#lol this has been in my drafts for so long😂

[traceyc-uk]

I love your art and comics so much!!! You are like the queen of HL comics for me!!! ❤️❤️❤️ So much so you've been inspiring me to start making my own comics (it has been since high school since I made comics and let's not get into how long ago that was 😂).

I was wondering if you would be willing to share some of your comic making process, especially in the early stages? I had much of a process in pre-planning stages, but now I'm trying it to see if it will help with my storytelling.

I hope you have a great day!! ❤️❤️

Thank you! 😭 that’s so cool you’re making comics again! And bashful by your ask as I do it for lols and still figuring it out myself. I refer a LOT to a couple of my favourite comic artists too, which I think is noticeably incorporated in mine but I’ll try and show my workings best as I can

Think it’s already obvious I love drawing expressions, is usually my first starting point doodling idly what would become the key frames

Of course study your favourite artists! The ones I look to is Akira Himekawa - Zelda Twilight series and Adam Warren - Empowered (not for under 18s)

I dragged out some previous comic pages I think are appropriate examples of the initial paper scribbles, rough lines to final.

venomous valour is an example of messing up as I focused too much on the faces and the speech gets cluttered.

Crucio attempting to draw the eye where it needs the main focus.

A couple of pages from Shadow Mountain, the fight was drafted more to keep a consistent line of action and not let it get disoriented on the geography, personally I try and stick to the 180 rule. The arc here was more a happy accident but helps lead movement across the page

Dialogue I like the least, but this page the speech bubbles lead the page layout so it’s read in the correct order reading from left to right

Generally I try not get too fussy about the details and aim overall for readability:

- Clear silhouettes, in figures, framing and composition. I often check rough pages within drafts on my tiny phone screen, does the focus get drawn where it should

- Is there enough information on what is happening or about to happen, like an anticipation in a pose to lead into the next panel

-Show intentions without having to say it, ask myself if no dialogue is the intent still there? Using your lovely Serena and the Fifth-Year as an example

It shows when I get lazy and draw my panels like a film frame and I use principles more rooted in animation so I make blunders or newbie mistakes when translating into a comic format but it’s all in good fun. Anyway I hope this helps you in your process and look forward to seeing more of your comics too! 💕

Extra: the ineligible scrawls of the shadow mountain and ancient magic drafts

[neoninky]

Yes my MC’s name is Lawrence lol

I screen capped this because it cracked me up for two reasons:

1) Lilia is probably my fav Diasomnia character which is saying a lot cuz Diasomnia is the only other dorm aside from Octavinelle where I love all the characters but bat dad has my heart more so most of the time 🤌 And I just love him and all his wild tomfoolery

2) I wrote a rough draft scene for my Diasomnia story of Lilia and the OC love interest I made for him specifically and it was hella dramatic (probably cuz of all the dramas I’ve been binge watching lately lolol). And this image just reminded me of “yes this is the man you just wrote in a ‘he chased after his lover into the rain that just happened to start right as he dramatically confesses against all the odds his true feels, which is weirdly convenient is it not??’ scene. THIS man. This retired war scarred general turned adorable pink scene highlights wearing lil dude of a man….this man is a FATHER-“ and so on and so forth 😂

Also I friggin love Stitch. He is one of my favorite Disney characters. Love, love, love him. I stopped playing Twisted Wonderland for a long while but I started again recently and sooner after they announced this event was happening sooo perfect timing!

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SAEjwwo9S1g

So I know everyone knows this interview off by heart and it’s been spoken about A MILLION TIMES but I would just love love to hear you ramble about from 10:20 onwards bc omg it’s just so sweet and your thoughts on things are always perfection :’) like Miles seems like he’s keeping an eye on Alex for the whole interview and playing off his humour but the fond/amused/exasperated ‘please do’ that he says when Alex goes ‘just to add to that’, and how he sort of glances at Martin in an ‘ah where is this going’ sort of way is just gorgeous xD and the way he squeezes his eyes shut, just waiting to feed off whatever Alex says but wondering what on earth is about to come out of his mouth is just so tender and pure 😭😂 like miles you sweetheart xD

omg i will take ANY opportunity to ramble about this absolute gem of an interview (and about them generally, as we know lol)

anyway yeah, this whole interview truly is peak milex derangement - and this little section in particular??? ughhh it just feels like such an intimate insight into their humour and the way they mess around together. like you can tell they're a bit bored with the interview, and it makes me wonder if this is what they get like when they're bored and restless on bus journeys, waiting for soundcheck etc - if they descend into the same affectionate, humorous madness that no one else quite knows how to deal with. it feels like such a window into their everyday lives and way of interacting, and ugh i just love it, how easy it is to imagine them talking in silly voices and being totally wrapped up in each other in all these other scenarios 🥺

one of absolute my favourite things about this clip is how you can just tell how UTTERLY in tune they are with each other - even when they're not really that engaged with the situation they're in. the way they know each other's subtlest inflections of expression and twist of phrase without even thinking about it. it's all so totally instinctive, and i actually think their interchanges like these, when we get a glimpse into their unique alex-and-miles humour, are at least as intimate as a lot of their more *ahem* explicitly intimate moments onstage. because they just show the way they completely and utterly get each other, how they've built up this whole way of interacting that's just them. miles and alex and no one else.

