#/ I may add more or rewrite somethings later on but now that's the basics

[neuroslayyer]

GENETISYS

Originally established as a privately funded organization by Kenzo Kobayashi in the 1960s, it would later be restructured and recognized as a megacorporation in 1989.

The main focus up until the company was taken over by Kenzo's only daughter, Etsuko Kobayashi (later Hirose), was genetic engineering. When Etsuko gained control neuroscience, psychology & pharmaceuticals had been added to the company's repertoire. However there's persistent rumors that Kenzo had enjoyed dabbling in bio-warfare.

Research and services include but aren't limited to:

cloning

gene therapy

gene doping

overall genetic modification

"designer" babies

memory alteration

preservation and extension of youth

Studying cyberpsychosis

And when it comes to pharmaceuticals, most of the drugs are for psychological, genetic and chronic disorders.

Of course there's the experiments and research that's not shared transparently with the general populace such as genetically modified soldiers, gene splicing, and general human experimentation in the realm of psychology and the neurosystem.

Genetisys is known to pay people to be part of their clinical trials and research; a solution for those who are hard up for quick cash, though in some ways it may as well be the equivalent to selling your soul. When Sub Attica, the underwater prison, was still in existence they would also bargain and take some of the prisoners for test subjects as well. While volunteers had a higher survival rate in terms of their trials, nonvolunteers would never see the light of day again.

Over the decades there have been scandals or attempts to expose unethical behavior. However, nothing would ever stick enough to knock the corporation down --- the legal department always acting as swift as a viper and security (both physical and cyber) would keep everything under lock and key. Though around/between 2060s-2076 more information about the company, including projects, experiments/research and files on victims would be leaked. It's unknown how someone could get a hold of such stuff; it's almost as if whoever did it, had a bit of insider knowledge when it comes to corporation.

Tatsuya Hirose is head of the financial department as well as marketing. Ryota Arakaki is head of security, both physical and cyber. And of course Etsuko Kobayashi- Hirose is CEO, head of the company/sole owner as well as what can one can consider a lead scientist and oversees all experimental pursuits.

While Kenzo and Etsuko never agreed on everything in terms of company practices and scientific pursuits, the thing they shared was the love of the study. Making millions, nearly billions, in wealth is a nice extra benefit. But both do what they do because of their morbid fascinations and curiosity. To them, the world is their sandbox or ant farm.

[sims3fiend]

S3SettingsSetter New new version New

I have returned from the grave to do another re-rewrite of Sims 3 Settings Setter! Hopefully the last! The main new features are a pattern detection approach, meaning it should work on any version of the game, and a new platform for some function rewrite optimizations I've done (steam only). Also most importantly includes the ability to set the Streaming settings to throttle lots, reducing stutter dramatically and a patch to make lots load on radius instead of view.

A full write-up below, but here's the main features:

Change "variable" settings ingame: This lets you change things that normally require mods but live ingame, letting you tweak things how you want. This includes things like changing bloom levels, light colors, sunlight brightness, weather (so you can have snow in summer), sunrise times, tweaking shadow distances, etc etc. Highly recommend just playing around to see what can be done. These are now correctly mapped so they should all work correctly.

Change "Config" settings (not ingame): This lets you set any config (graphicsrules.sgr) thing you want, including some that aren't in the original files (idr the name). It also lets you have set presets, and means you can (hopefully) more clearly see what settings you've changed. I will slowly (I've said this before lol) manually add Config and Options settings to the live edit, I haven't found an easy automatic way of doing this unfortunately.

Performance tweaks and notifications: Set notifications for hitting memory thresholds, letting you know before an E12 happens. Improve game performance with tweaks to game code. Uhh, maybe other stuff soon idk

Please note, as this is a new rewrite, this is still a beta. There will probably be bugs, the menu may glitch out, etc. Please also note that some settings may effect things in unexpected ways, if you're not sure what a setting does, maybe try it out in a fresh save first. Generally though, everything is correctly mapped and shouldn't have any lasting negative effects on your game.

BaselinePerformance preset (put into Presets folder and load ingame with File -> Presets). This should reduce stuttering while still being light enough that it wont tank laptop players. Use this instead of my GraphicsRules file please! https://simfileshare.net/download/5333998/

Download: http://www.simfileshare.net/download/5333999/

Source: https://github.com/sims3fiend/Sims3SettingsSetter

\/ More details/blog post/How to use \/

How to use

Installing:

Just like before you 'll need an ASI loader. I recommend dxwrapper but if you're using Smooth Patch that comes with one too. You then just plonk it into your The Sims 3\Game\Bin folder like any other .asi mod and run the game.

Using:

Preset insert to open the UI

The menu should open up, if it doesn't, look in your game directory for hook_log.txt and send it to me x. If you don't have one, chances are your asi loader isn't working correctly.

The settings tab only becomes editable once a game has been loaded (might change this later). These are values that can be edited live ingame and should change something even if that thing isn't immediately obvious.

Most have sliders, the min/max/step are determined by the game itself, but you can set them above/below these values by right clicking

This also lets you "Clear Override" AKA remove it from the ini, or "Reset to Default" which resets it it to default :)

When you've got things how you want, go to file -> save to save them. If you want to make a preset out of them, that's in file too x, presets save things like patches, Config and QoL too, so just be careful. When loading a preset you can chose to Overwrite which basically clears your ini, or merge, which adds that preset on top of your current settings.

Everything else should be pretty easy to figure out idk

What's new/blog

New function approach for live edit

I actually properly looked at the code flow and found a neat vtable that had, essentially, what I was dreaming of when I made the version version of this. The function gives the name, min, max, step and address of incoming variable manager controlled settings, which is rly rly good! A much more sane and easy to develop for approach than the manually mapping out address spaces approach I was taking before!

Patterns

I've tried to use patterns for the most part, this means finding the function and trying to write a "pattern" of bytes that matches both main versions of the game (Steam and EA). This can be pretty tricky as you have to be specific enough that you don't get false positives while being loose enough to get both versions. It seems to work on both EA/Steam version (with the exception of the patches), but please let me know if it doesn't.

Patches

NERD ZONE NERD ZONE SKIP THIS PART

These will primarily be direct naked ASM patches to functions, and I'll probably be keeping them exclusive to the steam version of the game unless there's something that's a substantial improvement, as the EA one has been compiled differently so different instructions are used, meaning I'd have to write two patches. You can probably skip using them for now if I'm being honest, I have a bunch in the works but these mostly suck.

Point intersection patch

Essentially this is a hand written naked ASM patch for the point intersection code TS3 uses, this is used for nav meshing IIRC, and was the first proper one of these I did after seeing it in vtuner. Sadly, It's not really going to be noticeable at all, maybe a second faster load on custom maps, as they bulk call it during load. IIRC non-custom ones also call it during sims moving but I could be wrong as I wrote this aaages ago and didn't keep great notes. It has a lot of stuff in it and does achieve a very substantial boost vs the default function as a result, it's just that the function isn't really a cause of lag (though is on the render thread IIRC so..). It achieves the performance boost by I guess nearly fully rewriting it, I added an early exit, use prefetchnta, switched to SIMD, lddqu, shufps, fast paths… idk these are all words that mean nothing to basically everyone reading this including me but I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Target Framerate

Changes what I can only assume is the games framerate target, it seems to interact w/ the frame buffer. I haven't noticed any noticeable difference but give it a go! This one may desync things in theory but I haven't noticed so 🤷 lol actually this makes animations slow down for some reason so I've removed it oops, need to look into this more.

Lot Visibility

Disables the games check for if a lot is in view, instead it should just load based on the radius around the camera. This is a the patch in Stutter Reducerer so if you're using that you don't need this (just enable Lot Throttling under streaming)

LZ Optimization (not released)

This is basically the point intersection but for the games main package decompression (RefPack) implementation. I… am/was a bit of a dunce with this, for whatever reason my original implementation was focused on large reads using AVX,SSE, etc… Now, the issue is… LZ does small (1-4) byte reads… so… I'm in the process of rewriting it once more. Plan to uroll the functions and do idk like MOVZX I think would be huge, simplifying the flow, etc etc.

The performance gain might actually be somewhat noticeable for this as this function is used in gameplay quite a bit. How you might ask? Well, every single lot that is loaded reads and extracts files for every object in that lot every single time it is loaded, in excess of 40mb/s with that being several hundreds of thousands of calls (some files are very small, and refpack also is byte-by-byte). This is all also done on the render thread, so the game has to wait for this to do its thing (and several other functions) before it renders the next frame. Very good very fun.

Multithreading (maybe eventually)

I've tried but no real luck, I've had some "success" but mostly it's been failures. I do have some interesting things I want to look at, especially related to lot loading so we'll see what the future holds. I think some degree of multithreading for the render thread would be incredibly huge.

Other patches

I have like 10 other ones that are not quite ready yet but should help, hopefully I'll just trickle them out but I think waiting until I can get them working properly is probably dumb.

Coming soon:

Stuff that I'm working on I swear I promise!!! It's coming!

UI QoL - There's a lot wrong with it.

"Options" category support. This is tricky as changing these settings directly writes them to the .ini file in documents for some reason

Several patches

A system for automatic performance tweaks like reducing active lots to 0 when loading, then throttle-loading them back once game has loaded, or automatically reducing settings related to object caps, etc.

