world. Nope. None of that is required. All that is required is that you LOVE the world you created. Love the heck out of it. Even if it’s a shitty world. Doesn’t matter. It’s YOUR shitty world. 

The more you love this world of yours, the more you’re gonna want to write about it, and the more reluctant you will be to let yourself drop the project. The pitfall many fanfic writers (and writers in general) fall into when writing long works is that they get burnt out and tired of their own story. You can’t get tired of your story if you keep adding to the world and finding new things to love and explore within it.

Worldbuilding reflects onto your characters, too - people are in many ways a product of their surroundings, after all. If your world is shitty, then your characters might end up a little shitty, too. But - and here’s the clever thing about this - because you love your world so much, and because your characters are an integral part of that world (they should be, if they’re your protagonist/villain/etc), you end up loving your characters, too. It feels like a betrayal if you stop writing their stories, and the world you’ve created should at this point feel almost like a real place, albeit within your head and your imagination. And when that happens, writing about your world and characters doesn’t feel like a chore or an obligation anymore. It feels like an adventure.

That being said, human brains have limits and it shouldn’t ALL exist in your head. You gotta take notes, do some doodles and simple maps if you’re into that, and also use resources made specifically to organize worldbuilding. I tend to just use good ol’ fashioned pencil and paper, but I’ve heard this tool is pretty good for digital organization:

https://www.notebook.ai/

Additionally, don’t be afraid to uh....“borrow” from other worlds that have been made before. The sooner you understand that everyone kinda steals (respectfully) from everyone (i.e. the lion king is hamlet; romeo and juliet is heavily inspired by the greek myth of pyramus and thisbe), the better off you’re gonna be in worldbuilding. You can, and unavoidably will, use worlds you’ve read about and/or experienced in the past in your own worldbuilding. It becomes a patchwork of your own, and once you have a base for your world, it becomes increasingly easy to add onto it and expand with more original ideas.

It can also be helpful to do a ton of research. Say you want your world to somewhat resemble Victorian England. How are you gonna know what that was like? Watch movies set in Victorian England to understand the aesthetic and speech. Watch documentaries to get a more factual basis. Read books set in Victorian England for the language and the societal ideas. Go on a Wikipedia or Google deep dive - almost always, you will end up in a much more interesting place than you expected. Listening to music can also be super helpful to get into a particular tone you want to see in your world, or can help you find the tone if you’re not sure what you want yet. I have playlists for most of my stories.

And, finally, understand that there’s always room for growth. I know my worldbuilding can be better than it is, so with every new story, I strive to make a more vibrant, vivid, lovable world than before. And guess what? Usually, not only does it work, but I also enjoy myself while writing more.

The key to long and complex fics is genuinely enjoying what you’re writing. You may be able to bullshit and slog your way through a shorter fic, but not a 200k monster. Another important key - know where your story is going to end up. 

You need a goal to work towards. Maybe it’s a scene you’ve been wanting to write since you came up with the story. It doesn’t have to be the ending, but it helps if it is. You should know the ending by at least the middle of the story. I’m pretty sure I’ve written stories where that wasn’t the case and I was just flying by the seat of my pants, seeing where my world and characters took me next...which is a valid way to approach writing, but riskier, and ultimately rather frustrating when writing fics since you can’t exactly go back and insert foreshadowing for the ending you didn’t know was coming, lol.

I find late-night brainstorms best for figuring out how I want to end stories. I’ll open up a word doc, think for a good while, and then just start typing. Type it out stream of consciousness style. It doesn’t need to be a good explanation of the events, it just has to be an explanation. (This is also helpful in long stories for writing down reoccuring elements you don’t want to forget, such as slang, societal titles, a promise a character made to another than they really need to bring up again sometime...)

For example, here is my stream of consciousness brain-spew for my fic Seal It With A Kiss (this did not all end up happening quite like this, but here it is, warning for nsfw mentions lmao):

Witch Classes: Apprentice, novice, journeyman, master/magus, archmagus

The Wastes – western desert wasteland, Keith is from Blackwater, three days’ ride from the Citadel. It’s bordered by the River Acheron to the west, on the other side of which are the lands where Keith’s father lived with his first wife. The ocean is to the north, with the island of Cobao directly south of the Citadel.

The Citadel – centrally located, perched among Asphodel Peaks, near the lowland Oscuran Woods. Capital, Altea City, is three days’ ride to the east. Shiro’s grandparents live to the south on the shores of Lake Lucanus, a major fishing outpost bordered by the Dalterion Swamplands to the south.

THE VOID: mysterious dimension (or entity?) accidentally opened by witches eons ago (oops), which created Hell and unleashed demons/monsters/old gods (Voidborn). It is made up of what witches call infernal magic – a powerful and supposedly corrupted/corrupting form of quintessence. The Void is largely unknown and inaccessible to humans. Few return, and those who do are always changed by it.

HELL: Thought to be a reflection of the Void on a more physical/less abstract plane. Hell is made up of many pocket realms, including Daibazaal (one of the largest, ruled by the Galra), and Stratonikeia (ruled by Hecate). It is populated by Voidborn, who carve out sections of it for themselves in warlord-esque fashion.

Neither Hell nor the Void are inherently “evil,” though most witches consider them so, and they are dangerous. While the most well-established Voidborn rule with law and order, many other parts are lawless chaos centered around power struggles, and all Voidborn are morally gray to an extent.