and you're totally right, you can FEEL the fond exasperation radiating from miles, and also like - idk, just this quiet delight he's clearly taking in alex's presence? it's something you see with both of them a LOT, this sense that they just love being around each other and (even in situations like this where they’re not really into what’s happening around them) there’s nowhere else they really want to be. idk how to explain it, it just feels like there’s just this underlying sense of completion and contentedness when they’re with each other - probably because they’re able to truly be their whole selves when they’re together 🥺

UGHHHHH they make me so emotional 😩

also all the suggestiveness of the “little finger” bits and the way you can SEE miles trying not to get the giggles??? absolute gold 😭

oh dear, i fear this has been ended up being a much longer ramble than i intended, i hope at least some of it made sense 😅 thank you so much for your lovely words and for giving me the opportunity to flail about our two favourite smitten idiots, i love asks like these 🥰🥰

PS i’m so sorry it took me so ridiculously long to answer this - i actually thought i’d posted it weeks ago, but just came across it when i was sorting through my drafts this afternoon 🤦🏻‍♀️

[elithilanor]

Do you have hcs for Erestor's background/story? Or if you're compelled by many, what are your favorites for him? 🌸

Hello, friend!

Sort of and sorry this has been sitting in my drafts for so long!

I do have a couple though:

Generally I hc him as Peredhel and usually a child of Haleth and Caranthir

He's a Ñoldo

I think he's extremely battle capable but prefers not to fight if he doesn't have to anymore.

I ship Glorestor hardcore.

I usually view him as the Loremaster/Librarian and Counsellor to Elrond. But then Elrond doesn't really have a Herald? And I generally view Lindir as a minstrel or assistant so he doesn't fit that. Maybe Elladan and Elrohir are the Heralds but I also don't think Elrond expects Imladris to continue without him since most elves are leaving Arda at this time.

On one hand, I'm like I love family Elrond and Erestor but I also kind of ship them sometimes. I just think they would fuck well together lol. Elrond deserves to have his back blown out by literally everyone. 😂

I think he's quiet, got a major resting bitch face, he's very snarky and judgmental, and always looks perfectly put together.

He really likes dripping in the jewel style of the Ñoldor but doesn't tend to wear a ton outside of events. It's a war between his family and preferences and how he still appreciates Ñoldor culture and his want to stay fairly political savvy.

He's super kinky and loves bdsm. He and Glorfindel are a great pair: he likes Glorfindel up and Glorfindel likes being tied up.

He has chronic migraines that are quite severe.

You can often find him in the baths.

He's very protective over Lindir and Elrond and generally like his people.

I often kind of view him as gender neutral.

Going to Valinor will be fascinating because I ship both Glorestor and Glorthelion and not sure Erestor would be up for poly?

I also kind of like Erestor as a child of Celebrimbor? He's not very good with his hands, but he loves being in a forge. He has dragon hoarding of people vibes.

Erestor loves his library and hot beverages.

He doesn't like winter because it reminds him of the Helcaraxë and he gets cold easily. Maybe anemic Erestor? I could really get behind this actually.

You can always find him in the Hall of Fire or by a hearth in winter listening to the minstrels (and usually doing paperwork).

His favorite season is Spring (?) might think about this.

He does love Yule - or the elvish equivalent - though. The return of warmth and light and bonfires in the cold.

[sluttyhollow]

I don’t write for UA students but Bakugo and me are the same person and we’d be best friends if I was at UA 😂. I was listening to Bakugo by KVMIL and it just had me thinking about Bakugo x black american bestfriend reader (this has been sitting in my drafts forever lol might as well let it go)

No warnings, just two foreign besties with bad attitudes and terrible language (purely platonic)

Katsuki definitely speaks English, he’s a rich kid, and his parents traveled to the states a lot for work and they used to takes him in the summer. He just refuses to speak English because he thinks it sounds stupid.

The back and forth trips are how he ended up meeting you in the first place the summer between first and second grade. Your parents were working on a collaborative design line focusing on mixing Japanese and African American street fashion styles

Neither of you liked each other. He was loud and you thought his red eyes were creepy. He thought you were a loser and hated the noise your hair made when you walked (it was the beads, he thinks they look “cool or whatever” now though) you guys actually ended up fighting, Mitsuki thought it was funny because Katsuki lost (he started it) she bought you ice cream for winning.

After that day you guys came to an agreement to not speak to each other but by day 3 of vacation you were sharing games and sending each other colored screens on your DSIs. You guys did argue everyday of that summer though, and every day of every summer you spent together until middle school when he started staying in Japan to train.

Fast forward to high school and you still text each other. He’s at UA and you’re at a well known hero school in the states. Both of you are loud mouths with quirks worthy of helping saving lives (yours a quirk reversal/theft quirk that allowed you to reverse a persons quirk or utilize their abilities for a certain amount of time, like toga and all for one mixed).

Let’s just say your school has a sports festival similar to UAs that’s also televised and streamed nationally and internationally which prompts Miruko to want you intern abroad with her. Of course you accept and your school works with UA to get you into a transfer program thus starting your 1 year stent at UA. Now for fun’s sake you didn’t tell Katsuki you were coming to UA so imagine his surprise when all the rest of 1A is talking about some American transfer student and he walks into the common room and sees you sitting there.

