#[ make no mistake; I'm keeping all the threads I still have in my drafts ]

[who-is-muses]

[ I'm gonna go play D&D for the first time in person in months (!!!) so my creative battery may be dead by tonight. But what if. I set a couple memes to post while I'm gone. And try to collect some more starters. Teehee 👀 ]

[theycallmeratt]

Raaaatt I wanted to ask sooner but I kept typing your Ao3 name instead and not finding you.

I see you've answered a lot but I think not these 3:

18. 27. 28.

18 share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a fic

I have so many of these! I keep all of it so I don't feel bad deleting them in the first place haha. And to reuse them, maybe!

---

"Good. Rub my orbuculum and I'll give you good fortune." (from wizard smut, of course)

---

(Talking about his time in Avernus)

Rolan even—don't tell Lia and Cal—left a few times on his own and talked himself up to any devil who would listen, taking the lessons they offered solely because they thought it was funny to indulge mortal pride.

---

(this is from an earlier version of Three/Four, when Lakrissa was really nihilistic. This is also a rough draft but I did like like "doesn't mean I want to start now")

"When I do, I'll rot. Every part of me, everything I did, who I really am, dissolves into the void. I return to what I was before I was born: nothing. This means I can do anything. No one will remember my successes, no one will remember my mistakes. I can even do nothing."

Alfira was listening, arms crossed.

Lips dry, Lakrissa continued, "Just because I believe what I do doesn't mean I want the rot to start now, while I'm still alive. There's still dinner to cook. There's still your music. Besides, I want to read Silfy's next newsletter. When nothing matters in 1,000 years, it makes me want to focus on the next five. Years, days, sometimes it's only hours. But I want, and I care."

---

(This one I'll probably reuse but at this exact moment it's deleted)

According to the woman running a con out front (at least until she tried to sell Olly a glass ring and found herself on the wrong end of two Zhentarim blades and one Zhentarim magic hand) the way to trick their mark was to have the room set up already. Don't approach her; have her approach them.

The con artist was kind enough to suggest a layout, and only after a few friendly smacks. Nice to meet another professional.

---

OK that's enough, sorry, I get excited.

27) favorite part of the writing process

I like the part where it's all flowing like ink, and there's a feedback loop between thinking and writing and putting down words just hypes me up for the next words. I get dizzy and amped up.

I also like when a story is waiting on me to figure out one key thing, and it all feels like it's pieces of separate fabric held together by loose thread, and then I find the missing thing and the thread pulls tight and it comes together. I don't get this on very often, but when I do it's incredibly satisfying

28) least favorite part

The slog of writing all the parts that aren't fun. Sometimes I wish I could write AND THEN TIME PASSED and we all just pretend the appropriate character development/plot/whatever happened, haha.

I also hate when I have something I like and realize I misread or misunderstood some lore or missed a plot hole that's a huge plot hole. Or bad pacing. Pacing is probably my weakest bit, I take 3 sentences to say the same thing over and over and sometimes I spend all day writing and only get a few hundred usable words.

[rainbowsky]

cpfs are getting a Lot of hate rn bc of the banners at the airport

thoughts?

What are my thoughts? 🙃

I think people should stay in their own damn lane, both the solos who are whining about what turtles are doing, and the turtles who are whining about what the solos think/say about turtles.

And if you're talking about Twitter, where some turtles are falling all over each other bitch other turtles out the loudest and seem the most blameless... the same applies. Keep Twitter toxicity where it belongs. Don't bring it here. Most of us are here to get away from that garbage.

As for the light banners, it's pretty convenient for solos to continually say that turtles should only bring green to events. They hate BXG, so of course they're going to want to eliminate our fandom color from any event. But the idea that we should show up in solo colors is absurd and totally offensive.

I have said this before, turtles have absolutely every right to show their support to GG and DD. They have absolutely every right to show their colors at events. The problem isn't the colors, it's fan behavior that can be a problem. People showing fandom colors should behave in ways that present the fandom in a positive light.

As far as I could see, the people crowding DD and his team out at the airport were not wearing any fandom color, and were just individuals making bad choices (many could quite possibly have been shishengs, paps and daipai such as those who did similar at the airport when GG was leaving for Europe). The fans tend to be well-behaved. It's those others who are unscrupulous and will do anything for a shot.

Even still, when it comes to fans behaving badly - those are their mistakes to make. I'm not going to get invested in their behavior beyond being concerned for DD and his comfort/safety. Frankly his security should have been better provided for in that situation, even if it was to call ahead and get a team there for when he landed to ensure things didn't get out of hand.

People who think that turtles showing up in green would stop us from being attacked or would prevent fan wars are deluding themselves. Motos would just move on to the next complaint - the content of the banners, the dolls, or 'shipping', or whatever other issues they have with turtles - until turtles were basically motos and the world was indistinguishable from a world without turtles.

Solos continually try to stamp out any positive fan support turtles show. They even do it with the charitable works that are done in Boxiao's name. Catering to motos won't get anyone anywhere. Of course we should not go to war, but we also should not be afraid to exist and show our support.

LIVE AND LET LIVE. There's never any excuse for fighting and arguing. I also feel there's never any need to berate other fans in lengthy threads such as the ones I've seen on Twitter over the past couple of days. It's just sanctimonious posturing. Are the actual people complained about even reading the post? Unlikely.

