#(if you see a typo no you don't i've checked it so many times i can't do it anymore)

[lighthouseborn]

@daemondaes ( Cherry ) traded a ❧ for a folk-tale...

  Fast friendships sprouted easily among habitual travelers. They might meet on a job or at an event, perhaps brush shoulders totally at random, knock elbows and trade smiles, then like magnets, feel the push and the pull of the poles of the world and know. Henry knew. Before she ever deposited a curiously coffee-scented business card in his hand, he knew. Artist, person for hire, jack of all trades. This was someone who was looking for something, looking for everything. They fell in immediately.

  A game at one-upping each others anecdotes made it easy. Casual conversation became out together, at a local scene Henry was sure had to be someone local's private property, though he wasn't sure whose, and it didn't seem to matter. It was just the Place to Be. The group, a mixture of locals and adopted visitors, converged on the evening like old friends out for a weekend. Dinner and drinks and dancing. Whiling the evening well into the night, when they congregated on a furnished patio, which had as much of an ideal view as one could ask for. Far enough away from town that the street noise was minimal, and there were trees to lend a sense of safety, but near enough to see the lights woven through the balconies in the square, and -though there was none now, he bet- hear the music of a festival or parade going on.

  He had run through several stories already. A couple of local bits that had been rolling around in his pockets, and one larger than life legend about the ghosts said to haunt a fleeing treasure ship that sank somewhere just off the coast more than three hundred years ago (which was, of course, entirely fabricated.) Anecdotes of similar places, some entirely true and others a bit exaggerated, as one did. Stories that played well to audiences, and lent to the rowdy group who had been gathered 'round the table. Now, several people called had their nights, and others were absorbed in their own little fascinations, and each other, but here she still was, reclining on the sun faded furniture next to him, demanding another story.

  Henry toyed with his necklace, twisting the smooth charm and twining the chain through his fingers. Considering what kind of folk tale to tell to a habitual traveler with the wisps of something dark clinging to her soul.

  He could not see anything of it, in so literal a sense. But he felt it. Felt it double, when she looked him in the eye. He wondered what it was — if she knew it was there. It wasn't particularly blatant, to him, nor any shape he knew well, just something...a bit like déjà vu. Too vague to name. Too real feeling to completely ignore. (Was it — was he like this, to others? He'd wondered. He could not, the same way he sensed the twists of the world, sense it in himself, but he thought there must be something of it in him still. There nearly always was, with those who'd been dealt similar hands...)

  His head lolled against the wicker backing of the couch as he looked away, up at the sky between the trees. “A fairy tale, mm?” A wild shift from his earlier spinnings, but a bit of childish nonsense was good for the soul and the edge of the dark. And familiar strangers. And being more than a few drinks deep. Henry sat up, cleared his throat, and began, very classically, with:

  “Once upon a time... there was a Queen. The Queen's husband, was, naturally, the King. And beyond a King he was an enchanter considered to be at the heights of knowledge, so he was very wise, and he knew that when Kings and Queens want children, they must go to see a witch. So, when the Queen came to him one day talking of nurseries and babes and sweet little voices, the King, being quite preoccupied with his work, gave the Queen instruction for how to find the Witch, and sent her off on this child business.

 ‘The Queen, of course, was very frightened to go out into the darkest parts of the forest on her own. She did not like the shadows between the trees or the way things always made noise only when they were out of her sight at all, but she wanted a child more than anything, and so she followed her husband's instruction and went to find the Witch. And find the witch she did, after passing through the trees and into a dark arch in the side of the mountain that led into a cave. The witch was there, sitting by a fire of sticks, stirring something bubbly in a shiny copper cauldron.”

  Henry first heard this story from a woman he thought, at the time, to be a witch herself, for her face had been deeply lined with years of smiles and scrunches of her nose, and her hair had been a bolt of silver that gleamed, and this alone had convinced him -a child of eight- when she claimed she'd lived more than three hundred years by aid of spell and potion. So the effect, as he donned as close a mimic of her papery voice as he could, was perhaps not exactly the same. It was fairly effective nonetheless.

  “‘What do you want, my dear?’ the Witch asked. So the Queen explained herself to the witch. How she longed for a child to love and raise, and how her husband sent her along to gain one. The witch was quiet for awhile before she asked, ‘Do you know it will bring you sorrow?’

‘‘It will bring joy first, and ever after’ said the Queen.

‘‘Great sorrow,’ said the Witch.

‘‘Greater joy!’ insisted the Queen.

‘The Witch, seeing she could not convince the Queen any differently, relented. She set to work over her pot, and had the Queen hand over her golden crown, blue sapphire necklace, pearl bracelets, ruby clasps, and the diamonds of her shoe buckles. One by one these things were dropped in the cauldron. Last of all, the Witch dropped in a few lilies from her own garden. The potion bubbled up, foaming in ever-changing colors of yellow and blue and white and red and silver, and sent out a smell of lilies and roses and morning dew. The Witch poured the potion into a little pot and set it to cool in the open arch. She invited the Queen to tea while they waited.

‘Over their teacups, the witch told the Queen how the gold and gems thrown into the potion would lend the child shining beauty, pure, rare, goodness, and a wits as clear as diamonds. And the Queen asked about how magic could do such a thing. And their talk went on well after the potion had cooled. At last, when no more stalling could be done, the Witch prepared to send the Queen on her way. As she shuffled to her feet, the Queen mustered up the courage to ask ‘When will the child arrive?’

‘‘You will find it when you arrive home,’ the Witch answered.

‘‘Will you have something for yourself in return? Riches or land?’

‘But the Witch shook her head. ‘I could make more diamonds in a day than I should wear in a lifetime, and I need no more space that I've got.’ So the Queen asked what the Witch would have instead, titles or crownings, a position on the court, a castle! Anything at all that could be given. Time after time the Witch declined the Queen's offers until, at last, she confessed there was one thing she should like, which was nearly impossible for her to find in her trade. The Queen encourage her to speak of it. She could not bear to imagine the Witch being left with nothing after giving her such a wonderful thing. And so the Witch said ‘I should like someone to love me.’”

  Here, Henry paused. It was as much to take stock, pulling the next part of the story to mind, as it was to let his little audience of one take a leap. He liked to try and guess what people thought, with this one. How a person might scowl, and he guessed they thought that it was uncouth to ask. Or they might frown, but soften at the same time, and he'd guess they felt it was unfair anyone should have to. The part that came next was the same regardless, he never changed it even when he shuffled the rest around to suit a different shape or because he forgot how the specifics of part of it went. No matter what else:

  “The Queen threw her arms around the Witch at once! and kissed her half a dozen times each on her head and brow and both of her cheeks. ‘Why’ she said, ‘I love you better than my life! You who would give me a child and fear for my sorrows! And the baby shall love you too!’

‘The Witch was, at first, shocked by this. She did not think that it was as easy as that. No one in all the Witch's years had ever said such a thing to her, and she never saw it in all her travels. But the Queen was so joyous and tender that it was impossible to doubt the truth of her claim. So it was that they each would have what they wanted most. The Witch held her head high. ‘When the sorrow comes, send for me. Now- drink up that potion, and we shall both be happy.’

‘The Queen did as she was bid, and returned to the castle. As the Witch had promised, there was a baby there, lying in the cradle with little arms outstretched, sleeves done up with little ribbons so that it was plain to see the babe was a girl. The Queen took her up, delighted. When she brought the babe before the King, however, he went red in the face with fury.

‘The King berated the Queen, demanding to know why on earth she had not thought to specify to the Witch to give them a son. The King wanted an heir! a Prince to learn all the sorcery and statesmanship and rule the kingdom after him. Chastised, the Queen hung her head - it was true, she'd not thought at all to suggest this to the witch, only asking for a child. Quite disgusted with the whole situation, the King stormed out of the castle to speak with the Witch himself.

‘He demanded rectification, that she unmake the baby the same as magic had conjured her. The Witch refused, saying she knew only the ways of making things by magic, not unmaking them. And anyway, to do so would be the same as slaying the child, which would be a black mark against them both. Eventually, the King relented, though he was still mad as a bull. He never thought to ask the Witch for another child, and the Witch, thinking such a King would only ruin a perfectly good princeling, made no such offer, though the process was very simple.

‘The King returned to his castle and declared the Queen could keep the baby girl. And for a time, it was as a dream. The Queen's life had never held half so much happiness as lived in every moment she held her daughter in her arms. The Princess grew, as pure and clever as the Witch promised, and very dear beyond that. At each chance she got, when the King was annoyed or too absorbed in his studies of sorcery to bother with them, the Queen would bundle the Princess into her traveling cloak and they would journey into the depths of the wood to visit the Witch. There they played and talked and went on picnics, plucked up herbs the Witch used in her potions and made crowns from the twigs and the flowers. Each time they departed, the Princess cried, and the Queen kissed the Witch as she had on the day they met, upon the head and brow and cheeks.

‘In no time at all, and yet many years, the Princess became a young woman. The day after her eighteenth birthday, the Queen and the Princess were feeding the goldfish in the courtyard fountain the crumbs of the birthday cake when the King thundered own upon them. He was smiling, which frightened the Queen, for he only smiled when he got his way, which usually was not a very nice way. Thus the dream ended: The King announced that, until such time as a prince could prove himself -of course, by slaying the mountainous dragon that lived in the depths of the kingdom- that the Princess would be locked away from the world and ill-suited matches.

‘The castle guard took her up that very moment, not permitting the Princess even to hug her mother goodbye, and carried her away into a tower the King had built for this very purpose. It was done up with each floor like the halls of a castle, so there was a cellar, and a kitchen, a dining hall and a bedroom; all the things a princess should have to live and keep ordered. And the walls were built with spells as well as brick and mortar, so that the tower would not crumble and nothing inside would be touched by time. The old King locked the Princess away. ‘No living thing will enter or leave’ declared the king, ‘until the dragon is dead.’ And he sealed the room with his sorcery on those words.

‘The Queen was kept away from all these dismal proceedings by the King's Guard, who locked her in her away within her very own chambers. She cried. She thought it silly, for a Queen to cry and do nothing else, but there seemed to be nothing else she could do, and so she cried and cried, and refused to take food or drink, for she was quite convinced that she should never see her daughter again, and if she was to die never seeing her daughter again, she would rather it be sooner than later.

‘That was when the Witch appeared in the Queen's chambers, walking out of the hall as naturally as if she had come through the door, though that was of course impossible.

‘‘My dear,’ said the Witch, ‘why are you all in such a heap?’

‘The Queen did not know how to answer. She was stunned as anything to see the Witch, for amidst all her tears she'd thought to herself 'if only I could go to her', remembering how the Witch had told her, once, to seek her out when the sorrow came. But all shut up, there had been no way, and she was permitted no messages out. The Queen, as she so often did, threw her arms around the Witch, relieved and given new strength, and the Witch embraced her in turn.

‘‘Oh I thought all lost,’ the Queen cried. ‘My husband has locked away my poor babe, and barred me from going to her, and all the guard are loyal to him. I would have sent for you!’

‘‘You did,’ said the Witch. She smoothed her hands over the Queen's teary face and told her ‘Every kiss you ever gave me was true, and loving, and so each of them was a spell that, when you called out to me, the land and walls all meant nothing at all. No little old locked door could keep me out.’

‘And the Queen began to cry again. When she regained her breath, she told the Witch all that had happened, and answered as many questions as she could about the King's enchantments upon the tower, the words of power he used to seal it all up, and the challenge he set before any worthy enough prince to slay the terrible dragon who prowled the depths of the kingdom.

‘‘Well, what a great fool he is.’ The Witch said. She'd known that about the King, for many years already, but never had she heard the like of something so foolish as to send little brave but empty-headed princes into the depths of darkness for a girl they never met, even if it was the dear Princess. And anyway, she knew the dragon could not be killed by blade or even spell. She supposed this was part of the King's plan, to punish the Princess for not having been a prince, but it was all terribly short sighted. ‘Come with me, dear.’ The Witch said to the Queen. She raised her shoulders up stiff and, hand in hand with her royal majesty, stepped through the doors and the walls of the castle until they stood before the enchanted tower.

‘The Queen called into the tower, and the Princess came at once. Though they could not touch each other, they could see and speak to each other, they rested their hands on the door and it was almost the same. The Princess was quite overjoyed to see the Witch as well, believing that her fate was not to be locked up forever after all.

‘But it was as the Witch had told the King all those years ago: she knew not the ways of real unmaking. And unmaking something as complex as a tower made of sorcery was very tricky business indeed, and rather easily made worse.

‘‘My skill is in making,’ she told her dear ones, ‘and there we are in luck. I will make is so all the time in the world can pass, and you, my Princess, will not grow weary of mind or lonely. And I will make you and I, my Queen, into stone statues, so we may enter the tower and stand guard, and time and the King's silly sorcery will mean nothing to us, for stone does not live. That way we will stand safe, together, for the coming years. For the dragon cannot likely be killed, but it is certain he must one day die. And that is what all this magic is bound up upon: until the day the dragon is dead. It will be many years wait, I'm afraid, and the world will be very different when we see it again, but to us it will be no more than a days wait, and we shall all be together again.’

