#but for now I'm having a lot of fun playing the game in the MOST tedious way possible

[leebrontide]

Hello!

I'm Lee (any pronouns), a middle aged queer writer from the midwest of the US. It's been a bit, so I'm doing another writeblr intro, to find more potential writeblr folks to chat with!

What I write:

- Mostly scifi! I have a bit of fantasy brewing in a collab project, but mostly, scifi.

- Queer stuff. Lots of different types of queerness.

- Community. Both in the group-hugs-and-support variety and the extreme-mess/everybodies-traumas-keep-smashing-into-each-other variety. I have training as a family therapist and am endlessly fascinated by interpersonal dynamics. This is the meat of my work.

- Grounded worldbuilding. My main project right now is near future scifi that diverges from our timeline around 2001. I'm enjoying the hell out of playing the US I know with some very key tweaks that changed society. I know a lot about medical systems, criminal justice systems, and legal systems and like using fantasy and scifi elements to show them as I know them. But like, in a way that should appeal to people who give 0 shits about US institutions.

- Disability stuff. Not that after-school-special shit. I am just tired of characters being generic pretty dolls whose physical attributes don't impact how they move through the world. That means not only writing a variety of different disabilities, but also different bodies. My characters aren't "inspiration porn" or just waiting around for less disabled characters to come save them. They are messy, with a wide array of relationships to their limitations and the things they use to cope with those limitations.

- YA into new adult. Not exclusively, but mostly. I really like taking characters from YA into early adulthood. Not just a standard coming-of-age arc, but the actually moving from a self-concept of a dependent teen into someone with legal responsibility for themselves, jobs, college, etc. Especially when combined with all of the above. I love a nice long character arc with lots of sub-arcs along the way.

What I have out, now.

- I have two books out so far, Secondhand Origin Stories and Names in Their Blood. I'm working on book 3 in that planned 5 book series now, which is currently titled Brittle Idols.

- I have a free monthly newsletter called Shed Letters where I talk about psychology, tech, queerness, storytelling, and the creative process, plus whatever random topic I've been researching for my books recently. Also contains pictures of my three very photogenic cats.

- Newsletter subscribers also have access to a novella I wrote that goes between Secondhand Origin Stories and Names in Their Blood, that's about an fictional AI (the only kind I like) trying to decide on a body for themself.

- I also draw and animate, with my first and still in-progress animation project being a "trailer" for Secondhand Origin Stories.

What I'm looking for

- writeblrs - especially writeblrs that aren't JUST writeblrs. I want to feel like I'm meeting people, at least in some manner, rather than just hearing about a product in process. That doesn't have to mean deep confessions or private information, but honestly I'm not likely to remember you for your writing project alone. Sorry. Please show me what else you care about!

- Bonus points for queer or disabled scifi or fantasy writers.

- I am white for most intents and purposes but I always want to find more AOC who write sci fi.

- Also always excited to meet more YA authors- especially the currently kinda sidelined YA scifi.

- People who care about where society is going but aren't posting that everything is doomed and pointless. I mean you post whatever you want but I don't need that on my dash. That shit is not helping me help.

I sometimes do ask games? It's fun when I have the time. It'd be fun to have more folks to do them with, provided those folks are patient.

Please interact if this has piqued your interest!

[kuroitsuki007]

Tease (Dabi x Reader)

 You hated this time of your cycle. It was the week right before your period, and you were extremely horny. It has always been such a frustrating thing to deal with. But of course, your boyfriend had the most fun here. Dabi has always been such a sadist and he gets off on seeing you beg for him. He knew exactly what he was doing to rile you up on a daily basis. He would make sure he would brush up against you to grab something above you from behind so you could feel how hard he was, or randomly plant little kisses on your neck and collarbone while you watched TV. Sometimes, he would even playfully smack your ass while you did chores, or kiss you deeply in the middle of your sentences at random, or rub your hips while you napped. It drove you absolutely crazy. When you got in these moods you had to have Dabi right then and now, but he made sure to pull away whenever you reached for his belt. The same annoying smirk on his face with that irritating snicker of his. He was so sexy you couldn’t stand it. You couldn’t stand how wet he made you when he messed with you like this. You try to take care of it and soothe that ache, but it was never enough.

