#this is a rough draft as of current knowledge

[dailybrandonrogers]

A Summary of Bryce Tankthrust's Timelines within the BRCU

The intention of this post is to review all major events involving/centred on Bryce Tankthrust across the BRCU timelines. Following the conclusion of BRYCE, a lot of considerable changes have been made to the overall nature of the pre-BRYCE Timeline theory that have immense and confusing implications. This will be a hopefully more concise attempt at deciphering the current state of the Timeline by only investigating one character, albiet a very significant and important one, and how her personal life as played out so far to our understandings.

As always, here's my BRCU Timeline reference!

Before the list commences, there's a few things that need to be explored.

Bryce Tankthrust's Birthday

Utilising her the publication date of the first video she featured in, her fanon birthday has been declared January 12th. Her birth year however, isn't as a clear anymore. The previous widely accepted assumption was 1971. This was initially inferred in Blame the Hero where in Episode 3, Bobby Worst mentions he is 7 years old. Later, there is a jumpcut that informs 40 years have passed, implying he is now 47 years old in the year 2033. However, the 1971 assumption operates under the impression that Bobby is 47 in the 2018, not 2033, throwing another spanner into the works. Otherwise, he'd be born in 1986.

Approaching this from a newer angle, Bryce is at least 10 when she meets Bobby, and 20 when she begins working for CallCo Phones. Utilising this logic, she has to be 20 or older by Episode 3, in which we see a 1990 NYE party being celebrated

The Current Timeline

Late 1960s

Bryce Tankthrust is born.

Bobby Worst is born.

Late 1970s

Bryce Tankthrust begins learning the Double Diva Diversion.

Bryce Tankthrust meets Bobby Worst at school. She cuts out her heart for him, and after a seemingly random and unprecedented interruption by Abraham Lincoln and Adolf Hitler, she grabs a dropped book about dictatorship and decides to run away with Bobby. Initially discarding the heart in a trash can, she retrieves it 20 minutes later.

Bobby Worst becomes an orphan after his father disowns him, and gets thrown into an orphanage.

Late 1980s

Bobby Worst is released from the orphanage at age 18.

Even Later 1980s

Bryce Tankthrust meets Donovan.

Bryce Tankthrust and Donovan begin seeing eachother.

Donovan dies after falling off a cliff.

Tammy Tankthrust is arrested and thrown in jail.

Bryce Tankthrust begins working at CallCo Phones

Bryce Tankthrust's heart (her own, that had been surgically reimplemented at age 10) fails. Gloria transplants an experimental mechanic heart into her; it is successful.

Bryce Tankthrust and Bobby Worst Reunite.

Bryce Tankthrust commissions Gloria to make a robotic reconstruction of Donovan.

After he was fatally injured by X, Bryce Tankthrust gives her heart to Donovan, so that he can perform surgery and give her his murder victim's heart.

Bryce Tankthrust murders the CEO of CallCo and his wife, and assumes his position as CEO of the company, now revamping it into Thankthrust Tellies.

1990

Bryce's heart (the one she got from the Accountant) fails, and she suffers cardiac arrest on New Years Eve.

Bryce Tankthrust moves offices.

Bobby Worst murders Delorio and the majority of Tankthrust Tellies' workforce and harvests their hearts to create a stockpile for Bryce. In the process, he undergoes a metamorphosis of sorts.

1990 - 1995

Bryce meets with the Angel Investment Firm, and declines their offer to take on 50% of her company.

Bryce Tankthrust rekindles with Gloria Goopty.

Bryce Tankthrust meets with the Angel Investment Firm again, and this time signs the contract with them.

Bryce Tankthrust moves offices again.

1996

Tammy Tankthrust is released from prison. Bryce and her mother also rekindle.

1996 - 2016

Bryce Tankthrust kidnaps the son of previous Tankthrust Enterprises employee Donna Phitts, and preserves his youth to make countless clones with hearts readily available for harvesting and utilising.

2020

Joe Biden wins the 2020 presidential election, and Bryce Tankthrust finishes her tenure as president of the United States of America.

2021

Joe Biden is inaugurated into office, and Bryce Tankthrust undermines the course of the election by initiating a capitol riot on January 6th.

News gets out that Bryce Tankthrust staged the incarceration of Bobby Worst when footage of the two of them conspiring is hacked and released to the public. As a result, all the stocks for her company plummet, and she is rendered bankrupt.

Queen Elizabeth II, who still holds a vendetta against Bryce, kidnaps Bobby Worst knowing it'll cause her significant grief and heartache.

Bryce Tankthrust and Donovan team up with the Mingeworthies to save Donovan, and defeat Queen Elizabeth II.

A heart begins growing inside of Bryce.

Bryce Tankthrust revitalises her company endeavours and continues business as per usual.

Bryce Tankthrust and Bobby Worst get married.

2023

The Angel Investment Firm terminate Bryce's contract upon learning she is no longer heartless. This also entails killing her directly consequently.

Bryce Tankthrust, Tammy Tankthrust, and Gloria Goopty initiate their contingency plan, and murder all the Angel Investors in a scheme involving Bobby Worst and Donovan.

Current Day.

[narenohate]

the reckless, the wild youth (WIP)

(since eda and raine's backstory is so different in this AU, i'm pondering a comic about the two of them and just how and why it went so wrong) (infodump.... ramble?? ig down there + design notes on how my progress is going with this project)

Seb's design notes: anyways i've been dancing with the idea of making canis caninam's witches more animalistic. because yeah im just having fun at this point. bonus, sphynx / owl beast design. i'm not a big fan of her canon design, and it's not because i think she's scary.

my current inspo for the witch faces is a mix of good ol' na'vi 3d models, deerchip's s work (they're on twitter!!) and olya bossak's anthropomorphic portraits!! i didn't just want them to be elves who purr, tbh... though more and more as i post this i'm kind of hoping to get harrassed off the fandom for my weird ideas and "forced" to make this into an original story.

ramble on story derived from conversation with Bow (idea beta tester, victim of the circumstances of my hyperfixation, beautiful white hetero man who got here by accident). IT'S A ROUGH, UNEDITED DRAFT. PARTS OF IT ARE DIRECTLY FROM A CONVERSATION. IT'S ROUGH. Eda is born to the Clawthorne family - daughter of Gwendolyn, a healer, and Dell, a toy maker who married into her clan as to escape the hardships of living outside the barrier, amidst bestial demons... and probably something else, smart enough to scare him into hiding, though that usually goes unsaid. She is one of a pair of twins, and, for the first fourteen suns, eleven moons and twenty-nine sundowns of their lives they are inseparable.

It's their fifteenth birthday when Dell gives them an old grimmoire that has been in his family for centuries. Some of its words have been altered with the years, rewritten and repaired by generations, their meaning lost - symbols re-drawn from memory with each unfortunate accident.

Lilith partakes in that tradition - having to repair a page of a long-winded wild-spell meant to be cast by a powerful warlock, after she spills some tea on it.

that night, the two set out to camp with a group of their friends -hyacinth, a selk nobleman who, despite his young age, served under belos as his huntsmaid and personal cook, and his apprentice, darius, a prodigy who'd already been branded for a coven, and who'd been personally selected by belos to be a companion for the golden-haired boy who'd earned his favor.

and, of course, trailing slightly behind, raine whispers. their glasses are foggy and they already smell like the alcohol they brought to the party.

nobody leaves the outermost wall to camp these days, of course, so the bunch of them settle in an abandoned park, before doing as teenagers do when provided alcohol, and getting plastered.

at some point, eda, raine and hyacinth get into an argument of some kind - one that results in eda opening the grimmoire she brought along, and going along with the plan she'd nearly abandoned: using her rudimentary knowledge of the old tongue the tome was written in, she makes a circle out of salt around herself, and reads the spell.

its words are all wrong. whatever she summons she angers, and, at first, nothing happens.

then, as she and raine lay together on her hammock the afternoon after the party and the tiny backyard camping "trip", eda falls ill.

it was fever and it was vomiting. then the lining of her stomach, then her gums and her teeth and her tongue. her skin sagged and it was like she was all liquid inside it.

raine slept by her bedside, singing to calm her down whenever she awoke. lilith laid in the old manor's basement, endlessly brewing potion after potion to try and quell the pain that refused to ebb away.

darius and hyacinth did not go to belos - instead they were stopped at the door by the clawthorne patriarch, and with his help, took a griffin out of the city, found an old thing. it called itself queen of bats, and it was made of wood, and it knew dell very well.

the three give her the griffin, and spend four sunsets and three sunrises walking back with their prize - it's a living tether, a wooden owl dell had made as a toy for his daughter when she was very young. filled with the griffin's soul, it was given by its enchantress the mission of tethering its holder.

they arrive to a burning house. darius and dell don't speak of it, but the only time they both see the emperor is when they deliver his selk concubine's mutilated carcass at the throne room, laid at his feet like an offering.

dell lost one eye to his daughter, the other eye and both hands to the emperor.

raine was gone to everyone except the thing that eda had become, a sphynx that spared their life for the price of their song. they land atop a rocky cliffface, a few miles away from the outer border of the bonesborough wall - soon, something finds them.

the owl her father had carved for her followed eda, and raine became sure, at that moment, that she wasn't lost.