“What. What the fuck are you doing here you fucking loser” the rest of 1A is shook, they know he’s an ass but they didn’t think he’d just be mean to new student. Just when they get ready to intervene you respond to him with a “you know you’re happy to see me fucker it’s been like 3 years” and the rest of the class is just like wtf is going on here. Y’all of course explain that you knew each other and that you’re besties. Deku being the only one not surprised considering you’d met him once before.

From then on you too go back into your old ways from childhood but with added addition of training. When you’re not busy with Miruko and him with Jeanist y’all go back to the Bakugo house and eat dinner with Mitsuki and Masaru.

You make him apologize to deku (long before canon) when he tells you what happened during middle school and how the first half of the semester had been. You beat his ass and told him to get over himself (he knew you were right).

You and Deku going feral when he gets hurt, LOV attacks and the three of you have to be put on house arrest by Iida cause y’all get too emotional over one another

Forcing him to class 1A gatherings. Neither of you wanna go but Mina saw you two getting ready to disappear after dinner and dragged y’all to movie night

Katsuki likes American food. Spice levels are just a little higher, flavors are a little more intense than typical Japanese food. You can cook a little bit and help him make American style dinners for everybody sometimes

People think you guys are partners cause of how relaxed you two are around each other but he’s like your brother and you would kiss m*neta before Katsuki

Yeah just two foreign besties (your American friends thought you were lying about your best friend living in Japan all through middle school, they didn’t realize you were serious until you moved and FaceTimed them with Katsuki in the camera)

[rmd-writes]

Hi!! I always love what you write, so I'm very excited to see whatever this secret project is! But for now I do have a question about beta reading. How did you break into it? For a long time I have thought that I would enjoy doing that for different people, and I like that kind of fine-tooth comb editing work. But I am not a writer myself, just an avid fic enjoyer, so it feels like I can't quite bring as much to the table or meet other authors in a mutual kind of way. And I would never want to imply that an author needed that extra help or anything like that by just cold reaching out to them. Sorry that so much about me haha, I'm not necessarily looking for any advice (though if you had any I would certainly take it) but I am curious about how you got into it and what your experience has been like! Thank you!!

Hi nonnie! Thanks for the ask!

Can I just say to start with, that as an avid fic enjoyer, you absolutely can meet writers and other creators in a mutual way! Everyone has a place in fandom and something to contribute. It would be a very lonely world for creators if people weren't there to enjoy what we make (and hopefully tell us what they're liking those things). Personally, I appreciate readers so much and I especially love seeing regular names pop up in my inbox 💖💖

As for how I got into beta reading, it started back when a pal in Schitt's Creek fandom was writing a fic and worried that she was going to lose motivation to write it so I offered to sit in the doc and cheer her on. Please note that my motivation for doing so was entirely selfish because it meant that I had early access to the fic that I desperately wanted her to keep writing 😅 that eventually turned into me beta reading that fic (and all of her fics after that) for her.

I started beta reading more frequently in RWRB - I'd signed up as a beta reader for an event, but around the same time I also got to know other writers via a discord server. Sometimes people would ask for beta readers and I'd volunteer - I'm still a tiny bit dirty that @three-drink-amy snagged the beta rights to bleedingballroomfloor's baseball boyfriends fic right out from under my nose even though she is far better qualified than I to beta read a baseball fic - so much so that she helped me with the baseball scenes in my rwrb lawyer au lol (please know that I love them both dearly, there is no internet beef here).

You say that you don't want to reach out to writers and imply that they need assistance, but honestly, sliding into people's DMs and letting them know that either I'm very interested in X fic that they're writing and would they like someone to beta read it or that I'm available in general to help if they want it because I love their writing is how I've ended up beta reading for almost all of the writers I do that for!! People are generally just thankful to know that someone is interested in their writing! It can be a lonely hobby sometimes and having someone to live in your docs or send snippets to can help balance the need for wanting to talk about your fics with someone or bounce ideas off someone and wanting to keep what you're working on under wraps.

God, this is getting really long, I'm so sorry. I've been rambling and I'm not even sure that I answered your question.

You asked what my experience has been like and for the most part, it's been very positive! I get early access to fics (I often say that my favourite way to read a fic is in google docs 😂), I get to cheer my friends on and sometimes they even trust me enough to let me throw ideas at them and write them into their stories - sometimes I even get to do this without actually doing any editing and that's just as fun. I love beta reading, I think there's something really special about being trusted with the draft of someone's writing and getting to help make it the best that it can be (what that involves looks different for every writer I work with). 💖

And all of that doesn't even touch on how much I learn from the writers I've worked with - it's definitely helped me improve my own writing!

[hircines-hunter]

I'll answer the ask you sent me in the morning, but let me ask the same thing back about Sifkni and Roar of a Wolfborn-!!! I remember you've mentioned it has been years so I'd love to know how it began ☺️

Take your time!!!! No rush!!!!

If anyone wants to read the actual fic! Here’s the link!

It’s 46 chapters long. 202k on gdoc and word but 201k on AO3! It is finished! It’s Farkas/OC and there’s some Skjor/OC and mentions of another pairing. :3c

It all started a month after Skyrim came out. And I made Sifkni officially. I was gonna do the Companions and Main Quest like normal. Originally she was to become a werewolf through companions quest. Via Farkas instead of Aela bc she asked him.