      This was a pattern in the relationship for the last couple of months and you were over it. You just wanted him to touch you. You wanted him to pin you against the wall and fuck your brains out until you beg for him to stop. You wanted him to leave your legs shaking and have you in bed tired and snoring from how good it was. So, today you decided you were going to figure out how to make him break first. You knew he was coming back home today from an overnight LOV mission and should be home any minute now. You wore one of your most form fitting skirts and a top that leaves a lot of cleavage exposed as you wait for him on the couch. After 20 minutes of mindlessly watching tv, trying to distract yourself from the dirty thoughts of everything you wanted him to do to you, Dabi returns, removing his boots at the front door. You get up to greet him, hugging him tightly. “Welcome back babe,” you say, making sure to press your breasts tightly against his chest.

    Dabi raises an eyebrow, suspecting you’re up to something as he walks to the bar stool in the living room and has a seat at the bar. “You alright baby?” he asks. You walked over towards him, swaying your hips seductively. “Yeah, I just really..missed you,” you say, rubbing his chest a bit with your fingers slowly leaning over to make your skirt raise a bit. Dabi runs his hand through his hair getting a bit frustrated by your actions, knowing  what you’re doing and he was too tired to play these games with you. He remembers what time of the month it is and knows how needy you get. Dabi always knew you were a brat, and it’s been awhile since he put you in your place and you’ve forgotten yourself. He’s decided to give you exactly what you’re craving this time. Not without having a little fun with you first. 

    Dabi roughly grips your face in his hand making you look him in the eye. “You really think this shit is cute don’t you?” “What do you mean babe?” you mumble softly in response, sensing how much you pissed him off. Dabi smirks looking into you eyes, then he spins you around pining you to the bar as he whispers in your ear. "I'm gonna give you exactly what you want to soothe you baby, but not until I punish you for that shit you just pulled," He says as he trails soft kisses down your neck. He starts to snake his hands under your shirt and gropes and fondles your breasts as he bites and sucks on your collarbone. A moan leaves your lips wanting more of his touch. You can feel the bulge in his pants press up against your ass and it's turning you on more. Dabi starts to brush his fingers in slow teasing circles around your nipples through your bra. It's driving you crazy, as you squirm under his touch with a few soft whimpers. You feel him smirk against your skin. "Look at you, getting so worked up already and I haven't even touched you yet. 

    He starts to unhook your bra, letting the straps slide down your shoulders a bit. He starts to pinch your nipples and you can't help but bite your lip. Dabi trails his hands lower and starts to lift your skirt, taking a good look at the lacy panties you're wearing, licking his lips. He rubs his palm against your ass slowly and gives it a firm smack making you moan loudly. "You like when I spank you huh slut?"  Dabi asks as his hand lands another, your cheeks starting to redden as you nod. "What a dirty little whore. You dirty little whore. You won't pull that teasing bullshit with me again now will you?" He spanks you harder tears welling in your eyes as you try to speak. "Never again...I'm sorry.." He smacks your ass again. "I'm sorry what? I can't hear you." "I'm sorry Daddy, I'll never do it again!" You yell. "Good. I'm the only one doing the teasing here." His hand lands against your skin once more with a sting and your legs start to tremble. Dabi yanks you back by your hair and gives you a deep and passionate kiss. Dabi's starts to teasingly grind his hard dick against you as he shoves his tongue in your mouth. His fingers exploring your body trailing lower down to your panty line. It makes you start to kiss him more hungrily, but he pulls away. 

    "No, no, no.. Not yet love," he says dipping his hand into your panties making your breath hitch as he kisses your neck again. He lets out a groan already feeling the heat come off your pussy and he can smell how aroused you are. He can't resist and dips his fingers down to feel how wet you are. "Fuck, your dripping baby, you want my dick in you that bad?" he asks teasingly. "Yes daddy.. more than anything." He kisses you again. "Such a good whore for me.” He strokes your cheek, giving it a small tap. He starts to circle his fingers around your clit and you let out a soft moan as you bite your lip. “You like that baby?” he whispers in your ear as he kisses your cheek pressing into your clit more. You breathe heavily trying to form words to respond. “Yes…more please.” “Mmm please what? I can’t hear ya babe.” Dabi replies with his usual smirk. “More please daddy!” He chuckles as he circles your clit faster. You can already feel your legs get weak from the intense feeling of need that was already starting to build. Your legs buckle a bit, but Dabi catches you and makes you stand. “No running baby girl. This is what you fucking wanted so you take it like a good slut, alright.” You start to moan louder as he shoves a finger into your wet cunt and you whimper enjoying the feeling. 

