#by which i mostly mean i'm going to make a new folder every time i get a new type of email

[epsilonnot]

have a brand new email account for grad school which means i have the opportunity here to actually be organized for once in my life

[al-the-remix]

TikTok Chef!Buck AU: several sentences sunday (or something like that)

I'm close to finishing the fic I've been working on so I finally felt like I could write a little something based off this headcannon without feeling too guilty about it, lol. 2k of mostly crack, please enjoy.

It all starts when Tommy’s stuck on his couch for a week with a sprained knee. He wishes he could claim it happened doing something heroic–or at the very least badass–but in truth it was the result of letting his ego get the best of him at the squat rack. 

Lucy stops by a few times to keep him company, which really means letting herself in unannounced with her spare key, eating all the leftovers in his fridge, and offering an unsolicited running critique of whatever show he’s watching. Today it was Below Deck reruns. 

“If I ever decide to take a vacation on a boat, tackle me, this shit does not look worth it.”

“You really don’t have to be here you know,” Tommy says, leaning over to grab some chips from the near-empty bag she was cradling before they were all gone. He’d been looking forward to eating those for dinner and feeling sorry for himself. 

Lucy just snorts. “Please, if I wasn’t here you’d already be up to something ill advised. I caught you looking up deck chair patterns earlier, power tools don’t go well with injuries, Tommy, even if it’s only carpentry.”

Well, she had him there. 

At least she had the decency to order them Chinese take out for dinner so he wouldn’t have to Instacart a can of soup or something equally pathetic. 

Before she left she made a grabby hand at him. “Give me your phone.”

“Why?” Tommy asks, already suspicious. 

She met his suspicion with boredom. “Don’t ask stupid questions, just do it.”

Rolling his eyes, he hands it over, giving into her whim, and maybe he should find it a little more unsettling that she already seems to know his password off by heart. 

She clicks around for long enough that Tommy starts getting nervous: what was the last text message he sent? Was it embarrassing? Were all his nudes still in that locked folder? Did she know the password for that too? Just when he was going to start asking questions she tosses his phone back. “Here, this should keep you entertained for a while,” she explains as he scrambles to catch it. “My niece wastes hours of her life on this crap.”

“Such ringing endorsement,” Tomy grumbles, she’s downloaded some kind of video app onto his phone. TikTok. Perfect. He’d heard of that one, apparently it was single handedly ruining a whole generation’s attention span and the Chinese government was using it to spy on the inner lives of teenagers with stupid haircuts and a critical lack of social skills. 

“Are you sure you didn’t just give me some kind of virus?” Tommy asks, clicking around the home page arbitrarily, the UI didn’t make a lick of sense. 

“Har, har. You were always good at picking up new skills, I’m sure you’ll figure this out in no time. I have faith in you,” she says, clapping him hard enough on the shoulder to make him wince. 

He finds his profile page by total mistake. His username reads: benchedcockwrangler.

“How do I change this?” he asks, waving his phone at her as she makes for the door. 

“You don’t,” she says, without looking back. “Don’t stay up on that thing all night, it will ruin your sleep schedule!”

Tommy winces as the front door slams and sighs. He’ll figure out how to change it later. After all, beggars can’t be choosers and three days into his mandatory medical leave he’s already so bored he’s ready to stab his eyes out with hot pokers just to mix it up a bit. 

He scrolls through the app, and based on most of what he sees he finds himself unable to justify its existence in the first place. It feels like every video he watches drags him into a deeper alternate universe where everyone’s wholeheartedly competing for the top of the podium at the Darwin Awards. 

There’s a woman digging tunnels under her apartment that Tommy is positive are not up to code (that’s a call just waiting to happen); and two young ladies mixing cocktails of a concerning hue and variety at random local establishments (not necessarily anything that would warrant a trip to the ER but potentially a health code violation); and what seems like an ungodly number of men hosting podcasts (Tommy is pretty sure that even during his darkest days rotting in the closet he had a better batting average picking up women than any of these bozos.)

Tommy’s eyes start to glaze over as he scrolls past comedians, and political commentators, and people reviewing romance novels, and–how has it already been forty minutes?

He’s about ready to give up and throw his phone across the room and leave it there until Lucy shows up tomorrow and he can make her delete it off his phone, when catchy music, an arm roped with muscle, and a criminally tight shirt sleeve catches his attention. 

It’s some kind of cooking video and his first impression is: how is anyone supposed to understand what’s going on with edits that fast? His second impression is: hot man. Man hot.

Soon his brain is catching up with his eyes, kickstarting like a toddler being exposed to sugar for the first time. 

Cooking might be a generous description for what’s going on here. The man is obviously skilled, but the main focus of the video seems to be how hot he looks in an apron (very) and whether it’s possible to bring half a peach to completion by finger blasting the pit out of it (not like, whether or not you should pre-bake your tart crust to achieve an ideal texture). 

Tommy has to watch it twice just to fully absorb everything that’s going on. He’s making some kind of deconstructed peach crumble topped with an obscene amount of whipped cream and steak with fries that looks fancier than anything Tommy’s ever eaten at a restaurant. 

Half way through the video the man wipes down the worktop shirtless with a cloth sudsy enough to make Tommy’s mouth go instantly dry then suddenly wet enough he’s forced to swallow. 

He clicks through to ChefFirehose’s profile just to, you know, get a better sample size. Tommy’s not above letting himself be manipulated by a man with biceps like melons and a cute smile. 

His profile description reads: LA resident, self-taught, putting out fires and saving lives in my spare time. Just here to give the food the appreciation it deserves. Let me show off for you 😉.

Tommy thinks this guy must be new to town, because living nearly a decade even in a city as sprawling and overcrowded as LA, he doesn’t know how he could miss running into this guy on the job. There was no way he wouldn’t remember a guy this hot even through turnouts, a helmet, and smeared in a thick layer of soot.

He starts working his way back through ChefFirehose’s videos, and some are admittedly a little less chaotic than the rest, but all of them are just tongue-and-cheek enough that Tommy feels confident he’s just one in close to a million people in on a joke and not enabling someone’s very real personality disorder. 

He’s stuck somewhere between disbelief and admiration. He definitely wouldn't have the balls to post this on the internet for everyone to see and so obviously thirst over. He braves the comment section on a few of the videos and it’s just a litany of horned-up men and women trying their best to make ChefFirehose laugh, or get in his pants, or both. He replies to almost all of his comments with either a smirking emoji or acting deliberately oblivious when someone tries to bait him into giving up the bit. Tommy finds him funny and maybe a little more endearing than he should after ten videos. 

Tommy can’t really blame them for trying to shoot their shot so shamelessly. ChefFirehose’s wardrobe consists of polos plastered so tight to his skin that Tommy was mildly concerned about restricted blood circulation, dress shirts buttoned dangerously low, and slacks that wrap snugly around miles of long, toned leg. 

Those weren’t Tommy’s favorite looks though. No, every so often a video would start and he’s be dressed down in soft looking sweatpants, a baseball cap pushed on backwards plastering his auburn curls to his forehead, and a white tank top–or if Tommy was really lucky, no shirt at all (sometimes not even the apron which Tommy had mixed feelings about...), his muscled arms and shoulders on full display. He’s got tattoos decorating his forearms that Tommy can’t quite make out, a collection of fine lines on pale skin like thin ribbons of chocolate drizzled over a crape. 

Those videos are most often breakfast related and ChefFirehose is barefoot in his kitchen, the warm sunlight casting his face in gold. He paints such an enticing tableau it’s all too easy for Tommy’s brain to plop himself right down in that scene, imagination running wild. He can so easily picture what it would be like: in that kitchen, feeling the warm cast of sun on his face and getting to watch built, handsome man make him breakfast with that flirty confidence of his. 

Tommy bookmarks a video of him making an omelet, the way he handles the eggs making Tommy blush like he’s a schoolgirl and not a man pushing forty. He feels less guilty about getting hard over it on the sofa surrounded by takeout containers than he probably should.  

The screen goes suddenly black and Tommy’s faced with his own reflection in the finger smudged screen, chin rolls and all. Fuck. He reaches for his charger. God, his life was depressing at the moment, and apparently he really needs to get laid.

So yeah, by the time his two weeks of recovery are up he’s feeling a little stir crazy in an entirely different way than before. He’s never been more glad to get back to work, put some of this weirdness behind him and get some much needed distance from his phone.

That’s only part of the reason why he doesn’t even think twice when Howie calls him for a favor. A big favor. And that was only the first of many surprises the universe had in store for him, apparently.

Even fully clothed in his LFD uniform Tommy recognises him. Evan. Evan, Evan, Evan, (Tommy repeats over and over in his head until it drowns out every other name Tommy’s assigned him the past few weeks: slutty egg guy, ChefBigDick, totally off limits boyfriend material–just to name a few).

“So you’re the guy who’s gonna fly us into a hurricane.” Evan sounds a little breathless, like maybe he jogged all the way here, and Tommy chalks it up to the high that accompanies stealing government property. “Chim said you were the best pilot he knows and good in a pinch, but I still thought there was no way anyone that good would agree to something this crazy.”

Tommy’s definitely starting to feel a little crazy. Evan’s still shaking his hand. His grip is solid, his fingers long and nimble, surprisingly soft against this palm (he must really lather on the hand lotion) and Tommy can’t stop thinking about all the talented things he knows they can do. 

 “That’s me. Though I’m pretty sure I’m just the only pilot Howie knows who's in town at the moment.” 