And this is something I see in fandom all the time and that I have a whole other rant about in another post in my drafts... people making a huge scene and stirring up a lot of drama around something they think someone else is doing, and then pointing to that same drama they just brought and saying "See! Look at all the drama that person is causing!"

If fans don't want drama about these things then they should just stop bringing it. Block and ignore, and report when appropriate. The world becomes very peaceful when we curate our online experience.

If people find the behavior of others so troubling they should just cut it out of their lives in the exact same way.

I would like to remind any solos who freak out about turtles and our behavior, there are only two people on the planet with the power to shut turtles down, and those boys have remained remarkably silent about us, and if anything have continued to feed us. Solos should reflect on that, sit down and be humble.

[folliesandfolderols]

Writing prompts day 70 (part 2) (yes it's a double day)

From this prompt list. If you’ve read this far, I’m not sure you need any explanation, but the short version is I hadn’t written any fiction since 2019, I set a goal to write at least 150 words/day in 2024, and this list was my way to restart. Also I abruptly decided on day 2 I would write an entire Tim/Damian story connecting all the prompts, because I am Good at Judging My Limits. /sarcasm Anyway, I finished the rough draft a while ago and am now unlocking the old entries as I edit.

Read from the beginning here, or on ao3 here

Day 70 (part one) here

***

81. "I don't think I've ever wanted someone more."

102. "Fuck, you're so hot when you're bossy."

***

Tim felt the ball was definitely in Damian's court now, but for the week after their hotel liaison it seemed Damian didn't agree. Tim texted him a couple of times, with spurious inquiries as to the progress of their case or something WE-related. Damian's replies were swift, efficient, and without follow-up.

It was tempting to think he'd read the situation incorrectly, but every time he started to lean toward thinking Damian just wasn't that into him after all, he remembered his timeline. No. He didn't make mistakes with that much evidence at hand. Damian just needed to be waited out.

Eight days after the conference room, Tim's phone vibrated just as he was about to turn in. It had been a shitty night, with rain pouring down the entire time, ending with a wrenched ankle when he'd slipped on black ice. He'd fallen asleep at his dining room table after patrol and woken up with food on his face, so he'd had to shower again before heading to bed.

"Who the hell else is up this late?" he muttered to himself, picking up the phone and opening messages.

Damian's name appeared at the top of the threads. With a triumphant smile, Tim tapped it.

Are you home?

yeah of course why Tim typed, thought better of it, and added capitalization, a period, and a question mark.

I am nearby and wanted to check on you.

Tim resisted the urge to pump his fist in the air like a cheesy eighties movie and replied, You're more than welcome.

About two minutes later, Damian walked through the door Tim had left open for him, looking like a fashion spread in Vanity Fair. (And Tim would've known—they'd both posed for the inside front fold of the issue titled "The New Nepo.")

"Hey," Tim breathed out, trying and failing to keep a dopey grin off his face. He was too tired to make a concerted effort.

"Hello." Damian kicked off his shoes and strode to the couch where Tim waited. "How's the ankle? Father told me you wrenched it while you were out."

"It's fine, just a little sore. Do you want tea? It's freezing tonight." Tim rose to his feet and winced involuntarily at the sharp stab of pain radiating up his shin.

Damian's eyes narrowed. "That's not 'a little sore.' And you look exhausted. Is that . . . is that a piece of a Crocky Crunch nugget in your hair?"

"Dammit." Tim watched as Damian plucked the offending food from the hair just above his ear. "I must've missed it when I washed up."

"You're a disaster, Drake." The reprimand lost some of its impact when Damian pressed his palm to Tim's cheek, then shifted to his forehead. "And you have a fever. I insist that you go to bed immediately."

Tim didn't move, just kept looking up at him, and Damian might actually have had a point about the fever because he couldn't stop smiling. "Fuck, you're so hot when you're bossy."

Damian actually looked taken aback at that. "Are you trying to be funny? I don't find it amusing that someone without a spleen might be coming down with an infection." His hand moved from Tim's forehead to the side of his neck, gently squeezing the sensitive skin where it met his shoulder.

Tim lowered his head to kiss Damian's wrist. "You would if you still hated me. I'm glad you don't."

"I don't waste energy on hating the merely annoying." Damian pulled him closer. "Lean on me so we can get to your bedroom without making that ankle worse."

Tim obediently walk-hopped into his bedroom and climbed into the bed once Damian drew the covers back for him. "Did you really only come out to check on me?"

Damian didn't answer at first, but Tim had learned his lesson by now. He waited, covers pulled up to his chin, counting the beard hairs where they shadowed Damian's cheekbones and jawline. Bruce often needed to shave twice a day. It looked like Damian was soon to be in the same boat. Tim really wanted to feel the stubble against his teeth again.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Damian picked up Tim's hand where it lay on the duvet and played with his fingers. "I was out with Jon again. I just happened to be coming back through the city on my way to Bristol when I spoke to Father."

Tim frowned. "Why have you been hanging out with Jon so much lately?"

Damian shrugged, an elegant lift of his shoulders. "He is always happy to see me. Not many are. And the Manor is . . . the Manor is so empty, now that it's just me and Father."

