#I wrote it. changed a plot point. started to rewrite it. changed ANOTHER plot point

[aaaaaaaaagenloser]

(Tw: kinda transphobia? Use of it/its for a character who hasn’t declared what their pronouns are yet. Arguments over whether a character is a person or not; that ties into the pronoun thing here. Bonus points for descriptions of canon-typical gore yipeeee)

An update from after writing this: oh this. Got. This one got away from me?? I think I started this at 4 minutes past the hour. It is now 43 minutes past the hour. shitt.

Update; it is now 17 minutes after the NEXT hour. 26 minutes after th last update. I have seen god in the past hour and she shook in fear of both my power and audacity. I have lunch with my family scheduled in like 6 hours and I have not yet slept. This wasn’t meant to be as long as it is but I was possessed and this is the result. I may edit it and make it smoother later but I’ll make that a separate post, I want this sleep-deprived chunk of words to be here as like a monument to the fact that I could have been playing stardew valley during this time but I chose to do this instead

TLDR: long ass story ahead written by a sleep-deprived and hyperfixation-driven author. Who is now going the fuck to BED

“We can’t just keep it! What if it has a tracking device? It won’t let us fucking touch it so there’s no way of knowing it has one unless it leads them right to us!”

“Ok, I hear you but think. That hasn’t happened yet. It’s been about what, three days? and that hasn’t happened, and they haven’t been violent towards any of us at all. They haven’t tried to go back either, so there’s no risk of them telling or leading Showfall where we are.”

“Why do you keep calling it ‘they’?”

“Well they can’t be an “it” now can it? …wait.”

“Ok can we figure out the gender of the thing in the other room after we figure out if it’s a threat to us or not. It’s not even a fucking person, you remember what those things did to you back there, don’t you?”

“Those people were not themselves, they were just doing what he wanted them to do—“

“They’re not fucking people! Those things are all part of Showfall, just like Hetch was! It’s just waiting for the right time to turn us in, or pull some shit on one of us like they did before.”

“They weren’t… they weren’t in control.”

“Yeah like fuck they weren’t, I saw it fucking happen!”

“You can’t just… Ok. Sneeg. Stop. You don’t speak for me, the one who, oh I don’t know, was the one that shit happened to? They were being controlled just like us—“

“No, no, not like us. We were wandering around and not knowing what the fuck was happening. None of us knew what was happening. We just went along blindly. Those things—on purpose—dragged you to that stupid wall and sewed wires into your hands—“

“Shut up, Sneeg—“

“No you shut up! You didn’t see it fucking happen! I saw them and Bitchface literally hold you down until you passed out! They were fucking choking you, they fucking—they nearly fucking killed you with just their hands, that’s not a little suggestion in the back of your brain, that’s on purpose! That is fucking deliberate, that is a thing those machines chose to do! You don’t remember, you weren’t conscious when they fucking stapled you to the wall and strapped your head in—“

Sneeg glanced at Ranboo for a moment in-between pacing as he ranted, and the far away look in their sibling’s eyes shut them up immediately. Ranboo was still present, thank fuck, but they were looking at their brother like he was holding up a knife to their throat.

“Fuck, Ran, okay, okay—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… shit. Do you need Charlie?”

“You don’t know when to shut the fuck up.”

“…okay. Okay. I’m sorry. Do you need me to get Charlie?”

“No, I’m fucking fine.” It did not sound like he meant that at all. His voice was less steady than before. “I don’t want him to worry about our… hitchhiker. He’s worrying enough about… well, everything.”

“The fact that it’s here, so close to us is the reason I’m trying to get you to see, Ran. What if it turns on him? What if it does that shit to him when we aren’t there?”

“We will be there.”

“And when it tries anything, we can kill it?”

“Sneeg!”

“You wouldn’t kill it, even if it hurt our fucking brother?”

“Of course we wouldn’t keep them around if they did that, could we at least just… just leave it behind? …wait, no, they couldn’t take care of themselves. If we had to leave it behind, maybe we should…”

Silence lingered for a bit too long.

“We should what, Ran?”

“…Sneeg, I was about to say that killing it would be a mercy.” The Hero laughed. “Doesn’t that sound familiar?”

The Taken didn’t reply.

“We have to help them. I don’t… I don’t want to be on the other end of a mercy killing. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”

“Okay. I’m—are you okay?”

“…m fine. It’s fine. Just. Can you stop acting like they’re any different from us? Please.”

“What do you want me to think then?” His voice was softer than it had been a few minutes before.

“Just assume that they… that they were someone. Just like we were before. And they didn’t… they didn’t do anything on their own, it was all Showfall.”

“Okay. Fine. Let’s assume they were controlled, they didn’t mean to, so on and so forth. Why haven’t they talked yet.”

“I don’t think any of the drones even could talk. Wait, should we really be calling them a drone—“

“Shut the fuck up, Ranboo, we have got to figure out what to do with it. It probably doesn’t even know what is happening, what the fuck does it matter what we call it.”

“It matters to me! Do you want me to call you by your title? Do you want to call me by mine? …No? Then why are we treating them like all they are is what Showfall made them? We had lives before, we were someone, so they must have been too. They might not realize it, or… or act like it, but they used to be someone. They are a whole person, Sneeg. We have to help them, we can’t just leave them behind because that would mean we are giving up on someone just like us, and we cannot give up on each other. They… they would have hurt us by now if they were going to. And Showfall hasn’t found us since… you know, which means there aren’t any more trackers.

…okay, Sneeg?”

“…okay. If it,” he sighed at the look Ran gave them, “if they try anything, we have to leave them behind. I’m not letting a dumbass puppet be the reason we get taken back.”

“If they—ok, whatever, you’re not understanding. You can’t say one of us somehow wanted to be controlled, and they’re a ‘puppet’ but those rules don’t apply to the rest of us—“

“There is not an ‘us,’ Ran! That thing isn’t like us!”

“Guys?”

A sleepy voice shut the two of them up instantly. They had a split-second conversation with their eyes before looking to their brother. ‘We aren’t done talking about this’ ‘You’e absolutely right, so later?’ ‘Later.’ ‘We’re telling Charlie nothing happened?’ ‘Of course.’ ‘Ok good plan.’

“Why are you two fighting? I’m tired, can we please go back to sleep?”

“We weren’t fighting, we were…”

“…talking about plans for tomorrow. And you can go back to sleep.”

“I don’t want to be by myself.” Charlie looked at Sneeg pointedly, who sighed to Ranboo with a playfully annoyed expression.

“Well I guess I gotta go be a teddy bear again.”

“Have fun”

“Absolutely not.”

Charlie punched Sneeg in the shoulder lightly for that, who just giggled in response and led his little brother back to their room.

Which left Ran by themselves.

Some nights, he would join them, but some nights Charlie couldn’t stand to be anywhere near Ran, and the three of them had made a silent mutual agreement that Charlie trusted Sneeg more than he did Ranboo.

…Ranboo was okay with this. He wasn’t hurt by it. He didn’t cry on the nights he slept by himself.

He didn’t wish he could be the one Sneeg comforted sometimes. They were just fine.

They were fine, which is why they went to the living room where their… well. Their hitchhiker? They weren’t exactly a brother, or a sibling, more like a fourth wheel on a tricycle. Or a flyaway hair. Okay, maybe Ranboo needed to get tbr fuck to sleep, alone or not.

But he found himself in the living room, where their hitchhiker slept. Or, didn’t sleep, as they seemed to not need to. They would sit on the couch and stare idly at the tv. That was what had started the whole conversation with Sneeg in the first place; Ran wanted to leave some kind of entertainment for the fourth person so they wouldn’t be made to sit in the dark for hours. Sneeg took this remark as a perfect opportunity to explain all the reasons why the former drone should be abandoned, but Ranboo would have fucking none of it. Maybe the couch potato (shit, he really needed to come up with a name for them—) didn’t seem to sleep, barely ate, and stayed still unless actually verbally told to move, but they were still a person. Ranboo was sure of it.

Their hand wandered up to the fresh scabs where their mask had been. The fourth person had a mask, one that hadn’t been touched. Despite usually staying still, the person—(Ranboo thinks they might just call this person Couch for now. Maybe it’s not accurate, and they’re tired, but it’s something. C, for short.)

C would back away any time the others would try to get near them. And they did in fact try, but despite how creative or sneaky they got, C always ducked away. It reminded Ranboo of the drone who had followed them with a camera, always one step away and never letting the Hero get too close.

The mask turned to Ranboo, who stared back quietly. C hadn’t talked at all, so Ranboo didn’t expect them to suddenly start now. He wasn’t even sure if they understood what was said to them, but Ranboo wanted to try anyways. Better to be polite.

“Do you like the show that’s on? I think it’s called Lucy, or something. I don’t know, Sneeg said it was funny. And it didn’t seem, uh- scary or anything.”

The mask didn’t speak.

“If you want to change it, the remote’s right there, um, I showed you how to use it before. And there’s like, instructions drawn on there. You can thank Charlie for that one.”

…

“I think I’m going to head to bed.”

…

“Fuck it, can I stay here?”

The mask still didn’t speak, but the head hidden behind it tilted a bit at the sudden change in tone. Ranboo took this as an absolute win.

“So I just. I don’t want to be by myself. And I don’t think you sleep, I mean if you just sleep when everyone else is asleep that’s cool, but also if so how do you even? function? on that much sleep? It really isn’t that much but to be fair you don’t do much so maybe you don’t need it. …do you sleep sitting up? And just somehow wake up when we get close? I know, um. Sorry about that, again, we were just worried your mask had a tracker like mine used to.”

Ran laughed nervously. “I think I did convince them that it doesn’t, so that should stop now. If um. If we make you uncomfortable you still don’t have to be touched, it’s, it’s fine.”

Other than the head tilt before, there wasn’t a reply.

“Okay, since. You can’t talk, I’m just gonna… I’ll sit down beside you. On the couch. And if you don’t want me to be that close you can uh- you can leave. Or like, get up, and then I’ll leave. This is the only room with a tv, so I’ll let you stay here, but I can’t tell if you want me to be here or not, so. Okay, sorry, I’m rambling. Just… move if you want me to leave, okay?”