VOIDBORN: Despite their vast differences, all Voidborn derive power from human souls & quintessence. Often generalized as demons, Voidborn are secular beings with no “holy” counterpart (i.e. angels), however, they come in many forms:

SPECTERS: generally the weakest Voidborn, they lack corporeal form and often “haunt” areas with histories of death, grief, and bloodshed, frightening humans and feeding off of their fear.

MONSTERS: a large and varied group of Voidborn, not as intelligent nor powerful as demons. They are the mostly likely to directly attack/kill/eat humans and are often hunted, with trophies of their heads displayed outside remote villages to ward off other monsters.

OLD GODS: a more rare group which often overlaps with greater demons; old gods can be benevolent if appeased (i.e. through ritual sacrifice, favors, offerings, worship, etc). They define territories for themselves and over time can become deified by local peoples, since old gods have been known to protect their lands and the people within them in exchange for worship.

LESSER DEMONS: more intelligent than monsters but less powerful than greater demons and old gods, they often rely on contracts and trickery to get their way. They are known to be petty, cruel, and ugly.

GREATER DEMONS: highly intelligent and powerful, they are dangerous beings who chiefly use contracts, torture, manipulation, and possession to take power from souls, which they crave more than any other Voidborn.

*Haggar has been cloaking Keith from Krolia so she cannot find her son since Keith went to the Citadel*

Shiro was captured by Haggar, who experimented on him (gave him the arm, which is powered by infernal energy/Void quintessence and began to corrupt his soul/erode it) and used him as a gladiator, until she managed to capture and slay Kurobasanir, whose quintessence she combined with the remnants of Shiro’s soul. His soulless, empty body was left to fight in the arena as a kind of robotic killing machine, while Shiro’s self became entangled with Kurobasanir. Because Kurobasanir was dead but Shiro was alive and so determined to stay alive, Shiro’s soul (primed with the Void energy which allowed him to stand up against Kuro) took control, though he gained Kurobasanir’s memories, abilities, and personality, while losing/forgetting his own. However as time passes with Keith, Shiro’s subconscious (ironically the only part of him which is still conscious/knows who he is) begins to break through, making him more ‘human’ as he starts to remember who he is/have doubts that he is really Kurobasanir.

He is unable to shift into any other human but Shiro, falls in love with Keith (demons are supposedly incapable of love), experiences sudden surges of emotion/nostalgia and feels protective towards Shiro’s family/horse/possessions/etc, is mostly unaffected by spells that should exorcise or defeat demons, and acts differently than the original Kurobasanir according to the late incubus’s friends. Because Kurobasanir was a sadist, but Shiro is not, so when he fucks Keith in front of the other demons, they know something’s up because he’s not hurting Keith at all.

What he doesn’t remember/know, though, is that this whole thing is a trap set by Haggar in order to lure Keith, who is a cambion (half demon, half human) to her so she can experiment on him in her quest to gain immortality so she can stay with Zarkon forever without surrendering her soul/turn her own soul into a demon’s essence. Because cambion, once mature, are effectively immortal and have a soul, while still retaining dormant Void magic within them which allows for their immortality and more demonic qualities. They are also extremely rare, and Haggar only knows of Keith because Hekate (Krolia) was her mentor and mentioned him.

So when Keith and Shiro go to find Shiro at the Samhain Tourney, Keith sees Shiro’s soulless body fighting and goes to break him out of his cell in the intermission; Shiro, not recognizing him/caring about him/trained to kill on sight tries to kill him, Keith is horrified and unable to bring himself to hurt Shiro, so he is saved by Kurobasanir, who realizes the situation fully once he comes face to face with the body that was once his, realizing his (Shiro’s) soul has been transferred into the incubus’s.

Before he can tell Keith this, though, Keith is captured by Haggar (who he recognizes as Honerva) and the two are separated. Keith cries alone in his cell, thinking Shiro is gone for good and also thinking Kurobasanir betrayed him and/or will be killed or tortured, leaving him utterly alone again. Lots of time passes and Keith realizes Haggar is trying to break the bond between him and Kurobasanir, because they’re both trapped and the contract must be sealed via sex. So Keith is in agony (and very very horny) because he can’t touch Shiro, and the contract is on the verge of breaking (and causing a great deal of pain and harm to both of them, since it was broken against their will) when Hekate/Krolia shows up, kicks BUTT, and bc she’s Mom of the Year, rescues Keith and brings him to Shiro while explaining on the way what happened. She also mentions that Keith’s father left because he was fulfilling the contract Hekate had with him, which was that because he was infertile she would bear him a “human” son (Keith), who would be blessed by her and live a happy/prosperous life, but in exchange Keith’s dad would only get sixteen years with his son, and then Hecate would take his soul.

As it turns out, though, Hekate/Krolia grew pretty darn fond of Keith’s dad (he’s a human teddy bear hedge mage unfazed by demons, what’s not to love), so he’s just chilling in Hell with her and had planned to come back and tell Keith the whole story, but when he returned Keith had gone off to the Citadel & Haggar was hiding Keith from Hecate.

So Keith and Shiro reunite and they’re so desperate for each other that they basically end up fucking while escaping (Keith is VERY EMBARRASSED but Krolia is like boi I am the mistress of dark magic, I don’t care, get that demon dick, proud of u son. Plus Shiro does his best to hide Things), cue a very wild scene in which both Keith and Shiro are kicking ass while fucking, since Shiro has regained his powers and Keith is Restored By The Power of Shiro’s Dick. Amen. Hallelujah.