But then the Dragonborn DLC came out and there was that werewolf pack. I changed everything. It mostly lived in my head. Her. Her pack. Her and Farkas.

I didn’t start writing about her until 2014 (I may rewrite the thing?) it’s a short 6 chapter fic from when her mother passed to the final attack on her pack before canon events. (I may be willing to share but it’s poorly written and 10 years old.)

And the roar of a wolfborn that has been finished is technically the 3rd draft! I started to write Roaw at the same time as her other fic in 2014 as well.

Because of the pack I made her born a wolf. And the first draft Sifkni and Farkas take it a lot slower than the 3rd draft. Like a lot slower. Lol. Sifkni mourned her husband. More. She had more… moments where she would talk super fondly and then start crying.

Farkas was down bad. Like worse than the latest draft. Trust me. He had it so bad. Vilkas had to be like dude calm tf down my brother.

Sifkni also was Asexual af in the original. I’m not sure what happened btwn then and now. But yeah.

I started the 2nd draft in 2023 going thru editing and tweaking and fixing and writing newer chapters. Before I finally jumped the gun , deleted the old version and started the new one. This time I decided to add the past events into the main fic (I found most people didn’t want to read the prequel). I added more nightmares. More mourning. More crying and changed a Lot! From what happened in the pack to how she reacts and remembers . To how the actual plot goes. I never intended for a lot of what happened to happen. The dragon attack that had her stuck in jorrvaskr for 2 months. Thats where a lot of her bonding with Farkas happens. Btwn ustengrav and the dragon. I never intended for them to ever get married. But… that happened. I never intended for later events to happen.

And saving skjor!?? Man that’s probably the biggest change I still have the old draft with Skjor’s death and the aftermath lol 😂

I never imagined I would ever finish it too I am so very proud of what I wrote! And that’s it’s finished!

But, yeah….. Sifkni has been through a lot from day 1 up til 13 years later….. and I am

But yeah… that is Sifkni. Her origins. And the journey to the ending.

And now I get to work on the Sequel. Which is all new. I’ve never planned or plotted this. It is mostly going to be a lot shorter than roaw. But it’s also the means for Sifkni to peacefully pass onto the Hunting Grounds! >:3c there will be a lot of reopening of old wounds. We get to meet her pack again! And Hircine will be there!

[leiawritesstories]

20 Questions for Writers!

Thanks for the tag @writtenonreceipts!! <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

21 and counting 👀

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

226,575

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily for Throne of Glass, but I'm always open to writing for more fandoms :)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Chef Rowan

Fly The Black Flag

Until Proven Guilty

Wild Proposal Stories

Quarter After One

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes!! Comments are one of the best parts of being a writer/creator and it makes me happy to both receive and give them.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably Late-Night Dances, which involves MCD🫣🫣 or really any of the handful of fics I've written where a character doesn't make it.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oooh maybe Fly The Black Flag? I kind of borrowed the ending from POTC but changed some things, and a little while later, I was able to write a sort of epilogue/outtake where Rowaelin have a child, and it was super fluffy and cute and heartwarming.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No? I don't think so, this community is genuinely wonderful and so supportive :))

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes I do, hehe. I've only ever written F/M explicit content

10. Do you write crossovers?

Well......sort of. I like to sneak in characters from the other SJM books if it's possible and if it works, and once upon a time I tried to write a crossover fic that has since been abandoned 😂. But if it's ever in the cards, I'd love to properly write one!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also nope, but that would be so cool

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Possibly 👀👀👀 @mariaofdoranelle

14. What is your all-time favorite ship?

Rowan x Aelin. They will never not be an OTP.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Probably The Only Option, which has a whole plan/outline and some notes for the plot but will probably never be anything more than what it is. This also happens to be the fic that sparked my main idea for an original novel, so it might never be more of a fanfic, idk.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I honestly don't know lol. I think I can write family dynamics/kids pretty well, but I grew up with a bunch of siblings so it's kind of easier for me to write sibling and family dynamics. I'm also the proud (?) owner of an inner angst monster that I call Frederick, and he's very very good at having ideas for making situations painful 🤭

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Definitely consistency. Even in oneshots, I'm prone to forgetting what I wrote earlier or if they're linked oneshots/in the same setting or world, I tend to forget or change details about the setting, which just bothers me SO much. And don't even get started on how horribly inconsistent I am in long fics 😭😭 like, I'm a hella planner, but somehow I'll be rereading old parts of a draft (hello, Until Proven Guilty) and realize that there are big glaring gaps from the earlier parts to the later parts and just cry over the plot holes.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Love it! If the language is significant to a certain character, particularly to their background/development, I love to see dialogue in another language. Wish I spoke better in the other languages that I sort of know (Spanish/tiny bit of Italian) so I could incorporate it into writing. I think it's also super super amazing how some writers can create original languages.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Bloody Jack Throne of Glass! Started writing and never stopped lol ;)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

i had a whole lot of fun writing DILF Rowan, which came from a prompt. also really really enjoyed The Assassin and the Princess, which is a sort of alternate canon reimagining.

some tags if you want: @mariaofdoranelle @elentiyawhitethorn @tomtenadia @house-of-galathynius @rowanaelinn and anyone else who wants to!!!