lilith and darius compensated for hyacinth's loss, sitting for years at the foot of the throne as the emperor's guards, until belos found it fit to entrust them both to make for him a new selkie servant - they took hyacinth's old heart, a blue stone that ebbed and flowed, and they took the lungs of a dragon, the innards of a maiden, and all the blood they could get from a seal-devil, along with a tiny fragment of bone that had been strapped to hyacinth's old heart.

they spend day and night putting him together - the rough face of clay mixed with blood, the organs gracefully gifted, the bone.

they bury the sculpture. a boy digs himself out of the dirt while they sleep in the temple, curled up together in a mess of ratty old sheets they'd found.

they name him hunter because he was more demon than boy, but had hyacinth's face, and, though something seemed very wrong, he had somehow killed and dragged in a rat to eat by their side during the time they'd spent asleep.

belos allows the name to stay, and grants them both titles and robes of white, and allows them to mary whomever they wish.

lilith secludes herself to a temple and studies every grimmoire she can, and darius takes on apprentice after apprentice, teaching them how to pull the throat strings of a bard out, and how to best slay a sphynx.

hunter looks just like hyacinth, and, despite how strongly he'd imprinted on his makers, they both hate him from just the look in his eyes.

lilith finds the portraits of every other selk concubine, every other golden guard.

it's always hyacinth's face. meanwhile, raine managed to unearth eda - partially.

they bind her to them, and she remembers very little, but she is undeniably herself, and despite the tragedy of her body, or maybe because of it, she seeks to cause chaos. she embraces the life of a wildling, and raine follows in her stead.

a year passes. then two. three, maybe. probably more, considering everything that comes after. what really matters is that, as raine grows more frantic in their search for something that can help her, occasionally coming in contact with the fragmented clawthorne family's matriarch (before finding her treatments too harsh), all in search for a way to stabilize eda's mind and body...

she accepts that fate she was given.

the system of castes and castings and divisions becomes pointless to her, and she eagerly, easily pushes raine to rebellion by her side. the wards around the walls have nothing against her - usually, griffins and dragons don't fly that high.

raine found gwen's attempts to heal her daughter too much - but at some point, more than a decade after the two set out together, a night after raine settles a chain with a golden ring around her massive paw's wrist, they catch wind, through that shared palisman of theirs, that raine's mother has passed.

they leave eda to sleep atop the church, tail around its tower, and enter it to pray.

they meet someone - a who who dances on the edge of being a what - and, in their grief, bear to her their heart, and are offered a deal in return.

all they want in life, for a price, their mind.

eda wakes up, a moon later, transformed, and with every memory made vague, erased except for vague outlines.

naked but for a wedding ring around her neck, in a dark, low chunk of the city, with the body of a beast, she's seen as exotic enough to work the night for a couple years, as she catches up on a life she lost, and takes the name of a harpy, not knowing she's a clawthorne.

… clawthorne health clinic seems so familiar of a name, though. she jots down their contacts. attends every speech given by darius deammonne, head of the carnomantis force, and often borrows from the library books on forbidden magic written or translated by one lilith clawthorne.

it's not familiar.

she feels like it should be, though. so she digs into it all - never takes the name of clawthorne, but as her social standing falls and she teeters ever closer to living outside the walls, the people around her take to calling her the owl-lady.

she eventually takes to stealing from old homes - the abandoned sort, full of hobs and rats and hexes she can easily bypass, with magic as strong (as well-trained, despite the lack of any memory of schooling) as hers.

there's a farm-house, though, mostly burnt, long ago vacated, that feels very familiar when she enters. she tears up despite not remembering her, when she recognizes her twin's face beside her own in a portrait. in the rubble of a bedroom, a large woven hammock still has an old violin sitting broken on top of its torn fabric.

inside its case, the thing she knows she gave up her memories - or maybe something more - for, sits waiting and patient.

... a key to the human realm. she knows a lot about it, and remembers an unbound fascination.

(her one visit goes very wrong, of course - but she can spy through her palisman's little eye, so it's worth it. it's all worth it.)

meanwhile, raine wakes up, married to a woman whose face is foggy to them, with three apprentices who don't know their name but promise they've been there under them for weeks.

whomever wiped their mind didn't bother to take the human-styled wedding ring off their finger.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

I'm a student about to start my second year, and me and all my friends are really nervous. It feels like first year was really rough for everyone all over the place and we're all really hoping for a better second year this year! Have lecturers been noticing that too? Do you think it's because of COVID?

Oh my god yes. Jesus yes. It's absolutely the covid effect, and we're expecting to see the disruption for the next five or so years, tbh - the current 18-21 year old undergrads went through the most important years of high school during a lockdown. That not only interrupted academic development (home schooling during a time of stress, massive disruption to exams and exam-taking skills, etc), it also enormously hit emotional development (mid to late teens have the highest socialising needs of the human lifespan, and no one could meet and interact with each other.) And that latter point is having a much bigger effect than the former.

Current undergrads haven't been able to develop the same resilience, the same approach to andragogic education, the same interpersonal skills for dealing with lecturers/fellow students. University is not like school; in school teachers are giving you the knowledge, and gradually encouraging you to try and use it to formulate your own opinions. In university, we're supposed to give you the framework to then go out and do you own research. The bulk of your education comes from you, not us; we're more like facilitators.

But, we're noticing that there's a far bigger skew now towards needing to get the answer right. Anxiety is higher, and so the fear of being wrong is much more crippling for these students, and that in turn means they're less willing/able to take charge of their own education and are more passive with it, wanting to just be fed the right answers so they can rote learn them and get the Good mark. And the disconnect between that and the reality of what lecturers are expecting is pretty big, it turns out, and is causing even more anxiety and stress. Record numbers of my students have started asking me to give their assignment drafts a quick look over, just to see if they're on the right track. Which, you know, I'm more than happy to do; but I do think it's a notable pattern change from three or four years ago.

If you're worrying on a personal level though, Anon, I have some Handy Tips if they're any use!

Remember: the idea of uni is that you are doing your own research and learning on the topics your lecturers describe. They're giving you the basics, but they're expecting you to look up examples, case studies, other research papers, etc. They want to see analysis. That's what gets you the good marks. If you simply describe the information you got in lectures and don't add anything, you'll struggle to rise out of a basic pass.

What's the fundamental point of your particular course? It's important to know this, because it'll tell you how to focus your assessments and exam answers. Just within the environmental sector, you could have Environmental Science (focus: academic exploration and research), Environmental Conservation (focus: applying the academic research to actual management and solutions), Environmental Impacts (focus: philosophy and ethics), etc. In all three, you might be given a paper about the latest IPCC report, but in the first you would focus on exploring all the research papers that formed the conclusion on climate change, in the second you'd focus on case studies around the world and the applicability/feasibility of the shared economic pathways that are going to fix the problem, and in the third you'd focus on the human impacts of both the problem and the proposed solutions. You may of course include elements of all of those, but your main focus should be chosen appropriately.

Keep your notes with copies of the lecture slides in nice ordered folders. Keep a bulleted list of the topics covered in each. This makes it far easier to go and double check the right info when you're stressed out

On that note, the best note-taking system is to add notes/comments to the lecture slides where you record clarifications and things the lecturer said (INCLUDING CASE STUDIES). Don't bother duplicating effort by writing what's on the slide.

I truly do know this is easier said than done, but don't leave your assignments until the last minute. Are you struggling with motivation? You need a study group. You need to body double.

And finally, the biggest: CONTACT STUDENT SUPPORT IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING. Every time I go to an exam board and we get to a student who has failed stuff, the first question the Academic Office asks is "Has this student been working with Student Support?" Even if they aren't that helpful in your uni, working with them means they know about the things you're struggling with, and that you've clearly been trying to work around the problems. That makes the Academic Office far, far more likely to take a lenient view of a student, rather than going "Well, clearly they just don't care then, withdraw them from the program." Your Student Support should be able to help you with counselling, study buddies, a support worker that can help you organise your time and interpret your assignment briefs correctly and give you interim deadlines, etc.

Oh, and remember to schedule in rest and downtime, just as much as study time.

And... honestly, you learned a lot in your first year. The learning curve is less steep in second year, even accounting for the academic rigour increasing. By now, you're basically used to things like referencing, routines, assignment formatting, etc. There are no more surprises, really. Now's the point you can get the bit between your teeth and run.

Anyway: good luck! And enjoy it as much as you can. University is hard, no doubt about that, but it can and should be fun as well.

[andromeda-nova-writing]

“What part of ‘I want you, and only you’ do you not understand?”

Fem!Reader Words: 1742

AN: Is it a sequel to the last fic or a request from @isekyaaa? It's both! I hope I've done the prompt justice for you

Y/N’s classroom was silent as she shuffled papers around trying to clean up what was now a shared classroom. To say it was her classroom wasn’t a good way to describe the room. It was a room that she had been thrown into over a month ago on the other side of the campus. The classroom was cramped, lights would flicker in and out, and the heat would never kick in. It felt as if the university just wanted her to quit. Had her rightful complaints of poor treatment got her into this? Or maybe it was the fact she wasn't afraid to critique their golden boy? 

At least she had already completed her final class of the day and with no meetings, all that was left to do was to go home. Hopefully, the next teacher here will be satisfied with her cleaning. With the knock on the door, she assumed that was who had shown up.

“I’ll be just a minute. I’m almost done in here.” Y/N placed the last of the papers within her bag, eyes not even making contact with the door frame. “I just have to clean the whiteboard.”