    “Mmm…I can feel you clenching around me baby, it’s so tight. I need to stretch you back out, huh?” he pushes a second fingering into you and you let out a loud moan. Dabi feels it vibrate against him making his dick harder as he speeds up fingering you. He takes in the lewd sounds of how wet you are and he is about to lose it. Your moans get louder and more consistent as you squeeze around his fingers and he can’t help but growl and moan. He knows you are getting close to orgasming. “Aww baby, you’re about to cum aren’t you?” You nod and whimper as your legs start to shake signaling it’s not far now. Dabi smirks looking you in the eye. “Sike.” he laughs as he pulls his fingers away, edging you. You pout and glare and he can’t help but smile. He knows you're upset, and some part of him still can’t deny you anything when you look this cute. He unbuckles his belt and starts to stroke his throbbing cock, getting it ready as he commands, “I want you in there on the bed naked for me in 3 minutes, understand?” You nod and rush to the bedroom doing as you're told. “Good girl.”

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

More silly MXTX polls to mull over for the week:

[nikatyler]

Update

Hey guys,

I'm sure you've seen this coming, but I'm going to have to cancel Michael's BC. Between my health issues and stupid need to have too many projects scattered across too many places on the internet all at once, I don't think I'll be able to do it, at least not anytime soon. I'm really sorry, I was looking forward to it too, and then other things went down.

Feel free to use your contestants in your own games, naturally, or put them up for public download. I may still do the BC in the future but I highly doubt it.

Thank you for your patience and once again, sorry for letting you down.

[seaofreverie]

I was about to start throwing plates because even though hours have passed, the messages on my deco my tree just wouldn't load and in all honesty I was looking forward to reading those more than getting my christmas presents. But looks like making an account on another sketchy website that was linked on that already also sketchy website did give me access to the messages finally. The only problem is that i can't see who they're from but also they seem to be chronological so I think I can figure it out lol. So after some frustrations i can finally say that i have read them and they were really sweet and nice.... so, thank you friends!!!!! 💝 I hope your holidays were great too. And moral of the story is don't trust random websites like these with something that's sort of personal to you idk

[seventh-district]

tfw you're trying to write a Genshin fic but ur memory is shit so u have to leave urself [REMINDERS] to come back and correct your spelling/figure out NPC names/scour the wiki to double-check character and story lore, because if u even so much as glance away from the google doc in the moment you'll lose all of your writing momentum

coughs [link to some other (better) excerpts from the fic since the post didn't make it into the tags and i'm too lazy to remake it]

[kogiopsis]

Can't stop making new Tavs, send help.

Meet Orlaith, a Tiefling warlock whose fey patron provides her with power in exchange for mortal gold. (IE, I wanted to do a 'how much can I REALLY accumulate' run and gave her an in-world reason).

So far we're in the Underdark and over 17k... on Tactician, too. The experiment is going well.

[sylphwing]

did not recall the battle ui in pkmn x/y looking this bad so i looked it up and turns out u can customise it later which is kind of cool actually. and also a feature i did not remember in the slightest

[greyedian]

oh my god I was thinking about a jayvik fallout new vegas AU and was like "hm maybe Viktor uploads himself into one of those robots until he can get a different body by like repurposing power armor or something idk" and then I remembered that this guy's name actually is Victor

[snowstories]

The problem with BOTW is that it's obnoxiously popular in the LOZ fandom to the detriment of other games but also unfortunately it's genuinely really really fun to write fanfic for.