Ranboo waited for a response that didn’t come, then sighed. “Okay.” He kept his hands up and open while sitting down, waiting for a few moments before tucking his feet under himself to get more comfortable. “I’m just gonna stay here, okay? Like I said, just move if you want me to leave.”

The mask had tracked them to where they sat now, but the person—C—didn’t make a move to leave. Ranboo turned their attention to the tv, keeping an eye on their couch partner in their peripheral vision. During a moment of audience laughter in the show—I Love Lucy, they remembered—C turned their head back to the television as they had been before Ranboo walked in.

Seeing as how C (they needed a better name than that—) didn’t speak, this was the closest Ranboo could get to being told “you can stay here.” So they did. A few episodes later, his head was on the arm of the couch and his eyes were closed.

Five turned its attention to the Hero, who was now asleep. He had said it was a person, which was almost hilarious. And the Taken and the Hero seemed to think it couldn’t talk? They had to know it needed to be given permission first: any handler of a Drone or Prop knew that basic rule. It would wait until permission was given: it knew how to obey. It wasn’t meant to speak to a superior unless it was told it was allowed. It would wait.

…in the meantime, it studied its handler, the Hero. The other Actors, their two other handlers, called him ‘Ranboo’ but Five knew that wasn’t his actual label. The Hero was his character in the last show, and so that is who he was. Five didn’t know if Actors had a number, but he had been called the Hero in the script, and so the Hero he will be until the script changes.

It hoped to get new instructions, a new script for itself, something, soon. It was tired of simply watching the Actors go about their incredibly off-script show. It was sometimes told to participate, and since no other superiors were nearby, it had to obey its current handlers. But it was told to participate, to stir eggs, to help clean the kitchen, to attack small webs in corners with a stick with soft spikes on the end. Those sorts of things weren’t it’s usual directive, and so it found itself…

It didn’t resent its handlers. They were doing their best, and they at least knew that they were meant to give it orders. It simply wished they were familiar orders. It wished the Hero had told it to play dead, or play chase, or play camera, or caught, or prop. It would even listen if it was told to power down until needed. At least then it wouldn’t have to be conscious in this boring and unfamiliar set.

.

Y EA I know they probably don’t like tvs. Shhhhhh. I didn’t think about that until like. I had already written the tv part. At this moment it is 55 minutes past th hour and I want these characters to go the fuck to sleep so I can go thr fuck to sleep /lh

And yeah Five only uses “he” for glran. That is intentional. It’ll be talked about and shit later. Something about being put into a role, something about showfall being transphobic, something something I want to go to bed

Powering down = “sleeping” for a drone. Different but similar. I’ll explain how it works later?, anyway The others hav e told Five to “sleep” but it doesn’t understand because it is only ever told to “power down” so it’s like error.sleep_not_found and it stares at them like “bitch you said the wrong. Thing. You’re supposed to know how to control me so you don’t want me to power down I fucking guess” and it’s gonna be really funny after that miscommunication is taken care of.

If you remember the Five Gets A Cold And Wants To Throw Hands With Everyone post, this is wayyy before that. These motherfuckers are fresh out of showfall. Don’t ask how they got a house. I’ll figure it out

I am! Tired! I’m not proofreading this!! Goodnight please give me your thoughts if you have them. I need to know I didn’t sacrifice tbis much sleep in vain /nf /lh (I appreciate words but you are Not required to give them. Love you have a good nigt/p)

[erinwantstowrite]

Let me just quickly say, cross-overs can sometimes get REALLY difficult to map out and write in a cohesive way but you have absolutely NAILED IT!! I absolutely ADORE LoF!!! I usually don’t even bother reading fics with the ‘Richard Grayson is Richard Parker’ premise cause I felt like they were super confusing and overcomplicated but this fic?? SUPERB. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. OH MY GOD I ADORE IT. Everyone’s characterizations are so nice and wonderful aaaaaaah!!!! <33333

Ok ok I did actually have a question as well: would you be willing to share what your writing process looks like in terms of a chapter you’ve already posted? I was just wondering since I’m also currently working on my own fic (it’s been a few years but I managed to get fixated on an idea and it grew legs lol) and I’m currently fighting the organization of it haha.

How do you keep track of the plot points and/or foreshadowing you want to get a ‘lightbulb!’ moment for later? Do you have any tips?

Thank you so much! I absolutely adore your writing AND your art is so gorgeous omg it adds so much to the incredible story :DDD I hope you have a good day!!

I have a secret: I actually didn't like "Richard Grayson is Richard Parker' tag for a while for the same reason. Sometimes they felt like they missed the mark or it's just. A thing that's there? I almost didn't include it for LoF, but I'm glad I did because it changed the direction in such a big way.

Another secret: this made me incredibly happy because I have read so many wikis and scoured the internet to make sure that I had enough info on both fandoms so LoF could make sense to anyone who's reading it, whether they know Spider-Man, Batfam, or neither at all. Sometimes I worry a lot before I post that I'll miss a mark and will confuse people.

As for the question: I definitely am willing to share what my writing process looks like!

Be prepared for under the cut, I love to yap. It's in my blood to yap. And that's why it took a minute to get to this ask haha

(Spoilers for Leap of Faith!! Everything mentioned has already been published ((Chapters 1-11))

I had to go and find out which chapter I wanted to use as an example and I think we're gonna go with Chapter 5 for the most part :)

My writing process is, as described by alighterwood:

I think the description fits because while I'm all over the place, I have to be very detail oriented and I store everything in one spot.

Starting with the overall process, what I find is most helpful for me, when organizing, is having a notebook rather than doing it all digitally. I've been using a 70 sheet notebook that I had lying around waiting to be used, and as of yesterday, I officially filled the entire thing front to back. It's been an incredible help, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it's a lot easier to remember something I physically wrote down than it is to remember something I typed. I'm now on to my second notebook for LoF, and I might even have to get a third.

In another ask, startupkat asked me this:

And I shared a little about my outline process there, but I'll try to go into a little more depth here. Emphasis on little because this is so long.

I write a truly insane amount of outlines in this notebook.

This is just what I can show you, but a good chunk of the notebook is just outlines. Over and over and over again. That's because they're always changing/adapting based on so many different factors. Sometimes I get to a chapter I thought I had fully planned out and then realize it just doesn't work anymore. Other times, I get to the chapter and realize I don't want to write that anymore/isn't as interesting as I thought it would be. A few times I got halfway through a POV of a scene I was struggling on and decided to switch POV's, which will change up the outline for a chapter every now and then.

Which is why I don't write incredibly detailed outlines and try to keep it vague until I actually get to that chapter. It's a lot less daunting to rewrite a chapter outline than it is to rewrite the entire outline.

Fic outlines and Chapter outlines look a lot alike.

This is what I said in the other ask, but I didn't elaborate on it all the way.

I make a list just like that, and then I try to put it in chronological order/in an order that makes sense. I keep the Fic outline vague by writing down "Goals" for a chapter rather than scenes. But I also keep notes to myself if I really think something is important. The more important I think a scene needs to be, the more details I write down to make sure my future self recalls what I had in mind when I thought it up.

Really simple example:

Chap 1 Goal: Peter gets to Gotham and meets Babs while running around. Meet Nightwing too? Get shelter.

Chapter 2 Goal: Bats are like "???" about Peter. Batfam dynamic important... Peter stalking Batfam back? Peter meet Batman >:)

When I get to a chapter, that's when I make a far more detailed list of wants/needs/goals. It's the Step 2 from the Step 1. Here are some examples from Chapter 5:

Needed to have:

More POV's from universe 1299 (Peter's home universe)

Tony's POV more specifically, how he's doing/feeling, what he's figured out

What they've figured out on 1299 side vs what's going on in 1300 (Gotham)

Explaining more about Peter's trauma/his past

Dick learning more about Peter, and vise versa

Wanted to have:

Ned being a more central character

Natasha :)

Loki being a little shit

Tony and Cap bickering

Peter talking to Nightwing again

The last name Grayson

Gymnastics!!

(This is the shortened list, because the chapters are so long)

When I looked at this list before writing my outline, I had to figure out how I could incorporate everything. If I needed more 1299 POV's, and I wanted Ned, Natasha, and Loki, there's one scene accounted for. I had to get their side of things and wanted that trio together. I needed a Tony POV, and I wanted Tony and Cap bickering, so those went together, plus I got 1299's POV of Ohnn and his plans explained.

I needed to have Peter explaining more about his trauma, and Dick and Peter to talk/get closer. I wanted a Nightwing POV, to have Peter say his last name, and them doing gymnastics. I knew Peter wouldn't willingly talk about that, so I had him have a nightmare. Not only did it give readers perspective but it made Peter more susceptible to talking to Nightwing because he was more emotionally vulnerable/lonely, and that's how that scene came together.

That's when I would write down the chronological order of these events by writing out "Scene Blocks." (This is what I wrote down but my handwriting was so bad I can't subject y'all to it):

scene 1- Ned talking to Loki. Natasha should be nearby and observing Loki's behavior. They are not on friendly terms. Ned is more worried about Peter than he is as to what Loki could be up to, so Natasha takes on that role.

scene 2- Tony is freaking out about Peter being in an alt dimension. He should attack Ohnn when he's not prepared for it. Beat his ass? Beat his ass. Cap there too.

scene 3- Peter's nightmare. "Ben, where do you go when you die?" "Where do you think?" "With you. Where you went."

scene 4- Nightwing and Peter.

Of course, things come to attention when writing. Like originally, Tony and Cap were arguing in the Tower. But it was a little too much like his and Natasha's argument, and I kept in mind that Tony is smart. Sometimes I forget that the characters are smarter than I am, so I have to account for what they would figure out. So Tony would have picked up the puzzle pieces and come to more conclusions than I originally thought about, and I figured he'd be way more proactive about it than just. Being in the Tower and waiting.

Which means that that scene ended up being as listed above: having a squabble with Cap, learning more about Peter's dynamic with the Avengers in this universe, and seeing how Tony is reacting to it by throwing himself head first into trying to capture Ohnn.

I'll realize I need something else to be mentioned or put in and I'll have to shimmy things around, but that's basically how it goes.