There was a man’s sigh followed by footsteps and a binder landing in front of her on the desk where she sat. It was a plain purple that felt way too familiar. Looking up at its owner she shouldn’t have been surprised. “What do you want Ratio?” Her question came off in a mix of annoyance, tiredness, and ready for a fight.

“Open it.”

“Your hands work.”

“Will you just open the binder?” A question that sounded more like a demand

She rolled her eyes before doing what she had been asked. There was no sense in fighting every little thing. Looking at the paper on top, it was just a simple list of grades over time. There were two sections highlighted about a month apart from each other with a noticeable improvement. It was small but clear to see. “It's a start at least. Is this all you have to show me?”

He flipped to the next page. It was the start of a thesis for what he must have been currently working on. The page was covered in red ink of his handwriting over the text he had printed out. It had been a bit odd to see knowing how much he had preferred to work in digital. He had on plenty of occasions spoken a snide comment to her about how he did not need to leave to grab a notebook and that he had access to everything he needed at all times. There were too many times when he had given her a side eye even on just running out of ink.

“You do know I’m in an entirely different field of study than anything you’ve done? I’m not sure if you really want me to read this over. It may be best to find someone else.” She closed the binder, rejecting his request before getting up to clean the whiteboard behind her. “I teach art history. I’m doing a fashion history course at the moment!” She emphasized as began to wipe down the whiteboard, clearing it of a few things that had been required for her students to take note of. 

“You are able to not hold back on giving critiques which is a skill in itself.” One that others at the university he found were lacking. “I do not require someone who has a similar knowledge as me. It’s harder to understand where my writing doesn’t make sense when someone has an easier time following along with the subject matter.”

Y/N dropped the cloth in her hands, turning around. “That is not the compliment you think it is!”

“And it wasn't an insult either!” He pinched his nose in an attempt to remain calm. “It's a rough draft. There are still things I would like to add but I want you to read through it first.”

She leaned against the clean side of the whiteboard that was behind her. “It would be better to find someone else to read through it. What part of that do you not understand?”

“What part of ‘I want you, and only you’ do you not understand?” He had said it louder than he had meant to, emotions taking over for a brief moment. Perhaps the same emotions that had derailed his train of logic led him to even ask her for this favor.

“The part where you are the one who is saying it. I’m bound to say something that will start a debate and derail your work. Or better yet I help you only end up teaching in a closet next.”

“You act as if I am the one who put you in here.”

“I do not.”

“Yes, you do. You even yelled at me over this a month ago.”

“I wasn't yelling.” 

He had crossed his arms giving her a side eye.

“You are misremembering. I was annoyed yes but yelling no.” 

“If you can remember that you can remember your own actions then. You waltzed in and blamed me for the actions of people higher up than me.”

“I,” she sighed remembering back on it more, “I did do that didn’t I? To be fair, your lack of teaching skills left me in a room where I feel like I'm going to turn into an ice cube. How are you even standing in here without shivering?” Y/N asked as she looked over the more revealing aspects of his attire. 

He shook his head at the lack of an apology. “They do keep most of the servers within this building. That's still no excuse for why this room is so cold.”

“Every time I ask about it I'm told either the heat is out or that it's on low. I was told it was going to be fixed but I’m pretty sure that was a lie now. Most of my students started bringing blankets to class with them. They are just recording the lecture instead of taking notes and I can tell they aren’t going back to listen to it cause the grades are just dropping now.” Y/N complained with defeat just washing over her. 

“Have you made it known that these changes are affecting your class?” He asked the obvious as if she couldn’t think of it herself.

“They will make changes off of things you say because the complaints come from you. Your name carries weight. No matter how correct I am, because I even dare to point out a flaw of yours I am to be ignored and tossed aside so as to not ruin what your name brings to this place.” Her eyes drifted to the floor. “I’m clearly being punished. If I speak about what is going on anymore who knows what I may lose next? The arts remain to be disrespected even when used to teach about the history of different worlds. I must face the fact that I am not wanted.” It hurt a bit to admit it allowed. This had been a dream job of hers and it felt horrible to see it ripped from her over a lack of general respect from those above her.

“I want you.” He repeated once more with softness and desperation leaking into his voice. “As annoying as your critiques can be, listening to them has forced me to take a look at myself and bring improvement. Trying to improve myself without the input of another only works for so long. I’ve seemed to have forgotten that.” Perhaps he had grown too similar to some of those who worked here in that aspect. The distance between them was breaking as he moved closer into her space. 

Her laughter filled the small space between the two of them. One that was genuine, not filled with their usual sarcasm and jabs back and forth. “Are you hiding a literature degree there? I've never heard anyone beg for a critique like this before.” She teased.

“It’s not begging. I am just asking what I know you are capable of. You would have given your thoughts without me asking, wouldn’t it be better to invite those thoughts instead?” 

“I suppose it would but I'm not quite sure about it still. My critiques of you haven't ended well for me. What's to say this time would be different?”

“I believe I have met your requirements to discuss what is considered life-changing once more.” The grades rising just by points didn’t meet what she had asked of him and yet it was enough to take his advances seriously. 

“I wasn’t sure you would follow through on what I asked of you. Have you found a definition or have you found a different example?” She looked up at him, it took everything to not lose herself in how he was staring at her. His eyes tethered to her lips watching every movement. Part of her wished he would go through with the example she had put a stop to last time.

“It would seem that day in the library was example enough for me. The memory won’t quiet in my mind.”

“Perchance have you put that brain of yours to work figuring out what would quiet it?”

“It is less a matter for my brain to solve.”

“But you have found a solution?” Her eyes kept darting between his normally cold eyes and his lips which appeared so inviting. Maybe if she had paid more attention last time she would have noticed that before.

“I have.”

“I must ask, do you want me for a critique or do you want me?”

“If it’s both?”

“Then I would implore you to show me what you considered life-changing that day. It may persuade me to say yes.”

It was only a matter of mere seconds before Y/N found herself kissing the man she had been blaming for some of her issues with this university. However, she mostly laid the blame for those issues starting with his teaching style, but it was hard to focus on his flaws when he was being so loving at the moment.

Was it loving or more an act of desperation? Something that she would decide later as for now it was quite enjoyable being pinned against a whiteboard making out with a man she could have sworn was just a thorn in her side.

[nanowrimo]

Writing Tips for Every Age and Mental State

Not every piece of writing advice will apply to you —  and that’s okay! Sometimes, your writing strategies will change as you go through life or learn more about yourself. NaNo Participant Clara Ward shares writing advice that they've learned over time.

There’s no right way to write. Writing—like life—is about finding your best fit. What follows are tricks that worked for me. Please borrow what works best for you right now. (Then save a few ideas for future you!)

I wrote my first novel four decades ago, when I was thirteen. I’ve written while juggling three jobs or zero. I’ve written as a kid, a parent, and an empty-nester. I’ve learned from my own neurodiversity and mental health challenges along the way.

Each struggle taught me how to customize my writing practice. Here’s a list of what worked for me at different stages. Adapt as you see fit.

Stage 1: Meet Yourself Where You’re At

Outline - For my first novel, I sketched furtive notes on the back pages of a school notebook. I created headings for each page that became section or chapter titles later. Numbers helped me order the scenes and letters delineated details.

Note: Leave extra space for fun facts or snippets of overheard dialog. Years later, I heard a NaNoWriMo buddy joke, “Careful, or you’ll end up in my novel.” My apologies to my high school geometry teacher, who received no such warning.

Avoid Distractions - I needed a closed door to write at first. I couldn’t read other fiction during the week or two when I frantically converted my outline into a rough draft. Luckily, I wasn’t in charge of meals back then!

Stage 2: Find Your People

Give Yourself Permission - I first heard about NaNoWriMo in 2004, when I was parenting, working, and volunteering as if there were two extra days in each week. I hadn’t written a story, an outline, or notes in over a year, but I knew exactly what I wanted to write. I signed up for NaNoWriMo and opened a family meeting by showing the webpage to my spouse and kids. I explained how I’d budget four hours a week for writing in November.

Note: I didn’t complete 50,000 words that first November. But the next year, my kids enthusiastically joined the Young Writers Program!

Enlist Support - Eventually, my kids and I designated one hour each day for writing. There were many distractions, but it felt great! We attended NaNoWriMo write-ins at a donut shop to build community, and my kids each persuaded a friend to join. (Yes, donuts are a sometimes food, but at least they weren’t asking for coffee!). With support and determination—and for me, a bit of sleep debt—we all met our writing goals most years!

Stage 3: Embrace Your True Strengths

Emotion Mapping - In the last couple decades, as attitudes and terminology evolved, I’ve learned a lot about my own neurodivergence and mental health. Oddly enough, the self-knowledge I gained by masking and compensating before I knew those words, informed both my writing and the tips given above. As I became more honest with myself, I brought more emotion to my writing.

Note: Sometimes it helps to skip scenes I’m not in a good headspace to write. I jot down key plot and character points inside curly brackets and skip to a scene that suits my current feelings. Since I don’t used curly brackets anywhere else in my writing, they’re easy to search for when I’m ready to go back.

Fascinations - After years of being warned about “info dumps,” I realized that my own fascinations (neurodivergent or otherwise) were assets that could serve my writing. At the beginning of 2020 I did a deep dive into researching sea creatures and ways to protect our oceans. At the back of my research notebook, I gradually outlined my 2020 NaNoWriMo Novel, Be the Sea. Parts of that outline cross-referenced pages of ocean research or articles I’d saved online.

