#//first draft. not proofread. so subject to change

[sentinelofthesea]

name: Semeru age: 32 species: shark-merfolk gender: cis male sexuality: pansexual character traits: standoffish, stoic, self-reliant, brusque, dutiful, guarded hair color: light grey eye color: bright blue noteable features: prominent scar drawn from his right cheek diagonally across his face, fading into his hairline above the left eye, sharp gaze, merfolk tail bearing striking similarity to that of a great white shark.

bio: Semeru was hatched in the outskirts of the depths of Lima Pulu. Shortly after he was abandoned to fend for himself as many shark-type merfolk are. There were others like him at first but like most shark-merfolk he learned early to prefer his solitude over the safety of numbers. When he was still growing he kept to the shadows of the deep, honing his combat skills by meticulous self-training, having to engage in combat fairly regularly to safeguard his territory. Most of his scars are from that time of his life. Adolescent over-ambition having made him reckless until he grew physically stronger and learned to strategize. But even back then his sense of responsibility would have him protect those weaker than him. Within his chosen territory he kept those that would seek his protection safe in exchange for occasional food offerings.

It wasn't until his late teens and early adulthood that Semeru got into contact with the merfolk of the central merfolk kingdom. An excursion to the outer ends of Lima Pulu saw the royal family and their young daughter confronted with a bunch of ragtag rogue merfolk that had previously encroached on Semeru's territory. He intercepted them by chance after they abducted the young princess. She was around 4 years old at the time, and when he heard the little girl wailing for her parents Semeru made it his mission to get her back to them safely.

It was during this battle that Semeru suffered the wound that would leave a prominent scar across his face. But eventually he emerged victorious from the fight and promptly scooped the young princess into his arms to go and return her to her family. She was still crying by the time Semeru returned her into the embrace of her father and mother, only then realizing that they were royalty.

The royal couple, having arrived on the scene just in time to witness the fight were so grateful for this act of kindness that they offered Semeru proper care for his wounds and a banquet to celebrate his selfless nature. The former he —reluctantly— accepted, the latter he declined in favor of but a few days of rest in the kingdom's barracks and a few meals to find back to full strength, fully intending to leave as soon as possible, not keen on being met with the suspicion his kind usually suffered.

His plan had been to remain for a week at most and then return to Lima Pulu, but in the end fate had something else in store for him. As it turned out the royal guard had suffered substantial losses after the recent oil spill of the land-dwellers resulted in a sickness befalling a good portion of the kingdom. Semeru was no stranger to this phenomenon. He had seen a good portion of the ocean's inhabitants succumb to that same sickness in the depths of Lima Pulu, too and wasn't without sympathy for these losses suffered. What he didn't expect, however, was the king offering him a place among the ranks of the royal guard to make up for those losses, recognizing his combat skills as a valuable asset and a boon to the kingdom, should Semeru choose to accept.

To this day Semeru can't say what eventually drove him to accept this offer to delve right into a bustling society of merfolk after having spent an entire life in solitude. He certainly wasn't prepared for the way people welcomed him with open arms either, as he was used to being met with nothing but distrust due to his shark-merfolk ancestry.

But this lack of animosity not least of all made it so that it was nigh easy to fall in love with his new home and quickly the people of the Merfolk Kingdom endeared himself to him and instilled within a deep sense of belonging. In turn, a wish to serve this society that gave him a home where he had previously none emerged from within him and he pledged himself to the cause of keeping the kingdom safe from then on.

Yet, this welcoming nature of the merfolk kingdom's inhabitants hasn't quite served to lighten his general demeanor. His sense of duty overshadows his need for connection more often than not. His duty always comes first before personal relations. He knows if he doesn't proritize in this way it would impair his ability to keep those that he holds dear safe from danger and he trusts not many to do it in his stead.

Agung and Denali, while capable guards in terms of posing as intermediaries in situations of conflict, are far younger than he is and lack the years of combat experience Semeru possesses. He doesn't wish his own experiences on anyone, but sometimes he wonders if the years of peace within the kingdom's borders and lack of anything other than daily drills and patrols within and around the capital have the younger generation of guards more carefree than they should be. With Denali and Agung especially he more often than not feels like he is chaperoning rather than commanding them.

~tbc~

[thedissociatives]

able to relax a lot more knowing i'm done with research now

[ryywyd]

HYFR

Wnba!Paige bueckers x black!Oc

Nsfw smut w/ plot, they went to scissor city ;) Author notes. This is my first time posting on tumblr #retiredwattpadgirly but my drafts are full so I’m finally posting. This might have two more parts (idk haven’t decided yet.) oh! And this ain’t proofread sorry

The restaurant lights dimmed the room as the low chatter from the surrounding guess filed the rest of the space, in corner set Saida and Paige both low eyed looking at each other with nothing but lust.

The girl sitting in front of Paige had transformed entirely from the person she had known fours years prior. Her once bare skin was now adorned with black ink and piercings. The change did not bother Paige; in fact, it turned her on more than she expected.

The two had sent a year together at UConn becoming more than acquainted before Saida transferred to ucla, the two wasn't in a relationship but they had an understanding but Paige wanted more than that On the other hand, Saida, influenced by her strict religious upbringing, she couldn't bring herself to it, which led them ending things ,.

And Finally reconnecting with each other– bring them here now, after Paige spotted Saida sitting court side at one of her games. Pulling her back in making her realize why she wanted all of those years ago.

"I'm sorry, what was you saying ?" Paige spoke shaking her head, she had completely tuned out everything Saida had said, she was more focused on how the light hit Saida brown skin that made the black link pop out and how the swoop from her straighten hair fell in her face.

"I said it's nice we could do this." Saida repeated as her eyes fell onto Paige's lips. ' y'know with how i ended everything.. I'm sorry again.,

"You don't gotta' keep apologizing, I'm not holding it against you " She husked her voice low 'we good now.,

"So.. was that your girlfriend ?, Paige questioned changing the subject and breaking the uncomfortable silence between them  "at the game with you ?"

"Something like that?it's more of a situationship, I don't know It's complicated." Saida shrugged pushing her straw around, her eyes roaming over Paige.

"If you gotta' girlfriend..what you doing here with me" Paige tried to push down the jealousy that was starting to show.

Saida shook her head biting the corner of her lip motioning for Paige to lean in,lifting up from your seat meeting her halfway whispering into her ear ' because I want you so bad p;

"We can get this shit to go, you gotta prove it to me ma;

In the span of thirty minutes the two had already made it back to Saida apartment and they couldn't keep their hands off of each other particularly ripping each others clothes off. Stumbling into the room, four years away apart felt like a decade and they were feining  for each other.

Paige gripped her jaw making her mouth open slightly "Open." She demanded as she watched her open up her mouth some more sticking her tongue out

Her split dripped in Saida mouth before she pulled her in, sucking on her tongue "I'm bout' to fuck you so good." She mumbled against her as she moved lips back to hers. As she roughly pulled the skirt Saida wore down rubbing her through the thin lace.

" w-wait, I wanna eat you first." She whimpered out feeling her apply more pressure against her wet cunt, she hummed not hearing ignoring what she said.

"You wanna make me feel good?" Paige asked softly watching as her breaths got heavier as she rubbed between her wet slit "tell me how much you want me."

"Please." Saida plead, she was all over the place she didn't know if the pleads were for Paige to keep touching her or for Paige to let her taste her.

"Get on your knees."

Paige lift her bottom half of the bed, pulling her jeans down along with her boxers repositioning herself at the edge of the bed. Spreading her legs wider; crawling in between her legs kissing the inside of her thighs Paige buckled her hips moving her wet cunt closer.

"Don't tease." Paige breathe out gripping saida's cheeks moving her face into, latching her mouth onto Paige moan softly against the blonde.

"Fuck! You so nasty baby." Paige amused moving her hands into saida's hair pulling her closer than she already was grinding into her face.

Saida was restless more eager to get the blonde to come on her tongue than anything, the vibration from her moans sent Paige over the edge

"Come for me p; make a mess in my mouth." Pulling back enough for Paige to hear her. Her hand creep up sliding a finger into her leaking hole with ease. Attaching her mouth back onto her clit sucking as her fingers move

her fingers curled against the blonde g spot. Paige let out weak moan as her hand flew up gripping the back of her neck, nails digging into her skin as she arched her back.

"Don't stop" the girl panted as she tangled her free hand into the dark hair and tugged. Paige whimpered, feeling her slip back inside of her. She didn't even know that she had done that. It didn't matter though, because it felt amazing. She couldn't hold back, her high finally hitting her.

Saida grinned as she felt the girl's pussy clench around her fingers. Her cum flooded her mouth, her sweet taste making her moan.

"I'm boutta cum, fuck sai right there." Paige whimpered gripping the girl hair harder, moving her her closer holding her head down riding out her orgasm,

finally letting go letting the girl up for air pulling her up by her hair pulling her into a sloppy kiss. Paige tilt her head back Opening her mouth signaling for Saida to spit in her mouth "You gon' let me fuck you now ?"

Paige questioned pulling the girl onto her lap, roughly pulling the thin lace to side flipping them over' let me hear you baby,

"Fuck me please."

Paige shot up, straddling Saida right thigh then lifting her left leg up letting it rest on her broad shoulder. She rolled her hips forward, meeting the girl's sloppy cunt with her own. They both were so wet, arousal dripping onto both of their thighs.

You feel so fucking good, fuck." The younger girl groaned, her head falling back onto the mattress, mouth agape. Paige's hands ran over the girl's smooth legs, fingers dancing over the girl's pussy. Her thumb circled her clit, teasing it.

"Paige.." she breathed out, her hips thrusting up trying to meet the blonde touch.

"Look at that making a fuckin’ mess." Paige cooed her eyes focused on where her pussy gushes onto the girls moving her hips to get the perfect angle.

"D-don't stop baby please." Saida whimper as Paige spreader her legs wider with a strong grip on her thigh fucking herself into the bed making the headboard hit against the wall repeatedly.

Paige let out a groan grinding into the girl faster than she was before , this time the headboard bangs against the wall louder than it already was , covering the filthy sounds of your pussys wetness mixing together.

