#I already have most chapters scripted now it’s drafting time

[floweycidal]

deltarune chapter 3 + 4 spoilers under the cut!!

if susie wants to be a box, she will.

the universe can scribble down all the tragic endings it likes. destiny can draft all the plans it pleases.

but if there's a spot next to susie where you belong, that's where you're going to be. prophecy be damned.

susie's never been one to confine herself to prescribed roles.

you really think she’s gonna start now?

doesn't matter who’s doing the talking - teacher, tyrant, time itself. if the call is for unquestioned submission, she’s already halfway out the door.

she can’t burn the pages, can’t erase the words or scrub out the subtext.

but she can drag her heels across every sacred line. love so fiercely the glass begins to fog. care so loudly the plot forgets its course.

the ending may be scheduled. might already be rounding the corner, actually. 

still, i believe susie can stall it. trip it up. make it stutter. doubt.

susie is resistance, knuckles white.

susie is hope, everything bright.

watch her grab hold of someone's despair and shake it until it rattles apart. 

watch her look at inevitability and laugh until it gets nervous. 

watch her plant her feet on ground that was supposed to give way and discover that some things are more stubborn than gravity.

the prophecy longed for order. dutifulness. clean lines. it wanted "heroes" who stuck to the script, who saved the world quietly, who knew their role and stayed in it.

and for the most part… that was ralsei.

the one who guides, who heals, who smiles no matter how much it hurts.

he's never asked for more than what the prophecy offered. never reached beyond his lines.

ralsei's lived his whole life like a beautifully penned footnote - important, but never central.

he believes being good means being useful.

he doesn’t ask. doesn’t want. doesn’t dream.

his room is empty... because no one ever told him he was allowed to want something just for himself.

his desire has always been to be needed, never to need.

he bakes for us. sings for us. sews for us.

keeps giving and giving and giving,

believing that is what earns him a place to stay.

but... susie doesn’t keep him around for what he offers. she does so simply because he is ralsei.

because conversations are more fun when he's in them, because someone's got to groan at his terrible attempts at sarcasm, because someone has to look him dead in the eyes and tell him he is real and can't be cast aside.

susie is hope. blinding, blistering hope.

every time she batters her way through the destined writ, her friends get another moment to exist and be by her side.

every bone she picks with fate is one more heartbeat they get to feel.

and that. that is all she needs. 

you don’t have to be chosen to choose. frankly, susie doesn’t give a single, solitary, shining blue fuck about what’s been foretold and decided for us. the second destiny tries to threaten those she loves - she’s already standing in its way.

this world seems hellbent on racing toward a single ending.

but if that’s where it ends up, it’ll only be because susie isn't letting it go anywhere else.

and if you spend enough time beside someone who refuses to stay in their lane.... you start wondering why you ever stayed in yours.

if susie wants to be a box, she will.

and soon... ralsei will too.

[azes-ocean]

Illusion in shattered glass 

An: I promise I’m working on reqs but this was already in my drafts so 💙 I need more Mr. Reca content so I decided to make some! He’s a character with alot of potential 🫶🏼

A dream is just a nightmare you do not want to wake up from.

Inspiration: I can’t find the post anymore but there was a post about someone talking about Mr. Reca erasing his darling’s memories every time he confesses that to try to achieve perfection, if you find it plz tell me and I can add the link 💙 

An: I didn’t reread or review it so it might suck, but I did add effort. First few chapter are skip-able ish if your impatient. 

Summary: A picture perfect love story directed by Penacony’s greatest director.

Except it isn’t perfect.

You don’t remember any bit of this so-called ‘story’.

Because you-

—CUT!—

TAKE ONE 

“I love you, y/n.”

     “!?-Mr. Reca-I-do too…”

    Directors notes: Disapproved! Adding a title in the acceptance just makes there seem to be a distance or unfamiliarity!

TAKE TWO

“Ah. Y/n. I do adore you.”

         “-Reca…? In a platonic or a romantical way…?”

Director’s notes: Disapproved! The way in which y/n still must ask the intent of those words making them seem dense whilst they have much more intelligence then most actors.

TAKE THREE

“Y/n. Will you marry me?”

       “Gasp. I-ofcourse, Reca…!”

Directors notes: Mhmm…getting better! But it should be perfect! Therefore disapproved!

TAKE FOUR

Disapproved!

TAKE FIVE

Disapproved!

TAKE SIX

Disapproved!

TAKE SEVEN

——

TAKE EIGHT HUNDRED AND EIGHTY EIGHT

————1—————

Mr. Reca slammed his fist on the table as he re-watched the records for the nth time. “Ugh. Disapproved…disapproved…Y/n deserves only perfection, not this dogwash!” He cried, cupping his face between his hands in frustration, mumbling under his breath. “No…no…no….” He murmured, why was this so hard? He was the greatest director in the world! Why couldn’t he properly direct his own love story,..?

Yes, yes, he had tried all the cliché proposals and confessions, flowers, letters, even using a cat to carry on his letter. So what was missing in his grand vision of this ‘perfect confession’!?

———2———

{{This chapter is to give depth to the reader and extra interactions. Skip it you want though somethings may be a bit confusing 💕}}

“What I think of Mr. Reca…?” You echoed, tilting your head in confusion. This was…not what you had expected your friends to ask you during your truth or dare game. “Yeah! I heard you rejected him before!” They gasped excitedly, one of them bumping your shoulder and giggling, covering their mouth. “No. I never did that. He’s just my boss. Those are just rumors.” You clarify, shaking you head with a shy smile. You’d never reject him. Well, you’d never reject him if he asked! But that was just most likely your brain too full of those telenova romance movies you binge watched over the weekend. You looked down to your hands and shook your head lightly, trying to wipe those thoughts from your brain. “Anytyywwwaaayy…. y/n!” Your friend called, pointing at you, already seemingly forgetting their previous question, “You didn’t answer the last question, so you better answer this one!” They chirped in their usual bubbly manner, happily shaking your shoulder like a needy child. Oh no. They had a mischevious glimmer in their eyes. “Tell the truth…why do you only hang out with us in the dreamscape!?” They demanded, huffing while crossing their arms dramatically. Your pulse unknowingly quickened, but your expression was still positive. “I just am too busy outside of the dreamscape. Nothing secretive. Now….F/N!” You smile and point at your other friend in the same matter as the latter, grinning, “Truth or dare?”

———3———

Mr. Reca sat on his desk, Assistant Director across his lap as he went through script after script after proposal after proposal. How boring. It would be a hundred times more interesting to be spending these wasted hours with you. But oh well. Duty called, much to his chagrin. What an artistic block. Almost all of the scripts these days lacked individuality and creativity.

All but lacking stories with a totally predictable ending, boring characters and poorly suggested visuals. The director eventually ran his patience through, crumpling the paper in his hands and throwing it across the room in absolute irritation.

“Mr. Reca…? Are you alright?” You called, knocking on the door after you had heard his exasperated grunts. “Oh, y/n! Please, please, come in if you wish! of course I am alright!” He called, his mood already being lifted by your prescence and concern. As soon as you opened the door he ushered you in and had you seated on the couch in the far corner of the messy room in a matter of seconds. You glanced across at him akwardly, only given a few moments to settle where you sat before Mr. Reca began talking endlessly about the films he was working on, the potential-less stories and manuscripts he was forced to read and a lot of his day. In truth, most of it went over your head, merely keeping up your part of the conversation with the bare minimum occasionally nodding and throwing out “Mhmm”’s “Er-yes…” and “Totally.”

———4———

“Y/n. How do you feel today?” Mr. Reca smiled, drapping his jacket across your shoulders. Even though the weather in the dreamscape was hardly cold, today felt a bit different. “A bit…cold…” You offer, snuggling into his warm jacket and hunching slightly. You looked up to see Mr. Reca with a sad smile, which surprised you. “Is…something wrong?” You asked, looking at him with a concerned look. Mr. Reca never usually showed sadness, but now his expression also held something you never thought was possible for him.

He looked…in grief?

Before you could open your mouth to ask him again, Mr. Reca looked you straight in the eye, his hands clasping together nervously, “Y/n…I love you.”

Your brain could hardly comprehend that. You stared at him for a while, wide eyed and your mouth half open when you finally remembered to swallow. You looked down and turned to him with a joyful smile, “I do too, Reca.” Mr. Reca returned your smile, though it still seemed like he was thinking of something else. You put a hand carefully on his shoulder and hesitantly kissed his forehead. “Is there…something wrong?” 

You were met with some silence, which seemed incredibly heavy, not something you would expect the atmosphere of a confession to be like. You knew what was wrong. You did. 

But you didn’t remember. 

And you can’t remember why.

“Wrong? No. We are actually following the ‘right’” Mr. Reca finally replied, shaking his head whilst forcing a smile. He pulled you into an unexpected embrace, burying his head into the crook of your neck as his shoulders seemed to sag. “And in the will of fate we can never be together.” 

You stared at him, though you weren’t confused. Yes, because this happened before.

Eight hundred and eighty eight times, to be exact.

This was what the aeons had written in both your destinies.

“Yes…yes…”

“Because you never existed in the first place.”

———5———

Mr. Reca was now hugging his empty jacket, devoid of the warmth it used to hold. 

And he cried.

It had never gotten easier to accept every time that you were a mere memory zone meme.

A fragment of his consciousness and the embodiment of his wish.

Salty tears fell one after the other in a bitter waterfall as Mr. Reca bit his lip, trying to regain his composure as his breath hitched and more tears spilled.

It was an ironic, almost funny thing

The missing piece in his ‘perfect confession’ had always been you.

———

TAKE EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHTY NINE

———

[dual-cetacean]

Potential art for the second season of No Place Like Home, first chapter (9).

Btw about the art: I always forgot how bald Nine looks like without the hair spikes. Big ass forehead. XD

"Back on the road in their lonesome, Nine ventures into the big and wide green world of Mobius."

It's officially a year since I started this project. It is the ninth of February (the second month of the year, ->Tails), and this fic is about a character named Nine. So, it is the perfect opportunity to post the first chapter of the second season of NPLH!