[avatarofwar]

i saw you talk about wolf a few times from sekiro and was wondering if you'd want to share more of your thoughts on him or sekiro as a whole, the game really interests me compared to other dark souls games so i wanted to ask

sorry for the late reply but oh boy do I have thoughts abt wolf. trying not to spoil the game, so I'm gonna refrain from talking about the story. might go into just restating known things about the game, but I'd much rather play it safe and not spoil the story

before going to that. the game is very much different from dark souls (setting wise, while taking place in a fictional country it is in a historical setting. I cannot comment on the setting properly bc I don't know much about the time period, however), most notably in the combat (primarily shifting from a dodge-centric playstyle to a parry-centric playstyle (significantly easier than dark souls/elden ring parrying, however), with dodges having significantly shorter i-frames and being very unreliable for dodging attacks). it's very different but something I really enjoy, even if I'm not as good as I am at typical soulsborne combat. it's really fun when you get the hang of it, and while I might not be The Best at it (which is mostly bc of how different it is from soulsborne games, so ofc I'm not as good at is as I am at the other fromsoft games I've played), it's something I can still enjoy

a huge thing about sekiro is the difference in how the story is told. in soulsborne games the story is something you have to figure out; progressing through the main path doesn't give you enough to piece everything together if you don't read any lore. with sekiro, however, the story is significantly more obvious, on account of the playable character having unique ties to the world and its characters, rather than going the soulsborne route of being one of many people (wording hard, but the chosen undead for example is no one special, just one of many undead trying to link the flame). it's a very different method of storytelling, but is still something really good. for as much as I adore having to actively hunt down lore and story in soulsborne games, it's also great experiencing story through natural game progression

wolf is also canonically disabled (loses his left arm at the start of the game) and has a really fucking cool prosthetic that is a whole part of the combat system (even though I personally keep forgetting to use it). so good for him. he deserves a prosthetic that can have deadly weaponry attached to it. like a mini-flamethrower. he deserves a mini-flamethrower, as a treat.

putting the wolf thoughts beneath a read more because this is getting long and I might spoil some stuff (mostly relationship with another character, I'll try to refrain from story spoilers. also spoilers in general, but there might be some), and he has definitely become a blorbo (additionally, content warning for abuse)

first of all. wolf makes me want to throw myself off a cliff and I mean this in the most positive way ever. he is great and I love him but man he needs so much fucking therapy and he doesn't even realise it (therapy probably doesn't exist in that time period, but besides the point). he is very much traumatised and has been heavily shaped by it and doesn't even know it.

prior to the events of the game (I forgot how long ago it was) he was orphaned by war and got taken in by owl, a shinobi and also a piece of fucking garbage. owl raises wolf to be a shinobi under the iron code, with the number one rule being loyalty to his father (owl), with his master (kuro, the divine heir) a close second (and also to give his life for his master if necessary. which is also a whole other thing to get into).

owl is very explicitly abusive. he raises wolf as a tool rather than a person, and that upbringing severely affects wolf as a character - he is an incredibly capable shinobi, but lacks any skills other than that; he does not know how to be a proper person, he is a loyal wolf, but he does not know how to be anything other than that. hell, without spoiling too much about the context, there is a cutscene in which owl actively attempts to guilt trip wolf, going as far as using fake tears (saying anything specific is very spoilery. this isn't even the only horrid thing he's done, but I'm trying to refrain from too many spoilers).

wolf canonically does not value himself without anyone to serve (we see this at the beginning of the game, as events prior to the start of the game not yet known about leads him to believe he has no one to serve, and thus no purpose, so he isolates himself from the world in a well for 3 years). while he does have compassion for others (most notable example being concern over victims of dragonrot), he starts off the game driven primarily by duty. he is loyal to a fault, willing to do anything for kuro, but also valuing his service to kuro more than himself (cannot remember the exact wording, but when kuro expresses concern for how many times wolf has died for him, wolf states that it does not matter as it was in service to him).

there's also the fact that wolf canonically eats uncooked rice and genuinely doesn't know - as a fully grown adult - you are supposed to cook it, which is... genuinely something awful if you truly think about it and what more it implies about his upbringing especially considering it's one of the most basic things you could learn how to make (just... says a lot about owl if you seriously think about it).

he is a loyal wolf, but he doesn't know how to be more than that. he doesn't know how to just... exist for himself, to be his own person separate of his duty and he doesn't even recognise just how fucked up it is, because how could he, when he was shaped into this as a child, when his own father wanted him to be nothing more than a tool to use.