‘With the Queen's blessing and a cheerful see-you-on-the-morrow goodbye, the Witch made her magic. On each side of the tower door, like guarding suits of armor, appeared two stone statues. One of them had a stone crown on her head and a stone scepter in her hand. The other stood leaning on a long stone walking stick, a stone book held open before her.

‘And then all days seemed like one day to the Princess, and the next day always seemed the day when her mother and the Witch would come out of the stone and kiss her and hug her and laugh with her once more. Thusly, the years went slowly by. The wicked King died, and someone else took over his kingdom, and the tower remained as it was. The story of what happened was lost to memory, and people grew curious. They tried to peer in through the windows, and to pry their way in, but the stonework did not budge and the door did not open and nothing inside ever seemed to move, for the world of the outside was nothing to the inside of the tower, so the inside of the tower was nothing to the outside. Eventually nothing else at all remained of the King's castle and the old kingdom, as the years went by in tens and hundreds.”

  He felt the thread of the story slip, just a little. Henry considered that he might leave the story at an end, of sorts, there, though it wasn't the usual way it ended. And it wasn't really very much of an ending at all. Still, there was something to the question of it that somehow seemed… suited, this time. As if to say more way to speak on things he couldn't be sure of.

  He found folktales to be of that nature, sometimes. People thought them said and done, stitched up so neatly between their once upon and times and happily ever afters. But it didn't always feel right, steering them all the way into ever after. He canted his head, like he was listening to something, and said:

  “The story found a way back to light, of course. Though it is often said everyone forgot the kingdom so entirely no one could say what -if they had any- the names of the Queen and Princess and Witch were, and no one knows where the tower that cannot fall might stand, still, or how a dragon could live so very long in a world with far fewer magnificent hiding places. Still, somehow… word of what happened made its way into bedtime stories.” Not his finest finisher, perhaps, but forgivable for a late hour and otherwise not stumbling even once, despite the listing meander drink tended to inject into a story so long. And it fit, for reasons he was not sure of, better than what he might have said if he pushed for the ending he'd been told. For the first time, he did wonder…

  “Suppose any bit of it could be true?”

[best-transgender-character]

Hi everyone. I've been putting some thought into the best way to bring this up without making light of it, since this is a serious topic and this is a very unserious blog. I don't want to reblog a bunch of individual posts without context and explanations attached, but if I find posts that I feel are thorough and explain what is going on, I may reblog them. Here is a summary, for anyone completely unaware of what is happening:

A trans woman (Rita, URL was Predstrogen, now Cyprederone) has had her account falsely flagged as NSFW and banned multiple times as a result of a transmisogynistic harassment campaign against her. You may have seen people talking about how her transition timeline has been flagged mature content, multiple times.

Support have been unhelpful when it comes to the harassment, and dubiously helpful about restoring accounts until this latest event.

People reached out to Photomatt about the topic, who is the CEO of Tumblr. He decided to respond, claiming that Rita was personally harassing him and posting death threats about him. This does not line up with the official reason why Rita was banned, which was "sexually explicit materials". The "death threat" was a slapstick post about an exploding car full of hammers. Matt threatened to contact the police or FBI about the threat, used neutral pronouns for Rita despite being informed of her pronouns, and even referred to her as 'it' in one sentence. He referred to Rita as "pergstrogen" in one post, which may be a particularly unfortunate typo, but may also be an ableist slur. He also sent people direct messages about the topic. Matt denied any possibility of transmisogyny playing a part, and suggested that people who feel this site is not safe for trans women should just leave to a different site.

Rita has been banned for life. Several people criticising Matt for this have also been banned.

Please pay attention to this, read other posts about it, look at Photomatt's blog (archived as of 21/02) to see the way he has handled this and Cyprederone's blog to see Rita's statement.

Here are all of Photomatt's posts about the topic, please check the notes of them to see people's responses as well as people archiving his comments. Edit: These posts have been deleted. I'm unsure if there is an archive somewhere of the comments, but these links are now the webarchive links to these posts.

You gonna do anything or make any statement about the rampant transmisogyny on this hellsite (original post with they/them) (first edit with "the account") (second edit with she/her) (archive of most recent edit)

I love this site and I’m sorry so many people are determined to ruin it.

So, the terfs and neonazis are fine, but a trans women giving threatening you is where you draw the line?

You should really feel bad about how transphobic tumblr is

all you ever do is drop the ban hammer on trans women you don't like, while casually ignoring the harassment they face

can I report your beahviour, or?

it's been four hours and nothing you've said has made this decision look better

Why did you misgender her lmao

❤ (heart emoji) [I don't yet have an archive of this. Please reach out if you have an archive of this, although there wasn't much relevant in this post.]

I'm continuing to get harassment and death threats here

My Beliefs and Principles

Tweeting Rita's saved URLs

He is further arguing with people on Twitter.

[Edit] Staff have now made a PR statement about the topic.

Please give trans women your love and support, and remember that this is deeply serious transmisogyny, not just an excuse to joke about car hammer explosions.

[cruel-simmer]

So I've never done anything like this before and idk what possessed me to do it now but here we are I guess! Each generation of this challenge is inspired by a Doctor Who (2005-) companion! Some generations are more strict or packed with things to do than others. Same with how closely they stick to the life of the companions - some things are accurate, some stuff is loosely based Currently there's 11 generations with the final one being Dan Lewis plus three bonus generations. I will be updating this challenge with future companions (Ruby etc) whenever their time on the main show comes to an end. I will also be making a TS3 version of this as soon as I can that I will update this post to include a link to Check out a spreadsheet checklist version of the challenge HERE. It is simplified slightly for ease so if you plan on doing this challenge make sure to read through the full requirements below first so you don't miss anything! If you do this challenge and plan on posting it I'd love if you used #tscompanionlegacy so I can see it LAST UPDATE 10/06/24 (keep reading for details)

UPDATES 10/06/24

Complete Yaz generation overhaul

Three bonus generations (Jack, River, Nardole) added

Misc typo corrections

Changed Martha generation degree

Some generation colour switches

Heirs don't need to be the same gender, sexuality etc as the character their generation is inspired by

Normal or long lifespan is recommended

Use as few cheats as possible

All asterisk (*) mark generation requirements are optional

As your heirs age up, give them the required traits in the order that they're listed

Each generation has a colour (assigned mostly based on an outfit that the companion wears in the show) and you can use it as much or little as you like

There is a connection between each generation in their descriptions but you could ignore them and do the legacy in a random order if you wanted to

If baby specifics aren't mentioned anywhere in the generation rules assume you can have as many or few as you like as long as you have at least one to continue to legacy

Basically all of this is just a guide, you should just do what you want in order to get the most fun out of this challenge

You aren't sure what you're doing with your life. You have a tiny home, a rubbish part-time job and no real plans for the future. You're starting to think that's what your whole life is going to consist of until one day you begin to notice the new town you've moved into might be called StrangerVille for a reason. People are acting weird and keeping secrets and no one seems to wants to sort it out so you decide the person to do that will be you. This hunt for answers gives you new purpose and kick starts a love for all things science and aliens.

Aspiration: StrangerVille Mystery Traits: Jealous, Outgoing, Generous Career: Retail Employee, Scientist World: StrangerVille Colour: Pink

Live in the StrangerVille trailer park at least until your aspiration is complete

Work a part-time job as a Retail Employee

Complete the StrangerVille Mystery aspiration before becoming an Adult

Join the Scientist career ASAP after completing aspiration

Create a portal and visit Sixam

Have at least one alien baby with an alien

*Max the logic skill

*Complete the Alien collection

*Reach the top of the Scientist career

If growing up with a Scientist parent, an Alien sibling and the stories of how your parent freed StrangerVille taught you anything it's there's a lot of stuff out there that needs finding, containing and keeping track of. So you decide to make it your job to ensure that happens! It's not your whole life though. There are other things important to you as well, like love and adventure, and you do your best to make sure your job doesn't take over and leave no time for those other things.

Aspiration: Academic Traits: Genius, Romantic, Self-Assured Career: Military (Covert Operator Branch) World: Oasis Springs Colour: Dark Red

If you are an Alien, be stealthy about it in public/at work

Get a Psychology degree

Fall in love with someone who loves someone else more

Go on at least four vacations in your lifetime

Marry a co-worker

Have one child

*Max the research and debate, fitness and logic skills

*Reach the top of the Military career

*Complete the Academic aspiration

Your young adult life doesn't start out as being what you thought it would be - there's an incident with a partner who turns out to be Evil, you can't find a full-time job, living with your parents long past when they envisioned you'd be living with them starts to break down your relationship - but somewhere down the line it starts working out. You find passion in a job you're good at, a stable relationship that makes you happy, and a child you dedicate your life to protecting. You do still get under your parents feet but they don't mind as much now that you're making something of yourself.

Aspiration: Super Parent Traits: Mean, Loyal, Family-Oriented Career: Retail Employee, Tech Guru (Start-Up Entrepreneur Branch) World: Oasis Springs, then Any Colour: Light Brown

Live with your parents until they die and if you want to move out of Oasis Springs you have to wait until they die to do it

Have a rocky relationship with parents from YA onwards until you get married

Play the lottery regularly

Get into a relationship with an Evil Sim and be the one to propose to them

Either get left at the altar or have your partner die before you get married

Find a new partner and marry them

Join Tech Guru career only once you're dating your future spouse

Have one child but only after marriage

*Max the programming and parenting skills

*Reach the top of the Tech Guru career

*Complete the Super Parent aspiration

*The beginning of the next two generations are quite same-y so if you don't feel like playing both of them you could just choose one path - Amy or Rory*

Despite your loving family growing up and the best friend turned significant other that worships the ground walk on, you can't help but feel there's something missing and you want more than the cozy little life that they want. You pretend for a while - there's a whirlwind proposal, wedding and pregnancy - but it's not long before it get's too much and you start putting yourself before the people around you. You don't just want to be some small town writer. You want to be a celebrity, and you want to live like one.

Aspiration: World-Famous Celebrity Traits: Creative, Noncommittal, Self-Absorbed Career: Writer (Freelance), Actor World: Chestnut Ridge then Del Sol Valley or San Myshuno Colour: Orange

*Max childhood creative skill

Have two BFFs growing up and start dating one of them as a teen

Move to Chestnut Ridge with your partner as soon as you become a YA

Get proposed to ASAP after moving out with your partner and get married within a week

Cheat on your partner once between getting engaged and married

Get pregnant on your wedding night and name your baby after your other childhood BFF

Get divorced as an Adult and have a negative relationship with your ex that you actively make worse

After the divorce, move to either Del Sol Valley or San Myshuno (with your child) and get a job as an Actor

Don't pursue another serious relationship

*Max the acting and writing skills

*Reach the top of the Actor career

*Complete the World-Famous Celebrity aspiration

Your parent points out to you how your life is shaping up to be like theirs - they had two childhood BFFs too! and started dating one of them! - and all you can think about is how badly that worked out for them and how much you want it to work out the opposite way for you. You want a big happy family, a picket fence and maybe a dog to go with it. You know just wanting it isn't enough to make it happen though so you put in work, work your more than willing to put in, to show how dedicated you are to this kind of life.

Aspiration: Soulmate Traits: Genius, Romantic, Socially Awkward Career: Doctor World: Henford-on-Bagley Colour: Light Blue

Have two BFFs growing up and start dating one of them as a teen

Move to a new world with your partner as soon as you become a YA

Propose ASAP after moving in with your partner and get married within a week

Get pregnant on your wedding night and name your baby after your other childhood BFF

Have chickens, cows and/or llamas

Go on a date with spouse at least once a week

Have at least three biological children

Adopt at least one baby/infant

*Complete the Village Fair Ribbons collection

*Max the handiness skill

*Reach the top of the Doctor career

*Complete the Soulmate aspiration

For the most part your life is average - you're a minimum wage teacher with a dead parent and your significant other is a co-worker - but then you meet a mad Scientist who you try to just stay friends with and tell your partner not to worry about but ultimately you're too drawn to them to keep away...

Aspiration: Fount of Tomarani Knowledge Traits: Bookworm, Flirty, Perfectionist Career: Babysitter, Education (Professor Branch) World: Tomarang Colour: Mustard/Gold

Have at least one parent die of something that isn't old age

Get a part-time job as a Babysitter while a teen

*Reach top of Babysitter career

Date a fellow teacher as a YA

Make friends with a Scientist and eventually cheat on your partner with them

Leave your partner for the Scientist

Have at least one day/night out in every world

Be enemies with your Scientist partner's best friend

Have your Scientist partner make at least two clones of you (it's up to you what you do with them)

Never get married

*Max the research and debate skill

*Complete the Postcards collection

*Reach the top of Education career

*Complete Fount of Tomarani Knowledge aspiration

For a while you think a Fast Food employee is all you're destined to be which is fine you guess but you were just expecting more. On a whim you apply to university and before long you're moving in, making friends, falling in love and changing your whole life!