Thankfully they finish up by the time they find the Holts, who were being forced to do alchemy stuff in Haggar’s lab. Haggar’s druids attack them, but Keith, who has read up on Honerva’s magic/theories, and Krolia, who mentored Honerva and is now pissed at her bc she tried to use Krolia’s son for her experiments, defeat the druids and are about to destroy Haggar’s research. Then Haggar bursts in, and in a desperate attempt to save her life’s work tells Keith that she can separate Shiro’s soul from Kurobasanir if he spares her/her work. Shiro is actually the one who hesitates, since he thinks Keith deserves much better than him and should have him fully human, as he appeared in their future together. But Keith has made up his mind – he loves Shiro in any and every form, and he’s done with Haggar’s shit. Furious at the thought of what she did to Shiro and planned to do to him, Keith’s magic creates a massive explosion which destroys the lab as Krolia uses one of Haggar’s traveling crystals to take them all away from Daibazaal.

Krolia takes them to her realm of Stratonikeia, a much more chill part of Hell. Because it’s Samhain and everyone is partying, Hecate’s palace is hectic and full of drunk demons and debauchery bc demons just wanna have fun, okay? Krolia makes sure the Holts are given safe accomodations so they can rest up and receive treatment before returning home. Meanwhile, Keith and Shiro are very shaken and Keith is weak from using so much magic to destroy Haggar and her lab. He and Shiro manage to escape the party and get to a balcony or something, where Shiro tearfully apologizes for everything, saying he understands if Keith wants to break ties after their contract is over, and that he wishes it didn’t have to end like this. Keith is quiet, then tells him that nothing is ending, pointing out that apparently he’s also immortal, and that technically Shiro gets his immortal soul in return for completing the contract. Shiro misunderstands, panicking and assuring Keith he will not take his soul and will leave him alone, but Keith cups his face and says he wants Shiro to have him forever, because he loves him, and never stopped loving him. Disbelieving but hopeful, Shiro embraces him gently, and when they kiss Keith begins to show his demonic characteristics (little horns, glowing eyes, tail, reddish scales).

Epilogue – Keith and Shiro get married. In Hell. It’s beautiful. They also have the most romantic, tender, kinky demon/cambion sex ever. They’re in love and together forever :’))

*

I hope that helps, dear!! Best of luck in your writing endeavors. 

[serceleste]

questions for writers

@peonypossumprincesa tagged me for a writers’ quiz and you know I love talking about writing, and also I’m procrastinating, lol.

1. When you start a story, do you usually have a general plot overview or do you make it up as you go?

Hahahahahahahahaha. I am a fly by the seat of my pants sort of writer for sure. Outlines are for wimps! JK. I envy you your outlines and plans. I mean, I do sometimes have an idea of where I want the story to get to (and sometimes I really, really don’t, lol) but I tend to just sit down and right without planning anything. Sometimes the story goes in entirely unexpected directions. This isn’t to say that I don’t spend time thinking about a story and brainstorming when I can’t actually write, but I do that as I go along, not before I start.

2. What’s your preferred POV to write from? 

Close third, usually. I find it’s the most natural for me and allows the reader to get inside the head of my POV character, which usually I want, without the issues inherent in writing first person. I also like the narrative opportunities it creates, because the reader can see what’s happening maybe a bit differently than my POV character does, and it can even get a bit challenging at times to make sure everything I want to get across actually shows when I’m limited in what I can put on the page – my POV character needs to be present, and they obviously only can see and feel and think what they see and feel and think, not anyone else. I have written in the first person too, though not in years. It’s a trickier form to manage and I think only works in certain scenarios.

3. Do you write fan or original fiction?

Fanfic only. I think I have a bit of a complex in regards to original fiction, I struggle with plot and I don’t have faith in my ability to create characters anyone would care about. I’m also honestly happy with fanfic, I like writing and do it as a hobby, and it suits me to just stick with exploring characters and worlds I love.

4. Which one do you prefer?

I only write the one, so I prefer that for writing, lol, but for reading I enjoy both. I read more original these days but I have definitely spent countless hours enjoying fanfiction, some of which is truly amazing, so I always get a bit peeved when anyone knocks it.

5. For fan fiction writers, do you like using AUs or canon settings better and why?

Ah, well, it depends. I think AUs can be phenomenal for doing something different and exploring what makes characters who they are, when the setting is different, but sometimes I’m so in love with the world that I don’t want to transplant them anywhere else. (STAR WARS. Why would I want to write about them studying for exams or making lattes when they can be swinging lightsabers and flying X-wings??) It’s fun to get lost in wikis, digging up obscure canon details that probably no one will even notice. AUs sometimes get a bad rep for people writing them so they don’t have to do the research necessary to set things in canon, but I think that’s a bit unfair. (And honestly, while it’s not really my thing, if someone just wants to spend time with characters they love and stick them in high school, more power to them. Fanfic should be about what you want it to be, not what anyone else does.) Canon-divergent AUs are always, always great, the way you can change a plot point or two and see where the story goes.

