#i rewrote the first chapter of my rewrite :D

[mcd-brainrot-hours]

i have no idea what possessed me to finish my drafts but something did and now i have finished a bunch of writing

[simlit]

[ Age of Arcanai ]

xlix. Nearby, the branches of a willow tree rustled in the wind. Yesterday, they were desolate. Today, they bloomed pristine, as if the battle had never happened. The Celaedian’s magic was an incredible thing. A magic that had only existed in that world twice. The dragon had once lived in a world aside celestial spirits. He remembered how it ended the first time. Now, he was responsible for its second coming, and the weight of it grew heavier by the hour.

[ read ]  

my week long binge is complete! yesterday I wrote through the end of book one. after two years of working on this rewrite, it is finally (half) complete. I had no idea when I started that this story would end up being so damn long... clocking in at about 231k words for book one alone. by comparison, the longest Harry Potter book in the series is Order of the Phoenix at 257k, so I'm falling just shy of... way too goddamn long lmao. I had really no choice but to divide it up into two (well, I did, it's not like I'm ever getting this published so who would care but me), but actually, installing a "false" ending between halves gave me a new perspective on how I want to kick off act two. luckily, because I did act two in prose the first time around, I have a pretty decent blueprint for that rewrite, but obviously it will need to be combed over, reworked and rewrote in areas, but at least a lot of the "deep" stuff (i.e. the most difficult stuff) is already written.

anyways, if you cared to read that ramble, there will be two posts today. I could have posted it as one longer chapter, but couldn't pass up the chance to have a nice, even 50 entries :D

[meimi-haneoka]

Hello! I want to ask about something I still don't quite grasp in chapter 79. With Blank, Sakura wanted to make the Squids & the Association forgot about Akiho and Kaito, so that the activation of D seal would be undone and the magic arrows would stop too. However, I think even if Sakura erase the memories of the Squids & the Association, it would not undo the D seal and magic arrows because she would only alter people's memories instead of rewriting the actual reality. I'm trying to apply the same logic here with how Momo's book worked. Even though the english translation kept giving impression that Momo's book rewrote history / actual reality, I still stick to the understanding that this book only rewrote people's memories because the artifact still existed. This was why Kaito needed the Exchange card too, because Momo's book would not be enough to remove the artifact from Akiho or prevent it to be created in the first place. What is your take on this? Thank you in advance! ❤

Hi dear!! Let me answer to this ask of yours first, I have others to answer too but since I've read the ask and my brain formed automatically an answer, I want to write it down before I forget and fail to explain it properly like I'm trying to do now!

As Kaito explained, making the casters of the arrow attack forget about the existence of the bearer of the Seal of D would also stop the attack itself.

This is because when they casted that particular automatic spell, the way they've set it was "attack anyone who dispels the Seal of D over Yuna D. Kaito". And it seems it's very important that, when a magician casts a spell, they KNOW and are aware of the target of their spell. This is also the reason why Sakura NEEDED something that would know of Kaito's existence, like the pocket watch when she returned Kaito to his original aspect ("I don't know you, but this pocket watch does"), and also when she used the artifact to make the Squids/Clan forget about Kaito and Akiho ("this Book knows the both of you"). She didn't only need to borrow their powers, she literally needed those two tools because they've been in contact with Kaito, whom she still couldn't remember about.

The thing is, if you make the magician who casted a spell forget about the target, it's like the spell is missing a part of the "instructions". For how I understand it, this is because spells are highly dependent on a magician's conscience. You can't cast a spell if you don't know/don't remember about your target. Hence why the attack could be stopped by making the Squids/Association forget about those two. Because their spell would automatically miss a part of the "instructions".

For the Forbidden Spell of the Book of Time, things are different: we're indeed talking about a tremendous spell that does not change the fabric of reality to a deep level, but still messes with everyone's memories and even produces limited physical discrepancies. The issue here is different, indeed Kaito needed Exchange because the Forbidden Spell would only satisfy the "make Akiho live a happy life with Sakura's family" part of his wish, but could not remove the artifact from Akiho because it couldn't actually change reality to such a deep level. As I always say to make people understand better, the Forbidden Spell places everyone under a giant hallucination, but the facts are still as they were before.

So I think we're talking about two different issues, here: the issue with the attack from the Squids originates in how the spell was casted in the first place, while for the Book of Time we're talking about the final purpose of the spell itself.

I hope it's clear where I see the difference between the two?? 😕😅

[starlit-hopes-and-dreams]

STS round 2 juuuuust in case that other question was a bit too personal: What kind of goal do you have in mind for editing Book 2? Are you launching into major structural changes, or are you focusing on smaller things right now? And how are you feeling a few days in to that editing process?

It was not, but I'll take round 2 all the same :D

Soooo. Book 2 has already had some structural revisions. As in several. I added Serin's arc, and then added Kadin's arc in as well. These are things I do as I write, which is why my Draft 1's are pretty solid by the time I get around to the end of the story.

I do need to take into consideration the changes I made to shattered dreams, however. Alaia has a lingering injury, for one, that is very visible and might cause some questions that bring certain things to light sooner (which I would rather they not, so that means she just gets to be more stubborn lol. i doubt she'll complain)

Secondly, uh. The relationship dynamics *cough* changed in book 1, which will have a great deal of impact on the unfolding of the dynamics in book 2. Or, well, the culmination of them anyway XD

So mostly smaller things, with the addition of making the above changes fit into the narrative.

I'm feeling pretty good about it so far! I rewrote the first half of chapter 1, and I think its sounding pretty good. I'm a little worried about moving further in though, bc I tend to get pretty wrapped up in the story, but I'm hoping my new process will help - basically, I take each chapter one by one into my rewrite doc, and when finished with it, paste it into the new story doc. It worked pretty well for shattered dreams, and has the added benefit of not overloading grammarly OR gdocs :')

[lenna-z]

Hello everyone! Finally update, after a long time. The last thing I want to do is leave this fic unfinished, and to be honest I didn't realize like three months had passed in all that time.

I said before that I wrote some of the chapters, and when I re-read the chapters I wrote, there were parts I didn't like. So I started editing the chapter for the next update and eventually rewrote the entire chapter... I'd like to think this is normal and a good thing, because I think all this time has passed is because I've been improving my writing style.

There may be this much space between future updates, because in this state of the chapter, I have accelerated the events a little more, so I may have to rewrite entire chapters in my drafts. Anyway, I talked too much, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Previous chaps: | -1- | , | -2- | , | -3- | , | -4- |

What Happened There? Chap. 5 : Nightmare

While the headache was more bearable, it didn't make the wait any easier.

And as time went on, he found more and more things to think about and worry about.

International Rescue had been stopped, according to official reports. And after that, the media focused more on accusetion.

They were accusing her of killing innocent people, and Scott had personally investigated these people.

They were all people with strong families.

Mr. Smith's company was designing protective equipment for most defense units, especially the GDF.

Ms. Rodriguez's husband came from a political family.

And... Mr. Stewart's company, on the other hand, was a multi-faceted company such as all kinds of scientific and experimental research and R&D studies.

All this was like a bomb ready to explode, and he was afraid that his family would end up in the center.

