#ictoan doesn't write

[artlessictoan]

futch scale requests

okokokokokokokokok i'm desperately in need of writing practice bc words…….. Elude Me. sooo request time!

and since i missed out on femslash feb and i've been missing my girls how about we do nardo wlw ships? specifically bc i had the idea last night and now it won’t leave my head playing around with the futch scale, send me two (or more i ain’t gonna complain about more poly in my life) girls and what you want to read them as, with a prompt or theme if you have one, if not then i'm sure i’ll figure something out.

e.g. butch tenten/sporty femme sakura, modern au gym meet-cute

dw bout being faithful to canon, i live for femme tema and butch ino, so just say whatever you wanna see (and doesn’t have to be exclusively f/b, f/f and b/b are all good shit), only rules are obviously no gross stuff or anything, and i'm not really feeling dark so keep things more to the fluff/sap/comedy/spicy side, maaaybe hurt/comfort if the prompt catches me.

i don’t have a cut-off in mind so expect me to be doing this for couple of weeks, we’ll see i guess. (if you wanna send multiple requests please send them in separate asks so i can answer them one at a time)

[artlessictoan]

Oooh whats Good Night Little Brother about??

ahhhh yes, that’s one of my old ones (2016) and there isn’t really anything written for it, but i like the idea so i might try and revive it sometime! basically just a sand-sib oneshot set right after gaara.. y’know. Died. mostly an excuse to explore sib feels and work in some of my headcanons about the three really, but even if i don’t write it as a oneshot i’ll probably work in into that sand sib focused fic i wanted to write anyways

(ask me about my WIPs)

[artlessictoan]

Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you, or interests you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

well i got tagged by @ad0rkable so here’s a thing. sorry all my file names are so boring kdfgh can you tell i studied game dev at uni

SITS_08

ATFC_13

LBAU_01

BtC_10

TFU_06

Heliotropism_04

False Starts_03

Observations

Good Night Little Brother

A Matter of Pride

NGHM Scene

AceNaruGaa Scene

Will of a Nation

Bound for All Eternity

What’s in a Name

..................woooooooow i’d forgotten about so many of these.......................................................i’m gonna go have a little meltdown over how far behind i am with writing.

[artlessictoan]

so uh... this last chap of atfc is getting really fucking long and i’ve still got two scenes to write (one of which is gonna be a Big one) it’s definitely gonna be over 10k words..... i feel like i should split it into two so i can at least post the first half right away, but i kinda don’t want to break it up and also it’d be nice if i could make just one statement about future updates that didn’t end up being complete bullshit

[artlessictoan]

ok ok so, Breaking The Cycle with 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 15! OwO

What’s your favorite line of narration?

oh fuck i dunno, i can’t really remember half of what i’ve written but based on a quick skim i’d have to say it’s..... Andafter those fateful chunin exams – so very, very long ago – the silence hadchanged again, this time to one filled with tension and uncertainty, as Gaaranavigated the arduous path back to humanity and she and her brother nervouslywalked beside him, too scared to hold his hand, but too hopeful to let him walkit alone.

What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

asdfjkdfkjsk ok so i should really go for one of the more deep emotional lines but in all honestly it’s “Getup losers, we’re going to Suna!”

What part was hardest to write?

hmmm probably the Shikadai interlude? mostly just because i know bugger all about kids and have no idea how to write them

What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

it’s much more about family bonds than my other fics, i mean most anything i write that has the sand fam in it will have a lot of that, but this is the one where i’m really delving into their whole dynamic and exploring each member much more deeply.. idk this fic is just very special to me, it’s my comfort zone writing-wise

What do you like best about this fic?

i rEALLY love the relationships in btc! whether it be the sand sibs Classic Flavour, sand sibs 2.0, the kids and gaa, yodo and kank.. i just love thinking about them all So Much

What do you like least about this fic?

hmm, i guess i’m still trying to figure out this whole ‘Child’ thing, i’m getting there, but i regularly have to go looking up childhood development shit because i don’t have any idea what 6 yr olds are supposed to talk/act like

What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

oh i ALWAYS listen to music while writing, mostly movie/game soundtracks because for some reason songs with actual singing and lyrics really throw me off when writing? for btc in particular i really love the ost’s of: Journey, Abzu, Thomas Was Alone and Ori and the Blind Forest (and the extened Ori ost), i also quite like Zoe Keating and Break of Reality, they’re instrumental artists and make some really beautiful calming but also haunting music that fits the tone of the fic!

