#I'm still recovering so no big project updates <.<"

[justcallme-ange]

Decided to do a quick study and draw Techno cuz I miss drawing him - I've been sick and haven't had the energy to draw for a bit. I imagine this takes place long after everything, where he's safe and settled down ^^

[madameriasims4]

Basic Reduxe Kitchen

CC Set of 14 BGC Items

A combination of my Back to Basics and Basic Luxe kitchens, because I really liked my mesh for the Luxe ones, but I will always love butcher-block tops more than any other kitchen surface. It's a pretty standard kitchen and I think the file names are self-explanatory, so here are some bullet-points-of-interest:

Like my Basic Luxe kitchen, the counter's end pieces have been changed to an alternate full-tile model and a half-tile model for more customization.

The cabinet also contains half-tile end pieces

This color palette draws a few swatches from the Basic Luxe palette, but I changed the hardware color slightly, and grabbed a bunch of colors from sforz's various palettes

The dining set packages come in two standalone versions: one set that matches the rest of the kitchen's swatches, and another set of 18 solid wood tones (bottom two rows of palette image)

Disclaimer: I re-mapped the UVs for the island tops and some counter tops, so the dirt overlays may be funky-looking. Since you're supposed to clean them when they're dirty anyway I decided it wasn't worth the effort to figure out a seamless texture for them (if you saw the uv map you would understand)

Download link below the cut!

There isn't really much to say about this one! I thought it was going to be an easy project (when will I learn?) but I found some mistakes in the original meshes (nothing big but I'm a perfectionist) and fixed them along the way, which took extra time. And then I spent forever trying to decide on colors, and then trying to trim down the count (I cut 2 whole wood tones which helped decrease the number by about 30%).

I also decided to do custom thumbnails for these, because I liked the way they came out in my Basic Luxe set. I spent about three days manually generating, exporting, editing, and importing thumbnails (and even set up an auto-clicker program to help me!)... only to find out that S4S added a "catalogue thumbnail underlay" option in one of their updates. I'm still mentally recovering from that (read patch notes!!) 😔

Anyway, at least I got to play with ReShade a bunch! I've been mostly using it for screenshots in ESO, which is an online game that I can't pause, so being able to take my time and play with shaders and get juuuuust the right look was a real treat!

I use Peacemaker's No Occluder mod to prevent weird shadows from appliances/cabinets.

Credit: Kitchen Clutter | Solid Wood Texture by @myshunosun

Download (Patreon) Always free, no ads.

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update (but not really) 8.29.2024

Well, that went worse than expected.

My summers are never good for creative activity--I'm off my schedule, my house is full of people, every week is some new thing to get ready for. I know this, and I tell myself to lower my expectations and just get through it, and then I always end up disappointed with myself anyway. So that's where we are.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who sent in requests for me to do! I didn't do as many as I had hoped, but I did do six of them (including one that I basically just pulled out of my drafts and dusted off, but at least I did it). I do want to reiterate that quite a few of the ones I didn't do was because they were specifically things that I have planned to show up in my regular fanfic. There were also two that I started and couldn't manage to finish, so there's always the possibility that I could finish them someday.

I actually got inspired and wanted to write a B-part for the last one I did, which I started the day after I posted that one, but then I left for vacation, and a whole lot has happened since then. I've gotten, like 1300 words of it written, but I just haven't managed to finish it yet. I'd been kind of hesitating to call the requests "done", because I wanted to get that out first, but I haven't managed to, so I'm calling the requests done, and if I finish that other thing, I'll post it, and if I don't, obviously I won't.

I'm frustrated because I had big plans to get back to writing this fall: I am steeling my nerves to finish a little in love, now and then, which has lingered on far too long without being finished. I was going to be all ready to go by the time my kids were back in school and...well...I am not yet ready. Everything just took a little longer than I expected and then my grandfather passed away (the funeral is this weekend), and it's all just been a lot at once, and I don't feel at all ready to take on a new project. I mean, I had a number of "getting ready" activities I was going to do, and I haven't done them, and I can still do them, it's just not where I expected to be right now. Kind of like last year when I got covid and took all of September having covid and recovering from having covid and being exhausted. How does anyone get anything done in this crummy world?!!

Also, I guess Bleach Returns is coming up sooner than I expected, in the sense that if I want to do anything for that (which I do), I should be working on that in the near term, except that I've put off a little in love for so long and I don't want to keep putting it off. I think maybe the answer is to try to do some drawing for BR instead of writing this year, and try to keep my efforts low-key.

The upshot of all of this is just that I'm not ready to get back to work even though I thought I would be by this time. I do intend to start these updates up again soon, but I just wanted to put this one out there so no one is expecting anything from me. I want to want to write, but I simply do not have the time or the energy or any ideas whatsoever, so I'm just trying to get thru the stuff that's in front of me, and we'll see what happens after that.