Aspiration: Friend of the World or Good Vampire Traits: Cheerful, Foodie, Outgoing Career: Fast Food, Astronaut (Space Ranger Branch) World: Britchester, Any Colour: Purple

Get a Fast Food part-time job as a YA

Don't start university until after reaching the top of the Fast Food part-time job

Live in a Britchester shared house while at university

Become best friends with one of your professors

Make a vampire friend who later becomes an enemy

Become a vampire

Date someone at university but break up with them by the time you graduate

Get a Physics degree

Go on at least two dates with two different Sims

Go on at least two vacations with your university professor

Reconnect with your ex from university as a late adult and give up your life as a vampire

*Max the charisma, rocket science and fitness skills

*Complete the Friend of the World or Good Vampire aspiration

*Reach the top of the Astronaut career

You're known for two things - making food and making jokes. You don't go anywhere without a sacked lunch and you always have a dad joke on hand. You can't imagine why it takes you so long to find the true love of your life. And why do they have to be gone so soon?

Aspiration: Master Chef or Angling Ace Traits: Dance Machine, Glutton, Cringe Career: Culinary (Chef Branch) World: Brindleton Bay Colour: Brown

Take a sack lunch with you whenever you go out or to work

Have at least one child

Teach your heir child to ride a bike

Don't meet the true love of your life until you're an elder

Throw a big wedding party (and dance a lot)

Have your spouse die before you do (either via an 'accident' or you can just cheat it so that your spouse is a few days older)

*Max the cooking and gourmet cooking skills

*Max the fishing skill

*Complete the fish collection

*Reach the top of the Culinary career

*Complete the Master Chef or Angling Ace aspiration

As a child your parent taught you to ride a bike and it kick started your love of sports. As a teen you became Clumsy and it knocked your confidence. As a result you pursue a job in Social Media (which you definitely enjoy but it's not quite your childhood dream of being an Athlete) and spend some time not doing many active things at all for fear of failure. Over time you find confidence in yourself and decide to dive in the deep end to get back into sports by hitting the slopes in Mt Komorebi.

Aspiration: Extreme Sports Enthusiast Traits: Active, Clumsy, Bro Career: Manual Labourer, Social Media (Internet Personality Branch), Athletic (Professional Athlete Branch) World: Any, *Mt. Komorebi Colour: Teal

Have a poor relationship with your non-heir parent

Get a part-time job as a Manual Labourer as a teen

Have a basketball hoop

Don't work your on aspiration until you're at least mid-YA

Reconnect with your teen BFF as an Adult

Meet your significant other in Mt. Komorebi

*Move to Mt. Komorebi

Once your midway through you aspiration, you can quit the Social Media career to become an Athlete (but you don't have to)

Have at least two children

*Max the video-gaming or athletic skill

*Max the skiing, snowboarding or rock-climbing skill

*Complete the Simmi collection

*Reach the top of the Athletic or Social Media career

*Complete the Extreme Sport Enthusiast aspiration

You love your job but you can't help but want more. One day you meet someone who throws into a world of potions and magic and might just give you the more that you've been wanting.

Aspiration: Spellcraft and Sorcery Traits: Gloomy, Loner, Ambitious Career: Detective World: Any Colour: Red

Don't have any friends as a teen

As a YA, become BFFS with a high ranking Spellcaster and fall in love with them quickly but don't make a move (kiss) them

Become a Spellcaster

*Quit job as a Detective

Have a film night with your sibling/s once a week

Move in with your BFF

Reveal your romantic feelings (and have at least one baby baby) with your BFF late in life

*Complete the Magical Artifacts collection

*Reach the top of the Detective career

*Complete the Spellcraft and Sorcery aspiration

Helping people (and animals) has always been in your nature so no one is shocked when you move to Sulani as soon as you are able to pursue a job in conservation to not just help the few people around you but hopefully the entire town. And you do most of it with a dog at your side.

Aspiration: Friend of the Animals Traits: Good, Dog Person, Nosy Career: Conservationist World: Sulani Colour: Black

Always have at least one dog

Be BFFs with every dog you have

Be left at the altar as a YA

Marry someone else that you've known for a while as a late Adult

Donate to charity at least twice a week

Max the pet training skill

*Max logic, handiness and charisma skills

*Reach the top of the Conservationist career

*Complete the Friend of the Animals aspiration

Aspiration: Serial Romantic Traits: Kleptomaniac, Flirty, Materialistic Career: Criminal (Oracle Branch)World: AnyColour: Dark Blue

Have a child that doesn't live in your household

Have at least four close friends

Drink a Potion of Youth a few days before aging into an Elder at least once. If you're already starting on the next generation before this point then keep this heir in the household until they've drank the potion and then after that you can move them out if you want to

*Max the mischief, programming and charisma skills

*Reach the top of the Criminal career

*Complete the Serial Romantic aspiration

Aspiration: Archaeology Scholar Traits: Bookworm, Romantic, Self-Assured Career: Writer (Author Branch)World: AnyColour: White

Get a Language and Literature degree

Don't become close with your parents until you've got your degree

Spend more time exploring the jungle than writing and explore as much of the jungle as possible

Have multiple long term partners before finding 'the one'

Have at least two spouses (with the final spouse being 'the one') over the course of your life

Have a small wedding for your final marriage and invite only your immediate family

Go on a date night with your final spouse at least once a week

Don't move in with your final spouse (or any previous partner) until you're a late Adult

*Die and have your spouse bring you back to life

*Max the archaeology and writing skills

*Complete either the Ancient Omiscan artifacts or Omiscan treasures collection

*Complete the Fossils collection

*Complete the Archaeology Scholar aspiration

Aspiration: Master Maker or Fiver-Star Property Owner Traits: Childish, Maker, Paranoid Career: Freelance Crafter World: Not Henford-on-Bagley, then Henford-on-BagleyColour: Rusty Orange

Decorate your home with things you fabricated

Be a Landlord

Be a Freelance Crafter

Create and activate at least one Servo

Marry a Sim from Henford-on-Bagley and then move there

*Max the fabrication skill

*Max the robotics skill

*Complete the Master Maker aspiration

[byechristopher]

WITH YOU.

– Crhis Sturniolo angst (happy ending).

chris x f!reader.

Author's note: It's been so long since I've written something and I am s o r r y but I will never stop loving 'angst'. So you have to suffer with me too. It's l o n g and I haven't checked for any typos, so if I do have any, excusez-moi.

Warnings: Depression, mood swings, Chris is smoking, could be triggering to some, please do not read if it could affect you. ♡

Summary: Chris is so obsessed with you that he suggests you should break up for a bit now that he's leaving to study abroad (just the thought of other people being around you while he can't, seemed impossible to him). When he does, he realises what a mistake that was.

—

I stare down at my phone for a little bit and the screen goes off a few seconds later. I do not know how to feel or what to do, but I do know a small tear just runs down my cheek. Matt just called me – he said that Chris hasn't left his room in days; they're worried.

"Chris, are you serious?" I can feel my chest getting heavier with every second that passes.

"What the hell do you want me to think? What else is there to do?!" he explodes – his hands are buried in his hair and he gets up from the bed, "it's not easy for me either, but seriously! I can't fucking stand the thought of you being away from me.. I just can't do it. I will go crazy." he doesn't stay in place, he keeps moving anxiously, "what if.. someone flirts with you, what if you forget me while I'm away, so many what ifs – I just can't do this, I'm already fucking obsessed with you."

"Well, same goes for me, Chris! What are you saying then? We should just break up because you decided you wanted to study abroad?" I get up from the bed as well and I see him turning his back to me, his hands pressed against the wall in front of him.

"I didn't just 'decide' to fucking leave you! You know it's always been my dream to leave this goddamn place and study abroad!" he's almost screaming now and I want to hit the walls, I want to kick the doors, I want to grab him and never let him leave.

Instead, I grab his stuff and put them in his backpack, not being able to see clearly from all the tears that threaten to leave my eyes.

"What are you doing?" he sounds a little calmer now but I can feel my skin burning from all the anger, the sadness, everything all at once.

"Leave." is all I say before I throw his backpack outside my room and I turn around, not wanting to see him actually leave.

"Babe–" he starts but I quickly turn around, "leave!" I am shouting now.

Before he can say anything, I push him outside of my room and close the door behind him. And then, I break down. The heaviest weight is on my chest and it makes it so, so hard to breathe. The tears fully blurry my vision now and I almost pass out from how hard I am crying.

Two weeks have passed after that incident and yet, I can still feel that weight on my chest, let alone now.. after Matt's call. We did break up but that doesn't mean I automatically stop caring about him. I will always love him, whether he is in my life or not.

I start getting worried so I don't waste any time – I grab my phone and my bag, and with that, I quickly leave to go to Chris' house. While I'm in the car, I can't stop crying, Matt's words are on repeat in my head.

"I.. I don't know what to do.. we don't know what to say to him, he won't say anything to us.." Matt's voice is almost trembling and it's the only time I've ever heard him this worried.

"Matt, I just.. I am not sure if I can help after–" he cuts me off, pleading, "I know you guys broke up but please. We're begging you."

And here I am. Already outside their house, tears streaming down my face. I grab my stuff and before I can wipe away all the tears, the door opens and I'm met with two arms around me.

"We apologise for bringing you all the way here, we're just.. worried.." Nick says and I hug him back. I tell him it's fine and rub his back.

"Guys.. could I ask you a favor?" they both nod at the same time, "could you.. just leave for a bit? Once I make sure he is okay, I will call you straight away."

"Of course. Yes. We'll go grab a coffee. Tell us if you need anything." I nod and they both come closer to me, placing a kiss on both of my cheeks and I can't help but smile.

I leave my stuff on their couch and without a second thought, I immediately walk up the stairs, where Chris' room is. I knock on his door, even though I know he won't answer but I do anyway. I call his name – this is the only time I can actually hear something behind this big, wooden door. I say his name again. The door opens slowly and my heart breaks into pieces.

My beautiful Chris – he looks exhausted. He stands there with his usual gray hoodie, his pyjamas, his hair is a literal mess and there are eye bags under his beautiful eyes. I can see smoke coming out of the room, he smells like it as well – he's been smoking.

"What.. are you doing here?" his voice is hoarse, his eyes are so red, it makes want to cry even more.

"Why are you scaring me like that?" my voice is calm but my bottom lip is quivering.

"I'm sorry.." he says, although I'm not sure if he knows what he's apologizing for, "where's Matt and Nick?"

"They let me in and then I asked them to leave." I say but all I wanna do is hug him.

"Thank you.. uhm, come inside.. if you want." he mutters and attempts to fix his hair as he lets me into his room. I only see bottles of water here and there, I can also see burnt cigarettes all over his desk, there are clothes on the floor, journals scattered all around. His room is a mess, "sorry." he whispers.

"It's fine.." I say under my breath, and honestly, I don't know what to say to him. All I want to do is hug him and kiss him, and I would, but I am still hurt, too.

"You didn't have to come here." he murmurs and takes another cigarette in his mouth, lighter in his other hand. It's like he read my mind because he immediately opens his mouth to speak again, "you don't need to feel sorry for me. I'll be fine."

There's not much I can say to him, but I do move closer to him. He is seated at the edge of his bed and I am now in front of him, looking down at him. I slowly grab the cigarette, pulling it away from him and after I throw it in the ashtray, I pull him in for a big hug. He stays still for a few seconds but I can feel his arms wrapping around my waist just a few seconds later. His head is pressed against my tummy and I have my fingers buried into his hair.

"Do you know how scared I was to hear that you haven't left your room in days?" I whisper and I try hard not to let the tears run down my cheeks once again. I can hear him sniffling and my heart breaks all over again.

He doesn't say anything and I lean down to leave a kiss on the top of his head, "I am sorry I hurt you. I am just.. I thought that was the solution, but it obviously wasn't." he whispers and I can feel my shirt getting wet.

"I hurt you too, and I am sorry. I know how much you want to leave, I shouldn't be selfish. I just can't be away from you." a big tear leaves my eye and I squeeze him in my arms a little bit, "neither can I." he says as he looks up at me.

"Chris.. this is very hard for me, but if it means you'll get to chase your dreams.. then fuck it. I need to see you chasing your goals, I need to know you're happy." I get down on my knees in between his legs and I cup his cheeks, "and if we're meant to be, then we sure will in the future." with every word, it's like I'm stabbing myself over and over again. My hearts cries but my mind knows exactly what it has to do.

He looks at me with those blue eyes, uncontrollable tears falling from them and I just want to kiss them away, "I cannot believe you just said that.." he says, but he doesn't look hurt, if anything, he looks more.. in love?

He grabs my cheeks and pulls me closer, pressing his forehead against mine – his tears fall onto my skin as he wipes away mine, "come with me."

My heart stops. My eyes widen and in pretty sure I look a little crazy, "what?"

"Come with me. Let's move in together. Like we always said we would do when we grow up – now's the time. Come with me." he says and I can finally see a little smile behind that constant frown, "you can decorate our apartment. You can have as many plants as you want inside, you can watch all these fucking horror movies that you like to watch and I won't complain, ever! Please."

Our apartment. I feel like passing out, right here.

"Promise me you'll make up for all the damage you've done to yourself these past few weeks and I swear, I'll go pack my things right now." I whisper against his lips, I cannot stop crying.

He cries too, but his smile is so big, I feel like the whole room is shining. He caresses my cheeks and leans in, placing his soft lips against mine – my heart beats faster than it ever did before, "I love you so much." he says.