I could say a lot more about his relationships with other characters (that are actually good people) and how it just. makes me lose my mind, but this post is almost 1k words. so, simply put, kuro genuinely caring about him makes me so fucking emotional, especially bc of owl; his father might be horrible and an abuser, he might not know how to be more than he was raised, but at the very least he can serve someone who actively cares about him and his wellbeing.

[malachitezmeyka]

I actually survived 100 days in my Minecraft world and didn't die once lmao

[anime-scarves]

GBVSR continues to be a lot of fun. Streaming it is also pretty chill and viewer interaction has been good. It helps that you can very easily do friendlies with viewers or anyone by going into a lobby and just meeting them there. I mostly got destroyed by better players but there it is a big learning experience.

As for playing, I'm getting better! My goals today were to have fun, use my meter/supers more, and actually hit anti air combos. I definitely had fun, I am getting more comfortable with my super, and anti air definitely needs work still but I was hitting more. I also discovered the magic of being aggressive with raging strikes to gain resource advantage, and then also discovered the pain of having better players spot dodge it and be able to do enormous punishes. It's definitely very powerful but can't get too predictable with it. All of that together was enough to get me up to B! I was expecting to languish in C for awhile but here I am.

I did not expect to pick up fighting games so quickly tbh. I think if GBVSR didnt have simple inputs i'd still be toast cause I struggle to do the simple inputs sometimes and I can only imagine I would not be getting my corner combos with technical inputs lol. The free version + beginner friendly systems is a huge winner for being able to pick up the game and get new players invested in it.

[limboneto]

Now that all the relevant characters have been brought up I must scream from the rooftops--

An excerpt from my notes app the other day

This started out as a silly fun "What if" because of Tomodachi Life. No seriously 😂😅

Eidal and Vena were supposed to get together in that game, but Eidal ended up with someone else and was madly in love with them so I decided "Ugh fine, then I guess... Vena and Mae" (cuz Kana wasn't added at the time) and bro... Vena and Mae being so cute and lovey with each other had me go "Haha wonder what that'd actually be like with the actual characters"

...... and I absolutely love it???? All four work really well in my mind??? I'm????

Eidal × Vena × Kana was already gonna be my goal, but adding Mae??? Further adds some angst, wholesomeness, fun shenanigans, and so much more I can't 😭👏🏻💕✨️💜

Eidal and Vena are the types to have things bottled up at the beginning of the story. Each for different reasons, but they're both quite reserved, though Vena even more than Eidal at first. Eidal starts falling for Vena first, but both get feelings for the other over time but just refuse to say anything until WAY later because they both believe there's no way the other feels the same (despite both having access to abilities that let's them see how someone is feeling)

They're absolute blushing dorks about it and Tilo watches the whole time like 😑 just wanting them to spit it out already because jeez it's awkward

Vena and Eidal are also incapable of sleeping (literally), so most nights are spent relaxing in each other's presence if they each haven't gotten stuck with either Mae or Kana falling asleep on them/their laps

Vena and Mae both bond over feeling immense guilt in the parts they've each played in the plot, and both help each other heal over time. Each starting out believing they don't deserve love or even friends but assuring each other that they absolutely do

They're very sweet and gentle with each other but still have fun joking around eventually

Kana and Mae are both mischievous shits together and Mae enjoys helping Kana with some of the crazier inventions but also the general ones. They're both the types to talk about techy stuff and a lot of it goes over Eidal and Vena's heads. Kana and Mae also ground each other really well

Eidal and Mae start off as mainly friends or queer platonic, but get a lot closer as time goes on and trust each other completely even before a relationship is established with them and the others. Even after finding out Mae's involvement with some big events/characters, Eidal doesn't care and knows she was forced into her role

I may or may not have a random scene in my head where Eidal is dying in Mae's arms but assures her nobody hates her for what she's done and says that they trust her no matter what lifetime they're in

Once Eidal let's loose later on and feels more comfortable being a bit more carefree and open they are just as chaotic as Kana and Mae some days. Vena loves them each dearly but it's that meme of the person struggling to hold the leashes of 2 other people but also add Mae now

Kana and Vena both bond over having shitty divine parents and what that was like growing up. Vena with a parent that leaned into the whole "I made you so you listen to me I'm all powerful no I'd never make a mistake ever you're just a bad kid" and Kana's parent being very overbearing and affectionate but also high energy and messed up and possibly telling Kana she may have to take them (the Gods) all out some day. No pressure. These two like to have long calm talks and often can go well into the night until Kana drifts off to sleep

Kana and Eidal having grown up together and Kana telling the others how messed up Eidal's family is and the others immediately being ready to throw down upon visiting. While Eidal is also a Godling, they've never met their divine parent but Kana assures them that's for the better and they are inclined to agree. These two mesh really well and bonded over childhood

Anyways thank you if you read this far! Kinda just dumping my thoughts here but I've been having so much fun thinking of this group!