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who checked out my fic and read the entirety of season 1. I never expected that this little obsession of mine of writing a better ending for Nine (and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the cast of Sonic Prime) would get so popular. No kidding, this is my most successful fic to date, and the joy I get from working on it is immeasurable. I love all the comments I receive on it, and even if I have not had the chance to reply to them, I read them, and they fill me with so much warmth and fondness.

Thank you so much for sharing your guys' excitement and love with me. Writing Nine's journey is a pleasure; uncovering the plot and putting it on paper (screen) is an incredible adventure. This is one of the few projects I have worked on that I`ve been able to concentrate on for longer than a year, and it wouldn't be possible without all of my readers, who keep reading all the updates and leave me heartfelt comments. Especially a very big thank you to my very good friend @morp, who encouraged this story from its inception. Without it, it wouldn't have been as creative, or, who knows, it would still be sitting in my drafts collecting dust.

I usually do not start posting my multiple-chapter fics unless all of my rough scripts are finished. However, I expected these last few months to be able to write season 2 of NPLH so I could post them in the first half year of 2025. I overestimated myself as the previous semester was very heavy. For a whole semester, every day of the week with multiple exams and assignments kinda heavy. I had little time to write, and when I did, they were done in short spurts. (Everything I posted from September until the beginning of January was works I pre-made but still had to edit)

So, unfortunately, I haven't finished writing season 2 yet. However, it surprised me when I totalled how much I had already written: Chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5 were already done??? I hadn't expected that. So, I have written more than 50% already, and with a strong outline for the rest, I feel confident posting this chapter now. It will be a bit longer before I can regularly post the following chapters and make art for them, and honestly, with school, I really can't put a date on when this fic will continue. But everything is going much more smoothly than I expected when I realised last semester was so brutal.

So, yayヾ(≧ ▽ ���)ゝ!

Also, good news: I passed all my classes for semester 1! So, there will be no redo exams for the summer for the last four months! So I can go into the second semester tomorrow without too much stress. I'm also doing only half of my classes so it should be more relaxing than the full program. Funnily enough, I am actually looking forward to my first class tomorrow ( •̀ ω •́ ).

So, please enjoy the beta chapter of chapter Nine~!

[doodlinge]

my writing tips, that i think people will find useful:

- write dialogue first and THEN make a scene around it.

i like to do this sometimes for multiple reasons. first, if you’re in a flow of good ideas, getting dialogue done will be a future GAME CHANGER. you don’t have to be stuck fussing over little word choices because you just do it when you have a good idea, and it works! fuss over it now, save time for descriptions later. second, the characters you’re writing usuuallly wont be able to read eachother’s minds. we people do everything by communication and talking! so, map out what you want your scene to look like through dialogue! i like to do mine as a screenplay or movie script, so that way i can ensure that the characters are speaking Like Real People (tm). and THEN I READ IT OUTLOUD >:)

- map out your chapters before you start to write. seriously, do it.

so, personally, my favorite part of fanfiction and writing is the planning stage. and i like doing it on paper, but we’ll get into that after this. first, you get the idea, the spark in your brain that could make an AMAZING story, comic, or au. that’s the general premise to work off of! write that down, if you need. next, do a VERY rough draft of what you want to happen—specifically, the 3 main points of your story: the beginning event, the middle event or climax, and the ending event, or your point A, B, and C. work off of and build up (or build down) from each of these core events of your story, planning the small events that lead up to The Big Guy (or B). these ideas or premises for each leading event can and probably will be VERY, VERY rough, but once you’ve got the rough idea of what will probably happen done, you can get to work on MORE PLANNING (sorry guys. learn to enjoy it)

- PLANNING PART TWO BABY WOOO (plan out your chapters. and if it doesnt work when you’re writing it, that’s okay!)

this is what you will do before you write your chapters, that works for me way better than just going in with no plan. personally, when i started to write the fic i’m currently writing, i mapped out all the rough details that i want to happen in the climax chapter of my story, because most people find the middle the hardest part. since i already had an rough idea of what would have happened before the climax with my previous planning stage, i already was able to connect how all of the buildup would lead into the climax of the story pretty easily. every action in your story will have a consequence, big or small, and that all will lead up to your protagonist bursting into tears or the main couple confessing their love or the final, epic battle between the protagonist and antagonist! if, when you’re writing, the rough idea you had just isn’t working out, you can either a: redo it completely if it’s a huge problem, or b (my favorite): work around it in the moment and improvise. i ended up making my fic’s climax way better just because of the extra scenes i added in while writing, but since i had my original plan to work off of, everything was a lot easier.

- make every scene with a motive to accomplish

most people know this one, but i thought it was good to add in. whether it’s to flesh out the world around your characters with fun and shenanigans or to give the audience a little more insight into a character who will be useful in the future, every scene and every chapter should have a purpose. when people act, they also like to give their characters motivations, and for a while, i wasn’t sure how that could connect. however, now i understand. let’s say a character is trying to motivate another one to be brave and face their fears, but character a is actually only interested in their own interests. character a’s motivation is to be self-serving—they’re not as concerned with helping character b, but instead, they want to help themself. this shows a lot about character a! when you have a purpose for every story beat and a motive for each character, it can help you flesh out the character much better.

- show don’t tell (and what i interpret that as)

okay, so for a while, i had NO idea what show don’t tell even meant. i LOVE writing about my character’s thoughts, their interests, their perspectives on what’s going on around them. character analysis is one of the best parts, for me! but there are ways to show what a character is thinking without the use of heavy description. for example, take this part from the fic i’m currently working on right now:

the character i’m writing for had not mentioned her mom the entire chapter, but when you go back and analyze her character throughout it, you can see major hints that part of why she who she is stems from her trauma with her mother. when she connects to an older adult female figure and feels understood, the issues she has are shown and not told, clear as day. by using dialogue and trusting your audience to connect the dots about your characters, you can make a better-written story! remember motivations; sometimes, characters don’t even know they have the motivations that they do, and the audience has to figure it out based on context clues. leave room for intrigue and mystery! think; if you were this character in this situation feeling the way they felt, what would you do? what would you say? why would you say it, and what would that reveal about you?

- write one story beat per day and WRITE ON PAPER

the word count, for me, doesn’t matter. if the quality of your writing is good, and the pacing gives audiences room to breathe, then that’s enough! quality over quantity, in my opinion. if you’re not up for writing, PLAN CHAPTERS! plan scenes, plan events! plan dialogue, make it fun! that is writing too. for me, when i have the planning done, i go with the One Story Beat Per Day Rule. if you get one small event done each time you write, you’ll be finishing The Big Event you wanted to accomplish in no time. and if you’re in the middle of a big story beat and you just need a break, i’d say to take one…. and later, come back with a notebook and a pen and think. paper has helped me write better because the flow of thought just keeps going when i’m focused, and i think it might work for a lot of people.

- remember, YOU CAN DO THIS! MAKE IT FUN!

writing and finishing stuff is really, really hard. but if you get one small thing done for the characters in your story, comic or au each day… you’ll eventually have an amazing, finished story. make it fun for yourself. listen to music, act out the scripts, use color theory, analyze your characters and don’t make it a chore! every small step contributes to getting to the top. make something you will love to write, and that you will love to read. make something for yourself, because in the end, if you enjoy it, the audiences will enjoy it.

[gx-gameon]

Gotta ask how's Seto's relationship with the rest of Yugi's friends in this au? How'd the gang take the news that Seto and Yugi were dating? What about when they got engaged and married on the same day?

Okay so we are actually going to see a lot of this in the story itself.

So right now I’m editing all the rough drafts I posted here. I think I have three more to do and then it’s brand new content.

I think I’ll have somewhere between 2 to 3 more chapters from there. I have them all scripted out I just need to actually write them.

That will finish the first arc of this au. Jaden getting adopted and the afterlife adventure.

It will also be the end of the first book.

I think from there we will go into the second arc which will focus on two things. 1) Jaden and Atem adjusting to life 2) Yugi and Seto

The story will set up Gx season one. I think it will take place over Jaden’s first year or two in the family and then we will time skip to Gx.

I might do some one-shots with young Jaden and the DM crew in the time skip eventually (like Seto and Yugi’s proposal/wedding. But that could also be the last chapter so arc 2 I’m still scripting the second arc.

So we are going to have a whole little adventure dedicated to the two of them.

But it boils down to Seto realizing he has feelings for Yugi starts trying to so affection, as only Seto Kaiba can.

Jaden and Yugi are getting harassed by paparazzi? Now they had a security team following them ‘from a distance’

Things like that.

Problem: Yugi thinks this is Seto sending people to follow them to get him or Atem to duel.

He goes over to Seto to be like. ‘Hey we’re friends now. If you want something from me, like a duel, just ask me. Don’t send a goon squad to follow me. It’s freaking Jaden out.’

Seto hears two separate statements. ‘If you want me ask.’ And ‘security is scaring Jaden’ he will take care of that later.

He takes care of number 1 first and asks Yugi out. Yugi’s brain kinda breaks. Looking back he can see how everything Kaiba has been doing can be seen as either sweet or flirty in the most Seto Kaiba way ever. Because of this, and the fact that he’s not used to people actually flirting with him, made him totally miss the fact that he was being flirted with? Courted?

(All the people who flirt with him at tournaments actually want Atem or so he thinks. It’s hard sharing a body with someone for years because people outside their group don’t know. Yugi just naturally assumes that anyone that flirts with him really wants Atem, because Atem’s confident and wonderful. Yugi still has only kid insecurities.)

Seto also has no idea how to human when it comes to things like dating. He was raised to conquer businesses. He’s pretty sure your not suppose force people to date you (Mokuba said no) and your not suppose to pay them. So he has to get Yugi’s attention some other way. Mokuba is the point of reference and reason. “Do something nice for him. Talk to him. Show him you care.”

But he’s Seto, rich boy, Kaiba and he’s pursuing Yugi, if I’m near anything expensive I’ll have anxiety about breaking it, Muto. Yugi, for better and worse, isn’t interested in his wealth.

