#i need to edit it & add on a final paragraph so this be out in the next couple days <3

[utterlyazriel]

There's no sound coming from inside. No scent of blood, no crackle of fire. Yet, somehow, he knows without question that you're in there. As his concern winds down a notch, his rational brain begins to tick. There might be someone else in there with you. As the different scenario's get considered and discarded, Azriel lands on the most likely one. It's a trap. The reasoning builds up the motive, spinning a story that makes sense. A Shadowsinger, the Spymaster of the Night Court, caught off his guard by using his latest confidant against him. Azriel turns over the idea slowly and decisively, thinking of Brudam, of Lord Mylind, wondering if they've been buying their time all this while— and he's been too distracted with you to even notice. Azriel curses himself for being so careless. There's still no noise from within the shelter. If it's a trap, it doesn't matter; the only way out is through.

snippet of chapter 6 of whom the shadows sing for! prepare for toil and trouble my dears <3

[dbphantom]

you know if you guys voted for stretch armstrong i probably would have shut up a lot sooner tonight

[kazumiwrites-fanfiction]

Accidental Confessions

REQUEST: I FINALLY THOUGHT OF MY REQUEST May I request Azul, Jade and Riddle getting high because of mushrooms for some unknown reason and confessing to a gn reader bc their ability to stay composed just went completely out the window? It's more of a fluff/crack idea I came up with, sorry if it's not too clear @thehollowwriter

SUMMARY: When the usually cool and composed guys accidentally confess due to... Some interesting foods. WORD COUNT: 1.3k

WARNINGS: Mushrooms (need I say anything else), maybe OOC, Jade and Floyd and Azul shenanigans, they may act like they're under the influence of drugs (no actual drugs in the story though!!), these poor guys (please give them hugs), Ace is chaos A/N: Me, trying to make sure I get everything right: *types in Google* "what happens when you get high" on my school computer Don't do drugs guys :D (I would've said kids but I'm like 96% sure that most of the people reading my fics are in fact older than me) I love how I finished this a while ago and then was like "I'm gonna add a bit more to the end" and it was only like a paragraph- Azul is my favorite, you can see from how much I write for him </3 Also I love fluff and crack, I enjoy writing it the most! Feel free to send more requests like these <3

© kazumiwrites - All rights reserved; please do not steal, edit, copy, repost (etc) my work without my express permission.

Azul Ashengrotto

You know, Azul should have known better.

Jade always went out and got some mushrooms on his hikes, and he seemed pretty confident that he knew the different types of mushrooms.

But one single mistake - a mushroom similar enough to a perfectly fine edible one - and now he felt woozy.

Great.

It wasn't an unpleasant experience - he felt happy in that dreamy way, where you weren't able to comprehend much. But he knew this was bad.

What if he got addicted? That would ruin all his plans for his future. He needed to have a clear head.

He really should've been resting, but unfortunately, Floyd had ran off (most likely so he didn't have to be near the mushrooms). Due to that, Mostro Lounge needed an extra pair of hands.

So when he saw you, he immediately was on guard as much as he could be. Who knows what he could let slip when you were so close, and his thinking wasn't at its best…

He tried to avoid you, but unfortunately (again? Why were so many bad things happening to him today?) you sat at the table closest to him.

He had to go up to you and take your order. Your sweet smile almost made him melt, a soft flush on his cheeks as he just nodded quietly, jotting your order down.

You thought it was odd - Azul was usually the type to chat people up, try to get as much of a profit in as possible - but today was different. It made you a bit worried, honestly.

As you asked if he was all right, Azul's eyes widened.

His mind went blank, and the only words that left his lips were, "Sorry, you were just really cute, and I-" He froze as he realized the words he said, trying to backtrack, but he couldn't think right. "I mean, I just thought your smile was- you- I-" He shook his head slightly. "Forget it," he said, hands shaking slightly out of embarrassment as he turned and walked away.

As Jade had been watching and listening to the interaction, he quickly made your order before handing it to Azul (who had been hoping for some rest behind the counter before seeing you). Jade was saying something about how Azul really needed to be quicker with processing orders - Azul was pretty sure that Jade knew about his feelings toward the Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm.

Azul sighed softly before trudging back to you, the food and drink you ordered held in a tray. "There you go."

As you inquired about what his previous words had been about, he saw the teasing glint in your eyes.

Did you know?

"It was nothing- I just like you a-" A slip of the tongue. Damn it. He hadn't meant to say that. He quickly backed away before almost sprinting to the VIP Room, his cheeks flushed a bright red. He almost ran into the doorframe though (which Jade may or may not have taken a picture of).

Bonus:

"I told you that Azul likes you a lot." Jade smiled, a small glint of his teeth showing. "Did you plan this?" "Jade might've given Azul an unusual mushroom~" That sing-songy voice had to be Floyd's. "I knew it." You rolled your eyes a little. "That was cute, though. Although your method might have been a little mean. Poor Azul." "You can go talk to him after you enjoy your meal." Jade smiled at you. "And Floyd, you haven't had anything to eat. Perhaps you would like one of the mushroom soups I've made?" "No- I've had enough of your mushrooms." A soft whine came out of the other tweel's lips. "But maybe Koebi-chan wants some?" "Thanks for the offer, but I probably should go to Azul as soon as possible." You laughed softly. "There's no telling what's happening to him right now, after all."

Jade Leech

Jade had a heavy mishap on his hands. He had gone a bit overboard with picking his mushrooms, and then Floyd had gone and messed with his careful labeling.

And then he didn't check the contents and labels thoroughly before he put them into a little snack for himself.

So now here he was, stumbling to Ramshackle Dorm for no reason in particular.

It was a wonder how he hadn't stumbled off the path, what with the hallucinations he was seeing.

He stumbled inside (luckily the door wasn't locked), quickly moving to your room.

At first you thought he was Floyd due to how off he was acting. But nope, that was definitely Jade.

"Jade?" Your eyes were wide as you stared at the male. "What are you doing here?"

"I love youuuuu." Well, that was a surprise.

Now you were really wondering if this wasn't Floyd. It sounded like something he would say.

As the tall male draped himself over you, you awkwardly tried to get both of you comfortable on the small chair. It was no use, however, as you toppled off of your chair and onto the ground.

You let out a soft huff, staring up at Jade who had fallen on top of you. How fun…

He seemed to have fallen asleep, relaxed on top of you. Well, at least he didn't seem to have gotten hurt.

You awkwardly patted his hair as you gave up trying to move. The floor was uncomfortable… But you could bear it, you didn't want to stop looking at Jade's sleeping face.

Riddle Rosehearts

Ace, the prankster he was, had put in an insane amount of sugar in some cookies he was making. He had then given the cookies to Riddle.