Note: The system above worked well enough for me that I now have a book deal for Be the Sea, which will be published by Atthis Arts in early 2024!

Seriously though, this isn’t a post about how to get published on a 40-year plan. By matching your writing practices to your ever-changing self, you give all your stories the chance to be told. I wish you and your stories that success!

Clara Ward lives in Silicon Valley on the border between reality and speculative fiction. When not using words to teach or tell stories, Clara uses wood, fiber, and glass to make practical or completely impractical objects. Their short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Decoded Pride, The Arcanist, and as a postcard from Thinking Ink Press. Clara’s 2020 NaNoWriMo novel, Be the Sea, will be available from Atthis Arts in early 2024. For updates on this and other projects, follow Clara on their website. Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva from Pexels

[nblemons]

Tell us about your idea!!

AWAAAGHHG ok so. This is a Somewhat Rough Concept and the characters have no name atm but it goes something like (this ended up way longer than i meant for it to be oops):

The protagonist is a witch, from a famous family known for their very powerful sea magic. In this world, witches come of age around age 14 with a very important ceremony where they get to summon a familiar, with which they will form a very strong bond that helps them focus their magic and control it more easily. This ceremony is also the first step of the Big Important Journey all witches must go on to learn new magic and find their place in the world.

Our witch (whom ill just call Witch for now) is unfortunately a very anxious type and struggles a lot with harnessing her magic. She's unfortunately already failed her summoning ceremony a few times, which means that shes Very Late!! to her magic journey. And coming from such a prestigious family only puts more pressure on her, which messes with the already very weak control she has over her magic.

A few days before the newest attempt at her familiar ceremony, she meets a seagull who claims to be a human who was turned into a bird by a vengeful sea spirit and, having realized that she's a witch, begs for her help in breaking the curse. Witch, tender hearted as she is, wants to help! But, as she explains, curse breaking is advanced magic she can't study yet, as she doesn't have a familiar and is thus not allowed access to the parts of her family's library that would contain information about it.

After Witch finishes explaining her struggles with the ceremony as well, Seagull (placeholder name too)offers a solution: to simply fake a successful summoning, giving the witch access to the information needed to help Seagull, who would in turn help her find a real familiar later on. Witch accepts despite her worries because she's desperate to get this ceremony thing over with and also is kind of a doormat and easily convinced.

Alas, the day of the ceremony Something goes wrong and leads to them being well and truly bonded as master and familiar, with magic so strong and ancient it's generally believed to be impossible to break! And, to Witch's surprise, it turns out that Seagull is not, in fact, a human who was cursed, but rather a sea wind spirit who pissed off a much much stronger spirit and got herself stuck in bird form with no magic.

Seagull is incredibly pissed to be stuck with this doormat of a witch, because her plan was to get into the library, find information on how to break the curse and then ditch the idiot. And instead, here they are, stuck together. But! there is a silver lining: they figure out that through the link, Seagull can use Witch as a sort of battery pack and get access to a fraction of her powers.

They scour the massive library Witch's family owns, and find little to no information about how to break either the curse or the familiar bond, with just a few hints about some Myserious witch who was banished for figuring out how to break their own bond. With that being their only clue, our duo decides to embark on the previously mentioned Big Journey and look for more information.

And so start the adventures of the world's most cringefail sea witch and her mean bossy seagull familiar!

I picture this as like. a cute little adventure game where you have a boat and go from island to island, learning new magic, helping people, and looking for clues about both this banished witch and how to break Seagull's curse. ^_^ Possibly w some bonus uncovering a bigger quest surrounding the myserious witch, who knows. Im not great at coming up w this kind of stuff hsnfnfj

Like i said IDK that it'll ever get anywhere because, as previously mentioned, i'm awful at keeping to projects and also have Absolutely No Knowledge of how video games get made. But it's fun to think about! Daydreaming about cute little pixel sprites for my sillies....

Also here's my current drafts for the sea witch design (still subject to change):

i have a few design notes on her but i need to go to bed rn HDBFNFH

[mobblespsycho100]

tell me about your oc i need to absorb all the knowledge

WAUGAHH yayy yay thank u okay so

Surja Maharaja (not his real name. btw. he named himself "Sun Great King" rough translation lmaoo) is a wandering merchant (*cough* scammer *cough*) who is currently in Melini because he's heard that the rising golden kingdom is full of economic opportunities,,, has a low unemployment rate, and is generally very prosperous and ruled by a passionate king who loves food... and how Melini is mysteriously protected from monsters coming into the border ...

And he decides to research everything he can about the court and introduces himself to the King Of Melini™ as a foreign dignitary from a port city south of the eastern continent (sooo around the eastern archipelago i guess?? map for reference...)

Anyway, he proposes a diplomatic arrangement where the port city's government would help with export of marine goods as well as open up restaurant chains !!! that serve monster food, so . monster food golden opportunity high long term investment business!!! and Laios is ecstatic !

Kabru is not. Lmao. Kabru is instantly suspicious of this "charismatic" "mysterious" "foreign dignitary" that just strolled into the castle ... but he's gotta confirm his suspicions first . So he decides to not tell Laios that he distrusts this guy and decided to uhhh stalk him a bit

anyway Laios lets Surja stay in the castle because like yay alliances diplomacy !! yayy monster food !!! (like ... Laios cant rlly eat monster anymore but ... spreading monster cuisine to other continents??? spreading the joy of food??? hes all in baby!!!) and Surja quickly befriends basically everyone or at least everyone whos currently there (like senshi is visiting but chilchuck is like sometimes there sometimes not cuz like lol he got a shop to run!!!) and Izutsumi is currently there too. Anyway. yea Surja's rlly friendly n stuff ^_^ and it only makes Kabru even more suspicious as to what exactly this guy is hiding

Anyway, more under the cut cuz it might get wayyy too longv amdhskhdjs

Kabru decides the best course of action is to interrogate Surja directly after a few days (maybe the 6th day ? Surja stay in the castle? but Kabru's been watching him and asking the royal guards to keep an eye on him too) ok anyway Kabru invites him to his office (idk if he has one of those but like . whatever. his work quarters .) (they're like on a break btw . ig . so laios is like chilling and not sitting on the throne rn hes just taking a walk with falin and marcille or smth) right anyway Kabru mr. Nice Guy Kabru is like "ok we need to discuss something ... "dignitary"" and Surja is like ooo-kay?

Btw i havent mentioned but even b4 this , Surja kind of has a crush on Kabru already (hes infatuated... hes obsessed... down bad down horrendous and he hasnt even talked with Kabru all that much) so hes like the nervouser (lol. silly) hehe haha... anyway

Kabru tells him to state his true intentions with the king. Surja goes, "huh? what do you mean Sir? I'm just here to propose a trade alliance and business vent--"

Kabru goes, "cut the pleasantries. I've investigated you over the course of these few days and I've sent a letter to the magistrate of the city you claim to represent, and they don't even have you listed as a citizen in their records."

Surja (sweating)

Kabru continues with a simple yet genuine threat, "you do know lying to the king is an offense punishable by death, right?"

Suddenly what Surja thought was going to be a lil diplomatic discussion regarding how the proposal he's drafting up going is ... an interrogation. An uncomfortable confessional where Kabru holds the reins and is playing 5d chess mind games. And Surja takes it as a challenge... and tries to defend himself with the classic diversion of, "I don't know what you're talking about!! Why would I lie about such a thing!!! You must be mistaken!! ahahaha aha

ha.

ha."

Kabru who is unimpressed by the sweaty conman's terrible lying skills starts pushing more on the subject. "How could you lie to the king? what are your plans? I think I know your scheme is to steal from us and our kingdom's treasury, but what else are you hiding? Are you a wanted criminal? A stowaway? " and Surja slams the desk a bit . like "OKAY! OKAY ! I! I did runaway but I've been travelling for ages!!! and I just thought this place sounded amazing !!! this kingdom is a rising one and yet it's already found its foundation and already has a powerful magical defense!!! "

and then Kabru goes... as a test (he doesn't actually believe it) , he asks . if Surja isn't actually human. Maybe he's a monster, a shapeshifter of sorts... a walking corpse perhaps? One that's trying to take refuge in Melini and doesn't even realize that it isn't a real human being... just a monster wearing human skin.

And Surja has a mental breakdown (yay here's the toxic in the toxic yaoii!!!)

Surja on the defensive and Kabru on the offensive, Surja decides to try and bite the bullet and confess that yes hes been lying, yes hes kind of a scammer vagabond, yes okay yes . and then he tries to get some sympathy by spilling his tragic backstory and it catches Kabru off guard

Kabru just wanted to exile or imprison or execute this guy who could have ill intent (and is obviously lying abt a lpt of things) . but when Surja revealed that hes kind of like..

okay. lemme paste this thing I typed . Surjas #traumatic backstory

Just imagine ghis is Surja telling everything to Kabru . so quotation marks . yea this is him Speaking

In the beginning, there was a land shrouded in darkness. And then, there came light.

Where I'm from, what you all called the "dungeon" was the corpse of a dead god, the land we stood upon as well. The dungeon was a temple in my people's eyes... And what you call the "Demon", well. He was our Light. The god that my people worshipped. It's... pathetic, isn't it? We didn't know. We... we couldn't have known.