[amrass]

Fanfiction updates and excerpts 06.16.24

Happy summer, everyone! The worst season lol. Late spring was intense and I'm still recovering, but we're experiencing a lot of nice rain, and I am engorging myself on coffee and books :)

I miiight open up for RDR2 oneshot requests sometime later this summer or early autumn, under a collection - or a fic at Ao3, most likely - called Barbwired Tumbleweed. So watch this space!  

As always, most of the fics underneath the cut are explicit and rather dark, with a focus on Morbell and Drisbell.

Main projects: 

Salt part 16+. Colm/Micah. Sugar daddy AU. Dark.

While carrying a large barrel of moonshine of his wiry, but considerably strong body, Toothpick paused beside Micah. He looked him over from head to toe, making him feel weirdly slimy.

"What do you want?" 

"Oh nothing, really. Just admiring Colm's taste, that's all."

"Not everyone can fuck their way to the top," Daniel commented, breaking the staring contest between them. Micah snarled at the implications, lighting himself a smoke and breathing like a dragon.

"That puts you two boys in the same boat, doesn't it? One boy for each brother. Oh, I like our bosses, I really, really do."

.

The Lost and the Lethal part 3. Gen? Biker AU in the 90s.

"Listen," Hosea began. "Bringing back this bad stuff with Annabelle, it's obviously meant to antagonize you."

"Damn right it antagonizes me," Dutch muttered.

"Only if you let it," Hosea said, tone sharp until the Duke meowed in irritation. Hosea petted him and said, more quietly, "You're good at ignoring Arthur when he's had too much to drink, no matter how much crap he comes up with. Use some of that skill for this." 

"Hey," Arthur said, feeling less like a sergeant at arms sitting between the president and vice president of a biker club, and more like a kid dragged into the quarrel of his parents.

.

These Days part 3. Arthur/Micah. Biker AU in the 00s.

He turned the water to its coldest setting. He'd done that often, before, so he didn't expect the dizziness when it came. Nearly falling, he grasped the wall to keep his balance. 

Legs shaking, he glared at the shower chair. 

"Fuck you," he said, and then laughed at himself for cursing a piece of furniture. The laughter was bitter, and he didn't let go off the wall. If shower chairs could gaze, this one did so somberly and purply. 

.

Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill. Arthur/Micah. A sequel to Through the Wilderness. Micah is a bounty hunter, hunted by Arthur, who has survived TB through the method of artificial lung collapse. Dark.

"But I guess that was a while ago. Last time I saw you, I didn't think you'd pull through! All skin and bones now, but better than all blood and coughs. Is it true that they cut out one of your lungs? Leave it up to a creature like you to beat a thing that kills most men. Better men, some would say. Not me." 

Let that silver-tongued bastard talk. Let him stall the massacre in the saloon. Let him put fuel to Arthur's rage so it'll burn them both.

"My boys tell campfire stories about you, you know. They say you take the shape of a big black dog, lurking in the shadows, waiting for the scent of blood. Can you smell it right now? We're planning to do some hunting soon. We're real good at it, too, cause you've been picking off the boys who ain't worthy of following me."

.

Slug. O'Driscoll Gang/Micah. Biker AU in the 80s. VERY DARK.

"Easy, baby," Toothpick says as if cutting the hair of a pet, not slicing up boxers. As soon as he steps back to look at his handiwork, Micah closes his thighs and pulls his knees to the side, hating to be exposed. The position remains awkward, all the duct tape on him leaving him in a sort of standing kneel rather than anything stable.

"Adorable." Toothpick puts the knife back in his boot. He begins toying with the waistline of the sweatpants, showing off the outline of an erection. Slowly, he reveals himself only to hide himself again, like he's teasing a lover with something wanted.

Cheeks burning, Micah wants to look away, but the tape keeps his head fixed in place. He's vaguely aware of Prince Albert piercings being a thing, but he's never seen one in person until now.

"You like it?" A step closer. Every muscle in Micah's body tenses. "It doesn't have to hurt," Toothpick croons. "Will it be your first? I like introducing boys to this very important part of life."

.

LOL what an excerpt to end with ... Ngl Slug might be my best work. Anyway, that's it! I'll probably be working on these until autumn :)

Hope you're all are doing great!

[yukidragon]

Hi, so I wanted to ask you something since I've seen you upload some of the public access art from Sauces OG twitter. I know that's the way to do it, I'm in the patreon too and that stuff is protected. What I wanted to ask was if you had some of the OG Gallagher mansion stuff? Like the concepts etc. Pretty much all of it got deleted and I tried looking some up to remind myself of the project and not much is still around. You can privately answer or make a post, it's up to you.

Yup, that’s the way to do it. Don’t repost the privately posted patreon stuff anywhere, and make sure to always credit Sauce for their publicly posted art when shared. They’re kind enough to allow me to use pictures in my headcanon rambles and such, and I want to always give them the credit and praise they deserve for such wonderful art and creative stories and characters for us to play with. They’re awesome and deserve our support.

