PSA // Questions Requiring My Ideas
Just a quick reminder that I'm not going to answer questions that require me to come up with ideas for your story. I know it can be so frustrating when you're in the thick of your story's plot and things aren't making sense... it would be amazing to have someone who can say, "do this, this, and this," but unless you want to pay a writing coach or a developmental editor, you're going to have to roll up your sleeves like the rest of us and do the hard work of figuring it out. And I knowwwwww how much that stinks sometimes. Believe me, I've been there a million times.
Here are some things that have helped me get through it:
1 - Take A Step Back - Sometimes, even a day or two away from your WIP will help you see it with fresh eyes and get ideas flowing again. For me, if I'm away from my WIP for a few days, it starts nagging at me when I'm doing monotonous things like cleaning or driving. That's when I have sudden epiphanies that fill in plot holes or solve my biggest story problems.
2 - Talk It Through with a Friend - Whether it's a writing friend, your bestie, a family member, the toddler you babysit once a week, your dog or cat, or your favorite plushie, sometimes just talking out loud about your story while someone else listens (or "listens") can help you work through story problems and come up with ideas that you're otherwise struggling with. And... to be honest, I have been known to do some really weird sh*t when I'm in this mode, like pretend I'm talking about my process with this WIP to a group of fans at a book signing, or pretending I'm being interviewed on a podcast or radio show... I don't know what it is about talking this stuff out, but it can make a big difference.
3 - Plot Your Story Out Using a Different Structure Template - I'm a big fan of using story structure templates as interpretive guides for plotting. While I don't recommend boxing yourself in, and feeling like you're stuck following a particular template exactly, I do think story structure templates can be a really helpful way to get an overview of your story's working parts. And sometimes, taking your story and plotting it out against a different structure template just for fun (not necessarily to rework it) can help jog things loose that are stuck. And since it's absolutely okay to combine templates or use little bits of ones that work wherever and however they work for your story, you may find that you just borrow whatever worked from that template and graft it onto your existing structure. Again, whatever works best for the story. My post Creating a Detailed Story Outline has some templates to check out.
More than anything else, just keep at it and try not to get frustrated. Plotting is an absolute bear, but it's hard, and it's supposed to be hard. Anyone who says they sit down and have a perfect, flawless plot fall out of their heads fully formed is not being completely honest. Good plots take a lot of work, and sometimes it's like those shape sorters we played with as babies... you can spend weeks or even months trying to put a square peg in a round hole and not understand why it's not fitting. Then, one day it just CLICKS, and you suddenly see the shapes for what they are, and know how to make everything fit together.
Keep at it! ♥
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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!
♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted!
♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking
♦ Learn more about WQA here
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But Daddy I Love Him
instagram au.
♥︎ luke hughes x zegras! sister
♥︎ face claim: marsai martin
"I'm telling him to floor it through the fences, no I'm not coming to my senses."
yn.zegras
liked by lhughes_06, and trevorzegras, and 79,078 others
yn.zegras might have ran over a fence to get the last photo...it was worth it!!!
tagged lhughes_06
trevorzegras so this is why mom got a call from insurance... pic and view is sick so i cant even be mad.
↳ yn.zegras WHOOPIESSSSSSSSSSS
lhughes_06 i thought we were going to keep the fence between us..
↳ yn.zegras ...
lhughes_06 you're so pretty.
↳ yn.zegras no you.
↳ jackhughes ew look at the two love birds..
↳ trevorzegras I know right. sick.
↳ yn.zegras Luke are you seeing this?
↳ lhughes_06 OH I AM
jackhughes the first picture, makes me sick! KIDDINGG.
↳ yn.zegras you better be.
_quinnhughes I want to go to wherever the last picture was taken at.
↳ yn.zegras WE WILL GO TOGETHER!! IT WAS SO PRETTYYYYYY.
seamsuscasey26 you're welcome for taking the first picture of you guys..where is my shout out.
↳ yn.zegras THANK YOU KING SEAMSUS FOR TAKING THE BEST PICTURE OF ME AND LUKE EVER. ALL HAIL KING SEAMSUS.
↳ seamsuscasey26 that's what I wanted to see, thank you.