And he didn't know what to do.

All he wanted was to wake up from this terrible nightmare as soon as possible. Unfortunately, what they experienced was too real to be a nightmare.

And his mind immediately returned to the present reality; his sister had been in surgery for hours.

He kept telling himself that she would be okay, but he needed someone walking out that door and tell him that.

When finally someone in an operating room gown came out the door, he only realized he was holding his breath when his chest felt tight...

○○○○○○

He had to do virtual research to understand some terms... And every word he had learned had shown that she was far from good.

So John had understood why they taking her to HDU yesterday, and he wasn't surprised to hear that she had to stay in there for one more night.

But he wanted to hear that she was fine...

Still, he had to find out what had happened there.

After sending Casey the necessary documents, he continued his research.

But the GDF and local authorities had blocked his access to the documents, so he couldn't find much.

And even worse, it was the topics in the news.

"...an International Rescue personnel was thought to have been injured, but the official statement has yet to come..."

"Is International Rescue still reliable and unbiased?"

"Why are the Tracys quiet?"

"There was no new statement from the authorities, and it is still unknown what happened there."

And he was really scared that someone would go too far and explain what happened there.

While they didn't welcome Casey's arrival on the first day, he knew that the finds had not been released to the media thanks to Casey, and he was grateful for that.

Just- ...It was too much...

○○○○○○

Blood. Too much blood.

He had blood on his hands.

There was blood everywhere.

Kay's blood.

"Kay? Kay, hun please-"

"Virgil..?"

...

"Virgil? Virgil, it's okay, it was just a dream."

Blue eyes. John.

"I-" A quick breath. And another.

It was a nightmare far from a dream.

He clasped his hands to his face.

"Virgil?"

She will be fine. She would be angry with him for not sleeping.

"Just a bad nightmare."

A mocking breath. "No. First time I find you sleeping and then you-"

"Just a nightmare, John." He wasn't there. He couldn't understand him. "Any progress?"

His eyes examined him.

"Yeah. She was extubated this morning. If her condition remains stable, they will remove her from HDU."

It wasn't that simple. Still, this wasn't the first time doctors said positive things to patients' relatives.

"This is a good thing. Actually, this is great news."

He really needed her to be okay, seeing her covered in blood every time he closed his eyes took him back to that moment.

"She's strong, Virgil. She's going to kick our ass when she wakes up and finds out we're worried about her."

He couldn't help but smile. He would do anything for this to happen.

"Any news from GDF?"

His eyes narrowed at the question.

"Colonel Casey doesn't say anything. Penny is quieter than usual on this one."

Silence was not good.

"All this has to have a logical explanation, John."

GDF knew Kayo. She was with the GDF until she became part of International Rescue.

So they knew what they were accusing her of.

And this scared him even more.

When Kay woke up, she would be facing accusations. They had already suspended International Rescue.

They had managed to take the entire family out of the equation in one go.

"The only explanation I know is that she didn't do all this. But... she still has herself to blame, Virgil."

Just like the man in front of him...

When would he realize that it wasn't his fault that he sent Kay there?

And Kay was going to blame herself for damn things he couldn't even think of.

Breathing in thought, he closed his eyes and immediately opened them again when he saw those moments again.

"How long did you sleep before Virgil woke up from the nightmare? Oh wait wrong question- when was the last time you actually slept?"

He had stopped counting how long he hadn't been able to sleep.

"I'm fine."

When he looked at him with that know-it-all look, he knew he didn't believe him.

"John. Can you look into my eyes and tell me that you are having a sound and peaceful sleep?"

This was the truth no one wanted to say, and John took a step back.

"I want to go to the hospital, now." He came eye to eye with worried eyes. "It's fine, John. Let's go."

"Grandma doesn't let anyone leave the hotel until everyone has eaten something. Actually, the reason I came here was to let you know about this."

He honestly didn't think he could eat anything right now.

"I am not hungry."

"Virgil, she's just as determined as yesterday, she even feeds pancakes and cookies to the guards."

It was Grandma who forced everyone out of the hospital yesterday.

Virgil had refused with all his might, but a war with a determined Grandma was a war over before it even began...

His eyes must have been involuntarily resigned, because John's face relaxed.

"Everyone's in the common room in the suite, and Grandma ordered more things than anyone could finish."

Literally the idea of ​​any food was enough to make him feel nauseous, but he shook his head to be left alone.

"You may want to wash your face before going to the breakfast bro, you can't fool anyone like this." He said, pointing to his face with his hands.

As John turned and left the room, he put his hands over his face again.

He couldn't forget those moments.

He needed her to be okay. They all needed her to be okay.

With nearly every limb aching, he struggled to stand up and made his way towards the bathroom.

When he looked at his face in the mirror, he looked truly awful.

When he touched his face, his beard that he didn't care about and his darkened under eyes made him look tired.

His hair was a symbol of complete mess, and he couldn't even fool himself in this state.

He noticed shaving lotion, razors and hair gel on the counter next to the sink.

He made a mental note to thank his brother for this and started looking in the mirror at the shower head behind him.

He had to waste time with all this stuff anyway, and a quick shower wouldn't hurt either.

He wanted to leave as quickly as possible, but he didn't want anyone else to ask him if he was okay.

They were already worried enough about one person, there was no need another person.

○○○○○○

No one had sat at the breakfast table voluntarily. Even the Grandma was obviously here just to make sure everyone had eaten.

They hadn't been able to have breakfast for a long time when the family was this crowded -they were busy at work and no one was blaming anyone- they could almost never be together except for special occasions.

He couldn't even remember the last time they all did an activity together, but he was sure everyone was happy and laughing.

But this time it was one of the quietest and most tense breakfast tables he sat at.

The reason why he seemed like a positive person on the outside was simply because he didn't want to think worse about what happened.

It literally wasn't working, because Gordon was afraid...

He was afraid of losing someone he loved like his sister, he was afraid for his family because, God knows, they had been through enough already.

Or maybe they hadn't, because this whole thing was a complete nightmare.

It was a nightmare he really wanted to wake up from.

When the owner of the other part of her worry walked in with a napkin on his cheek that was turning red, the atmosphere became even more tense.

His effort had to be appreciated, but he still didn't look any better than yesterday. He had taken a shower and even shaved, the napkin on his cheek turning red confirmed this.

But even though his hair was gelled, he looked very messy, his under eyes were more visible than the last time he saw him, and he looked pretty grumpy.

Normally, a grumpy Virgil would make his day, but in their current situation, along with the shaving cut on his cheek, he was making his even more worried.

It probably didn't surprise anyone that he turned to the coffee machine as soon as he arrived.

When he sat at the table with a large mug in one hand and looked at the food on the table, he took a sip of coffee and left it on the table.

There were lines on his face that showed he didn't like something and he was getting ready to get up from the table.

"Virgil, honey, you should eat something."

He glanced anxiously at the items on the table and swallowed.

"I am not hungry, Grandma."

Still, Grandma stood up and put something on his plate.

"Let me get something for your cheek, while you eat these."

Virgil didn't argue this time. Still, he swallowed hard and looked at the food on his plate, then forced something into his fork and brought it to his mouth.