What is Yugi interested in?? Games and his friends.

He already hired Yugi and Atem to Kaiba Corp.

this is before he started pursuing Yugi. It was because he over heard them taking finances once. Its was going to be hard having Yugi, Atem, Solomon, and Jaden in one house.

He can’t just give them money, Yugi and Atem would refuse. He thinks Solomon might burn it to prove a point.

Yugi is going to college, Atem though is new to the world and still figuring out his place. Seto offered him a job at play testing games. Atem will probably beat all of them, but it will help show the flaws in the program, were things are to easy or to hard, and no one knows how to think outside the box quite like Yugi and Atem.

Atem is skeptical at first, thinking the job is just dueling Seto all day long. Which fun but no. But after hearing the actual job and pay. He takes it. (He talks with Yugi before doing so and they agree)

Later at the end of Yugi’s semester they have a final project to create a game. Their freshman so it’s not suppose to be that impressive. Yugi knocks it out of the park. Like a few tweaks and it’s ready to be sold.

He starts getting offers from other businesses. Pegasus, Zigfried, and others to higher him.

Seto isn’t losing his rival to another company. (And ya maybe the crush played a role but you can’t say Yugi didn’t earn his spot) so he highest Yugi as a game designer.

This makes there failed flirting worse and better. Because some co-workers think Seto only higher Yugi because he likes him. This gets swiftly shut down because of Yugi’s skill at his job, but there are still whispers of favoritism. They are also the most entertaining water cooler gossip of all time. Especially once they start dating. They go through all the proper channels to make dating an employee as ethically sound as possible. (They’re 19 and have known each other forever, it’s not surprising to outsiders. But Seto is still a CEO and held to certain standards when starting a relationship.) but all the other workers get a free show of watching their boss trying to flirt with his boyfriend.

It back to topic. They already have jobs so he can’t offer them that and they won’t take money without reason.

Yugi is interested in games and friends. So Seto will play games and ‘help’ his friends.

Problem. All these people are used to Seto only doing ‘nice’ thinks when he wants something (which he wants something but he’s genuinely not trying to trick them, he for once is trying to be nice) and they are not having it (Seto’s over here like I get it but let me grow as a person)

He’s trying to flirt with Yugi. A part of liking Yugi is being around his friends (preferably getting a long with them) everyone thinks Seto is finally joining the friend group but they are wary (some more than others, Joey and Tristian)

He’s someone who only knows how to show he cares through taking care of someone (you have a problem he removes it) (his love language is acts of service you can’t convince me otherwise wise)

unfortunately he’s not the best at telling people what he’s doing or asking them how they want help. He will learn but it’s ruff in the beginning.

Leading us back to. ‘Hey your goons are scaring my kid. Can you maybe call them off? If you want to duel just ask.’

‘Will you go out with me?’

They talk it out. Seto revealing all the nice things he’s done.

‘So is this why you hired me?’ ‘No I hired you because you’re competent. But I do like you because you’re competent.’

‘The goon squad?’ ‘Reporters weren’t leaving you and Jaden alone so I made them leave you alone.’

‘Joey’s sponsorship?’ ‘I wouldn’t have offered if he was going to embarrass me. He’s not on our level but he is, (big sigh) a good duelist. You value your friends so I value your friends. He earned his spot in the pro leagues. Money should be the thing that stops him from entering.’

This is also the time that Seto reveals he’s started planning duel academy because he wants Jadne to be able to have a ‘normal’ high school experience. Plus it’s a solid business move and the more he looked into it the better it was. He’s actually making 5 schools all around the world. It started out of love for Jaden but will now help so many kids.

And look Yugi always had a crush on Seto. But they have both grown and changed as people. To see Seto now verse the Seto he knew at the start of season 1. He’s grown a lot.

They talk out a lot of things. Mainly Seto’s instinctual need to fix his loved ones problems vs actually talking to them about what they want/what he’s doing.

The do end up on that date though.

Now everyone else’s reactions….. that’s a story for another time.

[all-seeing-ifer]

15 and 1 for origin of species and also if I may I'm especially interested in hearing about the cordy scene where she imagines herself in a play reading the role of Connor for number 1!

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

Well, I'd love to talk about the play dream it's one of my fave scenes in the whole fic and also one of my fave scenes I've written in anything so!! Thanks for asking about it!! I think I brought it up in the author's notes but the main inspiration for how the scene turned out was going to see the play the woman in black with my friends back in late 2023, around the time i was starting to properly get into writing origin of species. Now if you haven't seen it - here in the uk im pretty sure the woman in black is legally required to always be playing somewhere at any given point in time or something, but I don't know how commonly it's performed outside of the uk - the framing device of the play is an old man hiring a young actor to help him perform a play based on a horrifying experience he went through years ago. Most of the play is taken up by their play-within-a-play, where the old man's younger self is played by the actor, while the old man plays every other part.

It's a really ingenious play for a lot of reasons, but I think that idea of a character watching this horrific thing that happened be performed back to them, stuck as a side character in their own traumatic history - that's what really stuck with me! And I already knew I wanted to include some creepy dream sequences in oos, mostly bc this was also around the time I started playing the visual novel Echo and I thought the dream sequences in that were really good, so this turned into the basis for the first one! I think especially with the stuff I was writing in earlier chapters at the time around Cordy's failed auditions and stuff, the pieces all just really fell into place.

The other thing I do vividly remember about that scene is that I wrote out the entire thing in normal prose and then only after I'd already drafted it had the thought that hey. it would be really cool if at least some of it was formatted as a play script. which was a pain in the ass to rewrite the whole thing dfjlkafdjklj but i think both really paid off in the scene and also has set a really good direction for future dream sequences!

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

Honestly it's almost impossible to list everything! this fic is so different from anything I'd really attempted before - I'd never got this far on a chaptered fic, I'd never really written anything this serious, it's just been a massive learning curve in every respect! I guess the main thing is it really has hammered in the importance of having a functioning outline for long fic like this. I'll very readily put my hands up in the air and say I was really making a lot of it up as I went along for the first couple chapters and it led me into a LOT of problems. and shockingly once I actually had a plot outline that made sense the problems went away!

also I will say I think working on it has actually given me a lot more confidence. I feel like I have so much more faith in my ability to write things that are ambitious and to try new things and to tackle thorny topics and character dynamics, and that's been really valuable I think!

anyway thank u for asking i hope u enjoyed the rambling!

ask me questions about my fic!

[dragonnarrative-writes]

1, 3 and 34 for the writer ask game!

Hello my friend! 💜

Do you prefer writing one-shots or mulit-chaptered fics?

Well... I think right now I prefer writing multi-chaptered fics, but I have a few one-shots in the works.

I like a long story, and I like the way the physical break between chapters changes how I read and write stories. As much as I hate a cliffhanger, I love the way a page break adds to the tension of a story.

I also like multi-chaptered fics as a writer because it lets readers interact with me and influence the story. The Gaz and Soap interludes in Slasher Handler came from asks, and they helped me flesh out their characters in my head and decide where the story is going. @mi-i-zori had a huge hand in helping me decide how I want Simon and Bambi to interact in Transferrable Skills.

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Whoo. This will be long!

First, I do an "Okay So...!" summary. Basically, I ramble in the discord or write in a physical notebook anywhere between a sentence and (checks notes) 1500+ words. It's a bit unorganized. Some of it is quotes, a lot of it is "script" format dialogue, most of it is rushed transitions. There's a lot of placeholder text that represents its own couple of paragraphs.

(For example: I'm working on making the idea from this post into a one shot. That bit of ramble is 222 words. That part of the story that I'm actually writing became 1931 words. It's gonna be a long-ass project.)

From there, I workshop with friends and my partner. If I'm rambling directly in discord, I'm rolling with some of what my friends are telling me. My partner asks me the really annoying necessary questions, like "why this scene?" and "does that help get you to the smut?" and "are you letting your blorbo be a blorbo or are you trying to force a story you don't want to tell?"

Then I write a first draft. Sometimes the first draft is the only draft, but that's not the case very often anymore. I try to let myself be wordy and imperfect. Get the more detailed idea out in chunks of a few paragraphs, then reread and put in more details.

If there are multiple people in a scene, then I start with dialogue and inner thoughts, then physical actions. In this chapter of Autumn Embers, I wrote the dialogue between Gaz an Wildfire without any direction, then added in the handshakes, Wildfire arching an eyebrow, stepping to the side of the walkway, etc.

Then I let my partner read it! And he points out all of my typos.

Then I shuffle paragraphs around, and fill in spots that become a bit awkward, and then I show my partner again. And then I share it in the discord. Then I unashamedly BASK in the endorphins I get from my friends interacting with the story.

Then I rinse and repeat! Eventually, I identify where the chapter breaks are going to be, if I haven't already.

I do most of my writing in Scrivener, which allows you to write documents within documents and move them around. Sometimes I have chapters already separated. Sometimes I keep a long "working document" and then break it into chapters.

Tagging the people who I riff with often: @sentientcave, @gemmahale, @mortuarywriting, @mi-i-zori, @cordeliawhohung, @cosmicpro, and I'm missing so many other people who's blogs I can't recall off the top of my head or don't know if they'd be okay being tagged.

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Five years from now I'll still be writing fanfiction, though I'll probably have moved to other fandoms by then. I think I'll probably still write CoD, since I still love all of my past blorbos.

I think that by 2029, I will also be finishing up editing an original novel that I want to publish, if I'm not already publishing the second one. I've already written most of 3 novels, and plan to do another one next month.

I do not see myself writing full time, or relying on it as a source of income. I wouldn't be opposed, but I want my writing to be for me, first and foremost. When it's a job, it becomes about what other people want, and I don't think I'd be ready for that by then. Still, it would be fun to get the original stuff out there.

Ask Game

[umbra-borealis]

Elements of Chaos Chapter 1 - The first 2K words!