[inkwingsinc]

Question round (I love these so much)

1. What made you decide to become a writer? (was it always something you knew you wanted to do or did it come to you later on in life.)

2. What was your favourite genre’s growing up? (could be a genre from movies or books)

3. What is your proofreading process like?

4. How do you stay motivated in your writing process?

That’s it for my question round 😂.

ps. Any chance for an update this week? 🙏 ❤️

This is so cute omg, thank you for the questions I love them too! <3333

I didn't really decide to be a writer, it just became a hobby organically in childhood. I wrote my first "story" at age 6 because I was obsessed with R.L. Stine kid's horror stories and the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" series (and at age 8 I got in trouble for bringing my mom's Stephen King books to class LOL). It's always something I've just kind of *done*. I work in an unrelated field to publishing but I write a lot for work, so I think the hobby has served me well outside of stories, too.

Horror!!!! Scifi and fantasy were a close second in a cozy lil tie. In young adulthood I got really into romance which had some uhhhhh interesting interactions with my previous predilections

My proofreading process is chaotic and 100% novice. I write like a demon on crack for the first draft, and then a day or so later I'll sweep through it with a blowtorch and do a hack-job of copy-pasting entire passages into the order I want them. I catch myself switching tenses OFTEN because the tense I imagine stories in is different than the tense I write in (so there are quite a few typos I'll have to fix on the back end when I complete my fics/stories). Also I get "sticky" on certain words. I keep trying to put the word "ameliorate" in damn near everything I write and I have to go back and beat myself with a stick to remove it from appearing 3000 times (I think I may have been successful so far...)

Motivation? I don't know her *cries* This might be an unpopular answer but for me writing is an entirely passive process. My imagination runs laps around my actual writing speed so a lot of it is just me sitting in front of my laptop and being Tortured By Visions until I'm satisfied. This has unfortunately led me to take long hiatuses from stories (RIP Sanguine Witch est. 2018) because if my mind isn't chewing on it, the words don't come.

BONUS: I am trying to update tomorrow but I'm a horrible little gremlin that keeps deleting paragraphs. I appreciate everyone's patience <3

[tehrevving]

Who knew Vincent is such a boob man!

What was going through his head when Cid called us Sweetheart? Or when he saw us come up the Bronco steps?

And god I love the accidental phone vibration between his legs 😋 makes me wanna do it on purpose

I have always seen Vincent as being a boob man and it has been such a shame it took so long for him to get at them lol. He’s too much of a gentleman to ask outright, and was also concerned that if he asked or just took her shirt off then she’d try to do the same with him 😭. Don’t worry tho because he’s going to get his mouth on them next chapter 😉

Vincent is currently trying to process a lot of new feelings okay lol. He doesn’t actually feel any animosity towards Cid, and i think he’s actually a little bit embarrassed by his reaction. But he’s feeling very possessive, and maybe a little bit frustrated cause he’s not really a nickname person but Cid can just throw them out so easily.

Vincent’s thought process while she was walking up the stairs was something like. “Please I hope it’s not Cid, oh thank god, wait shit boobs. Boobs. Oh god. Boobs. And leg. Fuck. Look at her face.” He’s spent all day fantasising about making her come in his lap in the pilot seat but he never considered that he’d be able to see so much cleavage 😂. He gives up eventually though and decides to just stare because he doesn’t really care and knows she probs doesn’t mind.

In my first draft the phone was in her back pocket 😭😭. It didn’t make sense for it to still be there after everything. But like, he fully did a little groan and hip thrust up when it started going off. It was hot af and I was so sad to remove it.

[thesymphonytrue]

Hiiii! You know I love your longer fics—the Ghosts and Echoes series and your wing au fic! And I was wondering how you stay motivated to work on longer fics. And come up with manageable plots that are still interesting to read. (Sincerely someone working on a longer project while also experiencing writers block 😅)

HIIII!!! 🥰 thanks for the ask, @ascreamintothevoid-blog <3 <3 <3

Aw thank you so much!! I had fun writing them!! And your comments kept me going when I hit roadblocks, honestly!! 😅

MOTIVATION: oh man motivation for longer fics....well...I'd say with my first long fic, Ghosts, I kind of kept into it blindly and then had to finish it, it was my first fic I'd posted for the White Collar fandom and while I had about 50% of it finished, if I hadn't gotten such encouraging comments, I don't think I would have ever finished it. The comments gave me such motivation, because people were reading my story and liking it and I was just....thrilled 😭🥹 On that vein, maybe I crave human interaction or feedback on my stories too much, but with all of the long fics I have written, I have started posting them when I'm about 50-80% finished writing it....then the reader feedback helps me get to the final sprint to the end. so...THANK YOU to anyone who has commented on my longer fics, it really helps with motivation! 🥹

The other two, I definitely had to do more "scheduled writing" to finish them---I made a goal of writing a chapter per week while simultaneously editing a previous chapter. It was a reasonable goal at the time and helped me through the slumps of not being "inspired"---I just would sit down and word vomit into my draft and then clean it up later 😂 Long fics feel like a marathon. They are fun, but exhausting!