He was too focused on his task to notice everyone in the room staring at him, but after a few seconds he stopped.

He swallowed with real effort and quickly pushed his chair back.

"I really don't think my stomach can handle anything..."

At least he didn't tell one of those ridiculous lies about not being hungry.

Just as he was about to get up, when the Grandma entered with a small medical kit in her hand, he froze like a child caught stealing cookies.

Both of their eyebrows immediately furrowed, but one with pure concern and the other with anger.

"Virgil-"

"No, I can't do this shit, not when she's in the hospital and someone's trying to accuse her. I found her and-"

"Virg-"

"Her heart stopped!" There were unspoken words hidden beneath his anger, he could tell. "You weren't even there- I don't even have to tell you anything!"

The coffee cup was dropped harshly on the table, and he stood up rather harshly.

Everyone, including Grandma, could only watch as Virgil angrily walked into the room.

○○○○○○

Beep... Beep... Beep...

The sound of her steady heartbeat was all he could focus on. Because it was the only thing that can stop that steady beep sound in his head.

When they took her to the regular room, he didn't give anyone a chance to argue. He would stay with her for the night. End of discussion.

It was already past midnight and several nurses and doctors had checked on her condition and replenished her medications, a few hours ago.

He had forced the doctors to be honest with him because they were all telling the same story about how everything would be okay.

They said she was lucky.

He had learned that he was right about one of the knives hitting her artery, and if the knife there had moved even a few inches further, she might have bled to death.

She was lucky the knife wasn't pulled back out.

The real reason there was blood everywhere was the stab wound in her liver.

Indeed, they said if she had arrived at the hospital a few minutes later there would have been nothing that could have been done.

They thought she hit her head pretty hard on something and they said she was lucky there was no fracture or crack in her temporal bone.

The rest of her wounds looked like defensive wounds, with the cut on her right shoulder, she had bruises in many places.

Of course, they said it in a much gentler and less scary way, but it wasn't difficult for Virgil to fill in the space between the words.

And in this situation, luck was a relative concept because, in his opinion, they were lucky not to lose her.

When the rhythm of the regular beeping began to accelerate, her full attention shifted to the figure on the bed.

"Kay?"

He leaned a little closer to her, watching her frown in the pale light coming from the window.

He held his breath as her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

One of his hands immediately slid to her cheek, and he held himself back as the other moved forward to hold her hand.

The side where she was injured the most was her right side, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt her more.

What was he thinking as he stood this side?

Paying attention to her injured shoulder, he positioned his other hand for support on the bed.

"Kay? Honey, It's okay."

Even through all the signs of pain, he had seen the recognition in her eyes, if only for a few seconds.

She closed her eyes and her heart rhythm was starting to return.

"V- Vir-"

"Hey just breathe, Kay." His hand was gently wiping the tears from her cheek.

Her eyes quickly closed again and a broken sound escaped her.

Damn...

"Kay. I- I'll find someone for some more painkillers, okay?"

"N-no-" Her voice was cracking and it was obvious that even speaking hurt her.

She didn't have to suffer, so he was preparing to politely object. And suddenly he felt warmth on the wrist of the hand holding her cheek.

Tears began to flow down her cheeks as her shaky hand tried to find his hand.

She had said his name in a voice so delicate that if he wasn't nearby to her, Virgil would have thought it was another moan of pain.

"S-s-t'ay?"

"Of- of course."

Of course.

Of course.

He quickly pressed the call button at the head of the bed several times.

He didn't need to go for that.

"I'm not going anywhere, Kay."

He gently held her shaking hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

Her eyes were closing again as her face took on a more peaceful expression.

"Tha- T-han'k-s..."

There was no need for her to thank him, because there was nowhere else he wanted to be right now.

"It's okay. I'm not going anywhere."

When her face began to take on a painless expression, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm not going anywhere, Kay."

He probably called the nurses and doctors who were rushing to this room in vain, but at least she was awake, if only for a few minutes.

[amtrak12]

I won Nano! :D

It's official! After the medical week from hell, I finally crossed the 50k line this morning before work! \0/

My final word count will be about 2k more than that because I plan on finishing my ch 12 rewrite tonight before I take a 3 day writing hiatus. But for now, here's my numbers:

Word Count: 50,150

New Chapters: 3 full / 1 partial

Outlined 6 new chapters, bringing me up to ch 22

I could've drafted a 4th chapter, but it would've required rewatching the Heartbreak Killer episode to get case details and I don't want to watch a Cain-heavy episode in the best of times, let alone at the end of a very taxing writing challenge. So, I just rewrote chapter 12 some more :P

The outline is very helpful! Ch 22 brings me up to the final second act plot point that will carry us into the third act. I won't say it's all downhill from here because I still need to write those chapters... but we're getting close to the downhill slide. #thankgod

My experience with Nano did confirm that I will be sticking with my 1 chapter/3 weeks posting schedule through the first half of 2024. I was really hoping I could increase updates after the midpoint in January, but that was a pipe dream. :( New goal is to be able to update more frequently after the 1 year anniversary in May. *fingers crossed*

Um, yeah. I don't think I have anything else to add. I'm going to finish 12's rewrite like I said, and prep 11 for posting because that goes up tomorrow. And then, I'm off to craft and read fanfic for 3 days straight :)

Thank you to everyone who read my earlier updates/cheered me on!

[littlegnome145]

Are you planning on continuing ur fic? (No pressure)

I think you're talking about the one with the Sinnoh duo? I'll be honest, I don't know. If I do, I'll probably rewrite the first chapters though, the pacing was a little more rushed than I would've liked. But regarding fics as a whole, I'm working on something shiv au related on my free time. Some stuff is pretty much done, I rewrote that first fic of it I made wayy back in 2021, but I still wanna do some tweaks before I post it. Especially since I want to post it on Ao3 also and I don't understand their formatting completely. Also thanks for your interest anon!! :D

[erinhime83]

We Could Be Heroes Introspection

I do have to say that it is always crazy the day after NaNo ends and I don’t have to write.  I mean, sure, I write these things, but they’re more word vomit and me wanting to talk about things I was thinking about while writing, or before writing, that I couldn’t say while writing.  It’s nothing serious.

So…We Could Be Heroes.  I realized a couple of days ago that I wrote this book for the first time (well, not counting the one that I only wrote five chapters for) exactly three years ago, during the year that I had attempted to write more than once, and totally got myself screwed over multiple times.  So I thought that was rather hilarious.  Technically, unlike WfS, I could have literally gone through and just edit this one, because I did like what I had.

But it would require heavy editing in the beginning, thanks to the fact that I had changed Lane’s place of business and a couple of details when I rewrote WfS, and I had fun with that one.  So this was just a ‘screw it’ rewrite.  There were a couple of things that I had wanted to change between the old version and this one, anyway.

I do have to say that, while writing the first chapter, I was a little worried that I wasn’t going to have the same sort of experience I had with WfS.  With WfS, I had spent a couple months going through scenes in my head and I was all mentally prepared, even if it turned out that I didn’t have an outline like I thought I had.  It didn’t matter in the end.  But WCBE?  Either I didn’t have enough time to prepare or else I was suffering though the fact that I hadn’t wanted to change much about it, but that first chapter felt horrible to write.