When I was born... I. I was loved, I think. However I... was never a child. My older brother, he. he had this ailment. He couldn't speak, and he acted like he was possessed by a spirit of sorts, at least, that was my mother's theory. I always thought that he was just different.

I was their light, in a way. I could speak, smile, in an eloquent way as other humans do. They loved me, they did. But I was a sickly child... my brother, physically stronger, mentally weaker, and I? I was their light. The saviour of their reputation.

And that's why... as I grew up I realized that . The ones who took care of me, only saw me as a chalice. And whenever I did something that was... not... in line with their perception of me, they saw a monster.

It was so easy. Claim that I was possessed, sacrifice me, the brighter one, to their god, and their beloved children could be cured of their respective ... deformities.

Ha... well. That's what happened. The demon could grant any wish right? My mo- ... my.... caretaker. Took me to the dungeon one day and said, "Let my child have her dreams come true... in return, give us your blessing of wealth and prosperity! Bring us honor, bring us glory..."

That's why... I'm like this now. I guess I'm a half-beast (you lot call that beast-man here?), a monster (I was always a monster. I think.) I... You're right. I'm not human. I'm just... a walking corpse... a shell of a man...

Now all I have left is my desire for money... and my elder brother... I haven't seen him for ... 15 years now.

so yea he had an awful time . and was effected negatively by a dungeon. Kabru stops. hesitates a bit. Shares a bit about himself and Utaya . to ease Surja from the mental breakdown (it works and Surja bounces back quickly. Surja age reveals that hes not even 20 yet (Surja is 18-19) and that makes Kabru feels like a bully a bit n he feels a bit bad n tried to like apologize and stuff even tho this conman is conmanning (hes not lying abt his age!! just hiding a lot of stuff still!!!) ) ANYWAYYYY like they part ways from tha office (also at some point in the middle a guard came in to try and ask smth from Kabru and the guard nervously asks "is like smth goin on here rn?" and Kabrus like "no its fine" while Surjas like "yea smth goin on rn" anyway the guard just wanted to ask for some instruction so Kabrus just like oh ok just ask Marcille its fine and guy goes on his way)

anyway yeah Kabrus like kinda stressed lookin so Surja goes "hey do u need like some stress relief" n boldly goes up to him anddddd gives him a shoulder massage (Surja flexing his 4 years pro masseur skills) and Kabrus like oh . ojh. uh . okay (is conflicted and doesnt fully trust this man but is now a bit more relaxed and less tense and stuff. unclenched his jaw and shit lolll)

anyway they part ways after this but this is just the beginning of insane toxic co worker yaoi because like uhhh lil bit of a timeskip but Surja becomes like the treasurer... or like secretary assistant in Melini or like . tha economy guy consultanter yippeeee #working in melini

also Surja's a catboy i havent mentioned that yet

kinda hit it off with Izutsumi and Senshi cuz of it yah

A LOT OF THIS IS SELF INDULGENT AND WISH FULFILLMENT BUT I THINK. POST CANON OC . IS FUN . also Labru is canon in this AU theyre basically like married . its set a year after the like last chap of dungeon meshi btw so Kabrus 23 Laios 26 (almost 27 not november yet basically) . etc etc. ANYWHO this is super long already but ty for indulging me and asking abt my oc yaaaay :333 this is a toxic yaoi tragicomedy. this guy is like if Mickbell and Izutsumi got mixed into soup . and was obsessed with Kabrus whole thing 😭😭 its so funny to me theyre funny (doomed by the narrative toxic codependent workplace yaoi)

[driftward]

Title: FFXIV Write 2024 - 17. Sally Characters: Solita Grey, Urianger Augurelt Rating: Teen Summary: If the naturalist goes forward blindly where the seer might see, whose fault might her untimely death be? Notes: Weird Wild West AU - A Desertwalkers story. This is definitely a rough draft I intend to expand later

Solita made her way in the back rooms of the Cat's Eye cabaret, quietly finding her way to a door that had no markings to inform what may lay beyond, besides a 'no entry' sign nailed to its front. A seemingly casual glance around showed nobody else was present, and with that, she slipped past it, and into the space beyond.

Here lay her particular coven. Acolytes to a once great man, gone now, but determined to continue his mission of peace in these lands nonetheless. Here is where her and her comrades often spent their time, sharing gossip and information with one another, commiserating in camaradarie, and plotting their own course of influence in these lands.

Urianger appeared to be the only person currently in, sitting at a table, adjusting some kind of orrery. He looked up at her briefly and nodded to her, which she returned in kind before finding a chair to throw herself into tiredly.

"Greetings, my Grey Lady. Another vexatious day?"

She waved a hand in the air. "I enjoy my contribution to our work and how I choose to pursue it, I truly do. But some days sorely test my patience, Urianger."

"Indeed. My ear is ever thine, shouldst thou wish it."

Solita, with perhaps somewhat exaggerated drama, draped an arm over her eyes as she tilted her head back over the chair's edge. Urianger chuckled.

"'Tis of no import. A final meeting with Miss Vauban. I find her curiosity nigh inexhaustible, but perhaps this latest survey of hers shall keep her out of my hair for some time."

"Indeed. And I suppose our Adventure Naturalist has gone forth on yet another sally of discovery?"

She lifted her arm just a bit to give him a wry look.

"Why, Urianger, you sound like an levinwave aetheric serial."

"Perhaps," he said with a grin. "Mayhaps I have been enchanted by thy stories of her ventures thus far, second hand though they may be. Her travels to the grasslands with nary an incident, and yet she had much to tell. And her drawings of the southern buttes were remarkable to mine eye."

"I suppose that if there is any value to my time with her, it is in that which she brings back from her travels. I shall keep my wariness and my weariness, however. 'Tis only a question of time until she proves to be a source of more trouble than value, I am certain."

"But sooth, her excursions have been without mishap thus far, I believe. And a wealth of information besides, to hear thee tell the tale. As well as new maps which hath proven boon to our own efforts. And she heeds thine advice. Is that not what thou have oft wished, in speaking of your clientele past?""

"She is a naturalist, Urianger. We've yet to have one come to town who was not the source of some manner of trouble that needed to be handled by one of us."

"One 'twas a fool, on his own merits. Another a braggart, and I believe you rid yourself of him before his grand misadventure. The last was a naturalist only in name, as I recall, and saw to her own end."

"And I am hoping this one will see to her own end. I only wish to forestall any further damage she might do, other than to herself."

"And what of the good she hath undertaken? You yourself have had cause to admit, she is boon to our work. Having naught our obligations, but her own thirst for knowledge causing her to seek out that which we ever do ourselves wish to know. Her traversal to the petrified forest provided us a wealth of information, not only of the practical, but of the esoteric and even the occult."

"Well, yes. Boundless curiosity. A sense of questioning everything. And I will grant that she is thorough with her work. Intrepid," said Solita, reluctantly.

"Such venom with which thou deliver thy praise. I wonder, what insult hath she given unto thee? And if it is sufficient to this vitriol, why not set her free? Thou has no need to keep her on as client, and yet thou continue to serve her in thine capacity as consultant. If she truly is so burdensome, thou might relieve thyself of her company."

"And risk another incident?"

"Risk of what, my lady? She follows thine advice, and is conscientious in her work. If ought were to befall her and doom her fate, I full believe it wilt be the fates themselves conspiring against her, or the folly of man in opposing her, rather than any fault of her own due diligence."

"Well," said Solita, reluctantly, "perhaps her exploration of the northern ceruleum field will prove one of us right."

"If thou hast advised her thoroughly, then I foresee little risk of ill," he said. But after a moment of consideration, he frowned. "...is that not where the Baroness Aurelia met her end?"

"Aye. If she had listened to me more carefully regarding the warding stones, she may still yet live, and without creating such aetheric agitation in the area. I suspect she did not consider whether her little experiment of setting fire to the ceruleum sinkholes in an effort to prove their purity would shatter said stones. And perhaps she felt herself immune to the consequences of foolhardy action."

Urianger drummed his fingers on the table, slowly.

"And of the rheums which now as a result call that place home? We may find them simple to handle, but one without the gift of suitable sight to peer beyond the curtain of material reality may not so readily be able to handle them until it is rather too late."

"If she has taken appropriate precautions," said Solita cooly, "then she will have no problem."

"Are not thou meant to be such precaution?"

"I have given her all the information she asked for."

"And yet denied her that which she needs."

Solita gave him a withering glare. "Are we now questioning how I comport myself?"

Urianger bowed his head, squeezing his nose between his fingers.

"...aye."

Solita sat up fully, and frowned at him.

"This woman hath done thee no insult, and indeed, has been of great boon. She has given you first refusal of her work, despite your contract asking for no such thing. She has shared fully her findings with thee. She heeds thee, and I believe, even sees you perhaps as mentor in these strange lands. That you have led her astray speaks not to her character, but to thine."

"She may yet prove trouble, Urianger. She minds me, to be certain. As did Aurelia. And all that you have said could be said of others. I will not be charmed by her. As you will surely recall, Aurelia herself was gifted with etiquette and charm."

"And yet as I recall, thou were never fooled by her, facade as it was. You are the seer, she whose vision pierces into the heart of truth, unblinded by any veil. Tell me true, doth Miss Vauban present facade or honesty?"

Solita looked away.