"oh fuck p- Paige Paige !" Saida frantically chant her name over and over her hands moving all over her before landing on her forearms and digging her nails into them.

"you like when I fuck you like this? Like it when my pussy makes a mess all over yours hm?" She breathlessly whispered, her hips stutter and her nails digging into the girl skin

Such a fuckin’ slut i'm gonna cum all over that pussy" she breathlessly whispers. her hips stutter and her hands grip your thighs harshly.

"Cum all over me baby " Saida whine, not breaking eye contact as her hips jerk forward as she desperately chased after her orgasm

"fuck, fuck, oh god-!" she gasps, eyes squeezing shut as she cums. A mixture of both of the girls hot strings of thick cum landed on Saida lower stomach, dripping down and onto both of their folds. it's all too much. Paige can feel her body tense against saida’s , her fingers digging into the soft flesh of your thighs.

Paige rolled off the girl, gently placing tender kisses along her shoulder and up to her jawline. She raised her hand to softly trace the love make she had left scattered around her neck.

“You can’t leave me ever again.”

Author note #2. I hope yall liked this fr, I gave up towards the end.

[leebrontide]

A legit way to fight the climate crisis from where you're sitting right now

As promised, in honor of Earth Day, I've written some suggestions for how you can write a letter to the editor for your local paper, and reach some people who otherwise might get a more...shall we say restricted view of climate news. Letters to the Editor remain a surprisingly important political vehicle. People see letters to the editor and they feel like they're hearing from their neighbors- real people with authentic, down-to-earth agendas. They're the second most read part of the paper, after the front page. Take that stage!

Step 1- Pick an article in your local paper to respond to. Today is Earth day, and lots of papers will have at least something about climate crisis or environmental protection on it's pages. Local papers are better, because, as you can imagine, papers like The New Yorker get a lot more submissions to compete against, and anyways they don't have the same sense of local opinion.

Don't fret if your local paper leans conservative! That means it has readers we REALLY need to reach! And they may be more open to reading about these issues in a paper than online, which particularly a lot of older, don't feel like "the real world".

Step 2- Figure out what you're going to say! Maybe there's a glaring error in the article you want to address. BUT, if you're not sure, you can look up your local organization that's fighting for these goals. For example, I could look up and find MN350, because I'm in Minnesota. Going to their social media and their webpage/newsletter archive gives me an inside look at what people who are really immersed in these subjects have to say about what's going on.

So, for example, I see that my local group applauds Minneapolis's efforts at going to all clean energy, and has a timeline, but that people on the inside are saying that without a dedicated funding stream, people implementing these changes will have to either hope federal funding stays stable or fight for funding in the city council every year. Ok, now when there's an article about Minneapolis's plans, I have something to say.

Step 3- Draft it up.

The goal here is to be short and to the point.

Opening line: Identify which article you're responding to, and maybe your feeling about it.

First paragraph: What is the specific issue? What is a relevant fact and why does it  warrant public concern?

Second paragraph: What would you say that we do in response, or what would you ask your neighbors to do?  Why?

Third paragraph: What is currently being done to address the issue and how could people who have been persuaded act?

This should be no more than 150 to 250 words TOTAL.

While you're wording it, some things to keep in mind- stats and facts are good, but don't use a lot of acronyms or jargon. Expect your readers to be coming at this with about an 8th grade education.

If you have a sense of what the people you're talking to find persuasive, lean into that. For example, for my letter to the editor, I emphasized that chaotic funding leads to lack of ability to plan ahead or bulk-buy. I know the people I'm talking to like things to be common-sense and detest governmental waste, so that's an easy one.

If you want extra help, I have a list of best practices for communicating about the climate crisis right here.

Step 4- Proofread, then submit it via whatever process your local paper has. The goal, if you can manage is, is to submit something within 48 hours of the original article's publication. That's the sweet spot for most papers.

BONUS ROUND!

You did that, and still have a little energy for the environment left? There's one more thing you can do to super-charge your effort!

Guess what, you can stack the deck in favor of your specific letter being published.

But it will involve using a phone.

That's right, if you REALLY wanna turbo boost this thing, you're gonna call the paper (or have your non-phone-adverse-friend or family member pretend to be you and call the paper).

Call as soon as possible after the editor would have received the material.

Use pleasant persistence to speak with the right person. Don’t stop at a receptionist or secretary. Create enough POLITE urgency about your letter that you get through to the specific reporter or editor who will decide whether or not to print your piece.

Provide the editor with specific local info and urgency. Focus your conversation on why this issue is relevant to their readers.

Get specific feedback and/or a specific commitment from the reporter. If they don’t want to print the letter, find out why and what adjustments you can make to get it printed.

If they agree to print it, find out when you can expect to see it in the paper. The you can tell other people. Even if memaw isn't a big climate activist, she might show your letter to everybody she knows if she knows you wrote it.

And that's the process! I know that's a lot of information to throw at you, but ultimately, it can be pretty quick to crank these things out. And, again, these have been proven to be powerful persuaders. We need as many people as we can to be in this fight, so go and get them!

And always remember, you're not just combating ignorance, you're combating hopelessness, helplessness, and burnout! You can inspire people to think about what's possible.

PS if any of you actually do this, please let me know. It'd make me so happy.

@onbearfeet @basil-gardens @punkypine @rederiswrites @veritatemquarens @radioraja

[discotenny]

The second night

Dice moves in with you. It’s only on the second night of sleeping in your bed that he realizes what it means.

———

Aka- DICE SLEEPING SCENARIO LETS FUCKING GOOOOO

———

The first night- the thought of commitment slips his mind. After all, it was racing, filled with thoughts of safety, security, comfort, and most importantly you.

It was easy for his thoughts to focus on you- how could they not?

The first night- as soon as his head hit the pillow he passes out. Exhausted from moving all of his material possessions out of Ramuda’s basement (and dealing with his friends’ eccentric personalities), there’s nothing his body craves more than sleep.

“Dice? Are you gonna shower now?” You call out, in the adjacent bathroom getting ready for sleep. When silence is your only reply, you open the door.

“Ah…” You’re met with his face down, ass up in the air. Despite the pillow covering his mouth and nose (was he even getting sufficient air?), you hear his obnoxiously deep snores.

Despite him still being in his day clothes, unwashed from activities of the week.

Despite him going to bed without a shower, embarrassed to get in while you were still washing up.

Despite him having three unpacked boxes sitting in your living room, promising he would have them out of your way by nights end-

You smile, laughing at his awkward appearing yet comfortable position- snapping a picture to send to Ramuda and Gentaro. You tuck him into bed and you notice a smile wavering over his face.

“Goodnight, love,” you whisper before shutting off the lights.

The second night- he’s in a pair of pajamas you bought for him in the day. You’re in the adjacent bathroom, getting ready for sleep at your own pace.

The fabric of his shirt is so soft it almost tickles him just to lay in it.

It’s a strange feeling - going to bed with clothes he doesn’t plan to go out in. It’s even stranger to him that it’s new- not new like what Ramuda makes him- or new as in he just bought it second hand- but new- bought from a store you went into without meticulously counting your change beforehand.

The second night- he’s subject to the teasing texts of Ramuda and Gentaro- annoyed as they laugh at the way he slept last night.

Gentaro sends something off handed- calling him a horrible househusband- but it catches Dice off gaurd.

The second night- commitment is all that’s on his mind.

‘Househusband…?’ Dice thinks, ‘That would mean…’

Commitment, a promise to stay, a promise that he’d try his best for you no matter what, bounded to you, sharing a space with you forever, forever loving, forever caring, forever laughing, forever holding, forever taking care of you.

Dice wasn’t used to forever. He wasn’t used to sureness. Dice lived for the thrill of not knowing what was to come- of gambling with whatever percentage that something wouldn’t turn out right. He wasn’t used to this- to commitment.

But would he really mind it if it was with you? Despite all the nights of him shivering due to gambling his clothes away.

Despite all the times he begged at your doorstep for a meal.

Despite all the times he dragged you around with Ramuda and Gentaro as a substitute for dates- you stuck by him- you stayed committed to him.

He watches your silhouette move in the bathroom door. A smile finds itself on his face the more he stares.

Safety, security, comfort, all words he finds himself thinking of as he watches you. And all of a sudden, he finds that he doesn’t mind the title of househusband.

“Dice! Are you gonna shower tonight?” You call out, not expecting an answer.

“C’ming babe!” Dice calls back.

The second night- he watches as you fall asleep- a smile on both of your faces.

Fell hard down the hypmic rabbit hole I had such a masculine urge to finish this draft. Not proofread. Had the banner from before my disappearance O.O

Fling Posse my beloved <3

It’s been a while >.€ I’ve been working on a dating sim for the past year or so (it’s not any close to finishing LOL) But how are y’all :3

[ratroy]

Ok, let’s try this again. I already typed this up and then the app crashed and it SAID it went to drafts…

Anyway. I’m attempting a rewrite. I don’t know how faithful I will be to this story, but it’s an idea I had years ago and executed poorly. I’m here to try again. This time on Tumblr rather than Wattpad.

The original love interest was Gabriel, but that is subject to change. The original title gave too much away, so that is something I’ll have to work on as well. (Title has been changed <3)

So, all that being said, please enjoy.

Three girls laughed in front of me. We were all huddled up on my living room floor, having a long awaited sleepover. It had been so hard to meet up now that we had graduated and started our adult lives.

We had done all the classics; truth or dare, light as a feather, stiff as a board, bloody Mary…

Now, we were winding down for the night by talking about our celebrity crushes. Abigail leaned in across our little circle and narrowed her eyes at me.

“So, are you a Sam girl or a Dean girl?”

The girls ‘oooh’d at the question and watched me with anticipation. I laughed and shook my head.

“Neither—“ before I could give my reasoning, the girls were interrupting with exclamations of indignation.

“How could you—?”

“What does that even—?!”

“BUT DEAN~!”

I laugh at them again, slapping a hand down on my thigh as I catch my breath.