Before I can even say anything, he pulls me into his lap so that I'm straddling his thighs and hugs me tightly, looking up at me, "I love you too, babe." I say and lean in for another kiss.

"Sorry I kicked your brothers out earlier."

He laughs and I can't help but laugh with him, "it's okay, they'll be fine. Now come here, I've missed you."

[breachverse]

Breach: Chicago War Zone - WIP Update 14 - 10th of February 2023

I didn't think I'd be able to finish it this month considering my hard drive decided to corrupt itself, but, goddamn, I did it.

WIP Update 14 has been released! Chapter 2 Part 2 for both routes have started all the way up to the first chance of a downtime. Though you can't hangout with anyone, except for Hayne, you can now enjoy the limited shop for both the Archangel AND the FBI route, as well as the completed skill training feature.

Breach: Chicago War Zone (Updated)

DEVELOPMENT LOG#14 (10-February-2023)

(B2.1.1.22.12.20)

Alpha - 14

Tons of bug fixes typos and grammar fixes

Added the ability to buy plasma cutter pre-hangout

Added ARC skills training and store (limited)

Added FBI skills training and store (very limited)

Fixed FBI armory not being free. (Everything should now be free)

Tweaked a few of the weapon's descriptions to be available for both routes

Tweaked several weapon accessories token modifiers

Tweaked available accessories for the UTS-15

Added Flash Grenades

Added AR-10 Battle rifle (I know, I'm calling it one)

Added KSG-12 Shotgun

Added RPD Machine gun

Added AK-12 Assault rifle

Alpha - 14

Added Chapter Part restart feature to Show Stats screen (Testing)

Added Settings tab to the Show Stats screen (Testing)

Added Cheats tab to the Show Stats screen (Testing)

Added Hayne's 1st hangout

W.I.P.: Chapter 2 Part 2 of The AA branch (23%) W.I.P.: Chapter 2 Part 2 of The FBI branch (23%) W.I.P.: AA Hangout (9%) W.I.P.: AA Store system (60%) W.I.P.: FBI Hangout (9%) W.I.P.: FBI Store system (50%) W.I.P.: Stat screen upgrade (30%) COMPLETED: Chapter 2 Part 1 of The AA branch (100%) COMPLETED: Chapter 2 Part 1 of The FBI branch (100%)

Word Count: 656,856 words including codes (Last update was 637,822)

The private testing for this was uploaded last month so technically I managed to get an update out once month but still… it was quite a delay and I'm terribly sorry.

For those who don't know, I had a horrible setback in which my computer's hard drive decided to bork itself and I had to reinstall windows. I lost a small number of data but it took me some time to rebuild my database and retrieve data from my corrupted hard drive. Thankfully, Breach itself is saved due to the number of backups I've made and the precaution of having multiple copies on different hard drives.

More detail on the situation on this post if you want to see the exact problem I was having.

But, all of that is past now and though I am still building up everything again, I was able to get my workspace back in order and thankfully, I've managed to finish this damn update before the end of the month for private testing, and added a few things for the public update.

The update also consists some scenes for the ARC route where if you choose to do the prep work for the grate work or wall work in the tunnels under the bank, as well as some new scenes for the FBI route where [spoiler]if you let Greg escape during the raid, he'll want to meet with you and he'll give you some secrets about the trio.[/spoiler]

I'm sorry it's taken so long, and thank you for being so patient. It's not a huge update, but it features the shop and the skill training system in-game where you can buy and change your gear however you wish, though the FBI armoury is quite limited for now.

Thank you all for your patience.

Much love! ❤️

-------------------------------------

Link to the CoG Forums post

I also have a Discord server!

As always feel free to drop however many screenshot feedbacks you'd like, either in the forums or in our Discord channel!

[steamberrystudio]

30/07/2023 Devlog

Hallo! Time for another quick devlog here on tumblr.

Summary:

All Sprite expressions coded in Yuu's route

One additional sprite finished and added

The Ramble:

So...I have finished sprite expressions for Yuu's route. 😵

It was gruelling.

It took me a while to realise why it felt like so much more work than the last couple of routes and I realised it was due to the fact that it's Endgame.

The Endgame routes tend to have a lot of huge group scenes as the characters have group training sessions, missions, and lots of meetings.

When I thought about it, I realised that the last three routes I coded were Lance, Quill, and Reuben. While there *are* group scenes in those routes, none of them happen with as frequency or as many characters as a lot of the Endgame group scenes.

So yeah. This was pretty tedious and I gave myself several headaches (LoL).

But the expressions are complete.

I have a few more sprite images to complete and put in the game but all the expressions are coded so once the images are done, I should be able to just plug them in and have them show up properly. That said, I'll still need to go through and double check that nothing is broken and no one is randomly stripping or losing their face (which is what happens if I typo something. LoL)

So yeah, the main remaining things are the sprite and CG art.

Upcoming Weeks:

As I said, it's really down to the sprites and CGs. I do have a few other small things to do like the ending card and other minor stuff. But the *big* thing is the art.

That's what I'll be working on in the upcoming weeks. It's really difficult to gauge how long CGs and sprites will take. Sometimes I can finish an entire CG in one day and sometimes it takes three days for one CG.

And of course it comes down to how much my hand cooperates.

Once the art is done and coded, we'll move into the beta stage for Yuu's route. =O But I don't think we'll quite be there by my next update here. But we shall see! 

I'll basically be in drawing-mode going forward! 💪💪

When Stars Collide:

There isn't a whole lot to talk about for WSC this time around - I got the new "bridge" background for The Ophelia. It has a really different vibe than the old image but it makes me excited to see all the new ones.

I decided to add in a "Music room" in the extras which is not something I've done before. But since this game won't have a consolidated OST anywhere, I thought it would be useful. And I'm planning a fun little feature for it.

I haven't written much more than what I had two weeks ago. Maybe 10,000 words or so (a little less, I think). But I have done a lot of planning regarding the new character and new chapter. And I have started making edits to existing scenes to account for Kav's presence. 

I have written all of Noel's chapter 5 scenes, and all of Raif's chapter 5 scenes, and started Yren's chapter 5 scenes as well.

So yeah, that slow-moving train is....slow moving still.

That's all for now - see you in a couple of weeks!

[lysarria]

This is an idea I had a while back but I didn't go for it. I've been working on a 2 part Sy fic and then my lovely friend @mayloma wrote about Trainer!Sy and it sparked up this idea again and I decided to just go for it. Sorry in advance for typos 🤪. I'm still new to writing but I enjoy it a lot. Thank you for reading 🥰🤗

Warnings: 18+, cussing, sexual thoughts, sexual talk, hot and horny Sy 🥵

Word count: 904

A change in plans

I rushed back to my desk after the work meeting had ended and it went way past the allotted time of 4:30 p.m. I looked at the time on my laptop before it shut down - 5:25pm. Fuck! I had no way of letting Sy know during the meeting that it looked like it would be going over. Damnit. I quickly grabbed my phone and purse and ran out of the building. Tapping my phone screen but no response... I pushed the power button... nothing. Are you fucking serious? My phone battery is dead? I had such a busy day at work I barely used it. I thought I had charged it. What else will happen? I unlocked my car and plopped into the driver seat and tossed my purse onto the passenger seat. I reached for my charger cord and notice it's missing. Why ?!!! Fucckk! Sy is probably worried about me and I have no way to charge my phone to call him. I remember I had left my charger in his truck from our random day trip we took last weekend. During the drive home I had many thoughts in my head. Sy knows that sometimes my meetings can go over but also those times I had a charged phone and could communicate with him.

I had reached our driveway. His truck is in the driveway. As I am getting closer to our house I notice Sy standing outside all dressed up. His hair is styled. Beard is shaped up. He looks so incredibly handsome. Oh fuck....he wanted to take me out on a Friday night date to a restaurant that's out on the river with a beautiful outdoors seating setup.

I pull up next to his truck and as I am getting out he leans up against the sliding glass doors, crossing his arms and stares at me.

Me: Bear, I'm so so so sorry. My meeting went past time and I had no way to tell you. I was going to call you otw to my car and my phone battery had died and then discovered I forgot my car charger in your truck.....

*looking back at his truck and then turning to look back at Sy*

I really am sorry. I've not had much luck this evening it seems. I slowly begin to walk towards Sy and I can smell the sandalwood cologne that I had bought for him. This man sends me into overdrive so easily.

Sy - *continues to stare* I was gettin' pretty worried about ya Sug. I sent ya some texts and then I called but went straight to voicemail. I am glad you are home safe. I was giving ya a bit more time to get home before I went to check on ya. I was excited to take ya out tonight for a date but I've made a change in our plans....

Me - *walking closer to Sy* We can still go! Give me a few minutes to freshen up. It's not too late to go. *I reach for him and he steps back and I felt my heart sink and then I was concerned. Trying to not let tears form*

Sy - tsk tsk. I said I made a change in our plans for this evening. You've been a naughty girl today. You didn't charge your phone last night. You forgot your charger in my truck. You wore those sexy dress pants today that hug your ass so perfectly and then you had to wear that peach color tank top that looks so good with your skin color. Ya might have been at work all day but seeing ya wearing that outfit this morning....ya know it's one of my favorites and watching your cute self getting ready to leave for work and then ya kiss me and you had on that sweet tasting lipgloss...ya don't realize how close I was to telling you to call into work so I could keep ya all to myself today. I've almost gone crazy today with thoughts about ya and how eager I was for ya to come home, baby.

Me - *I notice that he isn't mad. Nope...that's not mad. The way he's breathing. Watching his chest go up and down. That look in his eyes. I looked down slightly and noticed the huge buldge in his pants and my eyes widen and feel my cheeks get warm. I quickly snapped my eyes back to Sy and I feel my heart rate speed up.*

I want to make it all up to you my bear and show you I'm sorry.

Sy - Don't ya worry sugababy. I've already thought up a few ideas on how ya can make up for being so naughty today *grins and winks* and each idea will have you moaning my name over and over.

Me - *Staring at this hunk of a man and inhaling the scent of his cologne and feeling my body start to shake from being turned on*

I love you, Sy.

Sy quickly approaches me and picks me up and puts me over his shoulder and smacks my ass a couple of times as he takes me into the house and I can't help but giggle and feeling excited for these new plans that he made.

Sy - my naughty girl is giggling right now but those giggles will soon turn into heavy breathing and moans. I love you too, Sugababy.

[my-name-is-markus-with-a-k]

prime numbers for the gif-maker asks? 👀

2. Least favourite set? Oh, I'm sorry but I don't want to answer that 😅 I've deleted any I really don't like, but I will say there's a set that keeps popping up in my notifs where I'm like 'really, that one again???' But that's all I will say. People like what they like.

3. The set with the most notes? This one with 1559 notes. I'm happy with that, it's a good set. The ones with Connor in them tend to do well.

5. Favourite movie/tv show to gif? dbh is my main fandom so yeah, dbh but more specifically, Markus. I just love giffing him, it's almost therapeutic at this stage.

7. Who are my top 3 gifmakers? @thirium @aghostinmyownmachine @mijchi for dbh gifs and also shout out to @babyjapril who is not a dbh giffer but her gifs are always incredible (sorry for the random tag ana).

11. One set I made that just won't die? I legitimately don't know what this means lol

13. Where and/or from whom did you learn to gif? I'm mostly self-taught but I have relied on a few tutorials here and there.

17. How many gifs do you prefer in a set? I guess 2? That's how many I usually make in a set, so that must be my preference. I do like a 4 set too though.

19. What I'd my giffing process like? Very on the fly, lol. I check to see if I have the footage I want, if I don't I screen record the scene I need. I upload that into ps, trim the clip to what I need, change the speed and crop. Then I brighten and colour them to whatever I'm feeling at the time. I always sharpen last. It's what takes the longest and I sometimes have to finick with the settings a bit until it looks nice on tumblr.

23. What's the thing you gif when you don't have anything else to gif? Take a wild guess. It's my boy ofc

29. Have you ever posted a set, realised you made a mistake later but realised it was too late? Oh yes many a time. Usually on sets with text and I made a typo. That's happens pretty often 😅 I usually go back and fix them anyway but then the old versions still get reblogged lol

31. Do you schedule/queue posts or do you post as soon as you're done? I usually post when I'm done. If I'm not really happy with a set, I'll save them to drafts and look at them later. If I decide they're actually OK, I'll post them, if not, I redo them. But I don't schedule posts, I'm too impatient.

37. What sets do you have planned to make in the future? There are a few sets I'm waiting to do when my skills catch up to my visions. But right now? There's a quote gifset I want to make with Markus but it will require time I just don't have right now.

41. Least favourite part of the gifmaking process? Oh my god, uploading to tumblr. I never really know what gifs are going to look good. Sometimes I'll spend ages on a set, upload to tumblr and it look like ass, so I have to redo the whole thing. It's infuriating.

43. Do you keep videos or delete them once you're done giffing? I keep them unless I need the space. I'm pretty lazy like that hahaha

47. Any advice for novice gif makers/people who want to start making gifs? Gif tutorials are your friend. I'm mostly self-taught but whenever I get really stuck, I search for gif tutorials. They are incredibly helpful.