The unsuspecting Riddle had accepted the cookies, feeling a bit confused. Why was Ace making cookies…? No matter.

He was starting to eat some of the cookies when you had been brought to the Heartslabyul dorm (totally not by force).

You were also confused, and for good reason. Ace was saying something about pranking his housewarden, but to be honest? What reason did he have for calling you here?

You were pretty sure it was just so Ace didn't get punished. He didn't want to keep getting in trouble, after all. Though, the rational thought would be to not prank Riddle at all… But oh well.

"Hey, Riddle," you said, feeling a bit uncertain. You smiled a little at the male.

"Oh- hi, kantokusei." The red-haired male blinked at you, looking confused.

"Yeah, so- Ace dragged me here? I don't really know why, but-"

He paused for a heartbeat before replying. "I don't know why he brought you here either." He sighed softly, shaking his head.

"Well…" You shrugged awkwardly. "Are those cookies any good?" You gestured vaguely towards the plate in front of him.

"They're too sweet." Riddle frowned a little. "Ace has no delicacy in doing these things, he thinks more is always better."

You let out a soft laugh. "Sounds like him." Just as you reached for a cookie, his hand brushed past yours.

He froze, cheeks flushing adorably. All the sugar in his system was making his heart race and not be focused on what he was thinking.

Before he could even question it, he grabbed your hands. "…I like you a lot." he got out before freezing yet again, hands still holding yours. Why had he said that?

Little did either of you know, Ace was wheezing behind the closed door. He had put in a small little potion, nothing major, that caused a person to say what they felt to the person they liked. He had gotten it from Azul, and it clearly had worked.

The deal had been worth it to get blackmail on his housewarden. Now, if only he could somehow use this to get rid of Riddle as housewarden and all of his strict rules… That would be great. Maybe he could even actually win?

As always, reblogs and comments are always appreciated! ♡ Send your thoughts grr

This post has details for requesting, and I also currently have a writing event going on here. Please check it out!

[lyrakanefanatic]

Thoughts that I wanted to share about the brothers Hawthorne/ the grandest game bc I don’t wanna make a million posts about each one 💀

1: Phone girls dad literally shot himself ON. HER. BIRTHDAY. 😭😭

2: Skye Hawthorne MIGHT be in the grandest game, because when Avery got bombed and Ricky and skye got arrested for it, they found out that it actually wasn’t them which means they prob got out of jail (maybe not Ricky but probably skye) and she might be controlling one of the players

3: WE’LL PROBABLY GET TO SEE A SUNSHINE X GRUMPY TROPE!! (Mathias and Gigi)

4: we’ll see which 7 contestants avery will pick for the game!! (While I was writing that instead of contestants I accidentally put tributes 💀)

5: we might learn more about Toby’s backstory (or just the Hawthorne backstories in general, like Zara’s, nans or Alice’s)

6: speaking of Alice, SOMEHOW THAT OLD GRANDMAS GOING TO BE ALIVE

7: this isn’t really a prediction but more just like a possible hint for the grandest game, but when grayson tells his brothers about the riddle “what begins a bet? Not that”, Jameson says this

He says “what’s the opposite of a handshake?” And I found a picture online that shows multiple different options of what could be the opposite of a handshake

Basically most of the words on there kind of show “misinterpretation” or just different words for some sort of mistake, so would that mean that the “beef” (im just gonna call it that bc I don’t rlly know what went down) between tobias and thomas thomas was maybe accidental?? Or maybe they got into a disagreement that ended in thomas ending his life? All the book really shows is that one paragraph (that I highlighted in green) that talks about what Jameson thought of the riddle, and then Jameson was talking to Avery about the game (probs bc jlb didn’t wanna drop too many hints lmao) And then if you add it in with the “abet” theory ⬇️

It said that one of the opposites of a handshake were “refusal” and “disagreement”, so what if tobias had wanted thomas to aid one of his crimes and thomas refused, and maybe tobias gave him an ultimatum which is why he shot himself?? It’s so confusing bc what would tobias even do that was so horrible that thomas had to shoot himself, I really don’t know. but if anyone has some theory’s on this pls lmk! 🫶

8: holy guacamole 7 was a long one, but anyway i feel like there are definitely more hints on the grandest game in the brothers Hawthorne then there were in the final gambit, even though in (i think tig is the one that clue was from?) the inheritance games “special” edition bc idk what their called it said “hints in the final gambit”. (although one loose end from tig was David Golding, and @riddles-n-games had a good theory about that) But i read the final gambit entirely and didn’t find a single clue other than David, so that’s kinda weird (unless somebody else found something else they found interesting in that book?)

9: Eve might also be behind one of the players, or just trying to get involved with the game so she could get the cash prize or whatever else it is that that psycho needs 🙄

10: we’ll (most likely, bc I’m 99.9% sure that she’ll be in tgg) see what phone girl looks like and see which one of us were right 😜

11: kinda random but i will bet a whole 5 dollars that phone girls name is either gonna be flower related, or just straight up be lily. Or maybe both, but just think of how ironic that would be (there are calla lilys all over the cover of tgg… 🤷‍♀️)

12: LIBBY NASH WEDDING!!! 🤭🤭🤭💗

13: so off topic but WHERE DO GRAYSON AND JAMESON GET THEIR MONEY FROM??? like I’m sure jameson probably gets some cash from his billionaire girlfriend, but what about grayson?? he says in tbh that he’s “buried in work” but what kind of work does he do?? and who does he work for?? 🤨

14: Okay this is gonna be the last one bc i need to shut up, but does anybody have an idea on what some things in the grandest game cover might symbolize? we know about the lilys and the opal rings, but other than that i CANT seem to figure out anything else on there 😭😭

and okay that’s all thank you for coming to my ted talk 🫶😊🙌

[catras-breakup-song]

something that i want to criticize as someone who loves the show dearly more than any other is how it handles shadow weaver later on, and i'm not talking about her sacrifice in the finale because that's been discussed plenty of times already.

i'm talking about two other events:

when double trouble plays out their iconic scene of tearing catra down during the eleventh hour and giving her a much-needed wake-up call, they portray shadow weaver in a way that blames catra for her abuse. they imply that she's the problem in that relationship, which doesn't sit well with me considering she's one of the few people that catra had every right to treat poorly and retaliate against in the way she did.

[as shadow weaver] "they didn't believe in you." [as default form] "but did you ever stop to think maybe they're not the problem? it's you. you drive them away, wildcat."

EDIT: i suggest you read this, or at least the first four paragraphs!