If you want content to see the project is still going strong, then you’re in luck! There was a recent update on the project over on the SnaccPop Studios’ twitter. Check out this beautiful background. Though, even more enticing is the voiced teaser of the project in this post. We finally get to publicly hear what Elias sounds like and get a glimpse into what the choices might be for the game.

Of course, there are more teasers up on the SnaccPop Studios Patreon, including nudes of Elias. There were some nudes posted by Sauce publicly on their now gone twitter, but tumblr might not take them as artistic nudity and might nuke my blog if I post any images that are too spicy.

That said, there have been brand new public posts with Elias’ fully clothed sprites over on twitter. Check them out here, and maybe say a kind word to the lovely artist while you’re there~

As for the older publicly posted art, there were a couple shown in a previous ask over here. Sadly, I don’t have the very first original concept art where Elias is putting a necklace on his living bride. I do, however, have a picture of big boy Elias carrying his new “bride” but he’s a bit too excited for me to share the picture here in its entirety.

Sadly, I can’t show the rest of this beautiful piece of art by Sauce to give you a better sense of just how big Elias is compared to Y/N (in more than one sense of the word), but the player stand in character here is also naked, and I’m not gonna roll the dice on whether gray anon booty will result in me being smote by the tumblr gods. Such a shame too.

You know, last time I posted a cropped spicy picture of Sauce’s, I wrote a steamy little snippet to go with it. To make up for the lack of the concept art and cropping this picture, how about I write a little Adults Only bit of spice here too? I don’t have my MC for the Groom of Gallagher Mansion solidified in my mind yet (though I do have a few thoughts) so maybe this would be a good excuse to expand my writing skills by trying to tackle some gender-neutral reader-insert fiction for once. I hope you enjoy it.

...

Elias was warmer than I expected for someone who had been dead for at least 100 years. I felt the heat rise where his bare skin touched mine. I knew that I was screwed when I agreed to tie the knot with the lonely ghost of Gallagher Mansion, but I didn’t really expect that literally.

For crying out loud, how could a ghost get a hardon, especially one so big?

Despite how crazy the situation was and how fast we rushed into this marriage, I couldn’t help but feel excited when he brushed up against my thighs as Elias scooped me up into his arms, all hot, hard, and faintly twitching when our skin made contact. He bit his lower lip in a failed attempt to stifle the noise he made that was suspiciously like a whimper.

Damn it. Why did Elias have to be so cute?

Elias lifted me just a little higher so that he could recover from the contact, taking a moment to… catch his breath? Or at least imitate it. Old habits die hard, even in death, it seemed.

I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as I was caught by the charming smile he sent my way as he spoke my name with so much adoration that my racing heart sped up just a little more. “My dearest beloved, I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally consummate our love.”

“I can tell,” I said, and immediately I was rewarded by the darkening blue hue of his cheeks that I knew by now was a blush. I smirked as he sputtered for a moment, flustered. It was so fun to tease someone as innocent as him.

Elias cleared his throat as he composed himself. “Yes, well… how can I not be when my beloved consort is as beautiful and alluring as you?” He then smiled, almost devilishly, as I felt the fire in his smoldering gaze blaze through my already burning core. His voice dipped lower, growing in confidence as he leaned in closer. “And I can tell that you’re excited as well, beloved.”

My face burned hotter at that. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Elias noticed, considering every inch of me was laid bare before him, but I was still caught off-guard by his increasing boldness.

I was excited, despite how crazy the situation was. I wanted what was coming next, but it was impossible not to feel nervous, especially when I was expected to take something so big inside me. Could I even handle it? Would he even fit?

Still… a part of me really wanted to find out.

“Please be gentle with me,” I said softly. Sure, it was a cheesy old line, but it felt fitting right now.

“Of course, dearest!” Elias said, almost taken aback that I would assume anything less. “I would never do anything to bring you discomfort in any way.” A bit of his shyness slipped back in as he glanced away. “I might not have… experience in such…” He paused to clear his throat. “…Intimacy, but I promise that I will take care of all of your needs tonight and more.” He lowered his voice in a husky whisper as his burning gaze met mine. “All you need to do is ask, and I’ll gladly fulfill your every desire.”

The promise sent a shiver up my spine, and the way his fingers began to teasingly stroke my thigh coaxed me to spread my legs just a bit despite the precarious position I was in. I should have been off balance by the way he held me, but I supposed he was using his ghostly powers to levitate me more than he was using those muscular arms of his to hold me up.

Fuck it, I was in too deep already, so I might as well embrace this whole marriage deal and let my husband fill me even deeper.

Throwing away the last of my reservations, I grabbed his cheeks and pulled Elias in for a kiss. I think I displaced his head from his neck in my eagerness, and he jolted briefly, startled, but that melted away quickly as he returned the kiss with a passion I never felt with anyone alive. The taste of him was hot and exciting, drawing me in and making me hunger for more as he held me close.