That... was a lot of questions and I had to google prime numbers like a chump because I could only remember prime numbers up to 20 lmao

[dragonnarrative-writes]

1, 3 and 34 for the writer ask game!

Hello my friend! 💜

Do you prefer writing one-shots or mulit-chaptered fics?

Well... I think right now I prefer writing multi-chaptered fics, but I have a few one-shots in the works.

I like a long story, and I like the way the physical break between chapters changes how I read and write stories. As much as I hate a cliffhanger, I love the way a page break adds to the tension of a story.

I also like multi-chaptered fics as a writer because it lets readers interact with me and influence the story. The Gaz and Soap interludes in Slasher Handler came from asks, and they helped me flesh out their characters in my head and decide where the story is going. @mi-i-zori had a huge hand in helping me decide how I want Simon and Bambi to interact in Transferrable Skills.

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Whoo. This will be long!

First, I do an "Okay So...!" summary. Basically, I ramble in the discord or write in a physical notebook anywhere between a sentence and (checks notes) 1500+ words. It's a bit unorganized. Some of it is quotes, a lot of it is "script" format dialogue, most of it is rushed transitions. There's a lot of placeholder text that represents its own couple of paragraphs.

(For example: I'm working on making the idea from this post into a one shot. That bit of ramble is 222 words. That part of the story that I'm actually writing became 1931 words. It's gonna be a long-ass project.)

From there, I workshop with friends and my partner. If I'm rambling directly in discord, I'm rolling with some of what my friends are telling me. My partner asks me the really annoying necessary questions, like "why this scene?" and "does that help get you to the smut?" and "are you letting your blorbo be a blorbo or are you trying to force a story you don't want to tell?"

Then I write a first draft. Sometimes the first draft is the only draft, but that's not the case very often anymore. I try to let myself be wordy and imperfect. Get the more detailed idea out in chunks of a few paragraphs, then reread and put in more details.

If there are multiple people in a scene, then I start with dialogue and inner thoughts, then physical actions. In this chapter of Autumn Embers, I wrote the dialogue between Gaz an Wildfire without any direction, then added in the handshakes, Wildfire arching an eyebrow, stepping to the side of the walkway, etc.

Then I let my partner read it! And he points out all of my typos.

Then I shuffle paragraphs around, and fill in spots that become a bit awkward, and then I show my partner again. And then I share it in the discord. Then I unashamedly BASK in the endorphins I get from my friends interacting with the story.

Then I rinse and repeat! Eventually, I identify where the chapter breaks are going to be, if I haven't already.

I do most of my writing in Scrivener, which allows you to write documents within documents and move them around. Sometimes I have chapters already separated. Sometimes I keep a long "working document" and then break it into chapters.

Tagging the people who I riff with often: @sentientcave, @gemmahale, @mortuarywriting, @mi-i-zori, @cordeliawhohung, @cosmicpro, and I'm missing so many other people who's blogs I can't recall off the top of my head or don't know if they'd be okay being tagged.

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Five years from now I'll still be writing fanfiction, though I'll probably have moved to other fandoms by then. I think I'll probably still write CoD, since I still love all of my past blorbos.

I think that by 2029, I will also be finishing up editing an original novel that I want to publish, if I'm not already publishing the second one. I've already written most of 3 novels, and plan to do another one next month.

I do not see myself writing full time, or relying on it as a source of income. I wouldn't be opposed, but I want my writing to be for me, first and foremost. When it's a job, it becomes about what other people want, and I don't think I'd be ready for that by then. Still, it would be fun to get the original stuff out there.

Ask Game

[kaitou-archive]

Otomedia June 2015

(Below is a cleaned up machine translation. Please note that due to the nature of machine translation, the text may not be wholly accurate or may read oddly. Japanese is included after English for reference. The text was lifted from the images using this site, and though there's been care taken to make sure everything is correct, there is a chance of unintentional typos.)

I want to walk hand in hand with you ~wedding road~

Tonight, Joker and his friends have come to a June wedding party. Donning their formal attire, are they aiming for sparkling jewels? Or the bride's heart?!?!

"They will probably steal the bride's heart as well as the treasures (laughs). According to the original author Hideyasu Takahashi, Joker's age is 'about 3 to 5 years older than the readers.' Depending on the age of the bride-to-be, I don't think marriage is just a dream!"

The person who gave this hopeful comment was Dai Sato, in charge of series composition. In Season 2, which is currently airing, Joker and company are on an adventure across the world, including infiltrating prisons and visiting deserts!

"I think the essence of 'Kaitou Joker' is the competition between detectives and inspectors for a single treasure, like in episodes 14 and 16 of Season 2. Not only are the phantom thieves who steal treasure cool, but the rivals who stand in their way are all interesting characters. I think you got to see their personalities in Season 1, so Season 2 will include a time travel story that has a big impact."

For those of you who want to follow Joker and his friends wherever they go, a special message from the Phantom Thieves has arrived in this issue as well! Also be sure to check out the “Dream Pledge”★

あなたと手をとり歩きたいWedding Road

「お宝を盗みに来たついでに、花嫁のハ ートも華麗に奪っていくのでしょうね (笑)。原作者のたかはしひでやす先生 曰く、ジョーカーの年齢は“読者の皆さ んの3~5歳くらい年上〟とのことです。 ので、花嫁志望の方のご年齢によっては、 結��も夢じゃないと思いますよ!」

そんな希望がふくらむコメントを下さ ったのは、シリーズ構成の佐藤大さん。 放送中のシーズン2では刑務所に潜入し たり、砂漠を訪れたりと、ジョーカーた ちは世界をまたにかけて冒険中ですね!

「シーズン2の第14話や第16話のよう に、探偵や警部と一つのお宝を賭けて勝 負するというのが、『怪盗ジョーカー』 という作品の真髄だと思います。カッコ よくお宝を盗む怪盗たちはもちろん、立 ち塞がるライバルも面白い人物ばかりで すよ。シーズン1で彼らの人となりはご 覧いただけたと思いますので、シーズン 2ではインパクトが大きいタイムスリッ プするお話なども盛り込んでいます」 ジョーカーたちと一緒なら、どんな場 所にもついて行きたい そう思ったア ナタへ、今号も怪盗たちからのスペシャ ルメッセージが到着しております!! 佐 藤さんが解説して下さった、付録の「ドリーム誓約書」も要チェックです★

---Character Introduction

Joker

"As a phantom thief, he's cool, but when he gets home he's so sloppy that he can't even clean the house (laugh). I think his versatility is very attractive." (Sato)

「怪盗としてはカッコいいん ですが、お家に帰るとだらし なくて掃除もできないという (笑)。 その多面性が、非常に 魅力的だなと思います」(佐藤)

Hachi

Joker's assistant. "No matter what he says, it's cute! There are many characters who say harsh things, but when the simple-minded Hachi appears, it makes me feel warm." (Sato)

ジョーカーの助手。「なんと言 っても可愛いですね! キザ なことを言ったりする人物が 多い中、純朴なハチが登場す るとほっこりします」(佐藤)

Spade

Joker's rival. "He's smart and good at strategizing. However, I think he shines the most when he's with Joker." (Sato)

ジョーカーのライバル。 「頭が よく、作戦を立てるのも得意 です。ただ、彼はジョーカー と一緒にいる時が、一番輝い ていると思います」(佐藤)

---Character Question

Where would you like to go for your honeymoon? 新婚旅行はどこに行ってみたい?

Joker "More than where to go on a honeymoon, I'm trying to decide which of two treasures I'm going for! I'm not sure which one, the Three Star Jewel, which is the prize for winning the Idol Stage, or the Sigma Drive, which I don't know what kind of machine it is! I'm excited to see what kind of treasure it is. Hey, do you want to go with me?"

「新婚旅行をどこに行くかよりもさ、 今は2 つのお宝どっちを狙いに行くか迷ってるんだ よな! アイドルステージ優勝賞品の『スリ ースタージュエル』 って宝石と、なんの機械 かわかんねぇけど 『シグマ・ドライブ』 って お宝、 どっちを狙いに行くか迷ってるんだ! どんなお宝なのかワクワクするよな。 なぁ、あんたも一緒に行ってみるか?」

Hachi "M….M-m-m-marriage!? I'm getting married!? Ahem… Well, I…I wouldn't mind wherever my wife wants to go! I'd want to go all sorts of places! ……I'm embarrassed~!!" 「けっ…………… けけけ結婚!!? オイラが結婚っスか!! ゴホン。 そうっスね、 お……お嫁さんの行きたい所ならどこでもいいっスよ! 一緒にいろんな所行きたいっス!・・照れるっス~!!」

Spade

"A Honeymoon…. I'd never thought about it. I've never thought about getting married, either. Well, if I had to say, I'd say I'd like to go somewhere with a history. I'd also like to go and inspect the treasures of the place I'm going to and plan how I'm going to get them. But of course, don't tell the woman I'm seeing."

「新婚旅行か…・・・・・。 考えたこともなかったよ。 結婚も考えたことがなかったからね。 そうだ ね、強いて言うなら歴史ある場所に行きたい かな。ついでに行った先のお宝の下見もして、 どうやって手に入れるか作戦もたてたいな。 もちろん相手の女性には内緒だけどね」

---Interview

Interview with Dai Sato, Series Composer A Guide to the Shining Night

シリーズ構成・佐藤 大氏○インタビュー 輝く夜への案内状

What did you keep in mind when composing the series?

When I first met director Yukiyo Teramoto, she told me that she wanted to depict Joker and his friends' lives and relationships, not to mention their charm as phantom thieves. With this in mind, we started work on the series structure, but as the TV animation had to be summarised in 26 episodes for seasons 1 and 2, it was not possible to visualise all the episodes from the original story. So, after consulting with Director Teramoto, we introduced Queen and Silver Heart, who appear in the middle of the original story, from the beginning of Season 1. I wanted to depict a story centered on Joker and Hachi, but also a story involving Joker, Spade and Queen all together. So I moved the episodes of the original story forward and made them up as I went along. However, both Teramoto and I love the original story, so we adapted the way and order of the characters' appearances to the original story. We also had an order for Joker and his team to confront a major enemy throughout the 26 episodes of the anime, so we placed Professor C and Shadow Joker as the most suitable characters for the enemy. With Shadow by Professor C's side, I think you get a better sense of the relationship between Joker and Silver Heart as a master-disciple duo.

The original story is a treasure trove of fascinating scenarios, how did you decide which to make into an anime? I had a list of all the stories up to volume 16, and me, director Teramoto and the producers chose the episodes we absolutely wanted to do. The episodes we decided on first were episode 1, "The Miracle Maker Appears", and episode 5, "Journey into the Shining Night". The episodes to be broadcast in the future include episode 19 "Crash! The Idol Stage" and episode 22, "The Burning Inspector and the Wicked Foxes". I wanted to tell these stories in Season 1 after all the main characters had come together and the relationships between the phantom thieves had been established, so I decided to do them in Season 2.

Finally, a message to all the fans! The brilliant tricks of the phantom thieves. The days when the phantom thief, his assistant and his master spend together like a family, and the stories and settings of the original work are important to the production of all the staff. The last few episodes are more epic than ever, so I hope you enjoy them.

シリーズ構成をされる際に、 意識されたことは? 初めて寺本幸代監督にお会いした時に、 怪盗として の魅力はもちろん、 ジョーカーたちの生活の様子や関 係性を描きたいという話を伺いました。 その思いを念 頭にシリーズ構成の作業に入ったのですが、 TVアニ メとしてシーズン1・2の26話にまとめなくてはい けないので、原作のエピソードをすべて映像化するこ とはできないんですよね。 そこで寺本監督とも相談して、原作では中盤から登場するクイーンやシルバーハ ートを、シーズン1の初期から登場させました。 ジョ ーカーとハチが中心のお話はもちろん、 ジョーカー、 スペード、クイーンの3人がそろって巻き起こるお話 も描きたかったんです。 なので、原作のエピソードを 前倒しして、 構成していきました。 ただ、 僕も寺本監 督も原作が大好きなので、 各キャラクターの登場の仕 方と順番は、原作にあわせました。 かつ、 アニメ26 話を通して、 ジョーカーたちが大きな敵に立ち向かっていく形にしたいとのオーダーもあったので、敵として一番ふさわしいキャラクターとして、プロフェッサ ・Cとシャドウ・ジョーカーを配置しました。 プロ フェッサー・Cの傍にシャドウもいることで、 ジョー カー&シルバーハートの師弟コンビとの対の関係性 を、より感じとっていただけているかなと思います。

原作は魅力的なお話の宝庫ですが、どのようにア アニメ化するエピソードを決めていったのでしょうか? 16巻までのお話をすべてリストにしてもらって、 僕と寺本監督とプロデューサー陣で、 絶対にやりたい エピソードを選んでいきました。 真っ先に決まったの は、第1話の「奇跡の怪盗あらわる」 や、 第5話の 「輝く夜への旅立ち」 です。 今後放送されるエピソードですと、 第19話 「激突!! アイドルステージ」や第 22話の 「炎の警部と邪悪な狐」 ですね。 これらのお話 はシーズン1でメインキャラクターが全員そろって、 怪盗同士の関係性が構築されてから描きたかったの で、シーズン2でやる運びとなりました。

最後に、ファンの皆様へメッセージを! 怪盗たちの華麗なトリック。 そして、 怪盗と助手、 師匠が家族のように過ごす日々と、原作の物語や設定 を大切にスタッフ一同、 制作しています。 最後の何話 かは、今まで以上に壮大なストーリーになっているの で、ぜひ楽しんでいただけたら嬉しいです。

---Dream Pledge (Purple sheet)

The Dream Pledge You pledge your love to the phantom thieves ♪

Series Composition Director Dai Sato is here with "The Code of the Bride of the Phantom Thief" ♡ Once you know the secret to living a happy married life with the phantom thieves, write your name and date on the pledge. It's up to you whether your boyfriend will sign it or not!!

