#librarians 5000 to 10k

[something-pithy]

(Quick) Notes and an Update: Come and Knock on My Door...

pictured above: Ascended Astarion before this Tav is like "Nah, bruh, i think this might be toxic OK gotta go bye" 5 Years Later...

Happy Tuesday, my sweet summer children!

And y'all salty ones, too :D

So Chapter 12 is up, and it's deadass over 5000 words of Astarion at different levels of unhinged and Tav at different levels of drunk af.

looool I mean, I had a lot of fun with it.

Quick Notes:

ON THE MF EPILOGUE:

OMG y’all, so Patch 5, amirite?!

Given the nature and content of an echo, a stain, OBVIOUSLY I AM EXCITE. 

A couple of things for the record:

Everything through Chapter 12 of this story was written as published before I saw any type of Ascendant epilogue. 

I don’t have an Ascendant Epilogue of my own to review because though I was in EA from jump and have 1700+ hours in this game (lol michaeljordangetsomehelp.gif), I've only completed one playthrough so far and I definitely failed the constitution check to complete the game with Astarion Ascended (listen, I love writing Ascendant Astarion but at the core of my being I'm here for ProcessingTrauma!Astarion and in the game, that's my SpawnStarion, baby)

My beta watched a video of the Ascendant epilogue and took notes, then gave me a bulleted list an echo, a stain was right about both in the parts that have been published, the parts that are still in progress, and the notes/outline for the rest of the story... loool it's a long list. tl;dr an echo, a stain remains pretty canon-compliant even post-epilogue.

I'm going to stop promising things about what I'm going to write in my notes. I really always do this with the best intentions, but once I drop a chapter, very frequently the day gets away from me because dropping the chapter took longer than I thought and/or I have other things to do.

If you have a specific meta question, don't hesitate to ask! I'm a teacher and a librarian and there's nothing I believe harder than "There are no dumb questions."

Normally I try to put out two new chapters each week, but after I dropped Ch 12 I started working on what was supposed to be Ch 13 and this motherfucker turned out to be 24 pages / 10K words.

I'm going to do my damnedest to get it posted today, but the revision process on this thing is already more involved than usual for a number of reasons. My incredible beta whomst I don't even deserve and I are working hard on figuring out how the MANY different things that happen in those 10K words best go together, best fit into the story, and also fix my Britishisms because during that torrent of word vomit I definitely started slipping into my native New Yorker / New Jerseyan f-bomb city patterns here and there. looool

Aight beautiful people, that's what I've got for now. I actually honestly do have about 2K words on alignment, good vs. evil, how they work (in my opinion) in BG3 and this story that are going to be pretty relevant to the HECKIN CHONKER of stuff that's coming up soon, but... we'll get there when we get there. Have a delicious day!

[fandom-fic-rec]

A Week

Fandom: The Librarians

Ratings: General

Warnings: None

Relationship: Ezekiel Jones/ Jacob Stone

Characters: Ezekiel Jones, Jacob Stone, Cassandra Cillian, Jenkins, Flynn Carsen, Eve Baird

Summary

Ezekiel finds something he shouldn’t have, and is kind of an asshole about it. Jacob retaliates with a week of teasing, and it kind of devolves from there. Cassandra wouldn’t have believed this was their marriage proposal if she wasn’t there.

Link

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9705152#main

[betterprompts]

Short Stories: Submission Hell [part 2]

We’re back with more submission hell!

Where on Earth?

Good question. Where do you send your stories? If you want to get paid, this question is much harder. If you want to get paid pro-rates (6-8 cents a word) this question is boy! not fun!

For those of you in high school or under the age of 20, scout out young writer opportunities, especially those local to you. Try checking at your local library because librarians always have their ear to the ground about that shit. Some of these contests and kids mags have money attached to them, which is snazzy.

Those of you in college/university, find out if your university has a publication or publications (mine has more than 5) and see who takes what, and when, and how much work. This is less likely to net you money, however, some universities hold contests, sometimes which are open even to students in other universities in the state/province/country, and these often have a prize associated. Winning one of these is the most money I ever got paid for a short story.