As for other forms of organization:

Keeping a timeline is so important because it tells you a lot about the environment your characters are in. It's also important to remember what a character has on them, what money they've spent, who they've met/who you have mentioned, every alias that is being used, to read your work and write down edits you want to make before you make them, to write down ideas beforehand of situations you can use, and, most importantly: MAKE A MAP!! This has saved me so many times. Sometimes your brain WILL trick you or make it harder on you to envision a scene. Make a map of where your characters are physically!! It will save you too!!

As for foreshadowing and plot points, I'll let you in on yet another secret:

Your subconscious is doing a lot more than you think it is.

Sometimes when I foreshadow something, I didn't even know I was until I got to it. I very often go back to read chapters that came before this to see what I've mentioned and what I haven't, and when I do, I'll see something and go "I have to bring this back" or "I almost forgot about that!"

Other times, I am very aware of what I'm foreshadowing, and that's because I follow a mystery plot formula. You have to keep in mind everyone's intentions, all the time. How are they feeling? What are their motivations? And: what are they doing right now, while this character is doing this?

Like Beck and Ohnn. From the very beginning, I knew I had to make sure that it was obvious Ohnn wasn't working alone. From there, I had to weave through the story and slowly build him up as someone who's working behind the scenes. Even from Ned's first POV, I made sure to mention that this person knows Tony and is tech savvy.

My biggest tip is to make sure you reread your work or at least skip through it, because sometimes you don't even know that you placed something there.

And sometimes, it's very purposeful. :)

I hope this helped! I really tried to keep it short but I am insane and the process is sooooo long. It sounds complicated but it really is simple when you're actually doing it I swear

[whatlurksbean]

any advice for someone starting comics who feel like the storytelling side is their weak point? i started a couple comics but always loose steam on them because i feel like the storytelling/plot/writing is my weak point, and ive found the plots and characters i come up with so uncompelling that it feels embarrassing to even use them, its never been something ive been interested in ive always just been passionate about the art side and never been awfully good at writing as a whole, but i could spend hours diving into stylizing artwork to look like various types of comics and ive had that itch to just make something. am i just built to work freelance being paid to draw someone else's story or do most comic makers feel like that and what ways do people improve?

Writing is also an art! It is something that takes years of practice and learning and it's absolutely fine to aim to improve with it. It is a skill to refine!

I would say, that if it is not something you are passionate about though, you could try looking at other options.

Collaborative stories with friends are an option! Rabbit on The Moon comes to mind, it's a collaborative comic that my friends did. Songdog wrote the script, and Nitteh illustrated and designed the characters. It's a lovely story, and beautifully drawn, I can't recommend it enough.

You could also consider public domain stories! Adaptations are done for a reason! You could make a comic of a an old folktale, or adapt a fable or greek myth, while having the flexibility to do whatever changed you want! There are quite a few webcomics I love that are based on public domain/myths, it can take some of the pressure off of you as a writer.

There is also the freelance option you mentioned. If you're not too passionate about the writing aspect, and are mostly invested in the art, getting paid to do it seems like a pretty winning option!

To be honest, the writing has always been the part I am passionate about. I am constantly writing and rewriting stories in my notes, I have dozens upon dozens of comic concepts written up and even scripted that I can only hope to get to. I like doing lineart and expression work, but the rest of the art process is only the means to an end for me. It's not my focus and would happily hire artists if i had any sort of budget lol

I do not think it is uncommon for creators to be into one aspect more than another, I think it's about just figuring out what works best for you.

[kingskyless]

thoughts on natlan's arc in genshin🌋

tldr: i'm pissed off!! watch me rant about storytelling under cut. please take your storytelling seriously and with love, jesus christ

this is long btw! this is what happens when you piss me off with your poor writing choices! i crave blood!

--

these are thoughts i wrote on my private twitter but i'll put them here too, why not.

i really, really don't like being negative towards anything anymore, chosing to embrace the silliness of poor storytelling and just grab what i do love, but man did the final act for natlan piss me off

I've been waiting for Natlan since the game came out because we knew it was going to be inspired by pre-hispanic America. Aztecs. México. (i'm mexican for context) and it was!!! with the inclusion of Maori, Peruvian, Lakota, Hawaiian and Yoruba. and it was done Horribly

Natlan is still mostly inspired by México though, I made a whole video on genshin's mexican rep, when it comes to overworld, food, names, music and lore inspiration yeah, the Mexican rep is done well and very fun! but it's still mixed with the cultures previously mentioned which is bad!!

and it gets WORSE because you look at the characters, be it playable or NPCs and nothing about them is mexican (or any of the previous cultures) nothing at all, and that's when the issues start.

I literally made a tumblr post a few days ago how I didn't think Natlan's story was bad, we just didn't connect with the characters due to character design. And while it still holds truth, this final act just undoes all the build-up it had in the previous acts, leaving no true conclusion and, therefore, ruining the story as a whole. a lá game of thrones.

Natlan in its first 3 acts was actually really well done, presenting the different tribe cultures, character personalities and how they mix with one another, and they had very strong set up for more world building and Very Important Lore Reveals (the Abyss having a "heart", dragons, THE SHADES, FALSE SKY?) I really enjoyed myself playing the first acts!

But the marketing makes you distance yourself from the characters, devs decided to push back the culture of the tribes in game and delay the next acts of the story, and you disconnect!!!

going back to the first acts and it's wonderful set up, then what is the point of having all this beautiful set up, only to just - not explore it in the CLIMAX OF THE ARC. and it was very very important lore and conversations to move the story forward and raise the stakes!!!

and they ignored it or barely mention it!!! yes having all the answers shown at you is not fun, and they can totally explore these aspects of the lore later on, but by the way Natlan was written from the start it was 10000% expected to have those conversations in THIS arc.

there's also the set up that's been there since the games release. None of this is explored, we don't know who "he" is, who's the crossed out name, what was the secret of the god of war. there's nothing, this is never explored.

NOTE: that it is true the story was revisited or straight up rewritten way after this material was released, it is something that can happen during production, it partially happened with sumeru already. the thing is when you make changes like these, if you already established in previous trailers or manga certain lore, you have to be extremely careful, as the audience is already expecting something like this to happen in the story. when you rewrite this and there's no pay off it causes confusion and frustration among the audience, as you are no longer following what you set up and it creates plot holes a throw away line about the muratans or murata would've done to connect the manga with the current natlan, but there's not even that.

They establish very important new characters, but don't explain their true role in the story beyond "evil" . What is Gosoythoth? why can it become a dragon? why are there voices around it? why are the former archons so negative? . Sure, we as an audience can make headcanons about it (and some answers were partially told, not nearly enough though) but it's information that needs to be talked about in the story, but the characters never question this and it's never explored.

and we KNOW they can write compelling characters and stories because Fontaine is right there!! it explores very important lore and intertwines it perfectly with the cast and their own personal struggles, what the fuck happened in Natlan.

it just pisses me off and makes me very sad, I was excited for natlan for many years because, for better or for worse, that's my culture they're taking to tell this story, and seeing them fuck up both frustrates me.

i'll keep playing because i still want to see how they wrap it up but aaaaa, i haven't been this mad since Inazuma, and i dont think Inazuma pissed me off this bad.

the following is things that bothered me personally and not something i can criticize from a storytelling standpoint:

the entire traveler parade after beating gosoythoth made me uncomfortable to no end. really really giving white saviour. it draaaged and everyone was kissing their feet and i was PRAYING for more depth in that but no! fuck me!

if you wanted to have the corny ass parade, okay, have it, but maybe show the traveler not being as happy? or carrying mental wounds after the battle??? GIVE THEM DEPTH OR SOMETHING?????????

you couldve expanded on the four shades, expanded on the abyss, expanded on the angels, expand on xiuhcóatl, expand on fucking gosoythoth since it was literally right there???? flesh out paimon, flesh out the main cast????

and totally flesh out capitano, he did absolutely nothing and he's the first of the harbingers, we just saw him get his ass beat by mavuika in the first act and then nothing??? (cutscene was great!) im not mad at the ending he got, it was very in character, i just wish there was more to him

natlan was set up as a nation of dragons and we learned nothing of them in the main arc, it set up the abyss having a personification and we learned nothing of it

this is mostly something i wouldve loved, but they set up the shades and time manipulation as we saw from mavuika, and no mention of istaroth??? hello???????????

also how did ororon know about nahidas power????

[friendlybowlofsoup]

Another Update

Hello Friends,

I have a rather long (but optimistic!) update to share with you all today. As many of you are probably tired of reading these kind of posts, I have a TL;DR here, but I did want to share what has been on my mind in that past half-year that I haven't been here.

It has been rough, and busy as always, but I think I'm finally facing myself and my project for the first time in a very long time.

TL;DR (it's actually long, I have a lot to say (*_ _)人)

I soul-searched and decided to stop compromising on my own feelings with regards to this project. I gave in to everything I wanted to do.

Plot changes, which means some character changes, which means some of the demo is outdated.

GotRM will be switching over to Twine.

----

OH MAN DID I SUFFER THE LAST FEW MONTHS

After my previous update, I hunkered down and really analyzed how I wanted to proceed with GotRM as a project. Because even prior to that post, I had already been going through long periods of hiatuses (which you are all aware of), and while I didn't lie about school taking up my time, I was also harboring a growing dissatisfaction with my own writing that really killed my progress for a long time.

So after everything had settled, I sat down and forced myself to peel apart my work. I know I said I would answer asks, but I uninstalled all of my social media and put aside this blog to focus. I made a note of all the things I liked and didn't like, and I made a list of things I wanted to change or improve on. The biggest point was that I also looked at my efficiency during actual writing sessions: how much of my time was spent writing vs. fighting with code? How could I change that?

And after a lot of deliberation, I figured there were a few things I had to change from the ground up, summed up in four points:

My working style was super incompatible with grad school. I can't spend 20-30 minutes scrolling up and down CSIDE checking code or looking for narratives while also jumping between chapters to make sure events line up. As this story grows, the more difficult it becomes to keep track of all the branches, so I needed an alternative working method, which I am adhering to now, and it prioritizes efficiency.