“You look good to me–capable, I mean.” Evan gives him a solid smack on the shoulder with his free hand. His mouth does something funny like he's trying to hold back the sheer force of his excitement by his teeth. “Solid.”

His eyes are even bigger and brighter in person, smile softer, even taller than Tommy presumed. Howie’s giving them a weird look from over Evan’s shoulder. The other man with them, Eddie, isn’t paying them any attention, checking out the other helicopters parked on the apron instead, and Tommy forces himself to pull his hand out of Evan’s warm grip. 

Tommy clears his throat. “Good to know. I’ll show you guys the bird we’ll be taking. I've got her all gassed up and ready to go.”

He just met his (internet) celebrity crush and the man of his dreams, and now Tommy was going to get him killed in one of the most spectacular ways imaginable. It seems like they’re all headed for the Darwin Awards this time.

[cityof2morrow]

Mod Organizing & Load Order Shenanigans

Published: 5-1-2024 | Updated: N/A MOD ORGANIZING During the [first] "pandemic summer," I started reorganizing my game folders. I also started  a "conflict management" list, containing all the known conflict info from download pages, new conflicts I discover while playtesting, etc. It's 44 pages long at the moment....a testament to my unapologetic mod addiction. I encourage all simmers to keep a list like this. It’s very reassuring (and handy!) to be able to look up known conflicts or keep track of mods which have been merged (duplicate files can break your game FAST!).  **I won’t be able to share mine at this time but most of my info comes from the same pages where I download CC/mods - shout out to the creators who take the time to include this info.

MY LOAD ORDER(S) I number my folders and use mostly lower case filenames to force the load order I want – these were the most important changes I made re: how I maintain a heavily-modded-but-still -very-functional game. With few exceptions, this has been much more effective than keeping track of the number of z's and cases. It also means I don't need to rename downloaded files - I just put them in the right folder. When I played exclusively on mac, I learned that numbering the store cc folders was the ONLY way I could get all the content to work. I never figured out why but I imagine it was because the mac series doesn't include expansions required for some of this content.

DETAILS (the codes) I put that grad school debt...I mean...those grad school research skills to good use and made up my own codes. Here they are... 0= files needed in every save aka my "essentials." These include repair files, shader/UI files, CEPs, global probes (like scriptorium, money globals, inteen checker, inventory checker, etc).

1= mods that do NOT need a load order, some OFB-themed sets I want to keep separate from other CC - like the #co2bellabrand or upcoming #co2cdkseries stuff.

2= mods that require a hard load order. As @episims writes HERE, this only works for mods with non-game-breaking conflicts between them. Only the last mod in the sequence will retain ALL its intended functions. The code for this section goes like this: [number]-[what the mod deals with in-game; i make sure to consider alphabetical order]-[load order number] -name of the mod(s)

I have several global mods that need to load as close to LAST as possible. These folders all start with "2-z-[load order #]-." The "2" tells me they need to load in a certain order and the "-z" makes them load after all the other #2 folders.

See Object Freedom 1.02 (@fwaysims, 2023) and Shiftable Everything (@lamare-sims, 2022) both load at #78? I don't have them BOTH in game at the same time, but giving them the same number ensures that the right load order stays no matter which one i'm paying with. 3 = build mode and neighborhood deco/defaults

4= buy mode

"ts1," "ts3," and similar labels = content that was converted for Sims 2.

5=CAS/bodyshop

OTHER DETAILS I also label folders with certain "type codes" - these tell me things like whether they add permanent data to my saves (custom memories, careers, foods, etc. do this) or whether they are maxis-match. Here are some examples:

-BIN = mod files which go in the program folders -DEF = default replacement -MEM = this content includes custom memory data -MM = maxis-match or an add-on for default game furniture -ADD = content that is not maxis-match -NPC = this content includes or changes one or more NPCs -FIX  or -EDIT = this is a fixed or uniquely edited version of a pre-existing mod -BETA and -TEST = this mod is unfinished and/or a test version Remember, conflicts do not always mean something has to be removed from your game, nor are all conflicts unresolvable. No matter what kind of method(s) you use to organize your game – it’s just important to try/have at least one in the cut.

CREDITS Thanks: Episims, PleasantSims, and all simmers who include load order/conflict notes. Sources: Beyno (Korn via BBFonts), EA/Maxis, Forcing the Load Order of Mods (whoward/Pick’N’MixSims, 2021 via sims2tutorials), Image(s) (Alexander, 2016), Offuturistic Infographic (Freepik).

...Oh and yes...I AM in fact an INTJ/Capricorn.

[elderberries-and-honey]

𝙈𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 & 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜

A while back I received this question asking if I'd mind explaining what my creative process is like and some wanted further explanation about what goes into planning multiple generations & arcs. I do apologize that this is so overdue, and it's literally taken me months to get to. My process is always changing, and I'm constantly adding in pieces that help make the process easier. Because of this, the way I answered the question back then is also quite outdated, at least in terms of how I plan each shoot/post, and I'll hopefully provide further clarification below the cut.

However, first and foremost, I want to say I am by no means an expert and different processes work for different people. Your creative process might look totally different than mine, and that's okay! Whatever keeps you coming back and sharing your work is always going to be the best & most efficient way of doing things.

But I do think it's helpful to get insight into what works for others when you have no clue how to plan things like this, or where to even begin. So, without further ado, here is my process.

Mainly, I use a website called Milanote. It's super helpful for organization purposes, and it's mostly free. They have free templates you can use, or you can make your own. The only downside to it is you're limited on the number of "cards" that are available to you. They do have a promo that you can use where if you get someone else to sign up, you get more cards, which is what I did.

My main folder basically looks like this:

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙃

The research folder is an unorganized, organized mess and basically just looks like this:

This is where I keep all my resources, and all of the things I've researched for my story. As you can see, this includes various sources like YouTube videos, various articles, quotes, photos and even some music as well. I like having this all in one place so it's easily accessible for me, but you could just easily keep all of this in a Google or Word doc if you're low on 'cards'.

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙎

Next we have these two sections. Obviously, I had to cover them up to avoid spoilers but I did label them to hopefully provide insight. Essentially, for this decade in particular, there are going to be various arcs happening at once, especially since the children will be growing into adults and laying their foundation is going to become crucial to the story. However, I'm trying to limit myself from having too much going on at once, which is why I try to limit myself to only four arcs playing out at once.

I will also say that Plot's A through C are interconnected, or at least they will be eventually, while Plot D concerns one of the children and will impact things later down the line. This is super important for really tying different ideas together, and making sure random plots don't seem to just pop up out of the blue.

The table for myself helps a lot with this, so that I can easily see what arcs have been started, and how many 'scenes' each one has. I find this to be useful because then I know that none of the arcs are stretching too long, which ones might need more fine tuning and which ones have yet to flourish or even begin.

Each arc basically has something like this going from beginning to end, essentially following the classic three act structure. Not all of them have five components, some more or less, but generally it ends up being five. Now, this doesn't mean every plot is only five posts or anything like that. Most of the time, the timeline of events needs to be broken off into bite sized pieces and that's okay.

The resolution doesn't always mean a happy ending, and can also serve as a way for me to introduce any new arcs for a specific character, which would then start the process over. You can kind of think about this when watching a lot of television shows. We watch all this build up starting on episode one, and things get more and more intense until we finally reach the season finale. And then woah, with two minutes left of the episode, we see that the character they just thought was dead is actually alive?! Which then leads us into season two.

I do think planning this way could feel really tedious for some, but I like to map things out before I start introducing any arcs so I at least know it isn't a quick "one shot" plot, something without actual purpose or an arc that doesn't really seem to have any sort of end goal that makes logical sense. It also just helps me remember what everyone's up to, especially when there are so many characters to keep track of.

𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙊𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝘾𝙀𝙉𝙀

Before I go into the game, I basically write out a "rough draft" of sorts. This includes dialogue, any background noises (things like a clock ticking or the tapping of a pencil), a brief description of each shot/photo (including any post-editing things like adding blur effect), and a summary of what's happening in each panel.

Because I only use one document for this, and clear it out once I complete a scene, I do not have any examples to show from The Baudelaire Legacy, so I created a mock-up scenario in which Ozzy flunks a difficult test at school, as seen below.

Once I have that written, I plug it into my 'scene planning' board. However, I only include the shot/photos, and the short summary. On Milanote, I also plug in the location, time of day, attire and any pose accessories I might need (so that I remember to create an extra outfit for it). This ends up looking like the example below.

I typically will only have this open on my second monitor while I'm shooting the scene, and I just tick the boxes as I go along. This is really nice if you have to stop mid-shoot, and helps me pick up where I left off without getting confused.

I do also edit each panel in-between shooting to make sure I'm getting the shots I want, however, I don't encourage everyone to have Photoshop and Sims 4 open at the same time.

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙎

Then we have the character sheets for each of our characters. Right now, I'm only focusing on Lawrence & Winifred (though, the children's arcs are in a 'idea dump' document).

For me, this is the most important piece of the story. One of the reasons shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad are considered some of the best writing in television history, is mostly due to the fact that, in my opinion, they prioritize this as well. It's always good to have a strong character in mind before you begin, and this is because you don't want them to step outside themselves.

Of course, your character can change and bend within their environment or plots happening around them, and they certainly should, but you also need to ask yourself if it's being done logically. Asking yourself, 'Why did they end up this way?', 'How did we get here?' and 'How would this character specifically react to an intense situation, stress or hardship?' is crucial when writing a character that feels alive.