Tim captured Damian's fingertips with his own and lifted them to his lips. "If you come here, I'll be happy to see you," he said into the warm skin. "I'm happy now."

A faint smile graced Damian's lips as he watched his fingers press to Tim's mouth. "I'm not sorry I stopped by."

"Good. Do it more." Tim kissed his knuckles.

"I feel that I owe you, in any case." At Tim's look of confusion, Damian clarified, "In the conference room, you did not—I failed to—"

"Dami, no." Tim pulled Damian's hand so he could press it to his chest. "I wanted things to go that way. You didn't fail at all."

Damian nodded, eyes downcast. "If you say so."

"Hey." Once he'd regained Damian's eye contact, Tim smiled again. "That doesn't mean I don't want to come with you next time."

"Next time?" Damian echoed, probably aiming for "incredulous" with his tone but only succeeding in sounding enthusiastic.

With a tug to his arm, Tim pulled him close enough that he could kiss Damian's forehead, right on the furrow between his brows. "Yeah, next time, if you're up for that.”

“I'm not opposed, but I am . . .” Damian seemed to be struggling for the correct term. He decided on, “Skeptical.”

Tim nodded. “What if I told you I don't think I've ever wanted someone more? Would that make it more believable?"

Damian had been carefully holding himself apart from Tim except where their hands touched, but at this, he let himself lean into him, tucking his face into Tim's neck as he wrapped strong arms around Tim's waist. "I would very much like to believe it."

"Good." Tim kissed the top of his head and held him close. "I'll do my best to help with that, then."

Damian nodded, still hiding his expression against Tim's neck. "May I stay here tonight? I'm tired and I don't want to drive out to the Manor this late."

Damian Wayne, asking for something he wanted from Tim Drake? Tim resisted the urge to reach for his journal and instead said, "Yeah, of course. I'd love to have you."

days 71-75 here

[dead-rabbit-comics]

washed and finished. this is the main bit in twill and the main reason i was weaving this piece. bottom left is fresh off the loom, all other pictures are of the finished cloth.

originally the goal was to weave a pattern sampler, both to see what i can do with my table loom both in terms of weave structures and with two colours. i also just wanted to plan and weave a fabric that felt right from a yarn i liked. i then remembered i didn't like the feeling of weaving on the table loom, sold it and readjusted the plans for my floor loom.

augh, it's so special to me for so many reasons so i want to put something here. this is a milestone. i'm just going to list up the most important bits for future reference as briefly as possible :)

specs:

started planning 3.11.2021 finished 9.1.2023 warp length 8m, prepared in 3 parts 8 ends per cm, 378 ends total 7 colour sequences in both warp and weft per weave structure 4 plain weave variations, 7 twills in the main bit plus some extra experimentation based on a book** as well as a tiny double weave bit 52 picks per colour sequence for the plain weave, 48 for the twills so 539 squares (rectangles really) in total and no two the same! (343 twill, 196 plain weave) mostly listing this because those are some nice numbers c:

first time:

winding a warp with this many ends

planning for a structurally sound fabric based on a specific yarn

beaming a warp on my floor loom

keeping notes this complete and updating them when i changed things

planning and mapping out a draft using weavepoint demo version

using floating selvages (poorly)

weaving twills on the floor loom*

learned:

*yes, you can weave unbalanced twills on an old-school counter-balance loom. no, you probably don't want to. balanced twills however 👌 no problem

keeping a roll of paper on the weaving to take notes is inconvenient but comes in handy when you need to vent your frustration. i probably won't bother again except for when sampling though.

measuring instead of counting threads to know when to switch = golden

switching colour sequence mid weave pattern and keeping the weave pattern going is a no-no i will never plan for this again, i don't care if it disrupts the order of things, change the plan, don't do it, it is so unbelievably annoying, please

also maybe scale it down next time? or don't. but uh, it was a lot of firsts on a fairly long warp, changing something every ten minutes of weaving. maybe next time try being more compassionate with future self.

in case i do another pattern sampler, i'd add a third color to border and define the different areas in both warp and weft. i will not make it 8 meters long.

**the book is amazing. however, i only understand what she was writing about when/after weaving it, so i have no choice but to work through anything i want to learn

mis-matching the beat of colour sequence and weave sequence is both irritating and fun. what i mean by this is e.g. having a colour repeat of four steps and a weave repeat of six.

loom is set-up for finer yarns, because the beautiful heddles are fixed on the shafts, you need to put some thought and effort into spacing out the warp.

mistakes/issues:

the weavepoint demo version only letting you save as jpeg is fucking frustrating but understandable since their 60 day free trial period turned out to be a forever free trial period

selvages are a complete mess

the beginning is very slanted, must've had major tension issues without noticing

sides still bubbling up, despite best efforts

just. resist. the temptation of overfilling your fucking bobbins i beg you. resist! (set up a permanent bobbin winding station)

ropes holding peitschenstäbe cut into beams - should switch to cloth

need to make/find a glossary for german, swiss-german, french and english translations of weaving terms

should've weighed yarn cones in beginning and now so i could get an estimate of what's doable with the rest. oh well.

wind warp in even number of sections next time to make beaming easier

also (this is embarrassing) the raddle opens you fool.

so far so good!