6. What’s your favorite platform to post your work to?

I find AO3 is good for me. It has its issues of course but I appreciate the ease of posting and the readability, and I like the tagging system as opposed to sites like LJ and ffnet and ye olde random fandom/ship specific archives where I used to post when I was a wee thing. I pretty much post exclusively on AO3 now, sometimes on Tumblr too, though Tumblr is honestly terrible for posting fic. I of course love and adore comments but I like that kudos are available, for anyone who might be too uncomfortable to comment, or for whatever other reason they might prefer to click the kudos button. The organization is far from perfect but the searchability and stats are more appealing to me than any other site I’ve used.

7. How do you feel about unsolicited criticism?

Eh. I’m a bit sensitive about my writing, and once I’ve posted I’m not looking for some stranger to tell me what’s wrong with it. I seek out betas and friends when I’m looking for advice on how to improve a fic, and once it’s posted, well, it’s done. I’m reasonably happy with it, or at least I’ve reached the point where I don’t care anymore and just need to be rid of it. Like, I know I’m not a perfect writer, but if I post something and someone just points out everything that’s wrong with it, it’s not going to help me improve, it’s just going to make me feel shitty. (If you want to message me privately and tell me I missed a big typo, though, that’s a bit different, ha.)

8. Again, for fic writers, what’s your favorite fandom to write for?

Right now I’m obviously in Star Wars hell and not likely to resurface any time soon. I’ve loved Star Wars since I was a small child so there is a huge sense of nostalgia in it for me, and I just the story and the world and the characters so much, I wanted to LIVE in Star Wars. So fanfic is the next best thing! My introduction was through the originals, and I grew up with the prequels, and I spent an awful lot of time reading fic, but I never actually wrote anything until The Force Awakens came out. And then I was lost, lol. I love that it’s such an immense, immersive universe, with so much to explore. So much canon and extra-canon, opportunities for worldbuilding, potential to play with tropes, the ability to go dark but the inherent core of hope and love. I love other fandoms, and I write for other fandoms (not as much lately, to be fair), but there’s something about Star Wars that just really grabs me and won’t let go.

9. What is it about a certain character/relationship/fandom that inspires you to write about them?

I’m not sure, honestly, and I’ve wondered this a lot. There are fandoms that I love love love, but never get particularly fannish about. There are fandoms I love but for whatever reason, can’t write. Sometimes I think it’s a matter of feeling like I have a story worth telling, or feeling comfortable in the world. And sometimes certain characters will just lodge themselves in my brain. (POE.) I went a couple of years without writing anything, to the point where I thought maybe I would never write again, and then discovered a fandom and a set of characters that just resonated with me, and though I’ve moved on, I’ve never stopped writing again.

10. Do you do much research before starting a piece?

I generally research as I go, as needed. I think the most research I’ve done prior to starting was when I was writing a historical AU, and I ended up getting a bit bogged down in details, enough so that I got discouraged from actually writing and I never finished the story. Realism is of course great but I think at some point you learn you might have to take a liberty or two or you’re just not gonna get done, or at least, that’s what I learned. I think it’s important to make an effort to be as faithful as possible but you’re also telling a story, and you need to be in service of that story. Your details might not be absolutely perfect, and that can be okay. Sometimes making shit up is the best thing you can do! But I’ve definitely enjoyed getting lost down a rabbithole of research too, where by the time I surface I can’t remember what I started looking up in the first place.

I also love seeing other people talk about writing, so if you are a writer and see this, please feel free to take part! Tag me in your answers!

[auideas]

Ask the Admins 10.0

@genosha-meiuqer: This is to Admin M -- Out of curiosity, do you drive anything like a War Boy?

M: Yes. That is actually a problem I have irl. I drive far too fast. Haven’t gotten pulled over yet though! (knock on wood)

Anon asked: Describe yourself in one adjective.

Chamomile: Talkative

M: Witty

Syren: Enthusiastic

Jynn: Resilient

Vox: Amiable

Anon asked: Do you have other sister blogs or affiliate blogs about writing? Or maybe you can rec us other writing blogs? Not that auideas is not awesome, loving this blog! Just, you know, want to follow other blog. Thanks! Loving your aus btw!

Chamomile: We have @nsfw-auideas​, which has been inactive for a while since I became uncomfortable running it and the other admins sort of dropped of….but for blogs that inspire me, I always love @writing-prompt-s​ because they give me ideas for prompts with their prompts (if that makes sense, lmao) and also from fanfiction/fanart. I get //so// much inspiration from fanfiction/fanart.

M: Yeah we have our NSFW blog, but that’s pretty much it, and I don’t really have a lot of time at the moment to look at other blogs, so this is definitely one for the other admins to answer.

Syren: I second what Chamomile mentioned, and I also get a lot of inspiration from @inell​ who is a writing machine in the Sterek fandom. It's insane how many stories she churns out, and they often help me mindlessly brainstorm, if that makes any sense??

Jynn: I get a lot of inspiration from @otpprompts​!

Vox: @otpprompts​ and @writing-prompt-s​ are two other really great prompt blogs! ( ≧▽≦)

Anon asked: curious about the new assistant admins. mind doing information pages for them like you did for the admins?

Chamomile: Here’s all of our pages: Chamomile // M // Syren // Jynn // Vox

Anon asked: When I'm grown, a martyr I will never be. I won't cry for you. I won't suffer for the things you do. I won't cry for you, see. Even though I understand you, Kankri.