2. when shadow weaver falsely comforts adora about making the right choice to forget about catra and focus on her mission as a martyr, adora retorts that she's going to destroy the heart of etheria, but not to please shadow weaver. my issue here is that shadow weaver is the type of character where it doesn't matter why adora is doing something she's been manipulated into doing, just that she is doing it. at the end of the day, she's been successfully programmed to be a useful tool first and a human second, whether for good or evil. it means she never unlearned what's been ingrained in her mind from day one that whatever she wants for herself doesn't matter, and her purpose has been set without her input. adora's story would've ended lacking an identity just as shadow weaver planned if mara and catra hadn't reminded her that she deserves to be loved and have a future.

"keep telling yourself that. i'm going to take the failsafe to the heart, and i'm going to save etheria. but I am not doing it for you. i'll do everything i can to make sure you never get your hands on the magic."

i love shadow weaver as a character. i think she's a fascinating villain who adds so much to the story. i can acknowledge that she's a horrible person who could never be forgiven (as opposed to redeemed, but that's a different story) and still enjoy the way she's written. in fact, the way she herself was written is not the problem here since these were not her quotes at all. it was other characters who solidified her power, albeit unintentionally, that made me uncomfortable.

i won't be putting this in the typical sp0p cr1t1c4l tags, simply because this is a genuine critique from a she-ra fan and i don't fuck with antis who just hate the show.

[hojiteaversion]

Why I Think RC Has Trouble Sticking Their Landings

(Or, a pantser talks about structure and DLS for like 8 paragraphs)

My short answer: Because these stories are first drafts

Longer answer: ⬇️

1) (Lack of) Developmental editing

RC's model has its authors write long stories 2-4 chapters at a time. As much as the authors might perfect these chapters, they have no way to change something later on if they realize a scene no longer matches the big picture. An author may revise and make a batch of 4 flawless chapters, but it still doesn't mean they will fit the story seamlessly.

Developmental editing, according to this article, "involves feedback on the big picture of a […] writing piece. A developmental editor will critique structural elements like the plot, characters, theme, and organization of ideas." They also say that this kind of editing is recommended after the first or second draft.

So this type of revision would help an author make sure every character has its place (too many LIs and uneven LI screentime could be fixed), that characterization is consistent, that the plot is clear and moving at a good pacing, etc.

In DLS, for example, things that might be revised after a developmental editing: Leo's introduction scenes not matching his characterization later on, the Leo/Vlad rivalry that seems a bit strange in hindsight, more prominent role and scenes for Sandra, a more consistent progression in Noe/Laia and Ezel/Laia routes, fairer distribution of LI scenes (🫠), Laia's character motivations, the plot mysteries might be revealed to the reader a bit earlier, etc.

But these stories are arguably first drafts that will never be revised holistically (like Choices stories are/used to be, as far as I'm aware), so problems that only become clear once you're further along might not be fixed satisfactorily (or at all).

What sort of problems? Well...

2) Structure, part I

So the visual novel medium is fairly recent, right? Choose Your Own Adventure stories have existed for a while, but, I'm pretty sure, not in the scale of RC stories. 3 seasons demand a lot of story. And the thing is, I'm not sure there is a lot of guidance out there regarding story structure for interactive stories? Not that I've found, at least.

This is a problem, I think, because even if these authors follow the existing material on story structure (Save the Cat, Hero's Journey, Classic 3 Act, Seven-Point Structure, etc.), they will have to do the work of adapting it for a visual novel that A) has 3 seasons as a default, and B) 3 seasons of more or less equal length.

Look, it absolutely can be done! But my point is, I think it's generally uncharted territory and requires a lot of problem-solving. It's not just figuring what must happen in this story for it to be satisfying, it's also deciding when each thing must happen in a way that fits the requirements of three seasons and their finales, which must all fit together, but also be individually exciting and balance setup and payoff. And there is no way to go back and fix it if you realize you messed up the pacing somewhere! Not to mention…

3) Structure, part II: Routes

Not only do they have to figure out plot and structure (without being able to revise the finished story as a whole), but they also need to figure out and balance at least 4 different dynamics. As in, when it gets established, how to keep those dynamics fresh even after they get together, and how to synchronize MC's development with that relationship and its milestones. And again, it's not like there is a manual or a right answer. You have to write and fix afterwards — except they can't 😀. So if an author realizes later on that x couple needed a scene earlier on, or that they rushed things, or any other problem, there is nothing to be done except maybe add more scenes that might stand out from whatever they're trying to correct.

A tiny example of this problem in DLS would be Leo and Laia telling Derya that they're dating, which is clearly a correction of the scene in 4x02 where Laia called him "a friend" because "[she] thought it went against local customs to make a show of pre-marital relationships". In 2019 Istanbul. It would just make more sense if she had just called him her boyfriend in the first place.

4) Authors

I'll admit I'm least informed about this one, but based on a few interviews I've read with the authors, it seems some of them have never written fiction or visual novels before…? I could be wrong! But! Imagine being new to this medium and having to figure all of that ⬆️ out, with the limitations that RC's model brings. I'm not sure how much training and/or assistance they get in this entire process. It just seems a lot for one person.

And I have no answers for any of this, by the way! I don't work there, I don't know how the company works or how it doesn't. This is just my tentative opinion based on my limited experience with writing. It's extremely hard, and I genuinely cannot imagine trying to do any of that ⬆️ in the first place, but especially if I had to get it right on the first try.

Every writing advice on Earth recommends multiple drafts on longform writing because it's impossible to make your story the best it can be on the first attempt. So I think the RC endings often being unsatisfying might be, mainly, a consequence of that.

[keystonepublishing]

There Will Come Soft Rains by @tunastime

Wedding Bands only need Three Gold Pieces by wisteriaworlds / @percivex

Where and How our Fires Burn by @plumelagoon

After a week of printing, cutting, and gluing, I have finally finished a long-held goal of mine to bind these three fanfics!

After the last mammoth bookbinding project, I wanted to do something simple for a change. So, I decided to bind some Rancher Duo fics for my personal enjoyment while using some of the cheapest materials and leftover stuff that I can find. While the overall binding process was comparatively simpler, there were also a few new tricks I use in the making of these ficbooks.

If I could sum it up, I would say that these ficbinds are a sort-of "working experiment". As in, experimenting in making, gluing, and putting what goes where at which sections of the book.

For starters, the endpapers of various feathers are just cut sections of present-wrapping paper I found at a store. I intended to use a different paper pattern for the inside cover/endpaper, but ran out of that and bought the feather one instead. Given how Jimmy is head-cannoned and written as a canary of death, it's serendipitously fitting.

I also went for simplicity at the spine; just a long piece of cardstock. Simple and effective, yet somehow it went wonky for one book when it came to gluing. Why? How? I don't know!