[thewritingsofdreamers]

Editing: How-to's

Over this thread, I will discuss a few ways that I edit, in future posts I may go into depth about it.

1. Rereading: This is vital, albeit a bit obvious. Before you get to editing specific mistakes, take the time to reread your draft. If you find mistakes or things your want to change, feel free to mark it, but don't stop and try to edit amid the reread. Also, keep in mind that you should be ready to reread your book multiple times while editing.

2. Specifics: Once you've reread your book and made the corrections you wanted to make, make a list of all the things you want to fix, for example; quotations, spelling grammar, plot holes...etc. Then, do a reread for each item on the list, make sure to focus on only looking for those mistakes. I would suggest to do the reread edits based on your strengths. For example; I'm not very good at finding plot holes on the first read, but, if I make the plot holes edit one of my later rereads, by then I'm so familiar with the book it is easier for me.

3. Second Set of eyes: Especially if you don't have the funds to pay for an editor, which is fully understandable, having other people review your work is vital. I cannot stress this enough. I worked for a publishing company and specifically I was editing their math books, these math books had been under constant and daily revision for over seven years! I could go over a lesson multiple times a day and still find areas to be adjusted. That being said, don't be discouraged if you don't find everything, just work on making your book the best it can be.

[tamagochiie]

soulmate au

synopsis. where the haikyuu bois can hear when their soulmate is singing (whether it be in another universe or theirs)

character roster. oikawa tooru, iwaizumi hajime, kenma kozume, kuroo tetsuroo, tsukishima kei, yamaguchi tedashi, sugawara koushi, daichi sawamura, hinata shoyo, bokuto kotarou, akaashi keiji 

genre. fluff

a/n. this has been in my drafts for over a month now, and i really wanted to write this properly after finishing up my finals... i saw a lot of tiktoks about this and i was  i n s t a t n l y  hooked. 

oikawa tooru —> it happens during his high at the final moments of the game; breaths ragged as sweat drips down from his face, the crowd chanting his name when he sends the ball flying over to the opposing court. his ego is flying dangerously close to the sun when the quiet hum of your voice has him jolt in place—feet completely glued to the floor. he'll try to brush it off and try to focus back on the game at hand, but there's a thrum of excitement in his chest when he hears you loud and clear.  

its a moment he's been waiting for, but out of all times, why now? his eyes will sweep through the bleachers, hoping to see that you might be close by, but the poor boy's out of luck. even more so, when the buzzer screeches in the stadium does oikawa gravitate back to reality, your singing no longer ringing in head does he realize he's cost the whole team their winning point. 

iwaizumi hajime  —> he's in the middle of a nap during lunch, ignoring his friends who're eating by his side; oikawa's persistent chattering drowns out the noise in the classroom. so he gets up and leaves, knowing full well he'll never be able to get the peace he deserves if he stays a minute longer. 

he threads his fingers through his hair, trying to subside his headache as he stumbles down the hall to look for a place to sleep. he'll eventually make a home out of a creaky wooden bench just outside the art room, settling uncomfortably on the fragile wood.

he'll miss it at first, thinking you were just one of the girls passing by. actually, he misses it completely by assuming it as such. but he doesn't mind it as it helps him fall asleep; he makes mental note to find you, making the mistake of assuming you're not anywhere else except here.

kenma kozume —> "who the fuck is singing?" is what kenma hisses as he clicks away, harshly pressing down on the keys in a switch motion. his lip caught between his teeth, brows furrowed into a deep line as the screen of his computer ; he's been streaming for hours with kuroo and levi.

kenma is not a believer of soulmates, and the boy dreaded the moment he'd have to hear your voice uninvitingly taking up room in the space he felt the safest: his head. as you sing to the top of your lungs, enjoying the high of a chorus, unbeknownst to you the effect it had on the poor gamer boy who had all the hours he spent playing go to waste, he's just been given more reason to hate you than to love you.

kuroo tetsuro —> a smile creeps across his lips when he hears you sing, setting his textbook down before he slumps against the wooden backrest of his chair. he's been wondering when he'd hear from you; he always made sure he was in a quiet space so he'd hear you loud and clear. he flutters his eyes shut, craning his head back as his body eases to the sound of your voice. you weren't the best singer, but to kuroo you were the sweetest sound he could ever hear.

tsukishima kei —> he has a sharp tongue, but who would've thought there'd be a day when he'd open his mouth to fire insults at certain blueberry boy only to have nothing—not even a crack in his voice—slip out. his mouth goes dry instantly as he stands there dumbfounded as  yamaguchi. somehow, the oh-so golden crown that usually rests well atop tsukki's head has fallen to the gentle sound of your singing.

though tsukki had always placed himself in a pedestal, looking down on other from where he stood, there was always a lingering insecurity that he'd never get a soulmate in this lifetime—or in any lifetime. so when he hears your voice in his head, there's a twinge of hope in his heart at the thought there's someone meant for him.

yamaguchi tadashi —>  he's blushing quite profusely, slapping his hand onto tsukki's mouth without giving the action as much as a thought as excitement overrides him, catching tsukki off guard. he can finally hear you, and he almost misses it if it weren't for his best friend's pride.

yamaguchi rests his eyes, fluttering them shut as he and his lanky friend stop in the middle of the hallway, not minding those who brush past him as he dwells in the sound of your voice.