More live-edit settings. There's a bunch I want to add it's just annoying. Most are static values though but having to find patterns that find them for both versions is rly annoying. Things like RenderSimLODDistances, FogDistances, the Script category…etc. If you have any requests lmk!

The ini file is kinda ugly garbage horrible to look at

Need to figure out why these have min/max/step like, is there some sort of debug ui I'm missing out on? It seems like there is but idk how to trigger it, gunna be pissed if it's something obvious

[girlyassumes]

Revising a past event

As someone who revised something from the past (read the full success story here), I want to give some tips on how to do that if you’re not sure how or are struggling to do it. I’m also working on another revision, so I’m right here with you.

What is revision?

In case you don’t know what exactly revision in LOA is, it’s basically rewriting something from your past and entering a parallel reality where that past event didn’t happen. You might be thinking, “wow, that’s insane. You’re crazy.” BUT, to be fair, I had no idea it was possible until I tried it myself and successfully did it. And, you do a quick Google search, quantum leaping is a very real, scientific thing.

Also, just as a disclaimer, I’m no expert, coach, or therapist. This is me going off of my own personal experience and what ended up working for me, and what’s helping me right now. I know this can be harder with bigger, more traumatic past events - I’m not downplaying traumatic past experiences and saying revision is a cake walk for everyone. But, it is possible to do or at least work towards from my own understanding.

Tips

Gaslighting yourself - I know this sounds wrong and terrible, but hear me out lol. When I say gaslight yourself, I mean that every time a memory of what you’re revising pops into your head, you tell yourself, “that didn’t happen.” You can even add, “[this] is what happened.” Also, don’t be harsh towards yourself about it, especially if it’s something big/traumatic you’ve been coping with.

Visualizing a different version - Try to envision a different version of yourself who didn’t go through that experience or imagine a friend saying, “I don’t remember that happening. What are you talking about?” Using the power of your imagination is a huge part of what LOA is all about.

Writing a story - scripting is a technique commonly used to help manifest. In revising, it can definitely be helpful when you’re replacing a past memory with something else. You’re quite literally rewriting it.

Practicing it on small things first - I strongly recommend this because this is what I did first before revising a bigger past event (fixing a craft project vs ditching the memory of a past relationship). I was working on weaving a basket since that’s something I enjoy, but I noticed my stitch work was looking really uneven. I was already far along in my project, so I had no desire to go back and unwind my yarn. Instead, I told myself that it has looked even the whole time and kept going. Without even feeling the shift, about an hour later, I looked at it again and the stitch work looked so much neater. If you want another story and detailed explanation, watch Danielle Desautelle’s video on this (you might see my comment with this same story I just talked about lol).

Avoiding or pushing away conversations about what happened - this can be hard at times if other people know about this past event and it comes up in conversation. It unfortunately can happen (it has for me recently). But, try to steer away from talking about it, if possible (unless you absolutely need to). This way, it starts to push the memory out of the 3D realm.

Reassuring yourself - if this process feels hard to do, obviously stop or let up on it, but you can also reassure yourself that it’ll feel better once it’s over. I’m telling you, my brain has a big tendency to feel fuzzy when thinking about the past event I revised and I stopped feeling the urge to ever bring it up again. It’s such an odd yet relieving feeling to have it pretty much chucked out of your memory.

How does it feel after it happens?

Like I just mentioned in my last point, your brain may get this fuzzy feeling if you try to remember what happened. Or, certain portions of the event - or the entire thing - are completely forgotten about altogether. You might also feel a sense of discomfort and/or relief from that change happening. When I felt that odd sensation of discomfort and relief simultaneously is also when it occurred to me that a shift had happened.

You also might see changes in your 3D reality, not just your own emotions and mentality, depending on what you revised and if there was something else put in to replace the situation. Like I mentioned in both my stories, there were physical changes like my stitch work improving and my friend texting me less, including going radio silent on certain days.

Keep in mind, when you manifest, there are many, many things you might be revising without even realizing or thinking about it. When people say, “circumstances don’t matter” in relation to manifesting, you’re pretty much erasing (or diluting) what happened to get you to a certain situation or what’s happening currently in that situation. It happens more frequently than you think.

[redux-iterum]

if you dont mind me asking, how do you plan what to write? im trying to do my own rewrite but i'm struggling a bit

So I’ll cover how I do a rewrite specifically, since that’s a little different from original works like a webcomic or a book. What I use personally is the “Snowflake Method” – start big, go small.

Start by figuring out what you want to do with your rewrite. Are you trying to make the story better? Is it an AU with one major change that alters the course of history? Are you just adding mythology? What’s your goal here? Rewrites should have a point that will help define how your story shakes out. For the purposes of this ask, we’re going to assume it’s just a major-change AU.

Once you have the purpose, you can start planning. The first important thing is to get a general, overall idea of how the story will go – something basic like “Firepaw joins ShadowClan right when Brokenstar comes into power, and he ends up leading a rebellion and defeating Brokenstar and his lackeys”.

You may have ideas at this point for small scenes and snippets of dialog (God knows I always do), so write all the little things you want to have happen down in no specific order, just as they occur to you. Save those for later.

With your general idea, start breaking it up into somewhat smaller story beats. “So Firepaw joins ShadowClan, then he’s taught how to fight, and he struggles because the fighting is so violent and cruel and he’s so young. Then he sees how Brokenstar leads and doesn’t like it, and he talks to his Clanmates and discovers they don’t like it either.” And so on, until you get to your ending. Remember, you don’t need to get too detailed right now; you’re just cutting the pie into smaller pieces over time. Those slices can get smaller as you go on.

If you have those small scenes and ideas laying around, start going over the generally-planned stuff and seeing where you can add in those things. Some of them, you’ll have to get rid of, because they don’t work or make sense, or they’re not fitting to the tone of the story. That’s totally fine. Killing darlings is part of the process. Those you can keep will help connect things together.

Continue getting more and more specific as far as you need to. “Firepaw fails his first fighting lesson, then he goes home in shame, then he’s talked to by Nightpelt who is sympathetic to his shame and admits he doesn’t like Brokenstar’s leading methods, which causes a small idea of changing things to bloom in Firepaw’s head”, etc. If you’re a thorough architect like me, you need as many details as you can get, but some people are good to stop at this point, or even before it, with vague notions they can write down and improvise in.

If you feel it would help, at this point you can write a detailed synopsis for the entire story – I do it chapter-by-chapter, listing everything that happens in each chapter so that I have bite-sized summaries that are easy to look through and change things in. Some people just need a general idea and they’re good to go, and that’s fine.

The one thing I want to emphasize is to keep in mind that you're doing a rewrite, and so you should ideally have something that makes your version stand out from canon. Things are a little easier because you have bedrock to work with that you can alter or discard as you like, but you still have to alter if you want your rewrite to not just be "canon but one tiny thing is different".

I hope this helps! Apologies if it's a little scattered, I'm very tired and distracted today.

[orangeleftyart]

I gotta start posting some OC art/lore

So I have like two separate stories I’ve been wanting to write and make art of and I might post them here if anyone’s interested

I’ll explain some basic lore for now:

So the first story is a rewrite of an old story I wrote when I was like 12/13. (I had wanted to make my own magical girl story but I had never watched any magical girl shows/anime besides Star vs. TFoE so it just ended up being generic as heck) but the main premise now is this girl named Maggie who discovers she has nature-magical powers and she has to use her powers as “Miss Magnolia” (is what im calling her for now unless stuff changes lol) to defeat the “Time Miser” (again, names may change later) who is trying to “play God” and, in its efforts to do this, is literally destroying space and time itself. Miss Magnolia works with some other friends who also have magical powers (I’ll explain the magic system later on when it’s more developed) to defeat the Time Miser and fix the universe. Just kind of a magical girl-fantasy-friendship-is-magic type story, though I do want to make something unique with this kind of trope, and maybe add some horror aspects >:3 it’s still in the brainstorming process so we’ll see how it goes XD

The other story is one that I was working on last year about a cowboy who goes by Sheriff Cactusthumb and he’s travelling on a dirt road to his deceased sister, Callie Ashbury,’s house… he’s trying to figure out who may have murdered her… or if she even *was* murdered… (some even believe that Cactusthumb murdered his sister)…

So that story will be more of a mystery, where Sheriff Cactusthumb and his new friend Charlotte Merriwether find clues as to what may have happened to his sister, though there will also be some fanatasy aspects cuz it may or may not involve some magic and alternate universe… heheh…

By the way I’m gonna start using the tag #orangelefty’s oc stuff

That way I can keep track of all of my oc posts and stuff lol

Bye now! <3

[artsy0wl]

Someone Who Cares (a Saguaro x Jacq fic)

Synopsis: Can you make sure Jacq eats? He’s been so caught up with work that I think he’s skipped a few meals. Oh, and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t slept in a few days.

It sounded simple enough. It should have been simple enough. But when he got to Jacq’s office, he wasn’t sure if “simple” was the right word. Messy and chaotic fit the scene he was greeted by.

I decided to rewrite this since I wasn’t feeling the direction it was going in.