ドリーム誓約書 貴女が怪盗たちに愛を誓う♪ シリーズ構成 佐藤大氏直伝!!「怪盗の花嫁の掟」付き♡ 怪盗たちと幸せな結婚生活を送るための極意を胸に刻んだら、名前と日付けを誓約書に書き込もうカレがサインをしてくれるかはアナタ次第!!

Pledge ~Oath of commitment~ I commit myself to this man In health and in sickness, in riches and in poverty. I pledge to love, honour, comfort and help, I pledge to love him without change. ~誓約書~ 私はこの男性を健康な時も病の時も富める時も貧しい時も 愛し敬いなぐさめ助けて変わることなく愛することを誓います

---

Phantom Thief No. 1 Joker Joker's Bride's Code ♡ Scold him from time to time! "Joker may look like this, but inside he's a child, so it's important to accept his wild side. And while booking videos and cleaning his room, scold him properly from time to time" (Sato)

Excitement 365 days of the year with many different expressions ♡

▼Show off your skills in making curry, Joker's favorite food

Together with Joker in the sky and on the ground ♥ Go on your honeymoon on the Sky Joker or Road Joker♪

怪盗その1 ジョーカー ジョーカーの花嫁の掟 ♡ 時には叱ってあげよう!

「ジョーカーはこう見えて中身は子どもなので、 彼の奔放さを受け止めてあげることが大切です。そして、ビデオの予約や部屋の掃除をしてあげつつ、時にはきちんと叱ってあげてください」 (佐藤) いろんな表情に 365日ドッキドキ♡

▼ジョーカーの大好物である、 カレー作りの腕前をあげておこう

空でも地上でもジョーカーと一緒♥ スカイジョーカ ーやロードジョー カーに乗って、新 婚旅行へGO♪

---

Phantom Thief No. 2 Hachi Hachi's Bride's Code ♡ All OK in a natural way! "Hachi, who is perfect at housework and good at cooking, is a woman's ideal marriage partner. In order to live a more harmonious life, please eat delicious food. However, I think Hachi will act according to the bride's personality, so please be natural and don't overdo it." (Sato)

Perfect for housework and cooking Any dish is yours ♪ Don't compete with cooking skills, let's finish the meal with a smile

"I think Hachi is the best marriage partner. I'm sure you'll be happy!", Mr. Sato comments.

怪盗その2 ハチ ハチの花嫁の掟♡ 自然体でオールOK! 「家事は完璧 & 料理上手な ハチは、女性理想の結婚相 手ですね。 より円満に暮ら すために、 料理は美味しく 食べてあげてください。 ただ、 ハチは花嫁の性格に合 わせて行動してくれると思 いますので、無理せず自然 体でいてください」(佐藤)

家事も料理もパーフェクト どんな料理もお手の物♪ 料理の腕で張り合わず、 笑顔で完食しよう

まさに理想の結婚相手 ♪ 佐藤氏曰く、「ハチが結婚相手としては一番 いいと思います。幸せ間違いなし!」とのこと

---

Phantom Thief No. 3 Spade Spade's Bride's Code ♡ Keep an open mind!

"Spade is a man who doesn't reveal much about his inner self and doesn't want people to know about his painful past. So, you need to have an open mind and accept him without denying it when he's trying to be cool." (Sato)

Newlywed life on an airship ♡

An unexpected side that only brides can see!?

Twin Thundershark ▼Owned by Spade An airship. As its name suggests, its appearance resembles two sharks.

▲Take the helm with Spade in a stylish cockpit and embark on a voyage of love ♥

▲“In fact, you might be able to live a happier married life if you didn’t know that Spade was a phantom thief.” (Sato)

怪盗その3 スペード スペードの花嫁の掟 ♡ 広い心で接するべし! 「スペードは内面をあまり出さず、 自身の辛い過 去も知られたくない “背伸びをしていたい男” で す。 なので、 彼がカッコつけているときに否定せ ず受け止めてあげる、広い心が必要ですね」(佐藤)

新婚生活は飛行船で♡

花嫁だけに見せる 意外な一面も!?

ツイン・サンダーシャーク ▼スペードが所有する 飛行船。 その名の通り、 2匹のサメを模した外 見になっているのだ

▲オシャレな雰囲気のコックピットでスペードと共に舵を取り、 愛の航海へ♥

▲「むしろ、スペードが 怪盗だと知らずにいた方 が幸せな結婚生活を送れ るかもしれません」(佐藤)

---

Phantom Thief No. 4 Shadow Joker Shadow Joker's Bride's Code ♡ Become a rival phantom thief!

"Shadow Joker is the type of person who gets worked up, so if you reign as a cooler phantom thief than him, he'll pay attention to you. Meet him as a rival, get married, and while you're both a thief, make Shadow's dream of travelling the world come true." (Sato)

Riding his beloved motorbike wherever he goes ▲Shadow Joker's favourite motorbike

The bride should be cooler than Shadow

"It's important to maintain a dignified attitude and not flirt in front of Shadow." (Sato)

怪盗その4 シャドウ ジョーカー シャドウ ジョーカーの花嫁の掟♡ ライバル怪盗になれ! 「シャドウ・ジョーカーはムキになるタイプなの で、アナタが彼よりもカッコいい怪盗として君臨 すると、注目してくれそうです。 ライバルとして 出会って結婚し、二人で怪盗をしながら、 シャド ウの夢である世界旅行をしてください」 (佐藤)

愛車に乗ってどこまでも ▲シャドウ ジョーカーが 愛用しているバイク

花嫁はシャドウより カッコよくあるべし

「シャドウの前ではなび かず、凛とした態度でいる ことが大事です」 (佐藤)

[namesnamesandmorenames]

Okay, so since my last post I have decided to make a few previously select or multi-select properties into separate database relations properties– I've also completed separated my fanfiction and old library databases and I am letting myself put fan art banners and more fun icons on some pages lol. One of these projects– you'll be able to see which because I haven't finished it– is going to be incredibly time consuming 😞. Again, this is starting as a speech to text voice note so it's going to get really conversational and probably have typos even though I'm going to edit it later. So sorry about that. I already typed it out once I can't.

Short spiel– I'm a library science grad student who is using notion to create a person fanfiction database. It's for fun but it's kinda interesting how my classes impacted what I do with it so I decided to make a post or two. I'll do a line brake now so you don't have to read more if you're not interested 🙂

Okay so the first section I consider a like Retrieval Information section– It answers questions like have I read this? Where can I find it? Who wrote it? Is there a podfic? Who recorded it? What stage in the writing process is it (One Shot, Multi Chapters, Work In Progress, Abandoned)? Was it written for a challenge/ is it in a collection (excluding personal favorite collections which there are so many of on ao3 I swear- pet peeve but I get it I was once one of those people, now I have a database that I've sunk too much time into lol)

The sorting section is actually automatically filled out based on the Creator information, I explained my tbr sorting is based on favorite, prolific, or new to the fandom authors so it's easiest to trust pull that information from the Creator record in a roll-up property because then I can move everything in a group if I miss something at the end of the week when I'm adding things.

Story info is pretty self-explanatory in my opinion, I pulled all of it from ao3 though I will fudge the information if I read a fic on Tumblr that isn't cross-posted. The pages it's not really useful per se. Just something that I think is interesting. It's also based on the PDF versions that you can download on ao3 and even then not really because I just averaged out the pages on one fic and have been dividing page numbers by that number for ages lol. Timeline I mentioned in my previous post. It's all based on 911 because I am currently hyperfixated on it to a degree that is genuinely… not great.

Authorized Tags… I'm still working on this. This is the time consuming project. I decided to make the multi-select property Tags– which has an insane amount of tags in it, which are all kind of jumbled because I was using different language for all of them like for instance “Evan Buckley is a Teacher” and “Bartender Buck” are both tags in that property but also it's just in that section so I can't even see everything that's in there and at this point there's over like 200+ tags that I can't really search very well and I can't really browse fics in the tags easily so it limits use in that way. Also, there's no real organization so everything that could be tagged wasn't there- also creators all use tags in very different ways so a lot of that was me tagging fic as I read them because this is a personal database, it's just what I want to do. But basically Authorized Tags is *loosely* based off of Authorized Heading from my cataloging course lol. Basically I've cleaned up the language and created more of a type and tier organization (“Evan Buckley is a Teacher” and “Bartender Buck” are now “Teacher! Buck” and “Bartender! Buck” respectfully and are specific character tags under the broad character tag of “Not a Firefighter! Evan Buckley”) so I'll be able to find things easier… when I finished retagging the like 3000 records that I've been tagging multi select up until now 😭. This is also giving me the chance to pull my OOC/Bashing tag into a little alien 👽 check box- like I said the tags are mine some creators tag way more extensively than me, others imo under tag– bashing isn't a DNF for me and I just ignore it when fix are tagged “Specific Character! Bashing” because sometimes people will tag that when it's just canon accurate behavior in my opinion? And again actual bashing doesn't bother me *most of the time* but it is one of the things that I want to know about effect on first glance if I'm going to reread.

Series was a single select property up until my last post actually… it was much easier to convert because unlike tags not every fic is in a series lol. But also I am going to go back and see if there were any fics that aren't in what I would consider a series but are how some creators use series like a place where they collect their one shots or a bunch of fic that they wrote with a single trope or even personal entries to fandom challenges, I also decided to use this database to track works that were inspired by other works if it's a very direct correlation– like if there's a sequel or one shot in the same world written by another Creator. The previous/next relations direct to other related works within the database, if Fic 1 is previous to Fic 2, Fic 2 is next to Fic 1. You'll be surprised how long it took me to add these fields or you'll think it's overkill– it's both. Part of the reason that I really needed these is because both the tags and the series properties were select properties. I could tag a fic as a sequel fic but that didn't directly connect me to its predecessor, I can see that'll work as part of a series but I would still have to leave the record to then go and look to see what else is in that series. It's kind of a non-issue. Obviously all of this is non-issues. This is way too in-depth for what it is. But it's going to be even more of a non-issue now that Series is a separate database but I'll probably still keep it for conveniences sake because if nothing else it is convenient.

Housekeeping– when did I start and when did I finish the fic? Was it a favorite? Was there a quote that I took note of while reading it?

Meta-Metadata (I had that labeled as just metadata for an embarrassingly long time considering literally the entire record is metadata…) I used to have a record created property but it broke somehow. I don't know I want it back. I'm going to try at some point. I just haven't gotten around to it. It's not like a useful thing. It's just interesting to see how long after a record is created I back get around to reading it you know? But the two check boxes there are formulas attached to the read status. The first one includes up-to-date works as read And the second one only includes read read works as read– I like keeping up to date with a few authors so if they have work in progress work that I am keeping up to date with, I want it included in their tally on their record. So I have two separate roll-ups for read lol.

You'll see on the completed record that the only thing that I have written in the bottom part is reread dates. I don't know, I've never felt the need to take notes outside of the records? Or if I do, it's very rarely. I haven't really figured out a way to record reread dates in a way that doesn't seem clunky to me so I just put it there.

But yeah as you can see way too extensive lol a lot of these properties won't apply to every fic and are therefore hidden when empty (a few are always hidden in the collapsed view (Next/Previous notably) because if I'm looking for that information I'll look for it, you know?)

So here is a completed record of one of my favorite fics!

As you can see, a few things have been collapsed the labeling is always hidden because I don't really need it it's just so it's not a wall of properties on the back end, but you can also easily find the information that's important in my opinion?

Anyway I'm tagging @percyjackson-winchester because they asked me too if you have questions or want me to make a follow up post about the Series of Creator Databases (of the Tags Database when I finish it lol) let me know 😅

[uroboros-if]

Whats your advice for other wip ifs on tumblr? Ive got my intro post and everything but it seems like no one is seeing it :(

🥹😭 I'm flattered you think I'm qualified to answer this, especially as I don't consider myself wildly popular or anything! I wouldn't call myself an expert on this, but I'll tell you what I know:

Tumblr's tagging system / Discoverability

Make sure you're searchable! If your blog is too young, or if you have links in your post, or too many pictures, etc. etc. anything can trigger Tumblr's alarm bells. What this means is that your post won't show up in the tags, aka won't be shown when people search it up. Here is a post about actions you can take to prevent it and another one here. Generally you want your blog to be older than 2 weeks, and to be posting a few times on it before it gets any searchability. (This sideblog used to be an old fanfic blog that I've repurposed for the IF for this exact reason!). If you'd like, copy and paste your intro post, and re-post it (if you don't mind losing too many notes on it), or you can just experiment with another post. Tag it with the appropriate tags, and then wait 2-3 minutes before searching Recent posts on the tag (like #interactive fiction). If you don't see it, your posts aren't showing up!