This is the first 2000 or so words from a draft I'm chipping away at, the very beginning of Elements of Chaos. I apologize for the lengthy build up but hey, I did say this was a long haul project! By the way, this is my first time writing something. My first language is dutch, not english, and to top that off I also have ADHD so this isn't exactly a walk in the park. At the moment I'm not exactly looking for people picking apart my grammar, syntax etc. because I have folks I can ask for advice on that. Be nice, thank you! CW: Minor mention of blood

How would you define Chaos?

Would you say it's the unpredictable nature of life itself? How a single drop of water will never take the same route down twice? Does it stand for a time of stress and turmoil? Is it this nebulous state we all find ourselves living in or is there an opposite? An element that binds it, understands it, tames it? And if there is, what would that be called? Order? Control? The fabled ‘red string of fate’ that strings us along, having already decided who sinks and who swims?

Perhaps none of these things matter in the end. After all most of us will go through the motions without ever really having the time or the energy to ponder the way of the world, not to mention the universe around us. Perhaps as we experience our lives our opinion will change and so will our answers, forever having the truth feel just out of reach, so close yet so far away. Then perhaps it’s better to stay in the moment and act accordingly, forever left to wonder if you did so by yourself, or if that too was a pre-written event scripted to happen from the moment you were born. They say ignorance is bliss but is it really? Are we truly free? Are you comfortable floating down a pre-determined river or did any of this make make you long for the endless open ocean?

So then tell me...

--

“Whose side are you on!?”

A voice screamed into the darkness, birds and other small fauna jumping, flying and running off into all directions. The full moon cast her dim glow upon the land below. Her image reflected on the surface of the water as it warped and twisted with the waves. A once beautiful lake surrounded by plains, hills and even a forest off in the distance had become the main stage for a grizzly scene. The immaculate green of the grass had been tainted with the deep red hue of blood, entire patches and trails uprooted making the field appear scarred and bleeding. There’s a tension in the air so dense, so charged with dread and danger that not only those present here and now but those from miles away could sense it. A shift in the atmosphere so severe it couldn’t be compared to an approaching thunderstorm or the early signs of an earthquake. The voice that had posed the question rather aggressively now snarled and with a wave of its owner’s hand the water from the lake behind him rose up, curling forward and threatening to come crashing down on whoever happened to be a bit too close to shore yet at it’s highest peak it stopped.

The silhouette of a hedgehog now stood out against the glistening backdrop of water, the light of the moon seemingly amplified by the reflective surface. He held his hand up above is head, palm open as if about to strike something or someone but instead he just stood there, still as a statue. His eyes pierced straight into those of his attackers, nailing them to their places only a few feet away from him. Heavily armored in white, high-tech protective gear from head to toe and with weapons drawn they kept their aim at the outlaw’s head and chest with possibly a few skilled, or cocky, marksmen planning to switch to the legs should he decide to turn tail and run. Unfortunately for them he had no intention to run.

“I’ll ask you again, nicely, whose side are you on? Because that insignia on your armor says mine, but those guns sure don’t. So what’s it gonna be boys?”

The lone hedgehog’s voice was full of rage though masked by the smug tone he was infamous for. A crack here and there gave away the layer of fatigue building below the surface though and he wasn’t too keen on giving it any more room to breathe or the consequences could be dire. A minute passed though to everyone present it felt like an eternity and when he was given no answer his hand twitched.

“What about you?”

One of the armed ‘knights’ as they liked to call themselves spoke up. A ballsy move sure but perhaps humoring the hedgehog’s ego would be their best chance of survival right now.

“You know what you did! You know why we’re here! At least tell us why!”

Icy blue eyes narrowed at the poor bastard who dared raise his voice at the outlaw whose arm had frozen in place one more. The audacity one had to have to make bold claims like that were one thing and he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or get even angrier than he already was, but to ask a man for a reason for something he has no memory of doing? Now that hit him funny.

“Ooooh but of course. Dad croaked and suddenly that’s my fault. For all the funding he put into your dinky little excuse of an ‘elite force’ you guys suck at your jobs. You really think if I had anything to do with it I wouldn’t take all of the credit?”

It was true and the Knights knew it. Their adversary was a known critic of the king, of his father but if he had anything to do with the act of regicide that shocked their nation mere days ago it would be him who would celebrate with a beer and mourn the fact he can’t dance on his grave. No, instead the former prince had kept his head down. It was so unlike him to do so it didn’t make him any less suspicious to some, but to those who really knew the young man it just didn’t add up. Why would a prince who had fallen from grace, stripped of all his titles and possessions and forced to live on the streets of his home city suddenly appear humbled by the whole experience? After all he had spent all of those years on the streets devoted to dismantling the monarchy with all of the knowledge he held on his own family. Murder was not part of the plan though, it would’ve been too easy and too simple. It would mean giving his deadbeat father an easy get-out-of-jail-free card which he didn’t deserve. No, the former prince wouldn’t have gone so far as to use a prototype warp ring despite all of it’s potential consequences if it had been him who did the honors. He would’ve accepted jail, or even execution with that same smug grin and proudly proclaim he did his kingdom, his people, a massive favor.

It mattered little now, the deed was done and the culprit was out there. The former prince wasn’t necessarily a suspect, just damage control. If this really was a coup on the throne by some outside force it made complete sense to him that he too would be a target. As the last heir currently known to be alive, even if bound to the throne only by blood, he posed a threat to whatever or whoever is behind all of this. The hedgehog had heard enough and made his choice, he would drown them all in the depths of the abyss if it meant his freedom, it being a punishment for their insubordination would just be a nice bonus. One wave of his outstretched claws and this whole mess would be washed away--

Just as his hand twitched he heard it, they all did. A deep rumbling, rumbling that grew louder as the ground shook, throwing everyone off balance. Instead of a focused tidal wave the water crashed down on everyone, merely causing confusion and panic. Rather than his attackers being dragged down into the water they would merely get their armor soaked and their vision temporarily obscured. The captain yelled out an order to fire at will and fire they did, forcing the stumbling hedgehog to bolt out of the line of fire. With the ground still shaking it was as hard for him to run as it for them to aim but he still had to try for getting hit with a bolt from their plasma rays would mean getting a hole burnt right through him. He’d never been more grateful for a boulder than he was now as he skidded across the wet grass and came to a stop behind it, crouching and making himself as small as possible. With a moment to think of a next move something stood out to him about this mysterious earthquake. An earthquake normally affects a large area, the lake water should be rippling but it barely even stirred. The rumbling and the distant yelling of the knights was like an awful white noise ringing in his ears, vague orders were being barked to find their target despite the chaos and he was running out of time. The outlaw weighed his options which were to either bolt and run or to stay and wait as something told him this seemingly sudden and highly unnatural earthquake might be the answer to his predicament. Each excruciating second he remained frozen in place, unable to make a decision and with adrenaline surging his heightened senses picked up on the detail that told his intuition to stay. The rumbling of the ground moved. It’s intensity shifted as it seemingly came from beyond the lake, passing underneath the hedgehog and made it’s way to where the team of elite knights were still trying to gather their bearings. Whatever was heading their way could’ve very well heard the noise and commotion and felt drawn to investigate, or worse, it felt threatened. He didn’t dare to take a peek and instead hoped he would hear an opening instead.

And an opening sure did come.

The ground below the captain himself split apart and before he could aim his weapon down or take a step back a blur of gold came right for the visor of his protective helmet that obscured his identity. The frightened yelp finally made the hedgehog move to take a peek at what was going on, too curious for his own good. The mystery gold object would become lodged in the captain’s visor before it could damage anything vital but the person attached to the pair of golden claws that struck him wasn’t finished. They popped out of the ground almost as easily as a fish leaping out of the water and the gap they came out of closed in just a second, giving the unknown assailant solid ground to stand on. They were big, not just tall, BIG, a solid red silhouette illuminated by violet geometric markings on their head and face which emitted a soft glow. Their enraged growl almost sounding like the earthquake from before as they turned to spin the poor canine still stuck to the golden claws that adorned the figure’s balled up fists, dragging him along and off his feet before flinging him up into the air. The rest of the knights were too frightened to move, let alone snap out of it enough to start firing at their new target and they watched their ‘fearsome’ leader make contact with the dirt like a sack of potatoes.

All of their heads snapped back to fix their gaze on the red stranger who cracked their knuckles and roared something unintelligible before charging straight at them. The silence of the awe struck knights broken by gunfire and angry war cries. Curious how bringing hand to hand combat to a gunfight would fare for the stranger the hedgehog stared intently. They moved like a well oiled machine, disarming those that clung to their weapon for dear life, snapping their guns in half like they were twigs, straight up butting their head against the metallic helmets if their hands were occupied and while the knights crumpled they seemed completely unaffected. As the battle raged on the lone hedgehog figured now was his chance to turn tail and run but as he turned his back on the battlefield a hand slipped over his muzzle, covering his mouth and muffling the yelp of surprise that followed. Blue eyes met an emerald green pair as yet another stranger held up his index finger to his own muzzle, the universal signal to tell someone to be quiet. As the loner took another good look it appeared he was no longer the only hedgehog here as this new stranger was a deep, vibrant blue all over. He could practically disappear against the night sky if it wasn’t for the short peachy fur covering his muzzle, arms and chest. Before he could get a better look the blue stranger whispered.

“Can you run?”

Whether this person was friend or foe would have to wait. For now the outlaw would take his chance and nodded.

“Then run with me and don’t look back. He’ll be fine. Trust me.”

That voice. If he didn’t know better this blue stranger sounded so much like him though he lacked the signature gravelly sound. While his thoughts raced the blue hedgehog removed his hand from the outlaw’s muzzle and firmly grasped his hand instead to help him to his feet and start running into the darkness.

--

[fenomeno00]

Blue moon (1/2) (Fanfic Resident Evil)

pairing: jill valentine & chris redfield

summary: At the brink of Jill's sacrifice, Wesker is struck by an epiphany

wc: 1.7k

type: sfw

a/n:

Hello, friends. How have you been? Me? I'm doing well. Quite busy, but well. That's why I didn't expect to be here so soon.