Can you make sure Jacq eats? He’s been so caught up with work that I think he’s skipped a few meals. Oh, and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t slept in a few days.

It sounded like a simple enough request. If not a bit odd. Clavell wasn’t too invested in the teachers outside of the basics. However, given that Jacq had developed a bond and partnership with the esteemed director, it wasn’t too surprising when Clavell worried about him.

And he had every right to. Though not something the average person would pick up, in hindsight, Saguaro realized that he hasn’t seen Jacq much in the break room or the cafeteria.

So if the director was coming to him to combat that, Sarguaro could understand that. From what Saguaro was told, Jacq ignored Miriam’s concerns, stating he was alright and would grab something to eat later. He told Dendra he has to keep his mind working if he was ever going to get his project done. He even told Hassel that ‘an artist’s work, or I guess I should say biology teacher’s duty, needs to be perfect’.

Clavell must have been desperate if he was asking for Saguaro’s help. His and Jacq’s department were so far apart that Saguaro wondered why the director didn’t ask Raifort first.

It sounded simple enough. It should have been simple enough. But when he got to Jacq’s office, he wasn’t sure if “simple” was the right word. Messy and chaotic fit the scene he was greeted by.

Papers scattered across the floor along with several empty cups of, presumably, coffee. Jacq’s Arcanine was curled up and napping next to Jacq while his Farigiraf poked her head in through the nearby window. An Alolan Meowth napped on his table while Jacq picked away at a Pokédex. Jacq was muttering to himself, some kind of technical jargon that Saguaro didn’t particularly care to understand.

Talking Jacq out of his invested was going to be interesting. If not a bit annoying. Clearing his throat, Saguaro entered the room.

“Not very tidy today, are you?”

Chuckling, Jacq took his glasses off and set them on the desk. “A little mess can’t hurt anyone.”

Approaching Jacq’s desk, Saguaro leaned against it. “But skipping out on meals and sleep can.”

Huffing, Jacq leaned forward, folding his arms in the process. “Not you too.”

“Yes, me too.” Saguaro crossed his arms. “You more than anyone should know that your body has needs.”

“And I will… once I get these projects done.”

Grabbing a document, Jacq proceeded to jot some notes down. He then proceeded to pet the Meowth’s head before moving onto the next document. Looking at Jacq’s paperwork, Saguaro changed his tactic.

“What are you working on?”

“Miss Briar wanted to see if I could add a new feature to the Pokédex. She wanted some kind of lore application for the Blueberry Academy students. Specifically on Paradox Pokémon and regional variants for educational purposes. Salvatore wants some insight on this little guy.” Jacq scratched behind the Meowth’s ear. “Apparently he hasn’t been eating much lately despite poving what Salvatore had been giving up until now.” Jacq grabbed a few documents. “Director Clavell needs the results of the Biology midterm by the end of the week and I’m looking into the Herba Mystica sample that Arven brought me.”

“Sounds stressful.”

“Maybe a little, but it’s keeping me busy. Which isn’t that bad, am I right?” Jacq shrugged as the Meowth woke up and stretched out. “Besides, it’ll be worth it when all is said and done.”

“It may be worth it, but I don’t think they want you to overwork yourself in the process.”

“But I need to get it all done.” Jacq let out a deep yawn, rubbing his eyes before grabbing the Pokédex he was working on. “I promised I’d get it done and I can’t let them down.”

“You won’t let anyone down if you take a break.”

Jacq slid his glasses back on. “You don’t know that.”

“Yes I do. None of them would want you to lose your sanity over this. Or your health.”

“I’m fine.”

“You probably can’t even stand up without falling over.”

“I can. Watch me.”

Accepting the challenge, Jacq quickly stood up. Maintaining his balance, he turned to fully face Saguaro with a boastful smirked. But before he could boast about his small win, Jacq’s vision began to blur. Fuzzy particles clouded his line of sight. His ankle rolled, causing Jacq to fall over. Saguaro acted fast, he grabbed Jacq and helped him stand.

“See.”

“I tripped.”

Saguaro rolled his eyes. If Jacq was going to be difficult, he would meet it with equal amounts of stubbornness. The back of Jaq’s coat was grabbed as he was tossed over Saguaro’s shoulder.

“And my hand slipped.”

Jacq’s face turned red as Saguaro picked up the Meowth and vacated the room. “Saguaro!? Put me down!”

“No.”

The first place Saguaro stopped was Salvatore's office, plopping the Meowth in his bed. “Try more seafood oriented food. And bitter berries since they can’t really taste sweet berries.”

Not waiting for a response, Saguaro left Salvatore’s office. Instead, he hauled Jacq over to his dorm room. All the while, Jacq weakly begged for Saguaro to put him down.

He would only get his wish once they got to the room. Once there, Saguaro set Jacq on the bed, removing Jacq’s glasses in the process. But instead of lying down, Jacq sat on the side of the bed. Despite his exhaustion, he wasn’t ready to give up.

Saguaro set the glasses on the counter as he started to look around the kitchen. “Can you give yourself, at least one hour to nap? After that, you’re going to eat, then, will you be allowed to get back to work.”

Jacq continued to sit there, not responding to the request. Not knowing if that was his way of considering it or silently accepting it, Saguaro continued to look around the kitchen. Grabbing a pot and a few ingredients, he decided to make soup. It wouldn’t take long to make and wouldn’t be too hefty on Jacq’s stomach.

“It’s my fault, isn’t it?”

“What is?” A stagnate pause greeted him as Saguaro started chopping some veggies. “What do you think is your fault?”

“That Sada died.”

A quick, firm chop cut through a leek. Shoulders stiffened as Saguaro’s hands landed on the counter. Light eyes fell on Jacq, who refused to move eye contact from the floor.

“Where is this coming from?” More silence. “Jacq?”

“I’m noticing Briar taking an… unhealthy interest in Aera Zero.” Jacq huffed. “It brings back memories. Regrets. Things I should have changed.” He shuttered as he shook his head. “Knowing what happened with Sada, while standing in front of her son makes me feel evil. I could have… should have, said something back then.

Saguaro moved around the counter and sat next to Jacq. His hand gently landed on Jacq’s back. Jacq quietly melted into it. Almost as though he needed physical contact.

“It’s just… every time I look at Arven, I get this gut wrenching feeling in my stomach.” Leaning forward, Jacq crossed his arms over his lap. “He shouldn’t be taught by the man who contributed to her passing.”

“It’s not your fault.” Saguaro denounced. “Arven’s a good kid. Needs a little more practice in the kitchen, but a good kid.” His hand gently motioned around Jacq’s back. “But if he blames anyone, it’s not you.”

“But I-”

“Am a wonderful teacher that anyone would be lucky to have. Excitable and a little air headed, who unconsciously overworks himself, but an honest man.”

Jacq sat up, finally turning to face Saguaro with exhausted distress. “But I’m not. I was part of the problem. I wanted to go on the expedition too. So I should have been the one to say something when Clavell didn’t. Why shouldn’t he mad at me?”

“First of all, Arven’s just a kid. You’re expecting a lot from a kid who’s still got a few years in school. Will he feel resentful for his mother’s decisions? Of course. Will he blame one of the only mentors and parental figures he has because of it? No.” Saguaro’s hand wrapped around Jacq’s shoulders. “Secondly, you have noting to feel guilty over. Yes, you were on the expedition, but if anyone pushed Sada to that point, it would have been her. I don’t think any of us wanted this to happen, but no one could have predicted this. Not even Sada. And thirdly, Sada and Briar are grown women. You could have done everything in your power to stop Sada, and she still could have gone down the same path. Same with Briar presently.”

Holding back tears, Jacq glared at Saguaro, trying to hold back the urge to yell at Saguaro. Knowing he was just trying to help and didn’t deserve to be berated, Jacq knew better. At the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to accept that he was innocent in all of this.

“It can’t be that simple. Someone has to be held accountable and-”

A kiss prevented Jacq from finishing his thought, silencing him. A soft, stunned breath escaped his nostrils as silver eyes widened. When Saguaro pulled back, he took advantage of Jacq’s shock and gently pushed Jacq back, lying him down. With a now red face, jacq glared at Saguaro with confused disbelief.

“You’re not in a clear mental state. If you really want to continue this self inflicted blame, we can afterwards.”

~

“I never would have thought you had a sweet tooth.”

Four hours later and Jacq finally woke up from his nap. When he did, he was greeted by the scent of coffee. A sweet aroma was in the air as he managed to get himself out of bed with an unceremonious thud. Saguaro had opted out of his soup plan in favor of scones. A preferable alternative to go with the coffee.

“You’re not the only one.” Saguaro chuckled. “What can I say, there’s a softie underneath this cool exterior. Besides, Juliana and Arven got me some of that Sweet Herba Mystica as a little gift and I want to put it to good use.”

“Oh…” Jacq wearily smirked, “that was really nice of them.”

“It really was.”

An awkward silence fell as Jacq’s frame deflated. His glasses fogged up as he took a sip of coffee. When he set it down, Jacq's elbows rested on the table as fingers intertwined in front of Jacq’s face.