↳ your. bsf SEAMSUS BEING SO SERIOUSLY ABOUT THIS IS SO FUNNY HAHAHA
↳ yn.zegras I KNOW HAHAHA.
-----------------------------------♡-----------------------------------------
hi loves!!! I'm finally back, holy fuck. I'm so happy to be back, you guys don't even knowwwwww. I love this chapter, kinda funny but short. I'm working on the next one right now as well. probably going to upload three chapters today, to make up for what I've missed! you guys are getting spoiled today, you all deserve it <3. I hope you guys enjoyed, much more coming!!! like and reblog if youd like! as always much love <3
tags🎀: @lukey-pookie-hughes43 @bruinsfan234 @bunbunbl0gs
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Desperate Daybreak Chapter 1
Note: This story drops the dual formatting of MMSS, since I don't think it will add anything here except a bunch of work.
Here it is! I am so excited to start this story. The first chapter is a bit short and serves as a sort of teaser, so hope you enjoy! :)
Unexpected news complicates Valen's new, peaceful life. Will it turn out to be a blessing or a curse?
MMSS masterpost
DD masterpost
On AO3
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“Valen, I love you.”
Lex and Ari stared at each other.
“No,” Ari said after a moment.
“Valen, we love you.”
“That won’t work.”
“It worked when you tried it on me.”
“That’s because you’re you. Valen is…shy.”
Lex sat back on the couch, curling up and putting her hands over her head. “I knowwwwww. But I want to kiss him so bad.”
“Hmph.” Ari assumed that wanting to kiss Valen was a universal experience.
“Okay, how about this. Valen, the past few months, seeing you every day, helping you with your experiments, keeping you safe… feeding you with our own bodies… getting to see you smile more and more… And laugh…” Lex went red, then pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head to hide her face, letting out a whine. “With your adorable fangs.”
“For God’s sake, if you can’t keep it together, then I’ll have to be the one to do it, and I think nobody wants that.”
“It’s been amazing and incredible and you’re incredible and amazing and handsome and soft and touchable and strong and-”
“Slow down.”
“And Ari and I both care about you so much, and want to- We want to what, Ari?”
Ari sighed and leaned back into the couch. “How about we start by asking him how he feels about nontraditional relationship structures.”
“Right!” Lex nodded, then put back on her “practicing” expression. “Valen, how do you feel about three people being in a relationship?”
Ari groaned and put a hand over her forehead. “This is never going to work. No way in hell. Right? The guy is from the most conservative section of an uber-conservative society.” Not to mention the whole We were responsible for you being tortured thing, no matter how much Valen seemed to have made his peace with it.
“Maybe if we phrase it like, ‘Hey Valen, do you think you could ever picture yourself in a triad?”
“Will he know what a triad is?”
“Ever picture yourself in a– Hey handsome, interested in a threesome?”
“Definitely not that one.”
Below the break room, one floor down below them and oblivious to their pained deliberation, Valen stood at the furthest bench in his lab. In the intervening months since it’d been given to him, every surface had been cluttered by objects of every conceivable kind, beakers and flasks and sealed potion bottles and weigh boats and scales and unidentifiable powder and dried blood spots and gloves and mushrooms and jars full of mysterious crystals.
All to make this.
Valen held the flask up to the light, swirling it to note its color and consistency. Perfect. Almost perfect.
He lowered it down and took a sip of it.
It wasn’t… perfect. But it was close. It was really, really close.
Close to blood, and it’d never seen the inside of a human body.
The phone rang upstairs. Valen ignored it. The vampire hunters had told him he could answer the phone if he wanted to, but he never wanted to.
He heard Lex’s feet moving across the floor upstairs towards it. The sound of the receiver being picked up. Her greeting. The very faint sound of the other person speaking indistinguishably through the line.
“Who’s calling? Okay… What’s this about? … Okay. Just a minute.”
Lex’s feet moving towards the basement. “Valen,” her voice called softly. “There’s somebody on the phone for you.”
Valen paused, flask still up in the air. “For me?”
“Yeah.”
Nobody ever called the vampire hunters to talk to him. Except sometimes the Director, but then Lex would have known who he was. Who would be calling him that Lex wouldn’t know? Faint anxiety bubbled up inside of him. “Okay. I’ll be right up.”