But then the second chapter came together naturally, and I spent the rest of the month fairly focused on the story and what was coming next, so it worked out.  :D

One of the things I hadn’t planned on changing was when Lane found out about who Specter and Speedy were, but it makes things make more sense.  In the first version, she found out before Greg was taken, and it’s like…why didn’t she try to talk to them sooner?  She knows they have a ship, and she knows them.  Having her find out when she does and jump on the chance flows a little better.

Also, I didn’t want to make her soon so depressed.  She’s going through the motions, sure, and she’s a little lost without Greg around.  But she’s also more driven to do something, to figure out how to get him back, even if it meant it could take years.  Her sleeping with Miles, even if they were literally just doing that, didn’t make any sense.  It was meant to show how close they were, but it was also somewhat icky.  She spends most nights alone, anyway, so why would she need someone there?

Also took out the weird undertones that Miles still had a thing for Lane.  Like, I had sort of intended for Miles to actually be bi, but the only girl he loved had been Lane, and he was over that.  But it was brought up so much, and his chapter, he seemed obsessed with her.  Making him fully gay takes that away.  Like, yes, he had a crush on her in middle school, back when he was still trying to stick to societal norms that guys should like girls.  Lane was a girl who he liked spending time with, she’s nice, and she’s pretty, so that must mean he liked liked her, right?

But that all fell apart when he realized he liked liked Greg more, and…yeah.

The big thing I wanted to change was how Lane got into the palace.  I think I originally planned it differently, where she was taken while they were wandering around the city, but the idea was still there that it wasn’t any fault of her own that it happened.  Having her waltz into the palace without telling anyone was just…weird. 

I also made Livianus less oblivious.  I ended up really liking Livianus the first go around, and as a result, wanted to make his character better.  Like, the only reason he was bothering Greg as much as he was was merely because his parents were forcing him to get Greg to start acting like a ‘proper’ member of the royal family.  Livianus was perfectly fine leaving him alone to sulk for a while.  And rescuing Lane was because he heard about some bright haired girl in the slave room, and he wanted to save her because he knew how people would react upon seeing her.

The thing I regret is not having Roselyn do more.  Like, I had it planned where Livianus was going to entrust Lane to Roselyn to watch her and hang out with her.  But then I ended up just rewriting the scenes as they were, in a sense, and Roselyn was relegated to just being there and sometimes helping.  But she’s also supposed to be, like, hidden in the shadows most of the time, so I suppose it works out.

The last couple of chapters I sort of went off the old ones in terms of scenes and some dialogue, and there was a lot that I liked from the old version that got cut from the new version, although I wasn’t sure how I managed to write more when I was writing those scenes, lol.  There were a couple of conversations that revealed bits of the characters that didn’t happen the same way, and I’m sort of sad.  But I’m also fine with it, because I do have a couple more books in while to reveal that information.

The funny thing about this Camp was just my scheduling.  See, for whatever reason at the end of last month, they needed to cut a bunch of people’s hours, including myself, so I went from working until 2:30 to working until 2.  But then, my parents went on basically a two week vacation, where my hubby took off one week and I took off the next, which gave me even more time to write after work because I didn’t have to pick up the kids.  And then, of course, my vacation, and when I returned, my schedule was still messed up.  I just sort of rolled with it, because I figured what the hell for July?

But then I also noticed, thanks to the fact that I’m old now, I don’t need as much sleep as I once did, so I also got up a half an hour earlier each day so I can try to get a page or so out before work.  I even did this one the weekends, which was cool, since I could get most of the chapter done before tie girls woke up and then finish it up after breakfast and before we did anything for the day. 

And then, somehow, my schedule went back to normal this week, which is perfect.  It’s just too bad I couldn’t have gotten one more shorter day for my bonus chapter, lol.  But I’m honestly looking forward to not getting up crazy early to write, and sleeping in a bit.  >.<

I did manage to figure out a good chunk of the plot for the third book, called Trustfall, in the past couple of days, which I’m excited about.  I had more plot for the fourth book than the next one.  >.<  But, at the moment, I’m still planning on doing Division in November, mostly because I don’t want to wait another year before I get back to that story, lol.  My muse was sort of hovering between both stories at one point in the month, so we’ll see what happens going forward.

Overall, I am super happy with what I wrote.  Its just funny, because the reason I stopped writing this book the very first time was because I found out I was pregnant and I got all depressed at the idea that I couldn’t be creative and write anymore, and here I am, six years later, having figured it all out and making it work.  :D

[elijah-wilfred-boyle]

Literal Perfection

A Darius x Reader fanfiction, that I rewrote.

-------------

This fic was originally on ao3 but I decided to rewrite it and I'm also going to post the chapters here as well :D

Please enjoy!

--------------

The streets of Bonesborough were empty as you trudged home, your limbs felt like lead and you were tired.

You’ve been tired for a while though, so it didn’t matter much.

Work was long, but then again it always is. You always try to work for as long as you can, it felt stabilising, almost like splitting yourself in two; one of you for work, and the other for when you’re not working.

You exit the town and walk through the small surrounding forest, tracking mud into your boots with each step you took.

You continued to walk up the familiar dirt path until you reached a small area of smaller houses. Most of the houses there were run down or destroyed, only two houses still stood; the house you shared with your friend Raine and the house which seemed to be a hangout place for young witches.

You walked through the overgrown shrubbery, waving at the group of teens as you did before stopping in your tracks. An abomination was stood outside your house.

You looked back at the group; they all shrugged their shoulders when you gestured to the creature.

Groaning loudly, you walk up to your house, opening the door and entering, the abomination followed suite.

You heard talking as you entered and found Raine sat with your brother and sister-in-law, discomfort clear in their expression and posture.

“Hey?”, you questioned, everyone’s eyes found you, “what’s going on?”

Raine stood up quickly, saying goodbye to your ‘guest’ and walked out the door, where they were off to you didn’t know.

You sat down in the seat they had previously occupied and half smiled at your family.

“Alador, Odalia, a lovely surprise. What can I do for you?”, you asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

Odalia smiled stiffly at you, “Oh, well, you know we love to stop by and check up on you, dear.”

You raised your eyebrow slightly at her comment; you hadn’t seen your family since Amity’s tenth birthday about five years ago.

“Well, I’m doing great.”, you responded, frustration starting to rise when you saw Odalia open her mouth.

“Are you though? You’re not working a fair job, your house is practically falling apart, you live in an atrocious area and your roommates is rarely here! Did you not see how quickly he left?”

“Firstly, Raine’s pronouns are they and them”, you huff, “secondly, I’m doing fine; my house isn’t falling apart, this area is fine, I choose how I work myself so it is fair and Raine is a Coven head, they always leave for the Bard Coven at this time.”

For the first time since they had arrived, Alador spoke up, “We’re simply worried about you, are we not allowed to worry for our family?”

“Why are you here? I want the real answer.”, you demanded, sick of whatever game they were playing.