Experimentation was afoot from the title page alone. The first two fics are titled plainly, but I decided to place a semi-transparent visual of a feather at the last ficbind, just to test the visual look. I'd say it looks a lot more interesting and fits the fic's vibe, though I also like the simplicity of the last two title pages.

The front matter (or information page/s) was also a place where slight experiments were done, namely at keeping all the information contained to one page. If there is just too much info, can I make it a two-page spread without it looking like a boring wall of text? And lastly: is there enough room to add the AO3 logo and my own?

The second and third ficbinds use symbols as dividers between different sections of info, and the third ficbind has no logo - more on that later.

I then experimented on the first page: could I use pictures or visuals to set the mood for the fic? Each picture was taken from the internet and edited to fit the page, though it look me literal hours to find the right pictures to use in the first place.

The titles have a pop of red color to make for an interesting visual effect. Soft Rains and How Our Fires Burn also have drop caps at their opening paragraphs to see if it fits with the visual look and layout.

There Will Come Soft Rains was also the first time I did some fancy editing in regards to the letter-writing sections of the fic. The paper background was easy, but it took some time to find the exact fonts that could fit Tango and Jimmy's writing vibe. I also divided Tango and Jimmy's perspectives with thematic dividers - a cowboy hat and redstone block, naturally.

I then repeated the visual vibe at the opening pages for the ending. As Wedding Bells ended at the left page, the opposite right page was a singular photo that conveys the vibe of the fic's ending. Since the other two ficbinds ended at the right page, I tried to come up with a way of conveying the emotional touchstone of their endings and settled on a double-page spread of photos.

Setting the photos to that they seem to meet at the center was a bit finicky, and it ultimately did not print as a seamless whole. Still, I like the effect those photos give to the ending(s).

Same concept, but simplified at the End Notes. I ultimately feel the simplified visuals of the latter ficbinds ended up better than the complete picture of my first attempt.

Also, remember how one ficbind, Where and How Our Fires Burn, did not have the logos at the front matter / information page? That's because that fic was when I experimented with a colophon and placed the logos of AO3 and my own there. Thinking about it, I may not use this method if I want to make a simple bookbind that saves pages, but definitely will for bigger projects.

Full credits for all these fics to their writers!

[nientedenada]

Mages Guild Morass: A Mix-Up over Vanus Galerion's Final Fate

Also posted on r/teslore. A couple months ago, my friend @akaviri-dovah asked a question about Vanus Galerion's timeline.

Ok so I’m reading up on Vanus uesp page again and apparently there was a point wherein he abandoned his guild and left Tamriel?? […] "Over time, Galerion grew bitterly disillusioned with the contrived hierarchies and sinister political environment that the Mages Guild had become. He grew regretful for establishing the guild in the first place, as it had become monster of its own, and was too late for him to fix. After denouncing the guild, Galerion elected to leave Tamriel entirely to travel to other lands. For many years Galerion wandered around Nirn. Eventually, after long his abandonment of the Mages Guild, Galerion claimed that he had found the virtue of magic in his solitary travels." [This description] probably wouldn’t line up with how he still managed to gather so many mages and Lamp Knights (guild specific) in his battle against Manni right?

This question completely confuddled me at first, because it turned out I didn't know my Vanus Galerion lore very well at all. But now I know a lot more and I am here to share a very niche lore puzzle with you all.

I think we're all aware that when the devs imported lore books into ESO, they didn't always make certain the books' contents fit into the previously established timeline. Sometimes that can be explained by Hermaeus Mora moving books about through time, but often books are edited for ESO but some detail is overlooked. This is what appears to have happened with Vanus Galerion.

Origin of the Mages Guild, written by Ted Peterson, has been in every big TES game since Daggerfall except Skyrim. It’s been edited for different games, but the last paragraph is the same in all versions.

One need not be a member of the Mages Guild to know that this carefully contrived hierarchy is often nothing more than a chimera. As Vanus Galerion himself said bitterly, leaving Tamriel to travel to other lands, "The Guild has become nothing more than an intricate morass of political infighting."

In Daggerfall and Morrowind, that is the last heard of Vanus Galerion. This version is backed up by a role-playing thread from 2001 in which Ted Peterson, posting as Tedders, has an exchange with Vanus Galerion (also played by himself)

Tedders: Thank Mara for Vanus Galerion for freeing the Old Ways and founding the Mages Guild. Vanus Galerion: For many long years I did regret that very deed, as it seems I created just another monster of sinister politics. The virtue of magic I found in my solitary travels, many years after I abandoned the Mages Guild and ventured on my own. Tedders: Poor Trechtus. It's too late now.

Oblivion, though, adds a new version of Vanus Galerion’s fate. In Mannimarco, King of Worms, it’s explained that Vanus never did peace out on the Mages Guild. He actually died leading Mages Guild Lamp Knights against Mannimarco.

They say Galerion left the Guild, calling it 'a morass,' But untruth is a powerful stream, polluting the river of time. Galerion beheld Mannimarco's rise through powers sublime, To his mages and Lamp Knights, 'Before my last breath, Face I must the tyranny of worms, and kill at last, undeath.' He led them north to cursed lands, to a mountain pass.

(Short interlude: this is not quite as bad as Mannimarco's own poetry, but it ain't good)

In this text, Vanus Galerion is killed in the fight against Mannimarco

A thousand good and evil perished then, history confirms. Among, alas, Vanus Galerion, he who showed the way,

This version is supported by Mannimarco’s claim in Oblivion that he had Galerion’s corpse in his possession.

I must say, I expected Arch-Mage Traven, rather than his star pupil. I am disappointed to see that he could not face me himself. I have met so many of his predecessors over the years. I developed a particular fondness for Galerion, ill-preserved though he may be.

So, depending on whose version you believe, Vanus either left the guild calling it a morass or led the guild in a final battle against Mannimarco.

In comes ESO to complicate matters.

The ESO Devs did not include Mannimarco, King of Worms in the game, since Vanus Galerion is still alive in ESO. But they didn’t ignore the text. A lot of the details of Vanus and Mannimarco’s early life from Mannimarco King of Worms are fleshed out in the Summerset expansion via. Vanus’ ESO autobiography: Artaeum Lost, as well as in ESO flashbacks to their time with the Psijics.

However, base game ESO stumbled with their version of Origin of the Mages Guild, which still ends

One need not be a member of the Mages Guild to know that this carefully contrived hierarchy is often nothing more than a chimera. As Vanus Galerion himself said bitterly, leaving Tamriel to travel to other lands, "The Guild has become nothing more than an intricate morass of political infighting."