"she's so beautiful," yamaguchi sighs, moving his hand off of tsukki's lips and onto his chest, "i wanna marry her."

"how can you say she's beautiful?" tsukki seethes, spitting away the salty aftertaste of his best friend's hand. "you haven't even seen her yet."

"with a voice like that, i already know she is."

sugawara koushi —> the amount of force he uses when he slaps his teammates on the back is the same amount of force that presses against his heart when he hears you singing, voice cracking ever so often as you try to reach the high notes. happy isn't a word he could describe the little pitter patter of feet squishing his stomach. happy is not a good enough word for sugawara to describe how he feels after finally getting to hear you sing.

she must really like this song, sugawara thinks to himself as mutes his teacher's chattering. he'll close his eyes, listening to you and your words carefully before scribbling the lyrics onto his notebook, keeping note to search the song later. it's a habit sugawara will eventually grow into every time he hears your voice, thinking he'll get to know you a bit better by listening to your favorite songs.

sugoi, he gasps in wonder, lips curving into a smile. its a soft ballad, foreign to his ears, but he'll mouth along to your singing and continue on with his jog.

daichi sawamura —> it happens in the middle of his morning jog while listening to music. he'll take off his earbuds, tapping against the plastic because he thinks his earphones one of his broken when your voice overlaps with the bands he's listening to. it takes him a while, but when he pauses his music, its only then does he realize what's going on.

hinata shoyo —> he sprints to kageyama, slapping him in the back while he's about to practice a toss, "i can hear her! i can hear her!" is what the sunshine boy screams, tugging onto the sleeve of his best friend as he hears your voice. "i can finally hear her!"

still clinging onto the material of kageyama's jersey, earning a grunt and a curse, hinata flutters his eyes shut and focuses on the sound of your voice. he doesn't understand the lyrics or the tune of the song you're singing, but its you—your voice that has his heart thumping against his ribcage, breaths hitching in his throat, drying his lips. the same high he rides in the middle of the game rises from the pit of his stomach and spreads a warm feeling across his chest.

and for the first time, the bright boy has something else to beam about other than a sport.

bokuto kotarou —>  his eyes dilate as his lips curve into a toothy grin, cheeks blushing a peachy color when he hears you, his soulmate, the one and only person he can finally call home. your voice isn't the prettiest nor is it the smoothest, but it belongs to the one he'll get call his—his whole world. he's spent his whole life imagining what it'll feel like when he hears you; maybe his hairs will stand on its ends, a tickle down his spine, or maybe he'll know what it feels like to forget how to breathe. But instead, he's learns what it means to be at peace, to feel the world turn beneath his feet as focuses on nothing but the sound of your voice.

he drops everything in his hands, his attention slipping away from the front of the class and onto you. he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, tuning out everything else as he listens to you stumbling over your words as you try to sing  properly.

cute, is the last thought bokuto spares before sinking back into his chair.

akaashi keiji —> its a small smirk that plays across this quiet boy's lips. there's a slight tug in his heart as his stomach folds into itself. the quiet mumble of your singing washes out the background noise of bokuto's shouting echoing the gym.  he shuts his eyes, fiddling with the ball in between his hands as he listens to you.

he'll bob his head to beat of your words, even humming a little once he's caught the tune. his teams watch him from the side, brows furrowed while a few mouths hang open. he looks strange, but akaashi is too invested in the moment he shares with you to think twice about what he might look like.

*i'm still not convinced that i can properly write my bbies from inarizaki, so until then, please bare with me hahu

[tuz-on-ao3]

Hey, I was reading your fic (I really like it by the way! Sasuke's, my favorite character, and I think you wrote him really well :D), and I was wondering, what's your writing process? I know everyone has something different that works for them, but how do you plan out your chapters, or get ideas, or things like that (very vague, I know, I'm sorry)?

Hiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!! Thank you sugar plum for reading Maybe I’m Paying for the Things I’ve Done and liking my characterization of Sasuke, it’s very heartwarming and I appreciate it. 

As for my writing process, oof. As you know everyone’s writing process is really different and it has been a joy to learn more about other people’s process to help figure out what works for me. This is something you can absolutely cherry pick with and try things out for the first time. 

Timing: some people write better at certain points during the day, some people can start writing at 5am or write till 3am in the morning with a late start. I am a mix of both. I can start writing around 9am because that’s when my internal ticker is like “Let’s go to work now!” It’s just how my school and internship schedule line up. I also just write when I am bored(while in class sometimes) and late at night if I really have the momentum. Which happened for some of the chapters I have written for Maybe I’m Paying for the Things I’ve Done. So figure out what works for you. Also, timing myself sometimes helps, I use Pomodoro as a way to keep track of my work, I don’t necessarily take my short breaks. 