Odalia’s face quickly turned sour as she glared at you. “Edric, Emira and Amity are starting to get interested in spending time with you. And, because you’re family, we are letting them. However, I do want them looking up to someone, worthwhile. Currently, you are not that. Which is why we came here today; we have an offer for you!”

You stared at your sister-in-law for a moment before motioning for her to continue.

“As you know, Blight Industries is a big part of the Abominations Society and because of this we are able to speak directly to the Abominations Coven, though we mostly refrain from doing so. Well, the Headwitch is looking for a new assistant and we, being as generous as we are, put your name in to be considered for an interview Nd, you were! Your interview with the Headwitch is in two days.”

You stared at Odalia, speechless, your brain fruitlessly trying to process what was just said to you.

“Wait, wait, wait,” you began, waving your hands slightly, “you got me a job interview? With the Headwitch of the Abominations Coven? Why?”

“We already told you why.”

“No, no, I get that,” you replied, “I just don’t understand why you went through the efforts of getting me that interview.”

Odalia smiles at you and you felt a shiver run down your spine, “because we care about you, isn’t that reason enough?”

After that the two stood to leave, you followed them to the door, waving them off and shutting the door.

The whole room seemed to swim as you just stood there, but you quickly took a hold of yourself.

You knew what they were doing, it was obvious but you did feel grateful for them, this job could do you well.

You sigh and run your hands over your head, you were tired.

You were also hungry but you ignored it, it wasn’t important.

So, you go off to bed, getting dressed and climbing in. You were just about to drift off when you heard your crow cawing.

You reach over and grab the bird, holding it to your ear as you answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hi!”, the shrieks of you niece and nephew came from the other side and you could vaguely hear Amity shushing her siblings.

“Hey you three, what’s going on?”

Edric and Emira quickly began to talk over each other, excitedly telling you about their day.

“So, what did you think of mom and dad’s surprise?”, Edric asked.

You hummed slightly, “It was nice, I guess. A new job would probably be good for me.”

You continued to talk you your nieces and nephew for a little while longer; Amity complaining about how she lost her gold star to someone named ‘Willow’, but then they needed to go, they said their goodbyes, promising to talk to you again soon.

You let your crow fly away and lay back down, staring at your ceiling.

You thought back to Odalia and your job offer; your interview was in two days-

Wait, two days?

“Shit!”, you yelp, tumbling out of bed, “I’ve got a job interview in two days!”

You run over to your wardrobe and clothes drawer, looking through it for something nice to wear for it.

Pulling out various outfits and throwing them onto your bed, you realised something else.

“I’m getting interviewed to be the assistant to the Headwitch of the Abominations Coven by the Headwitch of the Abominations Coven. Titan, I need to pick out something really nice or he won’t even glance at me.”

You continue to search through your clothes, you sorted them into three piles; Alright, Guess, No and Titans, No.

Most of your clothes were in the last two piles. In fact, you only had one thing in you ‘Alright’ pile; a dress.

You felt yourself cringe as you looked it over, you hadn’t worn it in a while, you didn’t know if you wanted to wear it, you don’t know why you even kept it, but it was the only thing you owned that was nice enough for this.

You hung the dress up beside your mirror and examined it, checking for holes or stains, you don’t know why you checked it, you had only ever worn it once.

You felt static in your ears as you thought of that night.

You had worn it to go to an event with your brother, Odalia had just had Amity so you offered to go in her place, and it was nice for the most part. However, during the night, someone said something to you that made you feel awful.

For most of the night, you simply talked to other upper-class witches, they were all so interested in the fact that you were a Blight, when it happened.

Someone had walked past you, and put their arm on your waist, this startled you and you had quickly turned to face them, but when you did the person just smiled.

“Well, well, well, aren’t you a sight! You’ll be fun to take home!”

The rest of the night was a blur for you, you just remembered sticking close to Alador until you both left.

You shuddered, that was the first and last time you wore the dress, it was also the last time you went to an event with your family. You looked over the dress again, suddenly hating it. Why couldn’t you just wear the stupid dress? That comment was made years ago! It doesn’t matter anymore! You’re just overreacting like always!

You felt tears run down you face and breathing became difficult. Your legs felt like jelly and you fell, you couldn’t breath. You drew a fast circle in the air and the dress promptly caught fire, purple silk turning black and then disappearing.

You stare at the place your dress hung, trying to even out your breaths, the mirror had black smoke stains on it.

After you became calm enough, you stood back up, wiping your face with your shirt.

“Well, now I really don’t have anything to wear.” You whispered to yourself jokingly.

You shuffled through your clothes before just giving up and deciding to buy a new outfit tomorrow.

You sigh tiredly and flop onto your bed, falling asleep before you even hit your pillow.

[heartcal]

rejected ; c.h. (intro)

hello!! this is a rewrite of a fic i wrote in 2016 (part one / part two). i honestly loved this fic when i wrote it years ago, and because i love it i decided to rewrite it! i rewrote it for multiple reasons, mainly because the pacing in the original was too fast, and because i wanted to change it up a bit plot-wise and style-wise. i also wanted to make this a longer fic so the pacing isn't fast again lol

this is just the intro -- mostly because it didn't fit as the opening for part one, and it kind of allows information to be given so you can apply it when you read the parts. also trying something new lol i guess this can kind of be viewed as a teaser ?? maybe ?? i'm not too sure, but :^D (i don't really think it grabs your attention and not all the information i want is in there, but again, it's an introduction! :^D)

pairing: calum hood x reader (no pronouns for the reader) genre: fluff, angst, classmates to friends to lovers au, college au summary: he was just a silly little crush that you had in high school, and you were sure that after graduating, you would be over it. so why is your heart beating fast as he sits next to you in your first class on your first day of college? word count: 716 (not completely edited so i apologize for any mistakes!)

original story from 2016: part one / part two my masterlist!

Growing up, you expected your first day of college to be the start of a new life. A new place, a new vision of the world, new friends (but still keeping in touch with your old ones), and a new you. You wanted to be someone you could be proud of, in terms of knowledge, personality, and style. With college, you expect yourself to find your confidence and to not let anyone or anything put a damper on it.

Sure, it sounds easy to do – we all have grand ideas in mind of what we want to do when the time comes for said idea. There are obstacles, big and small, but you find a way to overcome them and keep moving forward.

In reality, putting those ideas and objectives into fruition is not easy. You focus on the obstacles more than the actual ideas themselves, and eventually those obstacles become the main focal point, while the ideas get lodged in the back of your mind.

After graduating from high school, you were ecstatic to move on to the next chapter of your life. You were ready to say goodbye to the high school you, opening your arms to the upcoming college you.

It wasn’t that high school was terrible—albeit there were a handful of embarrassing moments—and honestly you can say you had a lot of fun during your four years.

However, there were some things you were ready to move on from. The embarrassing tumble you took going down the stairs at dismissal, stumbling over easy words during presentations, having your phone confiscated during class – the usual embarrassing moments that you’ll randomly think about when you’re trying to fall asleep.

Another thing you’re ready to move on from is a crush you had on a classmate. He was in at least two classes of yours every year, the most being five out of seven classes. In every class you had him in, you would spend most of the class watching him, hearts in your eyes as he smiled with his friends, fluttering heart when he would glance your way, offering a smile.