PLOT DEVELOPMENT: Okay, so plot. LOL. I struggled with this, because, ya know, fanfic is so often inspired by just ~vibes~ 😂 Let me take the wingfic AU as an example for how I developed the plot, so there will be spoilers for that below if you haven't read it:

Normally my fics start with a vibe-like inspiration and then I kind of weave the plot around that. With longer fics, I figure out my climax of the story, and then scatter the characters and make their individual trails to get there. If that makes sense?

So let's take Neal in the wingfic for example. His climax in this story is after having searched for belonging, he finally finds his "family." That was the basic goal. Then, I had certain moments I wanted in the plot: the wing sacrifices, for example, so I placed those moments in the plot. THEN, I connected those moments. The connecting of the moments is the hardest for me lol. ( I do outline in detail long fics in a journal and draft several outlines before settling on one. )

Then, after I have my main characters plots developed, I start weaving in the villains and side characters. In this fic, I had never planned on developing Peter's father, John, until I started writing----then all of a sudden his story just appeared in my head and had to be told. So I had to adjust my original plot, but his story made the plot much richer, so perhaps he was meant to be there all along. It's weird. But most of the time plots like that just...it's like the characters actually tell me their story in my mind and I'm just listening to them.

and hrmmm making them manageable and interesting? Well, to me they don't seem riveting because I know the whole story. LOL. I have to remember that the reader is only seeing what I have shown them so far, so they likely will find it more exciting than I will writing it. I keep it manageable by limiting the characters and character POVs...and...by not getting into macro plots (like social justice for Flyers like I wanted to, but it was just too much for me to handle).

OKAYYY long answer but I hope that helps!! Thank you so much for the ask!! I actually have been struggling with lack of motivation/writer's block lately (seriously, my mind is EMPTTTYYYY for fics rn 😭) and this helped me remember how fun it is to write and makes me want to get back to it.

Also good luck on your longer project!! you can do it. Just baby steps and small chunks at a time---that's how I stayed at it, a tiny bit of writing per day, and when you need a break, take a break! the inspiration will flood into your brain when it's ready 😎

[zepskies]

Hey Lovely! For the ask game, I'm requesting #4, #7, and #24.

Thanks!! ❤️

Well hello there, friend! 🥰

Oh my, good questions...

Hahaa oh lord. I mean, how much time do you have? 🤣 I have entire files worth of ideas from different fandoms that I've even gone so far as to outline, but have never gotten around to writing.

I think the first ones that come to my head are two series ideas in the Smallville fandom:

Hanging By a Moment - Clark Kent x OC

Summary: The path of Clark Kent’s life changed drastically after he turned sixteen. It was choice, it was happenstance, it was destiny—all in one. He didn’t know it yet, but it was always going to be her.

(Yes, title is based on the song by Lifehouse. 😂)

Keep Holding On - Jason Teague x OC

Summary: Try as Jason might, he just couldn’t compare to Clark Kent. Not in Lana’s eyes at least. Elena is the casualty of war, caught in between.

Both sound very melodramatic now that I read the summaries next to one another. 😂 The main reason why I haven't written these, I guess, is because I feel like the Smallville fandom has mostly died out. Tumblr especially doesn't really support OCs as much as reader inserts, and these stories both needed to be OCs to give me the freedom to create as much backstory and character as I wanted to.

Oh a DEEP CUT you say? 🤣 Oh God, I've been writing since I was about 10 or 11 years old (and let me tell you, it was heinous).

I think my very first fanfic was for an anime called Rurouni Kenshin. It was an AU set in present time. It was that cliché thing where the heroine is sitting at a bar and is getting hit on, but she doesn't give the guy the time of day until her boyfriend (the main male lead of the show) shows up.

That character was known for being a spitfire, so she was good at putting people in their place lol. Her boyfriend is the more mild-mannered of the two, but still very protective, so I guess that's where the idea came from in my kid brain. I've long ago deleted that story off FF.net because it was so damn bad.

My first SPN fanfic, however, can be found here on Ao3. It's also pretty rough because I wrote it back in high school when I was first watching the show, first on FF.net, then transferred it over later to Ao3.

Another interesting question... 🤔

It can take me a bit to get myself into that creative headspace, but when I'm working on a one-shot, I tend to power through the draft until I finish it in a day, maybe two if it's long (5,000+ words let's say).

If we're talking about a series, I try to knock out at least a chapter at a time in one writing session, which could take me a couple hours or several more, depending on length and how detailed my outline is, if I need to do additional research, etc.

If I really have a good flow going, sometimes I can knock out 2-3 chapters in a day. I'll have a solid 1-3 hour writing session towards the beginning of the day, take a break for a few hours, run some errands, go on a walk, have a meal, and come back to it later. I tend to do the bulk of my writing in the afternoon and throughout the night.

Thanks again for asking these questions, lovely!! 😘💜 Always happy to answer.