Having something like this helps me build their "character arc" and map it out so no one ends up being left in the dust and makes sure that everyone is important in some way. Each of the children will have a sheet created for them once they reach the teen life state as well.

I also use this page as a way to record any quirks, or habits they have. These don't have to be major or super important either. So for example, on Lawrence's character sheet, I have it written down that he wears glasses to read; a very small thing casual readers probably wouldn't even pay attention to, so it feels like an important detail to me.

𝙈𝙔 𝙎𝙋𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙎𝙃𝙀𝙀𝙏𝙎

In addition to Milanote, I also Google Sheets/Docs. This is where I keep my spreadsheet and write / keep a hard copy of my story.

My spreadsheet is basically broken up into four different tabs - one for the main sims information (the Baudelaire's), side household information, my story posts and my ageing table.

My information tables look something like this:

For story posts, I use @aheathen-conceivably's method of tracking, which you can read about here. The only thing I have added in addition to what she has is a "notes" section, and this where I include any sort of post that doesn't specifically fit into any arc but is still important - things like birthdays, marriages, holidays, etc.

𝙈𝙄𝙎𝘾𝙀𝙇𝙇𝘼𝙉𝙀𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

In addition to all of these things, I also use Pinterest to create moodboards for each decade, as well as each character. I like to include all sorts of things like any inspiration I'm drawing from (so, things like Greta Gerwig's Little Women or HBO's Gilded Age), photos, quotes, etc.

Annnnd that's basically it! I'm hoping this provides some good insight, and is helpful in some way. I know it seems like a lot, but the more you do it, and the more you plan, the more natural it will start to feel. Again, I am not an expert in any way, and it's always difficult to explain your process in this way (and probably why I put off trying to do so for such a long time). So, please feel free to ask for clarification in regards to any part of the above.

Happy Simming ‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃

[antiquatedsimmer]

( Hello Everyone! Been awhile, had to rebuild my entire world & find horrible bug fixes. But I'm so happy to make a post! I hope u enjoy.) Subtitles will be available under the cut

So glad to be able to play my favorite pixels again, even if just for a little. I had a ER visit recently so I'm mostly sleeping till my health is better.

Everything was ruined in the save corruption, I had to completely start over, I mean complete restart, an entire new EA folder.

I love everything and had to rebuild my entire save + replace all locations in other worlds + remake broken sims.

Took forever..... But! I Tried to catch everything up to speed with a diary entry since a lot of stuff was lost in corruption.

Thank you for reading!

SUBTITLES:

Dear Diary, 1908

I am utterly exhausted… The rain jus' won't quit, and the Mud puddles cling to my skirts, chilling my ankles while dampening the hems of my dresses.

I'm struggling to tend to the farm like ah oughta, since Ma and Pa need so much care. Everyday I thank the Lord for Josephine,

The only thing we've ever expected of her was to make Silas happy, She's never lived or worked on a farm in her whole life...yet. She's taken it upon herself to learn the skills so that I don't have to do all the work alone. Josie's clothes aren't particularly built for gardening and are more for a garden party but her heart is in the right place. 

Perhaps I can get her some proper work gloves and boots... I couldn't stop laughing when her heel got stuck in a mud puddle. 

I'll be honest...I didn't expect Josie to enjoy living here, I figured going from a comfortable lifestyle to a poor farmers wife would be tough for anyone.

Did you know her father liked to bet on horses? Sometimes I wonder what its like having so much money u can afford to throw it away. 

I'm happy Josie is Happy here but, there are times I think about what if we had that money. Would Mama and Papa be cured? I Don't know… At the very least I would be getting better help, Josie can only do so much.

Silas hasn't lifted a finger in regard to anything involving the farm in a long time. I remember how he would beg Papa to allow him to learn so he could improve the farm for us.

I'm confident all aspirations of that are gone.

Now, all I hear is money money money. I know I don't know much but I think money changes people. Josie keeps me updated on Silas since we hardly speak anymore, she tells me He's been promoted to factory overseer and hired as a inventor for her fathers company.

She says he has the 1st patents for some of his inventions, which makes me a little confused, Where's all the money? If true we could be providing better for our family!

I would be angry if my heart wasn't already heavy with worry. The thought of living without Mama or Papa… Josie is the only thing keepin' me steady.

Her and the never-ending things that need to be done.

I pray every day for a change. Please Lord.

Yours truly,

Lucile

[rainbowsky]

Review: Born to Fly

I saw DD's new film, so here are my thoughts on it. I'm going to have a spoiler-free section and then a more spoilery section. Please pay attention to that if you haven't seen it yet!

Spoiler Free Section

I have to be honest: I had pretty low expectations going into this film. These kind of militaristic, nationalistic, 'heroes and glory' films aren't really my thing. I like the action and excitement, but that tends to get eclipsed by cliches, macho posturing and manipulative melodrama.

These kinds of films tend to take themselves too seriously, and the audience is supposed to go along with that and take it all equally seriously. A lot of the promo for the film showed officials and military figures crying in the audience, which could have gone a few different ways depending on what was happening onscreen.

Given the political situation in that region right now, with China escalating their military aggression against Taiwan, I was also worried this film might push a narrative that I'd find offensive.

Thankfully this film wasn't quite what I feared it might be. Yeah, it had some eye-roll worthy cliche moments and some unintentional humor, but for the most part it was just an engaging, suspenseful and surprisingly funny film. The political angle wasn't great but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

For the most part the special effects were pretty good. Definitely strong enough to give a sense of immersion, and all the actors gave good performances.

Of course DD was the star of the show, and he really stepped up to the task. His performance was convincing, his character was sympathetic, and of course he looked amazing in every frame. I was so proud of him.

Overall I think it's a film most fans will enjoy immensely, and any family or friends who get dragged along for the ride will not have much to complain about.

If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend you stop reading now and maybe come back once you have.

Spoilery Section

I'm not going to go into too much depth, here, because if I get too ambitious this post will run the risk of languishing in my drafts folder, never to see the light of day.

What I Liked

I loved Lei Yu. DD was well cast - he had a lot of DD-ish traits. I enjoyed his plucky, often conflicted personality. He was smart, talented and very human.

While we didn't get much depth from him or the other characters (typical of the genre), the relationships he had with his crew mates were at least convincing enough to drive the story forward and make me feel invested in what was happening to them all.

I loved the action. The aerial scenes were so exciting, and mostly well produced. I had been a bit worried that we'd spend most of the film watching the guys work out and do all these endurance tests (which might make good eye candy but isn't a story), so when those things just ended up being quick montages I was relieved.

I mean, that's what's most exciting about a film like this, right? The planes, the action, the suspense, the crashes.

I also really loved the humor in this film. There were some genuinely funny moments, and it helped relax me into the story more and become more invested in the characters. We all know a film like this is going to play with our emotions a bit, but too many writers forget that just like pain, laughter can be a gateway into people's hearts.

The story was pretty good. I wasn't expecting much, but I think they did a good job of making the mission seem important, of making the struggles seem real, and taking the viewer on a journey.

The film was over 2 hours long, but never at any point did I look at my phone or wonder how much time was left. I was engaged and excited throughout the story. That alone is a pretty big accomplishment. My attention span isn't stellar.

I was grateful that there wasn't much of a romantic storyline. I guess we can thank the censors for that, because they recently put stronger limitations on romantic storylines in nationalistic media. 😐

It was fine for there to be a spark of interest between characters - it makes the stakes higher when things get tense - but I showed up for an action flick, not a romance.

I can't really comment on the technology or anything to do with the planes, training, etc. I have no clue about any of that. It all seemed plausible enough to me that I wasn't being pulled out of the story every time that stuff was being discussed.

I especially enjoyed the parachute packing scene. I had never before put much thought into how parachutes are put together, but the way the guy was talking about it lent gravity to the story while also just being really interesting both topically and visually.

While I felt that the 'background-building' scene with his parents was a bit too rushed to give us a strong sense of their relationship, I wasn't too upset about it because I was more interested in the action.

The relationship between Lei Yu and Zhang Ting (his commander) was very satisfying, and I loved the chief engineer guy who he packed parachutes with. What a great character. Both Hu Jun and Tian Zhuang Zhuang gave strong performances.

I loved that Lei Yu was something of an engineer himself. I don't know much about military aviation, but I know astronauts are serious engineers and scientists, so why can't top tier pilots be too?

This whole aspect of participating in the design of the aircraft was so interesting, and gave us another angle on Lei Yu. Brains, beauty and brawn rather than just a hot macho soldier.

The commander's child was also a smart choice for the story. He was cute and relatable, and gave us another angle through which to view all of this. The enthusiasm for planes. The connection with his dad. It added some fun and human interest to the story (and some pathos).

Little Bai Ze Ze was so cute and he gave a good performance!

I like that I can look back on a movie that was over two hours long and feel that some things were rushed. They packed a lot into those two hours, and the pacing was such that I never got bored or lost interest, and always felt like something interesting was happening.

That might sound like a small thing, but to me it's huge. It's so rare for me to watch a film where I feel engaged all the way through. Especially not a movie in this genre. They did a good job with the story and pacing.

There were some good emotional moments. Going to the tomb to pay respects to the fallen comrades, of course was so emotional, and it helped give a sense of the stakes of what they were doing and the magnitude of the mission.

The death of the commander was also so powerful and heartbreaking. I liked that they weren't afraid to show all these guys bawling their eyes out. It made it all more believable.