As I ran my hands along my new husband’s muscular chest, I felt Elias start to explore me as well. I had to end the kiss to let out a gasp as his wandering fingers made their way between my legs and found my entrance.

I clung to him tightly as Elias gave me another devilish smirk, the touch of his fingers light and teasing as he circled my opening. I bit my lower lip to stifle a moan that slipped free as he slid a finger smoothly inside. I couldn’t help but squirm as he touched me so deeply, soon sliding in another finger just as easily.

Fuck. For someone inexperienced, Elias was really good with his hands.

“Oh my dearest,” Elias cooed as he skillfully played with my body like a fine instrument. “My beloved, my sweetest, my only love… You look so beautiful right now, writhing in my arms and making such cute sounds.” He kissed my cheek, then again, marking a trail to my ear. He spoke my name against my ear in a way that sent a shiver down my spine as his… breath(?) caressed me there. “Won’t you use that melodious voice of yours to say my name? Please, my dearest?”

“E-Elias,” I panted, and was immediately rewarded as he pumped his fingers in deeper, sending a jolt of pleasure through me. “Oh fuck, Elias!”

I tried to buck into his hand, but the position made it impossible for me to move much. I was at my husband’s mercy, helpless to do anything but writhe in his grasp and hold onto Elias tightly as he played a concert with my body, coaxing his name out of me again and again. He cooed my name in return as he spoke sweet words of love and praise as he drove me closer and closer to the edge until he sent me over it, screaming his name.

I may have been screwed by marrying Elias, but right now there was nothing I wanted more.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur    

[lego-man-speer]

The Future of This Account

So it's been a while since I've last posted any written work on this account and I wanted to update you guys and what the future of this account will be.

Essentially I'm mentally exhausted. Mostly with work and also with general mental issues. Also because I'm starting to get tired of the fandom. But not to the point where I want to leave entirely.

I still want to make educational content, and I still will make content, but updates will generally be slower. I am currently working on a big project that I can update continuously, but I need about a month at least before I reveal it on here.

Do still feel free to send in asks though! I will most likely get back to those quicker than I will with regular content. But please understand that I need time to recover from shit.

Thanks guys <3

[oh-koenig-my-koenig]

eepy könig - ssh don't wake him!

a little doodle i did of the big guy (full nsfw version on bsky or twt)

blog update under the cut

hey peeps, i'm sry it's going so slow at the moment :c

i'm having a hard time creating and writing right now, i have to limit the time i spend using my right hand or the pain gets worse again (still recovering from the tendonitis), and it's also starting to weigh on my mental (i have so many projects, scenes and chapters i want to work on, but just can't...) ((plus uni starting again next week and lots of stuff going on irl)) (((no time for a much needed break)))

take the little doodle as an apology and a thank you for your continued support <3

[cauterizedpod]

It's been quite some time since I made a real update here and I wanted to come on and talk about what happened last year and the future of the project, which is very promising.

(read more added as things start a little heavy before they get better)

Last year I had to put production on sudden, complete hold because my mother became very ill and I became responsible for her entire life very rapidly.

This left her nearly blind on one side with complete blindness on the other. My mom is very dear to me and seeing her like that was extremely difficult for me. I'm incredibly fortunate with how strong she is and how hard she has worked to recover and I've been beside her the entire time, gradually giving things back to her as she could handle them.

And as I've handed things back to her, I've been able to pick up parts of my own life I had to set aside. And a big one of those things was this production.

In January, I picked the show back up and began tearing it apart. Took everything back down to the foundations and rewrote everything from scratch. Reconnected with my cast and crew. My musician and VA for Kadin moved to LA and had to leave the project, so I spent a month reviewing probably 2000 profiles to recast the role. I'm very, very lucky to have found Jaiden Azakai and he's since composed the new theme for the show as well as an original song for the first episode. (And I CAN'T WAIT to share it!)

The whole first season is written out and it's being chopped up and fleshed out into episodes now. Once I finish the current episode I'm writing, I'm going to be moving back into production again. If everything goes to plan, I'm looking to release the first three episodes in April of 2025, the anniversary of the original release.

Keep an eye out and know the fire is still burning ❤️‍🔥

Thank you everyone for being so patient with me while I've been figuring out how to breathe again. It's still a lot a little stressful for me to be online, but I've got so much exciting news to come soon and I really can't wait to share it.

[anomnum]

Survivor References, Vol. 1

Hey folks! If you've been keeping up with my last art posts, you've probably already seen these. They're a set of concept sketches for a still in-development project, and though it's a long way from public release, I wanted to share some information about it! More below the cut.