For those of you beyond, we get to scour the net for open publishers. WritingCareer was a huge asset to me in my 15-35 subs at a time days, especially for hunting out the elusive pro-rates. That being said, do your own research. If a mag isn’t right for you, don’t submit. You’re doing yourself and their slush readers a disservice. 

How long?

Flash fic will ask you for between 300 (hell) and 500 words (also hell). I steer clear of anyone offering a lump sum of a couple hundred dollars for 10k because good lord, that’s over a week of work.

My short stories generally run on the too-short side (around 1500-2500). Your sweet spot for sff mags and lit mags is probably going to be 3000-5000, so aim for that where possible.

Format

Do not, for gods sake, do not get fancy with formatting. Also check around about Courier/Courier New, which younger slush readers are probably not gonna be hyped to see. I have never gone wrong with Times New Roman. And remember, attachments only where attachments are asked for, or your email is going right into the trash.

Page numbers and a header with last name/title keyword usually doesn’t go amiss, unless otherwise indicated.

TTYL, and as always, good luck!

--WB

[fandom-fic-rec]

Love, if thy tresses be so dark/how dark those hidden eyes must be

Fandom: The Librarians

Ratings: Teen

Warnings: None

Relationships: Jacob Stone/Ezekiel Jones

Characters: Jacob Stone, Ezekiel Jones, Cassandra Cillian, Eve Baird, Jenkins

Summary

‘Oh jesus,’ Jake groans.

Jenkins hums. ‘I must agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly, Mr. Stone. Although the situation might not be as dire as you might fear, but it still might be quite problematic. You see, fairy tales have gone with the times. The ancient True Love’s Kiss is found to be outdated and is no longer widely accepted as a cure-all for magical afflictions. Instead most now settle for a, well. It does not translate well into human language, I’m afraid, but I think a kiss of ‘true romantic intent’ might be apt enough.’

‘Great,’ Eve says, her sarcasm sounding shrill in the quiet. ‘So all we have to do is find someone who’s harboring romantic feelings for Jones. Piece of cake!’

Jenkins hums again. Cassandra shakes her head, looking close to tears. And Jake studiously avoids looking at any of them.

Or: Jake and Ezekiel have, somehow, managed to keep their budding relationship a secret from the others in the Library. But then Ezekiel pricks himself on a cleverly disguised sleeping spindle and falls into the deepest sleep, leaving Jake to panic and then explain things to everybody. Sort of.

Link

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16897995#main

[fandom-fic-rec]

Fantastic Beasts and How to Charm Them

Fandom: The Librarians

Ratings: General

Warnings: None

Relationship: Cassandra Cillian/ Jacob Stone/ Ezekiel Jones

Characters: Jenkins, Cassandra Cillian, Jacob Stone, Ezekiel Jones

Summary

Ezekiel knew the Library had rooms where the contents were far beyond what he could imagine. He just never thought the contents would be so adorable.

Link

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12087846#main

[fandom-fic-rec]

our undoing (and yours as well)

Fandom: The Librarians

Ratings: Teen

Warnings: Mentioned Past Abuse, Psychological Abuse

Relationship: None

Characters: Ezekiel Jones, Cassandra Cillian, Jacob Stone, Eve Baird, Flynn Carsen, OMC

Summary

As a side effect of a job like theirs, Librarians are no stranger to being attacked, cursed, and any number of other threatening and painful things. However when the latest assailant is someone Ezekiel is all too familiar with, things quickly veer into uncharted territory, and he, as well as the rest of the team, is confronted with the one situation he had hoped he would never be in.

Or, Flynn, Eve, Cassie, and Jake meet Ezekiel's former MI6 handler, are told a lot of things that Ezekiel would rather they never have known, and subsequently decide it's high time the youngest Librarian knew exactly how much he means to them.

Link

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11827206#main