This fanfic wasn't in my plans, not at all. The reason it exists? Oh, I have plans to release a fanfic that retells much of Chris's campaign in RE6, specifically in Edonia, but with another character as the lead: Jill (who, for some bizarre reason, wasn't even mentioned back in 2012). I realized that I had no practice writing about any character other than Chris. After all, all of my fanfics have him as the protagonist or are third-person narrations from his point of view. In any case, writing something without this character would be a huge challenge for me. And since I intend to give my all in this fanfic set during the RE6-Edonia period, I didn’t feel ready yet. Actually, I still think I'm not at the level I want to reach, which is why I'm bringing you this test fanfic.

This is not a teaser for my next fanfic. Nor is it something that will intertwine with it (although it is still an imagination within canon). For this reason, I wrote it with a concept so familiar in my stories (Lost in Nightmares), which I’ve already approached so many times. You can even relate this test draft to one of my fanfics that deal with this period in the saga; that's fine, there’s nothing that excludes it, it just wasn't the original intent.

Initially, this was going to be a one-shot. However, it would be rather erroneous for me to focus on writing with Jill for the next fanfic and not have a narration from her point of view. So, in addition to this chapter, there will be another one, twice as long, more focused on our beloved character from the saga. Consider this more of a draft; there's not much depth, although I still thought it was good enough to be evaluated. Yes, I desperately need your feedback on this, whether the writing is at least minimally decent or not. I'm all ears, which is the main point of this story. I will still post this on other platforms, as the goal is to know where I’m getting it right and where I’m failing the most. So, please, leave comments...

Enjoy this small chapter. I tried my best not to be vague, but also not to go too deep, since there was no reason for a draft/test script to be extensive.

Music: "Blue Moon" – Frank Sinatra (I'm not one to recommend music, although I’ve been doing so in my recent writings. Still, it would be strange if I didn’t. The title of the story is totally inspired by and taken from this incredible song, featured in one of my favorite games of all time: Fallout: New Vegas).

This is the first time I post here on tumblr, I will also leave the link to my profile on Ao3 and Spirit fanfics (Brazilian site) with my stories, not all of them are translated and posted on ao3, but I promise to provide this soon

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

“An idea is like a virus, resilient, highly contagious.” Dom Cobb, line of dialogue with Saito (Inception)

The devastating impact could have reduced any other being to a pile of bones and shredded flesh, but for him, it was merely a moment of pain. A fleeting instant of weakness that wasn’t his but of the world that had tried, in vain, to bring him down.

A second passed, then another.

The ringing in his ears finally subsided, like a tide retreating after ravaging the coast. The dizziness of the fall, that sensation of being dragged into oblivion, slowly dissolved, replaced by a piercing pain. Thanks to the inhuman power of the Uroboros virus, even a direct plunge into death couldn't seal the fate of one who was now less than human, but more than anything else. The pain wasn’t ordinary; it was sharp, cutting, a cruel reminder that he still breathed, yet the virus would take care of his wounds before he even realized he had them. If death were a promise, he would have already betrayed it. Similar to the desert of the Rub' al Khali, unforgiving and severe, an ocean of dark stones stretched out around him, cold and indifferent. The sky, distant and aloof, was a dark dome studded with stars, bearing witness alongside the full blue moon, inert, to what could have been a tragedy for any other mortal being. But he was not mortal. He was Albert Wesker, the bearer of a power that transcends human comprehension. His flesh, torn by the sharp rocks, now closed as if it had never been touched.

Still lying on the rough ground, Wesker allowed his eyes to fixate on the figure above him. Jill Valentine, now resembling more of a specter, a dark reflection of her former strength. The blood, which had once been her life, now soaked her, forming viscous pools around her as if death itself were still undecided about taking her. Until the last moment, her arms had wrapped around the man, ensuring that both would fall together from the precipice. Her intent was clear: to make sure the imprisoned demon hit the ground first and that the violent impact of the collision would destroy his life. And she would die with him thereafter.

She knew her strength was insignificant against the absolute power of Uroboros. She knew that alone, she would never defeat him. So, in the moment of greatest despair, when she saw the man of her life about to die before her eyes, she used her own body, a fragile human shell, as a final weapon.

She should have been dead. The fall should have crushed her, should have broken every bone, shattered every organ, leaving only a lifeless body to be buried beneath the stones. But fate, cruel and ironic, had decided that the same force that had dragged her to death would now be her salvation—and her curse. She had wagered everything on her last act of defiance, sacrificing herself to destroy what she saw as incarnate evil. But what she hadn't foreseen was that the demon would not be defeated so easily.

He, Wesker, had survived. And, by a twist of fate, so had she.

Even in her near-death state, Jill fought against the pain, each breath an effort, each moan a scream muffled by a body that could take no more. But those moans were not of despair; they were of a cruel resistance, a stubbornness that refused to give up, even when the end was so near. For Wesker, those sounds were music. They were a symphony of suffering, a melody he wished to prolong. The one who had so often frustrated his plans now lay agonizing beside him, evoking a perverse pleasure in hearing those sounds float through the air like a tragic tune. For a moment, he simply listened, a faint smile playing on his lips.

-- Foolish woman. – Wesker sighed as he disentangled himself from her body.

But then, a name escaped Jill’s bloodied lips, a name that shattered the enchantment of that moment.

-- Chris...

One word. Just one. But its weight was stronger than any fall. Any impact, any pain.

Wesker’s smile froze, transforming into something cold and dangerous. Chris Redfield, the man who had so long stood in his way. The man who, more than once, had been a thorn in his side, a constant reminder that there were still humans who dared to challenge his supremacy. And now, even on the brink of death, Jill’s thoughts weren’t on herself, nor her pain, but on Chris.

Anger bubbled inside Wesker, a silent fury growing in intensity with each passing second. The name Chris, uttered by Jill in that trembling whisper, was like a poison running through his veins, inflaming every fiber of his being. He felt his fingers tighten, the muscles of his hands tensing, wanting to crush her skull right then and there. That cursed word echoed in his mind, resonating like a curse he could not endure.

For a moment, the urge to destroy her right there, to obliterate the face that dared to speak that name, was almost irresistible. He could feel the murderous impulse overtaking his consciousness, the vision of crushing her skull, feeling the bones yield under the pressure of his fingers, a vivid fantasy that would bring him dark pleasure.

But he didn’t give in. Not yet. Like a flame finding fuel, Wesker’s rage was replaced by something deeper, something darker. An idea arose in his mind, an idea so horrible that he could almost taste it in that wretched instant as if it were eternity. What could be a sweeter revenge than turning this woman, who had risked everything for Chris, into something unrecognizable, a living nightmare? He could already visualize the horror in Redfield’s eyes when he saw what was left of Jill, deformed, destroyed, but still alive—a puppet of his own hatred.

He rose effortlessly, her body in his arms like a broken toy, his hands squeezing where her bones had fractured. He leaned down, bringing his lips close to her ear, and whispered in a low, disdainful voice: — You wanted to die like a heroine, but you will live as a monster. I will make you something Chris can never forget.

Jill let out a brief, sharp moan of pain as her bones protested the movement her tormentor made. That sound, that short, desperate murmur, was a new source of pleasure for Wesker, a reminder that, despite all the power she had lost, her pain was still real.

He looked at her face, a face that had once been a work of art. Now, it was only a reminder of what she had lost. Under the moonlight, her face was pale, almost lifeless, but still carried a shadow of the beauty that once captivated the world. Ten years ago, she had been a force of nature, a subordinate who stood out in a world of men, not for her beauty, but for being competent, fierce, and uncompromising. Wesker remembered the impact he felt when he first saw her picture, amidst so many lifeless résumés. She had stood out, not just for her appearance, but for the promise of something more. Something he had always planned to test and destroy.

-- It seems, this time, your prince won’t come to wake you. – Wesker mocked.

He extended a gloved hand, touching her face with a gentleness that only accentuated the monstrosity behind it. He wiped the blood from her face with a slow motion, almost as if caressing a work of art. He had already decided. Jill Valentine would not die on that shore. Not yet. He would keep her alive, not out of mercy. Wesker knew no mercy. Mercy, to him, was a concept for the weak, for those who still clung to the idea of redemption. And Jill Valentine, the foolish woman who dared to stand against him, would be the perfect instrument to forge the final act of his revenge.

After making a call for his rescue, Wesker began to walk to the marked location. Each step was a promise of pain, a shadow creeping over Jill’s mind, still unaware of the fate that awaited her.

-- Ms. Valentine, – he murmured, his voice dripping with sweet venom, – I have other plans for you. This is not your end.

He would order the best medical treatment, not to heal her, but to prolong her agony. So that she could mend, only to be destroyed again. He was already envisioning the future, in which victory lay in dismantling everything Chris loved, every piece of the world he desperately tried to protect. And Wesker wanted him to watch, helpless, as the one person who could save him became the agent of his own ruin. Wesker wasn’t interested in simple death; he wanted something deeper, more absolute. He wanted to carve pain in its purest form. His true satisfaction would not lie in the final act of destruction, but in the process, the slow decay of everything Chris Redfield once believed in. And when darkness finally consumed him, when he stood at the edge of the abyss, facing the hollow eyes of Jill, Wesker would achieve what he had always sought: not just triumph, but complete disintegration, the reduction of the soul to dust.

The irony of the scene was so delicious that Wesker could hardly contain his laughter. And he laughed, a laugh that echoed through the void under the moonlight. He could hardly wait for the moment when Chris would see them together.

In the demon's arms, Jill Valentine, once an indomitable warrior, was now reduced to nothing more than a puppet in the hands of a monster. Beneath the moonlight, she resembled a captured siren, stripped of her magic and cast into a hellish abyss. With every passing second, with every weakened beat of her heart, she inched closer to a fate worse than death. A fate of which she was still unaware, but one that awaited her with the same inevitability as the darkness drawing near.

After that, there was only silence.

“Blue moon, you saw me alone, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own. Blue moon, you knew exactly why I was there, you heard me saying a prayer for someone I could truly care for. And then suddenly there appeared before me the only one my arms will ever hold.”

[im-a-king-baby]

Hiii!