“Sada’s death is hitting you deep, isn’t it? And that’s why you’ve been over working yourself, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“And you haven’t told the Director, if I had to guess. Because you know he’d have you take time off if you did.” Jacq nodded. “And you thought you could bury it under work, thinking that no one would suspect anything?” Jacq nodded again causing Saguaro to roll his eyes. “You know, for someone so smart, you are so dumb sometimes.”

Jacq shrugged his shoulders. “It worked.”

“For how long? A week? And only because our esteemed director had an undercover counseling gig with a pompadour and a dream.” Saguaro’s hand reached across the table, grabbing Jacq’s wrist. “You need to take it easy. You can’t go on like this.”

Jacq’s face fell as he yanked his wrist away. “You’re stubborn, you know that?”

Saguaro chuckled. “That’s probably why he asked me to step in. Fight fire with fire. Or, well, stubbornness with stubbornness. Though, what you really need is a few days off and probably some therapy.”

Reaching out a hand, Saguaro offered comfort, hoping Jacq would accept the offer. Jacq eye the hand, cautiously and curiously. Staring at the hand, he was tempted to take it. To resign himself in defeat and take care of himself. Hovering his hand over Saguaro’s for a moment, Jacq quickly pulled it back.

“I’ll consider it, when I’m ready.”

“Frankly, I don’t think you should procrastinate. I’d hate to see how worse this could get for you. Especially, if I knew I could stop it.”

Jacq shrugged with a small sigh before he hunched forward. Using his arms as cushions, he rested his head as he watched Sagusro in silence. His mind was elsewhere while his gaze was perplexed.

“Why did you kiss me?”

Withdrawing his hand, Saguaro frowned. He wasn't shocked by the question. Rather, he had hoped to avoid it for a little longer.

Saguarp sighed. “I don’t know.”

Finding the right words was surprisingly difficult. He knew there was a reason and the last thing he wanted to do was make excuses. But finding said reason felt more difficult than it should have been.

“I mean, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but,” Jacq shrugged, “I wouldn’t have minded dinner first.” He awkwardly chuckled. “I… I’m not mad, I’m just confused.”

Saguaro shook his head, leaning forward. “While I appreciate the sentiment, it wasn’t okay. I forgot about your autonomy in a mindlessly attempted to deescalate the situation.”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t thinking clearly and you were trying to help.”

“It’s really not, but we can sort that out later.”

Jacq hid his face in his arms, sighing. Leaving the conversation there for now, Saguaro watched him. The important thing was trying to help out with the more pressing issue. As a thought occurred to him, Saguaro stood up and moved closer to Jacq, sitting on the edge of the table.

“How can someone learn to better their sandwich making?”

Lifting his face up, Jacq look at him confused. “What?”

“Let’s say I have a student who, despite his best efforts, was having difficulties crafting a well crafted and delectable sandwich for him and his Pokémon. He has all of the ingredients, but let’s sat he’s missing a step. Be it a proper base or adds too much meat and maybe he doesn’t realize it. How might he get help?”

Sitting up, Jacq contemplated the inquiry. “I suppose having a friend, or anyone close for that matter, could offer help. Sometimes it takes another set of eyes to help.”

Saguaro nodded. “Correct. Now, say this person doesn’t want help, be it out of stubbornness or self consciousness. How can this individual help this student?”

Jacq paused. “On the one hand, I’d day give them space. Maybe let them try again knowing that they have someone to help if needed. But,” his head tilted, “there’s nothing wrong with needing help when it’s offered. Especially in moments where it’s necessary. For example, when I was a much younger man, Sada and the director helped me out a lot when I got stuck on a problem. I would be so fixated on or aggravated with what I did wrong that I would miss the solution.” Pausing again, he looked at Saguaro quizzically. “But what does that have to do with any of this?”

“This is an altered analogy where I used Arven as an unnamed example on how working with others can help in the sandwich making process.” He nodded as he recalled the lesson. “In this altered analogy, you are the student that needs help.” Saguaro stood up, his down at Jacq. “I’m also glad you mentioned how our esteemed director and prodigal professor. It’s a good comparison for the stubborn refusal you’ve instilled now,” Pulling his chair over, Saguaro sat down. “You’ve already done your ‘leave them be with someone there if needed’ route. If a but shoddily so given your disregard for people being there to help.” He crossed his legs as he placed his arms on the table. “So we’re now at the ‘offered help’ stage. For Arven, it was cooking with a good friend. For you, it’s finding a way to process your grief while being stuck with the ‘cool’ Home Ec teacher. So tell me,” his hand rested on Jacq’s arm, “how can I help you?”

~

“Allow me to thank you. I know this wasn't easy.”

Jacq napped on Saguaro’s bed as Saguaro and Clavell hung out in the kitchen. After a day of menial tasks and getting his first therapy session planned, Saguaro suggested that Jacq should catch up on sleep. Saguaro also put in a request for substitutes for his and Jacq’s classes until the end of the week, at least. This would give them a few days to adjust to a new plan.

“Happy to help,” Saguaro mused, “though he still has some things to work through.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised. Internalizing the whole ordeal must have wrecked him mentally. Those kind of wounds take time.”

Saguaro grumbled, nodding as he glanced at Jacq. A few thoughts ran through his mind, one needing to be addressed more than the rest.”

“Was he ever in love? With Sada, I mean?”

Clavell turned his attention to Jacq. “No. If anything, he looked up to her and saw her as an older sister.” With a quizzical expression, he turned his attention back to Saguaro. “Why do you ask?”

Saguaro was quiet for a moment. “I may have overstepped a boundary and kissed him. He brushed it off, but it got me thinking. Since I’ve never seen him date any one, I thought maybe he only really ever loved Sada, even if it was unrequited and Sada being married to Turo.”

Pausing for a moment, Clavell scanned Saguaro as he processed the statement. Once he did, Clavell chuckled, which, in turn, confused Saguaro.

“Trust me, he’s got plenty of dating experience.” Clavell assured. “If I recall correctly, he went to a dance with Raifort in high school and briefly dated Salvatore in college. Which may explain why Salvatore’s more inclined to ask Jacq first for most Pokémon ailments instead of Miriam.” His demeanor shifted slightly. “However, I can understand your concerned curiosity. You took a spontaneous initiative and crossed a barrier you didn’t mean to.”

He turned slightly to get a look at Jacq. His frame tightened slightly as his hand unconsciously pushed his glasses off. Clavell smirked as Jacq sighed.

“He won’t hold it against you.” Clavell assured. “And if I’m being honest, you’re one of the few people I’d trust to date him.”

Saguaro started coughing, trying not to choke on his coffee. “Oh I don’t-”

Clavell chuckled, shaking his head. “Of course not. But if you were, you’d have my support.” Clavell paused as Jacq let out a gasp. “Right now, he needs time. Just promise me you’ll watch out for him.”

“Of course.”

~

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep for so long.”

“Don’t worry. You needed it.”

Rubbing his eyes, Jacq awkwardly hopped around the kitchen. Opening cabinets, he began looking for a mug. When he spotted one, Jacq tried to grab it, but it was on a shelf too high for him to reach. He let out a strained huff as he boosted himself up on his toes.

A hand reached over him, grabbing the mug for him, setting it on the counter. A towering aura weighed over Jacq, causing him to turn around. Saguaro stood over him, arms closing Jacq off as he silently glared at him.

“Is everything okay?”

Tilting his head, Saguaro leaned down and kissed Jacq’s forehead. A hand held the side of Jacq’s face as the biology professor’s face turned red.

“When you’re ready, I’d like to take you out for lunch.”

[annabthesolitarywriter]

OC headcanons: Eldarael

**to be updated as storylines develop**

Remember when I said Aragorn and Arwen could potentially have even more children? Turns out they have one more daughter, Eldarael.

She's Eldarion's twin and Enna's childhood bestie. I thought that, since Enna and Eldarion are betrothed as infants, she might actually spend a lot more of her early life at court (you know, just to get familiar with the ways of the Capital and to get to know what is technically supposed to be her future home). She's introduced to Eldarion right away and befriends Eldarael, who's basically Enna's twin (as least behavior-wise). She's quiet, introspective and...lonely. Very lonely. As everybody obsesses over Eldarion, she's pretty much...forgotten. She wants to make at least a friend and she and Enna bond almost immediately. She's Enna's first friend outside of her family (Gilraen, Eledhwen, Elarien, Elendil etc...come into the picture a lot later) and they have a great bond. She's also friends with Findelis (Boromir's first child). We could say that's the OG trio. I haven't really developed her much as of now, but I kind of want to write something about her? I don't know, send me prompts and I'll see what I can do. You know I'm always cooking ideas.

Personality-wise, she's very similar to Enna. She's kind, forgiving and, although he acts as if she didn't exist, she's always ready to lend a helping hand to Eldarion. She does not approve of his ways, but she is also understanding and tends to excuse him MOST of the time. She rarely raises her voice and respects everyone. She wants a trouble-free life and seeks to help others as much as she can. She's considered fairly "plain" and "forgettable in every way" (according to the general opinion, she's not a great beauty) and struggles to find suitors as most of them focus their attention on her "considerably more attractive sisters". I think she may either end up with a Maia (or at least have a brief fling with one of them) or she may as well end up with another brother of Enna's (new OCs coming?) or with an hypothetical brother of Eledhwen and Elarien's (maybe Halbarad had a son, in addition to his two daughters). Aragorn may also arrange a betrothal to someone (I mean, he did so for Gilraen so he might totally do the same for her).