“Well, Sam just isn’t my type, like at all! Dean…” I take a deep breath and look behind my friends as my eyes unfocus and I picture his face. I rub the back of my neck and shake my head, “he reminds me of my cousin. It’s too weird.”

I look from eye to eye at each of my friends and give a crooked smile, knowing what was coming.

Gabby twirled a piece of hair around her finger, “so, uh, where is this mysterious cousin you’ve been hiding from us, Henley?” She teasingly called me by my last name and I rolled my eyes, recognizing the accusation in her voice.

“Forget it, Kelly. I don’t even know where he is,” I call her by her maiden name as well before confessing, “he and my dad got into some big fight. He won’t tell me what it was about, but Jesse has been in the wind since then. Haven’t heard a word…”

The girls’ shoulders sag and I excuse myself to the kitchen. I feel my expression drop once I’m alone and I take time to clear my thoughts. Truth be told, I thought about Jesse a lot. We used to be so close. He was only a couple years older than me—

I shake my head and run a hand through my hair. I was so naive.

Taking a deep breath, I plaster a smile on my face again and grab some bags of chips before heading back out to the living room.

The next morning, we all say our goodbyes and I hug the girls as they leave. Once my door is shut, I give a sigh of relief and lean against it. Peace, at last.

I walk over to my couch and fall back onto it with another loud sigh. I love my friends, but hosting really takes a lot out of me. I grab for the remote and turn on the tv. Wrapping myself in a fluffy blanket, i decide to catch a few more z’s since the girls were early birds for whatever reason.

“Gwen.”

I jolt awake, sitting up on my couch… only it isn’t my couch? Looking around the room, my breathing picks up. Nothing here is familiar. I look down at my blanket, but it’s completely different. My face contorts in confusion as I stand and look around the place.

Am I… in a motel?

Okie, that’s all for right now. I know, I know, where’s Sam and Dean? It might be another chapter or two until we get to them. Maybe chapter three will be from their point of view? I’ve got some groundwork to do first, though.

Forgive me?

See you next time~

(PS: this is not proofread.)

[ashwhowrites]

Hi :)! I know you've got a lot of requests and drafts right now, but I'm in my sad bitch hours and you're my favorite writer, so I wanted to send this request to you.

Tw: past SA and anxiety

I was thinking about Steve asking out reader and she doesn't even think about it, cause duh. She's been crushing on him for years. But then later she's thinking about it, about him. She's heard the stories and Steve is a known sex God. But she doesn't want that, because she only wants to do that with someone she trusts. And she *thought* she trusted her first boyfriend, but that turned out to be a lie.

So they go out and she's worried that he's gonna try to pull something (he's not, changed man and all, but she doesn't know that). But as they get further into their relationship, he notices that she always changes the subject or moves to do something if they start getting heavy. Like she's fine making out, but as soon as he starts touching her body, she's gone.

He finally asks one day and she just breaks down. She's so scared he's gonna leave her, but she doesn't want sex. And she's almost guilty because she knows that's what he wants, she's just not ready. And he just holds her and tells her that he's fine to wait. He loves her for her. 🖤💜

Favorite writer 🥹

As always, thank you for your patience as I worked to get this out. I hope it's what you were looking for. I haven't written Steve in ages so he may be rusty.

⚠️mentions of SA and anxiety ( no real description of assault or sexual actions)

Never proofread

Steve Harrington, is known to be the sex god of Hawkins during his teenage years. He knew the ways to please any girl he snuck into his huge house. He knew how to make every girl underneath his body moan and shake.

Y/N knew all of that, but she saw something else in him. She saw a boy who craved physical touch because he sat alone in his room. He craved a connection with someone because he was left behind. Sex was something he was good at, so that's all he did. But she knew, Steve Harrington is the type to fall in love. And he deserved someone that fell in love with him too.

She was that person. She adored Steve Harrington for years. His quirky smile, horrible jokes, and of course, his hair. She loved hearing his laugh, and watching him with Dustin and the other kids. She watched Steve grow into a beautiful gentleman.

So when he asked her out, how could she say no?

At the beginning of the relationship, Steve kept his distance. He kissed her softly, always cradling her jaw. Pushing loose strands of hair behind her ears. Since he was so shy, it was easy to pass on the sexual part of the relationship.

But the longer they dated, the more she grew scared of the conversation they would need to have.

~~

Steve knew he used to sleep with girls on the first date, but he's a changed man. He likes taking it slow, learning about Y/N, and knowing her mind just as he would her body. Except, he hadn't gotten to learn her body. Which, he's completely fine with. He isn't in a rush. She didn't seem to be interested in taking that next step, and he was perfectly fine with waiting.

Now they've been dating for around five months, and Steve was obsessed with her. He adored everything about her. But he noticed there was something wrong. They'd kiss softly, slowly growing heavier. Placed her on his lap, hands working up to her chest, then she'd snap out of it. Pulling away, out of breath, a smile on her lips. Climbing off his lap and turning the movie on louder. Steve never questioned it, he didn't want to make it seem like he was pushing her.

But then she did it over and over. Anytime his hands went to meet new skin, she was off him in an instant.

~~

She knew Steve was starting to grow suspicious. She could feel his eyes on her whenever she loved a muscle. Kissing Steve was the best feeling in the world. He was soft and gentle but knew when to be rough. He knew how much tongue was too much. But Steve's past was ringing in her mind, alarms blaring in her head once she felt his hands working up near her chest or her jeans.

She couldn't help it, she'd fly off. Stopping him in his tracks and moving on to the next thing. Distract him with something else. It's been working, but she felt that he was going to ask soon.

~~

And he did

Another make-out session on his couch, her thighs straddling his lap, his hands on her back slowly trailing her spine. Without thinking, his hands went underneath her shirt, going to unclip her bra when she flew off. Standing in front of him with a panicked look in her eyes.

"Woah woah, hey" Steve panicked with her, holding his hands in the air as she panted

"I, sorry," she said, shaking her head as she tried to calm her body. Looking past his eyes as her heart raced and her gut clenched.

"baby? Don't apologize, what's wrong?" He asked softly, slowly raising his hand to touch hers. He kissed her knuckle when she held his hand back.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." She smiled, moving to sit next to him.

"it's nothing. I've noticed...you don't like to be touched. I'm not saying we need to have sex, but why won't you let me touch other parts of you?" He didn't know how to ask it, he tried to frame his words the best he could. He didn't want to upset her but he wasn't sure what would.

But whatever he said, was definitely wrong

He watched as she yanked her hand out of his, covering her face as she sobbed into her hands

"shh, hey it's okay. You don't have to say" he said immediately, throwing his arms around her, and cradling her in a tight hug. He cuddled her into his chest, rubbing her back as she cried into his chest.

"I, just, I can't Steve" she tried to choke out.

The one thing she loved about Steve was he knew how to care for people. He knew the right way to hug someone when they were afraid of falling apart. He was the glue that kept her together, she couldn't lose him.

"can't what baby? Talk to me" he tried again, pulling away slightly to see her face. Frowning at her tears as he cleaned off her cheeks.

"you are going to leave me. I can't lose you" she admitted, her stomach filled with fear.

"I am not leaving you. Talk to me baby, it's just us. It's just me"

"that's the thing, it's you Steve! It's the king of Hawkins. The sex god. It's been five months and I can't give myself to you. I'm not ready to have sex with you! How much longer are you going to wait? Huh? You are going to get bored and leave me!" She ranted. All her fear and anxiety taking the wheel.

"that's not me anymore. I don't care if it's five months or five years or never. I am not with you for sex and I certainly am not going to leave you because of that! I'm with you because you are amazing. You are smart, funny, kind, and creative. I've never felt happier in my life. I want to be with you because you are you." He explained, his brown eyes watering as she cried.

"you say that but I don't know when I'll ever be ready to be intimate with you. You want it, I know you do. I thought I trusted my first boyfriend and I was wrong. I don't want you to leave me but I'm scared. I'm sorry" She accused him. Men were the same, they wanted sex and they'd get it anywhere they could.

"Am I going to leave you because you don't feel comfortable having sex? No. I am perfectly fine with waiting until you are ready, even if that is years from now. And don't you ever apologize for it? You hear me?" He grabbed her chin to make her look at him. Giving her a tiny smile of encouragement.

She nodded as she sniffled

"we will wait until you are ready. I love you for you" he confessed. Fear in his eyes as he realized what he said

"Oh, Stevie. I love you too. Thank you" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck as she cried into his neck.

He held her all night and refused to leave her side. Hugging her from behind as he trailed his fingers on her arms.

She wasn't sure when she'd be ready, but she now knows, she doesn't need to be ready. He wasn't going to leave her, he loved her. And that's all she needed.

Steve tags

@ago-godance @manyfandomsfanvergent

[dipplinduo]

How long does it typically take you to work on a chapter of your fanfiction? In terms of drafting, getting feedback, and all of that.

Omg stop I love this question???

I'mma be real with you chief, the process is very chaotic & fell into place like this overtime organically. I've enjoyed writing prior to this, but more so of journaling and poetry. The work I post now is my first time legit trying to write storytelling, and it's all been a trial by fire kind of experience. But basically:

I've gotten into the habit of making vague outlines for chapters (or even oneshots) a few days before I sit down and actually write something. They're not really meant to be detailed at all; they're just meant to be trigger phrases that keep me on track with the events I aim to have unfold. Here's an example of what this looks like with Chapter 5 of S&S D (The Power Outage & Storm):

The outlines themselves are also very subject to change; I use them as references but often add in extra detail/scenes or remove/rearrange scenes as I'm writing. With this outline you can immediately see...

Juliana texting Drayton became Kieran snapping the cave selfie. I thought this change would be much better commentary on Kieran's unearthing feelings, as he made the active decision to take the selfie on his own. It was also a good way for Drayton to remain aware of their developing relationship (which was a secondary motive of mine given the brotherly role he eventually adopts), and it became a plot point I could refer back to later when Kieran discovers that Juliana might actually have feelings for him given what she does with the picture.