"...she is as honest as she is earnest. That is to say, she is plenty of both." She rallied. "But if it is not duplicitousness that shall lead her to ruin, than surely it is that naïveté she carries. I simply cannot believe anyone such as her could survive in a place such as this."

"And yet, she lives. You are not the only one keeping an eye on her, you know. We all know the risks of those who would turn to these lands for their own profit. And yet, Thancred thinks well enough of her. Jovial though he may seem, thou knows well his cynicism of people. And the deeds master says she has even been asking after that abandoned range outside of town. She has profited, but not at the expense of others. Indeed, she thrives, steered by our own seer and her own wisdom."

Solita just crossed her arms, and sank into her chair, head down, ears back, thinking.

Urianger's voice softened.

"My lady, I have never known you to waver in the strength of your conviction, whether in the pursuit of knowledge, the mission we have undertaken unto the service of this star, or in how thou 'comport thyself'." he said. "But I also have never known thee to prevaricate in the manner of facing thine own errors of judgement."

He smiled at her. "Howsoever rare they might be. But! I charge thee; why dost thou hesitate now?"

"Urianger, we don't even know her actual name!"

"And does she know thine birth name?"

"I make no secret of myself."

"Nor she of herself, I believe. The names we are given are oft no gift, but instead an obligation, unwanted and unwarranted. Thus do I charge thee, which is more true; that name which was given unto us, or that name which we make for ourselves?"

Solita's ears dropped, and she waved a hand to the side.

"You are very invested in this woman who you've not even met, Urianger."

"I do not wish to see thee sully thy reputation in a fit of perhaps excessive defensiveness over what thou seem, instead of who thou art. I know not her, 'tis true. But, I would like to believe I have come to know thee, my Gray Lady."

He leaned forward. When he spoke, his tone was gentle.

"Your talent is to see truth, of this world, of others, of yourself; but thus, thou knows how to hide from thyself. This distance hath kept you thus far. But I believe your turmoil, your unseemly agitation at this woman, beyond that which I hath heard from you regarding your many clients o'er the summers, is because thou now face a change. I shall gainsay you no further; only to say thus: whither you help her or not shall define and make its mark upon thee, more than it shall upon her."

Urianger kept his gaze steady on Solita for a moment longer, before returning to his orrery, carefully arranging its orbits and axis, fingers dancing along lines of would be destiny in his future augery.

Solita watched him. Warred with herself. Clenched and unclenched her hands. And looked towards the door.

"Gods, what have I done?" she muttered. "I must needs rectify this matter."

Solita moved off towards her room with uncommon speed. Urianger ignored her, and when she came back several minutes later, she was in an outfit rather more suited for the brushlands than for the cabaret, an ornate staff in her hand.

"Inform Thancred and the others as to where I am. If I am quick, I can catch up to her before anything untowards happens," she said. She headed for the door, stopping just at its threshold.

"Thank you," she said. "For helping a blind woman see."

"My Gray Lady sees the truth around her, whereas I merely intuit possibilities," he replied. "Thus we are always strengthened by the talents of one another."

Solita frowned, and nodded, and then she was gone.

Urianger reached into his orrery, and made a single change.

[theatsthetic]

Can I ask what inspired Jesus Flesh? I adore the premise, and honestly feel like it could have started in a thousand different ways. :)

Honestly, I was on my way to Trader Joe's after a shift at my job when I thought of it.

I was really into body horror as a teenager, not even as horror but more of an "oh that's cool" type of way so thinking this type of stuff is normal for me. A lot of Jesus Flesh was just a mixture of that teenage-enjoyment of body horror/meat, some current political feelings, and a knowledge of Christian Sacred Relics.

Relics are such a morbidly cool thing btw. They can range from "oh a saint touched this item so now it's holy," to the clothing of a holy man, to the mummified/decapitated head of a saint.)

After I thought of it, I made a rough draft in my private discord where I just write down notes for future me.

[kindred-spirit-93]

watch me wip, watch me nuh uh

excuse the awful title lol, but i was listening to the epic version of the arab nokia tune and not only does it slap, but it made me think of a very rough draft of a concept idea for a wip i had a few years ago

i hopped onto tumblr to ask a few questions and get some insight, but in the process of mentally making this post i decided i wont be able to achieve what i want the way want (in the forseeable future at least) so im discontinuing something i havent even started.

thank you for coming to my ted talk :D

curious. i like u. anyway heres what could have been if i slayed as the kids say:

the idea was a fantasy (maybe even futuristic) novel set in a place heavily influenced by the middle east and the regions history, cradle of civilisation and all. the concept idea was for two kingdoms whose rulers where raised as brothers and are very close fall into discord and disharmony after shadowy shapeshifters (bad guys) of another realm sought to divide and conquer the kingdoms and seize their assets and domains (wow this is less subtle than i thought lol)

its up to the two crown princesses of the kingdoms to uncover the evil plots schemed, weed out the traitors assassin style or sum, and reunite the two kingdoms before its too late. all of this of course while they are the most wanted on the planet. girly things amirite

the world building is very shaky and i dont have the patience nor the braincells to spare to really sit down and come up with something, but the idea was several realms that 'represent' (dont laugh at me) the primary & secondary colours, and each one has a bunch of domains that include an element and an area of knowledge, but with time and a few other factors societies merged and theres a lot of diversity and multiculturalism and its all wonderful and awesome till disaster strikes and its used against them.

for example unnamed kingdom one is the biggest producer of minerals and grain, the main colours of the kingdom are gold and green and their domain is agriculture and languages (idk dont ask)

whereas unnamed kindom two is more celestial and astronomy oriented, with colours being navy and silver (or bronze now that i think of it) and its domain is scroll keeping and cartography

now with the passage of time and the rise and fall of dynasties and all that jazz, the domains are much more mixed as a reflection of the developments of the societies (primary colours becoming seconday and tertiary and so on and so forth), many city states specialising in one area of knowledge are grouped under the rule of a kingdom. essentially the world is a big beautiful tapestry :')

like for example a kingdom being home to the worlds biggest trade route and being a melting pot of cultures and tongues and faiths, has no specific colour; all encompasing and its glorious (idk how much it fits in the current timeline & narrative but its something)

again i dont have much world building down and what little i do is very vague lol, but thats the premise. the two princessess as of now belong to these two kingdoms and are bestest best friends, mirroring the epic bromance of their fathers before them lol. they are different in nearly everyhting but they are two halves of the same soul (platonic soulmates lets go!) and fiercely love each other >:D

so yeah. 2 princesses join forces to overthrow the ultimate evil and be the awesome kickass bff queens that they are. friendship (maybe more?) saves the day and reigns supreme as it so often does, but this time theres badassery and murder involved. dark stuff and fluff too

im hesitant to put this idea up for adoption bc a big reason it came to be was me being sick of all the gross stereotypes and tropes of everything ever manufactured and perpetuated by the west and me selfishly wanting to be represented correctly in media, esp original works, so im leaving this here in a sort of grey area i guess.

suggestions question thoughts ideas asks welcome! please be my guest ^-^

[ambrosiagourmet]

hiiiii i have a quick question about no reason but to starve: when does it take place relative to the postcanon labru comic? i ask partially so i can integrate this knowledge into my understanding of laios & kabru's dynamic in nrbts, but also into my understanding of the diplomatic relationship between malini and kakha brud

(i love your fic so much thank you for your gifts to dunmeshi fandom)

Oooh fun question, thank you!! I assume you mean this comic?

This ended up being longer than intended lol, so tl;dr short answer: it would take place after the comic, though the comic is not necessarily 100% canon to it.

More details and rambling below the cut:

So, in general, I'm trying to write in a way that is compatible with, but not strictly canon to, any post-canon content we've gotten.

In part tbh that's because I had WANTED to construct the timeline with the Kensuke extra in mind but then I totally goofed it and like the story basically takes place at the exact same time that the Kensuke story would. So it ended up more being like handshake meme thematical/character similarities rather than strictly canon.

Also I don't want anyone who hasn't read the extras to have trouble following anything (which is actually why I had to go back and add a bit about the situation w/ KB during editing lol. In the rough draft it was just like yeah yeah the reparations we've all heard of them).

That is all to say the story does more-or-less take place after this comic. The way I'm thinking about it, the initial negotiations referenced in the comic sort of laid the foundation for (relative) peace and cooperation, but there are still lots of specifics to work out - that's what the current delegation is in town for. It's probably less combative then the initial, uh... conversation... but I imagine there's still a fair bit of a "wring everything we can from these people" attitude from KB, so it's a slow process with a lot more smiling and nodding and going back to grumble privately later.

In terms of Laios & Kabru I think the story fits well after the comic for their relationship too... The group of them & Marcille are very much A Unit in the point where the story picks up (with Yaad also included, but not necessarily as close as the three of them). They all have been working together for a little while now, and are all committed to the work. They know a bit about how to navigate each other, and have some rhythms they've fallen into (like Marcille checking w/ Kabru about her hair, or everyone knowing that things are tense between Laios & Yaad wrt Marriage Talk).

What's still left unsaid is a lot of the deeper, more sensitive things. Part of the reason the fic opens on the question of Laios' Political Marriage (TM) is because I think it's a good example of a thing that WOULD remain buried for a while. Laios seems to not have given himself much room to think about romance, so it's something that hasn't been addressed out in the open. But they've got to deal with it eventually!! They have a life long task ahead of them all, and shoving skeletons into closets only works for so long.