Aragorn and Arwen may also have another daughter (I found a faceclaim I really like and I want to keep her) who is born somewhere between year 10 and year 16. She'll probably get married to someone from the Blackroot Vale so Eldarael might end up with...I don't really know yet. Aragorn and Arwen have so many daughters one of them could be single and it wouldn't affect the plot or the Kingdom. But something tells me that Aragorn will marry her to an abusive prick and then order the execution and/or banishment of said abusive prick once he realizes his son-in-law is exactly that.

Oh, well, let the thinking begin...and do send prompts! I'm getting ideas of the little trio playing together in Emyn Arnen and that would definitely be something cute to write! But also something about the two of them at court. I mean, anything is fine. The more characters I develop before I start the rewrite, the better.

I will also add Eldarael and the new daughter (name is yet to be decided) to the Most Likely game. Arawen now have...eleven children? Two princes and nine princesses. Get them a TV please.

[rose0910]

I know you did not ask and you can ignore if you like but whenever I see Garroth’s Betrayal Sucks I feel contractually obligated to speak on what I make it in my head because I hate that pat so fucking much and of it wasnt so intrinsically tied to the time skip I would burn it to the ground

I make it an Aphmau’s Fault Too thing. Garroth being the loyal guard he is tells Aphmau about someone trying to indoctrinate him and Aphmau just says. “We can use this.” and so a double cross plot is born but Aphmau never pulls the plug even as it gets more and more apparent they cannot make this work because everything has always worked out for her before even when she goes against peoples advice, and despite Garroth insisting they should stop he doesn’t disobey his lord, until it’s already too late of course.

That solves the “Well why wasn’t any blame placed onto Garroth?” issue as well as really adds to and clears up Aphmau’s desperation to bring him home.

It also makes Aphmau missing her children’s childhoods and her village crumbling partially her own fault, the consequences do not fit the crime but to me when it’s something that big and Aphmau being such a “Makes things happen” character it should be her own fault in some way.

(this also of course breaks Garroth’s trust in Aphmau, because he thought they were friends but she ignored every concern and let him be sworn into the Jury of Nine, an establishment she knows he detests)

No thank you for bringing this up! I completely didn’t think about it that way (probably the Laurmau bias 😰) but I definitely see that this works a whole lot better than the shithole that part is, especially the part where Garroth asks about the pendant and,, (I literally paused for a whole minute I forgot what happened) ok so I may be wrong but originally aphmau refused to tell Garroth about the pendants location however after the war she finally tells him that laurance has is. Considering she knew Garroth wasn’t himself and Ofc later finding out that Garroth immediately went and stole the pendant, that would definitely point guilt onto aphmau, also like girl he’s been “sick” and been looked after by a random stranger who walks in also was it cadenza who told Lillian abt Garroth istg first Zane about laurance now this ANYWAYS especially when tensions are high in the village and there is a traitor would you not hold slightly more concern?? I hate this part can we just idk make up a different reason they go to the Irene dimension 😭. Anyways I’m not 100% abt the indoctrination however there is absolutely mistrust between Garroth and aphmau which is completely their own faults in different ways, ultimately I think it’s Zane’s fault, and if I could completely remove that part I would but alas we have to fix everything in this series.

TLDR I think in my very future rewrite the betrayal arc will turn into a oh no he’s manipulated and under a spell arc (smth like that ig) basically keep the good (needed) parts (the time skip and relic absorption) and ditch the bad (the complete butcher of Garroth)

Tempted to write out Aaron but I guess he needs to be in to get Garroth out 🙄 or we can use aphmaus Irene powers or smth

[palatial-monstrosity]

So you wanna write a novel…

I decided to write this after a post by @corpsepng asking how people plan their stories. It got out of hand so I made a separate post!

This is the system I used for planning, which is the result of mixing various strategies and amount of planning. The concern that "if I plan everything then I do not feel motivated to write" is valid and good news, there's ways to defeat that specific situation while reaping the benefits of planning the story beforehand.

THE BASICS

Step 1: the main character

Disclaimer: for simplicity, I'll assume only one main character but it can be adapted for more.

It's useful to know a few things about your mc before starting. Try to answer these questions:

Who are they? What does a typical day of their life look like? (ex, are we talking about a young wizard, a 50s housewife or a grizzled old warrior?)

What are they good at? (everyone is good at something, no matter how small and unimportant it may seem)

What do they want? Everyone wants something, even if it's just peace and quiet.

What do they lose if they quit? This will tell us a lot about the stakes of the story. Ultimately, is it about survival, belonging, respect, etc? It has to be quite important for your character, because if they change, they do it to save it.

What is their main flaw? This will greatly influence the story, so spend some time on this. In the context of your story a characteristic may be a flaw even if we would see things differently: maybe your character needs to become a cold-blooded killer to protect their family, maybe they need to be less generous, maybe they trust people too much… remember, context is king here.

Step 2: the environment

Who is their main antagonist? It could also be nature, magic or some organization, but there has to be someone opposing your character or there's no story.

How do they behave? What makes them succeed (until they don't, or they do)?

What is the setting? Again, go for the meaning here, not just the aesthetic. If your character needs to become a cold-blooded killer, maybe they're surrounded by monsters, zombies or something else that cannot be reasoned with. Or maybe you can reason with them and your MC has been successful in the past and thinks that's possible, until it doesn't work anymore…

Step 3: The ending

You need to know how the story ends, my friends. Some minor details may change, but the more you know about it, the easier the work is (and the less you'd have to rewrite, which is frustrating)

THE BASIC STRUCTURE

Once you have these elements, I strongly suggest you become familiar with the character arc, as it will be a useful guideline. You can divide your story in 5 or 3 parts, as you prefer, both work (I'm currently using a 5 acts structure).

Here's a very quick outline:

1 ACT The basics. Introduce the character and make us root for them, tell us what's happening and how it will affect them. Show us their flaw and we'll put 2 and 2 together. Introduce the main allies and antagonist, though you can add more important characters later.

2 ACT Your character tries to solve their new problem (bring the ring to Mordor, fight against the evil Empire, etc) and fails. They lack allies or refuse them.

3 ACT A huge failure makes them sit and stop for a moment - they either change for the better, or go down the road to tragedy (I am simplifying things a lot here) If they change, allow them to catch their breath as a reward.

4 ACT Their change was not complete/perfect and now the antagonist has become harder to fight. Your MC is on the road to failure again, one last time. And this time, everything seems lost. Hope seems to disappear.

5 ACT Your MC finds hope again, and finds out how to win against the antagonist. Not everything is lost. They regain old (and new) allies and fight. It is hard and there are losses, but they have changed (where, we might add, the antagonist has not), and they win. Or they don't, if you set them on a path to tragedy.

Once you've sketched a rough outline of these acts, the fun begins!

Take the first act and divide it in chapters, taking notes of what you want to show. I do this scene by scene, but in a very simple way. I might write "MC fights, he is injured because he refuses to kill his enemy" and this will be my way to show that his flaw is that he is too merciful. I do not go into details about the fight just yet.

Once you finished this for the first act, pick your very first scene. This will be the hardest one as it needs to set, well, everything. Where are we, who is the mc, etc. This might need a few rewrites. Once you've chosen what you want to show, I want you to THINK about it. All the fucking time. At the bus stop, in traffic, in the shower, at lunch, whatever. Think about how you'd write it. How would you start it, how will you show us that it's night and we are in a deep dark forest, or that we're in an office building at dawn, whatever. The first scene might take a few days of this, but it will be easier as you go. It is important that you get at the very least one night of sleep between the thinking and the writing as sleep organizes stuff in your mind. Only then, sit down and write that specific scene. You will notice that it will be different from how you originally planned it: maybe you added a side character, maybe you decided it's not night but sunset, etc. Your brain will give you new ideas! And that's great. After you've written that, well, start thinking about the next scene, and so on, and so on… I currently manage the thinking for the next scene + the writing in the same day ( I write first thing in the morning so I get that part out of my brain).

MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE

your character's opinion aren't your opinions. get crazy, it will be fun.

everything you write will be on your mc's point of view, so they will notice things differently than you would. They might notice things that are ordinary for us, or they might have different views on things like religion, family, sexuality, etc.

Recommended reading

It's just three books, read at the very least the first two books as they will be incredibly useful for the character arc and to write compelling characters:

Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc: The Secret to Crafting Extraordinary Screenplays by Dara Marks

The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human, and How to Tell Them Better by Will Storr

Into The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them by John Yorke

[ribbitdeltarune]

the post like i said. its been 2 days later (maybe a bit more. im a bit late at this point..) But! 14 of november! My birthday !!! :p didnt do anything for myself but i did spend some (more like a ton) time with friends

so ahead will just be rambling . read if u want

Alriiight so. i am. Dead. i dont post very often . Thats bcuz i dont actually have a active online presence when it comes 2 posting lol this is sorta my first time . however i did post a few times on twitter before and got a decent following but that was basically never anyway . Thank you all for (checks notes) 19 followers! That. is a first actually

however i also kinda have 2 apologize since i dont post a lot which makes this account.. uh, semi-inactive? shrug. as i did mention before in a prev post i am holding back a lotta stuff that i havent posted yet . oops! i personally dont like posting irl photos because 1) i am actually dogwater at taking photos, 3) my camera quality sucks and 2) i dont actually draw on A4 paper very often or like notebook paper at all lol. (its this small one thats more like a notebook to write stuff down stuff you gotta remember, an agenda or whatever. not like i care i use it to draw anyway. it aint got lines its just full white paper (sometimes colored depending on the one i buy) so its for drawing in my view.) but the bad thing is most drawings i made of ribbit so far are... On Paper.