Make sure you're tagging your post. Bigger one of them, I think, is #interactive fiction (since that unifies CS, Twine and visual novels together). You can, however, add things like #twine/#choicescript, #twine fiction, etc... Any tags you personally might use to search posts up. Just make sure people can see your post in the first place with the first bullet above!

Timing. For whatever reason, I get a good amount of traffic around 9PM Pacific time/5-7AM in Europe (UK to Greece)/12-2PM Eastern Asia (Philippines to Sydney, Australia). I have friends from those places, so I memorized the time difference. For reference, this is 4PM UTC time. My guess is that Europeans are waking up a couple of hours around that time, and some Americans and Asians/Australians are active around that time as well. You should experiment with timing with your posts!

Submit your post to Interact-IF. I got more notes when I submitted mine through their blog! They have a page called, "Are you an IF author looking to promote your project?" and they'll put yours through the queue. Here's the link!

Formatting

Make sure your post is eye-catching, and a pleasure to read. I think what catches the eye is

A header and a title. Find a header that conveys your IF's atmosphere/mood/vibes/aesthetic. Then as far as making it a pleasure, make sure the text guides the eye smoothly. This means:

Organizing your post logically. Synopsis->features->characters makes the most sense to me, as these are the top things people look for besides the characters, which you have to contextualize before you introduce them! You can also...

Mix up formatting--synopsis can be a wall of text, then features can be a list format, and then characters can be a list in prose format, etc.

You may also include breaks, like using a header or line with a title to signal a new section, e.g. the start of the Synopsis, the start of Characters, etc.

Just don't make it hard to read for whatever reason! Your goal is to make the process of learning about your IF digestible and smooth.

In fact, I made a point to make this post itself as a teaching lesson! It could have all been a wall of text, in paragraph/prose form, but it isn't. I organized the sections in a logical sequence, titled them and grouped them, and used a generous amount of formatting available to me (but not too much to hurt the eye).

Intro Writing

Just to discuss certain sections you should pay particular attention to, and what you may want to include in them!

Check for errors. Minimize any typos, grammatical errors, etc. It's totally fine if you're a beginner writer! Just make sure it's polished, lest it may disrupt the flow of reading.

Write an interesting synopsis. Your idea could be the best, but you need to put real thought into how you introduce it to other people! For me, I read other people's synopses for inspiration. You generally want to a) describe who your MC is, b) describe the setting, c) "Everything used to be..." d) "... Until the fire nation attacked!" -- meaning, describe how life used to be for the MC, and what threw all that off-balance, hence revealing the conflict of the plot or the disruption in the story. You can make this section show your writing abilities, but I constrained myself to shortening mine as much as possible (digestibility).

Features. Again, look at other intro posts! Outline what can be customized about your MC (appearance, personality, sexuality, etc.), a brief mention of the ROs (without names) that can be romanced if there are any, cool features your IF may have (a codex, a dice rolling system), a sneak peek into what readers may expect to do in the story, and more!

ROs!! You'll want to tap into what personally inclines you to liking an RO right away, and include that. You can make this section as detailed as you want to be or as brief but effective. Some include character appearances, some don't. All of them mention who they are in the story, and a description of what they are like. Maybe you can hint at their deeper, individual character subplot! Hitting upon keywords of certain archetypes as well may make it easier for the reader to go, "Ah, so this is the X character," in the story. Leaning on tropes a little isn't bad, especially to play it up for the audience to know "this is the cold one, this is the flirty one, etc." so long as your characters aren't merely their trope.

Your Story

Did you notice this is the last thing I'm discussing? Before you change your actual story, you want to make sure you've considered every reason why your intro post isn't very public, which may have NOTHING to do with how interesting or appealing your story is. Think of it like chess--the last thing you want to do is move your king. It's also just simply harder and disheartening to change the vision of your story.

In fact, the vast majority of things covered here are only points to consider, rather than things to actually change.

Do you have a demo? People want demos before investing into a story! a) They want to know if they will like your writing at all, b) demos give a good look into what they may expect from the story overall, and c) it's more promising for an IF to have one, as far as actually finishing the story!

And if you do have a demo, is it polished? Is it short? Does it actually introduce the conflict or any of the characters people are interested in? Does it look good?

Who really is your target audience? Your story is probably written for yourself, but you may want to understand what generally appeals to people. You can't please everyone, hence mainly appealing to a certain audience. If your story is high-fantasy, people want you to mention all the fantastical things your MC can do, see or experience in your story! If your IF is a revenge story, make the MC feel dangerous, and capable of exacting their plans. Mention everything people would WANT to know about your brand of story.

What's the gender ratio of your ROs? The fact that your story may be exclusively/vastly heterosexual, or your story may specifically be a wlw or nlw/mlm or nlm story may influence how much reach it has. I hate to say it, but IFs with mainly male characters are in abundance compared to female interests. However, this doesn't mean you should change your ROs, especially if you intend the story to be heterosexual/lesbian/gay--this is just a factor to consider.

Consider other factors. Does your story have any actual romance? (People really like romance.) Is it only going to be short? (People like long stories generally.) Are you using Twine or CS? (Most people like both, some may have a preference. I almost exclusively read Twine.) Will it feature very disturbing content? (If it does, it may appeal only to certain people).

Closing Thoughts

I am flattered you asked for advice, so I took the time to exhaust everything I know! Of course, again, I am no authority or expert on the subject, so do with this as you will. Either way, I'm happy you asked ! 🥹💕 Thanks for asking!

P.S. If you want, my messages are open on my personal blog! You can send me a DM if you want feedback or an opinion :)

[manonamora-if]

June Check-In

My time as a benevolent tropical dictator has ended... time for some resource management retirement.

Bouncing for the summer. ✌️ I may or may not be online during that time. I'm not going in too much details, because it is IRL stuff that doesn't involve just me. I should still have some free time, but not as much as now. You may (probably will) catch random drops on itch.

Onto the usual index:

Recap of last month’s progress

Plan for the next month

The mega to-do-list tm that hasn't really changed.

Still long post under the break. If you want a mini version, head on over to itch.io as usual!

May Progress

Pulling out THE LIST from last month and checking the progress:

Play more games ✅

It's always a check because... there's always a jam we're doing with the @neointeractives, so there's always something to play. Anyways... this month fed be real good. Between the SpringThing (still not done reviewing), the Text Adventure Literacy Jam (have to queue my reviews - I placed third!!), the Dialogue Jam (you can read my thoughts here), the Locus Jam (lookie here), and the REALLY BAD IF jam (it's going to take me a while still)... there was a lot! But also a lot of fun!it also, unfortunately, gave me way too many new ideas...

Oh. It's also been one full year since I started writing reviews! And I've reached the 2nd spot on the IFDB ranking! Over 500 reviews to get there...

Code Chapter 6/Endings❌

MelS is still working on those, chipping away at the pages bit by bit, trying make that last chapter the best final chapter possible. But there are a lot of pages to go through... he's doing his best!

Fixing an older games. ❌

I mean, I bug-fixed my TALP entry, but I don't think that count (and there's some more stuff I could edit too). I've been too busy/all over the place to sit down and go back at it.

Write the next Chapter/Scene of a WIP✅❌

Well, yes and no. I've been revisiting Exquisite Cadaver in the hope of finishing it for real (but I got distracted...), and re-reading it... I've CRINGED SO HARD AT THE WRITING. Like :/ it's so not great.

So before we can make substantial progress in the missing rounds, I will:

re-write the already coded rounds (and fix the insane amount of typos

re-code them (duh)

edit the Interface (the template is a bit all over the place)

fix some other code

other stuff I'm forgetting for sure.

The prologue is completely done, and I've started on the rounds. I think I'll update the game when the re-writes are done. Then do an Interface/code uphaul. Then add more rounds (or switch 1 and 2).

I'm trying to keep this for this summer. That would be good. I think I could even finish it (knock on wood and what not).

What else happened this month????

Well, the organisation of the Locus Jam and the REALLY BAD IF, and setting up Neo-Twiny once again (@neo-twiny-jam). That's... a lot more work than just pressing some buttons 😅

On the writing side, I've written a novel as a Post-Mortem for Jeangille. You can find it here.

More writing... Well, I've mentioned being distracted a few times already this month? That's because... I've gone a bit overboard with tiny stuff. Here's what you may have missed:

I PROMISE I AM WORKING ON THE GAME (Locus/RBIF - binksi)

the 500 rooms game (RBIF - Inform)

Tomato Tomato (RBVN/bitsy jam - binksi - will be made better)

Cloak of Darkness (porting to multiple IF programs -> source code included to see how an engine works)

So hum... yeah. Not super great on the plan. The more I push it, the less I manage... But also I made fun stuff so...

Maybe on really cool thing coming out of this month is... GETTING THIRD PLACE FOR Lysidice and the Minotaur! With a strong average of 4!!! Which is SO MUCH BETTER THAN LAST YEAR!!!

The PLANtm for June

I won't have Tropico or most of my Steam Library to distract me in the next month. I actually will have a lot of IRL stuff to deal with. Aside from dealing with the Neo-Twiny Jam and Anti-Romance Jam organisation, you will probably not hear much from me.

Still, during down time, I would try to:

Play more games: I need to finish my RBIF thread, and start the Neo-Twiny one (if it's like last year, better start early!). And finish the reviews to the previous comps too.

Code Chapter 6/Endings: Still on MelS. Though I still could do some stuff... I've been putting it off since he's not made as much progress as we'd hoped.

Fixing an older games. Well, I'm re-writing Exquisite Cadaver, if I manage that and the Interface, that goal will be filled. Or the Tomato Tomato one.

Write the next Chapter/Scene of a WIP. And if I could manage to write one more game round for EC, we'll be golden!

Let's have a boring month! For realsies.

I'm also planning on just... logging off from the internet for long periods of time (the IRL stuff).

~

The 2024 To-Do List:

And now we're back at the start... SIGH

The hopefully maybe easy to handle To-Do:

fix the bugs in EDOC + overall the French version to match (waiting for Adventuron to get the French language)

fix the bugs of TRNT + find a way to add the missing pieces (giving up on the translation)

fixing the interface of LPM and the popups + check animal interactions

figure out the One-Button JavaScrip/jQuery issue...

edit the loading screens of the completed tiny games to include the program/format logo at least.

The 'Need a Bunch of Content to update but it's planned!' To-Do:

Update my website (bunch new title - also I don't think the logo clicky thing work...) + redo my itch page (un-stricking cause I need to update it)

Finish TTATEH (MelS dependent)

Finish Exquisite Cadaver (half-way mark by this summer - manif)

Finish P-Rix - Space Trucker (main path at least)

Update CRWL (it's been almost two years... I'm ashamed)

The Unlikely But it Would be Dope To-Do

Finish The Dinner as it was planned (and translate)

Finish In the Blink of an Eye as it was planned (and retranslate)

Finish The Rye in the Dark City

Fixing TTTT (at least fixing, maybe try adding some storylets)

And finally The 'It's impossible, but one can wish' TO-DO:

Remaster SPS IH (if I managed to start this after completing the rest... I'm going to eat a whole sheet cake).

Start the IFComp project (2025? Might end up being a ST?)

[vampirecatsw]

*CLAPS HANDS AND RUBS THEM TOGETHER* NOW THAT I'M FINISHED ANSWERING YOUR ASK, CYN. (BLESS YOU, BLESS YOU!) PLEASE DO THE CHARACTER OPINION BINGO FOR KAITO, AOKO, SHINICHI, AND RAN. PRETTY PLEASE. MAY YOUR DAY BE SPECTACULAR!

Hi! Here's my ask with drawings (of various quality, you can see as I drew more I got more into the swing HAAHHAH. That's what I get for being so rusty - I don't actually draw that often.) The colours I used are ones I associate with the characters!

ft. my very informal writing style, probably like a thousand typos because I'm typing this at 1am, and many shoutouts to amazing dcmk creators 🥰

Also, please check out Anna's ask! https://akai-anna.tumblr.com/post/739521989281234944/hey-there-my-lovely-mutual-3-3-i-love-when-you

Anna, you're so lovely, fr. I hope this makes you giggle and swing your feet, I had such a fun time thinking about them! I added my own flair with my drawings <3

Feel free to ask me to decipher any handwriting

P.s. That character with the hat you'll see is my sona! I'm calling him Sol because that's another online name I seem to take up often. Feel free to call me Sol as well!

(Shameless plug: Check out my art blog - cyndraws - if you like my art! Also, it has some au ramblings too ^v^. https://cyndraws.tumblr.com/)

KAITO

Bingo count: 4 (well, If I ticked only more more box, I could have extra bingos for almost every extra box I ticked haha...)

The art: I gave up at first and just drew him as a stick figure. Then I added clothes to him, that's why he's so proportionally off,,, My beloved blorbo, I feel like I did you so dirty 😭

Fun challenge: Guess what I was inspired by when I drew Kaito's and Aoko's outfits.

I'm literally in love with him no joke. The love is too intense aughhdfk. What kind of love? Yes. I would do anything for him. I'd be so clingy fr.