When you bring this book into ESO, you get the implication that Vanus got into a snit at the Mages Guild, left Tamriel to travel other lands, AND THEN came back from abroad for the events of ESO where he’s very involved in Mages Guild business again.

So to sum it up

Version 1: Daggerfall to Morrowind: Vanus is said to have called the guild a morass and left Tamriel at some unspecified date. That is the last mention of him.

Version 2: Oblivion to Skyrim: It's suggested that story is untrue and he actually died leading the Mages guild in a fight against Mannimarco but many believe he instead left Tamriel after calling the Guild a morass.

Version 3: ESO: Doesn't go into Vanus' death because it's not happened yet but keeps details from that Oblivion/Skyrim Version about his earlier life with Mannimarco. ESO devs miss the detail of the morass line referring to Vanus Galerion's permanent disappearance in both Versions 1 and 2.

I think if we go with Version 3, which is the most up-to-date, we would conclude that he did get into an earlier snit with his subordinates, went globetrotting, and then came back to guide the Mages Guild. Centuries later, someone misattributed the morass remark from the earlier situation to the latter disappearance.

Or you could go with time-travelling books.

Or you could just shrug your shoulders and ignore the obvious developer error and continue with the timeline established by the previous games.

UESP has cobbled all these sources into one timeline: ESO Events -> Morass Remark and Exit from Mages Guild -> Leading the Mages Guild against Mannimarco/ Death. But unless we go with the time-travelling books theory, this doesn’t seem possible.

End of Morass Gate.

[rmd-writes]

5, 14, and 17, please, Rae!

Thanks Courtney!

5. first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

There’s silence while she waits for her dad to speak and it feels heavy, like the air is pushing on her.

14. where do you get your inspiration?

Anywhere really, sometimes it's something I've seen on social media, other times someone has mentioned a prompt that I couldn't stop thinking about, or seen fan art that's inspired me. Often I'll be mid-conversation with fandom friends and something they've said makes me start thinking about a potential fic. Sometimes it's spite 😉

17. talk about your writing and editing process

tbh they're kind of the same thing! I edit as I write which is sometimes an issue because I get stuck editing instead of writing. To force myself out of doing this, sometimes I use the gdocs headings so that I don't scroll through the entire doc and can just click on the outline instead to get to where I was up to.

The process itself is something like:

1. come up with idea 2. flesh it out in someone's DMs (usually @welcometololaland) which may or may not involve messages or voice notes that say things like "ignore this I just had to get it out of my head" 3. copy notes from DMs to my private writing discord and/or google doc 4. outline (may have already occured at step 3 if I'm not doing a detailed outline) 5. write (almost always chronologically unless a scene or dialogue comes to mind fully formed) 6. edit 7. complain about writing/having no time to write/words not working etc etc 8. edit 9. write more 10. edit 11. send snippets to friends and/or add them to gdoc for validation (this one is ESSENTIAL. I am not a writer who can write on their own without constant feedback) 12. repeat steps 5-11 until fic is done. 13. full edit as if I'm beta reading someone else's fic + coding if necessary (there's a whole separate process for that, it involves threatening to throw whatever device I'm working on out of a window) 14. send to beta (sometimes I do this before 13 if I need to stop looking at the doc) 15. final edit 16. post to ao3 and inevitably find typos that I somehow missed 17. edit 18. go to sleep and hopefully wake up to nice comments

[more fic writer asks]

[lollytea]

Do you have a beta reader, and as a writer, do you need one in order for your work to be good? Also, as a writer, how do you know if you're doing enough to finally feel good enough with whatever you're trying to work on?

Do you have a beta reader?

Not at the moment, no. I had a beta for a total of one fic I wrote in December 2022. Everything else has been done on my own. You can probably tell because of all the grammatical errors.

Do you need one in order for your work to be good?

If you're asking on behalf on yourself, I will say that you don't NEED one, but I'd definitely recommend it. If you're referring to writing fanfics and you don't have anybody available to beta for you, then there's no harm in posting them without it. As I said, I do it all the time. BUT if you do have somebody who's willing, then yes, absolutely accept their help. Having a second pair of eyes to catch all the little mistakes helps a ton. Their assistance and corrections will also help you learn, and your work will get better as you go along.

If you're talking about, like, writing original fiction that you're hoping to publish, then it's a little less casual than fanfic. If that's the case, yes, try to find an editor.

If you're asking about me personally, then I'd say that I probably WOULD be a lot better at writing if I had one. As I said, grammar and linguistics are my weak points. My stuff would also be way neater and more polished if I had a beta who was given more creative liberties. For the one fic I wrote that was beta-ed, their job was mostly to comb through these big fat paragraphs and add commas, remove commas, etc. They made a few suggestions about rewording some of my sentences, but they also recognized that I was a lunatic who was very particular about the way I phrased things for whatever reason so they mostly focused on the grammar and punctuation.

If I had a beta that I gave full reign to do whatever they wanted, my work would probably improve by tenfold. Shorter, more straightforward, probably more impactful, less rambly. But my stuff is exhausting to deal with from an editing perspective. Massive and wordy and all over the place. I really could not expect somebody to spend their valuable time wrestling with all of that for free.

So I'm fine tipping along in my usual rambly way at the moment.

How do you know if you're doing enough to finally feel good enough with whatever you're trying to work on?

Well, there's no such thing as being "good enough" to make anything. I write for fun. It's not my job. I have nothing to lose.

I'm still learning. And I think I still have a long way to go. It's okay if I'm bad at it in the mean time.

Everything I write and post is just an example of me practising. Trying to figure out what works. What doesn't work. My writing is always getting better, then worse, then better, then worse again, in a constant cycle, but as long as I'm practising, I'm learning.

Don't burn yourself out. Write little bits at a time if you have to. Don't be scared that your idea is too ambitious for your skill level. Write it in your own way, even if you don't feel like you can pull it off. By doing that, you'll steadily get better. And if you want to rewrite it again in a few years when you finally feel like you have the skills to excecute it in the way you want, then you can always do that.

Even if you don't feel good enough for your own standards, you improve a little bit every time you work on something. That's what's matters.

I find it comforting to focus on the fact that I'm still learning, rather than the fact that I'm still not as good as I think I should be.

I don't think any of us will ever be "good enough" in our own minds. We'll never see ourselves as masters. It's an unattainable goal. But so long as we keep letting ourselves write "badly" we'll probably write a few masterpieces in the process.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

I have dyslexia as well so I listen to podfics a lot! Can I ask how you write so perfectly with dyslexia? No need to answer if you don't want to, jus curious about your process :-)

Hey, sweets, it's no problem, don't worry!