You did group projects with him at least once a year, and each time proved that he truly was a good guy. He did his share, helped others when they needed it, offered to do most of the talking during the presentation (if you weren’t being graded on that portion), and provided motivation.

The times you talked to him, and didn’t stumble over your words, were moments you cherished throughout your high school tenure.

An unrequited crush (not enough to be love, you were adamant on that, despite the teasing from your friends), simply something to get your heart going during your high school life. Just a silly, little crush.

And you were ready to let him go, move on in your life, meet someone new and fall in love.

You were ready, until you walked into your English Literature class on Monday.

It’s a community college, so you’re bound to see plenty of familiar faces, but you were sure Calum Hood would’ve been in a state university or some private college out-of-state.

But after you’ve taken your seat in front, focused on texting your friends good morning and mindlessly scrolling through social media, you notice the seat to your right that was previously unoccupied now has a warm body sitting on it.

When you glance at the person, who glanced when you did, the fluttering of your heart returned at a rate that has you gasping lightly. The smile you enjoyed in high school beams down at you again.

“Hey,” he brings his hand up to rest his chin, eyes sleepy as he glances around the room briefly, “I remember you.”

You nod, “Yeah, you too.”

“Small world, huh?” He chuckles, leaning back in his seat to stretch his legs.

“Yeah,” you can’t make proper eye contact, but you try to be welcoming so you don’t drive him away. A few moments pass before you speak up again, “Funny how we have yet another class together.”

“It must be destiny,” he jokes.

You swear it’s just a silly crush, and you’re over it. You have to be.

And yet, the fluttering doesn’t stop. Shit, you may have underestimated your feelings.

[lesbiansanemi]

You inspires me for make my own rewrite, not only Fairy tail, but another series, but I don't know how to do this part. What advices you think that is good to start the writing? Because I planning change many things in the manga story, like some characters personality. ( Sorry if my English isn't good).

Hi! I’m sorry this took so long to answer, between work, finals, and being in the middle of moving, my schedule’s been pretty hectic lately, and I wanted to take the time to give a decent answer, rather than something I could type out on my phone in just a few minutes. 

First of all, I’m touched that my writing inspired you to write anything, let alone whole series rewrites, and I’ll do my best to give some advice! 

In my opinion, when you’re getting ready to tackle a rewrite, what you need to do first it figure out which parts you want to keep, rather than change. Chances are, you probably already know what big things you want to change (I certainly did), so think what about the original series you want to stay the same. Whether it’s arcs, character backstories, motivations, what have you. And this doesn’t necessarily mean things you don’t want to change at all (though it can), but also things you’re just changing one or two details for (ex. when I rewrote the Grand Magic Games, the format and the timing was all the same, I just changed who fought in a few of the matches). 

Once you have the big things you want to change, and the big things you don’t all sorted out: outline. 

Like I cannot stress this enough, outline outline outline (and this is coming from someone who doesn’t even outline his original novels lmao). Personally, the way I outline, is writing down chapter numbers/titles, and what I want to happen in each chapter like this:

(feat a sneak peak at the title of the final part of my rewrite) 

Of course, the way you outline doesn’t matter, but it definitely helps keep you from feeling so overwhelmed, and with organization. I didn’t outline the first twenty or so chapters of the first part of my rewrite, and honestly, they’re kind of all over the place and have some minor plotholes I’ve been meaning to go fix. When I started outlining, the writing quality of the fic definitely improved, so I would absolutely recommend doing it. 

Finally, for any big changes (like character personalities or plot points), you need to have a good reason why you’re changing it. For little things, like oh, idk, you want to give a character longer hair, because you personally like it is a good enough reason (lord knows I do that kind of stuff all the time), but big changes without plot reason are going to feel strange, or even out of place. 

Sorry, but I do best giving examples, but me giving Levy scars from Gajeel’s attack didn’t have any plot relevance, I just liked it better. But, me making Erza a Faerie and Gray a demon needed to have significant plot relevance, otherwise it would have probably left people thinking “why the actual fuck did he do that for no reason?” 

As far as altering character’s personalities, really nail down why you’re doing it, and the personality you’re giving them. Otherwise the character will feel really inconsistent, but that’s true for writing any character, not just for fanfic. 

Of course, take all of this with a grain of salt, because this is just what I personally think and do. You probably have your own methods, and if you read this and just don’t think you want to go about it this way, go with your instincts! This is just how I personally write my fics. 

I hope this is helpful, and I wish you all the best with your own writing :D 

[ryukyuan-sunflower]

Hi hi! I just wanted to ask how often you update your fic! I’m really excited to start reading it, as I love stories over 100k and I am just so happy to find something so eloquently written! I am not looking forward to not having any more chapters to read, but I am a patient person! I just wanted to know what your schedule is like and if it is anywhere near the end? :)

Hiya :D So this is a bit complicated for me to answer. Not because of you, but because of how I'm working on Finding the Four-Eyed Samurai.

The short answer is, it generally takes me 1 month to complete a chapter. Chapters are around 10,000 - 20,000 words and usually require a lot of research, whether historical, atmospheric or simply going back and rewatching scenes from the anime that are referenced or alluded to.

But...since April 2020, I have posted 9 new chapters, a one-shot, and rewrote Chapters 13-19. So that's...17 chapters in 10 months?

I've also just finish rewriting Chapters 8 and 9 but can't post them yet. So that's...19?

*sweating* That's a lot more than one a month.

Basically, now, I write...A LOT. Every day, when I can. Whether it's actually writing, or researching, or planning. The thing is, my updates before 2020 were not nearly that fast... And this is where the problem lies in answering about my updates.

The earliest chapters were written 9 years ago when I was a young teen. And they are not written good. I probably have lost so many readers who read those chapters and immediately backed out. I'm still surprised so many people decided to trudge through it, to see my writing grow through the years. (It still needs work even now but...)

As of now, I will not be posting Chapter 46 until all the early chapters are rewritten. This will take me a couple more months. And then, they will all be posted together. Now, when i say "rewrite", I don't mean I'm just revising for typos, and rewording sentences to sound better. I mean I'm literally OVERHAULING the plot of Chapters 1-12. The only things that have generally stayed the same is Mugen and Fuu's dialogue. (So don't worry about losing out on a favorite interaction! Those don't change.)

To give you some context of these "OVERHAULS", I'll talk about the rewrite of the "ghost arc" of Chapters 10 and 11.

Original on the Website now (posted when I was 14): Chapter 10-11. Just two chapters and around 10,000 words total.. Complete fluff, in which Mugen and Fuu get stuck in the rain and stay at an abandoned manor that may just be haunted. That's it... No plot, no other characters, just fun Mugen x Fuu interactions.

Revision to be Posted in May, 2021: Four Chapters now spanning 8-11, totaling around 50,000 words. (five times as long as the original). Yes, Mugen and Fuu get stuck in the rain again. Yes, Mugen and Fuu stay in a haunted manor again. However, this time, there's plot relevance that makes it feel more like a Samurai Champloo "episode". Not just fluff.