Initial phase of writing: I draft first and I backwards outline as I go along and then I hit a wall. The idea circulates in the back of my mind and I either get a sense of a scene or a situation that I want the characters to go into and I start writing. Writing the story informs me where it’s going to go, it comes to me during the process. However, I will hit a wall. The fics I write are rarely short(shoutout to the people who can do short and sweet, your sense of pacing is unreal and I bow to your greatness) so there is a lot of worldbuilding, plot, and character development that needs to happen. Important thing to note, just because you are writing fanfiction doesn’t mean you can skip worldbuilding. It is very important!!!!!! It doesn’t need to be the crazy amount that I do but you need to set your reader up in a place and time so give some context. 

Timeline: Things happen at certain places and times, and my characters will be a certain age when it happens, so I need to keep track. One of the walls I’ve hit is that for my current posted fic Sasuke spends time in jail, but how much time was not made clear in my non existent early planning and that changes the way things happen. And how old he is, and how much time should I spend on that prison sentence. If it was a long time then I need to talk about it as a life event that will have consequences throughout the entire fic, or if he was just detained until his lawyers came that changes Sasuke’s character. It also is a good way to talk about the criminal justice system of Konoha that I am making up. So I keep track of everyone’s ages, and birthdays, and sometimes I change them. I mean it is really hard for me to write baby ninja that go out into the battlefield when they are four years old and not make the entire fic about a shitty world like that. I don’t want to do that, it’s too fucking hard, and fluff feeds my soul. Also, seasons!!! That changes the way you set up your environment as well, from what I can tell Fire Country should have a monsoon season since they are so forested and are located near the equator of their world. So when that happens, if I decide to include that, is important for pacing of the story. I mean how long should this go on? Also, romance in the rain *hitn hint wink wink* who knows. 

Outlining: I didn’t use to be an outline and to some extent I still am not. I have done a previous post explaining a little bit of it but I backwards outline to keep track of what is happening because it’s a lot of detail and I don’t want to make mistakes. However, spreadsheets are my jam. I didn’t use to be this way but my internship has changed me and now I like spreadsheets as a way to be organized. Huzzah *throws confetti in the air* to being a boring adult person! There are a couple of way to do this but first actual writing notes: 

5 commandments of story 

Inciting incident 

Progressive complications 

Crisis 

Climax 

Resolution 

This is something that helped me a lot when it came to structure, because sometimes my plot points are all happening at the same time and I’m like this makes no goddamn sense, what is happening. Story Grid is a podcast, and a book, and a website that can help you talk about structure. They can also talk to you about the Hero's journey. Take or leave whatever works for you because a lot of their stuff doesn’t work for me. But in doing their spreadsheets and exercises I learned what doesn’t work in a story. It’s how I realized pacing was a problem in my writing, and that I needed to take time away. 

So they have sample spreadsheets that break down books into scenes, turning points, characters on stage, etc. Take what works and leave what doesn’t. 

Back to spreadsheets, I have a story grid one for Maybe I’m Paying for the Things I’ve Done which I will backwards outline for the chapters I have already posted and a weird visual index card thing with the five commandments on my computer to help me figure out what is happening in my story. 

It looks kind of like five boxes side by side with the five commandments written on each one. 

Sometimes there is more than one box for progressive complication and that is fine, it is also fine if every scene you write doesn’t have a resolution, because by the end of the fic you will have one. I split this up by chapter, expected word count, POV. 

Word count: Some people care about this, some people don’t. I don’t write stuff for ‘Maybe’ that is less than 10000 each chapter, there is way too much going on in the fic to do short chapters. For my other works in progress I find that I will be writing shorter, which is both easier and harder because it needs me to be concise and clear. Anyway, I do take notes from Story Grid in this because 50% of my words have to be for my middle build, while 25% each go to the opening hook and to the ending payoff. A scene is about 1200-2000 words. 

Wiggle Room: Shit happens, you don’t do as much one day and you do a lot another. It’s okay, your story will evolve at certain points, it will tell you what to do. Don’t worry about it that much. 

Struggle/villainy: Protagonists are often defined by their antagonists, and if that is the type of story you are writing make sure you spend just as much time on the villain of your story as you do the hero. They are major actors and deserve the attention. When I talk about the Akatsuki I am thinking that they are an international terrorist organization hellbent on kidnapping people that are systematically treated as weapons. There are a lot of moving parts for this. Also the characters themselves, Pein and Konana are radicalized in my story from peaceful revolutionaries to violent ones because they watched the leader of an institution murder their best friend, that will cause personal and political damage. It informs the way I write them or will. 

Sasuke's struggle isn’t necessarily against a person, it is against himself. He wants a home because when he was little the one place where he felt safe was violated by his own brother, that is a hell of a trauma. Then he left his former home to go to Oto. Place has a huge part to play in Sasuke’s characterization and I tag homemaking in my fic because I want to show the process of creating a home for yourself as a process of revival and change and hope and vulnerability. It is a huge emotional labor of love and will be a focal point in the fic. That’s why I spend so much time talking about these goddamn renovations and art deco, it matters. This is a boy who has traveled all over the world and is now trying to put all the pieces of himself into one place, how he does it will be incredibly revealing of his characters. 

Character: Emotional arcs are important for everyone. Try to figure out what your character is going to go through. It helps so much. Victoria Schwab asks her characters three questions:

What do they fear? 

What do they want? 

What are they willing to do to get what they want? 