(Laios romance tangent: whether or not you read him as aro or ace (and I personally put him somewhere in some grey zone there), I don't think that's a thing he would have realized yet in canon. Repression =/= happily uninterested, and I personally think Laios has repressed that shit hard.)

Anyway, the same goes for various things with Kabru and Marcille, as well. They already trust and care about each other, but being vulnerable with other people is a long, messy process. Especially with all the baggage they have. It's something they still need to figure out!

It is also, conveniently, very fun to write about :3

[dairogo]

20 Questions for the Writer

Tagged by @griseldabanks ^_^

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

Only 18 :O I have a bunch on fanfiction.net that I never transferred over, but they're all an extra 10 or so years older than the Ao3 ones so ... there's some disparity of quality, partly in the writing but also very much in the content present.

2. What is your total Ao3 word count?

168,935

3. What fandoms do you write for?

FMA! I had other things when I was younger, but FMA bit and it's the one that stuck with me.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Bed Too Small (Mustang POV, same bed trope, tongue-in-cheek)

Wayward Youth (Hawkeye POV, learning about crushes and affection from the girls at her boarding school while seeking her father's attention)

Order 3066 (Hawkeye and Mustang POVs alternating, Ishval fic about being broken and coming out of it [still broken, but moving])

Partiality (Mustang POV, post-canon, broaching the topic of a relationship)

The Next Step (shifting POV, written soon after giving birth to my youngest and in a bit of a family-related haze. Mostly fluff.)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I certainly try to! I might have missed some along the way, but I usually get there!

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

Hurrrghgh, one from my ff.net days: The Manga-ka Has Her Reasons. It was basically saying, hey, they can't get together guys - things will go bad if they do. And so it ended with them both dead.

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

I'd say The Next Step, because it's just fluffy and lovely :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. The last time I remember feeling taken aback by a comment it was over a decade ago and it was someone rightly pointing out a factual error I'd made. The FMA community I've found myself in is largely positive, and I don't know if that's about the FMA community in general, or that the stuff I write appeals to people who are just cool about community instead of looking to be jerks. Whatever the reason, I'm very grateful!

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

Nah

10. Do you write crossovers?

I've got a half written FMA/HP crossover that I started in like 2005, resurrected a few years ago, and then haven't touched for the last year and a half. Sigh. It's probably going to be stuck in my brain forever.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

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

Not a fic

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Royai for suuuuure <3 I'm so big on romance as a side-plot, and if that's not the perfect way to explain their relationship I don't know what is. Like, FMA aside, their own personal story is that romance is their side-plot, not their main thing.

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

Wayward Youth! I have a few really rough drafts of later chapters that need to be edited, but I still haven't written all the way to the end and I'm happily working on another project with all the time/headspace I have, so I don't want to interrupt that flow. But I'm hoping to slowly accrue the last of it, then go through and make it presentable and post it one day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I can write fairly clear action. And I like putting together a lot of threads to tug on as I go - not all big plot things necessarily, but just things that repeat again later to add an extra layer.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don't know. I feel like I can write in a very blunt way sometimes, so I have to be intentional about adding in colour and emotion - that doesn't always come through on the first try.

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

I wouldn't do this to show to a native speaker, oh boy oh boy nosirree! Currently reading a book on English idioms and my main thought as I looked at it today is that this is exactly why I'll never consider myself fluent in other languages.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In year 5 we had to co-write a story and my best friend and I basically wrote an AU of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Look, it depends on my mood. If I want something light and short, I can't go past Desperately Hoping He Didn't Look Like an Idiot (modern AU, Royai without angst). But I'm probably proudest of Order 3066, because it took a lot of work and a lot of emotional catharsis to get through that and I ended up with a bit of a deadline for when I had to finish it up and made it! So I feel good about it.

Tagging @scienceoftheidiot and @fullmetalscullyy if you're interested :)

[what-even-is-thiss]

super rough draft of thing

Thetis was allowed to set the conditions. She was as strong as the tides and as slippery as her father, so the solution to deter as many mortal men as possible seemed obvious. 

“He’ll have to pin me in a wrestling match.” she said.

“One of them will find a way.” Proteus warned her. 

“Don’t be stupid, old man.” she said. “I’m stronger than you.”

“You also know less about mortals than I do.” he said. “When they’re determined, they’re determined.”

He spoke in the cryptic way that those with forms of sight always spoke. With her father it was knowledge of the past and present, remembered like it was his own memory, but memory can fail from time to time, so he spoke as carefully as an oracle. She’d learned by now to not demand information out of him. He didn’t know her inner determination. Her hatred of weakness. Her anger born from the depths of the ocean with the skeletal remains and living forms of the deadliest fish. No mortal could be strong enough for her.

Men came anyways. Some were sent by the olympians or recommended to her by her sisters. Some heard the rumors from the men who failed. Once or twice a woman attempted it. They found just as much bad luck, burns, sheer cold, and near-drownings as the men did. One or two men died in the attempt. Most just gave up. There were mortal women almost as beautiful as her, much easier to wrestle to the ground.

Nymphs and minor gods were notified throughout Greece. Find a mortal man who is good enough for Thetis. A strong man, a powerful man, a pious man, a man that can quench the anger of the ocean. A man worthy of fathering a great hero.

…..

The huntress Atalanta was making new arrows, sitting in her hunting clothes behind her husband's house, linen sheets wrapped tightly around herself as she smoothed out the shafts in preparation of attaching them to the arrowheads.

The sun shone down on her from his chariot, warming her skin lazily in the summer heat. She wondered if her husband would join her on the hunt tomorrow.

“Hey”

She jumped and instinctively pointed the stick she was sharpening in the direction of the voice.

A woman. Hair tied up in green knots, general glow about her. Definitely a nymph.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” the nymph warned.

“What did I do now?” Atalanta asked. “Can’t you people leave well enough alone?”

“I know what you mean.” the nymph said, “But I have a message from Zeus.”

Atalanta instinctively wanted to cover her body at that name. Most women involved with the gods did.

“Not like that. He’s looking for a mortal husband for Thetis. You’ve met her?”

“Maybe once.”

“She’ll only marry a man who can wrestle her to the ground. Hopefully one that she’ll get along with.  Do you know a man like that, by any chance?”

“A man worthy of a goddess? I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of those.”

“Well if you don’t know…”

“No, wait. There might be one.”

…..

Peleus was happy to see her again. He ordered his cooks to make as big of a feast as they could manage with the current supplies. He asked Atalanta if she wanted to hunt the meat for tonight herself or if she would be happy with the sacrificed cow later.

She hadn’t seen him since they had abandoned the Argo. He hadn’t met Hippomenes yet. The two of them got along immediately. They were both favored by the gods, begrudgingly. They had both been bested by Atalanta and had their worldviews shifted because of it. They let her in on the conversation, treating her the same as a man.

So Peleus hadn’t forgotten then. Bare minimum test passed. She allowed herself to dance with her husband and laugh with her friend. So you got yourself a kingship after all? So you finally caved in and fell for a man? Well yeah long story. You should’ve seen her face when I dropped those apples. I almost killed him but he got out of my way.

Eventually she had to break the comfortable fog of old friends catching up. She waited until after the sacrifice and the burning of fat and bones, the roasting of the meat. Atalanta witnessed a gentle mist lift up from the fire. The gods were listening.

In the sleepy wine-filled depths of the night, she knelt before her old crewmate’s chair, hands on his knees.

“Peleus, I need to be honest about why I came. I’ve been sent here by the gods, possibly with a blessing, if you can earn it.”

Hippomenes sat silently at the window, staring out at the ocean. Peleus sighed. They all knew the curse of being blessed. He gently touched his old friend’s hand.

“Tell me.”

“Have you gotten any better at wrestling?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, the goddess Thetis is to be betrothed to a mortal man. The nymphs asked me who could be worthy of such a thing.”

“Me?” he asked.

“Maybe.” she answered. “First you need to catch her.”

…..

Atalanta had beaten Peleus in a wrestling match a long, long time ago when both of them had joined the hero Jason on his quest for the golden fleece. Now they were both more mature, a bit slower and more careful in their judgment, and Peleus knew now that he hadn’t been weak when he lost to her. Nobody could realistically beat a woman raised by bears. By many estimations the strongest mortal woman alive. But was she harder to beat than a goddess?

“She’ll be relying on the same strategy as Proteus.” Atalanta had warned him. “She’s strong, but she’ll be shapeshifting. Determination is more important than brute strength when hunting a god. They don’t know any technique. Their hubris is even bigger than ours.”

She showed him how to sneak so quietly that even a goddess couldn’t hear him. 

“Just don’t let go.” he told himself silently. “Don’t let go.”

He saw through the mortal mist into the rocks. She was disguised as a normal woman, hair all curly and black, white and yellow chiton blown about her body by the sea wind. And she was simultaneously unremarkable, terrible, and beautiful beyond measure. Knowing who she was, he could feel her cold deep anger from here, or maybe that was just the bone-deep terror choking him from the inside out.

Atalanta and Hippomenes watched from the palace walls, but only her eyes were sharp enough to pick out the details of what was happening. Hippomenes gently held his wife from behind, more for his own comfort than anything else.

“How do you know it’s her?” he asked.

Atalanta placed one hand over his hand, over her own stomach. 