-During Obon Festival in Edo, they meet with a Shugendo Buddhist monk named Taikan in a temple graveyard, when Fuu is paying her Obon respects to Shinsuke (who died in Edo in the anime Ep 7.) This monk is heading to Bancho, Edo to perform an "exorcism" on a Hatamoto samurai's wife with strange behavior. The manor is infested with black worms which are believed to be associated with this "demon" or "ghost". Because Mugen and Fuu are starving, and have no place to sleep in the coming downpour, Taikan offers to bring them along to become servants to the manor's owner: Aoyama, and his "possessed" wife Chouka. It becomes a sort of mystery/horror arc in finding out what is causing the bizarre incidences in the house, still full of Mugenx Fuu interactions too, of course. (Even more than before actually!) But it also gives some references to real history, and a more meaningful reason for the chapter's existence and the characters' growth.

That is just one example! The Kokoro and the Yakuza arc, and Mugen and Fuu remeeting also need to be heavily rewritten too!

Now, for your very last question... Is the story anywhere near it's end?

Finding the Four Eyed Samurai is planned to span 60 total chapters. After revisions, I will be back to writing the new Chapter 46. One posted every month, likely starting in July 2021. So that leaves only 15 chapters left. It seems like a lot... (which it is, considering that's roughly over 150k words left to write) However, in context to the whole story...that's only 1/4th left to go. I already have the rest of their journey plotted out...And, it's strangely sad for me to think about. Hm...After revisions and all chapters, FTFES might just be around 800k words??? Um???

But yes! UM.

I highly recommend waiting until May to read the early chapters, when they are all rewritten. However, if you've already managed to get past the first 12 chapters, then thank you so much for trudging through that... And I hope you will still go back and read the new revisions when they're posted in May or June. I put a lot of work into them, just as much as writing all-new chapters.

Thank you so much for the questions, and for your interest in my Fanfic!!! It means so much to me, and just inspired me to go into writing mode today :D

May I ask if you have already started reading it yet? And if you have, what chapter are you on?

[darlingwrecks]

Do you have any plans after you finish Atlas?! It's my favorite fic btw but I would love to read more of your stuff. :D

The main plan is to get my life together, probs. Joking also not joking. :)

(This is kind of a long answer)

Anyway, HI THERE. Thank you so much for your kind words, and interest! I love q’s like this. So, I used to be able to have multiple WIPs, but for some reason my brain is not able to do that anymore, or at least not right now. It might be because I am at, as @myselfdisintegrated2 lovingly calls it, Advanced Fandom Age (AFA - to be clear, she coined it for herself…it was not a shot at me lol). Or it’s because Atlas is my favorite thing I’ve written and easily the best thing I’ve ever written, so it’s hard to consider other things at the moment (and I’m low-key harboring a genuine concern I will have nothing left in the Writing Skills Tank after this, so that is something I will need to work through). Here are some things I want to rewrite/resurrect though, written when I was not at AFA:

On Your Shore. Mark/Addison. They get together after the one-night stand, try to make it work, have the baby. And then Addison sleeps with someone else, and they separate and learn to amicably co-parent. But then a series of events draw them back to each other.

Across a Lovers Sky. Addison/Derek. Childhood best friends, fall in love, break up, get back together during residency. Set in Alabama. I would probably select a different title though.

Close Up. Addison marries Derek, but she meets Mark first. And then it’s a bumpy road (and a sexy one). This was a two chapter fic that would have worked better as a one-shot, but I was only posting at LJ at the time and ran into character limits, so.

Never Is a Promise. Mark/Addison. Starting over after a pregnancy loss.

Lullaby. Addison begins a new life in LA after Seattle, and adopts a baby. I started writing it towards the end of PP season 1, and ignored any developments in PP season 2. You know, back when Sam and Pete were flawed, but also nice guys? The story is more about Addison as a mother, and learning to carve out a life for herself (with the support of a new friend-family), but it does feature endgame Addison/Pete, Sam/Naomi (no drama, they just get back together), and Cooper/Violet (remember when that was almost a thing? I much prefer Cooper/Charlotte, but the former fit better for the purpose of this fic). This one might be the one I would be most excited to do a redux version of, but I’m not really sure if PP fics have much staying power these days?

Spark a Match and Watch the Candle Burn. Addison and Derek, mostly in the beginning. This would truly be a start-from-scratch one because I cannot for the life of me find the original. I eventually stopped writing it because my Addek heart hurt too much at the thought of blowing their marriage up, so if I rewrote it, it would probably just be snippets from the early years. The happy years (lol fuck Shonda for the “He never felt that way about me.” Yes, he did. Maybe it’s Different and More with Meredith, but he certainly loved Addison and was in love with her for a long time).

I’m also open to requests, and if I think it’s in my wheelhouse (so basically Maddek, although I do think I’m a decent early seasons Meredith writer), I would be 100% committed to producing.

[creativefiend19]

i was hoping you'd reblog this one!!! 💛 12, 13 & 21 for the 40 questions for fic writers meme?

Thank you for this excellent Ask - and for rbing that excellent Ask meme!

12 Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more? No surprise, maybe, but the climax of TRK - I love the internal vs external peril, the idea of fate vs free will.  Adam's weakness/love/connection being used against him to make his worst fear come true - that he is a weapon that will inevitably hurt those he loves.  For them to have to literally tie him up and blindfold him, but ultimately he triumphs, because of course he does - he’s Adam Parrish. He learns that the autonomy that he thought he had sacrificed was still his (and he’s learning about boundaries!) 

Then Gansey dying. Which was very... ‘Harry walks into the forest again’. 

Everyone faces their worst fears, and learns that it is your choices that reframe everything, even if the outcome remains the same.

I could write a fucking thesis about that entire scene. 

(But also, the whole rushed ending with Gansey and Glendower and Henry and Robobee was just like - WTF? What. The. Fuck. Just. Happened? Some day I will write a fix-it fic.) 13 What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across? Write your first draft without judgement. No deletion, no editing, no second guessing. Just spew words on a page. 21 How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? Oh lord, there’s no real answer to this. For my non-IOP fics it's been maybe one rewrite and two rounds of edits? 

For In One Piece - which has to look as close as possible to the story inside my head - many, many revisions. 

Once it was a page-one rewrite for a chapter just before I was planning to post. I was super late posting, but I don’t regret it at all. The chapter is Much Much better now.

I think I rewrote that Chapter 9 D/s scene nearly a dozen times, until I was somewhat happy with it. I'm still not totally happy with it LOL.

Fic Writer Ask Meme

[buffintruder]

⭐️🌟⭐️🌟 please :D

Thanks! I’m just going to talk about Truth in the Eye of the Beholder because that’s probably the fic I have the most to say about. I’ve probably told you some of this already, but anyway.

Basically the idea started because I was talking to @magpiedragon about.... something Greedling, I do not remember what. But it made me start thinking about how Greed tells the truth, but also “the truth” is such a vague concept, and it would be interesting to see how Greed’s own perception of what is true to him changes over the story, and also how he could be saying things he thinks are true, but the way someone else interprets them is actually completely different. Which is pretty much all canon stuff, but it could be explored in greater depth.

That’s when I came up with the title of the fic, before I had any idea of what the scenes would be or anything, which is pretty unusual for me.