I was originally envisioning something more romantic with a shared Ribombee sighting. I changed this for a few reasons: 1) Having this scene as is would've verified that Ribombee wasn't a figment of Kieran's imagination 2) I had developed Ribombee's backstory and connection to Kieran by this point, and felt that creating a connection to Juliana this early on would diminish the storytelling with that. 3) Having Kieran see Ribombee as a more "pleasant" experience in this moment was symbolic to his healing in itself, and the extra detail of making Ribombee be a bit of a gatherer who is watching over them adds to the mystical/fairy godmother-like characterization I wanted to depict with her.

As for the actual writing itself?

This is a bit of a personality thing with me, but I am extremely bad at breaking tasks up into digestible bits. I'm more of a "I want to sit down and do all of this in one sitting no matter how long it takes me" kind of person. So 99.99% of the time I'm posting something - whether a singular chapter, a oneshot, or even a double update? It's all written in one sitting when I have a free day. I also have perfectionistic tendencies at times, so I tend to be a slow writer. Rather than write a rough draft to go back to and revise later, I hover over sentences or phrases and I will write/rewrite them when I feel stuck. I refuse to move on otherwise because leaving things unfinished apparently bothers me. So the amount of time it takes me can range but it's pretty much an all day endeavor, LOL.

The pros to this method is that I can zero in and maintain a continuous, uninterrupted flow after having an idea simmer for enough time. But as you can imagine, the cons include feeling very drained afterwards and not necessarily having a true revision process. This is why I make jokes about correcting typos immediately after publishing, lol. As much as I rather not have them there and appreciate when people (kindly) point them out, I think it's also important for me to be able to be imperfect to challenge said perfectionistic tendencies. So the proofreading drawback is actually deliberate, but it's more so for my personal development than for the writing! :P

As for the feedback?

Because of the spontaneity and intensity of my writing style, as well as my eagerness to publish after I finish something, I choose not to use betas. Instead, I actually like to do something I kind of refer to as "consulting" from time-to-time, lol? I essentially will tell a trusted person an idea I am not fully confident about or am having trouble with flushing out, and then I bounce back and forth with them. More often than not being able to verbalize my idea usually just helps me in itself.

The other core component of feedback is actually you guys. I always try to keep the reader experience in mind, and gauging your reactions helps inform me on where I wanna go next. For example...? >:)

No one (to my knowledge) has guessed the big moment that's approaching in Sweet & Sour. I kindaaaa want it to be a possible theory right before the reveal. And since we're getting much closer to it, I'm switching up my hints so they're going from more vague and gradual (beginning of story to recently) -> double entendres (last few chapters) -> more in your face (where we're going). I'm actually super excited but also very terrified for the execution of this shift LOL.

But really, even for cuter moments or smaller things or whatever? You guys are constantly inspiring and encouraging me, and your reactions and theories and fanarts and everrrythingggg all helps me tell a better story, so thank you. I do enjoy working with some of your ideas when you give me permission, and I do put in deliberate nods in fics to some of the things you are all saying/doing to express gratitude and respect back to you. I really want you to know that I am listening and I am so grateful for all of your engagement, so thank you for making my storytelling better. <3

So in sum the writing process for me is essentially:

Think about ideas in the back of my head for a few days

Create an outline a few days later, continue thinking in the back of my head

(If necessary): Consult about weak points that are making me feel stuck

Sit down and write when I have a free day and go ham. (Note: Picking out music to listen to also super helps with channeling the vibe of the writing piece.)

Publish

Wait for reactions and gauge where I wanna go from there

Maintain blog/respond to reactions during the gap; tease aspects of the fic & generate hype (mutual benefit - y'all can get excited and I can get motivated)

Repeat

If you're looking to write yourself, I would honestly tell you to do as I say and not as I do. I'm an extremely stubborn person when it comes to my personal expression (lol) and I honestly wouldn't want people to deal with the exhaustion afterwards, tbh. I'd suggest creating an outline, pacing yourself appropriately, and taking breaks as you write. Revising/proofreading before publishing would probably make your work a lot stronger, but if you're too impatient like me I see you and I feel you and we ride at dawn together LOOOLLL

This was a super fun question, I hope this answers it well enough! :)

[voxofthevoid]

Hey, I actually don't know if you've ever answered the question I'm going to ask (I'm like 90% sure you did lol), but you're very active on Tumblr, so I couldn't find an updated direct response 😅 - have you ever considered to post more often on ao3, not just one chapter for each work you're currently posting? From my understanding, all JJK and Marvel works you have on a current schedule are finished? And don't get me wrong - of course you have life and I don't mean you SHOULD post everything all at once, but as a fic writer myself - I do not have a patience to sit on my works for long! Like I need to share my obsession I have with certain ships ASAP. For example, your Shibuya Swap fic - someone already picked on that too - will take 2 years to post! That's insane, I don't know if I would like my own stuff in 2 years enough to not feel embarrassed about it and delete, and you will be coming back to it on a monthly basis for 2 years at best, 2.5 at worst, if something will not change the schedule by that time.

Or could it be, that those works aren't actually *finished* it's just that you have a general idea or "drafts" how will it start, progress and end?

I really admire your consistency though, but sometimes can't help myself, but think "Man, I wish you'd post *that* fic more often, it's SO good!" Or post like one fic, just 3-5 chapters of it in a month or sum. But alas, I will restrain myself from begging on my knees in the ao3 comments, because I can understand how annoying it can get, FAST (I dealt with certain people there, too).

Have a great day and please don't take this question as an attack, I'm just a desperate fan of yours, who can't even mind my own business most of the time due to being an ANNOYING person with ADHD lmfao🙏

You WILL see me generally commenting *OMG SO GOOD WOW HOLD UP* gibberish on your works, though (it is a threat).

Haha, don't worry, I won't bite your head off for this. No offense taken or attack interpreted 💜

I have answered a few versions of this question before, twice in relation to JJK and at least once in relation to MCU. They're all somewhere in this tag (link only works in browsers), and the former two will be more recent...but well, that tag has 127 pages of results and Tumblr search sucks balls; even I can't find my posts most of the time, so I definitely don't expect others to. But I did hunt down the most recent one: https://voxofthevoid.tumblr.com/post/746745605036064768/hey-i-was-wondering-why-you-post-one-chapter-a

As for stuff you've asked that's not covered in that answer—

My works are all finished, not just drafts. The "plot bunnies" I talk about are outlines of varying detail, but the fics I'm posting to Ao3 as well as the fics I've posted in previous WIP Wednesday installments are all complete. They need editing, but my first drafts are essentially my final drafts. I proofread to catch typos and grammar errors and to generally polish the phrasing. My day job is editing, which means I'm extremely lazy about editing my leisure writing, but I manage a decent pass.

Regarding how I feel about my work years down the line: I've more or less settled into my writing style. It's still changing and growing, and I enjoy experiments and challenges, but the base quality is at a level I'm content with in terms of both prose and mechanical elements. I'm not embarrassed by anything I've written after 2018, and I don't really see that changing. I will always see the flaws prominently, both objective and subjective ones, but I'll also see the strengths. The older fics (2014–2018) are of significantly poorer quality as well as clumsily executed in many, many ways, but I'm still proud of my ideas and absolutely delighted by how they still entertain so many people. Regardless of my personal feelings toward my writing at a given time, I won't delete my fics.

As for patience, I am indeed patient 🤣. Well, for a year or so, I've been posting snippets from whatever I'm currently working on as WIP Wednesday posts, so I am actively sharing the pieces that I'm working on, but I'm pretty comfortable with sitting on the full stories for months or even years. It just doesn't bother me.

The only issue with how I build a backlog is that once I lose interest in the ship/fandom, my posting slows down, and I get 100 times lazier about editing—to the point I'll likely post the rest of my MCU and Bleach works all raw and dirty. One of the reasons I'm posting as much as I do for JJK is that I'd like to avoid a similar fate in this fandom. Fool's errand with how my inspiration and writing function, but hey, no harm in trying.

And, in line with the post I've linked above, even if I had fewer fics on the roster, my pace would remain a chapter a month per fic. Let's say I suddenly stop writing and also whittle my backlog down to only 2 fics: That won't mean I'll post 3 chapters each for those 2 fics every month; I'll still only post twice a month in total—one chapter from each fic.

As long as no one's being rude or entitled (I've seen some asinine takes about prewritten fics being posted slowly), I consider people wanting more of specific stories as a compliment! However, you'll have to be patient right along with me 😂

And that's a wonderful threat; I look forward to it 🥰

[breitzbachbea]

Character Introductions in Irish Problems - Old vs. New

As a celebration with myself for finishing the first three chapters of the Irish Problems rewrite, I thought I'd compare the first appearance of the ten POV characters in the old draft (written between 2013 & 2015) with the ones in the new draft (written between 2022 & 2023). I haven't done my paper proofread yet nor had a Beta-reader look over it, so these moments may be subject to change. Still, I wanted to take a snapshot of my growth and achievements, so here we go!

Harry O'Connel

Old: And the ivy still entwined around the wooden trellis drilled into the bricks of the front, the windowsills were still green just like the door after Aaron had been gone for four years. His son didn’t mind the look of the house either; he actually did not care about it all. Harry O’Connel had far worse problems occupying his mind than how the ivy slowly started to grow over the window of his study.

“How did that happen?!” Harry thought out loud, tapping his fingers on the table. “Why can’t my life for once go in a good direction?! Why can’t this job for once not be a total pain in the arse?! Why can’t something in this godforsaken country work for just once! The state’s a total catastrophe and the organized crime. How?!”

Chewing on his lower lip, he looked out of the window and let the thoughts ramble on in his head.

(Chapter 1, Scene 1)

New: The windowsills outside were still painted green as the ivy slowly overgrew the window. A lamp on the old but sturdy desk lit the room, to help the few rays of light that still made it through the leaves. It was a nice summer day outside in Dublin.

Elbows on the desk and hands over his head, Harry O’Connel was hunched over it.

“Where’s the money going,” he mumbled to himself.

(Chapter 1, Scene 1)

Paddy O'Neill

Old: “I keep telling you to get help somewhere, Harry” Paddy said and Harry rolled his eyes.

“I can’t be helped in any way anymore but thanks for your concern for the poor sinner” he replied to his bodyguard.