Eda's design is based heavily on these concepts for Watching and Dreaming by Luz Batista, especially the second one. Her outfit is intended to be more practical than stylish, though the cape is absolutely something she wears to honor her old maroon dress. Her shoulder pauldron is fashioned from the armor of a Coven Scout Captain, salvaged from the ruins of Police Precinct 206 in Latassia. King's mom and sister got to have cloaks, so he decided he wanted one too! His cloak is hand-made, which Eda had stitched together from a collection of old, unused blankets. The Golden Pendant is removed from his collar and used to hold the cloak together. Luz recovered her old Witches Wool cloak not long after the Day of Unity, and has been wearing it since due to the heightened protection it offers, hence the wear and tear it's undergone. 

Now, I'm going to preface that this project is still in very early development, still in the scripting phase, and everything regarding it is subject to change. However, I do want to share some information about it. The working and likely final title is The Children of Hope. It's a story set in a divergent Alternate Universe, where King is never knocked down the stairs of the bridge, and thus, never meets the collector. As a consequence, the Day of Unity isn't stopped. It's a very dark universe compared to cannon, but not all is so bleak - four years after the Day of Unity, Luz is given a vision of a powerful, incredibly complex spell. One that can send memories back through time, comparable to something like Time Travel. Using this spell, she and her surviving friends-slash-family are able to return to the start of Season One, and completely flip the playing field in their favor. 

Again, I don't have much to share about the Alternate Universe - I'm still planning it out, after all! - but I'm excited to put more work into it over time, in between other projects. I hope, when it's eventually developed enough to warrant a release, that you'll enjoy reading it! Until then, I'll share any big content updates on it over time. Have a good day, and thanks for reading all my rambling! 

[bitterpillpress-old]

An update about the future of the press:

Hello everyone,

This has been a tough decision, but after this month, I'll be taking a break from publishing indefinitely.

Working on the press this year has been great, and everyone's support of my work has meant so much to me!

This is for a few reasons but generally personal. I'm going to get a more stable job, and can't really run the press the same way I have been while doing that. I also have some other big life things coming up in 2024. Honestly, I've also just gotten more and more uncomfortable with promoting things on social media and the way that it being my job changes how I think about my art.

Current plan:

December 2023 will be the last month for supporter deliveries + monthly releases

Etsy + Ko-fi shops will stay the same until late March when I'm having a surgery (In March, all PDFs will stay up on Ko-fi indefinitely for free, Etsy will close temporarily then re-open smaller once I'm recovered enough, with print copies of just my own work)

This account won't be super active, but I might still post occasionally. I'll definitely still be making zines and hopefully other cool projects too but mainly post to my own social media! (@leedn on here).

Thank you again for all the support this past year <3

-Lee

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ august/september 2023 double feature

☆ STATISTICS.

words written: 4273 in august; none in september BUT that's because i did a lot of revising

projects worked on: Gemini Heist in august; Andromeda Rogue in september, then procrastinated so hard i ended up writing a few paragraphs on Third, Secret Wip

proudest accomplishment: i compiled all my AR1 beta feedback without giving in to the urge to set the book on fire and also myself

books read: Network Effect (Murderbot Diaries #5) by Martha Wells

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

so basically i started off august decently solid, working on gemini heist while andromeda rogue was off being torn apart by the betas. (i'm joking. it didn't get torn apart. i think you guys were being way too nice actually.)

and then all kinds of shit hit the fan in my personal life all at once in mid-august. both good and bad. it was a lot.

anyways the first half of september was spent recovering from all that, BUT i took a week off work mid-september to catch my breath and also get back into writing, and it was really good for me.

on another note! i am very seriously considering making an etsy shop for some of my art, because as much as i loathe the thought of monetizing my hobbies, we are living in a cost of living crisis, and i don't wanna be in my ice water soup era forever, ha. anyways stay tuned. (and if you think it would be a good idea/you think yourself or others would be interested in buying things PLEASE LET ME KNOW. EXPLICITLY. because otherwise i will assume no one cares and the idea will fizzle out.)

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: ANDROMEDA ROGUE (draft 2 editing)

i went through all the beta comments during my week off and while i am glad it doesn't look like i'll have to do any more BIG rewrites, editing sucks and i want to give up.

☆ COMMENTS: THE GEMINI HEIST (draft 0.5. okay fine it's draft 1 but i feel better about myself if i call it draft 0.5 okay)

honestly when i was working on this feels sooo long ago i don't even remember what there is to say?

i hit 20K at some point in august. i think.

OH YEAH i "finished" act 2/7. the quotation marks are because i absolutely did not finish it, i only finished writing all the main plot-relevant scenes and skipped anything else. which means there's like a whole chapter and a half that haven't actually been written bc they're probably gonna be exposition or character building stuff that i haven't figured out yet and i'm hoping will be easier once i know what actually happens in the rest of this story. (reminder that i am a plantser.)

anyways i suspect this wip will be going dormant again for a while as i focus on getting AR ready for publishing. (sidenote it's been over a year since i started the GH draft and i feel like i've done fuck all on it besides come up with useless lore and make extremely specific playlists. world's slowest writer. the playlists slap, though.)

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

uh have this random snippet of Euna about to pop off!