Now. I can just upload them as is but i dont like doing that . i can also just make them digital drawings but if you think im capable of doing that without immediately doing something else you may be wrong

Speaking of thats mostly why this acc is also semi-inactive . whenever i DO draw digitally im probably also doing another thing at the same time so i get distracted and then get stuck on doing something else completely and forget i have to draw!!! Oopsies. im also bad at executing things (''man im gonna draw ribbit right now'' (doesnt do it) (its also a 50/50 if i actually do it or not)) so thats part of it. do i Think posting and/or drawing ribbit stuff is a chore? Not really. i actually like drawing stuff 4 this fandom and im attached 2 the characters + the mod anyway so its not like im gonna stop This soon . not even a year in yet!

I also have a lot of ideas so i hop between 'em a lot (i have so many animations/animatics in mind but guess who cant animate and also drawing frames take longer than just drawing sighs)... thats why most posts on here is just doodles so far .

to be fair though i have been in a . Uh. I guess fine. Maybe a bit bad headspace as of a few weeks now so i havent really gotten the urge/want to post rn and who knows how long that'll take to go away anyway. thinking of trying 2 get sum stuff finished and then queueing a few posts just so i can get some brainworms out of ma head . and Who Knows if i'll really do that. Future Is Mystery!

Oh and to add i still need to finish or get to like maybe the 5th chapter for a fic im working on rn so theres that too. im still on chapter 4 (progress is fine. i think ill rewrite the dream segment?) and then i will Hopefully get 2 work on chapter 5. god bless being unable to execute things AND to spice it up focus on things (sarcasm)

i am however kinda busy these days. Schoolnstuff. I get in drawing moods a lot (literally everyday bro i dont get burnt out easily or get demotivated that much bc i just finish it eventually anyway) but i need to pass math to pass the year itself so maybe no art posts until thats done. i might post every now and then though. Speaking of posting! Did you know VeeReMia is actually a pun on viremia which is, ''a medical term for viruses present in the bloodstream''. vee came first as part of the instrumental theme, and then maxine added the other syllables. Fun isnt it (i cant stop thinking about it now)

Thanks for reading . I think thats all. Maybe. Shrug.

Also current pfp is placeholder i also need 2 make one BANGS FISTS ON TABLE REPEATEDLY

[dutifullylazybread]

I am so in love with your story Deeply and Immovably So. I am heavily invested, I am a bit embarrassed to say that right as I found your story I was writing my own fic falling into the same theme of Tav and Rolan living in the tower together. I am currently rewriting my story to make sure I keep our stories different.

I guess I wanted to ask you a question, how did you mange to write a story all in one go? I tend to write in fragments and post my chapters one at a time. I guess If you could give me some advice on writing series and how you approach it?

Your amazing and can't wait for the chapter update on Friday!

I'm so glad you like the story!! :D. I'm honestly not worried about there being similarities between our fics. One key point for Rolan's character is establishing a home for his family after what happens in Elturel. On top of that, Tav (even a Balduran Tav) doesn't actually have a home that we can ever visit, so gravitating towards staying in the tower makes a lot of sense! So if that is a big part of your story and it would be strongly affected by you changing that part of it, don't feel like you must make those revisions. I'd rather you be happy with where you story is than worry about similarities like that. Regardless, I'm really excited to read your fic! If you'd like, please drop me a link when you begin posting! :)

As far as how I wrote the fic all out? I won't lie, I haven't really ever thought about my process, so when you asked, I sorta resembled Patrick (more below the image, I promise!):

That being said though, I can definitely share how I wrote the fic and how I am working with the story now, but my big rule with writing is that writers should do what works best for them--what works for me might not necessarily work for someone else. So if what works best for you is posting as you finish chapters, then absolutely do that. There are some extremely talented writers in the Rolan x Tav corner that do the same or something similar. If you haven't read @underdark-dreams's A Strand to Climb, @lemonsrosesandlavender's Sharp Teeth, or @graysparrowao3's What If Rolan Was A Companion? I highly recommend them (and not just these fics--the rest of their repertoires are delicious too!).

This is my tl;dr for my explanation below--I can be super long-winded (I'm sorry about that!!). Like I said, this is what works for me, but if you don't think these things jive with you, then do what you feel is best for you and your story. :)

Write the story out first. Don't edit until you have finished the fic.

If you run into a writing wall, work on a different scene and come back later.

While it's fun to add in details, a lot of that can be supplied during your editing/revisions stages. Worrying too much about this can bog you down when you're in the middle of writing.

Don't immediately jump into editing your story after finishing a chapter. Take anywhere from a few days to a week to let the draft sit before you work on it again.

Avoid burnout - take care of yourself and take brain breaks.

Here are the longer explanations:

Write the story out first. Don't edit until you have finished writing the fic.

I started writing the Rolan x Tav story as my NaNoWriMo project back in November and I kept working on it through December. For those who may not be familiar, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, and the goal is to write 50,000 words in a month. These do not have to be good words, they just have to be words on a page. So already out of the gate, I knew that, if I wrote this fic, it might not be well-written at first, but it would be a story. I had to give myself permission to write a bad draft, basically, and that is sometimes the hardest thing in the world (I am still irked by it). If you're anything like me, the thought of not having perfection on the page during a first writing pass feels awful. BUT I do sincerely believe it is why I wrote as much as I did in two months. Because I just focused on writing and not editing. And, if I could tell I was getting close to hitting a wall, I would make a note in my manuscript to come back, and then I'd keep writing the chapter. My notes are parentheses that basically say (Add more detail here), (make scene more sexy), (Review dialogue exchange). It's really weird to write down, but when I'm writing and struggling, it honestly feels like my brain is coming up against an actual wall. Basically, I'm giving myself a headache. BUT this is my warning sign to come back later, because I'm getting too lost in the weeds and I won't be happy with the end result of whatever I force out.

2. If you run into a writing wall, work on a different scene and come back later.

The rationale for coming back and working through the wall later comes from a combination of reasons: 1) From past experience, forcing myself through a block can work, but it is the most agonizing experience ever. And it is exhausting. Writing can be exhausting, that is okay. BUT, what if I force myself through the block and then I'm unhappy with the result? For me personally, pushing against a block/wall can feed into burnout. So 2) it's better to take a break and work on a part of the story that I am excited to pursue and then revisit the wall later, because 3) if you let yourself take a brain break, you're going to come back and find that the wall isn't really a wall anymore. If anything, it's a really fun idea. You just needed to come back when the lighting was different.

3. While it's fun to add in details, a lot of that can be supplied during your editing/revisions stages. Worrying too much about this can bog you down when you're in the middle of writing.

I find that, while I am in the drafting stages, I often write at a pelt. I do my best to write the first draft well, but I write so quickly that I might not pause to ask, "So what does the setting look like exactly? What color is the sky? How does the Chionthar look at this moment? What does it smell like?" Some of those details might make it in while I'm drafting, but I think that I focus in on those during editing/revision, because that is when I let myself slow down and focus on the details.

4. Don't immediately jump into editing your story after finishing a chapter. Take anywhere from a few days to a week to let the draft sit before you work on it again.

Due to how I wrote this fic, I didn't actually revisit a lot of these chapters until about a month or two later. And that has led to a combination of "Hey, this isn't too bad," to "What were you thinking??" BUT, I do sit quite firmly in the camp that taking a few days to just breathe and not immediately jumping into editing helped give me a fresh perspective. When we spend so much time working on our stories, it goes without saying that we are very close to what we are working on, and sometimes that can work against us. SO, putting some distance between yourself and the chapter in question can help you identify what needs to be cleaned up/revised when you return to it.

5. Avoid burnout - take care of yourself and take brain breaks.

In my experience, one thing that stopped me from working on long fics was burnout. For previous fanfic projects I tried to work on, all of my free time would be poured into writing, and not a lot of it would be used to relax. I would work on these stories nonstop. I would argue that this is probably why several long-form fanfictions don't get finished by several writers (and that's not even considering how school, work, and family obligations might also take a toll on your energy). The last thing you want is to feel apathetic or frustrated over the thought of working on your story, so taking the time to relax and take care of yourself. While I think having a writing habit is extremely helpful, I also think taking an evening to just relax once a week is just as nice. Typically, I start writing around 7 pm every night, and I'll wrap up around 10:30 pm - 11:00 pm. BUT, I don't do any intense work on Mondays (since that is D&D night in my house).

I hope that this helps! But again, do what you think is best for you. I'm super excited to read your fic!!! :D

[yukiwhitetm]

Hey! Thank you so much for reading my NDRV3 fanstory You will always be Monarch Butterfly! I appreciate you doing that and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks to the 2nd Anon for bookmarking it even. Your support means the world to me.