Like the success of the mission, the redemption of the relationship between Lei Yu and his rival Deng Fang was totally predictable. The salute at the end "I owe you" could have come off as cheesy but was played well and felt sincere and meaningful. Overall I liked Yu Shi in this film, he did well.

What I Didn't Like

There were some things that I found weak, cringey or even offensive.

The number one thing that bothered me was the glorification of tragedy, and the characterization of terrible accidents as a noble and heroic self-sacrifice, as though it was a price worth paying for the competitive mission of building a frickin' plane to outdo the other guys' technology.

There is never a time when that kind of thing is not offensive to me. The 'noble, self-sacrificing heroism' of soldiers is not an accidental sociocultural perception. It's something people are taught to believe so that the state has enough people who are willing to come forward as cannon fodder, and so the loved ones left behind don't mutiny against those who put them in harm's way.

Yes, there are some dangerous jobs out there and people put themselves on the line to do some important things, but the way this film framed loss of life as an acceptable - even valiant - price for getting a jet built (that is itself just a killing machine)... ugh.

If the value of their lives was put above the value of the technology being built - and above the value of the mission - their goals would still be achievable, but with less loss of life. This isn't about getting the planes built, it's about expediency.

As I was watching a lot of the action scenes I couldn't help but think of DD and everything he went through to make it all happen. I don't like how much danger and injury he ended up with during this film shoot. Seeing the car crash where I knew it was REALLY HIM in the driver's seat was stressful.

And that goes alongside the overall message of 'necessary, noble sacrifice'. The film promo glorified DD's accident and the danger he was put in, his willingness to keep filming even when he was injured or in pain (such as the way the shoulder straps tore up his shoulders when he was in the spinning machine), as heroic and noble rather than irresponsible and unnecessary. It's just so offensive to me. Actors shouldn't be expected to risk life and limb for the sake of creating entertainment. Such things shouldn't be glorified.

So there's that whole tone to the film of people's lives and welfare being an accepted - even natural - price of doing business, which really bothered me.

Another thing I didn't like - and which I knew going into the film would be a problem for me - was the way the whole thing was framed politically. The whole "East vs West" thing was cringey and at times unintentionally hilarious. The American pilots were totally slapstick funny in their characterization, to a degree that came across as childish and embarrassingly propagandistic.

"We can come and go whenever we want and you can't stop us! Hahaha!"

Said the evil stick men with curly moustaches.

This is where nationalistic films often cross the line into creepy or ultra cringey. I think the goal of creating a powerful stealth fighter jet is exciting enough on its own. The audience would have been there for it without the villainizing and the 'us vs them' narrative.

Painting China as an underdog was also so laughable and totally offensive. They are one of the top military powers on the planet. They are leading in technology on many fronts. This had no believability whatsoever, and came across as blatant propagandizing. Which of course I knew to expect, but that didn't make it any more palatable.

And of course, the scenes where they were patrolling the seas were exciting, but when you think about what's actually happening in the region right now it all takes on a totally different tone.

So while the propagandizing wasn't as overbearing as I thought it would be, it still had a pretty strong presence in the film, and that detracted from my enjoyment. I knew that going in, though. It's inevitable with a film like this.

There were a few other moments in the film where I rolled my eyes at the heavy-handed melodrama - the totally predictable and cheesy tombstone fly-by after the big save toward the end of the film, for example - but none of it was unexpected. It's all par for the course with these kinds of films.

Some of the crisis points in the film were a bit much, too. Like that bird strike, which felt sudden and unintentionally comical. The people sobbing in the control room when you know damn well the pilots are fine. That kind of thing. But again - typical fare for this type of film.

Final Thoughts

This film is admittedly a bit shallow, but that's something one can expect from this genre. Films like this tend to put a few hooks into viewers - pull a few emotional strings - and then deliver a bunch of high impact moments to give a sense of payoff. It's all very predictable and formulaic, but that can be part of the appeal. Sometimes I just want to see a cheesy action film.

As far as these types of films go, Born to Fly really wasn't too bad. It was watchable and enjoyable, and the things that bothered me didn't bother me enough to pull me out of the story. My fear was that DD would be associated with a really trashy, awful film and I am hugely relieved to say that didn't end up happening.

This film was a totally respectable effort for what it was, and I enjoyed it, although it doesn't hold up as well internationally as it probably would in China.

That might sound like a tepid summation, but all things considered it's practically a glowing review. 😅

Most importantly, DD gave a really solid performance, and I think that's going to bode well for his career moving forward. There really wasn't a moment in the entire film where I felt he fell short. I am so proud of him. He's doing so well!

[dndiguess-blog]

2024年7月26日 — Progressing

It's been exactly one week since I wrote my last journal post here, and I honestly thought it would have been longer? I've been sick so I guess that might be why the time has felt slower.

Since it's been a week I want to collect my thoughts, progress and current goals in one place again, and this time I'd like to look back on my last journal post to see what goals I've ended up completing/if I've changed my mind on something since then.

Overall I've definitely managed to be more organized compared to other times I've attempted to self-study japanese. My problem has usually been that after learning hiragana and katakana, and some of the most basic sentence structuring (xはyです, etc.) I lose a sense of structure and natural progression and end up overwhelmed when trying to choose a new focus. So far I haven't ended up feeling like that this time. I've also allowed myself to not rush and take my time with every step of the process, which I think have helped.

In my last post I listed my resources I was using at the time, and also the goals I had in mind. The app I've been using the least is HeyJapan. I downloaded it as an alternative to Duolingo, and while I do like it better I've still found other resources to be more useful for me personally. I haven't deleted it from my phone yet, but if I don't feel a need to use it soon I probably won't keep it for much longer.

I've actually mostly been using Genki 1 so far. I haven't progressed much in the book, I'm just starting chapter 3. I've been taking pretty detailed notes and combining the explanations in the book with watching videos of people explaining the same concepts, as well as trying to spot these concepts "in action" while watching other youtube videos or tv-series in japanese. One of my favorite youtube channels to watch for listening excercises currently is Speak Japanese Naturally. She has a series where she vlogs different activities in her life and narrates over them. There are always japanese subtitles in her videos, and I've noticed that she adds english CC as well so they're optional depending on your preference. Her vlogs are a pretty perfect level for me right now. She speaks in a good tempo for my brain to be able to make out words ^^'. I've been watching with the english subtitles off, and just trying to make sense of what I'm hearing by the little vocabulary I know and context alone. Sometimes I end up looking something up, but it's mostly if I: a) understand almost all of a sentence and want to know the last pieces, or b) I'm very curious about a word/kanji/etc. If I get caught up in looking up every word I don't know I end up getting overwhelmed (and it takes too much time) so this works best for me.

Other than that I've used my dictionary app, Shirabe Jisho, a lot. I like to find journal posts here on tumblr, or other short snippets of japanese writing, and go through it bit by bit using the app. There's an option to bookmark words and kanji and sort them into folders, so if I find something interesting or something I find useful I bookmark it.

The app also has a flashcard function built into it. You can make your own flashcard decks using the bookmarking feature, but they have a lot of premade sets as well. I'm currently using their JLPT N5 Kanji deck whenever I have some free time. I'm mostly focusing on recognizing the kanjis meaning until I know it confidentily, then I attempt to memorize at least one reading of it. This isn't going very fast either, but that's perfectly okay with me!

As for current goals; the chapter in Genki 1 that I'm working on currently goes over the basics of verb conjugations, so my short term goal is to finish the chapter and probably do some writing excercises where I try to use those concepts. I also want to try writing more in general. Other than that I'm going to keep working on the kanji in my flashcard deck.

Until next time! さようなら！

[livewireprojects]

Rambling about old art program

I'm mostly doing this cause I want to ramble & I don't want it being most of the text on an old image I'm posting.(Cause lots of rambling)

When I was younger I had a program called Manga Studio Pro 4.0, I didn't know how to use it much but I eventually was able to use it good enough.(Although at points I couldn't figure how to remove the text on some things if I was making a comic instead of just an image) This was an old program, while some of my stuff was digital installs I don't know how I got or were already there(MSPaint) this was the old way involving a CD that came in a box with a code.

At some point either from either from losing the box(this was a program I had a CD & code for in the past), using it too many times(I transferred computers a few times) or who knows what like not knowing how to use the code or losing the code for it I eventually lost the ability to install/use it. I think I tossed everything I had left for it after I lost the ability to use it & I don't remember when I tried to reinstall it. It worked I was able to reinstall it I just couldn't figure out if I had the code or not anymore cause some stuff confused me.

I don't remember much but I know that when you saved new projects you'd have a folder with the file to open the picture in the program(with layers there if they were there) & an image that was a jpeg full sized(depending on how big you made it) image with all visible layers merged.(I mean it's an image so of course) I have many unfinished projects I found in some backups I made of past computers, they'll never be finished & I'll never be able to open them up in the program again. It's not like I could finish them without starting over anyway thanks to how much shit has changed.

Looking around what I was able to it seems the most recent pics I made in manga studio were from 2012 which was my second year of high school.

My art programs back then were MSPaint & a copy of Paint Tool Sai I found somewhere(I bought a license for the program a few years back so use an actual legal ver now)

When I was younger I use to use Photoshop CS & MSPaint(every once in a while I used Manga Studio Pro 4.0)

Today/in recent years I use Clip Studio Paint EX, sometimes Paint Tool Sai, MSPaint occasionally(mostly use it for quickly pasting screenshots or stuff to copy to paste elsewhere) & very recently Procreate.