I loved ELYN so much! And one scene I would love you to comment on is in chapter 14 when they're out by the lake, and they talk about their futures and their public personas, and I guess they both help each other get to thinking about their options in new ways:

“The first thing you ever said to me was that you weren’t allowed to talk about politics.” Simon bends down to pick a rock up from the grass, turning it over between his fingers. “I guess I’m just saying if this debate is live and there’s no script then this is your chance to tell people your story. To show them what kind of king you’re going to be.” He tosses the stone once in his palm, then throws it into the lake."

I really loved how this got Wilhelm thinking about what he wanted, and how he could go about to get it.

Thanks a lot 💜

No, thank YOU a lot <3 <3.

(This meme is bonus content for ELYN/Everybody Loves You Now which you can read on AO3 here. This post below the cut will contain spoilers.)

So the VERY FIRST line of YR fanfiction I ever wrote was: ‘The first thing Wilhelm ever said to Simon was, "I’m not allowed to talk about politics." It was a wake-up call, a reminder, that Wilhelm will always belong to Sweden first.’ It was originally for a different fic, then I stole it for a Simon POV ELYN-scene which I might post someday (snippet below), but that sense of responsibility is definitely one of the core parts of this kind of contemporary royalty story that is interesting to me. So the beginning of that quote is definitely something that was in my mind from the very beginning.

And it’s interesting to talk about this scene (and chapters 13/14 in general) and that progression to Wilhelm’s decision because it was hardly in draft 1, which jumped from Candace to the debate with very little in between. And then I kept expanding it, and rewriting it a million times (and then my beta was like ‘this isn’t working’ about some parts and I rewrote them several more times.) and these chapters more than a lot of the others I had to step back and really be like ‘what am I trying to achieve here, what are my character arcs, how do I balance that?’

The most important part of ELYN (to me) was that losing the vote had to be a Choice that Wilhelm made. I’ve seen some debates about whether people want an ending where Wilhelm abdicates or where the monarchy is abolished and I always think it misses the nuance that if monarchy is abolished it should be because Wilhelm abolishes it. To me, that’s what makes it an empowered narrative, rather than a story about society rejecting a queer king. And in ELYN, the other key plotline is this reconnection between Wilhelm and Simon and how that pushes them both to break out of these boxes they’re stuck in. On Simon’s side, Wilhelm is a reminder of his past and a wake-up call to how not-okay Simon is now. Pre the writing of 13/14 Wilhelm did had some influence from Simon, breaking the rules and pushing back on his mother and Minou, but I wanted there to be a clear character beat that tied Simon's return to Wilhelm’s making the decision to call for a 'no' vote.

Then it was a case of reflecting on the parallels of their lives, which was mostly this theme of being voiceless. Simon not being able to sing his own songs, vs. Wilhelm being handed speeches to read out and having to stick to the Official Story. And this is where Simon is kind of ahead of Wilhelm, in that he’s already had his ‘fuck it, they can’t stop me’ moment singing at the concert, so he gets to take the advice-giving role, which is nice to balance out their interactions a bit more so it’s not Wilhelm helping Simon all the time.

(In case you’re interested, this is one of the notes I sent my beta with the final rewrite (which kind of shows how I was approaching this transition from a character development perspective): ‘I’ve tried to make the split more clear so that in 13 his action is avoiding the debate (passive) and in 14 he switches to actively using the debate to change the vote.’)

Bonus snippet, here is the line from paragraph one in the Simon hotel scene:

The wind is bitingly cold. “Thanks, tack, love you all,” he calls down. “Have a good night!” He shuts the window, draws the curtains like maybe they’ll leave if they can’t see him. They won’t leave. They were there this morning when he went to an interview, then a doctor about the scratch in his throat, then an outfit fitting for the charity show. The numbers fluctuate but they’re never gone. He wonders how Wilhelm got past them. There must be another entrance, one that someone has decided Simme isn’t allowed to use, because they want to reward the loyalty of the fans freezing their fucking toes off to get a glimpse of him. Wilhelm wouldn’t risk being seen by them. Wilhelm knows how important is is to maintain his image. The first thing Wilhelm ever said to Simon was, ‘I’m not supposed to talk about politics.’ A wake up call. A reminder. That Wilhelm will always belong to Sweden first. And now Simon knows a little of how that feels, to have the expectations of thousands of strangers resting on his shoulders. Fortunately Simme’s image is much easier to maintain. A bit of smoky eye, a smile that promises sex, a never ending stream of photoshoots where the clothes are more or less optional. It all comes naturally: start at the neck of the bottle and work down.

[satancopilotsmytardis]

How do you go about writing your fan fictions? I personally kind of just go for it, but I end up loosing the flow and it gets all jumbled up and doesn’t really make any sense.I’ve noticed in a few of your sneak-peaks sometimes your writing is written like a script, or they are random short snippets.

I’m hoping to fix the flow of my writing, and not loose motivation as quickly.

I also usually just start writing. For the most part what I publish is almost exactly what I wrote for my rough draft with just some grammar/spelling edited (if I remember to bother with it before just throwing it up, or if I'm not practically falling asleep before I publish it).

The screenshots that are snippets are taken from scenes that are already fully written, then I just decide on a paragraph or two that I think get the idea across most clearly. The screenshots of writing that looks like it's formatted like a script are probably specifically from my Data Leak WIP, where I'm showing text messages from the characters! That's a way to represent those texts stylistically, and not how I typically write/draft.

When you guys see anything with bullet points, that's my outlining process. Normally that happens after I've already written a chunk of the story and determine I need some of those notes to make sure I don't forget about elements that I was foreshadowing just in case I step away for a while. For example, here is the chapter summary/outline for chapter 3 of Dalliance:

I knew this one was going on the WIP rotation so I wrote down everything I remembered wanted to be in that scene so I had a play-by-play when I got back to it. If you struggle with maintaining motivation for projects, then outlining with a full chapter summary can help ensure that you remember where you wanted to go in case you take a step back for a while.

But if I know I'm doing something in a bigger chunk I don't bother with that and only make short notes. For the Pet!Shifter Dabi story, this is all I have for my outline:

It's just the bare minimum of notes, but they act as anchor points for my story. These are three scenes that I want to hit, anything around these scenes can change or be adapted, even these scenes themselves can be adjusted, it all just depends on what the narrative is doing once I get deeper into the writing. If you're struggling with your flow becoming incoherent, then setting anchor points in a loose outline can help with this. You can always look at the point you are aiming on getting to, look at your current trajectory and adjust accordingly. Sometimes you might notice that the original plan isn't working anymore, that's okay too, as long as you can replace the point you were originally going to with one that is as concrete/makes just as much sense, then making that change can help your story grow.

As far as losing motivation goes, it really, genuinely does help to share your work with a few people/online who motivate you to keep going. I know that when I was in college I was writing at a similar rate as I am now because I was working on my degree. However, once I left, I slowed down a lot until I finally started posting again over the last year. If you have other writer friends then sharing with them can be a great way to keep going!

And for anyone wondering why I'm working in Comic Sans: No joke, writing in Comic Sans can genuinely help you to write faster/not be as precious with your work. And I'm writing on green with gray text because it helps me with my eyestrain after spending so much time on my computer for writing and work!

I hope this can help, but everyone writes in very different ways, and it really, genuinely can take a while to figure out what works best for you! Good luck, you've got this!

[howdy-folks-its-showtime]

It's Showtime! - September 2024 Devlog

Howdy! Cobalt here, this month was a very busy month for me irl. I've been working on stuff like an Ebay I run with my mom, cleaning up our side yard and generally trying to give our house a deep clean since we want to be able to babysit kids for a source of income. That and a lot of driving practice since hopefully soon, I'll be taking my test. So I haven't been focused on game development, however I did get a ton done!

I've both added quite a few important scripts and cleaned up a few existing ones, to try and keep this simple here's a list:

Changed up how the ProgressManager keeps track of which character you are playing as. Mostly so that it can more accurately detect who you should be playing as currently, but also so I can customize freely the possible options of who you're playing as. With this new system it's very easy to add which points in the current level and/or chapter your character is changing.

ProgressManager script is no longer responsible for placing the right items in your inventory according to who you are playing as, that has been moved to be the function of the PauseManager.

Made a script for checking where the player is looking, I can change how close or far it detects the players gaze as well, which is gonna be super helpful for various things. There is another script called VisionManager that turns that one on and off, to make sure it's not running when not necessary.

Made a script for playing audio upon being interacted with and one for playing audio upon being looked at. These have been added to a few objects already and so Henry now has a few placeholder voice lines implemented in the game. With this I also added a function to the ProgressManager to keep track of which voice lines have been played and to make sure the same voice line isn't activated twice.

Tapes are now almost fully implemented programming wise. Upon picking one up, it plays the tape, shows you the name and description and the audioclip is stored in your tape menu. You can't play them from the menu yet and there's a few other things I'd love to implement, but for now I'm very happy to say they're working well.

I've rewritten how both objects that do something upon being interacted with and objects that do something upon being seen work. This method has removed the need for two scripts that made everything more complicated than it had to be and now if I want to add the ability to be interacted with, all I need is to add a word to it's inherited methods and a line of code saying what it does when it's interacted with/in sight. This makes the code much more readable and more simple.

Made the ProgressManager easier to access across different scripts due to how often it has to be accessed. Once again this makes the code more simple and easy to read.

simple door function for closing and opening a door, the animations are acting strangely but currently it is nothing more than a big placeholder rectangle so it works for now.

There's now an AudioManager script that makes sure voice lines and tapes won't play at the same time, it just makes all the objects that would normally play audio pause to let the current audio clip finish. So no overlapping voice lines or Henry speaking over the tapes.

Not a lot here to note honestly, just more drafts of important dialogue to put together and more progress on getting chapter 1 fully written. I've been focused on 3D art and programming way more than writing this month. I'm sure I'll get back to it next month.

A lot of the basic more generic 3D assets are being made currently, here's how a few of them for the first floor are looking;

And here's some for the Music Department.

2D Wise mostly just more Character Designs have been done, hence why most of these assets aren't textured. But soon the studio should be looking a lot more swell and full of props.