Chamomile: this is a sin

M: get outta here

Syren: *Castiel voice* I don't understand that reference.

Jynn: I had to actually go back and find this song again for Chamomile so I just have to say how dare you make me relive that.

Vox: This ask has 6een marked as triggera6le and will 6e taken d9wn by Kankri Vantas. (ง •̀_•́)ง

Anon asked: So I know that this blog is SFW, but do you mind if I use your prompts in a NSFW story?

Chamomile: That’s totally fine! Whatever you do with our prompts is totally up to you.

M: ^^^^^

Anon asked: Have you decided what theme you'll be using? I remember a while back one of the admins asked what the followers think about the current theme.

Chamomile: Oh yeah, we got this solved a long while back. If anybody has a theme that they think is really nice and that we should try out, then send it to us!

Anon asked: What is your opinion on "Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life"?

Chamomile: get out

M: leeeeeeeave

Syren: I am daily surrounded by meme trash and could probably recite it perfectly if I tried. I am only slightly ashamed.

Jynn: I'll never forget it. That being said, I never want it in my presence ever again.

Vox: You scream, I scream, we all scream for Dank Memes™

Anon asked: I finally talked to my future college roommate. Accidentally ignore her email for a week tho... Not really off to a great start?

Chamomile: I can’t tell if this is a prompt or you telling us about your day but my advice would be to get her a card that’s like “I’m sorry I ignored your email for a week” and then some candy or whatever else she likes.

M: Lol man that did not happen with my current roommate - we actually sent each other our first introductory emails at the exact same moment even though I was across the country. Thankfully, we’ve clicked very well, but I would recommend not getting on their bad side right away, or that’ll make your year not so much fun.

Syren: Dude, I am the worst person at communicating possibly ever. I have lost friends because I forget to reply to them for months, no joke. I've found the best way to make it up is to be as sincere with your apology as possible. I've learned not to make excuses. Don't sweat it!

Jynn: I'm glad you reached out to your roommate, good job! I'd go with Chamomiles card and candy idea.

Vox: -looks at the messages I have in Line that are months old- -l a u g h s- Oh honey.

Anon asked: Do you (admins and assistants) know how to make gifs? Also, how do you pronounce "gifs"? "Jifs" or "gifs".

Chamomile: I have no clue on how to make a gif, and I pronounce it like “gift” without a “t”.

M: Gifs. Hard G. I will fight you on this.

Syren: I have no clue how to make a gif, though I've been thinking about learning (barely any gifs out there for When We Rise). Hard g.

Jynn: There are tons of gif makers online, I also have an app for that. I pronounce it “Gif” with a hard G

Vox: I LOVE making gifs!! They’re super fun. Also I use both alternatively.

Anon asked: how do the admins like the new assistants? And how do the assistants like the admins?

Chamomile: I think they’re pretty great! Everybody has been really good with getting their prompts in the drafts so admin m and I can approve them. No real problems.

M: Two thumbs up from me! I can now feel more stress about my school and social life than about this darn blog...

Syren: They're all generally fabulous people and make me feel welcomed. I'm the youngest of the bunch, but that doesn't change anything. Also, I have a habit for apologizing for everything, and they always assure me that it's all good and that they've all been there.

Jynn: Chamomile, Em, and I have actually all been friends for upwards of a couple years now, and I've contributed to the blog here and there before so it hasn't been super different for me tbh.

Vox: If I could put emojis into replies, this right here would just be a string of sparkles and hearts. Everyone’s been really nice!!

Anon asked: I haven't been on this site since forever and I just got back. Nice to see more prompts that I can add to my growing list of things I want to try writing :) (Also, "Runaway" and "So Sad, So Sad" are some of my favorite songs! :D )

Chamomile: Eeeeee! Thanks for loving the blog! Also I know right, I have some pretty good music taste if I do say so myself ;)

Anon asked: Knowing that someone else uses Japanese emoticons makes me really happy. ＼＼\ (۶ÒワÒ)۶//／／ Where do you get yours from, Vox? An app, website, or other?

Vox: Yaaaaa, kaomoji are super funnnnn!! ☆⌒(*＾-°)v I have a Japanese keyboard on my phone so I automatically have a bunch of them readily available.

Anon asked: Choose five of the blog's followers that you've talked to a fair amount and say what story genre you think they would be a character in, and if they would be a protag or antag.

Chamomile: Instead of choosing just five, I went with all of them. Here’s the link

M: I willllllll do this over break - expect a post on my admin blog!

Anon asked: If life was a standardized test, you would be "Answer B" because I always turn to you when I don't know what to do.

Chamomile:....that’s actually really sweet?

M: Omfg.

Syren: This would be really cute if the thought of standardized tests didn't throw me into a panic over upcoming midterms, SATs, and ACTs

Jynn: Awwwwww!

Vox: I’m in various stages of oh god and that’s so sweet and lol my name is actually Bee so this is kind of great, are you flirting with me anon, winkwink. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Anon asked: What do you call a flirty Greek? A Socratease

Chamomile: The King of flirty Greeks is Mithridatetease (Mithridates)

M: Get out.

Syren: As long as they don't have an Oedipus complex, they can tease all they want

Jynn: More like MithriDATEs

Vox: Has war flashbacks to Greek myth lectures. Sweats nervously.