Except then I started writing the story and it was actually something fairly different. Like the start of the fic was different enough from the end of it that when Magpie was betaing it, they ended up basically telling me I should rewrite the first scene and do some heavy revising on the whole first half of the first chapter, which I did end up doing (I think that might have been like the third time ever that I just completely rewrote a scene? The first time I did, it was also the first scene of a fic though hah).

Which ended up making the fic a lot better in my opinion. Like while I was writing the fic, I started understanding what story I was writing way more and then had to go back and change everything so it fit. Basically these are the things I learned while writing it:

Ling is actually not nearly as good with emotions as he pretends to be. He is a functional-passing disaster. Like other than Lan Fan, I don’t think he’s really had meaningful friendships with people his age until he went to Amestris? He doesn’t really know how to talk to people or handle his own emotions

Related to that, Ling is an unreliable narrator because he thinks he knows what’s going on more than he actually does, both with Greed and with him

This story is not really about Greed, but rather Ling and how he comes to terms with himself

This story also isn’t about truth as much as it is about wanting (which, come on, this is a story about Greed, I really shouldn’t have been surprised). I think the concept of truth still plays a framing role for the story so I didn’t want to get rid of the title (especially because I really like it), but the focus is about Ling (and also Greed) realizing what they really want most from life and then actually getting it (unlike canon lol)

Basically, the original idea for this was like a 15k long “X times that Greed and Ling weren’t on the same page about the truth, and one time they were”, and that kind of messed me up

Some other random trivia:

I didn’t know whether this was going to be fully canon compliant where Greed died or whether I would have him survive until at some point I was talking to you and you really wanted Greed to live, and I sort of went “eh sure this gives me more room for character development and also I prefer happier endings.”

By the time I wrote Greed’s death scene, I definitely knew he was going to live, so I just sort of went all in with the angst. I wrote most of it in two days during like the last week of classes for fall quarter, and I made myself really sad watching Greed’s death scene so I could copy down the dialogue and stuff, I think I teared up like a tiny bit. Honestly, that might be the scene I made the least edits to because I was pretty happy with how it ended up

The scene where the assassin tries to kill Ling was originally an idea from another vague fma idea Magpie and I came up with that I will almost definitely never write. Something along the lines of “5 times someone thought Greed was Ling and one time they thought Ling was Greed” where the +1 was right after the Promised Day and Heinkel or Darius or someone talks to Ling, not realizing that Greed is dead and just assuming that Ling is him

I’m pretty sure the last scene I wrote (besides the rewritten first scene) was the one in chapter 4 right before the Promised Day where Greed can’t go to sleep and they’re talking. For the longest time, I just had a comment on the page break that was like “add a scene here [because it feels weird to jump immediately from Ling figuring out his sexuality to the end of the world].”

Also honestly while I was writing this, my opinion definitely changed from being “Greedling is great and I love them” to being like “actually this situation really sucks for Ling in a lot of ways, and while I do love Greedling, Ling is really at a disadvantage this whole time and I don’t think the full potential of a healthy relationship between the two can be realized without something changing and also this is why it’s so unfair that Greed died just after having a big realization about himself that probably would have changed how he interacted with others because Greed and Ling could have grown so much”

...

If anyone else wants me to give some ‘director’s commentary’ on a fic or part of a fic, just hit me up with an ask

[annqbthchse]

🍓 👉👈🥺

Hello Cecília! when I got this notif I was surprised that YOU wanted a compliment from ME???? wHY??? have you met you???? but sure ok, I am very happy to oblige so you better get READY for what I have to say

OK so, the first post I saw from you this year was your SGE x HSM au, as someone who went through a HSM phase and had Zac Efron their first-ever celebrity crush,,, it. was very close to my heart. THEN you go and start to post a fac fic for it???? THEN YOU HVAE THE AUDACITY TO MAKE IT A FUCKING SHOWSTOPPER???? it's very rude and I will never forgive you for making my 14yrld dreams come true. that chapter when Agatha meets tedros at the party and he immediately simps. that was me reading it. automatic simp. idk how I’ll ever repay you for that. I probably never will but you know what?? ill spend my entire life trying to if I have to. IYNTB was the first-ever actual fic I ever read from you and that was years ago and yea it's a fandom CLASSIC I TELL YA and when YOU REWROTE IT earlier this year? I was so woefully unprepared to be able to see it. to be able to be blessed AGAIN. pls no that even when I first read it so many years ago, it never left my mind which is why I was so stunned when you rewrote it and it was BETTER? no that's not allowed here ma’am

your Nicola and hunter post??? YEA THAT'S SOME TOP NOTCH, A+ LEVEL THINKING I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW DETAILED IT WAS AND YEA HUNTER RIGHTS MF. if anyone ever dares says another bad word about nicola i’ll just point them in that posts direction because it says EVERYTHING. you basically wrote a rewrite of TCY and as expected it was everything. and the PJO, again, the amount of effort, time and thought you put into it is something I can genuinely only dream about doing. and that tagatha dating simulator au, it was basically like a mini fic and I genuinely don't know how you thought of it. I've said this before but your dreams HAVE to premonitions from god. that's the only answer. basically, your brain is spectacular and every time you say anything you are correct and we stan. the amount of small intricate details you put into your works is SHJDRGH every time I'm about to lose my mind because of how genius it is. The way you can write something such as first and always and then CMG. the smut to fluff switch, WOW only very talented people can do that.  yea, when I die, don't even put my name or birthdate on my gravestone, I just want that fic there, every single chapter, every single word just perfectly engraved right there. please. the way you interpreted the prompts and how they’re all linked and there's a timeline. SHDBHDJSG  does your brain ever hurt from how big it is???. every time you post a chapter, I go through all the chapters again but in order of the dates because it just makes it all that much better and AHSDG I just love it ok. First and always was written SO WELL!!! it was smut but yea it was cute and sweet and ty for being the only one brave enough to finally do it. we’re all just cowards livin' in your pioneering shadow. 

AND YOUR DRAWINGS. every time you post one I'm in AWE, they look so professional and it's very unfair that you can write as well as you do AND draw. we call that fucking talent in these neck of the woods sir. and you design buildings for college while doing all this??? How?  in my first week last semester my only assignment that week was make a meme and I struggled to get anything else done that week (I DIDNT EVEN fucking make the meme - my brother just sent me one) 

now I'm done simping over your content, let me simp over you :D you have this very sophisticated, witty type of humour and let me tell you,,, it's fucking great. every time I see a comment of yours on whatever post it may be, the compliment is always so creative and just f u n n y ok. you’re just so cool. when I'm 19 I hope I can be as cool as you (probably won’t happen tho it'll take too much time). but you also seem so sweet, supportive and kind. you just seem so confident and you’re also so pretty!!  and I have to apologise for being so awkward and you having to deal with it. but you're a queen. Honestly. every time you come up in my notifs its like getting the seal of approval from God and it just feels so good so ty for that! I also get very surprised because,,, WHY???? 

basically, I want your mind and your talent pls and stop being such a nice person, its too much Cecília

Have a great day and I'm sorry this took so long! <3.