I'm gonna take this opportunity to do what I do best and... overexplain. (Which--the overexplaining, overwriting that I do--I'm convinced is due to dyslexia. It takes a lot of words, which I don't feel naturally attuned to, to communicate the thoughts I have in my head. I struggle with words and sentence structure, and it all comes out tangled, so I just keep trying until I have monster paragraphs, lmao.)

Yeah, I'm dyslexic! Very dyslexic, lmao. And I do a lot to work around it, trying my best to write (mostly) coherent words, but also, I don't really think about the process I use all the time because... it's just what I have to do, y'know? I've always had to have work arounds. Like, I've obviously been dyslexic my entire life, but I didn't get a diagnosis until late, late middle school, and at that point, the "accommodations" I got at school were entirely useless. Like, oh, wonderful, preferential seating. Sure. Yeah. That will definitely help with my dyslexia. Thanks.

I also remember, just as a side note, that it was during that time when I was refused accommodations like extra time for tests, reading aids, note-taking aids, etc. all which would've been EXTREMELY HELPFUL because I was doing "well enough" in school. So, clearly, I didn't "need" them, if anything, they would be "wasted" on me when they could go to someone else who was actually struggling (which, I get, public school funding is shitty and there aren't unlimited resources, but I'm still slightly salty, lol. Just because I didn't appear to be struggling on the outside didn't mean I wasn't struggling. It's similar to having "high functioning" depression, like, it doesn't matter if I can function if I still feel like fucking shit constantly). I was also so, so close to not being diagnosed in the first place because, according to the doctors I saw, I was smart enough that it wouldn't matter.

That's a reoccurring theme with my dyslexia, actually!

People never believe me!

Which, sure, is a compliment to other people. But it's a backhanded one. I don't want to be complimented by pushing everyone else down.

ANYWAY-

The process.

The process starts--background wise--with practice. The shit answer. I know. But, really, practice. I've been writing stories for a lot longer than I've been posting fics. I've written lots of fiction (short stories and nonshort stories), I used to write poetry, and I'm a life-long journal-er. I used to read a lot, lot of books, too, despite the challenges with my dyslexia. It'd just that now I write so much for fandom and with higher education challenging me, I find it hard to have the time or the energy to read and deal with more words than I already do.

So, I have lots of practice on my side, active and passive, but I also have other things...

I type all my fics, and I use fonts and font sizes extensively. I tend to use bigger font sizes overall, not like wildly huge fonts, but not 11 or 12, either. It depends on the font itself--some fonts have larger letters than others. Something about the letters being more visible and having smaller sentence chunks on each line helps me anchor the letters in place.

I also will plan my fics in one font (probably whatever the program is set to by default), then flesh out the plan more in a different font, after I'll actually go and write out my fic in a new font, and when I'm ready to make edits and add final touches I use a new font, again. I tend to bounce between Arial, Verdana, Open Dyslexic, and Comic Sans. Yes, I write smut I comic sans regularly 💀💀

I've seen research that says, yes, fonts can affect dyslexia and research that says it doesn't do shit so... 🤷🏻‍♂️ Either way, I feel like it helps me find mistakes because it tricks my eyes into thinking the words are new, lol. That, and I find it more comfortable to write in dark mode, I don't know why or if it's doing anything specifically to my dyslexia, but I get less lost in the words when in dark mode.

While I'm doing all that font changing, I'm also, as I mentioned, writing and re-writing, which means reading and re-reading. I go over my fics A FUCK TON. Pure repetition irons out a lot of shit by brute force, lol. I have friends who will write essays for school and look over it once, maybe twice if they're feeling spicy. I can not comprehent that. Not me. If I haven't re-read it, once I'm at the final editing and final touches stage, at least six times then... it's not going to be posted. I'll also change fonts between re-readings. And when I put the fucking thing into AO3, I re-read it again.

(I'm sure a beta reader would be very helpful, but I'm also very protective over my art--writing, drawing, sculpture, or otherwise, and so I haven't played with that, lol. You'd have to ask someone else about their experience there!)

While writing, reading, re-writing, and re-reading, I'm also reading out loud to myself.

Everything.

All 👏🏻of 👏🏻 it 👏🏻

I say all of it.

It helps me with flow and writing style, sure, but really, it forces me to realize mistakes and lessens my mistakes. You mentioned podfics and while I haven't gotten into podfics I am a fucking podcast, music, audio guy. I find audio so much easier to process than written words.

(You might find this poll of interest, I do, lol)

Aaaand, while all of this is going on, I also, of course, use a grammar program. I use Grammarly because it was most accessible (re: free and recommended to me by an English teacher) in high school. I keep in mind that it has batshit insane suggestions sometimes, and I have all their bullshit AI helping tools turned off, but... it does help a ton.

In conclusion, something that I am working on myself is that sometimes when I'm having a bad day with my dyslexia--maybe I'm tired and I can't focus, maybe I have a headache, maybe my eyes are fried from staring at a screen all day, maybe I've done too much reading for college, maybe my threshold for frustration has been exceeded and I just can't deal with the challenge that writing presents that day, or whatever--I can't write and I need to accept that. I'm not gonna be able to produce something good, maybe not even something presentable, every time I sit down to write.

That's fine!

That's how writing works for everyone! That's how writing works for me, someone who struggles with letters and numbers and writing and reading and the whole fucking thing. That's okay. Let it happen. Let it go. Try again tomorrow.

Uhhh, I hope some of that, any of that, was of interest? Helpful? Maybe?

[archangeldyke-all]

Hello again, Angel. Thank you very much for your advice on how to grow on this platform, it helped me a lot. Honestly, it's a bit difficult to find my own writing style, since the one I usually do can seem "too pretentious" to many people. I have many aspirations to be like you (in a good way). You are a person who has incredibly fascinating writings. I fell back into the compulsive habit of deleting everything (Even the nice presentation I had made).😭😭😭

I would like advice on finding my own writing style, sorry for the inconvenience.