Made a really exciting development in terms of figuring out character rigging. Got in contact with someone who has a really swell system for 2D facial animation and if we can work together to figure it out, I'm sure soon I'll have some of the major characters first models done. I've told them a lot of features that would help me if they could figure them out and what I'd like the rig to be capable of and they said they are fairly sure it should be possible and they'd look into it. They have been very kind and helpful for this entire project and I would love if any of you gave them support on their YT Channel and the videos showing off this awesome rig. If they could make a general rig for this sort of thing I'm sure it'd be super helpful to so so many people who make stylized characters in Blender for games. https://youtu.be/0hcZfr4f5cA?si=gb6VYNXi7G12a5iI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_knSIhLEGlw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2rMoFWwYTc

For now, that's all, lots of exciting stuff going on! See you guys next month!

[midnightraine131]

Hello hello Raine!

2 in Hiding in Plain Sight (yes, I'm eager to know!), 4 (also HiPS), 7 (HiPS and Love Letters), 9 (Love Letters), 16, 22, 24

Hi Anna! It's been so long!

Thanks for the ask. 🥰

2. What are the endgames for everyone?

[Hiding in Plain Sight] I have three major pairings in this fic. I will try my best to answer this question without spoiling too much. 🤐

Jeanpiku - they will soon find the right time to grow. Someone needs to learn to let go.

Eremika - Everything Eren does has a reason, and most of it is to protect his besties. He's planning a getaway, but he can only save one.

Aruani - being forcefully separated with all the disappointments, heartaches, miscommunications, trust issues, and being done with his overwhelming fame. Someday, somehow, in the cold asphalt of Manhattan where they first found each other, one will kneel down with a diamond ring on hand.

4. What is the hardest to write in Hiding in Plain Sight?

Definitely courtroom scenes. Although I have a handful of mock trial scripts, I still spend two or three rounds revising them to make them sound natural. So yes, I'm still writing HiPS, but now at a slower pace because things are getting serious after Chapter 10.

7. Which chapter was the most fun to write/which chapter has been the most fun so far to write?

[Hiding in Plain Sight] I think the part in chapter 9 where Armin serenaded Annie. I was really imagining Armin playing a tiny ukulele with Louis Tomlinson's voice, lol. I was dancing and smiling the whole time I wrote that part, so it's kind of a mess.

I also enjoy writing Annie and Adelaine's interactions. Although Annie keeps telling herself that she's unlikeable, deep inside, she wants to be friends with Adelaine. She's like me. I'm always awkward around kids, so...

[Love Letters] I have used a different writing style in 'Love Letters.' It's simpler and has a teenage vibe to it. So it was easy to write, as if I'm working on a teen romance series for Netflix. I've had fun writing chapters 1 to 4 so far.

9. How did you get inspired to write this?

[Love Letters] I've always wanted to write about teenage Aruani and first loves, but I couldn't seem to come up with something different. So one sleepless night, I recalled an awful experience I had a year ago at the church we used to attend and decided to draft it. Then I came up with an idea to make it a fic, deciding that Armin's character will be based on a true story about one of my friends and how the church people burnt their group leaders out. It was cruel, so I will make Armin cry here. Disclaimer: I have nothing against any churches, but its people, and I'm married to a Christian.

16. Least favourite ship to write for?

I think it's eremika. I love both Eren and Mikasa, but I feel like I've neglected them in 'Hiding in Plain Sight.' I will make up for it. I promise.

22. Something you wished you included afterwards?

[Hiding in Plain Sight] During the dinner at Annie's house, I had originally planned for Eren to interrogate Armin about his thing with Annie to the point of pinning him against the bathroom wall. I found it funny but unnecessary, so I removed the entire scene. I think it's already obvious to everyone that Armin and Annie's relationship is more than just business.

24.Do you prefer multichapter fic or oneshots?

I'll go for a multichapter fic because I've always wanted to have something to look forward to writing about, and I play the scenes in my head like a movie.

If I do oneshots, that will probably porn without plot. 🫢

[calronhunt]

jesus i thought you had just started production on kibby cat comic so i am blown away hearing u already have pages done you are so powerful

anyways kibby cat questions:

how much did canary's death change mariner? i imagine that he's mentally struggling with that aspect even in the current story, but his whole attitude and way of interacting with others makes it hard to tell.

also for a lighter question; what is everyone's favorite prey? is there anyone who particularly enjoys hunting?

YEAH i generally consider "production" the actual creation of the pages, while everything before that (including scripting) as pre-production. Currently there's only 6 pages done, the cover isn't done, and I might slap a tw page as well because it's kind of a lot. but i'm up to chapter 8 on the first draft of this thing. i'm pretty satisfied with chapter 1, which is why i decided i deserve a treat and started making the pages (I think i did something similar with COB before it started becoming public)

ANYWAY i'm gonna do the prey question first cause I can see myself rambling about the Mariner one.

Lain: Birds (Robins in particular)

Mariner: Fish

Condor: Rabbit (He needs something big to eat)

Crane: Vole

Warbler: Mice

Grouse: Mice

Scout: Squirrel

Wolf: She'll tell you she loves to eat bear but her favorite is salmon

and Warbler likes hunting the most! It was her favorite passtime before she was orphaned and she was very good at it! She's still trying to relearn her skills after becoming half-blind, half-deaf, and the loss of a fair amount of teeth. She's frustrated but she's determined to figure it out!

and now or the Mariner question, short answer is it changed him a lot, a lot more than he likes to think it has. longer answer is below the cut because i don't wanna put a massive post onto people's timelines lol

The longer answer is that he may wax poetic about life and how everything has to come to an end, but he's just not over Canary's death. His general calm disposition, lack of emotions, and strange way of speaking are all things he puts up to seem unbothered (and also not having much social interaction much of his life).

At the start of the story, Canary has maybe been dead for like, maximum a month. It is still entirely a fresh wound for him. and now he's been given his mate's killer to basically do whatever he wants to, and Lain has to go along with it (this isn't even touching on lain's already super submissive and obedient nature). And Mariner just, in all honesty, becomes much crueler being given this power.

Mariner multiple times throughout the story says that he doesn't like hurting people. Which he does genuinely believe with his whole heart and he almost never hurts someone physically himself in the story. He thinks it's barbaric and cruel to do that to another person, and it's different than killing prey because that's a necessity (He doesn't particularly like hanging out with Condor for his enjoyment of inflicting pain)

However, when he's confronted with the fact that he does cause pain to Lain, not just physical, he immediately grasps for an excuse.

and in his own mind, he can justify it by saying that Lain killed Canary, so messing with him in the head isn't nearly as bad as what Lain did to him, but when he has to say that out loud, he's forced to put into words that he IS still hurting someone in some way, that he IS being cruel for no reason but he wants to, and he doesn't like that. He doesn't like going against morals he's built up his whole life.

But he continues to do so because even though he says he hates it, it feels good to him to let his frustration and anger out on someone who has to take it. Who doesn't get a choice to not. He can do whatever he wants to Lain and Lain has to say "yes sir" to it.

He can hurt him, he can be nice to him, he can even try to pretend lain is Canary again when they lay down to sleep, but it's always Mariner's call. But the moment it's reflected back to him that he might, in some way, be enjoying this, he justifies it in any way he can think of. And he only really gets worse as the story continues as he realizes more and more how badly Lain NEEDS someone to tell him what to do and how to act.

Mariner's like super interesting and not a good person at all but I love him. The way his brain works is so much fun to write and especially paired with another fucked up brain guy like Lain it's a match made in hell.

[dashawfrostart]

Yet Another Month In "Time & Again" #35: I Made A Major Breakthrough In My Workflow Optimization! 🥳

Oh how time flies. I guess my plan established earlier to post bite-sized updates more frequently does not work. It's been a month, again. Mostly due to how I plan my days ahead, I usually have about 5-10 minutes of free time in the morning, and 5 minutes of free time very late at night (unless I'm drawing late at night, which also started to happen more frequently lately. Or, like right now: I'm writing this post quite late in the evening. Because daily art responsibilities must be fulfilled, I said). I had my Keep notes overfilling with the drafts of the incredibly wordy posts - almost as wordy as the buzzing hive in Lothar's head - but truth be told, within the last month, I just stopped updating them whatsoever. Instead, I organized my work schedule in such a way that allowed me to input as much time into development of "Time & Again" as I possibly could've reasonably donated. To be able to get closer to its completion as soon as possible (because heck, let's be straightforward here: Chapter 6 has been in development for far too long. The creator in me wants to move on to the next chapter already - and NOT ONLY because Chapter 7 will introduce one of my favourite characters in the entire series! 😉). Work first - extra stuff later. Priorities, meine Freunde 🧐☝️ ... And oh boy, have I moved forward within the last month, I'm so proud of myself 🤩 Awesome, innit?! Wanna know what I did? Then keep reading!

Therefore, as concludes from that massive prelude, this post has been written from scratch, without any prep work.

So on to yet another monthly update!

But first and foremost - a little teaser of a panel I *almost* finished up literally today. Cute!

And ta-daaaa! There are colours now! Things are getting funner and funner by the hour! 🤣

At the moment, the chart of completion of Chapter 6 looks this way:

The writing and the script - ✔done (long ago)!

The storyboard (drawn with a pencil on paper) - ✔done!

The Vector Stage (panels arrangement for every page according to the storyboard in Inkscape) - ✔done!

The Lineart Stage (drawing everything in black and white as it will appear in the final release) - 92,5% complete.

The Colouring Stage (colouring the lineart for the final release) - let's say approximately 40% done; some of it is dependent on the lineart that is still incomplete.

The Post-Production Stage (cleaning up everything, perfecting the speech bubbles, SFXs, and polishing everything squeaky clean for the actual release)

Some fun stats here for you: Chapter 6 features 323 panels all hand-drawn by a human, some of which are fairly simple while some others are mind-bogglingly detailed (probably unnecessarily so, knowing me).

As you [probably] could ponder - that's an huge ****ing amount of work for one person, no exaggeration.