Sorry that it's taken me so long to answer these asks, I've had a lot going on in the background as, since October 2022 all through 2023, three of my friends have passed away and so I've been dealing with a lot of grief. Because of that, I didn't have the mental energy to answer you guys. I'm so sorry about that and yet I appreciate your patience. I have actually already answered your questions in a previous post so you may know the answer to this by now but I thought I should respond to you directly, just in case.

OK! So, what happened to my NDRV3 fanstory You will always be Monarch Butterfly!?

Well, technically speaking, it's still there on AO3. I should have deleted it - and I will explain why in a moment - but I couldn't bear to lose all your wonderful comments. I did this nifty thing where you can add a story to a group - and then make it invisible! Or hidden or unreleased, I can't remember the exact wording. But, basically, it's still on AO3, although it shouldn't be, but only I can see it. The easiest way to word it is that I have archived it.

Why did I archive it?

Well, as you mentioned, I said I would lock it to AO3 members only because of AI stealing AO3 authors' content and I did do that... initially. You see, the truth is that I love You will always be Monarch Butterfly! It's such a fun story and I don't want it to be lost or stolen. More than that, I and my real life friends and family could see the potential in You will always be Monarch Butterfly! to be adapted into an original story, since so much of it was my original ideas anyway, that I might publish as a real, physical book - with pages! That smell nice! And has a beautiful cover! Wouldn't that be fun?

I had thought about the possibility of adapting it into an original story for a long time and then the AI stealing thing happened, which just spurred me into action. I locked You will always be Monarch Butterfly! to members only but then I was worried that wasn't safe enough. What if an AI could still steal it? So, then I archived it.

(Six months later, AO3 was taken down by hackers so I was right to worry.)

But not all hope is lost!

(As Makoto would say.) Actually, I have already started to rewrite You will always be Monarch Butterfly! into an original story. I had finished seven chapters by halfway through 2023 before my grief caused me to fully stagnate. Recently, I started on chapter 8!

There will still be a lot of You will always be Monarch Butterfly! in the original story and, if you have read the fanstory, you will recognise that in the original story because I love YwabMB and I don't want to just scrap all of it. Yes, it was a fanstory and I'm adapting it into an original story but lots and lots of ideas in that were mine anyway, and some things are too plot relevant (e.g. our protag is still a leader but like in YwabMB not like NDRV3, his romantic interest is still a detective but he goes by private investigator instead and his best friend still plays the piano but so do lots of people (even me! I play the keyboard so that's close enough)... others' talents are different or they as a character might not exist anymore) or I can probably get away with being very similar ("It's a lie!" remains, as I couldn't think of something else just as a short and punchy, but "You're alone and you always will be!" has changed to something else equally cutting).

Yes, I kept talents. I thought that they are fun and a school for the gifted is not such an unusual thing. They're just not 'Ultimates' or 'Super High School Level'. They're just talented kids.

So, many of the things you and I love are similar but some things have changed too. The biggest thing I changed is that I made the story more racially diverse because now I can. So, don't be surprised that not all our main characters are 100% Japanese anymore. I don't know whether our heroic MC being Norwegian or our piano playing MC being Black Japanese or her boyfriend being Hispanic Japanese with dual Aus-Jap nationality is the biggest change! (I also have a minor recurring character in an electric wheelchair.)

Our protagonist and a few other MCs are still Japanese, though. This is because I found a lot of comfort in Japanese media growing up so I have a lot of love for fictional Japan. That's also why I kept the location the same as in the fanstory - I mean, I chose for You will always be Monarch Butterfly! to be set in Tokyo anyway!

The original story is called Truth, Lies and Butterflies and I hope you will have as much fun - or even more! - reading it as you did its fanstory version.

I hope you'll support me in this. I admit, between life stuff and my disability, it may take awhile for me to finish it. But I promise I will keep working on Truth, Lies and Butterflies until it's complete! So, every bit of support will be greatly appreciated!

[frogcatwcbiologyreweite]

Hello, you can call me Froggy!

I am bisexual & Gender fluid teen from Poland,15 years old, and use She/They   pronouns. Sorry for grammar and punctuation errors, English is not my native language, and unfortunately I have dyslexia and dysorthography, but I will do my best for my work to be understandable for you! :) In this side-blog I will post Warrior Cats characters designs, as well as a lot of things from my wc-Biology rewrite, I will probably also analysis warriors books and stuff. 

This is more of my ‘main blog’ then my actual main blog @frogcat7 where I don’t really do anything, perhaps I will post my other xenofiction designs there but I am not sure yet. But I have also other side-blog @frogkingtheorginal where I post a whole lot of things (by far most are wof doodles). I don’t really care for spoilers, but I don't feel confident talking about topics I don't know well yet, so here are warriors books I have read already: tpb, tnp, po3, oots, dotc (3 books out of 6), SE: Tallstar’s R, Yellowfang’s S, Crookedstar’s P, Bluestar’s P, Firestar’s Q, SkyClan’s D, Crowfeather’s T, N: Cloudstar’s J, Mapleshade’s V, Goosefeather’s C, Blackfoot’s R, Leafpool’s W, Mistystar’s O, Dovewing’s S, M: Tro Scourge, Tigerstar and Sasha, Ravenpaw’s P, Graystripe’s A, SkyClan atS, FG: The Ultimate Guide, ShS: Spottedleaf’s Honest Answer.

So, now I’ll tell you quickly about the rules of my blog, but don’t worry, there wouldn’t be a lot of them 🙂: 

Do: 

> I am very open for questions 😁, and I would really love to see conversations and debates in the commentary section :), Respond to posts as much as you want, that will really motivated me.

> I would try to respond to as many questions as possible, though I can't promise to get to all of them. 

> If you see a mistake, or something I may do better, don’t be shy and write to me constructive criticism, this project is my first as big one🙂. You can write your ideas I will appreciate it as well.

> “Can I use X in my project?” Of course, but don’t forget about credit 😁!

Don’t:

> I am only human and a minor one in addition, so, I can make mistakes, so, please don’t be mean, I will block mean accounts. 

> I respect your opinion, so, I expect you to respect mine. Everyone have different look on warriors characters, books or plot, so, live and let live!

> Peadophiles and so, do not interact, (such entities will be blocked as well).

> The biggest crime (for me) is if you use my work and say its yours. This is not only harmful to me, but also to your creativity, so, remember about it!

ASKBOX STATUS: open  😁/        currently at: 0 asks

                         Biology, Details, Headcanons!

My main and most comprehensive passion project is The Warrior Cats Biology Rewrite, a correction of Erin Hunter’s Warrior cats series which will take place in the western part of US, and in particular in the region of northern California and southern Oregon, it mostly aims to: 

> Correct the natural world of Warriors. So, eliminate all the weird, terribly unnatural things that they made in canon (so turtles in mountains, hyper aggressive foxes etc.)

> Spice up Warrior cats belief system and mythology, and diversity  it a bit more to not be so, plain and boring. And to create more interest to them thru legends and myths

> Create more details and story to the timeline of Filed Guides and basically everything before TPB, as well as create more lore and sympathy to the long forgotten background characters [ I don’t really think (at least by far) that I will do it in the ‘long post’ form, it’s more likely that all of this will be thrown into the Hedcanons folder]

> I will try to improve plot later (probably) but it seems to me that I will not take it very seriously, because there are just too many great blogs that are already doing really great job. And I’m not really interested in this that much. I just wanted to say that no cat will be deleted in my rewrite, and sooner I will add OC to it, but I will try not to do that, and better work with cats that are already there.

So, for the long time I wanted to do a Warriors rewrite, But I also wanted to make a designs blog, so, I combine it. For the characters I want to do all of them, and by all I mean really ALL, not only main and background cats, but every creature that has a page on the wiki, also the not named ones like The Stranger from dotc, or The Rat King. But also to give more atmosphere to what I do, I planned to draw all the really, really forgotten cats, that some of even don’t have a page about them. Like The random ginger molly with kittens from Sun Trial, or Thunder’s siblings. 

In this rewrite I will also use ideas made by others, as I find them magnificent. Those things are: @cryptidclaw ‘s Titles Idea and their meaning, and mostly a lot of @bonefall ‘s stuff, like the Clan and Tribe Meow, The politics ideas, so Fire Alone, Thistle Law etc. and other cool stuff. And I'm sure I'll change or expand some of these things. I will treat them a bit like a progenitor for my own projects. When I will use something from someone, I will tag this person’s name. But when there will be a coincidence (’cause there can be one), like in my rewrite Frost’s and Brindle’s mother is Trans FtM Tawnyspots and their sire is Featherwhisker, and in Bonefall’s Feather is also their sire, I will not tag them. 

Sorry ‘cause I won’t post stuff regularly. And I have big problem with motivation but I wish I won’t lose it on this project 🙂

And in the end I just want to say Big thanks to all blogs that are an inspiration to me, and that’s being @cryptidclaw , @fatal-rewrites-warriors , and @bonefall , they are really cool, and if you want I really recommend checking them out!

[soul-of-vengeance]

I’ve written myself into a bit of a corner here.