I hated the way I was tracking and coding stats in-game. I have griped so much about coding stats, and I have adhered to such a rigid style that I really felt trapped whenever I was confronted with balancing them out. So I'm throwing that to the wind and redoing how I utilize and convey them. Player-side, this decision doesn't change much since I never fully utilized stats in the demo anyway, and the stats page with indicators will still exist, but I'm getting rid of stat bars and how I treat stat checks.

The story I want to write now is different from the one I started out with. I've known for a while that GotRM was becoming far more than the tiny, wishful novella that I wrote as a teenager. I held onto that old story for a long time, but there's just so much I want to change that I realized I'd been clinging to a story I no longer enjoyed writing. So I spent the majority of the last few months rewriting GotRM from scratch. I redid some worldbuilding, I changed a lot of plot points, and I fixed a lot of characters' backstories accordingly. This meant scrapping stuff from even the demo, but that turned out to not be the biggest issue because:

I wanted to branch away from ChoiceScript. Honestly, I never really cared about getting officially published, but the camaraderie in the forums and on Tumblr were why I committed to CS and CoG. However, ultimately, I really want the functionality that other tools can offer GotRM, and so after a long internal debate, I will be switching over to Twine. Fortunately, since I was rewriting everything anyways, this has been relatively painless, and passage mapping has made everything so much neater. I am trying my best to make it up to chapter 2 before I release the new demo, so please look forwards to that!

And so yes, I am still here, chugging along.

I love this game and this story: it's been my creative escape for as long as I could remember, and you can imagine how frustrated I was when I realized I was starting to dread working on it.

I am forever learning more about myself and my writing style, and this is simply more of that journey. Thank you everyone for sticking around, for joining the discord, and for checking up on me--that I have all of you has truly been a dream.

Hopefully more updates to come soon! I understand that there may be questions about these new changes, so please ask away! I will (try) to release some asks that I've been working on in the drafts too, but I will wait until at least tomorrow to release them so that this post doesn't get drowned out immediately.

And as always, with a lot of love,

FriendlyBowlofSoup (Mei)

[zeawesomebirdie]

Can I ask about Operation: Sleep? The title intrigues me!

[for this ask game here]

Omg thanks for the ask, this is a very fun one!!

I have an AU in which Len and Barry are both insomniacs and agree to spend the nights they can't sleep together. It started out as a little one shot, which I only wrote down because I thought it was cute enough to warrant being on Ao3 after using that little bit of a plot bunny to entertain myself when I couldn't sleep, and then I rapidly lost control of the plot and ended up with two more little one shots, and decided it was time to put together a longfic to give these one shots context 😌 [btw, those one shots can be found here on Ao3, or here if you want to read them in chronological order rather than the order they were posted in!]

Operation: Sleep is the longfic!

I'm still zero drafting it, and I actually need to rewatch season one of the Flash because my memory is a sieve and this is an AU that's a continuation of season one rather than a rewrite of season two (though. That might change when I inevitably get around to season two, lol). Mostly though it takes place after the Singularity, and it's an AU where Eddie and Ronnie survived, and Eobard is still gone.

The basic plot is as follows: Len catches Barry wandering around the neighborhood by Saints&Sinners in the early hours of the morning far too frequently to be explained away as a coincidence, and makes it his mission to figure out wtf Barry is doing. One night, Captain Cold has to step in to save the Flash, and when Len takes Barry back to STAR Labs, they get locked in the lounge for the night due to Cisco's latest anti-Cold tech, which can only be disengaged by Cisco or Caitlin from the Cortex, but it is 2am, Barry was out without Team Flash's knowledge, and they're stuck here for the night. They end up bonding over having insomnia, and after that night, Len makes it a point to try to get Barry to actually sleep, or at least come inside and not wander the streets when he can't sleep

One thing leads to another, and they end up in a dynamic that's kinda romantic-adjacent, but neither of them would actually use those words to describe it. They kiss, there is def sex happening, but both of them refuse to acknowledge their feelings for each other, and it actually works out just fine like that, up until other people find out. The moment everyone else finds out, it all blows up and becomes one of those miscommunication plotlines where each thinks the other isn't actually interested, and that this will ruin everything (spoiler: it doesn't, they do manage to work it out!)

The whole fic is born from a place of, I couldn't sleep and am making that everyone else's problem ^.^

[londonhalcyon]

Living Girl/Dead Girl: Part 1

Before The Mad Witch, I spent about three or four years working on a Murdered: Soul Suspect post-canon longfic called A Certain Darkness. I wrote about 200k words before irreparable issues with the plot forced me to abandon the whole thing. Not without a fight—I attempted a rewrite in 2019 (the same year I started TMW), but there was no resurrecting this ghost. I'll probably recycle parts of the story later for other projects.

While the plot was offensively bad (teenage me was incapable of nuance), the fic's main redeeming quality was its two protagonists: canon medium Joy Foster and OC ghost Angel Hillyer. Their relationship developed in ways I (who was convinced I was straight) never expected, leading me to abandon the comphet subplot in favor of...whatever these two are. Whether I recycle this fic or not, these girls will always hold a very special place in my heart.

So here's some salvaged, chronologically-ordered snippets of these fifteen-year-old disasters that my "straight" teenage self wrote. For context, Joy is a medium with an unfortunate case of paranormal magnetism. Angel is a new ghost recently accused of murder.

Part 1 of 3 because I love them. (Part 2, Part 3).

* * * *

1.

"It's about time you woke up. I was beginning to think you were—" Joy broke off with a blush. "Heh, never mind. Stupid thought."

The events of the day before crashed to the forefront of Angel's mind. Her non-functioning heart skipped a beat. "Oh, Joy, I'm so sorry. I owe you big time. I can't believe I asked you to break into my house."

"Hey, I went along with it, didn't I? What's done is done. Don't worry, I expect full payment."

"I'm starting to doubt what I got myself into."

"You're just starting now?

Angel grinned. "No, definitely not."

Joy looked taken aback.

"What?"

She rubbed the back of her neck. "I, uh…well, that's the first time you've smiled like that. I mean, your teeth…" She shifted awkwardly, but her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You look different."

2.

Angel wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on them. "I had a rough night," she said tiredly. 

"And whose fault is that?" Joy said with an edge to her tone. "What you did was stupid. It's a miracle you weren't eaten."

"I know," Angel sighed. 

Joy seemed uncertain what to say next, so she simply ended with, "Well, then..."

Angel gave a small laugh. "Joy Foster, were you actually worried about me?"

Joy stared straight ahead, her scowl returning. "No. You irritate me too much for that to happen."

"How so?" Angel asked curiously. 

"What?"

"How do I irritate you? If it's something I'm doing unintentionally, then I—"

"No, it's not that. You...I just...I mean..." Joy faltered. "It's nothing you can change. Don't take it personally."

"Okay...?"

"And you're not that irritating."

"Alright then." 

Joy turned her head away, but not before Angel caught a glimpse of a blush.

3.

Joy grinned. "It was so much easier when I could just ignore you."

"So you admit I do exist?" Angel teased. When Joy's smile faltered, Angel realized she had said the wrong thing. "No, I didn't mean...it was supposed to be...I was—"

"Relax," Joy said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not fragile."

"I know that. I was afraid you didn't realize that I might be," Angel joked. It was a poor attempt at amendment, but she didn't know what else to say. She really didn't want to start another argument. 

It was apparently good enough. Joy rolled her eyes again, but a hint of a smirk touched her lips. 

4.

The next day, Joy came home from school complaining about having been harassed by ghosts. After going on a rant of decent length about how one ghost had followed her around all day no matter what she did to ditch him, which had thus attracted the attention of a whole pack of them, she then accused Angel of not doing her job as a bodyguard. Angel tactfully replied that she had been awaiting orders and then politely pointed out that her presence would probably draw the attention of more ghosts and that she had no clue how to make them go away. Joy responded with, Screw it. Just come with me tomorrow. Angel figured this was her way of saying there were no hard feelings between them.

5.

"I have a question," Jacob said. "Are mood swings common in..." He paused, his eyes flicking to the people in the crowded hallway. "Cats?"

"Cats," Joy repeated flatly. 

"Yeah, cats. Let's go with cats."

She didn't know if this was funny or ridiculous. "It depends on the...cat. But some have more control. Problem?"  

"No problem." He stayed focused on the signup sheet, though the pen was still. "I was just curious about your cat."

She narrowed her eyes. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "I...nothing."

She maintained her suspicious glare. "Angel's special."

"In a good or bad way?" he asked. Joy simply shrugged.

6.

"I'm sorry, Joy. I messed up. I was supposed to keep the ghosts away, but all I've managed to do is attract more. You said I make your life hell, and you were right. I...I'm so sorry." Angel struggled to swallow.

Joy's righteous anger quickly deflated to her usual aura of irritation. "Don't. Don't you..." Her growl transitioned into a sigh. "You don't make my life hell. You shake it up, maybe turn it upside down every other day, but you don't make it hell. It was hell way before you came crashing in." She gave a wry smile. Her tone was joking, but Angel didn't believe it. 

"Are you really that miserable?"

For a few seconds, Joy looked caught off guard. She shrugged. "Maybe."

Angel sniffed, feeling only despair. 

Joy glared at her. "Don't cry. Don't you dare cry." 

Lifting her glasses, Angel attempted to brush the tears away. "I'm sorry."

"And don't apologize." Joy rolled her eyes. "God, Ange."

Angel steadied a fraction. "What?"

"I said don't apologize. It's getting old."

"No, what did you call me?"

"Angel. I said Angel, right?"

"Never mind."

The living girl leaned against the wall beside her. Joy tilted her head so that it was half resting on the wall, her quiet breathing the only sound to fill the room. Angel didn't know how long it was before she spoke again.

"Please," she murmured to Angel's shoulder, sounding strangely young.

7.

Jacob straightened. "Okay. What's wrong?"

Joy glanced around, but she couldn't see or feel any sign of the ghost. Hopefully that meant she was out of earshot. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully. "It's Angel. Something happened."

"Is she alright?"

"Yes. Well, no. I mean, she's fine, uh, physically. It's complicated." 

"Tell me."

She did her best to explain the ghost's mood swings. "She's had lows before, but never like this. Not for this long. She's miserable, she's driving me insane, and I don't know if she's going to turn into a demon—" Joy realized she was gesturing with increasing intensity and shoved her hands in her pockets. 