The huge man leaning against the wall beside the window lifted his shoulders for a deep breath and let them drop again, an annoyed frown on his face but it faded quickly.

(Chapter 1, Scene 1)

New: He received no answer from the man who sat on the other side of the desk. Harry lifted his head and caught Paddy O’Neill staring out of the window. Aside from the tiredness, which was mirrored in Harry’s own bones, there was a special weariness in his eyes.

The mournful look had faded some when he looked at Harry. The hunched shoulders made the giant of a man, two metres tall and seemingly a metre wide, appear awkwardly small.

His voice was as deep as ever. “Living. The going isn’t as much of a problem, but the fact that there isn’t any new coming in. Which was also always your father’s problem, especially during the last years of his life.” Paddy sighed, almost inaudibly. “And it seems that after four years of living mostly off his deposit, we’re already at the end of our rope.” His voice had grown more tired over the course of his explanation.

(Chapter 1, Scene 1)

Charlie Higgins

Old: “But how?” he asked. “I need connections for this and my only real connection is Gavin. We can’t just jump into this European mess and hope somebody wants to help us before someone else has already gobbled us up.”

“Did somebody say connections?” Charlie said, entering the room.

Harry looked to the door which Charlie just closed. Turning to him, he had the smug grin on his face that Harry knew for almost 24 years by now.

Right now, he was not exactly in the mood for it.

The other young Irishman kept grinning: “I just waited for the cue to make my entrance.”

(Chapter 1, Scene 1)

New: The front door closed and the world was reduced to his dusty office and the voices of his two right hands downstairs.

“What brawl did you get into, lad?” Paddy asked Charlie.

“The brawl of love,” Charlie replied and Harry rolled his eyes. “A tug of touches, if you want and I came out on top. Don’t worry about the dark circles under my eyes either, these bags are the result of a night well-spent.”

“Alright, that’s all the detail that I need,” Paddy cut him off and Charlie chuckled.

“I needed less,” Harry said to himself.

The staircase wailed as if the combined weight was going to be the end of it.

Charlie Higgins stepped into the study first and Harry immediately spotted what they had been talking about. Dressed in a casual beige summer suit, the dress shirt unbuttoned at the top, the hickeys on his neck stood out as much as the bags under his eyes. His sunglasses hung from one of his suit’s chest pockets.

“There you are,” Harry said. “Did you take all morning to rearrange that bird’s nest on your head?”

The smile on Charlie’s face waned, but it didn’t vanish. His eyes were tired and glazed over.

“Perfection takes time, since this ‘bird’s nest’,” he did air quotes, “doesn’t come as naturally to my hair as it does to yours.”

(Chapter 1, Scene 1)

Soph O'Connel

Old (voice): “Hello?” he answered with a pissed voice.

“Good morning, Mister Grumpy and I-don’t-bother-to-tell-other-people-that-I’m-still-alive” the voice on the other side of the call answered, female and sarcastic in tone.

“Soph!” Harry said surprised.

“Yes, I! Your little sister who is actually worried about you idiot!” Sophie O’Connel gave back upset. “Come on! Just one little call after you arrived down there would have been enough!”

(Chapter 3, Scene 2)

Old (in person): Sophie was worried.

She was always worried about her brother – if it was for his damn business or the fact he was a stupid twat – but now she was worried worried and not even her sheep could distract her.

“He promised to call me each noon”, she told Willow, who grazed in front of the stone she was sitting on. Willow was an old mother sheep and a real good listener – she wasn‘t good at conversation though.

(Chapter 5, Scene 1)

New: Charlie had barely made it down the stairs when keys turned in the front door.

Harry frowned and looked down from the landing.

The next moment, the door was thrown open and Sophie O’Connell almost ran into Charlie.

“Huh?!” She stopped for a second, but rushed past him right after. “Hi Charlie!” She rushed past the stairs. “Hey Paddy!”

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Harry leant over the railing and looked after her as she disappeared into the living room.

“Did the school go up in flames, or …?” Charlie asked. “Would explain the missing jacket.”

“I wish!” Soph answered. “But I forgot my PE bag this morning!” Her stomping and the dull sound of cushions being moved around stopped. “Ugh, I hate running!”

(Chapter 1, Scene 1)

Michele Vento

Old: And finally a person appeared from the pitch-black.

The man was slender, but not too tall. Maybe one or two centimetres taller than Harry. Long coat, hat. The frizzy hair was brown and tied to a loose ponytail. His skin was tanned.

“Buona sera, signori” he said with a soft, but deep voice. Italian, no doubt.

(Chapter 1, Scene 2)

New: It was a beautiful summer day in Palermo. August was less than two weeks away, together with its heat, and life was bustling in some regards and already crawling to a halt in others, all in preparation for finally lying down completely.

The sun hadn’t ventured far enough west yet for any shade to cool the office’s façade, but that didn’t matter. When Michele Vento entered the building, the staircase was as dim and cool as ever. He appreciated the breeze and readjusted his suit. The split second of bright natural he had left he wondered if it had been a good idea to neglect the stone floor during the renovations. Then the heavy wooden door fell shut behind him and the staircase was encased in darkness.

He reached for the light switch and began to climb the stairs. “Hello? Marco? Lorenzo?” He reached the first landing and opened the office door.

(Chapter 2, Scene 1)

Marco & Lorenzo Bontade

Old: A small smile wandered onto his face again: “Of course, Signore O’Connel. But before we start, let me introduce my partners here ̶ the Signori Bontade.”

The two men didn’t say anything, only lowered their sunglasses. It was so synchronously that it made Harry’s heart skip a beat. Like puppets, he thought as Vento carried on:

“My guards and loyal helpers.”

“Ah” was all Harry could get out before clearing his throat. “Pleased to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all ours” they said in unison once more with a grin this time before sharing a look. Their features softened, looking impish and Harry lost any bad feeling he had about them before.

“Or all yours?” the one to the left asked.

“We always mix it up” the right one explained.

Vento put a hand up; the smile on his face was gone: “That’s enough you two.”

They pushed their sunglasses back on, but the puppet effect was as gone as their displayed boredom.

(Chapter 2, Scene 1)

New: “Yeah Michele?” Marco Bontade called.

“What’s up?” Lorenzo Bontade added.

Michele half hadn’t expected an answer. When he had been in this morning, the twins hadn’t been around.

“Oh, so you made it in, marvellous!”

“Why do you sound surprised?” Marco asked. A moment later, he showed up in the doorframe of the office that he shared with his brother.

“We’ve had a few things to fix at home this morning,” Lorenzo said and joined his brother.

The same washed-out blue jeans, the same white sneakers and the same silver watches on their arms. Marco wore an old Caparezza T-Shirt, while the lousy, counterfeit “Mikimix” stitching on Lorenzo’s had seen far better days.

“Which we told you about,” they said in unison.

(Chapter 2, Scene 1)

Tahir Rashid

Old: “You’re the third one to interrupt me minding my own business and I swear Bailey, If you don’t have a good reason you will be the first one I take my anger out on” Tahir Rashid had threatened the taller blond when somebody tapped his shoulder with a “Oi!” while he had been occupied with this morning’s issue of The Independent lying on the table of their conference room.

(Chapter 3, Scene 3) New: There was no need to let the shutters down to keep out the nosy public, since all glass in the huge windows was one-ways. Nor was there a need to fight the humid London summer, should the sun peak out from underneath the clouds, with so many taller surrounding buildings throwing shades and the only window in the room north-facing.

Tahir Rashid liked his privacy, however, so the shutters were partially shut while he finished his issue of The Independent at his desk. Once finished, he closed it and straightened it out. Before he put it into the paper holder on his desk, to be disposed of later, he took a last look at the date. 25th of July.

There were no new notifications on his smartphone and no calls on his landline. He stood up and retrieved his suit jacket from its hook on the side of a shelf. After he had buttoned it up and adjusted the rest of his appearance, he stepped out of the room.

(Chapter 2, Scene 3)

Robert Bailey

Old: He heard the door open, followed by a “Sir?”

Arthur turned towards Robert Bailey, who just entered the room, his boss having a frown on his face: “Did you just enter my office without knocking, Mister Bailey?”

“The rumours are just got proven right and I think that this information is rather important so I didn’t want to waste time, Sir.”

Now Arthur cocked one of his thick eyebrows, still unimpressed: “It’s still not very gentlemanly to just enter my office without knocking.”

Robert sighed: “Since we found out that from all the Sicilian clans he begs Vento I didn’t really bother with being a gentleman this time.”

(Chapter 3, Scene 3)

New: “To be fair to them,” King said and held Tahir’s gaze when he looked over to him. “A goose is unpredictable.”

“Without enough preparation,” Jones began, both pointer fingers raised to underscore her statement, but she was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps.

Robert Bailey came upstairs, oblivious of everyone else as he adjusted his suit jacket. Tahir rolled his eyes.

It didn’t need his intervention for Robert to look up and notice the congregation around the table. “The fuck’s going on here?” he asked with one eyebrow raised and a frown on his face.

“Battle planning,” Jones said. Miah nodded in agreement.

“For the weekend?” Robert asked.

“Afraid not,” Tahir said and Robert’s attention skipped to him for a second.

(Chapter 2, Scene 3)

Arthur Kirkland

Old: It could have been a nice day since it didn’t rain like it usually did in London. Arthur Kirkland however, had too much problems to enjoy it.

Besides, grey skies and rain tapping against the window of his office would have fit his mood way better.

“Why couldn’t you little pathetic leprechaun just stay there in your hole and die slowly?” the Englishman snarled, trying to read the Guardian for the third time this morning but once again without success. He just couldn’t concentrate since there was maybe a problem.

(Chapter 3, Scene 3)

New: “Yes?” The voice was muffled by the door.

“Mister Bailey could finally join us, Sir,” Tahir said and maintained eye-contact with Robert who rolled his eyes.

“Do you think you get paid to be a prick?”

“Do you think you get paid to be a slob?” Tahir smirked.

“Oh, it’s you, come in.”

Tahir opened the door. Exposed brick framed the large window at the back of the room, before the plaster, painted in mint-green, took over the walls. The massive desk could have belonged to the Victorian factory owner that had resided here a whole century ago.