@all-made-of-stardust​ asked: So I love your blog, and I especially love all your Never Book quotes. I was wondering - what's your policy on using those quotes? Can I directly use the whole quote? Should I change it a bit? Should I not use it at all? There's several quotes I have been thinking about using, and I just wanted to make sure I was doing it right.

Chamomile: hey there! This is a pretty popular question, but our policy is that you can change it however you want (adding in words, changing pronouns, etc.) but don’t repost it anywhere without crediting us. Cutting our parts is also totally fine. If you write something inspired by TNB, or has a TNB quote in it, make sure to shoot us a message and we’ll make sure to add it to the follower’s works page!

@ihaveatheoryabouttimetravel​ asked: What exactly is the never book?

Chamomile: Hey! I’m the creator of The Never Book (TNB) and here’s the long version of how/why I created it (link), but the short version is that TNB is supposed to be a collection of writing prompts to help inspire you to write. Some of them are very dramatic, while other ones are humorous, and other ones are meant to be cliffhangers that make you want to write what happens next. The name “The Never Book” is supposed to imply that all of these quotes come from a story that has never been written, meaning that they’re free game for prompts as well as to make stories out of.

Note: I’ve entertained the idea of trying to write a piece of fiction with a ton of TNB quotes crammed into it. Might try to get around to that if anybody is interested.

Anon asked: Is it okay to Writer's Block shame a friend who has an almost complete first chapter for 57 different fanfiction pieces???

Chamomile: #me

M: Shame us all

Syren: I'm too fragile to be bombarded like this

Jynn: I'm being called out.

Vox: First of all how dare, it’s only 56. (ง •̀_•́)ง

anon asked: tbh between chamomile and m i really thought that chamomile was younger. i have been surprised but not unpleasantly so             

Chamomile: I’m definitely shorter and rounder than admin m, but I’m older by like, a year and a half? Something like that?

M: I am the alpha.

anon asked: assistant admins, what’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

Syren: Blue Moon (it's an upper Midwest thing I guess)

Jynn: Chocolate

Vox: Mint chocolate chip

[undertale-refuse]

500 FOLLOWER CELEBRATION

so! very soon i will be hitting FIVE HUNDRED FOLLOWERS. (right now i’m at 436, and i tend to get 5+ with every update and sometimes a few in-between.) i can't thank you guys enough for this - your faith in me while i am still such a new comic is humbling and inspiring, and i hope i can draw you a story worth the wait. thank you so, so much.

i promised awhile back i'd do something nifty for 500, and since i'm doing it for you guys, i thought i'd let you pick the event!

the three ideas i had were:

a request stream. downside: since i'm a slow artist, i wouldn't get to very many, and not everybody wants to make a twitch account. but maybe i could just sketch the request in stream, and throw some doodle-style lines/colors on it later :D upside: many "winners" so to speak, as long as they were willing to make a twitch account, especially if i did a stream as long as my usual thursday ones (which are usually 6-8 hours). in addition, these prizes would be awarded almost INSTANTLY, whereas any prizes from a giveaway (see below...) might take me some time to complete, especially if there’s a lot of winners. 

temporary ask blog. for a to-be-determined period of time or number of asks, this blog would temporarily become an ask blog, and you could ask the characters of REFUSE anything you liked! of course i wouldn’t be able to spoil anything about the plot directly or get to every ask, but ask blogs have always looked like a lot of fun to me (but something i don’t have time for...) so i think it’d be pretty neat. downside: my plot hasn’t advanced too far yet, but upside: it’s got some really heavy backstory that clever questions might dole out some hints for.

a giveaway, probably with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner. kudos to @bunnikkila for helping me brainstorm some of these potential prize ideas:

an undertale fanmix - considering the ~700 mixes i have sitting on my hard drive, that'd be pretty easy. i could do a themed one (examples: 1 2 3) or a one-track mix (multiple remixes of the same track - examples: 1 2 3). these would come complete with the very simple “sprite art” you see as these covers.

a custom undertale human child sprite (examples: 1 2 3) (i can’t do teens/adults, sadly, since i need a base to work off of) or other sprite manipulation (examples: 1 2). i can’t make a sprite from scratch but i could alter any sprite in the game!

a sketch/doodle/scribble thing of any undertale character(s), including OCs (examples: 1 2)

a physical copy of a sketch/drawing of any undertale character or OC. i don’t have the means to color art traditionally, so it would be without color, but i would mail it to your house! (this assuming you don’t mind giving me your address)

i could color your lines - i do collabs with friends, and what happens is they draw the lines and i pour on the colors/shading and sometimes the background as well. (examples: 1 2) so if you’re the type who likes drawing but not coloring, i could color one for you! upside: i could do this for literally any drawing, not just undertale-related stuff.

a full illustration of any undertale-related thing, whether you want scenery or a poster or whatever (examples: 1 2 3 4 5)

fic! i am a writer and have TONS more writing experience than drawing experience. only problem is i'm a little picky about what prompts i'd accept, so i don't know if that would make it too much of a hassle to be a good prize. i’d definitely be willing to chat it out with whoever won, though. if you’d like check out my writing to see an example, my AO3 is here, but unfortunately i don’t have any undertale fic up and some of what’s at this link is VERY NSFW, so minors, please skip it!