Somewhere far, far, away, Leo was shouting, “Just get your ass out of there, Li!” but her voice seemed muffled in Euna’s ears, blocked out by the rage that had been steadily mounting ever since that guard shot her arm and ruined the fight for her. All she could hear was the blood rushing through her own ears, the buzz of the guard’s electrified gauntlets, the crackle of the electricity in her own hand. She reared her good fist back and slammed it into the guard’s face. Their nose made a sickening crunch against Euna’s knuckles. Blood flowed down over their mouth and chin as they staggered back, but Euna wasn't done. Her right arm, still spouting sparks, swung into the side of their head, finally bringing them down. Before they could get up again, Euna dropped on top of them, pinning them to the ground with her knees on their chest. She grabbed their shoulders and yanked their upper body off the floor, preparing to slam them down one last time— Purple light surrounded her. For a frightening second, she couldn’t move. Then she was thrown off the guard and dragged, upside-down, through the air towards the exit.

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to any of them.

general taglist:

@nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @onomatopiya @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre

andromeda trilogy taglist:

@bebewrites @nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @onomatopiya @akindofmagictoo @quilloftheclouds @nora-theteawriter @ashen-crest @corpsepng @writeblrfantasy @toboldlywrite @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @cheerfulmelancholies @extra-magichours @writeouswriter @cilly-the-writer @lefttigerobservation @rose-bookblood @drowsy-quill @chazzawrites @cynic-and-chief @enchanted-lightning-aes @aesa @outpost51

gemini heist taglist:

@florraisons @akindofmagictoo @cream-and-tea @nicola-writes @memento-morri-writes @antique-symbolism @rose-bookblood @afoolandathief @pepperdee @avi-why @zonnemaagd @chazzawrites @analogued @enchanted-lightning-aes @innocentlymacabre @kahvilahuhut @celestepens @cilly-the-writer @extra-magichours @onomatopiya @outpost51

[synchodai]

just dropping by to say how much i love your jacegan fic 🥺 i want to start writing my own fic but i've tried and every time i lose interest and finish it. i love how you give us such quick updates with barely any typos and a clean structure. what's your secret? do you use any tools like ai to write so fast? thank you!

Oh wow, first of all, thank you for the compliment! Second of all, do not, and I mean DO NOT, for any purpose use chatgpt, character.ai, or any large langauge models for your writing — just don't. It won't help your writing, it won't help you as a writer, and it won't help anyone alse.

To answer the question, I guess I'm a relatively quick writer because I've been writing for years and years now outside of fanfiction, so I have a process and the habit down pat, honed from creative writing workshops and the more rigid process of academic writing. With the process I have, half the entire project is basically done even before I post the first chapter.

My approach to writing is very similar to how most people draw and make visual art. You start with a rough and vague outline and then add the details in later steps. Outlining is a learned skill. For fanfiction, most free-write their work, but if I actually intend to finish anything more than 10k+ words, I need to have a plan and know where I'm heading. I really do recommend at least learning to outline, even if you are an intuitive writer who will end up mostly ignoring it.

Here's a rundown of my "steps" with examples taken from my current fic and a project that's still in the planning stages that I may or may not write:

#1: Outline the whole project

Plot the fic chapter by chapter, centering each chapter around one major event or info reveal. You can be as vague and messy as you want for this step since you're the only one who'll get to see your outline anyway.

#2: Outline the scenes you want per chapter

You don't need to list everything that'll happen at this stage. These are the key scenes that you daydream about while listening to music or taking a walk. You can picture these scenes on vivid 4k.

#3: Write summaries of each scene

I put each chapter into a seperate document with their key scenes already there. Here's the phase where you just start telling yourself the story. Again, this isn't meant to be read and seen by anyone but you. The goal is just to know how the events are connected and will play out. This is also the part where I do most of my research.

For example, under Chapter 4 - Jace Recovers, I wrote:

Jace wakes up in Driftmark/High Tide. Body aching, barely can move. [Research here how long it takes to heal from broken arm and medieval casts.] Sees himself in the mirror for the first time and doesn't recognize himself. Has as existential crisis but because he's Jace, he channels the dread into wanting to keep fighting.

This is very short since it's a scene with no dialogue, just one character, and just one major plot point. Some of my summaries are 10x longer, especially for things like trials, small council scenes, battles, and other big events.

#4: Actually start writing the prose

Because you've done step #3, you won't be staring at a blank document and actually know how everything will play out. Without having to worry about plot consistency or inaccuracies since you've ironed that out in the previous step, you can focus on just making these things sound evocative or beautiful or punchy or comforting or angsty or whatever mood you want to communicate with your prose. The summary that was 55 words ended up being 750+ words after this step, and I breezed through it in one sitting.

#5: Plug the prose into a text-to-speech program

I don't have a beta-reader so this is basically my beta-reading step. There are plenty of free TTS apps out there and any of them will do. The goal here is to catch typos, see which lines sound clunky, repetitive, or disjointed, and make corrections accordingly. I listen to my own writing while doing chores, walking, or any other mundane task, and I find it the most enjoyble part of this process because it fills me with such a sense of accomplishment having that sort of tangibility in hearing my work.