Arthur Kirkland sat behind it. The jacket of his suit was hung over the backrest of one of the visitor’s chairs and the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to the middle of his lower arms. The messy blonde hair was as kempt as it would ever be and the big bushy eyebrows weren’t furrowed in annoyance or anger.

“Good morning,” Arthur said while they came in. There was an automaton of a ship on waves in front of him. “You shouldn’t rag on him like that,” he told Tahir while Robert closed the door behind them. He looked over to Robert. “You should quit smoking, though.”

(Chapter 2, Scene 3)

[daisys-reality]

Hey hey! Excuse me if I'm bothering but I'd like to ask something! 🙇🏾‍♀️

Your readings are so good and are so well to put together! So if you don't mind me asking how exactly do you learn tarot to get so good at it? And how do you make your readings flow so nicely? I always do it card by card so it seems as though the subject sharply changes. Overall I'd love to know your process of doing readings! :)

heyy @herladysrealm you're not bothering me, don't worry😊✨ thank you so much for the compliments! I will try to answer your questions as good as I can. (Sorry for how lengthy it got 😅)

Regarding what I did to get 'so good' at it, I just started doing readings for myself and for some irl friends first, then I randomly started with personal requests here on tumblr 2021/2022... and doing pac readings was also a very spontaneous decision! I just felt like there was not that much tarot content on reality shifting when I started my shifting journey, that's why I decided to do it myself lol. To be honest, with tarot readings you'll always feel like you don't really know what you do.😂 Even now, after having done so many readings and after receiving so much positive feedback, I still always feel like that! So, just go for it. Be brave, be confident and start posting! I personally did listen to some subliminals, so you could try that too if you want. And I also watched a lot of tarot videos on YouTube before buying my first deck! I really liked how they interpreted the cards and I learned a lot from it too! Everything else is just practice I guess.

Regarding how I do my readings... I want to mention first that I have my own space where I have all my tarot/oracle stuff and I only do readings there and nowhere else! I keep that space always clean, I air the room often, I also have some plants there and all my crystals and candles, so that there is always a constant pleasant atmosphere! It is pretty important for me because I can always easily get in the right headspace when I'm there.

When I plan on doing a PAC reading, the process usually looks like this: I usually look for pictures on pinterest first and then create the layout in my tumblr drafts on my phone. Once I have done that, I sit down in the space I told you about, I prepare my stuff: I get my laptop, put on some playlist, open web-tumblr and google docs, I put on a candle and do a very short meditation where I ground myself and set my intention to do a reading now and where I ask to receive clear guidance, answers and messages for my reading. As I usually have a topic by then, I think about which deck to use and about how to approach this topic (- sometimes I make a plan beforehand, other times I just start intuitively!) and then I get my everything ready. Regarding how I get my cards, I do both - I take the cards that fall out while shuffling and I also draw the cards myself. I do have some other little habits like knocking on my deck before shuffling and stuff like that but I leave those out here. I usually get all the cards I need and then I analyze the situation. I don't like having too many cards so I always try to keep it minimal -> I have a few tarot cards for the main message and then I just add oracle cards or my self made messages if I want to have more clarification. I do look up the meanings of some cards at times because I like to have all the possible perspectives in mind and then I just start writing on my laptop (in google docs)! I usually just get in the flow of writing and things pop up in my mind - so it all just happens somehow.😅 Also, I usually don't do all piles at once because they tend to get so long. So, I sometimes do the other pile a few days later - it really depends on my mood... Or sometimes I get the cards for a pile, do an overview of things (with keywords) for what I get and then I do the writing of that pile a few days later but those piles usually get a lot longer unfortunately. After finishing writing everything down, I proofread my piles, edit them perhaps a little so that they look more structured and then I copy paste them into web-tumblr! Towards the end, I put all the cards back, shuffle the decks , knock on them, (imagine/visualize them being cleansed,) clean my space/table up, put off the candle and do a short meditation again where I express my gratitude and state that I release all the energy from the reading (we don't want any lingering energies💀) and that I claim my own energy back to ground myself again.

Regarding writing style, I just picked up a few habits from my time in university I guess! (Ex. having one main topic per paragraph, having more lengthy paragraphs than shorter ones, using conjunction and stuff like that but I think those are just those main rules for academic writing). Though, if you have any other questions, just ask me! I hoped this helped you somehow 🖤🫂

[assignment-task]

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Talking to assignment help experts.

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How to write perfect accounting equations?

Make a list of formulas

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Instead of always readily seeking assignment help by searching for keywords like write my assignment for me, you can now search online for accounting formulas and use them in your answers.

Use rough sheets of paper

Most accounting equations will require you to work with large figures and numbers. This is why it can help if you have rough sheets of paper with you to work on your answers at first. In this way, you will make fewer mistakes in your final answers and can also change or modify them as required.

Making rough drafts of your answers will help you write polished and 100% correct answers in your final accounts paper.

Proofread wisely

Your accounting equations will have multiple numbers and digits that you will need to work with. Also, when you are solving them, you will have to do so through a series of steps. You will also need to add, subtract, divide and multiply figures to find the right answer. Thus, it can be easy to make mistakes in your answers when writing them.

This is why proofreading is an essential part of writing correct accounts answers. However, if you think manually proofreading is too tedious a task for you, you can use online free proofreading tools to do the same.

Source URL: https://kaalama.org/forums/thread/12668/ 

Final thoughts

The next time you have trouble writing your accounts equations, refer to this blog.

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[versadies]

may these tips guide you to your writings !

VERSADIES’S WRITING TIPS FOR GENSHIN X READER WRITERS !

SPECIAL NOTE. thank you guys so much again for the 6k milestone! your love and support has always been appreciated and i decided to make this special post as a way to help those who strive to be even more amazing writers ! as always, enjoy these tips my fellow comrades <333 — sincerely, dan 🫶

SYPNOSIS. includes tips regarding the process of writing, content, genshin characters, the writers, and appearance of your blog that’s mostly for beginners !

please take note that you don’t have to follow these tips and that this isn’t the right way to help you write, but a possible way to help you write and improve (p.s. though, you should definitely get grammar, formatting, etc. right in order for your readers to have better experience in reading your fics)

1 — the process

The following tips below this point includes the process of it such as first drafts, editing, proofreading, putting tags, and more. You may proceed to the next points if these are not the tips you’re looking for!

1. OUTLINES !

A tip I always go for whenever I want to start writing fics are essentially to make outlines. If you don’t know what an outline is, it’s basically where you give a general description of what you want in your fanfic without the full details just yet. This is super helpful especially when writing a fanfic series because you know what to do and what you generally want by the time you reach to writing that part of your fic :DD

Once you’re done with your outline, you can now start writing your first draft based on it, this is where you can now write all the details (dialogues, scenes, etc.) you have in mind in your fic!

2. WRITE YOUR IDEAS

If you ever come up with new ideas, list them ASAP! Even if you don’t think you won’t write it, keep it – it can help future you if you couldn’t think of anything to write about.

3. FOCUS ON YOUR THOUGHTS

Avoid procrastinating as you let your thoughts barf out, be determined no matter what until you finally finish with letting your thoughts out. 

4. SHARING IS CARING

You can also chat with other writers – you can even chat with me if you want to talk about your passionate brainrots – because writers can spark your ideas even more with ideas they have in mind if you allow them to.

5. STORYTELLING METHOD

Another tip is to recite the words you’ve written as if you’re a narrator and see if the fic sits right with you. Doing this can help some people who want to know if there’s something that’s unclear or doesn’t sound right by reciting it. Whether you’d like to read it out loud is up to you!

6. GRAMMAR

Speaking of which doesn’t sound right, grammar matters! It’s alright if you don’t have a beta reader or someone who’s willing to help you out in checking your grammar like me, I recommend using google docs and some websites that can check my grammar.

Google docs is where I write most of my fics in and I can guarantee that it helped me out with my grammar and sometimes capitalizations. Although it doesn’t exactly fix all the grammar errors you have, it’s still decent enough for it to be used. A few grammar websites I sometimes use are writer.com and quillbot.com, so you can try using them as well if you wanna try my tip out.

7. FORMAT

My next tip is regarding the format of one’s fic. When I say format, I mean by how the paragraphs are shown in one’s post, specifically paragraph breaks. Leave some space for your fics, let them breathe. Readers like me get scared when we see the whole fic being one whole paragraph. Change paragraphs when:

A new character shows up

Dialogue, specially when someone else speaks next

New topic, idea, subject, etc. is introduced

Change of settings

When you want to pull something dramatic (oh, oh.)

When the mood of the scene changes

With spaces, it’s easier for readers to understand and process what you’re trying to say in your fics.

8. PROOF-READ IT

Another tip is related to the last process of writing fanfiction: proof-reading. It won’t hurt to reread your fic (even if you feel like you want to cringe) and see if there are some errors or typos. A tip of mine is something I came across to google when I was still new around tumblr – and it is to simply list your errors that you’d commonly make and to keep an eye out for them. 

The errors could be misspellings, misinterpretation on what a certain word means, even mistaking the reader’s gender, and more. 

Either way, always double check on everything until you feel like you’re satisfied or sure of your fic. 

9. CW / TW

I advise you to put detailed content warning / trigger warnings in your post. Readers should know what’s going to be on your fic, especially if your post is dark/angst/mature content. Don’t forget to specify whether your fic is SFW or NSFW, not everyone who uses tumblr are adults. 

10. READ MORE

By the time the fic is done and is ready to post, make sure to add a read more function. It’s going to be a hassle if your fic is really long and it’ll take a long time on swiping, so it’s best if you add the function in your fic if your fic is at least more than 700. 

For those who don’t know how to put a read more function in their post on mobile, just write :readmore: and enter.

11. TAG

Lastly, the next tips are about tags. I really advise you to properly tag your fic. Use tags that are relevant and related to your fics. Some people would be disappointed if you use a tag they’re looking for and isn’t something that your fic has (example: you tagged your fic as angst but the fic is fluff for the entire post), and yes, although it’s a way to get your fic to be seen by others more, it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

2 – the content

The following tips below includes writing angst, vocabularies, use of italics and bold, show-not-tell tips, dialogues, and more. You may proceed to the next points if these are not the tips you’re looking for!