Jacob scrambled off the table. "What? That can happen?"

She spread her palms, instantly failing to keep her hands still. "I don't know," she said, perhaps a little more sharply than was necessary. "I've never dealt with this before!"

8.

The conversation faded to a lulling rumble. The sun felt so good. It made Joy feel like she could fall asleep. She was so tired. 

Laughter wove into her fuzzy state. Angel's laughter. The laughter of a ghost who hated the dark. 

I'm not scared of you. 

What makes me so different from the things out there?

I don't know. You just are. 

You just are. You just are.

[witch-hazels-musings]

hi! i saw that you wrote a novel (that might be getting published?) and i'm really curious to know what pushed you to start, how was the progress, and do you have an editor + are you self-publishing or are you with a publishing company! writing a novel is a dream of mine but it feel so far-fetched. it's inspiring to see that you've written one, and i would like to know how i might do the same too, if you don't mind sharing! -- @milkstore

hello fellow author <3 im so excited to hear about your dream! there are countless stories out there, but no one can write yours :)

as for what made me start - it was you all. the constant support, love and encouragement, and providing me inspiration and opportunities to practice with characters I love in a world that's fantastical.

my main character was inspired by a genshin OC that I had (Fai) and blossomed into who she is now!

my process was pretty simple really. I started with a general plot. identified what I wanted to happen in the story and the beats (points) i wanted to hit along the way, then I flushed out the two main characters and started writing their story.

after getting draft 0 i realized the plot (especially in the middle) wasn't working. in fact, it suuuucked. so I did some edits, a lot of cutting and rewriting and then I got a beta reader - they liked it, but I didn't - enter my work on draft 3. Now my story has substance, it has way more engagement and a lot better characters.

My next steps will be to read it out loud for another round of edits and - as I go - really ensure my character motivations are in there, the plot (where the whole story ends up) has build-up, and that I'm not going to set myself up for continuity errors. Once that is done I have two options

I can send it off to an editor I found and like, have them look it over and give me feedback - make changes - and then start querying for agents

I found a potential publisher that works with indie authors GreenLeaf Book Group. They might help me with editing, story, and other things if they like what i have - so i can skip some of the steps myself! - They seem very promising and actually may be a good place to start right out of the gate, but I've always been told to never give a publisher nothing (well, unless you're already working with them lol)

From here, the end goal is traditional publishing but i have a few barriers to that. 1. my book is too long, 2. it may not be as engaging as they may like, 2. it's a duology (publishers don't often pick up debut authors that pitch more than one book to them (i.e. they want a standalone before investing their time and money into the book)

Of course, I'll keep you all updated as I go -- you can also follow me on Instagram! I post updates there and information about my book :) --- you can find it via my Author Cardd

I won't gatekeep or tell you this process was easy. It wasn't - but it was rewarding, perfect, and brought me closer to my dream. To be able to look back and tell my younger self we wrote a book is everything to me - her stories deserve to live, as do yours <3

I'm rooting for you.

You got this

OH AND join writing groups! I am now the moderator of one - The Writers Factory. I give lots of advice there and feedback on peoples stories when I can. I also post some writing exercises and other stuff (its not a social discord though - the mods are very strict lol - its for working on your book/story/ect. -- so feel free to join us if this is something you want!)

[floraracoon]

Gems of Dupont - Rewrite

Since it's been bothering me these past few days, this is a list of how I would rewrite a fic I wrote last year, called The Gems of Dupont on Ao3 if I were to do so.

Spoiler Warning if you want to read the fic then read this

Premise: There is a group of students who while anonymous, are known to have a lot of power. Namely, they have a history of getting rid of unsavory figures in the school or associated with it. Their current targets are Marinette (stalking, minor abuse of power, and her actions towards her 'rivals'), Adrien (bystander, actions as Chat Noir towards Ladybug, etc.), Lila (obvious), Alya (misinformation, slander, and something else), Mme. Bustier (bystander, emotional manipulation, poor teaching methods), Mr. Damocles (fraud, neglect, etc.), and Fu (facing the consequences of his own actions)

Problems: A scene that I did not flesh out enough to show the reasoning behind it, too many characters involved in the takedown, illogical plot points, involving characters that make no sense, and moving too fast due to me losing interest but not wanting to go on hiatus or abandoning the work.

The Rewrite:

Establishing the Gems -

The sign of the Gems (a wreath of gems on Mme. Mendelieve's door) is shown, causing rumors to spread through the school

Adrien, Alya, and Lila ask what they are, giving them the full explanation

The Gems are a group of six that every year go through and gather evidence of people's wrongdoings, before giving them to those that would cause the most change. This most of the time results in someone leaving the school. When they are done, gems are left where the person sits. Each gem represents something, and while there are six Gems, there are more gems.

Chloe scoffs out loud while Lila internally scoffs. Chloe thinks she is immune, as she has never been hit before. Lila scoffs because she thinks she hasn't been caught, to begin with.

Cut to a group chat, where two people are arguing over the nicknames they have in the chat. "Eye candy" seems particularly frustrated and claims they bring something more to the team than their good looks.

Safety Measures -

We see a week pass, with people becoming more and more anxious waiting for something to happen. Some sign that this wasn't a fluke. The first week is always when it is that they send out the warnings, where are the warnings?

But one day, as Nino walks in, having not arrived with Alya due to her running off to record an akuma fight, he finds a note sitting on his desk. The note contains a list of numbers and timestamps. A small doodle of a gem sitting in the corner.

On another day, Rose finds a small slip of paper that has Prince Ali's phone number on it, also with a small doodle of a gem in the corner

Luka opens a note left on his bed. He finds the chords for a song, with no lyrics. Each page has small annotations of cherry blossoms in places where lyrics would be, and a doodle of a gem in the bottom corner.

Kagami is surprised when a note falls out of her locker, with a message in brail saying "He hesitates, where is his backbone?". A gem is engraved on the page

The first -

Alya is the first to go down. After a fight between her and Nino that results in their break up, she learns that her parents got a similar note to the one that started the fight.

The numbers and timestamps were coded for different videos on the Ladyblog. The one for Nino was instances where Alya endangered him and those around him. The fight was about her recklessness, and her want to get up close to akuma fights with little regard for her safety.

The one her parents got, however, was every single time she had endangered herself.

The two of them were busy with work often, so they only really watched the videos Alya sent them. Often those were the ones where she stayed safe for the most part or had a lot of views.

So they opened her blog, to investigate what these timestamps were, only to find their daughter once again throwing herself into situations she shouldn't have. Along with countless posts trying to figure out the identities of people who were trying to protect the city and a single post that had them questioning her integrity.

The next day, Alya was pulled into distanced learning. She was also grounded until further notice, with no blog posting for one day per timestamp listed.

Will continue this post tomorrow, as this is getting really long

[orchidyoonkook]

Do you have any tips for new writers/accounts to get popular???

Hello!!!!!

SO:

I was a shit writer for a very long time cuz I never wrote. But one day I wanted to change that so at 19 I made up a story and wrote down all my plot points and then did a DEEP DIVE on Pinterest of all things collecting every bit of advice I could. I’m talking ideas, how to do this, how to not use the word said, how to start sentences. How sentences should flow and their lengths, big uncommon words. EVERYTHING.

Anything and everything I could get my hands on. 

And on top of that I’ve been a reader for forever. I have so many books I don’t even know how many I have. And so I use that knowledge when editing. I don’t read it from a writing POV after I write it. I turn into a reader and think about how I would feel about it from a readers POV and if something doesn’t work. I fix it.

I have a small background in script writing from my college days which definitely helped a bit. But if you’ve ever studied script writing you know it doesn’t really help creative writing outside of structure.

And when I write I’m someone who writes until I think the story is done. Not the arc. Not the characters. But the overall story of what I’m trying to portray. I don’t actively think about putting the climax of the story here or some foreshadowing there. I write intuitively if that makes sense. I try to sense out what feels right. And some of that comes naturally, some of it doesn’t and I have to work on it.

Me and @violetsiren90 were actually talking roughly about this last night. Our differences in how we write and how my advice from her last fic that I edited had already helped her with her new one cuz she can now see all of the little things that I pick up on from my style of writing versus the times where she tells me why she writes in that specific way and why she will be keeping it as is. Vi if you wanna add anything in the comments I’m forgetting, by all means feel free.

Most writers will tell you to practice. To tell you to write something even if it’s just a sentence everyday. But that didn’t help me. The stuff on my blog are the very first things I’ve written for myself ever. I didn’t write in highschool or college outside of what I was forced to write and my one story that the Pinterest board was initially for.

For me it was about researching style and reading posts like these from other writers, being confident in your style and learning what rules to break and when to break them. It was about reading over your work a hundred times and to be impartial when you read so you can fix the mistakes that won’t work.

The benefit of writing is you can go over something you’ve written a hundred times until you think it’s ready. A thousand times. I can go back and rewrite that first story if I want too. Nothing can stop me.

But don’t get me wrong. I go back and read all my works on here from time to time and I still constantly find things I would change now. Word changes. Phrasing changes. Everything. But that’s just another sign of improvement. Writing is a constantly improving art form. There is no limit. Only growth.

And the last thing I do is write down everything. I have a TERRIBLE memory. So I write down every single idea. On a scrap piece of paper. In my phone. On a computer. In a notebook. Cuz you never know when you’ll use it.

My most recent story, The Devil Wears Valentino, I got the idea for that name sometime in the immediate aftermath of Valentino Yoongi. I was in the shower after watching the devil wears Prada and my mind just connected the two. And then it sat unused in my notes all until the week before Halloween 2023. I would’ve forgotten had I not written it down. But there it was right when I needed it, a gift from past me. And here we are.

As for popularity, dude I have no goddamn idea. I don’t even think I count as a popular/big blog. I utilize the HELL out of aesthetics, formatting and tags and I’m nice. That’s my spiel on that. Aesthetic. Format. Tag. Kindness. Talent, sure. I guess. But writing is one of those things, ESPECIALLY in fic, where it doesn’t have to be the best cuz folks just wanna read their comfort character or person in the same scenarios over and over again. Source: I do that. And I’ve read stories that don’t have the best writing. But the story was good, or vice versa. People are way more forgiving on here.