Just to clarify, this is the process that I've tailored for my own personal needs and preferences. Every writer is different — some need to have a mood board or reference images or find summarizing their chapters removes the joy of "discovering" as they write. All those methods are perfectly valid as long as they get you to actually put words other people can read on a page. But you can't discover your own personalized method unless you actually start writing. It will be slow earnings at first, but eventually you will craft it bit by bit through trial and error.

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS REASONS WHY I WRITE SO QUICKLY

My job is not emotionally or physically draining, so I have plenty of energy for creative pursuits. If you go home exhausted, don't force yourself to churn out words. If this starts feeling like a chore and not fun, that's your signal to rest and take a break.

I write primarily on my mobile device. Because of this, I can write during downtimes and my commutes. There are some writers who have to be in front of a desk, but I recommend at least trying it on your phone just to see if it works for you.

If I don't want to write about it, then I don't. Don't ever feel like you have to write about anything if you don't want to. If there's a big battle that happens but you get bored writing action? Just tell the readers it happened in one or two sentences — no need to devote a whole scene or chapter to it if it doesn't excite you. Same with time passing and travel. You don't have to fill the page with paragraphs explaining what the characters did if you just want to get them from point A to B. If it isn't fun to write about, then your readers most likely won't have fun reading it either.

I don't care if it's not the best that I can do. Often, I do think I could have written certain things better and added more. But eh, it's fanfiction. It's a hobby. The fact that it exists and I created something is already an accomplishment and the desire to endlessly finetune gets in the way of that.

I have a community of fellow fanfic writers I can bounce ideas off of. Honestly, I got lucky with this one and just got invited to random server one day. But you can usually find discord servers with fellow fanfic writers linked in your fandom's subreddit.

I don't have twitter, instagram, tiktok, or other social media time sinks that might distract me from my hobby. This one speaks for itself. Tumblr is really the only place you can find me.

Anyway, I think that's pretty much it. I suggest starting small with a one-shot or short story, and then expanding from there. Happy writing, and remember, the goal really is to just have fun and be proud you made something with your own two hands (so absolutely NO AI).

[popatochisssp]

I miss reading something new from you, I really do enjoy your writing style, I always find it inspiring and fun and I hope you're doing well. Been rereading some old stuff and rn FGTC, been helping me while I recover from c*vid, and Sky has become a relatively new obsession for me now, I hope you get some free time for writing, I understand how annoying work is when it gets in the way of doing fun creative stuff, I've gotten so behind on crochet projects myself

Thank you!

I've been doing a bit of writing still, just a lot slower with big updates than I used to be, or I go off and update a shorts/one-shots collection instead of one of the longer stories I'm working on instead (priorities who? lol)

I've also been doing a lot of character/world-building stuff in Discord but that's not as visible/postable in terms of content.

Still fun stuff and I'm not sorry for it, but I do always wish I had more time to funnel into actual chapters of things and work is definitely the thing I blame for that one! 😂

[narelleart]

Oh! I just realized I never posted updates. It looks like the last anyone here heard about my academic pursuits was still mostly about recovering from my traumatic experience with my original PI.

My PI that I am doing the MS with is excellent, a fantastic mentor. I'm really happy to have gotten to work with her. She was exactly who I needed coming out of that bad situation.

If all goes well, I should be defending my MS thesis early this summer. Afterwards I'm scheduled to attend a conference and present on the same project.

I have been accepted to a new PhD program starting Fall 2024, so I'll also be moving again this summer. The PI I will be working with there is great. I think this time I'll have both a good research fit and a good mentorship fit. We already planned my dissertation chpaters out during recruitment (this usually happens over the course of your first year of the program so big deal that we knocked it out before even being officially admitted) and discussed making trips to Southeast Asia to sample fishes!

My MS was a detour into American Poeciliids, but I will be back to catfishes and Southeast Asian freshwater fishes when I start PhD take 2. I'm super excited!!

The part that feels a little odd is that until this semester, I was still officially in the system here as a PhD student so I've been very aware that I was supposed to be a 3rd year PhD at this point. It feels so strange to be going back to 1st year PhD. Other people enter PhDs with a MS, but those are typically MS degrees started with the intent to get an MS. I know the ropes of being a PhD student already but will be masquerading as a fresh new student. Weird.

[exitrowiron]

What are your thoughts of all the layoffs announced by the tech companies? How would you navigate this if you were laid off or not from one of these companies?

Great question!

Unfortunately I'm not surprised by the tech layoffs. Before I retired in early 2022 my company was regularly losing good (and not so good) software engineers to Microsoft, Facebook, Salesforce and Amazon. The compensation offers were off the charts and I didn't believe it was sustainable. I didn't blame them for leaving, but the compensation seemed too good to be true and in my experience situations like that rarely last (ex. real estate prices going up 15% year after year).