So obviously Anchored Curse of Strahd has now reached truly epic levels of “this is no longer the same campaign,” and as I’m working on updating some of my WA articles, I’ve realized that in rewriting so much of it, I’ve rendered some aspects of it obsolete. I’ve rewritten the Dark Powers to the extent that the Amber Temple is basically just a stupid little dungeon that serves no purpose (which imo it always kind of was), and so I’m planning to remove it from the campaign entirely.

But now I’m wondering if I need to replace it with something. I’m already adding shrines and places of power for [REDACTED] so my players can get dark gifts if they so choose (with this party, I highly doubt it, but some of these Good-aligned PC’s may die so they may come in handy later) so I don’t need to keep it around for that. But it’s also a great place to grind and level up and is one of the few true dungeons you get in late game save for Castle Ravenloft itself so I’m wondering if I should add something else in its place. Cause as a party, we do enjoy a good dungeon delve so I don’t want to rob us of that.

If I don’t invent something wholesale, I think maybe I could convert one of the other locations (Berez and the werewolf commune come to mind right away) into something a little bit more involved and dungeon-y to scratch that itch.

[nerdnag]

How much do you plot out your stories before you write them?

More than I used to!

Up until maybe 2019 I almost never plotted out stories beforehand. Therefore I have a LOT of started docs saved with little random ideas: some of which never became more than a page, some of which went haywire after a while and never recovered. And there are some entire "books" or fics that were completely improvised as I wrote them. That used to be how I wrote when I wrote for my own enjoyment only.

I tried my hand on an overarching structure for an original work back in 2017/18, but that was probably my real first planning for any story I'd ever written.

And then I think it was @alienducky who really got me into plotting and got me stuck on it for real. We worked on a fic together, and it would have been practically impossible to do that without some kind of joint plan. I remember she started a table at the top of the doc where she listed all the scenes, and I was like yeah, that's a good idea, and it was. After that I started plotting out my own fics in a similar manner too, and now I never want to go back to how I did it before. The stories just turn out so much better when I know where I'm going from the beginning. But I plot in a way that still lets me be creative with the plot along the way.

So this is how I do it nowadays:

Scribble any little initial idea I have - sometimes in a single sentence, sometimes in a paragraph, sometimes in random loose sentences here and there that only make sense to me.

Place the bits I know I want into some kind of organised scene structure - if I don't already know which order things will happen in, I'll get a first sketch on that now. I usually structure this into actual chapter titles (placeholder titles that just give me an idea of what the scene is about) so that step 5 becomes a bit easier later.

Loosely figure out what kind of ending I want - just so I have something to aim for. Usually I have two large threads going and then a number of subthreads; the main threads (like a fantasy conflict or a romantic struggle) have to be clearly solved at the end imo, but some of the subthreads can be more loosely handled. At this point in the process though it's all just a rough sketch.

Slowly fit more pieces I want into the puzzle - any scenes that are necessary to bring me to the end somehow, or even scenes that bring me joy to think about, as long as they don't stray too far from the main threads. I also make sure to always add in early on which pov I think I want for every scene.

When I have a beginning, an end, and a number of scenes that seem to coherently bring me from one to the other, I start fleshing out parts. This usually means that I start writing bits and pieces here and there. Often I wrote the first handful of chapter first before I go on to the rest of the story, so I have a basic idea for myself of what the characters want and how they should be acting. But after the first few chapters, I usually jump from scene to scene depending on what mood I am in and what feels more joyful at any point in time. So I might write half a scene in chapter 7 one day to then write an entire chapter 22 the next day, only to then jot down a few paragraphs into chapter 16 after that. (This is my adhd working, I let it because it's worked out pretty well for me so far.)

Along the way I may come up with new ideas and adjust things, I flesh out scenes that were very barebone in the beginning, I solve and change things that turned out not to work, and when I reach the latter chapters that I wrote early on (for example ch 22, if I wrote that straight after ch 7), I'll usually have changed enough things that I need to rewrite large parts of that chapter. That is fine by me, it's all part of the process.

I should also add that if I've started posting it on for example Ao3 along the way, I sometimes - very rarely, but it happens - adjust my plans depending on what people comment. This is usually only if someone comments something that is so genius or otherwise so perfectly natural for the story that I just cannot let it go by without doing something with it, and only if it fits into the plot somehow. One example of this is when I noticed that several people were suspecting a particular character of having hidden motives. Up until that point I hadn't planned on doing much at all with that character, but when I realized that what I'd already written was leading very naturally to their conclusion, I decided to give that character more space from there on out and even played into the whole hidden agenda idea (but with a twist). That kind of thing can be really fun to do, but I don't do it if I don't think it will work for the plot I already have.

There have also been occasions where conversations with @alienducky have led me to change things in similar ways. One example of this is when I sent her a first overarching plot of my entire then upcoming fic series back in... 2020 I think? And she's great with noticing details, so she asked me how the characters would be able to send letters to each other if they didn't know where the other person was. I told her there was a magically enhanced wolf in there that would be used to bring letters back and forth. She was so into the idea of this wolf, and asked what would happen to it later in the story, that I simply had to make it part of the main cast, and in the end it even played a very important part in a reveal down the line. XD Throwaway details that grow larger like that are also very fun.

Omg I actually found our old convo from back then, I can't not add it in here.

TLDR; I plot out an overarching story with beginning, end and bits and pieces in-between, then adjust as I go.

[hopeshoodie]

If you were writing s3, what drama would you have added?

So I’ve tried to rewrite S3 before, but now I feel like I overdid it with the conflict there lol. I’m much prouder of my rewrite attempt for Boat Party, I think it gets at the themes better than the former.

But I would agree that the biggest problem with S3 is the lack of drama (followed closely by the juvenile writing). So here’s just some spitballed ideas that could’ve been implemented in S3 without changing the entire story structure, but would have added way more drama:

I would have a recoupling early in the game where MC has no input because it’s a guy’s choice. I think in general LITG under-uses the player not being in control of the couplings, and those were the most suspenseful parts of S2 (wondering if Rahim would get eliminated, the disaster recoupling). Maybe this could be done by having MC as the bombshell and then immediately having a guy’s choice recoupling, or having MC come in as a bombshell and steal someone, but then two days later having a guy’s choice recoupling. 

I like the idea of MC being the bombshell because I love the concept of her not being the center of the villa. People were really upset how S4 implemented that idea (I can’t really say, I haven’t played it), so I would try to soften it by allowing MC to approach different LIs and get them to secretly confess that they’re interested in her, but also that they’ve got something going on with their current partner and they’re willing to see how things go. That could create drama between MC and their partner or the LI and their partner, which I like. 

I would keep the ‘your LI forgets your name’ bit, but customize it to each LI like I suggested here. I like the premise- a simple insulting thing your LI says without context/explanation so it causes the player to question their relationship and wonder if the LI will switch on them. So your LI still forgets your name, but each LI handles it differently/has different motivation. We also have to have a REASON you can’t talk to your LI about it, so I would make it clear-er in the narrative that MC is being rushed into activities by other islanders and not just that the LI is avoiding her. 

I would bring Rafi in much earlier (because he’s objectively the most successful character in canon) and have three different girls be VERY interested in him and willing to leave their partners for him. I don’t think LITG has used the ‘one person is way better than everyone else and everyone’s into them’ thing in regards to a NPC, just with MC. So I think it’d be super interesting to have three girls acknowledge they’re gunning for Rafi, and basically say ‘may the best win’. Especially if the girls are already friends and trying to be respectful of each other’s feelings. You could play that out for 1-3 days, with Rafi reacting in confusion to being so aggressively shmoozed, the other boys being put off that their partner’s ignoring them, and the girls trying to be civil with each other while obviously being frustrated. 

Instead of what, five challenges? That did nothing for the plot and were just filler? Have a couple of challenges that force people to do uncomfortable things (lie detector, guessing their partners interests, physical game where they get up close and personal with not-their-partner). Those conflicts aren’t good to draw out more than a day, but do add a foreshadowed problem with relationships or add spice to an uneventful episode.

I HATE how Nicky/Elladine left. It felt so performative, because they literally only have a couple days left before the finale and weren’t visibly THAT into their partner anyways. I do like that Rafi/Lily leave if rejected, it shows a lot of integrity, but I think more than one person just walking during a season starts to feel… Cheap… Like the characters want out as much as the readers do… Instead, I would have one (1) islander walk out, but have it be the person that the new islander stole. So for example if Lily takes Nicky from Elladine, have Nicky walk out because he told Lily not to couple with him and he’d rather leave than be coupled with someone who doesn’t listen to him. Then you have more drama instead of people just pretending to be ok with the new coupling, because Lily and Elladine would both be single and would be incredibly irritated with each other. 

The only other way I would have someone walk out on the show is if it’s a couple we’ve genuinely been rooting for, like Seb and Viv, who say they’re leaving because their relationship is more important that the drama happening for the show and leave together.

Finally I need to have an explosive finale. I HATE how none of the characters really react if MC cheats on them or steals the money. I would have customized reactions for each LI to both if it’s revealed through the montage that she cheated with Tai and didn’t tell them, and more intense customized reactions if she steals the money. There’s no way in hell Rafi or Harry would still be friends with MC if she took the money, we need an argument to SHOW that.