P.S: I'm too shy not to remain anonymous. Take good care of yourself and drink water <3

of course babe!!

as far as finding your own style here's some helpful tips i have!

re-read your own works. figure out what you really like, what you wish you could improve on, and what your weaknesses are. rely heavily on the things you're good at, and work hard at the things that need improvement. for example, i really like how i write dialogue, but i struggle with settings and action sequences. so, while writing, i use a lot of dialogue for exposition, and always pay close attention to the scenes that are more action focused, making sure i edit and re-work them as often as it needs.

figure out what you like about other people's work! for example, in dogsog by @fyeahnix , i was really struck by the warmth of the tone of the fic. in @abitohoney 's works, i've always been particularly inspired by her interpretation of silco's crew (especially ran and jinx haha.) these helped me narrow down the tone and relationships i wanted to portray in some of my works :) so you'll often see a more warm side of sev in my fics, and many friendship/funny moments with side characters, because that's what i admire most about my peers' works!

some people don't like this, but outlines are so helpful to me. having a basic skeleton of what you want your story to look like can be incredibly helpful. it helps me feel less overwhelmed, and take things scene by scene, knowing that i already know how the story will pan out. it's also a great help because if you ever are struck with inspiration and have certain lines/character quirks/scenes you want to include, you can add them as notes in your outline so you won't forget them in the future when you finally get around to writing that scene.

stick to your guns! what comes naturally to you is likely what your writing style will be, it just needs a little tuning! so if people call your work 'pretentious', it probably means that you've got an expansive vocabulary and smart brain! that's great! a way to tune this to make it more accessible to a wider audience would be making sure you limit your big words or include context clues in sentences that will help audiences understand them, making sure you keep your paragraphs or chapters short and digestible. but don't lose that vocabulary or depth of understanding! that's your magic! that's your style! :)

i hope this helped babe!!

[blazing-dynamo]

How does one format epubs? I have a lot of free time and love formatting, I'd love contributing to the effort of fixing all the doctor who epubs!

It’s complicated, but doable.

First, it depends on the style of PDF. There are some that are crisp scans of every page, scanned by the Camels, (btw the camels if you’re still around you’re a real one.) and for those, I open them in Microsoft Word, because word is like 80% good at converting it, where other PDF eaters suck.

From there, I check out some common problems:

1. Footers: just remove them all. They don’t help in ePub land

2. Headings: for consistency, I change all the Headings to Agency FB, because it’s included in windows and matches the vibe of the headings in the book

3. Chapter Breaks: I turn on the “View Whitespace” mode, and delete everywhere that says section break, and then make sure there’s a page break at the end of every chapter, after the title page, foreword, etc. I also add “Chapter X” on the line before the title of the chapter. The EDAs are not consistent in how they handle chapter titles and I crave consistency so I add it.

4. Table of Contents. Word is Too Powerful™️ and recognizes the table of contents and imports it as a smart, clickable ToC, which, again, we don’t need. You can’t really edit it or anything so I just delete it, and type up a new one, leaving off the page numbers because we won’t need them in epic land.

5. Formatting. This is the bulk of the issue. I use word WildCards, which are similar to RegEx, to find all cases of a lowercase letter or comma followed by a paragraph mark, and replace it with the same character followed by a space. Then I also look for instances of a paragraph mark followed by a lower case letter, and replace it with space plus the letter. Then I replace all Tab characters with a space. Then I look for paragraph marks followed by a space and replace them with just a paragraph mark. This gets like 94% of the bad formatting that the Calibre/kindle/etc auto ePub conversion makes reading insufferable. I try to catch as many of the rest while doing the remaining steps.

6. Formatting cont’d: then, I change the Normal style to be 12pt Garamond. This isn’t important because this is ultimately up to the reader’s chosen font in their eReader, and I don’t embed Garamond, but putting it in Garamond makes it easier for me to notice when something is wrong because I’m used to seeing Garamond while making these.

Then, I use Find/Replace to add a highlight to everything that has the same indent as the Normal style, so I can then see everything weird because it won’t be highlighted. I then scrub through the book and set the problem paragraphs to the Normal style, which then Corrects the indents. I make sure when I do this to watch for italics and make sure that the style didn’t revert them to normal. This happens on short paragraphs with one or two words, and one of which is italicized, as well as paragraphs where the entire thing is italicized.

I also in this step scrub through to find mid-chapter breaks, the favorite storytelling device of the EDAs, and make them uniform. Word will make it into various levels of after-paragraph spacing, but I set the paragraph to normal, and then just leave two empty paragraphs between the sections. This tends to import the best across devices and fonts.

Finally, I make sure that after each chapter and chapter break, the first paragraph isn’t indented, to match the style of the print EDAs.

7. Still formatting, but different. I then do a scrub through and make sure I didn’t screw anything up or forget something. The problem with RegEx is that it will do exactly what you tell it to, even if that’s not what you wanted to happen. So oftentimes my table of contents or copyright page is borked, and I have to go fix it. Once I have it in a decent shape, I

8. Import into Calibre. Just drag and drop the DocX into Calibre and it’ll get added as a book. I then use the metadata editor to download the metadata from the web, so it’ll have good info on it. None of the online sources regocnize this as a series, though, so I add it myself.

9. Convert to ePub: in the Calibre library list I right click the book and convert it to ePub, default settings. DocX->ePub conversion is really simple because they are both just HTML pages under the hood, so it imports perfectly.

10. (Bonus steps) once an ePub, I press T to edit the book, and import Agency FB and Agency FB Bold, and then press the Table of Contents button, to select where the in-reader chapter list points to. And then I use just hyperlinks to make the in-book ToC clickable to take it to the same place.

The uglier, hand-typed PDFs are basically the same, but then I also have to do a bunch of spell check to catch all the typos. And then those don’t have italics at all, so depending on the book, and if I have a copy of it physically, I scan the physical book with my eyeballs to catch italics and add them back to the DocX. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the baffling choice to just remove them completely.

I know from importing the PDFs a long time ago there’s another person who scanned/typed the books, but I haven’t seen the state of them to know if they’ll need extra TLC.

It’s kind of a whole lot! But also if I get a The Camels PDF I can knock it out in about an hour.

If you wanted to take a crack at it, by all means! Though I really need a proofer, so if you wanted to just start reading and use the form links I have in the folders to report the issues you find, that would be wonderful. Bonus points, you get to read the EDAs lol.

[bougainvillea-and-saltwater]

Hello, dear friend ♥️

Favorite part of writing fic for you?

What inspires you to write?