Although some tech firms had begun to announce minor trimming of their work force in Q3, it seems like Twitter really opened the floodgates. Now more companies could follow and once all the big tech employers were cutting, there was less risk of losing the most valuable, talented staff to competitors. My heart goes out to anyone impacted by the layoffs, but I firmly believe this disruption is temporary and talented software engineers will be in demand for a very long time.

What would I do if I was laid off?

Set a deadline (no more than a week) by which time you will stop feeling sorry for yourself, etc. Most people can probably think of reasons why they shouldn't have been cut, but it doesn't matter any more. Accept the unfortunately reality of your situation and get to work.

Take advantage of any outplacement services offered by your former employer, especially resume writing. The last time I sent a resume it was read by a human. That's not the case today. Make sure your resume has the necessary key words to get past the AI screener.

Work your network - personal, college, family, previous employers, LinkedIn. It still helps to have someone recommend you to the hiring manager and/or recruiter. At the very least it may help secure an interview. Don't be shy about telling people you've been laid off. Anyone with any professional experience knows that this isn't a personal shortcoming. Layoffs can happen to the best employees.

Get your financial house in order. Do a cash-flow forecast and assume you'll be out of work for six months. Eliminate/minimize unnecessary expenses but be sure to sign up for COBRA medical coverage. Don't let a mountain of debt accumulate - take part time gigs if you need to.

Update your skills/certifications.

If you're a software engineer, make sure your profile/projects in GitHub are a positive reflection of your skills.

What would I do if I wasn't laid off?

I was a senior executive in the corporate travel industry before and after 9/11 and the financial meltdown on 2008/9. In both cases business travel plummeted and the survival of the company required layoffs. Unlike the tech companies today, we weren't guilty of mindlessly pursuing growth at any cost, but we had to do layoffs just the same. I helped determine how many cuts were necessary across the company and had to layoff members of my team. In each case we tried to minimize the number of layoffs by cutting expenses/compensation at all levels.

When laying off people it is important to act with as much empathy as possible and to try to do it all at once, rather than leaving the remaining employees with the fear that their job may be cut later. It just as important to be fair - HR has to carefully review the recommendations to make sure that no group (especially protected groups) is being unfairly targeted.

As an executive who hadn't been laid off, I had to accept that many current and former employees would view me as one of the bad guys. In a situation like this, people need someone to blame and for some people that person was me. Layoffs destroy or at least significantly degrade a company's culture, impact productivity, damage it's reputation with customers and potential employees and it takes a long time (years) for those things to recover. Time, patience and genuine empathy are required.

Regardless of your job situation, it is a good habit to update your resume every year. Your CV shouldn't keep growing longer, but you should keep it current with your latest accomplishments while trimming the details of past.

Thanks for the question. Hope that helped.

[blazingstaro]

An update! LOTS O' DOTS IN STORE!

YOO GANG! Just letting you know that I'm still alive!

In fact I'm cooking up some real special stuff! It's currently in the scripting phase, but once I've gone far out enough, I'll get to drawing a whole bunch of this goodness and blasting it onto here!

You guys can thank Mags for this LOL This funny little catboy has given me a pile of content to give you guys while I'm fixing up DotS behind the scenes!

Once again, thanks for the help lil' guy XD He's been helping me out a lot, and has actually slipped over some really handy lore stuff that's become quite essential to DotS' story. He's been a good boy, I pROMiSE—

Just look at him! Totally innocent—

—ANYHOW! There's been some lore advancements/changes as of late, so DotS is going to need a little more time to bake than I expected. However these changes are AWESOME! And for episodes I've already written, it'll only require some tweaks or additions!

All the episodes I had before outside of the first story arc have basically been wiped clean, so I have an incredibly large and flexible clean slate to work with! AAH— so refreshing to have the old junk finally out of the way! (Main story beats remain intact, however! Just going along a vastly different approach and negating unnecessary content)

Problem with that though is that I have to basically rewrite/script most everything from the ground up following that first arc EEEEGGHHH— So yeah it's gonna require a little more time due to all that, but A LOT lately has been falling right into place, and my sweet little mystery puzzle is coming right together at last <33

It's a lot of work, but it'll pay off big time because this is the best version DotS has ever been! I just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I start producing pages of the main story again!

I accidentally hosed myself over 5 years ago by starting off so hastily before I had fully built my world. Then again, I initially expected this to be just a fun little diddly side thing and not a deep journey into the soul instead LOL

SO YEAH— that's why I've been quiet lately! Been busy writing a whole bunch, fixing some more things, and pumping out this side comic project! I'll have a separate post to give you guys the skinny on what I've had cooking in the kitchen for the past couple of weeks!

OH and I finally recovered from that stupid cold! (Not allergies turns out— some kinda super cold BLUGH)

AT LAST, I LIVE AND BREATHE AGAIN!