But you could see in the chart included above that it doesn't look too bad already. I'm getting there. Maybe slowly, but it's moving. I think I have achieved a lot lately. Happy.

And finally! TO THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS POST. About the topic mentioned in the title of this post (therefore techy. you're welcome).

In the previous posts I wailed numerous times that I hate flatting because it takes HOURS AND HOURS of brainless mechanical work, and that I would like to discover a tool that could help me speed it up - possibly through the use of AI technology so that I could train the algorithm on my art style to make it recognize and distinguish Lothar, Jeanny, Beatnik, and everyone else from one another, only to automatically colour them according to my own predefined palette. For the sole reason of flatting being unbearable to me (especially at a huge scale such as a 61-pages-long Chapter 6).

Well... Turns out I might not need AI for that just yet.

Prior to a supermassive amount of colouring work that stood before me in Chapter 6, as soon as that 92,5% of the lineart was successfully complete, I decided to buckle up, approach, and face my arch-nemesis directly, straight in the eye. And it has been done in two grand steps.

Step One: I created a palette for "Time & Again" that contains all the swatches of all the characters in the story (including the past ones... yup, talking about you too, Edgar, you've very long overdue, sadly) so that I could switch colours on the go as fast as possible. Previously I had to open a separate Krita file prepared by myself that contained all the character swatches - which, I believe, I spoilerlessly showed off in one of the older posts - and I had to constantly switch from one file to another to transfer all the colours one by one (or rather two by two, because you could pick a foreground colour and the background colour to keep in the current memory). Needless to say how annoying it was all these years. And it required a lot of focus. No wonder I could burn out so quickly. In the meantime, I was perfectly aware that Krita Palette Docker was broken and that it wouldn't allow you to create groups of swatches (as reported in this post) - which was crucial for me. So, following the workaround from the aforementioned forum post, I unpacked portable version of Krita 5.1.0 and created my palette meticulously in there, with all the groups and swatches I needed. Then I opened my comic pages in Krita 5.2.9 which is the latest version I use - and du duuuun ta-daaaa! I could see all the groups, and everything works fine right now. I can even add more colours to already existing groups of swatches - BUT, unfortunately, I cannot modify the groups themselves, because then everything just breaks in 5.2.9. I also shared my experience here on Reddit.

I really hope that feature gets a fix soon! But for now, we have a fool-proof workaround, and I'm happy about that!

Step Two: I finally got serious and learnt Krita's Colorize Mask. And I don't regret it one bit. In fact, I'm simply astounded to see how well it works. This tool is A BEAST. I don't even know what else to say. The principle is simple: you just paint small brush strokes with an appropriate colours around the artwork - and the magical, smart, programmatically made algorithm fills out the lineart with the colours. With precision, I must say. It's just fantastic.

Below there are 2 examples (possibly not the best ones, but that's what I had so far spoiler-free) showing how powerful this simple tool is. The picture to the left is a "colour map" I made using the tool, and the one to the right is the colour output (converted to a raster layer). You can see the boundaries of the coloured areas on the colour maps.

The more directions you give it - the better it works, and requires less cleanup afterwards. It's especially effective at colouring Lothar's super pointy hair that has always been a pain to do ever since that character has been created by me 10 years ago. Now I don't have that problem anymore. And precision in colouring when using Colorize Mask simply shocks me (just like a shambler in a narrow corridor... yup. good times).

I played with settings a bit, but I ended up reverting back to the default settings. It just suits my needs perfectly as-is. I think I'll stick with it for the years to come. And honestly, flatting doesn't even scare me anymore. In fact, it has become a somewhat enjoyable process. Very good, very good indeed. 😁

So, the Palette and Colorize Mask together allowed me to deal with a huge number of panels for the chapter quite quickly. There's still a ton of work left to do - but the most tedious parts are done, so I can enjoy creating art more now.

That's how colourful my artistic life has been within the last month!

Let's be truly honest though... I'm still not certain on the release date of Chapter 6. Let's say it's "TBA". Ideally, I would love to be able to release it by the next GPop fest in October so that I could make an official reveal at the event. And there's still time. But we'll see how it goes. If you want quality (and I'm aiming at quality first and foremost) - then you should not expect fast work. Sloppy quality has never been my motto (unlike Toei Animation sometimes, lol). Moreover, Chapter 6 is incredibly conceptual and has a BIG MESSAGE in it. ... Yes, the message is, indeed, sometimes written in BIG FONT. Like, size 72 or even 102, maybe. But my cringeworthy jokes aside - yes, Chapter 6 is a twisted creature to tame, for a multitude of reasons. Time and time again, I foresee Chapter 6 to possibly become the best chapter in the entire series. So you know what to expect from my drawing pen: it's ready when it's ready, and it's gonna be perfected just at the right degree, no matter when.

Until next time, guys! Possibly in a month again - or maybe sooner. Who knows what this crazy author suddenly comes up with. 👋 Bis dann!

[theothershin]

More Fic Writer Asks

(Using it for original works and fanfics, since OP said that's okay)

the last sentence you wrote "Raising his hands in surrender, Gunther said, 'Take me to Arthur.' " - Heroically Foul

a character whose POV you’re currently exploring "And so he was loved because he was good at operating the kingdom, but only we know his black heart and dark ambitions." - Preservation of Those Three: Tybalt Arthur Verrell

how you feel about your current WIP Confidant. I feel like I'll get this done in a year or two, and well. There'll need to be rewrites and edits, but not much. Excited to put my thoughts down and share it with the world.

a story idea you haven’t written yet What if Romeo left Juliet, and she decided to marry Paris, and discovered he isn't all that bad after all?

first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP "But how to get to him?" - A Dream, a Heroically Foul side story

the word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you) More, been, and one. Not very interesting, but then again, I just barely began.

your preferred writing fonts Lobster for titles; Bad Script for chapter titles; Architect's Daughter for narration.

if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for… Help, video game fandom Aragami 2. it's a very in-depth and detailed version of one of the quests in the game where you play the main character, Kuro, or Warrior, going mad with anger and the desire for revenge - but you have lots of freedom. I took away that feeling of freedom, to show that he was doing what he was doing automatically, out of obligation, rather than because he really wanted to. I would write a sequel and even prequel cuz the game has great moments that would be great if narrated.

start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted? A little under a week, I believe.

what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it? Years. Let's leave it at that, yeah?

a WIP you’d like to finish someday Previously called My Lord, now renamed A World of Shadows, and more names pending, the fic is for the fandom, The Saga of Darren Shan/Cirque Du Freak, by tween Master of Horror Darren Shan. In the original book, two sides are fighting a war, and the fate of both sides lie with the main character, Darren Shan(has the same name as the author), and his friend, Steve "Leopard" Leonard. Darren, warned that his victory would eventually cause him to stray from righteousness in arrogance, sacrifices himself to kill Steve. In my fic, he kills only Steve - not himself. It explores Steve's mentor, Gannen Harst, as he tries to deal with his friend's death, his allegiance, losing the war, and his own brother - all while Darren slowly begins to lose himself to the dark side.

a trope you’re really into right now Medieval power struggle. Yes, I know. I told my sister just the day before writing this, "They're annoying in real life, but..." and then realised that isn't true. Sure, they can be annoying, but they interest me. Look into the morality/psychology, especially when there's sour kings who've gotten the wrong hand and are right but also wrong.

a fandom you’re thinking about writing for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The lore is vast and endless, and in a story where the main character's personality doesn't already exist yet they aren't just a blank-looking person and there's space to build a unique personality for them and act on it, there's lots of space for a fanfic.

where do you get your inspiration? Everything - literally.

favorite weather for writing Spring weather - it's ample time to sit down and write, but the weather itself is lovely. The birds are chirping in the sky, and sometimes they swoop down for a few seconds to grace you with the sight of their feathers; the ocean waves(I especially would love to write by the waves) crash against the rocks and sometimes splash on your face - but that's okay, because it feels good, and the bright, warm sun dries your book - and the sounds of nature helps you think.

favorite place to write I'm generally not allowed to sit and write when we're out and about, so on my desk. There's the most privacy, and I've written there so much that there's a vibe.

talk about your writing and editing process It changes over time and depending on which story it is and what type of story it is. I write fanfics between my originals - in school, between chapters, during writer's block for a specific story - and for originals, I write them every chance I can. I write down ideas for them whenever I can and have the notes stored away. When the time comes, I take out the notes and pour over them, changing them according to what I believe should be different and so on... I write down most of the events(then gradually all of them) and write them out of order(choosing from writing prompts), then put them together and read them in order. Then I edit them in order.

if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic I don't keep them, though it would be cool to be able to look back at it. I sort of keep originals, but I haven't published any yet.

the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic Prison. In my fanfic, Timeline, the main character goes to jail and rots away there until the end of his life.

in what year did you publish your first fic? 2021

when did you publish your most recent fic? 6 Jan 2024

do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? how do you get past that? Sometimes I worry, sometimes I don't. I write for myself. I got upset by some hateful comments once upon a time, and told my sister about it after following the criticism that they were saying, and she told me that they were wrong, and that they were only being hateful. I realise that since then, if the comment isn't nice, I block the comment and decide whether I'll adhere to it or not. I'm not a popular writer so I barely get comments and/or kudos, but when I do, it strengthens my resolve to be a great writer, but I don't let it affect me beyond that.

pick three keywords that describe your writing Messy but Organised

how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative? Organise notes. Read stuff. Play games. Do anything but be creative.

besides writing, what are your other hobbies? Reading novels and non-fiction. Playing games.

are you able to write with other people around? No. I don't know why. but the words fly away from me.

your favorite part of the writing process When everything's clicking together and my creative drive is never-ending and I get into flow.

your least favorite part of the writing process When the creativity dries up.

how easy is it for you to come up with titles? Not easy at all. I do it as I go along, but usually I get the right one when I'm done writing it.

share a fic you’re especially proud of Talk, for the novel series The Demonata by Darren Shan. It was inspired by Zukos_Honour and it's simple, to the point and savours the slowburn-one shot feels.