[lyriumlullaby-ao3]

ASTPTS sounds fascinating! Tell me more???

happily! 🥰

“AStPtS” is how i label all the work i’ve done on my longfic. it’s an abbreviation of “a sword to pierce the sun,” which comes from the Chant of Light! (it’s from the Canticle of Victoria specifically, and it refers to the Inquisition.) that may end up being the title when i finally post, but i’m not married to it!

anyway, this is the longfic i’ve been working on for *checks notes* a year and three months now lol, the one that was pretty much inspired by “my inky has two hands. this compulsory monogamy shit is garbage” 😂 i actually am not sure how many words i’ve written by this point, but i think it’s around 200k, and i am slowly working my way towards the end of my first draft. i’m just kinda… novelizing my ideal version of inquisition? how it would go if i had total control over the story?

so within this folder, i’ve got *another* folder that’s the draft itself, separated into five-chapter-long segments bc gdocs was starting to have a bad time loading such a long document at about 500 pages 😂💀 then i’ve got a handful of outlining docs, some separate pages for drafting sections that are being revised or that are going to be inserted into already written segments, and a file where i save anything significant that i cut while editing!

i work on it a little everyday, and i LOVE it because it’s my favorite oc of all time. 💖 i’ve spent the most time working with and developing Miri of any character, and i’m extremely attached to her 😂

so yeah!! this is my pet project wip, my favorite child, if you will 😂💖 thanks for asking about it!!!

[tameila]

Happy anniversary (belated) to TSAR! Are there things you might have done differently if you had written it now? From little things like turns of phrase to big things (plot points, character development milestones, etc.), do you think some things might have been different?

Thank you so much for your message, and I apologize immensely that it has taken me so long to answer! The new job's great, but my free time is WIPED 💀

but, to answer your question, I would have written the first arc of the story more mindfully. like, believe me, when I wrote the author's note of the first chapter and said that it was going to be a fluffy feel-good story, I honest-to-god thought it was going to be!! 😂 Now, with the foresight of where the story ended up going, I would polish the prose of those first chapters.

Along a similar vein, I would want to emphasis the weight and history between Pike and Scanlan more in the first arc. These are two people who have known each other for over a decade and have spent about 2/3rds of that time on the precipice of almost being something. They have flirted. They have almost hooked up. Pike is fully aware that she's attracted to Scanlan, but Scanlan's always run away when she's gotten too close. Pike in TSAR isn't completely oblivious to Scanlan's feelings; she's just had it reinforced by all their previous interactions that he isn't serious. I would want to really emphasis that dynamic and reading of their relationship more. I've been told that it came across, but I've never quite believed it myself. Mostly because, writing those first chapters, that was not really the dynamic I had in mind; it's just the one that naturally grew as I wrote.

There were also a lot of scenes that I cut in the name of getting the chapter out sooner, but, y'know me, I love to meander and I am always happy to write more.

Some bits that were cut from drafts / in the notes but never fully added include:

in chapter 14, after Scanlan drops Pike off at home, there was a scene where she goes into the kitchen and talks with Grog. it was supposed to explore, a bit more fully, the fallout of Pike's depression and its effects on the Trickfoot household dynamics. Those changes were weaved in over the next chapters, but I still think it would have been great to show them in the immediate aftermath in all their still-raw glory.

chapter 15 was, in part, meant to be a road trip chapter in earnest and explore the still-lingering tension in Pikelan's relationship and how, in cramped motel rooms and car front seats, they learned to smooth their edges and find each other. I do think, in the end, chapter 15 turned out perfectly fine without it, but...Why write less, when you can write more? That's what I always say! Here's a snippet from something that actually did get written from the scrapped road trip montage:

The next morning, Pike pulls out her road map to doublecheck their route for the day. Already, the reliability of their phones is sketchy at best. The further they go into the mountains, the worse the connection will become. She’s only thinking ahead, but Scanlan gasps, as if he’s never seen a map before, and calls it ‘quaint’. He insists that she lay it out across the hood of his car and has her pose for a picture -- or twenty. He complains for the first twenty minutes of their morning drive that he can’t get it to post to Instagram.

I have a completely written out scene from chapter 15 that I cut where Pike actually runs into Allura on the university campus but I cut it for hating it at the time lol...I would put it back in!

totally blanking on which chapter this was supposed to be in (potentially chapter 16?? because I think there was also a cut scene of the girls at a farmer's market just for the friendship vibes) but this was also in my notes:

Keyleth and her in the temple garden, Keyleth suddenly feels prompted to admit the truth: Grog and her are dating and have been for a while (since that rainy week in April when Scanlan was gone). Pike is not that surprised ("Keyleth, you made me watch that movie where the main character falls in love with her best friend's brother and then proceeded to ramble about it an excessive amount. I knew.") and is incredibly supportive.

[revolvingfanatic]

i absolutely ADORE your writing skills. every fic of yours that ive read so far go in incredible detail and such amazing storylines! how do you write so well?? what's your writing process like??

First off, thank you!! 💖 So happy to hear you’re a fan of my writing style and ideas ✨ Thirdly, sorry if this post becomes a little long, as I’ll likely end up getting into the minutia 😆

My process is probably kinda odd, and definitely extremely time-consuming.

I start off with a rough draft(?), which is basically just me jotting down random possible ideas and thoughts for a given fic, sometimes in no particular order, just whatever comes to mind when I’m brainstorming. Sometimes fully formed paragraphs with dialogue, sometimes just little suggestions. Then when I’ve gotten that out of my system I start to organize it by rearranging everything until it seems to be in a good order, then deem that the fic’s overview and move it to a lower section of my document.

Next, I reference said overview and start typing up scenes and dialogue in a section above.