See if this helps. Also, understand that you got to develop your side characters as well, they act as a foil for the main character and add richness to the story, you will notice if they are flat. Understand the dynamics they bring to the story and to the world. Are they a woman in a field that is more socially acceptable for men? How does that affect them? What does gender look like in this world and how does this affect your characterization? Have they gone through physical/emotional trauma? Because that shit will keep coming up in a story, healing takes time. Also this is a fanfic, do whatever you want honey bear. 

Vocab: the lovely @slexenskee told me to have a running doc of vocabulary and I am trying to do that. 

I also have a running doc for a fic/character where I put all my brainstorming, little scenes, lines, vibes, questions into. And a doc for the synopsis of any new fic ideas I get. 

Inspiration: Read, a lot. I read fics, I read fiction and fantasy books, I read non fiction and I read about other people’s writing process. I read the news, I read twitter threads, I read random quotes on Pinterest. I watch tv shows and take note of how they do characterization or pacing or plot. I listen to music, I couldn’t live without it. I am on Pinterest looking for vibes or aesthetics for my fics. When I first started writing, since my fic was inspired by another fic, I was worried it would be too similar, that worry is fading because I am doing more writing, and more reading as well. But you must consume culture in order to produce it. Also take breaks, sometimes you figure stuff out if you leave it alone or talk to friends about it. If you reach out to me about it, I will do my best to help so feel free. 

IMPORTANT: DO NOT BE A RACIST/HOMOPHOBIS/TRANSPHOBIC/MISOGYNIST. UNDERSTAND THAT WHEN YOU WRITE A FANFICTION THE CHARACTERS ARE CODED IN A CERTAIN WAY. DON’T GO AROUND MAKING PEOPLE OF COLOR WHITE OR MORE LIGHT SKINNED THAN THEY ARE. WOMEN AND NON BINARY PEOPLE EXIST ALWAYS, IF YOU ARE NOT WRITING THEM INTO YOUR WORLD THAT MEANS YOU ARE MARGINALIZING THEM IN YOUR WORLD AND IN YOUR MIND. IF YOU ARE CISGENDERED BE DAMN CAREFUL ABOUT WRITING TRANS NARRATIVES, PROBABLY DON’T. WHEN I DECIDED TO INCLUDE MY OWN CULTURE INTO SASUKE’S CHARACTER AND PAST I DIDN’T MEAN TO MAKE HIM LESS EAST ASIAN BUT TO ADD PARTS OF MYSELF TO THE WORLD. ACCEPT AND ADAPT TO CRITICISM COMING YOUR WAY IN THIS SENSE. I AM SURE YOU WILL BE FINE, THIS IS JUST A STANDARD DISCLAIMER. 

This was really long, and I hope you won't mind. Thanks again for this question, and let me know how your writing goes. Also listen to Deadline City the podcast.

#answers #fic writing #process #naruto 

[incorrectfeaquotes]

Wowie u sew??? What a lucky duck! I've always wanted to get better in sewing but I'm so horrible at it. Do u have any tips for beginner seamstresses?

Oh boy do I.

Putting this under a read more cause this is basically Mod Sully’s stream of consciousness in regards to sewing:

Okay so, I kinda had an interesting time learning how to sew because I started with a broken sewing machine. Like, it couldn’t even sew for more than a few inches before it broke down. Total nightmare. Also when I began I had like the bare ass minimum of materials (regular scissors, a ruler, pencil). And it was a bitch to try to measure/hem/cut anything. So it was funny cause as I got better I also got better equipment. I actually redid some stuff for this year’s con and things came out sooooo much better.Granted, I’m still rather a novice myself (I didn’t start cosplaying until Junior year of college), but I’ll tell you some stuff I’ve been learning so you can benefit from my mistakes.

So here’s some of the Essentials that I’ve found to be super helpful:

Fabric Scissors. Trust me there’s a big difference between fabric scissors and regular ones. And once you have fabric ones, don’t use them for paper and stuff.

Water soluble fabric marker/pencil (I have a white one I usually use, then some blue chalk for white fabric. Don’t use pencil trust me on this one.)

Seam Ripper (super important. if you fuck up you can use this to take out the thread.)

Box of pins

Iron. Always iron your fabric before cutting or sewing. Also when using an iron, please test it on some of your scrap fabric first. You never know how it’s going to react to the material. This way you can find out what it can tolerate. I had some polyester-blend fabric that would get all gunked up somehow if I tried ironing it at too high a setting.

Masking tape (cause a lot of times you’ll need things to temporarily stick together and don’t want to get tape residue on it.)

Seam Gauge

X-Acto knife

Self-healing cutting board

Measuring tape (the tailor’s kind, not the construction worker kind)

Ruler, preferably see-through and a kind that won’t get cut into by an xacto knife

Test Fabric. I cannot stress this enough. I’m lucky cause I live in New York and we have an entire garment district full of fabric stores, but if you can find a Michael’s or a goodwill or something they’re also good places to check. In a fabric store you can usually find a discount bin with clearance fabric. You want to find something similar in consistency and stretchiness to your final fabric. I got some fabric for $3 a yard for my Foo Fighters test fabric.

One thing I’ve found particularly helpful is that you can get these little sewing kits at like Michael’s. I got one and have been using a lot of it to this day. It’s usually like a little pouch about half a foot long with some basics, like that little tomato you put pins in (which has come in handy for me) and some little spools of thread and a tape measure.