He ran through all the possibilities as he climbed the stairs. It could be a vampire hunter. It could be a particularly brazen reporter, unsatisfied with his mailed correspondences denying them the opportunity for an interview. It could be someone from vampire territory.
It could be Priscus. That thought sent a shiver of fear through him.
Lex had a kind expression on her face, holding the phone out. He took it.
"I'll give you some privacy," Lex said, looking at him with adoration. "Bye."
Valen watched her go with a slightly confused expression, then turned his attention to the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi!” It was a man’s voice. “Is this Valen Kithrara?”
“This is he. May I ask with whom I am speaking?”
“It is he, right?”
“...Yes. With whom am I speaking, please?”
“This is… My name is Herod Tessandrax. My friends call me Tessie.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that if we ever become friends, Mr. Tessandrax.”
“Right… Well, well I’m telling you that because I’m, er, I’m a she, since I’m, uh, I’m also…”
“Oh!” Valen said, perking up instantly, his emotional walls crashing down. “Are you also transsexual?”
“Yes!” said the voice with relief. “Yes, that’s why I was so excited to talk to you!” The voice pitched up considerably, much more comfortable and less on edge.
“Well it’s wonderful to make your acquaintance, then. Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?”
“Yes, yes, um, you see, I’m a lawyer that’s been working with the Kithrara estate.”
“Oh.” Valen deflated just as fast as he’d risen. He’d been talking to a vampire at his husband’s estate this whole time. “What about, then? If he sent you to try and coerce me into coming back, I assure you that’s not happening.”
“No, that’s not it. Mr. Kithrara, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just speak plainly. Your legal husband, Priscus Kithrara, has passed away.”
Valen just stood there for a moment in silence.
“Hello?”
“He’s dead, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“How? He was barely three-hundred years old!”
“I can’t comment on that since the investigation was still ongoing.”
“Oh.” What did that mean? Had he been murdered or something? “You can't give me any information at all?”
“There was an incident involving Priscus, his father Xavier, his uncle Mordecai, and his cousin Sebastian. That's all I'm at liberty to say.”
“Oh. Is Sebastian okay?”
“I'm– I can't– I'm not at–”
“--liberty to say, yes, right, I apologize. Well, thank you for telling me.” He wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Relief, for sure, but also a little guilty for being relieved and not sad. He'd never have to think about that fuck ever again. Hopefully. “Was there anything else?”
“They unsealed his will yesterday.”
“His legal will? Oh, has he left something to me?” That was… surprising. He would have thought Priscus hated his guts by now, let alone like him enough to leave him something in his will even when they were estranged. The Kithrara family surely wouldn’t be happy about that if it were anything valuable–doubtless they’d try to wrestle it away from him.
Tessie laughed. “You could say that.”
“Tessie, while I appreciate it, I’m tempted to simply forfeit whatever possessions to which I might have legal claim in exchange for sparing myself the interaction with the Kithrara family. I am not in want of money as of now, and my peace of mind may be more valuable.”
“You might want to wait until you hear what he left you before saying that. Can we meet in person to discuss?”
Valen hesitated. “You seem like a nice girl, but I’d really prefer to get some idea of what we’re dealing with over the phone, first.” This way he could judge if it would be worth just washing his hands of it entirely. There…weren't a lot of incentives he would accept for the price of having to entangle himself with the Kithrara family even more.
Tessie also hesitated. “It's something really best discussed in person.”
“While I understand that, Mz. Tessandrax, please understand I live full time in human territory–as you're no doubt aware by the fact that you managed to track me down–and only come back over the border for absolute necessities. If I could have some preliminary information to go on, that would be much appreciated.”
“Okay,” Tessie said. “Um, in that case… so an established fact of the case I can divulge is that Xavier died before Priscus, which means that legally, for a few moments Priscus was in ownership of everything his father's will bequeathed to him, until the time of his death, at which point those assets were to be distributed according to his legal documentation.”
“...All right. And?”
“Xavier’s will bequeathed the entire estate to his son, Priscus. So, for a brief moment, after Xavier died while Priscus was still alive, Priscus legally possessed all of it as per his father's will.”
“...What are you getting at?”