Anything I end up removing, instead of just straight up deleting it, I move it to the very bottom section which I label “cut stuff” and occasionally go down there to use an idea/line I’d thrown out because it didn’t fit, but found a new place for it to go where it does fit.

I also noticed I write everything in present-tense when it’s in the idea phase, then change practically everything to past-tense when I’m putting it into the actual fic.

Another thing I do is have the same paragraph pasted several times in a row with slight variations to lines so I can see which version looks best to me. I’m extremely particular about my wording; I have literally texted my sister to ask which of two words sounded better in a sentence. Many times. 😂 Part of the reason for that is because I don’t like using the same word twice within a few paragraphs when I can use a synonym. Like instead of “apple” a second time I’ll say like “the green fruit”, then “the healthy ingestible/the sour sphere” if I want to be funny. XD

I also have been blessed with a very active imagination; I have over 20 PiB fic ideas written down, most of which will never see the light of day, as it would take way too much time and energy to flesh them all out, lol (although if anyone wants to hear about them I’ll gladly show what I do have written for them~)

I’ll include a few pics for reference of what my fics look like while in varying stages of the writing process. (spoilers if you aren’t current on IDNFD or AFfaL btw)

(Also sorry I took so long to respond; I was in a car accident where I got T-boned by someone running a stop sign and had/have a bunch of bs [and pain] to deal with <.<)

Anyway, I hope my reply was satisfactory, and if you or anyone else has any more questions I’d be more than happy to answer them!

[snowandwolves]

hihihihihhi it's lengthy ask anon i am running off of too little sleep (nightmares still ugh) but also good news which is a danger combination lol

so part of how i've been dealing with my sleeplessness is rereading some of the lighthouse au until i finally feel fine enough to go back to sleep. so! questions. that you don't have to answer. really!

why did Bea never know she talks in her sleep? also, does Ava ever try to have a full on conversation with her?

Cam and Ava talk about the benefits of hugging a tree and with all the pine reference i have to know: has Ava ever hugged a pine tree??

when Mary almost asks Ava about moving in with Bea, do you think Bea had talked about it with her friends beforehand? like a am-i-being-too-lesbian worry?

what's something Bea and Ava eventually fight about? (and do they follow that "order" for making up)

do you think Chanel ever designs something for Jillian? how about Ava?

from last time - how you handled the main plot and subplots was amazing - did you have one of those (*virtual?) murder board-esque things to help visualize things? (*i'd never thought of using notion for fiction work!!)

i think i've reached my caffeine limit for the day i hope you are getting better sleep than i am! here's to having the crispiest vegetable of your preference! (i.e. not celery lol)

I’M ALIVE AND STILL EMPLOYED IDK HOW BUT OK 💀 hi hello, lengthy ask anon. how’s the nightmares? i hope they’ve left you alone? am i gonna have to have a Serious Talk with whichever god’s in charge of that? 😤 pls lemme know. but! i sincerely hope you’ve been sleeping since you sent this 🥺

and now (finally, idk how long it’s been), answers!

1. this… is a good question LMAO maybe no one brought it up to her cos she might get embarrassed? OR bea wakes up too early for anyone to catch her in the act 😂 and yes, i’d think ava would definitely try to have a full conversation with her like “bea, bea, what’s the weather like” and bea just randomly spouts temperature numbers and sea condition. or like “bea what’s your favorite sex position?”, which ends up with bea having a rather scandalous dream, much to ava’s amusement 😂

2. i’d say yes!!! except she hugs the smaller ones and ends up with pine needles everywhere. bea’s exasperated but ava just shrugs and says, “worth it.” on that note, hug a tree people. it’s fucking soul-healing.

3. oh, definitely. camila gives her twinkle eyes, mary’s like “what the fuck does that even mean, too lesbian”, and lilith doesn’t even dignify it all with a response 😂 which is to say… her friends weren’t any help at all.

4. i think it’d be something simple cos they’re good at talking to each other about their feelings. so stuff like ava leaving her shoes a mess by the front door, which means beatrice keeps tripping on them, or bea’s tendency to overpack, which almost makes them late for their trips. they’d snipe at each other because they’re human (bea: “what’s so difficult about putting your shoes away, ava?” and ava: “what the hell would you need a sewing kit for, bea?”) and probably get too irritated until one of them realizes it’s a ridiculous thing to fight about. probably won’t always make up through sex because bea got a concussion the last time she tripped on ava’s shoes and there was no time for even a quickie when they almost missed their flight, but someone will make a joke and they’ll laugh about it at least. (this… got unintentionally soft 😂)

5. omg, yes!!! what if they attend a gala and ava’s whole fam is wearing chanel’s clothes? literally A+++ publicity and just about launches chanel in the spotlight 😌 jillian in a suit and ava in a dangerous dress, what more can you ask for 🔥

6. lengthy ask anon, i had notion and phone notes and paper charts and i even tried using this free mind mapping thing just to keep track of everything 😂 i went full-on type A on this thing. i even had a mood board. and a playlist. and 2847293 drafts. i have so much content idk what to do with these now 💀

lettuce! i’ve been having so much lettuce! but omg pls, i really hope you’re sleeping well now 🥺 as always, thank you so, so much for this! literally the best thing to do after somehow crawling out of hell LMAO