What did you learn from writing this fic?

mostly i’ve just been learning more about these characters, their thoughts, feelings and how they relate to one another, it’s been a really lovely experience discovering all these new things about my fave fam

in the more technical sense, i’ve been learning a lot about writing more introspectively and using metaphor a little more

[artlessictoan]

Also, Smoke Into The Sand w/ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15! OoO As a side-note I haven't read this yet (SHAME ON ME BC I WANNA) and i'm SUPER interested in it!

asdfjskdjskdjfsk this is gonna get long fukc

What inspired you to write the fic this way?

my main goal with sits was to make it read like an old myth or storybook, an old tale that would be passed down for generations, the majority of the fic is written in that style exactly, but the overall story definitely is (and it does come through a bit more in how the backstory is told and some of the more important scenes)

that said, the main narrative is written much more slice-of-life-y, one of my biggest inspirations for this fic is the manga monogatari (bride’s story), it’s a really nice series that explores the daily life of people in various areas along the silk road, it has that simple, everyday life feel that i love and really wanted to write into sits! that’s where the random details about desert living and the tribe’s lifestyle come in (warning for anyone who might want to check out mono though: it does have an arranged marriage between a 20 yr old woman and a 12 yr old boy, it’s being played as a more platonic/familial relationship thus far but i can totally understand why it would put people off, so just a heads-up before anyone jumps in)

What scene did you first put down?

the first scene i actually started writing was the very first scene! but the very first scene, the one that spawned this entire fic i haven’t actually gotten to yet, it’s gonna be v near the end and i’m dying to finally reveal it because it’s gonna be Big.. but i shalln’t spoil it here, just something for my readers to look forwards to

What’s your favorite line of narration?

ok so like i said i’m shit at remembering any of what i write and it’s a bit more than just a line but fuck it:

Gaara froze, in fact, everything did. The soft whistling ofthe wind cut off into eerie silence, the constantly shifting sand stopped witha suddenness that was entirely unnatural, Naruto glanced away for a second andsaw that some grains were being held in the air, perfectly still. He turned hisgaze back to the spirit before him, his expression hadn’t changed at all, hewas still glaring, but his eyes were unfocussed, like they weren’t reallylooking at him.

Naruto was too scared to move, to speak; hecould only stare and pray that he hadn’t just sealed his own death warrant.

What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

again, not a line, but i really love this exchange between nart and ameno so effing much:

“So mature… You’re growing up too fast, how am I ever goingto keep up?” she asked, mostly to herself judging from the distant look on herface.

He slowly drew his hand back once her face wasdry and gave her a confused look. “You won’t have to; I’ll just carry you withme.

What part was hardest to write?

well i might just be saying this cause it’s the most recent struggle i faced (among many) but the chapter six reALLY killed me. trying to find the right way to describe the exhaustion and constant fear took many, many weeks and i’m still not sure i really nailed it (hopefully something i’ll be able to fix in the next chap)

What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

other than being the first multi-chap fic i’ve ever written, this is actually one of my oldest fic ideas ever, seriously it’s been kicking around in my head for a good five years or so now so there’s that

it also happens to contain basically All of my Special Interests; naruto, deserts, nomadic culture, boring minutia, swords.... honestly the only thing it’s missing is cats (though i’m sure i can find some way to work them in too..)

and, honestly, this is kinda my magnum opus? or at least that’s how i’ve always thought of it, i had actually planned to not start writing it until i’d already done a few other fics because i wanted to make sure my writing skill was at its best before starting such an ambitious fic.. yeah that didn���t happen, but i think that’s actually worked out alright, jumping in with a harder fic right at the start of my writing ‘career’ has been a bit of a crash-course and taught me a heck of a lot, i still think it’s gonna be one of the best things i ever write though. it just has a very special place in my heart

Where did the title come from?

well tbh i’m kinda shit at titles, so i usually just hunt through the first chap looking for any particularly poetic-sounding line that would work (though in this case it does have a nice little easter egg, since in arab folklore jinn are made of smoke!)

Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

hmm not really? the whole thing is meant to be very fantastical and unreal (despite all the slice-of-life stuff), the only real-world insp comes from my research into bedouin lifestyle and such

What do you like best about this fic?

gaara! i mean ofc i like him in anything but this version of gaa - silent, detached, barely human, incredibly complex - is one of my faves and he’s really fun to write, we’ll be finding out more about him as the fic goes on and when we do it’ll make his actions before now both more understandable and less at the same time (he’s quite the paradox)

What do you like least about this fic?

the inconsistency. i feel like i must’ve gone through about ten different writing styles throughout the course of it and it bothers me that i haven’t quite got that storybook feel i was always aiming for, i’ll probably do a rewrite when i’ve got more experience under my belt and try to make the whole thing a bit more cohesive

What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

as with btc, i mostly listen to soundtracks, since songs with lyrics really distract me when writing, since i like to try and match the music i listen to to the setting/tone of what i’m writing i try to listen to classical middle-eastern music (though i’ve had a hard time finding many albums of just instrumental stuff, if anyone has any recs i’d love you forever!)

in addition to that there’s the soundtracks of Journey, Bastion, Dreamfall Chapters and the Prince of Persia games and for instrumental artists i really like Break of Reality and Tina Guo for sits insp!

Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?What did you learn from writing this fic?

hmm, well i’d love it if people learned a bit more about the cultures i’m writing about (and i’d like to learn more of that too tbh, i’m still finding out new things that i actually got wrong earlier on in the fic), maybe even get interested enough to go looking for more info themselves, because there’s a lot of stuff that i simply won’t be able to go into much detail about

as for myself, well ^that and also it’s just been a rEALLY good experience in so many small ways - writing longer fics, writing in general, character interaction, introspection, action, plotting, description, suspense, mystery..... i could go on but yeah, basically it’s helped me grow as an author in Every Single Way and i’m sure it’ll help ever more before it’s done!

[artlessictoan]

any requests?

so i’ve been in a bit of a weird mood lately what else is new and i just kinda.. really wanna write something, but unfortunately the ideas for my existing fics just. aren’t. coming. so if anyone wants to drop a pairing and some vague prompt in my askbox then i’ll write you a lil drabble or something (no smut though please!)

[artlessictoan]

Hi how is the writing going? :D

ello nonny! it.... goes........... very veeeeeeeery slowly.

in all honesty i’ve hit a bit of a block. my big ongoing fics all seem to have reached the point where i know where they’re heading, but can’t quite get the connective tissue to work in a way that i’m happy with, but i really don’t want to start a new fic before i’ve finished at least one of the older ones (even though i have the first 3 chaps of that chogaa fic basically ready to go sitting on my hard drive gathering dust).

trying to do oneshots and reqs can help briefly but they’re a double-edged sword where they also take up all my writing energy so i have nothing left for longer fics?? i should really try and get through some of those f/f reqs i’ve still got in my inbox (I HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU POOR FOLK I SWEAR).. also got that half-finished hinatema smut that took over my life a couple weeks ago......

basically a lot i should be working on, but i can’t quite motivate myself (doesn’t help that i’m out of a job rn so there’s all that job hunting nonsense to worry about), not sure if there’s a way back into it, but i have been getting interested in my original writing projects recently so maybe my mojo will find its way back to me soon??

so... that’s how the writing goes i guess!