Up until a certain point after high school I drew with a mouse, I sometimes draw with a mouse but I mostly use a wacom tablet I've had for a few years. Also use an ipad for procreate.

It's kind of funny, I didn't use manga studio that much but I use clip studio paint a lot now. I bring this up cause manga studio is still going, it's called clip studio now.

Here's so images I was able to find from when I still used the program just so you can see what I worked on. If you've seen my art stuff you'll know how much things have changed too.

This pic was from 2011, it's an old image of my fursona's quad form

To the right is a more up-to-date version from 2016, not much has changed but the paw print is gone(the tail has a little more detail like it has fins now)

Here's a pic from 2021 were my fursona is dressed for pride month that shows better details. Funny enough first pic is manga studio, second pic is sai & third is clip studio paint so I guess it comes full circle.

Pic 1

This is the most recent pic(2012) I made in manga studio, according to the description I sketched it in manga studio then colored it in sai, the text is done in MSPaint. This was for an Alice in Wonderland based project I didn't get far in except for a few ideas.

Pic 2:

I have no idea when I made this, DA says I posted it there in 2012 but going off the art style looks older than I recall. After trying to search around I think this & pic 3 are maybe from 2010 & I got a little better in 2012 when I made pic 1.

This is for someone I use to know that I don't exactly have good memories of. I use to be in an AMV group with her & at some point she requested art from me & would repeatedly ask if it was done. I don't remember how often but I know she was asking about it to the point it was considered rude especially after I asked her to stop.

This was for one of her projects that as far as I know never got very far. I don't even remember what the plot was. I think it was two high schoolers falling in love while caring for a kid that was either their future daughter or the guy's little sister.

I think I was experimenting with the background on this & pic 3 cause I think the backgrounds had to do with finding random brushes & using them as much as I could were I thought it fit.

Pic 3:

From the same person that the less said that I remember the better cause I'm just going to end up ranting about how she kept making child me pissed from repeatedly asking if an art request was done when I kept asking her to stop & it wasn't done yet.

Anyway I think this was suppose to be for a slice of life fanime she was working on. I don't remember much past the blond(Midori) being the I think main character & something involving her having 3 ex-boyfriends with the magenta/pink hair one being dead. I think I drew this before pic 2 but I put it at the end cause there's more stuff.

Three of the images(the image in the thought bubble, the photo to the left & all three chibis if you count them as one image) were all imported into manga studio to be part of it.(Or the photo on the very left & the chibis were imported cause I think the pic in the thought bubble was edited in using Photoshop CS & the text was shaded in Photoshop as well)

Here's the three images in pic 3

Pic 1 was made with MSPaint & Photoshop CS(background is one I made in photoshop at some point), the writing was suppose to look crayon like cause this was before I had Sai which had a crayon brush

Pic 2 was made traditionally on paper & with sharpy before editing it in Photoshop CS. Don't know where I found the floor, the text in the corner is the only thing helping me guess this is from 2010. That cat charm is an old character of mine, was kind of a joke on Hello Kitty for some reason.

Pic 3 was made in MSPaint

I got one more pic I made in manga studio but it's getting it's own post.(Link to said post)

It's kind of crazy just how much was done & how much has changed from then & now.(I dunno how to end this)

[savrenim]

SO it is the last week of January but you know what it's Been A Fucking Hell Month In This House so we are getting to our new year's goals post today and that's fine it's still January so it still counts

2023 was a wild year for me just in terms of oh gods I have never played with such high stakes before in my life in so many things and for so long and with such eroded or in some cases totally nonexistent safety nets, I got to the end of it arguably much better off than the beginning, just for the latter half almost totally at the expense of Doing Anything My Writing For Me. so in light of that, I've got some tentative 2024 goals, namely:

get a final draft of Opus into copyediting stage (stretch goal: actually publish it!)

write at least 20k words of another original project 

finish and publish at least one existing fanfic

publish all the mostly written but unpolished and unedited things I have sitting around in my writing folder 

I have no idea how I am going to make this happen, given that my household is still attempting to make up moving costs from last summer and rip we have just been hit with massive vet bills for the most beloved member of the household which means that I need to hustle the fuck out of working all of the hours that I can what is free time and sleep. it also means that I literally can't afford to put my patreon on hiatus, so at the very least there will be regular updates and drafts posted there. said patreon in 2023 is responsible for a solid half of the next chapter of ifmlam already written and the rest on the way, the final chapter of ttbotr in its 'being polished' stage, and the wind, the wind, the wind (lesbian Hadestown in space one-shot) being a scene and a bit of editing away from being ready to go. 

the absolute DREAM for this next year would be to able to rely on writing as a legitimate source of supplemental income instead of something that I need to carve out of free time that I may or may not have, and, you know, actually write A Whole Bunch More. given that I'm devoting 2024 to trying to get some of my original writing off the ground, I wanted to actually showcase some of my original writing too! My three biggest projects are:

1. Opus I: feral seer assassin pretending to be a bodyguard came out here to fight things and is honestly having such a good time right now; extremely tired diplomat saddled with her did not want to come out here in the first place and is having about the time you'd imagine with that. read the first scene here.

2. The Heart and The Heartless: shonen anime of a to-be-posted-as-a-web-serial about a bunch of gay teenagers going to sorcery school and learning how to fight Revenants, and their even more gay even more tired teachers dealing with trying to ensure that their childhoods aren't as bad as said teachers' were. read the first scene here.

3. The Numanok Files: series of novellas that follow a bounty hunter taking cases as she helps colonies and space stations deal with ghosts; half the time home inspection style it's a carbon monoxide leak or faulty wiring reacting to solar flares or alien fungi but half the time it Is In Fact Ghosts. read the first scene here.

Links lead to free posts of the first chapters/ scenes of them on my patreon. I appreciate any support in trying to, you know, actually keep writing this year. and expect to see this post reblogged with updates every month or so so that I can motivate myself via bragging about progress!

[currangillauthor]

GARDENING/DISCOVERY/PANTSING

Gardners. Discovery writers. Panters. Pretty much the same thing. So what is the process for a general writer who does everything on a whim? What is a discovery writer's day anyway?

I personally write short stories for myself if I'm trying to discover a character or discover something within my story itself. For example, if I'm trying to discover what a werewolf is I might write a short about them, create some bullshit character in some situation and go wild. I might sometimes create some bullshit chapter that I will never put in my book but I will run wild with the idea and see what happens if I like it I will write it a different way within the story.

My writing process is "structured" in a way that I write mostly at the same time every day (usually by 9am I have started writing) that particular week. I might decide on the weekend that I want to sleep in longer this week vs next week. I mostly decide that I will wake up around 8am and write until 5pm (obviously with breaks like lunch or a nap) and then I do finishing touches like edits after lunch and then finish the chapter before 5pm and before bed I do final edits (this optional).

I usually am able to get through a skelton before I eat lunch and then after lunch I go through the bits (or if it's a new chapter the entire thing).

Then if there is an idea that is still in my head that I haven't written I write the general idea on a blank part of my document and get to it either in this writing session or the next day or hopefully within the week (unless it's an idea that is REALLY burning in my head that I NEED to fucking get out).

I try to hit a particular number usually 1500-2000 words before I am happy. I do write "clean", but I usually despise what I write while writing and then when I'm going back (during my edits) I am usually happy with what I write. It's usually the way I want it by the time I'm done with the chapter. It usually takes me a few days to a week to get through a chapter unless it's a really long chapter. Galen's chapters are usually in the double-digit page number.

I do have a notes folder which I do not use. I had created all kinds of shit for organizing myself but I just do not use them. I have deleted many note folders which were all "maybe I'll use this, one day" or "Maybe this idea might end up working" but they were all just giant piles of "wasting my goddamn time" in a one day hopefully I'll use them in some situation.

So how exactly do you keep track of everything?

I honestly don't know! But I think I just rehearse my writing in my head until it becomes solid. I don't have solid grasps of what each character or POV will do, but I have a solid grasp of each and every character...if that makes sense. I will explain what I mean because I know what I just wrote sound contractionary.

I know the characters that I write. I know their backstories and what they believe in. I understand their motivations. But I do not know where they will go or what they will do within the story that I am writing. I have a somewhat general idea.

For example: X character will survive this book, or this character might not survive. I have very loose ideas, maybes, or "I need to discover this character" etc.

The way in how I write will drive my sister insane because she is very much an outline person, and I am very much a "I just want write!" I don't like knowing my story before it is done. I like the process of writing and discovering as I write. In other words, I like waking up and seeing where my story takes me. Outlines ruin the suspense, the motivation of me showing up, and the entire process of writing because an outline spoils the story, and an outline just feels like I've already written the story and so there is no real point of me even showing up.

I have attempted to try and see if I would ever outline and I have attempted but do I ever use it? Nope. Would I ever use it? Nope. I thought maybe for book two or parts of my second half that I would use an outline and that have come to the conclusion through this book that I am so proud of, that I will never use an outline. I might use notes and research notes that I have made. But notes don't spoil anything for me, they just reinterate information that I know.

Notes are not an outline.

You do not need to write an outline to write a book!!! There are no rules of writing that every writer out there follows. I do not plot; I do nothing but write and I have somehow created a coherent book. I love the discovery of seeing where the characters take me verus me forcing a character to behave a certain way. I loved seeing my character Aria become someone else, I loved seeing my queen become someone else, and so many other characters who I thought were certain way became something better and stronger. This is not something that I feel I could have outlined. I feel the discovery writing process of this created a far stronger, far better output than if I had "hate outlined" it.