a little 1-3 pg minicomic (if that was the case, this would probably have to be the ONLY prize, bc i'm already really really busy and it would take quite a bit of time - no example needed here, you guys already know what my comic pages look like lol)

a cameo in the comic with the character of your choice, be it your original character or a character from another work. if i did this though i would be very tricky - for instance there could be no humans, because this entire story takes place before the monsters meet them. also, i probably won’t get to any random bg characters for quite awhile so the prize-winner would have a long wait lol

another possibility is dividing ALL of these prizes up into tiers and letting the winner choose their own prize from the list (first place winner can choose an illustration OR getting their lines colored, second place winner could choose a doodle OR a sprite, etc), the upside to tiers is i could offer more extravagant prizes and more winners for more notes - should the giveaway post only get a few, i’d be okay doing simple prizes, but if there was a lot of interest i could potentially offer something like the mini-comic ALONGSIDE other prizes. i actually like this idea quite a lot (along with the idea of getting your name put in the proverbial jar more times for doing things like reccing the comic or drawing art for it), but i’m worried that it might be needlessly complicated or confuse someone and lol i don’t want to be confusing!!

anyway, since this is for YOU GUYS, i’ve decided to set up two polls to let all of you decide - one to say whether you’d prefer a request stream, an ask blog, or a giveaway, and another to see what types of giveaway prizes everyone likes the best (you can choose multiple answers for this one, otherwise everyone would easily pick a nicer prize over the little ones hahaha). these will stay open until a day or so after we hit 500 followers - which could be a few weeks from now - so you should have PLENTY of time to mull it over and make your choices. i’ll warn you before they close. (or you could speed it up by reblogging more comic pages >D after all, the more people who see it the more likely i am to get new followers!)

final last note: whatever i wind up doing for the giveaway, my basic rules are: AUs, undertale OCs, gore, canon ships = OK! non-canon ships, character-bashing (this includes yandere murder-loving chara), NSFW, or frisk and chara as boys or girls = NOT OK. also, of course, only followers would be eligible to win! just stuff to keep in mind when you’re voting.

thanks again to everyone! i’m excited to see what you decide!

[anghraine]

Having been wowed by your fanfic ("wandering inside this night" holds a special place in my RO heart), I'm curious: what is your writing/editing process like?

Oh, thank you!

My writing process really varies depending on what I’m doing, but I can explain it in terms of wandering inside this night.

It’s long and rambly, so you can scroll down for a very concise tl;dr version of The Process.

1. Eureka!

I pretty much always start out with 1) a vague sense of something I want to write about, and I sort of mentally fish around until I land on an idea, or 2) an idea pops into my head, or 3) some combination of both.

The last two are the most common for me—I have more ideas than I could ever write. With wandering, it was definitely that way. 

I was hollering into my tags about the Cassian-Leia parallels pretty early, which … Jyn-Han is obvious, but I felt like the Cassian-Leia ones went relatively unnoticed but were probably more profound. And as spies in the ragtag ANH-era Rebellion, it’s more than possible that they’d know each other; I’d made babbling posts, but I really wanted to do something with it. So I sketched out a backstory in until the last chance is spent, but I still wanted more, and also to get into Han-Jyn at the same time, and also just—have something fun! And suddenly (I was actually at a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, lol) the idea popped into my head of jumping to the Han/Leia meltdown of 1980 with established relationship Jyn/Cassian.

2. Percolation

This is particularly important for longer fic (or any long-form writing, really), but it helps with shorter things, too. It’s where you’re not actively working to figure out details or more ideas, much less writing, just passively letting your mind wander. It’s best if you’re actually doing something else—something that doesn’t take much attention, but enough that you can’t completely focus on your thoughts, like showering or washing dishes or something.

When something does come to mind, I scribble it down (or stick it in a doc in some form that will hopefully make sense to me later). Sometimes it’ll be scraps of dialogue, or a phrase I want to make sure gets in somewhere, or a plot-point, just anything that pops up. Ideally, though, I don’t write anything beyond that—just note down anything I might forget and let my ideas develop freely. 

Normally, I’d only do so much of that with something like wandering (fairly short, fairly light). But I ended up snowed in with my extended family, where I was both bored and unable to sit down and write. So I’m sitting there entertaining myself by imagining Jyn and Han, drinking buddies, and how that’d work with the Cassian-Leia brotp of ruthless idealism (Han would be jealous!), and just having that percolating in my head while I read fic and let stray thoughts pass through my mind. (‘Okay but Cassian would fucking hate Han’ being uppermost among them, lol)

3. Brainstorming/Outline

At this point, I try to pin down the free-floating ideas and/or organize what scraps I have into something coherent. With something longer, like ad astra, I generally do a pretty traditional outline—decide what the story is specifically going to cover, and where the things I’ve actually written fit with that, and what’s going to go in the spaces between.

It’s not classroom-style brainstorming; I usually brainstorm ideas by trying to put together an outline. I’ll be “okay, I want to start with something like that shot of Jyn on the platform with an Imperial ship at the end, but it’s Bodhi” and “they get sucked into the Death Star and Jyn exploits Cassian’s injuries to get in” and then I sit down and figure out how I’m going to get from one to the other. “Okay, so—there’s no way they can actually get Kaytoo, but maybe something—yeah, she just up and grabs his dismembered head l o l, okay, and there’s the jump into the ship which rattles Cassian further, and she’d try to treat him with whatever supplies are available, and we’d have Bodhi trying to get out without being shot down, and maybe I can work in the your father would have been proud of you line, and Jyn goes to check on Bodhi and they see the Death Star and…”

Also, it helps a ton to actually talk ideas over with someone else. With me, it’s generally @steinbecks​—not some strict ‘this, then this, then this, tell me what you think’, but ‘I had this idea’ and ‘OK BUT IMAGINE IF’ and ‘haha yeah exactly’ and ‘shit you’re right they do change outfits’ etc. 