[artlessictoan]

I just wanna tell you that Breaking the Cycle is one of the best things I've ever read and you portrayed the characters the correct way and it should be canon.

aHWWW NONNY!! tysm i’m just gonna go have a lil happy cry now

[artlessictoan]

I had a question related to a story I think you wrote. Will you ever update breaking the cycle?

ok, look nonny, i appreciate the interest in my fic, but the tone of this message means i’ve just got to go on a big ol rant now. i’m not sure how long you’ve been following my writing so maybe you’re a new reader and just don’t know how i work yet, but 3 months? that’s not that long a wait for my writing.

yes, i am well aware that my update schedule is absolutely abysmal, but you’ve gotta keep in mind that i’m not a machine, i’m a person.

i have a job. i have to sleep, eat, shower. i have dinners to cook and groceries to buy, i have parents who’d like to see their daughter for more than 5 seconds a day, i have friends i want to chat to, i have obligations outside of my fics and honestly? writing is a hobby, i don’t get paid, i don’t get any kind of reward from it other than feedback and my own self-satisfaction

could i write more often? absolutely! i’ll happily admit that my work ethic with this is fucking shit, but i really don’t need people getting on my ass about this, i make myself feel guilty enough even without it.

BTC is also not my only fic i’m working on, i have several others on the go atm, some of which have been waiting significantly longer for an update and no one has been anything but patient and understanding about it. so before i finish chapter 8 of BTC (which is already over halfway done), i wanna get the last two drabbles for gaara week done (i know it’s super late, not gonna go into it now but Shit happened and i’ve not been in a good headspace for writing) and BTC will probably be next after that, i’d also like to do requests for femslash feb again, which means that my other fics might be on hold depending on the number of reqs i get

this ain’t a personal attack on you or anything, idk who you are, i’m sure you’re usually lovely, more a rant about this kinda view in fandom, people seem to assume that writing doesn’t take much effort and that authors withhold chaps out of laziness.

there are def people out there who can crank out a chap a week, and those people are amazing and i envy them greatly, but i’ve tried that and it just doesn’t work for me, my muse is a cat; fickle, unpredictable, she loves attention but if you give her too much at once she’ll bugger off for a few weeks, only returning when you’re not looking for her at which point you will just have to drop everything for her. not saying it’s a great way of writing, but there’s not much i can do about it.

if i ever do decide to drop a fic, then i’ll post an announcement both here and on the fic itself, i’m not gonna just leave it hanging for years with no closure, but unless i’ve done that, then just assume any ongoing fics are still being worked on.

have a little patience and have a little empathy, i know what it’s like to be waiting on the edge of your seat for a new chap, i know how frustrating it can be to check the fic every week and not see anything, but i also know that absolute unbridled joy when an unexpected email drops into your inbox and you just can’t click that link fast enough.

again, this message isn’t so much to you personally, as it is to fandom at large, readers, please be patient with us authors, we’re all just trying our best to share our love and ideas.

[artlessictoan]

I love all of your writing so much ( especially btc and the other Bart stuff )! Keep going

ahwwwwww nONNY!! you’re so sweet and ilu, thanks for making me smile!

[artlessictoan]

istfg why the fuck have i been getting so many petulant homophobes commenting on my fics lately? especially TFU, i know there’s that really prolific troll who’s definitely responsible for two of them but this is really starting to piss me the fuck off, s/s stans are the absolute fucking worst istg

[artlessictoan]

goddamn i’m really starting to regret using the name ‘omega kindergarten’ in atfc..... i literally cannot write ‘omega gem’ without making myself angry

[artlessictoan]

I believe in you!!! I can't wait to see what you write

dawwwwww thank you so much sweetie! you have no idea how much it means that people actually have faith in me om g

[artlessictoan]

ugh so i’m rereading my old sits chaps to try and get back into it but.. it’s....... good? like really good? kinda too good??? cause i’ve completely forgotten how to write it in the however-many-months it’s been and i’m actually super intimidated trying to live up to it now.. i’m literally being intimidated by myself like what the actual fuck me why do you let this shit happen to yourself

[artlessictoan]

okokok we’ve got the wrist brace on and the ori ost blasting, let’s get chap 11 of atfc Done