So I am a proud discovery writer.

[inessencedevided]

With the year ending, let's look back at what we did! What are your favorite creations you did or the ones you think deserve more love? Send this to 5 other creators to share the love

Hey anon i know it's been a while ^^ thanks also to @lanwangiji @yiling-recesses @manhasetardis and (kind of) @rose-nebulijia for tagging me 🥰💙

Here goes in no particular order:

My fic Craquelure & Coverups with art by @inyourorangeshirt (this is so far my most popular mdzs fic and also the one i myself like the most of all my fics. I'm just really proud of this one)

My fic Sunlight through an open window with art by @i-put-the-bi-in-suibian (with nearly 45k this is my longest and also my most plot-heavy fic to date. It also brought me a wonderful friendship with Kate that I wouldn't have missed for the world 💖 in general I'm really proud of the amount of fic I wrote in 2021. I more than quadrupled my word count on ao3 this year which is just ... wild. And even though my writing isn't perfect I can see a clear improvement from the first fic I posted to now :))

The many new beginnings series which i started in 2020 but finished in 2021 (this was in my pre knows how to use the gradient curve layer properly time so the results of my colouring varies wildly here but it's nice to see the progress i made since then! I also still really like the theme. I'm trying to think of life more in terms of it being a series of beginnings 💙)

This lwj art nouveau piece i made for @sweetlittlevampire's bd (there's still a wwx counterpart to this sitting in my wip folder which i will deliver on at some point, preferably before rima's next bd 😅)

My first try at an art nouveau wangxian piece (this one i initially didn't like enough to give to rima for her birthday but it's since really grown on me :))

Lan Zhan is a good boy (need i say more? Of course he is! :D the moving text layer in this was so much work. Mostly bc of the way I made it go behind lan zhan which meant I had to mask every frame individually. At the end i couldn't even save the PS doc bc it was too large. This set cost me a night's sleep but it was worth it 😅)

This german lan xichen set (the idea for which is as old as the idea for the @mdzs-language-fest that @rose-nebulijia and I hosted. It was so fun and I'm honestly really proud of us that we actually put it together 🥰)

The juniors and the legacies they carry set that i did for the creator's exchange event based on @lan-xichens set and this lan sizhui set (tied at the same spot because both of them were born out of an intense love for the ducklings and the ways they learned from their seniors' mistakes)

How could I forget the famous blue raincoat yunmeng twin heros set (which still makes me go feral every time I see it. Tysm to the anon who asked for these lyrics)

this wangxian invictus set (this one is also from earlier in the year and i think I'd do a few things differently now but it was still a ton of work and I'm still very proud of it 💙)

For some of these i was legit shocked when i realised i made them less than a yesr ago. Time truly doesn't mean anything anymore 😅

Thank you to everyone who has made this year special! To the new friends I've made through various event and collaborations and the old friends that stuck around 💙 it's been sich a crazy year woth lots of ups and downs and lately the downs have started to outnumber the ups for me. Still, this fandom, my mutuals, the fics I've written and read and every tag under one of my edits have made it so much brighter 🥰

Here's to a better year 2022 for all of us! 🍀

I'm tagging @sweetlittlevampire @suibianjie @i-put-the-bi-in-suibian @jingyismom @ghost-generals @gusucloud @wuyus @fengqing @lanzhansmiles @kutyozh @candicewright @unforth @yibo-wang @betweencrossedblades @aheartfullofjolllly and @rinielle (no pressure as always 💙)

[seventhrounder]

I went thru my folder with old hockey magazines I had saved from around 2011 to 2015 and came across this one and thought it could be a fun to make a post about now in hindsight.

This is Jääkiekko magazine from May 2012, they always have a section of "99 questions with ..." and in this issue they interviewed Teräväinen.

I’ve translated the questions I found interesting under the cut! It ended up being about half of the interview. (*) are my additions.

On the cover "seuraava superjokeri" means the next super joker, he played for Helsingin Jokerit so it's a word play from that. Under, on the blue print it says: "The 17-year-old forward will become a first round draft pick in the summer. The natural goal scorer can dominate in SM-Liiga as soon as next season."

In the 2nd photo the headline and lead paragraph goes:

"A post with dents* - A year ago Teuvo Teräväinen was known only within a small number of hockey insiders. Few passers-by recognize him now either but after a flashy rookie season the Jokerit sensation is on the radar of every NHL team and is a strong contender to become a first round draft pick. Next season with Jokerit the talented second line center will be one of the main talking points in the SM-Liiga."

(*references the net Teräväinen had in his backyard and into which he practiced his shooting)

3. You've been described as a magician, top scorer, wunderkind and a prodigy. What do you think of these descriptions?

TT: Heh, those are some descriptions yeah. What can I really say? Don't really wanna comment on them much.

4. How nervous are you about the Draft?

TT: I try not to be nervous as best as I can. In a way I don't have anything to be nervous about since I don't care which team picks me or at what number I go.

6. Which is stressing you more, English interviews or physical tests?

TT: Maybe both. Bench press (laughs) and English interviews can be tough.

12. How far along have you planned your career with, for example, your parents or your agent?

TT: Haven't really planned things with others but I've thought about them myself. I try to go step by step and not jump too far ahead.

14. How does it feel to be so young with all the star players in Jokerit?

TT: How to say it? I haven't felt like I was young but a part of the team instead. The team's been very good with me and they haven't been looking down at me like: "oh he's young". It's been fun to play in an experienced team.

15. Is there a generational gap between players?

TT: You can see the age difference, older players look older but we're all childish, at least with our topics.

17. What does a 17-year-old do in the sauna nights of the team?

TT: I actually haven't been in any yet. I've always been at national team's camps or something.

19. Did you get the number you wanted?

TT: I did, yeah. I could've taken #18 but Semir (Ben-Amor) has it. But i'm happy with #86, it's good.

23. What are your strengths as a player?

TT: Offensive play and with that playing with the puck, passing, IQ, power play and skill, just the usual skill - skill with hands.

24. And weaknesses?

TT: They are to do with defensive play, strength and physicality. Battles and such but I think I took a step forward last season. That's a good thing.

25. Have you ever been "pressed into a mold" or has your playing style gotten to develop naturally?

TT: As a kid the play was mostly offensive/attacking, I didn't have to think about playing defence. Up until 15 years old, I got to attack pretty freely. Playing defence became more important when I started to play in A-juniors a couple seasons ago.

26. On a scale from 1 to 10 how determined are you?

TT: Maybe 8, feels like an 8.

32. What kind of role are you planning to take with Jokerit next season?

TT: I think a pretty big one. I try to be a top player and not just take others' example but give others example myself too. So that someone in the team can take something out of the way I do things on the ice and off the ice.

35. If you could pick anyone, who would be your car driver?

TT: Nico Manelius for sure. He's been my driver this season. I've had others too, like Riku Hahl but he's not nearly at the same level. Nico’s clearly the best.

36. What are the most important qualifications to be a good driver?

TT: The car is obviously important. Hahl's car is totally awful, he takes a lot of heat for it from the guys too. I wouldn't dare driving with him. Manelius is a steady performer, never lets you down.

38. What sports did you play as a 10-year-old?

TT: Hockey and floorball, probably football (soccer) during the summers at the time too.

42. When did you decide to focus only on hockey?

TT: So when I stopped playing other sports? Three years ago, before that floorball was kind of a side thing, I played a couple of games in the regular season and playoffs.

45. Do you follow floorball or other sports? Go to games?

TT: I don't go to games but I like to watch floorball on TV, it's an interesting sport. Sometimes I watch football too but I don't follow it much. Feels like they never score there.

47. Have you ever played with a wooden stick?

TT: As a kid I did play with a wooden stick.

49. You won the hockey players' golf tournament last summer even though there were more experienced players too. Are you good with all stick games?

TT: Well, I've been pretty good in all of them. I've played golf for a long time and still play it.

50. How is your swing?

TT: Pretty bold, kind of a hockey swing. I don't really care where the ball goes - as long as it goes far.

52. What do you think of off-ice training?

TT: Let's just say it's more stupid than being on the ice but you still gotta do it to be better on the ice.

56. Which word describes your professional relationship (with his coach, Tomek Valtonen), tranquil or colorful?

TT: Colorful of course. At times we're joking around, other times it's more serious but the relationship is really good.

57. Coaching you has been described in many words: good, bad, worse. What are they?

TT: Heh, well... I won't tell them here. He (Tomek) keeps the discipline during practices but sometimes when things haven't gone to a plan I've had to jump on an exercise bike in the middle of a practice.

58. What have been the reasons?

TT: I'll quote Tomek: "when I haven't been present".

59. Have you ever tried to turn the resistance of the bike to zero?

TT: (Laughs) Of course I have and sometimes I've even succeeded.

60. Describe your diet in three words?

TT: Greasy, healthy and good!

64. Your first name is not common for people your age. How did your parents come up with it?

TT: I actually don't even know. Maybe they didn't want a usual Ville*....

(*very common name for men of all ages in Finland)

66. Which of these is the most important: skill, unexpectedness or courage?

TT: Skill!

68. Your longest video game stint?

TT: Six hours, at least. I've played a lot of War of Duty lately.

72. The dumbest thing that has made you upset in hockey?

TT: Probably if I didn't get an assist on a goal even though I should have. Or even worse is if I score and they mark it down for someone else.