Hello, hello beloved Winter friend, thank you so much for the ask!! 💖

So, my favorite part of writing fic is probably when I'm translating my drafts from my mother tongue to English. My writing process mostly goes like this: I make a very rough first draft in Greek with some vague ideas and scattered words I need to remember, and then I start filling it until there are full sentences, paragraphs, and pages. When I'm satisfied with how they read, I start translating them into English. This is my favorite part! See, I love languages. I love matching words with words, it's like a very entertaining and relaxing puzzle to make for me. My final final draft is editing my English words too, where I usually add/change a few things until I'm fully happy with the visuals, the dialogues, and the descriptions, and I know they're exactly as I initially had them in my head. Of course, another favorite part about writing fic is when I get to share it! I'm so so excited when I release a new chapter into the wild and I interact with my readers through it! Even if there's one (1) person who liked what I've written, I'm fueled to continue writing. 🥰

Now, concerning my inspiration...I think it's listening to music, honestly (bonus points if I'm walking while listening). Yep, it's that simple for me sometimes. I have very specific songs/tracks that are connected to my characters and their story, and when I listen to them... I don't know, it's like there's a strange boost of creativity inside me, maybe because they help me visualize some Scenes™ I really really looking forward to writing... Inspiration also hits me when I discuss blorbos with my fellow mutuals and friends! It's so beautiful and, at least for me, quite comforting and relieving, seeing that there are people out there who share your interests and your unhinged obsessions, so I'm always very grateful when that happens. 💖

[p00fie]

||UPDATE/PINNED POST!||

||I FINALLY GOT ACCESS IN THIS ACCOUNT, I WAS PANICKING AND I THOUGHT THAT I LOST OR SOMEONE STOLE MY ACCOUNT AND EMAIL! Nope, I uninstalled the app for no reason, but finally I managed to get my account back by typing my recent username on my priv Twitter account. So how you guys all doing? Sorry for not being active in this account, I was highly active on Twitter/X. Right now, I’ll at least post something that I’ve already posted on Twitter. It’s mostly gonna be doodles I’d done on IbisPaintX and also, I haven’t drawn anything full colored in a while since at the end of May.||

||Anyways, I’m glad to be back in this account, I might aswell say my full introduction about me while I’m here typing this full on paragraph about me not being active and accidentally deleting Tumblr off my device.||

||♥︎||

||Hello, I go by as ame (kim if you’d like to call me). I’m quite shy, quiet, and silent when it comes to talking or posting my artwork. I mostly talk and comment a lot on anyone who comments on any of my posts, mostly I don’t if I don’t feel the need to. I am 18 years old and go by any pronouns if it’s fine for you all and my nationality, I got a COUPLE (seriously…) 🇰🇷🇻🇳🇺🇸. Most of my English grammar was somewhat broken, because of my rough childhood that I’ve been raised by my speech pathologist and having trouble speaking, but I’ve been getting and trying my best to express and communicate to others the right way.||

||For the art, I drew a lot of times doodles, comics, and animations for both IbisPaintX and Procreate. I’m also began learning how to draw in an anime style on Procreate since it’s quite easier for me to do than in my tiny ass device.||

||Anyways enough with me chatting, here are my username socials you can follow on different platforms: ||

||♥︎||

Instagram: mintasi_

Twitter/X: _pffi

Discord: soon…

||♥︎||

||Fandom interests I’m in: ||

~ Cookie Run

~ Pretty Blood

~ The Battle Cats

~ Project Sekai

||I’m also will be willing to be busy in school soon for next week, so I’ll not be as highly active cause of that. Anyways, I might add more of my introduction and update incase I needed to bring out.||

||Well, I finally am back and it’s nice meeting you all again :>||

Edit update: Soon I’ll start working this Friday so just an fyi!!

[kestrel-of-herran]

congratulations on the 69k edited words!!! please let me know if you plan on publishing it, whether traditionally or online. I LOVE how vivid and different your descriptions are, and I'd love to read more.

until then, if it's okay, would you mind sharing your writing process? do you plot everything in advance? how do you write your scenes? what do you start with? (sorry if this is intrusive, I just like learning about people's way to write fiction 🌼)

hi! thank you sooo much!!! 💖 it means so much that you're excited to read more of my writing 🥺💗

yes, i'll try to publish it traditionally once it's finished!

and thanks for asking about my writing process! i'll try to answer your questions precisely, hope this isn't too long:

1. on a book level, not everything is planned in advance - i have a lot of major events down, but everything is considered flexible until it's edited and i see that it actually works at that moment in the story, so it's always alright to move scenes around or make a major change if i feel like it as i go along. on a scene level, i try to plan as much as possible, because the plan is like a draft zero of the scene and it helps me figure out the logistics of how things should happen so i can write them, but i love surprising myself in the drafting and editing process so there's lots of room for change there too

2. how do i write the scenes and what i start with:

let's say i already have the major plot points of the scenes down and i'm going to start writing

i always write in sequence by scene, so if i'm writing a scene there's edited text before it and malleable outlines after it. i do this to track character development and keep things interesting for me, as sometimes characters act in unexpected ways

the first thing i do is make a list of everything i know about the scene and everything that needs to happen, in sections, such as how the characters are feeling, what i want the atmosphere to be, what plot-relevant information or foreshadowing i need to integrate in the scene. at this stage it's alright if i still don't know how to weave these together, it's just important to keep all of it in mind and to think about it

i usually get a lot of ideas about the scene while getting these points sorted, i know how an emotion will manifest or how something will be foreshadowed, so these turn into smaller plot points for the scene

it's time to order the events now, so i write a draft zero, which is the whole scene written without paragraphs, with points separated by dashes, in the present tense, with the aim of just getting all my thoughts down into the event sequence and imagining the whole scene. it's alright if there are things i'm uncertain about here, and i often write several different ways for things to happen that i can choose from or completely discard and invent a new way later

once this is done, i write the first draft, which is when i start seeing the paragraphing of the scene, the general length of passages and of speech, and i get some good ideas for phrasing. i work from the draft zero but i'm also free to change things, i often write several possible versions of some lines or word choices, and i add notes for things i want to implement in the final draft

this step is not always present, but if any part of the first draft isn't feeling very "solid" (i call that writing that can stand on its two feet, that feels good and sensible to read), i make editorial notes on that part when i get to editing it, sometimes a new plan if i'm making a major change, and then i redraft, with the redraft sometimes needing its own draft zero first too

then comes the most time-consuming part of the process, doing the final/edited draft. the (solid) first draft acts as a guideline now, but i always look at all my previous notes for every section of the scene when i get to it, in case something important fell through between draft zero and draft one. i edit by sentence/paragraph, so i split the scene in sections, and work on them chronologically, editing or rewriting the passage as needed, adding or removing things, and thinking very carefully about word choice, sequence of information disclosure, tension, things like gaze-continuity (if a character is looking at one part of a room, bringing their attention to the other might need a stimuli, such as noise), factual accuracy, metaphor, emotional complexity... i spend a lot of time writing versions of the sentence, split in parts along the commas, with very subtle differences in word choice so i can compare their effect in context, before i finalize it and add it to the finished text above. i use a thesaurus to make sure i'm not forgetting some obviously better word choice, and i often look things up in that stage to make sure i have facts right. i reread everything tirelessly, within context, so i can spot repetition and parallel sentence structures that i want to avoid. i don't consider word count at all (i have some 100+ word sentences that really pack a punch), just the flow of the scene and the quality of the writing.

i hope this answers your questions, sorry it turned out so long! and thank you so much for your continued support! 💝