4) Drafting (The Big One)

Ideally, I only get to this after nailing down an outline or at least getting a lot figured out in chats/notes to myself. That’s what I did for pretty much all my most successful longfics—First Impressions (f!Darcy/m!Elizabeth), Season of Courtship (Darcy and Elizabeth’s engagement), we get dark, only to shine (AU of The Borgias that moves the canon pairing getting together from S3 to S1), and now ad astra. It helps a TON if you have trouble with discipline and direction, as I do, because you can always go back to it and figure out where you need to be headed when you’re muddled/uninspired, even if some details change along the way. (They always do, for me.)

I did some of that with wandering, but … I was snowed-in, lol, and finally everyone had gone to sleep and my head was full of ideas. So I laid down with my laptop and just dove right in with the only clear line I had in mind: 

Han Solo once had apleasant conversation with Cassian Andor.

Just once.

That was where I planned it to begin! The actual beginning came later, because I very quickly ran into a problem—the sentence worked to jump into exposition, not an actual scene. And with the exposition, I needed to introduce 1) Cassian’s hatred of Han, 2) Han’s lesser but firm dislike, 3) Cassian and Leia’s history together as spies, 4) Han’s brief and half-hearted attempt to suck up, 5) Jyn and Cassian being married, 6) Han’s friendship with Jyn, 7) Han’s jealousy as contrasted to Cassian and Jyn’s mutual trust, etc. Yikes.

So I kept getting mired down in explanations and flashbacks (I actually wrote the scene where Jyn drunkenly complains about finding something for Cassian’s birthday, lol) that slowed it down. And I wasn’t really happy with anything—I constantly niggled at sentences and moved things around and rephrased and it just didn’t work right. I actually have the document I worked in (I didn’t have Internet at the time), so you can see this sort of intermediate stage:

I niggled with it for the rest of the vacation, then it hit me that the issue was that starting a fic with exposition was the real problem. Starting with ESB-era Han just being ESB-era Han could let me work the exposition section in, and without the pressure of it being the opening section I could keep it to a tangential aside and move the jealousy around and so forth. And from there I could just leap to the canon scene with bonus Cassian-Leia shared indignation, and impulsively I added Kaytoo at the end. 

Moral of the story: if you keep trying to make something work and it just won’t, there’s probably something deeper going on. Take a step back and figure out why it’s not working, and often you’ll be able to correct course. Once I tacked in that little ‘Han sulks’ section at the beginning, it all fell together easily. 

5) Revising!

You can probably guess from #4 that I do a lot of this as I write rather than after I write. That’s true, to an extent.

It can be a very … I wouldn’t say discouraging, but sluggish way to write, because you end up struggling over phrases you might not even keep in the end. I genuinely think it’s best to at least try to restrain the impulse to polish everything, but at the same time, there are some of us who genuinely can’t keep going if the current section isn’t working (again, see #4!). So I allow myself a certain amount of freedom in polishing-as-I-go, while restraining the impulse to do anything more substantial. The single best way of doing this is sprinting—writing in short, timed bursts with little to no editing, ideally with a partner that you check in with. (Again, I generally do this with @steinbecks​.)

However, even if you edit as you go and turn out pretty clean drafts, you should still revise at the end. What I generally do is, first of all, just quickly re-read. The writing process is a lot slower than the reading one, and it’s easy to get so focused on particular passages or sections that you lose sight of how it’s working as a whole. So that quick read-through is a way to back up and see how it’s holding together. It’s best if you give yourself a break before you do this—a day or two at least, to get your mind out of the writing mode and look at it with relatively fresh eyes. 

(I will say that I almost never wait. But I do pretty much always end up editing chapters yet again in the first couple of days after I’ve posted them. Sometimes it’s contuinity, sometimes a passage that isn’t working quite the way I thought, whatever. There’s always something. It’s why the chapters I post at Dreamwidth are generally cleaner than the ones at Tumblr, which are cleaner than the first versions posted at AO3.)

However you do that read-through, the most important for me is the next one. At this point, I read the whole fic/chapter/essay/whatever from start to finish—out loud. In fact, if it’s possible, I’ll do a full-on dramatic reading. By reading aloud, you can catch things like typos that your mind silently corrects for your eyes, but also it’s easier to notice sentence-level problems like repeated words/phrases and unvaried sentence structure. If something makes me cringe when I read it aloud, I cut it or rewrite. If saying it aloud makes it sound wrong for the character, it probably is wrong for the character. Sometimes I do the dramatic reading revision two or three times.

And then I either post or print!

The short version:

1) I get an idea, 2) I let the ideas develop without thinking too hard about them, 3) I nail down and think up specific ideas, mostly through chat and/or outlines, 4) I plow through a draft, rearranging/adding material if things just aren’t working, and 5) I revise, once with a quick re-read of the whole thing, and then again by slowly reading it aloud to myself to catch problems with (primarily) mechanics, voice, and word choice.