79. Have you had any concussions?

TT: I haven't had any, I've managed to always dodge them.*

(*ouch, tho it's good the recent one is his only as far as i remember)

84. In 2011 Team Finland finished in the 5th place at the U-18 tournament. Why only as 5th?

TT: Because we lost to Team Russia in the quarter final, just as well we could have won that game too.

89. You didn't get to be on the ice to accept the SM-Liiga bronze medal (because of the U-18's). When and where did you get it?

TT: I actually still haven't received it, I don't know where it is.

93. What is the population of Helsinki?

TT: There's like 5 million people in Finland so maybe around 500k in Helsinki? (to be exact 596k) Did i really get it right...?

94. Who's the mayor of Helsinki?

TT: I don't know, I barely know the president.

95. Do you think the municipalities in the capital city area should merge?

TT: Luckily I don't have to decide but they probably shouldn't.

96. What do you check first in the news paper?

TT: The sports section.

97. Your favorite tv show?

TT: Putous* was pretty good, I liked a lot of the characters. The grandma was pretty good.

(*Finnish live improvisation comedy/sketch show (there are still new seasons, the latest just finished). Every actor comes up with a humor character with a catchy phrase and one of them wins. "The grandma" is Marja Tyrni and I just got such flashbacks from typing this sentence.)

98. Last book you read?

TT: I don't read many books. The last book was a study book, a Finnish book. I wrote an essay on Tiki (Esa) Tikkanen's biography. An eventful book, great career and a lot of chirps.

99. Who should we ask the 99 questions next?

TT: Riku Hahl could have good stories, he's also seen a lot of the world.

[gossip-girl-of-middleearth]

Ok, I'll hit up your ask box with an explanation. I've sat on the edge of the LOTR fandom for years-- I mean I saw the movies first (probably a couple of years after the whole set releseased) and then read the books shortly after. And it wasn't long that I started writing fanfic after that (granted it was horrible fanfic) and then crossovers with another writer that eventually turned me off to the whole aspect of writing for this fandom.

Now. Comes October 2020 and I want a new fandom to write for. Start back up my Tumblr (which was mostly abandoned other than a few sporadic reblogs) and hit up the LOTR fandom like jumping off a diving board. At this point, it's known to me that the Elvish language is known as Quenya and Sindarin but I don't think anything of it. It can't be that far apart, right?

I was wrong. I was so wrong. I'm out here writing my Elvish in Quenya, having a good time, and I start following a bunch of LOTR fanfic/writer blogs. So I'm reading, and the more I read, the more confused I am. But that's not how you say it! Is it? But is it?!

I had to go re-educate myself. And now-- now -- I keep Sindarin phrase lists and Sindarin lessons in a bookmarked folder labeled Tolkien. There's the occasional time I'll still use Quenya-- when it's appropriate of course-- but dear gods, if I hadn't started following writers... I'd be up a creek right now.

So yeah, Legolas yelling angrily at me in Sindarin? Not only would I cry but you'd better be betting that I'm going to spit something at him that would make his ancestors blush. (But this is Leggy we're talking about; would he really do that?)

I keep wigging out every time I hear someone in the fandom watching the movies around when they originally came out. I’m usually like, “What do you mean you weren’t a foetus in the womb in the 2000s??”

But knowing any Elvish language in itself is amazing! I only know the cuss words...and how to say “penis”.

Legolas has always struck me as the “no chill whatsoever” type, with the occasional Caranthir-level anger.

Seriously, look at this consistent bitch throughout the entire series.

Legolas, the original trigger-happy himbo™️

“SQUARE UP, WHORE!”

“Fuck my life I’m going to kill everyone here and then myself.”

“You’re dying first.”

“LET’S GOOOO, SON! IT’S ON SIGHT, ON SIGHT WITH YOU BITCHES!”

“Aragorn, you dumb slut, why don’t you just fucking listen to me? Is it because I’m blonde? FUCK YOU IT IS!”

“WHAT’D YOU SAY, WHORE? NAH, NAH, BACK OFF, GIMLI, THIS LITTLE FUCKER THINKS HE’S A WISE-CRACKER TALKIN’ SHIT ABOUT MY HOMEBOY.”

“Roses are red, violets are blue, you’re lucky I don’t slaughter you.”

“Tryna get the jump on me? FUCK YOU!”

“TAKE THE PAIN!”

“Come again, bitch?”

[enchantedblackrose]

Get You in the End

**Not my picture. Google images**

Get You in the End

Pairing: Jay Halstead/You

Warnings: It's pretty tame. Allusions only. But this is my first shot at the One Chicago fandom, so if you like it please lmk!

It's your first day back from leave. A childhood friend had gotten married over the weekend and you were fortunate enough to secure the time off. Some light travel had been involved, but nothing excessive. Still you had needed a week and a half off. As much as you enjoyed yourself, it was hard being away.

From the job, or from someone you won't let yourself think on it.

You step into the 21st precinct and a small wave of nerves hits your stomach. 'Stop it,' you mentally scold yourself as you smooth the front of your shirt. 

You lock eyes with Sergeant Platt who is at her normal station, behind the front desk. You smile at her as you pass, but she only scoffs. This makes you smile more. She looks down, shaking her head. You are no longer phased by her tough exterior and haven't been for awhile. During the course of your time at the precinct you've come to understand Trudy Platt and even built somewhat of a rapport with her. Of course none of this means she'll greet you with a warm smile.

Up the steps you go to the intelligence unit. It's unusually quiet; no one else appears to be in yet. You head for your desk and sling your jacket over the back of your chair before going to the break room to start the coffee, even though you don't touch the stuff.

"You're back." Startled, his voice makes your heart skip a beat. You turn to find Jay leaning nonchalantly against the threshold. "Did you miss me?" A knowing smirk plays at his lips.

Your eyes dart passed him, scanning for any sign of your coworkers. Spotting no one else you take a step towards him. You look him up and down very carefully, appreciating his fine physique evident through his dark fitted t‐shirt. 

"Not really," you reply with your eyes still fixated on your partner. His smirk falls momentarily before realizing this is you beginning your normal banter with him. "Except...maybe at night. When I was all alone and I had to-"

"Play fair," he warns and then casts a look behind him. 

You shrug. "You started it."

He leaves his spot at the doorway to come near you, but still remains out of reach. Subconsciously you take a step forward, not quite enough to close the gap between the two of you, but enough you feel the electricity you both are putting off. Neither of you can ignore the tension in the air. His eyes travel to your lips. Somehow you both know you're thinking the same thing. You want nothing more than to feel his own pressing against yours. A sigh escapes you. Just being close to Jay is intoxicating to you. You step forward. There's hardly any space keeping him from you.

"We're at work," he whispers.

Your hushed tone matches his. "I know where we are and I haven't done anything."

"But you want to." His smirk is back taunting you. Your lips pursed slightly and trusting that his build is enough to obscure your frame, that's when your hand reaches up slowly grazing his jawline, down and across his defined chest, and further still to his taut abdomen and then finally to his hip. It lingers there. Jay's breath seems to be caught in his throat. 

You rise to your tips toes, bringing your mouth against his ear. Your chest brushes against his and you take the moment to press into him. A low groan escapes him. "Not as much you want me to." Before he reacts, you appear to mess with the tag on his shirt. "You're being watched." You drop down onto your feet. "There ya go. All set!" Your voice is normal and carries out of the breakroom. You pat Jay on the arm innocently enough. As you walk out you say, "I'm not kidding Halstead. You better not have touched my desk!" Glancing back you see Jay occupying himself by pouring coffee into a mug.

"Hey, Mouse. Hey, Al," you call in greeting as you make your way to your desk. Al mutters back something that sounds like good to have you back and already has his head in his paperwork. Mouse on the other hand is still looking at you with a slightly puzzled expression. You wink at him and he instantly puts his head down.

Sitting down, you still find it strange that so many of your colleagues aren't present yet.

"Where is everyone?" You ask no one in particular.

Al answers you. "Antonio is undercover. Atwater and Ruzek are following up on a lead." You cock an eyebrow at that pairing, but say nothing about it. Alvin nods slightly before returning to his work.

"Son of a...Halstead. You really did mess with my desk." You glare at Jay who is now sitting across from you at his own desk.

"Don't know what you're talking about." But of course he's smiling.

"Um yeah, you do. My file on my new potential CI was sitting right here on top. Now it's not."

"You have no proof, detective."

"Spoken like a true perp." You start rifling through papers on your desk. You open your top right desk drawer and there behind several folders and in front of your missing file folder is a yellow sticky note with the words, 'You're beautiful' scrawled across it. You look up to see Jay watching you. Smiling you make sure to press the adhesive against the inside bottom of the drawer. Jay grins.

A familiar, gruff voice calls your last name. Immediately you turn to face your sergeant. Voight is standing by the stairs having just arrived. "You and Halstead head over to Med. Got a vic with a GSW that knows more than she's letting on. Get what you can out of her.  Halstead can brief you about the case on the way."

"Yes, Sarge." Voight begins giving Mouse a list of things to do and you waste no time grabbing your jacket and heading out the door.

Your attraction to your partner doesn't magically fade away, but now it's time to work. You both know this. Jokes, some possible innuendos, and playful touches are sprinkled throughout the day with him when the time allots for it. Mostly the job demands your focus, which you give fully.

~☆~☆~☆~

It was a long shift, but all the vics were safe and being treated. Suspects were in custody. It was as close to a win as you got.

You finish the last of your paperwork and stand.