“The nymphs say so.”

Thetis had been told to wait on different shores, at least sometimes. For a bit. In a pseudo-mortal form, the universe above the sky seemed even more infinite than it normally did. She wondered how long the olympians would keep up this charade. She wondered if it was too late to become a virgin goddess. No. She had never wanted that. Despite herself, despite her anger, despite feeling the safest among her sisters, despite her interest in governing, she had always seen her future self as a mother by a man. But why a mortal man?

Her question was soon to be answered as arms found her arms and began to pull her down.

Somehow her senses had failed her. She hadn’t heard him coming. Not even a smell. Panicked, she turned into an eagle and tried to fly away, but he still held her close, her wings unable to fly. Then she became a beetle but he kept her in his palm, then a shark, sharp scales cutting up his face, then a fire, burning his hands calloused from holding a spear, then a cat, a giantess, a pile of salt, a chariot, a mermaid, a rock, a sword, a poisonous snake, an eel, a gorgon, a goat.

And on and on she changed for hours, trying to stab him, freeze him, burn him, eventually reverting to her true form, giant, cold, force of nature. The unseen mortal man averted his eyes the moment he felt the brain-rearranging form of a goddess assault his eyes, but still he held on.

Eventually in her struggling she caught sight of his bloodied face, curiously red, curiously charming, and she returned to her pseudo-mortal form, layed in his embrace, and placed one hand on his beard while another wiped the curiously red ooze away from his eyes.

She coated her hand in the red substance and showed it to him.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Blood, my lady.” Peleus answered.

“Call me Thetis.”

[dduane]

IIRC, the Reavers come from the South and we're told it's generally colder there. I wonder, are the Middle Kingdoms on a southern continent? I'm currently reading The Door Into Sunset, so the answer may yet await me. Sill, I'm curious.

And you're absolutely right! (It's just me subverting stuff again. So what else is new) :)

The somewhat-updated map (and there's still so much work to be done on this to get the terrain correct, but this is close enough...) shows the same compass-rose hint that's been in maps of the Kingdoms since the series started:

As has been implied elsewhere, the Kingdoms are not exactly a huge part of a world that's a near-exact twin of our own Earth in terms of size and mass. The distance from Lamaith in western Arlen to the boundaries of the eastern Waste is about the same as that from New York to Denver. As the Dragon flies, the distance between the Eorlhowe to Bluepeak is close enough to the distance between Vancouver and L.A. And common knowledge of the rest of that world has (up to the events described in the first three Middle Kingdoms works) been limited by relatively undeveloped seagoing tech, and a lack of the kind of trade-driven impetus historically present on our Earth.

...A situation which, at the end of TDISunset, is ready to change. So the mapping necessarily now has to improve.

This work's taking me a while, as the newest species to arrive in the Kingdoms is spacefaring... and the new maps therefore have to be as functional from high orbit as they would be on the ground. Producing maps this complex and detailed would once have been a nightmare. (And they're still not exactly easy... but at least the tech for the amateur mapmaker is catching up.)

For amusement's sake I just plugged a very very rough draft of the current whole-planet map of the Kingdoms' world into the excellent online tool at MapToGlobe.com, and this is what we get:

If you wait a bit, you'll see the North Arlene peninsula come around, about twenty degrees south of that alternate Earth's equator (and indeed the Eorlhowe would lie almost exactly on the 20-degrees-South latitude line).

The lands along the north coast of the Sea, therefore, both because of the latitude and the local prevailing easterlies, are fairly warm. Up by North Arlen, conditions are nearly subtropical; think northern Central America, or the southern Mediterranean and north Africa. Central and southern Arlen and Darthen would map more closely onto southern-tier Europe in terms of climate; though by the time you get down by the Southpeaks, the climate becomes more recognizably prealpine.

The unfavorable weather conditions affecting the "Reaver" peoples resident on the far side of the Peaks have more to do with microclimate issues than the local latitude (which maps roughly to the southern 40th parallel). Land barriers and cultural and political issues have been problematic for them too... but these problems now have the potential to shift.

Anyway: nice catch! :)

[hopeymchope]

I'm curious, what's your stance on generative AI? I know we in the fandom community often talk about it in the context of AI created fanart, but I'm talking more in the context of the uses generative AI has in the realm of general work productivity, like what Microsoft is trying to do with their new CoPilot program.

Well, the ethical issue is basically the same as it is for A.I.-generated images—but for some goddamn reason, people don't like to think of any kind of writing as a form of propietary "art" the same way they do about visual arts, so it's garnered FAR less attention.

But as far as their usability goes? As someone who writes documents for a living, I can see these programs being potentially beneficial for creating early rough drafts, but that's the extent of what it's good for now: They can make outlines. BUT! You could get the same outline from a template or from an online boilerplate, so is that even worth anything? Once you go beyond an outline, any text generated from these A.I.s always needs heavy revision, reorganization, and editing. I'd spend less time just writing it from scratch.

Currently, generative so-called "A.I." programs that are designed to assist with writing text are based upon predicting what they think the user is requesting or desiring. They set out to give you what they believe you want, and accuracy is NOT part of the equation. This might not be as big of an issue if you're trying to make a book report on a classic novel, because there are probably enough examples of reliable web coverage on the subject it could reasonably generate something that's at least usable. But outside of doing some of your homework for you, how useful is it?

It can certainly bullshit some generic blather to fill space in a paper, or it could spew corporate-ese for the purpose of drafting a mass company email... but can it announce something new to your staff or the press in an accurate way? Nope. Can it reliably create copy or a script for advertising/marketing? Not if you want your ad to actually be true, let alone unique. :P

If you're doing something fairly rote like taking existing legal documentation to create a new, similar legal document for a different usage? You're better off just having a template on-hand with editable sections to revise; that way, the A.I. won't attempt to "improve" the legal text in a way that fucks you over. And if you're asking the A.I. not to edit that text in the first place... well, then why are we using this A.I. when we already have templates?

If you're hoping to create some kind of instructions, maybe a "How-To" book or a manual for something? Just forget it. It doesn't matter how much documentation on the subject you feed into that A.I. Ultimately, it will preconcieve how the process COULD work or what the program/device/person MIGHT do, and then it starts going off on bizarre claims/tangents that are wholly imagined. The longer the document you want, the worse the amount of nonsensical bullshit gets.

But even if you're just trying to get it to reduce a massive document down to like, a single page that covers the basics? It has no real system for judging what "the basics" are. You can try to specify to the A-not-I what you need to include, feed it the original document... and still wind up with a combination of falsehoods and excluded requirements. This won't necessarily happen every single attempt or in every single paragraph, but it'll definitely happen enough times to make it more trouble than it's worth. Still... this kind of thing — i.e., revising a single existing source into a different format or length — is probably the area that's the most promising application for these programs in the near term. It should be possible to "teach" to the programs in question, and it handily skirts past most ethical questions about the sources behind its knowledge.

What I said about falsehoods and skewed info/inaccuracy is also why search engines that have incorporated A.I. have gotten LESS reliable. Generative A.I. isn't truly "Artificial Intelligence," because it can't make any kind of judgment. It doesn't have a clue how to deem something true or false, and it's really fucking hard to build that into a program. Because ultimately, what do you ask it to do? How do you explain that to the program in a logical fashion? You can't just say "only believe the sources I give you/tell you to trust," because it only generates based on tons of pre-existing examples that it's observed. It only exists at all because of those examples, which is always going to cause these issues.

....and that last point ALSO raises the same exact ethical questions already brought up by A.I.-generated imagery. What right do they have to use these sources? Where are they getting them, etc.? And now I'm back where I started.

Suffice it to say I'm not a fan. Although I do, of course, have skin in this game, so I acknowledge that I'm definitely biased.

[writing-with-rianneth]

Writblr Introduction

(My full avatar pic, made using @elequinoa's character maker)

Hello there! I'm kind of a new writer on Tumblr. I had a writblr account a few years ago before I deleted all my social media, but now I'm back with a new account! So, allow me to reintroduce myself and my writing:

My name is Rianneth (she/her) and I'm a writer from the South United States. I'm a college student in my early 20s currently studying English and Creative Writing. I plan to start a master's program in Library & Information Sciences next year and hopefully become a librarian someday, and the main thing I've always wanted is to be an author.

My biggest focus is on novel writing. I've written a couple novels before, and I want to one day publish the novel I'm currently working on. I also write short fiction, and occasionally dabble in poetry, though I prefer reading poetry to writing it. My favorite genres are fantasy, science fiction, gothic, and horror, and I love blending those genres to create my stories.

My main WIP is a character-driven adult gothic high fantasy novel. I'm in the early stages of worldbuilding and putting together a (very) rough draft. The magic system is built around knowledge and science in a world that's still scientifically in the medieval period. It has a queer romance, though I wouldn't quite consider it a romance novel. The story is very heavy, but not pointlessly so, and not without ample opportunity for the fun, happy, sweet, and beautiful to shine through. Keeping it vague for now as I develop my ideas more fully lol.

I don't completely know yet what I want to post on here, but I'd love to share more details about my WIP as I go. I may even post excerpts when I feel confident enough/when scenes are revised enough. But mostly I want to just get involved with the writing community again. I want to talk about writing progress, ideas, advice, or whatever else comes to mind.

I'm looking for people to follow and chat writing with, so absolutely feel free to reply/send me a message! I'm excited to be back!