I didn’t come on here(tumblr) with the intention of writing let alone giving writing and popularity advice. I just wanted to read and support people and then the community I’ve built for myself has just grown and grown and I’ve been so incredibly fortunate, which is where kindness comes in.

Leave reviews and like and reblog stuff. Tell people how much you love their work. Let them know you write too. Create friendships with people who wanna support you. And people who you wanna support. Community is the base of everything.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

When you are writing a new chapter for a fic, how do you decide what to put in, and what to leave out?

I see a lot of advice about killing your darlings - whittling the scene down until it contains only what's necessary to advance the plot.

But I also see advice that says it's okay to include more than this, because you need to advance the characters as well, by giving them quiet moments in between all of the plot advancing parts.

I really struggle to find the balance. I love writing the quiet moments, and fleshing the characters out, but sometimes these moments run away on me, and I end up with a bloated mess that barely advances the plot at all.

Do you have a process or a rule-of-thumb you follow, to help you decide what does or doesn't make the cut?

How easy do you find it to remove stuff later, when you realize the story is better without it? Do you cry and have wine while you bury your dead, or are you a ruthless assassin? :)

Oh man, great question.

I’m going to answer for what for my original fiction. I don’t heavily edit my fanfics in any meaningful capacity, as any of my readers can attest, since that is my hobby and editing is work. Also, since it is my hobby, I am pretty self indulgent with what I include. I meander and wander all over the place with my plots and don’t keep them as tight as they probably need to be.

Exhibit A, the visual representation of the plot of Thus, Always 2.0 (one line being present day and the second being the past):

But for my original fiction, there’s a very long, drawn out process of editing.

For House of No Return, the current book (known as The Venetians in my tags), I wrote out the first draft. In that draft I put all the self indulgent stuff I wanted. Character studies, side plots, random asides, plot cul-de-sacs, and so on.

Then, when done, I rewrote the entire thing. Top to bottom second draft. This is because, by the time I was done with draft one, I knew my characters a lot better than when I started. I knew, more clearly, the story I wanted to tell. I had a better vision of how the plot should work.

Once the second (or third) draft is done, I let it sit. Ideally, you should let it sit for a few months. I don’t have patience and am riddled with a deep need to always be writing, so I can usually only make it a few weeks.

When I take it back out, I print out the manuscript and read it in one or two sittings. This is because I need to remember what the fuck I was doing. As I read, I make margin notes of where I bump or where things drag a bit. My second read through is much more methodical. I sit with a note book and jot out a detailed outline as I read. When I eventually type them up they usually look something like this:

As I read through the outline, that’s where I can see if there are baggy parts that need trimming. When I note them, I decide whether to completely remove, or shorten, or shift to another part of the story, or if I can convey any central information in other areas.

Sometimes colour coding helps – highlighting all the parts that are faster paced in red, the slower bits in green, the pure character study bits in blue (or what have you). The visual representation helps me, at least, see if there’s a part that’s bunched up with only one colour and may need to be broken out a bit.

I make edits to my outline in blue, usually, of what needs to be added or changed when I go to do the next big rewrite.

--

Throughout this whole outline review process, I’m also thinking through what sort of plot pattern/design best serves the story. There are a lot out there and each has a purpose and can strengthen aspects of the story that’s being told.

Good reference: Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison.  

For House of No Return, it’s a pretty classic mountain form: start | rising action | point no return | climax | resolution.

Something a bit like this with the little plateaus representing times when the plot slows for a bit to allow the reader a break and an opportunity to sit with a character or an emotion or some new information.

These breaks can also ratchet up tension and help keep people on the edge of their seat. The horror genre is a great example of this. You know that when we’re having a quiet character moment, or a humourous moment, we’re about to get something horrific on the other side of it and we’re in trepidation until it happens. But the book can’t be all horrific moments or else the audience gets bored.

(Unless the author is Doing Something/There’s a Purpose Being Served in having 85,000-100,000 words of only horrific moments. Which can abosolutely be the case! Again, it’s about what you’re trying to do, how to best tell the story, and fundamentally what that story needs to be.)

Grief and trauma writing also benefit from the breaks. I think about this in fics where it’s all bleak torture and there’s no resting or lighter moments—it’s hard on the audience. Which, again, can be the author’s intent! And that’s fine! But usually if you want to keep people going with you on the journey you need to give them breaks. That is just reality.

So, when writing the classic model I would say write, write, write. Get every thing onto the page. Every little indulgement moment, every little character study etc.

Then think about how you want the story to be paced. Do you want it a heart pounding fast paced piece? Then yeah, trim it down to mostly bare bones with just enough breaks for character study/get the audience invested in who they’re reading about and to give them a bit of a breather. But it should be super tight, over all.

Steep, steep, steep – little moments here and there for a break – then shattering fall and people should be reading going “what the fuuuuck is going to happen next??” (Grady Hendrix is a master of this.)

 Some traditional mountains, though, are slower.

There's a long, langurous start. We’re all along for a gentle ride then it begins to build bit by bit until we realize we’re riding down the Tuscan hillside in a cart with no breaks.

This is the sort of story where you can really relish your character studies and soft moments between people and little side bits. But you do need to keep enough movement to keep the audience interested. This is one that is harder to pull off because the balance can be tricky.

I tend to write like this. Hilary Mantel has books that hit this kind of approach. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic is a good example of a slow burn start but a good ride at the end. Laura Purcell’s The Silent Companions is another example.

-

All that said, not all stories need to follow the traditional approach! Some are meant to be tangled meditations. A lot of weaving, a lot of introspection, the story is more about the journey and not the destination. Sometimes the plots look a little like this:

Peak Literary Experimental Fiction shit right here. This can be a lot of character study, a lot of philosophical musings, a lot tangents or backtracking or jumping around a little. Justin Torres’ Blackouts is a great example of a meandering story that is as much about the characters and their conversations as it is about queerness and history.

Other stories are meant to be rolling hills or waves: up and down, up and down.

Jane Austin has a bit of a wave quality to some of her stories, not all, but some. Long, drawn out family epics that span generations tend to have this quality to them. Books like Pillars of the Earth tend to be more wavey than mountain climax.

-----

Anyway. I've done a diversion myself. Back to editing.

When I’m doing my trimming, I don’t have an exact process for determining what makes the cut or what stays. I go with my gut on a lot of it. Sometimes, there are scenes that are hitting the same note but coming at it in different ways.

Cristof’s anxiety over his friend’s gambling addiction, and his guilt around feeling as if he is enabling it, is something I overwrote in the first few drafts because I was trying to understand the psychology of their friendship and Cristof’s own inner demons. Therefore, as I trimmed, I picked three key things that the audience needed to know about Cristof and Jacopo and made sure those were captured. I cut and trimmed accordingly.

However, I do have some babies that get reused in different places once I realize the original scene wasn’t working.

This stupid joke was originally in a completely different scene and was said by different characters but that scene wasn’t working and so I had to cut it. But I was very enamoured with this little interaction, so I found a way to incorporate it.

-

It’s also important to remember that some character studies/the resting pauses can be brief. By all means write out the full seven page version but I bet it’s possible to trim it down to a really powerful short beat that can pack a bit of a punch. Writing out the full seven pages is sometimes necessary to get at the heart of what you’re trying to say. Then cut it back.

I had a full multi-page version of this paragraph:

But it’s a rest-beat in the middle of the apothecary/barbershop scene that is moving the plot along, and therefore this memory/character beat needed to be tight. Still, we get a bit of a glimpse at Cristof and Nicolo through it, and while it might not seem important on the surface, we do need to care about these two idiots and the fact that they’re dumb about each other and in love.  

-

Quiet moments can also be interspersed within action. You can weave them through, so you have:

Active Scene/Plot Moving

Restful introspection or memory

Back to the Active Scene.

If done right it can give a bit of a melodious, wave-like quality to what you’re writing. It’s not for every story, nor every scene, and shouldn’t be overused (I may be guilty of that), but it allows you to still get in those meaningful character moments without stopping the plot too much.

As for the ease with which I kill darlings? Depends on the darling. Some are easier than others. Some I like, but if I can incorporate the important bits in another fashion then I’m fine with it. The more I write, the more I edit, the more ruthless I become.

--

A lot of this is, fundamentally, all about practice and doing it a lot. And also all writing rules aren’t rules so much as broad guidelines and each story has its own needs and requirements to make it work.

Apologies for the long reply. I'm not sure it's what you're after but I hope it helps. There is, unfortunately, no "quick trick" that I have to do it. It's really just a very involved process.

[hollister-mc]

A rant/dump about my current MHA project, I avoid spoilers for the current arcs

Yall I'm literally ill, I've never had a show impact me this much, I've never had characters affect me this much. I stopped watching mha during the Eri arc due to personal shit, like me moving and just losing motivation to watch. I still consumed the media, like fanfics, or honestly chat bots, but I just didn't watch the show anymore. (still havnt but I'm working on it)

I have a long-term fanfic that I've been working on for like... years at this point. It's longer than The Great Gatsby currently. I flip-flopped forever on the main ship, and even if it was going to be an x reader. I think I've ultimately decided that it's going to be Bakudeku/OC. And I need yall to understand why.

I originally started this fanfiction years ago as kinda a crack fic. It was a self insert of me and my best friend at the time. We were twins I put us into the series. Of course, we started it cause we simped for the characters. I wrote it, and she would give me input and ideas, but I ultimately did the main work, which was fine, I was the writer. Our friendship slowly faded, and so I slowly stopped writing. I was hurt for a long time, we were best friends for like 8 years, and she gradually stopped talking to me after she got into her first relationship.