“The estate was to then be distributed according to Priscus’s will, not his father's, since their deaths weren't entirely simultaneous. Legally speaking.”
“Tessie, what did he leave me?”
“All of it. The entire Kithara estate and the blood harvest web. The blood processing facilities, the farms, the hunting equipment, the workforce. All of it.”
***
Taglist
@tomato-whump @dragonfireridge @taterswhump @whump-cravings
@scoundrelwithboba @pigeonwhumps @whumpsday @whumpy-writings @fuzzydarkpebble
@melodicnommer @thecyrulik @snake462 @gt-daboss @appelsiinilight
@star-rott @mottinthemainpot @corvidat @melancholy-in-the-morning @whumplr-reader
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We have several asks about the finale!!
Read all my responses below 💜
@disappointedcreeper I’m so glad you enjoyed it 💜💜💜 and I’m even happier that you plan to stay around :))
@cittycatplay there has never been a truer statement.
🤭
@jago-blog a journey indeed! I’m so flattered that you enjoyed all the aspects of reconnecting 💜💜💜 it really means a lot. And yes! How could I NOT give them a good ending XD!!
Translation: D︎A︎M︎N︎E︎D︎ K︎I︎D︎S︎ *︎G︎R︎U︎M︎B︎L︎E︎ G︎R︎U︎M︎B︎L︎E︎*︎ G︎O︎I︎N︎G︎ I︎N︎T︎O︎ M︎Y︎ B︎U︎N︎K︎E︎R︎ *︎G︎R︎U︎M︎B︎L︎E︎ G︎R︎U︎M︎B︎L︎E︎*︎ M︎E︎S︎S︎I︎N︎G︎ W︎I︎T︎H︎ M︎Y︎ S︎T︎U︎F︎F︎.︎
M︎A︎Y︎B︎E︎ I︎ S︎H︎O︎U︎L︎D︎ M︎A︎K︎E︎ M︎Y︎ N︎E︎X︎T︎ P︎R︎O︎J︎E︎C︎T︎ A︎ M︎E︎ T︎H︎I︎N︎G︎ A︎N︎D︎ J︎U︎S︎T︎ T︎H︎R︎O︎W︎ S︎O︎U︎L︎S︎ A︎T︎ A︎ W︎A︎L︎L︎ F︎O︎R︎ F︎U︎N︎S︎I︎E︎S︎.︎
*︎T︎R︎A︎I︎L︎S︎ O︎F︎F︎ I︎N︎ G︎A︎R︎B︎A︎G︎E︎ N︎O︎I︎S︎E︎*︎
(This made me irl laugh)
I’m sad it’s over too! I’ve been working on this project for so long it feels so odd that it’s not still going…
And I do love myself some world building :3 *bow*
Oh I do love myself some IEYTD…
@aubregine-extremelyd
💜💜💜!!!
1: the player may look the same in the dark world at first glance. However- the moment they step into the shadows…
Also this is a concept for a fic but:
2: alright so! Since they are “unfinished” they technically do not have light world objects because Gaster never got that far
3: the player has an affinity for strawberries and sweet things. And ofc they eat the occasional plant here and there.
4: I have thought a bit about what I would look like in a the dark world… but I’ve never really settled on a design…
@zeol320 honesty… I wouldn’t overthink the whole game thing, but do know this. The player is going to live a new life, in hometown.
@zxynsx thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed this journey
and Rule 5 is coming along! >:333
So yes- I do have a name picked out for the player, however I wanted to leave it ambiguous because
A: sometimes choosing a name for them flat out can kinda skew the way you precise a character
B: because I think it’s funny to leave you hanging.
and I know you miss them but there is fics to come!!!
@sin-content ngl I woke up to like… 80+ notifs from you alone 😆, I was like “oh hey! Their back!” I’m doing pretty well! Lots of preparation is happening because I am moving countries soon, thank you for the pats :3
@haesium
kdosjdjjsja I knowwwwww smiling kris is so fulfilling!
I feel like over been awarded a medal :0 and I’m so glad you plan on sticking around! I’ve got more things to come :)))
alright! That’s all the asks :) send more if you’d like! And also! Rule 5 is coming! Stay tuned!
and thank you all for reading 💜
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