Have a bonus doodle from almost midnight last night!

[archaeren]

How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) (Edit from the future: I answered an ask with more explanation on how I use Notion for non-linear writing here.) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)

[racke7]

Roleplaying in DOS2

As is known by now, I have a lot of opinions about Divinity 2. Both its story and its combat-mechanics.

But it occurred to me today that one of the big reasons I just can't get into the roleplaying-part of this game is that... it's romance-based.

Oh, you don't have to seduce your companions, but it's still working on that same affection-meter you might expect from a dating-sim. Except now it's set in a world where there are way more important things to worry about.

See, when a VN you play has romance in it? That's not between "you" and the "target", it's between the "main-character" and the "target". They often already have a long and complicated history together, and at best you're just kind of there as a peeping-tom and an excellent wing-man.

The main-character is so clearly defined in the text, that projecting yourself onto them is a bit like projecting yourself onto a random rock you found on the ground. You can maybe do it, but like... why.

In a more open-world RPG? This isn't really the case anymore. You're a blank-slate (even if you play an origin-character, the complete freedom from their "original" selves just sends you back to being a blank-slate).

You create this character, and you decide on what it should be considering "important".

(This is a lot harder in DOS2 than Skyrim, because it's a lot more rail-roaded. So you can't just "opt out" of interacting with things that "don't apply" to your character.)

And you do this by playing the game and picking dialogue-options that don't contradict them too much. Except, with how Divinity works as an open-world game where you're basically doing all of the quests and then murdering all of the quest-givers for a few more slivers of EXP?

It's blatantly obvious to anyone that the main thing on the main-character's mind? It's murder.

They might be delighting in it, or they might just be trying to murder people for money and loot, or you might be trying to help people out a bit on your way to divinity. But at the end of the day, the character you're playing as is mostly concerned about killing or not-killing people.

Romance? The world is under siege, people are dying every minute, you need to figure out if this person is more useful to you dead or alive, how can you get strong enough to survive the onslaught-...

You have priorities, is what I'm saying. And then the game wants you to listen to the emotional opinions about a bunch of people whose opinions of you is the only thing keeping them from becoming an active obstacle to you.

It's a fucking dating-sim, is what I'm saying. And even if it's simplistic, the result is that your companions are always teetering on the edge of becoming inconvenient, in a world and situation where you're actively murdering everyone who isn't convenient.

So, whereas in Skyrim I can roleplay as a mercenary, or a thief, or a mage almost entirely through gameplay alone? In DOS2 I'm mainly limited in roleplaying about if I want to fuck a skeleton, or an elf, or if I want to be a racist-lizard's side-piece.

Now, this isn't true if you discard the origin-characters and play with a friend (or friends), because then your main goal can be about saving the world, or claiming the power of Divinity all to yourself, or about trying to scam your friends out of as much cash as you can manage, or even something patently ridiculous like "collect all cheese in the world" (because your friends will be the one forcing the story to progress, and you're just following them around for more cheese-opportunities).

But for recruiting a bunch of origin-characters? It always circles back to romance, and it's-...

Look, I get that this is fine for a lot of people? DOS2 comes from a culture where "I roll to seduce" is a common approach, but like... there's a reason that I've only ever gotten married once in all of my Skyrim-playthroughs (and I immediately went from "married" to "settled down enough that there's no point in playing as them anymore").

Romance in an RPG? Miss me with that shit, let me be a crazy roving band of murder-hobos in peace.

So yeah, these feelings? I'm pretty sure that this plays a very big part in why I find it so difficult to actually get deep into this game. I don't want to seduce anyone, I don't want to sit back and watch from a distance how an origin-character has a deep character-evolving chat with some quest-npc.

I just want to make decisions about life-or-death in an endless quest for power.