Not as essential but I’ve found to be lifesavers:

Drafting paper. This stuff is amazing for when you have to make your own patterns. I got like a huge roll for only five bucks, and it’s marked up in a grid in inches so it’s easier to make straight lines. Butcher paper works too.

Rotary cutter: For cutting long strips of fabric this saves me so much time and stress. Just be very careful not to cut yourself on it. It’s sharp! Also when you use a rotary cutter, have the cutting board underneath everything. Otherwise you’re gonna ruin whatever surface you’re cutting on top of.

So when I first started out it was with hand-sewing (the broken sewing machine wasn’t mine so I couldn’t always use it) which is a bitch a lotta the time. I mean, if you wanna do it I’m not gonna stop you. But I don’t really have any advice in this category cause all that time I just spent winging shit.

Okay so, Sewing Machine.

Some things that you definitely want a sewing machine to have are a Straight Stretch Stitch, Zigzag Stitch, and Overlock stitch (this is in place of a serger cause that’s like a whole nother machine it’s easier to just get a sewing machine with this thingy).

This is the sewing machine that I have. Again, only have a broken one to compare it to so I can’t really say if it’s better than most or not. I mean, I love it. Occasionally eats stretch fabric though if you’re sewing close to the edge of the fabric.

Also, when first starting out, don’t jump right away into your project. Get some scrap fabric and test out some of the stitching. Each one handles differently. And be careful to make sure you’re using the right foot and needle for the type of stitching (some need a twin needle and such.)

Stuff I’ve found useful:

In order to sew a straight line, you can use the Seam gauge to make some markers occasionally where the stitching is gonna go. Then, line the fabric up with the sewing machine (pay attention to where the needle is going to land. Always start sewing with the needle already dropped into the fabric). Take a piece of tape and place it alongside the edge of the fabric. Now when you’re sewing, just make sure that the paper stays right alongside that tape. Your line should be pretty straight! The gauge is just so you can occasionally look up and make sure you’re still goin the right way.

Also, if you put your needles in perpendicular to the direction you’ll be sewing, you don’t have to take the needles out as you go, you can just do that at the end!

I don’t know how other people do it, but when I have fabric that I’ve got to fold back to hem, what I do is put it on top of the pattern. The pattern should have the seam allowance on it marked. Then I stick a bunch of needles into it so the fabric and paper stay connected. Then, I use the rotary cutter/scissors to cut along the fabric so it matches up to the pattern’s shape. Then I take out the needles on one of the sides and start folding that side back to match up with the seam allowance, pinning a ton as I go so it holds in place, also putting some pins through into the paper too so it stays put for when I move to the other sides. This way you can make sure all your seam allowances are lined up!

If you want something to be symmetrical, make the pattern of just one half of it, then fold your fabric in half and pin it to the pattern. Once you’ve cut it out, if you unfold it it should be the full piece. This method also works for things like pants. Rather than cutting out both back legs at different times, you can just fold the fabric and cut through two layers to get two leg pieces.

Before you start sewing, make sure there’s enough thread in the bobbin. The bobbin’s the part with the string that goes inside the machine, rather than the spool of thread on the top (you use both). Sometimes you’ll be sewing a bunch of stuff and not notice the bobbin runs out, then you’re just left sewing completely unaware that nothing’s staying together and you gotta go back.

The sewing machine usually works with a pump. The harder you press down the faster it goes. Start out slow and then work your way to fast, but don’t go too fast cause then your sewing might get out of line if you’re not experienced with it.

Also keep an eye on where the fabric meets the needle and make sure the sewing machine continues to push the fabric forward. If it stays in one place, that means it’s stuck inside the machine. Fortunately with most sewing machines you can take the top part off that area and go inside and fish out the fabric. But there’s a good chance the fabric will be ruined.

Also, you will never have picked up all the needles. There are always going to be needles on the ground.

When you join two pieces of fabric together, make sure it’s on the side you’re going to have inside the clothing. In general just always make sure you’re sewing on the side you need to sew on.

Always cut a little bit more initially than you think you’ll need. You’ll narrow it down more when you get it over the pattern.

With stretch fabric, use either a zigzag stitch or straight stretch stitch. Also, if you attach stretch fabric to non-stretch fabric, it’s not gonna stretch anymore regardless of the stitch.

There’s a way to make it so that the stitching doesn’t show on the outside. It’s called facing, and I haven’t really mastered it yet. There’s tutorials for it online though.

If you have to sew designs to something, like letters or a patch, I’ve found that Heat n Bond works really well. It’s got this web stuff on the back that, while not permanent, keeps whatever you’re attaching stationary on the other fabric so you can sew it into place. When I do these things with stretchable fabric a straight stretch stitch is the best. You’ll have to go slow and also occasionally pick up the foot to slightly adjust the fabric for turns and such.

Also, since I’m doing cosplay I’m gonna reiterate something I remember reading a while back: Cosplay can be only two of these three things: Cheap, Fast, and Accurate. If you’re like me and want to go the Cheap and Accurate route, don’t be like me and start planning early. Don’t fall victim to Con Crunch.

Okay, that’s all I got for now, but if you got any other questions feel free to ask!