The fic was abandoned for a long time, until during a trip to go see my other best friend across country. We talked about what happened with my old friend. At one point I told her about the abandoned fic I had, how I had started the fic for fun for us, and we had sort of a plot line for our characters, but of course nothing serious, as my ex friend just stopped giving me input and ideas for everything. I told her it made me sad, but overall, I was just bitter from what my ex friend had done. My long-distance friend looked at me and said, "Why don't you just turn it into your own? Redo it. Consider it like a personal revenge." And that my friends, is what sparked a flame in me. I reformed everything, I actually developed lore, I made characters, storylines. In doing so, I realized the main characters were no longer me and my ex friend, but two completely new characters. I won't bullshit you, the main character used to be me, but she, Iris, has completely transformed into this new character. That's why I decided to make it an OC fanfic instead of reader. I put too much work and soul into her, there was no way to portray her in a vague light, enough for anyone to put themselves in her shoes. I worried for a bit, cause I know a lot of people don't like OC stories. But I personally never turned away from OC fics unless the characters personality was too much for me to focus on and insert myself into. Cause I won't lie. I read to escape my reality, most of the time, I put myself into the main characters' shoes. So I figured, I probably wasn't the only one. In the end, I'm doing this for me. If people enjoy it too, then damn that's a plus.

Another thing I want to be clear, yeah I started rewriting this story as a way to express my upset at my ex friend, but truthfully, it's no longer like that. When I think about what happened with my friend, sure, I'm still bitter sometimes. But for the most part, it's become a part of my past, theres nothing I can do to change anything. I've worked for the past few years writing, drawing, and just daydreaming about this story. Im not lying to you when I say there isn't a day that I don't think about it at least once. I haven't been able to write lately, and it's been killing me. I moved out for the first time in my life months ago, and before that I was so busy and worked to the bone I had no motivation to write, even when the thing I wanted to write about consumed my waking moments. I'm still exhausted, but goddamn if the new episodes and Manga chapters haven't grabbed me by the metaphorical balls and twisted. I won't go into detail for anyone who isn't caught up, I gave up on trying to avoid spoilers.

I think my biggest hesitation is the fandom, and potentially backlash. Is that I'm no longer the teenager that started this fic. A lot of people don't like that, and will probably see it as weird that I'm making a fanfiction based around teenagers, especially the romance part. But honestly, I don't care. I started loving these characters when I was their age in show, and I'm sorry that they don't age like I do, but unfortunately, for us all, I still have an unhealthy attachment to it. So we're just gonna deal with it. The other side was the question of ships. I bounced back and forth for a long time on if my OC was going to be with Deku or Bakugo. It was hard, cause my initial thought was 'fuck it, both' but I hesitated cause poly ships, especially like that, aren't common or popular in fandoms, or taken seriously like I want this fic to be. Recently in the fandom I've seen how much popular the Bakudeku ship has gotten, and I finally decided to say fuck it, and just go with my original idea. So this fic will not be a love triangle, well- honestly it'll have juicy dramatic parts, but I'm going agaisnt the norm and saying fuck it, they all love eachother. I myself am not poly, (at least I think? Idk I'm unlabeled, the only poly relationships I've ever thought about being a part of are with fictional characters lol) So it won't be perfect and maybe not entirely accurate. If anyone who is poly wants to give me advice I'd be open and appreciative of it. Now that, that's all out of the way...

I'm going to give a summary of my plot, and i want to know if you guys find it interesting.

In a world where humans are given superhuman abilities, the norm, quickly changes. This world is not black and white. Prejudice and discrimination never truly leave humans, if it's not one thing, it's another. And in this world, if you don't have a quirk, or if your quirk is seen as undesirable or... potentially dark in nature, then you are immediately singled out and ostracized.

Our main characters, Iris and Ivy Blackwood, are born into an unfair world, where they are ultimately dealt with a hand that is hard to burden. Being the children of famous pro heroes is one thing, it's another when said pro heroes are constantly in the eye of the public. A scandal happens every week, it seems. You can't go far in research without seeing someone question the pro heroes' motives. Forsythe and Natalia Aphelion-Blackwood are powerful people, with powerful quirks to match. What sets them aside is the nature of their powers, powers that aren't normally seen as heroic. In fact, the whole blood line is filled with ominous powers, shadey actions, and downright morally questionable choices. When these two families married together, the media burst. Obviously, it was a quirk marriage. The only thing was they just couldn't prove it. When the twins were born, everyone waited in baited unease. Just what the hell could these bloodlines produce in power? Surely it couldn't be that bad...

Ivy's quirk manifested shortly after her twin, sprouting fox ears and tail(s) her quirk was Kitsune. Similar to her father's shape-shifting quirk, but of course had stark differences. Iris, on the other hand? Well, let's just say she won't be stepping into churches anytime soon... At the ripe age of 5, Iris Blackwood sprouted, wings, horns, a tail, claws, and red eyes to match. This girl was given powers seemingly from the devil himself. Her quirk? Demon. The nature of her power is unknown, the extent? unknown. No quirk specialist stuck around to figure out just what the hell she could do, but from the brief research done, it's believed the girl is able to do whatever a demon can do... What an odd analysis, considering no one really knows what that can entell.

Iris was forced to keep her abilities under lock and key, with great luck she's able to hide her physical features. The rest of her powers, she doesn't know, and she honestly doesn't want to find out. She's trying to become a hero, what kind of hero has a power like that? The twins' parents put them on a path, one that was built and prepped long before they were even born, what a burden to put on children. Iris wants to defy all odds, to show the world that she's not her quirk. It doesn't matter if no one believes in her, not even her own parents. She has her sister, her twin, someone who's been by her side since birth. Someone who will always have her back, that will never change... right?

This story is one of betrayal, manipulation, all kinds of abuse, moral questioning, and even questioning of one's sanity... but it's also a story of friendship, trust, found family, love, and the indomitable human spirit. This is the very definition that sometimes, your family can end up being the ones you share no blood with.

Okay, so tell me, does that sound interesting? I hope so, cause these characters, this plot, has been on my mind for years nonstop, it's something that needs to be told. And I feel like a lot of people can relate to some of the things in this fic. I'm currently rewriting the first 6 or so chapters, cause once I picked up the story again long ago, I just kept writing from where I left off, so the first chapters aren't adjusted to the new direction the fanfiction is now going. It's going to be Canon compliant but not perfectly, it will have its own arcs and storyline, and of course, depending on how the show finishes, I'll have to adjust. But overall, I love the plot of MHA, so I don't want to change too much. I appreciate anyone who supports me with this. Thank you guys a lot. Stay tuned.

[graceofgondor]

1, 18, and 25 for the ask game :)

-@the-words-forever-unwritten

hiii!! ty for the ask <33 (post for ref.)

1. do you know how you want the story to end when you start, or are you just stumbling through the figurative wilderness hoping to find a road?

this one is complicated. because it really depends. majority of the time, if it's a oneshot, i have major plot points or ideas of what i want to happen or how i want the events to play out, usually key bits of dialogue are in my head simply by thinking abt the fic for a period of time before writing it. so i'll tend to have a rough outline and then improvise details from there. with something like my lady ginny however, that one was honestly a mix of both. i had some general ideas, and ultimately we had a beginning and end, but i kind of would just write one bit and then try and think of how i could progress the story further next (especially in the context of canon). kind of filling in the blanks situation. i would know generally what i wanted to accomplish thematically and how i wanted it to end, but i thought of major events as i wrote it, and then once i thought of them, i would write it in coherence with what i had/planned.

sometimes for oneshots i'll have an extremely vague vibe from listening to a song or watching a movie and then i just improv all in one go, but that doesn't happen terribly often.

18. what is your most and least favorite part of writing?

omg this is a tough one. i think my favorite part is executing ideas i'm inspired by, where my least favorite part is coming up with those ideas, especially when i get stuck somewhere. sometimes its really hard too when i know point a and point b yet cant figure out the connection, or at least how to execute it. like, when i know what i'm doing it's great, but when i don't its absolute torture.

i also just really love exploring characters in certain situations. playing with characterization is fun especially when i get to implement existing themes.

25. what’s your revision or rewriting process like?

oooh! good question! for my oneshots i rarely rewrite or revise at all, i usually edit as i go and then maybe add a tiny bit of detail in certain spots when i'm done, but otherwise i don't do much there.

with my lady ginny it was interesting for sure. i wanted to try to write the majority of the story before i published it (because in the past i would update by chapter and then end up not finishing said fic). so i did write almost the entire fic before uploading it, at which point i did a "characterization edit" where i edited the fic directly after watching the movie, mostly just editing little things like dialogue and theme consistency to be coherent with the source material. but then i wrote the rest of the fic, and did that same thing over again (+taking notes on little details and such to potentially implement). after that, the entire fic was published, and i then re-read the whole thing and did big edits to find out what exactly i felt was missing, and what plotlines i felt were unresolved (as well as writing style and such, fleshing out scenes in general to help with flow). at that point i added an entire chapter in the middle and added onto almost every single scene.

at this point i can't even remember what the original draft was like. i know most of the events happened the same in general, there's just a lot more going on in the final version, kind of just a more immersive and detailed version of the original. i know we also didn't have the last chapter and epilogue in the initial draft, in addition to chapter 9 (8) which was a result of unresolved things i felt needed adding.

so for that i guess it kind of depends. especially since i don't often write full-length fics. mlg was kind of a lightning in a bottle thing, something i was unusually motivated to write. so for me, i guess that was a rarity, and my revision style could for sure change should i decide to write another full length fic in the future.

[alexanderwales]

The Slumbering Projects List

The Current WIP List is anything that I've done some small amount of work on in the last year (with some of them having substantial amounts of work). This is a list of dead slumbering projects, some of which have been slumbering for a long time, as well as some reflection on what went wrong, if anything.

~~~~

The Timewise Tales is a stable time loop fantasy story that revolves around three different characters. The genesis of this one was an old /r/worldbuilding contest entry that I wrote. All it really needs is an ending to be first draft complete, and I know what the ending is, but this is early early work, and it shows.

Sidebar: my enjoyment of my own work follows a pretty predictable curve.

I start with a lot of energy, grind through some of the middle with maybe a slight bump near the end, then have a rut after I've finished where I think the thing sucks. After enough time has passed, I finally have enough distance to think "hey wait, that was actually pretty good".

The curve looks different for different projects, but going into any of them, I have an understanding that my emotional relationship with the work is going to change in this way. The "middling grind" part can sometimes last a long time, and the trough of disappointment is sometimes short, but I would say this is generally how it works for me.

Timewise Tales is not something I've grown to appreciate more with time, so there's a chance that it's just Actually Bad. I don't know what there is that can be saved from it, but probably something. It's 90K words and would probably be complete in another 10K words, but making it good would be more some effort, especially because I would want to rewrite substantial portions. The magic system is cool though, and I think the characters and plot are solid.