Headcanons? Sooo many. Not even a joke. They're too integrated into my brain at this point so yeah haha

His HANDS. Slim and very fast and flexible. They have callouses - screw smooth hands. Callouses as a sign of his hard work throughout his entire life.

Fox? He's a fox. So silly, little trickster. https://www.tumblr.com/cyndraws/739418480470851584/look-me-in-the-eyes-and-tell-me-kaito-isnt-a-fox

Let's just link my simping art here too: https://www.tumblr.com/cyndraws/739224275061456896/im-such-a-simp-help-me-kaito-simps-unite-pls Please let me squish his cheeks please...PLEASE

Bonus: Old character opinion bingo for Kaito: https://cyndraws.tumblr.com/post/739190201679757312/everyone-if-im-going-to-expose-myself-as-a-kaito I got over the fear 👍 It's from a while back, like maybe... 2022? idk

I love unhinged Kaito

Gender? Please. I'll take any masc at this point HAHAH

Canon isn't real - Like it's amazing but also like... underwhelming. *Shakes it vigorously* GIVE ME MORE. MORE EKODA GANG. MORE SUPPORT FOR KAITO. LET KAITO CRY. I WANT MORE WORLD BUILDING ON AKAKO AND TO SEE THE KUROBA FAMILY MORE (+ a billion more requests.) PLEASE GOSHO IM BEGGING

(It's ok, I got the fics for these cravings 👍)

~

2. AOKO

Bingo count: 0

Wow. I realised just how little brain space I dedicate to her... but she's also so silly. I love her so much. She's a great character to pair up with Kaito (for any relationships, I love when they're having fun together.) She doesn't need more suffering <3

I love sm how in MK1412 they added extra scenes of the Ekoda gang! And Aoko looks so cute in it! (everyone else? ... it varies)

Snowball fight! ^

Now this is a hella hot take but I personally think KaiAo is much more interesting than ShinRan (for me). And fun too, because I've always been drawn to fun and teasing dynamics like these over the more romantic ones (if you get what I mean by more romantic). KaiAo and Shinran both are such wonderful couples though. *Bangs fists on table* THEY'RE BOTH SO UNBEARABLE CUTEEE

Someone told me I have very similar vibes to Aoko and I've been reevaluating myself XDD. No but I can see it. I think we have a similar energy (in my brain at least, I'm much more tired when I go out) and even preferred fashion.

Would give her a kiss anytime. Definitely. Let's go out on a picnic and have a fun hangout. We would be good friends.

Aolele theory by alizardjae: Please check it out!!! https://alizardjae.tumblr.com/post/134111960564/alright-finally-got-around-to-writing-this-thing Basically it's the summary I wrote up there. I whole heartedly believe in it, because it's a fun theory and I've done it before myself (...ehem annoying relatives) - so it's definitely believable. And I love the idea of Aoko Holmes being carried over from Nonchalant Lupin (<- Prototype of Magic Kaito. It's a fun read!)

~

3. SHINICHI/CONAN

Bingo count: 4

Drawing was inspired by that scene where Conan gets suspicious of Hanzawa-san (from The Culprit Hanzawa, a spinoff of dcmk.)

Ok, so the thing is, I have a very strange relationship with him.

He's so silly, right? He so fun, he's adorable, so caring and well meaning, but I'm scared of him. I wouldn't want to meet him. I'm terrified even though he's so nice 😭. So I'd rather observe from a distance (hence the drawing ^ but I'd definitely set off his senses a lot.)

(What does it say about me that I'm scared of Shin/Cone but not Kaito? I'm working on overcoming my fear of Conan/Shin, I promise *on my hands and knees* I REALLY AM)

(My irl friend understands why I'm so terrified, I've explained the crazy stunts he's done and his very illegal spy equipment to them... they actually got a nightmare about Conan that night. He's such a law breaking little gremlin (affectionate)) So...no kisses for you, detective... only because I'm too intimidated 😭 But I'll gladly make content dedicated to you and fawn over you <3

If it's not already obvious, Kai > Shin/Cone for me. But he's definitely a close second.

Shin's/Cone's aesthetic? So peak. His detective work and general vibes with the series is so banging. That clean formal attire - I love wearing more formal stuff out. Being judged for it? At this point I don't really care hahaha. His mismatching outfits are so endearing, but I don't really vibe with them.

Canon is kinda frustrating for me. Well, as usual, I love to pick out the pieces I love and keep them dear to my heart. Ugh I want more identity issues and character relationship focuses. And more Shinran, this is literally ridiculous for slowburn lol.

~

4. RAN

Bingo count: 0

I drew a masterpiece for her. As she deserves 🥰. (Fun fact, this is the first time I've drawn her properly.)

Drawing inspirations:

Sakura Class! It was so adorable. I loved seeing the povs of both Shin and Ran. The Sakura couple,,, 🥺🥺 why are they so cute

LavenderTowne! Her art is amazing and her art tips are always so helpful: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD4XIm3ZFhT72WjqhIXMN9w

In particular, I used these two tutorials: Easy Background: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Zw5oB-ir5R0 Easy Lighting: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/shWoTarp_Vk

*ehem* Back to our ask now

Ran is so lovely! Such a queen, so adorable, such an icon! Have you seen her puff out her cheeks in chapter 1120? (+ many other instances of her being cute of course.)

(^ well, now you've seen it)

I love her with sass! It's so funny and fitting for her. And paired with her badassness? Wow. She's amazing. She has such a big heart too <3

I can see how Shinichi fell for her at first sight, she really is so pretty and cute. Her smile was such a direct hit to his heart XD

Obligatory shoutouts!:

Amazing Shinran analysis by rabbitsrants: https://www.tumblr.com/rabbitsrants/737479648281329664?source=share

Really REALLY cute Shinran art by detshin: https://www.tumblr.com/detshin/734222664310358016?source=share https://www.tumblr.com/detshin/734913462286909440?source=share Their blog also has really cute Shinran content!

For some reason, I associate the english localised names to the more sarcastic and witty characterisations in the funimation dub. That's why I wrote Rachel.

Maybe it's because of halfpenny_jones's amazing characterisation: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfpenny_jones/pseuds/halfpenny_jones/works?fandom_id=964594 Please check out their works too!

~

That's the end~ Thanks so much for asking! It was so enjoyable to ponder and draw. And I'll always take opportunities to talk about them.

Feel free to chat again whenever you feel like it <3 And also, feel free to ask about many other things too, like more character bingos or aus if you find them interesting. I hope you also enjoy them if you go through them.

See you next illusion~

[vivilove-jonsa]

I know you and Amymel are both publishing your OG stuff now. How is that going for you both? And do you have any tips for someone who might want to do that sort of thing?

Thanks so much for the ask, Anon. I mentioned it to @amymel86 and, while we're keeping our pen names relatively private, we truly appreciate you checking in with us :)

How's it going? It's going great! We're both thrilled to making money off writing smutty romance 🤣. To quote Amy, 'Sex sells, girlies.' But I'll add that the swoony, romantic, buttery goodness is what keeps readers coming back for more.

Tips? You got it! I'm going to put them under the cut for those who are interested but I'll preface this with the following - we are writing romance novels (primarily as eBooks) that we're self-publishing on Amazon. If you want to be the next Hemingway or Virginia Woolf, that's awesome but our route might not be your route...

Tips for self-publishing romance on the Zon and making BANK:

First off, research. Read, read, read a genre that interests you. What's killing it in the rankings? What's not? What are readers looking for?

Drill it down to a specific niche and find the tropes that work best with it. Unlike with fanfic, you will not make a killing as a newbie writer switching widely between genres and niches. Your Sweet and Clean Christian Western Romance might be fantastic but your fans won't be delighted if you follow it up with an Erotic Dark Mafia Romance. There is so much out there! Sports Romance, Regency, Paranormal, Small-Town, Billionaire, Bikers, Mountain Man... go find yourself a new book boyfriend. Choose the heat level you're comfortable with. There are readers for all levels.

But, find something that appeals to you and stick with it for the time being, learn the ins and outs but make sure it's something you can see yourself writing. Don't choose Reverse Harem or Shifter Romance simply because they're popular if you can't stand reading them. You're setting yourself up for failure that way.

Second, do a little light craft book reading. For romance, I highly recommend Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes and 7 Figure Fiction by T. Taylor as a starting point.

Join an indie author's discord group for important tips and stuff that you might wind up paying to learn from others. It's free and you can choose what's worth retaining and what's not. The one Amy lured me to last year is AMAZING and I've picked up so much information/resources that I never would've known about stumbling around on my own.

Pick a pen name. Do not write under your actual name. You do not want your grandma reading your book. Or maybe you do but you might not want your boss or ex or neighbor reading it. Make sure it's not a claimed pen name. Google it, check Amazon, etc.

Next one is the hard part... write a book. Dream up your story, write down those 'moments' that come to mind (you won't remember them all otherwise) and outline that sucker. Then, WRITE IT. Which sounds impossible but it's not. Most full-length romance novels fall between 60 to 85k words. There are soooooo many fanfics that are longer than that. Take a deep breath. It's doable.

The must-dos for your first book:

Think it up, write down what tropes you're looking at using, outline (at least a little) and write it. I made that sound so easy, didn't I?

2. Edit, edit, edit. You don't have to pay an editor or copywriter - I have not so far - but, for the love of God, don't release something riddled with typos or full of purple prose. Streamline it, make it page-turning goodness readers have a hard time putting down. Throw it in grammarly and spellcheck the bejesus out of it.

3. Format it using a free site like Reedsy or Kindle Create from Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). All that lovely spacing we enjoy doing on Ao3? That will not fly here. It's going to look like an actual book... because it is!

4. Make a cover or get one made. Look at what sells in your niche and copy it. You want to be an outlier? Wait until you're bringing in 50k a month to set the trends. Otherwise, you'll just be passed up. How much work it is can be niche dependent. Fantasy or Sci-Fi Romance might require a lot of talent to get the right look. Contemporary? Easy by comparison. GIMP or Photo Shop work great but there's a learning curve. Also, I recommend Deposit Photos or similar sites for photos/model shots. Don't steal photos off the internet for something you're selling. That will get you in hot water. Remember your cover is the first thing readers see and it needs to sell what you're offering.

5. Write the blurb. Some writers do this first but I am not one of them. It's HARD. However, I cannot stress how important this is to get someone to give your book a look, second only to the cover. It's 100 to 200 words to tell people why they absolutely have to read it! Don't do a summary of the book either. Feed them tropes, give it a hooky intro, draw them in like flies with honey.

6. Get ARCs (Advanced Reader Copy reviews) through a site like Booksprout or SM like Author Facebook groups. It'll get your book in front of eyes and it's lovely having a bit of feedback and some shiny 4 and 5 star reviews queued and ready when you publish.

7. PUBLISH IT. Flip that pancake as we say in the discord group I'm in. Serve it up, see who's biting and keep that griddle hot to make the next one. It will be even better.

And remember, this book will probably not be THE BOOK. And your first pen name will probably not be the one you retire on. It's okay. Every book will teach you something new about who you are as a writer. You'll grow, you'll get better. I'd rather publish a dozen books that are okay if I'm improving than talk about the ONE I'm going to write someday. It's totally worth giving it a whirl.

For more direct tips, feel free to send specific asks. I'm happy to help anytime :)

[voxofthevoid]

hey i was wondering why you post one chapter a month for fics you’ve completed writing? just wondering about your posting schedule! i’ve been trying to decide for my own fic if once a week or every 2 weeks is better

There are a bunch of factors that come together to make it the pace I'm most comfortable with:

The fully written fics are the first drafts, not the edited versions; that leaves me some 500k of unedited fic, at an estimate, at present. Granted, my final drafts are very close to my first drafts. All I do is some typo hunting (albeit semi-successfully because they're persistent fucks) and overall polishing. But it still takes time, and the polishing in particular is important to me.

I need a significant amount of time—weeks, minimum, but months ideally—between writing and editing to check the stories with fresh eyes, and I only do it one chapter at a time. I'll read the stories in between, but that's just for my own enjoyment. After I post something, I kind of stop being able to enjoy those parts. The editing/polishing process kills the pleasure of it, I guess.

Juggling 4-5 stories a month keeps me from getting bored, especially when I have so many written and waiting.

I like the act of serially publishing in terms of reader engagement, and doing it after the fic is complete lets me enjoy people's reactions and theories without worrying whether I'll be able to finish it. I've abandoned stories plenty and am cool with that, but I don't like having to do it. This is the best of both worlds.

I prefer having a flexible schedule to not having one at all, which is why there are monthly updates (sometimes with delays) instead of whimsical chaos; I've done that before too, in addition to trying out weekly or biweekly schedules. I've also posted fics/chapters as I finished them. Of them all, the current system is my preference.

I'd recommend experimenting with your schedule, seeing what you can sustain and enjoy, and not rigidly committing to anything. YMMV, of course, because brain wiring varies for us all, but in general, it's important to prevent a schedule from feeling like an obligation. For all that I plan and organize like a demon, I ultimately only do what I find fun and am not shy about changing plans as needed, especially when there are IRL factors to prioritize.

Good luck!