"You know, I could really go for a bacon cheeseburger. I know a great spot near my place. What do you boys say?"

Voight and Al ignore your invite all together. Jay looks at you and nods slightly, but doesn't say anything.

"I'll go!" Mouse declares happily. Jay shoots him a look. "Some other time…?" He amends and Jay nods in approval. You cough to hide a laugh.

"Suit yourselves. See ya boys tomorrow." With that you grab your jacket and head out. 

You reach your car, but don't get in. After a few minutes you see Jay walking towards you. He glances back a few times before he reaches you. Clearing his throat some before speaking to you gives you the idea that he's a tad nervous.

"You don't really want to go get a cheeseburger, do you? That was you inviting me over...right?"

You grin, finding his nervousness very enduring. You've never seen him be so unsure about something. "Possibly, yes. I figured it was a win win and I'd get you in the end either way."

His smile matches your own. "So I'll see you back at your place." He turns to walk away towards his own vehicle. Still grinning you get into your car.

Not even a full ten minutes later you're letting Jay into your apartment. The moment the door closes his lips are on yours. You can't believe this is finally happening. His hands roam your body almost greedily so; he can't get enough of you. You both finally break the kiss long enough to undress each other. Carelessly, clothes fall wherever as you lead Jay to your bedroom. His lips find yours again and with every touch your anticipation grows. You feel Jay's body react as your hands guide his to where you need touched the most.

You lose yourselves completely and somehow it's better than you ever imagined it being. In typical you and Jay fashion, plenty of laughs and playful banter are exchanged even between more moments of pure passion that last long into the night.

[aparticularbandit]

OK, look, I see a lot of posts about how commenting is super important on fics as opposed to, like, kudos, and honestly?

Yeah, I love comments, I love interacting with comments (I'm trying to get better at this! I don't reply to every comment, but some I do!), I love seeing comment threads between other commenters, I love comment discussions, I love the validation of comments because words of affirmation is apparently a big love language for me and that's what comments are!

Yes, I know if you're a frequent commenter! I recognize your name and I'm excited to see you comment again and I wonder if you'll like the next thing that happens in the newest chapter or if you'll like what I have planned and I get worried if a frequent commenter suddenly drops off and stops the same way I get worried if a frequent writer of a fic I'm enjoying suddenly disappears like did you die? I hope you are not dead. (But also I hope whatever turn I've taken in the chapters where you stopped posting weren't a huge turn-off for you, and if they were, I get why you stopped reading! And I respect that! But mostly I just hope you aren't dead.)

HOWEVER.

I love kudos? I love seeing that number go up? I love bookmarks and subscriptions, seeing how many people are interested and invested enough to keep coming back, even if they aren't commenting? Like? You actually like a thing I wrote enough to want to keep coming back to it, and that means a lot to me? (And I love, I love, I LOVE reading the notes you put in the bookmarks, when you put one there! Someone quoted the hot mom/MILF dialogue in their bookmark for Finding Family, and just like? LOVED THAT.)

And yeah, it does help to have all of those as a way to get me to keep writing a fic - and yeah, comments can help a lot with that - but you know what? My fic with the most bookmarks and kudos and subscriptions (and, for the longest time, the most comments - Finding Family has surpassed it at this point, which is honestly a surprise to me, I did not realize that) is still unfinished! Will probably stay unfinished! Not because I don't want to write it, and not because it doesn't have enough comments (it has far more than anything else, other than the aforementioned), but because I! just! may not get around to finishing it!

Goodness gravy, the vast majority of my finished fics have less comments than that one, and you know what, I still finished them! So yes, leaving comments is a good encouragement to your fic writers to keep writing and they are loved and a blessing and hoarded (literally I have a inbox folder in my email just to hoard my fic comments so I can read through them again when I need the encouragement), and yes, commenting can help a new fic writer keep going - whether that's one more chapter or one more fic after their first one-shot - comments are an amazing encouragement! As are kudos! And all of the rest!

But the trend I'm seeing of I need comments to keep me writing and if you don't comment, then it's your fault the fic writer didn't finish the fic/series/whatever make me super uncomfortable!

Like! How many fics have I read that I haven't left kudos on (not many, actually, I tend to leave kudos if I like something) - how many fics have I left kudos but not commented (A GOOD CHUNK OF THEM BECAUSE I DON'T ALWAYS HAVE A COMMENT). And I'm not going to sit here and blame someone like me who isn't commenting for whatever reason for my not finishing a fic I started in the darkness and silence of my lonely writer heart because I engaged with the material!

Do I post for validation? Yes!

Do I write for validation? Idk, I'm a writer, sometimes, I guess.

But I write a fic because I got so caught up in an idea that if I don't get it out, my brain's going to keep turning it over in my head like a kid who just found a new rock and is debating if it is sparkly enough to keep in their rock collection, determining what kind of new sort of jewel it is - or maybe it's a fossil of some long dead creature that no one has discovered yet!

I write for me just as much as I occasionally write for you!

And sometimes, if I want to write a fic, if I want to finish a fic, I'm going to do it regardless of how many comments it has (or how many comments I think it will have)! Honestly, some of my favorite fics have the least kudos and comments!

So like! I guess what I'm trying to say is!

Don't feel bad about not leaving a comment! Don't feel a bunch of pressure to comment if you don't have a comment to leave! It's okay!

(And I know other people will disagree but woof. All this pressure on trying to force people to leave comments makes me feel a certain kind of way, and it ain't good, y'all.)

[james-stark-the-writer]

Get to Know the Writer

So, @lilac-written tagged me in this. Guess I'll do it. Got nothing better to do atm.

1. PENS OR PENCILS

Pens only, unfortunately. Gels if I care about handwriting and have the time to go slow. Ball point if I'm in a hurry.

The only time I'll use a pencil is when I don't care about anyone reading what I'm writing or if it's just some jargon I don't care about.

I'm left handed so every time I use a pencil, it'll smudge everywhere. So, it's a no no to the pencils.

2. HAVE YOU EVER DRAWN YOUR OCs?

No. Believe me, you don't want to see anything I ever draw. Drawing is one of the countless things I suck at.

3. DOES YOUR WRITING EVER MAKE YOU CRY?

Unfortunately, not so far. I'd say it's mostly cause there just haven't been that many powerful scenes I've written. I mean, there's two powerful scenes that stuck out at emotional but I listen ot music when I write so most of it is just replaced by Brendon Urie.

4. IF YOUR MUSE WAS EVER A PERSON, WHAT WOULD THEY LOOK LIKE?

The most horrible (or probably beautiful depending on the features) monster ever. So, it'd be mix of Matt Bomer, Brendon Urie, Adelaide Kane, Eliza Dushku, Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris. With a few bits of Tom Ellis, Daniel Craig and Josh Dallas thrown in for good measure.

5. WHICH OF YOUR PIECES WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE REMEMBERED ABOUT?

Most probably The Game For Power or A Year At The Opera (I'm still in the planning phases of the latter)

6. HOW MUCH HAVE YOU WRITTEN OR WORKED ON YOUR WIP SO FAR TODAY?

Well, I had a new idea for the ending of TGFP so I scrapped the last three chapters (setting me back about 15K words). But, its at 120K words atm. AYATO is still in the outlining and planning phases. I'm still sorting out the characters and plot. But I outlined two chapters of AYATO today. I had decided to go back to an old novel but I got the idea for AYATO a few weeks ago and it just got stuck in my head so I decided to put off the old novel.

7. HAVE YOU EVER BASED A PIECE (OR PORTION OF A PIECE) IN A DREAM?

Uh, yeah. Who hasn't? I had a very weird dream one night that I started to write a book about. I got about 10K words in before realising the idea was shit and it'd never work other than as a satire piece. It's in a folder labelled Story Ideas I Might Write One Day as of today (It was on Wattpad till two days ago).

8. DO YOU PREFER SILENCE, A LITTLE NOISE (some light music, fan noise, humming etc), A LOT OF NOISE WHEN YOU'RE WRITING?

Honestly, it depends. If I'm writing a chapter, or just about any scene I'm stuck on, I like a lot of noise. Heavy metal or just being in a classroom works. Some smooth jazz or maybe 50s music if I'm on a scene I'm excited to write. If I'm trying to come up with an idea about a part I'm stuck on, I like silence. But, if I'm outlining, I have a dedicated writing playlist that I listen to so my brain works and it's just amazing creative songs. (PM me if you want the list or something)

9. DO YOU HAVE ANY ROUTINES BEFORE YOU SIT DOWN TO WRITE?

Not really. I do like to set a word count (a reasonable one like five hundred words) that I'd like to (don't have to) reach in that session. If I'm not writing, I set a very small goal that I'd like to do. If I'm outlining, I'll probably say to finish a character's POV. If I'm thought dumping, I'll probably challenge myself to complete two pages full of ideas. Just anything will do. It's fun when it works. Infuriating af when it doesn't.

10. HAVE YOU EVER PARTICIPATED IN NANOWRIMO OR ANY CAMP?

No. But, I've done a version of it myself. So, back when I was working on my second novel, which will never see the light of day, I forced myself to not write anything for three months (just outlining, character Profiles or thought dumping was allowed)and then spend an entire month writing. I only did it the one time. I got thirty eight thousand something words in by the end of the month.

Top 10 Writeblrs:

@cogwrites @writings-of-a-narwhal @writingwithteacups @bellarosepope @brynwrites @grimmwrites @andiiwrites @delphwrites @riverlinden @three-seas-writes