1. WRITING ANGST

Be in the mood, listen to sad songs, watch series and movies, or even read books that absolutely wrecked you – the same can go for writing fluff. 

Ask yourself these questions as a reader when you’re writing: is this enough to make me feel sad? Is the impact of the angst strong enough? If you say no to these questions, try to add or change something that could make it even more tragic, be it dialogues or more scenes (just not too much of course)

A favorite tip of mine is to describe the overwhelming feelings the character or the reader has. Describe how painful it was for them. Describe the agony they felt than everything else they’ve felt throughout their lives. Sure, it’s fine if you say: “He was devastated when he saw them.” But you can also say, “He felt like the world was crashing down on him the moment he saw you in such a broken state – and it’s all because of him.” Describe it, but not too much. 

Try not to drag it too much. When I mean by that, I mean don’t try to make it too slow (too much dialogues, unnecessarily describing too much of the scenes, etc), it will ruin the pain for the readers. This also goes for making sure not to make your paragraphs be confusing. People won’t suffer but instead be confused if you add something that can be confusing.

2. COLORS IN TEXT

Refrain yourself from using colors on the text of your fics. It's difficult for most readers to read if you often use a lot of colors in your stories. It’s completely acceptable if you’d use them on your author note, warnings, etc., as long as it’s not in the fic. Using black is definitely a no-no because it won’t be readable at all for readers who use dark mode tumblr. 

3. VOCABULARY

Vocabulary is also something important to keep in mind. Readers can pick up on how there’s a repetition of a certain word or phrase easily, so it’s best if your word choices are a variety. If you’d like to improve on your vocabulary, you can just read books, listen to music and read its lyrics – anything that requires you to read. You can explore new words you haven’t heard before and can use it on your fics.

However if you just don’t have the time, google is free comrade <33 You can either go to a few thesaurus websites (thesaurus.com, collinsdictionary.com, etc.) or ask google for synonyms of certain words so you can use those instead of the one you often use. (This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop using the word you always use, it just means you can go for other options so you don’t have to use the same word over and over again). 

4. USE OF ITALICS AND BOLD

When it comes to italics and bold, you’d often see them in novels and fanfiction. Besides using italics to let readers know if someone is thinking, you can also use italics when you want to emphasize a lot on something! Be it the feelings of the character, a word or phrase that hits the spot, and more. If italics isn’t enough to emphasize your text, use bold instead – or even both. 

5. SHOW-NOT-TELL

I sort of disagree with the “always show-not-tell” since the fic would be filled with too much description – especially unnecessarily ones. 

One tip that helped me alot is to show emotion and tell feelings. It’s alright if you also show feelings if you feel like it’s important to note it. 

Don’t tell how “You became happy when you saw him”, show how “Your eyes sparkled at the sight of him entering the room, your mouth twitching upwards as you watch him walk towards you with the same expression on his face.” 

Don’t show how “You feel like you could barely function at all and tears keep on coming out from your eyes due to the amount of times you’ve yawned, holding onto your pen with determination of finishing the report.” Tell how “You’re fighting the urge to sleep as you try to finish your report tonight.” 

It’s also okay to do a mix of both (show and tell feelings/emotions) “You almost stumble on your steps, swaying back and forth as you yawn quietly. You continued walking around the kitchen to find coffee; the events that happened last night made you not be able to sleep.” 

Overall, just visualize the reactions/thoughts of the characters – be it body language, facial expressions, etc. It will be able to help readers understand more and imagine about it easily. It doesn’t have to be long and can be as short as you want as long as the thought is there.

6. DIALOGUES

When it comes to dialogues, there are few things you can use that’s based on what people do in real life (Take note, you don’t always have to do this).

When someone is thinking about something, you can interrupt their line of thought with a sudden new one. Example: 

Thoma thought to himself, what could be the reason why Taroumaru has been going out a lot recen – He then gasps quietly to himself, does he have a crush on someone?!

Use filler words such as “like”, “literally”, “uhm”, “uh”, “i think”, etc. It makes it more relatable especially if the reader is the one saying them! Example: 

Thoma nodded eagerly. “Yes! Taroumaru was literally barking and the general was – like speaking for him as if he understood what Taroumaru was saying! Can you believe it?!” 

You can also mention their hand gestures, noises they’d make to emphasize on their words, facial expressions, etc. as they talk – it will definitely help readers imagine more as well on how they say the dialogues. Example: 

Thoma nodded eagerly. “Yes! Taroumaru was literally barking and the general was like, uh,” he then proceeds to silently snap his fingers a couple of times, trying to think of what Gorou said, “he was like ‘Taroumaru, you fought the traveler too?!’ It’s like the general understood what Taroumaru was saying! Can you believe it?!” 

You can also have them repeat themselves when others don’t understand what they’re saying or to get their point across. Example: 

Ayato tilts his head. “So… Your point, Thoma?” He asks, lowkey amused by the housekeeper’s astonished reaction from his experience. 

Thoma couldn’t believe how the young master is so laid-back from what he had just said. “My lord… General Gorou can understand Taroumaru.” 

“What?” Ayato asks, knowing fully well what the blonde-haired man had just said. 

“General Gorou can understand Taroumaru.” Thoma repeated. 

7. SAID IS NOT DEAD

Said is not dead and can in fact be used often. Don’t use it otherwise if you want to get a description of how the character is saying something, it makes it more interesting. 

You can do: “Yeah, Arataki Itto is one interesting guy.” Thoma said with a smile. 

You can also do: “Happy birthday to you, OWA OWA, happy birthday to you, OWA OWA–!” Itto sings dedicatedly.

8. SUMMARIES ARE IMPORTANT

Summaries are important because they’re the ones that can let the reader know what to expect. Don’t say “idk how to summarize this. i dont have a summary.” – I know it’s difficult to think of one, but you have to keep trying – instead, you can just say “basically you feel insecure and the character comforts you” or “you’re tired, he’s doing his work. so you came up to him to cuddle with him while he’s working.” 

It’s an exception if you’re doing a request and the anon’s request basically has a full summary already, that is, unless it’s an event theme and doesn’t have a summary on what it’s about.

9. PUNCTUATIONS

Punctuation marks are also important to know. Commas can help you put a soft pause on your sentence, question marks (?) and exclamation points (!) are helpful in expressing dialogues, semicolons can make a gap between two sentences smaller or introduce a new completed sentence with “however”, “therefore”, etc. Use them if you feel like you have to! 

10. SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST

Lastly, a quick tip I learned from this app is to put the most important information at the end of the sentence. Try “By the end of the year, they became a couple.” instead of “They became a couple by the end of the year.” It just makes it seem more dramatic, don’t you think? 

3 – the characters

The following tips below includes analyzing genshin characters and what to do when writing the reader. You may proceed to the next points if these are not the tips you’re looking for!

1. OBSERVE THE CHARACTER

Google is free. Genshin wiki is free. Reading genshin lore is free. If you have no idea how characters act, analyze them based on what their lore and voiceline has given you. When you write the characters and feel like they’re ooc even if it’s unintentional, imagine them acting on what you wrote and ask yourself if this is accurate enough.

2. IT'S NO LONGER A CHARACTER X READER FIC IF READER HAS A NAME

Refrain yourself from calling the reader with someone else’s name. It’s no longer a genshin x reader fic if you decided to give the reader a name. Not everyone has the same name and your fic would be considered as a genshin x oc (yes, even if you refer to the oc as “you” instead of “I”). It won’t be enjoyable the moment the reader has a name that isn’t what they’re usually preferred to as. 

3. APPEARANCE OF THE READER

If you’re going for a neutral-appearance reader, an important thing to note is to avoid describing reactions that could describe the reader’s appearance. An example of this is blushing. When you say “You smiled softly, the light pink became evident on your cheeks.”, it’s no longer appearance-neutral since blushing can’t be seen on some people’s faces. What you can do to refrain from that mistake is to describe the feelings of said reactions. 

Instead of the example I’ve mentioned, try to do “You smiled softly, feeling your cheeks starting to become warm.” 

Refrain from mentioning hair as well, not everyone has the same hair and not everyone has hair. Instead of “The wind was blowing your hair”, try “You relax from the cool feeling of the wind coming past you.” 

Again, one of the goals of a character x reader is to make the reader feel like they’re a part of the story, and giving them a name, appearance (unless specified), etc. won’t do it.

4 – the writer

The following contains tips regarding the mindset, thoughts, interactions, and motivation of a writer. You may proceed to the next points if these are not the tips you’re looking for!

1. CONFIDENCE IS KEY

You may not know it, but your writing is always better than you think. You just think you don’t like it because you already know what’s going to happen because you wrote it. 

Be more confident in yourself and your own writing! It can make you even more determined and have more passion in writing. Avoid comparing yourself to other writers – that’s an unhealthy behavior. Don’t let hate anons get to you because in the end, they’re just people who waste their life by looking down on others for no reasons at all. 

It’s scary to publish your first fic, and that’s completely okay and reasonable. You can gain the confidence to publish it by just straight on or blindly pressing the post button and leave the app immediately— distract yourself from your what-ifs and buts and just hope for the best that people will like it.

2. NO PRESSURE

Always take your time and never force/pressure yourself. Writing should be something you enjoy and not something you should stress out about. Make schedules and follow them, either that or do timers where you write as many paragraphs as you can within the time limit if you’re the type to like doing challenges. 

Take breaks if required. Prioritize yourself more than your blog, give yourself some self-love! If you suddenly have an emergency, feel burnt out, etc. and you won’t be able to post your fics, you can let your followers know and apologize for the inconvenience. Don’t worry about it, people will understand and will wish you well!

3. GET ATTENTION

If you want your posts to get attention, tag as many as you can (at least 20) and make sure it’s related to your fic. 

You can also interact with a blog network that reblogs works for more people to see, especially those that’s only for genshinblr, so feel free to join one if you feel like it.