~~~~

Robot, Wizard, Vampire is a follow-up to my novella Contratto, which is just about vampires taking over the world. It's a story about two young people who are the last remnants of their underground cell of wizards who are using magic to make robots that fight the vampires. The setting is the late 70s and the two teenage boys are expies of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The genesis for this one was someone making a post saying what a terrible idea it would be to include a bunch of dissonant themes in a book. It's 27K words, and from the plot outline, that's about a third of the way through. I reread this recently and think it's fairly good, but didn't put any more effort into it.

~~~~

The Gift and the Burden is about hereditary wizards, following two friends who are divided by one having the gift and the other not. The one with the gift becomes a soldier, the one without a proto-scientist. The outline calls for three acts, and it's stuck toward the end of the second act. 60K words, and in theory outlined for 100K. There's a lot that I like in this one, though it's early work, and definitely a lot to punch up and sand down. I keep meaning to go back to this one.

~~~~

A Series of Fights Without Any Meaning was a battle school type thing, mostly revolving around magical swordplay, which is used by the society to settle disputes via swordfights, something that highly favors the nobility. 16K words. Part of the conceit is that the newest generation has a non-noble who is absurdly good with a blade, and we follow her through the perspective of other characters, always unsure of her thoughts. I wasn't a huge fan of the magic system I came up with, and some of the other worldbuilding is irritating in retrospect, but neither of those are huge unfixable flaws at this point. Probably will never get more work put into it though.

~~~~

The Wayward Souls is a novel about a detective who dies and gets awakened three centuries later in a different body. It's a world where souls are real and can be extracted to be stored in glass jars. There's a version of this that's 45K and a different rewrite version that's 21K, and I don't actually think they share much in common. The main plot is that someone has stolen the emperor's soul, but the secondary plot is the fish out of water stuff. I think this had a few influences that were probably too strong, and a few things that annoyed me, but I can't recall what without doing some rereading. Almost certainly dead in the water.

~~~~

Pub Crawl is based off a meme I saw once that said "you meet in a tavern" and then "you open the door to leave and it's another tavern" and then "it's all taverns, the whole campaign is taverns". And I thought: I can write that! Currently 40K words, at some point I thought this was going to be my next web serial. I think the characters weren't quite right though, and lost steam, even though the outline was very solid. I had this great idea for a "pub map" that would update every few chapters, showing the known pub space as it sprawled out into strange areas.

~~~~

There are lots of others, but those are the substantial ones, the ones that really had a chance to become something and are now sleeping, most of them never to wake up again. I had high hopes for all these at one point, but my time and ability to write is precious, and must be jealously guarded against false pretenders.

[superconductivebean]

Helloo! From the writer ask 11, 16, 17, 19 and 30 pls 😁

[link to the list] on my way!!

11. a WIP you’d like to finish someday

JULIA'S FIC. The tragedy of my life, it has so a lot and yet I have shared so little of it as of now. I hope to finally begin posting soon.

16. favorite place to write

I can write everywhere but it must be quiet so not to disrupt the music I'm listening to, has a comfortable seat, and have dim lights.

17. talk about your writing and editing process

When writing, I prefer to rely on syntax. Composition is only ever limited by the borders of the language, and if I know where these borders had been laid, I can play around and within them. I also rely on syntax books.

However, English language has proven difficult as there isn't a comprehensive book on its syntax and most important, its misuse. Style guidelines can honestly burn in Hell, they're of no help. Maybe I hadn't found it yet; I have to adapt what I have from Russiаn. Anyway.

When editing, I need to fine-tune, clarify, reformulate… It will depend on what the scene needs. Characters acting on their own occurs here but I wouldn't call it that anymore; they don't act on their own, it is their personalities are sets of lenses, and it isn't always possible to memorise or predict how the light of your story will turn, especially when said lenses are constantly changing in your head as the story evolves and gains more details.

When I started to work on Julia's story in the summer of 2023, she used to be a very different character. I'll keep her traits from back then, mind. BUT. The explanations, the details, the background trivia; all has been added and expanded on in order to make the story carry more than bare bones but some meat as well.

I'm afraid to go through my drafts at this point tee hee

30. hare a fic you’re especially proud of

One fic… Oof. An essay I wrote about Bоrderlands: The Prе-Sеquel's plot. It's in Russiаn.

Another would be the draft for Julia's story, Не хнычь! / Chin Up! …

It's been hidden for quite some time. I was rewriting it and didn't have it in me to finish due to… Well, back when I was writing it, I joined russiаn HL fandom and shared it with them on more than few occasions after people asked for the links, and… Let's just say, people were asking for links but they never opened them or wanted to engage with me whatsoever. And it's normal. What isn't normal is asking but never answering back and also creating an environment where you are kind of welcomed but people bluntly ignore your every attempt to spark a conversation about something that isn't silly and nerdy—and evidently, people started mocking me for it and taking my research skills for granted (until the dam imploded and my theories and way of thinking were called straight up delusions; why did I leave, do I wonder; "was I alright", really? lol, lmao even and good riddance). I poured a bit of my heart into Chin Up! and seeing so much false politeness or what was that even… It broke something in me, eventually. So I hid it. I can put it back up but I won't be translating it. But please mind, it's explicit and it's 5th year; Julia and everything around her were a mess in the early drafts.

[sleepymccoy]

15, 21

something you learned this year

Mate, i dunno! I started using scrivener rather than google docs and that's been cool to learn and do. Every year I relax more about writing for other people and just write the scenes I think are fun, rather than what might be good to read. Means the story is better to read cos the passion and interest is in every scene now. And I think I've enjoyed writing more this year than before. Which was true last year too, I'm just loving it so much

I learned that while I like writing sex and kissing scenes, what I really like is the tension you can get in them, rather than the horniness of it. An intimacy a surprise was a learning curve in that it was enormously more fun to write because i didn't have to slog through any horny scenes. It was all fun tension, and then the scene ends when they kiss so i can resolve the tension and not have to write the rest of it. So I'm keeping that it mind, cos that fic's still hot as fuck, just not full erotic. I say, knowing full well there's a scene where McCoy fingers himself in Spock's lap that I wrote. They hadn't kissed yet! The tension was still there! And I only wrote it cos it was fun

As I was writing the response below I realised I learnt that i like posting wips cos the reader engagement helps change and improve the fic. I didn't know that before, and way back in the day (a year and a half ago) I always waited til I was nearly done to start posting. Since that fic I wait until I feel like I'm past the main bulk of the plot so I know what's going on pretty well, then I post. I'm gonna try and get comfortable this year with the idea that I can rewrite and repost a chapter if I wanna change it! cos it's a wip! people understand, I think

Also, I posted deleted scenes in Oh Commander Mine, which I've never done before. And that was really fun, helped me reflect on why I make decisions to delete or keep things that I've written, and absolutely proved that none of it was wasted. Cos it all taught me something about the characters I hadn't realised, and went on to use or realise was totally wrong. And it's nice to post work rather than shelve it

Okay I learnt more than I thought, that's really cool. Great question

most memorable comment/review

Oh, I've got three! Three people commented with a question or comment or whatever that made me write something extra in my story. I never used to like posting something while i was still writing it but I've found that having people engage while it's posting can point out either plot holes or opportunities to dive deeper that i would have otherwise missed. Let me see if I can find them real quick

There's this one on Two Thirds of a Whole from hypatia;

Now I'm curious about Scotty's experience with his 'twin'. Very much loving this whole fic!

Cos I had the alt universe's Scotty visit their universe, but had totally forgot that Scotty would be reacting to this. So I spent like a week thinking about it and decided that Scotty wouldn't be bothered by it in any like big ongoing personal way. I think he'd really kinda like the guy, I think Scotty's pretty confident in himself and isn't sitting on much self hate. But I do think he'd be a bit shaken by just how similar he was, it's sstill nice to think you're unique, so he gave himself a tattoo. And he's nerdy, so the tat line is influenced by the precise shimmy of the universe he's in. No other universe will be exactly the same.

And then there's these from An intimacy, a surprise from Mandyana;

Omg thanks for writing this! 🥰 A follow up on how aos Jim, Spock, and McCoy reacts to TOS Spockx Leonard's relationship would be funny 🤣.

And this from Senorialeternit, on the same topic;

Thank you for sharing this beautiful story with us! May there be a sequel with McCoy and Spock AOS! Because it would be a very good continuation of how they would fall in love knowing that in another alternate universe they are already together.

Which made me write a whole 40k fic! That I wouldn't've done otherwise lol. And in that follow up fic, I won't quote the comments cos there were a few and they were mostly about multiple topics, but people were asking and imagining how Jim would be feeling in the comments and I was like... shit i haven't thought about Jim at all. So I did, and it improved the fic and added a really funny scene where Jim gets to absolutely shine. I'm gonna share a stand out moment from that scene actually. Jim can be a lot of fun.

“So I see the reports of Spock beating you up are exaggerated,” Jim said.  McCoy broke the kiss and stared at the door in shock, a chill running uncomfortably down his spine. Spock immediately went to the side, pulling back from McCoy entirely. Cold air hit McCoy’s chest as he gasped.  “Oh, fuck,” McCoy gasped shakily. “Gentlemen” Jim said gleefully, entering the room without hesitation. “You two, kissing? This has come out of nowhere for me, I’m simply shocked.” McCoy covered his face and breathed for one moment. This wasn’t happening. No, unfortunately, this was happening. He lowered his hands and glared at Jim. “Hi, Jim,” he said. Jim glanced meaningfully down at McCoy’s crotch. “Airlock door’s open,” he stage whispered. McCoy flinched and did his pants up. “Spock?” Spock was facing away, hands clasped behind his back. He was breathing evenly, at least. He had that over McCoy. Jim threw McCoy a grin. McCoy did not return it.  “I was expecting you on the Bridge, Mr. Spock,” Jim said clearly. Spock turned and cocked his head, in that curious way he did. “I apologise, Captain, I had intended to report to the Bridge next.” Jim nodded seriously. “After you got your rocks off with my CMO,” he said.  McCoy smacked Jim’s arm. “Take it easy on him.”

Airlock door's open is my favourite bit lol