Interact with your followers often. If you’re a mobile-user genshin writer, please take note that the anonymous option is turned off unless you turn it on in the tumblr website/desktop version. You don’t really have to turn the anonymous option on if you feel uncomfortable, it’s super okay. Remember, prioritize your comfort over anyone else’s. Your blog is not your job, it’s your passion. It should be something that makes you comfortable and happy. 

Observe your followers. Take note of when people are active the most and what time you usually get the most likes/reblogs. Use that time to be your post time (if the time is too late, you can use the queue post option whereas it’ll automatically publish your post at the time you chose.)

If you cannot reply to others in the reply/comment section due to your blog being secondary, you can just reblog your post and reply to people (with a tag that’s for you replying to comments). 

Take note, don’t force yourself to reply to other people! Again, take as much time as you need.

Self-reblogging your work is a great option in increasing attention as well! Most writers, including myself, would reblog our own works in case those who have us on our feeds haven’t seen our latest posts. 

4. MOTIVATION

Motivation is difficult to get sometimes. So here are a few tips that helped me and will hopefully help you!

Expose yourself to ideas, prompts, etc. One of the things that gets us motivated is the new ideas/prompts/etc. that we made up and instantly start writing for it. If you’re going through an idea that’s in the middle of the story, use that as your motivation to write the whole thing until you reach that part.

As I’ve mentioned before, outlines can really help in helping you write down what you want in your fic. Start doing that first before writing it because you won’t have to worry about getting completely stuck in your wip. 

Don’t feel lazy or procrastinate. Get yourself out of your bed and go to a spot where you can focus solely on your fic. If you feel sleepy out of nowhere while writing, go splash water on your face and listen to loud music that can keep you awake.

Give yourself a deadline for your fic. It’ll make you feel determined in finishing your fic!

Read something. Whether it’d be other fics, stories, etc. – it doesn’t matter. You’ll eventually get some inspiration from reading and get motivated to write.

5 – the appearance

A big tip of mine when designing your blog is to find your colors first. If you already have your profile pic and header prepared, that’s completely okay because at least you know what colors to aim for that can match your profile and header! A huge recommendation of mine is to explore colorhunt.co for color palettes to choose – they’re such a big help to me especially since I sometimes have a hard time trying to think of a color that matches the other.

I also advise you to put your masterlist link in your bio. People will be able to navigate your masterlist easier! You can go to tumblr's website/desktop version > edit appearance > scroll down and find edit theme > paste "<a href="insert link"> between the word you want to link it on </a>" > and then you're done! you can add as many links as you want :DD

If you need to find sources where you can get genshin characters’ faces for your banners, you can just go to the genshin wiki and search for their profile. They provided pictures where their wish art's (basically what they look like when you wish for them) backgrounds are transparent so if you’re the type to think removing their background is a hassle, genshin wilki’s your go-to! If not, then I suggest Picsart’s (mobile editing app) stickers, they surprisingly have a lot of stickers of genshin characters.

use readable fonts + visible color when adding texts on your banners.

As for pinned post, here are the things that you can put: 

Short profile about you such as your name, your pronouns, age (if you’re comfortable with it), your nationality, and anything else you want people to know about.

Links such as masterlist/navigation, mutuals list, dni (do not interact), byf (before you follow), and etc. 

Fandom/s (such as genshin impact, honkai impact, honkai star rail, etc.)

It’s up to you if you’d like to add some quotes, images, banners, stickers, etc. !

[wordsnstuff]

Hi, so I've finished a short story, a first draft you could say, but there are still some kinks in it that I want to iron out. What is stopping me is that it seems just such a huge job, I wouldn't know where to start. And so I keep making excuses. (Chances are I'll use this as an escuse as well, that I'll wait until I hear your answer.) Any tips on where to start?

Procrastination & The Editing Stage...

Procrastination is typically a symptom of anxiety and perfectionism. Before you ask how you solve the problem, you should figure out why you’re having it in the first place. This is an immensely helpful practice in the long run. Ask yourself why you’re so anxious to start examining your own work and test various possible exercises that could soothe this anxiety long enough to get started. 

Editing is understandably very intimidating. It’s daunting to have to sit down and actively look for flaws (or as I like to say, room for improvement) in your own work. Writing is a practice in vulnerability sometimes editing can feel like critiquing your own emotions. In order to edit well, you have to detach from your own connection to the content and view it objectively. If you’re having trouble with this, I recommend putting literal distance between yourself and the writing. 

Let it sit physically and mentally away from you for a few months and then come back to it with fresh eyes and preferably a second project in the foreground of your writing time. This will allow you to see it as a story rather than a part of you, and therefore you will find it easier to criticize. 

I have a few posts and tips that touch on the subject of procrastination and approaching work you’re intimidated by that expand upon the topic:

Stop Getting Too Attached When Writing

Healthy Forms of Motivation

How To Have A Productive Mindset

How To Fall In Love With Writing

Writing Through Mental Health Struggles

 Dear Writers Who Are Hesitant To Start Writing

“All First Drafts Are Crap” -- My Thoughts

Getting Back To Writing After A Long Hiatus

Why “Burnout” Is Oay - The Creative Cycle

Wanting To Finish A Story You’ve Fallen Out of Love With

How To Use Beta-Reader Feedback

How To Actually Get Writing Done

Writing On A Schedule

Coming Back To A Story After A Break

Coming Back To A Story You’ve Grown Since

How To Prevent Getting Stuck

Sticking To A Story (Working on Multiple Projects)

Writing Your Way Through The Plot Fog

Get Back Into The Stride of Writing

When you are finally ready to start editing, perhaps a few of these resources may be helpful to you:

Step-By-Step : Editing Your Own Writing

Improving Flow In Writing

Constructive Criticism : How To Give & Receive

How To Make A Scene More Heartfelt

How To Perfect The Tone

Editing & Proofreading Cheat Sheet

A Guide To Tension & Suspense

What To Change Draft-By-Draft

Dialogue Punctuation

Finding And Fixing Plot Holes

On Underwriting

Denoting Flashbacks

Ultimate Guide To Symbolism

Expanding Scenes

Naming Stories

Tips on Descriptions

Tips on Balancing Development

Tips on Connecting Chapters

Tips On Dialogue

Using Vocabulary

Balancing Detail & Development

Showing Vs Telling

Writing The Middle of Your Story

–

Masterlist | WIP Blog

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon, where I offer early access and exclusive benefits for only $5/month.

[chrismerle]

Good evening, folks. I'm Elsa. I'm a freelance editor with an English degree and eight years of experience in the industry.

And you know what?

We're a week into November. We're a week into NaNoWriMo. I know just from scrolling my dash that a lot of you are well on your way to reaching your goal. Once the month ends, a lot of you are going to be contemplating the process of getting that first draft edited. And you know what? Editing your own writing is hard! You know what it's supposed to say--you wrote it! Your brain's going to just skip over typos or missed words. And not everyone wants to shelve a project long enough to be their own set of fresh eyes.

That's where I come in.

My credentials:

I have a Bachelor’s degree in English and I’ve been freelancing as an editor since 2014.

I primarily use the Chicago Manual of Style.

I’ve handled fiction and nonfiction.

Nonfiction topics I’ve dealt with include law, business, finance, marketing, tech, travel, wellness, and medical.

I’ll handle any genre of fiction. That includes gore, horror, and smut. I have no triggers.

The shortest piece I’ve edited was 95 words. The longest piece I’ve edited was 115,000 words.

Things I’ll do:

Beta reading: During this stage, I don’t do any correcting of typos or grammar or anything like that, but instead offer my input on anything that stands out or seems weird or noteworthy. Like if I get to the end of the book and still have no idea what a prominent character looks like, if it feels like a plot thread didn’t get tied up, or if I just think parts of it are a bit dull. Or if I think something works really well! If you have a list of questions you want me to keep in mind, I will do so, but otherwise I’ll just make observations as they come to me. $1.00 per page.

Line editing: This is when I go through the story line by line to spice up the prose, while also adjusting sections that are awkwardly or confusingly worded. (Don't worry, it will still have your voice at the end.) There won’t be much of a focus on basic proofreading since the contents aren’t quite finalized yet, though I’ll probably fix any errors that jump out at me. $1.50 per 100 words.

Copy editing: Making sure the writing is as clear and consistent as it can be. I’ll fix spelling and grammar issues. If a number is spelled out on one page but typed as a digit on another page, I’ll make sure those sorts of things are consistent. If a page switches from present tense to past tense halfway through, I’ll fix it. Misplaced modifiers? I’ll iron them out. Subject changing halfway through a sentence? That will also be addressed here. Would a section make more sense with a different order? I'll rearrange it. $1.00 per 100 words.

Proofreading: Checking spelling and punctuation and so on. English is a pinata of spelling and grammar rules, and even people who have been speaking the language since birth can’t always write it. There’s no shame in needing some spring cleaning. $0.85 per 100 words.

Rush Orders:

In the event that you need something done very quickly, a rush order fee will be applied. Regardless of the length, if you need it within less than three full days, a rush order fee will be applied. Beyond that, take the final word count and then divide by 4,000, and that is the number of days in which the rush order fee applies.

Ex.: If you have a 52,000-word novel, then if you divide that by 4,000, you get 13. If you need me to finish the document in under 13 days, a rush order fee will apply.

For the rush order fee, take a quarter of the price for work and add that on.

Ex.: If we say that 52,000-word novel is 104 pages and you want the full works–beta reading, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading–then that would be $1,846. The rush order fee would be $461.50, bringing the full total up to $2,307.50.

I take payment through Paypal or Venmo. If I have multiple takers lined up, then I’ll work through projects in the order they’re presented to me, though rush orders will be allowed to jump the queue. We’ll address scheduling discrepancies in advance, obviously. If you need something done within two weeks and there are three people ahead of you, I will say as much.

If you can’t or don’t want to pay all at once, then I’m happy to work out a weekly, biweekly, or monthly payment plan.

My ask box and my DMs are open. If you don’t want to get in touch with me through tumblr, you can also email me (t.elspeth.williams@gmail.com) or use Discord (shaicarus#8286).